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“Ah. That didn’t go as expected.” Zhongli says almost awkwardly, glancing over to see Childe’s ‘are you serious?’ expression and raise an eyebrow in response.
“Did not go as expected- no shit? Is that really how you describe blowing up part of the cave, causing it to collapse and have magic come pouring out in this weird blue fucking smoke- and- shit, wait where’s Aether?” Childe questions urgently, actually snapping Zhongli out of his… Whatever the hell he was doing just standing there, he didn’t even seem phased until-
Ugh, anyways.
“He had gone further ahead of us. But he should have heard the ruckus and come back..” Zhongli frowns in thought, and Childe is having none of that right now. The harbinger charges ahead, pushing aside fallen rocks and avoiding the ones still falling. He can hear Zhongli trail behind him, though not as urgent. Seems that the man thinks staying calm in every situation is a good thing.
It makes Childe sigh, though there’s not much to be done about it.
“Aether!” Childe calls out, the name echoing off the walls of the cave and making him wince slightly. He has to cover his ears when Zhongli decides to fucking whistle. Childe turns to him with an annoyed look, about to lecture the man but then they hear a rustle that makes them both freeze to listen.
“M….Ermph..” They hear the small sound of struggle, but it doesn’t quite.. Sound like Aether? It sounds like…
“Shit, there’s a child in here?” Childe is immediately where he heard the noise, not seeing Zhongli’s hand trying to stop him incase it’s a trap-
It’s not.
But it’s not exactly what’s expected either.
Aether, or, a much much smaller version of Aether stares up at Childe with wide, fearful eyes. The boy, the child, scoots back to create more space between him and the man in front of him. But then he hits his head, letting out a whine that breaks Childe out of his shock.
The man crouches in front of the boy, confused on how this could’ve possibly happened but shoving his confusion aside in favor of helping the adult turned kid in front of him. “Aether..?”
Aether just stares down Childe with untrusting eyes, scooting himself even further into the corner, essentially squishing himself. It makes it worse for himself, corners digging into his skin and head pressing against the wall a little too hard- most likely bothering his head injury he definitely has based on the blood on top of his head.
So Childe tries again, but not before raising his hand to stop Zhongli from getting any closer. The man sighs, “We have to get out of-”
Childe shushes him, glaring behind him once. Despite his odd fondness for the broke man behind him, he would not force this.
“Aether, I promise to not hurt you. Could you please--”
“..Xiao.” Aether whispers out.
Both Zhongli and Childe freeze.
“Why would you…” But before Zhongli can finish that sentence, there’s a sudden appearance of blue. Xiao emerges from nowhere, landing right in front of Zhongli and Childe.
The shorter man says nothing, instead assessing the situation in front of him.
He looks to Aether on the floor, the boy looking back- they have a small ‘staring’ contest of sorts. But it’s really just the both of them coming to different realizations.
Aether’s call for Xiao worked.
Aether was a kid and hurt. Badly.
They both snap out of their initial shock, Aether stands on wobbly legs and launches himself at Xiao, the adepti immediately catching him and lifting him into his arms. Xiao adjusts Aether in his hold so the boy is as comfortable as possible, he feels a little awkward- seeing as he.. Never necessarily dealt with children before. But he manages. The adepti very gently cups Aether’s cheek when he sees the boy’s eyes start getting watery. However no tears escape, and the boy just lays his head on Xiao’s shoulder while the adepti strokes his cheek kindly.
When Xiao knows Aether is safe in his arms, he turns to Childe and Zhongli.
...Childe suddenly has a spear to his throat and Zhongli is taking out his weapon- “You’re dead.” It wasn’t a threat, it was a promise. Xiao was pissed. But before Zhongli can knock away his spear, he lowers it down himself. “You truly thought he would trust you after you nearly killed him before yourself? That he would leap into your arms and call you his savior? He may tolerate you, but he does not trust you. You’re a hypocrite, Ajax.”
Before Childe can even PROCESS that, Xiao teleports away with Aether in his arms.
....
Childe slowly looks over to Zhongli, they’ve both fallen into silence as they process what exactly just happened.
Childe is the first to move, shoulder bumping Zhongli when the man tries to reason with him about Xiao not truly meaning what he said. He really couldn’t be bothered with meaningless reassurance, not when what Xiao said was true. He could deny it all he wished, be angry about it and yell- but nothing would change what was a fact.
Zhongli is left to contemplate, letting out a long sigh in a sort of defeat and just teleporting away.
He’d deal with this later.
…
Xiao ends up back at the Wangshu inn. There, he gets help in aiding Aether. There were people he… Didn’t necessarily trust at the inn, but tolerated enough to touch Aether in order to assess the damage and wrap bandages around his arms, his back, his head. Aether clings onto Xiao the entire time, eyes watery and the boy quiet.
He hasn’t spoken a word since saying Xiao’s name, and it doesn’t seem like he’ll be doing so any time soon.
When Aether is asleep in Xiao’s arms, bandaged up and in fresh clothes he’s reluctant to let him go. The people at the inn offered their assistance, but he denied them of it. Thinking back on it however, he should have said yes to them. He has no clue what he’s doing. But he just…
He just has to protect Aether. It’s a pull, a need.
He’s felt it ever since Aether came into his life. Seeing him was… A relief that swarming his very being. He felt so light, the lightest he’s felt in… Hundreds of years.
It was almost as if Aether could remove all of his karmic debt with just a glance.
And holding him right now, as a child so young, he didn’t feel that karmic debt at all.
...So really, what the hell?
Xiao sits down on the bed provided to him by the inn, adjusting his grip on the slumbering Aether as he leans back to lay down with him in his arms. The bed was soft, so Xiao sunk into it a bit and it makes him frown. But not.. In a bad way. He was just.. A little confused at his own actions right now. But despite his confusion, he grabs the blanket off to the side and covers both him and Aether with it.
He doubts he’ll get any sleep but… It was better laying down for Aether’s sake rather than him napping uncomfortably.
A good rest means healing quicker.
That being said, and despite what he said about not sleeping before, he falls asleep.
When he wakes up again it’s to Aether wrapping his small arms around his neck and hiding his face on his chest. The adepti immediately wraps his arms around him again with a soft sigh, sitting up in the bed and cupping the back of Aether’s head with comforting intent while his other hand holds the boy securely.
“...Are you okay?” Xiao questions as he stands, waiting for an answer before he exits the room to get some food into Aether.
Aether doesn’t answer.
It concerns Xiao to no end, but he just grunts in acknowledgement and leaves the room.
He manages to get Aether to eat something, it’s not anything too big but it’s enough to suffice.
The boy remains silent no matter how hard Xiao tries to get him to speak. It leaves him with a problem.
He can’t ask who the boy is comfortable with other than himself so he can give him to them to possibly babysit for him while he defends Liyue from any monsters for a few hours.
...But at the same time.
Xiao looks to Aether who’s sitting in his lap, meeting the boy’s eyes as the boy had been staring at him this entire time.
He didn’t feel the need to kill monsters for Liyue’s people.
It.. He should be doing it- He should. He owed the people, after all. And yet, he didn’t wish to. Not when he did it every single day. Not when it was seeming fruitless the more he did it.
Not when there’s others such as Rex Lapis and others there to protect them if it really came down to it.
“Xiao” Aether’s voice- so sudden, snaps him out of his thoughts. His eyes widen just a sliver, and he blinks down at the boy who’s frowning in concern at him.
“Yes, Aether..?” Xiao tilts his head down at him, and Aether just very gently brings his hand up to touch Xiao’s cheek. But the gesture was clear, Aether was asking if he was okay. “I’m fine, Aether. I was just merely thinking.” Xiao hums out and picks up Aether with him as he stands. Aether is quick to wrap his arms around his neck again, face hiding once more.
Xiao then gets an idea to do something he would have never done before. And it’s a dangerous path to go down- with this rebellious thinking of his but… Is it truly rebellious if he simply wished to do as he pleases for once in his life?
“Aether.. How would it sound if we went to Mondstadt?” This gets an immediate reaction out of the boy, he lifts his face from his hiding place and stares at Xiao with wide, excited eyes.
That’s a yes then.
“To Mondstadt we go then.” Xiao confirms, he lifts his hand and suddenly they’re gone from the Wangshu inn.
Appearing in an area he’s greatly unfamiliar with was certainly… Well, new. It was new. But the one good thing about arriving in Mondstadt is that Aether squirms to be put down. He releases the boy from his hold, letting his hand be taken and Aether happily guides him through the entrance of Mondstadt. It seems as if.. This is a place that Aether is very comfortable with being in.
And if it made Aether so happy, then perhaps it would bring more good being here with him rather than alone in the room at the inn.
Plus, he could ask for help on Aether’s… Condition, without having to bother the people in Liyue.
While he could’ve gone to the medical in Liyue, he simply didn’t wish to run into Childe any time soon nor Zhongli. Plus, Aether seemed.. Tense, even at the inn. As if he knew he was too close to Liyue itself and the certain people that resided in it.
Aether led him through the city, and Xiao is.. A bit nervous, to be quite honest, being around so many people just living their lives. He never thought to interact with the people of Liyue- the idea of interacting with the people of Mondstadt was not any different.
Xiao is so distracted and focused on not making eye contact with anyone that he barely notices when they stop walking. The adepti looks down to Aether, then up to… The bar? That he was pointing at in front of them? “Aether, are you so sure you wish to go in there?” When the boy nods a little too quickly Xiao is not… Any less confused. Though, he’s unsure if nodding would’ve answered anything in the first place. “...Alright. The only thing I’m allowing you to get however is apple juice.”
That makes Aether giggle, startling Xiao slightly at the noise. Something warm blossoms in his chest at being able to make Aether giggle as he did and Xiao almost smiles, but he doesn’t. Not yet.
Aether looks at the door expectantly when they walk up to it, seeing as he’s not exactly able to reach the door handle himself- Xiao lets out a sigh and places his hand on the handle, opening the door and allowing Aether to run in first while he trails quickly after. Not that he wanted to go so quickly inside, not that eager to… Interact, with others. But he relents.
There’s not too many people at the bar at this hour, and for that Xiao is thankful. He follows Aether to the bar, and at that bar is a red-haired man cleaning a shot glass. When he makes eye contact with Xiao, the man instantly stops to stare.
Xiao regrets looking at him. Ugh. Eye contact sucks.
But then, the man glances down and-
“What the hell?” Ah. A kid in a bar probably wasn’t the best idea despite Aether wanting it, he should probably take the boy and lea- “...Aether?” Oh. The red-haired man recognized Aether. That actually made a lot more sense rather than Aether wanting to legitimately be in a bar.
Aether looks from the Red-head then to Xiao and proceeds to make grabby hands for the adepti to pick him up. Xiao does so without any hesitation, settling Aether on his hip and looking at the red-head who’s trying to figure out the situation. “I assume you know who he is?” Xiao says, snapping the man out of his stare. He nods firmly, then gestures for another man to take over his position as he exits from behind the bar and stands in front of Xiao.
“I’m going to assume that your name is Xiao, Aether has told me about you.” The man comments, surprising Xiao in an odd way. Aether speaks about him? The adepti looks down to the boy for confirmation of this, and Aether just hides his face in Xiao’s side in embarrassment. So that’s a yes then. “..What exactly happened?” The red-head questions, but blinks and makes an almost sheepish expression when Xiao looks at him weirdly. “Right, my apologies. My name is Diluc. I run the bar here and Aether has run into here a few times in order to either hide from guards or seek my help.”
Xiao raises an eyebrow down at Aether again who just looks up at Xiao with a pout.
So literally everything that Diluc is saying is true, got it.
“I’m unsure on what exactly happened but my best guess would be that an abyss mage did this.” Xiao very gently lays his free hand on top of Aether's head when the boy looks down to the floor, not wanting to meet Diluc’s eyes as the man squints down at the boy with an ‘of course that’s what happened.’ look. “Do not blame him.”
Diluc lets out an exasperated sigh, “I wasn’t planning on it. Oddly enough, it’s usually never Aether’s fault whenever he gets hurt.” The man looks over to the person he let take over, “I’ll be gone for a bit, watch the place while I’m away?”
“As I always do,” The person replies back with a smile, waving Diluc off to go do what he has to do.
“Right.. Come with me, we’ll go to the ch-” Suddenly the door slams open, interrupting Diluc, making Aether flinch, and Xiao’s eye twitch.
“Bartender! I have decided to drink my sorrows away until they stay gone for good this time!” Oh, actually that’s a mood. Xiao thinks.
....
He’s been hanging around the traveler for far too long to have a thought like that.
Diluc inhales, “Venti.” His voice, though clearly irritated, draws the bard’s attention to himself.
Venti.. Shit wait, yeah he knew that bard. Xiao grumbles lightly, which also makes the bard realize he’s even there.
“Xiao! What’re you doing he- Oh my god is that Aether? It’s totally Aether. I know that blonde hair and golden eyes anywhere.” Venti immediately crouches to be at Aether’s height from where he’s settled on Xiao’s hip, the boy looks a little nervously at Venti and it makes the bard smile in reassurance that he has no intentions of doing anything to hurt him in any way. Venti just raises a finger and taps the boy’s nose lightly, making Aether’s face scrunch up. The boy sticks his tongue out at the bard, making him let out a laugh and stand back up. “So adorable. However, is there any reason why he’s a child? And I mean an actual child this time. I know everyone mistakes him as such as an adult.. It’s quite funny.” Venti snickers.
“Everyone thinks you to be a child as well, Venti.” Xiao deadpans.
“Anyways," Venti 'smoothly' changes the subject, "I won’t pretend that I didn’t notice the bandages. Shall we go get him checked up on by the chapel and see if they can help with his little problem?” Venti hums out, cooing when Aether reaches out to take his hand and look up at him with curious eyes.
“That's what we were going to do, before you barged in. What happened to ‘drinking away your sorrows’, hm?” Diluc says in an almost mocking way, eyebrow raised at the bard.
Venti literally just doesn’t answer. He just cackles and turns around, “Let’s go Adepti, Dark Knight and tiny Traveler!”
Diluc and Xiao don’t say a word, just silently exchanging a glance and following the bard out the door-
..Kaeya is right at the door, seemingly about to enter and blinking with his one visible eye at the three that are about to leave. Sorry, four. Not three.
…
“Am I- interrupting something?” He questions, a bit awkwardly as he was.. Very confused about the situation in front of him.
“No.” Diluc deadpans and motions for his brother to move, the blue-haired man raises his hands in mock offense and lets him pass.
Venti just laughs again and grabs Xiao’s hand, dragging him past Kaeya when the adepti wouldn’t move on his own. Aether blinks up at Kaeya when they make eye contact for a moment, the boy waves his hand to the man and Kaeya snorts, waving back.
He guesses it really wasn’t too strange of a situation and it certainly wouldn’t be a first.
…
The chapel is of no help. Barbara does her best work in healing Aether enough to remove the bandages, but it certainly leaves the boy a bit tuckered out. He, surprisingly, ends up asleep in Venti’s arms.
Venti is thrilled about this, Xiao not so much. Diluc really couldn’t care less.
“There is something else we can try!” Venti chirps out as they walk together out of the chapel. “You two already know of the statues around, and they are known to heal. I know, I’m smart. You don’t need to point it out.” Venti snickers, and he buzzes with energy but remains surprisingly still for the slumbering Aether in his arms.
“...Sure. We can try that.” Xiao mumbles, hand reaching up to hold Aether’s head again but hesitating when he realizes what he’s about to do. Venti smirks at the action and grabs Xiao’s hand, taking it back to Aether’s head.
“Just stay close.” The bard hums, amused at Xiao’s fond expression for the boy. “Soft Adepti.” The bard says teasingly, making Xiao glare over at him. But Xiao doesn’t leave Venti’s side despite the comment, just walking alongside the bard and keeping his hand on Aether’s head.
“...You two can handle that.” Diluc sighs, turning away from the bard and adepti. “I need to return to my bar to make sure..” Another long sigh, “Kaeya does nothing stupid while there. Like get drunk unsupervised.” He eyes the sleeping Aether once before he goes, “If the statue does not help, I’d be happy to watch him while you two looked for a solution.”
“We will keep that in mind.” Xiao says quietly, not even watching Diluc walk away. It still seems as if Xiao really only had one person in mind.
...He should probably work on that.
“Only the two of us then! Maybe we can explore Mondstadt together after this! You haven’t seen it in a very long time, after all.” Venti says cheerily, snickering at Xiao’s eyebrow raise at him. He thinks Xiao won’t respond to his invitation, perhaps thinking it’s just a joke from the ‘silly’ bard but then-
“I wouldn’t be against that, I suppose.” Xiao murmurs genuinely.
“Wow. I didn’t expect that! I thought you’d want to get back to Liyue as soon as possible.” Venti giggles out, not failing to notice Xiao fluster lightly.
“...Just keep walking.” Xiao says in irritation, though it’s not angry or truly upset in any way.
Venti laughs again, and they keep going.
On the way to the statue beneath the large tree, Aether wakes up halfway there. He lets out a sleepy yawn and stretches his small arms, squeaking when Venti lifts him in the air as he does so.
“You look as if you’re trying to fly, Aether!” Venti coos at the little stretch, Aether lets his arms fall and he looks down at Venti from where he’s held up, starting to squirm with his usual energy that comes very quickly to him no matter what age, it seems. “Perhaps you would like to actually fly? What do you think, Xiao?”
Xiao just looks up at Aether and sees the way that the boy’s eyes brighten a considerably large amount at the mention of flying.
He immediately crumbles, looking away from that excited face so he doesn’t die. “...”
“I take that as a yes!” Venti tosses Aether very gently into the air, catching him with his wind and carrying him through the air. It makes Aether giggle wildly, the boy letting out a squeal every time Venti tosses him in the air or drops him down suddenly and catches him again. The bard has a grand time making Aether laugh and Xiao…
Xiao is actually smiling. It’s small, but it’s there.
When Aether suddenly lands in the adepti’s arms, Xiao catches him easily and holds him tightly. He glances over to Venti while Aether still freely giggles in his arms, catching the bard’s stupidly smug look.
What was he so smug ab- oh.
Xiao’s smile instantly disappears and his face reddens, he looks away back to Aether who’s now staring at him with a big smile and hugging his arms around his neck.
He really can’t escape from this, can he?
Instead he just pouts, the adepti pouts. And he continues to walk forward, ignoring Venti and Aether’s quiet laughter.
When they arrive at one the statues of the seven, Xiao gently pries Aether off of his neck and sits him right at the bottom, he and Venti take a step back while Aether fidgets… Uncomfortably.
Then, as nothing happens, Aether’s eyes start to get watery and he raises his arms to be picked up again.
Shit, okay.
When Aether lets out a whine, Venti immediately reaches out with his wind, using it to get Aether into his arms quicker as he dashes forward and catches the boy. He holds him in a secure grip, turning to Xiao with a slight frown.
“Okay, so maybe it wasn’t actually the best idea.” Venti glances around the area once, not commenting when Xiao walks up and lays his hand on Aether’s head again. The boy sniffles but is able to calm down when held, he looks up at Xiao and Venti with a pout. The bard and adepti sigh in unison at the look given to them that says ‘don’t put me down again.’
“Okay. New plan. We tie up a mage and make them tell us what they did.” This gets two deadpan looks from Aether and Xiao, making Venti stick his tongue out at the two.
“Or. We simply wait for whatever spell that was cast on him to wear off. All spells that the mages cast are temporary, correct?” Xiao points out, but tilts his head at Venti’s grimace at his words. “What now?”
“Nothing- I’m sure that’s a good idea. The abyss order is just very tricky. Even if he’ll turn back on his own it may be a while.” Venti adjusts his grip on Aether who reaches up with a small hand and pats the bard’s cheek in reassurance. Venti snorts at that, booping Aether on the nose again and making him huff. “We can try talking to your adepti friends. Though, I do not think they like me very much.”
“...They tolerate you.” Xiao mumbles, taking Aether’s hand into his own and leaning forward when he hears a noise- Ah. That was definitely Aether’s stomach growling. “We should eat first.” The boy’s face goes a little red in embarrassment at being outed, but he does not let go of Xiao hand. He just hides his face in Venti’s chest, making the bard laugh softly.
“Of course. Perhaps we can wait until tomorrow before we approach your friends. Let the little traveler eat and relax for once in his life.” Venti coos down at the boy who just reacts by raising a hand and pinching Venti’s nose. Worth it.
“I…” Xiao debates with himself on the matter, already feeling odd not being near Liyue to protect it but… This…
This was actually nice. He’s never… Felt this relaxed before.
...
“...Sure.”
“Woohoo!” Venti cheers, “Finally dragging Xiao away from his STRESS! Let’s fucking go! We’re going to have so much fun.” The bard grabs Xiao’s hand before the adepti can back out of what he said and drags him along with a now giggling Aether.
For some reason, Xiao really can’t find it in himself to regret his decision.