Genshin oneshots~

His Hidden Side [Xiao x Aether]

Note: GUYS I PROMISE THIS ONE ISN'T DEPRESSING HAJSSJSJBBD

Aether POV: 

"Okay, thanks Katheryne! See you tomorrow!" I wave and smile at her before sending Paimon off into the teapot, I stretch my arms out, mm... today was tiring, first Yae Miko requested me to fetch some silk flowers so she could give them to Raiden, then Timmy gave me a giant lecture on why pigeons should be treated with respect, then Cyno stalled me with his jokes and persistently pestered me until I played TCG with him, and then I got ambushed by some hilichurls. I approach Wangshu Inn and head towards the room at the top of the inn to find my lover, as I slowly make my way up the steps, I hear a voice singing loudly, it was very upbeat and powerful... is that really Xiao? I peek through the door crack to see Xiao pacing back and forth in the room singing and waving his hands around dramatically, I continue watching as he also starts to sway vigorously and twirl. Oh~ so this is what he gets up to when I'm gone... I lean on the door frame and just watch in awe, taking in this hidden side of him. My foot suddenly slips as I step on a loose board and I kick the door frame, agh... I wince in pain as I jump around like a cricket on one foot, I tried to be quiet but Xiao's singing immediately stopped and he swings open the door entirely, "A-Aether! Um...um... what are you doing here? Y-You didn't hear that right?" he says nervously helping me up, I give him a smug grin, "I heard it! I never knew you could sing and honestl-" Xiao immediately lets me go and starts marching off in fury and embarrassment, I grab onto his sleeve as he drags me on the floor, "Xiaoooo! I'm sorry!" I say as I try to make him stop marching, "SHUT UP AND DON'T GET IN MY WAY!!" he says blushing in embarrassment. "How about I sing and dance for you too and we call it equal?!" I blurt out, as soon as those words left my mouth I felt a twinge of regret, I didn't really know how to sing or dance, I've only learnt a couple of songs and moves from Barbara during church in Mondstadt. He stops marching and glares down at me, "WHAT?!" he says completely baffled, "you sing?" he asks, his voice softens a little. "Well... I did some singing back in Mondstadt and uh... um, well..." I stutter nervously as Xiao sits down on the stairs, "well okay... here I go then..." I cleared my throat, "♫ yOu aRe tHe oNlY oNe I'lL eVeR lOvE... iF iT's NoT yOu iT's NoT aNyOnEeEeE...♫" a nervous feeling eats away at my stomach, I try to imitate the elegant dance moves Nilou did at the Sabzeruz Festival. Xiao stares at me in a neutral expression as I 'sing' and 'dance', I finish the song by trying to go into my falsetto voice mixed with my head voice, I pant slightly as I bow a little, there was a moment of pin drop silence,  a feeling of embarrassment consumes my soul as I blush and cover my face, Xiao remains motionless. I start walking away feeling really embarrassed... I hear footsteps behind me as Xiao chases after me, "Aether... hey! It wasn't that bad...", I felt even more flustered as I blurt out, "No it wasn't! Shut up and don't be in my way!" why did I agree to that?! I've only been dating Xiao for a couple of months and I'm already embarassing myself... me and my big mouth. "How about I also sing and dance terribly? Wouldn't that make you feel better and be considered equal?" he says desperate for me to stay, I huff, "fine..." I tried to sound emotionless but inside I was quite excited to see this. 

Xiao leads me back to the room upstairs and shuts the door, "give me a second to think of something silly to sing and dance to" he says as he goes into deep thought, moments later he looks up, "alright... I got something, get ready" Xiao gets himself in position at the middle of the room, I sit down on the bed and watch on intently. Xiao begins by making cute faces and dancing like a dainty young lady, I watch on curiously, what... is he... Xiao suddenly changes his voice into a higher pitched asian voice and begins singing. "♫ Chu~ kawaikute gomen umarete kichatte gomen... Chu~ Azatokute gomen, ki ni natchau yo ne? Gomen~~ Chu! Kawaikute gomen, doryoku shichattete gomen... Chu! Toutokute gomen~ Joshiryoku takakute gomen, mukatsuichau yo ne? Zamaa~ ♫" . He does his best to imitate an "uwu" face and places his hands in front of him in a heart shape, my face breaks out in the widest grin ever as I burst out laughing, "HAHAHAHAHAHA! X-Xiao... oh my god...HAHAHAHAHAH...". Xiao smirks at me, "happy?" he says as he pulls me into a warm embrace kissing my neck softly, I nod as I wrap my arms around him. "Oh by the way, want to head to Nantianmen with me?" I ask, he looks up at me, "Why? Did you want to play the flute there?" I nod happily, "yes! I've been practicing! I wanna impress you~" Xiao holds me in his arms, I nuzzle my face into his chest, I feel him shudder as his face goes beet red. He teleports us to a cliff in Nantianmen that offers a birds eye view of the mountains, I sit down and start playing a tune that I wrote myself called 'The Yaksha and the Traveller', it was a meaningful melody describing Xiao's backstory and my strong connection to my sister and how the two of us were brought together. "It's beautiful, my love~" Xiao says softly as he presses a gentle kiss on my cheek, I chuckle and caresses his cheeks and press my forehead into his. It was a nice and warm intimate moment.

"Ah, it seems you two share quite the intimate friendship" a low voice comes behind us, Xiao and I pull apart instantly as the voice scares the two of us out of our bones. "M-Morax! Um..." Xiao began looking extremely flustered, Zhongli chuckles, "No no... continue what you two were doing~ I'm just passing through..." he says as he continues strolling along the path. Xiao and I were both blushing as we watch Zhongli disappear as he walks further, I cough abruptly and open my arms. Xiao's facial expression softens as he falls into my arms, laying his head on my lap, I stroke his hair gently, feeling the soft texture and taking in the scent of Qingxins. "You know... seeing different sides of you is quite cool Xiao, you shouldn't hide them! I'm your lover, I'm not going to judge you!" I say giving him gentle pats on his cheek. "Mm... then... would you like to practice a Latina dance routine with me?" he opens his eyes and looks at me hopefully. My eyes widen in surprise, a Latina dance... "w-well um...  my hips aren't that flexible... and um..." I blush heavily. Xiao reassures me that I'll do fine and he pulls me to my feet, "so um... where do my arms and legs go?" I say puzzled, looking at my limbs in confusion. Xiao chuckles gently, "lets stick to a basic routine today, but it will involve costumes, hm... you do look more feminine to me... lets ask Hu Tao for her red dress, you know, the one she wore for the Lantern Rite?" my face goes red, not only that I was going to do something I didn't know how to do, I was going to have to wear a dress too? This is getting more ridiculous by the second, but it's Xiao... his charms make me weak in the knees. Soon, we arrive back at Wangshu Inn, Hu Tao greets us with a smug grin, "oh~ so the lovebirds are back, hmm?" Xiao ignores her teasing comment and gets straight to the point, "do you mind if we borrow your red Lantern Rite dress?", Hu Tao seemed confused at first but then a smirk forms on her face, "okay~" she goes into her room and hands Xiao the beautiful red sequined qipao with golden flowers embroidered on it, she leans over and whispers to the two of us, "have fun~ don't make too much of a racket now boys..." I cover my face in embarrassment as Xiao blushes a bit. 

Xiao opens the door to his room and shuts the door after I enter, he hands me the dress, right... I have to put it on. I start undressing, taking off my scarf, my top, and my pants then stepping into the slightly narrow dress, the silk feels cold and slippery against my skin. I slide my arms through the sleeve holes and do up the zip, I tidy my hair a little before turning around to Xiao. "So...?" I search his face for approval, Xiao clutches his chest while blushing heavily. I chuckle, "I take that as I look good?" I nudge him playfully. "Mm~" he stands up and takes my hand, "I'm going to show you the basics" he begins to teach me the foot work, "1...2...3,4,5... yes, then now, 6...7...8,9...and 10!" I repeated the steps a few times until I got a steady rhythm working, "good! Now put your hands on the bar there and move your hips like this" Xiao demonstrates, I watch his hips move seductively in small agile movements, I pay attention to his stance, "Xiao... that really turns me on~" I mutter under my breath. "Did you say something?" Xiao looks at me with a bit of concern, "Ah? No..." I try my best to copy Xiao's moves, I grab his polearm and stab it into the floor and I move my hips like a caterpillar moving on a branch against the polearm. Xiao covers his blushing face, "r-right um... now we put this into one dance routine, we're going to have 5 steps here... then go backward...twirl... hand up here... hip movement there, and then finish with me dipping you" Xiao says guiding me through his plan. Mm, okay. I breathe in, I can do this... 

I walk over towards the Euphonium Unbound and switch the music to a salsa & latina dance playlist, I quickly run back towards Xiao as we perform our routine. I felt at peace and at bliss, my hand in his, his arm caressing my waist, our hips in perfect sync. Xiao and I gradually increase the speed and I even throw in some original moves that just naturally came to me as I let the music take over my body, as the music comes to an end, Xiao dramatically dips me and kisses me hard on the lips. I jolted a bit with the sudden kiss, but quickly melted into it, mm...perfect. The kiss felt exactly how it felt back when Xiao and I first confessed, it was warm, sincere, and firm. Xiao leans over and whispers in my ear, "Roof?" I nod, "let me get changed first". I quickly put on my travelling outfit before climbing onto the roof of Wangshu Inn, Xiao pulls out his flute, "I-I also wrote a song about you... it's called 'true happiness'" Xiao begins playing a calm tune on the flute. I stare out into the beautiful Liyue scenery as I let the song take my mind to a land where nothing ever went wrong, where my worries and pains fade away, and where my sister is finally found.