confession underneath the stars -xiaoae

☆ confession underneath the stars ☆

            (contains Liyue archon quest spoilers)

Aether walked down the path from Liyue Harbor to Wangshu Inn to rest for the night, as the blond haired male had just finished up his last commission and claimed his rewards at the Adventurer's Guild.
Today had been a truly long day. He was ready to just plop down on his bed and sleep for an entire year.

But, things had gone differently that night. Not in a bad way, of course. Though we will get to that soon.

Once he made it to the Inn, Aether checked in with Verr Goldet. She handed him his key to the room he had always checked out at, 463.

The man thanked the lady behind the counter, walking up to get to his room before a certain someone had caught his eye.

"Hey, Xiao!" The blond happily walked over to the dark haired boy who had been leaning against the railing. Xiao stood up straight, turning to Aether, his eyes following his figure as he walked up to him.

The two conversed for awhile, talking about their days as it always had gone. Everyday was the same, Aether would finish his commissions, come to Wangshu Inn, talk with Xiao for awhile about things that he had planned to do or already had done, and then head to his room for the night. For Xiao, he would return back to the inn and wait on the balcony until Aether would show up.

Even though the adeptus wasn't really one for idle chatter, he did really enjoy Aether's company. His heart just wanted to explode whenever he was around the blond. After awhile and a few talks with the other adepti (plus Zhongli, who was formerly known Rex Lapis), Xiao had discovered that he had feelings for the blond. Tomorrow night, he had planned something special for the two of them.

They finished up their talk, and Aether was about to head to his room as always, but..

"Well, I'm going to go now, goodnight Xiao, it was nice talking to you!" The blond male waved as he started to walk back inside the inn, but Xiao had grabbed his wrist before he could leave.

Aether turned his head to the side as Xiao did this, like a confused puppy.

"Aether, I would like if you could accompany at this location and time tomorrow night." The dark haired man handed the traveler a small piece of paper with the name of the place he wanted to visit, as well as the time that he would be there.

"Sure thing." Aether smiled and nodded. Xiao wanted to just confess to him already as he did. Aether's smile always made him blush like crazy. He let go of Aether's wrist as they both said goodnight to eachother.

☆next night☆

Aether finished his commissions, claiming his reward from the guild, then left the harbor. But today wasn't the same as usual, instead of heading to the Inn, he cleared out hillichurl camps nearby as he waited for midnight, the time Xiao told him to meet him at a specific spot.

Once that time came, he immediately started running towards the place. Archons, he was maybe a little too excited for this. In truth, Aether had a crush on Xiao, so when he invited him somewhere,  Aether was excited to spend some time with him, even though they talk everyday. He knew he was crazy, there was no way someone as charming and cool as Xiao would like some "weird" traveler like him.

As the honorary knight reached his destination, he saw Xiao sitting on what looked like a picnic blanket with some food and candles around. Aether's heart fluttered, his mind had to be playing tricks on him!

"Aether, you're here. Sit." Xiao reached his hand out to the blond, and the traveler took his hand in a second without even thinking about it. The yaksha guided him as the knight sat down infront of him.
Aether slightly frowned as Xiao took his hand away.

"I thought we could have a picnic here, then after we finish up we can look at the stars together." The adepti's heart was pounding as he tried to keep himself from just telling the blond about how he feels right then and there. He was also pretty excited about this.

"Yeah, that sounds nice!" Aether smiled.

They ate their food and then talked for awhile. Then, they started to cleanup, but they weren't leaving yet. Xiao set down a couple of pillows on top of the blanket, reaching his hand out to the traveler again, but this time, he wouldn't let go.

"Lay down, you do remember what I said before, right?" Xiao questioned.

"Oh, yeah, stargazing!" Aether took Xiao's hand, letting him lead him to his spot. Just when the blond was about to let go of the yaksha's hand, Xiao gripped his hand tighter, making both blush. Except, Xiao looked away and Aether just stared at him in awe.

For awhile, they just looked at the stars as they talked more, and then Xiao thought it was time.

"Aether,"

"Yeah?"

Both turned their heads to look at the other, silently admiring eachother.

"I- I really like you. And after so long, I've finally found what I've been experiencing whenever you are around. I never thought I would feel this way, being an adeptus and all, but you've proved me wrong. I love you, Aether." Xiao looked deeply into the blond's eyes, waiting for an answer as he held Aether's hand tightly.

Both of their hearts pounding, the traveler responded to the yaksha.

"I love you too." He smiled as he watched the yaksha smile and blush.

"You're smiling!" Aether pointed out.

"Am not!" Xiao looked away as he turned red like a tomato.

Aether just laughed, scooting closer to Xiao. The yaksha turned to face the traveler again.

The honorary knight leaned in, kissing Xiao sweetly on the lips.

Afterwards, the two cuddled and slept through the night.

Bonus

Hu tao was finally on her break, walking around Liyue just because, when she spotted Aether and Xiao together.

She quickly equipped her kamera, snapping a couple photos of the two as they slept. The girl giggled.

"Oh boy, I bet the entirety of Teyvat is gonna love seeing their beloved traveler and yaksha like this!"

In the morning when the two woke up, Aether headed to the harbor to pick up his commissions for the day, but even had been laughing and looking at him for some reason. And then he saw it. Photos of him and Xiao cuddling all over the harbor.

"I swear, I'm going to murder whoever did this.." Aether facepalmed.