Genshin: Aether Oneshots

Serenade

        The music of her homeland gave her great joy. Every time she sat down to play the guzheng on the balcony of her home, she hoped that passersby recieved a bit of her happiness by hearing her song. Since Liyue Harbor was such a busy place, many people passed expressing varying degrees of appreciation for (y/n)'s songs. Yet, there was one person in particular that kept returning specifically to hear her songs whether they were slow sad tunes or fast peppy notes.

        His hair reminded her of the sun peeking over the horizon at the start of Liyue's days. It was a beautiful sight to see the bright light reflecting of the waters. This visitor held a similar aura to that scene. It always had (y/n) curious about him. She sometimes found herself wondering what sort of story his music would tell if he were to ever play an instrument. Afterall, a musician's sound came from their heart.

        However, today (y/n) was not performing atop her balcony. She was among the buyers in Liyue's markets looking for something very important. One could not play a guzheng without all of the strings in peak condition. At least she thought so. There had to be someone who sold the precious strings, or at least there had to be someone who knew where to get them from.

        So far, (y/n) hadn't found any promising leads, and she was getting tired as the morning faded into afternoon. Deciding not to focus her efforts in one place, she headed to the Adventurer's Guild to request a commission for the desired item. It would be a little more costly than paying for the string itself, but she was in dire need of a new one.

        "Hey, you're that girl that plays music all the time!" The high pitched voice caught (y/n) by surprise. A small flying child appeared in front of her. Small child? Maybe she was a fairy? What was she? Either way, (y/n) immediately recognized the floating girl. "Aether always says your songs are so beautiful," she continued with a smile and slight tilt of her head.

        Just behind her stood the very same person that she had just been thinking of earlier. His ears were turning the color of silk flowers as he stared at her. "Aether? Is that your name?" (y/n) asked.

        "Yes, my name's Aether," the boy spoke. A soft smile graced his features, and he briefly looked away from her. His eyes were just as brilliant as his hair. It was sort of unreal. "This is Paimon. We were just heading to check on commissions. Sorry for bothering you." Aether gestured to Paimon. "Let's go."

        "Wait!" (Y/n) was glad she caught them before they headed off.

        Aether turned back without hesitation, a bit too quickly actually. "Yes?" he asked.

        "If you're looking for commissions, then I have one that's really important to me. It's really just a trivial matter, but I'll pay a good price. If you run into too much trouble, I'll compensate you for that too!"

        "I'll do it. Doesn't matter how much you pay," Aether immediately answered.

        "But I haven't even told you what it was yet..."

        Paimon waved a hand in front of Aether's face. "Yeah, you can't just agree to something without knowing the terms! Unless there's a meal involved. Hehe."

        "You accepted meals as payment? I've...never come across that before," (y/n) said.

        "Depends on the commission, but sometimes, yes," Aether spoke with a nod. "Regardless though, I'm sure your commission won't be too much trouble. What do you need me to do?"

        "I need a new string for my guzheng. One of them broke, and I haven't been able to find any here. I was about to request help. Like I said, I'll compensate you." She hoped that it wouldn't be too simple. Some adventures overlooked commissions without high risks or rewards.