Chapter Text
Rain pelts mercilessly against the window of the sitting room, filling the quiet with soft white noise as Aether flips the page of his novel. The room is dimly lit by candlelight, the sun having long disappeared behind the horizon for the night; the candles fill the room with the scent of flowers as their wax slowly melts.
Aether snuggles deeper into the corner of his couch, reaching up with one hand to adjust the reading glasses perched on his nose. The quilt thrown over his legs is pleasantly warm and comforting in contrast to the raging thunderstorm outside—he hadn’t believed Xiao when he’d told him about how fearsome these Liyuen storms could become, but he’s starting to see it now as a crash of thunder directly overhead makes him jump in his seat.
Sighing softly, he slides a bookmark between the pages of his novel and sets it on the coffee table in front of him, frowning at the clock hanging on the opposite wall.
Xiao was meant to be home an hour ago. Normally, Aether wouldn’t worry about him disappearing for a few hours—he trusts Xiao to let him know if anything important comes up—but the mounting storm outside is starting to concern him.
“Did he get held up by the weather?” he wonders aloud, drawing his reading glasses off of his face and tucking them back into their case for the next time he’ll need them. Then he straightens himself up and peers out the window.
Aether should be able to see the harbor from this window, the ocean carrying ships from all corners of the world in to conduct their trade and say hello to friendly faces. The view had been one of the reasons why he’d bought the house in the first place; that, and the distance from the harbor. It’s not so close that they’re bothered by the big city noise, but not so far away that it would be difficult to make the trip down to shop or say hello to old friends.
With the dark clouds overhead and the rain obscuring his sight, however, he can’t make out the far-off buildings any longer. Pursing his lips, he briefly considers calling around to see if Xiao had gotten stuck in the city for some odd reason.
He gives a shake of his head. Xiao’s fine, he can take care of himself, he reminds himself, pushing aside his natural inclination to worry. Out of all the people Aether knows, Xiao is certainly one of the most competent and resilient. A simple storm is nothing to an adeptus who has fought and killed gods. When he thinks about it from that angle, his concern seems almost silly.
Still, that doesn’t stop him from perking up when he hears the jiggling of the front door’s knob, a sure signal that his partner has returned from his short trip to the harbor. He jumps to his feet, tossing his quilt to the side. “Xiao!” he calls, poking his head around the corner and into the foyer. “I was wondering when you were going to get back.”
Xiao kicks the door closed behind him, his arms filled with something Aether can’t see from this angle. “I apologize. I was… held up,” he responds with an odd sense of carefulness, like he’s treading on uncertain ground.
Aether frowns, coming around the corner fully to get a better look at his partner. Xiao’s soaked from his head down to his toes from the storm. He clicks his tongue and crosses the foyer to stand in front of Xiao, concern forming a furrow between his eyebrows. “You’re drenched,” he scolds. “Why aren’t you wearing your jacket?”
His gaze drops down to the bundle of fabric in Xiao’s arms—why bother carrying the coat around if he’s not going to wear it, anyway?—and pauses when he sees Xiao visibly tense. “Aether—” he starts, but any words he might be planning to say are cut off by Aether’s successive gasp.
Wrapped in the damp fabric of Xiao’s jacket is a baby, her face just barely visible around the makeshift swaddle.
The sight of her sends Aether’s heart dropping straight into his stomach. “Xiao, what is— when did you— where did you—”
“She’s an orphan,” Xiao says quickly, before Aether’s shocked mind can jump to any impossible conclusion. “I’m sorry I couldn’t warn you beforehand. Her mother passed away suddenly and her other family refuses to take her in.”
“An orphan?” Aether echoes quietly, his gaze dropping back down to the infant held so carefully in his partner’s arms. “That’s terrible… Why won’t her family take her?”
Xiao purses his lips, a look of hesitance passing over him for just a moment before he hooks his finger around the folded edge of his jacket and tugs it back to expose the baby’s head. When he does, he reveals a pair of tiny black horns just barely protruding from her wispy hairline, hardly more than stumps. “She is a halfling,” Xiao finally admits. “Her mother was mortal, but her father was an adeptus. I’m planning to take her to Zhongli as soon as I can; if her human family won’t take her, he may know someone who will.”
Tugging the jacket back up over the baby’s bare head, he adds, “I realize that this is sudden, but if I had not stepped in, she would have ended up in an orphanage with mortals who would not know how to take proper care of her. I had to… convince the Millelith to allow me to take her for the time being.”
Convince. The implications of Xiao’s hesitant word choice has Aether’s head spinning. “You mean you threatened them into letting you get away with it,” he realizes aloud. “You… You’re so lucky that you’re an adeptus, or they’d have had arrested you on the spot.”
Xiao frowns and opens his mouth to say something further, perhaps to defend his actions, but whatever he wishes to say is interrupted when the baby girl stirs and begins to cry, her loud wails disturbing the quiet atmosphere.
Xiao immediately freezes up with concern, but Aether is quick to act on his behalf. “Give her here,” he demands, tugging open Xiao’s jacket so he can pull the crying baby out from inside it. Her skin is worryingly cold to the touch when he brings her to his chest, rubbing her back up and down in hopes of coaxing some warmth back into her.
“Hang up that coat to dry and go change out of those wet clothes,” Aether urges, casting another glance in Xiao’s direction. “I’ll get her warmed up, the poor thing is freezing.”
Aether’s words instantly cause Xiao to relax. He nods his head in agreement, then leans forward to press a brief kiss to Aether’s forehead over his bangs. “Thank you,” he whispers with sincerity, then hastily disappears into his and Aether’s shared room to change into fresh clothes. Aether watches him go, a little surprised by his genuine thanks, then turns to leave.
The baby girl continues to cry as Aether crosses the foyer and ducks back into the sitting room. Holding her against his shoulder with one arm, he picks up his quilt from off the couch with the other and tugs it awkwardly around his shoulders so he can wrap both of them up in it. He makes gentle shushing noises as he does, hoping that the warmth and safety of another person will help to lessen her agitation somewhat.
After a few minutes, it begins to work, her fussy cries devolving into tired whimpers as she slowly relaxes against his chest.
It’s only once she’s finally settled again that Aether realizes that he doesn’t even know her name. Does she even have a name? From the looks of her, she’s at least a few months old, but if she does have one, Xiao hadn’t mentioned it. Shifting his grip, he turns the baby so she can lay in the crook of his arm instead, giving him a chance to sit down and get a proper look at her for the first time.
She’s small, he notices right away, even smaller than other infants her age would normally be. Not so small that he’s overly concerned, but petite nonetheless. She curls instinctively closer to Aether’s chest when she’s moved, her tiny hands balled up into fists beneath her chubby cheeks. She looks healthy, at least, which is a relief to see after everything Xiao has already told him. No doubt Xiao will have even more to say once they have a chance to properly sit down and talk, but right now, it’s clear to Aether that the safety of this child has to come first.
Lifting his hand, Aether brushes his fingers through the wispy hairs on the baby’s head. They catch the dim light in the room and reflect back aquamarine, vivid blue strands of hair that aren’t uncommon amongst the people of Teyvat but that catch Aether’s eye nonetheless. They shimmer between his fingers like droplets of ocean water, soft and new. He wonders which parent the color comes from.
The stubby little horns at her hairline are leathery to the touch, still soft and brittle as they continue to grow. Aether brushes his thumb over the tip of one with muted wonder.
He hasn’t been around a baby this young since Lumine’s daughter was born nearly two years ago. He’s thankful for all the practice being around her has given him as he tugs the quilt more securely around the infant and presses his warm palm against her back through the thin material of the onesie she’d come wearing.
As he does, the girl looks up into Aether’s face at last, eyelids blinking open to reveal a pair of beautiful silver-gray eyes underneath. They still look watery from her earlier crying, so Aether gently wipes away the tear tracks under her eyes, a smile coming to his face.
“Hi there,” he coos, relief washing over him at the sight of her wrinkled, confused expression. He can’t imagine what must be going through the mind of a person so small and fragile who’s just had what was left of their life pulled out from beneath them, but the fact that she looks fit and healthy despite her circumstances is something of a reassurance.
It’s then that the bedroom door opens again to reveal Xiao, a hand towel thrown over his head that he uses to dry his hair as he crosses the room to join Aether on the couch. “How is she?” he asks softly.
“She’s doing alright, I think,” Aether replies hesitantly, “but there’s so much about her and this situation that I just… don’t know. Like when the last time she ate was, for one.” He frowns. “I think I’ll give Lumine a call, see if she has anything leftover from Alena that we can borrow until we can talk to Zhongli.”
A flash of guilt passes over Xiao’s expression briefly, so quickly that Aether might not have caught it had he not been so accustomed to picking out the microexpressions that give away his thoughts. “There is no need for you to come with me,” he protests. “I’ve already involved you enough in a matter that isn’t related to you. Zhongli and I can figure something out, you don’t need to trouble yourself with—”
“It doesn’t matter if it’s troublesome,” Aether insists, cutting Xiao off before he can argue any further. “She needs help, and we have the means to help her. Since she’s part adeptus, you wanted to make sure she was taken care of by someone who would know how to treat her, right? That’s why you want to involve Zhongli, and it’s why you insisted on separating her from the Millelith.” He flashes Xiao a reassuring smile, leaning to the side to press their shoulders together fondly. “I trust your judgment. If this is what you think is best, then I want to help. Will you let me?”
Xiao sighs softly, but there’s an undeniable fondness in the helpless expression he wears. “You are impossible to dissuade,” he accuses, but he still leans into Aether’s touch regardless, his gaze drifting down to the quiet baby still held in his arms.
Aether laughs. “Yes, but you love me anyway,” he teases right back, his smile widening. The lighthearted moment sparks warmth in Aether’s chest, so he tilts his head up to press a kiss to the corner of Xiao’s jaw affectionately. “I’m going to give Lumine a call and see if she can bring over some of Alena old things,” he says, shifting to pass the baby girl back to Xiao. “Does she have a name?”
Though he looks a little hesitant, Xiao accepts the baby when Aether passes her to him. “Maren,” he replies, settling her into his arms with utmost care. “It’s a family name from her mother’s side.”
“Maren,” Aether echoes with a smile. “That’s a good name.”
Pushing himself to his feet, he heads into the kitchen so that he can call Lumine. Before he turns the corner, he looks back over his shoulder, wondering briefly if Xiao will be alright on his own. He still remembers how stiff and awkward he’d been after Lumine’s daughter was born, hesitant to even touch her for fear of somehow hurting her. Nearly two years have passed since then, and Xiao has gotten plenty more practice with children as they make visits back and forth to visit Lumine and her family, but Aether knows that he is still hesitant.
When he looks over his shoulder and sees the way Xiao attentively cradles Maren in his arms, leaned back on the couch casually, his worries disappear instantly. A smile breaks out on his face and his chest warms with affection at the sight of his notoriously distant partner looking so at home despite the circumstances. It does wonders to settle his nerves.
He ducks fully into the kitchen, trusting Xiao to take care of things while he makes the call to his sister. The wall phone, a relatively recent invention from Fontaine, had been a housewarming gift from Ajax and Lumine, given to them as an easy means to keep in touch and a direct line in case of an emergency, and Aether finds himself incredibly grateful for it as he dials her number from his memory and holds the receiver up to his ear.
It takes only a few seconds for Lumine to answer, her voice coming tinny over the speakers. “Aether?” she says, sounding surprised. “What’s up? It’s pretty late for you to be calling.”
“Hi, Lumine. Sorry to call so late,” he responds with a sigh. “I wouldn’t bother you if it wasn’t an emergency.”
“Emergency?” Lumine echoes, concern already flooding her tone. “What’s wrong? Is it Xiao? The storm out there isn’t causing any trouble, is it?”
Aether cracks a tiny smile. Lumine has always been the worrywart, especially since Alena’s birth had brought out her protective nature in full force. “Xiao is fine,” he assures her, “but something did happen tonight.” He pauses for a moment, feeling suddenly as a loss for words. How is he supposed to tell his sister that his boyfriend had decided to bring home a baby without telling him? There’s no way to drop such a bomb casually.
After debating quietly for a few long seconds, he finally settles on just coming right out for it. “Xiao brought home a baby girl whose mother died this evening,” he admits quietly. “A half-adeptus. He was worried the authorities wouldn’t know what to do with her, so he’s taking her to see Zhongli as soon as he’s back from his business trip, but in the meantime…”
He trails off awkwardly. Silence prevails on both ends of the line as Aether anxiously waits for his sister’s response. “Lumine?” he prods eventually, feeling a little nervous.
“What do you need me to do?” Lumine asks. Aether can hear the determination in her voice, and it makes him relax.
Part of him had been concerned that she would react strongly, maybe scold him for getting into a situation way out of his depth, so having her support is a weight off his shoulders. “I was hoping we could borrow some of Alena’s old things. Baby clothes, blankets, diapers, whatever you can find. Oh, and some formula, if you can spare any,” he lists off, wracking his brain for anything he can remember that a baby as young as Maren might immediately need.
“Give me twenty minutes and I’ll take the waypoint over,” Lumine says with conviction, so much so that it brings a fond smile to Aether’s face.
“Thank you, you’re the best,” he murmurs into the receiver. He casts a glance out the kitchen window and sees that the storm outside is still going strong, so he adds after a moment, “Be sure to bring an umbrella. The rain’s still coming down hard.”
On the other side of the call, Lumine laughs. “I will. See you soon,” she says, and promptly hangs up the call.
Aether lets out a breath and hangs the receiver back up on its pedestal, taking a moment to just stand and think. His night has gone from relatively mundane to never-in-his-life crazy in the span of a very short amount of time. He’s seen a lot of crazy things in his travels across Teyvat, and yet somehow this feels more daunting than a good deal of them.
One would think he’d be used to insane shit happening to him all the time, but really, he never learns to expect it.
He inhales a deep breath, holds it for a few seconds, then exhales it all at once. It does wonders to curb his anxious thoughts, speculations about the family Maren had come from and what awaits her in the very near future calmed just a bit by the simple motion.
Once he feels a little calmer, he slips back out of the kitchen quietly. He can still hear the sound of the rain pounding against the roof of the house and the big sitting room windows, but there’s another sound in the air now, one that makes Aether pause in an attempt to place it.
It sounds… a bit like a cat’s purr, a vibrating noise that his ear hardly catches over the noise of the storm outside.
Confused, his gaze falls once more on Xiao. He’s still propped up on the couch the way he’d been when Aether had left him, but he’s relaxed a bit more into the seat, and he’s shifted the way he holds Maren now. He has her splayed out on his chest, her tiny head tucked beneath his chin and Aether’s quilt pulled up to cover her back.
Aether stares. There’s something ethereal about witnessing this quiet, content moment, something that nearly brings tears to his eyes before he has the chance to fight them back. He blinks a few times, dumbstruck. Xiao looks unequivocally peaceful , his eyes half-closed as he gently holds the tiny infant to his chest.
It’s only then that Aether realizes that the source of the purring noise is Xiao himself. He takes a few steps across the room, feeling a bit awestruck as he approaches the dozing pair. He’s never heard Xiao make such a sound before, not in all the years he’s known him. It’s… kind of adorable, if he’s being honest. A smile creeps onto his face at the sight of it, fondness blooming warm in his chest. “How are you doing that?” he asks, his voice lowered to a whisper as though speaking too loudly will disturb the fragile peace Xiao has managed to foster.
The sound cuts out as Xiao lifts his head to meet Aether’s gaze. Aether swears he catches a hint of an embarrassed blush creeping up to the tips of his ears, though he chooses not to comment on it. “She started to become upset shortly after you left,” he explains. “I have seen a handful of adepti produce this kind of sound for their offspring. It is a soothing noise, meant to help a fussy child fall asleep or offer them comfort.” He clears his throat awkwardly and averts his gaze from Aether’s, uncertain. “It was the first thing I could think of to help.”
Aether’s grin widens, the corners of his eyes crinkling with endearment. He can’t help but count himself lucky that he is the one who gets to see this side of Xiao, the repressed part of him that still harbors his long-buried nurturing instincts. “You’re amazing,” he murmurs unabashedly, tipping his head down to lean it against Xiao’s shoulder. His hip nudges against Xiao’s as he does, the proximity comforting him.
This time, Xiao really does blush, the color traveling up his neck and onto his cheeks prettily. “I did not do anything that someone else could not have done themself,” he insists, a weak attempt at deflecting praise off of himself despite how clearly pleased he is by it.
“I stand by what I said.” With an amused smile, Aether adds, “Lumine will be over soon with some supplies. Just enough to last until the storm passes and the stores reopen.”
Xiao gives an assenting nod of is head. “We can go in the morning,” he suggests. “Zhongli will not return to the parlor until late in the afternoon, so there will be time in between when Lumine arrives and when we will be able to see him.”
Aether hums to show he’s heard, letting his gaze fall to Maren, peacefully asleep against Xiao’s chest. She’s so small , so reliant on the people around her to take care of her, and he can’t help but want to protect her.
Evidently, Xiao feels the same, and the more Aether thinks about it, the less shocked he feels. Xiao’s always been the protective type, quick to come to the defense of anyone who might require it. For most of his life, that had meant slaying demons that would otherwise become a threat to human lives, but now, with his focus shifting slowly away from the lessening demon threat and more toward the peaceful life he and Aether have built on the fringes of the harbor, it’s not so surprising that his nature would express itself in ways like this instead.
Especially since the baby he’d taken in is part adeptus. A baby girl, the product of a relationship between an adeptus and a human—it’s a relationship not unlike the one that he shares with Aether. Briefly, Aether wonders if that fact had played a role in his decision and decides that it must have. He can’t imagine the Xiao that Aether had first met willingly going out of his way to shelter a child like this, but Xiao has proven to him time and time again that he has a bigger heart than most, especially when it comes to matters close to him like this one.
“We’ll make sure she goes to someplace she’ll be taken care of,” Aether says firmly. “It’s the least we can do.”
Xiao casts him a grateful glance in response, his shoulders falling just a bit as the last of the tension slips out of him. He wordlessly nods his agreement, resting his hand gently over Maren’s back as she sleeps.
Undoubtedly things will become much more complicated once Lumine arrives. Aether is already anticipating a sleepless night ahead of him, but for now he does his best to relax, letting the peaceful atmosphere soothe him while he awaits his sister’s arrival.