To Mondstadt

"The things we do, the lengths we'll go. We'll get tired of it someday, you and I." Aether muttered. A body of slime condensate was scattered messily around him. Paimon flew around and she stuck her hand through one blob of slime condensate.

"The ring! Paimon found it! Oh, so shiny.... My precious.... Hehehe— No! No bad thoughts!" Paimon rambled to herself. Aether deadpanned at her with an amused grin.

"What were you thinking about Paimon? It Better not be keeping the ring for yourself. " Aether teased her. Paimon waved her hands in front of him in denial.

" No! No! Let's go back to Mona. Before Paimon loses control of her greediness." Paimon flew alongside Aether and they went back to the Inn.

" Found it! Took us three minutes! " Aether waved the ring in front of Mr Zhu.

" That's it, that's the one! I thought it was lost forever!" Mr Zhu took the ring and smiled upon looking over it.

" You actually found it. Not bad. Mr. Zhu, you must take care of such precious things a bit better. You might not be so fortunate next time." Mona scolded him.

" You're absolutely right. How would I have faced my family if I had lost the 253rd ring my mother gave me?" Mr Zhu bowed at them while talking.

" I'm about to bust out so many curse words. The n word might be even in there just for the sake of it." Aether tried not to cut down the man in front of him.

"... ... ..." Mona stared at Mr Zhu with a blank face.

" Ah, let me explain. My family owns three jade mines, and in order to ensure that I would be able to find myself a good wife, my mother had many jade accessories made as heirlooms. I think there might be over five hundred of them." Mr Zhu muttered the last part feeling unsure of the amount of accessories made.

" Then, why would you feel the need to set up an inn here?" Mona asked curiously.

"Well, inheriting the family business too early unavoidably made things boring. Thank you, all the same. Here's the Mora, as agreed. Please take it." Mr Zhu handed them a pouch with 20 thousand Mora in it. Mona snatched it greedily.

"Gladly." She muttered while giggling over the pouch.

"It's like we didn't just do all of the work for you. That's fine. I have more Mora than you have." Aether reassured himself. Mona glared at him.

" A disciple should act like one. How can they steal their master's thunder? " Mona scolded him while hugging the pouch.

*Grrrrrrr*

"Oh...." Mona blushed and looked at her stomach. Aether snickered. He looked at Mr Zhu.

"Bye now. Oh and I'm buying this inn." Aether gave him no chance to reply and he princess carried Mona. They disappeared and reappeared outside Wangshu Inn.

"Wha— Hey put me down this instance!" Mona glared at Aether. Aether smiled.

"What's wrong princess? Don't like to be carried like one?" Aether asked her. Mona huffed.

"Don't call me that!" Mona argued. Aether snickered.

"You're very cute when you're angry, princess." Aether kept on teasing the astrologist. Mona growled.

*Splash!*

Mona's body turned into water and she plopped onto the ground. The water puddle moved away magically from Aether and it reformed into Mona again.

" Hmph! " Mona smirked and flipped her pigtail smugly. Aether rolled his eyes.

" Two can do the same. " Aether said and unsheathed Enma. You know those old samurai executions where the samurai has to kill himself by stabbing a knife in his gut? That's what Aether is doing.

"Ah!" Mona shrieked when Aether stabbed himself in the gut. His body burst into orange flames.

The flames slowly gathered and it slowly molded into a human. The flames slowly turned into smoke as Aether was there again.

"Tadaaaa— Oooof!" Aether felt himself get slapped in the face. He looked at Mona who was clenching her fist and gritting her teeth.

"Never ever! Scare me like that again!" Mona scolded while looking at him with blazing anger in her eyes.

*Grrrrrrrr*

Mona looked at her stomach with a flustered face. "Stop that! I'm scolding him!" Mona scolded her stomach in embarrassment.

"Hihi. Cutie." Aether teased and grabbed her hand and brought her to a table outside the Inn. Mona tried not to die of embarrassment.

"Here. Sit down." Aether pulled out the chair for her. Mona gratefully sat down. Aether then sat down himself.

" Excuse me, what would you like to order?" Yuhua the waitress came over and handed Aether and Mona the menu. Aether looked over the menu for a while and looked back at Yuhua.

"Vegetarian Abalone...Golden Shrimp Balls...Crab Roe Tofu...Salted Pork Soup... Osmanthus Wine.... Yeah we'll order these 5." Aether told the waitress. Mona almost fell off the chair.

"We have.... 2 and a half people here. Are you sure? Isn't that too much food?" Mona tried to change Aether's mind. Paimon appeared and smirked.

" That's not how you count it! Besides, Paimon hasn't even ordered her portion yet! Squirrel Fish, Jueyun Chili Chicken, and Jewelry Soup, please!" Paimon told Yuhua. She nodded and jotted down Paimon's order.

" Sure. Anything else you need? " Yuhua asked them. Mona shakily raised her hand.

" I—I'd just like to ask, how much do the current dishes cost in total?" Mona asked her.

"Um. Twenty Thousand Mora miss." Yuhua answered after counting.

"Then I—I'll just have some vegetarian noodles, please." Mona ordered with a shaky voice. Aether and Paimon giggled. Paimon leaned into Aether's ear.

" She looks like she's about to fall off the chair. " Paimon whispered. Aether nodded.

" Don't worry. I'll pay for everything. She needs the Mora more than I do." Aether decided. Paimon smiled and sat on her chair.

" Alright. A bowl of vegetarian noodles, was it? Please wait a moment, we will serve you shortly." Yuhua nodded and went back to the kitchen to give the order to Smiley Yanxiao, the cook of Wangshu Inn.

"Oh, what will I do.... Every time I get Mora....The stars don't like me...." Mona sulked while looking down. Aether smiled.

" Don't worry princess. I'll pay for you if you want. You'll need the Mora more than I do. " Aether offered to help. Mona looked up at him with an excited face.

" Really! Thank you so much! I mean uhhh.... Thank you my disciple. I will remember this grateful act of yours. " Mona struggled to thank him. Aether smiled and looked into her pale, sea green eyes.

"I stand by my point, you're very cute when you act like this.....

To be continued....