Work Text:
Aether shoved a whole sandwich on his mouth, before putting his sneakers on. Lumine sighed, stirring her piping hot coffee. "Yeah, Aether, keep on waking up late." She sneered, jabbing a finger to his direction.
"Please Lumine, I'm literally late for my work," he pouted, putting the other sneakers on. Lumine rolled her eyes, then sipped on her coffee.
"Not my fault."
Aether groaned, "yeah, yeah, bye!" He waved goodbye, before running off outside. He fixed his braid along the way, while fellow neighbors kept on greeting him.
"Ooh, Aether! Late again? HAHAHAHAHA—" Aether pushed the remaining half of his sandwich to Venti's loud mouth. Zhongli snorted beside them.
"...I didn't mean to laugh." He stated, clearing his throat before looking away. Venti glared at him, pouting. "I know you did!"
Ei sighed. "Just go, Aether. These two will just keep stalling you." She pushed Venti and Zhongli back inside their house, waving Aether goodbye.
Aether blinked, running back. Then suddenly, Hu Tao greeted him, a sleeping Qiqi on her back. Aether tossed her a haunted look.
"What did you do to her?!" He exclaimed, attempting to take Qiqi away from her. Hu Tao stuck out a tongue, avoiding him.
"Don't worry! She fell asleep! So I took it as my responsibility to take her to Baizhu! Speaking of Baizhu, tsk. I hate that guy," Hu Tao groaned. Aether sighed in relief.
"Are you sure? If you're lying…"
"Aether! Why are you looking at me that low?" Hu Tao pouted, crossing her arms. She sighed, "But I'm telling the truth!"
They stopped after hearing the bell rang, signaling that it's noon. Aether cursed, bidding her goodbye.
He's really late!
He bets he looks really haggard. Aether glanced around, finding a mirror. He didn't find anything, but he noticed an unfamiliar car parked in a sideway.
The only ones who have a car are Ningguang, Lumine's annoying boyfriend— Childe, and Jean. Ugh! Anyways, he needs to look presentable!
Aether can see his reflection on the window, which is perfect! And it doesn't seem that someone is inside so the gods must be in his favor tonight!
He sneaked to the car, and checked himself out. First, he knocked on the window. No one responded, except for the alarm. His eyes widened, shrieking a bit. When the alarm calmed down, he tiptoed closer.
Aether can see his reflection on the window, which is perfect! And it doesn't seem that someone is inside so the gods must be in his favor tonight!
He first stuck out a tongue, puffed his cheeks or pouted, and unbraided his hair. He let his golden hair flow down his shoulders gracefully, and messed it slightly. Aether grinned in satisfaction, before fluttering his eyes.
"Hmm… how messy! If only Lumine was here," he bit his lip. Aether shook his head, "nevermind! I'll just do it myself!"
Aether picked up the hair tie on the car roof, and began to braid his hair. He first divided his hair into three parts, and tried to put it together.
He stared at his masterpiece , which is not. It looks really messy! If only he could braid his hair nicely just like Ei or Shenhe or even Venti! He sighed, then took off his braid again.
"Again! Let's repeat!"
Aether repeated the first steps, then took his time to braid the divided hair. He braided it slowly, with a bated breath, and with total concentration.
"Ooh! Looks better!" He exclaimed, leaning closer to look at the braid he made. Aether turned side by side to check how his braid looks in both angles, and smiled.
"Indeed better!"
Aether then proceeded to widen his smile, checking his teeth. He ran his tongue on his teeth, and laughed like a maniac. "Feels better. I bet Lumine would scold me," he grinned.
He pulled back, then twirled around, checking his uniform. Aether gasped, "is that a stain? I bet Lumine messed this up!" He huffed.
Aether leaned closer to the window again, checking the stain on the collar of his white shirt. He inclined his head to look at the stain. His collarbones are shown, trying to check the yellow stain.
"Oh no! It's Paimon's watercolor!" He shrieked, attempting to remove the stain.
It's slowly disappearing… Only a little push! He can do this! Thank god her watercolors are waterproof! There's no water around, but it's fine! Just a little more… and…
The window suddenly pulled down, revealing an amused face of a teal-haired handsome man.
—
Xiao had a bad day. Had . He rested his back on the backseat, closing his eyes to sleep.
Until he suddenly heard a loud knock. He groaned, the same time as the alarm rang aloud. Xiao heard a shriek and a footstep before he decided to look outside to observe the culprit.
Xiao's frowning face disappeared in just a blink when he saw the wide, pleased smile of the culprit. It's… almost contagious.
He kept his face blank, waiting for the next actions of the culprit. But what he did is not what he expected.
He expected a bat, crashing his window and took all of his belongings while laughing maniacally as he ran away.
He did not expect a tongue. He didn't expect the culprit to stick out a tongue, and a tiny giggle. And if that wasn't shocking enough, the next thing he did made Xiao intrigued and amused, a little.
He unbraided his clean braid, and messed it up. He ruffled his hair like a madman, while Xiao heard a bang on the roof. He later realized that he just put his hair tie on his roof.
He can't hear what he's saying, but by the look on his face, it sounds like he's complaining. Xiao decided to observe him more, not realizing the small, fascinated smirk on his face.
Xiao blushed a little when the culprit fluttered his eyes prettily, paired with a beautiful smile. He can't deny that the culprit is indeed good-looking, anyone with an eye could see that.
He averted his gaze, before looking once more. For some reason, he can't stop himself. He can just leave him alone, let him fix himself, and rest. After all, the culprit is not even creating a noise.
The culprit divided his long, golden hair into three parts, then braid it. Xiao could tell that he rushed it, because he observed his hand movements. And Xiao noticed that he frowned, before he unbraided his hair again.
Xiao watched, amused by the various expressions that the guy is showing. His expressions are entertaining enough, what more about him?
This time, Xiao observed that he took his time. The braid is indeed better this time. He let out a little snort, shaking his head fondly.
Xiao's eyes widened slightly after the culprit leaned closer, allowing Xiao to take a closer look at his face. Xiao rolled his eyes, but was unable to take his gaze off.
He proceeded to watch him. From what he observed, this guy is a clumsy one. And an unsuspecting type. Xiao observed him with a little smile, but it disappeared when he turned around.
Xiao averted his gaze. It's just a random young man checking how he looks. Why would he feel embarrassed?
So he directed his gaze closely. But his cheeks and ears quickly reddened when the culprit unbuttoned their collar, revealing his fair and smooth neck.
Unable to take the temptation , Xiao calmed himself first before pulling down the car window.
Their eyes met.
—
Aether's eyes widened, before he froze on the spot. He immediately pulled away, waving his hands. "Oh. My. God. I'm… so sorry! I triggered the alarm, and I knocked on the door rather loudly and… and… I…" he trailed off, biting his nails.
Someone saw him! Someone watched him do all those weird rituals he does whenever he's going somewhere! What now what would he do next this is so embarrassing and they probably saw his neck—
"I'm so, so, sorry! I didn't mean to knock on your car that loud and I probably disturbed you when I banged the car roof probably that loud and I—"
"Calm down."
Aether paused, but he felt like he's still very guilty.
He proceeded to take a closer look at the car owner, and…
Oh no he's hot.
Dark teal hair is framing his face, his golden eyes— similar to a cat's is staring at Aether so curiously. A small purple diamond dot on his forehead makes him a lot cuter and hotter.
That just makes it triple times embarrassing— no, a billion times embarrassing! First time that he did something embarrassing, a girl avoided him for a year.
"You're fine." Mr. car owner stated calmly. If Aether's eyes are not tricking him, he's going to assume that Mr. car owner is laughing at him before he pulls down the window.
"Eh? Thank you— I mean no! I need to pay you back! Do you need me to do something? An errand? If you don't know, I'm a known errand boy in our neighborhood!" Aether huffed proudly, puffing his chest.
Speaking of errands… "Oh no. My first day at work is today! And I'm late!" He exclaimed, buttoning his collar.
Aether gave him a smile, before turning around.
—
"You did say that you'll do anything I asked you for, right?" Xiao stated before the culprit walked too far. He let out a small smirk as he paused to peek at him.
"Oh? That's not it… Yes! That's right! Everything you want! I could be your driver, your maid?" The culprit enumerated, before giving Xiao a teasing smile. He winked. "Or could be yours?"
Xiao bit his lip. Preventing a smile from slipping out. He tried really hard to tone down the flushing of his cheeks.
Xiao cleared his throat, "I want to know your name."
"It's Aether! You? How about you? And please ignore that joke earlier. I don't mean it but I mean it too…" Aether supplied, scratching his cheek.
"Xiao."
Aether's eyes lit up, then walked closer. He extended his palm towards Xiao, "Nice to meet you, Xiao!"
Xiao accepted his hand.
Also, Xiao wonders why he called Aether a culprit in the first place. He's indeed the culprit for triggering the alarm and for disturbing his rest.
But is it also because that Aether might be the one and only culprit responsible for stealing his heart?
.