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Lantern Rite. The most famous festival in Liyue, which aired once a year. Now it was time again. Lumine was glad to finally have a break after all the things with Childe were solved, so she enjoyed taking part in the preparation for the event.
A couple of days before the biggest and most beautiful lantern, the Mingxiao lantern, would be released, she received a letter from Venti. At first, she's been quite surprised, what the Archon would want from her, but she realized it quickly.
Lantern Rite would begin soon and surely there'd be a lot of regional alcohol as well. Venti wrote, someone in Mondstadt told him, how delicious the wine in Liyue tasted and that he thought it'd be a good idea to come along.
The traveler has sent him a letter back right away. She was filled with excitement to finally see her friend again, even if his reasons for visiting her were quite...extra.
Days have passed. People in Liyue got more nervous and stressed out each day. Everything had to be perfect and in line. The chef from the famous Wanmin restaurant delivered food almost all day and night, while the military made sure everyone and everything was safe. Lumine also had to do some small commissions, but she didn't mind at all. These were nothing in comparison to all the other events she has gone through.
But of course she was happy to have a break as well. It was currently evening and you could already see the sun disappearing more and more. The orange lanterns started glowing brighter and were filling Liyue with beautiful light.
Everyone should be able to see this spectacle at least once in their life.
This reminded Lumine of something. What'd Xiao do today? She tried to convince him several times to join her, yet he always declined. At least he brought her back to Liyue after a commission she did beforehand, but then he immediately left again.
Well, at the end of the day it was Xiaos' decision. She just hoped he'd find a moment of peace on that day.
"Lumine!", the blonde-haired girl heard a joyful and high-pitched voice calling her name.
She turned around to look at her friend from Mondstadt, Venti.
He's been to Liyue often, nevertheless, he couldn't remember his last time seeing the Lantern Rite or rather trying out some new wine specialties. And maybe he wanted to see a specific person as well.
However, this wasn't the right time to think about that.
"Hello, I'm glad to see you", she simply stated with a slight smile.
He smiled back at her. "The same counts for me. It's cool. I think Liyue looks even better than the last time I've been here", he replied. "By the way...where's Paimon?" He tried to peek around, but couldn't find the fairy anywhere.
Lumine chuckled. "I said I'd wait for you here, so I gave her some Mora and meanwhile she's trying out all the food from the street markets."
Paimon was already waiting for them, still not full from all the food she ate.
They were sitting outside with a pretty view of the Mingxiao lantern and the horizon. The sun went down completely, all that was left from it was a slight glimmer in the distance.
The people around were excited and happy. Kids were running around and pointing to every lantern they saw. Surely there were couples as well, holding hands and walking slowly.
Venti immediately got himself something to drink. He nipped on the red wine he ordered. Well, the person from Mondstadt definitely didn't lie. The wine tasted delicious. It was a taste he couldn't define. Of course, Dandelion Wine would always be the best, but this came very close.
He talked a lot with Lumine about the things she had missed out in Mondstadt and in return she told him about the stuff that happened with Childe.
It sounded horrible, but the Fatui were involved so what else would you expect?
Paimon meanwhile made some comments like "Paimon knew something was wrong from the beginning", while Lumine was clearly sad about what happened.
Venti understood and just let her talk. Meanwhile, he got himself more and more wine, obviously not caring about how drunk he already was.
Lumine stared at him in concern but didn't say a word.
Their talk was interrupted by the number of people circling the Mingxiao lantern.
So it'd be released now.
Venti felt the sudden urge to leave this place. It got too crowded and his mind wasn't clear anymore.
"I'll go for a walk, if that's okay with you", he kind of asked, even though he'd probably go anyway, no matter which answers he got.
Paimon instantly protested.
"But why now? You'll miss out on the best part!"
"He knows, what he's doing. It's alright", Lumine simply said and nodded at him.
Barbatos was thankful she understood him and left the bar. He just wanted to take a short break.
It was peaceful outside of Liyue. No people were near, because all of them were gathered in the city itself. Venti was walking around and stared at all the beautiful lanterns lighting up the sky. His sight was a bit unclear sometimes since the alcohol affected his body, yet he didn't mind.
"What are you doing here?", he heard an irritated voice
He turned around, trying the find out, where it came from. Venti saw someone sitting on the edge of the small hill he went to.
It took him a while to figure out who it was but then he was 100% sure.
"Hey, Xiao", he mumbled.
The anemo archon walked up to the adeptus, his feet struggling to walk without tripping.
"Why are you here? And why are you drunk?" Xiao asked.
Venti just shrugged.
"No particular reason, I guess. But if I'm already here, then I should join you", he stated, while sitting down next to Xiao.
Xiao neither knew what to say nor he was interested in having a conversation. Both of them stared in silence at the Mingxiao lantern being released. People in Liyue released their other lantern at the same time, so soon the whole sky was filled with orange glowing lanterns. It was an incredible sight and if they didn't see it themselves, they'd probably never believe something like that existed.
Venti found it nice to have Xiao as a company. He didn't exactly know why, but he liked the adeptus a lot. Sadly, they didn't meet often.
"Don't you want to go back?" Xiao quietly asked.
"I don't want you to be lonely on this day."
Xiao let out a huff.
"I'm not lonely", he protested, but even for Venti it sounded half-hearted.
Maybe he was lonely. But that shouldn't be Ventis' concern. The adeptus knew Lumine and Paimon were in Liyue and he also knew that they've probably met earlier. So why'd the archon waste his time with someone like him?
It was quiet again. The silence wasn't uncomfortable though. They just didn't really have anything to talk about.
"You know what?" Venti suddenly said.
"Hm?"
"I've never realized how pretty you are." It was true. Xiao looked stunning in the warm light. Venti asked himself, why he never acknowledged, how cute the other one actually was.
Wait, cute?
"Don't say that", Xiao answered, but he couldn't hide his skin heating up. A blush spread on his face and he quickly looked away. Why'd Venti say that? It probably happened, because he was drunk.
Venti got closer to him until their faces were just a few inches apart. Xiao swallowed, as he stared into his aqua green eyes. His facial features in general looked beautiful.
"You're really cute", Barbatos whispered, gently touching Xiaos' cheeks. His skin was soft and his face warm.
He didn't know how far he was allowed to go, so he just continued with caressing him. His thumb stroked the adeptus' face softly, careful not to hurt him.
Xiao meanwhile hated to admit, how much he liked that feeling.
Venti calling him cute and touching him in such a gentle way made him feel wanted and completely flustered at the same time. He hasn't had such feelings for a long time.
"Should I stop?" Venti unexpectedly wanted to know.
"No. Please continue", Xiao answered and surprised himself with that. It was fine since the other boy wouldn't remember this night anyway. Tomorrow, when the archon's mind was clear again, he wouldn't be able to recall one minute of what was happening then. At least that was how Xiao tried to convince himself.
"I was hoping to meet you", Venti said and let out a sigh. "But I know how much you dislike crowded places and so I thought I won't get to see you.
But you know what?
I'm really glad I did."
Xiao tried to hide his smile. He never imagined someone like Barbatos, the anemo archon, wanting to meet him. But if he was honest, he was also glad. Even if the other wouldn't remember all of this tomorrow, he definitely would.
He'd always remember the last night of the Lantern Rite festival, when Venti and him got closer.