"Why's Aether still in Natlan?" asked Keqing. "I thought he solved the crisis."

"He did," confirmed Mavuika. "There were some other things to take care of: Xblanque, Citlali, and other stuff. I'm not sure what he's up to now, but whatever it is, I'm sure it's important."

"That's for sure," said Arlecchino. "Aether always seems to end up at the center of every major event in Teyvat. He's probably doing something that involves the fate of the whole world. No doubt it's something of grave significance."

"Aether, stop daydreaming!"

He snapped out of his daydreams about his favorite ladies and returned to nailing down the wooden wall. Beside him, Paimon shook her head amusedly.

"Come on, dude, you can't daydream about the girls on the job like that, or you'll hammer your finger."

"I'm fine," he replied. "Hand me that next box of nails, won't you? Nepecha's going to love her new treehouse."

He finished nailing down the final wall.

"Well, he can handle it," said Amber. "He's a great fighter."

Yanfei snorted. "The better question is, what isn't he good at?"

They all laughed, thinking of the many things their boyfriend could do.

"He's a capable man," agreed Ei.

"And very wise," said Emilie, remembering the time she and Aether solved that mystery together.

"He's got good instincts, that's for sure," said Ayaka. "Nothing escapes his attention."

Paimon turned to Aether with a blank expression. "Aether? Where's the door hole?"

"It goes right there," he said, pointing at one side of the treehouse. "See? I drew it in magic marker."

"… You were supposed to cut it out with the power saw."

"Don't worry, I will."

"Oh really?"

"Yes."

"Then go get the power saw."

"Okay, fine," he said.

Aether went to leave but bumped into his wall. Pause. He started, running his hands upon the nonexistent door. Aether wheeled around in a panic. Closing his eyes like a man who realized he had done something absurdly stupid, he bowed his head.

"I see the problem now," he said.

"Oh, do you?!" snapped Paimon. "Dumb blonde…"

"Hey! It's not my fault I forgot!"

"Oh? And how exactly do you forget a door?!"

"I was… thinking about the girls, and I forgot…"

Paimon facepalmed miserably.

"He's a clever man," said Yelan. "Aether can find his way out of anything."

"And he's got friends who will always help him," added Hu Tao.

"I'm not breaking down the wall, Paimon," he said emphatically. "We've been working on this thing all morning; I'm not going to undo all our work."

"And how exactly do you propose we escape?"

Aether examined the walls. Aside from the small window, too small for him, let alone Paimon, there wasn't any way out. He reached for his sword but didn't find it. The darn thing lay on the ground beside the power saw. He could probably use a little Pyro to escape—if he wanted to cook himself and Paimon alive.

He shrugged.

Then, down below, he heard an annoying voice grumbling.

Aether went to the window and called out, "Hey, could you toss up the power saw?"

"Do it yourself, you clod!" snapped Ajaw angrily. "How dare you presume to command the almighty Dragon Lord?!"

"Please?"

Too late. Ajaw was already running away down the pathway, leaving them to their fate.

"He's a productive man," said Ningguang. "No doubt he's making good use of his time."

"I agree," said Jean. "He never wastes a second to do what's important."

"Aether, it's been three hours! Please, knock down the wall already!"

"No way," he snapped. "It took us a whole week to figure out the convoluted instruction manual and three days just to figure out what went where. Three failed attempts before we got it right. I don't want to start all over again, do you?"

"No. Not really," she admitted. "But Paimon is so bored!"

Silence.

"We could play a game of twenty questions?"

"Okay, what are we going to eat if nobody finds us? And don't make another emergency food joke!"

"That's not how you play twenty questions," he replied. "It has to be a yes or no question."

Paimon looked ready to strangle him.

"I'm sure he's thinking about us," said Yoimiya. "Man, it feels like it was years ago when we said goodbye before he went to Natlan."

Lisa nodded. "I hope he still has all our gifts with him. With any luck, they've proven useful."

"Well, if all else fails," said Navia, "At least he's got Paimon there to keep him on track."

Night had fallen when she got an idea. Paimon floated over to him.

"Aether? Do you still have that book Keqing gave you before we left? The one with all those nice things she wrote?"

Aether reached into his pocket and fondly showed her the book. Paimon took it and threw it out the window. His face paled in horror as it landed on the grass. Paimon pointed outside and raised her eyes in a mock panic.

"Oh no, Paimon sees paper-eating Tepetlisaurs!"

"I don't think we have to worry too much," said Furina. "He's survived everything thrown at him so far. It should go without saying: Aether has certainly left his mark on Teyvat."

Nepecha stared at the treehouse Aether and Paimon had built for her and her friends. It was a nice gesture, truly. However, she had questions about their design choices.

For the most part, the treehouse was pretty standard, except for one thing. She had no idea what to make of it. Maybe this kind of window/door was all the rage outside of Natlan? Xilonen would call it highly impractical. Well, it would definitely be the most unique treehouse in all of Teyvat.

One of the walls had a very peculiar door—peculiar in that it didn't resemble any door she'd ever seen. Instead of a rectangular frame, it was shaped like a person. In fact, it looked like a man had sprung clean through it, leaving behind the outline of his figure.