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“So you think you can get a confession out of me that easily?” Lumine gloated as she fidgeted with the whisk in her hand.
Venti smirks and wraps his hoodie around his waist. “I know I can, and it involves your cavity magnet of a sweet tooth~!”
She opens her phone and types something into her calendar. Venti curiously peaks over at her phone’s screen, which Lumine responds by pushing his face away and hitting him with a piece of paper.
“No peeking at my phone you!” She laughs softly as Venti sticks his tongue out at her.
She finishes typing and shoves her phone into his face. “April 14. You're no longer free that day!”
“A bake off?” He asks her.
“Yes, a bake off! Here's the deal, whoever makes the worst cake has to confess. You in?”
He still looks surprised for a moment before he uses his trademark smile. “I’m in.”
Venti had always known that there’s a way to get Lumine to open up about her feelings about others. Now, he has an opportunity to make her confess to him. All of her exs confessed to her and she went along with it. It’s her turn to start the relationship. That is, if he wins of course.
“So you're on, let the best baker win!” Lumine stabs her phone into his chest before walking off with a smirk.
Venti returns back to the house he’s had for over a few centuries at this point and collapses at the door to his room. He’s not ready to confess, but he yearns for her touch.
‘What kind of cake does she even like?’ He ponders while his mind goes through what he knows about her preferences.
‘She doesn’t have any allergies and she hates sour and more strong cakes… so no tiramisu or any cake with a strong lemon or lime taste…’
Venti opens his notes app and types out everything he knows about her preferences and tastes. ‘She loves sweet and salty flavors… She also adores cheese.’
“Oh! I got it!”
He stands out and runs out to the store to grab the needed ingredients. Before running out of the house, he marks the date on the callander on his wall. “It’s currently April 7th, one week to perfect this cake.”
“Oh I know this’ll get her to devolve into a blushing mess right in front of me.”
Venti spent the next week commencing in righteous trial and error to perfect the recipe. He tested different ingredients and quantities, different toppings and techniques. After a hefty 12 hour baking session the night before the competition, he finishes his magnum opus; a salty and sweet cheesecake decorated with strawberry jam, star sprinkles, blueberries, and whipped cream on the border of the cake.
He wraps the cake carefully into an ornate box and places it into his fridge. Once he makes sure it’s secure and the surrounding objects won’t crush the box in any way, Venti begins the arduous process of cleaning his kitchen. Which is covered in flour and small bits of batter and sprinkles.
With a sigh he grabs the broom and cleans up the mess.
Venti didn’t sleep well that night. He kept tossing and turning with his mind running wild with the possible outcomes. ‘Could she act shyly and avert my gaze? Or could I lose and face her coy smile and honeyed words?’
He flips again and takes a peek at his phone. ‘Oh dear, it’s 4:50 am… I really didn’t get even a wink of sleep.’
He puts his phone down back onto his nightstand and sighs. The one night where he got basically no sleep at all just had to be the one before he would get a confession or would have to confess. It’s not ideal for him, being sleepy tends to make him extremely clingy and a lot less eloquent with his words and mannerisms.
Not to mention Lumine’s hobby of teasing others, especially Venti. It never fails to reduce the archon into a flustered pile of emotions and vague sentences. When Venti does it, she has little to no response, just smirking and turning it back onto him.
He doesn’t want to admit he taught her some of that skill. As she’s been weaponizing that talent against him, like he used to do to her. In a sense, this is a consequence for him.
‘She better not utilize her sweet voice and wordplay against me. She probably would just to get me to admit my feelings instead of her admitting hers.’
Venti turns onto his side and sighs. ‘Or… could she just not reciprocate my feelings? Could it just be one sided?’
He resolutes that he’ll find out later that day and gets out of bed. Venti unplugs his phone and checks the time again, 5:12am.
He spends the rest of the morning getting ready emotionally and physically. Choosing the cutest outfit he has, which winds up being a combo of mint green overalls with an oversized knit cardigan and knee high socks with ribbons at the top, making sure his braids are neat and slightly loose so it doesn’t bother him.
Venti slips on a pair of brown Mary Janes and slings the bag with the box of cake over his shoulder carefully. He double checks he has everything before heading over to Lumine’s house.
When he gets to Lumine’s door, Venti hesitates before ringing the doorbell. His mind swirling with the very same ‘what if’s?’ that kept him from resting his weary head.
After a minute, he shakes his head and rings the doorbell.
The door flies open as Lumine pulls Venti into her house.
“Hi Lumine.” He says as he places the box onto the counter and removes his shoes.
“Hey Venti, make yourself at home.” Her tone is oddly calm, she’s up to something.
He walks over to the table and rests his head on it. “I’ll be a bit because I need to add the final touches to the cake I made, hang on a bit.”
He gives her a thumbs up before he dozes off. When he wakes up, she’s poking him and seems moments away from kissing his forehead. His sleepy eyes meet her wide awake ones. “Wakey wakey~!”
Venti immediately bolts upright as his face goes red. “Ah! I’m awake, I'm awake!”
Lumine chuckles and pulls away. “Alright then sleeping beauty. Anyway, ready to finish this little bake off?”
He gives her a smug look. “I’ve been ready.”
Lumine grabs both cakes one by one and places them both on the table. She then grabs two plates and forks and sets them in front of Venti and the chair next to him.
Then she grabs a cake knife and points it at Venti. “So which one do we start with?”
“Hmm.. how about the one you made?” He flashes her a small smile.
Lumine cuts a piece of the cake she made and places the slice into his plate. The cake itself is a standard vanilla cake, however apple is used to garnish all around the cake. The frosting is a beautiful mint color with some chocolate piped onto the circumference of it.
He takes a bite of the cake and is immediately blown away by the taste of it. The mint combined with the chocolate leaves a slightly bitter, yet savory sensation in his mouth. The apple garnish adds a sweet hint to the overall flavor, the vanilla base enables the flavors to have the perfect balance of tooth rottingly sweet, yet still savory.
He finishes the slice in no time, leaving his taste buds craving more. He pouts and looks at Lumine, who is slowly enjoying her slice, her expression smug.
“Can I have another slice?” He asks while still pouting.
“Nope!” She laughs. “After all, we can’t be getting full off of one cake.”
She wipes her mouth with a napkin and bunches it up. Lumine then grabs a spare one and wipes the crumbs off of Venti’s face. His face turns a deep crimson when she does so, first she woke him up and now she’s doing this?
If she wants him to be more suggestible and more vulnerable, she’s succeeding.
He whines slightly and clings to her a slight bit. She laughs and pats his head. “Aww, are you already getting ready to confess~? Well, I won’t claim victory just yet. Let’s try yours!”
He sluggishly sits back up and yawns. “Ok, let’s see if I made the better one or not.”
Venti tries to smirk, but his sleepy expression makes him look more cute than anything. Lumine doesn’t want to admit it, but her heart is melting at this point. Seeing the person she loves be a sleepy mess makes her feel more protective of him and gives her the desire to spoil him.
She’s only able to hide her feelings for him out of self preservation. Making sure to not play her cards too early, trying to avoid the pitfalls that ended her last relationships. In fact, the whole reason she hosted this bake off was to decide who confessed first. Lumine desperately wants to, as things might go differently than in the past if she does, but she’s worried about getting rejected.
Her heart pounds as she cuts two big pieces out of the cake Venti made, trying to give him as much of the decor as she possibly can while making sure he can finish it. Lumine places the slices onto each of their plates and hesitantly picks up her fork.
She uses her shaky hand to break off a small piece of cake with her fork and eats it. Instantly she’s met with all of her favorite flavors and her favorite kind of cake. The cake is savory yet super sweet, her fork glides through the cake akin to the way a hot knife cuts through butter.
She takes another bite, and another until she reaches the toppings. When she digs into them, the jam, whipped cream, and berries mesh together to create the best cake she’s ever had in her life. Outranking those of the most revered bakers in all of Teyvat.
Before she knows it, Lumine’s reaching for another slice. She demolishes that one and puts down her fork. She then pats her belly and rubs it.
Venti is just looking at her dumbfounded. He knew this cake was tailored to her tastes, but to see her react like this truly astounds him.
He finishes his first slice of the cheesecake and wipes his mouth with the napkin from earlier. Content with how the cake turned out, he feels more relaxed and less tense than before.
Right before he dozes off again, Lumine’s voice wakes him back up. “You win.”
“H-huh?” He says perplexed.
“You win the bake off.” She averts his gaze with rosy red cheeks.
“S-so.” She takes a deep breath before continuing. “I love you, I have for a good while now. And I-I”
“I want to be with you. I want to hold and care for you, I want to protect and well, be the one you can always rely on. Even in our worst moments. So u-um, do you want to go out with me?”
Venti picks her up and brings her to the couch, once there, he sits her down before using her as a pillow and stuffed animal. “I accept… you're warm…” He says right before falling asleep.
Lumine softens her gaze and grabs the blanket she keeps on the edge of the couch and covers Venti with it so he won’t get cold. With Venti officially her boyfriend, all previous walls she had up now melted away. In this moment, she’s in both a protective and caring state, wanting to make sure he sleeps well and gets enough of it. She pats his head, which rests on her chest, and kisses his forehead.
When he eventually wakes back up, the first thing he hears is Lumine’s soft breathing. She had also fallen asleep. Venti tries to reposition, but he wakes her up by accident.
“Oh… you're awake.” She yawns and kisses his forehead.
“Yeah, I am.” He smiles sleepily.
“I couldn’t resist putting that blanket over you and holding you like that.” She blushes softly. “Not my fault you're so cute while you sleep.”
Venti sits up and gazes into Lumine’s golden eyes. She can’t help gaze back into his, leaning closer as well. The gap between them is slowly closing as both of them hesitate slightly. Eventually, their lips meet in a gentle and soft kiss.
“I love you” he says softly.
“I love you too”
“The star in my heart is you.”