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It was a surprise for Xiao when he found a familiar figure standing in the middle of the balcony of Wangshu Inn.
A tall man seemed to be waiting for something there, donned in the colours of faded brown and yellow, distinctly contrasting the bright colours of summer that grew around the railings in the form of colourful flowers and greenery, glowing softly under the moonlight. He was looking up at the full moon that hung high up above their heads, as if contemplating something.
Xiao, who was just returning from his late night patrol, definitely did not expect to see the archon — former archon, to be precise — of Geo and contracts visiting at such late hours. He stood behind him, frozen, a little lost on what to do.
Was this about what happened at The Chasm? Was Xiao’s immediate thought, and many words ran through his brain in that one second, all on how to explain what happened in his search for Bosacius. Every single one ended with an apology.
After all, he was the one who requested and insisted on going down to The Chasm, a journey which Rex Lapis initially had tried to prevent him from venturing on. Xiao had gone on the trip, but then eventually succumbed to the dangers there and had to be saved by him, causing him trouble.
Even though Traveler had told him that he shouldn’t feel like he had burdened him, he still couldn’t help but feel a little—
“You’re finally back, Xiao,” Zhongli turned around, giving him a gentle, light smile. Xiao immediately snapped out of his thoughts and bowed out of habit.
“Rex Lapis,” he greeted. “About The Chasm—”
“Don’t bow, I’m not your archon anymore,” Zhongli said kindly, which made Xiao straighten back up at the reminder. “And I’m not here about The Chasm, don’t worry. If you feel bad about going down there just to have me save you, don’t be. You did well. If you weren’t there, the Traveler and their friends would not have gotten out.”
A pause. “Oh,” Xiao blinked when he finally fully registered his words.
After a short period of hesitation, he asked, “Then if I may be so rude as to ask, why are you here then?”
“Just a simple request,” Zhongli smiled yet again, but this time, there was something behind the smile. Nothing sinister, just…Xiao couldn’t quite find the word for it. “It’s that drunkard’s birthday in a few days, and we were going to celebrate his birthday at Mount Aocang.”
Drunkard? Xiao had to run the word in his mind for a few times before he realised that the man was referring to Mondstadt’s archon, Barbatos.
“We want to invite you to the party — or rather, Venti wanted to, and I have absolutely no problem with that. It’s all down to your decision whether or not you want to come, Xiao,” Zhongli continued.
“Lord Barbatos wants to invite…me?” Xiao said in a half-whisper, definitely not missing the way how he almost tripped over his words, how his heart inexplicably sped up, his chest aching from the sudden explosion of surprise and breathlessness.
He wasn’t completely oblivious to what he was feeling…but it was more that he refused to acknowledge it. Barbatos, or rather, Venti, was worlds away from him, no matter how many times the other had said otherwise.
There was no ending for it, he knew, for Venti would never look at him that way, and neither would Xiao hope and want. And in addition to that, it would be distracting him from his duties and his life, so he intellectually chose to ignore it.
He still strongly believes that he has no use for a feeling such as that.
A phase, he always told himself. An infatuation that he couldn’t control and solely based on the fact that the Anemo archon had saved him back on that one moonlit night.
And also many nights after that, in the safety and comfort of his adepti teapot. But he could never remember those, not really. All he could recall from those painful and karma-filled nights were the clear sound of the flute cutting through the pain, resonating with his heart and within his bones, sinking into his veins to bring him quiet reprieve.
He does remember the occasional soft grip on his hand after he temporarily broke free from the karma that bound him, after the flute ceased to play. There was only a comforting silence in those moments, a gaze from gentle green eyes that smiled at him and watched him as he fell asleep, making sure that he was safe from suffering before he let go.
“So, would you like to go?” Rex Lapis’ voice was the one that called him back to reality. Xiao must have been locked in his thoughts for quite long, since the man seemed to think that he was hesitating to agree. “Ganyu and the rest of the adepti will be present too, so you need not worry. And—”
“I’ll go,” Xiao answered, almost a little too fast for his liking. Zhongli, who was about to belt out all the reasons why Xiao should come to celebrate, closed his mouth, the corners of his lips lifted into a knowing smile.
“That is great to hear, Xiao. I’m sure Venti will be delighted to know that you will be there.”
***
A soft hum came from Venti’s mouth as he leaped down the small, worn dirt path leading up to Windrise, a leaf twirling in his hand — or rather, spinning around freely in the little current that he created right above his palm.
Reaching the Statue of the Seven, he hopped onto one of the stone platforms just right beneath the tree, settling himself down comfortably at the edge, his feet swinging off the platform. With his free hand he summoned his lyre, and a smile lifted his lips slightly when he felt its comfortable weight right between the grip of his fingers.
Dropping the leaf, he brought his hand to the strings, caressing them as he went. His lips hummed a different tune now, outlining the song that he wanted to play.
But just as he was about to pluck the first note, a small pulse came from the stone below, making him pause. He knew immediately that it was an incoming message from the Geo Archon, and waited.
Only a short message came through his mind.
His initial small, tiny smile grew to reach his eyes.
***
Xiao was starting to regret his decision.
At first, he didn’t think that it would be anything too hard to do. All he had to do, in theory, was to show up and eat with them, spend some time with Venti and go. But he could feel nerves piling up as days passed, its numbing and ever-growing presence tingling uncomfortably under his skin.
He had tried to reason with himself that there was nothing to be nervous about. It wasn’t like it was the first time interacting with him. He had talked to him occasionally with Rex Lapis by his side, and he found his cheerful and perky personality annoying yet endearing all at the same time.
Even though most of their interactions were when Xiao was delirious with pain, he didn’t think it would be too bad at this birthday party.
Right?
—wait, where am I?
He hadn’t realised it, but while his brain was stuck on the never-ending, irrational worries that played in his head on repeat, he had taken a walk all the way from Wuwang Hill to Qingce Village. The wooden board floor beneath his feet and the towering wooden entrance into the village arching above him was proof of that.
It had been a few days since he accepted Rex Lapis and Barbatos’ request, and ever since then his mind had done nothing but cling onto the thought of Venti’s birthday party.
You’re being distracted, he chided himself, but it definitely did not stop the thoughts that continued to rampage in his mind. He tried to head out to Wuwang Hill, where the monsters were most rampant, to clear out the terrain and hopefully clear his mind through fighting.
It certainly did help for a while, but he could feel the karma building up when dawn started to break over the horizon, so he had to stop. He then persuaded himself to go on a walk or run instead, but then he ended up getting so lost in his mind that he unconsciously headed for an area that was packed with the presence of humans.
What are you doing, Xiao? He resisted the urge to slap himself a few times on the forehead and immediately stepped away from the entrance, planning to avoid the humans here and head back to Wangshu Inn. But before he even did, a pair of them stepped past the entrance of the village, two middle-aged women strolling out.
“Do we really have to collect Jueyun Chilis?” One of them complained. The both of them didn’t seem to notice Xiao, who was standing quite a few metres away from them.
“Of course! Ah Bao loves Jueyun Chilis, it’s his birthday, so the dishes on that day have to be something he likes! Think of it as a gift, a gift,” The other replied, and the two disappeared past the trees as they walked on, their voices soon lost in the wind.
Even though Xiao didn’t hear much of their conversation, he still slowly came to a realisation.
A gift…?
I need to get a gift for Barbatos!
How could he forget? It was his birthday, he had to get something for him.
But what should he get?
Xiao was never a gift-giving person. When was the last time he had gotten someone a gift? The probability of that having happened lay around zero.
How do you give gifts anyway? What did he have to consider? He figured that he could observe the way mortals give gifts, but by the time he finished his research Venti’s birthday would have come already. And he was an archon, not a human. Mortal preferences for gifts may not be fitting for a god.
Xiao figured that he wouldn’t be able to think something up if he continued standing near Qingce Village, so he decided to head back, one more worry added to the many in his mind.
***
“Gift?” Ganyu’s tone was surprised. Xiao couldn’t blame her for that though. “You want to give a gift to someone?”
“Yes,” Xiao replied, a little more curtly than he had intended. But all Ganyu did was smile even brighter, and Xiao could tell that there was a rare mischief behind that wide grin.
“I can’t believe that our Xiao is finally giving gifts! Is it for someone you like, so you had to come to me for advice?” She reached out and ruffled his hair affectionately, which Xiao quickly dodged. “Tell me, who is that amazing person that made you set your eyes on them?”
Xiao almost choked on his tea as blood rushed to his cheeks, his heart tripping over itself and skipping a beat.
He was starting to regret asking for help in the first place.
Xiao had struggled to come up with ideas for a good gift for Venti on his own at first, but neither of them seemed to really work out as a gift. What would Barbatos like as a birthday present? He has no idea at all.
In the end, he had to request for Ganyu’s help. He didn’t want to trouble Rex Lapis again, and neither did he want to interact with a mortal and risk having his karma affect their fragile health and constitution.
“I-It’s not for someone I like,” Xiao shook his head, the half-lie managing past his mouth with a stutter. As he sat there, face pink with embarrassment and brain filled with regret, he still tried to convince himself that he was technically not lying. He was getting a gift for Barbatos for his birthday, not because he liked him in Ganyu’s implied way or anything.
And archons bless her kind soul, all Ganyu did was raise an eyebrow then nodded with an understanding smile. “If you say so. So what exactly do you need help with?”
“I just…” Xiao shrugged. “...don’t know where to start. What should I give him?”
“Hmm…it does make it a little hard on my end since I don’t know who you are talking about, but maybe you can think about what he likes. If your gift is related to something that the other likes, it’s a guarantee that they will love it!”
What he likes? Xiao wasn’t sure what the archon liked. Sure, they have talked before, but not enough for him to know his preferences. All he knew was that he was an archon of the wind and Mondstadt, and he played music often on his lyre and his flute. He loved wine, he knew, but he supposed that it wouldn’t be a good idea to give him alcohol as Rex Lapis would disapprove, and Barbatos could get it anywhere else.
“Who are you giving your gift to? If I knew who it is and what occasion it is for, maybe I can give a little more advice?” Ganyu continued.
“Lord Barbatos. For his birthday.”
“Oh! You’re talking about his birthday present!” Realisation flooded her features, then she flashed him an apologetic smile. “I don’t know him well, sorry. Probably not even as well as you. As for the present that I’m giving him, I plan to give him a bouquet of flowers.”
“Not the best birthday present, I admit,” Ganyu laughed a little sheepishly. “But I don’t know what else to give him either. All I know is that he loves Cecilias, as I have heard in passing from Rex Lapis. But we don’t have them in Liyue, so I replaced them with Qingxin. It seems like the closest option anyway.”
Cecilias? Qingxin? Music? He tried to gather all he had collected together, and a little idea bloomed in the back of his mind, even though he was a little doubtful that it would make the best gift ever.
“Don’t worry about it too much, Xiao,” Ganyu reassured him, reading through the conflicting feelings on the poor adeptus’ face. “As long as it comes from the heart, any gift would be the best gift for him.”
Xiao ran through the words in his head, sighed, then nodded.
***
A soft, hollow thud echoed throughout Xiao’s tiny abode, and the bamboo that Xiao had been working on for the past hour was thrown onto the floor and ended up rolling off to the corner.
He shouldn’t have thought to make a flower-painted flute for Venti. His hands were only meant for fighting and killing and scarred with wounds and blood — it was not suited for the artistic nature, creating art and music alike.
But he was already halfway through, so close to succeeding after struggling with all his failed creations that he had tried to make over and over again. If he gave up now, he wouldn’t have a present to give, and it would render all of his efforts useless.
He got up from his seat and gently picked up the half-done flute, then returned to work.
***
When Xiao arrived at Mount Aocang, the birthday banquet was already all set up and ready to receive the star of the show. Food was piled up and it filled the round table to the edges until there was barely any space for all their cutlery.
Wine glasses were set beside every plate, and Xiao could see the bottles of Zhongli’s priced Osmanthus Wine stored subtly — okay, maybe not so subtly — under the table, surrounded by a thin yellow shield to prevent breakage.
Or maybe it was to prevent Venti from gulping it all down before they even started on the food.
Everyone was busy with the last minute preparations. Cloud Retainer was fussing over the food and making sure that everything was perfect all the while arguing with Moon Carver, stating that, “Yes, the Jade Parcels need to be swapped out because it is missing an ingredient!”
In which Moon Carver shouts back with, “No, I checked the recipe at least five times it can’t go wrong!”
Ganyu seemed to be rearranging the messed up order of the plates that Cloud Retainer and Moon Carver had pushed out of place in their squabble. Mountain Shaper on the other hand was trying his very best to calm the two quarrelling illuminated beasts down, though to no avail. Rex Lapis was surprisingly, nowhere to be seen.
Seeing as there is absolutely nothing for him to do, Xiao skirted past the trio and sat down at one of the stone stools to wait. He gave his waist a quick glance, to make sure that his present for Venti was still tightly strapped to his torso.
The bamboo flute was still present and pressed into his skin, the delicately painted Cecilias and Qingxins on its brown body glowing white under the passing light that filtered through the leaves up above. He let out a tiny breath of relief.
“Xiao,” a familiar voice called out to him, and he turned around to face his arc— former archon, who seemed a little irritated. But his irritation didn’t feel like it was directed at him.
“I’m sorry that I have to trouble you, but can you help me fetch the drunkard from Dihua Marsh? I’m afraid that he has lost his way after not having visited Liyue for so long, and he had requested your help,” a sigh came from Zhongli. “Specifically you,” he then added as an afterthought.
Xiao’s mouth fell open by a fraction as confusion flooded his brain.
Why me? Xiao wanted to ask, but what came out of his mouth instead was, “Sure. It’s no problem.”
Standing up from his seat, he immediately left for Dihua Marsh, blinking out of Mount Aocang in a flash of teal and black, letting his powers pull him towards Venti at the speed of light.
***
“Xiaooooo!” He heard the familiar call of his name when the smoke of his powers dissipated into nothing but thin air. He now stood in the plains of the marsh, his shoes brushing the soft, wet grass that signified the presence of rain as he started towards the voice.
And there he was, the Anemo Archon of Mondstadt, standing right behind him with a dazzling smile that lit up his features, the wind tugging and pulling at the green, billowing cape that rested right on his shoulders, as if waving at Xiao. The other quickly adjusted his tiny, green beret, then kept the lyre that he was holding in his hand into a pocket of his magic when he lifted a hand in greeting.
“It’s been so long! How have you been?” He hopped over, grinning, and Xiao couldn’t help but feel his muscles lifting his lips up into a small smile. He barely managed to repress the urge and let the corners of his mouth fall.
“I have been fine, Lord Barbatos,” he answered, but just as he finished his sentence, Barbatos’ smile immediately turned into a pout.
“Call me Venti, Venti, Venti! I thought I already told you that you don’t need to be so polite with me,” he whined. “Or else I feel very distant from you. And that’s not fair, you know! Considering the number of times we have talked, we should be friends by now, no?”
Talked as in saved. A small part of Xiao whispered, but Xiao nodded, after a millisecond of hesitation. “Venti,” he tried.
“Now that’s what I like to hear!” His grin was back up again. “How is your karma lately? Not too bad I hope.” Slight worry was evident on his face as he subtly examined the adeptus up and down. He knew what Venti was asking about. Do you need me to help?
“No. The medication that Rex Lapis gives me regularly is sufficient,” Xiao replied, his way of saying, I’m fine, please don’t trouble yourself with me any longer.
“Ah...but the medication must not be pleasant, is it? Surely music will be more preferable!” Let me help you! Venti’s eyes were expectant and hopeful, and Xiao cannot ever fathom why. This was a conversation made a hundred times over before, and it always ended the same way.
Xiao would reject to the end, and Venti would eventually let it go, but then Xiao’s karma would overload one day leaving Venti with no choice but to swoop to his rescue. Xiao never wanted to burden Venti with the responsibility of saving him from the claws of an inevitable death over and over again — and he has told him so — but the archon would never stay away.
And a secret, selfish part of Xiao…was happy that he didn’t walk out of his life.
“But—” Xiao wanted to protest, but today, the conversation went a little different.
“It’s my birthday, just indulge in my wishes a bit, come on. Let me play for you even on normal days, even just for once! Please, please, please?” Venti’s wide, aqua green eyes made it hard for Xiao’s to decline his request yet again.
“I—” He opened his mouth, not really sure if he wanted to continue refusing or give in, but he didn’t get to finish his sentence before he was interrupted again — but this time, it was not by Venti.
Instead, it was a distant, bloody scream — a scream that came from the direction of Wangshu Inn.
A place that he could call home.
His feet instinctively shifted towards the inn, and for a second he thought of leaving Venti behind in the dust to check the place out, but his legs kept him rooted to the ground as he searched Venti’s face. It would be rude if he left him in the middle of nowhere like that, and for all he knew, it could have been a false alarm.
But a serious look had fallen over his features in that second, all his smiles and cheer wiped away from his face the second the scream had accented the air. Xiao knew exactly what they were going to do next.
The both of them dashed towards the source of the sound, their course bringing them to the ground floor of Wangshu Inn, where the wooden platform and stairs started. The screams were getting more prominent by the minute as they got closer — fortunately enough, they all seemed to be terrified shrieks instead of cries of pain.
Just when the wooden platform came into view, they could see raving monsters beneath the stairs, a startling colourful mix of hilichurl kind, abyss mages, and whopperflowers. The humans visiting the inn all wore faces of heightened fear and were scrambling their way up the stairs, squeezing one another tight as they exhausted their throats with screams.
On usual circumstances, Xiao would avoid venturing into a human crowd so that he wouldn’t affect others with his karma. But this was not a usual circumstance.
He pulled his spear off his back, twirling the hard-worn jade weapon in his hand as he rushed in, pushing the slower mortals up the higher platforms. “Stand back, do not get any closer!” He yelled, and everyone hung back, mouths agape in both terror and shock as they watched Xiao’s mask piece over his face atom after atom.
He reached out to stab, to kick, to slaughter, drilling the sharp end of his spear into each and every monsters’ hearts repetitively, watching black blood drip and splatter before their bodies evaporated.
A scared whimper came from someone behind him — he knew that he was scaring them with the violence, but he had no choice. After all, it wasn’t his job to make mortals understand that this was necessary for safety and killing without blood spilled was inevitable. His job was to kill to no end.
As he fought on, he realised that the monsters were clearing up faster than his average clean up rate. Just as that realisation came to mind, an arrow whistled past his ear, striking bullseye into a hilichurl’s chest right in front of him.
He glanced at Venti, only to be met up with determination and a gleam of danger, all radiating from his sharp gaze. He was raising his bow, an Anemo arrow materialising across the weapon’s body as he tugged the bowstring to aim. Xiao didn’t fail to notice in that one short second how the fading sunlight from the setting sun fell perfectly on his face, highlighting the way he focused, how he took a tiny, subconscious breath before each shot.
He realised he had never seen the first archon in a battle before.
Now that he has…he came to a conclusion.
He was ethereal.
Of course, his mind couldn’t linger on Venti. He turned back to the chaos, continuing the endless killing with Venti fighting alongside him.
The smoke that gathered around him grew thicker and thicker as he repeatedly took a life, the black fog swirling around his limbs and torso threatening to trap him, to tighten and to choke. To create pain. But Xiao was immersed in the battle, unable to stop until it ended.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to. With the human’s lives still at stake until the last monster dies, he couldn’t.
Splat.
His spear pierced into the last whopperflower, making a gross, squishy sound, and it flopped to the ground, disintegrating as it went.
The adrenaline from fighting soon drained out of him quickly, leaving him empty. It had been so long since he fought so many at once, and he hadn’t recuperated back to his best condition yet ever since The Chasm.
When his mind was cleared, it was then did he realise that smoke was crowding the edges of his vision, his karma spreading and attacking him at his most vulnerable. It was then he felt the heavy chains locking him to the strangling suffering, sharp and unbearable pain, merciless screams amplifying in his head—
A soft touch, light as a feather, rested gently onto his shoulder, pulling him momentarily from the depths of pain. He flicked his gaze up, to see intense worry in jade eyes of age, eyes that have seen anything and everything on a seemingly young boy’s face.
“Venti,” he gasped, his body subconsciously leaning into his touch to chase that warmth, to hold onto that relief of pain that was slipping away bit by bit. “Bring me out of here. Please. Humans can’t—”
He didn’t get to finish his sentence before arms wrapped around his frame, lifting him into the air and carried him west.
He hung freely mid-air, held on tightly by Venti, and tried to find his reprieve in the wind that slid past his face, the wind that caressed his skin and combed through his hair.
It didn’t take long for him to slip into quiet, yet painful oblivion.
***
A soft note wiggled its way into Xiao’s empty, dreamless state, floating around until it touched a bind of karma, severing it.
Xiao could hear it. Feel it.
Another followed, then another. Each line of the tune weaved itself in between the chains that held him down, vanquishing them by slicing through them like knife cutting through soft butter, freeing him slowly.
Like a drowning person being saved, he struggled to swim up to the surface, to break through the depths of karma, pain, and oblivion to reach reality that lay above. To reach more of the music that reached him, to touch the less than tangible melody, to find the only person who was able to do this for him.
He finally was able to lift his heavy eyelids, and his eyes immediately searched for the one playing the song.
Venti was sitting at a cliff’s edge, fingers flying complicatedly over his flute as he played, swaying to the tune that he blew from his lips. The wind that blew in made Venti’s braids dance on beat, twirling and spinning in the air.
And Xiao just sat there, feeling the calming, cool winds on his face as he stared in awe at the archon sitting just a few feet away from him, watching how the moon casted a delicate glow over his skin— wait, moon?
He remembered that the last time he was awake it was dusk, but now that it’s completely night…how long has Venti tried to heal him? And it was Venti’s birthday too, and he was now taking up his time and energy on this, and the adepti waiting back at the banquet must be confused as to where they were now.
They needed to get back.
He tried to get to his feet, but his traitor body proved too weak and he fell back down, his back scratching the grass. Venti must have heard this commotion, because the flute ceased to sing, and he turned back.
“Xiao, you’re awake!” Venti quickly came over, but Xiao couldn’t quite catch the expression on his face due to the shadows of the night. Part of him was afraid that he was irritated, even though that wouldn’t be Venti-like.
“Sorry,” was the first thing that came out of his mouth. Xiao swallowed. “I created trouble for you again. Especially on your birthday. I—”
“Stop,” Venti said sternly, placing an index finger on Xiao’s lip. “I enjoyed playing for you. I always did. Helping you, even on my birthday, always brings me joy, Xiao.” But even as he said that, he could see the guilt in Xiao’s eyes.
Venti wanted to laugh and sigh at the same time. He didn’t want Xiao to feel that way about him helping him with his karma all the time, for he did it because he wanted to. He wanted to see him more often, but Xiao’s insistence of shutting him out of his problems was making it hard.
But on the other hand, the fact that Xiao could be easily read like an open book was…cute.
“Come, let me show you something,” Venti regained his smile with that thought and stood up, reaching a hand out to Xiao.
“Shouldn’t we be heading back?” Xiao hesitated.
“Oh come on, that blockhead and his friends can wait. We have the rest of the entire night to celebrate anyway!” He grabbed Xiao’s hand and lifted him up, then led him to the cliff’s edge to sit.
“Look. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” He asked quietly, then looked at Xiao’s face as the latter stared out vast, clean sea below, at the rocky terrain that jutted out and surrounded the pale yellow, sandy beaches, and the stars and the moon up above, all with the realisation of beauty in the gold of his eyes.
“Where…are we?” Xiao’s question came out in a whisper, as if not to disturb their peaceful environment.
“Starsnatch Cliff, Mondstadt,” Venti giggled when Xiao’s eyes widened even further with shock after knowing the region he was in.
“Mond—?”
“Shh. Just enjoy the view. And the stars.”
His golden eyes softened as he reluctantly turned back to the sky, to watch the bright, little spots of light dance against the darkness up above, twinkling to the song of the wind blowing by their ears. Venti looked up with him too, but then saw something other than the stars.
“Wait. Isn’t that our constellations?” He pointed and traced the stars with his finger, connecting them with invisible lines, making out a boy with a lyre and a fiery, golden-winged bird. “Carmen Dei and Alatus Nemeseos.”
Xiao squinted at the sky, watching how the stars now aligned into two figures, two for each of their own constellation. “You know my constellation?”
“Of course! Though, I probably never knew the full story behind it. Care to tell me?” Venti flashed a smile at Xiao, who opened his mouth and closed it again, as if not knowing what to say.
Xiao wasn’t great at storytelling. Especially not stories of his own. But now that it was Venti asking, he started off, first unsure, but at Venti’s quiet and encouraging gaze he continued on, the words coming more easily now, stringing together to tell a tale of the long past.
When he finished, he realised that Venti had been staring at him the entire time, and even though his eyes seemed blank, he could see that they were immersed in the story that he told.
He didn’t realise how close they were, how their arms were just barely touching, their legs bumping into each other as they swung them at the edge every now and then. With this intimate distance he could see the naive tenderness mixed with age-old wisdom on his face, even more of a divine being under the soft moonlight.
He’s very pretty.
Right after that thought formed he saw Venti blink out of his stupor, a sudden shade of red streaking across his cheeks.
A realisation suddenly hit Xiao over in his head.
He had said it out loud.
This time, the person who blushed furiously was Xiao, feeling heat lick at his cheeks despite the cold, windy night. He scrambled for something else to say or do, as a distraction, then remembered his birthday gift for Venti.
“I mean, uh, I have a gift for you.”
He reached for the flute strapped to his waist, but felt nothing when he grabbed for the base. Confusion and panic trickled into him as he looked to his side to find the flute, and all there was was half of the instrument. The lost end of it was nothing but empty space and jagged splinters.
It must have broken off during the battle.
“What’s wrong?” came Venti’s voice from beside him.
Xiao wordlessly pulled the broken flute from his side, showing the other the last fragment of what it used to be. Disappointment flooded him as he ran his finger around the splintered, gaping hole, feeling the edges poke into his skin.
He had worked so hard on this gift, and now it was gone. Just like that. Just because he didn’t think to leave it in a safe place during the fight, or at least tried protecting it.
“Is this your birthday present for me?” Venti asked, and a part of Xiao was worried that he was just as disappointed as he was too.
Venti reached out and touched the flute, but instead of touching the broken edge, he caressed the paintings of Cecilias and Qingxin instead, tracing the fine lines and the white paint.
“You painted this?” In Venti’s voice he heard awe, and not disappointment like he expected. He didn’t even point out the breakage.
“...yeah,” Xiao nodded, and let go when Venti gently plucked the flute from his hands. He couldn’t understand why he was handling it like a piece of treasure, even though it was destroyed and something that couldn’t hold a beautiful tune anymore.
“Sorry for the broken flute. I’ll make another one for you—”
“No! This is perfect already. It’s a work of art! I didn’t even know you could paint so well!” Venti exclaimed, marvelling at the intricate details that he would never be able to bring out if he tried.
“But I should at least get you another present,” Xiao insisted, guilt lacing his voice.
Venti paused for a while, as if lost in thought, and Xiao raised an eyebrow. But before he could question what was on his mind, Venti had already sighed, murmuring, “If you insist.” He swooped in, breaking through their bubble of personal space.
“Wha—” Something soft and warm bumped into Xiao’s lips, and the smell of cecilias encapsulated his entire being, inviting and refreshing. But before he could pursue more of Venti’s taste the latter had already drawn away, a bright smile with underlying nervousness on his face.
“I’ll take that as your birthday present for me,” he grinned, winking at the Xiao who had frozen in his place, his cheeks washed with a red, vivid blush. In his brain, all there was was a buzz, for all the gears in his mind had long squeaked to a stop.
Barbatos, he—
Holy archons.
And maybe it was because his brain was malfunctioning, because he slowly raised a hand, almost as if he was in a trance, reaching out for Venti’s face.
Then he rushed in, capturing the other’s lips with his own in a kiss. Then drew back, watching the same fire brush across Venti’s cheeks, eyes wide in pleasant shock, and Xiao could see the sparkling green reflecting the stars up above like they held them all along.
“Happy birthday, Venti.”
.
.
.
(They returned to Mount Aocang after, with a certain bard practically bursting with happiness and a certain adeptus completely red with embarrassment.
“What happened? Where did you both go?” Zhongli asked, eyebrows raised.
“Oh, just took a small detour, nothing much,” Venti shrugged.
They all had a great time celebrating Venti’s birthday for the rest of that night.)