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“Message for you.” Xiao put Aether’s burner phone down in front of him and the blond put down the gun he was cleaning to pick it up, reaching up to kiss Xiao’s cheek in thanks.
“Thanks.” Aether hummed, thumbing the phone and furrowing his brows as he read the messages. “Huh.”
“New job?”
“Mavuika wants my help.” Aether replied. “I haven’t worked a job with her in a long time, I wonder what would make her call me up.”
“Mavuika… the one you did that job with to clear out the cartel in her town?” Xiao asked, his spear laid in his lap as he went over it with a cloth.
“Yeah.” Aether nodded. “She wants to meet up tomorrow.”
“Stay safe.” Xiao said.
“Always.”
haborym
Come get a drink with me tomorrow
Got a favour to ask
[location]
be there tomorrow
Thanks Traveler
I owe you one
i haven’t said yes yet
The following day went about as normal as a day for Xiao and Aether could go; Aether at home cleaning and recalibrating all of his equipment for the inevitable next job, while Xiao did some scouting for his old boss who liked to call in favours every now and then and paid him most handsomely.
By the time Aether had to head out to meet Mavuika, Xiao was still not home so the blond left a pot of soup on the stove, made sure the rice cooker was on and ducked out of their flat with a coat. The place Mavuika asked to meet was around a half hours train ride away with two changes so Aether put one earbud in and hopped on the first train. He’d gotten into the habit of only putting one in years ago, so he could stay alert.
When he got off his last train, it was relatively easy to locate the bar Mavuika had chosen and he spotted her signature orange-red hair the second he walked in.
“Mavuika.” He took care to use her civilian name in a public place.
“Aether.” She turned to smile at him. “Drink?”
“Just a whiskey. On the rocks.” Aether waved to the bartender. “Not too fond of the stuff they have in these bars.”
“You’re partial to something else?”
“Chinese liqueurs. I’m afraid Xiao’s turned me onto them, it’s all we have at our place.” Aether shrugged, taking the drink he was passed from the bartender and downing a sip. “What did you call me for?”
“Straight to business, huh? I get it.” Mavuika chuckled, finishing off her beer. “I got something coming up… kinda big. You know that new museum that just opened in Fontaine?”
“The one they built near Lumidouce harbour?”
“That’s the one. They’ve got a ton of Sumerian and Natlanese artifacts in there and we all know how those came into their hands.”
“Of course.” Aether nodded, taking another sip of his drink.
“My team and I simply want to rehome them to hands that should have owned them in the first place. I hear you know some Sumerian’s who might want a piece of the loot after.” Mavuika raised an eyebrow. “We don’t have any rights to those, of course.”
“I might know some people.” Aether hummed. “So that’s the job?”
“That’s the job. There’s more details I can give you if you want in, but otherwise that’s all I can say.”
“Who’s involved?”
“The usual. My two front-liners, my genius inventor and my mechanic, my watchman, my comms manager and my multi-talented all-rounder slash scouter.” Mavuika replied vaguely. “We could really use your help, especially with a job this big. And Archons know you’re experienced at this kind of thing.”
“You don’t have to sweettalk me, Mavuika. I’ll do it.” Aether snorted. “You ask my sister?”
“She’s deep in the Chasm with Paimon. Some archaeological thing with Dainsleif. I thought since she was finally doing things legally, I’d leave her be.”
“Smart.” He finished off the last bit of his drink.
“I’ll be in touch then. We’ll start sometime next week; I’ll have your plane ticket paid for.”
“See you soon.”
When Aether got home, he changed into his pyjamas and brushed his teeth before flopping into bed with Xiao, who moved his arm up to allow Aether under it, without even looking away from his book.
“How did it go?”
“I said yes.” Aether replied, closing his eyes. “She’ll send my plane ticket to me, but we start next week sometime.”
“Stay safe, will you?” Xiao didn’t ask about the job; he knew not to because Aether couldn’t tell him anything if he wasn’t involved.
“I’ll do my best.”
The following week saw Aether landing in Fontaine dressed in inconspicuous clothing with a beanie atop this golden head. He didn’t have any checked in luggage, just his carry-on, so making his way out of the airport was much quicker. He stood in a corner when he got to the Arrivals hall, waiting on whoever was supposed to pick him up.
lyney
in fontaine for a job
let’s get a coffee when i’m done
AETHER!!
HOW COULD U NOT TELL ME BEFOREHAND
last minute thing
i’m sorry 😔
u know i can’t stay mad at u
is it u and xiao or just u
just me
lmk when ur done with ur thing and we’ll find a time
lynette and freminet would love to see u too
<3
“Aether?” He looked up to be greeted by a familiar dark haired man dressed in black and green.
“So you’re the one she sent, Kinich.” Aether’s lips curled up in a smile and he hefted his bag over his shoulder, accepting Kinich’s handshake. “It’s been a while.”
“It was supposed to be Ifa, actually, but Xilonen roped him into doing something. It’s good to see you.” Kinich gestured with his head to the exit. “Come on, Mavuika wants to start as soon as possible.”
“Is everyone here already?”
“Varesa isn’t yet but she’s supposed to get here tomorrow.” Kinich unlocked his car and opened the trunk. Once Aether put his stuff in and they both buckled in, they were off. Kinich eventually pulled up to a townhouse and parked the car outside in front of the one other car also parked in front of the same house. Aether grabbed his bag from the back and followed Kinich to the front door where he unlocked it and let them both in.
The second they were inside, Mavuika appeared with a bright grin on her face and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “Welcome to our little hideout, Aether!”
“Not bad.” Aether nodded his head, looking around at the properly furnished house.
“Thank you!” She beamed. “I might have had to call in a favour from Zhongli but whatever!”
“Worst he’ll do is make you buy him something.” Aether snorted.
“Speaking from experience, huh?” Kinich hummed.
“Yeah, I’ve worked with him a lot.” Aether nodded.
“Come on down to the basement, everyone’s waiting to get started.” Mavuika guided him downstairs, her arm still around his shoulders. “Though I haven’t heard from Varesa, I’m a little worried.”
“She’s your all-rounder, isn’t she?” Aether asked.
“Mhm, she’s meant to come in tomorrow and do the scouting with Kinich.” Mavuika worried her bottom lip between her teeth. “She’s coming straight from another job.”
“It’ll be okay.” Kinich said from behind them. “Let’s just do what we can for now.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Mavuika sighed as they got to the bottom of the staircase. “Hey everyone! Look who Kinich brought home!”
“Kinich is home?” A shorter girl with blonde hair popped up from behind a computer with wide eyes. “Kinich!”
“Kinich!” Another girl with white hair dressed in blue waved from where she was sat surrounded by a bunch of equipment.
“Lani, Kachina.” Kinich nodded, his lips curled up just the slightest.
“Is this Aether?” A man with dark hair asked.
“You must be Ororon.” Aether turned to look at him. “I’ve heard about you from Citlali.”
“She practically sings your praises.” Ororon said solemnly. “I look forward to working with you.”
“You too.”
“Xilonen and Ifa are working on something right now, but these are Kachina and Mualani.” Mavuika introduced. “Kachina’s on comms with me and Mualani’s a front-liner with you and Kinich.”
“Nice to meet you both.” Aether waved.
“You too!” Kachina smiled.
“We hear about you a lot in this line of work.” Mualani giggled as Kinich sat beside her and gently tugged the gun from her hands to work on it himself. “Everyone talks about the mysterious Traveler.”
“People exaggerate.” Aether laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’ve just been doing this for a long time.”
“You certainly don’t look it.” Another voice joined them and Aether turned to see a white haired man come in from the other door that was in the basement. “I’m Ifa.”
“Xilonen.” The blonde woman who followed him introduced herself.
“Everyone’s here now, great!” Mavuika clapped her hands. “Let’s go over this thing.”
“Varesa isn’t here though.” Mualani frowned.
“She should be here tomorrow.” Mavuika said. “She knows her job is to scout so until she does that, we’ll have Kinich do a quick run by with Ajaw today. The plan is to locate all the cameras when Varesa does her scouting so we can disable them day of. Xilonen and Ifa have been working hard on the copies to replace the things we take. It’s more so to give us some time to move out of the country.”
“Very dependent on Varesa, hm.” Aether hummed.
“She’s the only scout we could get on short notice.” Mavuika put her hands on her hips. “Kinich, head out now will you? Ifa’s got some upgrades for your bike.”
“Come on.” Ifa clapped Kinich on his back and they disappeared up the stairs.
“Aether, get some rest. We won’t see any real action until Varesa gets in tomorrow.”
Varesa did not get in the day after.
“I have some bad news.” Mavuika said at breakfast that morning. “Got a call from Varesa just a bit ago. She got shot on her mission so she won’t be able to make it. It’s not bad but it’s enough to take her out of commission till she’s recovered.”
“Shit.” Xilonen swore, putting her mug of coffee down. “Where the fuck are we going to find a scout now?”
“I… might have someone.” Aether spoke up cautiously.
“You do?” Kachina asked, eyebrows raised. “On such short notice?”
“It’s… my partner. If I asked, he’d come.” Aether replied. “Mavuika, it’s up to you if you want me to call?”
“I’d be a fool to turn down an offer to work with the likes of him.” Mavuika waved her hand. “Call him.”
“Okay.” Aether pulled his phone out and called the first contact in his favourites list, waiting until the line connected. “Hey.”
“Calling already? Is something wrong?”
“No, no. Well… kind of. Our scout got injured on a previous job and can’t come. Are you by any chance free?”
“I can be.”
“A-Xiao1, don’t cancel if you have something important.” Aether scowled, ignoring the looks everyone was giving him even though they couldn’t hear the conversation.
“I’m not busy. Fontaine, right? I’ll be there tonight.”
“Okay. Message when you land.”
“I will.” And he hung up.
“He’ll be here tonight.” Aether informed them when he turned his phone off and snickered when everyone visibly sagged in relief. “Don’t ask him to work tonight because he will and he’ll need rest after the flight.”
“Your man an over worker?” Ifa asked.
“We both are.” Aether sighed.
“You’re all over workers.” Kinich deadpanned.
“Except for you, huh?” Mualani squished his face in her hand and his frown gave way to a softer look directed at her. “Mister I don’t work past five.”
“That’s an exaggeration.” Kinich shook his head. “I just don’t go out of my way to do something if it can be done the next day. If it’s not an emergency then why waste time I could spend resting on it?”
“It’s a good mindset to have.” Ororon admitted.
“You need a ride to the airport?” Xilonen asked Aether.
“If you can spare a car, I can go myself.” Aether shrugged.
“Keys are by the door.” Ifa pointed. “Just take whichever one you want.”
“In the meantime… will you spar a little with Kinich and I?” Mualani asked.
“I won’t hold back.” He warned.
“You’d better not.” Kinich grumbled.
He thoroughly beat both of their asses without even breaking a sweat then proceeded to teach them about five different ways to choke someone out without killing them, which Mualani took to like a duck to water. When he got a message from Xiao later saying his plane had landed, Aether unhooked one of the car keys from the hooks by the door and drove back to the airport he’d landed at just the day before.
Even though it had only been a day or so since he last saw Xiao, he still felt himself settle when his eyes landed on that familiar figure walking into the Arrivals hall with a bag over his shoulder. Xiao beelined straight for him the second he spotted him and instantly wrapped his arms around him.
“Hi.” Aether chuckled into Xiao’s shirt; his voice muffled against the fabric. “Missed you.”
“You saw me yesterday.” Xiao grumbled, pretending he hadn’t also missed Aether.
“Sorry to make you come all this way so last minute.” Aether smiled sheepishly as he pulled away from the hug and laced their fingers together instead, leading Xiao to where the car was parked outside.
“It’s you asking so it’s fine.” Xiao shook his head, squeezing Aether’s hand.
“You’re a softie, A-Xiao.” Aether teased, unlocking the car.
“Shut up.” Xiao rolled his eyes good-naturedly.
“Sorry.” He grinned. “Come on, I bet they’ll all be waiting back at the house.”
Ifa was outside when they got back to the house, peeking into the hood of the other car they had with a pondering expression on his face. He looked up when Aether parked the car and waved, his face melting into an inviting smile.
“Hey, welcome back.” He said when Aether got out of the car.
“Thanks. This is Xiao.” Aether introduced, taking Xiao’s hand once more after he had grabbed his bag from the back. “Xiao, this is Ifa.”
“Good to meet you. I’ve heard good things.” Ifa held his hand out and Xiao shook it. “Everyone’s waiting inside, come on.”
“Told you.” Aether whispered as they followed Ifa inside.
“Xiao!” Mavuika beamed when she spotted him. “We haven’t met but Zhongli practically sings your praises. I’m Mavuika.”
“He has been known to exaggerate.” Xiao replied, shaking her proffered hand.
“Maybe, but everyone else who talks about has around the same reverence so I’m choosing to believe it’s true.” She laughed. “Let me introduce you to everyone and we’ll go over a couple things then you can get some rest.” After Mavuika introduced Xiao to everyone, they gathered on the different chairs and sofas in the living room to talk.
“We cannot begin this operation without detailed knowledge of the security cameras in the museum and a layout of every floor. The outside of the building was surveyed by Kinich yesterday and Ifa and Xilonen are already working on a 3D model of it. Once we have the details on the insides we can start strategizing.” Mavuika said. “Xiao, you’ll be taking Varesa’s role of scouting so this part of the job heavily depends on you. Is that okay?”
“Fine with me.” Xiao nodded.
“You don’t have to be super accurate when it comes to the layout and the rooms, the most important thing is the cameras. Someone owes me a favour and I’m calling it in to get us some blueprints of the museum.” Mavuika said, pinching the bridge of her nose.
“We’ll have Aether go with you as backup and as part of your disguise so you don’t get singled out.” Kachina informed them. “I’ll finetune the comms with Xilonen tonight and they’ll be ready for you to use tomorrow morning.”
“That works.” Aether replied.
“Thank you again, Xiao, for doing this on such short notice. We would have had to reschedule the whole thing otherwise.” Mavuika turned to him.
“Happy to help.” He shrugged.
“Alright, that’s all from me. Aether, Xiao check in with Kachina and Xilonen tomorrow morning and then head out whenever.” Mavuika said, dismissing them. “Goodnight!”
Aether led Xiao to the room he’d been given at the end of the corridor on the first floor and collapsed on the bed while Xiao unpacked his bag. Once the darker-haired man was done, they both stripped down to their underwear and got under the sheets.
“Night, Xiao.” Aether murmured.
“Goodnight, qīn’ài de2.”
The following morning, Aether brewed himself a cup of coffee in the kitchen and a cup of tea for Xiao to sip on while they headed downstairs to speak with Kachina and Xilonen in the basement. They were both awake, the former curled up in a chair in front of a bright computer screen while the latter was hunched over a table with various tools on it.
“Early risers?” Aether greeted.
“Oh, good morning you two!” Kachina waved with a beam. “I am for sure! Xilonen just hasn’t gone to bed.”
“I’ll sleep when I’m dead.” Xilonen grumbled, coming over with several things in her hands. “Here, each of you take one of these; it works like a miniature blow gun. And these are bugs, just put one in the tube whenever you spot a camera and aim so it attaches to the camera.”
“Cool.” Aether sounded impressed.
“These are your earpieces.” Kachina handed them both one. “Keep them in at all times. You don’t have to actually use them while you’re there but either Mavuika or I will be available at all times. Just double tap it and it’ll connect you to our secure line, but if you want to keep it off that works too. I know some people prefer to concentrate when they work so having someone in your ear can be distracting.”
“We’ll get in touch if we need to.” Xiao said simply.
“That’s all I ask!” Kachina nodded, pleased.
“I understand you both have your own equipment but the two lockers over there have some of our stuff if you want to look and see if you need anything. Just let me know if you decide to take something before you leave.” Xilonen pointed at a pair of silver lockers in the corner of the room.
“Sure.” Aether tucked the blowgun in his hoodie pocket and downed the remainder of his coffee. “We’re gonna get ready and head out in a bit then.”
“Good luck!” Kachina smiled.
They didn’t end up taking any of the equipment in the lockers and simply checked in with Kachina before they left the house. “No car. It’s better no one sees any of the cars we have before the day of the heist.” Aether said, earning a nod from Xiao.
“Walking is better.” He offered his hand to Aether, who took it happily, squeezing.
“We can pretend we’re on a date.”
“We are on a date.” Xiao deadpanned. “We just happen to have some tasks to complete.”
“Oh, my bad, you’re right.” Aether snickered, swinging their arms between them. “We should do jobs more often.”
“We don’t normally get asked to.” Xiao shrugged. “Not a lot of jobs need both of us.”
“We’re too strong together, I know.” Aether nodded solemnly and Xiao rolled his eyes good naturedly. They took the aquabus a few stops to the museum and soon enough were standing right outside the large, hulking, white building. “We don’t need tickets, come on.”
“How many laps?” Xiao murmured as they walked through the massive wooden doors. “I should think at least two.”
“Two proper ones to be safe and we’ll do a very quick third one.” Aether replied in just as low a tone as they entered the first exhibition. If it was this busy now, Aether couldn’t even imagine how busy it must have been when it opened several months ago.
“Weren’t a large portion of the public against this?” Xiao asked as he scanned the room for any cameras, subtly taking out his blowgun and bringing it to his lips, sending a bug right to the camera he spotted.
“Some.” Aether nodded, doing the same thing Xiao did to another camera in another corner of the room. “One guard.”
“There’s another just outside the hall on the other side.” Xiao caught the edge of his costume peeking at the edge of the doorway to the next exhibition.
“Some people were against it.” Aether continued as they headed into the next room. “I know Lyney and his siblings spoke out about it on social media, and so did Navia. But the Fontainian public will just ignore if they don’t like what they’re saying.”
“How unfortunate.” Xiao sighed as they repeated the same process in this room as well. By the time they finished their first lap, they were down to half of the bugs they’d come in with. “One more in depth run, let’s go slower.”
“Yeah.” Aether nodded as they started their second walk-through. They had gotten most of the cameras on their first run, indicated by the smallest gleam beneath each one where the bug rested, but they managed to catch another couple cameras that they didn’t spot the first time around. “Want to get a drink before we do the final run through?”
“And fund this place?” Xiao raised an eyebrow.
“We’re emptying their halls soon; I almost feel a little bad.” Aether shrugged. “Besides, I don’t want to rouse attention by doing the last lap immediately.”
“Then let’s get that drink.” Xiao acquiesced. “Tea?”
“Tea.”
Several minutes later saw them occupying a table in the corner of the museum’s café, beneath a large glass dome that showed the sky above. A teapot and two cups were on the table between them, steam rising and curling gently in the air from the pot as the tea steeped, turning it a beautiful deep red colour. Xiao wrinkled his nose as he took a sip.
“Not a fan?” Aether teased, sipping from his own cup.
“It isn’t bad. Just… not a fan of Fontainian teas.” He sighed. “Even Snezhnayan teas are better.”
“We’ll go out for some Almond Tofu and green tea when we get back home, how’s that sound?” Aether tapped Xiao’s shoe with his own, giving him a charming smile.
“Acceptable.” Xiao’s lips curled up into a smile.
Once their teapot was empty, they did their final rounds of the museum quickly and after they were sure all the security guards were noted and they had marked every camera, it was back to the house they went.
Aether took the lead on the briefing once they returned to the house, letting Xiao sit beside him and chime in whenever Aether missed something out, which wasn’t often, while the blond covered all the important points and drew markers for the guards and cameras on the blueprints that had magically appeared.
“Not magically.” Mavuika chuckled. “I know a really good hacker and she owed me a favour.”
“Great hacker more like.” Aether murmured as he capped his marker, double checking the positions of all the marks he’d made on the prints. “Fontainian servers are locked up tight, second only to Sumeru’s.”
“Good thing I asked Nahida, huh?” Mavuika gave him a grin.
“You could have asked her even if she hadn’t owed you a favour and she would have said yes.” Aether shook his head. “She needs to get better at saying no.”
“That I can agree with you on.” Mavuika nodded. “Great job you two, this is great.”
“No worries.” Aether waved her off. “So what’s the plan?”
“The bugs we had you plant can disable the cameras but we’re not disabling them the whole time.” Xilonen explained. “It’s too risky for that, someone could easily spot that they’re off or displaying fake footage. On the day of, whenever one of you goes to replace an artifact, I’ll disable the cameras that have a shot of that specific spot and Kachina will filter in some fake footage. Once the artifacts are swapped, we turn the camera back on and repeat for the other pieces.”
“It’ll have to be quick and it’s definitely harder than doing it all at once but it’s safer and the most important thing is that we don’t get caught.” Kachina said firmly.
“I want Ororon on the roof of the building opposite with his sniper and a camouflage blanket.” Mavuika said to the dark haired man who nodded. “Ifa, you’ll be parked a block or two away with one of the cars and you’ll pick them up as soon as they’re done and come right back here.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Ifa nodded; arms crossed over his chest.
“Kachina, Xilonen and I will remain here with Kachina and I on comms.” Mavuika continued. “You four will be on the front lines.” She pointed at Aether, Xiao, Kinich and Mualani in turn.
“Okay!” Mualani pumped her first, bouncing on the sofa.
“We’ll go as late as we can on the day off and you four will find places to hide. Then we strike when the museum is officially closed and you can knock the guards out without worrying about witnesses.”
“When do we start?” Kinich asked.
“Day after tomorrow. Spend the next day or so memorising the places of the guards. We’re going after closing so their positions might change but it’s important to know their places nonetheless.” Mavuika placed her hands on her hips. “Clear? Alright, stay sharp everyone. We’ll get our stuff back soon.”
On the night of the operation, they all dressed in normal clothes, tucking black clothes, face masks and caps into large duffel bags with the copies they made of all the artifacts. Everyone armed themselves with their preferred weapons and at least one gun loaded with tranquilisers. They weren’t shooting to kill; they were shooting to subdue.
Xilonen drove them in the car that Ifa wasn’t going to be using later and parked a block or two in the opposite direction of where Ifa was parked. She waved them goodbye, abandoned the car there and walked back home in the cover of darkness.
The four of them entered the museum, exchanged knowing looks and split up into their respective pairs. Xiao and Aether ducked into one of the bathrooms and secluded themselves in one of the stalls in silence, waiting until the museum announced its closing and the chatter outside ceased as all the visitors left. The lights went off and they were plunged into darkness.
“Let’s move.” Aether said, putting the duffel bag on and passing Xiao his black clothes. They swiftly changed into the other clothes, stuffing their old ones back into the bag and donning caps to cover their hair and masks to cover the bottom half of their faces. It was decided prior that Mualani and Kinich would do one side of the museum while Xiao and Aether did the other side, and then they would reconvene in the middle when they finished.
“Let me go first.” Xiao poked his head out of the bathroom and disappeared. Aether watched him move down the hallway silently and grab the guard at the end of it, covering his mouth with one hand while his other arm choked him out silently. Xiao propped him up against the wall so he wouldn’t rouse suspicion and motioned for Aether to follow, tapping his earpiece on.
“Uthabiti, checking in. We’re starting.” Aether tapped his own earpiece.
“I hear you loud and clear, Traveler.” Kachina replied. “Malipo and Umoja have also just checked in with Haborym and they’re beginning on their end.”
“Let’s go.” Xiao gestured to the first room. “Uthabiti, cameras.”
“They’re out.” Kachina confirmed.
Aether put the large duffel bag down just out of sight of the cameras and him and Xiao split up briefly to take out the two guards that had sight of this room. Once they were down, Aether fished for the copy of the artifact and switched it with the original, tucking the true version back into the duffel bag.
They continued exactly like that, swiftly knocking guards out and replacing the artifacts one by one until they finished off all the rooms on their end. They had only been hiding in the shadows near the middle of the building for a few minutes when Kinich and Mualani appeared in front of them.
“Done on your end?” Kinich asked.
“Done.” Aether nodded. “No complications?”
“Everything went fine.” Mualani shook her head. “Is it time to head out?”
“Uthabiti?” Xiao asked.
“The guard in the camera room is leaving. He’ll find you if you don’t move.” Kachina said quickly. By the widening of Kinich and Mualani’s eyes, Aether assumed Mavuika had relayed the same news to them. “You won’t be able to knock him out before he sounds an alarm or leave without him seeing you. He’s coming down from the rooms upstairs.”
“What do we do?” Mualani whisper screamed.
“Malipo, lockpick the employee exit door. Alatus and I will buy you time.” Aether said.
“What about you?” Kinich had already taken his tools out, ready to leave at Aether’s word.
“We’ll find a way out. Go.” Xiao urged and the pair disappeared, Mualani tossing a worried look behind her as she followed Kinich.
“Hey!” The guard called when he spotted the pair running past him but Aether appeared in front of him, drawing his attention. The blond pushed the duffel bag away and reached for the guard’s walkie talkie before he had a chance to lift it to his mouth and speak into it. “What –”
Aether tossed the device to Xiao who broke it under his foot, lifted the duffel bag over his shoulder and made a quick gesture that Aether clocked right away. He gave a nod back and after he divested the guard of his weapon, they both ran. They didn’t have time to knock him out considering the shift change would be happening soon and they needed to be out of here before more people came in.
Xiao pointed at one of the windows at the back end of the building and Aether tightened his jaw, speeding up alongside him. “Hey! Come back here!” A security guard rushed after Aether and Xiao as they jumped out of the window. The pair ducked into an alleyway as the guard stumbled around them, searching still.
“Oh no, oh no!” Kachina wailed in their earpieces. Xiao gave Aether a look before he tapped his earpiece off and took his mask off.
“Check back in a second, Uthabiti.” Aether said, his eyes not leaving Xiao as he tapped his own earpiece off to Kachina’s protests. He dropped the heavy bag that held some of the artifacts on the floor between his legs and leaned against the wall, tugging his own mask down. “Distraction?”
“Distraction.” Xiao nodded; his eyes gleaming in the darkness of the alleyway. He prowled closer, planting both of his hands on Aether’s waist while the blond looped his own arms around Xiao’s neck. Their lips met just as the guard stepped foot in the alleyway and neither of them paid him any mind.
In all fairness, Aether was thoroughly distracted by Xiao’s tongue in his mouth and his hand straying down from Aether’s waist to cup his thighs and lift him up. He wrapped his legs around Xiao’s waist and threaded a hand through his dark locks, tugging gently to tug Xiao’s head away so he could attach his lips to the column of Xiao’s throat, sucking a dark mark onto the fair skin.
“Oi!” The guard called and Aether ignored him.
“Can’t you see we’re busy?” Xiao deadpanned, his voice hitching as Aether swirled his tongue over the mark. “Fuck off.”
“Fucking hell.” The guard swore and disappeared.
“That was hot.” Aether murmured, smiling against Xiao’s skin. Xiao cupped his face with one hand and drew him into a short, searing kiss before he put Aether back down onto his feet.
“I’ll kiss you all you want when we get home.” Xiao promised. “You should check back in before someone comes looking for us.”
“I’m holding you to that.” Aether gave him a stern look before he tapped his earpiece on. “Crisis averted. Sorry we disappeared; someone was chasing us.”
“Oh Archons, are you okay?” Kachina shrieked.
“We’re fine. On our way home.” Xiao replied.
“Tell the others to leave without us, we’ll find another way back without rousing suspicion.” Aether said.
“Okay, stay safe. I’ll have Haborym pass the message along.” Kachina said. “Turn comms off if you need to. Better safe than sorry.”
“We will.” Aether said. “Talk soon.”
“Off?” Xiao asked, one hand already tapping his own comm off. Aether nodded and did the same to his own, pocketing it before they both returned the masks to their faces. “We can’t walk around with these bags.”
“I could call someone.” Aether suggested.
“In Fontaine? Who –” He went quiet as a look of realisation crossed over his face. “Lyney.”
“He wouldn’t hesitate.”
“Wouldn’t Fourth be against it?”
“She’d probably encourage him. Considering we’re taking wrongfully seized artifacts back to their original owners, I dare say she’d be very proud of what we’re doing.” Aether snorted, tapping on a contact on his burner phone that he had tucked in one of the pockets on his trousers. “I’ll call.”
“Hello?” Lyney picked up.
“Magician, I need a favour.”
“What’s up?” Lyney’s voice turned serious and there was some shuffling on his end.
“Can you spare a car and someone to pick me and my partner up? It’s kind of urgent… and time sensitive.”
“Yeah, of course. What’s the location?”
“Lumidouce Harbour.” Aether said. The harbour itself was only a few blocks away and they could get there through various alleyways, not risking exposing themselves to the streets proper.
“I’ll give you a missed call when I’m there.”
“Thank you, really. I owe you one.”
“What are friends for?”
When the call cut, Aether gestured for Xiao to start moving. They walked in silence between buildings, hiding in the darkness until the glimmering water appeared at the end of one of the alleyways and Aether breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of the harbour. A minute later, a car rolled up to the harbour and Aether’s burner phone rang for a few seconds before it cut off.
“That’s him.” Aether whispered and they moved out of the alleyway swiftly, jumping in the back of the car and it started driving immediately.
“Long time no see.” Lyney grinned at them through the mirror.
“You’re a lifesaver, Lyney.” Aether said, sagging in relief as he tugged the mask off his face along with Xiao.
“We would have been screwed.” Xiao nodded in agreement.
“Do I get to know what this mysterious job is?” Lyney asked. “Also where do I take you?”
“You’ll find out soon enough. Just keep an eye on the news.” Aether chuckled before he recited the address of the safe house.
“Oh, I see how it is.” Lyney nodded. “We are still getting coffee, right? Lynette and Freminet will kill me if they found out I saw you before they did.”
“Of course we are. Just let us sort the last couple things with this job and I’ll message you as soon as we do.” Aether promised. “I wouldn’t want to upset your siblings.”
“You’d be right not to.” Lyney shuddered.
Lyney dropped them off at the house and they got out with Aether once again promising to message him as soon as he could. The second they walked through the door, Mavuika rushed forward, a hand on each of their shoulders.
“Are you okay?” She asked, eyes wide in concern. “Mualani and Kinich got back a while ago with Ifa.”
“Kachina told you we’d find a way back, right? I called someone I knew in Fontaine who’s in the same business, Magician. He dropped us off.” Aether explained.
“I’ve heard of Magician.” Xilonen appeared behind Mavuika, nodding in approval. “His jobs with his team are well known in Fontaine.”
“He’s good.” Xiao nodded.
“We’ve been friends for years.” Aether shrugged. “He came as soon as I called.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re back safely.” Mavuika sighed, letting them both go.
“Here. Everything is all here.” Aether lifted the duffel bag and Xilonen grabbed it with a glint in her eyes and a growing grin.
“Phenomenal job.” Mavuika beamed. “You guys did great. Get some rest, yeah? We’ll talk sellers and all that tomorrow and you can give me the contacts of anyone who might want the Sumerian artifacts.”
“Sure.” Aether nodded, already being tugged away by Xiao’s hand on his wrist. “Goodnight!”
“Goodnight!” The two women waved him off.
“I am counting the days until we’re back in the privacy of our own home.” Aether said later when he and Xiao were lying in bed.
“Patience.” Xiao snorted.
“Don’t pretend you’re not.” Aether turned to his side, reaching out to take Xiao’s chin in his hand and turn him to the side to plant a kiss on his lips.
“Of course I am.” Xiao murmured against his lips. “I can’t touch you how I please here.”
“Unfortunately.” Aether sighed dramatically.
The following morning, Aether passed along the contacts of several people he knew in Sumeru who would want the artifacts in their possession to Mavuika, leaving her to do the communication and offers. He was just the middleman, after all.
He did reach out to one person though.
“Morning.”
“It’s the afternoon here, Traveler.” A familiar voice drawled.
“Never mind that. I have something you might want, Scribe.” Aether leaned against the kitchen island, watching Xiao fry some eggs.
“Oh?”
“What would you say if I somehow managed to acquire some ancient Sumerian artifacts recently. Some stuff I think Architect might like.”
“I’d ask for your price.”
“That’s not up to me. I’m working under Haborym for this one, I can pass along your details if you’re interested?”
“Yeah, give her my contact. Not a word to Architect though, he’s on a job right now and I want this to stay quiet until he gets back.”
“My lips are sealed, well Alatus just heard our whole conversation but other than that I won’t say a word.” Aether mimed zipping his mouth shut and Xiao gave him an amused look, sliding a plate of sunny side up eggs in his direction, speckled with flakes of black pepper.
“Yes well, I expected that one.” Alhaitham sighed. “Have Haborym call me as soon as she can.”
“I’ll pass the message along.”
By the time Mavuika had sorted out all the buyers, the news about the robbery hit the news both locally and internationally. They had, of course, left no traces behind so no one would know who did it but Lyney knew. He burst out laughing as soon as he saw them on the day they arranged to meet for coffee, wrapping Aether in a hug and patting his back.
“Brilliant!” He held his hand out to shake Xiao’s. “Amazing job!”
“Am I the only one who’s confused?” Freminet mumbled to Lynette and she shook her head.
“I am too.” She replied.
“You know the robbery on the museum?” Lyney asked his siblings as they all sat down after ordering their drinks.
“I saw the news.” Lynette nodded before her eyes widened when she realised what he meant. “Oh!”
“I see.” Freminet hummed.
“A very good job indeed.” Lynette’s lips curled up.
“I’ll need the details some other time.” Lyney said seriously.
“Come visit us in Liyue and I’ll think about it.” Aether leaned back in his chair.
“You should come visit.” Xiao agreed. “Much nicer than Fontaine.”
“You’re biased.” Lyney scowled. “You’re Liyuean!”
“Aether isn’t.” Freminet pointed out and Aether nodded vehemently.
“True! I’m not biased!”
“You kind of are. You’re dating a Liyuean.” Lynette giggled.
“You’re just fishing for excuses now.” Aether sighed. “Come visit, I’ll have Zhongli find you a nice place to stay.”
“Don’t say that in front of Childe, he still wants to fight him.” Lyney paused when the waiter came over to pass their drinks around before continuing. “He’s on a mission to fight every person he can. Father’s already denied him three times just this week.”
“If he wants a fight, I’m down. I haven’t sparred with him in a while.” Aether hummed.
“Zhongli-laoshi3 wouldn’t mind it either.” Xiao said mildly.
“Get into contact with him. He’ll be delighted.” Lyney said. “Enough about him now, tell me about you two! How’s everything been lately?”
By the time Xiao and Aether returned to Liyue a few days later, they were exhausted but definitely richer than they had been before.
“What do you think about going to an expensive dinner after we have a nap?” Aether flopped onto their bed, groaning.
“As long as we come home for dessert.” Xiao stretched his arms above his head before he collapsed on top of Aether, using him as a pillow.
“With pleasure.” Aether chuckled, warm under Xiao’s weight as he run a hand through his lover’s dark hair. “Whatever you want.”
“Xīn’gān4, all I want is you.”