The Winds Bring with them Change (Volume 1)

31: A Celebration

Venti announced today that he was almost through with the bits of his memory he wanted recorded, so they'd made their way into the cliffs of Liyue in search of a bottle of wine Venti said he'd buried there long in the past. As they trekked the paths up mountains, Xiao came to a realization. The love he felt for his country, his land of origin, seemed muted next to his love for the man currently leading him through said land.

Though he'd though he would always be loyal to his Lord and his country, he wasn't sure in the face of his adoration for the former Anemo Archon that he would choose his country as he should. But the words of his Lord giving him his freedom were not to be taken lightly, so he chose to believe them.

Venti turned to him, laughter playing on his lips as he jumped over a patch of grass.

"I swear it's around here somewhere, if we can't find it we ought to bring Zhongli in to help." When he turned back around, he laughed at himself a bit. Xiao sped up a couple of steps till they were walking side by side, reaching a tentative hand out to Venti's. He was a bit nervous, given that he'd never been the one to initiate any of the contact he'd grown to so love from his boyfriend. Though perhaps the nervousness wasn't nearly as bad as it might have been if he was in a relationship with anyone else. Venti had a way of brushing things off that made everything seem overly casual, and it seemed to put Xiao a little more at ease.

Thankfully, his partner gripped his fingers tightly before he could lose his nerve, more talk about 'knowing it was just around this corner' spilling from his lips. Though Xiao was unsure that the wine was even still intact after all the many years of battling that these peaks had taken, he wouldn't cause the smile on his face to fade. He'd heard talk of soulmates when he was young, two people who were meant for each other, who found each other in every life they might live.

Though he hadn't believed such tales in his youth, thinking that such thoughts were for mortals who couldn't handle how short and sad their lives were, now he wasn't sure. Adepti didn't get to have mortal lives, and therefore, unlike mortals, did not reincarnate the same if at all. He was unsure how reincarnation worked for Archons, putting it silently on the list of things he had to ask his Master when he saw him next.

They had been walking for about an hour longer when Venti pulled him a little faster, an excited breeze beginning to envelop them. Venti let go of his hand, floating up to grab a small pot of wine from a bit of rock jutting out of the cliffside there, a confident smile on his face when he came back down.

"See, I told you it was around here somewhere." A teasing look drifted into his eyes, and his lips formed a childish pout. "It's not my fault Morax changes the structure of his mountains so often."

Xiao nodded, going along with his love's antics for the moment, it would do him no good to start a fight over something so little when they had no idea how much time they had left. They had not fought much, and the things they did fight over were so insignificant that Xiao found himself laughing over them after they were done with.

His hand was being held again, and the next moment he was pulled into strong arms and wind was beginning to whip around them. Had he mentioned that he wasn't super fond of Venti's favorite method of travel. Unlike his own warping gently in and out of existence, his love liked a show, wind swirling over the ground as he dropped from the sky.

That's how they ended up in front of the funeral parlor, Xiao gripping Venti's arms tightly as to avoid falling over, the wind dissipating at the touch of his feet on the ground. He absolutely hated traveling like that, and could feel his stomach in his throat as he stumbled from his boyfriend's grip.

He waited outside the door catching his breath as Venti entered the building with a grin, then came out nearly just as fast.

"She says he's not here today?" Though he sounded confused, Xiao sighed, already beginning to lead the way to his Lord's temporary residence. Before his death, he'd had to find his way there multiple times to inform him of differences in the area that he couldn't attend to. So it was easy enough now, leading Venti through the city, past the food districts and over the bridge into the country.

He kept a rather modest home nestled in the hills, though it was fairly hard to find tucked behind a grove of sandbearer trees. Once they were at the door, he went to knock and got brushed aside by his boyfriend, who instantly turned bright red and backed out of the doorway.

"He has company." The door was slammed loudly, the wind swirling again around them. Venti took Xiao by the hand and brought him under the shade of one of the trees to recline as he waited.

Xiao waited for his partner to speak as he settled down next to him, knowing his Lord would not be in a hurry if Venti's still red face was any indication.

"Zhongli and some redhead. They were.... mostly covered." For the amount of time he spent teasing Xiao over how timid he tended to be past anything besides gentle kissing, he still seemed fairly embarrassed now. He uncorked the wine they'd spent the last couple of hours searching for and lifted it in mock salute to Xiao.

"Here's to dying I suppose." After he'd taken a drink, Xiao took the bottle, muttering under his breath in response.

"To figuring it out." Venti laughed a little in response, and Xiao knew he didn't actually think he would find anything, but he smiled grimly regardless.

He would find a way.