Blissful Bite ─ Venti x reader

26. ; OLD FRIENDS GRIEF

It echoed in my mind, "You'll get more information soon." More information would be nice. I was stumbling around in the dark.

The same times were I'd look for a pirate crew-but find a samurai instead-which was solved after a few hours, but it cost me nothing but precious time. I don't have the patience for it or the inner tranquillity.

I hated being left in the dark. It was insufferable to witness the itching a bad hunch in my mind. The crippling sensation made me want to extinguish it. The faster meant, the better I would regain a sane thought. One was enough to gather a thread for a scheme.

While everything else seemed uncertain, from the plans that Kaeya had, the order and even Diluc and Venti's retaliation, I knew that the order of the books wasn't a coincidence.

There was a code on it.

The first letters of the list said:

Good methods to melt into your envoirement

old myths and folklore

the windborn boy

old friends grief - a guide to coping with grief

herbology 101

intellectual basic facts

meet them at the river

'Go to him' simple as that, not an order. That would be far from true. It was an advice.

Not a bad one when we're talking about that. I walked towards the cellar even before considering everything in its entirety. A surge of

She sits with him near his cell, facing him with her back.

"I never wanted this." I sighed

"What? Us?" he asked, low and sharp. His voice was supplied with daggers, it stung? The sweet song had disappeared. Meanwhile the same tone had a sharp and rough edge. He took the path of a criminal, so I took justice into my hands. If I could, I'd choose anything else to escape this toxic sensation. Which made my stomach churn and stabbed my heart whenever I dared to look his way.

-

I clenched my jaw while I tried to suppress the wince from the moment he bit me. I didn't need him to think that I was injured. Guilt was a useless feeling in this situation. It was a waste of breath.

I drugged my nails into my palms. A low hiss escaped my lips. Before I realized the mistake, Venti tensed up and turned to me. "Look," he said, "if you're in pain, I'm going to get someone." he smiled gentle. It was so tender. The thought of betraying him irked me.

I shook my head, but even back then, I knew he noticed the fine details that gave my anguish away. His senses were more heightened than mine could ever be trained.

And besides, my worst fear, by far, was that he saw through me.

"Then what?" I asked, challenging him to give me a satisfying answer, which he could not. It was simply not in his terrain, nor would he come to a conclusion that led to a satisfactory reply.

I watched him, his every move. It wasn't the same as before. The eeriness that crept up my shoulders when I saw his porcelain pale skin, the sharp smile, and the soft eyes weren't scary anymore.

What I most detested to fear was loss. Not in a soul torturing forever, no, rather a person so close yet so far to reach.