Genshin OneShots

Xiao X Aether

Yall ready for some trash fanfiction!

⚠️Warning⚠️ I have no idea what I'm doing 😃! This will probably have no plot I'm doing it purely because I like the ship! This ship is GAY or BoyXBoy. Fluff! The characters might be out of character! (especially Xiao) You have been warned!

(On another note, the love I got on the last one shot was very nice and I appreciate you very much. That was cheesy 🧀. I don't know how to write Aether because he doesn't really have much character, because you play as him. So I'm going purely with the fandom on how he might act, I deeply apologize if you don't think he acts the way I portray him.)

Aether POV

"Lantern Rite is nearly here, why don't we decorate the inn this year..." Verr Goldet mumbled to herself just loud enough for me to catch what she was saying.

"Lantern Rite?" I ask her, catching her off guard.

"Oh! Don't you know? On the first full moon of the first month each year, Liyue celebrates the Lantern Rite," She quickly explains then she adds, "It's a festival to commemorate the heros from the past. After dark, the people release Xiao and Mingxiao Lanterns into the night sky." Xiao Lanterns? I wonder if Xiao would want to come and see them with me, the event is meant for him and his friends after all.

After a couple more minutes of her explaining she says, "If you're looking to take part, its not too late. You should get yourselves down to the harbor. Happy Lantern Rite!"

"Thank you, I hope you enjoy the Lantern Rite as well." After bidding our farewells I head off down the path towards the harbor finishing off one of my commissions along the way.

~~~(Tiny Xiao sized time skip)~~~

I start to head up the hill slowly my anticipation grows as I near the top. Once at the top I look out at the sky and see thousands of lanterns in the far distance lighting up almost all of Liyue Harbor, a truly beautiful sight. I run full speed towards the entrance and I look at the harbor, lanterns everywhere a bright and beautiful yellow light illuminating every street and store.

A man catches my attention once I've crossed the bridge and asks me, "Young man, if I may be so bold. How much for the floating thing?"

"It's not for sale." I inch closer to Paimon, just slightly covering her from his view.

"Paimon's not for sale!" Paimon slams her foot against the air underneath her and then puts her hands on her hips aggressively.

The man laughs and then says, "As a matter of fact, I'm having some financial trouble recently. I probably couldn't afford it. I'm just a small-time merchant anyway, I don't deal in rare and exotic treasures."

"Y'know, the more you talk, the more suspicious you sound..." Paimon floats next to me going up and down slightly as she talks. I suddenly feel a chill as a strong gust of wind passes by me. I sharply turn around, sadly I see nothing. I turn back towards Paimon and the merchant to see that Paimon has a piece of candy and the conversation has seemingly ended.

I walk through the streets of Liyue Harbor admiring the special decorations put up for the Lantern Rite when I feel that same chill followed by the wind. I look around quickly at my surroundings, but to no avail. I turn back towards Paimon only to see her drooling over some grilled tiger fish.

~~~(Couple hours later)~~~

After exploring for a bit I learned how to make Xiao Lanterns and donated some expensive ores for the Mingxiao Lantern. I decided to head back to Wangshu Inn for the night, if I'm lucky maybe I'll see Xiao on the top floor or eating some Almond Tofu. I start my trek back, checking my surroundings as I walk careful not to run into Hilicurals or Treasure Horders.

I see Wangshu Inn in the distance I speed up to hopefully get there sooner. Suddenly an arrow is shot at me causing me to lose my balance and roll down a hill. Once near the bottom my body slams against to ground bouncing and then eventually stopping, leaving me in sore pain all over. I try and get back up only to fall back on the ground again. Paimon soon catches up with me and tries to get me to stand, only to end up failing. Paimon panics for a minute and then says shes going to get someone to help and floats quickly in the direction of Wangshu Inn.

After a couple minutes I feel that chill followed by the wind and then suddenly I'm being lifted. I look up to see beautiful amber eyes looking at me so gently. "Mortal bodies are quite fragile, conduct yourself more carefully in the future." Xiao held me tightly and began to walk towards Wangshu Inn. His arms were warm, comforting, gentle. I wanted to stay in his embrace forever, it felt like all the pain from the fall just disappeared and all that I was feeling was the warmth of Xiao's body.

Before I knew it we were in Wangshu Inn heading up the stairs, I cuddled closer to Xiao not wanting him to put me down. Xiao stopped walking and then looked down at me, a mix of his normal annoyed expression and confusion. After walking into the main room of Wangshu Inn we run into Paimon explaining what happened to Verr Goldet. After noticing us Paimon floats very quickly in my direction frantically asking me questions so quickly I couldn't really understand what she was saying. Xiao sits me carefully on the ground and then sits next to me. Verr Goldet returns from where she left with medical supplies and one of her coworkers.

~(After Aether's medical treatment)~

After they finished patching me up I found out that I broke my right leg. Verr Goldet gave me a room for until I was healed, of course I couldn't walk there myself so Xiao assisted in bringing me there. He layed me carefully on the bed and then sat down in a corner.

"I'll be here to protect you. So you can relax." Xiao propped his staff against the wall next to him. It was easier to focus on sleep since Xiao is here, but the pain from my leg was making it really hard to get comfortable enough to actually sleep. Eventually I got tired enough to fall into a dry sleep.

Xiao POV (I might not do this right)

Its my fault hes like this, so its my responsibility to take care of him. I wasn't able to cleanse the path of demons before he arrived. My karma caused this and now I must clean up this mess as well.

I get up from my spot and walk towards Aether. Even injured hes beautiful and pure. I know staying next to him will only cause problems for him but he makes my suffering much easier to endure, and his mere existence gives me feelings ive never felt before. Affection was new to me but when I received it from Aether all I wanted was more. Feelings are hard to understand.

~~In the morning~~

Aether POV

I slowly open my eyes and am immediately blinded by the bright sun, I go to move my hand to block the sun but it seems like something is holding it down. I sit up to see Xiao asleep next to the bed. My face heats up as I see that Xiao is holding my hand.

_______________________________________

Authors note: My opinion on this experience is, Hmmmmm...
This ended up being way longer than I intended 😅 so I will post part 2 of this eventually. Anyway hows your day going? 👀