"Traveler, what do you think you're doing?" Raiden Shogun asked in an authoritative tone.
"Oh, hey, Raiden Shogun, I didn't see you there." Aether tried to act around that he was just in a happy accident. "As you can see, I'm about to leave, and if you don't have anything to ask, I'll be going now. Bye!" Aether hurriedly ran to the exit, but he was stopped in front by Raiden Shogun.
"Actually, I do have something to ask about you," said Raiden bluntly.
This made Aether gulp in fear, but he needed to focus. "Sure," said Aether, looking around if there are no guards coming in the hallway, this may have been lucky for him that none of them had appeared yet, otherwise he'd be facing two problems right now. "What do you want to ask me about?"
"This may be informal for what I'm going to say, but it's much easier to explain for you." Raiden took a deep breath. "Would I offer you a date?"
Aether must have misheard what Raiden meant, and he asked again. "Excuse me?"
"I said, would I offer you a date?" Raiden asked again.
Aether wasn't sure if he could accept it. To which for everyone it was no brainer when he was facing a goddess' puppet that could possibly end his life the second time if he doesn't comply. However, at the same time it would be a shock for Inazuma that it was indeed likely that they have something in common, and Aether doesn't want any more enemies than just the Fatui.
"Sorry if this is being overwhelming by what I said," said Raiden. "But I'm trying to encode what my creator's mind is thinking. She was becoming more open with these so-called leaks into my system, and I wanted to personally experience it. What was it about?"
"Well." Aether thinks throughout. "Sure, I will accept your date, if that's the case. Does she even know what you are having right now?" Aether was curious, was it possible that Ei's puppet was slowly becoming sentient.
"Unfortunately, no, I would rather not show in front of her because there was this strange fascination I am experiencing, and these catalysts are mostly what my creator, and her so-called hobbies like this for example." Raiden showed Aether a novel, not just any novel, but rather one of Yae's recent romance novels. "She accidentally left this."
Aether read the summary of the novel, and it was a bit of a coincidence that this so-called hero happens to be an alien with blonde hair, while his enemy and soon to become a couple was almost similar to Raiden.
"As she caressed his blonde hair," said Raiden repeating the same sentence from the novel as she was caressing Aether's hair with almost the same movement. "She went closer before her."
Unfortunately, both were interrupted by the guards.
Aether wasted no time, and immediately fled to the scene.
Leaving the perplexed Raiden what just happened.
A glitch perhaps?