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“Aether! Aether!” A voice yells out for the Traveler.
He bursts through the door of his bedroom to see the commotion, Paimon following close behind.
“Aether, come help!”
Downstairs, Aether can see his friend, Xinyan helping an unconscious person across the foyer.
“Is that… Childe?” Paimon points out.
Without hesitation, the star jumps down from the upper floor and lands perfectly before rushing over to help Xinyan.
“There’s stairs right there!” Paimon yells from the top.
He quickly lifts Childe’s other arm up and goes under it to lessen Xinyan’s burden of carrying the man. They both trudged their way towards the couch and carefully set him down so he’s laying down.
“God, you don’t wanna know how heavy he is…” The rockstar is hunched over, her hands on her knees as she regains her strength.
“Is he dead?” Paimon finally catches up to them and pokes Childe’s cheek. The man stirs but doesn’t wake up.
“No.” Xinyan stands up straight. “Just extremely drunk.”
“I thought he smelled a little like booze.” Aether crosses his arms, looking at the knocked out Harbinger up and down for any injuries. “I was afraid he got into a fight he couldn’t win.”
“You know a situation like that is impossible for someone like him.” She grins.
She glances between the blonde and Childe before leaning close to Aether with her hand held up to her lips.
“Sorry if this is a personal question.” She whispers. “But did the two of you break up?”
The star pulls away in shock. “What? No! What makes you think that?”
Xinyan puts her hands up. “Hey, I was just worried! He was downing those drinks like there’s no tomorrow. So I thought something bad must’ve happened between the two of you…”
Aether rubs his temples with one hand. “No, we didn’t break up. He probably drank too much because he thinks he has a higher tolerance than he actually does. Liyue’s liquor isn’t as strong as it is in Snezhnaya, so I have a feeling he might’ve underestimated them…”
“Oh… I’m glad you guys are still together! It’d be kinda awkward since both of you are good friends of mine...” She says, rubbing the back of her neck. “Well, I better be off then. I’m a little tipsy myself. I’ll leave big bro to you, Aether!”
“Stay safe, Xinyan.” He gives her an appreciative smile. “And thank you for bringing him here.”
Despite finding out about Childe’s actual occupation, Xinyan’s opinion of him didn’t change in the slightest. She still treated him the same way she did back in Inazuma. Though, it shouldn’t have come to a surprise. If there’s one person who wouldn’t judge a book by its cover, it’d be Xinyan.
“Of course! You never know what kind of trouble he could get himself into.” She beams. “Ah! And tell him not to worry about the bill when he wakes up.”
“You know he wouldn’t accept that.” Aether laughs. If there’s one thing the young man hates more is having someone else foot the bill for him. He would know.
“Well then he’ll just have to treat me to something else next time, yeah?” Xinyan gives a mischievous smile.
Aether shakes his head at the leaving woman before turning his full attention to the unconscious man on his couch.
“Well!” Paimon floats away. “He’s your problem now!”
“Always has been…” The star sighs.
He sits down next to Childe’s head before carefully lifting it up and scooching under it. He gently sets his head down onto his lap and runs his hand through his fluffy, red hair. He materializes a flask of cold water and gently pats his lover’s cheek.
“Hey.” Aether’s voice is quiet. “Wake up, sleepyhead.”
The man hums and stirs a little.
He leans down closer. “Ajax…”
Immediately his eyes flutter open and beautiful blue eyes peek under red lashes.
“Mm, Aether…?” His voice is croaky. His eyebrows furrow and his lips downturn. “Aether…”
“Hello.” Aether greets him with a smile. He brushes the man’s hair away from his face and cups his cheek gently. “How are you feeling?”
“Aether…” Ajax repeats himself. He uses both hands to grip Aether’s hand and leans into his touch while maintaining eye contact. “Hi Aether…”
“Hi.” The blond chuckles. It’s so unlike him to be this groggy after waking up.
His thumb caresses the man’s lightly freckled cheek and it causes him to close his eyes momentarily, as if to savour the touch.
“Sit up and drink, Ajax. I don’t want you getting a hangover the next day.” Aether says.
He feels Ajax shift on the couch. He wraps his arms around the star and struggles to pull him into an embrace. The young man whines when he couldn’t hug Aether properly.
“What are you up to?” He asks, gently pulling his boyfriend’s arms away from him.
Bad mistake.
Tears started to well up in Ajax’s eyes when he saw Aether trying to get away from his grasp. The Traveller’s heart felt like it broke into a million pieces. He didn’t mean to hurt his beloved, he just wanted to get him to sit properly.
“H-hey! Why are you crying?” He sets down the flask somewhere and uses both hands to hold Ajax’s face. “I’m sorry, my love. I didn’t mean to push you away.”
“Aether…” He pouts. “Do you love me?”
“Of course, I do! How could you ask me something like that?” As if the star was never obvious about it before. He cares for this young man too much.
“Say you love me, Aether.” Ajax insists. “Aether, tell me you love me.”
His boyfriend keeps repeating his name and begging to be loved. His arms are around his neck to make sure he doesn’t go anywhere. Aether’s face is completely red. He knew how clingy his boyfriend was but it was never to this extent.
“I love you, Ajax. You know I do.” He says.
He closes the gap between them and captures his beloved’s lips in his, just in case the confession wasn’t enough. That kept the man silent, but not for very long.
“Tell me you love me, Aether.” He was like a desperate broken record.
Aether can’t resist his urge to attack his beloved with a million kisses all over his face. Not an inch of skin is left unkissed, he makes sure of that. His lips touch every single part of the man’s handsome face. His pouting mouth, his cute nose, his squishy cheeks, his round eyes, his adorable forehead and along his soft and sweet jawline.
He could never do this when the man is sober since it embarrasses him to be smothered like that, but Ajax looks more than pleased to receive all this attention.
“I love you, Ajax.” He sighs, adoringly. “I love you, I really do. Now can you please sit properly and drink some water?”
Ajax goes quiet again. His big blue eyes staring holes into the star’s face. He was no longer on the verge of tears, but he was still pouting.
“Why’d you sigh?” He asks, tilting his head. “Am I annoying?”
The tears come back in a flash and Aether can hardly believe just how adorably fragile his lover is.
“You’re not annoying, Ajax.” He coos. “I love you. I love you so much, I can hardly contain it.”
Aether gently kisses both of Ajax’s teary eyes, holding his squishy cheeks in both hands. His heart might just explode a second time that night from how sweet his beloved is being. Other people might find this behaviour to be suffocating and tiring, but not for Aether. He would gladly give all his love and attention to this young man even if it were the death of him.
The blonde gives into his lover and lets this grown man entangle Aether in his limbs. Ajax had positioned himself so Aether is between his legs, barring him from ever leaving his hold.
“Seriously, just what are you up to, Ajax?” He can’t help but ask.
Ajax rubs his face deeper into Aether’s hair and tightens his grip around the star’s smaller shoulders. Aether was a sort of hugging pillow for the younger man whenever they shared a bed, so this wasn’t anything new.
“Aether…” His whining persists. “Love me, Aether… Tell me you love me…”
Aether bears in mind to never let Ajax drink without him around.