He felt the shiver crawl through his body for what must've been the hundredth time that day, chilling his skin and peppering it with little goosebumps.
Aether frowned, looking down at his soaked feet.
They were cold and wet.
Gross.
Probably the result of mindless halfhearted splashing in the shallow tides for what seemed like hours with nothing on his mind.
Unfortunately, he was very familiar with this. He had a bad case of the restless.
In the past, this restlessness had been a constant companion of his. It often distracted him from the beautiful scenery around him through countless worlds and adventures and annoyed him to no end. It resurfaced when he thought he'd had enough of this world. It came back in the months after he was separated from Lumine. And yay, here it was now, overstaying its welcome and lingering around him like a hellish version of Paimon, making him feel like his whole existence, in the present moment, was a legit circle. A sandy, trodden, uneven circle.
And the irritating part was, he kind of knew why.
Unlike a significant number of things in Liyue that had both confused and fascinated Aether, Childe's betrayal was not one of them. In all honesty, he'd seen it coming from a mile away. The only surprise was when it would happen, which turned out to be not so surprising after all. However, what caught him a little off guard was how antagonistic and anti-diplomatic Childe turned out to be. That, Aether recalled, had been a little unsettling. The more the ginger talked and goaded him, though, the less intimidated Aether started to feel. Instead, he started feeling aggravated. What, he was supposed to fight the guy after that supposedly daunting speech he had to sit through? And why did it bother him the way it did? The fact that Childe had so readily admitted defeat and made it sound like this battle would be a regular occurrence bewildered Aether. It felt like the ginger had given up a little too fast. He wasn't too sure about relationship dynamics within the Fatui, but that was not how the traveller made friends. At least, not usually.
He trudged back to a rock he'd figured would be the least uncomfortable place to sit in this shoal and plopped down, his aggravation and mild frustration leaving him and escaping to the ocean air in one big sigh.
Fighting, huh?
He figured that some irony had to be written in somewhere.
Contrary to popular hearsay, a.k.a. all of Mondstadt, Aether was not a serious fighter. Well, not in spirit, anyway. Lumine would take that honour, being the more decisive of the two. In their travels, she would've been the one to take command of social and not so social situations, not being afraid to use conflict if necessary. On the other hand, Aether preferred more round-about ways to conflict resolution, like negotiating, diplomacy, and, best of all, complete and utter avoidance, much to Lumine's chagrin. Of course, Aether would do nearly anything to support his younger sister and most times, that meant hoisting up his dang sword.
He faintly smiled to himself, thinking of her deceivingly bold personality. Gods, he missed her. He could use some clear-headed judgement right now. Barbatos knows she would have many things to say.
He could acknowledge that negotiation and diplomacy had their limits and were useless against deaf ears. The sword, for some, was the only way to command attention, Lumine would say. Push him, and Aether would start choosing his words carefully. Push him again, and he might consider picking up his sword instead. Push him harder still, and he could even put on a determined face and gather up some residual courage for the inevitable battle. But pretend to be a potential friend with some genuine moments sprinkled in and some admittedly enjoyable albeit awkward banter just to say "psyche" and attempt at a betrayal all while being an annoyingly attractive fighter? Now Aether would be kind of confused.
A painful, tugging sensation on his scalp broke him out of his self-induced reflection session. His fingers were intertwined in his hair, subconsciously tugging in tune with his disordered thoughts.
Great, another unwanted habit he wouldn't break.
Untangling his fingers from his hair, which had come mainly undone from his braid, he laid back on the rock and let out another sigh.
Aether hadn't wanted to fight Childe in the end, even though he knew it had to happen. Although he couldn't deny the slight satisfaction he felt showing the ginger the capability of Mondstadt's hero. It'd been nearly two months since he last saw Childe at the Northland bank, and it wasn't so much of a proper goodbye than it was an abrupt departure. Secretly, Aether hoped that Childe's promise of their recurring battle would not be a wasted one. The idea of clashing swords with the ginger again started to seem less unpleasant and more reassuring. After all, that was the only way he could see the other man again.
...
Huh.
When did he start feeling that?
Somehow, the charming yet irritating ginger had managed to grow on Aether, causing him to enjoy his company even if most of it was a facade. More than anyone, Childe made Aether want to spend time with him like an actual friend, talk to him, hug him, and shake the bejeebers out of him all at the same time. So in a strange, inexplicable way-
He missed Childe. A lot. And he wanted to see him again. Though what he would even say to him, Aether wasn't sure.
That probably explained the dull ache he'd felt in his heart the past few weeks. Guess there was merit in self-induced reflection sessions.
He gazed up at the stars.
Aether had always felt at peace when looking at the night sky, no matter how temporary that peace was. There was a sort of comfort in knowing how endless the stars were and how limited he was in return. As far as he was concerned, he, Lumine, and everyone he'd met on his travels were just a couple of stars in the night sky. Everyone, even him. Small. Insignificant. Meaningless.
Hmm, that didn't sound quite right to Aether. If he hadn't met Childe, if their paths hadn't crossed, where would he be now? Well, probably in the same position, except maybe on a comfortable bedroll and next to a warm campfire, free of worries. Give him a few years, and Aether could've imagined all the alternate scenarios that might've taken place. But they did meet, their paths had crossed, and out of a million, billion possible stars they could've stumbled across, they stumbled across each other.
That had to mean something, right?
Or maybe this was his attempt at being poetic.
The deepness of the vast sky was something Aether had little trouble accepting. It was a deepness he was intimately familiar with, and one he found dually all-encompassing and comforting, like a blanket. However, the other depths he did not feel equipped to handle, particularly the gloomy depths of the ocean. Those disquieting waters had always scared him a little, ever since he was young. It made it difficult to stare into Childe's eyes for too long since they were such a pure ocean blue Aether was almost afraid he'd start drowning in them. They held the dark depths of their blue primordiality, and if Aether didn't look away, he knew he would get sucked in, unable to escape. Childe's eyes always seemed to carry many waves of guilt, sadness, anger and hurt; an unpredictable storm held back by clear glass. Sometimes the glass appeared sturdy, unbreakable, the bullet-proof kind. Other days, the glass seemed on the precipice of shattering. Like all you'd need to do was touch him, and the glass would just- break. Then, maybe then, you would finally see him.
Tartaglia.
Aether wondered what that would be like, seeing the man for who he was—feeling his face, holding him close, the taller man tentatively wrapping his arms around the smaller—breathing in his scent of saltwater, silk flowers and cinnamon. Their chests so close, he could feel the ginger's rapid heartbeat through their clothes. Feeling the other's slightly calloused hands slowly move down to the exposed sliver of skin on the blond's back, exploring, grasping for something, gently running his own hands through soft orange-brown locks before coming to rest at the base of the taller man's slender neck. Their faces so close he could feel Childe's breath on his cheek. Getting lost in startlingly intense azures while an unreadable emotion passes through them. Silently gathering the courage while Childe stares with bated breath until Aether finally makes the jump and melds his body with the ginger's and crashes their warm lips together endlessl-
"Oh. My. GOD, you're still here?! What are you even doing? Come on; we have to set up camp!"
Aether opened his eyes.
Oh.
That was new.
Sitting up from his no-longer-comfortable rock, he directed his gaze back towards the shore, where an exasperated flying marshmallow was staring back at him with a pout on her adorable face and hands on her hips. Giving her the best sheepish expression he could muster, he motioned that he would make his way back, which seemed to quell her fit for the time being as she huffed and floated away. Strangely, Paimon seemed to know when to give Aether his space provided how loud and intrusive she could sometimes be. He looked up and silently thanked whichever archon had blessed her with that. Perhaps the Archon of emotional sensitivity? Or maybe the Archon of boundaries. Haha.
Aether's internal amusement lasted for a second before he realized with disappointment that his sense of humour was still equivalent to a fifteen-year-old's. Cool, he was indecisive, conflict-averse, and still criminally unfunny.
A real catch, huh.
He shook his head and searched for his long-abandoned boots. "No more thinking today, brain," he muttered to himself. "I'm too tired."
He slipped his boots on, walking a few steps before realizing with a grimace that they were also soaked and freezing. He probably forgot to move them out of the water earlier. Nice one, Aether.
He sighed and started shuffling his way back when he caught sight of something in his peripheral vision. Recognition and a small smile spread on his face upon picking up the familiar blue shell. A starconch. For some reason beyond him, he had started collecting these a few weeks ago. Aether hadn't been in the mood to question his mind's decisions as of late, so he went along with it. However, the conch he held in his hand was unusually small, almost the size of a pendant. The light from the moon above glinted off the silver star, showing off a brilliant sparkle.
Pretty.
The blond pocketed the conch and continued walking back, almost being able to ignore the squelching of his thoroughly-soaked boots with every step he took. Ugh.
"Gross…"