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Venti’s chest hurt. It hurt so much, it hurt as if there was an obsidian edged arrowhead lodged into his chest. He could faintly smell smoke and the sounds of people weeping, whether it was out of joy or sorrow he didn’t know.
Today marks the day of when his friend died, perhaps it was foolish to mark the day that had happened a millennia ago. Perhaps it was even more foolish to be grieving like this, draped over the bar counter nursing an almost empty glass of what he could assume was dandelion wine.
He knew he wasn’t having a panic attack, no, he was too calm for that. He felt fuzzy, as if the phantom arrows were making him bleed out. Or maybe it was the alcohol, he doesn’t know how long he’s been here. It could be night or day for all he knows, he doesn’t know which one it was when he walked in.
“Venti,” A soft voice called out, startling Venti from his mindless haze. Slowly, as if the blood staining his body was like sap, he raised his head. Blurry eyes studying the man before him, as if confused.
“Can you hear me?” The man- Diluc, he recognized, questioned.
“Mm,” Was all the bard could get out, unhanding his glass. If he was more aware he’d notice the relief look the bartender gave him.
“Here,” Diluc offered, exchanging the wine glass for a glass of water. “Drink this, it’ll help you feel better.”
With little hesitation Venti took a sip of water, sighing into the glass as Diluc watched him drink carefully. The bartender wasn’t stupid, he knew what day it was. Not that he knew the specifics- but he worked here long enough to know that every year on this day the bard would stumble into the bar, hazy and disheveled. He never said anything, just sitting at the bar staring, remembering. And without fail Diluc would slide him a drink, muttering on deaf ears that the drink was on him before walking away.
Venti reminded Diluc of his brother when they were younger, where Diluc would comfort his sobbing brother as he cried about earlier times. Stuck in a flashback that was no longer happening. The two shared that distant look, the look of someone who had experienced something they should’ve had. Perhaps this is why Diluc treated the bard with the utmost care on these days, where he let the god drink his problems away as he relived something beyond him.
“What time is it?” Venti finally spoke up, his eyes no longer covered in a blurry haze. He looked more alive, more like himself.
“It’s almost closing time,” Diluc replied swiftly. The bard hummed in acknowledgment as he glanced back at the last people in the bar, a group of men who were already looking at him- barely concealing their conversation as they murmured insults to each other.
“There’s the dumb bard again- He’s so annoying- So lazy-“ Is what they said, laughing to each other. Venti knew that a lot of people didn’t favor him despite what people said, and Venti didn’t blame them. He hated himself, he soaked in the insults like poison, drinking them in and letting them settle. They were his children, his people. How could he hate a child of Mondstat, someone he swore to love and cherish as he did with all his people.
Before he knew it, he was snapped back into reality. The bartender looked a bit disheveled, his normally neat uniform ruffled and creased. Ah, the bar was quiet, he realized. Diluc must’ve thrown the men out, how nice of him.
“It’s getting late, I'm assuming you have nowhere to go.” Diluc questioned- no, stated. He knew the bard had nowhere to go, he never did.
“Ah- no, I don’t- I don’t have anywhere to go tonight.” Venti confirmed rather meekly. The bartender nodding in acknowledgment as he swept around the counter, joining the bards side.
“Come home with me, just for tonight. Kaeya will be there if it makes you feel better, he wouldn’t mind you being there.” He offered cooly, as if this wasn’t planned and his words weren’t rehearsed. Despite what people thought Diluc did care about the bard despite their banter. He cared for him as if he were his own.
With a breathy laugh Venti stood him, patting down his shirt as he looked up at the bartender. “I would love too,” Venti readily agreed, a warm smile painting his lips and perhaps that's what made Diluc knew the bard would be okay- that whatever was haunting him was gone for now.
Not forgotten but pushed to the side for now, Diluc hoped that a part of Venti accepted whatever had happened. That he would not forget but move on, cherishing the memories he had clung onto. Venti would be okay and Diluc would make sure of it.