My butterfly, is mine, all mine | Xiao x Aether |

Xiao plunges down on another wave of demons. His spear is stained with more blood as the demons collapse with cries of agony. A few slashes of his spear and the demons are gone. He barely had any time to steady himself when the next wave attacked. Dodging a strike from a particularly strong demon, he jumped back into the air and plunged, yet again, destroying his enemies. He could already see another wave coming...but the Vigilant Yaksha only donned his mask and continued fighting. When the sun gifted its light to Teyvat the very next morning, the ground was littered with the carcasses of demons, and the Vigilant Yaksha was nowhere to be seen

                          《The next day》

Aether says hello to Verr as he walks out of the Wangshu Inn's kitchen. He had just delivered some supplies for Yanxiao and collected the Mora from his commission. The traveler was about to leave when a thought popped up in his head. With a smile, Aether rushed back into the kitchen, not bothering to ask Verr or Yanxiao for permission, for he already knew he had it. Yanxiao simply continued on with his job as the blonde invaded his space to make some almond tofu. He hums as he carries the plate up the stairs and towards the balcony carefully.

"Xiao." He called out when he reached his destination.

The Adeptus doesn't seem to respond to his call. Concern blooms in his chest.

"Xiao?" Aether called out again.

Still nothing, no sight of the Yaksha's teal hair or soft—

"I'm here." Xiao appears behind Aether, arms crossed and staring at his back. Aether turned around to look at the dark-haired boy and found him to look oddly tense today, like he was expecting a fight to happen at any time.

Xiao spots the plate of almond tofu. "Is that for me?" He asked.

"No, it's for Paimon." The traveler responds sarcastically. Xiao frowns, slightly upset.

Noticing his expression, Aether immediately stammers out, "I'm just joking! Of course, it's for you...who else would I be making almond tofu for?" 

He lets out a nervous laugh, trying to stop his erratic heart. The Adeptus looks confused and slightly offended by his laughter. Xiao silently grabbed the plate before reinforcing their distance, Aether wasn't sure how to feel about that. The Adeptus has always distanced himself from everyone but Aether couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. He also couldn't help but notice Xiao was putting more distance between them today–and his tired face. Did he even sleep last night?

¨How's the tofu?¨

Xiao swallows a mouthful of tofu before responding, ¨Same as usual.¨

Aether tries to hide his disappointment, he had been working on perfecting the recipe for months.

Xiao noticed and sighed, ¨It's good. Thank you, Traveler. I'm just a little...out of it today.¨

His eyebrows scrunched up adorably and Aether felt a weird mix of concern and his heart speeding up.

¨Oh...are you ok?¨ The traveler asked, hesitantly reaching out to touch Xiao, he didn't make contact though, instead, his hand hovered over Xiao's shoulder in an awkwardly (hopefully) reassuring position.

Xiao wordlessly set the empty plate of Almond Tofu on the balcony railing. To Aether's surprise, the Adeptus intertwined his hand with Aether's. His touch was so gentle as he brought the Traveler's hand down, back to his side. Xiao let go of his hand and the connection was lost—the Yaskha retreated back—six feet of distance between the two and a loud beating heart. 

¨You should go, Traveler, it's getting late.¨ Xiao turned away, ¨Goodbye.¨

And like that, the Vigilant Yaksha was gone, leaving the blonde Traveler with a frown on his face. He had barely noticed how dark it was getting–and the stars peeked out from underneath the pristine clouds of Liyue–he had never gotten used to the time difference between Teyvat and his homeworld. With a grumble, Aether left the inn before taking out a copper-colored teapot he somehow managed to fit inside his backpack and entering it. The only thing left of the exchange between the Traveler and The Vigilant Yaksha was the empty plate of almond tofu, and even that was soon gone when the staff of Washu Inn retrieved the said plate.