Work Text:
" master diluc one dandelion wine"
" we do not serve customers with an open tab above 1 million mora", the owner replied from his spot being the counter, cleaning one of the many glasses the bard had drank from in the past hour.
" well it seems your out of luck for tonight", the newcomer replied laughing.
'"ah kaeya to what do we owe the pleasure?"
"I am simply investigating as usual, Barbara has requested for me to investigate why the lyre, which was repaired by our dear bard, seems to have gone back to its former destroyed form. You wouldn't happen to know why, venti?"
" aha, well kaeya, music instrument are fragile after all." the bard said, ignore the glare the darknight was sending him.
" oh really ? Because if my memory serves me well..."
The anemo archon frowned, drowning out the knight's voice in favor of focusing on the rustle of the wind, its shift from soft to stronger. The bard looked up in time to see a new comer materialise in front of him.
" xiao?"
" Lord ba- venti", he quickly corrected himself, "I require your help. It is about Lord morax, he's behaving strangely I am afraid something may be amiss" the adeptus said. To the common eye the yaksha would have appeared calm, and indifferent as per usual. But for the archon who had known him for many centuries, it was easy to see the panic in his eyes, to hear the shaking in his voice, to understand the fear he felt.
"wow, is that the yaksha from liyue", he heard the Knight say to the tavern owner. He chose to ignore this in favor of focusing on his old friend.
"what do you mean 'he is behaving strangely'? Has he started throwing mountains at people again?" he said, trying to downplay the situation hoping to calm down the upset adepti.
"no! I am being serious, he befriended this harbinger and has been behaving strangely, asking strange questions, doing things he never would." the adepti was now frowning a faint blue glow appearing around him.
"okay, okay. I'm sure morax is fine. He has lives for many centuries, if something was wrong he would inform you. You have a contract with him which says he has too."
"you don't understand, I know him. This is not him."
"archons can change xiao, especially without our gnosis." he replied with a smile.
"Lord Barbatos, he's asking me how I'm doing! If I'm in pain, If I've eaten and slept. I do not need food nor sleep! He's asking for my opinion on things that do not matter like flowers, food and clothing items. He's clearly ill! I have promised to serve him, fight his battles. But I can't do it if he is not himself."
The anemo archon watched as his friend's mask both literally and metaphorically dissapeared leaving a lost young man. His smile softened and he reached out to take the adepti's hand.
" the fatui is controlling him, like they did with the Electro archon." the adeptus finished, voice a whisper.
"xiao, look at me", he said searching for the younger eyes, "he's trying to show he cares"
"no he-"
"let me finish. As archons, we are obliged to behave a certain way. For me it comes in the form of not being able to ask people to stay with me even if I wish. For morax it is in the form of having each relation be a contract. But that is no longer the case, not for me, and not for him. He cares for you, deeply, even if you don't see it. He took you in, and despite your contract, he has always viewed you as a son. One he couldn't get close to because of a contract. A contract who has come to an end. Let him care xiao, let him be good to you, let yourself not be a servant but a friend who deserves more." the archon said looking the yaksha in the eyes smile never leaving his face, voice soft.
" he's changing?"
" yes, he is. Liyue doesn't need an archon, but you need someone there, as a friend or a father. Let him do that for you."
He watched the adeptus Amber eyes fill with tears before he quickly looked away blinking furiously.
"you can stay in mondstadt if you'd like. To think about it, morax is not allowed in the city, he won't come for you here." he said taking our a small key from his pocket. 'I have a small room in East Side of the city, I do not often go there, but if you would like, you may use it for a bit."
"why ?"
"morax may be the archon you served, but you carry my vision, and you have done much for me in the past centuries."
He put the key in xiao's hand he was holding, offering the man one last smile and watches as the adeptus nodded as form of greeting, before dissapearing in a gust of wind.
"So, lord barbatos ?"kaeya said finally. It seems his night is yet to be over.
Ending headcanon:
After this, inhabitants of mondstadt start seeing a mysterious man in a mask appear everytime someone comes too close to the bard, but no one mentions it and the yaksha would deny it even if asked.