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The bed is cold when Aether wakes.
Which isn't unusual. Paimon doesn't generate a lot of heat. He's often woken up to find her curled as close as possible to his side, her hands tucked between his shirt and his skin. He's like a furnace, she's told him. It's why she likes for him to carry her in Dragonspine.
What is disconcerting, however, is that he can't feel her when he sweeps his arm across the bed.
Aether opens his eyes and lifts his head, but she's still not there. She's not in the room when he sits up, either. The only thing that greets him is empty tile and a single room divider covered in carved roses.
"Paimon?" he asks, voice thick with sleep. He drinks from the glass of water on the bedside table. It wasn't there when he went to bed last night, so Paimon must have left it before she went… wherever she decided to go.
The water has ice — or perhaps, it used to have ice. Small chunks are all that's left in the glass, and he crunches through them as he thinks.
The day isn't warm enough to melt the ice too quickly. It couldn't have been more than an hour since it was set out. Which means she can't be too far, right?
Aether pulls his armor from its neat stack at the end of the bed. He makes quick work of dressing; each snap closes with barely a sound, and each strap slides smoothly into its buckle. He's had this set for hundreds of years, and putting it on becomes its own melody.
He slips on his boots and secures his cape. Then he enters the main hall of the Knights of Favonius headquarters.
"Hey Wood," Aether calls as he walks down the stairs.
"Master Aether!" Wood replies. Aether rolls his eyes — how many times has he told them to address him casually? "How was your sleep?"
"It was fine. Thank you for lending us the room."
"Oh, no," Wood shakes his head. "You should thank Acting Grand Master Jean. I simply stood guard for the night."
"Well then," Aether says, "thank you for standing guard." He waits a beat before he continues. "Hey, have you seen Paimon go by?"
"Paimon?" He rubs his chin in thought. "I believe I saw her go into the library a bit ago, but then she left with Miss Lisa."
Lisa? What business would she have with Lisa?
"Do you have any idea where they went?"
Wood hesitates. "I'm afraid not, Master Aether."
He hums. "Is Jean in?"
"Yes. She's been stuck in her office all morning."
Poor Jean. She always gives herself too heavy a burden. But as much as he hates to disturb her, he wants to know where his friend is more. He thanks Wood and knocks on the door of the Grand Master's office. He hears a muffled curse before he's told to come in.
"Oh," Jean says, "it's you, Honorary Knight. Have you enjoyed your stay?"
He has. It's not often he gets to sleep in a proper bed — he and Paimon often found themselves too far into the wilderness to find one when night falls. And with her penchant for snacks, he loses a lot of mora to them. It's only because of Xiao's attachment to him that he can afford a room at Wangshu Inn. Verr Goldet and Huai'an are very protective of Xiao.
"It's been nice, I really appreciate it." He shrugs. "I just wish I knew why Paimon was so adamant about returning to Mondstadt."
Jean hums. "She was in here a bit ago, actually. She came with Lisa to ask for the rest of the day off."
Aether has no doubt Jean gave it to her — she's extremely weak when it comes to Lisa.
Which, to be fair, Lisa is amazing. And scary. Amazingly scary. He's glad Paimon is with her. It eases his mind to know that she isn't alone.
But he had planned to head for Inazuma today. Itto wanted to surprise Paimon for their birthdays. He remembers the letter he received a week ago — Itto's bragging about his age, and how Aether will surely grow into his size eventually, and that he's got some super special cake recipe and he might let the little Lavender Melon come celebrate as well.
Kuki followed his letter with one of her own. It had an actual date and place for the party, as well as Itto's request to keep it secret.
Aether raps his knuckles against Jean's desk. "Any idea where they went?"
Jean thinks for a moment. "The only place I can think of is Lisa's house." She scribbles(which isn't the correct word; she can write fast while keeping her letters neat) out the directions and hands it to him.
Two years in Teyvat, and he still has trouble parsing the language. He can understand it fine, and speak it better. But written? The written language is as alien to him as he is to this world. It takes him another twenty minutes just to decipher Jean's steady handwriting.
He misses Paimon.
He squints at the small map Jean drew in the corner and decides he's in the wrong place. The Angel's Share cannot be where Lisa lives. No one lives there.
Aether sighs and enters anyway. Charles is able to point him in the right direction, and he hastily makes his way to the correct house. Lisa opens the door before he can knock. She looks surprised for the briefest second before her sly smile slides into place.
"Well, hello there, cutie!"
"Hello, Lisa," he greets. "Is Paimon here? I was told she was with you."
"That she is." She steps back to let Aether in and drapes and arms across his shoulders. She leans in to whisper to him, "She's feeling a little down right now. I was just coming to fetch you."
His smile drops. "What's wrong?"
Paimon cries out before Lisa can answer.
Lisa clicks her tongue. "Come on, cutie."
He follows her down a hall decorated in rich purple and into a small kitchen. Paimon floats in the center, one finger in her mouth.
Aether has to hold back a laugh. Her hair is tied into twin buns atop her head, but other than that…
She is covered in what he can only assume is flour. There are smudges of chocolate on her boots and legs. Half a sunsettia hangs from her cloak, its stem caught in the fabric. And to top it off, globs of icing on her cheeks.
He hides a smile behind his hand. "Are you trying to turn into real emergency food?"
"Ah?!" Paimon turns to face him. She holds her arms out at her sides. Her cloak flares, freeing the sunsettia to fall to the ground. "Aether!" she cries. She shoots an accusing look at Lisa.
Lisa shrugs. "He just showed up."
"Sorry," Aether tries to placate. "Did I surprise you?"
Paimon flies towards him and grabs his shoulder. He turns at her insistence, exiting the kitchen when she pushes. He attempts to look at her, but she orders him not to peek.
"And what am I peeking at?" he asks.
"Well, it's–" Paimon flubs, her lips not quite reaching the words she wanted. "It's nothing!"
He faces her once they're safely in the hallway. She huffs, kicking a leg in the air. "You weren't supposed to come!"
"Why not?" He grabs her kicking leg by the foot and begins to dust off the flour and chocolate.
"I can't tell you!" Paimon crosses her arms and turns her head, pouting. A smear of jam on her hand catches his eye. He unfolds her arms, unlocking them with gentle motions.
Then he frowns.
It was not jam on her finger, but blood.
There's a small cut on the tip of her pointer finger, from the side to the middle. A centimeter at most.
"What were you doing, exactly?" he asks.
Paimon puffs out her cheeks. She doesn't plan on answering, so Aether just drags her back into the kitchen. Lisa leans against the counter, blocking the mess on top of it until he asks her to fetch a bandage. He raises a brow — if Paimon was messy, the counter is a disaster. Piles of flour and sugar, chocolate melted and cooled on the surface, a cutting board stained red from slicing strawberries.
Aether makes Paimon rinse herself off, draping a towel over her so her clothes can be cleaned. He washes it in the sink while Lisa wraps the tip of her finger in gauze.
"Do you want to tell me what this is about?" he asks as he shakes out the excess water.
"Mmm…" Paimon rubs the back of her head. When she speaks, she mumbles. "Paimon wanted to make you a cake."
"A cake?" Lisa takes the jumper from him and leaves the room with a giggle. Aether crosses his arms. "It's your birthday, why are you making me a cake?"
"Well…" Her grip tightens where she holds the towel together. "Paimon knows you don't have a birthday," she looks up to smile at him, "so she thought she could share hers with you! She was going to make you a cake and everything!"
She flexes one arm and Archons, she's adorable.
"I told you last year, didn't I? I don't have a birthday, so there's no need to celebrate it."
Which isn't necessarily true. He does have a birthday, he just doesn't remember it. Add in the different time scaling of different worlds, well. It was hard to keep track of, even when he and Lumine tried. So they stopped. He has no idea how old he truly is, just that he's always looked the same age once he hit twenty.
Besides, birthdays hold no merit if he cannot share them with his sister.
"There!" Paimon cries, pointing. "That look! You always look so sad when we talk about birthdays." She floats closer and touches his cheek. "It makes Paimon sad, too. She just wanted to make you happy." She pulls away and frowns over at the heated oven. "But Paimon is better at eating food than she is making it."
He is not crying, not over this.
But he is very close.
He raises his arms to wrap them around her. “Thank you, Paimon. I really appreciate this.” He holds her until a timer dings and she shoots into the air.
“The cake! Aether!” She tosses a thick black oven mitt to him. “Will you take it out for me?”
Aether chuckles. “Of course.”
And if sharing a birthday will make her happy, then so be it.
Today can be his birthday as well.