I wrote this on a whim so it may, or may not be (probably not) good, but I just wanted to post it anyway.

Disclaimer: Genshin not mine, Cover photo is an artwork by kibashiba ( kibashi8a)

Serendipi-tea

"Woohoo!"

A loud and cheery female voice sounded but was immediately swept away by the wind, losing its volume in the rush of air as a red-clad figure sped along the burning sky, quickly approaching the abandoned Temple of the Falcon.

Amber embraced the gusts of cold air like an old friend as she stared off to the sunset behind the Favonius Cathedral which burned a bright amber. She couldn't help but grin a little as she thought of herself as the sun. It was silly but it made her feel kind of warm. Like she was an important piece in everybody's life, and it made her giddy thinking how she could help tons of people just by simply watching over them.

Maybe that's why she chose to be a proud Outrider of the Knights of Favonius, albeit the only outrider. Her job was to scout and secure the safety of her people even before a threat becomes dangerous enough. She was proud of herself but stayed humble, not once has she thought she was just as if not more important than the other Knights.

But seeing the citizens of Monstadt enjoying a carefree life, and the bright smiles of the children makes her heart swell with pride knowing that she's a major reason for those happy teeth.

"Ya-" She pushed her legs out as she slowly approached the ground while preparing to draw her Wind Glider back. Then, her heeled sandals touched the stone pathway of the bridge for a split second only for the heels on her left sandal to crack, and make her stumble, face-first onto the solid ground.

"Ow…"

A flock of pigeons scurried off from where she tripped and she stayed still for a few moments before turning on her back. Sighing, she took the left sandal off of her feet and examined the crack. She let out a breath she unknowingly held in as she saw it wasn't much of a big deal. It wasn't something that a Geovishap bone shard paste can't fix.

"Hey! You scared off the pigeons!"

Amber turned her gaze onto the small figure of a young boy quickly approaching her.

"Oh, hey Timmie!"

Timmie stopped for a second as he recognized the voice and the bright red clothes of the Outrider. "O-oh, Miss Amber are you alright?" The angry tone in his voice suddenly disappeared as he carefully approached Amber.

"Yep! I'm a-okay!" Amber winked in assurance before pushing herself off of the ground and took a few steps before falling down again. "Ah-!" She hissed in pain as her ankle throbbed as the left sandal came flying off of her gloved hand.

"I-I'll call a guard!" Timmie had already run off to the gate before Amber could raise her finger up in protest. She sighed as she massaged the sprain with a firm grip before help came.

Amber moaned in both pain and relief as she pressed the small pack of ice cubes onto her left ankle as she sat on one of the seats at the Good Hunter. She thanked and bid farewell to Swan who left his post and took her from the gate to the restaurant, almost carrying her entire weight as she couldn't bring herself to step her left foot down.

She wasn't too heavy was she? She has been eating a lot of food these past few weeks.

Speaking of eating, she found her eyes wandering the counter, looking for any sign of Sara who was absent at the meantime. She was in the mood for some Sticky Honey Roast and she couldn't wait to order one.

Her jaded amber eyes opened wide as she just realized that earlier this day, she'd overheard from the Acting Grandmaster that the Traveller and his companion were going to come back and stay for a few days.

Oh no, Aether's here and I haven't even showered yet! What if he walks by and sees me in this… mess! She held up her baron bunny who, like her, was covered in dirt and staring right back at her with a wide, drooly grin. Yeah, I should go back and clean myself soon.

"Oh?" From the corner of her eye, she noticed a bright, golden shine reflect the light rays from the setting sun. Shielding herself from the leer, she slowly made out the shape of a… teapot. A golden teapot sitting at one of the tables of the Good Hunter Restaurant. They don't even serve beverages!

She reached a hand out only to retract it back immediately as the handle felt eerily cold to the touch. She looked around to see no one watching her and she slowly but surely took the golden teapot into her hands out of sheer curiosity.

"What is this?" She asked herself as it felt extremely and unnaturally light as if it was otherworldly. Like it was a ghost of a teapot! She looked around again and gulped as she stared at the ethereal teapot, then opened the lid.

"Urgh-" The chestnut-haired girl felt her stomach churn in discomfort as she dropped to her knees. It took everything out of her to not throw up there as she forced herself to stand on alert.

Her hands left her bow as she stood in awestruck wonderment. "Liyue?" She said as she examined the green-roofed courtyard walls that the harbor of Liyue is very fond of. "How did I get he-" Mondstadt?" She stopped in confusion this time as she left her bow alone on her back. Directly to her right was a Windward Manor, a house design used and created in Mondstadt.

She looked behind her and her eyes widened as her jaw dropped for just a bit as she watched the crystal clear water cascade down the mountainside. Looking down the cliff, she could see nothing but white fog and all she knew was that she wasn't in Liyue, nor was she in Mondstadt. There was also no other place in Teyvat that resembled this place. She was certain that this was even higher than Qingyun Peak.

While on a bad ankle, she forced herself to walk further inside the confusing complex because this could be a threat to the safety of her people. She passed by Liyue styled toy stores together with numerous Mondsadt fruit stands. It felt like she was at the border of the two countries except this was a much smaller and engaging setup.

She shrieked in surprise as a patrol hound came running and barking at her only to wag its tail, indicating that it wanted to be played with. She pats its head and carefully approached the Windward Manor as it was the safest building according to her gut.

"Hello!" Amber jumped in surprise once more, drawing her bow and arrow and pointing it at the source of the sound.

"I'm Tubby!" A big penguin/bird-like hybrid thing spoke in front of her and she could only form an 'o' shape with her mouth, not trusting herself to say the right things. "Say, haven't I seen you before?" The two of them shared the exact same confused look before it shook its head as if waving its question off.

"I take it is your first time here?"

"Yes… and if you don't mind me asking. What are you and what is this place?" Tubby held Amber in its gaze for a brief moment before replying.

"I'm a teapot spirit created by an adeptus. This place is a pocket realm or some sort of mini-world."

"Adeptus?"

"God-like beings without being fully a god."

"…pocket realm? Mini-world?"

"Yes, precisely as you've heard! This is a place limited only by its capability as well as the owner's imagination!"

"If you don't mind me asking… who is the owner?"

"Hmmm… I wouldn't mind telling you but I do not know if he would. Perhaps another time?"

Amber nodded as she took some time to take in all of the information. "T-thank you, D-Dubby..?"

"Close enough. Enjoy your stay!"

With that, the teapot spirit closed its own lid and Amber is left to wander around, wondering to herself again. She wasn't able to ask properly but she assumed that it was alright to enter the luxury villa. Whoever this owner is, he knows his design just as well as the next Mondstadt citizen.

Amber's gloved hands pushed open the large brown doors to the villa and she held her breath in awe. Scattered in an organized mess was a bunch of wooden tables and chairs with papers stacked on top of each other everywhere. Bookshelves littered the right side of the main hall while a small dining area sat on the left side of the room.

She took a step forward and caught one of the papers which flew out of one of the stacks. Her eyes widened in surprise for the umpteenth time that day as she recognized her very own scrawly handwriting of a missing person poster.

This is Aether and Paimon's house!

The Outrider suddenly blushed, feeling a bit intrusive of the Traveller's personal belongings so she decided that she would go out there and ask the teapot spirit how she could leave this… pocket realm, but something intriguing caught her eye. Turning back to the living area, she approached one of the small shelves and blushed the color of her clothes as she saw a picture frame.

It was of her and Aether camping near Springvale, just outside of Mondstadt. She took the picture in her hands and stared at it for a good couple of seconds before squealing like a fangirl. She giggled uncontrollably as she took her baron bunny out again.

"What do you think this means? Tee-hee! I wanna know what this means! Does he l-l-like me?"

She talked to the baron bunny who gave her nothing but a blank, pointy smile.

A few carefree and girly screams later, another hidden picture dropped down from the shelf as she accidentally kicked it out of excitement. She held her hand out to catch it only for her to burn bright red again.

It was a picture of her gliding down the Starsnatch Cliff as Aether and Paimon cheered her on.

As her curiosity got the best of her, she rummaged one of the drawers and what she saw was enough to make her combust.

There was a picture of her shooting a fire pillar.

A picture of her shooting a Ruin Guard's eye.

A picture of her swapping her glider out with the Wings of Azure Wind.

A picture of her shouting in joy as she beat the record in the Bullseye Balloons at the Windblume Festival.

A picture of her stuffing herself with Sticky Honey Roast.

One by one, picture by picture her face grew redder and redder that she could wear her own face and the color of her clothes wouldn't change. Her heartbeat pounded loudly in her ears out of excitement, anticipation, confusion, hope, doubt, and all those things that she couldn't hear the soft footsteps coming from the front door.

"At least we got a few pictures of Master Diluc and Acting Grandmaster Jean! Don't worry, we still have a few days to snap a few pictures of Am-" Paimon stopped and the quiet Traveller looked at her. "ber…" She trailed off as she pointed to the crimson-clothed girl who was currently breathing rather loudly in an attempt to calm herself down.

Aether looked in her direction and he grew visibly pale in an instant as he saw what it was that was in her hands. His knees felt weak and he grew dizzier and dizzier for each passing moment.

Amber giggled once more as she turned around only to find the Traveller and his companion at the door. Her amber eyes immediately locked with his similarly-colored ones and she could feel the heat rise up from her stomach to her face and for each passing moment, she was growing sicker and sicker as her fingers left the pictures only for them to fall onto the wooden floorboards.

"…Amber?"

The Traveller was slowly losing consciousness as he felt the blood leave his face.

"Aether…"

The Outrider's eyesight slowly faded away as she felt all the blood in her body go up to her face.

"…"

Silence ensued for the next few seconds as two bodies dropped to the ground, unconscious.

"…"

"And they say Paimon's the stupid one." She sighed.

Lol, the first photo I mentioned was a reference to Sticky Honey Roast. I think it was the first Aether x Amber story I read.