🎐💫Lanterns|Xiaother one shots| COMPLETED (BEING RE-WRITTEN)

Glad you're okay♡

TW: breif mentions of injuries
Angst(?) to comfort |

Aether falls backwards as the ruin guard advances towards him. One more hit and he was dead- he didn't mean to rush into battle-

He was heading back from completing commissions and Paimon was babbling about food, as usual. They both hadn't even realized they had wandered into ruins until the guard whirred to life. Unfortunately for Aether he was pretty low on HP already. BOOM he was knocked to the ground.

Aether looks up at the guard, hearing the faint screams of Paimon as she tries to keep him awake. His eyes felt heavy, he could barely keep them open as the guard came dangerously close.

"TRAVELER PLEASE- AETHER!" Paimon shakes him trying to get him away from the guard with no avail. That is when she remembered Xiao.

"XIAO- I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME- I NEED YOU!" Paimon looks around panicked "AETHER'S HURT" immediately Xiao appears looking around frantically. In a split second Xiao rushed towards the ruin guard stabbing his spear into it and slashing at it- quickly killing it. It thudded to the ground with a loud crash.

Xiao ignores it, running over to where Aether and Paimon were. He kneels down in front of him examining his injuries. He quickly scoops the blond up bridal style, biting his bottom lip to keep it from quivering- He didn't want to show how scared he really was.

Xiao takes off without a word, teleporting away, and ignoring Paimon as she squeaks out from behind him.

Xiao brings Aether into a room in the inn. He sets him down on the bed running to the bathroom to see if there was any sort of first aid. To his and the traveler's luck Xiao found a roll of bandages and a cloth. He quickly dampens the cloth with water and returns to the bed pursing his lips.. 

He bends down taking off the traveler's shirt and armor, he winces with second hand pain as he examines the wounds further. The adeptus shakes his head trying to clear his mind of any gruesome thoughts. 

The raven-haired boy carefully cleans and wraps Aether's wounds. He was being as gentle as possible, he couldn't bear to see the traveler like this.. He should have came sooner, as soon as the emergency food had called out his name. It was a strange feeling, caring for someone this deeply.. But the idea of the Traveler hurt pained him.

Xiao sits on the edge of his bed letting out a soft sigh as he watched Aether. The adeptus sits there for a long time, watching the traveler as he takes shallow breaths. In then out in then out. He blanks out, unable to stop himself from over-thinking.He only snapping out of the trance when the traveler shifted- a small glimmer of hope entering his body. But soon his shoulders slumped again and he went back to staring into space.

The traveler's eyes fluttered slightly and he shifted again, Xiao glances over but calls it off as another false alarm. Aether opens his eyes drowsily looking around the room until his eyes settle on the adeptus in front of him.

"Xiao..?" Aether's voice came out as a broken whisper.
Xiao's head snaps to the side looking at Aether "Traveler?" he blinks in shock before quickly maneuvering his way over snaking his arms around the traveler. "Never do something like that again you stupid mortal!" the adeptus hisses pressing the blond close and burying his face into his hair.

"ow- gentle buddy" Aether laughs softly, flinching slightly. Xiao immediately loosens his grip, starting to let go.

"I never said stop!" Aether squeaked pulling the adeptus back in. He presses his face into the crook of Xiao's neck. He never got to hold Xiao like this..

"Thank you for coming to save me" The blond murmurs, smiling.

"I'm glad you're okay" Xiao responds, feeling his face heat up slightly as he wraps his arms back around the blond, this time careful to be gentle.