Work Text:
“loooove?”
venti’s call to you was basically pointless. you only continued to doodle meaningless pictures onto the sheet of paper.
“darling? apple of my eye? the best lover i could ask for?”
you gave a tired exhale as you turned to look at venti. he was playing with his sleeves when you turned to him. his green hat and cape being put onto the bed a bit away from your desk in the corner.
“yes venti?”
“are you gonna sleep soon?”
he should’ve known the answer, he probably did know the answer. venti wasn’t stupid, despite the kind of drunkard he played himself down to be.
“i’ve got so much to do though.. just go to sleep without me tonight. please?” you lied. “i’ll try to get in bed as soon as i can.”
you heard a sigh from the bard as you turned back around. then shuffling as he changed clothes and laid down in bed.
“would you like me to go out of the room? so you can sleep in the dark without a candle,” you asked, still not looking back. you know he had the sad eyes and by now, you just couldn’t look at them.
“please just stay in here…”
“alright,” you muttered back, hearing more noises as venti settled down.
the candle lit the sheet of paper you continued to doodle on. in truth, there was no letters, no stories to write, nothing to do really. you just wanted something, anything, to distract you from sleeping. nightmares and bad dreams plagued your mind a lot of the time, leaving sleep to be more of a hassle than something to want at all. in the end you just barely slept. venti was aware of it.
he was used to you saying you were busy with something and would then sleep by himself. you’d join him at the end of the night to rest your eyes and your body, but sleep was kept to a minimum.
and you could tell venti hated it.
the bard knew of your nightmares, in the first few months of dating you he had figured out they plagued you at times. you’d wake in a fright and bolt up. then you’d lay back down as you processed what happened and hugged venti tight as you shoved your face into him.
he’d wake up when you jolted up awake and try to pretend to sleep. though the more unbearable nights, one when your cries and sobs were heard by him, he’d ask to pull you into his arms as comfort.
and so, after staying up for a few more hours and running out of papers to doodle on, you walked over to the bed. venti lay facing your side of the bed, hair unbraided and a peaceful look on his face. you lifted the blankets and laid down beside him. a small hum come from venti as he wrapped his arms around you and pulled himself closer.
you played with his hair for a few extra minutes before slowly starting to doze off. you didn’t want to sleep. not yet. not when the only thing to greet you were upsetting scenarios and imagery. ones you couldn’t get out of until the very end.
but your body refused.
venti’s eyes flew open as your body lurched forward. heavy breathing was all that filled the room as he looked up to you, hunched over with your head in your hands.
ah, one of those dream tonight. he thought.
the bard sat up slowly and looked at you for a second.
“venti,” you whispered.
“yes love?”
“please-” you sobbed into your hands. “please just hold me for tonight, please?”
he gave a nod in response and wrapped his arms around you. you turned yourself over and put your head against venti’s chests.
for a considerable amount of time, you two sat in each others embrace. venti rubbed circles onto your back as you started to calm down. he didn’t have to ask or talk. he just wanted to be with you for tonight.
though, he swore he’d try to help you more in your sleeping endeavors.
the next night, you were doing the same. sitting at your desk and doodling more things into pages with nothing to do.
“love, can we talk?” venti asked.
“hm?” you turned around to look at him. “is something the matter, ven?”
“i just wanted to ask- is- is there a way i can help you with your sleeping?”
“what do you mean?”
“i want you to sleep more, and take care of yourself more. you can’t keep going on like this,” venti walked over to where you were sitting and placed his hands on your shoulders. “i’m worried about you love, you’re hurting yourself more than you think.”
you looked down at your hands, tears already welling up into your eyes as you looked up at venti. he looked worried. he looked serious. it was making you nervous.
“i-” you took a deep breath. “i can’t venti… ’m tired of those dreams. i don’t want to see them anymore.”
“then we can get help for it. please, stop hurting yourself like this. i love you and i want the best for you…”
you looked up at venti, down at your hands, and up again.
“venti…”
“i’ll get the mora for it i swear.”
you gave a short, sad laugh as tears welled into your eyes.
“fine…”
venti smiled at you as he hugged you, bending down further to put his head on your shoulder as you continued to sit down.
“thank you, love. i’ll get the mora and i’ll cover everything. promise me you’ll at least try to take care of yourself.”
he pulled away to look at you, leaving a peck on your forehead as well.
“it’s weird seeing you so serious venti,” you gave a slight laugh.
“it’s hard for me to be that serious as well.”
you both laughed as venti lead you to the bed. getting each other under the covers. there was no promise of no nightmares that night, but you both hoped it’d at least become more tolerable over time.