𝙍𝙚𝙙 𝙍𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙨 | (sfw// venti X diluc )

chapter 1 <3 // 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙖𝙣 𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨

Diluc is alone.
He sleeps alone, eats alone and walks to the tavern every morning alone. Simply, and utterly, alone. It isn't involuntary however, Diluc can't help but enjoy the utter silence of spending time with oneself. Those quiet moments of peace.

And so, Diluc walks through Mondstadt square alone. He strolls with purpose, breathing in the fresh air under the clear blue sky. He certainly enjoys these moments of calmness. However, he had but no time for said peace this day.

Diluc had been attending to personal matters those last few days, constructing plans to gain strength and power. Ever since he had escaped the Fatui, he wanted to become stronger. More than an escapee. To prove that even if he "got lucky" and escaped, he could face any one of the harbingers. And so, Diluc was planning to gain strength, to become better than before.

Eventually, his train of thought was stopped by something catching his eye.

A purple mess skipped down the steps, tripping over her robes as she hurried forwards. Many of the townspeople noticed her hurry, and turned to look at what was going on.
"Lisa?" He questioned.
The woman acknowledged his voice, glancing over. She stopped her hurried journey across town and responded, slightly out of breath.
"Ah, good morning Master Diluc. By chance... Did you happen to see Klee pass through these gates?" She seemed under pressure.
"Klee? No, I don't think so. Is she in danger?" Replied Diluc calmly, he wasn't very familiar with the little girl, but had heard of the trouble she had caused in the past.
"Oh, no no. At least, she's not the one in danger.."
Diluc raised an eyebrow, this was one of the times he was glad he wasn't associated with "that mess of unorganized knights".

However, before Diluc could question it any further, a voice called from behind him. Jean hung over the fence, breathing heavily. "Master Diluc, please do not worry. On behalf of the Knights, we are sorry for interrupting your day." She nodded.

Diluc solemnly nodded back and shook his head slightly, carrying on with his day as Jean had wanted.

He made his way down the cobblestone steps and followed the path to his place of work. Diluc opened the door to the tavern and wiped his slightly muddy boots on the mat. Pushing his red hair out of his face, he looked up and sighed.

Diluc set out his best wine glasses on the drying rack, and sweeped the floor ready for customers. When the place was spotless, he turned the sign on the door to "open".

By 9:30pm, customers were already flooding in for their drinks. Diluc certainly wasn't a fan of these drunkards, filling his tavern every morning and night. He thought it gave the bar a bad image.

But he went on with conducting his plan every chance he got.

Time passed as Diluc couldn't stop watching the clock tick by. It annoyed him and he began to get impatient. Even so, there was nothing he could do.

Until the later evening, when a familiar face stumbled through the door.

The well-known bard tripped his way in, clearly already drunk. Diluc looked up and sighed at the thought of all the energy he knew he would have waste on this drunkard, but at least talking to him would pass the time.

Venti struggled to pull out a seat from under the table, his hand missing it several times.
"Alone tonight?" Questioned Diluc, preparing a glass of Angel Share's finest.
Venti looked up from the bar and seemed slightly shocked to see the man, before slumping down to lay his head on his hand, while he traced the rim of his glass with his finger. "Maybe.."
"And whys that?" Diluc found himself chuckling a bit at the thought of Venti being alone. "The Bard? Alone? Surely that's wrong. Not a people-person like himself, no." Thought Diluc.

Diluc poured himself a glass of wine to join in. He sipped it slowly and coughed.
"Diluc...!? How unprofessional! Not like you at all!" Slurred the drunkard.
Diluc rolled his eyes.
"No, you're right. This is disgusting anyway," Diluc set the glass down. "But I'm in a bit of a situation myself. Maybe the wine will help me forget my troubles.." Replied Diluc, surprising himself with the information he'd revealed. Venti couldn't believe what he was hearing. His face lit up and he stopped sinking into the table for a moment. "What? Really? How so?"
Diluc pushed his hair back and breathed in, debating whether or not he would reveal his information.
"Well, I guess I just want to be stronger. I'm not entirely sure what to do to become this, however. Especially as I'm greatly strong already. " Diluc shook his head and blinked back into reality. How unlike him, what was he saying! He took a look at the bottle of wine. It must've been stronger than he had thought.

Venti sniffed and wiped his nose. He looked up again and smiled. "Oh I think I can help you! You see.. I bumped into a girl on the way here.. what was  her name? Uhm.." The bard began. He clicked his fingers to try and remember. Diluc smiled for the first time in a while, but after noticing what he was doing, quickly stopped him from embarrassing himself.

"Oh yes! Sucrose! She dropped her books and notes... When I asked her what they were for, she told me they were Albedos! And I was like 'What! Who's he?' but she reminded me he's the chief alchemist at the Knights of Favonius! He's all the way up in dragonspine but I know he's definitely good! Maybe he could help you make something?" Venti actually had a not bad idea there, but Diluc had one problem with it.
"Really? Working with someone from the Knights? You don't know me at all. I don't think so."
"No I swear it'll be worth it! I promise, Kaeya told me all about him." Venti responded and took another sip of his wine. He then realized what he had just said.
"Wait, no, promise you won't tell Master Diluc about Kaeya and Albedo being close because I want him to go to dragonspine to meet Albedo with me." Not realising what he had done, Venti smiled at Diluc. Diluc rolled his eyes at the drunkard's stupidity. But he definitely wasn't going now.

"Well I certainly won't be going to dragonspine with you if Albedo is gonna gush about his silly little boyfriend. Kaeya is such an incompetent,  half-witted moron that I don't think I could take more than five seconds of that shit.
"Diluc said a bad word!" Squealed Venti. Diluc shot him a sharp look.
"Stop."
"Don't be a meanie or I won't take you to Dragonspine. And besides, I think you'll like Albedo. He's a little like you!" Huffed the bard.
"Well, you do need to pay off this debt. Your songs really aren't adding up here.. Maybe if you take me to his place of work I'll let you off the hook."
Venti smiled and nodded.

That night, Diluc closed the tavern early. The customers had already drunkenly stumbled out by midnight, especially as it was a Sunday night. So the drunken bard and his red headed friend slept on it, planning to meet again in the morning to set out for Dragonspine. This time, neither of them were alone.

The next morning, Diluc waited by the gate. He checked his watch several times, before sighing slightly and thinking the bard would be to hungover to make it.

But at last, a rustle made his head turn.
"Lisa?" Diluc raised an eyebrow, recalling the incidents of the day before. "Is everything okay? You seem worried." He said honestly.