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The nighttimes of the adeptal realms hidden away from mortal eyes are often quite a spectacle, Xiao thinks. In his lifetime he has been in many a realm and seen many a spectacle, but the sight of a night sky infused with the power of the adepti is something he thinks he will never get used to.
He gazes upon one now from within the warm confines of Aether’s mansion, hidden in his teapot realm. The inky sky is alight with hues of blue and purple, shining constellations dancing around the white specks of countless little galaxies. The unyielding beauty of the stars dominates the airspace, nothing untouched by their radiance. Xiao almost feels the urge to compare himself and Aether to the light stars pitched against the empty void of space.
Almost. He’s not quite tired enough for that yet.
Xiao peels his eyes from the window granting him the wondrous view, shifting them to the body beside him. Aether lies spread out along his side of the bed in a way that reminds Xiao of an eagle shot from the sky – no two limbs are bent in the same direction. His hair is splayed out around his head similarly to the halo of an angel, having been taken out of its usual braid and leaving steady, gentle waves in its wake. The loose shirt he wears has ridden up, exposing a little less of Aether’s midriff than his everyday-clothes typically do, but Xiao still feels his face warm at the sight of the traveller’s relaxed, toned stomach. His legs are hidden beneath the blankets (that he has stolen) but Xiao knows where they are nonetheless; the outline of one teeters critically close to the edge of the bed while the weight of the other is heavy over Xiao’s own legs.
Aether’s face is lax, jaw open just enough for his breaths to be audible. There’s no frown marring his eyebrows, no strain on his jaw, no grinding teeth; he’s entirely relaxed, and Xiao doesn't know if he’s supposed to be appreciative of such vulnerability or if he should reprimand the traveller for being so carefree in dangerous company. He defaults to the former, however, when a chill runs down his spine as he remembers the way Aether had chided him at the closure of their adventure in the Chasm; their long talk about his less-than-prosocial habits and his reclusive nature left him reluctantly at the traveller’s mercy – and under a severely watchful eye.
That memorable little chat is what led to Xiao’s unseemly presence in Aether’s bed. The previous day, Aether had stormed up to Xiao as he idled in Wangshu Inn and ardently demanded a report on his sleep schedule. After receiving the offering Xiao had essentially bullied Aether out of (“Have you no respect for the adepti, to just barge in and throw odd questions in my face?”) he relented, and recited to the traveller a variation of his favourite phrase – adepti need no sleep. Aether had released an ever-suffering sigh so heavy Xiao felt a trickle of guilt, and he was hard-pressed to deny the traveller when he so gently asked Xiao to try and rest with him tonight, because, “If not for your sake, then for mine?”
In spite of Aether’s borderline manipulation, Xiao finds that sleep continues to elude him; when one goes so long without something, they adapt to no longer need it. It isn’t that Xiao’s forgotten how to sleep point blank – he’s just forgotten how to need to sleep. He had admitted as much to Aether when they prepared for nightfall, permissing himself a moment of sensitivity to voice his worries. Aether had been quick to stamp out his concerns with stern but reassuring words, and Xiao thinks his heart might still be pounding from the nerves the moment had accumulated.
Thinking about the mental strain it took is enough in itself to tire Xiao out a little, reminiscing on the stir of overwhelming emotions that had been brought on; how horribly open he felt as he admitted his fear of what might happen to Liyue in his absence; how confused he felt when Aether told him it’s okay to be worried and to feel what you’re feeling, you’re allowed to feel like this; how his confusion doubled when Aether followed up with I care about you and worry about you so I want to help you overcome your fears – I want you to rest easy; the flood of relief when a solid, calm hand gripped his shoulder for comfort; and then the terrifying warmth he felt when Aether told him of his purifying ability and the nullifying effect it had on Xiao’s karma.
That same warmth, that refreshing and foreign sensation, returns to him as he recalls, his eyelids drooping under the sudden onset of serenity. The yaksha casts one last look at the man beside him, deciding to ponder his emotions another time, then lets his eyes slip shut. The nice warmth in his stomach paired with his slackened muscles makes it much easier to settle into the perfect sleepy state, and it isn’t long before he’s pushed into semi-consciousness.
But, just as his breathing starts to deepen, just as sleep sinks its sharp claws into his mind, Xiao is returned to awareness by the distinctly unique feeling of something scuttling across his thigh.
No time wasted, Xiao hurls himself upright and instinctively kicks his leg, harshly throwing his right hand to the side to summon his polearm. He ignores his other hand smacking Aether’s chest in his scramble for purchase, focusing on preparing himself for an unsightly intruder.
What was that? he belatedly questions, eyes groggily flicking around the bed. A glance at Aether shows the man still resting in a peaceful sleep beside him, so Xiao rules him out. The bed sheets are all black, and the shadows cast by the moonlight don’t help Xiao’s already limited search even with his exceptional senses. The polearm thrums with energy in his hand, poised in the air above the bed, waiting. Xiao holds his breath while he searches his environment for anything out of the ordinary.
A minute of nothingness ticks by, and Xiao is just beginning to rethink his worth as a great adeptus when he notices something big and black, moving to relocate itself on the bare skin of his foot.
Xiao yelps aloud at the contact, at the feeling of eight spindly legs darting towards his ankle. In his fright, the spear falls from his hand – not his proudest reaction to a crisis – and he reaches for the pillow behind his head, taking one hard swing at the black mass on his foot. It falls uselessly to the floor, so Xiao carefully crawls to the edge of the bed to cautiously peer at where it landed; the beast isn’t on his foot anymore, but, when he checks, it also isn’t on the floor or the side of the pillow facing him. The brave and mighty Conqueror of Demons, Liyue’s very own Vigilant Yaksha, slowly leans down to pinch a corner of the pillowcase between his thumb and forefinger. He lifts it just enough for the pillow to spin in the air, and for Xiao to see that the beast is nowhere to be found.
So, the beast isn’t on his foot, it’s not on the pillow, and it’s not on the floor. But Xiao hit it with the pillow, which is now on the floor, and his foot was over the edge of the bed when he hit the beast so it can’t possibly still be on the bed. Therefore, by the processes of elimination and deduction, it’s hidden under the bed. Content with the knowledge that the beast is sufficiently frightened of him, Xiao reclines back, dropping the pillow to flump to the floor again because he will not sleep on such a contaminated item.
But the battle isn’t won.
A movement in the corner of his eye catches his attention as he’s lying down. He sits back up so fast his spine cracks, eyes narrowing into slits as he tries to distinguish the shadows from the monster. A solid thirty seconds of inspection gives way to absolutely nothing, and Xiao considers the likelihood of him actually hallucinating before resuming his return to repose.
He should have learnt his lesson the first time.
The second he drops his guard, the beast bolts across Aether’s bed sheets from between the folds and towards Xiao’s legs with a vengeance. He hears it more than he sees it, the tiny scrambling sound reaching his ears first, but the moment he does see it, all of his previous fight returns. An undignified sound escapes his throat, one he will most definitely deny later, as the little invertebrate monster scampers towards him. Xiao kicks the sheets out of reflex, intentionally creating little folds to trap the fiend. Intentionally. With tact. Yeah.
When the beast is out of sight, out of mind, he pushes himself back until his body is flush with the headboard, clawed nails at the ready. He fails to realise that, in his rapidity, he has scratched right into Aether’s forearm.
“... Xiao?” Aether’s raspy, tired voice whispers. Under any other circumstances Xiao might have found himself flustered by the gravelly tone, but now is not the time to be overcome by something so redundant.
“Aether,” Xiao hisses, “there is a beast in your bed.”
Aether’s honey eyes look at him with incredulity. Yes, Xiao supposes, he must be quite the sight – a prideful adeptus curled up at the headboard, cowering into the other occupant of the bed with his shackles very much raised and nails very much sharp – but really, now is no time to be confused!
“A... a beast?” Aether repeats, voice loud.
“Quiet!” Xiao frantically presses a finger to the traveller’s lips. Aether watches with wide eyes as Xiao’s head turns quickly to glare at a vacant spot on the bed. “Do not disturb it, lest you wish it to attack.”
“What is happening?” mumbles Aether around Xiao’s finger.
“I just told you,” Xiao snarls, head twisting back to turn his glare on him. “There is a… fiend in your bed.”
“Fiend?” Aether asks as he sits up, rubbing his eyes while his hair pools around his shoulders. “What are you talking about, Xiao?”
“A spider,” Xiao elaborates, shuddering. “Be careful of your hair, it might creep into it.”
Aether absent-mindedly runs a hand through the mussed-up tresses. “A spider? Are you sure?”
“Yes,” snaps Xiao. “Go and turn the light on so I can see it.”
“Where is it?” Aether asks instead, swivelling his body to face Xiao's side of the bed, looking for the vile creature.
“Go and turn the light on so I can see it.”
Aether sighs, but accedes. “It’s just a spider, Xiao,” he says as he swings his legs over the side of the bed. “They’re everywh—”
“Stop, no, don’t move!” Xiao tugs Aether back by his shoulders so the traveller collides into his chest, oddly frantic for someone so capable and decidedly fearless. “You might rustle the sheets if you move, which might provoke it to attack. Stay here.”
“You just told me to turn the light on,” Aether grouches from beneath Xiao’s chin, then gasps. “Oh, Archons. Xiao, are you afraid of spiders?”
“E— excuse me?” Xiao sputters in indignation, thrusting Aether away. The traveller sits up to face him, grinning wickedly. “How dare you accuse me of such a trivial fear? I am not afraid of spiders. It… It attacked me, Aether.”
“Attacked you, huh?” The grin becomes an evil, evil smirk – Aether seems to be having the best day of his life. “What, did it climb over your little tootsies?” He pats Xiao’s foot for good measure.
“Aether,” Xiao warns. “It did. It was on my thigh and then my foot. I did not give it permission to be in those places.”
Aether chuckles at him, shaking his head. “Well, if it’s still in the sheets then the best thing we can do is change them out. Even if it’s—” he checks the clock on his bedside table, “—3:50 in the morning."
“No,” Xiao denies breathily. There’s a hint of something new, something Aether hasn’t heard in Xiao’s voice before that has him turning back to frown at the adeptus. Xiao isn’t looking at him anymore, though, alternatively staring at something by the corner of the bed. “Look.”
Aether looks. There’s a miniscule movement, and a spider no bigger than Paimon’s hand pops out of the ruffled sheets.
“Is that it?” Aether asks, making to get up. “Well, now I can—”
He pauses when Xiao raises a hand. “Wait, it’s...”
Xiao trails off, and Aether turns his gaze on the spider instead. He observes as the spider turns in place slowly, very slowly, until it faces Xiao dead-on with all eight of its eyes. Complete silence reigns, undisturbed even by the outside ambience of nature. Aether flits between Xiao and the spider several times, trying to make sense of their impromptu staring contest, but Xiao doesn’t say anything, so Aether doesn’t ask. He sighs, wondering how his peaceful night with his adeptus could be ruined by something so undeniably stupid.
Nothing happens for what feels like hours, until there’s an almost undetectable shift in the atmosphere. Aether and Xiao share a glance, and it’s as though Celestia falls the minute their attention is diverted.
The spider takes Xiao’s brief lapse in concentration to attack and literally everything happens at once. It scrabbles across the bedsheets at what Xiao will later describe as an inhuman speed, targeting him with clear malintent. Save for a surprised inhale, the adeptus makes no noise as he launches himself from the bed, taking Aether down with him. The traveller laments his unfortunate positioning on the bed just as Xiao crashes into him, then groans as his back hits the wooden floor with Xiao roughly planting himself on his chest. His arms flail awkwardly as the yaksha stills, hands stationed tightly on Aether’s shoulders and his head turned to watch the bed in trepidation. Aether opens his mouth to say something, perhaps to request Xiao move from their compromising pose, but whatever his words were going to be instead come out as garbled gibberish when Xiao’s hips suddenly jerk. He finally drops his hands on top of Xiao’s thighs, effectively capturing the yaksha’s attention; Xiao turns to regard him, an eyebrow raised and no doubt preparing to jab at Aether’s hand placement, but a blush burns his cheeks as it registers that he’s groping the man trapped beneath him. Gracefully, the adeptus slides off to crouch beside the traveller’s prone body in a mightily similar fashion to that of a cat while he busies himself with continuing the search.
Aether breathes in, then out, then rises stiffly. He surveys his bedroom with a new-found dedication and eagerness to go back to sleep. The duvet covers have been shoved completely onto Aether’s side in Xiao’s frantic search; Xiao’s pillow lies innocuously on the floor at the foot of the bed; the bed sheets have been pulled from the corners of the mattress and Aether can already feel the headache he’ll have to endure trying to fix that later; Xiao himself remains crouched to his right, but his shoulders have fallen just barely and his skin tone seems to have dropped a shade. They make eye contact, and Aether dreads the words he just knows are about to come out of the yaksha’s mouth.
“I... I lost it.”
Aether’s eye twitches. “Where...” he drags a hand over his face, “where did you last see it?”
Xiao hesitates. “... On—”
“If you say you last saw it on the bed, I’m going to force it down your throat when I find it.”
Xiao’s lips press together tightly, forming a thin line.
The traveller groans, getting to his feet harshly. He rakes his fingers through his hair, untangling the tousles caused by his and Xiao’s tumble. Xiao follows him, albeit nervously, into a standing position, watching the back of his head before glancing back to the bed.
“Go downstairs, Xiao,” Aether commands, tired and feeling particularly sleep-deprived. “We’ll sleep on the sofa or something. It’s too early to be searching for a spider.”
Xiao nods and hurriedly exits the bedroom, a testament to how shaken he must be if he isn’t spewing something about Aether having no respect with his demands. With one last forlorn glance at his comfy bed, Aether follows Xiao downstairs, socked feet thudding sadly against the wooden boards.
The adeptus sits rigid and quiet on one end of Aether’s sofa in the living room, keeping still even when Aether sits next to him. The way Xiao’s hands tightly grip the loose material of his trousers almost has Aether feeling bad for his short temper.
For what must be the millionth time that night, Aether sighs. He shifts so he’s facing Xiao, who stares so fiercely at the wall ahead of him Aether worries he might burn holes in it, and prepares to tell Xiao he isn’t mad, that it’s okay, but once again is stopped short as Xiao opens his own mouth to undoubtedly make Aether’s night that little bit worse.
“What...” Xiao swallows, refusing to look at the traveller by his side. “What if it... followed us...?”
Aether stares in disbelief. He has to take a moment to actually process what Xiao has just asked him. His brain melts a little with the effort.
“... What?” Aether whispers. It’s the only answer his now-smoothened brain can supply as he watches the adeptus’ side-profile.
Xiao finally looks at him. He seems to take in Aether’s absolute bewilderment, amber eyes honing on his parted lips and blown eyes. “I said, what if—”
“I know what you said,” Aether stops him, disregarding Xiao’s affronted glare at being interrupted. “Just... why do you think it’d follow us?”
“Aether, it’s a sentient brute!” Xiao tells him, discordant, as though it might be taboo.
“Xiaooooo,” Aether whines, collapsing back against the sofa, raising his hands to cradle his face. “It’s a spider, it can’t hurt you or sniff you out like a dog or whatever other insane idea you have going through your head.”
“You don’t know that,” snaps Xiao, crossing his arms and pointedly turning back to glare at the wall, chin held high.
“Yes, I do,” Aether insists through his palms. “They’re harmless, Xiao, especially to someone like you.”
Xiao scoffs. “No creature that requires eight legs and eight eyes to function is harmless.”
Aether lets his hands fall to his lap. “I can’t believe the mighty Vigilant Yaksha, Guardian of Liyue, is well and truly scared of spiders.”
The yaksha’s neck clicks with the speed at which he levels his glower on Aether. “I am not afraid of spiders. They’re… they’re sadists!”
“Sadists,” Aether repeats mildly.
Xiao scowls at him. “You saw it, Aether. It knew it was distressing me. It was deliberately trying to put me in despair.”
Aether blows out a puff of air. “Xiao, spiders don’t get joy from scaring people. They’re just looking for places to live. There’s probably loads in the house elsewhere. Hells, there might even be a couple under this sofa.”
The adeptus squints, defiantly pulling his legs up to his chest as though worried Aether may have manifested a spider under the sofa into existence. “They should stay outside so they can all perish. They are a stain on Morax’s creations. No-one would miss them.”
Aether can’t help the slightly insane snicker that slips out. “Morax tell you that?”
Xiao says nothing.
A fond smile creeps onto Aether’s face, despite his initial aggravation. “Come on, Xiao, I’ll deal with it in the morning. Now let’s go to sleep like you promised me you would.”
They fall into a comfortable silence as Xiao rests his chin on his knees, seemingly intent on sleeping in his protective ball, and Aether lets his head fall back against the sofa. The calamity dies down until tranquility is all that remains in the atmosphere, and even the dust particles seem to settle with the two. Aether hears sleep calling his name the way it did just hours ago, allows it to serenely wrap its arms around his body and pull him under. He’s right on the precipice of consciousness and unconsciousness when he feels a tap on his shoulder, so light he barely registers the touch. He opens one eye blearily to look at Xiao, hoping maybe the yaksha has overcome his pride and might ask to cuddle—
“... Will you kill it once you find it?”
Aether barely stifles his grumble. He opens his other eye and straightens up inelegantly, turning to Xiao to tell him no, he won’t kill a harmless spider and please for the love of the Archons go to sleep, Xiao—
The words are gone as soon as his eyes meet their mark. Xiao persists, curled up in a protective little ball with his head turned so that his ear rests on his knees. His hair falls over his head – it looks thicker than Aether has ever seen it, and he’s overcome with the desire to ruffle and play with it. Light rouge paints the top of his cheeks, and Archons his eyes. They glisten, shining and bright like a young child’s when they ask their parents for something they know they aren’t allowed to have.
Puppy-dog eyes, Aether realises. He wonders if Xiao knows what he’s doing, because even if he doesn’t, it’s working.
Unable to say no, but unwilling to give in so easily, Aether takes a page out of Zhongli’s book – he negotiates: “I’ll kill it if you go to sleep.”
“Do not take me for a fool, Aether,” Xiao mumbles, still looking at him with those earnest eyes.
“I’m not,” Aether promises. “If you get in at least an hour of sleep tonight, I’ll kill it for you in the morning.”
“I do not trust your word.”
Aether is far too tired to take offence. “Xiao...”
“Swear it to me, without negotiation. Then I will consider negotiation.”
“... I don’t think what you just said makes sense—”
“It does. If you want me to do as you say—”
“Xiao, how am I supposed to negotiate without negotiating—”
“I just want to be sure that—”
Aether is reaching his limit. He extends a hand to slap it over Xiao’s mouth, speaking before the adeptus can insult him for his insolence. “Xiao, honey, baby, sweetheart, go to sleep.”
He takes no notice of Xiao’s astounded and muffled “Sweetheart?” and yanks the adeptus out of his ball into his lap. Xiao’s head bounces gently as it hits Aether’s thighs, and he makes a strangled sound as Aether roughly strokes his hair out of his face.
“Shhhhh.” Aether leans his head back once again. “Go to sleep.”
“Mmnf–?!”
“Hush little baby, if you’d be so kind,” Aether sings in a moment of depravity, doubling down the force on Xiao’s hair, “please go to sleep, lest Aether lose his mind.”
Xiao glares, giving a little hmph! beneath Aether’s hand before relaxing in the traveller’s hold. All becomes still as Xiao lays unmoving in Aether’s grasp. After the excitement of the night, he doesn’t think he’ll be able to sleep after all, but he keeps the thought to himself because he’s just started to value his life. Instead, he lifts a hand, taking two of his fingers and tapping the hand Aether still holds over his mouth, signalling for him to remove it. The traveller does, dropping it at his side, but he leaves his other hand in Xiao’s hair to continue stroking it at a moderate, non-violent pace. Xiao hums quietly, evidently finding this acceptable, and shuts his eyes.
It doesn’t take long for the hand to slow to a total halt on his head as Aether falls back asleep, snoring quietly. When Xiao looks, Aether’s whole neck is bared and his chin is the only part of his face visible from his low position. Briefly, the adeptus ponders whether he should adjust the traveller to save him from a painful crick in his neck, but decides that the risk of jostling him awake is far too high and perilous.
Resolutely, Xiao comes to terms with staring at the ceiling for the next few hours until Aether inevitably wakes up or kicks Xiao off in his sleep. But even so, with a warm hand heavy on his head, Xiao can’t seem to complain.
Yes, he thinks, perhaps this isn’t so bad.