We weren't supposed to be Main Characters ✔

Chapter 20

Lots of dialogues, no fighting scenes for this week. And, extra 1k words :3

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"Dain!", Aether called out to him when he saw the taller man running away from a crowd of Fatui agents.

Lumine made a powerful wind slash with her sword to create some distance. Aether grabbed Dain onto Zhongli's back and they flew off. Lumine and Childe sat at the back to deflect any incoming ranged attacks.

"Now, where do we go?", Aether asked.

"Head to the north-west, 38 miles. I know a place", Childe answered as he shot down another sniper from the tower. Zhongli flew among the clouds and successfully hid their tracks. 

When they reached the location, Childe pointed to a small opening of a cave well-hidden with all the snow around, "in there."

Zhongli changed back into his human form since the opening is too small for his dragon size. Aether's eyes widened when he saw that he's naked. He covered his bare body with his smaller body, "nobody looks!"

Childe chuckled at a very protective Aether and a confused Zhongli before taking his long coat off to toss over them, "use mine for the time being."

He checked the surrounding, "you guys go ahead. I'll look around for a bit."

Lumine stayed behind as the others entered the cave. She told him sternly, "what are you planning? You aren't going anyway, Ajax."

He chuckled lightly, "I'm not. I just need to leave a signal to my agent."

He continued, "once they hear the news from the palace, they will start looking for me in every safe place."

He snapped a branch in a certain way and left it stuck between trunk, "there! He'll know what to do."

She grasped his fingers and asked, "is he trustworthy enough?"

He nodded, "yeah, I know him and his partner personally. Don't worry."

When he leaned down to kiss her forehead, he hurt his wound accidentally and hissed. She checked his coat and saw fresh blood. She frowned and pulled him into the cave with a limp, "come on, let's go patch up."

He noticed her limping and carried her gently in his arms. When she opened her mouth to protest, he shushed her, "no, you got hurt from ice attacks. Your legs could get frostbitten."

Inside the cave, they saw Zhongli bandaging Aether's forehead and Xiao holding Hu Tao while Dainsleif readying to snap her broken arm into place. Thankfully, they had a lantern for light.

He placed her carefully on the stone and took off his gray coat to cover her with it, "here, hang onto it for me."

Then, he carefully checked her legs and frowned as he patched up her wounds. She felt he's blaming himself for her wounds so she placed her hand on his cheek and spoke softly, "it's not your fault. I made you leave. Don't blame yourself."

He shook his head and reached for her hand on his cheek. He kissed the back of her hand with both lips and nose, "I still hate it."

The group patched up each other's wounds and sat around the lantern's light.

Aether spoke quietly when he ran his fingers over Zhongli's back, "back there, I felt your heartbreak."