"Why is he like this..."
Ei sank deeper into her seat, her face masked by a frown. She was a leader, the Almighty Narukami Ogosho, God of Thunder. She had no need for recognition or flashy celebrations, and her past as a kagemusha had always been devoid of any festive occasions. Her will was respected and enforced by steel and lightning throughout Inazuma's islands without fail, and if she said that she didn't need a birthday party or anything of the sort, who was going to say otherwise?
A certain blond outlander was, apparently.
The Traveler was completely deaf to her objections, claiming that she deserved to make happy memories after being stuck in Makoto's realm of consciousness for 500 years. Technically speaking, it was also the late God of Transience's birthday, but they had tacitly agreed to not bring it up.
However, while she appreciated the sentiment, they clearly disagreed on what could be called a 'happy memory'.
And now here she was, at the Grand Narukami Shrine, sitting like a grounded child under the blooming sakura. The God of Eternity wasn't usually one to show much frustration, but the pout on her face made her current mood clear. And her own familiar had the audacity to make fun of her.
"You know, I feel like it's less about the celebration, and more about him spending time on you." Yae Miko shrugged. "If he wants to go out of his way to celebrate your birthday, then just leave him be. I'm pretty sure I wasn't even born the last time you genuinely had fun."
Two purple orbs side-eyed the kitsune, but the latter remained unbothered. Ei cleared her throat.
"I'll have you know that diligently practicing and perfecting martial arts is a lot of fun. And if you're implying that I'm embarrassed by the Traveler's gesture, know that you couldn't be more mistaken. I am simply upset that he refuses to respect my decision, and keeps treating me like I cannot make choices for myself."
"If you really were mad, you two would be crossing blades right now. Admit it, you're enjoying this - who wouldn't? A kind man, spoiling you, throwing you a birthday party, making your favorite sweets... you're being a tsundere Ei."
"Excuse me? I know what that word means!" she replied in a manner quite unbefitting of her status. "It's just that... Aether has already done a lot, for both myself and Inazuma. And that's why it feels so wrong to have a fight with him over such a trivial matter."
"Aether." the fox lady noted. "Oho, first name basis?"
If it wasn't for innocent bystanders being in the vicinity, a massive lightning bolt would have already struck Mt. Yougou. The youkai's inability to take her friend's troubles seriously, combined with her mischievious nature, was burning through Ei's patience at an alarming speed. Miko was wrong, anyway. The Traveler was a dear friend, but their relationship was purely platonic.
"Whatever you're thinking, that's not it." she claimed. "The road that leads to eternity is a thorny one, and I have no intention of forcing him to stand by my side. Aether has already suffered enough, it would only be selfish of me to add to his troubles."
"I mean, you did try to kill him twice-"
"We don't talk about that."
The Guuji repressed a laugh. "Ei, I think you're underestimating him. You have no idea of just how determined he was to save you back then. Our little friend cares about you way more than you think, isn't that the whole point of him celebrating your birthday?"
"W-well..." She avoided Miko's gaze. "I suppose Aether is someone who makes his own choices. Whether he was truly worried about me or not is pretty irrelevant now, don't you think?"
"What's irrelevant?"
The Electro Archon nearly yelped in surprise. The Traveler had somehow made his way to them unnoticed, and was now staring at her with questioning golden eyes. Ei made a mental note to not gaze into them for too long. After all, they were extremely... distracting, to say the least.
Maybe the Traveler was still a bit of a threat to eternity after all.
"Ei?" He waved his hand in front of her face. "You there?"
"Oh, my apologies. I was... meditating, yes." she lied shamelessly. "Is there anything you need?"
He scratched his cheek. "Actually, yeah. I need you."
Miko snorted audibly at her friend's reaction. "My goodness, Ei, are you perhaps blushing?"
"I am most certainly not!"
She turned away from the two of them. The audacity. Her, blushing? Simply impossible. In fact it was Aether's fault for catching her off-guard like that, and he deserved to be struck down, even though she wouldn't do it. She wasn't some sort of love-obsessed middle school girl, it was just a flow of blood suddenly rushing to her face, and-
Blood rush. Blush. Oh. She was blushing. Had she actually implemented that feature to the Shogun's new system?
"So, you mentioned needing me in particular, right?" she asked without turning around.
He nodded. "I need you to come check out your birthday surprise. I'm done preparing everything."
"What's wrong, Ei? Disappointed?" a smug kitsune asked.
Were these two seriously ganging up on her? Using such cowardly tactics, on the Raiden Shogun? This wasn't going to fly.
"Both of you will pay for this." she warned. "Take me to my surprise, Aether. And if one of you dares to mock me again, they can expect divine punishment."
"Sure, Your Excellency." he laughed and took her hand. "Please follow me, we're not going very far away. You coming, Miko?"
The fox lady shook her head. "No, I'm staying here to oversee the preparations for my own birthday. Enjoy your time together, you two. Oh, and Ei, make sure to leave some for me~."
"S-some of what exactly?!" the god asked as Aether dragged her away.
To which the Guuji replied with a not-so-innocent wink.
Maybe celebrating her birthday wasn't so bad after all.
The Traveler had really outdone himself this time. Every single sweet delicacy she could ask for had been carefully baked and prepared for her perusal. Cakes, pies, dango, and an array of various homemade sweets had been arranged by an expert hand in a massive diabetes-inducing picnic. As a sweets connoisseur, she immediately spotted various delicacies hailing from Mondstadt and Liyue, heck, he had even tried his hand at local Inazuman sweets. If her exterior remained stone-faced, Ei was salivating internally.
"You... made all of this?"
Aether scratched his cheek. "It's not much, really. I actually had something way bigger planned, a huge party with a bunch of guests, but I scrapped the idea after our fight. So instead, I made this for you, both as a celebration and an apology." His tone grew solemn. "Happy birthday, Ei. I hope you enjoy every day of the coming year to the fullest."
Ei sat down and gestured for him to do the same. "You shouldn't have. We both know I'm undeserving of such kindness after all the terribles thing I've done."
The Traveler repressed an urge to roll his eyes at her. "I know what you're thinking. You've made a lot of mistakes, and your people have suffered immensely from them. I can't deny that as a leader, you're far from being perfect. But do you think Makoto was a bad ruler?"
Ei shook her head. "Of course not. She understood humans hearts and desires better than I ever could. She was the true Electro Archon, I am but a replacement."
"And yet your sister wasn't perfect either. So what made the nation prosper under her rule?" he asked. "I think you already know the answer."
"The people's ambitions..."
"Exactly. We've both experienced firsthand just how powerful they are. Inazumans are proud, Ei, and they love you. They want to build this eternity that you desire with you. There's no need for perfection, you just have to keep making progress, one step at a time. You're not a bad person, and that's what I wanted to show you by celebrating your birthday today."
She longingly gazed at the falling sakura petals. "Aether... your kindness simply knows no bounds. Thank you, for everything."
The blond smiled and removed a pink petal from her cheek. At least he managed to make her feel a little better, and maybe even give her some useful advice. Of course he didn't want to completely spoil the mood, and could do a little something to relieve the tension. Which was obviously a bad idea.
"Do you really want to atone for what you've done, Ei?"
"Well, of course."
"Then close your eyes."
"Eh?"
The blond smiled mischievously. "I said close your eyes, and I'll show you what kind of punishment I have in store for you."
"Does he mean-" Some interesting images from the Yae Publishing House's adult section flashed through her mind. "No, no. Surely, that's not what Miko meant just now, right?"
Ei would be lying if she said that she didn't want to find out, but still pretended to not understand the implications. "Well... It would only be fair to humor you after what you've done, I suppose..."
She obeyed and closed her eyes. Immediately, she sensed his presence get closer. She timidly opened one eye, only to see that his face was mere inches away from hers.
"No peeking."
"R-right."
A bead of sweat ran down her slightly reddened cheeks as Aether held her chin up. "There are people visiting the shrine who could see us. I believe you wouldn't dare do anything inappropriate, right?" she asked.
"Don't worry." he whispered. "It's a nice punishment. Also, why did you immediately think of something inappropriate?"
Something sweet made contact with her mouth, but it was not Aether's lips - regrettably so. Slowly opening her eyes, she realized that he was feeding her dango while grinning like a moron. Dango, and not something else.
"So much buildup," she stared dryly at him, munching on the sweets. "For some dango. You could have at least had the decency to give me Dango Milk."
The Traveler held back a wheeze with great difficulty. "You gotta admit, the opportunity was golden."
"If you fake me out like that again, I will physically hurt you."
"Oh, you really wanted a little birthday kiss? Maybe later, Your Excellency."
Miko had clearly been rubbing off on him. The God of Eternity's brows twitched furiously. Oh, he thought he was so smart for getting her hopes up, and he obviously knew very well what she was expecting. The Traveler needed to be taught a lesson, and who was better suited than a god to give him a taste of his own medicine?
Aether, still grinning, didn't expect to be suddenly pulled into a passionate kiss.
"Alright, I think I picked a fight with the wrong god..."
A little late to realize that. She overpowered him effortlessly, tugging on his scarf to make sure he couldn't escape. Aether honestly wasn't one to complain about the situation, and quickly gave in to her embrace. And besides, he couldn't really do much against her physical strength anyway.
Even with kissing Ei was being competitive, making their tongues wrestle in a wet confrontation. And she was winning, despite her being obviously inexperienced.
Just as he was about to run out of air, she pulled away.
As the Archon peered over him, eyes glowing purple with storming lust- I mean, fury, Aether could only hope that she would not trigger his physiological response.
"Well?" Ei asked, cupping his cheeks with both hands. "Have you had enough, or do you want me to keep showing you the gap in power between us?"
"I... give up, at least for now." He had to admit, her victorious smug face was adorable. "You do realize that if you do this every time I tease you, I'm never going to stop, right?"
"Why, you..." She brought him up to eye level and smiled. "As it turns out, you're not just a threat to eternity, but also a very dangerous charmer. Tell me, why should I not dispose of you right here and now?"
"Because you can't get enough of me? And also, we haven't had a proper duel yet."
"Yes, we should settle this in your Serenitea Pot." she replied, suddely feeling bold. "Hopefully I'll have the chance to directly experience your hidden talents, my dear outlander. I'm very much looking forward to it."
A flame lit up in Aether's eyes. "Is that so? Well, once we're done with those sweets..."
He leaned closer, and their lips made contact once again. There were no clouds nor rain, but lightning flashed and thunder roared. The God of Thunder's own heart had been effortlessly stolen by this blond outlander, who had brought peace to her internal storm. Or rather, made her heart race and echo like booming thunder.
No matter what happened now, the Almighty Shogun - no, Ei, would never let him go.
"Allow me to show you eternity."
And then they sparred all night. In Aether's bedroom lmao.
Happy birthday, Ei! My first 5-star and second favorite character, who carried me even when she was stuck at lvl 40 before I pulled Eula. One of the best units in the game, who's never left my party, and deserves all the love after everything she's been through. This is my gift to the Aethernity squad, a drop of water in the ocean that is this awesome side of the Genshin community, but a gift nonetheless.
How did I do this time? I had a lot of fun writing it, but I had to rewrite the ending a few times before I could be satisfied with the result. Don't hesitate to tell me who you'd like to see next in a birtdhay one-shot, you might help me create a nice story :)
But I gotta go now, there's a mob of EiMiko shippers at my front door.
Later!