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

Friends again.

The sun was already rising, its rays lighting up the room, where the boys were. Xiao winced at the annoyingly bright light, turning his head away from the window, observing the bright room before him. a couple of hours ago the dark haired had moved away from the bed and sat on the windowsill, which was perfect for keeping a track of both what's going on outside the hotel and inside the room of the traveler.

This night was more tiring than the million ones the Xiao had before – he could never have thought that fighting monsters can be so much easier for him compared to thinking about the explanation for his presence in Aether's room. After deep thinking, the boy decided that it is better to pretend that he came here recently, to not scare the boy away by the realization that the Yaksha had been creepingly watching him sleep throughout the night. But that was the easy part of his plan, unfortunately, even after considering tons of options of what to say to the blond, Xiao was still confused in all the explanation he had to give. It was very unusual for him to speak, not to mention his literal inability to share own feelings, which he still was afraid of. For half of his life, the dark haired was pretending to not notice them, to think that they do not exist, because then he didn't have the audacity to talk to other people. But now, he wanted to make everything right, as it was his only opportunity to make it up to Aether, therefore, it was not the time to back down.

A soft yawn pulled Xiao out of his thoughts, and, as he turned to look at the bed, he noticed Aether slowly sitting up on the bed, his eyes still closed and his hair all over the face.

"Cute." – the thought appeared in the Yaksha's mind, which immediately caused him to blush. – "What did I just think about him? No, he is not. He looks like a total mess, his hair is all over his body and his body is sore, there is nothing cute about it." – he tried to disprove himself in his head.

The blond slowly stretched out, raising his arms together above his head, and then slowly opened his sleepy golden eyes. Xiao didn't know why, but he suddenly felt so embarrassed, almost exposed, so the second the black pupils appeared above Aether's eye lids, he turned his face away, so that the boy wouldn't think that the Yaksha was there to meet with him. Meanwhile, traveler slowly got up from the bed and headed towards the bathroom, suddenly stopping on his ways in shock.

Meeting with Xiao like this, inside his own room in the morning, was nothing that he would have expected his day to start. But here he was, sitting on the windowsill with his head turned away to look outside of the window. At first, Aether wanted to greet him happily and to maybe suggest doing something together today, like going on his mission, or completing commissions, or sparring in the woods, literally anything. But the excitement of meeting the Yaksha after such long period of time disappeared the moment, he remembered the last night they were together.

"So, we had a fight, he rejected me, disrespected me, called me "traveler" like a total jerk, - the anger started boiling inside the blond, it seemed like in any second a steam will appear from his ears. – And now, after who knows how many days, without saying anything, he just appears inside my room and purposefully looks away as if he didn't even know I would be here. The audacity of this Adepti?!"

- What are you doing here? – Aether tried to sound the most uninterested and cold as he could. Meanwhile, he decided to brush his hair and braid it, which in his eyes, would double prove the fact that he doesn't care about Xiao's sudden appearance.

- You said I can come here to rest. I decided to take that opportunity. – Xiao finally turned his head to face traveler. Judging by his tone, the boy wasn't much happy about his arrival, but Xiao decided to not let this make him run away.

- Hmph, I thought Adepti don't need rest. – he sarcastically answered using Yaksha's own words as a counter point to his reasoning. Aether still couldn't make himself look in the eyes of the dark haired, knowing that just looking at the boy will be enough for him to calm down, which he definitely didn't want to.

- Aether, I wanted to talk to... - the adeptus was quickly interrupted.

- Oh, so now you can call me by my actual name? Not just Traveler? – Aether put the brush aside and his angry eyes finally met the other ones. No, even this sad and guilty look could not calm Aether down, he had been keeping these feelings inside of him for too long for Xiao to be forgiven so quickly.

Adeptus jumped of the windowsill and took a few steps towards the blond, now towering in front of him, looking directly in his eyes.

- Aether, I'm... Sorry... - these words were too difficult for Xiao to say out loud, however, he knew that it was his fault, his stubbornness and his prejudices about himself that put them in this situation. Xiao himself wasn't sure for what exactly he was apologizing for, it seemed like he had betrayed his only friend in every was possible. For a split second, the dark haired noticed how the face of the other grew softened, but the next moment the same angry expression replaced it.

- I don't believe your words. – he said coldly, ready to turn his back on the Yaksha and return to his usual morning routine. Xiao's eyes flickered with sadness after he heard these words, was there anything else that could prove to the other that he understood his own fault? Without any second thoughts, the boy decided to do what he thought was the only right was to prove his own words.

Aether was already turning his head away, sad and angry because of their short talk, but in the corner of his eyes he noticed Xiao suddenly moving. Quickly, the boy glanced at the Yaksha and his eyes widened from his actions – Xiao got down on one knee and bowed his head down obediently. Every part of his body looked so tensed, as if he was preparing for the battle.

- I apologize for all the troubles I caused you in the past. The consequences of my decisions were kept unknown to me, as I carelessly neglected your feelings and worries. – the dark haired stopped for couple of seconds to check whether Aether would push him away again. However, there was nothing but silence surrounding them, so Xiao decided to raise his head to Aether, only to find him standing there with the surprised expression on his face. – I am deeply sorry, Aether. Now I understand what you have been through and will not try to push you away. Can I ever ask for your forgiveness?

Aether stood there speechless, not knowing what today or how to act. Seeing Xiao in this state – kneeling before him, meant so much knowing how high-minded and distant he is. Being friends again, that was enough for Aether, always had, knowing that the Yaksha actually thinks of him as a friend was enough. So, after the long-lasted silence, Aether finally softened his face and a soft smile appeared on it.

- Of course, I forgive you, Xiao, what are friends for? – he slightly laughed and brushed his hands through the dark hair of the other. Xiao's face immediately lit up, as he stood up on his legs again. The talk went much better that Xiao was expecting, but the joy of being in good relations with the blond was enormous, giving the butterflies to his stomach. – So, any plans for today? – the wider smile appeared on Aether's face as he looked in the mirror to check his hair, which was perfectly braided behind his back.

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Author's notes: okay, idk if it was a good idea to make Xiao kneel as an apology, but in my head it looked good...