Chapter Text
"Wait, you don't work the day of the competition, do you?"
Currently, the girl was sitting at a table in the very bar she usually worked in, but today, she was just another customer. Her best friend was with her, both of them just trying to relax and blow off some much needed steam.
It was taking more time to get reaccustomed back to living in Mondstadt than she wanted to admit, and how different it was from her previous home town of Inazuma.
"Hm? What?" Vena picked her chin up from where she'd been resting it in her palm, spacing out as she often did.
Life had been... complicated lately, to put it lightly, and disassociating had been something she often drifted into.
For a few quiet moments, her best friend Rae just blinked over at her, the look practically oozing concern as she debated pushing the subject. Instead, she simply exhaled a breath, deciding to let it go for now.
"Do you work tomorrow?" The blonde repeated, giving the smallest tilt of her head as she looked back at her best friend.
"No, I took off. I work the day after because I swapped with Mona." Vena blankly replied, her mind obviously preoccupied, and she wasn't good at hiding it nearly as much as she usually was.
Sometimes, the mask slipped.
"Good," The blonde smiled back, glad Vena had remembered. She knew there had been a lot going on in her best friend's life the past few months, but she wished she could actually help.
Seeing her like this all the time broke Rae's heart, but sadly, there wasn't much that could be done aside from supporting the girl and being there for her.
"You weren't here for the last one, so I'm super excited for you to see me in action. I think you'd be proud of me." The blonde crossed her arms over her chest proudly, straightening out her back with a confident smile on her face. "Oh, there's actually some prizes involved this time too."
Vena finally cracked a smile, seemingly beginning to push her thoughts aside and focus in on the conversation again. Before, Vena had taken a long trip back to Inazuma, but not before helping her best friend train. Rae had never been a very confident fighter like Vena had, and she'd begged for help because she wanted to join the Knights of Favonius. While Vena was gone, Rae had finally passed all the tests and completed her training, successfully becoming a knight, yet sadly without her best friend there to experience it with her. Given the circumstances, Rae obviously didn't hold it against her, and she was happy to see her finally back in town.
Things never quite felt right to Rae whenever Vena wasn't around. The two truly had become inseparable from the moment they'd met years ago despite being the polar opposites of each other. People who knew them often made jokes about how Rae was the sun, and Vena was the moon, and one could never truly shine without the other. Rae was bubbly and outgoing, always the life of the party and laughing, while Vena was a lot more laid back and relaxed, often quiet, but not out of shyness or being uncomfortable.
"I'm always proud of you, Rae. What prizes are they offering? Weapons?" Vena huffed out a light laugh, curious what an order of knights would even give as incentive in a tournament.
"Yeah, actually! Pretty sure the top prize is an absolutely gorgeous sword... I think you'd love it. Other prizes are money, some potions, gems and things like that."
Vena didn't miss the subtle hint Rae had dropped, her eyes flicking to the side to watch the blonde from the corner of her eye as she took a sip of her soda.
That was a conversation for another day, one Vena hoped to keep dodging. Rae had always practically begged Vena to join the knights too so they could be together even more, but Vena often declined. After everything she'd been through, she didn't want to fight anymore. For all she cared, her old sword would remain in its case in the back of her closet to collect dust for all eternity. The calm and relaxing day of an everyday civilian sounded like her ideal dream at this point. Even if it was monotonous, it was better than the alternative.
"You're shooting for the top prize, then?" Vena quietly decided on as she placed her cup back on the table.
That pulled a cheeky grin from her best friend, noticing the play on words as she gave a short laugh.
"Even though I use a bow, that is a really nice sword..." The blonde shrugged her shoulders, her smile reaching up to her eyes too.
Please tell me she isn't trying to win just so she can gift the sword to me...
Vena silently pleaded with whatever Archon or unknown god that could be listening, preferring just to fade away into a menial life of peace and quiet. She didn't intend to pick up a sword in her life ever again, but she just wasn't able to speak the words aloud yet.
"I think you'll have fun watching everyone too. Even the vice captain of my company is joining in and he always wins... I probably won't win simply because of that, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try my best." Rae tilted her chin up a bit, trying to appear a bit more confident than she really was, but Vena knew better.
With how observant she was and how well she knew Rae, she could tell she was a bit intimidated. Vena folded her arms over her chest as she rested her back against her chair.
"What, is the vice captain that good?" Vena knew relatively nothing about the Knights of Favonius in general, and she definitely didn't know majority of the members aside from a few of their other friends.
"Pffffffft," Rae's eyes blew wide as she puffed out a breath of air between pursed lips. "Good is... a large understatement." The blonde gave a soft whistle.
"What makes them so talented?" While Vena wasn't very interested in fighting anymore personally, she couldn't help but be a bit intrigued by Rae's reaction.
"Well, he's..." the blonde's gaze dropped down to rest on the table as she paused, trying to find a respectful way to word it. Lowering her voice, she leaned in a bit toward Vena. "Relentless? I don't even think he's capable of feeling fear... Every time I've ever joined an operation with him, he's usually on the front lines with a polearm in hand." Rae raised a hand to awkwardly scratch the side of her cheek as she tried explaining.
"... A polearm? Aren't you apart of the ranged company?" Vena raised a brow, confusion lining her features now.
"Yeah, but... I don't really understand it either. Anyone I've heard talk about it says that it's just how he is. He'll use any and all tactics, whatever ensures victory, but people assume he favors close quarters combat.... The guy's a complete enigma." Rae continued with a sheepish shrug of her shoulders, obviously not really understanding it completely herself either.
"You knights certainly are something." Vena huffed out a laugh before shaking her head a little in disbelief.
"That's one way to put it."
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Rae had left to head home early, knowing she needed to be well and rested for the completion the next day, and Vena had stayed behind to help Mona run the bar.
"You aren't even on the schedule for today... why are you here?" The familiar sound of her boss' voice came from somewhere behind her, low as always.
"Oh, hey Diluc. I know I'm not, but the bar was busy and I wanted to help Mona. She hadn't been able to take a break all night." Vena calmly replied, not bothering to turn around as she continued washing the glass cups in the sink once she'd had some down time.
A rather displeased sigh followed, and the sound of foot steps approached until he'd come up to stand beside her. Feeling eyes on her back, she finally glanced to her side, meeting those an amused crimson eyes.
'You just don't want to go home and be alone.' Laid unspoken between them, but was so, so loud, written on every inch of Diluc's expression.
Vena was quick to turn her full attention back to cleaning glasses, an uncomfortable tightness beginning to clutch at the inside of her throat.
"Please don't look at me like that." She managed, keeping her tone low, earning another sigh from her boss, except this one was a bit lighter than before.
While only a few people knew what had happened during her trip back to Inazuma months ago, Diluc wasn't one of them, and he'd never felt comfortable enough to ask questions, but it was obvious it was something serious judging by how anxious and more withdrawn Vena had been since returning back to Mondstadt.
She'd also spent much of her free time without Rae in this very bar, even when she wasn't scheduled to work. While it often ended in a light chastising from Diluc about needing to relax and take time away from her job, it often fell on deaf ears.
"What's been going on, Vena?" Diluc finally doubled down, deciding it was time to confront the issue head on, even if he didn't particularly like prying into his employee's lives.
It wasn't a good sign for someone to almost always be at work, instead of spending their off time doing something they enjoyed to relax or unwind. On top of it, she refused any time he offered to pay her for the extra time she spent at the bar.
Vena hesitated, maintaining her silence for a few awkward seconds before realizing he wasn't going to let it go this time.
"I told you before, it's nothing serious. It'll pass." The woman tried, knowing immediately how royally that attempt had failed judging by the look on Diluc's face as it changed.
He folded his arms across his chest, patiently waiting for the real answer to follow suit.
"You've been back in Mondstadt for over a month now, Vena. It hasn't passed yet, so that leads me to assume it's more serious than you're letting on." Diluc tried to angle himself in a way where she'd almost have to meet his gaze instead of keeping her attention glued to washing dishes, and the way she flinched lightly away didn't go unnoticed.
Vena had never been a shy girl. Quiet, relaxed, introverted? Yes... but flinching away and refusing to look him in the eyes only proved his point.
She had, however, always been one to avoid leaning on others or accept help from anyone. Diluc knew that much in the time she'd previously been employed with him before her trip to Inazuma. It was obvious that something had happened while she was there, but he doubted anyone aside from her would know.
Maybe the traveler, sure, but the likely hood of getting the traveler to spill secrets would be akin to trying to pry a bird from a predator's mouth with bare hands. While he respected that in a way, it was bad in times like these where the situation could be even worse than it first appears.
"Diluc, there's nothing to worry about," Vena exhaled the breath she'd been holding in, finally prying her gaze off from the cups and up to meet Diluc's own. "I'm just not ready to talk about it is all."
And I may never be.
Judging by the pause, he quickly realized she still didn't plan on budging. Raising his gaze up toward the ceiling, he breathed out a sigh of his own.
He'd always seen Vena like a little sister. He had always tried looking after her from the moment she'd first come to Mondstadt all those years ago because she'd left her family behind in Inazuma, and aside from Rae, she'd been completely alone.
Maybe some of his old informants were still around, and he could wrestle some information out of them. Conversation between Mondstadt and Inazuma didn't exist naturally very often, so it was usually difficult to figure out what was going on in the other nation.
The sound of the door opening behind him pulled him from his thoughts.
"Oh, hey Diluc. Wait- V, you did the dishes? I told you not to!" Mona whined as she came over to stand beside them, hands on her hips and an attempt at a serious expression on her face.
"I got bored." The corner of Vena's lip curved upward, obviously a little amused at Mona's chastising.
"Can you send her home? She needs to rest." Mona turned her attention to Diluc now, feeling as if anyone had a chance at convincing the girl to stop working so much, it would be him.
"I've been trying." The red head raised a hand toward his face, fingers pinching the skin between his eyes in mild frustration.
She'd always been quite stubborn too.
"I'm gonna call Rae if you keep this up." Mona half-threatened as she pointed a finger over at Vena, trying desperately to keep a straight face.
Vena winced a bit at that, raising up her hands in defense before giving the softest little laugh. "Okaaaaay, okay, I'll go home."
Diluc huffed a breath through his nose at that, and Mona had to giggle, hand going up to cover her mouth.
"Anything but the angry blonde, huh?" She smiled over at Vena, receiving a small one in return.
"Yeah, she already yelled at me once this morning... can't risk making her mad again so soon." Vena played along, turning to walk down the edge of the bar to grab her bag from the corner where she'd left it.
"Rae's pretty terrifying when she's mad... Go get some rest, girly. Thank you for the help." Mona waved goodbye once Vena paused to look back at them, Diluc giving just a little motion of his chin to her.
"Anytime. Goodnight, guys."
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The moment she stepped inside her apartment, she felt the familiar sting of tears prickling in the corners of her eyes. Before it got worse, she managed to lock her door and toss her bag onto the couch nearby. It didn't take long for the tears to fall, but she didn't let it stop her from trying to get to her bathroom so she could at least get in the bath before the flood gates fully opened.
With blurry vision, she yanked at her clothes, already sniffling and frustrated as she turned on the hot water. A wave of varying different emotions crashed over her, but sadly, they were familiar. Something she'd been feeling ever since she'd stepped back into Inazuma on her trip. Part of her knew better, knew she shouldn't have gone. Maybe things would have ended differently if she hadn't.
Part of her was just waiting for news to travel to the other nations, for everyone to know what happened... know how miserably that she'd failed in her biggest responsibility. That she wasn't nearly as strong as everyone back home thought she was. Some hardened warrior, huh? A girl who came from such a long line of talented fighters, yet somehow, she'd managed to make such a monumental mistake. Something so horrific, she swore to never pick up a blade again.
Once the water was warm enough, she sunk down into the tub, both hands going up to her face to cover her eyes as she sobbed into them. Bottom lip in a full tremble, she tried to bite back her cries, but it was futile. Being home reminded her of it, that's why she'd always tried so hard to avoid it, even if it meant working more. If she was preoccupied, she didn't have time to think.
Chest heaving, she could feel the nausea starting, knowing that if she didn't find a way to calm down, she'd more than likely vomit.
A soft meow reached her ears, making her finally raise her head from her hands to glance over at the open door. Her cat, Patch, had probably heard her crying, and he'd come in to check on her.
Dutiful as always, he sat on the mat beside the tub, as close to her as he possibly could get without getting wet. Gently, he meowed again, blinking slowly up at her as if he was trying to comfort her in the only way he knew how.
Despite her near panic attack, she managed a smile, hands reaching up to futility wipe at her eyes as if the tears were going to stop anytime soon.
Vena breathed out shakily, bottom lip still trembling, but at least she wasn't in a full blown sob anymore.
Would Rae still want to be her friend once she found out the truth? How much longer did she have before word finally traveled? Part of her wondered if she should leave before it even happened. Head out into the forest and live on her own instead of the city, before she could see the disappointment and malice in everyone's eyes once it all came to light. Would even the traveler give up on her too? The rest of her family certainly had, so by that logic, everyone else would too.
It was a ticking time bomb, just waiting to blow. Inevitable and unstoppable. Maybe leaving be before that fuse blew was her best option.
Another meow put an end to that line of thinking, at least momentarily. For now, she should just get washed up and try and get some semblance of sleep so she had enough energy to support Rae tomorrow.