𝐿𝒶𝓈𝓉 𝒞𝒽𝓇𝒾𝓈𝓉𝓂𝒶𝓈 || Xiaother

𝐨𝐧𝐞

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Cold, crisp, winter wind blew gently across Aether's face through the open car window. The blonde adored the fresh pine scent that the countryside provided, as he rarely got to experience clean scented air in the big city. For Christmas, Aether was heading to his sister's house in the country, along with her fiancée's friends and family, whom he was quite familiar with. A longing feeling hit him as he wished he could visit his twin sister more often these days.

His hours long drive finally came to an end as he arrived at his sister's humble abode. Getting out of his car, Aether admired the two story cabin-like house as he headed to the entrance. Its rustic feel was there, a hint of festivity added with the Christmas lights and decorations that had been put up. Aether walked up to the door and rang the doorbell, stepping away from the door and onto the "Seasons Greetings!" mat that had been perfectly aligned with the doorframe. An enthusiastic and cheery grin answered him.

"HEYYYYYY!! IT'S MY FAVOURITE BROTHER IN LAW!"

"Amber I'm your only brother in law!" Aether laughed.

Amber threw her arms around Aether, squeezing him tight. "I feel like I haven't seen you in ages! How long has it been now...?" The brunette pondered, releasing Aether from her death grip. "Too long, Amber. It feels like forever since I ev-"

"Aether!!"

Lumine pushed by Amber to tackle her brother into a hug, nearly knocking him over. "You guys are going to kill me with these hugs I swear-" Aether joked. "Maybe we wouldn't miss you so much if you came to visit more often!" Lumine pointed out. Giggling at thier sibling antics, Amber put a hand on Lumine's shoulder tugging at her to get off of her overwhelmed twin. "C'mon Lumine let's get Aether inside- its getting cold out here." Amber urged.

Lumine turned to look at Amber excitedly and nodded, dragging her brother inside. "Guess who's finally here!" She shouted inside, throwing her brother down in the middle of her living room. Aether groaned as he got up from the ground and brushed himself off, only to be lovingly bombarded by his sister's in-laws.

"Aether sweetie, why don't you visit more often~?"

"Lisa, I'm quite sure he has work to attend to like the rest of us."

"Even so... his line of work doesn't strike me as something complicated. Surely a visit or two wouldn't hinder his schedule?"

"Albedo, it isn't polite to assume! Although you're probably correct on this matter..."

"Speaking of which... Aether? Did you get that new unreleased wine sample from your company for me~?"

"Guys!! Give Aether some space!"

Amber's order echoed throughout the tall-ceilinged living space, and caused everyone to step back from the frazzled blonde. "Hi everyone-!" Aether managed. "It's great to see you all!" Scanning the room, he was surrounded by familiar faces.

Lisa and Jean were Amber's parents. They were always nice to him, Lisa- a bit too nice at times -but lovely company. Albedo, Amber's Scientist brother, and his wife Sucrose. The pair united by their love of bio-chemistry, continued to work at an institute. Sucrose always tried to apologize for Albedo's occasional forwardness, but it usually wasn't too offensive to the point of necessary apology. And Kaeya, Sucrose's Uncle. You could call him a wine connoisseur, even though he worked for the government undercover. The tall blue haired male also wore an eyepatch that he strangely never seemed to take off.

Although everyone seemed accounted for, there were a few missing faces. "Where's Barbara?" Aether inquired. "She's on her Christmas tour! We won't see her until New Years, though." Jean responded proudly, sitting back down on the couch beside Lisa. "And Diluc?" Aether asked turning to Kaeya. "At his tavern. The wine industry is quite the booming one. You should know that, working for a wine company, silly~." he remarked playfully. "And before you ask, Auntie Eula is also out at work!" Amber chimed in. "Ah, so then it's just us then." Aether concluded.

"Actually..." Albedo began. "Sucrose and I have someone we want you to meet." he said, heading around the corner into a bedroom. Albedo then rounded the corner and returned with a small blonde child. "Aether, this is our daughter Klee."

"Hi Mr.Aether! I'm Klee!"

"You can call me Uncle Aether, Klee."

Albedo leaned over to Aether in a whisper. "We adopted her last month. Sucrose adores her, although she likes to make explosives in our home lab." Albedo said, lovingly staring down at his adopted daughter. "She's adorable Albedo. I'm so happy for you!" Aether forced a smile.

A quiet atmosphere formed as a slow holiday jazz played from an antique radio. The loud family conversation had minimized to a calming background buzz, as the fireplace crackled gently. Kaeya was the one to break the atmosphere in a welcoming way.

"Now that everyone's here, who wants drinks? I'll take your order~!"

As Kaeya went around the room playing waiter, Aether approached Lumine. "Hey, Lumi? I'm gonna go grab my bags. The guest room is ready right?" Lumine nodded to him. "Yup! Your room is the one on the right with the blue door." Aether gave her a nod, and with that, headed outside to retrieve his bags.

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Word count: 887
a/n: woa thanks for reading this far! I'm a bit behind on my chapters, but definitely more chapters tomorrow (hopefully 2 & 3)!