vlanche - venti x reader

10: Embarrassed to Care ~♪

She got the hint and turned white. A nervous chuckle escaped her mouth. "Right... we weren't supposed to tell—"

"Was it Barbatos?!" You giddily eyed the two, a wave of curiosity taking you over.

"Hahh..." Aether sighed again, this time bringing a hand to his forehead. "Yes, it was Venti. He came and got us earlier this morning, but that's not important right now."

You smirked. "And he didn't want you to tell me that he sent you?"

Paimon glanced at Aether, as if asking permission to explain any further, to which he nodded.

"Yup!" Paimon screeched upon approval, proudly moving her fists to her hips. "You should've seen it! He was acting super pathetic!"

You let out a snicker riddled with mischief and excitement, then you stood up and shuffled closer to Paimon. "Pathetic you say? Tell me more!"

~♪

SCENE II

"Mmm!" Paimon sounded with joy, holding a fork and knife while gawking down at the perfectly cooked dish of Teyvat Fried Eggs. "Paimon can't wait to have seconds— no, thirds of this!"

Without a second thought, she mercilessly impaled the yolk with her fork and began greedily shoving down her throat.

"Good Hunter always has the best food!"

"Are you even chewing it? Or are you just gulping it whole?" The Honorary Knight chuckled, slightly amused at Paimon's typical antics.

"Gwuping it whowl!" She attempted to answer, but her mouth was too full of food to say anything comprehensible.

Aether furrowed his brows at the fairy's muffled words. He sighed and welcomed a normal sized bite of warm egg into his mouth.

After he swallowed, he continued. "Haha. You know, if you slow down you'd enjoy it more. Can you even taste it at the speed you're eating?"

Paimon didn't respond, but instead heartedly threw her silverware onto her now squeaky clean plate. "Done! Paimon wants seconds!"

"Of course you do." The knight muttered under his breath, slipping his fork into another bite of his meal. "But, we have work to do and mora to make, so once I'm finished we're going back to—"

"Traveller."

Recognizing the voice that sounded behind them, Aether dropped his fork immediately and turned around stiffening, with Paimon doing the same.

It was Venti.

The knight had suspected Venti would turn up sooner or later, and he figured the reason would be to scold him about leaving you, one of Venti's mortal enemies, in his home without permission— especially when he was in such a vulnerable state.

Aether had mentally prepared himself for the forewarned lecture, but even after about ten seconds, the bard still hadn't uttered a word.

"Venti..?" He spoke up, breaking the silence of just the two staring at each other. "It's uh... nice to see you again."

The green bard glanced away from Aether's friendly smile and messed with the collar of his shirt.