ON EDGE | Xiao X Aether

Chapter 3

For the past few days, Xiao seemed to be much more wary of letting Aether catch him in the kitchen after the brownie incident.

Understandably so.

He could count on both hands how many times he had profusely apologized, saying he didn't mean it and it wasn't a prank despite his obvious reservations about him.

If anything, my constant apologies made Xiao even more eager to avoid me, more than he already does, which makes it even harder to apologize and oh God what if I'm apologizing too much?!!

After much soul-searching, Aether figured that trying to drown his sorrows and embarrassment in the bathtub (which he had been wanting to try, anyway) was a good solution.

Which was what he was doing right now.

He found it was quite nice, thinking over all of his life choices leading him up to this moment while drying out his skin with boiling hot water.

His thoughts were first focused on his part-time job at Venti's café, which he had been doing for years now, then to whether he had forgotten to wash the dishes when he was trying to make eggs (again), then shifted to Xiao.

Xiao.

Despite the staggering embarrassment that clouded over him for the past few days, Aether felt a little more comfortable around Xiao after the (ahem...) brownie incident. And he hoped this wasn't his imagination playing tricks on him, but he thought Xiao did, too.

He sunk deeper into the water, feeling better than before he stepped in.

Yeah, I did almost kill him with my atrocious cooking, but like, that's in the past. It's the thought that matters!

He cringed remembering the moment and violently dunked his head into the water to relieve the sudden resurfacing humiliation, accidentally splashing water everywhere.

Maybe I should do something for him as a way to apologize. He's definitely sick of my constant apology every time he meets my eye.

Hm.

I wonder what his favorite food is?

After a while, his skin started getting all wrinkly and he knew trying to dry his exceptionally long hair would be absolute hell, so Aether stepped out reluctantly after about an hour.

I'm surprised Xiao hasn't knocked on the door and asked why I'm taking so long in here, he thought, as he lifted the next foot out of the tub. Oh well. At least I had my mini me time undisturb—

KNOCK! KNOCK!

"What are you doing in th—?"

"GAH—!"

Surprised by the loud knocks coming from nowhere, Aether slipped on the wet towel on the ground.

A big crash sounded, followed shortly by a very painful-sounding groan.

Xiao wasn't visible, but Aether could feel his judgment pouring through the locked door.

"...What the hell?"

"DON'T ASK!"

• • •

Aether stumbled into history class a minute before the class started (10:59 A.M.), his hair half-dry and his energy levels low. He gotten a few weird looks as he sat down in the back of the lecture hall, but he didn't really care.

He took out his notebook and pencil, and not a second too soon; a tall man with black hair and golden eyes entered the hall from the back door, looking up at everyone with a pleasant smile. As soon as he walked in, the idle chatter ceased immediately.