Winery Of Dawn

The Lonely Bard

After Diluc had left the Winery, Venti was left alone in the bedroom where he was brought again last night. He knew he should've convinced Diluc to stay with him because he didn't really want to be alone like this. It didn't bug him too much, but he still didn't want to be alone like that because being alone was something he was quite used to. He didn't like that, but it was unfortunately what he had to deal with. After all he's been through as an Archon, it was something he should probably concern Diluc with, but he knew the other probably wouldn't approve of the behavior that he was put through during the Archon war, which was something he rarely talked about. He didn't want to concern him, but it was something he wanted to bring up with Diluc just because of the fact that he would have to tell him everything he went through. He didn't exactly want to show his vulnerable side either, but they were friends right? Shouldn't he trust him enough to tell him everything? That's what was hard for him because he usually bottled it all up and hid away his problems, but he didn't know if the other really even knew about what he was going through and the mental tarnish it was. It was such a pain to deal with what he goes through that he wouldn't even be surprised if Diluc were to give him a hug. Though, when he thought about it, Diluc seemed very huggable.

He finally decided that he was going to tell Diluc, but how would he take this? He wasn't one-hundred percent sure if this was going to go well, but it didn't really matter now just because of the fact that he would hopefully take this in a good way. Or... he prayed so. He would just have to wait for Diluc to get back from his shift at the tavern first. To be honest, he was so bored, he wanted Diluc to be back sooner. He didn't like being lonely; it was a common problem he had to deal with so it wasn't much of a big deal to him if he was going to see him very soon or not. He just didn't know if this was going to go okay or not. It didn't really matter at this point just because he'd just have to be patient, even if he wanted him to be back soon.

Waiting was so painful, Venti ended up having a breakdown while waiting on Diluc to get back. Even so, due to crying so much, he didn't even hear Diluc walk into the room.

"Venti...." he walked over and embraced Venti, sighing a little. "I give my condolences for taking until this very evening. It takes me too long to get out of work at the tavern because of all of those stragglers."

"....Diluc...." Venti sounded so depressed and unsure of himself. He looked up at him with tears rolling down his cheeks in a waterfall. Diluc kissed his cheek to try to get him to stop crying as much. It just caused Venti to blush a little bit and his eyes widened. "D-Diluc-" he didn't know what to do other than mutter his name just because he was seriously in shock about what Diluc just did. It didn't really make sense. Why was he so nice all of a sudden? Wasn't Diluc always like that? It didn't really matter now, it was just so confusing for him to understand what he was feeling or what he was going through. He wanted to open up about it, but he was crying to much to even get a word out. There was no way he was going to talk now. He was too upset to reveal anything, all unless he was asked. He needed to calm down is what he needed to do.

"I'm sorry you have to see me like this."

"It's fine, Venti. Don't even question yourself. What's wrong?"

Venti sighed and wiped his eyes a little bit. He spent a few hours explaining to Diluc how he came from his being a little wisp of the wind to becoming one with a friend who died in the war. He took the form of that friend. He also explained many struggles he had taking care of people from Mondstadt and what issues he had because he didn't really have a friend who stayed. He only knew Diluc would understand the struggles of being alone because of everything he witnessed with his father Crepus and his adopted brother, Kaeya. He didn't want this to be awkward, so he soon stopped explaining all that made him upset and just looked down.

"Venti..." Diluc lifted his chin up with his finger, "don't bring yourself to be like this, it's bad for you to cry so much. I promise by all the Archons that I will never abandon you, no matter what you think. That will never change."

Venti felt so happy to hear those words that a smile tugged at his lips, even though he still had tears rolling down his face at this point. He was glad to have someone so loyal as Diluc at his side. "Thank you, Master Diluc. That means so much to me and I want you to know that."

"Of course. I will never go back on a promise like that because you deserve the world after all you've been through, Venti." Diluc gave him a smile a hummed softly, still embracing the other.

"...You're so sweet, but not everyone gets to see this side of you."

"Only you."

"W-what? You mean to tell me that I'm the only one who gets to see your... soft side?" he blushed just thinking about that.

"Exactly what I mean, Venti."

"That's... actually good to hear, thank you." he put his head against his chest and smiled softly. He really loved Diluc, but it would be too hard to express that in words.