WARNING: DRUG USAGE.
"Hey, what do you think about the anemo element? I'd say it's the most elegant element myself." Venti says, as he is situated a reasonable distance from where Xiao, the person he is speaking too, is hiding. This would make sense, as it would be a bit nonsensical to talk right next to him while he is trying to remain unseen. It would defeat the purpose. At the very least, if someone walks up on Venti, he could always say that he's going crazy and talking to himself.
With that said, that would be very believable. It's been a couple weeks since Venti started going out almost everyday to converse with Xiao. Each time Venti would locate Xiao, and try to have some small talk, and each time, Xiao would never respond. An average person would've given up, but Xiao really intrigues Venti. His only goal isn't just to figure out what Xiao is searching for, not just to figure out what's his position exactly within his mafia, but about him in general. The malice Venti experienced, it was the most bizarre thing that he's ever experienced, that he cannot let it go.
Venti would smile every time, he'd continue talking to himself, and when he really ran out of words to say, head started to play his lyre quietly. New verses, and song lyrics danced through his head as he played. Venti could turn anything into a song, whether it be the stillness of the soil he laid upon, or the way the clouds separated and passed each other, as if they were trying to get somewhere.
While Venti was in the zone, his eyes went gentle. He felt light, as if he was really ascending. Music was really the thing that made Venti's soul soar to celestia levels of bliss. However, this moment was cut by a sudden cough. Venti looked up to where he heard that, which was by Xiao hiding away in a tree. That was followed by a couple coughs, and suddenly, Venti couldn't feel his presence anymore. 'He teleported '. Venti thought, and having to use elemental sight to locate where he could be now, he also teleported to his location.
There, Xiao was laid up against a rock, seemingly in a pained posture. He had blood on his torso, and from the trailing, it seems to be coming from his own body--his mouth. Xiao coughed again, blood coming out, confirming Venti's suspicion. "Dammit..!" Xiao scowled to himself, as he fiddled with his pockets and pulled out a small plastic bottle.
Venti quietly approached Xiao, but stopped in his tracks once he felt the presence of malice. As if on cue, Venti watched as the black ghastly culprit for Xiao's pain appeared slowly and surrounded him. Venti hasn't said a word, and just watches this unfold, which Xiao did have a word to say about that.
"I didnt ask for a fucking audience..!" Xiao says irritated, but weak at the same time. Venti chuckles nervously, as yeah, it would be a bit rude to stare at someone suffering as if they were an animal in a zoo.
"Sorry, my apologies. It's just...." Venti truly didn't have the words. He couldn't imagine the pain Xiao must be in, malice is a truly dangerous thing.
"I don't care." Xiao says, he fiddles with the bottle and opens it. He tips it in front of one of his nostrils, using his other hand to press against the free nostril, and closes it. This meant all the focus was on the open nostril, and Xiao gently inhales whatever it is that is inside the bottle.
Venti watches, "If you don't mind me asking, what is it that you have there? Is it....supposed to help with....your problem?" Venti is really debating his words as he says them.
"What does it look like, insolent bard." Xiao says, when he's done inhaling it. He takes a deep breath, and closes his eyes.
"Apologies, I'm not very familiar with the drug world. Wine is my specialty" Venti boasts, though, that really shouldn't be something to boast about.
"..........Violetgrass. As bleak as the name is, and doesn't leave much for the mind to think about, it is a....pain killer." Xiao says. That would make sense, why else would he take it while he's in pain?
"Do you buy it personally? I've heard the name before, but all I know is that it's super expensive because it's hard to make." Venti asks, intrigued.
"......No. It's given to us by our leader. Though, I'm not even sure he's paying for this shit since he always complains about being poor." Xiao says, mumbling the last part. Xiao takes notice of his blood stained clothes, "hm......" is all he had to say about it.
Venti decides to drop the question that's been on his mind, "How...are you able to withstand so much malice?"
However, when Venti decided to ask the question it had been too late. Xiao started really squinting, looking really tired and relaxed. It seems the drug, called Violetgrass, has finally kicked in. Venti sighs gently, as the malice around Xiao gets smaller and smaller. Malice feeds off of feelings, and when those feelings are numbed, as such with the drug, it fades away. The feeling depends on the person, whether it be they get mad, sad, lustful, joyful...malice will overtake it.
When the malice had depleted, Venti was able to get closer. Xiao slowly loses himself in the drug, as he starts drifting away. Before he was able to fully, Venti said one final thing, "Don't worry, i'll make sure nobody loots off your body while you're knocked out! A bard's promise!" With that, Xiao's body goes limp and he falls asleep. The malice is totally calming down at this point.
Something occurred to Venti, how the scene would look to an outsider. So, he decided to deal with that first.
（︶︿︶）
It became dark outside, as the bluish-purple overcast of the night drifted over. The stars started to come out and watch over all who slept under them. A gentle and chilling breeze swept the field's of Mondstat, which made a sleeping Xiao shiver gently. His eyes open slowly, his vision becoming more clear slowly. Violetgrass tends to make one have a small moment of blurriness and blindness, but just for a very small moment, when it forces one to sleep.
Xiao sits up, groaning. He checks his person, and fair enough, nothing had been stolen. One thing he did notice though....was his previously blood-stained clothes had been...cleaned. He looked to his left and saw Venti, sleeping soundly on the grass. He had his stomach laid on the grass, and his arms under his head to cushion them, like a pillow. Xiao did notice that Venti's hat was missing as well.
Xiao stared at the unknowing bard, and that's when thoughts started going through his head. It occurred to him that he has Mondstat's strongest fighter, helpless, within his grasp. He could easily kill venti if he wanted too. He could kidnap Venti as well. But, that being said.......
Xiao quietly scoots over to Venti, and uses one of his hands to gently brush Venti's braid aside, the one blocking his face in the position he's in. Once he put that braid over his shoulder, he used that same hand to gently brush the remaining pieces of hair that covered his face.
Xiao, feeling how soft Venti's skin is, wonders how someone who looks this frail, and feels very fragile, could harbor so much power. He may act like it, but he knows better than to underestimate Venti. He's heard a story, maybe it was just a rumor as Liyue's walls are thin, and gossip spreads around fast, that Venti has killed someone very powerful. Someone that even the mafias couldn't touch, and trying only brought death for their members. He also finds Venti quite interesting as well, and decides that it may actually be in his best interest if he does try to talk to Venti. Sure, Venti is unaffiliated with any mafia, but that doesn't mean he doesn't know the secret's that Mondstat may hold.
Soon, Venti's eyes started to flutter open, looking up at the figure who loomed over him. Xiao still had his hand on Venti's face, holding his hair back. Venti takes a second, before backing off, "woah there, didn't know we were that friendly. Ehe~" Venti says, although he was a bit startled by that.
Xiao stares for a second, ".......What happened to the blood that was laying on my clothes?" Xiao asks. Venti blinks, and then sprouts up as if he remembered something.
"Oh, well, you see hehe. If someone were to walk up on us, seeing you covered in blood and me right next to you could leave a bad impression. So I decided to clean you up--" Venti says, before getting cut off.
"How." Xiao says, giving a cold glare toward the bard. Vent shivered, the glare piercing his soul.
"Dont hurt me, I just used my hat and the water from the nearby lake and wiped it off really well! I used my wind to dry you off so you wouldn't get cold or sick." Venti says, waving his hands in front of him.
Xiao huffed, before turning away. "..What happened to making sure I don't get looted?"
"Oh, you heard that? Well, you didn't get robbed, did you? I'm a reliable bard after all." Venti says, pushing up his own ego.
"You just got lucky, you ass. You were asleep too." Xiao scolds, and Venti gives a whimper and nervous laugh after it. "Whatever, I don't have time to linger. Do whatever you want." Xiao says, before teleporting.
Venti felt his presence slowly leave, and then ended up too far for him to feel it anymore. Venti took his blood soaked hat from out his pocket, and stared at it before going to the nearby lake and cleaning it out. Using his anemo blessing to dry it, he puts his hat on and walks over to Mondstat's entrance. 'OH! The tavern should be open! ' Venti thought to himself, as he picked up the pace.
There, Venti rushed in and announced himself "HELLLOOOO MONDDDSTTATT!", Diluc sighs in annoyance. Venti goes to sit on one of the open stools...chairs? Tall stools. He looked at Diluc, and Diluc knew that meant. It meant: 'Dandelion wine please, I'm going to be here for a while so prepare for me to drink at least 10 mug fulls'.
"You know, for someone as small as you, this much alcohol wouldn't be good for you. You should cut back." Diluc says, as he goes to retrieve Venti a mug.
"Eh, it's fine. What's the point of drinking if you don't get drunk?" Venti says, as he eagerly waits. As Diluc fills up the mug, a knight from The Knights comes into the tavern.
"Welcome, what would you like?" Diluc says, as he gives Venti his mug full of dandelion wine.
"Hello, master Diluc. I'm not here to drink, actually, Grand Master Jean is asking for you." they say. Diluc gives a very heavy sigh.
"Ah...I guess it is around that time." He says, and calls for someone in the back to take his place while he's gone.
Diluc gets ready and leaves the tavern, walking on the sleeping roads of Mondstat toward the building he despises so much. The luminescent wildlife makes the streets of Mondstat come alive, making the walk almost therapeutic. He enters the headquarters, all the knights there suddenly become uptight. The air becomes a suffocating one. He knocks at Jean's office doors, "It's me."
"..Come in." Jean says, as Diluc opens the door. "How've you been?"
"I'm not here to converse, where's Klee." Diluc asks, getting straight to the point. Jean sighs.
"She's in solitary confinement."
"Why, what did she do now?" Diluc asks
"She....she took one of her 'toys' with her and accidently blew up a farmer's crops. It wasn't a lot but the farmer was sure pissed about it."
"Maybe if you paid more attention as to what she takes with her, that wouldn't have happened." Diluc says, passive-aggressively.
"Diluc.." Jean says, already tired from working, and not having the energy to fight with him.
Diluc leaves quietly, and knocks on Klee's door. "Klee, it's me. You can open up, let's go home."
A small gasp was heard inside the door, and then the door flew open. There, a small girl dressed in red jumps into Diluc's arms, "Papa!"
Diluc gives a gentle smile, "get your stuff, okay?" he says, and puts Klee down. She then runs into her room, and packs her backpack up with various things. "And not that." he says, in response to Klee trying to take a bomb with her. Klee pouts but leaves it out. She then leaves the room and grab's Diluc's hand.
Dilluc sighs, "this will be faster." he says, as he picks Klee up. Diluc enters Jean's office one more time to announce his departure, "I'll be heading off now."
Klee shouts, "bye mama!!", from which Jean smiles and waves bye to Klee. Diluc then closes the door behind himself, holding Klee with one arm before leaving. The small girl was very warm, which made sense because she was a pyro wielder--well, that and the fact that she wore a lot of clothes.
This was going to be a long walk, as Diluc's mansion is a considerable distance away from Mondstat. He chose for it to be that way, so he can't complain now. "So, what have you been doing darling?" he says to Klee.
"Oh! Klee went to play in the fields! I had lots of fun but I accidentally got too excited...and..." Klee says, as she starts pouting. Diluc smiles and chuckles. Klee switching between speaking in third person, and speaking in first person is due to the fact that she's been learning that third person isn't how you should talk. A habit they are trying to break her out of.
"Be more careful next time. Remember what I said? Bombs not only hurt people, but plants and animals as well. Would you like to get hurt from a bomb if you were in their shoes?"
"...no..." Klee says, before looking up at the sky. She stares. "Big brother told me that stars and the sun were very big balls of gas!"
"Yeah?" Diluc says.
"And that if you touch one, you'll get burned! Klee thinks that's very dangerous! So I was thinking, what if Klee blew up the sun and stars? Then, everyone would be safe!" She says, very happy about the thought.
"Well, everyone wouldn't be happy Klee."
"But why?" Klee asks.
"A lot of things rely on the sun and stars to live. The sun helps make the food we eat, it also keeps us warm, and tells us when it's morning. The stars keep you safe, watching over you when you feel unsafe." Diluc says, and Klee makes a small 'oh' in response.
"Then, I guess Klee wont blow them up." Klee says, Diluc giving an affirming 'mhm'.
(｡◕‿◕｡)
They make it to Diluc's mansion, Klee sleeping soundly over Diluc's shoulder. A maid comes over to greet Diluc, "take Klee to bed." The maid nods and gently takes Klee from Diluc's arms. Diluc goes to his room, seeing on his desk a letter...from The Knights. He growls, as he knows what that means.
Diluc started his wine project back when The Knights needed funding. This was a great idea, as the wind industry is now one of Mondstat's biggest income makers. However, when he left, he didn't want to give up his wine business. He is not stupid, as he knows he is one man, and the mafia could easily force him out and take it from him. So, to keep creative freedom, he now pays bills to The Knights and The Church to keep them from taking over his properties and his business.
And that's exactly what that letter is asking for--pay. He will go to the church tomorrow to pay his dues. He undresses, getting ready to take a shower. It occurred to him, 'Did Jean tell Klee to take a bath before she came over here?' Though, she must've, she's usually on top of that...but he can't exactly rely on her to do anything.
However, he is too tired to go back and find Klee to ask her. He will just make sure to have her shower in the morning. Diluc is also very aware that he is a busy man, and so worries that he may not have the amount of time he wishes to have to spend with his daughter. He goes into the bath to shower, and after that, he thinks about what to do tomorrow.
What is something Klee would enjoy doing?
She does quite enjoy engineering, but Diluc wouldn't want to take that activity from her and her older brother. That's their specialty, as that's something they're more familiar with. Klee does like to play outside..but Klee does that all the time. Well, when she's not in trouble that is. Maybe he's overthinking it, Klee would probably just enjoy being with her father, as she only sees him every other weekend.
Diluc decides not to think about it, and goes with the flow like he's always been.
╮ (. ❛ ᴗ ❛.) ╭
The next morning, he gets Klee up and has her take a bath. Diluc has one of the maids monitor her, as he goes to his room and collects the necessary funding to pay to the church. Once he is done, he goes to the dining room to make sure the maids have set the table for them to eat breakfast. Diluc sits at the dining table, waiting. In a bit, Klee comes out, in fresh clothes. She goes to sit at her seat, and they start to dig in.
The maids have prepared Diluc with his favorite dish, a dish called 'Once Upon a Time in Mondstat'. Sure, it wasn't exactly breakfast, but he's a grown man and can eat anything he wants. The dish had three steaks, all separating the food items in between. The food items in between were cut potato, small lamp grass, and cheese to round it out. He gets a cup of grape juice along with it--don't ask.
On the contrary, Klee had her favorite dish, fisherman's toast--or how she calls it, 'fishy toast'. Which was a piece of toast with tomato sauce, onions, and of course, fish. She gets a glass of milk along with it. At the very least, her dish is a lot more breakfast like than his.
Looking at her dish gave him the sudden idea that Klee might enjoy. "Hey darling, wanna play in the lake today?"
Klee gasps excitedly, "YES! We get to play with the fishies?!" This causes her to stand up in her seat.
"Yes, but in a different way. Without the bombs." he smiles, "also, sit while you eat, sweetheart." With that, Klee goes back to a sitting position and continues eating.
Once they are done, the maids go to clean up everything. Diluc asks one of them to get Klee dressed for the lake. With a nod, they usher Klee to her room. He also goes to get dressed, and puts on pants he wouldn't mind getting wet. He, of course, keeps back-up clothing in a satchel. When Klee was done in her bathing suit, Diluc also packed backup clothes for her and they set off toward the lake.
"Race you there!" Klee says, running off in front of DIluc toward the lake.
"Klee, slow down." Diluc says with a sigh but picks up the pace. Once there, he stops her from jumping into the lake.
"Okay Klee, don't jump in the lake. You'll scare the fishes. Go in the lake slowly. They'll still be a bit startled, but they wont run too far." Diluc says, as he picks up Klee. He walks slowly into the water, and then gently lowers Klee into the lake, at a water level she can stand up in. "Now...wait."
Klee waits anxiously, and soon enough, the fishes come slowly back. Klee starts feeling the fishes swim past her feet as she giggles, "that tickles!" Diluc gave a warm smile, glad she's enjoying it.
After a bit of Klee being amazed by what she's witnessing, she gave a sly smirk and splashed Diluc with the lake water. "Hey!" He playfully yells, and splashes her back.
Klee giggles, and the two get into a splashing face-off. The commotion caused the fish to run scared, but they didn't mind that now, as the two were enjoying their time--as father and daughter. The mist flowing in the air from all the splashing really added to the experience. Diluc goes to pick Klee up, as she yelps and laughs, giggling. That was quickly ended when something fell off of Klee and into the water, exploding in the water, killing a fish nearby.
"...Klee." Diluc says sternly, Klee gives a nervous laugh which then turns into a pout.
"Im sorry.....Klee forgot she made a bomb that looks like one of her ornaments on her bathing suit." She says, averting her eye gaze. Diluc puts her down with a sigh, and retrieves the fish that became collateral damage.
As if on cue, someone comes over, "hello, Master Diluc. Sorry for bothering you, but I come from the church. They need you for something. Urgent."
Diluc gives a sigh. At least it was fun while it lasted. "Right.....I forgot about that. Come on Klee, let's go back home. I'll drop you off at your brother's place while I'm busy, okay?"
"Oh, okay." Klee says, getting out the water. The two walk home, as DIluc gives one of the maids the fish and orders them to cook it into something--to not let it go to waste.
Diluc gathers himself, tells Klee to take a few things and that he'll pick her up later from her brother's house, of course, after she's been there. He then walks to Mondstat, where before he stops by the church to pay his dues, he stops at a door and knocks at a specific pattern. Soon enough, the door creaks slightly revealing a boy with red eyes, white hair, and a red scar on his face. Klee smiles, "big brother, Razor!" she goes to hug him.
Of course Razor wasn't her actual brother, that's just what he calls him. "Tell Albedo to watch Klee for me". Now, Albedo was her actual big brother. Adopted, yes, but big brother nonetheless.
"..of course." Razor says, before letting Klee inside as she runs down the stairs. Diluc turns to leave and Razor closes the door.