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Venti liked Aether's teapot. As it seemed, some places were designed especially for his taste when the traveler invited him to stay as long and as often as he liked.
The vineyard and the garden close to it resonated with the merry songs of finches and the air was warm enough to doze off against the park trees.
While he was gazing at the artificial blue sky -adepti’s magic was very efficient no doubt-, Venti could hear familiar footsteps in the grass and smiled wide at his friend.
“You’ve come at last, Aether! I was waiting for you all day long! Were you doing commissions again?
- Hi, Venti, I’m sorry it took so long, I was caught off by some… errands again… “
The traveler sat beside him with a light sigh and gazed at the sky for a moment, eyes glassy.
Venti wasn’t mad at all, of course, but he felt the need to fake a pout to distract the blonde for a moment.
“How dare you making me wait, indeed? I, Barbatos, will never forgive you!”
His dramatic sentence, along with a dramatic hand on his heart, wouldn’t usually have failed to make Aether laugh but instead, he got no reaction from his part and dropped the act, slightly worried.
“Aether, what’s wrong?
- Can I… talk to you about something?
- Sure, my dearest companion! What is there you wish to tell me?”
That’s when he noticed how sore Aether seemed when turning his head towards him. His gentle eyes had no sparkle left in it as if he could faint any moment now.
The bard couldn’t help but gently take his hands in encouragement, gently kneading his calloused fingers to help him relax a bit.
“Actually, Venti… I’ve been pretty tired lately… I barely returned from Inazuma and yet again, I’m still struggling earning mora everyday while doing commissions for everyone… I…”
‘Can’t do this anymore’ wasn’t said but Venti didn’t need the words to understand what the traveler had been through. When was the last time he had seen him relaxed? Last Windblume maybe? And then again, he couldn’t help but doing errands again and again and even helped him a lot. The poor man couldn’t afford a quiet holiday, workaholic as he was.
“My warrior, you’ve worked so hard! I understand how you feel…”
The anemo archon let go of Aether’s hands as he gently traced the shadows under his eyes, then his cheeks, with a benevolent smile. The blonde shuddered lightly at the touch but didn't resist, knowing Venti would never harm him.
“When you just can’t find any more energy, and the world falls into a haze, even apples lose their sweet flavor... If you can get some quality shut-eye at this time, you’ll feel a lot better when you wake up, I promise!”
The outlander groaned lightly when Venti’s fingers began to lightly massage his scalp to help him relax.
“It’s hard to get quality sleep those days when everyone needs me to do something for them, beginning with Paimon…
- I’ll fend them off, take some rest now.”
Venti’s smile faded away while he began to draw the adventurer towards him.
“Here, I’ll lend you my shoulder, close your eyes.
- Your serious face… is a rare sight.”
Aether closed his tired eyes as he was told and could immediately feel Venti’s fingers in his hair again, massaging gently.
He didn’t need to ask the bard for a song as Venti naturally began to hum a lullaby and cradle him.
Was it archon magic? Or a bard’s power?
Maybe it was simply trust in his companion and the safe feeling in his arms but Aether fell asleep in minutes, gently snoring in the crook of Venti’s neck in this warm late afternoon…
“Do not worry, my darling, I’ll always be there for you.”