Ayaka rested her head on Aether's shoulder as she absent-mindedly stared at the empty white wall in front of her. She had tried some sake with Aether a few moments ago, and though she knew when to stop, she realized she had overestimated her tolerance a fair bit. She was a bit lightheaded, a slight drunken haze clouding her mind, though she was still mostly herself. However, her inhibitions loosened quite a bit from the combination of alcohol and drowsiness. Her mind wandered to territory that her sober self would never go near. Aether's warmth didn't help one bit either.
"Aether… can I talk to you about something?" she suddenly asked.
"Sure, what is it Ayaka?" Aether responded.
"I was wondering… about us, in the future… when do we get to… start a family?"
It took a few moments for Aether to process that sentence.
Ayaka continued. "I… I think about it sometimes, and…"
"Ayaka, isn't it a bit too early to think about that?"
"...Huh?" Ayaka was a bit taken aback. "You… you don't want to ha-"
"No, no, I don't mean it like that. It's just… We've only been together for a year now, and we still aren't even married yet, so…"
Ayaka pondered for a moment. "I… I guess you're right. But… it's still fun to think about."
"...I guess so."
The room fell silent, and it stayed like that for another minute.
"How… how many children do you want?" Ayaka suddenly asked.
"W-What? Uh… I don't know. How many do you want?"
"Me…? Hmm… I want five…"
"F-Five?" Aether was surprised by her response. "I think that's a bit too much…"
"Too much? Okay then… three?"
"T… I guess…?"
Ayaka giggled before she kept going.
"I wonder… do you love me?"
Aether chuckled a bit.
"Why would you even need to ask that, my dear? Of course I love you. I love you dearly."
Ayaka melted further into their embrace.
"Well… the light novels I read say that… some people love their partner so much that… they can't help but… 'relieve' themselves."
Aether realized what she meant.
"What kind of light novels are you reading?!"
"...I don't know. I just randomly bought some books from the Yae Publishing House… I only just started reading them…"
Welp, looks like I'm going to have to have a few words with Miko tomorrow, Aether thought.
Curiosity got the better of him and he decided to deflect the question.
"How about you? How much do you love me?"
Ayaka planted a small kiss on Aether's cheek.
"...Of course I love you, Aether. I love you so much, and I… I always keep thinking about you, though… I don't do what the people in the light novel do, of course. Hehe."
A few minutes pass.
"When do you think is a good time to… you know…?"
Aether was amazed at how Ayaka barely flinched saying that.
"Ayaka, it's still too early for that… Did you drink too much?"
"Did I…? No… I didn't drink that much, but admittedly… I'm a bit tipsy right now…"
Silence fills the room again, and a few hours passed. Ayaka seemed to be soberer now.
"Did… did you miss me when you went on a trip to Liyue?"
Aether pulled Ayaka closer into their embrace.
"Of course I did. I missed you a lot."
"You do…"
Ayaka sighed. "I missed you too. I… It's… selfish of me to say this, but… I wish that we can stay with each other forever, without having to worry about anything… But I know it won't happen. You still have to find your sister, after all… so I should cherish these moments more… should I?"
Ayaka paused before asking another question.
"When will you be leaving for Sumeru…?"
Aether thought for a moment. "...To be honest, I still don't know."
"When will you come back?"
"I… I don't know either."
"When… When will I get to see you again?"
Aether didn't know how to respond to that.
"...Does that mean you'll… never… come back…?" Ayaka's voice was now laden with sadness.
"...No."
"H… Huh?"
"Do you… do you remember the Realm Dispatch I gave you a while back?"
"...Yes."
"When I leave, you can always visit me when you want to."
"...Really?"
"Yeah. So if- mmph!"
Aether was interrupted when Ayaka kissed him deeply, a bit sloppy due to her still being a bit drunk, but still passionate. He quickly reciprocated, and soon the couple melted into the kiss, cherishing the moment. They could feel their souls intertwine more tightly than ever, and it was pure bliss. How they yearned for this moment to last for an eternit-
"Hey, Aether! Paimon can't fin-"
The couple frantically separated and saw that Paimon had quite rudely opened the door without knocking, and her face was turning green.
"...Never mind, Paimon will ask later."
Paimon closed the door and quickly flew away, leaving Aether and Ayaka quite embarrassed. They tried various ways to hide their faces but didn't exactly find any.
The embarrassment subsided after a while.
"Aether…" Ayaka began as she held her head. "I'm getting… really dizzy… may I rest my head on your lap…?"
Aether nodded and shifted over to allow Ayaka to lie down on his lap, which she promptly did.
"Mmm… so warm… can you stroke my hair as well…?"
Aether complied.
"Hehe. It tickles," Ayaka giggled.
After a while, Aether was getting drowsy as well.
"I'm getting… quite tired myself…" Aether said before resting his head against the wall and letting his eyelids droop until they closed. Ayaka noticed his strokes became less frequent and weaker until they finally stopped, which alongside his snoring, signaled that he fell asleep.
"Aether," she whispered. "Are you asleep?"
Aether continued snoring.
"It seems so… I… I just want to say… Thank you. I… Even if we can't be together all the time, at least… we can… we can… we ca… zzzzzzzz…"