Chapter Two

Aether stared at the giant stable, asking, "Why didn't you go with the cavalry?"

Kaeya laughed as he opened the stable, saying, "I have a co-captain under me and he went in my stead. I'm currently more needed here."

"Well, I'm glad you stayed," Aether said with a smile.

Kaeya looked at Aether with a smirk. He grabbed the blonde's chin, lifting his head up towards him. "I never knew you were so bold, Traveler. It makes me quite happy."

He peered at Kaeya through his beautiful, thick lashes. Kaeya's heart sped up as they grew closer, "Aether…"

"Neigh!"

"Oh my god! Is that your horse?" Aether asked as he pushed Kaeya away, rushing behind him.

Kaeya watched Aether's retreating back, scratching his head as he sighed. 'Why do I keep getting interrupted?'

Standing right in front of him was a white horse with giant black spots. Aether reached out his hand towards the horse, holding his breath in suspense. The horse looked at him with its giant watery eyes, moving her head to meet the blonde's hand.

Aether exhaled a small breath, touching the mare's soft hair. "Hello, gorgeous…"

A soft smile formed on Kaeye's face, happiness spread throughout his body at Aether's bright eyes. "She seems to really like you."

Aether couldn't help but let out a giddy laugh, "What's her name?"

"Moo-moo."

The mare slammed her hoof on the ground, letting out a loud huff through her nostrils. Aether snorted, patting the horse to calm her down. "Did you really call her that?"

With a shit eating-grin, Kaeya explained, "When I was trying to pick her name, she reminded me of a cow. I jokingly said Moo-moo would be a cute name. She seems to not like it very much, so I made it official. She was not happy with me. Never stopped me, though."

The mare huffed, moving herself away from Kaeya's. Aether scratched the back of her ear, trying to comfort her. "You poor thing, here, have a sugar cube."

Kaeya was giggling to himself, "Ok, ok. Her real name is Lilly and please don't feed her too many of those."

A sugar cube magically appeared in Aether's hand and, doing her best to be gentle, Lilly ate the sugar cube. She swung her tail in happiness.

Aether continued to feed her, asking, "Is it ok if I ride you?"

Kaeya opened up the gate, leading Lilly out. "I'm sure my baby wouldn't mind." Lilly moved her head up and down, seeming to agree with him. "We'll make sure to take good care of you."

Aether observed as Kaeya grabbed a saddle and put it on Lilly. They walked out into a large field. "What's it like riding a horse?"

"It's the… the most freeing I've ever felt… in a very long time."

An image flashed into Aether's mind, his heart ached as he looked into the sky. "I… I understand what you mean."

Kaeya cupped his hand, using his hand gesture Aether to get closer. "Come on, I'll help you up."

"Are you sure I can step on your hand? I won't hurt you, will I?" Aether asked, worried.

"It'll be fine, no need to fret," Kaeya said with a chuckle.

Aether nodded, hesitating a little as he stepped on Kaeya's hand. With a little more help, he finally got on the saddle, taking the reins from his hands. He moved around, trying to get comfortable. "This is kinda strange."

"For beginners, the saddle is pretty uncomfortable, but over time, you'll get used to it."

Kaeya patted Lilly, signaling her to start walking. "Whichever direction you want her to turn, you use your hand to pull the reins in that direction."

"Kaeya, get to the good stuff! I want her to go faster!"

Kaeya gave him a teasing: tsk, tsk. "How can you be impatient? I'm not about to get murdered by your sister because you want to fool around, mister."

Aether cheeks puffed out into a pout, causing Kaeya to stare at his pretty pink lips. His head fell with a sigh. "Ok… Squeeze both of your legs, leaning your upper body forward, and moving the reins about halfway up her neck."

Following Kaeya's instructions, Aether speed started picking up. He closed his eyes as the wind was caressing his face. He took a deep breath, snapping his eyes open.

Kaeya was mesmerized by Aether's bell-like laughter ringing throughout the field. His absolute joy… it was all you could hear. He caught himself joining along, it was infectious.

Aether glanced over with hooded eyes, his braided hair was flying behind him. It felt like he was becoming further and further out of reach. Kaeya wished he could stretch out his hand… and just become connected with the mysterious traveler.

What Kaeya didn't realize was that he was actually lifting his hand, but Aether noticed and led Lilly over. "Did you miss us?"

Kaeya let out a dreamy sigh, "I really did."

Aether patted Lily on the neck, saying, "We missed you, too. Why don't you get on here with me?"

"Of course, but I'm leading. Don't want you to have an accident and kill us both," Kaeya said as he got onto Lily.

The blonde scooted forward, saying, "That's no fun!"

Kaeya sat behind the blonde. His blood started pumping throughout his body, especially to a certain area because of Aether's warm body pressing against him.

"Come on, Kaeya, you're taking too long!"

He let out a strangled cough into his hand as he tried to calm himself down. "As you command, Honorary Knight," Kaeya said in an adoring tone.

Aether was enclosed in other's arms as he was sitting between his powerful legs. The blonde gazed up through his lashes, whispering, "Thank you for this, Kaeya. It means a lot…"

Kaeya looked into Aether's sparkling, golden eyes. His voice was husky as he said, "Anything for you."

Aether pressed his cheek against Kaeya's broad chest. He gently closed his eyes, listening to the other's rapid heartbeat with a smile.

Kaeya stared down at Aether's peaceful expression. "Traveler… I know we've only known each other for a short time, but I think…"

Before Kaeya could finish, a liquid splattered onto his face. While Aether leaned forward, feeling thrilled. "Oh my god! This is wonderful!"

Lily was running through a small patch of water, splashing water all over them. "Lily, what are you doing?" Kaeya exclaimed.

Kaeya pulled the reins to make Lily stop on the grass. He took a deep breath, "Why is the universe so against me?"

Aether bent, hugging Lily around the neck. "You're so awesome, that was so exhilarating!"

"No more running through water, got it, missy!" Kaeya tried to get Lily to move, but she refused to budge. "Come on, sweet girl, get moving." Her ears twitched with a huff. "Looks like she's tired, we should take her back."

The two got off, leading Lily back to the stable. "It seems we got pretty far, it'll probably be dark by the time we get there."

A gurgle came from Aether's stomach, causing him to become bashful. "I'm so-sorry about that…"

Kaeya snorted, "How about I take you to Angel Share to get some food, and some delicious drinks?"

"That sounds great, I've never been."

***

The two walked into a room filled with drunken laughter. Aether could hear rambunctious men telling stories of their adventures. "Wow, Kaeya! It's so lively."

"You're going to love it here, let me order you a drink."

"Kaeya, you know I don't serve alcohol to minors," said a cold voice.

Aether glanced over to see a red-haired man with a high ponytail. "Haha, I can assure you I'm much older than I look."

Kaeya threw his arm around the blonde's neck, saying, "You might not love the owner as much. That's Diluc, former knight. Diluc, this is our great Honorary Knight. "

Aether looked at the grumpy-looking man cleaning a glass. "You used to be a knight?"

Diluc's eyes moved up from his glass, not answering the question. "Do you have an ID?" He noticed how the blonde avoided eye contact, moving up and down on the heel of his feet. "No ID, no alcohol."

"I have a gliding license, does that count?"

He sighed, flickering his eyes, signaling for Aether to place his license down on the table. Seeing his excitement, a corner of Diluc's lips lifted without him realizing.

"I'm also starving, what do you have?" Aether asked, sitting down at the counter.

"Yeah, it's called the Once Upon a Time in Mondstadt. I'll get it cooked up for you soon, in the meantime sip on this," Diluc said, sliding over a purple drink.

Aether sampled the drink, letting out a pleased hum. "Ohh, this is good. Out of all the alcoholic drinks I've ever tasted, this is definitely in my top five."

A burst of inspiration appeared in Diluc's mind. "Thank you. If you would like, you can come by to try out the new drinks before they get released."

"I would love that!"

Kaeya looked back and forth between the two, mouth open in shock. "What!? I beg you to make that for me all the time! Why are you making it for him, but not me? It isn't even on the menu!"

Diluc turned his back to Kaeya, saying, "Sir, I'm going to need you to quiet down or else I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Diluc!"