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Aether walks up to Xiao, who is standing on a hill near Wangshuu Inn. The adepti notices him almost immediately and greets him.
“Traveler, greetings. Do you need something from me?” Xiao looks at him, a ghost of a smile on his face. He hasn’t seen the traveler in so long, not since he went to explore in Sumeru. Aether smiles at him, though he looks wary, and very exhausted.
Despite this, Aether jokes around with him at first. “Yeah, your company!” He winks at Xiao charmingly, and Xiao rolls his eyes at his antics.
“You are insufferable. What, has that harbinger Childe begun to rub off on you? I can’t say he’s a good influence on you, Aether.” Aether pouts at Xiao, his eyes not looking right, but Xiao writes it off as his own tiredness.
“Just because I enjoy hanging out with him doesn’t mean he’s rubbing off on me.”
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about. I’ll have to pay that man a visit. He’s been getting on my nerves as of recent.” A few days ago, Xiao and Zhongli were relaxing, having tea and talking to each other quietly, before Childe barged in, and immediately threw everything off balance. And to make things worse, when Xiao glared at Childe, Zhongli scolded him! Not Childe. Him. Xiao huffs at the memory, turning back to Aether.
“I can see that happening, you tend to let things get under your skin, maybe to easily,” Aether comments, and playfully yelps as Xiao swipes a hand at him, glaring lightheartedly.
“I do not.”
“Do too!”
“Do not..”
“Do too!”
“Do- oh what good will this back and forth do.” Aether laughs as Xiao gives up on arguing with him, and they relax in silence for a while. Xiao takes a moment to look at Aether, noticing how his vision seems..hazy almost. Like he can’t quite focus on what he’s looking at. But again, he chalks it up to him being tired.
Aether is watching birds squawk at each other in what sounds like an argument, before one bird attacks the other, and he bites back a laugh as the one getting attacked seems to not fight back and instead squawk more at the other.
“What did you need me for? Be honest.” Xiao’s voice seems to startle Aether out of his bird watching. Or, whatever he was doing. Honestly, it looked like Aether was about to go up and start provoking the two birds to fight like it was a hallway fight in school.
“I have a favor to ask of you, if you’d be so kind..” Aether sounds…off. And now that Xiao looks at him, he looks off too. His hair is messy and his eyes dark. Xiao only now realizes his floating companion is nowhere to be seen, nowhere to be found. The weather seems to match Aether’s sudden sour mood, the sky turning red and gold with heavy clouds decorating the scenery. It would be beautiful if it didn’t spell dread.
“What do you need my assistance with? I’d be happy to help.”
“Kill me..” Aether says, voice low, “Please.”
Xiao’s eyebrows raise as his eyes widen. He wasn’t expecting that, and gets irritated.
“What..” He doesn’t believe what he’s hearing. “Death isn’t some game, Aether. You can’t joke around about this.”
As much as Xiao wants to believe that Aether is playing some stupid prank or joke on him, that just can’t be the case. Not with how Aether is looking at him, stony faced and unmoving.
“I’m asking this one thing of you. I’m begging you..Just get this existence of mine over with,” Aether sounds tired. His eyes are red rimmed, and Xiao never thought Aether to be the type to just..snap like this.
“No. No, I refuse! Why are you acting so foolish? I’m disappointed you would think so low of me, to think I would kill you just like that for no reason,” Xiao’s stern with Aether, eyes narrowing as he tries to figure out just what is going on here. Aether clenches his jaw, looking at Xiao intensely.
“Can’t you just listen to me? Kill me. Do it.” Aether is insistent, and distantly, Xiao feels a pang of fear in the back of his mind, not wanting to lose him.
“I will happily listen to you telling me to do anything else. But not this. Not after everything. Maybe you should go rest, I can bring you to Wangshuu Inn and Goldet can get you a room so you can calm down,” Xiao attempts to placate Aether, moving forward to grab hold of his arm, half worried that the other will run. But Aether doesn’t, he stays in place and stares at Xiao eerily.
“No. I do not need to rest. I do not need to calm down. What I need is for you to kill me,” Aether looks at Xiao as the shorter man grabs his arm, and they look each other in the eyes for a moment. Xiao shakes his hand and pulls him in the direction of Wangshuu Inn.
“You..You aren’t in your right mind. I need to bring you to Goldet, or maybe Baizhu. You must be feeling ill,” Xiao’s voice is very no-nonsense and walks forward only for Aether to yank his hand back.
“Just kill me! I’m fucking begging you, Xiao! Get this over with!” Aether’s voice raises, and a tone Xiao has never heard enters his voice, and Xiao grits his teeth.
“No! You cannot expect me to do this for you, simply because you asked it of me! You’ve given me no reason to want to kill you, or why you want to be killed so badly! Even then, I will refuse!” Xiao stands firm, not wanting to do it.
“Well then, let me give you a damn reason to want to, ” Aether says these words, and gets out his sword walking threateningly towards Xiao, who scoffs.
“You don’t scare me,” Xiao refuses to raise his polearm, even as Aether tackles him to the floor with his sword glinting.
“I will not kill you for whatever selfish reason you have. People care about you, I care about you! You are acting like a fool, and I will not allow you to die in a temporary trip of madness. Not now and not ever,” Xiao’s words are calm, he does not perceive Aether as a threat, not one bit. And it seems to enrage the traveler.
“Get mad at me! Be pissed at me!- Do something! Why the fuck are you just letting me pin you like this?” Aether’s sword falls to their side and Xiao sighs from under him.
“I know you want me to get mad and kill you, and I’ve already told you I will not allow you to die.” Xiao notices something..weird with the clouds. He can’t seem to count how many there are when he looks up at them. He loses count quickly, or miscounts them completely, and that’s not normal at all.
“Why not!?”
“Because I LOVE YOU, DAMMIT! I CARE ABOUT YOU, EVEN IF YOU DONT FEEL THE SAME, I WILL STILL NOT KILL YOU!”
Aether’s eyebrows raise. “What makes you think I don’t love you too? What makes you think I don’t care?!”
It’s Xiao’s turn to be confused. “Why then..? Why would you want me to kill you if you love me?” He has no time to be flustered at Aether telling him he loves him back, and he has no time to be embarrassed that he told Aether he loved him. Not when Aether looks so odd on top of him. His face is blurring in Xiao’s eyes, and the man attempts to blink it away.
“You..You’re the only one I trust to do this. Why would I go to anyone else?” Aethers face is downright unrecognizable with how blurred its turning, but what’s odd is that nothing else is blurring. Just his face.
Xiao panics. “Lets just- lets just go and calm down in the Inn, come on..”
Aether shakes his head. “No! Why can’t you do this simple thing?” Aether’s hand travels to Xiao’s polearm, and he holds it, pointing it at his chest, right in the middle where his heart lays, and Xiao’s eyes widen.
“It’s simple, Xiao. Can’t you do this for me?” Xiao shakes his head, biting his tongue to keep in his nerves as he desperately tries to look for something recognizable in the blonde’s face.
“You can’t.. You can’t make me do this to you. Not after all I’ve given to keep you safe! To save you and keep you on this earth! I care about you, realize that! I’d never do something so..so monstrous!”
Aether sighs, and presses the sharp tip of metal against his chest, “Do it. Kill me.”
“No!”
The blonde seems to get sick of the pointless back and forth and drops the polearm, the weapon dropping over Xiao’s head. Xiao rushes to stand up as Aether stands as well.
“If you won’t do it, I’m sure I can get somebody else to.”
Xiao loses his breath, and watches as Aether begins to walk away, and he stands there dumbly before running to stop him, and he tugs at Aethers shirt, pulling him roughly to face him.
“Now hold on! You aren’t going anywhere!”
“And who are you to tell me what the fuck to do, huh Xiao?” Aether’s face.. Xiao can’t see it.
“Who else..Who else would you pick to kill you that isn’t me?! You can’t do this to me!”
Aether scoffs, “Anybody would be happy to see me gone! I know a few faces.” Now that. Xiao knows that isn’t true as rain begins to shower down on them lightly. Xiao scrunches his face at the rain before turning back to Aether.
“So now you want to kill me? How convenient.”
Xiao grits his teeth. “People care about you. Nobody would be happy to see you die. You’re delusional. And you need to get somewhere safe where you can think about what you’ve been saying.”
Aether lets out a frustrated noise. “You don’t understand anything. Huh?” Xiao shakes his head no. But, Aether seems to want this. Badly.
“Why do you want to die so badly? What has gotten into you?” Aether looks at him and shakes his head.
“Everything. Now will you do it or will I have to go and find someone who will?”
Xiao will not win this argument, and his hand travels to his polearm, despite his mind screaming at him to stop. He’s..unable to control his movements, his words. And all of a sudden he feels like a third wheel in a two person conversation.
Xiao says nothing as he holds his polearm, looking at Aether.
“What do you want me to do, then?”
“Stab me, right here,” Aether points to his heart. He wants it quick. He wants it painless. Xiao’s eyes water as he steps closer.
“Where do you want to die?”
“In your arms.”
And if that doesn’t make Xiao stifle a sob then nothing else will. “You are so selfish.. I’ve never hated anybody more..” Both Aether and Xiao know it isn’t true, and Aether sighs as the two kneel under a tree, away from the rain. Aether curls up in Xiao’s arms, snuggling in close as Xiao cries silently, holding Aether like he’s the last man on Teyvat. Suddenly, Xiao looks up and the moon is out, despite it being sunrise just a few minutes ago.
Aether sighs as the polearm is positioned right in front of his heart, and as Aether’s face rises to meet Xiao’s face, he can see his eyes. Only his eyes. Only his eyes only his eyes. Xiao looks scared as Aether holds his polearm tightly.
“I love you, Xiao. You know that, yes?” And with that, Aether tugs the polearm into his chest, and into his heart, and Xiao cries out and rushes to pull the weapon out, but it’s too late, and Aether’s blood floods out of his body. Too quickly, the blood is leaving him too quickly.
“Xiao, I need you to do something.” The world suddenly goes quiet. The sun is suddenly out and the rain is no more. The grass is brown and not green. The sky is blue and not red.
Aether’s face has no features.
“What..”
“Wake up.”
“What’re you..”
“Wake up, Xiao.”
“Wake up!”
—
Xiao jolts as he sits up in bed, sweating and panting. Aether is standing over him, looking worried and holding Xiao’s shoulder tightly.
“Are you okay, Xiao? You scared me, you were crying in your sleep and you wouldn’t wake up!” Aether is.. Aether looks like Aether. Xiao can count his ten fingers, can look in his eyes and see the warmth he sees every time the blond greets him.
“I.. what?” Xiao touches his cheeks, and sure enough they’re wet and he breathes in deeply. Aether takes Xiao’s face in his hands gently.
“Are you alright, baby? You don’t look too good.” The blonde wipes away the tears beginning to fall from Xiao’s eyes, before kissing the man’s nose, before kissing under his eyes as Xiao struggles to get his bearings.
“I- it’s just.. You’re here..”
“Yes, I am. Why wouldn’t I be, love? What’s gotten into you?” Aether gasps lightly as Xiao holds on to him tightly, hugging him like it was their last time ever being able to touch each other.
“It’s nothing, Aether. It’s just.. A nightmare.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” Xiao shakes his head ‘no’. “Just, hold me, please?”
Aether nods, gently moving Xiao’s hair out of his eyes. “Of course..Of course, baby.”