welcome home

[outofoffice]

Who: Venti, Yuri, Saya, Lumine, and Kantera
What: A moment of respite
When: March 4th
Where: A house at the far edge of Blossomcrown
Warnings: Probably mentions of previous game trauma/violence


[ Venti has always been the type who wanders to the beat of his own drum, dipping in and out of people's lives as easily as the blowing wind. But Tokyo-F . . . changed things, somewhat.

Though his initial instinct had been to sleep under a tree and call it "home," an invitation to live with old friends put a halt to those plans. For starters, it would be protection from the unpredictable weather in the segments. For another, maybe he did get used to having a bed and a room to call "home," in no small part because of the teammates and friends who inhabited it with him. Now that solitary tree feels . . . lonely, in a way it didn't before.

And so here he is, standing at the threshold of a house full of people he loves and trusts, who asked him to stay . . . it makes him feel his age, but not in a bad way, for once. Nor does he feel that nagging urge to disappear into the wind.

Should he catch anyone watching him, the pensive expression dissolves into a smile. ]

Hehe, is this the part where we fight over bedrooms?

Comments

[sangreine]

Thank you. [ She deeply appreciates that. And also wonders why she's always making herself a problem Saya you didn't make this problem shut up ]

I might try to spend nights out, too. I can't sleep anyway, yet.

[outofoffice]

Really? . . . At all?

Have you just been laying there in bed all night, then?

[sangreine]

I usually slip out somewhere after everyone else has fallen asleep. I have a bunch of night jobs for now.

I'm sort of like a watch that's been wound too far. Running too fast. Then eventually I'll have something like a human sleep cycle. And then the watch runs slower and slower...

[ Until it stops. Not the most comforting analogy but it's what she's got. ]

[outofoffice]

[ Don't Like That. ]

Would you like company some nights? I know for a fact that there's plenty to do in Nightwake even into the early hours.

[sangreine]

Ah, trying to tempt me with your ability to be a bad influence. I should have known.

It's working. What've you got?

[outofoffice]

I believe the youth call it "clubbing."

[sangreine]

[ Of course ]

Sold. What's your favorite place?

With the caveat that if there's any vampire theme happening I'm out.

[outofoffice]

Hehe, no vampires -- well, maybe. But there is one with a "goth" theme that might pique your interest.

[sangreine]

You do know I was stereotyped into that unit.

I'm not against it, though. Why's it great, theme aside?

[outofoffice]

[ Conspiratorially: ]

It has the best drinks.

[sangreine]

Okay. But if you tell anyone I'm a vampire I'll tell everyone from Teyvat you're -- [ She wouldn't really. ]

...You never did tell me your real name. Zhongli and Childe did. I guess they must have liked me more.

[outofoffice]

--Eh?

Wait, what?

[ ?????? ]

[sangreine]

I'm not sure what I said that was confusing.

Zhongli let Childe's alias slip at one point. It must have shown on my face that I was surprised he wouldn't tell me himself. Zhongli called me on it, so I told him, I said it was okay but he insisted on telling me all the names he went by over the centuries.

It's fine, I know it doesn't mean you don't trust me. [ Even if it...... kinda does mean that to her, a little. Saya's guileless enough that she sees hiding things as dishonest even when there's a good reason. That's why she struggles to hide her past for very long even though objectively no one has a right to that information. ]

[outofoffice]

[ Oh dear. He's blundered into something without even realizing it, hasn't he?

Is this what it's like to be Zhongli? ]

Ali-Rin . . .

How to explain? Barbatos is one of my names, that's true. It's the one Zhongli knows me by, just as I've continued to call him "Morax". They're the names given to us as members of the Seven, in acknowledgement of divinity.

[ Though she doesn't have all the details -- because he never talks about anything, naturally -- he knows she has at least some idea of his fraught relationship with godhood. ]

But . . . that doesn't make it my "real" name. That will always be "Venti," to me.

[sangreine]

[ She makes a sound that, though fairly neutral, is also fairly empathetic. ]

I know it's not the same, but I get it, a little. I debated not going by Saya when I remembered that's my name. Like there was some obligation to it, a history I didn't want to claim.

You'll always be Venti to me, no matter what. I just hoped there wasn't some reason you weren't telling me. I know I can be an idiot, but you can trust me with this. I wouldn't do anything to put you in any danger --

Even if it's just a danger of being worshipped against your will. [ A rueful smile ]

[outofoffice]

Of course I trust you. The only reason I never mentioned it is because it never felt important -- or, in a place like Tokyo-F -- relevant.

. . . But if you get any big ideas about worship, I might have some stern words for you.

[ He already knows he doesn't need to ask her to keep his secret from others ]

[sangreine]

Good. I didn't think you didn't, just... sometimes my head gets its own ideas.

I'll only worship you in bed, I promise. But if you'd rather I didn't do that either, that can be arranged.

[outofoffice]

--In bed is fine! ♪

[sangreine]

Good, I'd be terrible at playing cold fish. Even as bad a mood as I'm in. ...Generally, I mean. You're as effective as ever at cheering me up.

[outofoffice]

Well, I certainly didn't chase you all the way out here to make you feel worse.

[sangreine]

You'd have to really try to make me feel worse. [ Perhaps not a reassuring thing to hear but the truth nonetheless. ]

It's only because I'm having a moment of awful clarity about people I thought I could trust that I brought it up at all.

[outofoffice]

I'm sorry, for what it's worth. I wish I'd known this was something weighing on your mind.

[sangreine]

[ Have a hug, sir. ]

It wasn't. Not in a big way. I was just... making sure. I don't think you'd blindside me on purpose, but I didn't think he would, either. Not in a thousand years.

[outofoffice]

[ Giving her a tight squeeze, even by his standards. ]

I understand. It's . . . not fair.

[sangreine]

It's not.

And there's enough unfair about my life that I can't change to make me wonder why I should sign up for more of it. Especially from someone who, as you said, knows I have worries around this.

...On the other hand, keeping him at arm's length would be its own kind of torture. So I guess I'm screwed either way.