Work Text:
It was a fine and strange evening.
Dragonspine’s nether world was rarely graced with light. The lone falling star from above, leaving trails of golden stardust on its tail was enough to cast shadow on every nook and corner of the mountain. The magic lasted in a blink and then the ground merely trembled as it hit the soft bed of snow. Birds flock off the branches and fly away, every nocturnal creature is chased out of their grounds.
There was a gentle hiss and it’s as if the time went still, everything had gone silent after the slight mess.
Albedo hurriedly tucked his notes carelessly inside his coat and almost trips as he tries to leave the valley. Assessing the terrain of the hill in this area, the meteor must’ve fallen on the open space that happened to be below and near his camp. The lack of follow up noises and signs made it hard to locate, even more with snow covering the ground.
Upon his arrival, the sight before him made Albedo’s breath hitch: a mysterious and glowing ball of golden light brightens the area while sending small waves of air. It persists for a while before it starts to dim as if dying then there was a crater on the ground when it vanished. Albedo expected nothing but a rock, something akin to a large debris covered in scorching parts with how fast it fell from the sky, yet it’s not— instead a golden man rest on the center, whose features was hidden by the white veil that seems to hover above him protectively like a dome.
His heart races in an instant.
The gray scale of the area highlighted the stranger in front of him. Albedo watches with fascination and great interest when the veil comes off and the man slowly rises, sitting gracefully like those of magical creatures in stories. The man was bathed in gold and white accents, the ornaments on his clothes gleamed blindingly before it vanished. Was it meant to do that?
Albedo had not prepared himself when the man opened his eyes, instantly eyes locking with him and it was easy to get swayed with how mesmerizingly golden they look. It’s very eye-catching and one look at his figure, Albedo concluded this man is a natural head turner that even he would crane his neck just to have a glimpse. What made him think so is probably the loud thump of his heart, racing rapidly inside his chest.
The man hisses when he tries to move and Albedo acts on instinct before catching himself.
“I don’t mean any harm,” he said carefully. “I only wish to help. Are you hurt?”
“Where is this?”
Albedo was taken aback. His ears heard it right and his mind understood it fully. Watching the meteor fall from above, he already made an assumption that this man might be from another world. Was he wrong? But where else could he possibly fall from the height?
“This is Teyvat, Dragonspine specifically.” Albedo answered still and watched the man ponder, not missing when he sharply looked above and trained his eyes specifically on the sky. When the silence stretches, Albedo can’t hold himself to ask. “Is that where you fall from?”
He received a nod.
There were thousands if not billions of stars in the sky, yet when Albedo observes the man closely, it’s as if they can pinpoint an exact location like putting a pin on a map. He remained still at the center of the crate, the ground has visible cracks from where most of the impact had landed. The gold and white accents of the man’s clothes stays the same but the obvious glow of the ornaments in his figure vanishes. Albedo looked intensely at their chest, the palate became an unblinking void of black like the rest of it.
“Where exactly is Teyvat?”
It was Albedo’s turn to think hard. “What do you mean?”
“Exactly what I asked,”
“I’m afraid I have no answer for that..”
The man doesn’t look sullen nor sad. “Oh.. then, who are you?”
Albedo put a hand on his chest as he introduced himself. “I’m Albedo, an Alchemist. I was.. surveying down the valley when I watched you fall from the sky and I rushed here.”
“Oh..”
Oh? Albedo echoed.
“I’m..” said the man with a little hesitance before continuing. “Aether, call me Aether.”
Sky and heaven. How befitting, Albedo thought. Indeed, he said once more when he looked at Aether again. Bright and otherworldly.
The wind howls around them and when the cold bites their skin, Albedo doesn't wince but Aether obviously shivers from the way he almost stumbles on his feet once again. Aether’s clothes.. while very pleasing to look at, with how it hugs and clings tightly on his figure— it’s not appropriate for the cold weather.
Albedo removes his coat, slipping off his shoulder and feeling bold enough to get close to Aether and wraps him with it. Albedo was sure his own frame was slender in build and yet Aether still managed to drown with his coat around him, shrinking him small compared to him. It was endearing to see for some reason.
“My camp is near, I suggest we seek shelter and be warm in an instant.”
Aether didn’t protest or voice any complaint and followed him back. Thoughts flooded Albedo’s mind, his brain was too aware of Aether’s presence behind. He was still not letting go of his assumption that Aether might be someone out of this world, searching for an explanation why he can speak the language of Teyvat. It could be a gift.. who’s to say someone so.. alien don't have an ability to adapt the moment they landed in a new world? Can Aether speak and understand the moment he arrived? How does it work and what possibly allows him to be able to do so?
One look behind and Albedo decided to refrain from bombarding him with more questions. Aether looked genuinely perplexed and innocent, his golden eyes searching around with visible interest and wonder. It was akin to a child going out to see the world for the first time.
The trek up to his camp was easy, Albedo already cleared the monsters that usually littered on the path and so their walk has been smooth sailing. However they both stop at the sight of a broken bridge in front.
“Are we going to jump?” Aether asks, peeking below and Albedo hears him gasp when he sees Durin’s bones poking out of the surface.
“I have a means to cross it,” Albedo said, whisking Aether away from the edge when he dangerously leaned too closely. “But I would need your permission.”
“For what?”
Albedo opens his palm and summons a flower that bloomed in gold. It rested on the ground and remained unmoving until he stepped in, lifting him from the ground. When he looks down, Aether’s eyes are already shining with interest and it didn’t take too much convincing for him to get on it.
“Wait for a moment,” Albedo instructed and lowered himself before hopping down. He calls Aether’s name before grabbing him on his waist and perching him on top of the flower. When Aether stabilizes himself, Albedo follows as their bodies pressed closely. “Here hold onto me, I wouldn’t let you fall but it’s best if we don’t come to the part I need to hurry and catch you myself.”
Albedo was aware his own body doesn’t run that much heat but Aether feels comfortingly warm against his chest. It only lasted for a few seconds and yet it’s as if it dragged on for too long and parting too quickly for his liking.
Aether immediately runs to the warmth of his camp, letting out a relieved sigh as he sat on the floor next to the fire. Albedo busied himself and lights the other braziers to ward off the drop in temperature as the night deepens, then sneaking a trap should any monster reached their place. When he looked back, Aether is already searching his camp with interest, especially his work table where he hastily put a minor experiment on hold.
“I would suggest not touching it, much more sniffing it.” Albedo warned, catching Aether’s hand as he attempt to poke the small mountain of powdered scarlet quartz that he did earlier. “This powder wasn’t meant to be touch without proper tools, gloves are no exemption.” he added when Aether look at their joined hands.
“What are you trying to make?”
“A warming bottle.” Albedo said, carefully putting the red powder back into a jar and sealing it tightly. “If you are not familiar with them, they’re meant to keep the body warm for a period of time and providing a temporary relief from the cold.”
“Did you create it?”
“No, what I’m trying to do is to improve them.”
Aether’s attention pans to the books on his shelves and Albedo recognize the moment Aether see the words etched on the spines. He can’t read them, the frown on his face was very apparent. When he thought Aether will do something, he just didn’t and instead sit on the ground and warm himself, wrapping the coat around him tightly. Albedo followed.
“So, Aether.. where did you come from?” he asked over the fire, watching it dance and mirror on pair of golden eyes across.
Aether waited to answer. “Somewhere far from here.”
“Far enough that it almost looked like you’ve fallen from the sky?”
Nodding, Aether looked past the entrance and on the gloomy sky outside. “It was a high fall from there.. I think.”
“You think?”
Aether nodded once more as he goes silent.
Discovering the unknown is what he’s been doing for most of his life and Albedo decided to put Aether under the same category. While they’ve only met in less than an hour, Albedo isn’t about to put what he witnessed at the back of his mind. Aether is an enigma. Carrying both the aura and presence of the stars. From his name that feels strange on his tongue as if forbidden, to his clothes that does not match from any nations that exist in Teyvat. Albedo held so many questions, wanting to burst and ask but it might do more harm than good asking them now, and clearly, Aether has more pressing matters right now.
Albedo could only imagine the feeling of waking up in a complete strange environment, as frightening as it sounds.
“You must’ve a lot of questions for me.” Aether suddenly said, breaking Albedo out of his thoughts.
“I am.”
Aether smiled, earnestly at that and Albedo find himself a little taken aback from it.
The fire crackle between them and then Albedo blinks while Aether extend his arms out, the surface of his palm lighting up until it produces a restrained set of what appears to be stars, floating within the boundary. Albedo’s mind instantly clicked in interest, watching with barely hidden fascination. When Aether giggled, Albedo forced himself to look away for a second to meet him, gazing back at him is a pair of mutually fascinated eyes.
Albedo feel as though there’s something more behind it that makes his mind raced like a void and sea of stars lying on the depth.