Lantern Rite

Chapter Two

Sunlight slowly seeped in through Xiao's eyelashes as his eyes opened that morning, his chest rising and falling as a deep breath escaped through his mouth. He was sitting on top of Wangshu Inn, and had been sitting there for a few hours as he rested his mind and body. He couldn't actually sleep, so it was the best he could do. He looked out across the landscape, and even with the sight of the beautiful sunrise, he felt his mind start to cloud. It was always clouded on some level; karmic voices constantly seeped in and nestled in his mind as if his skull was their home and his thought's were their respective rooms. But another thought creeped into his mind that morning. One he so desperately wished he could welcome with a smile. One he wished would have a permanent residency without worry. But all it brought him was dread. It was the brightest thought he could possibly have and yet it brought him the most discomfort. Gods, bright was an understatement. It was the sunshine. He was the sunshine.

Xiao shook his head to himself, standing up and stretching a bit before looking across the land in front of him once again. He should get going before it got too hot. It was the start of Lantern Rite after all, and he had a lot of work to do.

-

It was about 1pm now, and Xiao had been performing the "Nuo Dance of Evil Conquering" for hours now. He was tired. Not tired enough to stop though, of course. That wasn't really an option for him. He could take a few breaks throughout the day, sure. But he chose not to. He felt like he was betraying Morax when he took a break. Betraying Liyue. He knew deep down that if Morax - or Zhongli, rather - were here he'd tell him it was fine, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. That was, until he heard his name.

He had just finished fighting a rogue mitachurl when he heard a familiar voice say his name. He felt his heart skip a beat in his chest and he shook his head. He had to have been hearing things, it was just his mind playing tricks on him. Then he heard it again, clearer this time. He took a deep breath, pin pointing where it was coming from before disappearing into thin air. He reappeared on the top floor of Wangshu Inn, where he found a blonde-headed boy standing in front of him.

Aether...

A massive smile grew on Aether's face as he saw Xiao appear in front of him. He was relieved to see the Adeptus, as he had been pretty worried his whole way to the Inn. However, his smile faded ever so slightly when he really looked at him. He looked absolutely exhausted; dirt smudged on his face and sweat dripping from his brow. He knew he would be constantly fighting during the festival but to see his exhaustion first hand was...hard. He couldn't even imagine how it felt to be him.

"Xiao! You came!" he said happily. It was hard to see him like this, but he still couldn't contain his excitement to see him.

The Adeptus nodded slightly, his arms crossed over his chest as he attempted to keep himself looking professional. "I've told you before that if you call out my name I will appear." He said, keeping a straight face.

Aether nodded a bit. "I know that, I just...I knew you would be busy since it's Lantern Rite so I didn't know if you would be able to come.." he said softly, looking down at the wooden floor of the Inn and rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

Xiao sighed a bit. "I keep my word. You know that. Plus, your timing was decent." he mumbled, looking off to the side. It had always been difficult for him to look Aether in the eye, but it had gotten increasingly worse over the years. He hated it. "Anyways, what did you need?" he asked, looking at Aether finally. Though the eye contact itself was brief.

Aether shook his head slightly. "Oh- I didn't really need anything technically...I just wanted to see how you were doing. I know this time of year is hard and I get worried I guess.." He mumbled, tracing shapes on the floor with the tip of his shoe as he leaned against the balcony.

A confused look made it's way across Xiao's face, his eyebrows furrowing together slightly. "Why? This is my job, I do this every year. Do you think I am incapable of keeping up with this ritual?" He asked getting defensive. That did tend to be his coping mechanism...

Aether's eyes widened and he quickly shook his head. "N-no! That's not what I meant at all-" he said, racking his brain as he tried to figure out how to explain himself. "I just mean that- I mean I just wanted to check in because I care about you - you're my friend and you mean a lot to me.." he said softly, a slight blush crossing his cheeks. "Friends check in on each other." he explained.

Xiao's defensive demeanor seemed to slowly melt away, his seemingly confused expression returning to his face. "Oh.." he mumbled. He still didn't quite understand why Aether considered him a friend. It's not like he showed any signs of wanting to be friends with him in return. Though he supposed telling him he could call for him when he needed may have given him that impression...

"Well I'm fine. And if that's all you needed then I really should get back to my duties-"

"Wait-" Aether cut him off. "I was also wondering if maybe you'd want to join me for some of the festivities sometime this week? I know you don't have a lot of time so you don't have to stay for long...a-and I can also talk to Zhongli if you're worried about him being upset with you or something.." his voice trailed off, having realized that he was rambling a little bit.

Xiao took a deep breath and looked off to the side once again. He felt the urge to go. Why though? He hated these kinds of things, and he really did have other things to do. Plus, he was worried about what Zhongli would think. He shouldn't even be thinking about going. He knew that it was dangerous territory; getting close to a human. Well, he knew Aether wasn't really human but he couldn't help but to think of him that way. He couldn't let him get hurt, and he was afraid that if he let him get too close...it would happen all too easily.

"Just one thing." Aether said, bringing Xiao back out of his deep thought. "Let's just do one thing together. That way it wont take to long and we'll still be able to spend some time with each other." he suggested, a small smile on his face.

Xiao chewed on the inside of his lip for a moment before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He then nodded a bit. "Fine. One thing of your choice." He said, immediately not wanting to be the decision maker out of the two of them. "I will join you and then go back to my duties. Understood?"

Aether's smile grew until he was absolutely beaming, and he nodded quickly. "Okay- awesome!" he said, clearly very excited. "Hm...could we release lanterns together?" he asked. "It's the last day of the festival, and we don't have to do it in the city since I know you're not a big fan of crowds."

Xiao froze slightly for a moment. Why was Aether being so thoughtful? It was weird to have someone so overly cautious of his thoughts and feelings. It was...nice. He shook his head slightly to get himself out of his own head before he nodded. "Alright. That's fine. I'll see you then." he said, before immediately disappearing.

"Wait~!" Aether sighed as Xiao left, realizing he probably wouldn't come back unless he was in grave danger or something. It was okay though. He couldn't believe he had actually convinced Xiao to come release lanterns with him. He figured asking would've been a long shot. Regardless, he was happy about the answer. He hoped he would be able to talk to Xiao about some normal stuff. Well, what was "normal," really? But he did hope they could put formalities aside and talk as people. Not so professionally.