desperation.

╰╮₊˚🍄꒦﹒start ‧˚₊ഒ

venti watched intently at the person that stood in front of him, just barely in his range of sight. their hair blew softly in synchronization with mondstadt's soft winds, the crown of chrysanthemum flowers threatening to fall off their head.

venti wondered, why did this person intrigue him so?

he had seen many people as the anemo archon, but never one so breathtaking. maybe it was the scenery of the soft greens of windrise's fields, or the bright sky that was littered with seelies waiting to be guided back to their courts, but something about this individual made his heart race.

he sweatdropped as he noticed the crown of flowers gently floating away with the strong breeze. venti's body moved on it's own, reaching for the arrangement of white and rose colored flowers. narrowly grabbing it, he rushed up to the person that kneeled gently in the grass, picking windwheel asters.

'excuse me? i believed you dropped this.' he smiled, tapping said person on the shoulder softly as not to startle them. crimson eyes met his own emerald ones, a soft smile to go with them. they took the crown from venti and bowed their head slightly, letting their hair fall past their face.

'they truly are breathtaking' venti caught himself thinking.

deciding to be bold, the ravenette pulled out his lyre. "do you mind me sitting next to you? i can play any song you'd like." their eyes met again, the small person nodding as they went back to picking flowers. venti sat down in the grass promptly, observing silently.

upon further inspection, he noticed something.

"that crown...is made of chrysanthemum flowers," he started, "do you mind me asking why you're wearing them?"

their hair blew in the wind as their lips parted, sighing. "they are quite pretty, don't you think?" they asked, looking at the male for an answer. venti nodded, but was still quite confused. "do you know of their meaning, err..."

"[name]. and yes, i do, why do you ask?" they trailed off, tucking their hair behind their ear. "why wear such a flower, then?" he found himself wondering aloud, eager for some sort of response.

[name] remained quiet for a bit before they answered. smiling, they turned to face the bard, a handful of windwheel asters in their hands.

"because death is a beautiful thing, is it not?"

venti deadpanned. he had no idea how to respond, so he scratched his head and said the only thing on his mind. "how so?"

[name] let go of the flowers in their hand upon feeling a soft breeze. "death is what gives life meaning. without death, we would not know the pain of losing time we are unable to get back. we would not know the importance of the choices we will have to make. and most importantly, we would not know the true meaning of life itself. everything in this world circles around life and death." they smiled again, removing a chrysanthemum from their crown and crushing it between their fist.

venti nodded, unable to speak. he understood why he was so drawn to this person. something about them was unusual, but he couldn't get a grasp on what it was.

[name] stood up, their white clothing blowing in the wind as they discarded of the flower crown that sat upon their head.

and that's when venti understood.

the [name] that stood before him was but a simple life that slipped from his fingers. a spirit that was unable to move on. they smiled, turning around and formally bowing to the shocked bard.

"it seems as though my wish to be noticed has been fulfilled. thank you, kind bard."

and with that, [name] began to walk into the distance, just barely in venti's sight again.

he ran to catch up to them, desperately stretching out his hand to grab something of them, anything, but was simply left with a hand filled with wilted chrysanthemum flowers instead.