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“Alatus.”
The name repeated itself in the mind of the beloved anemo archon as he strolled down the paths of Mondstadt, quietly humming an unrecognizable tune under his breath. As a god he watched groups rise and fall, friends grow and die, and nations evolve into the prospering state they were in presently; the wind was seemingly the only persistent thing in his life. It swept gently through his ombre braids, fluttered his cape and whisked the feathers adorning his green hat. No matter where his feet took him in Teyvat, the soft gales remained an ever-present constant in his life that brought not only comfort to the god but also the feeling of home - though nothing could compete with the feeling of dangling ones legs off of Starsnatch cliff and watching the sunset. For the longest time the wind carried the only semblance of home, that was until he laid his eyes on a precious adeptus for the first time. And with that in mind, Venti allowed a smile to graze his lips as he looked up to find, under Venessa’s tree, his beloved standing only a few feet away from him, polearm clutched tightly in his hand and a slight panicked look shown in his gaze.
"Ah, Alatus. What brings you to my beloved abode?" Venti questioned playfully, winking with a gleam in his eye under the moonlight. Taken aback, a small blush formed on Xiao's face at the sound of his old name gracing Venti's lips, so he quickly drew his mask to conceal his embarrassment. Though his mask hurt him physically, nothing could hurt more than damaging his pride in front of a god.
“That is not my name now, Venti. You know this." He muttered.
"Hey now, silly." Venti laughed approaching the man and cupping his face between his hands, attempting to stare at him through the eyeholes of his mask. The archon began humming once more and lightly peppered the mask with kisses until Xiao let up and eventually let the mask fade away allowing Venti to lean in and graze his lips with his own.
"Maybe I just like seeing my beloved flustered." Venti confessed softly. The adeptus shuddered slightly at the slight puffs of air kissing his lips before he eventually gave in and closed the miniscule distance between them. Venti wasted no time pressing his chest against the others and wrapping his arms around his neck, tangling his fingers in his hair. Xiao mewled softly against his mouth, allowing his polearm to fall forgotten to the ground and using his free hand to tug the archon impossibly closer, the other hand gently cupping his cheek. This only allowed Venti to further deepen the kiss and increase the fervor encasing the immortal beings. Through small peeks in the adeptus' vision, he saw the way the ends of Ventis braids glowed between them and admired the way the blue light illuminated the light blush tinting his nose and cheeks. He saw the way Venti smiled ever so slightly before pushing deeper into Xiao's mouth, on a seemingly endless pursuit for more. He saw the way the wind blew gently around them, carrying with it leaves and white petals. The man before him was just simply beautiful, and he wanted to absorb every moment of this. Xiao clutched him just a bit tighter then. The darkness surrounding them gave them a blanket of secrecy with only the small light of the moon and Venti’s braids softly illuminating the space in front of them. And finally, their lips parted with the softest sound.
A look that could be only be described as just complete fondness was plastered all over Xiao’s face as he stared down at the archon. In an attempt to escape his swallowing gaze, Venti lightly pushed at his chest and laughed quietly. “Not so timid now huh, Xiao?” Venti poked at his shoulder as he watched in continuous amusement as the red began to creep back up the adeptus's face. His braids dimmed then. Xiao cleared his throat and tilted his chin up ever so slightly attempting to regain control over his body but still managing to fail miserably. Though he tried to look stoic in front of his love, the arm coiled around his waist remained unrelenting.
“You called for me.” He stated monotonously.
“Oh... did I? Strange, I believe I was just thinking about you. Though it is possible your name slipped out during the process.” Venti giggled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head comically. Xiao allowed himself to smile lightly, the deeper fondness returning to his eyes. He knows an obvious lie when he sees one, but he figured he’d let this one slide though. They never really got to spend much time like this, and he wanted to soak up every second of his presence.
A sudden thought resounded through his brain finally grounding him and allowing him to become aware of what he wasn’t doing presently: protecting Liyue. He reluctantly unwound his arm from the god’s waist and looked towards the ground.
“Venti I-
He looked back up then and swore he saw nebulas and mapped constellations reflected in Venti’s large, dewy green orbs; a gaze so intense Xiao has no choice but to look away once more. Knowing he didn’t have the strength to be able to tell him that he had to leave, he allowed the words to die on his lips as he swept him up for a chaste kiss to the lips. He summoned his mask, snatched his polearm from the ground and vanished, leaving only the soft smell of qingxin and rain. The wind around Venti finally slowed to a stop, settling his cape and allowing his braids to still.
He bit at his bottom lip out of habit and stared silently at his feet, screwing his eyes shut in deep concentration. Had he come on too strong right away? He knew Xiao was a bit of a reserved person who typically needed him to initiate contact between the two of them, but still. He had just missed him terribly and out of sheer selfishness he called out to him knowing he would arrive regardless. He sighed deeply and pushed on into the night with a little less of the pep in his step he had earlier and an invisible dark cloud looming over his head. Venti opened his mouth and begin singing a soothing lullaby to no one in particular, drawing his arms to his chest feeling a sudden chill drag itself up his spine. He blew out a shaky breath as he let his thoughts run rampant and allowed his legs to carry him all the way to the outskirts of Springvale when all of the sudden a burst of anemo erupted in front of him. Xiao appeared with outstretched arms and swooped Venti up into his arms. The god’s eyes flew open wide as Xiao teleported the two away from Mondstadt with just a few jumps away and up into the air. Venti, too shocked to even form a cohesive sentence just stared quizzically at Xiao’s mask as he used the wind current to push them away and towards Xiao’s residence at the Wangshu inn.
“Xiao.” Venti whispered against his shoulder, his braids whipping in all directions his hat flying off of the top of his head with the strong gusts of wind. Not giving verbal confirmation that he heard Venti, Xiao only squeezed him a bit tighter to his chest and quickened his pace. He eventually landed on top of a laid-out blanket adorned with plucked cecilias on top of Wangshu inn and gently set Venti down into a seated position. All Venti could do was stare up in bemusement at the adeptus towering over him, not caring enough to note the absence of his signature hat from his head. Xiao’s mask broke away in sparks and he fell down to one knee completely out of breath with his eyes squeezed shut and a hand pressed to his chest. The archon stretched out an arm with the intent to gently nudge at Xiao’s shoulder only to once again reel back in surprise as Xiao clasped his hand with both of his to meet him halfway. He opened up his golden gaze and stared deeply into Ventis opposing green one.
“I’m sorry for leaving so suddenly.” He apologized immediately. “I understand my duties as a guardian of Liyue and I shall always be here to protect them under any circumstance, but you have become my priority as well.” Venti held his breath. “I can’t make up for the time I missed not being there with you, but I can surely try and stay by your side from this point onwards.” He finished.
Venti tore his gaze away from Xiao’s and took in his surroundings: he sat upon a beautifully woven green and white blanket with small plucked Cecilias lining the outer border. Xiao’s jade spear sat not too far away from them and small crystal-fly cores glowed in assorted spots giving the roof of the inn a gentle radiance in the dark night.
“I was hoping you may accompany me tonight as I continue my surveillance.” Xiao pressed a kiss to Venti’s knuckles and Venti swore he felt his heart miss a beat. Tears welled up in his eyes as he looked back towards his beloved. The thoughts he had earlier were still present but just from the fond look in his adeptus’s eyes he felt them all seemingly dissipate into the air much like Xiao’s mask just a moment ago.
“Xiao!” He cried flinging himself forward and enveloping the man in a crushing embrace, burying his head crook of his neck. “I can’t believe you did this for me!” Venti wailed. Xiao quickly returned the embrace with an arm once again curling around his waist and another cradling the back of his head.
Xiao whispered fiercely, “I love you, baobei.” squeezing him just a bit harder. Venti cried quietly into his shoulder before he moved to sit backwards, sniffling and wiping his nose and tears with his sleeve before giving a watery laugh.
“I love you too, Alatus.” Venti smiled brightly. He dove back in for a passionate kiss then pushed himself away just as quick, leaning back into the blanket. He continued to smile at the adeptus as he patted the area right next to him with excitement. Xiao blinked slowly then exhaled out of his nose with a small smile forming on his lips as he placed himself right at Venti’s side. He reached out to grab his spear and with his other arm he brought Venti up against his side, allowing the latter to lay his head down on his shoulder with a fond sigh.
The wind kissed at the pair as they watched the occasional petal from the cecilias Xiao plucked fly into the air then fall to rest at their feet once more.
When Xiao turned to look down at Venti, he already found him with his eyes closed, a peaceful expression on his face and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly. Though the god’s eyes weren’t open, and Xiao could no longer see the stars reflected in his eyes, he in turn saw his very own treasure and someone he would look forward to cherishing for the rest of his days, no matter how short or long. He reached over and tugged the sides of his cape, so they circled Venti’s form and held him a little closer then as he gently kissed the top of his head.
Through slightly watery eyes, Xiao gazed upon the valley. With his beloved by his side, and Liyue sleeping soundly through another blissful night, he was at peace.
They were finally home.