[video un: dandelionwine] at our next merry meeting away in the sky.

[concierto]

[The video starts with a tall tree and collection of bright stars above as Venti is pointing the device upwards. The night sky is sparkling with bright nightly colours. The video pans down wildly to show feet dangling from one branch. One brown loafer shoe just barely hanging on by a toe. Then a weepy voice sings along with a soft sad melody...]

An arbor of flowers and a kettle of wine... Alas in the bowers no companion is mine.

[The shoe falls from his foot and hits the ground below. Only to be met with a huff and whine as the one in the tree starts to sip from a large wine bottle. The camera pans up again with the view of the whole bottle before there is a glimpse of Venti's face as he sips it.]

Then the moon sheds her rays on my goblet and me... And my shadow betrays we’re a party of three.

Party of three...! Your poem is the worst! Just terrible...!!

[Venti sighs...]

See the moon–how she dances in response to my song. See my shadow–it dances so lightly along... While sober I feel, you are both my good friends. ...While drunken I reel, our companionship ends...

[A soft sob as Venti takes another big sip of wine and lets the lonely ache overtake his singing. The camera pans down again as he's unable to finish the last few lines of a poem that Zhongli wrote him. Now that his old friend is gone.]

You and the curious starshine too... how boring...

Comments

[mayoninofukucho]

[Hijikata is starting to feel like a shepherd dog who keeps having to herd a lost (or rather: adventurous) little sheep back to the herd... how many more times will he find Venti in the wilderness and feel the urge to get him back to where it's safe and warm? He checks the clock on his phone.]

It should still be open for a little over an hour. Do you have everything? Are you taking your familiar, or will it find you again later?

[Depending on Venti's answers he'll give him a moment to gather his belongings (including the bottle) before taking a spring totem out of his bag and igniting it with his fire magic. As it burns on the ground it creates the usual huge amount of smoke, and after walking into it they come back out at the Red Springs Resort.

Despite the late hour there are still some people out and about, and as Hijikata predicted the hot springs are still open, though they're nearly empty by now. He'll have to lock away the wine with the rest of his things, but for now they can order a floating set of local wine or sake to take into the water with them.]

[concierto]

[Truth be told Venti thrives with being lost in the wilderness. Finding places to explore or new moons to look upon and write about. This won't be the last time Venti finds himself stuck in trees or falling out of them. The world is a vast and unknown place and not like Teyvat.

He shakes his head with a giggle and his familiar seems to zoom off on its own anyway. He'll simply wobble his way to follow Hijikata through the curious portal.]

Travelling by totem is as simple as that, is it?

[Venti looks a bit marvelled and maybe a bit ill in the face.]

It might not mix well with... a few drinks on the mind. Erk.

[mayoninofukucho]

[Hijikata, then, will most likely keep finding, nagging and herding him. Maybe gradually he'll understand that Venti isn't as guile- and helpless as he thinks.]

What, you've never used a totem before?

[Oh no, he looks all pale... he moves to steady him. Damn, Venti must have drank a lot already to be this wobbly. Hijikata knows by now how much he can put away despite his tiny body.]

Do you need to lie down?

[He'll get him to the nearest bench if need be. Perhaps the hot springs aren't the best idea after all... but since they're already at the Red Springs they should at least avail of one of the local offerings, whatever it may be. If Venti ends up wiped out for the night Hijikata is inclined to rent a room at the resort rather than making the trip back to Camelot.]

[concierto]

No, this would be the first time.

[He replies with a small woozy giggle. But he quickly waves a hand and shakes his head slowly.]

I'll be quite alright! I do want that soak! Let's go now!

[He's had more than just one bottle of wine, to be sure. Where he got more of it before finding that tree to climb, we'll never know...]

[mayoninofukucho]

Alright, if you're sure..!

[Before long they're inside the hot springs, which are indeed pleasantly empty at this late hour. Hijikata sighs as he lets himself sink into the steaming water near Venti, their drinks floating close by in a high-rimmed wooden tray.]

Now, then. Do you want to tell me about your friend?

[He has an inkling that Venti may prefer distracting himself from his loss rather than honing in on it, but he'll still voice the offer, given that Venti did the same for him last month.]

[concierto]

[Here they are in the springs now. The hot water is a pleasant change from the cold air outside in a tree. Venti seems to melt into it for a moment. Letting out his braids to loosen his hair so he can really let out a soft sigh.]

Oh... Ehe. I suppose it's only fair I talk about him when you've told me of yours departed.

[He opens his eyes and then leans back against the stone of the spring.]

He's ... an important friend I've had all my life. While we've had our differences in most things he's always been a dear confidant when I've truly needed it.

[He huffs.]

He's steady as a rock and as dumb as one too.

[mayoninofukucho]

[Hijikata gives a curious glance at Venti's undone braids, simply because he hasn't seen his hair like this before, then snorts a little at his assessment of his friend.]

I see.

[That's sort of how he feels about his own best friend back home. Kondou is the one everybody in the Shinsengumi relies on, the centre of their band of brothers-in-arms, but he doesn't always think with his brain.]

You grew up together, then?

[He's picturing two little Mondstädter boys running through the meadows with the windmills in the background... little does he know how far off he is.]

[concierto]

[The comment makes Venti open his eyes and look at Hijikata like he might have just grown a second head! Then he burst out into a giggle while playing with his loose locks of black and gradient green-blue hair.]

Not at all! We grew to be sure but not together! He's practically thousands of years older than I am. I'd rather call him an old dusty relic than a childhood playmate!

[Oh, he's so so amused. And he isn't even lying with how he weaves that note of detail. Pay no mind to it! But then Venti looks down at the water with a fond smile on his lips.]

He may be older than me but... He's always been the only one to stand by me for as long as the world turns. His name is Zhongli.

[mayoninofukucho]

Thousands of years?!

[He's baffled at that. Is Venti pulling his leg? No, it doesn't look like it.]

Is he an Archon or something?

[He says it incredulously - he certainly doesn't know of an Archon named Zhongli -, but what other beings on Teyvat can get that old?]

How come you didn't have anyone else? What about your family?

[Venti is so oddly mysterious. Not only does he come and go like the wind, he also has a strange sense of timelessness to him. 'He's always been the only one to stand by me for as long as the world turns'... it sounds like something a much older person would say.]

[concierto]

[Venti bursts out into a fit of giggles at Hijikata's expression and shock. His hands coming up to his lips to cover the sly little smirk on his lips.]

Oh, it's quite bold of you to think that someone might or might not be an archon! Did you know most tend to keep their identities secret?

[Not all of them- but Venti and Zhongli tend to do so. And annoyingly so Venti will not be confirming or denying that claim. Only sinking back against the rock with a happy eased sigh into the hot water.]

Hmm... Family is a broad word for me. Most of my family is far seperated. I spent most of my life just as I am. With friends picked as my family.

[mayoninofukucho]

Well..!!

[He's a little embarrassed - when he got AU'd into Teyvat it was as an Inazuma citizen, but despite the Raiden Shogun's prominence he still knew that other Archons are far less tangible for their countries' citizens. He quiets down to listen as Venti explains his definition of family, though, because that certainly feels familiar.]

It's been the same for me.

[Well, probably not quite the same, but he doesn't need to get into his own backstory now.]

Do you have any other friends from Teyvat left here? Regardless of whether you do, I guess the good news is that you'll definitely see Zhongli again once we can all go home.

🎀

[concierto]

Ehe... It seems we're birds of a feather in more ways than one then.

[Lost friends and scattered family...! He wouldn't mind hearing more of those stories someday in the future. But for now Venti seems to let out a soft tune. The hot water makes him lull sleepily and his shoulders go slack.]

I have a few others from my world still here with me. There is Xiao, a yaksha from Liyue. And a few others that I do cherish.

[He smiles looking up at Hijikata.]

Thank you for your kind words for it all, Hijikata! If you say it so I hope it comes true someday.

[And with that they'll spend the rest of the hour or so relaxing... Until it's really time for Venti to make it back to his room for a well-needed sleep and hangover for the morning.]