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One morning the winds were rough. From Qingyun Peak, Morax could feel the wind currents rushing violently from side to side. He wondered what was wrong with Barbatos. He never acted like this. Morax was aware that the Windblume Festival had recently ended, so surely Barbatos was going through some hangover or discomfort, however, if that happened, the movement of the winds should not be so abrupt.
And then he heard a message on the wind.
"MORAX! I NEED HELP, NOW "
Barbatos's voice sounded slightly different. Morax knew it was serious and important. He didn't think much more and traveled across the land towards Mondstadt. The journey was fast and somewhat bumpy. He came to the place where he guessed Barbatos would be, right in front of the Windrise tree. Morax decided to go with his mortal aspect, as Zhongli. He walked towards the tree and stopped when he heard another scream from Barbatos.
"Stay there! Don't come yet! "
"But Barb-
"Just don’t!"
Zhongli did so. He remained standing in his same place. Then he heard a cry, loud, the winds stirred, and the branches of the tree moved violently. He couldn't take it anymore and decided to search for Barbatos. He walked around the tree and saw him behind the trunk, near the small river. Zhongli noticed something strange about Barbatos but did not know what it was until he was at his side. For some reason, his body was no longer so small and his hair was no longer as short as before. Barbatos looked at Zhongli and cried.
"But what-
Zhongli realized then. His body was no longer his body. The small body of Barbatos, or Venti as he called himself, no longer had that small and delicate appearance, but was a body like his, slightly built and developed. His hair was long with blue ends. His clothes were torn, it seemed like growth had made them rip. His wings were small now compared to his body.
"I made a mistake..." Venti said while hiding his face in his hands. "I lost it…"
Zhongli knelt beside him, not touching him, he didn't think Venti wanted to be touched at that moment. Venti stared at the river, looked at his reflection, and felt hopeless again. It was not his normal appearance; it was not his friend's appearance. His friend had not become an adult, he did not have a defined face, no defined chin or little hair in his face. No. His friend never grew up or lived a full life. And now, Venti couldn't remember, his memories, blurry, were all he had.
"I can't remember," Venti said quietly. "I got too drunk, I transformed into whatever and then...I couldn't..."
"I understand." Zhongli said from beside him. "I will help you remember."
"How?" Venti said, looking at him with tear-filled eyes. "You didn't meet him ..."
“I know, but you do. I'll help you." Zhongli said seriously. "Let's go to Mondstadt, yes?"
"I..." Venti tried to say. "Looking like this, me?"
"Not a bad aspect." Zhongli said sincerely. "You only need clothes tailored to you."
* * *
Morax was the God of Wealth, so buying Venti everything he needed to not be so uncomfortable in the adult body was something he would gladly do. First, he gave Venti his gabardine, and the two of them went to Mondstadt together to buy him clothes tailored to him. Venti's body was the same size as Zhongli's body so he assumed that the size would be the same. Once he bought clothes for him, they agreed that he looked a bit like Venti's usual clothes when he was little. Instead of a green cap, Venti had his hair tied in a ponytail. Walking was difficult, he was not used to being so tall or having such long legs, but, thanks to that, he did not lose Zhongli in the crowd.
They went to the Statue of Barbatos and stared at it from the ground. Venti shrugged.
"I can take that hairstyle, but the face…" Venti said sadly. "I can't remember his face."
Zhongli didn't know what to say or do, he didn't want to minimize his feelings, he knew it was something important, but he also couldn't believe that it would be the end of the world if Venti couldn't remember. But, after thinking for a moment, he knew that it could be the end of his world. Zhongli cleared his throat and took Venti's hand. Venti looked at him.
"We're going for Dandelion wine." Zhongli said trying to smile. "Then we will go to Qingyun Peak, I think I have an idea."
* * *
At Qingyun Peak, the two Archons were at Zhongli's personal shrine, above the clouds. Venti drank Dandelion wine in silence, while Zhongli searched all his papers for something. Hours before, he had called Ganyu, but she still hadn't shown up, so he had started a little search for information on his own, but, as Venti had once told him, the history of Ancient Mondstadt lacked the details that mattered to him, just like the Maiden Amos and the Nameless Bard.
Zhongli stood up and held out a scroll until it fell to the ground, rolling without stopping. He began to read slowly and carefully, until he felt arms around his body, lifting him off the ground and squeezing him in a way he had never felt before. Then he felt Venti's face buried in his back, trembling slightly.
"B-Barbatos...?" Zhongli said, confused.
"Zhongli...I ...my body...doesn't it bother you?"
"Why would it bother me?"
Venti put him down again. Zhongli took the opportunity to turn around and look at his face. They were of the same height. Venti's eyes were sad, full of guilt, regret and uncertainty. Sure, Venti's body was quite different from his usual appearance, but that didn't make Zhongli love him less. Venti loved every form that Zhongli took: old man, child, woman or young man like now, and Zhongli, he would love any form that Venti decided to take, even if it was by accident.
"It doesn't matter what you look like, because I love you for who you are, not for how you look." Zhongli told him while stroking his face. "And don't worry, I'll help you remember what your friend looked like."
Venti cried a bit and hugged Zhongli. Again, Zhongli felt strange to be lifted slightly off the ground. Although they were the same size, it was a strange and unexpected sensation for Venti to be able to lift him off the ground as if he weighed nothing. He remembered with affection that the usual Venti could not even push him with his mortal form, instead, this Venti, lifted him with ease, just like breathing.
Perhaps he could also get used to that feeling.
Short time after, Ganyu arrived. She sighed heavily, tiredly, after climbing to the top of the clouds. Zhongli sat down, waiting for news from her. Venti didn't know why he had called Ganyu, but he was curious.
"My lord Rex Lapis, I was able to find it." Ganyu exclaimed with a small smile. “But its memory is almost completely damaged. May I suggest turning it over to Cloud Retainer for checking?"
"Sure, it's a good idea." Zhongli replied with a smile. "Good work, Ganyu."
Ganyu smiled and then went back the way she had come. Venti shifted to Zhongli's side, curious.
"What did you ask her for?" Venti asked.
"Guizhong..." Zhongli began. "She created novelty gadgets all the time, you know, and on one occasion she showed us a gadget that captured moments and saved them as a portrait."
"The Kamera!" Venti said, smiling. "Do you think she ...?"
"I hope so." Zhongli said, slightly nervous. "Cloud Retainer will see it, in the meantime, I hope you don't mind staying like this for a few more days."
"I guess it's not that bad." Venti said as he brought his hands to his long hair. "But this hair..."
He interrupted himself as he changed the look of his hair, to his usual shorter dark hair with blue ends, braided on both sides of his head. Zhongli smiled. Venti snuggled against him and found that he no longer reached into his arms as before. Zhongli realized that and before Venti said anything, he hugged him from the side, placing his head on his shoulder.
"This is new." Venti said, suddenly.
Venti hugged him to bring him closer to his body. Zhongli felt strange, but it didn't matter if that way he could keep Venti from feeling sad. Zhongli closed his eyes for a moment and before long he felt mischievous and curious hands touching his arms above his clothes, then they gently caressed his face.
"Zhongli..." Venti said quietly. His voice had thickened a bit, which gave Zhongli chills from hearing it so close to his ear. "With this body...don't you want to try something new?"
Zhongli opened his eyes for a second, looking at Venti, who had a thirsty look filled with longing and curiosity. They had previously made love to each other, even Venti's small body could make Zhongli shudder, but suddenly changing shape and doing it with a new and obviously bigger shape, he didn't know if it would be a good idea, but, without a doubt, it was tempting. A warm sensation settled in the Geo Archon’s stomach as his amber eyes gazed into the Anemo Archon’s emerald eyes.
"Sure…"
* * *
Zhongli had accepted Venti's proposal, but just as Venti laid a hand on him, he couldn't help but feel strange. He had gotten too used to the usual Venti, smaller than him, adorable, cuddly, but the Venti in front of him was nothing of the sort. Instead of adorable he was attractive and instead of cuddly he was terribly handsome. Zhongli had said that it didn't matter what he looked like, but he couldn't help feeling an exciting chill when Venti looked at him and smirked, an arrogant expression, but at the same time inviting to continue.
"It seems like someone is not taking his eyes off me." Venti said in a whisper before kissing Zhongli's neck. "I think you like me a lot more, don't you, Zhongli?"
"I-It's not that." Zhongli tried to say as he put his hands on his shoulders. “It's just-
Venti moved closer to his face and Zhongli fell silent. They looked into each other's eyes, Zhongli eager to kiss him, to touch him, to feel him closer to him. Venti smiled at him and then kissed him. Venti kissed him hard, inserting his tongue, making him moan against his mouth. Zhongli pulled him towards him at the same time as he felt Venti's quick and skillful hands beginning to remove his clothes. They were still in the cloud abode, any Adeptus could see them, but that didn't matter to him. He didn't care about anything at the moment, nothing but Venti's lips devouring his, his hands caressing his skin, removing him piece by piece of clothing.
Venti lifted him slightly, Zhongli pressed against him to keep from falling, and Venti gave a little laugh. The great Morax feared falling from the arms of his lover, but at that moment he was not Morax, but Zhongli, a mortal who melted at the touch of the man he loved. Venti knew that Zhongli got the same way even when his body was small, but now Venti felt more power over him, more desire, more lust. He wanted him to moan louder under his touch, to squirm in pleasure against his body, to cry out his name with desire. Just like when Venti did it with him.
Now both completely naked, Venti's fingers helping Zhongli relax, and his groans of surprise with every movement of his digits. The winds churned gently. The earth vibrated slightly. And when Zhongli finally said that he was ready, his surprise was to feel that Venti's body really was different in every way. Venti silenced his cries with a kiss and promised that the pain would pass soon.
So it was.
Their bodies were the same melody. Zhongli, from below, could only stare at Venti and moan while looking into his eyes. Venti, admiring Zhongli from above, smiled and stroked his face, whispering that he was the most beautiful man in the world. Zhongli was embarrassed, but that didn't stop him from enjoying what they were doing. Just as Venti wanted, Zhongli moaned non-stop, trembled under his body, cried with pleasure, and asked for more. Venti was very happy that he also started crying a little. And by the time they both reached their moment of maximum pleasure; Zhongli didn't allow him to get away for a second.
"It seems someone is obsessed." Venti said mockingly.
"I would say the same of you when we do it in our Archon form." Zhongli replied. Venti laughed.
"You got me." Venti said.
The following days they did not come down from the cloud sanctuary and neither did any Adeptus go up to see them. By the time they decided to go down, they searched for Ganyu and Cloud Retainer in their Abode. Cloud Retainer wasn't happy to see them, she never was, but Ganyu was. Ganyu greeted them with happiness and tea. As the four of them drank tea, Cloud Retainer spoke:
“I have seen the Kamera." She said slowly. "Some photos were lost, but I was able to recover a few."
Then Ganyu brought the Kamera and placed it in front of the two Archons. It was clean and tidy. Zhongli had some memories of that device, from when Guizhong used it to take memories of people in Guili Plains, Glaze Lilies or just sunsets. Venti took the camera in his hands and after looking at it for a few seconds, handed it to Zhongli. Zhongli sighed and took the device in his hands to turn it on.
The first photo was a sunset, the next one was of many Glaze Lilies, and the third photo left him speechless. Venti heard Zhongli get shocked and glanced over his shoulder to see the camera. Venti screamed in excitement. In the photograph were Zhongli and Venti, in their Archon looks. Zhongli was crossed his arms, but with a small smile as Venti hugged him from behind, laughing. Zhongli looked at Cloud Retainer for a second and she looked away. He supposed she had seen the pictures before; it was a bit embarrassing.
"It's me." Venti said as he pulled on Zhongli's arm.
"Take a good look at it." Zhongli said as he handed him the Kamera.
Venti did, decided to focus, and began to use his energy to change his appearance. Seconds later, he was no longer tall, but small, just the way he liked to be. The clothes he was wearing now were bigger, but he didn't care. Ganyu took the Kamera and took a picture of Venti next to Zhongli.
"They look good, don't they?" Ganyu said as she looked at Cloud Retainer.
She hissed and didn't respond. Zhongli smiled at Venti and Venti hugged him from the side. Everything was fine now. Even though he loved his small body, Venti wasn't going to lie to himself that it hadn't been fun being tall for a few days, especially because of the effect it had on Zhongli. Now that he could always remember his appearance with the Kamera, he was not afraid to change shape from time to time to surprise his loved one. He thought that perhaps the next form he would take would be a sturdier and taller woman or man than Zhongli.
"What are you thinking?" Zhongli asked as he looked at Venti's amused gaze looking him up and down.
"In new possibilities." Venti replied with a smile.
Fin.