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“Why do you always make that face when I call your name?”
Xiao looked over at him again with that same look of confusion at the question. “What do you mean?” He asked, lowering the plate of almond tofu in his hands to his lap.
Over the past few weeks, Aether had made it a habit to come to the inn with food for the adeptus whenever he had a minute to spare. Like always, they were on the inn’s top balcony, the yaksha balanced on the railing with his legs crossed while the traveler leaned over it and gazed out at the mountain peaks in the distance. With these moments becoming so commonplace, it had become increasingly easier for him to notice the small changes in Xiao’s expression that gave away his thoughts.
Like how he seemed…put off in the slightest way at the sound of his name. Aether couldn’t quite describe the emotion he saw come over the yaksha’s face. “I dunno, you just make this face when I say your name. But only when I say it,” The blonde sighed.
Not when Zhongli said it, or Ganyu or Verr or even Ningguang. He thought that maybe it had to do with familiarity, except Xiao hadn’t made that face with the Tianquan. Of course, he could have been being courteous, given her status…
A spark of understanding lit up in those amber eyes. “My apologies. I did not intend to upset you,” He said first, having noticed the traveler’s change in demeanor as he brought it up. “It’s just that you pronounce my name strangely.”
“Oh!” This whole time, it was just that he was saying Xiao’s name wrong? Aether almost felt silly for being upset now that he knew the issue. He supposed it was silly of him to think the adeptus was hiding something, considering how unfiltered his words tended to be. “How do you pronounce it?”
“ Xiāo .” When said slowly like that, Aether could kind of hear the difference. “You should say it with ‘ x ’ not ‘ sh ’. The tone is also wrong.”
The traveler was embarrassed to admit that he was confused. Using the wrong consonant, he understood, but… “…the tone?”
Xiao nodded and gave a small hum. “My native language is spoken in different tones to convey meaning. Using the wrong one changes the meaning of the word.”
Ah, that was right; Liyue’s national language was Chinese, and unlike in Mondstadt the locals here had preserved their native tongue well. It had been a shock to travel to the new region, only to find that Teyvat’s common language wasn’t so common anymore. Sure, Aether heard a bit of German at times in Mondstadt, but not to the level that he heard Chinese in Liyue.
And yet, he somehow hadn’t learned a word of it. Or about tones.
“So then what tone should I use?” He asked.
“High and even,” Was Xiao’s short reply.
The advice wasn’t as helpful as he seemed to think it was, but Aether tried to match the yaksha’s earlier example as he said his name experimentally. Doing so only earned him a disapproving shake of the other’s head.
“Do not raise the pitch of your voice. Xiāo , not xiáo .”
Aether was dumbfounded. He gave an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry but those both sounded the same.”
Xiao puffed a breath through his nose at that, and the traveler was surprised to hear the amusement behind it. Aether had been trying to get him to lighten up for awhile with little success, yet struggling to pronounce his name correctly was what got him to nearly laugh? The traveler wasn’t sure whether to feel proud or offended.
The adeptus didn’t directly acknowledge his complaint otherwise, instead simply repeating the proper pronunciation again. Aether parroted it back to him, trying his best to replicate the sound.
“Better,” Said Xiao. “It is not perfect, but it is more recognizable.”
Aether supposed that was as close to praise as he would receive from the yaksha.
Since they were on the topic, there was something else he wanted to bring up as well. “Can I tell you how to pronounce my name properly?”
Xiao’s gaze turned curious, which he took as permission to continue. “It’s Aether . You tend to say it with an ‘ s ’.” He thought it was cute, actually, though he couldn’t just say that to a yaksha’s face. In any case, even if he liked the accent on his name, it didn’t seem fair to let Xiao be oblivious after this conversation.
That hint of confusion in his expression was just as cute. “Say it again,” He requested, his eyes lowering to stare at the traveler’s mouth.
“ Aether .”
“ Aefer .”
“Not quite,” Aether giggled. “It’s pronounced like an f, but you have to bite the tip of your tongue.”
He demonstrated one more time, and as Xiao copied him, grasping the concept yet struggling to make the same sound, Aether realized that this was the most relaxed conversation he had ever had with the adeptus. Even if it was only for a few short moments, he didn’t seem so serious and on guard, so ready to pick up his spear like he always seemed to be.
Maybe Aether would have to bring up topics like these more often.
“It’s not perfect, but it’s more recognizable,” He mocked good-naturedly, enjoying the way confusion and offense swirled in Xiao’s eyes. The traveler was aware that he was perhaps the only person besides the yaksha’s archon that could get away with such a tone.
Aether giggled again. He was feeling bold enough to make a second request. “Teach me your language sometime? And I’ll teach you mine.”
“You speak a second language?” The yaksha asked in turn, rarely one to answer questions directly.
“Of course! I didn’t show up on Teyvat one day suddenly knowing the common language. Paimon taught me.”
Xiao nodded, picking up his treat again in dismissal of their conversation. To someone else, that might have seemed rude (he supposed it was still kind of rude) but Aether knew that this was just the adepti’s version of agreement.
He wondered what kind of teacher the vigilant yaksha would be.