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“Hm, what a picturesque spot,” Albedo says, slipping down beside Aether on the long, silken grass of Mt. Tianheng.
Albedo came so suddenly that Aether felt his heart flutter in surprise, he hoped it didn’t show on his face. Aether had left their inn they decided to stay in together early. He felt a newfound desire to watch the sunrise over Liyue harbor, and maybe reflect on his blossoming relationship with Albedo. He never thought Albedo would go out looking for him, and Aether didn’t think he would even know where to begin looking. It seems the alchemist knew him better than he thought.
Albedo gets a sketchbook out of his satchel and taps a colored pencil on the paper, “You know, I have a habit when I’m restless of traveling to the nearest point of high elevation, sitting down with my sketchbook and etching the sunrise onto the paper. The hues are different every morning, even if it looks the same to the human eye.”
“I’m sorry if you wanted to be alone to sketch–I can just find another place,” Aether says stiffly, he didn’t want Albedo to think he purposely intruded on his habitat.
Albedo chuckles, starting to sketch, “Please don’t worry, Aether. I sought you out myself. You’re not the Honorary Knight here, nor the hero of Mondstadt or Liyue. You’re just Aether.”
“And you’re just Albedo,” Aether says softly.
Albedo glances up from his sketchbook, returning Aether’s smile, “So it would seem.”
Aether wishes this moment could last forever, Liyue Harbor is eerily calm this early in the morning–no howling merchants, no stray dogs having fights. It is just him and Albedo, while all the world is sleeping. Albedo silently continues to sketch while Aether looks up at the coral sky gilded with gold.
Everything is so new in the silent moments before sunrise. The soft mist hanging onto the harbor, the glaze lilies decorating Yujing Terrace, the slope of golden light on the bridges, the refreshing gulf breeze. And Albedo sketching beside him, his utmost concentration on the rising sun in the east. Over these days traveling together, Aether has felt a magnetic pull to Albedo–an attraction he couldn’t deny. Albedo has been nothing but kind. Cooking him meals, helping him do menial tasks like laundry, braiding his hair, or shining his shoes. He would always find time to give attention to his hobbies, though, like testing out new elixirs he made from local Liyue ingredients or painting a small scene of where they were staying. Aether felt that he was falling, hard , and that if he looked Albedo in the eyes he would plummet to his death. If Aether admitted his desires out loud it would leave everybody in shock. To play with Albedo’s hair, to undo it all and put it back together again–to feel Albedo’s arms around his, digging into his waist–to press their faces together with a kiss and not release until they’re gasping for breath.
Albedo lifts his free hand from the grass and puts it over Aethers.
Aether surrenders and leaves it there, feeling Albedo’s glove against his. Did he say his thoughts out loud? Was Albedo appalled and wanted to take pity on him? Aether's thoughts feel so vivid to him that Albedo must have read his mind.
Aether takes a nearby sweet flower from the ground, then another. He twirls the stems around in his hand, trying to ignore the way Albedo shifted closer to him–or the way Albedo squeezed his hand. Aether thinks Albedo knows what he’s doing, he’s not dumb.
When Aether rises up to go to their hotel room, Albedo leaves a lingering kiss on one of his knuckles. And new emotion explodes within Aether, it’s warm and giddy and delightful.
He returns to the inn feeling blissfully happy and flops down onto the bed to groan into his pillow.
-
During their stay in Liyue Harbor, many peddlers would try to persuade Albedo and Aether to buy their products–varying from perfume to TCG cards, they had it all. Albedo would always brush them off politely and walk away. Aether was the one more likely to get distracted, interested in anything that looked remotely interesting. Albedo tells him the reason the merchants are still in business is because of people like him.
“My scrying orb beckons your call, dare to have your future asprawl?” A merchant says ominously as she dances her fingers around the orb.
The fortune teller is dressed in a black cheongsam with golden accents, her eyes staring intensely at the pair. She moves one hand away from the ball and makes a beckoning motion with it, Albedo raises one eyebrow skeptically.
Surprisingly, Albedo nods his head and pushes Aether by the shoulder to the table with him. Aether looks at Albedo in disbelief.
“Seriously?”
Albedo nods, a small smile playing on his lips, “Humor me.”
Aether shakes his head, only Albedo would go to a fortune teller for observation purposes and not true belief. He was probably going to scribble down the interaction in his lab notebook later. Aether crosses his arms but still feels a sense of fondness as Albedo’s earnestness for research.
They sit across from the medium, who gazes into her scrying orb intently. She swishes her fingers around it like she's trying to harness a greater power. After a moment, she gasps and addresses Albedo.
“You, the pale and curious traveler,” Aether swears he sees her reading something in her lap, “There has always been a light within you, but you’ve always felt incomplete. There is another light nearby, one that will complement and complete your own…”
“Elaborate, what does the person look like?” Albedo interrogates her.
The fortune teller pauses and glances warily between the two, clearing her throat. She must not have expected to be grilled by Albedo.
“The scrying orb only reveals images, symbols of another world…” She says airily, “The details are unclear.”
Albedo’s gaze remains steady and unchanging, “Please, tell me, do you know if this ‘light’ is a person? Or maybe it’s an object or an idea. Frankly, I’m not a fan of vague people.”
The medium shifts uncomfortably, “The art of divination, is of course, open to interpretation. But I can assure you that I trust the wisdom of my craft.”
Albedo nods thoughtfully, “Thank you for sharing your wisdom,” he says politely, “But I fear your craft relies too heavily on ambiguity and subjective interpretation to be truly useful.”
Aether cringes at the passive aggressiveness and elbows Albedo, “Be kind.”
Then Aether offers the fortune teller an apologetic smile, “We appreciate your work, best of luck to you.”
“Hmm,” The medium hums and takes the Mora Aether slides her way, “I suppose I have it in my heart to forgive–you two share a bond I can’t explain, the orb twisted uncertainly when it saw you two.”
She pauses for a moment, gathering her thoughts, “It seems that you two are tethered together through the stars, the Celestial bonds will knit your souls together for eternity.”
The medium seemed pretty genuine when she said this, and the news made Aether’s heart jump with giddiness. Albedo just leered curiously at the fortune teller and nodded, getting up from his seat.”
“We’ll be off,” Albedo says, grabbing Aether’s arm, “Thank you for your service.”
While they’re walking away from the merchant, Albedo grumbles softly under his breath, “What a waste of Mora.”
Aether tilts his head, “A waste of Mora?”
He feels a pang of disappointment go through his heart, did that mean Albedo didn’t believe what she told them? Aether pouts as they continue to walk closer to Yujing Terrace. There are flourishing Sandbearer trees in pots planted by the city, causing their path to be lined with falling leaves.
“That information, all of it I already knew,” Albedo says as they get to the koi fish pond nearby Bubu Pharmacy.
Aether’s face becomes significantly hotter when he hears that news, it also fills him with relief. A still quality comes into the air like the world was holding its breath for them. Aether feels warm inside that Albedo felt like they had a future together; that their bond was strong enough to not be severed. The feelings were lingering in the air now, and they couldn’t take them back.
Albedo stops at the koi pond, looking at a cat gazing curiously upon a fish, “That cat is gazing upon the fish, but the fish isn’t swimming away. They seem to have a trust that transcends words.”
Aether gazed at Albedo, his eyes soft. Like us, Aether thought. Albedo would often talk about how he was dangerous; about how you never knew when he would lose control. But Aether, the fish, opened to him willingly. Because even though Albedo was the cat, Aether knew Albedo would never hurt him.
Their bond wasn’t one that could be explained by mediums or good omens, no romance novel or vision could decipher their feelings for one another. But Albedo and Aether have a bond that simply is, what lies between them cannot be explained– it can only simply be.
Their light would continue to seek each other, eternally chasing the other's tail. And they would move forward, together, one dawn at a time.