modernity - xiaoven

5.

because i actually wrote a paragraph today. i'm so proud. (we had an assembly, so i didn't have time to write in ap)

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venti didn't know where he was going to end up when he set up the posters.

originally it was just a way to meet his fans and get inspiration for his next song, but now he isn't sure.

he actually wants to be xiao's friend, but would it be weird? he's famous, and xiao's a fan.

shrugging, he places his phone on the hotel's table, before heading out to stand on the balcony. liyue was beautiful, truly, but he never had the time to spend here. the last time he had been here was a while ago, and he never exactly had the time to come here since.

well, that's a lie. he would have the time, if he actually spent it wisely. he spent most of his time either procrastinating on songwriting, bothering diluc at his bar, and working on planning different events.

though he mainly does only one of those three things, they were really taking up too much of his time. sure, he could go on hiatus, but he's taken months working on this song, and he'd really hoped his fans would understand if he took a break, but the last time he did that... it didn't really end too well.

he was brought back to reality from his thoughts as one of his braids hit him in the face. blinking slowly, trying to remove the tiredness from his eyes, he left the balcony. jet lag truly sucked, didn't it.

grabbing his phone, and setting it in his pocket, he decided that a walk through liyue would be a good way to wake himself up, and get used to the new timezone. especially since he would be here for around a week. [and because then he could still procrastinate on writing]

grabbing his coat before leaving, venti shrugged it on while glancing around for a place to eat. he had some mora on him, and he hadn't eaten just yet.

deciding on a restaurant he spotted -- wanmin restaurant --, he was seated by a girl with indigo hair, who had been grumbling about being banned from the kitchen for making everything too spicy.

disregarding that, venti decided on chicken mushroom skewers, he was hungry and didn't mind what he had, he just didn't want to try liyue cuisine until he was more used to the place.

he might've been here before, but that was years ago, and tastebuds change. [goodness, he still remembers when he hated drinking.]

while waiting for his food, he decided to see if xiao wanted to chat.

----

[xiao]

v: hiiiiiiiiii!!:)

x: what the fuck do you want?

x: and what about that music stuff?

v: i'm at wanmin restaurant and i wanted to know if you wanted to chat!

x: i guess i'm free. so sure

v: wooo!

v: whatcha doing?

x: im on a walk

v: oh! that's nice!

x: let me guess, you want to know where i am?

v: mhm

x: im near teyvat mall

x: its close to where i live.

v: oooo! want to meet up early!

x: i guess we can

v: seeya soon!

----

setting down his phone venti smiled, before realizing his food was here. quickly eating the two skewers, paying, and leaving. he was too excited to be meeting xiao in person.

leaving the restuarant, he tried to remember his way to the mall. deciding to walk around aimlessly until he found it, venti started down the road, away from his hotel.

not paying attention to where he was walking, he bumped into two girls, one with pale blue hair, and another with light purple hair.

"oh! sorry!" venti chuckled softly, apologixing to the two.

"it's alright!" 'purple' said with a small smile, as the blue-haired one seemingly shook her head to wake up.

'blue' nodded, not exactly understanding the situation.

"well, my name is keqing, and this is ganyu."

"i'm venti!"

"well, nice to meet you."

"meet to meet you two, too!"

they shook hands, before venti realized this might be a great opportunity to ask them if he was going the right direction.

"do you know where teyvat mall is? i need to get there to meet with someone."

"oh! it's down this road, go down the first street on the left, take a right after three roads and you're there!"

"thank you!"

venti rushed off, leaving the two in the dust.

"now, ganyu, you need to stop overworking yourself. you were half asleep the entire time."

"i will!"

----

venti managed to make his way to the mall from keqing's directions, before he realized he didn't know where xiao was, and that he only knew the other's appearance.

looking around, to see if xiao was waiting out front, which from what venti could assume, wasn't likely. finally though, after straining his eyes to see a bit further, he spotted xiao leaning back on a bench closer to a different shop in the centre.

rushing over and between people, like a true master of crowd weaving, he made it over there and stopped in front of him.

"hi!"

"oh my archons- hello."

"whatcha up to!"

"waiting for you, idiot. you look different in person."

"the photo i sent was from a year ago. i don't take many pictures of myself."

venti chuckled before leaning heavily onto xiao, causing the other to tense up. it'd taken the older a bit to realize, though when he did he quickly retracted.

"you don't like touch, do you?"

"no..."

"that's fine! i'm normally a touchy person, so tell me if i overstep my boundaries."

"i will."