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If someone had asked Aether to describe the Wanderer's personality, the first words that would have come to mind probably wouldn't have been very charitable.
Bitter. Arrogant. Stubborn. Secretive. Mistrustful.
His favorite pastimes could at first glance be summed up as taunting Aether, drinking unbelievably bitter, disgusting tea, and stomping on his opponents while cackling maniacally.
All in all, the Traveler could understand why some of his friends seemed to be very skeptical about his choice of traveling companion – except most of the time, he didn't choose it. The Wanderer sometimes just unilaterally declared that he was bored and would follow Aether around for the day, although it would be such a drag and such a chore and the Traveler had better be grateful that he was so gracefully consenting to making his incredible abilities available to finish commissions quicker.
Of course, he was capable of being polite, or at the very least having the appearance of being well-mannered; he was a perfectly civil customer to the staff in shops or in restaurants.
But he didn't usually go out of his way to be nice either. He was curt, sometimes outright rude and insulting, most of the time condescending to the people they met on the road, usually adventurers or mercenaries.
After a few weeks of traveling together, however, Aether started seeing another side to his behavior, with the help of a few puzzling events.
-
The first time had been just outside of Sumeru City, on their way to clear a Fatui camp (the prospect of which had put the Wanderer in a particularly good mood).
Not far ahead, an old lady struggled to haul a heavy-looking bag of fruits up the stairs to her home. Huffing and puffing, her back hunched, she looked to be having a very hard time; Aether took a step towards her just as her arms gave out and the fruits tumbled down the stairs – and she herself looked very close to following them in their fall.
But before the Traveler could even think to get there in time, the Wanderer was besides her and had caught her arm. “Careful now, grandma”, he said, his tone completely devoid of any of its usual sarcasm. “Maybe you should let someone help you. This is obviously too heavy to carry alone.”
Having steadied her, he proceeded to hop down the stairs, swiftly collecting all the fruits that hadn't been too badly damaged by their fall and tucking them back in the bag. Once he was done, he lifted it up as if it weighed nothing, and brought it inside the old lady's home as she thanked him profusely for being such a “nice, helpful young man”.
Only a few moments later, the Wanderer came back out, waving the old lady off and thanking her for the sunsettia he now held in his hand.
Biting into it, he started down the road, looking at a dumbfounded Aether from the corner of his eye. “What are you staring at like an idiot? Let's go.” Disapprovingly, he looked down at the fruit in his hand as if it had offended him. “This is way too sweet.”
But he didn't throw it away; he simply continued munching on it with a disgusted face, until he was done.
-
The second time had been in Aaru Village, on their way back from a commission that had made them trek through the sandy dunes. Aether felt sweaty and gross; he couldn't wait to go back to his teapot and have a nice, long bath.
First, though, they had to find the commissioner; and of course, the merchant wasn't standing where he usually was, although his wares were still here. The Traveler grumbled, rolling his eyes, as he heard the Wanderer do the same.
Not far from them, a little boy was crouched on the ground, poking with a stick at an unfortunate scarab.
“Hello”, said Aether, approaching the child. “Do you know where the merchant who's usually here has gone?”
The boy raised his head. “Yes! He said he needed to go fetch some water real quick, and he asked me to look after his stuff while he's gone. If nothing gets stolen, he said he'll give me some spices for mom, and some candied nuts.”
“So he should be back shortly then? Alright. Thank you”, smiled Aether, turning to his companion. “Let's just go sit in the shade while we wait.”
The Wanderer snorted. “Must be hard being weak to any type of temperature”, he mocked, following the Traveler anyway. They sat in silence on a low wall, looking at the scenery.
A few minutes later, there was movement in the corner of Aether's eye. The little boy from earlier was now standing in front of the Wanderer, looking fascinated.
“What is it?”, inquired his companion with an amused little smile.
“I've never seen anybody dressed like you around here, big brother – your hat is so cool!”, exclaimed the child. “It must be real nice to stay in the shade when you're out in the desert.”
Looking flattered, the Wanderer chuckled. “Thank you. You're right, it is convenient in the sun – and it also protects me in the rain, so much so that some people” - he smirked at Aether - “are jealous and would like to use it as an umbrella.”
“Wow! We never have rain around here, but my mom says it rains a lot on the other side of the wall. Maybe I'll need a hat like this when I'm grown up--” The little boy interrupted himself with a loud gasp, his mouth opening as his eyes stopped on the object dangling on the Wanderer's chest. “Is that a vision?”
“It is.” Now, Aether's companion sounded positively smug - the Traveler wanted to roll his eyes, but he was a little too amused by the exchange to be truly annoyed.
“Woah!! That's even cooler than your hat! My mom said there were a lot of different visions, like uuuh-” The child counted on his fingers. “- there's Dendro, of course, like Lesser Lord Kusanali, and Pyro that can blow things up – it sounds really cool – and Hydro like big sister Candace, aaaaand...” His eyebrows furrowed. “Something to do with rocks? And- and also wind – Am... Anima? Anemi?”
“Anemo”, helpfully provided the Wanderer. “Mine is Anemo. I can control the wind.”
Now, the boy's eyes were positively sparkling, as he bombarded Aether's companion with a seemingly endless string of questions, starting from if the vision wielder could fly (“of course I can”, the Wanderer said, his chest puffed out in pride) to whether he could make bullies run in terror (“are there any bullies around?”, asked the Wanderer with a nasty smile. “I can provide a demonstration.” He smirked at Aether's disapproving face. “It's a joke.”)
All throughout their conversation, Aether stayed silent; he was fascinated by the Wanderer's behavior – the other was usually so curt and easily annoyed, and yet he patiently answered all that the child wanted to know with a smile that looked sincere, almost... fond. He even demonstrated his power at the boy's request, creating a little ephemeral sphere of swirling Anemo that he delicately placed in the child's hand, to the little one's delight.
A few minutes later, the merchant had come back, and the Traveler stood up. Once he was done, he turned towards the Wanderer and the boy, who were still in animated conversation; his companion was also standing now, saying goodbye to his new friend. He patted the child's head lightly before turning on his heels and joining Aether on the path leading out of the village.
A voice came from behind them.
“Please visit again! I'll introduce you to my mom, she's real nice!”, the child shouted. “And I'll also show you all the bugs I've collected, there's some super cool ones!”
The Wanderer laughed. “That sounds much better than going along with him” - he gestured towards Aether - “on endless treks through the desert. Next time I'm here, I'll be sure to visit”, he shouted back.
The rest of the way back to Caravan Ribat passed quickly, as the Wanderer marched energetically down the path, ignoring the Traveler's stare and humming a faint tune to himself.
-
The third time had been one morning, in the Traveler's teapot.
Ever since Aether had given the Wanderer access to his abode, he had been relentlessly teased about everything, from his decoration choices to the sheer number of animals that populated the realm – the Traveler was a bleeding heart who couldn't leave a wounded or abandoned animal behind; he invariably picked it up so it could recuperate in his teapot. He usually released the wounded ones once they had gotten back to full health; but he had also kept many who seemed happier sauntering about the peaceful surroundings of his manor.
That was how he had ended up with a maybe somewhat unreasonable horde of cats, dogs, birds, foxes, and other animals of all kinds.
Thankfully, this was a big realm; there was plenty of space for all of them to run around without it getting at all crowded.
The Wanderer always grumbled about it, especially when the dogs happily followed him about, wagging their tails and trying to lick his hands or his face, although Aether had started to suspect he wasn't truly annoyed – on several occasions, he had caught the puppet furtively scratching one of the pups behind the ears, letting a finch sit on his shoulder, or quickly sliding a hand on a purring cat's back, although he always abruptly stopped and crossed his arms with a scowl whenever he noticed the Traveler staring at him.
That morning, Aether had woken up early; it was barely dawn outside, as his teapot followed the day and night cycle of the outside world. He took care to enjoy these types of mornings to the fullest – when he woke up in his comfortable bed, not having anything urgent to do all morning, taking his time to make breakfast for himself and Paimon and for any friend who might have stayed overnight.
He made himself some of the mint tea he had gotten in Aaru Village (that came with a copious amount of sugar – he could almost hear the Wanderer's disgusted comments), and went out in the garden, enjoying the peaceful scenery, until something blue on one of the benches under a great gingko tree caught his eye.
The Wanderer sat there, his eyes closed. A few colorful finches were happily snoozing on his hat; one of the dogs was laying on his feet, and a big, fluffy grey cat was curled up on his lap as he gently stroked its head.
Aether carefully stepped down in the grass, making his way towards the bench; the patter of his bare feet on the soft earth was subtle, but apparently loud enough for the dog to raise its head, as the Wanderer opened his eyes and looked at the Traveler almost warily.
“May I sit down?”
“It's your home, isn't it? You can do whatever you want”, snapped the Wanderer. He had stopped petting the cat's head, making the feline stare up at him in disapproval.
Sitting down slowly, Aether looked at his companion. “There's no need to be so defensive. I'm not going to mock you for liking animals; you know I love them too – after all, you always make fun of me for keeping so many here.”
The Wanderer stayed silent for a moment; then, his shoulders relaxed, and his scowl softened, as he put his hand back down on the cat's head, scratching it behind the ears to the sound of the animal's delighted purring.
“...They are simple creatures, with simple needs.”
“Isn't that what you also say about humans?”, remarked Aether lightly.
His companion snorted. “Yes. But unlike humans, animals are straightforward; they don't know what it is to lie or to betray. And their attempts at deceit are mostly done in play, and very easily discernible.”
“I agree. They are much less exhausting to be around than people sometimes – and they won't have yet another favor to ask of me”, chuckled Aether. “...Unless it is Neko from Seirai Island, I suppose.”
“Neko?”
“She's a black cat who can talk. She looks after the temple there, where plenty of other cats live with her – although unlike her, they can't speak. It's a nice place – I enjoy visiting whenever I find myself back in Inazuma.”
“Huh”, said the Wanderer thoughtfully. “I know of that temple, although last I heard, it was deserted. It's a shame it's in Inazuma, of all places” - he spat the name of the country - “but if I ever find myself in this part of the world along my wanderings, maybe I'll visit. I'm sure she has much better conversation than most humans.”
Aether rolled his eyes. “Not all people are terrible, you know. Maybe even you could find someone you would get along with. Maybe even a friend.”
“Of course not all people are terrible; some of them are simply boring”, replied the Wanderer, smirking at the Traveler – his tone sounded more playful than biting this time.
“Good, then we can bore each other while you make this cat's day”, laughed Aether softly, extending a hand to pet the animal's back.
When he took his hand back and straightened up to drink his tea, his eyes met the Wanderer's. There was an unusual look on his companion's face; it looked a little like wonder, mixed with something softer than his usual bitterness.
Then, the puppet turned away, focusing again on the cat in his lap.
“...Someone I get along with”, he repeated, so quietly Aether almost couldn't catch it.