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“I know you’re up there.”
Windrise, where the symbol of Mondstadt’s hero stood proudly. It was also a place that Venti frequented, which Lumine knew all too well. Ever since resonating with his element, it’s like he just couldn’t leave her alone. Through thick and thin they had been by the other’s side, and as time went by even allowed themselves to be vulnerable to each other. Their fates seemed to be intertwined, it seemed, and it wasn’t like she could get out of it anytime soon.
Today was, after all, a special day.
Nearing dusk, the wind began to pick up underneath the seasoned traveler. When she looked up she saw a bard clad in green, holding a lyre. “Guilty as charged,” he chuckled with a wink as he lifted himself down. “I see your little pixie friend can’t be here today.”
“Greetings, Venti,” she deadpanned despite herself, inwardly laughing at his mention of Paimon. “Come with me to Starsnatch. We’ve got something for you.”
The wind is quite the whisperer—this he is very familiar with, carrying words uttered miles away over to him like a cat bringing gifts to its owner (despite the irony of his allergy to felines). Venti huffed in amusement, though he knew that Lumine knew that he knew what awaited him at the top of the cliff: a picnic with the other three Mondstadtians that were lucky enough to accompany the Honorary Knight. He was well acquainted with them, and why wouldn’t he, after countless days of drawing bows at elemental cubes and fun-sized whopperflowers alike?
“Of cooourse!” He drew out his words with enthusiasm, reaching towards Lumine for a hug before he leaned a little too far to where she had been before she turned away and staggered. “Meanie...”
“Fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty!” Noelle counted, giving the others a thumbs up. “We have collected the right amount of cecilias.”
“Okays, good!” Paimon returned the thumbs up before checking it off on her list. Beth from Stormbearer graciously offered the last few hurricane seeds they needed; thus it was also accounted for. “What about the Vayuda gemstone bracelet and the you-know-what?”
“Here,” Rosaria answered, holding the bracelet in a pouch and the you-know-what on the picnic blanket.
Bennett rushed over to the group, sweating profusely while carrying clumps of slime essence in his arms. “I got the- whoa!” he shouted before tripping on a rock—good thing Rosaria had good reflexes.
“Oh my. You look disheveled.” The maid looked at Bennett with a worried expression. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah... I got attacked by slimes on my way here. That’s when I remembered to grab some slime concentrate for Venti.”
Neither Noelle nor Rosaria could help but feel sorry for him.
Even if he couldn’t see anything, Venti was well aware of his surroundings. In fact it was like second nature, being able to detect changes in the wind and all. So when Lumine put a blindfold on him—“No cheating,” she chided—he didn’t protest.
As they walked closer to the peak, he picked up the aroma of apple pie—like the cake he had tried to make Lumine for her birthday once. He could never get it to rise properly in the oven. Even though it turned out horribly, she still appreciated the gesture. It is the thought that counts, anyway.
After Venti’s blindfold was removed came a loud and proud “SURPRISE!” from Bennett. An awkward silence followed.
“Bennett, we... scrapped the part where we said that,” Paimon whispered.
“Aw, man...”
Even though he was aware of the surprise, Venti still reacted with natural enthusiasm to the setup: a makeshift tent with a plaid blanket laid on the ground, decorated with dishes that everyone worked together to make, as well as candles placed in the corners of their designated dining spot.
“For your birthday, we decided to prepare a picnic under the stars as a way to thank you,” Noelle smiled, gesturing to the honorary knight. “She came up with the idea.”
Of course she did.
Rosaria, meanwhile, raised a bottle of not-wine—fresh cider with a red ribbon wrapped around it—to the celebrant. “From Diluc, as busy as he is with the winery.”
“Oh, goody!” Venti clapped his hands together, a wide grin on his face. “You really shouldn’t have...”
“Don’t down the entire bottle before you finish your dinner, now,” Lumine rolled her eyes.
Paimon groaned, the aroma of the food getting to her. “When do we start eating? Paimon’s been holding her hunger in for too long now!”
Lumine passed her a plate of sticky honey roast. “Okay, everyone; eat up.”
The Vayuda bracelet twinkled around Venti’s wrist as he gladly took the sixty-piece bouquet of cecilias and the jar of hurricane seeds suspended in slime condensate from Noelle. Rosaria and Bennett had excused themselves, and the maid was the last to go before it was just the tender fighter, her trustworthy sidekick, and the God of Anemo.
“That’s a little much for a bouquet, don’t you think?” Paimon shrugged, though the bard didn’t mind at all, almost getting lost in their scent. As he dangled over the edge of the cliff, the candles wavered in the wind, though they dared not go out.
“I just had an epiphany,” he told them, looking up at the moon.
Lumine looked up with him. “A new song?”
A breeze blew past, reshaping itself into a lyre for Venti to pick up and begin playing. The gifts he had received began to glow like his hair, as if he were undergoing a sixth transformation.
“Ehe, maybe.”