"Ah, Traveller, great you could join us," Ningguang greeted them. Lumine eyed Aether and Keqing's linked arms, and smiled mischievously. Aether narrowed his eyes, warning Lumine not to make fun of him, but she probably wasn't going to listen to him anyway.

"It's no problem, Lady Ningguang," Aether said, bowing. Ningguang nodded.

"Let's go to Wanmin Restaurant, shall we? I believe the atmosphere will be significantly lighter there, as this isn't an official business meeting," Ningguang suggested. Lumine tilted her head.

"Is it any good?" she asked. Aether nodded.

"Xiangling's quite interesting. Apparently slime is edible," Aether said.

"Seriously? Those… pudgy bits of stuff that can't listen to orders whatsoever?" Lumine asked. Aether nodded.

"Yep, those ones."

"Well, this is gonna be interesting," Lumine chuckled. "Lead the way!"

As the group made it to Wanmin restaurant, Xiangling greeted them.

"Welcome, Lady Ningguang and Lady Keqing! Hello, Traveller! Ah, I don't know your name..?" Xiangling asked, looking at Lumine.

"I'm Lumine! I'm Aether's sister. Nice to meet you!" Lumine said, sticking a hand out to shake. Xiangling returned the handshake energetically.

"It's great to meet you, too! The Traveller's helped me a lot. I hope you can do the same!"

"Sure thing!" Lumine said. Xiangling nodded happily, then took out a notepad and a pen.

"Can I take your orders?" she asked. Aether gestured with his arms to let Ningguang and Zhongli go first, although Lumine beat them to it.

"One of everything please," Lumine said. Xiangling froze, her mouth in a slight 'o' shape.

"Uhh… Sure! You… do have enough Mora to cover the bill, right? I can give you a couple dishes for free, but I don't think my father would be too happy with giving away so much…" Xiangling said. Aether raised his hand.

"I got it," Aether said. "It's on me."

"Alright!" Xiangling said. "As for the rest of you?"

"I'll have a Bamboo Shoot Soup, if you would be so kind," Zhongli said. Xiangling nodded.

"As for you, Lady Keqing, Lady Ningguang, Traveller?" Xiangling asked.

"I'll have two servings of Golden Shrimp Balls," Keqing said.

"I'll have some Mora Meat," Ningguang said.

"Alright! And you, Traveller?" Xiangling asked.

"I'll just take a couple of Chicken Mushroom Skewers, please," Aether said.

"Alright! Your orders will be out in a moment," Xiangling said. She walked back off to the kitchen, and Ningguang gave Lumine an interesting look.

"One of everything?" Ningguang asked. "You can eat that much?"

"Yep. She's only rivalled by Paimon at home. She can put away so much food, and I have no idea where it goes," Aether said.

"Wow," Keqing said.

"Mmmm… Let's not talk about my eating habits right now, yeah?" Lumine asked. "What was it that you wanted to talk to us about, Ningguang?"

"Ah, yes. I'd like to talk to you about… your previous travels," Ningguang said. Lumine raised an eyebrow, and Aether looked away. Ningguang tilted her head.

"Traveller, you… don't look very excited," Ningguang said.

"Mmmm… I'm not surprised," Lumine chuckled. "He did have fun in other worlds, but ultimately never socialised much with people. I always had to drag him around."

"You know full well why I didn't socialise," Aether sighed. "You're always dragging me around, showing me off, trying to pair me up with people I never knew in the first place… It was annoying."

"Mmmm… I suppose I didn't need to in the end," Lumine teased. "Look at where you are now, Aether~"

"Oh, shut up, Lu…" Aether groaned.

"Aaanyways, let's get back to the topic at hand, shall we?" Keqing asked.

"Yes, please," Aether said.

"Alright. Well, I wanted to ask you about the other worlds… specifically, their modes of government, and how harsh they are with prisoners," Ningguang said.

"Hmm… I'm not sure, personally. You think I experienced it often?" Lumine asked.

"Well you did experience it a couple times," Aether muttered.

"Shut up."

"Okay, fine."

Ningguang leaned forward, interested. "So, you do know how some governments dealt with prisoners?"

"Yes," Lumine muttered. "Been jailed twice for public intoxication in one world, and three more times across different worlds for the same reason."

"You… drink?" Keqing asked.

"A lot," Aether said. "Lumine drinks a whole lot, although her tolerance is very strong. She doesn't have much common sense when drunk, though."

"Hey, it's fun, y'know," Lumine pouted. "Just cus you don't like alcohol doesn't mean the rest of us don't."

Aether grumbled. "Whatever you say."

"Well, anyways," Lumine said. "Typically, I just get jailed for a day or two. Once Aether hears about it, he always breaks me out. He's been labelled a criminal in three hundred and forty seven worlds."

"Seriously?" Keqing asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I will not have my baby sister jailed," Aether said, affectionately messing with Lumine's hair. "But yes. Doesn't matter if I'm a criminal or not, I can live perfectly fine on my own."

"I see…" Ningguang said, biting her lip. "Well, in that case, that ends the question I liked to ask. Although not much progress was made, I think we did make some. Thanks, Lumine, Traveller," Ningguang said.

"No problem," Lumine asked.

"Here's your order!" As if on cue, Xiangling reappeared, bearing lots of dishes. "It'll take me a few trips to get everything here, please wait."

After a couple minutes, Xiangling came back with all of their food.

"Please enjoy!" Xiangling trilled.

"Bon appétit!" Lumine said. Aether nodded, while Keqing, Zhongli, and Ningguang looked on, confused.

"What?" Ningguang asked. Lumine's brow creased.

"What what?" Lumine asked.

"Ah… they probably don't know that saying," Aether said. "It basically means 'enjoy!'"

"Ah, alright! Bon appetit!" Ningguang and Keqing said, while Zhongli was eating silently.

The squad of five sat at their table, eating their food on the most awkward double date ever. Lumine didn't seem to mind being the third(fifth? idk) wheel in the group, and was sampling all the food from the many different dishes. Quite often, Aether took food from the many plates as well, and Lumine would take the food from Aether once it was on his plate, earning her a dirty glare.

"Can you don't?" Aether sighed, after the tenth or eleventh time.

Lumine batted her eyes innocently. "Well, I ordered this food. You only ordered a couple of skewers. You wanna order some more?"

Aether sighed. "Lumine, both you and I know that you can't finish all of this food. Why not share?"

"Fiiiiiinnnneeeee," Lumine drawled out, leaning back. Aether picked up a matsutake meat roll, and as quick as lightning, Lumine stuck her chopsticks out and took them from her brother.

"Hey!" Aether protested. "You promised you'd share!"

"You gotta be quicker than I am, though," Lumine teased.

"Fine, if you want it that way," Aether said. Keqing saw his eyes flare bright gold, then return to normal. Lumine brought her chopsticks closer to her mouth, but when she stuck them into her mouth, nothing was clutched inside them.

"What?" Lumine asked. Her head jerked towards her brother, who waggled his chopsticks, with the meat roll inside.

"Come and get it, Lu," Aether teased. He stuck it inside his mouth and began to eat it.

"Dammit, Aether," Lumine muttered. "Fine, you win this time."

The rest of the group watching the small spat between the two siblings laughed, and Aether and Lumine laughed along with them. Aether surveyed his friends, all laughing together, and he felt content and happy.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw shadows flitting around the crowd of people in the restaurant. His senses sharpened, and he had the sinking urge to call out deja vu.

His eyes flicked to the doorway, where two people were leaving. His guard became even higher, when the pair stood in front of the door talking to each other without moving. Aether opened his hand slightly, and his blade materialised into his hand. He glanced around the restaurant, finding nothing out of the ordinary.

"Aether? What is it?" Keqing whispered.

"Hey, Ningguang," Aether asked. "About the question you asked us just now. Did a certain someone… break out of prison?"

"Not so loud," Ningguang hissed, ceasing laughing. "Yes. Garey, the guy you put into our prison has escaped. We don't know how. That's why I asked you. We didn't want to let anyone know to avoid mass panic."

The pair of people seemed to glance at the party of five, and then walked out of the door. Aether relaxed, his sword dematerialising.

"It's… probably nothing. He wouldn't be so stupid as to challenge me again, right?" Aether asked.

"Yeah. Probably not, anyway," Keqing said, pecking Aether on the cheek. "And I have full confidence that if you do stumble across him again, you'll show him no mercy?"

Aether touched his forehead with hers. "If you wish so, then I won't," Aether said. Lumine smiled warmly at the exchange.

After the group was three quarters done with their food, Zhongli looked up.

"Traveller, there is something I would like to ask you," he said. "If you do not mind, dear, I would like to speak to him privately," Zhongli said, turning to Ningguang.

"Sure. Don't wander too far, alright?" Ningguang asked.

Zhongli beckoned to Aether. "Come here, Traveller." He walked off to a side door that led to a balcony.

Zhongli sighed and looked at the people streaming across the streets, with Aether behind him.

"Is there something you wanted to ask me, Mr. Zhongli?" Aether asked.

"Yes," Zhongli turned to Aether and spoke. "It is about Ningguang. I think you can tell why I wouldn't want to ask something about her in front of her face."

"Interesting. It's fine, I'll keep everything confidential," Aether said. Zhongli nodded.

"Alright. Where to start…" he asked, twiddling his thumbs. "Firstly, I'd like to ask about your age. I've suspected this for a while, but I've never had the chance to ask. You…'re older than all of us, correct?" Zhongli asked.

"Yes," Aether said. "I am. Although the exact amount of years has been lost to time, I believe I'm well into my hundred thousands," he joked.

"Alright," Zhongli nodded, satisfied. "I've seen you use a wide variety of powers, and I have to ask this. Ningguang appears to… how do I say this… have memories that are locked away. They occasionally break through, as seen when she was yelling at me. I believe she said that she lost me 'for the second time.' She's had a couple slip ups like this in the past. Is there… any way you can check?"

Aether cocked his head to the side. "What makes you think I can do that?"

"I thought I would ask…" Zhongli said, a brief moment of despair flashing across his face. "It was a long lasting promise to someone close to me, now long gone."

Zhongli sighed. "But I suppose I should have known better." He started to get up, then Aether spoke.

"Wait."

Zhongli turned to him, hope flickering in his eyes. "Yes?"

Aether opened his mouth. "I, personally, do not have that ability. However… My sister and the Royal Scientist do. It does require setup, so I'll talk with them. We'll most likely have to do it when we reach my home. Will you come along?"

Zhongli looked at Aether, hope burning in the amber eyes. "Yes, of course I will. If she really is…" Zhongli muttered, lost in thought again.

"Let's head back, shall we?" Aether prompted. Zhongli nodded. The two went back inside the restaurant without anything relatively out of place. Lumine appeared to be deep in conversation, and when Aether drew near, Lumine turned to him with a huge smile that immediately sent alarm bells ringing in his head. Keqing turned to him with a confused look on her face, which confirmed Aether's suspicions that Lumine had told her to do something.

Lumine yawned. "That was a good meal! The food here in Teyvat really is something. Aether, you better be able to cook these, or else Paimon won't be very happy," she joked.

"Yeah, I know a lot of these," Aether said. He raised his hand.

"Bill, please," he called. Xiangling took notice, and walked over.

"All finished?" she asked. Aether nodded.

"Alright! I'll be right out with the bill," Xiangling chirped. She went back behind the counter and punched in a few numbers, and came back bearing the receipt.

"So for everything you guys ordered, that'll be just over three hundred thousand mora," Xiangling said.

"Alright," Aether said. He pulled out his purse, and put quite a few coins on the tray. Xiangling counted, satisfied, and nodded.

"Thank you for eating at Wanmin Restaurant! We hope to see you again in the future!" Xiangling said.

"Thank you, too," Lumine said. "It was a great meal."

"You'll always be welcome here!" Xiangling smiled.

After she left, Aether turned to the group. "Well, we still gotta plan when to show you guys our home world, if you're willing to come along."

"Sure," Ningguang said. "I'll need to power through all my work, though. Mr. Zhongli, you better help me."

"Of course, Lady Gui- Ningguang," Zhongli said.

"Alright. Let's take our leave now, shall we?" Ningguang asked.

"Yes," Lumine said. The party of five left the restaurant, walking down the Liyuean streets.

"Well, we go here," Ningguang said, holding on to Zhongli. She pointed down the street.

"G'night, Lady Ningguang," Aether said.

"Night, Ningguang," Keqing added.

"Good night, Traveller, Lady Keqing," Zhongli said. He shared another look with Aether, and he nodded. The couple ambled down the street, back to their home. Aether turned to Lumine, who was standing, staring into the sky.

"Lu?" Aether prompted. Lumine turned to him.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"You know where the Dawn Winery is, right?" he asked.

"Yep. I'll go there now. Have fun, you two~" Lumine teased. She disappeared in a shimmer of golden light. Aether turned to Keqing, who was very red.

"W-well, let's go home, then," Keqing said. The two of them went back to her home, and changed into their nightwear. Aether crawled into bed, with Keqing beside him. Keqing curled up and hugged Aether, listening to the thumps of his heartbeat. Aether smiled and hugged Keqing back, slightly nuzzling her hair. Within a couple minutes, the couple was asleep, and as far as Keqing was concerned, everything was right in the world.

Sorry for me die. I had to run a karate camp :/ I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

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