His first mistake was trusting a kitsune's words.
"What's wrong, little one? Fox's got your tongue?"
Aether's powers of observation were not being put to good use. He was seeing too much—or rather, she was letting him feel too much. The warmth of her body as she slowly moved up his was somehow the least tantalizing aspect of this moment.
The sight of the curvature underneath the pristine white fabric he was forbidden from touching, the smell of pink hair that cascaded on the pillow next to his face, and the hungry purple gaze he met seemed to all be devouring him from the inside out. The tender lips that were finding purpose in his neck a second ago let out a delighted hum.
"We could take things further if you want…"
His mouth opened in protest, but was immediately closed by a playful thumb grazing his lips. She knew him all too well, and revealing to Yae Miko which buttons could be pushed was like begging to have a friendly teasing session turn into overstimulating torture.
The distance between them diminished as she closed in, until it was a perfect zero. Their bodies now locked together, she undertook the task of untying his braided hair. "You just have to ask."
Her words were no more than a whisper, but they set off a series of internal alarms that he wasn't fully sure went unheard. Aether had never thought his body was capable of melting and getting stiff at the same time, but she was making it happen almost effortlessly.
His jaw clenched on its own. He knew he was at a crossroads, and the least reliable part of his body was pushing him in one particular direction like all hell was breaking loose. Given how fast the kitsune on top of him was working, he expected his belt buckle to be breaking next.
She still expected an answer, and nothing would change unless he was honest with her. Aether gathered the last of his wisdom. "I don't think we..."
But her hand was quicker to slide down his abdomen, and she threw aside whatever sense of reason he had left.
Several days earlier,
Narukami Island, Grand Narukami Shrine.
"You're completely unsuited for this. Next."
The sentence was loud enough to be heard all the way into the waiting room. Aether watched yet another person wearing the Guild's green uniform storm out of the shrine dejectedly. He had counted twenty-seven dismissals so far, and he'd gotten here late.
According to the paper slip he'd received on entry, it would soon be his turn. There was no further information regarding this commission. Adventurers who were interested simply had to show up at the Grand Narukami Shrine, and after what he surmised to be a brief interview, would qualify for the unknown job.
"Next."
If it was even possible to qualify. A suspiciously high number of adventurers, whom he at least considered to be decent, had been sent home. The shrine had the Mora to afford being picky, but why not make a precise request for adventurers of a certain rank?
He gave up. Conventional logic didn't apply to this woman after all.
"Next, Number 86."
Aether was ushered into the Guuji's quarters, expecting the worst. He was unsurprised to be proven right.
Yae Miko stretched lazily and with a great deal of ceremony, beckoning him to take a seat with a wave of her hand. So much furniture had been moved and covered at the very last second to make the room look important, but it was essentially just where she lived.
She nodded at the shrine maiden who stood by the door. "Be a dear and tell the other adventurers they're dismissed. I've found the one I was looking for."
"A grand total of eighty-five adventurers came in for nothing," she yawned. "What a slow morning it has been for little old me. And here I mistakenly believed you weren't the type to keep a lady waiting…"
Aether dodged the snide remark. He wasn't sure whether to be annoyed or impressed. "You commissioned the entire Inazuman branch of the Guild to pull a prank on me?"
Miko laughed. "Of course not. Adventurers are among the least frequent visitors to my shrine. But the eighty-five of this morning were all brand new visitors, and most of them bought a little souvenir on their way out. You get a thrilling once-in-a-lifetime commission from yours truly, and I get entertainment as well as a negligible amount of mora out of this whole affair. Aren't you glad I'm planning things so meticulously for the both of us?"
Shrines used to be sacred. He didn't dare ask why she was selling souvenirs in a place of worship that was still very much active.
"I'm sure you're having fun. Anyway, can I get the commission details now? I still need to decide whether I take it or not, then sort through other proposals before bringing replies to Katheryne, then–"
A wave of her hand was enough to halt him. "Poor high-ranked adventurer, so successful yet slave to such a busy schedule. Please, little one, none of that between us. There's no doubt in my mind that half of Teyvat is dying to commission you, but I can guarantee that you'll want to accept my request over all others." She lowered her voice conspiratorially and slipped the commission's contract across the table. "All you have to do is escort me on a relaxing trip for a few days, and in return, I'll drown you in mora. No cleaning, no hilichurls, no finding lost cats—just you, me, and Inazuma's gorgeous scenery. How does that sound?"
She certainly knew how to make a mundane escort quest sound appealing. Aether was already sinking into her honeyed words when he remembered who exactly he was dealing with. Then, the mental image of a certain flying companion inhaling thousands of mora worth of food made him shudder. The looming threat of Paimon burning through the last of his savings was enough to bring him to his senses. He needed to be more careful with his money.
He tried not to sound too eager. "And how much exactly would qualify as 'drowning me in mora'?"
"Let's see…" Miko brought her index finger to her chin as if she wasn't certain of the total sum. "Two hundred thousand upfront, then six hundred thousand once the commission has been completed. If you accept right now, I'll even throw in a coupon worth one week of free meals at Uyuu Restaurant—little Paimon does love their shrimp crackers, right?"
"Eight hundred thousand?"
His eyes didn't roll out of their sockets, but the intent was there. Aether could have signed his soul away over a deal like this one. If all he had to do was ignore her triumphant smile and teasing remarks as he happily danced in her palm, then dance he would indeed.
The pen hovered above the contract for a few seconds. "Almost a million mora, just for accompanying you on a trip?"
He tried one last time to probe for ulterior motives, but she answered with her most charming smile. "I'm only asking you to do what you do best, darling. Or are you still wary of me after all I've done for you?"
Aether sighed but accepted the commission. "Well, I suppose whatever entertainment you seek out of this would be mostly harmless. It is my right to pull out of the commission if it goes beyond what was agreed on, within reason. But I assume even you wouldn't waste your mora like that."
"Of course not. Always a pleasure doing business with you." Miko leaned over the table with a smile and brought her face closer to his. "So, what do you say we get going right now? I'm actually in a bit of a hurry, and since your schedule is all mine, why don't we just skip the boring parts and slip away quietly together?"
The smell of sakura tickled his nose. Aether tried to ignore his jaw's involuntary clenching as he shrank in his seat. "Are you in a hurry? Leaving without any pomp or ceremony doesn't sound like you."
The kitsune feasted her eyes on his reaction. Once she was done, she calmly stood up. "Mhm. Just a time-sensitive matter that I've been putting off for far too long. I can take care of it myself; you're just coming along as a safety measure for the trip. And because this matter pertains to my position as Guuji of the shrine, I don't need everyone to know about it."
She was already making her way to the opposite side of the room. Aether got up after her.
"Well, you can at least tell me where we're going, right?"
"And ruin the surprise? Heavens, no." She pushed against what he believed to be a wall at first glance, and a secret doorway opened with a click. Stone stairs descended into a lantern-lit passage. Miko smirked at his surprised expression. "Impressed? You don't become head priestess of a shrine without knowing its ins and outs, you know. This little passageway is for my personal use only."
The possibility of a secret way leading straight into the shrine's heart hadn't crossed his mind, but it made sense. The Sacred Sakura's power could drive away monsters, so having multiple ways of accessing it could be useful in an emergency.
"Smart. I'll let you lead the way, then."
She politely stopped him. "Darling, I know you're used to traveling on your own, but you seem to forget your manners. Surely you aren't so cold-hearted to let a delicate lady like myself carry her own luggage?"
Aether stared straight beyond her batting eyelashes. "I didn't know you had any to begin with," he began.
"Then it's settled! I'll see you at the exit~"
"Miko..."
His words fell on deaf ears. The Guuji was surprisingly fast on her feet when she wanted to get away from a conversation. Aether blinked, and his new employer was gone. He swallowed a few choice words for later and walked back into the office.
Nothing there looked like luggage. Aside from the disorderly furniture and simple decorations, the only items that caught his eye were an assortment of bags and suitcases thrown into a pile that was easily twice his size.
She had a truly peculiar sense of humor—the kind that didn't make him laugh.
To his surprise, the secret passageway went deeper than Mt. Yougou's foot and ended on an isolated beach. The heavy luggage on his back dragged him down the final steps, and Aether fought against gravity not to fall face-first into a pile of sand. The howling wind and crashing water drowned out the sound of his footsteps, so he allowed himself a short break. He could see Miko from where he stood.
She had already walked a fair distance to the shore, and he noticed the pair of shoes in her hand as the broken waves lapped at her feet. She stared out at the horizon, her pink hair billowing on the wind, one hand preventing it from getting in her face. Aether stared at her too. And thought about how inscrutable that woman was. She could be witty, insightful, or a downright devious schemer at times, but her strange whims never failed to make him curious. In his long life, he'd never met someone with such a strong aversion to boredom. Plots needed to move along, nuisances needed to get out of her way, and people needed to live colorful, entertaining lives—she wouldn't have it otherwise. Maybe at the end of the day, this little quirk of hers was the most entertaining of all.
And maybe he shouldn't let his mind wander so much, because he was now smiling like an idiot. He was still supposed to be mad at her for making him carry all her belongings.
Aether wiped the grin off his face. And froze. Daydreaming didn't make him more alert. She was looking right at him, and her knowing smirk only grew larger when he averted his eyes. If he could acknowledge that she was inscrutable, he still had no way to prevent himself from getting caught off-guard by her.
Miko raised her voice slightly to be heard over the loud waves. "I'm sorry, did I interrupt your longing contemplation? Please carry on as you were." The edge of mockery in it only stung more.
"I just got here. In fact, I can't hear you with this wind!" he shouted back. She was already coming his way, so he picked up the bags and started walking. Fleeing.
"Aw, you can't hear me? But I can see your face getting so adorably red from here…"
She was relentless. Aether lumbered on, hearing the crunching of sand under her quickening footsteps as she caught up to him. She tapped his left shoulder and emerged on his right.
"And you're so flustered, you're even going the wrong way." She playfully flicked his forehead. His misfortune seemed to put her in a radiantly good mood. "Ritou is south of here, darling. Focus up. I can't have you losing it when you're supposed to be protecting me."
Her face was too close, but it made no difference: his was already red. Aether silently admitted defeat and turned on his heel. He made sure to let her lead the way this time. Every minute, she would glance over her shoulder to check if he was still blushing. And like clockwork, his face would heat up again.
Eight hundred thousand mora for this.
He should've charged her more.