Aether hasn't noticed when the sun began to set and Zephyr's breeze left along with it. The stranger is getting ready to leave too, but Aether feels his presence tug at him, pulling him closer. He feels like he needs to get to know him. He's interesting. Finally somebody who could cure his lonely heart, still full of momentary grief. Momentary because what is five hundred years to a god? Yet still, it feels like far more than only five centuries.
"Your art is beautiful," Aether finally says, appearing next to the stranger, hoping to startle him just for fun.
Unfortunately, he did not succeed. "So you finally decided approach me," he responds flatly as if he doesn't care. Although, his eyes are betraying him. They keep glancing at Aether's figure in curiosity instead of focusing on the task at hand.
or: Aether is a bored deity tired of Olimp, who hopes to find some amusement in the human realm, and ends up meeting a peculiar artist by the name of Albedo
Cross-posting on AO3 under the username Nekrofilia
Figuring out what feelings really mean is difficult. Especially for those who were never born with them. Xiao and Aether embark together on a journey to find out what it all means. Love, hatred, jealousy, happiness, anger, regret...what does it feel like?
by the time you're reading this, there's a huge chance that some chapters haven't been uploaded yet. I plan to work on this fanfiction for months or possibly even years and I expect it to be very long. Some chapters MIGHT include archon/story quest spoilers from the game the main characters are from, so if you haven't played through the game I suggest you don't read it just yet.
(Also small detail, the story is set in the timeline after Aether found lumine and they decided to stay in Teyvat for the rest of their lives, therefore this story is fanfiction on what happened afterward with Aether.)