Chapter Text
The moment Venti comes to, he’s assaulted with too much input. His ears ring and the light is too bright, causing him to groan and wince at the heaviness pervading his body. It feels as though his skull has been actively cleaved open, every nerve simultaneously overwhelmed yet dulled by what he knew to be too much alcohol in his system. It wouldn’t be the first time he had…overindulged, but this hangover puts all of his others to shame by far.
The only thing was, he doesn’t remember going to bed drunk. Or falling asleep for that matter.
“...Venti?” He faintly heard through the din of static, which grew quieter and quieter by the moment. With his wits still not about him, he gave a groan in response.
There was something about the surprised inhale that set off alarm bells in his mind. Despite the tiredness overwhelming him, Venti begrudgingly opened his eyes.
He had to blink a few times, his vision blurry and unfocused until it settled on a figure with messy auburn hair, hands hovering nervously as though deciding whether to help Venti or let him come to senses of his own accord. The tall man’s appearance comes further into focus, his expression one of shock, happiness and…fear?
“Zhongli?” He finds himself saying, the name familiar to his lips. Ah, right, his boyfriend of over a year. “What happened?”
“You…don’t remember?” Zhongli asks slowly, as though he’s afraid of the answer. His boyfriend wrings his own fingers nervously—a habit Venti long knew to be either from staving off idleness or barely-contained anxiousness. And if he were to guess, it definitely appears to be the latter.
With another groan, Venti shifts around a bit, only then realizing that his hands and legs were buckled to the seat with a large dome with wires settled upon his head. He tugs on the restraints, panic bubbling up inside him when they budge slightly, but not enough to free himself.
“Venti, relax!” Zhongli interjects, walking briskly over to the chair Venti was strapped to and gradually undoing the restraints. “Please don’t injure yourself. I’ll have you free in a moment.”
Venti watched anxiously as his boyfriend began disconnecting everything. “W-what happened?” Venti finds himself asking again, desperate to distract himself but wondering how he ended up here. He loathed being restrained or in small spaces of any capacity—it was probably one of his biggest fears.
“What do you remember?” Zhongli says calmly, almost too much so. “That will help me ascertain if there have been any other…side effects.”
“Side effects?” Venti parrots, eyes narrowing. “Why are you being so stubborn, old man?!”
The backhanded endearment slips from Venti’s lips unintentionally, and Zhongli flinches. His pretty, Cor Lapis eyes lock to his own, and Venti feels himself shrink under the sudden, intimidating gaze. Zhongli’s expression has gone cold, and he looks at Venti like he’s trying to dissect him.
The static returns to his ears again, only this time it's louder and more dissonant. He tears his gaze away from Zhongli’s, hands slamming to the sides of his head to try and muffle the noise. He gives a broken whine and curls up on himself, his eyesight blurring as he looks up to his lover for help.
By now, his hands are threading into his braids, pulling at the strands as he feels his fingertips dig harder and harder into his scalp—the pressure and noise becoming too much for him to bear. Venti gives a guttural scream as nonsense words stream from his lips, unable to make out his own words. Pleas for it to end, put him back to sleep, just make it stopI
He sees Zhongli’s lips move but can’t make out what he says. Then, as suddenly as it started, the noise disappears.
For a long time, there is no noise beyond the faint humming of machinery in the room. Finally convinced the noise is truly gone, Venti slowly pulls his hands down, his body trembling from the effort.
“W-what was that?” He blinks, trying to chase away the spots in his vision. “That horrible noise, what was it?”
“I’m afraid I didn’t hear anything,” Zhongli says quietly, “I’ll note that down as a potential side effect.”
“Side effects from what?” Venti asks again. “I don’t—”
The memories come back to him in a deluge. Quick, messy and turbulent.
He agreed to tour Zhongli’s workplace—a cybernetics and artificial intelligence company specializing in assistive android development. He remembers hooking his arm through his boyfriend’s with a skip in his step, the visitor lanyard around his neck bobbing with every step. He met a colleague, Ajax, who was working on something confidential but teased he was working on some ‘unique’ capabilities for a specialty android project. Much of the technical jargon sailed over Venti’s head, but it was nonetheless still impressive.
He remembers arriving at Zhongli’s office to go over the details once more—a scan of Venti’s brain so he had a model to work off of for his big project. The original volunteer had backed out at the last minute for reasons Venti wasn’t privy to, and the second had failed the initial medical check, leaving his boyfriend with few options if he was to meet the strict deadline set by his employer. And Venti, being the ever-supportive boyfriend he was, agreed. He just had to skip on the post-dinner wine for a week and he’d qualify.
The last thing he remembers is Zhongli placing the helmet over his head, instructing him to remain as still as possible for the readings. Then…nothing.
“Your big project…” Venti whispers after a moment, still disoriented from the memories flooding through his mind. “I met your colleague—the ginger one, Ajax I think—we spoke with him briefly, then we went to your office for a bit and then you set up everything here.” His eyes flicked back and forth, trying to recall further details. “The last thing I remember is you putting that helmet on my head.”
Zhongli had leaned in closer as Venti spoke, hanging on to every word. “And then?” He prompted. “Sensations, visuals, anything?”
“Um,” he bit his lip, perplexed at the sudden intensity of Zhongli’s questions. “Waking up, I guess? It felt like the worst hangover of my life.”
“Fascinating,” Zhongli says, but without smiling. “I’ll ask more questions in a bit, but I owe you an explanation first.”
Venti sat up a little straighter, moving to the edge of his seat.
“The truth is, we forgot to remove your cell phone prior to starting the experiment.” Zhongli says seriously, gesturing to the broken remains of his phone on a nearby table. “The electrical activity interfered and caused a short-circuit, rendering you unconscious. When you awoke, I had to ascertain if you suffered any lingering effects other than a brief loss of consciousness, such as a personality change, which would indicate a severe brain injury. Thankfully, you seem fine apart from a brief lapse of consciousness.”
As Venti watched Zhongli speak, he couldn’t help but notice how remarkably calm and clinical he was about the entire ordeal. When Venti had tripped down two steps of stairs last month, Zhongli was nearly beside himself with worry and had pampered him for the rest of the day.
Something wasn’t right, but his mind was still jumbled and tired to pursue it.
“Oh,” he says instead, something inside him breaking. “Did you at least get whatever you needed?”
“Ah, yes, everything appears to be in order.” His boyfriend turned to look at a screen briefly, reading something and nodding to himself. “Though I’d like to ask a few more things, if that’s agreeable?”
Venti, not trusting himself to speak, merely nodded.
As Zhongli ran through a series of post-experiment questions, Venti found his mind wandering. He was still feeling unwell, and his head was pounding and the strange heaviness in his limbs wouldn’t leave him either. He just wanted to go home.
“I think that covers all of the necessary questions today, we can continue another time.” Zhongli says monotonously, setting his datapad on the counter. “Venti, are you paying attention?”
He perks up at the sound of his name. “Um, yeah! Sorry, my head is still hurting, ehe!”
His boyfriend’s expression finally softens, a soft sigh escaping him. “I suppose it’s to be expected after everything that’s happened.” Zhongli said while putting his things away. “I think it’s best we return home for the day. Can you stand?”
Venti stood up from the examination chair, finding himself a bit more unsteady than usual, but after catching himself, he nodded. “Yup! Fit as a fiddle!”
The next thing Venti knew, his face was crushed into Zhongli’s firm chest, long arms wrapped around him and the other’s long ponytail caressing his face.
He could count the number of times on one hand that Zhongli had initiated a hug. His boyfriend was far more reserved, and often handholding was the most he felt comfortable with in public.
Venti tentatively raised his arms to encircle Zhongli’s torso, giving a soft sigh and feeling the tension drain from his body.
“I’m relieved you’re okay.” Zhongli whispered, emotion choking his voice. “I thought….”
Venti pulled back, one of his hands moving to cup Zhongli’s cheeks and wipe away the single tear. “I must’ve really scared you, didn’t I?”
The taller man closed his eyes, swallowing. “Yes,” he said after a moment. “You did, very much so.”
“I’m so sorry, dear. But I’m okay now, I promise!” He flashed Zhongli a tired but genuine smile, threading his hand with the other’s much longer fingers. “That little shock to the head just gave me a nasty headache. Good thing you’ve always been the brains between us, ehe!”
“While my talent lies with machinery and history, you are unparalleled when it comes to music and written word. Do not understate your intelligence or make light of it.”
“Fine, fine, you can be such a nag, sometimes.” He rolls his eyes playfully, releasing his hold on Zhongli’s hand. “Did you need a few minutes to wrap up?”
Zhongli shook his head, grabbing his suitcase from beside his desk. “It’s nothing that can’t wait. I’m more concerned about getting you home safe and sound.”
“Aw, you’re such a worrywart! Nothing bad will happen with my boyfriend here to protect me!”
Zhongli’s momentary flinch didn’t go unnoticed by Venti. His boyfriend licked his lips, standing tall and righting the wrinkles in his jacket. “O-of course, let’s be on our way then. And stay close to me, just in case you have a dizzy spell.”
Venti tilts his head, eyes carefully scanning the microexpressions in Zhongli’s face. “Okay, sure.”
The walk to the car was uneventful. It seemed as though he and Zhongli were the last ones in the building for the day, the sun already having set a few hours earlier. They say nothing on the way to the car, but he can feel Zhongli’s eyes on him the entire time.
He takes his place in the passenger seat, his head resting against the cool window and watching the city lights in silence as they drive home. The brief, tense-free atmosphere before exiting Zhongli’s work had lapsed back into a muted uncomfortableness.
Venti’s green eyes slid over to Zhongli, who remained entirely focused on the road. Normally he’d make some sort of idle chatter, but then again, it was usually Venti that initiated the conversation.
“Are you feeling okay?”
“Hm?” he doesn’t register the question at first, straightening up and saying, “Yeah, just lost in thought, I guess.”
“Not feeling carsick or anything?” his boyfriend probes further.
“Zhongli, seriously, I’m fine. It’s nothing a good night’s rest won’t fix.”
Said man merely gives a hum, one Venti knew to mean ‘I don’t believe you’. “If you say so.”
Neither say a word the rest of the trip, exiting the vehicle and making the way to their apartment building.
He feels fabric brush his neck, and he lets out a small yelp in surprise. “Eh?” he turned to Zhongli, fingers confirming that his hood had been pulled over his head. “What did you do that for?”
“I figured the bright hallway lights would strain your headache.” Zhongli opens the entryway door, motioning for Venti to enter first. “I only meant to help.”
Venti feels his breath hitch. “Oh, thank you, I didn’t think of that.”
Zhongli chuckles. “We best get you to bed. Let’s take the elevator today.”
Thankfully there’s no one in the lobby or in the elevator, which Venti greatly appreciated. He wasn’t in the mood for idle chat with the neighbors today.
He tiredly shuffles behind Zhongli as he fishes out his keys and unlocks their apartment. Again, Zhongli holds the door open for him while he mumbles a tired ‘thank you’, shucking off his shoes jacket before beelining for their bedroom.
He doesn’t remove his day clothes, the throbbing pain having returned with a sudden intensity that made him wince. He burrows under the covers, not even bothering to undo his braids.
“Venti—”
“I’ll shower in the morning,” he says through a yawn. “Sorry Zhongli, I just really need to sleep this off.”
He feels his boyfriend’s hand rest on his cheek, and he turns into the comforting touch. Venti sighs as Zhongli’s fingers begin to undo his braids, allowing the two-toned hair to finally be freed after the long day.
“It’s okay, Venti. I understand.” Venti feels the gentle brush of lips against his forehead. “Sleep, we’ll talk more in the morning.”
Venti swears he hears what he thinks is a name and the words ‘power down’ faintly, but before he can register it, he’s fast asleep.