Blissful Bite ─ Venti x reader

21. ; DEATH IS REAL

I glanced back at Venti. This dark forest didn't make it easier to feel lenient about my surges of needing to check on him. These few glances towards the ground happened time and time again.

In the distance, I saw a few hilichurl masks lie across the ground, splintered, crumbled, and blood soaked them. It made me recall the similarsituation I was in a while ago, with the riftwolves.

I turned my gaze back to the young man with the jade speer and mask.  "You're from Monstadt, aren't you?" He asked, seeming to draw the conclusion from our clothes. No surprise there, Liyue had a different type of fashion. "You're on the border of Liyue. If you go back in that direction, you will find the outskirts of Monstadt." Right, we must've  gotten a bit too far out. Although, that might as well have been an understatement.

"Wait—" I said, my gaze traveling back to meet his warm, ember eyes. They felt like warm sun rays. "You're a yaksha, aren't you?" The wind howled subtle enough in the background to be heard, through the tree crowns and beyond the dark corners likely.

"Xiao." he muttered. It was too inaudible to listen to.

"Sorry?" I said, trying to avoid my best to sound rude.

"That's my name." the yaksha said, his tone was short bound, but it equaled more awkwardness than it did annoyance.

"Oh, well, thank you, Xiao." I nodded, "it was pleasant to make the acquaintance, and thank you for clearing the hilichurls up."

"It's my duty." he cleared his throat, a stern gaze accompanied him. "There is no need to thank me." he said. His body language pushed away any other attempt of small talk.

Just as I was about to turn on my heel, I heard him speak up another time. "Also, you look familiar. Have you lived in Liyue at some point?"

"I did, actually," I recalled, "I remember my parents have told me about a demon conquerer who will protect us in the dark. I guess they were right. Thank you again," I said. I put my best attempt to brush this interaction past me with the pace of Venti bleeding.

"I think—" I started, but the words caught up in my throat and stuck in my chest. Xiao looked back at me and nodded.

"You should go. Your.. friend seems quite hurt." he muttered. Something about the way he looked at Venti felt familiar. I couldn't articulate what it was at once, but it was something.

Sucrose kneeled down, her fingers reached towards Venti's neck to feel his pulse—whether weak or silent—her expression didn't give a clue away.

"Sucrose, how bad is it?" I asked, walking up to her. I held onto my breath as if my brain had forgotten how easy breathing was. It tangled in my lungs and became a knot. It was thick and uncomfortable before I exhaled to  release the gathered tension when I saw the faint rising in his chest.

There were a pile of stones tumbling down from my heart.

I made sure to help her carry him properly since the duration of the trip was long. Throughout half of the time, we remained silent. Perhaps there wasn't enough to say, or it was the crippling anxiety that burned beneath our nails.

When we returned, I caught sight of a wide-eyed Diluc. I lost my confident posture from seconds ago. I felt like the little girl again, who was scolded for doing things she shouldn't have, even if it wasn't my full responsibility to shoulder. "What the hell happened? Why didn't you watch yourself better—" I was about to protest, my blood began to boil and my brows furrowed, such a accusation was not worth taking the bait of, but it provoked my temper at its edges.

"I did my best, and so did Venti, but even then.." I trailed off, with a quiet sigh, trying to choose my words wisely was hard. All of the pressure came down on me, and even worse, I couldn't articulate my thoughts into words he'd understand.