[Edited again]
"Hilichurl meals have a lot of meat. Not just meat though, fowl too! Do we have both?"
Y/n turned to look at her two travel buddies and quivered with delight when she found that Paimon was floating beside a pile of fowl while Aether held a bag of meat.
"I think this should be enough." Aether replied while Paimon nodded eagerly.
"Good! Aether, come, let me teach you." Y/n ordered, "Paimon, could you add the ingredients as we go please?"
"Got it!" the pixie exclaimed.
It wasn't much of a surprise that y/n was thrilled about camping out. She'd picked a spot on a hill that overlooked Liyue Harbor so that they could simply glide down when the time to meet up with Childe came.
She was oddly bossy, though it wasn't completely uncharacteristic of her. Really, she was just excited to be camping with two of her favorite people.
She remained crouched by the fire with focused e/c eyes, a small hilichurl mask on the side of her head. A little gift from the nearby hilichurl tribe who had also given the three travellers potatoes.
"Is it done yet?" Paimon asked.
Y/n shook her head, "Nye. It needs another hour to cook before it's ready."
"What!? An hour!?" Paimon cried then floating to the ground to sit there like a disappointed child, "Paimon can't wait that long..."
Y/n gave the pixie a smile, "How about I tell you stories? My family used to dance and sing to pass time while food cooked but I am not good at teaching others to dance."
"Oooh, yes! A story sounds nice!" Paimon chirped, sitting down on one of the two logs y/n had dragged for their little camping spot, taking the spot beside Aether.
"What story would you like to hear?" y/n asked, sitting down on the other log.
"Hm... how about your scars? Where did you get them from?" Aether hummed.
Y/n blinked, a little surprised but gave her blond friend a grin, "Alright then! I will start with... this one!"
She pointed to a long cut from the palm of her left hand that stretched all the way up past her sleeve and stopped at her elbow. She had noticed Aether staring at that particular scar earlier that day.
"This one is from when I went adventuring with Kaeya and Diluc!" y/n chimed, "We ran into a Lawachurl but since I was still a stupid little kid, I thought I could fight it."(*cries*)
"You tried to fight a lawachurl?" Paimon cried and y/n chuckled.
"Yeah, had it not been for Kaeya and Diluc, I probably would have gotten hurt much more." y/n admitted then scowled at her friends, "Do not tell anyone I said the snake's name."
"My mouth is shut." Aether promised, pretending to zip his lips shut and y/n relaxed again.
"This one right here was when Amber and I went exploring. An ice Lawachurl attacked us and we had to hide in a cave but not before the thing nearly took off my leg!" y/n continued, pointing to her left leg, "Amber stayed with me until Matr came to help."
Y/n continued pointing to each of her scars, explaining where they'd came from.
One on her shoulder from when a boar caught her by surprise while hunting with Razor.
Another from when she couldn't get out of the way of a collapsing mine in time to avoid having her foot broken.
Some from when she was thrown through the roof of the cathedral by ruin guards.
And another from when her and Bennett climbed a tree and caused it to fall.
It was dark as y/n was finishing up and preparing to check on the food but Aether asked, "What about the ones on your forearms and the one on your neck?"
Y/n briefly panicked, 'I thought I covered them up! Did I forget to?'
"Hm... Paimon thinks y/n looks a little reluctant to talk about those particular scars." Paimon pointed out.
Aether's brows furrowed, "Oh, I'm sorry."
"No need!" y/n laughed with a nervous smile, "Every scar has a story! Some are just better to be left untold."
There was an awkward silence as y/n turned back to the campfire.
She whipped back around with three bowls of soup, e/c eyes bright.
"Now! Let us eat!"
After eating, the trio settled down to go to sleep in their own respective tents.
Paimon's tent was too small for her liking so she shared one with y/n, sleeping in the warm fatui cloak y/n had discarded for her original one.
Aether had gotten up at some point during the evening to use the bathroom but noticed y/n was no longer in her tent.
'That's... odd.'
Y/n wasn't one to get up in the middle of the night. He knew that since he'd camped out with her several times before. She typically slept like a rock.
Aether wandered until he found the girl, sitting at the edge of the hill. She was staring down at the harbor below, seemingly deep in thought.
Aether hadn't even taken a step when she spoke, "Did I wake you up?"
'Right, she has sharp senses-'
"Oh, no! I woke up on my own." Aether assured the girl, walking over to sit beside her, "What are you doing up?"
Y/n glanced at him then muttered, "Could not sleep. That is all."
Aether could tell something else was up. Y/n was rubbing her forearms as if she was trying to comfort herself and she was unusually quiet.
"Is it about the scars on your arms?" Aether asked after a moment and the girl nodded.
"Yeah... sorry about that..."
"It is fine. It just brought back unpleasant memories. That is all." y/n admitted, "Do you want to know where they came from?"
"Well, yeah. But you don't have to tell me if you aren't comfortable with it-" Aether began hesitantly.
"It was the first time I failed to protect someone I loved." y/n murmured, "He was like a father to me I guess. It hit us all pretty hard when he died. Diluc, Kaeya and I."
It took a moment for Aether to remember that y/n indeed had grown up with Diluc and Kaeya, explaining why she knew their father.
"What exactly happened?" Aether asked.
"Well, I did something stupid. That is my simplest explanation!" y/n laughed though it was forced, "In reality, its my fault Mister Crepus died! Had I not jumped on that stupid overgrown lizard, Diluc would not have gone after me and Mister Crepus would not have had to save us!"
Aether was surprised to see tears welling up in the girl's e/c eyes as she dug her nails into her arms, staring at nothing in particular.
"M-Maybe if I had not jumped in like that, he would still be alive. But nye, I was so useless, I nearly got myself killed!" y/n continued then stared at Aether, "I had gotten hurt so much that they had to burn my wounds shut just to keep me alive on the way back to Mondstadt! They could have used that time to help Mister Crepus fend off the Drake. I was too reckless. Kaeya was too late. But Diluc had to deal with the worst of it all-!"
Y/n stopped, letting out a choked sob as she pulled her knees to her chest, "I keep failing! Failing and failing and failing! People I love keep getting hurt and it is all because I am too weak to defend them!"
Aether watched the girl break down completely. It wasn't common for him to see this side of the tough, hostile girl he'd been traveling with.
He gently grabbed each of her hands and moved them from her face so they could make eye contact, "Hey."
Y/n sniffed, looking at him with teary eyes.
Aether gave the girl a smile, "It's okay. It's not your fault. You're not the only one who couldn't protect someone they love."
The h/c haired girl nodded a bit, tears still rolling down her face, "But..."
"No buts. It isn't your fault." Aether said firmly, "None of it is."
Y/n looked down, looking embarrassed as she calmed down before asking with a quiet sniffle, "Uhm... could I have a hug?"
"Of course." Aether chuckled and nearly fell backwards when y/n threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder.
"Thank you." she murmured.
Aether rubbed her head with an affectionate expression, "Anytime."
The two sat in a comfortable silence before Aether asked, "Want to go back?"
"Nye." y/n replied quietly, "I like it here. You give nice hugs. I do not want it to end."
Aether blushed, surprised by the girl's words. He gave nice hugs?
The blond couldn't help but smile, happy that the wild girl enjoyed his embrace.
(I'm so sorry I haven't updated, I went skiing yesterday and I was in bed for most of today with a headache and spent two hours at track practice. I don't know if I'll update tomorrow since I have an important essay to finish.)
(As an apology, have a gang of baby Ushijimas to make you smile)