Albedo stares at Aether blankly. He can tell that under his gaze, Aether is starting to sweat.

"Um, I know I said I'd be back at Emerald Maple Inn before the end of the night, but I came across a few more commissions and I thought… 'Why not help out?'"

Albedo raises an unamused eyebrow. When the two of them had decided to leave Mount Tianheng the night before, someone had come to them in a panic asking for Aether to help clear a field of monsters. When the two were finished, Aether had insisted on staying behind and helping out some more.

Little did Albedo know, Aether wouldn't return until dawn had broken.

He continues to stare at Aether, "It's a bit hypocritical… is it not?"

"Listen, a night of not having the best rest isn't going to kill me," Aether nervously laughs.

Albedo just sighs and takes Aether's hand to lead him out of the door. "Come, Traveller. You promised me two days of enjoying ourselves and that goes for you too."

"A-Alright," Aether says while making no attempt to pull his hand out of Albedo's hold.

As the two walk along the busy streets of Liyue beside each other, they're sort of at a loss for what to do. Neither of them had ever been to the Lantern Rite and quite frankly, it was a lot to take in.

Then, a voice off in the corner of the harbor piques their interest. "Come one, come all to Theater Mechanicus!" It had come from a brunette woman manning a stall toward the northwest of the harbor.

It was Aether's turn to pull Albedo along. "Come on, let's go check it out," he smiles. Albedo follows his lead to a small crowd that was gathering to see what the ruckus was about.

"Try out Liyue's hottest new game! Step up to the plate and test your skills!" Was the only thing the two of them could hear. Whatever was going on was a bit… hard to see over the crowd.

Aether grins, "Want to get on my shoulders to see over them?"

Albedo rolls his eyes at his comment. "No, but I can certainly help you see," he snaps his fingers and a geo flower appears directly under Aether. Without giving him even the slightest moment to register what's going on, the flower sends the traveler straight up into the sky.

"W-Woah!" Aether spreads his arms to the side so as to keep his balance and not fall off. "Oh, come on, it was just one joke!"

"Well, at least one of us can see what's happening now," Albedo crosses his arms, but he makes the small, satisfied smile that was inching his face apparent.

"Alright, alright," Aether snickers.

After not a few moments, the geo flower gently sets Aether back onto the ground before dispersing into nothing.

"Hm, it looks like there's just a bunch of tables around. It looked like they had a bunch of figures on top of the tables called 'Mechanici' that you're supposed to move around to defend a portal from waves of hilichurls."

"Is that all?" Albedo says as he slightly tilts his head.

"Well…. what was weird about it though was that anyone who played seemed to… disappear? Before reappearing, of course." As Aether continues to explain what he saw, he notices that they've subconsciously been moving along with the crowd. He shrugs, "I guess there's no harm in seeing what it's about."

When they finally reach the front of the line, Albedo is a bit disappointed to see that it's really just a few oddly shaped figures thrown about on what looked like a crude map.

The same woman they saw before eagerly steps up to greet them. "Hello, there! Have you two ever played Theater Mechanicus?" The two shake their heads. The woman claps her hands together, "Excellent! We'll just start you off with a beginner level then! Oh, and keep in mind that you won't be able to attack any of the creatures directly while you're participating."

"Alright?" Aether says, clearly not exactly quite sure what she meant. He hands the woman a Xiao lantern as payment and she happily accepts it.

"There we go! Have fun!" She waves them off. For a split second, Albedo feels himself go completely weightless, as though he was teleporting.

However, just before seemingly leaving their spot in Liyue Harbor, Albedo overhears another woman say, "Hey, Xianfan... I don't think you selected the beginner level–" And then nothing.

The next time Albedo feels some sort of sensation, he's standing right next to Aether in what appeared to be ruins. Up above them, there was a timer counting down the seconds to what he presumed to be the first wave of monsters.

"Wow, I didn't think something like this was possible!" Aether gushes as he glances down at his own hands.

"Ah, yes, Mondstadt does something similar during our own festival… so that way no one actually gets hurt."

As per the game's rules, they take the time to set up a few Mechanici in preparation for the waves of monsters. While in the midst of setting up his own side, Albedo finally asks the question that has been probing at his mind for quite a bit, "I wasn't aware you liked games like this?"

Aether doesn't look up from his task, "Oh, yeah. I love games revolving around strategy."

"Oh? And where did you pick that up from?"

"Um… just something I picked up at home, I guess."

Once they're both content with their defenses, they climb to higher ground to observe the new portals that have appeared. Appearing in the clouds of purple are dozens of hilichurls and mitachurls, who seem entirely uninterested in Aether and Albedo.

"Uh… is it just me, or is that a lot of monsters?" Aether gulps.

"No… it's not just you."

The waves continue to pass all the while Aether and Albedo are rushing to place down as many well-placed Mechanici as possible. Surprisingly, even with the introduction of several ruin guards and ruin guard hunters, they manage to keep every single monster at bay.

Upon reappearing outside, they see Xiaofan bowing her head. "I'm so sorry! I accidentally selected the wrong mode!" When she receives no immediate response for her apology, she slowly lifts her head.

Almost at the same time, Albedo and Aether turn to face Xiaofan with sparkles in their eyes. "We can continue this mode just fine!"

...

Almost the entire day seems to pass by without them noticing. When they reappear beside the Theater Mechanicus table, they notice that the sun has already begun to set.

Albedo can feel Aether's hand grab his. "Hey, come on, they're about to release the Mingxiao lantern," he hurriedly whispers. Aether then leads him off to a building overlooking the rest of Liyue Harbor.

They take a seat beside each other as they wait for the Mingxiao lantern to be released. Aether had picked the perfect spot for viewing the lantern and as Albedo dangles his feet over the ledge of the building they were perched on, he begins to wonder how much thought the traveler had put into this.

Although it didn't seem like it, he wasn't completely oblivious to what had been going on between them. At least on Aether's part, he could tell that the traveler was making deliberate moves to bring them closer together. Why Aether liked him so much, Albedo would probably never understand. More curiously, why Albedo kept entertaining Aether… he understood even less. Ever since he had completed that sketch of Aether, Albedo kept finding himself wanting to study what had happened that day, yet for the first time ever, he was regretting trying to prod at the secrets of something. No matter how much closer he got to his answers, he was just left even more confused than when he started.

Ask Albedo to describe the nature of pyro slimes and he could probably write a full thesis paper in an hour or two, but ask him to describe this?... He probably couldn't even write a single sentence to describe it. Down below them, Albedo's eyes can't help but catch the sight of a couple cuddling next to each other to watch the release of the Mingxiao lantern. Kissing, hugging… those were probably some of the biggest things about romance that Albedo would probably never understand. What exactly was the point of bringing your face so close to someone else's? Was there something to be gained from that sort of action?

Aether lightly nudges Albedo's arm with his elbow. "Look, they're about to release it right now!" He points somewhere toward the harbor and Albedo's eyes follow his hand to look at the blue lantern, which resembles a stag, at the docks below. Soon enough, the stag detaches from its post and starts to gallop through the sky, leaving a trail of blue light streaming behind it. The stag hops from star to star until it makes a dash toward the moon. Just as it begins to cover the moon, it explodes into dozens of colors, painting a mess of various blues, reds, and greens across the night sky.

It was truly magnificent and Albedo couldn't help but kick himself for not coming to the Lantern Rite in prior years. Right when the last of the Mingxiao's fireworks flicker their last sparks, he happens to catch Aether's glance. When Aether notices him staring, Aether just smiles at him with a wide grin. Up close, Albedo can tell that the other's eyes are sparkling as the fireworks reflect into them… wait, since when did Aether get up so close?

That's when Albedo finally registers that their lips are touching.

Albedo quickly pulls away from Aether and buries his face in his hands.

"A-Albedo?"

Albedo flicks up the hood on his lab coat to cover his face. "Apologies, Aether. It seems my c-curiosity got the better of me…"

"C-C-Curiosity, huh?..."

A few moments of a painful silence go by and the more time that happens to pass, the more Albedo can feel his face heating up.

Finally, he hears a sigh as Aether places his hand on Albedo's shoulder. "Come on, you can look up," Aether chuckles.

Reluctantly, Albedo reveals his face, but he's sure to keep one hand covering the lower half of his face.

Aether takes Albedo's other hand into his, "It's alright. I get it."

Albedo lets the hand covering his face relax. "You do?"

Aether hums in agreement, "In fact, I've been feeling this for a while, but I figured it was too early to fully act on it. Tell you what, what if we continue to travel together? We can spend as much time as we want to get to know each other then."

Off in the distance, the more fireworks proceed the Mingxiao lantern, but Albedo can barely hear it. When he turns to look over at Aether, he sees that his face has been lit up by a light red hue and his shy smile is the only thing Albedo can seem to see.

What did he just say?

"It's okay if you don't want to! But I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask." He gently moves Albedo's hand and laces their fingers together, "I know you said this before, but we're really the same, you and I."

Albedo feels his heart thumping loudly in his chest. He opens his mouth to say the first thought that came to his mind, but instead, nothing comes out. Instead, a sinking feeling of dread takes over Albedo's body and settles like a rock in the pit of his stomach.

A cold voice creeps into the back of his mind.

You don't deserve this.

He pulls his hand out of Aether's grasp. "I'm… I'm sorry, I'm too busy to be traveling with you that often," he lies.

Aether's smile disappears, "O-Oh, that's fine."

Albedo sighs and stands up. He brushes off the dirt that had accumulated on his lab coat and mutters a quick, "Pardon me," before beginning to walk away.

"Wait, Albedo! Where are you going?"

Albedo doesn't turn around. "I forgot I had something important to do at my lab..." He bites the inside of his lip, "We'll have to call the night here."

"Um, alright. Be safe then."

…

Albedo feels himself go completely weightless until his form manifests in front of the headquarters for the Knights of Favonius. A crisp breeze from Mondstadt's night air passes over him, making him shiver just a bit. Never before had he been able to feel that cold. Even when he was deep within the summits of Dragonspine, he could never feel the negative effects of the mountain's freezing temperatures. So why did he feel so cold here? Albedo just sighs and he dismisses the thought as he heads inside.

When he pushes the door open, he's met with nothing but the eerie glow of the candles illuminating various patches throughout the hallway. The heel of his boots clicks against the marble tiles as he makes his way to his office. When Albedo finally reaches the door to his office and opens it, the full moon peeking in from the window reveals the mess that is his desk. Covering the surface were various sketches of Festering Desire, Durin's (what Albedo can only assume to be) heart, and of Aether. There were also dozens of papers with unfinished theories and equations scribbled across them.

Albedo walks over to his desk and takes out one of the documents from within his satchel. After giving it a quick glance, he adds the document to the rest of the messy pile and sighs in frustration. How close was he to answering the question that always plagued his mind? There was just one part that he was missing, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't place his finger on it.

While in contemplation, Albedo's eyes happen to glimpse the painting of Aether that he had worked so hard on not but a few weeks ago. He feels something inside of him shatter and he lets himself sink to the floor in defeat. Albedo always knew that this was something that he needed to do sooner or later, but he didn't think he'd have to go through with it so soon. Reluctantly, he takes out a piece of paper and a pen and writes down a letter explaining his general plan. When he finishes it, he stands up to set it on his desk.

He takes one last look at his detailed painting of Aether before gritting his teeth and grabbing his largest bag. He places as many documents and adventuring gear as he can into the bag's numerous pockets. Once Albedo is content with his packing, he swings the bag over his shoulder and walks out the door of his office, never once looking back.