Chapter Text
Angel’s Share. A tavern in Mondstadt famously known for its drinks, and for the many bards that visited it. Kazuha hesitantly pushes open the door. He’s immediately greeted by what seems to be joyful chaos. Groups of people tell tales over drinks and true to the rumors, the sound of music floats through the room.
As much as he’d like to stay near the people to get the real vibe of a local Mondstadt tavern, a good drink sounds tempting, and so he settles for a quiet table in the corner. Well that is until he hears a voice behind him.
“Hey there! There’s room for one more. Care for a drink?” The green clothed fellow at the table seems friendly enough, and Kazuha declares the drink safe after a few seconds of wary inspection, so he joins him.
The two settle for drinking quietly first, until the boy deems it’s time to talk. He obviously had a load more drinks than Kazuha, despite having a rather low tolerance, he notes. He’s pretty, with twin braids framing his face and a smile that reaches his eyes. There’s something about him that makes Kazuha feel like he’s seen him before, but he can't quite place his finger on it.
“I’m Kaedehara Kazuha, hailing from Inazuma. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He says, reaching out a hand, just for the sake of ethics, retracting it almost as quickly. It’s crystal clear that the tipsy bard might fall over just from trying to shake his hand.
“So fancy! A pleasure to make your acquaintance! I’m Venti the bard, famous all across Tevyat for knowing every song in history!” The green fellow proclaims, spreading his arms wide as if declaring a great discovery rather than his own name.
“How interesting.” He hums, lifting the glass to his mouth. He must be exaggerating, surely it’s not possible to learn every song in history during a human’s limited lifespan. But he’s learned from his travels to expect the unexpected, so he won’t draw any conclusions just yet.
“Wait til you hear this; I’m actually the anemo archon~” Venti sings with a tipsy giggle, raising his wine glass to his mouth in sudden cheers with absolutely no one. This particular declaration unfortunately shocks Kazuha, who almost spills his drink, much to Venti’s delight.
“Oh? How privileged I must be to run into the esteemed anemo archon.” Kazuha laughs quietly. He’s disappointed in himself for falling for such tricks so easily. How could some random drunk boy in the local tavern be the great Barbatos? He’s ashamed to have fallen for such child’s play, but decides to indulge in the bard’s jokes. It’s seldom that he gets to meet such an interesting character on his adventures.
The green fellow’s eyes wander on him, until he suddenly makes grabby hands towards his back, where his vision glows. He swiftly dodges him, an easy task given the boy’s drunken state. He must be a vision holder as well for being able to detect its location in such a form. His blade remains sheathed at his side, a sharp steel sword that more or less scares off anyone who dares approach with bad intent.
Now, if only he had a weapon against these rather awkward situations, for the bard’s attempts to grab his vision had failed, said boy was now tumbling in his direction in a way that was almost comical. It was only by trained reflex that Kazuha had been able to reach out a hand to steady him before he fell to the floor.
The silence was ironically loud, his hand on the green fellow’s waist and them eyeing each other not helping in the already existing dilemma. Soon enough, he would learn that you could never really have a silence such as this with this Venti fellow,, because he burst out laughing a few seconds later, wiping tears from his eyes as if he’d just been told some sort of award winning joke, almost toppling over his poor cup in the process.
“Care to share what’s so funny?” The samurai raised one questioning eyebrow.
“Ah, nothing. Your reaction was just oh so hilarious.” Venti says, his voice slightly slurred, settling back on to his own seat with visible difficulty.“Now, would a kind fellow such as yourself care to pass me some more wine?” He winks.
Kazuha almost sighs at the audacity of some people, asking for wine after attempting to steal his vision. He would have left this seat at that instant if not for some glaringly obvious reasons. Firstly, if he were to leave this drunkard here, he would inevitably end up bothering more people and getting into more trouble. He’s no fortune teller, but he can foresee a future where the entire tavern gets burnt to a crisp due to one green devil. The samurai would rather not get on the wanted list in yet another country.
The second reason is more of the obvious side, as several people have already noticed and are staring, He curses his enhanced hearing for one of the first times in his life as he catches whispers of the bartender muttering something about PDA, takes deep breaths, and resists the urge to send a less than friendly look at the highly interested crowd. Indeed, the little gremlin has already slumped on his side once more, his head slightly leaning on Kazuha’s shoulder.
Kazuha supposes if he’s gonna be held up here for a while, he might as well get comfortable. He silently shifts Venti closer to him, one arm wrapped around his shoulder to move him, much to the distaste of the same red haired fellow grumbling a while ago.
Before he could control himself, the samurai had already faced the bartender by the counter. He doesn’t need anymore complaining adding to the cacophony of noise Venti seems to bring with him 24/7. “You seem to be awfully upset. Something I did to upset you?”
The bartender, who Kazuha knows now as Diluc from squinting at his name tag, scoffs at him. “It’s more of that drunkard by your side. I don’t know how you people put up with him.”
Ah. That makes much more sense. You seem to misunderstand. I’d rather not do this of my own free will.” He pulls Venti closer once more while speaking, as he has begun to slip from his grasp and started to murmur something about wine and apples.
Diluc nods and raises a disgusted eyebrow at the drunkard, and it’s enough for Kazuha to deduce this man had been another one of Venti’s victims. “Just get him out of my sight before he starts acting up again. That bard is starting to drive the regular customers away.”
“I can see why.” Kazuha murmurs. “Well, time to get you out of here.” He says, hauling Venti upright as he stands. He grabs his hand, just for the sake of getting him out of here, of course. The regretfully observant Inazuman can’t help but notice how their hands fit perfectly together. It must be some twisted fate that he’d visited the tavern on this specific day just to be put on babysitting duty for a complete stranger.
Venti chooses the perfect time to start whining about, you guessed it, wine. It was almost as if he was a bird and Kazuha’s poor shoulder was his favorite resting place. He’s on the verge of shrugging him off for the nth time as he feels a sensation near where his vision is.
Before he knew it, that little rascal had taken off, busting the door open and running for his life. He could no longer resist the urge to sigh.. “I need a drink or two. Maybe a hundred.” He deadpanned, facing Diluc as the bartender quite obviously judged his decision making. Kazuha briefly wonders how he had even gotten his job. He must make drinks to die for. “Any idea where he could have run off to?”
“Statue.” Diluc speaks gruffly, pointing him to the exit of the tavern. “Please make sure he never comes back.”