Hey, I can finally see again to what passage in a chapter people are referring to when commenting (sometimes at least)! Now they only need to fix notifications...
Slowly, you open up your eyes. The warm sunlight shines though the window, illuminating the entire room. Every piece of furniture is still exactly where you remember it to be. This is your room - your home. And you are sitting in the middle of your old bed with your back leaning onto something. You take a deep breath, letting the tranquility of the moment sink in.
“It’s nice in here, isn’t it?”, says a voice behind you.
So it is a person's back you are leaning onto. Huh, their voice feels so familiar, yet you can’t remember where you have heard it before. For some reason you can’t turn around to check either. You are only able to move your hands, mouth and eyes. “Am I dead?”
The stranger chuckles. “No, no. Sadly not.”
“Excuse me?”
“So, what do you think of your journey so far?”
“I-“, you sigh, “Who are you anyways?”
“Answering questions with more questions. An old classic. I think we both could play this game for quite a long time~” Despite the amusement in their voice, you get the feeling that they are very tired deep down. “But as a good citizen I will answer you~ I am nobody.”
“What about that is an answer?”
“There is not much more to say about me. I don’t really exist.”
“So you are just a part of my dream?”
The person behind you hums confirming. “Something like that. So, how do you find your travels so far? Your life in a fantasy world?”
“Both exiting and exhausting, I guess… It is nice to see all those places and people in person, to be a part of the story, but every two seconds something seems to go wrong. Why do you ask?”
“No reason at all. Have you ever thought about relaxing a bit? Simply having fun without caring about all the things that are out of your control?”
“What if I mess up the story beyond repair though? It‘s not like I can just say ‘fúck it, I am gonna join the Fatui’ or something like that.”
“Why not?”
You sigh. “Alright, you are certainly not my voice of reason.”
“Probably not. Still, you should try to enjoy your life some more. You only have one after all.” The stranger chuckles again. “Anyways, I will leave you alone now. It’s not like I belong here.”
Your feel the weight on your mattress trying to move away, but you grab their hand with yours. “Wait! …Why don’t you stay a bit longer?”
You feel their back fall back against yours. “Getting emotional now?”
“No… Something inside of me just tells me that you should stay.” Firmly, you intertwine your fingers with theirs.
They in exchange let out a deep sigh. “If dear (Y/N) says so, little poor me can’t say anything against it, can't I? Then let’s just wait till you wake up again.”
Nodding as best as you can, you wait with them in pleasant silence until your have to go back to reality.
“-promise me not to tell them.”
“Of course not.”
People’s voices are echoing around you. Feeling rather stiff, you stretch your limbs as far as it is possible without moving too much. Relief spreads through your muscles. It feels as if you just woke up from the perfect afternoon nap.
The voices around you stop talking as they have noticed you moving. Steps can be heard coming towards you. Someone’s hand gently bushes over your left cheek. “(Y/N). You’re awake.” Slowly, you open up your eyes. The person hunching over you is no other than Aether. He looks happy and pulls you into an embrace where your face rests on his chest while his chin lays on top of your head. His body warmth is pleasant to you. “How do you feel?”
“Alright I guess… How long have I been unconscious?”
“Long enough for me to take care of that apparatus and carry you out of the Chasm. You’re safe now, don’t worry.” Aether strokes the back of your head.
“And Dainsleif?”
Not too far away, a different voice speaks up. “I am still here as well. A bit worn out from before, but alive nevertheless.”
Removing yourself from Aether’s hug, you take a look at Dainsleif. If your condition can be described as the aftermath of a good afternoon nap than his is closer to someone who just lived through a stressful 48-hour shift – or at least he looks like it. Despite this, he manages to offer you a decent smile. While you’re already at it, you also take a moment to observe your surroundings. Like Aether said, you have left the caves of the Chasm and are now on its surface. It has a totally different vibe to it than the underground, but it is still beautiful. If it wasn’t a restricted area you believe it would be a popular tourist spot thanks to its unique geological structure.
Interrupting your moment of silent amazement, something nuzzles up against your cheek. Something pink, round and squishable.
“Good morning to you too Rosa.” You smile at your Seelie.
“See, I told you it would show up eventually. It is (Y/N)'s pet after all.”, says Dainsleif.
Turning towards him, you tilt your head confused. “What do you mean?”
“When we wanted to leave the Chasm we couldn’t find your Seelie. Aether panicked a bit as he feared he lost your beloved companion and that you would be sad because of it.”
Slightly embarrassed, Aether scratches the back of his head. “Well, I know how much it means to you. But now that it is back, I don’t have to worry about it anymore. Anyways - different topic. (Y/N), could you tell me why you didn’t tell me that you are cursed beforehand? This is exactly the type of information you should share with me. Especially if we are dealing with a machine that in the end nearly choked you to death. It’s not as if I would get mad at you or something for being from Khaenri’ah…”
“Cursed? Oh right, I didn’t fall unconscious for no reason... Sorry to disappoint you though, I am not Khaenri’ahn – in fact I’ve never even been there before – and I didn’t know that I am cursed either. I feel normal too, so I wonder when that happened… Will I… die from this?” Worried, you stare at your hands, imagining them as ugly Hilichurl claws.
Dain puts his gloved hands over yours. “No, I can’t say for sure, but I don’t believe that whichever curse has befallen you is the same as mine. You didn’t react well to the attempted removal of it, yes, but you weren’t writhing your body in my arms because you were in pain, but because your lungs – and maybe other organs too – were failing to do their job. This difference should be enough to give us hope that you won’t die the same way as I will one day.”
“But they could die in a different way.”, concludes Aether dryly.
Dainsleif nods. “Yes, this is exactly why I will leave your group for now. There are things which… I need to investigate further. For (Y/N)’s sake and- … Anyways, Aether I trust you to take good care of them without doing something foolish?”
“Of course.”
“-And I will take care of the foolish-part.”, you add, “Could you promise me in exchange that you will also take care of yourself, Dain?”
“I will try to. But before I leave - (Y/N), could I speak with you for a moment? Alone. It won’t take long.” Dainsleif is speaking to you, but his eyes are looking at Aether.
Aether sighs. “Fine. I will wait down there.” Together with Paimon, he takes the steep path down.
“So what is it that you wanted to talk with me about?”
“Nothing special. I just wanted to properly wish you farewell.” Dain uses his right hand to pat your head. “…I also wanted to tell you that you shouldn’t be so harsh on yourself. Even if things don’t go the way you wanted them to go, it won’t be the end of the world – and if the end of the world would come, it won’t be your fault either. Life can be cruel sometimes, but I still want you to enjoy it like a normal human being, so that you won’t have any regrets in the end.”
Your eyes widen a bit from surprise. “You’re now the second person to tell me this today. …Well, the first was just a dream, but interesting nevertheless.”
“Maybe you should take it into consideration if even your sub-consciousness is telling you it. …I on the other hand should get going now…” Dainsleif says this, though he can’t move himself to actually go. Instead he just stares at you with his right hand still on top of your head. Before you can ask him what’s wrong, his hand slides lower to your left cheek, cupping it gently. Without saying a word, his face moves closer to yours. He stops mere millimeters before his lips can touch yours. You can literally feel his warm breath on your skin. For what appears like an eternity, Dain seems to debate with himself if he should close the distance or not. In the end, guilt washes over the longing in his eyes and he settles for a simple kiss on your forehead. He quickly moves away and starts to walk the opposite direction of the one Aether went. “I really should get going now before I overthink this again.” Not looking back, the former knight disappears behind the stony walls of the Chasm.
It takes your brain a moment to get back to functioning normally. Once it does, you dumbfounded turn around to Rosa who has been floating next to you this entire time. “Did Dainsleif just try to kiss me?”
As a response Rosa only curls its ears to form a little heart with them.
I hope you enjoyed reading and stay healthy!
Sumeru here we come~