"Yeah, and then when I came back, both of them were fighting each other!" Aether runs his hands through his hair in frustration. He still had no clue what came across Albedo and Childe a week ago and no matter how much he tried bringing up the subject to Albedo, Aether would always end up losing his nerve. The more he thought about it, the more confused he became.

Xiao blinks, "You called me out here… for this?"

Aether points at the lawachurl lying unconscious between them. "No, I called you out here for that."

"Hm," Xiao twirls his spear around his forearm and tucks it behind him, allowing it to disappear into various energy particles. He crosses his arms, "I suppose you did… but Traveler, I have more to do than to listen to your failures in romance."

Aether's face instantly goes red. "W-Wait, who said this had anything to do with romance?" he nervously laughs.

Xiao glares in disbelief, "You mortals never fail to amaze me."

"Ok, ok," Aether starts to gesticulate in a panic."So, hypothetically, let's say this had to do with romance. How could a simple mortal like myself… fix this?"

"How should I know?" Xiao muttered. He begins to put on his mask once more as he begins to prepare to teleport.

Aether clasps his hands together in prayer, the sound slightly startling Xiao. "Please, you've lived longer than I have, Xiao. Plus! Things seem to be going well between you and Venti!"

Xiao spins around. Although his mask is covering his expression, Aether could swear he heard an embarrassed growl. "F-Fine," he sighs, "have you tried talking to him about it?"

Aether just blinks.

"You haven't–" the adepti holds his hands in his hands and sighs again. "That's something important that you should get around to doing."

Aether placed his fingers on his chin to think, "How do I even get around to doing that… though?" As he finishes his thought, he catches a bright red glow in his peripheral vision. He looks to his left only to see a few red lanterns dotting the skyline next to the mountain Xiao and him perched on. "What are those things?"

"Xiao lanterns," Xiao begins to say in his usual deadpan voice, "They get released every year during the Lantern Rite in Liyue."

Aether punches one of his hands into his palm. "That's it."

"That's what–" Xiao can't even finish his sentence before Aether is already bounding off.

Aether jumps and waves back to Xiao. He grins as he disappears into particles, "Thanks, Xiao! Good luck with Venti!"

Xiao watches Aether teleport to what he could presume to be Mondstadt. He kicks the ground, digging up a small puff of dust. He groans, "I thought it wasn't obvious…"

…

Aether quietly knocks on the door to Albedo's study. He already regretted being there… but there was no backing out now. Trying his best to build up his courage, he clenches his fist around empty air. Seriously, how many battles has he been through and he was still sitting here shaking like a leaf.

The door creaks open and Albedo slowly appears behind it. He glances up from his clipboard and his eyes widen a bit when he sees Aether standing there, "Oh… Aether, what brings you here?"

Aether's mind blanks for a second as if he had completely forgotten what he had come here to do. "Uh, I was just coming here to talk about what happened with Childe the other–"

"You don't need to do that!" Albedo interrupts.

"..." They both stare at each other in silence for a few seconds. Aether's never heard Albedo raise his voice like that before, much less to interrupt him.

Albedo's gaze falters to the side. "I'm sorry for getting carried away like that," he hesitates for a second, "I'm... not sure what came over me."

"Don't worry about it," Aether reassures him. "Childe can make even the most patient people want to sock him."

"I suppose," Albedo said, still not looking Aether in the eye. Aether wasn't sure what had happened, nor was he the best at reading other people, but even he could tell that something was up. Still, he figured that it wouldn't do him any good to pry.

"Anyways, I didn't come here to scold you or anything. In, fact–" he nudges Albedo's arm slightly, "–it was pretty entertaining seeing what you did to him." His grin fades a bit when he sees that Albedo's expression didn't change with his joke, "But yeah, I wanted to make it up to you for having to deal with him in the first place."

"Oh?"

"It's a long shot, but how does going to the Lantern Rite sound?"

"Ah, that sounds like an interesting experience … I've never been, but I can't stay for too long."

Aether beams, "That's okay! I was just thinking of spending time with you for two days or so and you can get right back to your work."

A small smile inches across Albedo's face, "Alright."

…

The two land safely in Liyue Harbor and begin to meander through the streets. Hundreds of different stalls lined each side of the harbor and from food to jewelry, there was nothing that couldn't be found in at least one of the stalls. Aether's eyes shine as he takes in the sight. Embarrassingly enough, back in his homeworld, the most you'd get was their yearly hunting festival, but instead of packed stalls and streets, you'd only be met with snow… and more snow.

Aether turns to hand a lantern rite tigerfish to Albedo, but when he looks behind him, he can see the other blond blankly staring off into space. He chuckles to himself, he had figured that Albedo wasn't the festival type. Luckily, he couldn't have picked a more perfect time.

He reaches out and lightly grabs Albedo's wrist. "Hey, follow me, I know a place with a much better view," he says just loud enough for Albedo to hear above the chaos of the crowd. Albedo lets Aether lead him out of the crowd and past the bridge connecting Liyue Harbor to the West of Liyue.

Even when they reach the wilderness past Liyue Harbor, Aether doesn't let go of Albedo's wrist nor does Albedo move to release his wrist either. It was as though a ribbon of warmth connected them and while Albedo's wrist was unusually cold, Aether had no problem supplying warmth for the both of them. Still, Aether tried not to let his giddiness about the situation show, otherwise, his face would probably turn into the same color as that ribbon.

They quietly walk along dirt paths until the paths give way to run down stone stairs that ascend upwards toward Mount Tianheng. When they reach the top, crickets have already begun to sing their nighttime symphonies.

As Aether led them past the treeline, it was Albedo's turn to be left in awe. Up above them were dozens of Xiao lanterns. In the night sky, the red illuminating from the lanterns made them appear as though they were a part of an everflowing red lake, one whose base started in Liyue Harbor and dispersed across the entirety of Liyue like individual droplets of water.

"Hey, Albedo, what do you think about–" Aether doesn't even need to finish his sentence. When he turns to look over at the boy that was standing next to him, he's already sitting down with his sketchbook out, eagerly sketching out the sight before them. Aether can't help but smile.