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"Daddy?"
Xiao hums.
"Can you tell Qiqi a bedtime story?"
His fingers pause where they carded through lilac hair. "A bedtime story?"
"Mm. Papa usually tells one when he tucks Qiqi into bed."
Xiao brushes a stray lock away from the little girl's face. "Papa is much better at telling bedtime stories than I am."
The look of disappointment that greets him nearly has him going back on his words. "But Qiqi doesn't usually remember anyway. Qiqi just likes hearing Papa and Daddy's voices before bed."
It would be a crime to not comply.
"Very well," he clears his throat, "once, in the land of Liyue, there lived... a cat."
The girl blinks. "A cat?"
"A cat."
She shifts in her blanket. "What’s it like?"
"The cat had black fur… and an unfriendly face. He hissed at everyone who tried to pet him, and always preferred to be alone because he was afraid of hurting people with his sharp claws."
"Did he have no friends?"
"He did, once," Xiao manages, "but most of them are—were gone."
"Didn't he ever feel lonely?"
"He was lonely. And… he was tired from kill—catching mice everyday. To make things worse, he had an injury as well."
"Qiqi could have healed him. Dr. Baizhu taught Qiqi how to take care of animals, too."
Xiao can’t help but smile at her determination and benevolence. Just like his father, he muses. "Yes, Qiqi could have."
"What happened to the cat?"
"He lived in the pain of his injury everyday until one day, came a... a traveling prince from a faraway land."
"A faraway land like Papa's?"
Forgetful as she is, their daughter is still quite clever. "Yes, Qiqi. Exactly like Papa's."
The girl snuggles deeper into her blanket. "And then?"
"The cat felt that the prince was nothing like he had ever known before. He piqued his interest, so the cat started watching him. Still, everytime the prince tried to pet the cat, he ran away.
"One day, the prince was attacked. He was strong, but the monster he fought against was even stronger, and when the monster knocked the prince down, the cat knew he had to help. He jumped onto the monster and gave it a scratch, and while it was distracted, the prince landed the defeating blow.
"After the enemy ran away, the prince thanked the cat for his help. This time, when he tried to pet him, the cat held back from running away, and found that he liked the prince more than he thought.”
“Finally,” Xiao registers their daughter’s mumble, her voice thick with drowsiness.
He smiles. “Indeed, it’s about time he realized.
"Well, the prince picked him up and said, 'I'm going to take good care of you. I'm going to give you home, food, and all the love a cat will ever need. I'm going to tend your wounds and give you a family to call your own.' And so, he did. From then on, the cat was always by the prince's side to accompany him in his travels."
Qiqi gives a great, big yawn. "Are they still together?"
As her eyes droop dangerously, Xiao brushes her fringes aside. "Yes. They're still together. They'll always be together, because where the prince goes, the cat follows."
She hums with content, clearly drifting off. "You should tell Qiqi more stories, Daddy."
"Mm," Xiao gives into the urge to kiss her forehead, "goodnight, my dear Qiqi."
Moonlight pours into the room when Xiao puts out the night lamp. As he opens the door, he steals one more glance at their child, fast asleep in the home they built, and makes his exit, shutting the door behind him with a click.
His heart drops to his stomach.
Leaning on the wall outside Qiqi's room is none other than his husband, kind eyes belying mischief and fond smile masking knowledge. "This cat sounds familiar."
Xiao freezes under watchful amber eyes.
He gives a small giggle, presumably from the sight of Xiao, a deer in the headlights. The teasing lilt in his expression subsiding, Aether detaches himself from the wall to approach the yaksha.
"You should give yourself more credit,” the traveler stops, leaning on him when their elbows touch, “that was the best bedtime story she's been told."
Within their distance, Aether’s scent is intoxicating as ever. Xiao wills himself out of the trance it put him into. "How was the gathering?"
"Smoother than expected. That's what happens when Grand Master Varka leads the knights, apparently," he breathes out a laugh that has Xiao’s heart in a vice grip.
Through the silence that follows, he hears the blond's contemplation.
"Xiao, is that how you think of me?" Aether’s hands cradle the sides of Xiao’s face, no doubt admiring the Dendrobium blooming on his cheeks.
"I'm well aware it's not the best metaphor I could have gone with."
Aether smiles, eyes twinkling with millions of golden constellations. "It was perfect."
Xiao grunts as he's brought down for a kiss that lands on the purple mark on his forehead.
"You're sweet." In their Serenitea Pot, the sun rises not from the East, but from the joy in Aether's beaming smile. "You make me feel so lucky."
Xiao's heart drops to his stomach once more for entirely different reasons, and he buries his face into Aether's palm to reiterate with a kiss on his fingers. "Imagine how you make me feel."
The way Aether's voice comes out all choked up tugs on his heartstrings. "You—"
"Papa?"
Their daughter is holding the door handle, face drowsy and eyes barely open.
"Qiqi," Aether lets go of his face in favor of picking up the little girl and peppering kisses to her temple, gently rocking her small figure in his hold. "I'm sorry, Dear. Did I wake you?"
She nuzzles into Aether's neck and shakes her head. "Qiqi heard Papa's voice. Missed Papa."
Aether's laughter chimes in the hallway like the bells of their wedding day. "Sweetheart, I missed you, too, but I was only gone for a bit."
Qiqi's tiny hand reaches out to Xiao, and the yaksha finds himself unable to fight the urge of letting her hold onto his fingers. "Daddy told me a story today."
"Is that so?" Aether flashes him a teasing smile to which Xiao scoffs, pulling his two loves into his arms. "What’s it about?"
"The story of how Daddy met Papa."