In The Midst of Snow

Record Scratch, Freeze Frame

Aether, meanwhile, was just kicked by a cow.

One may probably wonder how he got into this situation. Well, the answer was, it all started in the morning.

When Rex Lapis had told him that Xiao had officially become an adult today, Aether was caught in a crisis in which he was unprepared for such an occasion. After several minutes of thinking, he had come to a conclusion that he could make some almond tofu for Xiao.

The previous Xiao had loved it, so why not this one? Even better, the current Xiao had no idea that almond tofu existed, and Aether was sure that he would be happy with almond tofu as his present.

The question was: how was he going to make it without Xiao knowing? He supposed...he could make an excuse and excuse himself. Xiao might find it suspicious, but he trusted Aether, so chances of him following were low.

But then, the world decided to send its obstacle in the form of an adepti.

This adepti had long, brown curly hair with streaks of red through it. Her red short dress was decorated with designs of orange swirls like flames, and on her hip, there hung a menacing mask. With only a few adepti blessed with masks, Aether suspected that she was a future Yaksha.

"Heyo, Aether!"

Twirling towards him, she grabbed his arm and hauled him onto his feet much to his surprise.

"I'll be borrowing Aether for a while if you don't mind, my Lord!" she giggled.

Rex Lapis simply nodded and continued sipping on his tea while Aether was forcefully dragged away against his will.

He really hoped that Xiao would not be mad if he was a little late.

Once out of Rex Lapis' earshot, the girl finally freed Aether's arm and turned towards him, a playful grin on her lips and hands on her hip.

"So, Aether! I'm Indarias. Not sure if you remember seeing my face around, but nice to meet you!"

She then excitedly extended a hand towards Aether. Aether, not really sure where this is going, simply decided to go with the flow and shook her hand.

"Nice to meet you too, Indarias," Aether said. "I gather that you heard of me?"

"Of course I've heard of you!" she squealed, hopping one foot to the other. "You're Xiao's boyfriend, of course I'd know of-"

"H-hold up-" Aether stuttered, totally taken off guard. Boyfriend? They were just roommates! And really good friends!

"Hm?" Indarias tilted her head. "Are you not his boyfriend?"

"No..."

Although, the thought of being called Xiao's boyfriend made his brain overheat. Xiao would...probably not pick someone like him. He had come to terms in these past two years that he liked Xiao more than best friends, but who's to say Xiao felt the same way?

Even so, the idea of being Xiao's boyfriend sounded...nice.

Indarias pouted. "You guys really do act all lovey-dovey though. Hard to believe you guys aren't dating."

"Ah, were we?" Aether nervously laughed. By the Seven, if everyone thought the same thing...Aether wasn't sure how he should feel about this.

"This is truly a revelation," Indarias murmured to herself. Then, in her normal cheery tone again, she said, "Anywayzzz! I'm planning to throw a party for Xiao! Everyone is in on it, except for Rex Lapis. No offence to our Lord but he'll probably accidentally end up spoiling the surprise, so he doesn't know yet. I'd probably be ready once the sun sets, so can you distract Xiao till then?"