#i actually had fun with that one sjhcjsj

[fluffy-ami]

“The Art of Mimicry”☄️ (Albether)

A/N: Don't worry bros, I'm still alive and I'm still gonna work on the requests, but when I finished the event my brainrot was stopping me from working properly so have this sikshfsj- (P.S. Yeah I kinda finished this earlier, but I don't feel like being online much, but I also need to post something so-)

Characters: Aether, Albedo (romantic, please don't read if you don't like it)

⚠️ Warning: I don't believe that it was the real Albebe at the end of the event, and the plot is- not helping me- but I wanted something fluffy, so let's just say that Ami wasn't even trying to make things canon, she just wanted fluff and used imagination XD

Summary: “You're hiding something else from me”.

It was so strange.

Albedo had just left. Paimon kept talking about the fruits to Timaeus. It looked like everything came back to normal again... But something was definitely off.

The rest of the day went completely normal for Aether, too. Doing commissions, visiting his Mondstadt friends, cooking, joking around with Paimon - he did nearly everything he usually does. But, for some reason, even after everything that happened in Dragonspine had finally ended, a strange feeling formed in his chest, and it didn't want to go away.

“You are awfully quiet today, you know?” Paimon flew closer to the blonde boy, touching his shoulder gently, as they were walking down the main street, “Is it because of Albedo?.. Mph, actually, you have every right to be mad, because that joke was not funny!”

“Something is wrong here. I- I need to visit him,” the poor traveller finally gave away his worry, resting his hands on the edge of the street fountain and looking at his own reflection in the water.

“Dragonspine? Again?!” Paimon squeaked, “Haven't we had enough already?!”

“You don't have to go with me if you don't want to,” Aether smiled at her weakly, “I just... I just need to figure a few things out. Besides, it can get a little bit personal, and you won't understand some things anywa–”

“Aaagh, I got it, no-one wants to have Paimon around!” she pouted, crossing her arms on her chest, turning away, “Maybe you should make Albedo your new travelling companion, then!”

“Paimooon, you know that's not true,” he giggled, trying to pull her closer for a hug, “Everyone lohoves you!”

“I'M NOT LISTENING TO YOUR LIES!”

“Cohome ooon!..”

°•❄️•°

Cold, darkness, ice, the creaking sound of the old wooden planks on a broken bridge. Again. Being completely alone on this snowy mountain made the traveller feel some kind of sadness indeed, especially at night. Doesn't Albedo feel the same way?

A few minutes passed, Aether was walking through the snow in silence.

...How's he? Why did he leave when he knew that he'd only put himself in danger? Was it even him? And if it wasn't, then what happened to him?...

The flow of thoughts in his head immediately stopped as soon as he saw the light, shyly shining through the tree branches on the left.

Albedo?..

The blonde ran as fast as he could, moving the cold, snowy branches out of his way. And, to Aether's surprise, it was, in fact, Albedo. The familiar figure turned around, a pencil and a sketchbook in his hands. He looked quite surprised. Aether could tell, even if his boyfriend was not showing any expressions on his face most of the time.

The traveller looked around silently. Darkness, a beautifully looking cave, snow, trees, snow, more darkness, and a lamp left on the ground beside a single chair Albedo was sitting on. All of it made him look... even more lonely.

“...Aether? Why are you here? It's pretty late,” the alchemist asked softly, finally breaking the silence.

He was acting more like himself, unlike earlier that day. It's probably him. Everything's fine.

“I was just... worried about you. I wouldn't be able to fall asleep like this anyway, heh...” the blonde smiled shyly, scratching the back of his head, “Are you sketching at that hour? In the mountains, with a single lamp?..”

“I do it sometimes, there's nothing unusual. People relax at night, that's just a different way to relax for me,” Albedo's eyes met Aether's. The traveller was... tired, scared, stressed. The alchemist sighed, standing up.

“How about a little night walk with me, sir Honorary Knight?”

“Ahare you sure I can trust you?” the blonde rolled his eyes playfully.

“We'll see,” he raised his eyebrows a little bit, “Let's get going to my camp, I'll make you some hot tea”.

The alchemist smiled as the traveller gently held at his arm, ready to go.

After a few minutes of walking in now comforting silence passed.

“Aether, I wanted to talk to you”.

“About what?”

Albedo's eyebrows furrowed a little bit in thought.

“Do you still... see a real human in me?”

“What kind of question is that?” the traveller's eyes widened in surprise, “Of course I do! And I still love you, so your place and... way of birth don't really matter to me when it comes to this kind of question. And, of course, you are a human. Would I love someone who can't love me back?”

“Do you think that being able to love is some kind of a special human ability?” Albedo chuckled, “Interesting. Maybe you're right, after all”.

“So, where were you going with this question?

“Well...” the alchemist stopped walking and looked at the night sky full of stars, “Look up there, Aether”.

“The stars are beautiful tonight,” the traveller said, “...So?”

“Do you think that every single little star is unique? Do they all look wonderful and unusual to you?”

Aether examined the small white dots that shone in the blackness of the night. All are practically the same. But his answer surprised Albedo, for the second time that evening.

“From a distance they don't look very different from each other. But who knows how far away they are? Perhaps if you get closer, it turns out that they glow in different colors! Or maybe each of them has something different inside! Or...” the traveller stopped himself, smiling shyly, “I mean, a lot of things can seem the same on the outside. But this does not mean that each star is not unique. That's my opinion”.

The lamp in Albedo's hand revealed the alchemist's thoughtful face.

“Well, that makes sense. But would you be able to distinguish one single star from a thousand others?”

“If I knew this little star like no one else, then I would,” Aether smiled softly, suddenly coming closer and kissing the alchemist's cheek, “That's why I'm here right now, Bedo”.

Of course he understands everything. Aether is not a fool.

“Okay, okay, we'll talk about it later,” Albedo's ears became slightly red as he turned away, remaining calm (or trying to), “My camp is near, come on, I don't want you to catch a cold...”

°•❄️•°

Albedo put the old kettle on to warm up. The pleasant sound of the bubbling water filled the cave, and the change in temperature made the little goosebumps run down the traveler's back, shoulders and arms as he smiled tiredly.

“Oh, also,” the alchemist said, smiling to himself while looking through today's sketches, “How did you manage to get here without Paimon?”

“She was offended, so I had to pay for her lunch at The Good Hunter. She said she would think about forgiving me in the near future,” Aether laughed, sitting on one of the chairs, still shivering lightly.

“Still cold?” Albedo asked.

“Y-yeah, just a little bit. It's going to be okay, it's warm enough here!”

The alchemist thought about something for a few seconds, then took out a folded blanket from the closet, coming behind his boyfriend.

“How about this?” he smiled, covering the traveller's shoulders with it.

“Oh, thank y-ohohohu?!..” Aether flinched, giggling, after he felt someone's sneaky fingers dig into his sides through the blanket, “Behedoho, nohohooo!..”

“Just wanted to help you warm up a little bit,” his boyfriend smiled, stopping after a few seconds to pour some tea for both of them.

“Mehehean...” the traveller hugged himself, still smiling.

Meanwhile, Albedo cleared some space on the table to put down two cups.

“Ohokay, sorry, sorr–”

But it was now his turn to flinch. His boyfriend's voice was suddenly heard right near the alchemist's left ear.

“You're hiding something else from me”.

“Ah!..” Albedo quickly turned around, backing away a little bit, “W-what do you mean?”

“These questions you asked me earlier,” Aether continued, “They have something to do with all this. You didn't visit Mondstadt this day, too. It wasn't you. And, the most interesting part is that you know about it. So, how, and what exactly happened, Albedo?”

The traveller didn't sound worried this time. Albedo could tell that, seeing Aether place his hands on his hips with a smug grin on his face.

“...I don't think that I understand w-what you're talking about,” the alchemist smiled a little bit. A little bit too nervously to not look like a liar, “I would never hide something so important from you”.

“Oh, you wouldn't? Why are you smiling like that right now if it's so important, hm?” the traveller started getting closer to his boyfriend slowly, making Albedo lose his confidence more and more with each Aether's step.

“A-Aehether!..” unable to hold back his quiet giggling, the alchemist immediately ran behind the table as soon as he felt that the other boy was going to pounce on him at any second.

“Yes?~” the traveller was repeating every action after him as if he was a mirror, trapping Albedo behind the table and not letting him escape, changing directions and moving wherever the alchemist tried to run, “Looks like I've mastered the art of mimicry too, huh?~”

This wasn't helping Albedo to stop the nervous giggles from escaping his lips, though. Finally, he decided to make a run for it–

“Oh no, you don't!” Aether's arms swiftly wrapped around the other's waist, pulling him back. And suddenly, Albedo found himself being trapped in between a cave wall and his boyfriend, who was grinning at him mischievously.

“Ahaehether!” he blushed, trying to avoid his gaze, “Wahait!..”

“What exactly are we waiting for, Bedo?~” he giggled in response, blocking the alchemist's final ways for escaping by putting his hands on the wall, on either side of the trapped blonde.

Albedo didn't answer and only bit his lip, trying to hide his smile. The traveller smirked.

“Thahat's what I thought~,” he said, “Well, let's start our little conversation. We need to figure some things out, after all, don't we?”

The alchemist let out a little high-pitched squeak, feeling a pair of hands being placed on his waist gently. And then he flushed a whole new shade of red, because his boyfriend's fingers weren't even moving. Well, embarrassing.

“First of all, you probably thought: "Ah, Aether, but how did you know it wasn't me in Mondstadt today?"” the grinning blonde tried mimicking Albedo's voice (pretty unsuccessfully), which only made the other huff out a quiet laugh, rolling his eyes, “Well, I can answer your question! I figured it out easily, because this–”

“AHA- Wahait!..”

“–shouldn't be able to disappear under any circumstances!” Aether started playfully nuzzling the alchemist's neck, right where his little star was located, while holding his waist gently.

“Eh- ahah..! A-aehether!..” Albedo tried pushing at his boyfriends' shoulders gently, “N-not thihis!..”

“Why not? You don't seem to mind it that much~,” he mumbled into his neck, tickling the alchemist with his breath, “And let's come back to these questions you were asking me earlier...”

“...Lehet's nohot?..” Albedo scrunched up his shoulders, smiling nervously and looking down at the other's hands positioned on his sides, trying to get ready for any possible attacks.

“...and also check if you're my Albedo while I'm at it~,” Aether finished his sentence, taking a good thoughtful look at the trapped alchemist in front of him, “First of all, if I remember correctly, my favourite little star was pretty ticklish riiight here!”

Albedo squealed loudly, bursting into an uncontrollable fit of shy giggles, as soon as his boyfriend's thumbs suddenly started drilling into the alchemist's hips.

“OhOH!.. Oh noHOhooo!...” he whined, hiding his flushed face in Aether's shoulder, while his own hands immediately grabbed the attacker's wrists, but didn't push them away.

“No? Not ticklish?” the traveller hummed, “This means that you're not the real Bedo?~”

“Ahaether, ihit's mehEHEheee!”

“...Oh, yes, this cute little dance you're doing looks familiar,” he giggled along with the alchemist, watching him occasionally jump and wiggle his hips from side to side, “You've got some moves there~”.

“Quiehehet!..” Albedo's ears turned pink at the comment as he wrapped his arms around the traveller's neck. No, it was not a hug. It was just a... a...

“Is that an invitation to continue?~” Aether grinned, and the alchemist whined, flustered, “Will you tell me what happened?”

“...Ihi cahahan't!..”

“Nah, you will soon, and we both know it! Hmmm, my Bedo was also ticklish here...~”

To his horror, Albedo felt two sets of familiar fingers crawl under his coat and start spidering at his sides playfully. Ah, Aether was really happy that he got a good opportunity to mess with him like this, wasn't he?...

“Mph-! Ahahaheheh!.. Aether!..”

“Yes, my little ticklish star? Ready to talk?”

“N-nohooo!..”

“Hm, then maybe a good kitchy-kitchy-coo right there will do–”

“EHEEK–!” the alchemist pressed his elbows to his sides when Aether's fingers started travelling higher, “Nohot thihis, not thihihis!..”

“Not what? Ohhh, yohou mean this?~” the traveller asked teasingly, starting to pinch at the other's lower ribs softly, and absolutely enjoying his shy laughter, full of little hiccups and surprised squeaks whenever a new spot was attacked...

“Awww, someone's got ticklish little riiiibs?~” Aether cooed at the alchemist amusedly, while his hands kept making their way up, “Are these little ribs ticklish? Are they? Are they?~”

“NohoHO tahaHAlking like thahaHAhaat!..” Albedo squeezed his eyes shut, blushing bright red and knowing full well that his boyfriend is fully aware of what baby-talk usually does to him.

“No talking like that?” Aether tilted his head to the side in curiousity, “Why? It's just a few words! Can't our adorable Bedo handle just a few teases?”

“Yehehes!”

How could his partner be so sweet and childish, but also very mean and ruthless at the same time? Good question. Aether planned to start an interrogation, but he was so playful that they both were having a little bit too much fun with this.

“Well...” the traveller smirked, “If you're not going to talk...”

“Nohononono,” Albedo's eyes widened as he smiled nervously, already knowing what's going to come next, “Noho, Aether, no”.

“Yehes, Bedo, yes!” he laughed in response, positioning his fingers on the other's lower ribs once more, “Seems like we're going to need to count someone's riiibs!”

“Noho we're nohooot!” the trapped blonde's squirming renewed as he tried to suppress his own quiet giggles in anticipation.

“Then tell me what happened!”

“I cahan't!.. Nohot yehet!”

“Oh, cohome on, it looks like you really do want me to tickle it out of you!” Aether dug into his boyfriend's first rib softly, ticklishly massaging it with his fingertips, “That's oooone...~”

“Aehether, pleheHEHEEE-” the poor alchemist let out a high-pitched shriek, arching his back out in another direction and trying to avoid these devious fingers, pressing his elbows to his sides. The keyword is ‘trying’ though, because there really was no way of escaping his own fate. Not when Aether needs something from him.

“...Twooo...~”

“NoHOhoho!..” Albedo squealed uncharacteristically as this little game went on.

“Oooh, you better stay still, or else you're gonna make me lose count and we'll have to start aaall over again!...Threeeee...~”

“HeheHEheeeeelp!..”

But, after a minute or so, when Aether got a little bit too close to ten, Albedo finally broke.

“AHAHETHER!.. I'll talk!.. I'll taHAHAhaaalk!.. PleheHEhease!..”

The traveller stopped immediately, looking up with his usual sweet smile and admiring the happy, flushed face of his loved one, who was still giggling like a child with his eyes closed.

“I am ready to listen, Bedo”.

Yes, this nearly sleepless night was full of talking, hot tea and laughter. There really were a lot of things to figure out only for the two of them.

They were alone, where no-one could hear or disturb them. At least, Albedo wanted to think that way.

After a good few hours, Aether finally managed to fall asleep, feeling safe and warm, because Albedo was here. The alchemist looked up at the dark sky full of stars above him, leaning back on the cold cave wall and smiling calmly to himself.

This world is dangerous.

I might be dangerous.

But I will always love you, my little star.

A/N: So, it's like a... Little sudden present for the peoples (XD) who helped me live through the last year with their content (And for the peoples who I'd like to talk to more but I'm shy lol but I still love you):

@danibby @rattypattyy @angivariety @anzynai @yanfei-is-my-career-goals @stopiteatpopcorn @satans-beloved-riv @vanillawrites @valenni @alexielve @tickly-trashcan @wertzunge @ventilicious @lovelynim @nnainai and many others!

(You don't have to reblog this fic or something, I just want you to read this and know that Ami is really happy to be in this community with you and enjoys your works, and she loves you all, even if she's not really active or talkative sometimes 💖🩹✨)

2022 is starting kinda rough for me, but I know that my friends are always here, and I want them to know that:

I THINK ABOUT YOU EVERY DAY GUYS-✨

And Ami wants to keep it that way. I will try to stay active (aaand save) and I hope I'll write a lot more things in the future. Thank you all! Okay-okay I'm done, have a great day! 🍃

(And that's for my irl friend who's probably reading this: Даша, кто прочитал этот фф, тот гей и должен мне шоколадку за моральный ущерб, сосни мою сосну (я теперь перед каждой публикацией буду неловко себя чувствовать шо пипец, но вэнджэнс вилл би майн) 💅✨)