I awoke to the sounds of footsteps and a door opening slowly. I turned my attention to the person who entered through the door.
"Sorry to interrupt your moment with the traveler, Xiao. May I steal him from you for a second?" Morax asked knowing full well. That I do not like to share what is mine.
I huffed and gently handed off Aether to the god so he could fix him up. I watched Morax very carefully, in which he seemed to have noticed. Aether had woken up near the end of it.
"There you are, do you have anymore injuries or was this all" Morax asked the blonde.
"Uh there's still on my back that really hurts.." Aether quietly said while playing with his long hair that had been unbraided.
"Noted, take your shirt off if you would please so I may look at it"
Aether seemed hesitant to complete the request like he was hiding something. He slowly turned around so his back was facing Morax. He carefully took off his shirt and put it to the side but was quick to cover the middle of his chest with his hands. I was confused on why he did so. When I looked closer there was a visible white glow seeping through the cracks of his fingers. When Morax had finished patching him up, I grabbed Aether's wrists and tore them away from his chest.
"What. What is that on your chest Aether." I gave him a cold glare.
He looked terrified, as Zhongli walked over curious on what I was talking about.
"Oh? I'm curious as to what this is." Morax asked quite surprised.
Aether on the other hand had already put on his shirt and made a run for it.
"He's hiding something from us." I scowled.
Zhongli nodded having a more serious look on his face.
Time skip~~~ Late at night~~ Statue of Seven~~ Lisha
Zhongli POV
I walked up to the statue of seven that was built in Lisha. After a few minutes of searching the area, I turned to leave but stopped dead in my tracks and listened. The sound of sniffling came from above me. I turned towards the sound to find Aether sitting on the statue with his knees to his chest. His long golden hair which had been unbraided blew softly in the gentle warm breeze of the night. "Oh? Traveler?" I looked up at him to meet his glowing golden eyes staring back.
"Please don't tell anyone!" The blonde boy pleaded.
"Relax traveler, I promise I shall not say a word" I gave him a soft smile that seemed to put him at ease.
"Pinky promise?.." he asked sheepishly holding out his pinky.
I smiled and climbed up the statue next to him and locked out pinkies together.
"I pinky promise" I said soon unlocking our fingers.
He smiled and uttered a thanks.
"Do you want to tell me about this mark of yours?" I asked trying not to push him for answers.
"...in my home world, every child that is born into royalty was born with the cursed birth mark.. my parents where not the nicest people but they were very well respected only because they were the gods of that world.."
"What your saying is that you're also a god. Just not from Tevyat. Am I correct?" I asked in my signature thinking pose.
He only nodded on response.
"Now now, Xiao you know it's not very nice to ease drop on people" looking over at the tree Xiao had been sitting on the whole time.
Aether squeaked in response now realizing Xiao had been listening in on everything. "So that's what the mark is? Interesting.."
"It would explain how he is able to weld the elements without a vision." I added.
"Hm? Seems like our little travel has fallen asleep." Looking down at the small blonde boy who had taken a comfort into laying on my lap to sleep.
I picked up the traveler and handed him off to Xiao.
"Please take him back to Wangshu Inn if you would Xiao. I have a meeting with Childe to attend to. I shall stop by afterwards" I patted Xiao's head
He uttered something like 'stupid fatui boy' before teleporting away with Aether.
~~~Time skip~~~ after meeting~~ Wangshu Inn~~
After my meeting with Childe, I headed off to Wangshu Inn to check on Aether and Xiao.
"Good evening Verr Goldet, has Xiao and the traveler arrived?"
"Yes! They have, they're both in Xiao's room" she smiled
I thanked her and headed up to Xiao's room.
"Xiao?" I gently knocked on the door before entering.
"Ah, I see." Sighing softly I covered the 2 boys with a blanket.
They had both fallen asleep on the bed, Xiao holding the slightly taller male closer to him like he was going to lose him.
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