Stretching your arms you pulled at the sore muscles and breathed in the dirt that littered your body. Your claymore was still new but you were getting better, swinging more easily and becoming more accurate. Turns out, you were much better with lighter weapons, your bow, sword, and dagger worn with use and love.
You had just finished your daily commissions and were ready to hop in the shower and take a quick nap. Over the past year - it’s already been a fucking year? - you had become more efficient, waking up earlier and completing your commissions swiftly. Your skills sharper and getting better everyday.
You strolled back to the Adventurer’s Guild with a skip in your step and a smile on your face. Today was the day! You had finally racked up enough money to rent your own apartment (yours and Ariel’s of course cus the mooch had nowhere else to live). Waking up early in the morning to get the most expensive commissions, because apparently commissions had different amounts of mora attached to them depending on the danger level of the task, and tirelessly throwing yourself into them with your then amateur skills, you finally made enough to move out of the small inn you two had been occupying.
You collected your payment from a smiling Kathryne and continued on your way down the road. You waved to Marjorie and Sara who were both opening up shop as the sun raised towards its peak.
You swung into your room, not caring to be quiet despite Ariel being curled in his loveseat by the window warmed with the sun’s morning rays. You took a quick shower, humming a song from your old world as you ran your calloused fingers through your hair.
Throwing on some soft clothes, ones you had bought from Ms. Blanchard once you had gotten a little more money so you didn’t have to sleep in your adventuring clothes, you jumped on your creaking bed. Out of the corner of your eye, you thought you saw Ariel stir, but your eyes fluttered shut as exhaustion settled deep in your bones. Before succumbing to sleep you felt a gentle kiss be pressed against your forehead.
-
Your system was shocked awake, every nerve on edge, tensed and ready to snap. A deep roar rumbled through the streets and shook the window pane of your room so hard you feared it would break. Jolting up you frantically searched the room through hazy eyes to try and find Ariel, and for a moment you panicked when his white hair was not glittering in the afternoon sun or his clothes were not draped over the velvet seat.
The cry sounded again and it shook you to your core. Tears filled your eyes, only making it harder to see, your throat constricted and you desperately tried to gasp, reaching up to grab your hair. Pulling had always been a bad habit when you were scared, but right now you were too scared to think of it. Tears rolled down your face and you could hardly breathe. Your head was foggy and you felt like it was anytime now that you would pass out. It felt like you were going to die.
Vaguely you realized hands gripped your own and you let out a strangled scream, weakly trying to get away. The hands let go of your wrists and instead went to brush against your hair, lightly scraping their nails against your scalp. Soothing words were whispered in your ear though you could hardly make most of them out. Gasping breaths were taken until you could steady your breathing, something that was followed by vague encouragement.
Eventually you calmed. Your throat undid its death grip and your hands released your hair, cramped from being clenched so tightly. The hands reached to grab your own and ran soothing circles into your knuckles and palms. It was then, when you rubbed the tears from your reddened eyes, that you saw Ariel behind you, holding you to his chest and focused on breathing deeply, something you had unconsciously copied. His eyes were stuck to your joined hands as he rubbed the cramps away.
Feeling even more exhausted than you had this morning you fell back against him. He leaned his head against your own and released your hands, hugging you tightly. The motion felt grounding and the last of the fog in your head finally left.
“What happened?” Ariel murmured against your sullied hair which he smoothed out with light strokes.
“I don’t know.” You whispered back. “Something was loud outside and it woke me up. It sounded dangerous but when I couldn’t find you I guess I started to panic.”
“You don’t have to worry about me, you know?” He laughed lightly. “There’s nothing in this dimension that can hurt me.”
You snuggled into his neck. “I know, I just got frightened when you weren't there.”
You felt a kiss be pressed against your forehead and smiled slightly. “I’ll always be here for you.” You heard him say before both of you fell into comfortable silence.
Your eyes drooped with heaviness, sleep beginning to take you once more. Curling into Ariel, who hadn't moved a muscle, you sighed and let your eyes close for the second time today.
-
The next time you woke up, it was much more calm. Ariel had moved from behind you to beside you so you could spread along the pillows but continued running his fingers through your now puffed hair.
You sat up, soreness littering your fingers. You cracked them and your knuckles before running to Ariel and hugging him tightly. He hugged you back without hesitation.
"What's this for?"
You smiled. "A thank you."
"Ah."
"But what was it that roared?" Your eyebrows furrowed.
Ariel shrugged. "A dragon."
"A DRAGON!?" You bolted up and ran to the window. The roofs of several buildings were damaged, outside furniture was knocked over, and people were scrambling left, right, and center to gather everything. You turned back towards Ariel. "What did it look like?"
"Blue, spikes coming out of its back, lots of wings… dragon stuff."
"Oh my God Ariel, that's Dvalin! This means the storyline is starting soon!"
Ariel only raised his eyebrow. “Okay?”
“Oh you suck!” You waved him away and started getting dressed. “I should probably go out and help. We had stuff to do today but it can wait til tomorrow.” You turned to him. “Can you fly around and tell me if anyone got hurt that hasn’t been found yet?”
He nodded and the two of you left your room, heading towards the city square to see the damage caused by the dragon. Once you arrived, Ariel flew off to do his quick round and you began asking everyone how much damage was done and if the needed any help. Some needed help collecting things that had been blown away from their stands and others needed help pushing over tipped furniture and signs.
You spotted Kaeya, Jean, and Amber, two of which you’ve only heard about in passing and met briefly. They were doing the same thing you were, with Jean directing some lower knights to scour the rest of the city for damages.
Ariel had flown back by know, informing you that no one had been trapped under any debris or had an injury they couldn’t deal with on their own. Most people had minor injuries like scraps and bruises but the most damage was down too the houses. It seems Dvalin didn’t even stay long for his first visit, only flying around the city with threatening roars and a few harsh winds before taking his leave.
It surprised you that nothing more happened, expecting something else or perhaps something more destructive. You guess this shows the semblance of that kind dragon that was still in there deep down, being corrupted by the Abyss for their evil plans.
It made you sad that the dragon was going through so much pain and sadness but you were glad that the people of Mondstadt were mostly safe. You were worried about his attacks closer to the beginning or the game though, where he had been creating more destructive winds, bringing Hilichurls closer to the city and putting the knights in overtime. You’d be happy to help, but any of the people who lived in Springvale, which was just outside the city, was never expanded on in the game and you feared that they had been damaged a lot more than the city itself.
As you absentmindedly helped fix up their storefronts, you thought about what to do. The people just outside the city were obviously at risk to more damages and monsters, being in such an open area, but the city received the brunt of Dvalin’s corrupted anger.
You could only hope Venti came soon, instead of being excited to meet, now only worried for the safety of the citizens. In the meantime you'd train harder and take more commissions around Springvale in order to check up on the quiet village.
-
By the time everything was sorted out, the sun started to set. Sweat was dripping from your brow and you knew you would have to take another shower. Your arms had a slight burn in them from lugging around furniture and stray debris from the road.
This whole situation was worrying. You didn’t know how long Dvalin would affect Mondstadt, you didn’t know when Venti was gonna show up, you didn’t know when Aether was gonna show up, everything was stressing you out.
Both the Cat’s Tail and the Angel’s Share were closed, since both the owners were helping with cleanup, so you couldn’t even get a drink to calm your mind, though that was probably a good thing. That would form a real bad habit, real quick.
So instead you met up with Ariel and walked the road back to the inn while discussing everything that happened with Dvalin and how dangerous it might get. Ariel expressed his worry for you when you said you wanted to consistently check on Springvale now that the dragon had shown up. He wanted to go with you and though you said he didn’t have to, he insisted. You smiled and shook your head at him, it wasn’t surprising.
For the last year, with your great increase in skill with your bow (experience does that for a person), sword, claymore, and hand-to-hand had solidified yourself in Ariel’s mind as someone capable of defending themselves in this crazy world. He no longer joined you one your daily commissions, choosing to sleep the rest of the early morning, and only joined your training when he had something specific to teach you, otherwise choosing to leave you with Diluc and Kaeya who were good teachers themselves.
With this new development however, Ariel was sure not to leave your side for a while. Both you and Ariel knew you couldn’t take a dragon (yet at least but that might sound a little to hopeful) and the fact that it could show up anywhere wherever it wants was concerning to him, especially after your freak out.
You had tried to assure him that you had simply woken up startled and dazed, and being unable to find him immediately scared you greatly, as you thought he was hurt, but he was still worried. You appreciated his concern and held out your hand for him to take. He gripped it tightly, pulling you next to him. You laughed and tucked yourself against his side as you guys continued down the rocky street.
The breeze cooled your body, relieving the soreness from your muscles and giving you enough energy to make it back in one piece, shower, and flop into bed. However, before you flopped like you normally did, you noticed another on your wonderful scratchiness.
Ariel laid on the left side of the bed, which was fine because you always preferred to sleep on the right, with his back against the wall and his ankles crossed, hands resting gently in his lap. Not thinking much of it, you crawled over him and buried yourself in the pillows, turning over so that you could lay your head on his lap. He started running your fingers through your hair, just like he did this morning.
"I was scared this morning." He whispered. You looked up to his face scrunched, as if the admission was painful to even think about. "I was so worried about you."
You reached out and grabbed the hand that wasn't gliding through your hair, a gesture you now realized, at this moment at least, was more for him than it was for you. You squeezed his hand between both your own, absentmindedly rubbing his knuckles with the pads of your fingers. "I was scared too."
You swallowed. "Hearing Dvalin's cry in the game was so different. It sounds so much more painful and loud." You huffed a laugh. "Goddamn he was loud."
Ariel chuckled softly and you smiled. "Go to sleep, you said we had important things to do today. We'll have to do them tomorrow now."
"Oh yeah." You yawned, stretching your legs till they hit the edge of the bed. "Yeah we're gonna, we're gonna hafta to that tomorrow."
You were out before another crossed your mind for the third time today.
a/n - This is still a x various I swear lmao. Ariel is becoming much more of a main character than I thought he would be.