Chapter Text
It was a beautiful sunny morning in the forests of Mondstadt. The epic duo of the golden haired traveler and the silver flying fairy... Sprite... Chibi thing... Travel guide traveled through the trees in search of monsters to defeat and animals to hunt. All in the name of freedom, glory, and a little bit of Mora.
"Aetherrrr, Paimon's hungryyyyy," Paimon whined not for the first time in the whole day. Where most days Paimon confidently flew next to Aether in a straight line, instead she wobbly bobbed in the air a few paces behind him.
Aether looked back at her, tiredly sighed, and put a palm to his forehead. "Paimon, I cooked enough snacks to last you an entire week. Don't tell me you've already finished them all," he chastised her.
At his words, Paimon guiltily averted her eyes and tucked her hands behind her back. She chuckled sheepishly, "Hehehe..."
At this Aether frowned. "I knew it!" He declared and pointed a finger at her accusingly. Paimon shrieked in horror like the gluttonous little criminal that she was.
"I - It's not Paimon's fault your cooking is so delicious!!!" She adamantly defended herself all the while she stomped her tiny foot on thin air.
"Oh sure. Blame it all on the chef huh, and definitely not on your lack of self-control," Aether drawled as he rolled his eyes. He reached out to pinch her chubby little cheeks and gently but firmly stretched them out like a piece of kneaded dough.
"Stop that!" Paimon protested. Alas, she was like a greedy little fly caught in a venus flytrap's mouth. "Paimon can't help it!" She cried.
"What are you? Three years old?" Aether snarked. Then a shock of realization hit him like a cold bucket of water.
"Wait... Paimon. How old are you again?" He asked her.
Paimon gingerly patted her sore and reddish freshly pinched cheeks. "Paimon dunno..." She mumbled. Then with tiny tears in her eyes, she glared at Aether accusingly. She righteously pointed at him and declared, "MEANIE!"
In a surge of newfound confidence, Paimon rushed towards Aether and began to...
Pull at his hair...
Strike with all her might (of which there was none)...
Bite at his skin...
And loudly whine in his ear, "MEANIE! MEANIE! MEANIE!"
Now, it was Aether's turn to shriek in horror as Paimon's furious little assault on his person quickly undid his meticulous appearance.
"Stop it, Paimon! You're ruining my hair!"
Paimon furiously gnawed on his braid, and Aether knew that if he didn't want to stink of saliva and like a baby's teething toy for the rest of the day he'd have to take a quick dip in one of Mondstadt's many rivers.
Thankfully Paimon did stop chewing on him, but it didn't stop her from crying in front of his face. "Y - you're so mean, Aether! Is this how heroes are supposed to act like, huh?! Like a total jerk!!!"
Aether only stared back at her unimpressed. You were the one who wanted me to fight Stormterror, he thought. I just wanted the quickest way to find Lumine.
He hated to say it, but Aether had quickly grown attached to this... Fairy? Guide? Flying little girl? As if a part of him was looking to replace the hole Lumine's kidnapping left in his heart.
[But she's not Lumine. You know that.] Something dark within him spoke.
I know. Aether replied to it as he looked at Paimon's teary face.
"Why are you looking at Paimon like that? Hey! Say something!"
Aether averted his gaze for a moment, and then he composed himself.
"Alright, alright. I give. Let's take a snack break for now, Paimon," Aether told her with a defeated smile.
And just like that, the mention of food drove all of Paimon's worries away. A bright smile lit her whole face and she flew several dizzying circles above Aether's head. Paimon giggled and greedily rubbed her little hands together. "Ohhhh, can we have those pancakes? Like the ones Noelle made us last time? Oh! What if we added wolfhooks and valberries to it!" She babbled with a thousand glittering stars in her eyes. And every single star was probably hungry for at least ten pancakes.
That probably amounted to about... Aether didn't know. A gazillion pancakes?
Either way. Paimon was hungry. (And so was Aether in truth.)
Aether chuckled to himself as Paimon began to list a dozen pancake combinations. And for as much as he ridiculed her, Paimon's tastebuds were impeccable.
Good to know that the same tactic works on little sisters everywhere huh, Aether thought to himself.
Hm?
When did he start thinking of Paimon as his little sister?
“But first, let me take a bath will you?”