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about one hour had passed since dilucs kind words, the flower remained in your hair and you didnt even think of getting it out anytime soon.

both of you had agreed to go back to the residence for aether and paimon, they wouldnt sleep that long anyways.

diluc stood in front of the door, unlocking it in the process while you waited patiently behind him. you heard a clicking sound, indicating that the lock has been lifted.

he tilted down the handle and opened the door a little. diluc stopped pushing the door open and turned around slightly to face you, his head tilted to look over his shoulder.

you gave him a questioning look, wondering why he didnt continue to go inside and you wanted to ask him if something was wrong, immediately on your guard again and raising all your senses.

but before you could ask, you saw the faintest smile on his face as he lifted a finger to hold in front of his mouth, in a way of showing you to be silent.

"you dont want to wake up the emergency food." he whispered to you as he cracked a smile.

to say you were shocked was an understatement, 'did he just make a joke?' you thought to yourself, surprised that the stoic man actually had some humor in him.

you let the words he said go through your ears as you processed them and tried to stifle your laughter. you were supposed to be quiet but diluc was not helping. but in a good way.

raising up your hand, you held it in front of your mouth to try to prevent making any noise. diluc then pushed the door open further as he was still smiling in the slightest bit as well from his stupid joke.

as the door was fully opened, you were met with both aether and paimon now wide awake. aether was standing in the kitchen, leaning his back against the counter as paimon floated around him while talking.

both their heads snapped to the opened door and your gazes met, aether immediately noticed both of you smiling and spoke up, "had alot of fun outside?" he asked as he gave you two a sly smile.

your mind was blank as you heard aether say that, it almost felt like you were caught by him but you didnt even do anything. you tried to come up with an excuse but failed, just like diluc.

the room fell silent as both of you failed to answer aethers question, he tried not to laugh on the spot.

normally you would have swiftly come up with a lie or such, that was litterally one of the most important things from your job as a fatui harbinger.

but this time you couldnt and wondered why. paimon had the same smug look on her face as she scanned both of you.

"do you see what paimon sees." she asked aether as her gaze darted from the blonde boy to the light blue flower in your hair.

they both nodded simultaneously, they knew enough. diluc interrupted them with a cough before aether or paimon had any chance to speak up more. trying to get rid of his own embarrassment.

you were both flustered by aethers comment, that was all, but you two didnt notice it yourselves yet.

taking dilucs lead, you tried to talk about something else, changing the topic, "we bought some ingredients to make almomd tofu." you said as you pointed to your bag which was on your back.

walking to the counter, you swayed your bag off and set it on top of the stonen counter. you opened the backpack and got all needed ingredients out of it.

"we just need to prepare it now." you continued and could feel paimons eyes on the back of your head.

she started bouncing in the air again, "that way it will be extra fresh!" she said excitedly, wanting to savor the taste of the sweet almond tofu.

aether being the kind person he is, offered his immediate help for the matter, "is there anything i can do?" he asked as he watched you pull out the almonds from your bag.

diluc spoke exactly what was on your mind, "its fine, you should take it easy." he said as he was back to his composed nature.

"yea, didnt you just wake up?" you asked him without making eye contact, your eyes were kept on making preparations for breakfast instead.

he nodded in all honesty, "thats true, ill rest a bit then." he said as he turned around and made his way to the couch which was opposite of the kitchen.

paimon followed the tired traveler and floated around him, talking abiut all her favorite dishes and how excited she is to see the next part of their journey.

"that reminds me of something." aether said, loud enough for both you and diluc to hear in the kitchen. you listened to the traveler and spoke up, letting him know he had your attention, "yea?" you replied simply.

aether shifted on the couch, his elbow on the armrest and placing his cheek in the palm of his hand. "childe told us to meet with a man named zhongli." he started with, letting you both know about the mission.

"apperantly zhongli knows about the exuvia and more, we need that information before we can continue." he said in a short summary. paimon listened to him carefully.

diluc opened a cabinet above him, getting four plates in his hands as he spoke up, "do you need any help?" he offered politely, setting the plates down as they made a clinking sound against the stone from the counter.

this time paimon spoke up, "we plan to go after breakfast!" she started off with, floating through the air with her hands behind her back, "if we need any help paimon will let you know." she continued saying with a smile.

you opened a drawer and found the cutlery you needed, grabbing the knife you started cutting the almonds into fine pieces as you spoke up, "then thats settled." you said as you glanced over your shoulder at paimon, giving her a smile.

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