Chapter Text
The metropolis that is Liyue Harbour truly is the Pearl of the Orient, to which traders flock and dock, for a chance at material success... or abject failure. From Snezhnayans to Sumerans, you can practically find people from all over Teyvat in this ancient city.
What you will not necessarily be able to find, however, are bards. And yet, should anyone stop whatever they may be doing and go about the Northern Wharfs of the Liyue Harbour, you would see one, clad in Mondstadt-style, green clothing. Should you ask him his name, he would say, "Venti!"
But, this Venti is hardly amused nor enthused. In fact, Barbatos-in-disguise is somewhat annoyed. True, he'll freely admit he orchestrated all of... whatever he's doing for his own amusement, which means it's all his fault, but can't things go ever so slightly easier?
What did he do? What did he do?! "Swindle Diluc, of course!", or so he would answer should he wish to. Though, that would be an understatement, since Venti had, so far, done: a calculated shift of winds here, a spell of rain there, and a wet and sickly Opperhoofd a.k.a. Chief of the Dawn East-Teyvat Company as well... plus a dozen bottles of His alleged breath (seriously, what's Diluc going to use them for, anyway?), and now he's the Acting Opperhoofd of Diluc's Inazuman company!
At this point, He'd already been in Inazuma upon His High Winds, but being a businessman by trade, Diluc demands that the next quarter's batch of goods must be shipped to Ritou no matter what it takes, despite the Dawn East-Teyvat's chartered ship having departed Dornman Port days ago! Which was how Venti got here: milling around an inn in northern Liyue Harbour, with crates of goods (and wine!) to His the Company's name, and no ship to go with.
He's quite exhausted too, as his efforts to charter a ship got him nowhere: who in their right mind is willing to brave the Shogun's Tempest? He'd say Himself, but He's not quite as inconspicuous as Morax and He intends to keep it that way; he's not going to be a blockhead and blush like a certain "Zhongli" had when Venti played with his hair earlier that day on an impromptu meeting at the Wanmin Restaurant, not if he can help it, at least.
Still, there's this Captain Beidou he's been hearing about...
Venti materialises out of thin air inside the Captain's Cabin of the Alcor. He blushes immediately upon arrival, and for good reason: who wouldn't be when greeted with a sight of a moaning, half-undressed white-haired Inazuman being straddled by and receiving hickeys from the Captain of the Crux Fleet herself? To no one's surprise, the pair of lovers quickly scramble to less conspicuous positions and hastily grasp their Visions and weapons upon noticing Venti's arrival.
"Ah, uh, sorry..."
"Who the fuck are you!?"
"I-, uh, well..."
"Answer me or I'll chop off you head right here and right no-"
"Beidou, stop."
"Huh?"
While Venti has to admit he's never seen a person so intimidating whilst being half-naked and herself peppered with a couple of love-bites, he quickly shifts his attention to the Inazuman in the room; Anemo Vision, soft-spoken, and eyes ... gentle yet reflecting not merely all of his past pain and suffering, but also an unceasing drive for Freedom. Ah, a Child of Mine.
"He means no harm."
"Barging here?! No harm?! I'll show him harm-"
"Don't even try, Beidou; can't you see who He is?"
Beidou's eyebrows scrunch up in confusion, pupils darting from her lover to the green-clad stranger perched on top of her table. To her, he looks defenseless enough, with a lyre on his right hand and a bottle of wine on his left, and, sure, an Anemo Vision, but no weapons in sight. His smile looks uneasy, but in his eyes she can see a hint of amusement. He blinks, and she finds herself compelled to feel at ease... Who-, no, what is this ... thing?
Before the Electro-blessed Captain can do anything more, the last of the Kaedeharas abruptly kneels, and proceeds to perform a full, traditional dogeza towards the intruder in front of them.
"Greetings, Lord Barbatos."
"Can'tcha just fly or whatever over to Inazuma? Archons are all-powerful and stuff, no?"
Venti merely laughs, and downs another glass of sake that Kazuha had poured for the three of them. The latter, and his captain, never imagined for even one second that they would ever host the Lord of Anemo in their lifetimes, no less in the Alcor, but here they are, getting drunk in Beidou's cabin after a bunch of apologies had been traded back and forth and the alcohol had started flowing.
"I can, but I have about two dozen crates of Dawn Winery's goods and wine as part of the parcel of this ... agreement thing, and..."
"And?"
"If I should manifest there or fly or float away, it'd be quite elementally exerting, don't you think?"
"I believe what Barb-"
"Venti!"
"Yes, Venti means here is that He doesn't want to ruffle the Shogun's Tempest."
"Yup!" exclaims Venti, pouring himself another glass, "I'd be regarded as a foreign wind, so..."
He gulps, then continues, "I require your services!"
Beidou's impressed, really, with this carefree of an Archon and His gall to ask for the Dawn East-Teyvat's sole competitor in Ritou for a lift, but she'll bite. If for nothing else, amusement will be had.
"But what's in it for us? You know that the Dawn Company is our only real competitor in Inazuma, right?"
"I'm well aware, so I'm willing to pay a hundred percent above the normal shipping cost to Inazuma. Would that be fair?"
"Two hundred."
Venti puts a hand on his chest and another, palm facing outwards, on his forehead. "Oh my, I'm being extorted!"
The lovers laugh at this, and as Kazuha takes another gulp, Beidou replies, "Frankly, I feel that you're not up to paying somehow..."
"True!"
Beidou groans at this revelation, but Kazuha chuckles instead. "You truly do embody the winds, huh..."
"Ah, I must set examples to all of Mondstadt, and Teyvat! As for your counteroffer, Beidou, how about 50%, buuut... I can help with the winds along the way?"
"Thought you wanna be inconspicuous?"
"Skillful redirection of winds and Anemo takes less energy, and isn't noticeable in general, but only if one is skilled enough. Flying, and also displacement of Anemo ... that's a lot even for a Vision user, and very obvious. Besides, it's magnitudes beyond any enchantments or potions or the like as well."
"Hm... A hundred and fifty, then."
"How about a hundred and twenty percent? Please?"
"Only if you can spare a crate of Dandelion Wine."
"Oh... Alright, we have a deal-"
Suddenly, Beidou slaps the Archon on His back twice. "Ha-ha! Now that's more like it!" Somewhat surprised at the captain's rather direct self, Venti laughs concurrently.
Beidou downs another glass. "Now, that we have an agreement, d'you have any old sea shanties ya can tell us? It's not like me and Kazu-zu over here can go and fuck again, can we?"
The aforementioned ronin blushes, for once at a loss of words. Venti purses his lips, hums a little, looks up to the other two, and picks up his lyre.
"If you insist, let me tell you that:" A mock clearing of throat, then, "There once was a ship that took to sea..."