Work Text:
Aether bobs his head up from underwater, his braid undone and cascading down his naked back. The frogs were chirping vibrantly, celebrating the last days of summer with them. Albedo undoes his own hairstyle, letting the silver touch his shoulders. The water is cold, it takes hold of his entire body. Albedo can hear the swishing of Aether walking through the water, his strides clumsy and eager.
He reaches up his hands to thread through Albedo’s silver hair, “I’ve always wanted to do this,” He laughs.
Albedo leans into the touch and responds with a low hum. Aether competes for the spotlight against the world around him, the moonlight gilding his tan skin and reflecting on the water. Thinking outrageously, Albedo lifts his head up from Aether’s soft touch, he reaches out to cup Aether’s cheek instead.
Albedo kisses Aether, who jumps in surprise but still returns it. His lips are bitten and chapped, Albedo pulls off a piece of dry skin through the kiss–making Aether shiver.
“You’re weird,” Aether says as they part, moving his hand to his lips.
“I guess so,” Albedo swishes his hands through the cool water, “Though, I’d say the same for you. The original reason I was interested in you was for your…Uncanny nature. My interest has fleshed out now–into something more than that, I suppose.”
“Really?” Aether grins, moving closer to Albedo in the water, “What if I told you I wanted to hear what else makes me interesting?”
Albedo’s heart started at the increased distance, “Then I would try to tell you, but you’re very…Complex.”
Silence envelopes them, except for the music of the night. The calm ripple of the water is heard even now, the soft lap of the constant movement of the tide. Albedo waits a moment before he speaks again.
“I enjoy the way your hair becomes wavy after you take out your braid–the length of your hair is something I admire,” Albedo pauses, to see Aether flush, “I enjoy your gentle wit, your freckles, you are not from this world, yet you still strive to help the people of this world…”
Albedo gets cut off by a small splash of cool water, wetting his once-dry hair.
“I asked for something, and I got it–but I liked it too much that I didn’t like it,” Aether says, smiling, “Does that make sense?”
Albedo finds Aether endearing, he’s always been bad at receiving compliments. It’s fun to test his limits, to see what would make him crack.
Albedo huffs out a laugh, “That makes sense. I often have the same problem with my experiments, it seems to be working out too well so I’m scared to continue it.”
Aether nods, “Good things are scary.”
Aether tilts his head back to look at the stars, all of the constellation from their vantage are indecipherable but still beautiful. The moon casts a silver glow on the water, along with Aether. Albedo thinks it almost caused a halo like effect, reflecting off his golden hair.
“Wanna go underwater?” Aether asks, even though the look he’s giving Albedo makes it hard to say no.
He takes in Aethers form, his muscle, his skin. He wonders what it would be like to trace Aether’s cardiovascular system like a connect the dot puzzle, to map his way into the boy's heart. He shakes his head at the notion, and nods his head. Aether grins and extends his hands for Albedo to take, and the look he gives Albedo says, ‘You can’t back out now.’
The water is so cold Albedo wants to gasp, but he doesn’t want to inhale a mouthful of river water. The chill makes his ears pound, the river takes but doesn’t give. He wants to open his eyes, look at Aether. His hair is probably sprawled out around him, like a magnificent flower in bloom. He probably wouldn’t be able to see him in the dark, anyway. Aether squeezes Albedo’s hand under the water and then returns to surface.
“Gah! That felt horribly awesome.” Aether says, teeth chattering.
“I hear there are benefits from cold showers; maybe this will prove advantageous to our health?”
“The only benefits to cold showers are finding out who likes them, because then you know who’s crazy and you can get rid of them,” Aether shakes his head, “Survival of the fittest.”
“Wouldn’t you be weaker if you can’t stand cold showers?” Albedo asks, then realizes the joke, “Nevermind.”
The Nilotpala Lotuses were basking in the full moon, blooming into their utmost glory. Aether walks over to a small bunch of them, and picks a pair of the lotuses. He walks through the water slowly, delivering the present to Albedo with a soft smile on his face.
He fumbles, hissing in pain as he grabs his foot, “Ow.”
Albedo wades to where Aether was crouched over, fishing his left foot out of the water and holding it in his hand. Beads of blood getting thicker by the second gushed out of Aether’s wound, causing the once clean water to stain a soft red.
“Here,” Albedo gently takes the Nilotpala Lotuses from Aether and hoists him up into a bridal position, “You should exercise more caution.”
Aether huffs, his cheeks becoming a pink hue as he reaches for one of the flowers. Aether felt good against Albedo’s chest, skin against skin. He gently sat Aether on the bank of the river, where a small towel was laid out for them to dry.
Albedo gets out a first aid kit from Aether’s traveling bag, and takes out a large enough bandaid for the gash. With all tenderness, he wraps the cloth securely around Aether’s wound. Then kisses the sealed bandage, causing Aether to tilt back his head and laugh.
He covers his mouth with his hand, his smile evident, “I’m ticklish there…”
Albedo nods, “Is that so?”
He raises his head to Aether’s hand, the glove undone. He traces the lines of Aether’s palm, then softly pecks the middle.
“Here?”
Aether has a gleam of mirth in his eyes, but shakes his head, “No.”
Albedo lowers his head down to Aethers naked belly and caresses his thumb across the soft skin, then kisses his stomach, “Here?”
Aether’s eyes flutter shut, his breath hitching, “A little.”
Albedo studies the small crease between Aethers brows, the soft gleam of the residue from the water on his skin, the dampness of his bangs sticking to his forehead. He files it mentally for his own enjoyment later, to enjoy and to cherish. Albedo moves to Aether’s inner thigh, cradling the soft flesh between his fingers and spreading them open.
A heat rises in Albedo’s chest, which made it difficult to breath. But he continues on, placing a a small kiss on Aether’s inner thigh. Aether gasps and his legs close on reflex, bringing Albedo even closer to Aether.
“Archons,” Aether nudges Albedo away from him with his foot, his expression was contemplative, “It’s not that I don’t like this—I do, but maybe later and not on a river bank?”
The heat that grows in Albedo’s stomach doesn’t subside, but he still nods respectfully, “Alright.”
“Mm, here.” Aether picks back up the lotus from the ground and slowly plucks off all the petals, letting them fall on the towel they are laying on.
Aether adjusts his position so he’s sitting on his knees, and leans forward to gently place a flower petal beside Albedo’s ear. He gently moves the damp hair aside, trying to fit it in so it wouldn’t fall out while always being gentle. Albedo blinks in surprise, but doesn’t complain.
“These lotuses are interesting phenomenon,” Albedo starts, playing with a different petal absentmindedly, “They only flourish during the nighttime.”
Aether smiles up at the distant lights of Gandharva Ville down the river, “Collei told me a story she read recently about the moon goddess. It had to do with the lotuses.”
Albedo schooches closer, “Do tell,”
“Hm, well there was a moon goddess, one who rode on chariots gilded with gems and luster. The people worshipped her and she resembled the beauty of the night. But eventually, conflict spread and the moon goddesses' ethereal chariot was shot down. While other flowers turned to serve the sun, the Nilotpala Lotuses were loyal to the moon,” While Aether tells this fantastical sorry, he traces small circles into Albedo’s thigh.
Albedo shifts slightly, “Fascinating, which are you more prone to serve?”
Aether was gently drumming on Albedo’s thigh now, “The moon, I think. It’s not her fault people were mean and her chariot got destroyed.”
“From a different perspective, you can’t deny the other flowers were smart to change to the powerful sun god.”
“I guess? I wouldn’t give up on somebody that easily, though.”
Albedo thinks about his relentless journey towards finding his sister. Traveling across the seven nations in search of Lumine, who Aether didn’t know if she even wanted to follow a new path with him. Aether was like that, stubborn and loyal, those served as both strengths and weaknesses for him.
“That’s reassuring to hear,” Albedo chuckles, leaning back on the towel.
The frogs and toads of the jungle continued their calls, sometimes night birds would join in with a soft song. It was peaceful, it was impossible but it was still very much in Albedo’s grasp. All of this was.
“The moon is less likely to hurt, anyway,” Aether says, bumping Albedo with his shoulder, “And you know how crazy you are about me damaging my health out in the sun.”
“The moon doesn’t burn, but it doesn’t really reach out to you, either.”
“Who said I can’t reach out to the moon?” Aether quips back.
Albedo thinks Aether already has, and that their love is living proof of that. Albedo swallows his thoughts and brushes a few strands of hair away from Aether’s eyes, and they both smile.