You've begun to feel like home. Xiao x Aether.

Not according to plan.

- I'm sorry, but all the commissions were already... - the receptionist of the Adventurer's Guiled was interrupted.

- Were already taken by the other adventurers, as usual. – Aether said annoyed, rubbing the area between his eyes with the gloved hand. – is there at least anything I can do today? – Katheryne nodded negatively. The boy was ready to scream, complaining about her obvious unwillingness to give him any commissions, but left before making a big scene in front of the desk.

"Why does this keep happening to me?! – Aether clenched his fists; anger was pouring out of him. This was the 8th time he came to Liyue Harbor asking Katheryne about the commissions, and yet, another failure to get any. At this point he wasn't even doubting that someone told her to forbid the blond from taking any requests, and he certainly knew who this mysterious person might be. – "Damn it, Zhongli, it never hurt you to ask for my help before, but now it seems that you want me to just disappear from this world!" – Aether almost ran into two men slowly walking the opposite direction, but they quickly jumped away with worried expressions on both their faces. But traveler did not care – he felt rejected by everyone, which has never happened before. – "First you tell me to stay out of the problem with monsters, then you tell Katheryne to not assign me any commissions..."

Despite feeling sad and angry, Aether was not ready to give up yet. The last thought he had did remind him of the huge problem Liyue was still facing – monsters. Finally, the annoyance he felt for a week has disappeared, its' place taken by the excitement and readiness to fight.

"There is no chance he will know about it, and after the issue is solved, I will tell him everything, hopefully he won't get mad. Plus, I don't think I ever saw him get angry, so in the worst-case scenario I will have to listen to his notations for a couple of hours. – Aether now left Liyue and started walking towards one of the domains. – "plus, my help is most certainly needed – I already heard more stories from scared people about the dangers they had to go through to travel to Mondstadt and back." – to check whether there are any signs of rain or clouds in the sky, traveler lifted his head, observing nothing but a pure blue color above him. – "and the weather has been very nice for the past few days. It seems like this day will only get better."

The reason behind the sudden appearance of the monsters on the land of the city of contracts was yet unknown and Aether truly didn't even try to guess it. If it was the plan of the fatui, then he could not do anything but to stop it, as there is no hope for the further investigation – the Qixing cares about their diplomatic relations with Snezhnaya. Traveler could not think of the other reason, so either way the only thing he could do right now is to take care of monsters to help his favorite city.

But the problem with domains wasn't the only thing occupying his mind right now. A week has already passed, and the boy hasn't met with Xiao yet, although he had been sitting on the balcony in Wangshu Inn for at least a couple of hours every evening. It felt as if the Yaksha has disappeared without a trace, Aether even tried to call him by his name, but this also didn't work. Traveler couldn't help but feel like it was his fault, that he pushed Xiao away by his uncontrollable behavior that day. The dark-haired probably was feeling uncomfortable to face him after what happened, and this thought alone broke Aether's heart.

"Maybe if he wasn't so unreachable, I would explain everything!" – the blond resented in his head. It was easier to feel annoyed than to let himself be worried of where Xiao could possibly go for the whole week. And Aether was worried as hell. He stopped for a second and looked at the ground. – "What if I will never see him again? What if he left me for good? I should've told him everything from the start and not be so stubborn and private about my feelings." – a few tears fell from his eyes on the grass. – "No, it's not the right time to think about it, I have a mission to complete. – and so, he continued walking.

It was suspiciously quiet, the only sound that traveler heard was the sound of his own footsteps on the ground. Judging by the stories he heard, he must have met at least couple of monsters, especially as he was already approaching one of the domains. However, no one was around, no traces were found even after the blond used his elemental sight. The area around Jueyun Karst usually is filled with hilichurs and Abyss monsters, but now the only living creatures in Aether's sight were birds and lizards.

"Maybe the person assigned for this task wasn't so incompetent after all" – the boy chuckled, still feeling a bit disappointed. – "Maybe I should check another domain, further from Liyue. – traveler was just about to turn around and leave the place when he suddenly heard familiar growl. Aether immediately summoned his sword and started walking towards the noise source. – "sounded like a Mitachurl, but it can also be something else, something bigger." – the unpleasant memories of the fight with the Lawachurl appeared in traveler's head.

The sound was getting quieter, but Aether still managed to find the place it came from – the domain, seemed like the monster exited it recently, so he didn't run away to haunt the areas around it. Just as the boy was preparing to attack the creature he didn't even see yet, the growling stopped, leaving Aether in confusion.

"There is no point in hiding at this point, I should quickly check the domain, maybe he already ran away." – he thought and jumped out of the tree he was hiding behind with his sword in still in his hands. A huge dead body of a Mitachurl was lying on the grass, his axe meters away from him and his chest pierced many times. Aether slowly approached it, still wondering what has happened to the monster, as he did not see anyone nearby, nor did he hear any sounds of the fight. Walking closer, the boy gasped from the scene around the Mitachurl – there were endless number of dead monsters lying on the ground – hilichurls, Mitachurls, even a couple of Lawachurls were all covered in blood in front of the domain. it was terrifying to look at, yet Aether would've ended doing the same himself if he saw them.

Suddenly, Aether heard a rapid breathing close to him, he turned around and saw... Xiao, who was so tired and exhausted that it felt like any second, he can fall on the ground unconscious. His mask was still on, glowing with dark green light, there was blood all over him. If traveler didn't know the way Xiao looked so good, he would have never guessed that it is a human standing in front of him.

Being so overwhelmed with what he saw, Aether couldn't move or say anything at all. The yaksha seemed to not notice him – the mask finally disappeared from his face, and now Xiao was blankly looking at the ground his face not showing any emotion at all. Aether knew something is not right – the exhaustion that the Yaksha was showing, his body trembling from the most likely several sleepless nights and the burden he had to carry on himself every time he killed someone – all that was so obviously torturing the Yaksha, that traveler got that even through his blank expressionless face.

-X-Xiao. – the boy sounded so quiet that for a moment he even doubted that the Yaksha has heard him, but he did. Xiao quickly turned his face to the blond with his eyes wide open. For a moment he just silently stood there, looking at Aether, then traveler noticed how his lips slightly opened as if he was about to say something, but the next second they were pressed together again. Without saying anything, the dark-haired boy teleported away the next second.