Albedo & Aether being perfect.

Washing the Troubles away.

"Ah, Aether!" Amber calls out as she runs up to the tired traveler. Even though Aether had had a tiresome day and was ready to go to bed he turned around with a sigh to tend to his friends needs.

"How may I help you, Amber?" He teases with a big smile on his face as she finally reaches him. The brunette rested her hands on her thighs and bent over to catch her breath. Aether begins to become distracted by Mondstats beautiful sunset behind her. Like a perfect pick & yellow painting, the colors blended into each other seamlessly with the clouds that looked like a child's scribbles with spots in them where he could see the sky.

"Would you do me a quick favor?~" She asks with a sweet tone.  Aether nods,

"Of course Amber!" And gives her a big smile with his response.

"What can we help you with?" Paimon chimes in. Even though she wasn't really gonna be much of a help. The outrider explains that there are a few hillichurls roaming around the gates of Mondstat and they're dangerous to the civilians. And that the Knights of Favonious were a bit backed up and couldn't find the time to do it on their own so she would like the dear travelers help.

"You're perfect for the job I just know it! You'll get it done like this," She snaps her fingers to show how quickly Aether would defeat the hillichurls, "and plus, I trust you." She said it like it was nothing but it meant a lot to the hard-working boy. It makes him feel like all these little favors are actually worth something. He thanks her,

"Thank you, Amber! I'll get to it." Aether gives her a genuine smile this time, he was feeling a bit better than before. The thankful brunette giggles she seemed so happy that her friend agreed to help and gives him a hug. Aether wraps his arm around her & returned the hug. She was always so kind to him, Amber always managed to make the honey-haired boy a bit happier on a bad day. Paimon says something as he pulls away from the hug,

"Paimon expects food as a reward y'know!" She jokes and they all chuckle and then the two head out of Mondstat.

*A little while after Aether beats the shit outta some monsters*

Aether defeats the first few hillichurls with ease but then as he reached the last few it became harder to fend them off. When he gets to the head mitachurl he managed to injure himself. Paimon was worried but it was a small gash and the traveler insisted that he was okay, which for the most part he was. Bandages would fix the wound. Aether was still so disappointed in himself though, for taking so long and for getting himself hurt on such a simple mission.

Instead of informing Amber that her request had been fulfilled, he decides to head to Dragonspine. He knew he'd be cold but Dragonspine was always so strange yet weirdly calming. The quiet didn't make the boy feel lonesome, he felt at ease. He stared into the moonlit sky with his legs hanging over the edge of a high cliff. Tears threaten to pour from his eyes, he's exhausted, overworked, and disoriented. Rain begins to pour in icy sheets despite this Aether sits quietly & just ignores it. he can feel the rain hit his skin like small pins pricking his skin repeatedly they rain didn't care about Aether's feelings though. It didn't care that he was stressed. It didn't care that he couldn't breathe right because the air was thin. And it didn't care that he was tired. His long honey hair was drenched but he didn't feel cold, he was just thinking. About nothing, about everything. A rustling behind Aether startles him, making him shudder. The presence feels familiar, by the light footsteps, Aether understands that it's a close friend, the local alchemist.

--

The alchemist leans back in his chair and sighs. He had put so much effort into this project. All the hours of taking notes, collecting samples, and conducting experiments all went to waste because the project had gone nowhere. His hypothesis on domesticating hillichurls (complete bs) had backfired and was proven wrong. Albedo gets up as he straightens his desk a bit.

He rests his elbows on the paper-covered desk and rubs his eyes that were sunken & sleep-deprived. The alchemist was saddened by the fact that he had wasted so much time & effort on this. The tired blonde stared at his work and just the thought of failure made his breathing quicken.

"It's fine...I can always try again." He told himself, breathing in & out to calm down. The blonde decides to head to Dragonspine to gather his thoughts. So he puts together a small pack of food and grabs his coat.

He follows the trail & even though it was raining something about Dragonspine was so sweet. Was it the dark night from a mountain top or the crunching of snow below Albedo's feet that helped him bring himself together? As he reached the cliffside, he noticed the figure of someone become present. It was Aether, sitting in the freezing rain.

The sleep-deprived alchemist didn't say a word & sat down next to his dear friend, the traveler. They both sat there 'till break of dawn. Washing their troubles away.

----
Hello?!?!??!
Not me writing at 2 a.m even though I have school tomorrow!!
Should I write more AlbedoXAether?? I liked writing this so if other people liked reading I'll start a one-shot series—
Have a good day/night!