#also im putting forth my crazy hc that while A/ether is an obvious freak S/ethos is a discreet one

[glitterrosesnzz]

intolerable

well,, it's late but at least i got it done faster than i did the last time!! w/anderer b-day fic is a go-

word count: 3k

The Wanderer discreetly separated himself from the rest of the party, harshly rubbing at his nose as he stepped out onto the much quieter balcony. He eyed the flowers that had been tied around the balcony’s rails with distaste, then let out a sigh. 

For the past week people had been preparing for the Dendro Archon’s birthday, stringing up decorations left and right. In the Wanderer’s opinion, they’d severely overdone it. Especially with the flowers. The pollen levels in the city had been intolerable for the past few days, and was borderline unbearable now that Nahida’s actual birthday was in full swing. 

Not that he was going to actively complain about it. The birthday girl herself seemed quite pleased with everything, after all. 

The Wanderer wasn’t having a good time though, that was for sure. 

Hell, it was to the point where he’d even gone through the trouble of sneaking into the Akademiya Nurse’s office and stealing some allergy pills this morning. Normally he wouldn’t bother, as most medications didn’t have a very strong effect on him anymore, but today was just- 

“Hh’IShKiu!!” The sneeze snuck up on him too fast for him to even attempt to stop it. The resulting burst of anemo rustled the nearby decorations, and he quickly stifled the following sneeze into silence. 

“Oh, there you are!” 

The Wanderer stiffened, lowering his hand away from his face as fast as he could. Sethos hurried over to him, stopping just inches away from him. Way too close. The Wanderer took half a step back, not that Sethos seemed to notice. 

“I was wondering where you went.” Sethos said, “Was the party getting too loud for you?” 

“...I simply had my fill of putting up with those annoyances.” 

“Sure sure sure. Well, do you mind if I stay out here with you until you feel like going back in?” 

“And what, exactly, makes you think I plan on going back in there?” 

“...The fact you haven’t left yet?” Sethos tilted his head to the side with an innocent smile on his face. “Normally when you’re really done with people you vanish entirely, but you’re still here, so…” 

…Sometimes the Wanderer really hated how easily Sethos seemed to understand him. He avoided eye contact, looking out at the night sky, and thus missed the moment when Sethos’ expression shifted to one of slight concern. 

“Hey, are you okay?” Sethos asked. 

“...Fine.” The Wanderer glanced back at him, nervousness striking him as he registered the look on Sethos’ face. “Why would you even ask?” 

“You keep uh…” Sethos mimed rubbing at his nose with one hand, and the Wanderer abruptly realized that, oh, he was doing that. 

He lowered his hand away from his face again, but unfortunately that had the consequence of- 

“Hihh-” The Wanderer turned away, tilting his hat down to hide his face better as he- “Hh’nNxtii!! Heh- hiH’xNtiu!! Hh… hHN’xTii!! Hh’INkshiu!!” 

The wind blew strong enough to knock some of the flower decorations off the railing, sending them fluttering down to the ground below. Sethos looked down at them, and then back at the Wanderer, who was still turned away. 

“...Hat Guy, are you-” 

“I’m leaving.” 

“Wh- hey, wait!” 

Sethos reached out to grab him- but was just a moment too late, as the Wanderer activated his halo and took off. 

~

Sitting in the corner of the rafters of the Sanctuary was only a marginally better position than the one the Wanderer had been in before. Only marginally, of course, because he was inside. 

It would’ve been a lot more than marginally better if Lesser Lord Kusanali hadn’t decided to decorate the rafters and ceiling with her oh so beloved plants as well. 

Still, even despite the disgustingly sweet scent of the flowers playing with his nose, the Wanderer stayed in place. There was a reason he hadn’t immediately retreated to his room, after all. 

The sound of the doors opening interrupted his thoughts, and he held his breath as Nahida padded into the Sanctuary. Her arms were filled with candies- and of course, with even more flowers. It was to the point that some of them were falling out of her grip, leaving a small trail of flowers and candies behind her. The Wanderer rolled his eyes, knowing he’d likely be the one responsible for cleaning that up later. 

Sure enough, it did not take her long to notice the rather obvious box that had been placed in the center of the room. Setting her armful of things to the side, she curiously walked up and opened it- and let out an excited little gasp as she pulled out a shiny golden diadem, looking it over and admiring the details before placing it upon her head. 

The Wanderer relaxed slightly. She liked it. Good, he hadn’t spent weeks learning the slightly more complex methods of forging jewelry for nothing. 

(It was a much more delicate process than that of forging a sword, but the Wanderer had found himself liking it nonetheless). 

Of course, he ended up stiffening up again as Nahida started looking around. 

“Wandererrrrr!” She called, “I know you’re in here somewhere!” 

The Wanderer shifted a little, hiding himself deeper in the shadows. 

Of course, that was the exact moment his body decided to rebel against him. 

The tickle that he’d been trying to ignore all day suddenly turned into a more stinging, burning sensation that cut right through the Wanderer’s attempt at keeping his breathing shut down. His breath hitched, and he covered his mouth with his hand, trying to muffle it. 

“Hih… hH-” He managed to stifle the first sneeze into silence, as well as the second. But the third… “Hh’NxtTii!!” 

Shit.

“There you are!” 

Double shit. 

The Wanderer’s eyes snapped open to be faced with Nahida standing on the rafter he was sitting on. …She must’ve teleported up as soon as she heard him… 

Nahida’s excited smile faded as she finally got a good look at him. 

“...Are you okay?” She asked, “You’re crying.” 

The Wanderer blinked- and then hastily wiped the allergic tears off of his face as he stood up. 

“I’m fine.” He hissed, before slightly softening his tone. Only slightly, of course. “You shouldn’t be up here, you’re going to fall, you dunce-” 

He picked her up, fully intending on floating them back down to the ground. 

Big mistake. 

He should’ve known that she would be covered in pollen. 

With his hands full of one heavily pollinated dendro archon, the Wanderer was left with no choice but to snap his head to the side as fast as he could, sneezing away from her. 

“HihH’iKShii!! Hh’Shkii!! HhEh- hEH’IShiu!! ‘Kshiu!!” The burst of anemo that swept through the area was enough to knock down some of the decorations, sending them tumbling to the floor. Nahida herself gripped on to her diadem, making sure it wouldn’t get sent askew as she stared at the Wanderer in shock. 

“Are-” She started, her ears drooping slightly with realization. “Are you allergic?” 

All the plants in the room seemed to visibly wilt slightly at her question, and the Wanderer internally panicked. 

“Snf- ugh, n-noohH- hiH’inKShii!!” Was his very unconvincing answer. Nahida gave him an extremely unimpressed look in response, which would have been way more effective if the Wanderer wasn’t currently holding her up off the ground like a dangling cat. Still, her expression made the Wanderer wince, and he used a moments pause between sneezes to jump off the rafter, using anemo to soften their fall instead of floating down like he had previously intended. Doing this messed up Nahida’s hair more than it was already, but she didn’t bother trying to readjust it, instead continuing to stare at the Wanderer as he set her back down on the ground so that he could free his hands. 

He harshly rubbed at his nose, trying to make the itch go away. 

Nahida was still staring at him. 

Not being able to think of any other response, the Wanderer decided to just stare back, keeping the side of his hand pressed against his nose. 

Nahida crossed her arms. 

The Wanderer did his best to glare at her despite his vision starting to get blurry from unshed allergic tears. 

Nahida was still staring at him- 

The Wanderer unwillingly broke the staring contest as his eyes slipped shut- 

“Hh’Kshii!!” The sneeze slipped out before he could stifle it, and he let out a quiet groan as more decorations got knocked down by the resulting gust of wind. 

“You are allergic.” Nahida said, her tone sounding final. “...So you’re the one who broke into the nurse’s office this morning…” 

“I wasn’t- do you expehH- …expect me to be responsible for every c-crime in Sumer-hH’Shiiu!!” 

“Bless you!” 

The Wanderer shuddered at the feeling of divine dendro energy washing over him. Nahida at least seemed to realize what she’d done if the apologetic look she was giving him was any indication. 

“...Putting possible criminal activities to the side-” She said, “-why didn’t you tell me?” 

The Wanderer looked away from her, refusing to be lured into answering by her wide green puppy dog eyes. Jeez, what was it with green eyed people and pestering him today…

“Hh- hH’inKshii!!” Another string of decorations fell down, and the Wanderer’s shoulders noticeably slumped. Somehow, this small action was all that was needed for Nahida to put two and two together. 

“...Oh.” She said, “...Still, you should’ve just told me- I wouldn’t have minded if there were fewer decorations! I want everyone to have a good time during the Sabzeruz festival- that includes you!” 

…The Wanderer wasn’t really sure what to say in response to that, so despite the look Nahida was giving him, he chose to say nothing at all. 

Instead, he walked past her, absentmindedly patting her on the head as he went, heading towards his room. Nahida let him go. 

~

“Say,” Aether said, a few months later, “-which plants are you allergic to, exactly?” 

The Wanderer, who, before this moment, had been laying on the ground having a fairly normal relaxing time, visibly stiffened. 

“...I’m a puppet, remember?” He deadpanned, “I’m not allergic to anything.” 

“Hm, doubtful.” Aether said, “Especially considering I have two eye-witness accounts stating otherwise.” 

Those fools had snitched on him? The Wanderer silently vowed revenge in his mind. 

“...Ugh. Why does it even matter-” Today's date and how close it was to a certain other date suddenly sprung into his mind, unprompted, and he immediately shot up into a sitting position. “You are not getting me in a flower crown for my birthday.” 

“I was thinking more along the lines of giving you your own personal Sabzeruz festival but-” 

“Absolutely not.” 

“-it wouldn’t exactly be great for the birthday guy to just sneeze all the decorations down, now would it?” 

The Wanderer’s face flushed slightly, which severely downplayed the effects of the glare he leveled at the Traveler. Aether seemed to find this amusing if his smirk was any indication. 

“I’ll ask you again-” He said, “-which plants are you allergic to? …C’mon it’s an easy question- unless… do you not know?” 

The Wanderer… did not deny this. He didn’t confirm it either, but Aether seemed to take his silence as an affirmative answer anyways. 

“Well, that complicates things… I guess an easier question would be if you’ve only reacted in Sumeru? I have some Inazuman plants we could use instead-” 

Aether rummaged through his bag- and then froze as the Wanderer suddenly reached out and grabbed a hold of his wrist, stopping him in his tracks. 

“There’s no need to do anything for my birthday.” The Wanderer said, narrowing his eyes as the glow in Aether’s chest changed from blue to green. “...Don’t you dare-” 

Aether silently raised an eyebrow at him, and then released a wave of dendro energy, causing plants to grow at their feet. The sakura branch he’d been trying to take out of his bag expanded, the petals overflowing from it. 

The Wanderer immediately let go of Aether’s wrist, activating his halo and shooting up into the air, seemingly in an attempt to get out of the pollen’s reach. 

“...I take it by your reaction that plants from Inazuma are also a no-go?” Aether asked, crossing his arms as he stared up at the Wanderer, who seemed to realize that his reaction had inadvertently given him away. 

Instead of attempting to deny it again however, he instead chose to stick his tongue out at him- and got a handful of flowers thrown at his face in response. Aether didn’t even have the grace to look the slightest bit remorseful as the Wanderer’s breath hitched- 

“Hh’XnTii!!” The Wanderer dropped by at least an inch as his halo flickered, not even getting through a second hitching breath before, “Hih’nNxtii!! Hehh- hH’xNtiu!!” 

His halo vanished completely- and it was only due to Aether catching him that he didn’t end up slamming into the ground. 

“Let gohH- go of mehH- hiH’KShhii!! ‘Kshiu!!” 

“Hmm- no.” Aether readjusted his hold on the Wanderer as the other started squirming, somehow completely unaffected by the gusts of anemo. “I think I’ll keep you here until we figure out a solution to this problem.” 

“It wouldn’t- wouldn’t be a problem if- hH’Kshyii!!” 

“Oh that one was cute-” 

“Shut up!” 

“Wait, I’ve got it.” Aether said, “We’ll take you to the Simulanka, the plants there are all fake, after all.” 

“Sure, whatever- hiH’iNkshii!! snf- can you let go of me now?” 

Aether obediently set the Wanderer down. The Wanderer immediately distanced himself from him, attempting to readjust his clothes- which was pointless as another sneeze sent them askew again. He pointedly ignored the way the Traveler laughed at him in response. 

~

“I can’t believe you convinced me to do this.” The Wanderer grumbled as a necklace of paper flowers was placed around his neck. 

“Hey, you said no flower crowns.” Aether said, “You said nothing about flower necklaces.” 

“Aren’t those practically the same thing-” The Wanderer was cut off as Aether suddenly leaned closer, frowning. 

“You feel warmer than usual…” He said, pressing the back of his hand against the Wanderer’s cheek as the Wanderer avoided eye contact with him. “I know you vanished for a while yesterday, you didn’t get into any trouble during that time, did you?” 

“Tch.” The Wanderer knocked Aether’s hand away from him. “There’s nothing wrong with me.” 

“I didn’t say that there was.” Aether looked over the Wanderer’s appearance. “Though, now that you mention it…” 

Aether reached out and snapped his fingers in front of the Wanderer’s face, summoning a flash of light. For a moment the Wanderer’s expression screamed betrayal, before it twisted into something different altogether. 

“Why- hH… hiH- hEH’NxtTii!! Hh’Nxt!!” 

“I knew it.” Aether said, watching as the slightly red-tinted glow faded from the Wanderer’s eyes- which were of course now glaring at him. “You’ve gotten yourself stuck with an elemental reaction again, haven’t you?” 

“...It’s none of your business.” 

“Kinda is actually considering we’re in a world made out of paper and you’ve just shown that you’re a potential fire hazard-” 

“I am not-” The Wanderer paused, thinking through his words, before mumbling, “...Don’t worry about it. I can deal with it.” 

“Nu-uh, absolutely not.” Aether said, “I’m not just gonna let you feel bad on your birthday. C’mere-” 

The Wanderer dodged backwards just before Aether could grab a hold of him. Aether froze for a moment, shocked, before narrowing his eyes at him. 

“So that’s how you want to do this, huh?” He asked, “Fine then.” 

Aether lunged at him, electro crackling over him to give him a speed boost as the Wanderer dodged out of the way again. The Wanderer turned on his heel, taking off running, but- 

“Gah!” The Wanderer ran right into Sethos, who immediately reached out and grabbed onto the Wanderer’s arms to steady him. 

“Woah there-” Sethos said, “...What’s going on? Kusanali sent me back here to check on you two since you were taking so long…” 

“It’s nothing.” The Wanderer hissed out- at the exact same time that Aether said; 

“The Wanderer is swirl-stuck again.” 

Sethos blinked, and the Wanderer glared over his shoulder at Aether, mentally calling him the rudest swears imaginable. 

“...Swi- oh, that’s the elemental thing Kusanali told me about, right?” Sethos asked, inspecting the Wanderer more closely. “You do feel pretty warm… let me guess, pyro?” 

The Wanderer stared down at the ground, mumbling something under his breath that sounded like something along the lines of ‘is it really that noticeable?’. He pointedly did not actually answer Sethos’ question, so Aether decided to do it for him. 

“Pretty sure about it.” He said, “Hold him still there, would you? He needs to get rid of it before he can go to the party-” 

“Wait wait wait!” Sethos looked almost nervous, “Uh, if I remember this correctly- well, I. Do not want to end up burnt-” 

“Oh, don’t worry about that, I’ve got it covered.” Aether said, standing behind the Wanderer, reaching around and placing his hand over the Wanderer’s mouth and nose. “...Literally.” 

The Wanderer himself looked almost resigned, not bothering to try and squirm out of his position, but even so- 

“I’m not going to sneeze.” He said, voice muffled by Aether’s hand, “I don’t even need to.” 

Sethos and Aether shared a Look™. The Wanderer realized just a few seconds too late what the two of them planned to do. 

“Wait, don’t-” 

“Hah-” 

“Heh-” 

“Hihh- hH’kshiu!!” The Wanderer’s body jolted forwards, and it was only due to Sethos and Aether holding him that he didn’t double over. “Hih’iKShhii!!” 

“Look at that, we barely did anything and he’s sneezing already.” Aether said, smirking. Sethos seemed to be having a hard time keeping himself from making a similar expression if the way his lips were twitching was any indication. Not that the Wanderer noticed. 

“Hehh… hH- H’iShHhiu!! hiH’IsHKii!!” Without being able to stifle- with the pyro energy still in him, it was kinda hard to stop. “Hh’shKiu!! Hh- heH’inKshiu!! Ngh… hH’KSHii!! ‘Kshiu!!” 

A few more sneezes tumbled out of him before Aether finally spoke up again. 

“You can let go of him now.” He said, pulling his own hand away as the Wanderer’s breath caught on another hitch. “I don’t sense the pyro energy anymore.” 

Sethos let go of the Wanderer’s arms, and the Wanderer immediately backed away from both of them, putting his own hands over his mouth to catch the tail end of the sneeze fit he’d been forced into. 

“Hh’iKshii!! H’eshii!! Hihh- hEH’iKshiu!!” The trees rustled with the breeze that got sent through them, and the Wanderer sniffled, rubbing his nose against his wrist. 

“...Feeling better now?” Sethos asked, wincing as the Wanderer glared at him. 

“You’re both intolerable.” 

“Well,” Aether said, “You’ll have to tolerate our intolerableness for a bit longer. We still have a party to get to remember? Even if it is a rather small one.” 

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” The Wanderer muttered, “I’m only doing this cause Durin wanted to, okay?” 

“Yeah, sure, whatever you say.”