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If you were to ask Kaeya Alberich if he was casually suicidal, after the swift initial shock of the question were to wear off he would simply laugh, easy as ever, and assure you that you read too deep into his, honestly, hedonistic nature. That there is paperwork from Acting Grand Master Jean he must complete, and there are patrolling assignments he must fulfill, and there are the small children of Mondstadt that he simply must entertain throughout the more leisurely part of his day. Not to mention, he’s still waiting for his cavalry to return from Grand Master Varka’s expedition. So, no, he would tell you not to worry, for there are plenty of more important things happening, all at once, all the time.
But one day,
there will come a night at the Angel’s Share, where Kaeya will indulge in one too many Death After Noons, or perhaps by that point in the night he will have ditched fancy mixtures altogether and will have simply been drinking straight from a bottle. His brother will not have been bartending that night, and will not have been there to cut him off before he drank himself too deep. Though Rosaria will notice when his behavior shifts, and quietly urge him to order a glass of water instead, to end the night as he always does, he will not pay heed to it. He’ll have been having an especially tough week, not that many people will know that, and he’ll want nothing more than to drink a little more, lose himself a little more, more, and more, until he blacks out.
And when he finally loses his consciousness completely, he will enter a certain dreamscape, curated just for him. And where else, to have a dream when he’s blacked out from alcohol poisoning, than the Angel’s Share, still.
He will not think anything has happened to him yet. The night will have been carrying on as normal. He will still have a bottle nearby on the counter, and a glass of wine in his hand, and the tavern will be as bustling as ever.
Until
...
it isn't?
The noise and the chatter will die down, gradually but completely, while Kaeya takes a single sip from his glass.
All the patrons filling the building and even Charles from behind the bar will seem to have vanished by the time he reopens his eye.
When he hums in mild confusion, feeling a little too something to care enough, the sound of a lone lyre being plucked will begin to play to his right, the only sound in the now unusually empty tavern.
Kaeya will not look to the sound. He will know who is there, and will have already begun to realize what's going on.
"So have I finally taken my drinking habits too far?" he'll say, the ghost of an empty smile dancing on his lips. "Diluc did say it would one day be the death of me... I didn't suspect it'd be so soon, though."
An easy and almost carefree smile will grace Venti's face as he plays. "It hasn't yet," he'll respond. "You're well on your way back home right now. At the expense of Sister Rosaria's back, that is. You really should be a bit more considerate of how your 'habits' affect those responsible for you."
Kaeya will chuckle lightly at the jab. "I'll be sure to give her my thanks for her troubles next time I see her."
it will be quiet for a moment.
“I can only assume you have something you wish to tell me," Kaeya will say, voice smooth, measured and steady as ever. "or something you want. Either way, not much use keeping quiet about it."
The softest laugh will escape the bard, the god of freedom. "A keen eye for detailing the behavior of those around you, as always, Sir Kaeya. My only concern is you will not be so willing to listen to what I have to say."
“You won't find anything, beating around the bush."
"This is true." Venti will say. The smile won't leave his lips. The captain will have yet to look at him, but knowing it's there, it will become almost torturous for him.
The tavern will be silent, save for the melodic yet mind-numbingly repetitive tune playing from the stringed instrument in the Anemo Archon's hands, once again, this time for much longer.
"I would be a fool if I were to ignore the pain it brings me."
Kaeya will choose to look directly ahead, at the vacant space behind the bar where a bartender is supposed to be. He will not dare ask what Venti is referring to, for he will have the feeling he already knows.
"Tell me, Kaeya Alberich; why do you actively destroy yourself? And why must you make me watch it happen?"
The smile will remain on Venti's face, yet as his eyes open and shift to look at Kaeya as he asks the questions, and the lyre is no longer being played, it will be much more sorrowful, much more heartbroken, begging for an answer while simultaneously knowing the bitter truth. Kaeya will not look at him still.
Nor will he provide an immediate answer, and the tavern will be silent yet again.
And so Venti will continue playing his lyre, because he will know the thick silence is now too agonizing on the ears of a young boy, once abandoned by his own father and stranded in a foreign land with a job too important for his age, though unknowingly seen, accepted, and loved by a certain god from the moment he stepped foot onto the land of wind.
For there is no love in the land of Teyvat more unconditional and pure than the love Barbatos holds for his people, and when he witnessed a child, much smaller than he should have been at the age of seven, from a nation he once was forced to destroy learn family, and friendship, and love in the city of freedom, he decided that yes, this boy is a citizen of Mondstadt just as much as everyone else.
Kaeya will not want to say anything anymore. He will have been staring at the same spot for much too long, and he will now want nothing more than to wake up.
Yet he will say, "I'm starting to think this is less of a dream, and something you intend for me to take more seriously," quieter than he meant, a betrayal to the silence he'll wish he had kept, because now he feels small, weak, and, above all, though he would never let his face show it, self-conscious. Because this is the archon of the city he's grown to love so much, too much for his own comfort, and if he says something or does something wrong he's afraid it'll be what finally gets him thrown away, abandoned once more. For if anyone wasn’t meant to be there, to live a life nearly free of the struggles of his homeland, it was Kaeya Alberich.
And, as though he could read thoughts, Venti will say, gently, "I’m hardly an archon fit to cast away a citizen of his nation. You are a child of Mondstadt, a child of mine, just as much as anyone else. That Vision on your hip is the most material evidence I could ever hope to give you."
And there will be a lump in Kaeya's throat by now. He will have learned from his previous mistake, and will not dare open his mouth to say anything more.
Because, really, what would he say?
"Alright, alright, I think I've scolded you enough for tonight." Venti's small tune will have become softer, more soothing. It will ease the very uncomfortable something that had been building in Kaeya's chest for the past few minutes, even if only a bit. "But, really... Perhaps you should watch your self-destructive habits a bit more. If not for me, then for Master Jean. Sister Rosaria. Master Diluc, Captain Eula. Anyone it takes. There are a lot of people in these walls that you care for, and that care for you in return. Be wise not to forget that."
The previous noise of patrons talking and glasses clinking against tables will return within a few seconds. And just a moment after, Kaeya will wake up.
But in that short moment, before the dream ends and Venti truly has no more for Kaeya Alberich that night, the captain will finally turn to look at the bard.
And the smile he bears, yet again easy and carefree, will remain in Kaeya's memory for a time after he wakes.
The hour of the morning will be much too early for the sun. And Kaeya, still in his day clothes and lazily thrown on his own bed, will resolve to abstain from visiting any taverns, or indulging too much in his own personal supply for a week, minimum.
Because hell, that bard's guilt tactics work extremely well.