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It had been a passing thought back before Liyue’s Lantern Rite.
Venti had been performing in Angel Share and was enjoying the attention of the drunken audience when a flash of gold came through the door. Venti’s smile grew just the tiniest bit larger, and his voice a little bit louder.
Once the music had ended, the bard made his way over to the outlander who was conversing with Kaeya near the bar. Venti was about to call out to the boy when he happened to overhear what the two were talking about.
“I met a really sweet girl, love to take her out, but she isn’t comfortable with me yet so…” Kaeya slid a pleading look across his face. “Why don’t you come along, and she can bring her friend. That way she’s comfortable. So, what do you say, Aether? Will you do this for me Honorary Knight?”
“Wait… like a date?” Aether sounded equal parts confused and embarrassed.
“So sweet and innocent,” Kaeya chuckles lowly. “Not “like” a date, it is a date.”
The shorter boy’s face grew hot as he processed the captain’s words.
“Ah… well I- “he took a breath. “I’ve never been on one before so I- “
“Ah! I see!” the blue haired man clapped Aether’s shoulder and huffed a laugh. “I must say I’m surprised with someone as attractive as you, that being said there’s no time like the present for a first experience!”
“Well, maybe…”
The archon felt cold all of a sudden. He didn’t know why he was feeling so offput, so in classic Venti style, he ignored it and put on a smile instead.
“Outlander!” The wind god jumped into a hug with the blonde, effectively ending the earlier conversation. “Did you watch my performance?”
The nervousness from earlier was no where to be seen as the traveler smiled warmly at his friend.
“I did. You were incredible as always,” Aether gained a faint blush as he looked away from the archer currently hung off him.
Kaeya, who had been watching this whole interaction with much interest, cleared his throat, “Well if it isn’t Mondstadt’s most notorious bard! I thank you humbly for such an impressive show.”
Venti let go of Aether and stood between the two seated at the bar.
“I appreciate your kind words, Captain Kaeya,” Venti attempted to sound pleasant, but a tiny hint of annoyance got out. Kaeya’s smirk only grew.
Kaeya stood up from the bar before facing Aether again, “Well I best be off, but please do consider my proposal; I promise to make it worth your while~”
The cavalry captain threw the traveler a wink for good measure and to probably irk the archon further.
Aether’s face grew warmer, “Yes, I’ll think about it… thank you sir Kaeya.”
With that, the tall man turned and left the tavern leaving Aether and Venti at the bar.
Venti took up the stool, Kaeya had been previously occupying. With an attempt to seem casual and nonchalant, he spoke, “What was that about?”
The blonde stiffened next to Venti, before looking away, “Oh he was just offering to have me join him and some of his friends is all.”
The nervous laugh and the red face lodged like a rock in the bard’s throat, “I see.”
Aether, clearly looking for a way out of that conversation, asked Venti the question that started all of this, “That flower on your hat. It’s a Cecilia, right? Are those your favorites?”
The centuries old archon saw right through the outlander’s attempts to change the topic but let him get away with it all the same.
“They are. Why so curious all of a sudden?”
“Oh!” The blonde looked to the side and scratched at his face, “It always looks fresh, but all the ones I’ve found wither quickly. Flora told me to freeze them, but it takes a lot of effort. Since yours is fresh, I was wondering just why you’d go to such lengths to preserve it… heh.”
Venti was fairly surprised at this comment as he himself never considered the flower’s freshness, “If I’m being honest, I’ve had it so long that I forgot how it came to be preserved like this… You always have such a strange thought process outlander.”
The other boy seemed bashful at Venti’s words, “Oh, yeah. Guess it is kind of weird, huh…”
“I’m not sure weird is the right word…” Venti trailed off before clearing his throat, “Since you asked me, it’s only fair that I ask as well. What’s your favorite flower?”
Aether knew Venti was just trying to make him feel less awkward. He appreciated it, until the traveler actually thought about the question. Pieces of half memories flashed through his mind of late summers and early autumns spent with Lumine in large fields of grass and wildflowers. Finally, a single plant came to mind, sadly Aether had never seen them in Teyvat before and wasn’t sure if he could explain it properly with his broken memories.
“It’s uh… a flower that doesn’t grow here…” Aether nervously laughed while trying to figure out where to go with this.
Thankfully his companion picked up where he left off, “Ah. It’s from one of other worlds you’ve been to then.”
The blonde nodded slightly at the bard’s words.
“Well, what does it look like? Maybe I know of a flower here that’s similar.”
The bard was trying hard and Aether was thankful, but he knew, this flower could never grow here.
“The thing is, this flower is really big and the only plants of a similar size here are monstrous ones, so…”
“Oh, I see.”
The conversation became slow and trivial after that.
Now, the reason the anemo archon was remembering this now is simple, the Windblume Festival was coming up, and he wanted to gift one to Aether.
It should be made clear that Venti only wanted to give one to the traveler as a show of thanks for everything he had done for Mondstadt, and that there’s absolutely no other reasons whatsoever.
Well, there might’ve been one.
Venti had spent the last couple of hours holed up in the library at the Knights of Favonius’ headquarters researching flower types with Lisa.
“You should just go with a Cecilia or a windwheel aster, they’re classic and fit you well,” the witch was exasperated with the short boy at this point. They had been searching through just about every tome that covered botany and herbology.
“It isn’t meant to fit me!” Venti groaned tired and disheartened, “I think I need a break. Thanks for your help Lisa.”
The tall woman waved on to the bard as he left. She really did want to help him, but without knowing the recipient of the windblume, there was only so much she could do.
Of course, she had a good guess at just who the archer wanted to gift it to, but she’ll never say until he finally does.
There were only a few days left before the festival began, and Venti was feeling hopeless. If only Aether had described that other worldly flower!
Desperate times called for desperate measures, and so the archon found himself speaking with the traveler that afternoon.
“Say Outlander, I’ve got a favor to ask.”
Aether seemed surprised but gestured for the bard to continue.
“Do you think I could borrow Paimon for the rest of the day?” Venti hated that it had come to this.
“Wait why- “
“Paimon doesn’t want to go anywhere with you tone-deaf-bard!” The little fairy appeared only to yell at Venti, go figure.
“I’ll feed you, whatever you want.”
“Like you can afford Paimon’s appetite!” she huffed and crossed her arms.
“I'm not happy about this either, but I really need your help. Please.” Venti was all but begging at this point, not his proudest moment.
Aether watched the exchange and turned to his travel companion, “I’ll buy you whatever food you want, just please help him out. I don’t like seeing him so down…”
The blonde had tried to speak quietly but the bard heard and tried to fight back his embarrassment over his desperation.
Paimon let out a long sigh before facing Venti again, “Fine. But Paimon will only help till dinnertime!”
Venti smiled, “Deal!”
The unlikely duo found themselves at the tree in Windrise.
“So why do you need Paimon’s help?”
The bard sighed and faced the ground, to hide his ever-constant blush, “Windblume is in a few days. I want to give one to the traveler to thank him for everything, but I don’t know which flower to get.”
Paimon took a moment to blink before, “What’s a windblume?”
Celestia help him.
“Oh! That sounds like fun! Paimon can’t wait to play the games!” she was floating around happily after finally understanding what the bard was talking about.
“Yes, it’s great, but can we get back to the issue at hand?” he cried.
“Yeah, yeah Paimon gets it. So, you want to know Aether’s favorite flower, right?” Venti nodded and she continued, “He told Paimon about it once, said it was tall, yellow, black, and that the seeds tasted great!”
“Of course, that’s the part you remember,” the bard groaned at his misfortune.
The fairy didn’t take the comment well, “Hey you asked for Paimon’s help! If you don’t want it then go ask him yourself, you tone-deaf-bard!”
With that she blinked out of existence.
Venti felt a little bad for her, but his mind was far too focused elsewhere to really notice Paimon’s disappearance.
Tall. Yellow. Black. Good tasting seeds.
The bard could think of quite a few flowers that fit one or two of these criteria, but he had no clue as to one which was all these things. He couldn’t even begin to picture it in his mind!
Maybe Lisa was right, cecilias and windwheel asters would be fine.
The first day of the festival came, and Venti had a poetry class to teach. Normally he’d love this kind of thing, but he was too nervous to really enjoy it. The traveler had agreed to meet up in their usual spot after the sunset. The sun had never moved as slowly as it did then.
One of Venti’s students, Kaeya- of course-, happened to pick up on the bard’s distress. Once the lesson had finished for the day, the cavalry captain was smug in his approach to the frantic archon.
“Say sir, you seem quite nervous today. Could it be that Mondstadt’s famous bard is having his own troubles composing a confession?”
Venti jumped when he realized the man had approached him and was now fumbling for a save. “A great poet like me would have no trouble in composing a confession. I simply have no confession to give.”
The blue haired man’s smirk grew.
“Is that so?” Kaeya sighed mockingly, “Well I suppose if that’s the case, then you won’t be needing any help with a certain flower…”
Kaeya was turning around when Venti stopped him.
“What are you talking about?”
“Hmm? Oh well I don’t know; I just remember Lisa talking about some nonexistent flower that someone had been fervent in their search for… But I suppose it was nothing after all.”
“What do you want?” Venti felt defeated.
Kaeya turned back to face the bard, “Compose my love confession for me and we’ll call it even.”
The archon painfully agreed.
“Then in that case, I’ll share with you what I learned.” The swordsman pulled out a folded piece of parchment and handed it to the archer. “I believe this is what you’re after.”
Venti unfolded the page with a dubious look. Once he had seen its contents, he was even more doubtful.
“A… sunflower ? What kind of a name is that? I know you like to play games but making this up is sad even for you.”
Kaeya feigned injury, “Harsh sir. But I’ll have you know that it’s real. Well at least it is for the Honorary Knight. If you doubt the credibility, maybe you should look at the name next to that strange flower’s drawing.”
The bard squinted to read the tiny, looping writing, Aether.
It was real.
This was the outlander’s favorite flower.
The flower he had seemed so happy and sad about when it was brought up that night in the bar.
This was it?
“Well, I’m sure you’re in a rush to prepare for tonight, so I’ll be on my way.” Kaeya turns to go when he throws over his shoulder, “Good luck with your not -confession, sir.”
There wasn’t much room to pace in the Archon Statue’s hands, but Venti was doing his best. The sun had set only moments ago, and Aether still hadn’t arrived. The bard knew that there was no need to worry, but he was worried. After all, this was a big gamble.
The archon wasn’t the kind of person to share his true feelings very often, as being immortal makes it too painful.
Why was he willing to do this for that outlander?
Venti had asked himself this question a million times over, and he knew the answer.
He’s known the answer.
He knew it when they rescued Dvalin. He knew it when he shared his pain. He knew it in the bar that night. He knew it when he researched in the library and when he asked for help in Windrise. He even knew it when he denied it to the captain.
He’s always known.
And he’s always been terrified of that.
Getting to grow old with someone, was something Barbatos knew he’d never get to have. It was something he stopped himself for wanting or searching for, a long time ago.
But the traveler from beyond these stars, made the god long for something he told himself he couldn’t have.
The traveler who has heard and sung songs Venti can’t even imagine.
The traveler who accepted Venti for who he is.
For all he is.
The traveler who Venti longed for.
The traveler who Venti loved.
The bard heard the sounds of someone climbing and turned around to see said traveler catch his breath.
“Venti!”
Even without looking at Aether, the archon could see his smile.
“How are enjoying your first Windblume Festival, outlander?”
The blonde lit up as he recounted his day.
“…and now I’m here,” Aether finished.
Venti turned around to watch the sky over the city walls, “I’m glad you’re here.”
The traveler moved to sit down, and the bard joined him.
“You know what, Venti?”
He shook his head no, for how could he know?
Aether looked out over the city below, “While I may not be able to remember everything from before coming to Teyvat, I think I can be certain,” he turns to the archon, “that this is my favorite world.”
Venti couldn’t help but gasp at how beautiful Aether was, sitting there in the moonlight looking at the bard like he was the only person the traveler could see.
“Aether I- “
Bang!
Venti was cut off and watched as the outlander’s attention was stolen away by the fireworks.
“Wow! They’re so pretty.”
The god studied his companion’s profile. The multi-colored lights reflected in Aether’s golden eyes while a huge smile took over his face.
Venti simply smiled and watched the person he loved enjoy the display.
Once the sound died down and the show appeared over, Aether turned to the bard, “That was amazing! I can’t believe- “
The archon had to interrupt before he ran out of time, “It isn’t over, watch.”
The traveler tilted his head and threw Venti a puzzled look. Before Venti can say anything, the final firework went off.
Aether whipped his head around at the noise not wanting to miss the finale. What he saw took his breath away.
There in the sky above the city was a flower made of embers.
A flower with layered yellow petals extending in a full circle with dark purple caged inside.
It was-
“A sunflower.”
Aether couldn’t keep the awe from his voice if he tried.
Memories came back of hiding in sunflower patches for shade from the harsh summer sun.
Of the salty taste that its seeds contain.
Of cutting the blooms down to create bouquets to be gifted.
And of his sister laughing and playing with him during the day.
Of his sister catching fireflies at night.
Of his sister and him plotting out constellations in the sky.
Of a place that Aether could only describe as home.
Small pearls of water rolled off his cheeks as he watched the sunflower fall apart and the embers grow cold.
“Aether? Are you okay?” Venti didn’t want to put the boy in any pain.
Aether just stared at the empty sky where the flower once stood.
“Did you do this?” the traveler’s voice was small and easy to miss, but the bard heard, he always hears.
“Is it okay?” Venti laughed nervously and wasn’t sure what to do with his hands, “It’s just that it’s Windblume and we give flowers and I wanted to thank you for everything, and you mentioned this flower back at the bar then Kaeya told me and then… I mean I wasn’t really-“
Aether cut off the bard’s endless rambling by pulling him tight against the traveler’s chest. The angle was a little uncomfortable, and they both seemed so awkward in their movements,
But
It was the warmest thing either had ever felt.
That feeing welled up inside Aether as he pulled Venti closer still. The blonde buried his face in the crook of the other’s neck. He breathed slowly, soaking up the sweet scent of cecilias and apple blossoms as well as the harsh musk of alcohol.
And Aether remembered something else: that this was home too.
“Thank you, Venti…Thank you so much…”
“Oh, um you’re- you’re welcome, Aether.”
The traveler hummed in response and the archon felt the rumble travel through him.
“I like when you say my name…” Aether mumbled this against the bard’s neck, probably without thought, but Venti heard.
He heard and immediately his breath was lost, his chest seized, and he felt an overwhelming amount of fondness for the boy in his arms.
“A…Aether, I wanted to thank you and also I wanted to,” Venti swallowed around the lump in his throat.
The bard’s Adam’s apple moved with his action and the traveler found its movement to be one of the most beautiful things he’d ever seen. It was then as the night cooled, and Aether felt the warmth coming from the other when he knew too.
Aether pulled away just a bit so that he could meet Venti’s face with his own.
“Can I kiss you?”
Venti, who was still trying to work up his courage, looked at the boy in shock, “Huh?”
“Can I kiss you?” the blonde repeated himself slower this time as his chest seized over his love of the cute person in front of him.
The bard was still having a hard time processing through what just happened and ended up mumbling out an agreement.
Aether smiled and pulled the god closer, and their lips met.
The kiss didn’t stop time.
There was no shock.
No sparks.
Instead, there was the feeling of coming home and never wanting to leave.
For those boys this was more than enough.
Venti pulled back first when his mind finally caught up, “Wait! I haven’t even said anything yet! I was supposed to tell you I loved you and it would be this big scene that I could write a song about! You- you ruined it!”
Aether didn’t seem to feel apologetic at all; he giggled a little, “Sorry, you were taking too long.”
The bard gasped and pulled away, “Excuse me? I took too long? I planned all of this! I mean honestly you could be a bit more grateful- “
Aether, while laughing, pulled the ranting boy back into another kiss, effectively shutting him up.
This one felt better than the last.
The traveler could taste the faint alcohol.
The two break with only a hare’s breath between them; they both panted slightly and knocked their foreheads together.
“I’m in love with you.”
Once the sun rose that morning, the nuns went about cleaning the space around the statue. And if they saw green and gold fabric drifting over the clasped hands of the stone archon and the hushed murmurs only the stillness of the morning could allow them to hear, well who were they to tell?