[Four stills. Maybe that's the difference. Four has only ever lived his life in small, contained environments, confined either to his accommodations in Peil's laboratories or to the space station of Asticassia. After he'd died he'd been brought here, where he rarely leaves his house. He isn't at all much of a traveler.
Is such a thing very important to Aether?]
...It sounds lonely. It's good you had someone with you.
[Aether still hasn't told Four much about his sister. Back when Aether had all his memories dumped into him--he'd only wanted Four to stay with him, and Four had. But Four still wants to know as much as Aether will tell him.]
[Maybe it's not the important part, but it's a part that makes him feel like he gets Vanitas. They were both travelling from place to place, with no home, no living relatives except for one.
At Four's words, Aether considers looking at him, but he doesn't in the end. Instead he brings his hands together.]
I'm glad, too. I miss my sister a lot... Lumine is... very strong and stubborn. I'm sure we'll meet again.
[And then maybe they can finally have a proper conversation and explain everything to each other. He wishes for nothing more.]
We've been travelling for many years... [He continues.] Thousands... No, far more than that. I don't really remember. I stopped counting at some point. We travelled from planet to planet until we eventually landed on Teyvat.
[This is news to Four--he hadn't realized Aether was so old. In comparison, Four's own span of memory is barely a blip--he can only remember three or so years, though he knows he's been alive for longer than that. Four can scarcely comprehend having thousands of years to experience life.]
I don't usually talk about it. [He tries to laugh it off.] But... [He finally looks at Four.] I think you should know. [He's not sure what his real goal is: opening up? Telling Four the truth so he may understand that having feelings for this traveler is complicated in so many ways?
Aether sighs.]
The place I came from... no longer exists. It's just me and my sister now. [Everybody else is no longer alive.] We're a long living species and the technology used on our spaceships allowed us to sleep for hundreds or even thousands of years between visits to new planets. Maybe I was actually asleep far longer than I was ever awake. [He smiles like he's just said a joke, but his eyes are not laughing.]
[Four doesn't seem to take it as a joke either, not that he does with anything. He certainly isn't working anymore, though, instead softly observing Aether.]
[While he doesn't think the question is unreasonable, it makes him lapse in silence at first. Eventually, he calmly responds:]
The spaceship we arrived in crashed and when we tried to escape Teyvat, we were caught by an unknown god and imprisoned. I woke up 500 years later and my sister was nowhere to be found.
[So it wasn't really his choice, not at first.]
But... as I travelled through the world I discovered many beautiful places and met many amazing people...
[After saying that, Aether falls silent once more.
His journey wasn't easy: it was lonely. He got forced into helping many times, sometimes receiving not even a small "thank you" in return, following leads that got him nowhere, trying to find his sister who refused to tell him the entire truth.
And yet... He presses a hand over his heart. He has so many memories that fill his chest with warmth. His expressions softens when he thinks about it.]
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Is such a thing very important to Aether?]
...It sounds lonely. It's good you had someone with you.
[Aether still hasn't told Four much about his sister. Back when Aether had all his memories dumped into him--he'd only wanted Four to stay with him, and Four had. But Four still wants to know as much as Aether will tell him.]
no subject
At Four's words, Aether considers looking at him, but he doesn't in the end. Instead he brings his hands together.]
I'm glad, too. I miss my sister a lot... Lumine is... very strong and stubborn. I'm sure we'll meet again.
[And then maybe they can finally have a proper conversation and explain everything to each other. He wishes for nothing more.]
We've been travelling for many years... [He continues.] Thousands... No, far more than that. I don't really remember. I stopped counting at some point. We travelled from planet to planet until we eventually landed on Teyvat.
no subject
[This is news to Four--he hadn't realized Aether was so old. In comparison, Four's own span of memory is barely a blip--he can only remember three or so years, though he knows he's been alive for longer than that. Four can scarcely comprehend having thousands of years to experience life.]
Why? What happened to where you came from?
no subject
I don't usually talk about it. [He tries to laugh it off.] But... [He finally looks at Four.] I think you should know. [He's not sure what his real goal is: opening up? Telling Four the truth so he may understand that having feelings for this traveler is complicated in so many ways?
Aether sighs.]
The place I came from... no longer exists. It's just me and my sister now. [Everybody else is no longer alive.] We're a long living species and the technology used on our spaceships allowed us to sleep for hundreds or even thousands of years between visits to new planets. Maybe I was actually asleep far longer than I was ever awake. [He smiles like he's just said a joke, but his eyes are not laughing.]
no subject
What was it about Teyvat that made you stay?
no subject
The spaceship we arrived in crashed and when we tried to escape Teyvat, we were caught by an unknown god and imprisoned. I woke up 500 years later and my sister was nowhere to be found.
[So it wasn't really his choice, not at first.]
But... as I travelled through the world I discovered many beautiful places and met many amazing people...
[After saying that, Aether falls silent once more.
His journey wasn't easy: it was lonely. He got forced into helping many times, sometimes receiving not even a small "thank you" in return, following leads that got him nowhere, trying to find his sister who refused to tell him the entire truth.
And yet... He presses a hand over his heart. He has so many memories that fill his chest with warmth. His expressions softens when he thinks about it.]