Work Text:
Aether POV:
I woke up in wangshu inn.
“How’d I end up here?”
I remeber fighting a bunch of mitachurls and then…
“…”
“I carried you here.”
Xiao…?
I looked over and saw him sitting in a chair, arms crossed.
“You passed out from exhaustion, you were doing commissions all day and didn’t even stop to rest.”
“Oh… I should probably get back to helping out around Liyue now. So thanks for-“
I tried to stand but Xiao immediately forced me back down.
“You will do no such thing. You’ll just end up passing out again. Their problems can wait. Have you ever stopped to think about yourself? Even just once? It’s always, “gonna go help this farmer!” Or “gotta go clear out some camps!” Or “the fatui are back, I got to go fight some more.” But do you ever stop to rest just for a second?”
“If I did that I would take longer to do the other things on my to do list.”
“You’re pushing yourself too hard. Just take a break.”
“But I have to help finish commissions and I-”
“Then consider this my quest for you, as you would think a quest from an adepti is very important. My mission for you is to rest, get better from your injuries, and take a break.”
“I have to keep searching for Lumine thought!”
“You can search for her more when you have had a good nights sleep.”
“But!”
“Aether, do I really have to stay here all night to stop you from killing yourself?”
I looked down and felt a dip in the bed.
Was he that determined to make sure I was well? He must’ve noticed my hesitation to sleep because he put his arms around me and held on tight.
“If I have to force you to take care of yourself, then so be it. I won’t have you dying from exhaustion.”
“Why do you care so much? I mean you’re an adepti surely there are more important matters to be dealt with.”
“That is because… I care about you traveler. I feel feelings that I haven’t felt before. I feel happier around you, you brighten my day when it’s gloomy. I… I love you.”
I blushed, he loves me? I was too flustered to realize that he had fallen asleep before I could give my confession.
Huh oh well. I’ll tell him in the morning.
——————————————————————-
You may be wondering what happened to Paimon? Well…
“Ooh! A buffet! Which cuisine is the best? Liyue, Mondstadt, or inazuma… hmmm. Only one way to find out!~”