"A Tarakona? I don't think there's a word for that in our language. Any language on Teyvat actually. Is that your native tongue Aether?"

Aether frowned. He was fluent in the standard language here in Teyvat, but he would never claim to know every intecracy of the complicated language. He was not often caught like this though, completely blank on the words he needed to explain his heritage to Barbatos.

Paimon had been instrumental in the twins learning how to communicate here. They had picked up the basics from the people they helped, but the little pixie was able to teach them the proper sentence structure and grammar involved. Alas, it seemed he had forgotten to ask about whether there was a word for the species he and his sister were.

"I am something like Morax, I think. He is a large, snakelike creature? But anyways, I promised to tell you why I am glowing. It's quite simple, actually. There is a- something like a coal- in our stomach, my sister and I. When we activate it, for any number of reasons, we glow. Like when you took us to meet Zhongli, I was using the coal. Does that… make any sort of sense?"

Barbatos flabbergasted. Aether said he was like Morax, big and scaly. Aether was a reptile. The man he loved was not actually a man. Though… did he have any right to be so surprised, when the man so obviously told him he wasn't from Teyvat?

He should have seen this coming, he really should've… but when you were in love, you ignored the signs. However, did he really care? Barbatos himself was a sentient wisp of wind. He had no right to be worried about the fact that his alien wasn't human. At least he wasn't made of solidified air…

;

A deep sigh from Aether broke him from his thoughts. The poor guy looked exhausted. Barbatos hastily apologized and started to back away. Aether's eyes widened and he sat up quickly.

"Wait! Barbatos you can't leave!"

Not what he had been expecting out of the twin. Aether hadn't expressed any wish for company.

"Why-ever not? Aether, is everything alright?"

Oof. That came off~*~*~ not even remotely as he had hoped. It sounded cold and distant. Neither of which he was, for anybody, least of all Aether. He loved Aether, he couldn't afford to cast a different shadow.

Aether hastily assured him nothing was wrong, and went on to explain the great and terrible threat of his sister.

"It's likely she knows something happened. She'll be monitoring Mondstadt until I let her know I'm alright. The only reason she's not here is because you haven't given her any reason to be worried about me. Don't leave the chapel. Wait until I can contact her."

Barbatos understood the reason but…"how are you gonna contact Lumine? You're nowhere near her!"

Aether grinned, and wow. It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. That smile lit up the whole room and reflected off the windows. Barbatos' mind blanked a little bit.

The shining star of a man was obviously trying to keep from laughing as he said- "The Force works in mysterious ways, and I use that to my advantage."

Barbatos just looked at him. An eyebrow raised quizzically, and his unspoken question in his eyes. Aether beamed and told him "inside joke. I'm actually just gonna use our bond." This explanation just raised more questions, something Aether noticed almost immediately.

"Pfah! Ahahah~. Okay, so you guys clearly don't have familial bonds here. It's like a connection between me and my sister. We know when the other is hurt, we can communicate through it. My sister and I visited a… Well, not a world… They called it a Galaxy. Which you don't know what is because you know nothing about space… have you ever heard of space?!"

Aether seemed to be having a bit of a crisis. It appeared that Barbatos had asked a more complicated question than normal and Aether didn't know where to begin. He watched as Aether collected his thoughts and his expressions returned to the normal setting- a polite smile accompanied by a focused expression.

;

Aether decided to completely leave out the inside joke from his explanation, it would just confuse Barbatos even more than he already was. Not that he didn't want to explain it, but how do you explain the concept of worlds so large they were filled with billions of planets just like Teyvat? And the Force, there was no way he would be able to explain that.

"A bond, like I said, is a connection between people. It happens if you are very close to them emotionally, it just forms on it's own. My sister and I use it for simple long range communication. It can also be used to tell if your loved ones are safe. The more time you spend with each other the stronger it becomes. I have seen these bonds form many times before, it is a beautiful thing to watch. My sister and I have learned that they can only be formed by members of our kind, but we have seen similar concepts in many worlds. Distance does not matter to bonds, they are a link to those you care for, however far apart you may be."

Barbatos was gaping at him. Did he say something wrong? Or was this just completely impossible to explain? He had thought he did quite well explaining the link between himself and Lumine, but she was always better at this kind of thing.

Then the Archon grinned and laughed and said something about crazy alien telepathy. Aether noticed that there was no question about what space was, his core bond had obviously been enough for today. Which was good, because Aether was exhausted. He told Barbatos he would contact Lumine and that he was free to leave. Then he once again ignited the coal inside him, but this time it was not to burn away the darkness.

-Sister.

~What have you been DOING?! Aether I tried to contact you like six times! You are so lucky I didn't blast your silly little Archon out of the sky! Do you know how worried I've been!?

-Wow, hi mom. I'm fine Lumine, if a little bruised. I'm staying the night here instead of flying back in the dark. Goodnight.

~You owe me an explanation when you get back. I've been stuck working on these stupid teleporters for AGES.

;