hated by life itself // venti x reader

ɪ : ᴠᴀɢʀᴀɴᴛ

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Venti did not like falling in love.

In fact, he was quite afraid of it.

He had been alive for roughly 2,600 years now, and yet, he just never seemed to get close to anyone. Well, he did– once. But despite it being so long ago, for a long time, he couldn't bear to spend much time thinking about them at all.

No... Venti was a lonely person. That was just his nature. A lonely bard.

That was, until he met you.

You were his light, his muse, his angel... you were a truly unexpected gift. Venti was taken completely by surprise when he met you. His heart felt like it was soaring higher than any anemo power could lift a mortal person that day.

It was a story he would cherish and tell as long as he lived. As that was your wish, your last, dying wish.

... But I'm getting ahead of myself now. How about we start at the beginning ? How about we tell the tale of how the plucky young Y/N met the famous anemo archon...?

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It was an average day in Mondstadt.

Well, everyone living there thought it was average– but it was quite the contrary, as a young traveler had just entered the city for the first time, beaming and bursting with hope for a new life, a new future.

You stood in front of the steps at the very front of the town, fists resting on your hips, as if proudly announcing yourself to the locals.

"Finally, I made it ! I've been walking for DAYS. This place is so big and floaty and fancy– OOH, look at those windmills !! Wow, this is the coolest thing EVER !!!"

Your eyes flickered quickly from marvel to marvel, taking in all the sights. "Hey, all that walking sure made me thirsty," You declared, eyes settling on a random passerby. "You there !!" You waved, "You look like a local ! Can you point me towards the nearest tavern ?"

The man stopped in his tracks, glanced behind himself, and seeing nobody, asked meekly, "...You talkin' to me...?"

The bright-eyed kid grinned. "Yeah ! Know a place where I can get a nice drink ?"

"U-um– There's the Angel's Share, a little over that way," He replied, pointing up the steps.

"Great, thanks a bunch !" You gave a thumbs-up, and bounded up the steps on their way.

You were quickly and swiftly able to find the location the man had described. A quant building with a sign that read very plainly: "Angel's Share".

"This must be the place !" You exclaimed triumphantly. You pushed open the heavy door and went inside.

After your eyes adjusted from the difference in lighting, you immediately noticed two particular people who stood out..

There was the bartender, with crimson red hair pulled into a high ponytail, who seemed to have a disgruntled expression, as if he'd rather be doing anything but wiping down glassware.

Then there was someone– at least, you thought it was someone— with a slumped over green form who looked an awful lot like a pile of blankets.

Moving closer, you could hear little bits of their conversation:

"I'm not making you another drink. You and I both know you can't pay for it. You're lucky you even got enough tips today."

"Awww, but Diwuc... I can't go out and keep pwaying like this..."

"Just go home, you big baby."

You frowned slightly. Maybe the bartender wasn't disgruntled from his job, after all. Nevertheless, you were desperately thirsty, so you decided to politely and quietly seat yourself at the bar and get the man's attention.

"Ahem."

The man glanced over at you. "Ah, yes, can I get you something to drink, Miss/Mister ?"

"I'd like a cranberry juice, please !" You smiled at him. He looked ever-so-slightly surprised, but turned around to prepare the beverage. As he turned, his eyes landed on the green lump seated next to Y/N

"Hey ! Quit staring !!" he hissed under his breath, karate-chopping the green mass on what was probably its head.

Your eyes were suddenly brought to the figure next to you.

It was the face of a young boy, with indigo hair fading to a proper turquoise at the end of two long strands tied into braids which framed his face, and bright, spellbound ultramarine eyes as wide as saucers looking up at the young traveler.

"Um, hi," You gave an awkward smile and a little wave.

"Hi." The boy responded, eyes still wide and head still resting on the counter.

You could tell he was, well, to put it bluntly, completely hammered.

"...What's your name...?" You rested your hands neatly in your lap, your body tilted slightly on the stool to face the green fellow.

"I'm Venti. I'm a bard," he said, smiling drunkenly and lifting his head up to rest on his hand, "you come here often ?"

You laughed quietly. "Um, no, actually– I'm a vagrant, I just arrived in this town a little while ago. My name's Y/N, nice to meet you !" You held out your hand, offering a shake.

Venti, as his name apparently was, took your hand with gusto, sitting up and shaking it with both of his vigorously.

"We should go on a date sometime," he grinned.

"I'm sorry, he's not usually like this, ahaha..." The bartender interrupted, setting the glass of cranberry juice down somewhat forcefully in between you and Venti. "Can I have a word with you, bard ?"

The indigo-haired boy nodded blankly.

The bartender held his hand in between the two patrons, for a bit of privacy.

"What is going on with you ?! You haven't ever asked anyone on a date as long as I've known you !!"

"Well........ Fiwst of awl............... I'm downright wasted............ And secownd of awl.............................. I might've had too much to dwink........."

"Okay, that's it, party's over," The bartender stood up, his hands in front of him as if to say "I'm done with this bullshit".

"You can stay at the Goth Grand Hotel, okay ?" He turned to the traveler. "Do you think you can find it okay on your own ? Because I have to drag this drunkard home."

You quickly gulped down your cranberry juice, nodding enthusiastically. "No worries ! I'm great at finding things !"

You stood up, gave a small wave to Venti, and said "I'll see you later, Venti," you waved to the bartender, "and I'll see you later too, Diwuc."

The bartender, who was now attempting to hoist the drunken bard's arm around his shoulder, tilted his head to watch the vagrant walk out the door.

".....Did they just call me... 'Diwuc'?"

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A/N: hi hello how are you 👀 thank you very much for reading, I truly hope you will enjoy this story ! I really hope i can finish it ( T v T ) i know how sucky it is to start reading a fanfic, and then finding out it's been discontinued. I usually stick to oneshots because I have horrible motivation patterns,, haha. anyway, this is a venti x reader loosely inspired by the song "hated by life itself" by kanzaki iori, which is a song i dearly love ! I've never written an x reader before, which is funny because I read them all the time, and I'm a writer, sdhfjdjhfjg :'3 anyway i really hope you'll like it kthxbai !!

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