\\Your calming embrace\\ Xiaother fanfic

一

The cover art is from @lightspeedran in Twitter

the picture at the top of the story is from
@hazimemasugozin in Twitter

Enjoy the story

"Hey zhongli you know Xiao right?"
Asked aether curiously as he, zhongli and paimon were walking outside of Liyue harbor, "you speak of Adeptus Xiao, Conqueror of demons?" Replied zhongli.
Aether nods, shifting his gaze back to the path they were walking on "mhm he seems extremely cold and also obsessed with almond tofu I'm wondering why" Aether responded. "Paimon is interested too! Xiao is a pretty cold person and Paimon gets creepy vibes when she's talking to him." Said Paimon loudly.

"Well I have heard of him before, do you wish to hear of it?" Asked zhongli calmly as they continued to walk, "Yes please!!" exclaimed Paimon. Aether nodded, agreeing to what paimon said. "Very well then." Said zhongli as he began telling Aether and Paimon about Xiao. "He is one of the mighty and illuminated adepti guarding Liyue, also known as the "Vigilant Yaksha" or the "Conqueror of Demons"..." He paused for a few seconds before continuing,

"Despite his youthful appearance, tales of his exploits have been documented for millennia. He is especially fond of Wangshu Inn's Almond Tofu. This is because it tastes just like the sweet dreams he used to devour." Zhongli ended the story. "Sweet dreams he used to devour???? Is it just paimon or did that make no sense??" Said paimon in a confused tone. "Zhongli what do you mean by sweet dreams he used to devour?" Asked aether, a sense of curiosity still lingered in the question.

"I'm afraid I do not know the answer to that question.. apologies." Said zhongli as they were reaching the destined place. "Awhh paimon really wanted to know" said paimon sadly. "Ah, we have arrived. Traveler would you mind helping me?" Asked zhongli. (Skip this part it's just the archon quest) 10pm "Ughh paimon's tired after all of that, Aether why don't we go to whangsu inn and get some food paimon's STARVINGG" said paimon "alrighty let's go!" Replied aether.

(At whangsu inn)

"Whew thank Archons teleport waypoints exist otherwise paimon would've starved to death!" Said paimon with food in her mouth. "You're overexaggerating Paimon. Also how do you eat so much??? That was your 18th sweet madame!" Said aether "Paimon's just hungry!" Replied paimon. Aether sighed and ordered some almond tofu, "hey why did you order almond tofu? Do you want to talk to Xiao?" Asked paimon while she's still eating "wow I'm surprised you noticed" said aether jokingly "heyy! Paimon isn't deaf! Paimon can still hear you know?" Said paimon, clearly offended by aether. "Hmph paimon's going to bed now because she's so sleepy goodnight aether!" Paimon said as she walked to the room aether booked. "Alright goodnight paimon. Sleep well" said aether as he got up and took the plate of almond tofu. 'I wonder if he'll show up again' thought aether while going to the balcony.

Once he arrived at the balcony. He quietly called out xiao's name to see of he was there but there was no response. "Xiao? are you here?" Said aether while he was looking around. "What do you need?" A voice behind him spoke which scared aether a little. "Adeptus Xiao! I got you some more almond tofu and also a few questions." Said Aether as he handed the plate to Xiao "hmph just so you know I will not be answering any questions you wish to ask even if you give me almond tofu." Said Xiao, cold as ever. "Okay okay I won't ask questions" said Aether as he shifted his gaze to the view Infront of them. After a few minutes when Xiao finished his almond tofu he disappeared without a word. Aether felt disappointed for some reason but the shruged the feeling off as it may be because he didn't say goodbye.

Aether entered the room and got took off his accessories, only leaving his top and his baggy pants on along with his braid and earring. Aether drifted to sleep as soon as he laid on the bed. And with that, the day was over.

Aether's POV

The road ahead was dark and endless.. I saw nothing. Last I remembered I was giving Xiao some almond tofu. All there was then were flashes of memories from mondstad, images of me talking to amber.. the time I first met kaeya, when I got my wind glider for the first time. They were all happy memories. And there it was. Lumine. The pictures no longer flashed, rather they stayed as more pictures of memories appeared. They were all Lumine, happy memories like these make me smile. I even forgot I was walking in a dark endless pit of nothing. Images of when Lumine gave me this earring or when we played around with our wings. But they soon got blurry, I couldn't remember. Then, images of Lumine with a cold, sinister expression appeared. "What?? I don't remember any of this what's happening" I questioned but of course, not one replied. I was staring terrified at the pictures. The happy, cheerful and positive sister I've always known could never be this right? Tears started forming in my eyes and I couldn't stop them. She just looked so.. disappointed in me. This is all my imagination, she could never be disappointed she loves me.(as a sibling) "Please Lumine! I'm sorry!" I said but nothing came out of my mouth. I tried apologizing again and again until my voice got tired. But not once did anything come out of my mouth. Have I found my sister? Is this the end of my journey? or was it too late? More questions fled through my head as I continued to stare at the images slowly disappearing. I woke up not long after the images completely disappeared, my eyes were puffy my face felt wet. I felt relieved that it was a dream but I was still terrified. I was terrified that what I saw just now.. was real.

End of aether's POV

Aether got up from his bed after a few minutes but didn't put his accessories on, he couldn't be bothered. All he wanted now was some fresh air and what better place to get fresh air than the balcony where met Xiao. He walked to the balcony, but as soon as he set foot on the balcony he got hit with a terrible headache. "urgh.. why now.." he blurted out. then, looking around to see if there is anyone he could ask for help before he passes out. His eyes landed on a dark figure in the corner of the balcony, he thought it would be a good idea to walk towards it but the closer he got the worse the headache got. It got to the point where he was standing close enough to see Xiao behind the dark fog mixed with teal but he didn't notice and held onto the railing for support, as soon as he got the strength to look up, Aether lifted his head slightly to see Xiao with his mask on. He wasn't moving. Not even a flinch. It looked as if he was trying to resist doing something. Aether unconsciously reached out to touch xiao's mask. At that moment Aether felt lonliness?, sadness? fear? Aether couldn't explain it and neither can I.

But as soon as the mask disappeared, Aether fainted onto xiao's arms. Xiao, being worried he had hurt a harmless traveler and broke his contract, decided to bring Aether to his abode to rest. His abode was a big place, probably as big as an apartment at the very top of the inn. He hadn't been in his there for awhile now and it definitely needed cleaning but xiao didn't care. The thing on his mind then was how Aether even managed to get that close to him, let alone be able to calm his karmic debt. If he were any ordinary mortal he'd be going insane by now, "... interesting.." Xiao whispered as he closely inspected the traveler. He figured Aether would be alright and gave aether some space until he woke up.

(Hello sorry if my grammar isn't good I might update more if I don't procrastinate on making chapter 2 it's 1:51 now and I have school tomorrow so I'm gonna post this story tomorrow when I get home thanks for reading. okay maybe I won't post daily once every two days maybe? This whole part took me 2 days 😰)