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aether felt a strong gust of wind blow through his hair and he looked up, seeing a green figure above him fly by.
“happy birthday venti!” aether said, catching venti as he landed.
“hey!! thank you traveler!” venti giggled.
“here,” aether patted the spot beside him on the picnic blanket. “i made you some apple pie.”
“ooh! my favourite,” venti smiled as he took a bite.
as they ate and chatted, aether suddenly had a question.
“how come you’re so free this day? don’t you have people celebrating your birthday and stuff? like your friends?” aether asked.
venti chuckled.
“why would anyone remember a god’s birthday.” he scoffed. “sure, they’d remember it but, i haven’t celebrated it with a friend in… so long,” venti choked back tears on his last sentence. “so.. thank you, traveler.”
aether’s eyes watered a little bit as he leaned on venti’s side, putting an arm around the bard’s shoulders.
the traveler pulled away. “doesn’t xiao know? and mr zhongli? wouldn’t they celebrate your birthday?”
“well, they’re kinda busy. xiao remembers every year, but he isn’t really the type to really show that he cares or celebrate it with someone.” venti shrugged. “also, zhongli’s like busy or something i dunno.”
“well, xiao gave me this letter while i was at liyue earlier today,” aether said, pulling out a piece of paper and handing it to venti.
venti hesitated.
“go on, read it,” aether said.
‘venti.’
that was the first of the messy handwriting. venti kept reading.
‘come to wangshu inn. i have a surprise for you.
xiao.’
venti looked up from the paper, staring at aether.
“he what?” venti asked.
“wants you to come to wangshu inn, he h-“
“i know, i know! when?” venti asked, pouncing onto aether and grabbing his shirt collar.
“uh- it’s written here,” aether grabbed the letter and pointed at the small text written at the bottom. “at 8pm tonight.”
aether felt a gust of wind beside him and when he looked up from the letter, venti was gone.
aether shrugged and paimon arrived with a handful of apples. she dropped then and made a loud noise. “where’s venti?!”
aether rolled his eyes and showed her the letter. “aah… so the bard has a crush eh?” she smirked.
“guess so,” aether shrugged.
—
as venti arrived at wangshu inn, verr goldet happily welcomed him and led him to where xiao was. standing on the balcony, staring into the evening as usual.
“xiao!” venti said as he ran over to the yaksha and gave him a hug from behind, wrapping his arms around xiao’s torso.
“hey venti,” xiao said. “happy birthday.”
venti pulled away and smiled. “you remembered!”
“i always remember,” xiao said, crossing his arms as he walked inside the inn.
“what’s the surprise?” venti asked, bouncing on his toes as he followed the adeptus.
“you’ll see,” xiao said, going downstairs to the kitchen of the inn.
venti glided down the stairs and landed beside xiao as he stopped in front of smiley yanxiao.
“oh hello xiao,” he said. he caught sight of the bard beside him and leaned in and whispered something into xiao’s ear.
xiao nodded and turned around, facing venti.
“what’d he say what’d he say?” venti said, his eyes shining.
“nothing,” xiao mumbled. he led venti back to the balcony and leaned on it sideways.
venti took a deep breath. he looked so hot like this. so pretty. those golden sparkling eyes gazing straight into his teal ones. his hand pressing onto the balcony railing. railing... hand... powerful hand that should be on something else — wait. what was venti thinking about?? no get those out of your mind venti you’re only friends.
“hey, you okay?” xiao asked ever so gently.
this snapped venti out of his thoughts and caught him off guard. “i’m fine!” he squealed.
the yaksha didn’t look convinced and proceeded to place a hand against the bard’s forehead, sweeping his fringe out of the way.
“you look red, you sure you’re okay?” xiao said, looking concerned.
“u-uh, yeah!” venti panicked. “i’m fine.”
xiao’s hand traveled down venti’s face as the bard’s face grew more red by the second. pink dusted xiao’s cheeks as he leaned in. venti’s eyes widened as he began to sweat.
xiao’s soft lips met venti’s and the bard’s eyes slowly drooped, melting into the kiss.
they pulled apart and xiao looked away, hiding his face that was growing red.
“sorry.” xiao muttered as he went downstairs back to the kitchen.
venti placed his fingers on his lips, staring straight ahead for a second before snapping back to reality.
“xiao wait!” venti called and ran after the yaksha.
he found xiao sitting at the table in the kitchen and walked over to him slowly.
“hey xiao?” venti said quietly.
xiao grunted, turning away.
venti’s eyes clouded with confusion and sat down beside him. he placed a hand on xiao’s arm, feeling him flinch.
“it’s okay,” venti said reassuringly. “i-i liked it...”
xiao seemed to have jumped a little in his seat. surprisingly, he turned around and lifted venti’s hand up to his lips and kissed it gently.
“i’m glad.” xiao whispered.
a smile spread itself across venti’s face and rubbed circles on xiao’s arm.
“i... i love y-you,” xiao stuttered.
venti choked. “y-you do?!” he stopped himself and cleared his throat. “i-... i love you too!”
xiao stood up and walked over to the kitchen. “stay here. i’m going to get something for you.”
venti nodded. he put his elbows on the table and rested his chin in the palms of his hands. his eyes stared ahead dreamily, remembering the feeling of xiao’s lips on his own.
“venti.”
the bard jumped in his seat. the way xiao said his name sparked something in him and he wasn’t sure how to react.
“hm?” venti turned around and saw xiao holding a cake. a cake? xiao?? “ooh! what is that?” venti asked anyway.
“a cake,” xiao said, placing it in front of venti. “i tried.. sorry if it doesn’t turn out too good.”
“don’t worry it smells amazing,” venti smiled. he dipped his finger into the frosting and licked it off. “mm! tastes amazing too!”
“that’s just the frosting,” xiao said, sitting down beside the bard. “try the cake.”
“yessir!” venti chuckled. he took a large chunk of the cake and ate it. “tastes amazing!”
xiao smiled. noticing how soft he’d gotten for venti, he shook his head. “yeah, whatever,” he turned away.
venti placed a kiss on xiao’s head. “i love you.” venti grinned happily.
“happy birthday, love,” xiao said softly.