Call my name

AU: What if Aether was the missing twin?

"I..." Great. Now Xiao was sounding like an idiot. He has lived for centuries and he lost his breath because he sees one beautiful looking person. 

Aether smiled in response to Xiao's nervousness. "Since you're here in my sister's dream... does that mean you are friends with her? You must be an adepti judging from your clothes." 

"Y...You are correct in assuming that." Okay. Xiao managed to sound like a normal person; now he just had to fix his stuttering. 

"You are a good person. You're here to eat her nightmares - but I think I beat you. I came here to ease her to sleep tonight." 

Aether was physically here? In this dream? Was this... the real Aether? 

"How are you able to travel into dreams?" 

"Mr Adepti, I am a bad person. I have hurt my sister and I am currently working together with the Abyss Order to bring ruin to this world. You should be trying to kill me, so why haven't you used your anemo vision to end me?" 

That was a good question. Why didn't Xiao just kill him now that he knows this was the real Aether. 

"Because you look sad. You look like you have spent most of your days in tears." 

"..." Aether seemed surprised by this answer and stayed quiet. 

"And... I think you're not a bad person. My duty is to eradicate all danger and evil but this is out of character but why do I not see you as a bad person?"

Aether blushed. "M-Mr Adepti! It sounds like you're um... flirting with me... haha, I'm getting nervous..." 

Flirting? Xiao had never participated in such foolishness but for some reason, it didn't sound too bad with Aether. 

"Call me Xiao. That's my name." 

Aether looked at him cutely. "X-Xiao.."

"I won't ask questions about the reason you're with the Abyss Order but will I see you again?"

"Do you want to see me? I'm with the enemy..." 

"Do you want to kill me?"

"No!" Aether protested. His desparate eyes made Xiao chuckle. 

"Then we won't talk about it here." 

It truly was strange. Destroying evil was his life's purpose but for the first time in his life, Xiao felt justified in his selfishness and wanted to talk to Aether more. This boy who blushed easily and looked at him with adorable expressions piqued his interest and the way his eyes showed a quiet sadness that displayed his dark past. He wanted to know more. 

"Then, maybe once in awhile we can meet through my sister's dreams... If you don't mind me talking to you and keeping you company." 

"Of course." 

.... It went silent and Xiao felt more bold the more he saw Aether awkwardly fidget. 

"Oh! Um, Xiao... were you here to eat my sister's dreams? I heard you can do that. Too bad I didn't leave you any dreams to eat..." 

Xiao stared at Aether before smirking. Really, Aether changed him in such a short amount of time. "I wouldn't say that, I think she left me a delicious dream to devour."

"Hm? But I got rid of..." the meaning slowly dawned on him. His face got so bright that a tomato would have jumped into a bowl of paint just to compete. 

"Aether. I promise I won't do anything until I meet you in person. I know this isn't logical but I feel strangely possessive of you. While you seem to be under the impression we will be chatting, I will be observing you to learn more about you and to hopefully leave an impression on you to think of me more often." 

"I-I-I-I.....I....."

Suddenly the dream ended and Xiao opened his eyes. It seems that Aether had ran away. But this made Xiao smile. A promise of another meeting engraved within his brain. He then saw Lumine staring at him from her bed. 

"Why were you watching me sleep? You in love with me or something?" She teased. 

Xiao watched her with disgust. "Your brother is so much more attractive." He muttered under his breath. 

THE END - To be continued (I plan to write a follow up story)

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BONUS STORY 

Aether paced around the room. Nervously glancing at every corner. 

"My prince, are you alright?" An abyss mage asked. However, Aether ignored him and continued to dart across the room. 

His heart was beating so fast at the thought of the adepti. When he first saw him he couldn't help but blush and noticed that he was a little jealous Lumine got to see him regularly. 

But remembering his words and how affectionately he looked at him. "Xiao..." 

Little did he know that the adepti waited to see him every night. 

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ADDITIONAL BONUS STORY 

"YOU SAW MY BROTHER?!" Lumine screeched. "WITHIN MY DREAMS?"

"Yes and stop screaming." 

"I mean this is my brother! You talked to him? What was he like? What did he say? Did he mention me???" 

"... You don't need to worry. He was as you described in the past. Kind, warm and well-mannered. Also, he still thinks of you. After all, he came into your dreams just so you slept better."

"Aether..." Lumine said happily. She felt happy knowing her brother still looked over her. "I'm going to keep looking for him! I'll drag him back to my side no matter what!"

"Good." Xiao said. "Also, when you leave liyue I'm going with you." 

"Huh?! Why?! Aren't you Mr. I can't leave this land because I need to protect Liyue and fufill my contract?" 

Xiao frowned at the long nickname. "My contract with Rex Lapis has ended and I have created a 'promise' I think."

"A promise? With Paimon?" 

"No. With your brother. I have explicitly told him that I would eat him." 

"...What."

THE END FOR REAL