Aether suddenly sat up in his bed, breathing heavily. He was wet and cold. Someone had splashed him with cold Hydro and it did the trick of waking him up from his dream with Lumine. As Aether caught his breath, he finally noticed that a bunch of people were in the room facing away from him.

Keqing, sitting on top of a nearby desk, noticed him sitting up first and turned to him and gave him a cute smile and wave. She tapped Paimon on the shoulder, which caused her to turn around. With a small point from Keqing, Paimon noticed that Aether was awake. Paimon gave her signature smile and wave, causing her body to float up and down. It appears that Paimon was just fine.

"...I told you that wasn't a good idea Barbara. He hasn't woken up yet!"

Amber was facing away from Aether towards the door of the room, where Barbara was standing with her grimoire open, floating next to her. It was clear that Amber had not noticed that Aether was awake.

"Amber, calm down. Everything is going to be alright. Reviving someone from that deep of a sleep takes time." Barbara stood on her tippy-toes and looked over Amber's shoulder and smiled. Aether was now awake, and was looking at the two of them.

"In fact Amber, he's awake right now." Barbara said in a soft voice.

Upon hearing this, Amber turned around and made eye contact with Aether. Suddenly feeling shy, Aether broke eye contact first and a small blush began to form on his face. Looking at anything but Amber, Aether said the first thing that came to his mind.

"...Did you miss me?"

And just like that, Amber rushed to Aether's side by his bed. The others followed suit and gathered around the bed.

"Hey! You're okay right? Nothing broken?" Amber asked Aether with a hit of worry in her voice. Aether smiled at her, and before he could say anything, Barbara spoke.

"He should be alright. Just some small cuts and bruises here and there. The Traveler is a fast healer and he hasn't broken anything. He should be good to go after another night's rest." Barbara looked at Aether with a smile on her face, her grimoire floating next to her flipping through its pages.

"See! Paimon did say that he would be alright! There's nothing we can't handle! No need to worry so much Amber!"

Embarrassed, Amber looked away from Aether with a small blush on her face before looking back. "I was just worried. You were gone for a few days and Jean said that someone had spotted someone matching the description of your sister. When I investigated and Keqing said that you were hurt, I couldn't help but be worried."

It was rare to see Amber this emotional. She was usually full of enthusiasm and a cheerful attitude. It was clear to Aether and those in the room that he meant a lot to her. And that was true. Aether cared a lot about Amber too.

"Just confess already!"

Shaking Lumine's voice out of his head, he smiled at Amber and to everyone else in the room.

"...Thanks guys. It was nothing I could not handle."

-{}-

As the sun began to set on Liyue and the Wangshu Inn, Paimon had once again explained to everyone what had happened to them, with Aether commenting here and there. Aether thought about telling everyone about how this was in fact all just an elaborate set-up by his sister Lumine to be able to talk to him, but decided against it. It wasn't the fact he couldn't trust anyone in the room, but now was just not the time.

When Paimon finished, Keqing spoke first. "Very well. It is indeed concerning that the Ruin Guards have become more hostile, but we need more information." Keqing paused and crossed her arms, with a look of thought on her face. "I will instruct the Millelith to be more vigilant about Ruin Guards and increase the patrols in the area of your encounter." She turned to Amber. "I trust you will do the same and inform the Knights of Favonius?" Amber replied with a firm nod.

"When you get the chance Aether, come by my office in Liyue and I can update you if we find out anything more. Plus, I do believe I owe you another drink sometime hmm?"

It was Aether's turn to blush again, and replied to Keqing's question with a small nod.

"I look forward to it, Traveler! Just remember to visit again when the Rite of Descension happens this year. Like I said last time, I will have plenty of commissions ready to help meet our strict quotas."

Keqing glanced over at Amber, who had a look of annoyance on her face. Clearly, she was still jealous. With a knowing smile, Keqing continued. "And please feel free to invite Amber along too. While the Rite of Descension is not the most romantic thing, the Liyue Lantern Festival later in the year certainly is."

With Keqing's comment, both Aether and Amber turned red, and both began to look everywhere but not at each other.

Barbara looked over the scene in front of her. Amber and Aether both with red faces, clearly embarrassed. Maybe the rumors going around Mondstadt about the two of them were true? In that case, she should probably take up Lisa's offer and make a bet too. But should the Deaconess really take part in gotcha? She sighed. Her big sister already had a bet in. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to try as well.