Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Credits

Chapter One - 

🌺

🌼 Qingxin 🌼

🌼 Violetgrass 🌼

🌼 Silk Flower 🌼

🌼 Sea Ganoderma 🌼

🌼 Windwheel Aster 🌼

🌼 Ganyu Voicelines 🌼

🌼 Tartaglia Voicelines🌼

 🌼 Diluc Voicelines 🌼

🌼 Heart of Glaze 🌼

(This is the quest where you unlock Childe as a boss)

🌼 Golden House (Requirements and Rewards) 🌼

🌼 Tusk of Monoceros Caeli🌼

🌼 Shadow of the Warrior🌼

🌺

Chapter Two - 

🌸

🌹Sucrose 🌹

🌹Sucrose Voicelines 🌹

🌹 Mondstadt 🌹

🌹 Xiao 🌹

🌹Xiao Voicelines 🌹

🌹 Xiao (Appearance) 🌹

🌸

Chapter Three - 

💮

🌷 Xiao 🌷

🌷 Xiao Voicelines 🌷

🌷 Sucrose (Appearance) 🌷

🌷 Albedo🌷

🌷 Albedo (Appearance) 🌷

🌷 Jean (Appearance) 🌷

🌷 Mona (Appearance) 🌷

🌷 Zhongli 🌷

🌷 My Teapot 🌷

💮

Chapter Four --

🍃

🌿 Albedo 🌿

🍃

Chapter Five --

🌺

🌸  ' Warmth' 🌸

🌸  Thoma 🌸

🌸 Amber 🌸

🌸 Childe | Tartaglia 🌸

🌸 Noelle 🌸

🌸 TGCF <3 🌸

🌸 Read it on Bilibili Comics or watch it on Netflix 🌸

🌸 My Teapot 🌸

🌺

Chapter Text

Insecurites

"..."

When Lumine was still with him, he never had to worry about the voices.

Although..

He would never tell her that they were still there even when she held him.

There were a few things that actually kept him grounded while in Teyvat.

1: Doing commissions

He got knocked back for a second before getting up again, getting a grip on his sword again. He swung his sword and the last remaining abyss mage fell to the ground in a cloud of stardust. He teleported back to Katheryne and presented her with the papers claiming that he did indeed finish all the commissions before teleporting away to a safe place. He fished his Serenitea Pot out of his storage and placed it in front of him before warping inside.

He had gotten used to the slight fall when he entered his portable home, opening his eyes and looking around his abode.

He had gotten so used to camping outside and sleeping against rocks that he sometimes unconsciously slept outside.

Although he didn't know how he kept ending up in his bed the next morning.

He waved at Yanfei where she stood in the distance.

She just so happened to look up from her book at that moment and waved back.

He turned around to look at the mountain that he had built with the help of Chubby, the traveling spirit.

Seeing Xingqiu and Chongyun sitting at the bamboo table that he had built made him smile and he waved at them despite them not seeing him.

He turned to the giant door to his Mondstadt styled mansion and opened the door quietly as it was late in the afternoon and he didn't want to wake Jean or any of the dogs and cats from their afternoon naps.

Although he guessed that Jean wasn't sleeping, the girl could work all day and night without sleep, he still wanted to be courteous in case she was. He waved at Sucrose who was studying something at the desk he had set up for her.

She smiled and waved back before going back to whatever she was studying.

He opened the door to the kitchen, seeing Childe and he had to suppress his laughter as he saw the highly feared, battle-sexual ( /j ) Eleventh Harbinger in the pink apron that Aether had recently gotten him for his birthday, as a joke mind you.

Aether hadn't expected him to wear it, but Childe actually looked really good, he couldn't lie about that.

The Harbinger had dressed so that the pink apron didn't completely ruin his usual look.

Instead of his usual red button-up, Aether could see he was wearing a white button-up with it's sleeve's rolled up. He had kept his belt, his Hydro vision slightly glowing as Childe used a Hydro blade to cut what looked to be a slab of pork shoulder. He also wore a pair of distressed white jeans.

Aether didn't know the man even owned this colour of clothes, so he must've gone shopping earlier that day, knowing that it was Childe's turn at the stove.

Aether smiled to himself before slipping out of the kitchen and getting ready to harvest his plants.

2: Gardening

He carefully cut the stem of a Qingxin that he had started growing in one of the new plots he had bought from Tubby in his Serenitea Pot. The white petals brushed across his nose, making his sneeze. If he remembers correctly, he heard that Ganyu loves to... eat the pretty white flowers. He also heard, according to her, that Qingxin taste quite bitter. Why she eats them? He had no idea. Although he did distinctly remember a certain chef from Liyue telling him how you shouldn't mix Mint and Qingxin unless you want... certain digestive problems. He definitely didn't. He shook his head and continued to carefully cut the long thin stems so he could plant more flowers.

He stood up from where he was kneeling and brushed off his front which had gotten dirt on it. He was glad he had listened to Paimon this time and remembered to put on his gardening apron before starting, otherwise he would've gotten his normal outfit dirty, and considering the hassle that was washing his clothes, he was extremely glad he had heeded her warning.

He made sure to slip out of his normal boots and into the rain boots that Paimon had suggested he get so he could easily go through the Orderly Meadow, which housed all his water-based plants. He wove his way through the tall stalks of the Horsetail and Lotus Heads he had planted not too long ago and crouched down so he could pick the Sea Ganoderma. He was grateful to Madame Ping for the Seed Dispensary, otherwise, he wouldn't have collected so many cuttings to grow more. He stretched out his crops so that every day, he could come in and collect a different kind of plant that he needed, whether it be for ascension for his dear friends, cooking, or just to have them in a vase.

Today, he was focusing on ascension materials. Qingxin for Ganyu and Xiao, Sea Ganoderma for Kazuha, Violetgrass for Qiqi and Xinyan, and Silk Flowers for Hu Tao and Xingqiu. He finished harvesting all the flowers and looked at the Windwheel Asters that would be done tomorrow. Although they didn't match his schedule, he knew Bennett was long overdue for an ascension, and seeing that he and Sucrose were all set regarding ascension, he could give all of them to Bennett.

Just seeing the latter happy was enough for Aether.

3: Fighting Childe

Although it wasn't his favourite thing to do, he needed the Tusk for Zhongli.

Fighting Childe was... an adventure in and of itself.

He talks. 

A lot.

"This chance is hard to come by, so show me all you've got."

Aether had to jump out of the way of a hydro infused arrow coming straight for his chest.

"So come now, amuse me... and don't you dare disappoint."

Childe made a swipe for Aether with his hydro blades but Aether managed to barely evade the slash, gaining a small cut on his cheek. He summoned the small meteor that he had unlocked when he resonated with the Geo statue a few weeks ago. This caught Childe off guard and he stumbled back a bit. Although he gained his footing again and as Aether went to strike him with his sword, Childe let out a burst of Hydro that had his Riptide emblem on the front of his chest.

He knew the barrier surrounding the fighting area was infused with Pyro, so he quickly ran to the edge to get vaporize the Hydro mark.

"So very few ever get the chance to square off with a Fatui Harbinger."

Aether mentally rolled his eyes, of course not many had the chance, but who keeps beating him every time?

Aether

Aether beats him

Every  time.

Although there was one time-

If there's one thing that Aether doesn't like when he fights Childe, is the amount of times Childe over excerts himself which, of course, leads to Aether bringing him back to the Serenitea Pot to treat the wounds inflicted to Childe whenever he goes into his Foul Legacy form.

Though there was some arguments the first time Aether brought Childe back to his home.

A certain redhead was not amused, and a certain brunette was shocked to say the least. Especially finding out that a certain Shneznayan hadn't left for his homeland yet.

It took at least 25-30 minutes to convince Diluc to not kill him, and another 15-20 to convince Zhongli to not buy him a ticket home.

"Not bad. Your swordsmanship is quite impressive."

He was brought out of his thoughts by Childe's voice as he had used his delusion to try and gain an upper hand, although they both knew Aether was going to come out victorious as always, Childe never gave up on a chance to get stronger.

Aether mentally prepared himself to take care of Childe while having to listen to him talk about how he would definitely win next time.

"But, that's about as far as you'll get."

He blocked the forward lunge from the latter and, as always, struggled slightly, forcing him to use his Geo element as well as his Anemo element. The blast made him fly back slightly, but he landed on his feet again before bracing himself for Childe's Foul Legacy form.

Although it was bad for Childe and Aether constantly worried about his health, Aether couldn't stop himself from thinking about what Childe looked like behind his mask while in his advanced form.

He shook his head while Childe looked at him with a blank stare.

Childe cleared his throat and Aether jumped a little. He hadn't even noticed he had fell. Afterall, he was used to falling from the cliffs in Liyue when his stamina ran out.

He was also used to falling into the ground floor of the Golden House every week.

He looked up at Childe and noticed that he had transformed.

Guess he was really out of it, huh.

Childe must've noticed that Aether was back to himself again because he teleported in front of Aether and swung his Electro infused blade at him.

Aether didn't dodge in time and was knocked back, the Electro Insignia very clear on his chest.

He ran to the edge of the arena and winced at the Over-loaded elemental reaction.

"I won't kill you, Traveler,"

He remembered hearing the first words a lot, but he hadn't remembered the next line that Childe spoke.

"I just want to feel the thrill of battle — so why don't you play with me?"

It seemed like Childe was getting a little too excited.

He would need to knock some sense into him later. After the fight was done of course.

The fight dragged on a little longer than he was used to, and by the end of it, Aether was exhausted.

More than usual.

Something was up.

He eyed Childe who was coming down from his fighting high and had transformed back.

He turned to the Ley Line Blossom and touched it briefly before he opened his bag, checking to see the rewards he got this time.

Unfortunatly, he didn't get a Tusk for Zhongli, but he did 2 Shadow of the Warrior. Xiao, Ganyu, and Rosaria should thank him the next time they see him.

4: Taking care of others

At this point, he was used to being commissioned as just about everything. 

He's taken care of,

- Sick grandparents

- Children while their guardians were away

- Pets

And obviously more, but he couldn't think.

Currently, he was busy applying a healing paste that Baizhu gave him on Diluc's back.

How on earth he got a wound on his back, Aether had no idea.

He was glad Diluc had came to him right afterwards, otherwise it probably would've gotten infected.

Unbeknowest to Aether, the redhead's face was almost as red as his hair.

The reason why?

It's because Aether was currently sitting on his back while applying the paste.

Does he have any reason to be flustered?

Other than the fact that the tavern owner had feelings for the small traveler, he was also not used to physical contact, having rejected any and all attempts by anyone except the traveler.

Aether however, was totally oblivious and continued to spread the cool paste over Diluc's back.

He felt Diluc relax under his touch and internally smiled at how he could make the latter relax so much.

Aether leaned over to where to kept bandages in the bedside table of his guest room. Sorting through the drawers, he finally found the bandages and took them in his hand before unwrapping them slightly and getting off of Diluc's back from where he was sitting.

"Can you sit up for me?"

He cautiously asked as to not open or stretch the wound too much.

Diluc simply nodded and sat up carefully.

Aether smiled and started wrapping Diluc's torso with the thickest roll of bandages he had. Seeing as he always had different kinds of wounds, Aether had made sure to get different kinds of bandages, ranging from very small ones for wounds on hands and feet, to very large ones for instances like this.

Aether, having patched himself up like this many times, finished wrapping Diluc's torso in record time.

"You probably should stay here for a few days while your wound finishes healing. Childe is about to start cooking dinner, do you have any requests?"

At the sound that Childe was cooking, Diluc's eyes narrowed.

"Why would you trust that Fatui in your kitchen?"

Aether sighed. Sure, he couldn't force them to get along, but he still wanted them to at least not fight, so he tried to make it so that they were at least comfortable with each other.

"Because I do, now do you have any requests?"

Diluc sighed.

"As long as there's grape juice, I'll be fine."

Aether sighed.

"Is that all you want for dinner?"

"It's the only thing I trust that Fatui not to mess up."

Diluc responded quickly.

Aether wasn't surprised by the harsh comment and sighed before putting his hands on his hips.

He looked at Diluc with the same intensity he remembered his sister giving him whenever he used to refuse to take his medicine.

Despite Diluc being multiple heads taller than him, Aether stared into his eyes without blinking or breaking eye contact.

"You will eat something tonight. Seeing as Childe is the one who's cooking, you will trust him to make you food."

Diluc, having not expected the seemingly innocent traveler to stare at him with such intensity, coughed and broke eye contact.

"Fine."

Aether's care-free attitude returned as he smiled and turned to the door to leave before stopping and turning to look at Diluc again.

"Dinner starts at 17:30, don't be late!"

Aether opened the door and before leaving, he asked,

"Do you want the door open or closed?"

"Closed please."

Aether smiled and shut the door. Shortly after, Diluc barely heard the soft footsteps of Aether retreating from outside the door.

He let out a sigh he didn't even know he was holding in.

'Where had Aether even learned to glare like that?'

Surely it wasn't from him...

right?

Chapter Text

Sucrose

Aether POV

Whenever he wanted to be alone, Aether often went to Mondstadt.

He wouldn't go to the city, rather, he would go and sit at the edge of Cape Oath.

He knows the story of the two lovers who made an oath at the same place that he sat, having heard the story from a few bards that he had passed by on his travels through Mondstadt.

He heard the sound of footsteps on the soft grass and he didn't have to turn around to know that Sucrose was behind him.

Sucrose was the only one who he had told about where he went at these times.

He trusted her not to tell anyone and so far, she hadn't said anything.

He turned to her and gestured for her to sit down next to him.

She smiled and sat down next to him.

The two often met here when Sucrose wanted to hear about his adventures.

She was one of the few people in Teyvat with whom he felt comfortable sharing things and knew they wouldn't say anything to anyone else.

Although he trusted his friends, he knew some things would slip out of certain people's mouths.

Aether noticed that Sucrose had begun swinging her legs as her gaze dragged over the open scenery.

"Ahhh! I haven't been out in a while."

Aether turned to her as she stretched her arms above her head, her ears twitching before she turned to face him.

"Something is definitely bothering you if you've come here."

There were a few things Aether noticed in that moment as Sucrose searched his face for any response.

1:  Sucrose is a lot more comfortable around him now

2:  She knows him well enough to know that something is wrong

3: She looked a little tired, like she had been staying up late again. This confused Aether because he had just seen her sleeping earlier in the Serenitea Pot.

He was brought out of his trance when Sucrose began waving her gloved hand over his face.

He saw her smile when she realised that she had his attention.

"So? What's bothering you?"

Aether sighed and turned back to the view in front of them, feeling Sucrose's insistent eyes on him.

He sighed and turned to her.

"Do you promise not to tell anyone?"

Her eyes visibly softened and she smiled,

"Not like there's anyone I would tell."

Aether laughed, knowing the younger girl's intense social anxiety stopped her from speaking to anyone who wasn't himself, Timeus, or Albedo.

He turned back to the view in front of him.

"I miss Lumine."

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the sympathy in Sucrose's eyes.

"She would always stay with me, no matter what happened."

He didn't notice he was crying until he felt hands running through his hair. He hadn't noticed that Sucrose had un-tied his braid and started brushing through his hair.

He remembered Lumine doing some of the same things when the voices in his head got especially harsh.

He felt her gently guide his head to her lap and began running her hands through his hair.

He remembered doing this to Sucrose the first time they sat together on the cliff.

She had come to him to listen to some of his adventure stories because she enjoyed listening to them, and ended up opening up about her childhood because he wanted to know some more about her, seeing as they had mostly talked about him.

He had ran his fingers through her hair and although he didn't say anything, he knew Sucrose appreciated the comfort.

So of course, he wouldn't miss out on a chance to vent his feelings, especially to the person who he had come to recognise as his best friend.

By the time he stopped crying, it had gotten dark and he was struggling to keep his eyes open. He finally succumbed to the exhaustion and fell asleep.

Sucrose POV

She could already tell that Aether was about to pass out. After all, he had been crying for a few hours.

She vaguely remembered Aether mentioning someone who always came when he called, although she wasn't sure whether them would come for her, she had to give it a try, seeing as she wasn't strong enough to carry him.

Her anxiety would probably get to her, but she wants to make sure he gets to bed safely.

"Xiao?"

She squeaked when a short male with a demon mask appeared beside Aether.

His head noticibly turned to Aether before looking back to her.

"You are not in danger. You are simply wasting my time."

She gestured towards the sleeping form of her friend.

"I... can't pick him up and... from what I heard of what he talks about you, he trusts you immensely."

The latter visibly stilled before taking off his mask.

Sucrose get why Aether was always talking about how handsome the latter was. Although she herself wasn't interested in him, she could tell Aether was, just by the way he talked about the other during the few times they had dinner together in the Serenitea Pot.

She watched as the other carefully picked up Aether before looking at her.

She reached into Aether's inventory to take out the Serenitea Pot and allowed Xiao to enter before her.

She entered and immediately went to show Xiao where Aether's room was.

She walked up the stairs, looking back to make sure Xiao was still following her.

Once she reached the top of the stairs as she pointed to the door to the left.

"That's his room."

Xiao nodded slightly and took Aether inside the room.

She knew Aether was gonna be alright, so she went downstairs to the lab that Aether had built and set up for her.

A few minutes later, she saw Xiao coming down the stairs.

"Thanks for bringing him..."

She wasn't able to finish her sentence as he was already leaving the mansion.

'Oh.'

'Huh.'

Chapter Text

Xiao | Alatus

Xiao POV

He wiped the corner of his mouth from where some demonic blood had been splattered when he had gotten carried away purging the demons inside the hilichurls whose bodies now laid across the grass.

"Xiao?"

Out of all the overlapping voices he constantly heard in his head, this one was the most unusual.

He was able to sense where the person was and scoffed.

'They are in Mondstadt. It has been a long time since I was last out of Liyue.'

Then he realized where exactly the unusual individual was and he visibly stilled.

'Why were they at the edge of a cliff?'

He teleported to the cliff top of Cape Oath, his demon mask on his face in case the person was in danger.

He looked around and saw a light-green-haired girl sitting on the edge. He was about to say something when he realized she wasn't alone.

He looked at the sleeping figure in her lap and froze when he saw Aether.

"You are not in danger. You are simply wasting my time."

He watched her hands as she gestured towards Aether, and almost knowing that Xiao didn't understand, she spoke. Although the second part of her sentence made him freeze.

"I... can't pick him up and... from what I heard of what he talks about you, he trusts you immensely."

'What.'

'He talks about me to other people?'

'He's gonna kill me at this rate.'

He fixed himself and took off his mask, knowing that there wasn't any immediate danger anywhere.

He noticed the girl looking at him, so he carefully picked up the sleeping male from her lap, carrying him in a bridal style.

He looked back at her and she took out the Serenitea Pot from Aether's inventory before placing it, the golden-hued metal shining despite the sun having disappeared a while ago.

He entered first and landed safely, still carrying Aether in his arms.

She entered soon after and entered the mansion before him.

He walked past a door to the left, which, judging by the smell coming from behind the door, was the kitchen.

On his right, there was a full-blown lab that Aether had set up. On further inspection, he saw a blonde-haired male in what looked to be an alchemist's uniform.

Said male turned to him and Xiao met his eyes before the other's turquoise eyes went down to focus on the sleeping figure in his arms.

The latter's eyes went from him to Aether multiple times before he blinked and turned away to work on whatever he had been working on before Xiao walked in.

'You really do attract the strangest of people.'

He turned back to the center of the room and saw a large office-like area.

There were two women there at the moment, one with blonde hair, a lighter shade than the other male's hair, who was sitting at the desk and looked to be extremely tired from the very large stack of papers that was next to her.

The other woman had two ponytails in her black hair on each side of her head and was standing in front of one of the many bookcases with a stack of books in one hand while she looked through more books with her other. He swore he had seen her in Liyue before, but definitely not lately.

He turned his attention to the girl who was looking back at him from the top of the staircase.

He followed her up the rest of the way and when he reached the corridor, he noticed the only familiar face he had seen since he entered.

Zhongli was sitting at a desk on the farthest wall from him. Looks like Hu Tao gave him more paperwork to fill out.

He casually sipped from his cup which Xiao knew was tea just from the smell in the air.

He didn't notice Xiao and just kept writing whatever it was he had been writing.

How he would manage to get through that giant stack of papers, Xiao had no idea.

He blinked when he heard the girl from before speak for the first time since they entered the abode.

"That's his room."

He nodded quickly and entered the room.

Once he shut the door, he heard the soft footsteps leaving the area and let out a sigh he didn't know he was keeping in. He turned to inspect the room.

It looked very clean, there was a table with two chairs and a tea set sat unused on the top.

In one corner there was an office space with a bulletin board hanging on the wall.

He saw two stacks of papers on the desk and walked closer to see them.

He stilled when he realized they were the missing person posters that had previously been hanging around Monstadt and Liyue.

He didn't go into the city, so he wouldn't have known that Aether had taken them all down, but the only question that was on his mind was,

'Why take them down if they weren't reunited?'

He frowned and crossed the room to set Aether down on his bed.

He saw two small cats laying on the floor near the foot of his bed. One was completely gray with big green eyes and the other had a white front and legs but gray on their head and body with a dark gray pattern with a striped tail.

After setting Aether down and covering him, he turned and froze when he saw a small box on Aether's nightstand.

It looked to be the size of a ring.

He hoped it wasn't, and even though it was none of his business, he still grabbed the box and slowly opened it.

It was a white heron hairpin.

He let out a sigh of relief that he didn't even know he was holding in before closing the box and setting it back down on the nightstand.

He left the room quietly as to not disturb Aether.

He figured it would be good if he left, so he rushed downstairs, ignoring the glances he got from the others in the main hall.

The girl from earlier looked up.

"Thanks for bringing him..."

She didn't finish as Xiao walked past her and left the mansion.

He definitely needed the fresh air because he felt a lot better the second his face hit the cool night air of the abode.

The air wasn't too cold that he could see his breath, but not too warm that he needed a fan.

He vaguely saw the standing figure of Yanfei at a fountain in the center of the courtyard.

He turned to the house and fought with himself for a few moments before turning to lean against a nearby tree. Looks like he'll have to make himself comfortable.

'No demons will come to you while I'm here.'

That night, Aether had the nicest dreams he's had in a long time.

Chapter Text

Albedo

The Traveler had always been a mystery to him.

From the moment he heard the news of a strange traveler who had somehow taken down Dvalin within a few days of reaching Monstadt on their travels, he was intrigued, to say the least. His desire to study this foreign traveler was slowly eating at him. That was until the one on his mind showed up while he was sketching a group of hilichurls. He had no idea what the traveler was doing so far away from Liyue, where he had heard the traveler had just been, but he was fairly excited to start studying the one who carried the aura of the stars.

So when he began studying the traveler, who had insisted he call him Aether, and found two rather large scars on Aether's back, he was confused.

"Aether."

The traveler turned his head as far as he could from where he had been sitting on Albedo's work table.

"What's wrong Albedo? Did you find something that interests you?"

He reached out his hand to run his fingers over the scarred tissue, causing Aether to shiver and try and crane his neck to see what Albedo was so curious about.

"You have rather large scars here Aether."

At that moment, Aether visibly stilled.

'Why did he go quiet so suddenly?'

"C-can you see them?"

He was suddenly having to strain his ears to hear Aether and just barely picked up on what he had said. He used his elemental sight and practically fell to the ground when he saw them.

Large, glowing, white and gold,

Wings.

His breath caught in his throat as he slowly went to get up from the ground.

"Albedo... do you see them..."

It was less of a question and judging by the loud clatter that had sounded when he fell, he knew Aether knew the answer to his question. He walked back to Aether and took a closer look at the wings, now noticing the dark chains that seemed to emit an aura similar to that of the corrupted hilichurls that he had heard of from Aether while he had been recalling his adventures with someone from Liyue to him. The colour of the chains themselves looked as if it was warping and marbling deep colours of purple and black. 

The stark contrast between the black and white colours of the wings was prominent. Anyone with a brain would see that they were not usable and seeing from Aether's reaction to the discovery of the wings, he knew what they looked like. The chains dug into the wings, making Aether wail in pain. This snapped Albedo out of his trance as he rushed to the other side of the table. Seeing Aether in this state was heartbreaking, even for him who had quickly gotten attached to the traveler like all others that Aether met. Aether who made anyone feel welcome and how he always recovered from any situation thrown at him, was the same one who now laid before him, thick tears trying desperately to rip free from his eyes while he tried desperately to keep a level expression and try to keep smiling.

"Aether. How long had this been happening."

Aether slowly looked up at him and he felt his heartbreaking from the sheer force he was using to keep his tears from spilling out.

"Since I woke up..."

Albedo froze.

'He woke up almost a year ago... he's been going through his pain every day for almost a year while keeping a smile on his face.'

"Why didn't you tell someone."

"I didn't want anyone to worry or treat me any less..."

Albedo sighed and reached out to grab his face and froze when Aether flinched.

He felt his hands fall to his sides.

Aether looked...

Terrified.

"Aether..."

Aether then grabbed his chest plate, pulled it on, grabbed his scarf, and ran out of the camp. Albedo would've stopped him, but he knew Aether needed time to calm down. That and the fact that Albedo was completely frozen in place.

Frozen.

Unable to move.

'Why had Aether flinched?'

Aether POV:

TBC

Chapter Text

Literally hate when authors do this to me, but I get it now Ó^Ò

sorry for the lack of anything lately, school started and I have been so busy with tests and ****. I’m gonna humbly ask for some suggestions on what y’all want to see next. I had a rough idea but I would love to hear what you all want to see!

I hope y’all win all of your 50/50s and get all your favourite ships on the same team uwu.

also, please let me know what kind of ships you’re thinking of for this fic, if any. Just in general. Please don’t ship any minors or anyone who could be classified as related.

This means Klee, Diona, Qiqi, and Sayu. Jean and Barbara, and Ayaka and Ayato (although I do have headcanons, we still are not sure what he looks like).

This fic could also have no ships and just stay platonic. I might end up doing that if I can resist the urge to make Xiao too soft to Aether (imasuckerforxiaoaether). 

Speaking of Xiao, I got him uwu

I might share my party and my characters if anyone wants to know. If you don’t, please let me know, I know how annoying it is to have an update from an author and have it be something like this. Just please be respectful, I am in high school and I have a lot of stress right now as I enter my second semester. 

thank you, and I love you all ☺️💜

Chapter Text

Truth be told, Aether didn't know why he flinched. He had a few guesses, but he knew that he didn't have a clear answer. He decided to avoid Albedo after that. He didn't want to have to talk about the things that Albedo had seen that day. He kept telling himself that it was for everyone's good that they didn't know of his wings and the chains, but now that Albedo knew, he knew he couldn't run from him forever. There were multiple times where he wanted to tell Albedo, but every voice inside his head told him otherwise.

“That was so stupid!” He punched the nearest rock and it split in two. 

He was still lost in a daze and didn’t realise the person approaching him, still cautious of the fragile state of the famous adventurer.

The person tried stepping around the broken rock but fell, drawing Aether’s attention to them.

“ Amber? ” It had been a while since he last saw Amber, but he did notice a change from her usual outrider uniform. This new outfit looked more… appropriate for a woman of Amber’s position. Her shorts were still shorter than normal but Amber had never heard anyone discourage her from dressing how she wanted to, so she stuck to her shorts. 

He also happened to notice a slight limp in Amber’s walk, a thick cast around her left leg. Why anyone let her come out here in the middle of Mondstadt wilderness without anyone to help her, he had no idea. Then again, she would be too stubborn to accept help from anyone anyway. She always did carry the weight of the world on her shoulders.

“What happened to your leg?”

She looked a tad surprised at this question, as if she didn’t expect him to notice the giant cast around her leg.

“ Ah- funny story actually- Klee and I were hanging out and picking sweet flowers to make some sugar for a sticky honey roast and a cryo whopperflower disguised as a sweet flower popped out of the ground right in front of Klee, but when i unleashed Baron Bunny, Klee had thrown one of her bombs and well, it exploded Baron Bunny in front of me before i could get away. Luckily it only hit my leg, but it was a close call for sure. Klee didn’t actually leave my side for the first few weeks I was with Barbara. ”

Aether let this new information sink in. Albedo hadn’t brought anything up when he was with him earlier, but he was more invested in finally being able to take a look at Aether closely.

"What are you doing out here then? Shouldn't you be inside resting?"

That familiar defiance rolling over her face like a wave crashing onto a beach.

" I'm perfectly fine! Why would I rest when there are so many other things I could be doing?"

He rolled his eyes and let out a sigh before opening his inventory and grabbing the Realm Dispatch. He gestured for Amber to give her his hand (in marriage /j). Amber looked at it suspiciously before reaching for his outstretched hand. Aether turned her hand over, revealing her palm, worn and scarred from using her bow and pyro vision for so many years. He brought the Realm Dispatch up to her open palm and gently pressed it into her hand. A faint golden glow followed, Amber's eyes widening at this. She tried to jerk her hand back but Aether had a firm grip on her hand.

"Don't worry, it's not hurting you. It'll stop in a second."

He was telling the truth because a second later, the glow receded. Amber looked at her palm and some characters she could only recognize as Liyuen glowed on her palm then faded as if becoming one with her being. She looked up at Aether with a deadpan on her face, something Aether would never have expected to see on such a youthful and seemingly forever smiling face like hers.

"Okay, what the hell was that and why did you do that."

He thinks this must be how that abyss mage felt when Lisa interrogated it.

"That was my Realm Dispatch. It allows you to come and go from my private abode at will. The password is..."

He leaned in close to her and whispered in her ear.

She echoed the words and suddenly felt herself being pulled into the small bronze teapot she hadn't even realized Aether had gotten out of his bag. She was panicking one second and the next, she opened her eyes to see a vast expanse of beach, the moon flush against the- wait a minute. Where was she?

"Another one?"

She spun around which definitely wasn't a good move when you have a serious leg injury and just got sucked into a... teapot? She prepared herself to fall when strong arms grabbed hers, she felt the smooth texture of leather gloves against her arms and looked at the very pasty, (very attractive ;]), bright orange haired man standing over her. He had a large smile on his face and helped her steady herself.

"Excuse me? What do you mean another one?"

"Oh, Aether just has a habit of meeting new people and slapping that badge looking thingy on them. He got to me first so I made myself the welcoming party. I've seen a lot of people. Archons, knights, a certain vigilante who practically jumped me when he first came here, people from Mondstadt, Liyue, Inazuma, and one from Snezhnaya, aka, me. Oh I never introduced myself. My name is Childe!"

She got a headache from the sheer amount of knowledge the... child? just shared with her. He gave her a few moments to wrap her head around the information he had just given her when he saw something behind her that interested him because one second he was helping her maintain her balance and the next he was making sure she wasn't gonna fall over and ran off calling someone's name which she could only assume was someone from Liyue or Inazuma because she didn't understand the language he shouted the name in. He sure was good at switching dialects.

"Looks like Childe got to you first."

She heard laughter from her side and looked over at Aether who she had unconsciously leaned on once Childe had disappeared. He took her hand and led her to the mansion that she just realized was sitting next to the large expanse of sea and beach. He pushed open the doors and she immediately felt at home. The inside of the Inazuman styled mansion had a Mondstadt themed living room and mini library where she swears she sees Noelle standing reading a size which had to weigh more than her and Amber combined. The table had a little give, even the thick wood bending slightly from the weight of it. She didn't see the cover but she assumed it was interesting from the beet-red look on Noelle's face. (It was the full printed script of TGCF)

He led her to a room near the back of the first floor which was designed similar to a Liyuan-style kitchen. A tall blonde man with a red jacket and horn headband perked up when he saw them.

"Hey Aether! You brought someone new? Just when you think you know everyone, then remember you just so happen to be world famous."

Although it could've been seen as an offensive statement, the kindness in this man's tone could immediately shut down any malicious thought anyone could possibly accuse the man of harbouring.

"Alright, alright Thoma, I just wanted to request some Warmth."

He immediately nodded and set to work getting ingredients for something. She decided not to ask how you can cook warmth because knowing Aether he would either go too far into detail or not say anything at all. She remembered being very shocked when he started talking around other people, usually depending on Paimon to communicate with others. She let herself be led up the stairs. Although there were some complications with her cast, they managed to get to the top of the stairs. They passed a few doors which Amber couldn't say she wasn't curious about what was behind said doors, but when asked, Aether only said something vague like, "You'll know one day"

She wasn't a child anymore, but this made her laugh. Aether looked pleased at this and opened a door at the end of the hall. Leading her inside, she immediately saw two bedroom sets at opposite sides of the room from each other. One was Inazuman styled, the other Mondstadt styled. She naturally gravitated to the Mondstadt half of the room and Aether helped (read: forced) her to lay down comfortably.

"I'm gonna be right back, don't move!"

She smiled and nodded. Aether got up and slid out of the room before returning less than a minute later with a bowl of something fragrant. She sat up in bed to get prepared for what she assumed was the 'Warmth' Aether was talking with... Thoma(?) about. Other than smelling heavenly, it tasted amazing and felt wonderful sliding down her throat. Once she was done with the delicacy, Aether stood up from where he had curled up at the desk across from the bed and took the red dish.

"You need to rest to help heal that leg of yours. If you aren't asleep by the time I get back I'll have to resort to other methods."

She didn't like the sound of 'other methods' so she quickly nodded.

"Yeah, okay dad. Thanks."

Aether's face broke into a grin and he ruffled her hair before he turned to slip out of the room. Before he left, he said,

"Night night, don't let the bed bugs bite."

Amber had never even heard of these... bed bugs?