lyre • venti

xiii

"y/n? i--"

"wait, look." they interrupted him for two reasons-- to not hear what he was going to say next, and the fact that something was acting up in their bag.

upon further inspection, they noticed it was the lyre. its appearance completely changed; instead of rusted silver, the instrument was decorated in beautiful golden embellishments twisted into what looked like flowers and wings. the six strings now emit a soft, teal glow that matched three gems that sat on the bottom of a cream base as well.

y/n turned to face the bard in excitement. "it's fixed! but how? here, you hold it, i'm scared i might blow something up if i play it wrong."

they transferred the instrument to its archon, who was equally amazed. he strummed a scale going up, then a scale going down. he plucked a few things, and a lovely sounded echoed in the apartment.

venti smiled. "i feel much better now. this lyre is the same one i used as an archon to harness my abilities! and by some miracle, i guess it works again!"

y/n laughed. "i'm... kind of confused. but i'm glad it works!"

the bard nodded. after some thought, he approached his friend, took one of their hands, and placed it on the lyre.

he smiled, "i want you to keep it, y/n."

said person was shocked. they looked down at the instrument, then back at the boy. "i can't accept this! you just said you use it to harness your abilities, and look, you feel much better now! it'll be, like, taking away a piece of you."

but he just shook his head. "honestly, i've already let go of this instrument! i have many other means of using anemo. think of it as... ah, yes! my gift for you, and my way of paying you back for all that you've done for me."

venti gave the instrument a light push, and y/n now carried it with their own two hands. "i don't know how to play it, though..."

the archon laughed. "i'm sure you'll get the hang of it in no time! you already play so many instruments, so it'll be a piece of cake to use this one."

y/n smiled, a bit guilty. "i won't blow anything up?"

"you'll be just fineee!"

they looked down and nodded a bit solemnly. "then, can you play me one final tune as well?"

...

"y/n!! good morning, hehe! rise and shine~!"

a soft voice gently stirred them from their sleep. y/n opened their eyes to see venti, back in his original green bard outfit, ready to go. "hello, my dear! i pray that you've slept well."

they sat up, rubbing the drowsiness out of their eyes. "heya, venti. what time is it?"

"nine o'clock!" he replied. "we still have time before we meet everyone. would you like to go somewhere?"

"sure, that would be nice. i'll get changed first," they answered with a smile. 

after a few minutes spent getting ready, y/n emerged with a cozy outfit and their bag slung around their shoulder. they entered the living room to a wistful venti, who was gazing outside their window wall.

"boo! did i scare you?" y/n teased, attempting to startle the boy just as he did when he first met them.

venti turned and laughed, scratching his cheek. "i already knew you were there, hehe."

y/n playfully punched him. "you and your archon powers. anyways, do you have everything you need? i don't think we'll have time to stop back here again, unfortunately."