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Xiao had never been fond of physical affection; at least, he didn’t think he was. Touch always came with a threat, as it's easy to let your guard down in that ‘comfortable’ state. He scoffs audibly as he slammed a hilichurl into a tree by its horns, skewering a samachurl on the glimmering jade head of his polearm. A quick flick of his wrist tosses the body to the side, the adeptus growling as he pulls the mask from his hip. He hadn’t a clue why, but he had been thinking more and more about that irritating blonde boy. The two had become rather close in a short amount of time; well, as close as you can get to a yaksha. He continued to stew over this as he sliced through the monsters, his gaze hardening at the blood and gore. He never cared much for mortals, but given the lavish birthday party the blonde had hosted in his name it seems he wasn’t able to just disregard their care anymore.
“I thought this would help,” the yaksha growls to himself, looking across the now lifeless hilichurl camp. Whenever he needed to vent his frustrations, he merely went and rid of some of the evil he had caused which typically worked like a charm. However, not a single camp he had cleared was able to pull his mind away from the traveler. He had half a mind to go find them, but it’s just his luck that he needn’t look. Aether dashed across the stone floors of the Lingju Pass temples, his steps light and quick as he swiftly dispatched all of the enemies around him. He leaped off of the ancient building, pulling his glider and guiding himself down to a separate area of the ruins. The blonde sighed as he looked around, his floating companion popping up right beside him. “What are we looking for again, Aether?” she asks with a whine, leaning back on the air as she spoke. “Remember how Xiao talked about not having time to clear out the ruins? I thought I’d do it for him, and bring him back some treasure as well. I don’t want him to worry,” the blonde explains as he wades through the water towards the main temple.
Xiao couldn’t help but blush as he heard this, the tips of his nose and ears filling with red and spilling across his face. He couldn’t fathom the idea of someone going out of their way to do things for
him
of all people. These feelings that he hadn’t felt in forever, if ever, flooded his mind as he watched the traveler fluidly flick around his sword as if it weighed nothing. It was overwhelming, and he staggered backwards and sat down onto the grass as he trifled with them. He plucked a torn piece of cloth off of his spear from his earlier fight, suddenly gaining an idea. He pocketed the cloth as he leaped down onto the cliffside below him, gripping the rocks firmly as he jumped from place to place along them. He settled himself right next to a piece of violetgrass, reaching out and plucking the flower from its crack in the stone. He continued along like this, skillfully shuffling between the rocks and pulling the gorgeous purple flowers from their stems.
It wasn’t pretty, but the discolored white cloth was pulled into a bow around the stems of the violetgrass and a few sweet flowers. Xiao had heard that humans give gifts of flowers to show appreciation, and so he had gathered them up rather swiftly in hopes of surprising the traveler. He stepped lightly through the water, his back to the main temple as he kept a trained eye on the fatui camp not so far away. He had done well to evade them, as he doesn’t harm humans, but he was still suspicious of them nonetheless. The blonde he was after was walking right towards him, but his back was to the yaksha as he talked to his floating companion. “Paimon, I told you we’ll get food once we’re do-”
Xiao went tumbling to the floor as the two collided, now completely soaked from head to toe. He pulled his head up from under the water as he scrambled to sit up, turning around to find whoever had bumped into him. He was too absorbed in his own thoughts to hear the traveler speaking with Paimon, but his seething face soon softened as he realized who it was. Aether wasn’t knocked down completely, having been on his guard, so he quickly whipped around as well as his face laced with guilt. He bent down and offered out his hand to the adeptus, who hesitantly took it and pulled himself to his feet. He caught sight of the bouquet he had made floating away, hastily grabbing it and hiding it behind his back. Paimon was trying to hold in her snickers, earning glares from both boys as the blonde moved to speak.
“Ah, Xiao, I’m so sorry! I didn’t expect anyone else to be out here. Are you alright?” he asks, scanning over the other’s face and body for injuries. The adeptus felt a blush spread through his face again as he merely nodded, forcing himself to clear his throat as he brought out the present from behind his back. “I was… actually looking for you. I heard that humans give flowers a-as a sign of admiration, so…” he mumbles, holding out the drooping and now unsightly bouquet of violetgrass and sweet flowers. The tumble to the ground combined with being drenched in water had ruined all the natural beauty, the ragged cloth threatening to slip off at any moment. “Jeez, could you have at least handled them a bit better? They look gross!” Paimon chimes, taking the bouquet out of the traveler’s hands and hastily holding it at arms length. “Ewww, it smells like hilichurl!” she exclaims, pushing the gathering of flowers back into the blonde’s hands. Any vulnerability that the yaksha was showing now hardened, his gloved hands tightening into fists.
“I don’t want to hear it,” he scowls as he sees Aether open his mouth to speak, his eyes glazed over and sealing away any emotion that may have been there before. He started walking away, his posture stiff and his mannerisms forming a hard shell. He knew trying to open himself up wouldn’t work. He shouldn’t even be having these emotions. Aether blinked a few times, running up and tackling the other in a hug. The two went crashing down onto the pavement once more, water splashing up around them. Xiao flipped around, about to lash out when he was cut off by the traveler’s impulsive actions. Their lips locked together, the blonde gently pecking the other as he tried to figure out
how
to kiss. The yaksha’s face went bright red as he blinked a few times, waiting for the boy to pull away. Aether stammered and stuttered, blushing profusely as he was cut off by the other repeating the action. Xiao wrapped his arms around Aether’s waist, the other lacing his fingers in the adeptus’ hair.
Xiao was never fond of physical affection, but this was something he could get used to.