Sometimes life changes for no reason. The interesting thing is whether these changes are good or bad.
Does waking up in an unknown world with many people who develop a crush on you count as a nice thing?
It has become so fúcking cold where I live that even my cat voluntarily sleeps with me underneath my blaket to be warm.
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It smells like freshly baked bread and a mix of spices. Your mouth waters. Slowly you open up your eyes and look around. The natural light that coming from outside is rather dim, so you assume that it is very early in the morning right now. Still, you are able to tell that this is the same bed you fell asleep on yesterday.
“Good morning (Y/N)~”, you hear Aether’s voice say from somewhere nearby.
Blinking tired, you look around for him. He is sitting next to a small table that is set for three. His long blond hair isn’t tied into his usual braids, but into a messy ponytail. Right, after that one nap you didn’t get to style his hair into its original shape… Once your eyes meet, he offers you a warm and gentle smile. “Come, I bought breakfast for you too.”
“And Paimon left the tastiest-looking bread-thingies for you, so you should hurry up!” Ah, you didn’t notice her at first, but Paimon is there as well. She is floating happily next to her almost empty plate.
“Thanks…” Slowly you walk towards the unoccupied chair and sit down. On the plate in front of you are three bread rolls. You take one and bite into it. It is filled with a savory curry sauce which has – for you – the perfect amount of spice to it.
“Do you like it?”, asks Aether.
“Mhm. Again, thank you.” Remembering that someone is missing, you look around. “By the way… where is Rosa?”
The Traveler points right above your head. Carefully you touch the top of your head and - in fact - there is your squishy round friend sitting on top of you. Its presence must have gone unnoticed by you because of its low weight. “Good morning to you too my pink little bunny~”, you say with a baby voice.
Having greeted everyone now, you continue eating. Half an hour later all three of you are done with their breakfast. Since you don’t have anything to do now, the silence becomes suffocating for you. Before you went to sleep yesterday you weren’t sure if Aether would be mad at you for making a potentially stupid decision, but now that he is so overly nice you are sure of it. A cold shudder hushes over your back just thinking about him yelling at you again. You should apologize before it gets to that point.
As soon as you open your mouth to speak, Aether beats you to it. “Now that everyone has eaten, we can finally go.” He stands up and gently takes your hand with a smile.
Confused, you stumble after him. “Go where…?”
“Sumeru City of course. Didn’t you say yourself it would be our best shot at finding the Dendro Archon?”
“Yeah… but shouldn’t you rest? Tighnari said that-“
“Yesterday Tighnari himself sent me out to do some tasks so that he can take you on patrol in peace - I believe I am healthy enough by now.”
So Aether knows that you were with the fox boy. “Talking of Tighnari – I am sorry for leaving just like that with someone you warned me about. I-“
“It’s no problem.”, Aether cuts you off, “I've made a decision for myself. Whatever happens, I won’t blame you for it. No matter how naïve or stupid your actions may be, I have to accept it as a part of your character. I can hardly change you, so the best thing I can do is to protect you. That’s why we are leaving a bit earlier than planned.” Everything is said with the same sweet smile as before on his lips while pushing you further and further away from the village.
You don’t know if it is because you only recently have woken up or if it is because Aether is remarkably strong, but all the strength you put into resisting being pushed around shows zero visible effect. “Aether, why are you like this…?”
“This was something I’ve been thinking about ever since I had that longer conversation with Dainsleif in the Chasm. I don’t like that guy, I certainly don’t, but I do think that he is right about some things. I always found it… slightly irritating how you never truly learned out of your mistakes and how you tend to keep things to yourself.”
“Like I said, I am very sorry-“
“I know, I know. I wasn’t trying to criticize you again. I already lashed out enough back in the Chasm. Perhaps that also was why Dainsleif started talking about that topic when you were unconscious – so that we won’t have such an argument ever again. He said that I should see the positive aspect to that characteristic: You might not change for the better, but on the other hand, you also don’t change for the worse. No matter how often you get betrayed, kidnapped or no matter how many of your bones get broken, you always bounce back from that experience. The normal human being wouldn’t be able to recover from that, especially not that fast. Experiences like that leave deep scars on ones soul. For example, the girl I helped yesterday, Collei, was once experimented on by the Fatui. That was many years ago, but still she reacts strongly whenever someone touches her. Under normal circumstances you too would be an anxious mess, but you’re not. That’s why I will cherish even your flaws from now on.”
“…Should I be happy about this… or concerned?”
“If you don’t like arguments you should be happy. Now, please stop pushing against me so much. You are unnecessarily damaging your shoes.”
Sighing, you stop resisting and just move along. Your instincts tell you that this character development is not a good one, though, on the other hand you don’t know how to handle the situation without making it worse. In the end, Aether is right: you are so stupid that it sometimes hurts you and those around you. Maybe it’s better if your blond friend comes to such an overly… accepting conclusion.
Well, whatever. As long as you are moving forward there should wait a happy ending for everyone at the end of this journey…
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