Chapter Text
The two of them were tucked against each other in the soft grass, side by side, watching the slow drift of clouds overhead.
Venti let out a quiet, content sigh. "Pretty nice, huh?"
"Yeah," Oliver replied, a gentle smile touching his lips. "It really is."
Catching the warmth on his boyfriend's face, Venti mirrored his smile before turning his gaze back to the heavens above. "It feels so good to spend time with a loved one like this. I couldn't tell you the last time I've done something so peaceful," he murmured softly.
They stayed like that for a little while. Then Oliver shifted, scooting in closer, leaning into Venti's side. Venti's arm came up automatically, curling around him from behind, pulling him in.
Glerrooogg~
This time, the rumbling came from Oliver's stomach.
Venti giggled. "Getting hungry? I wish we could have shared a meal with Zhongli and Nahida, but they had to rush back to check on their—" Venti blinked, a sudden realization hitting him. "Wait a minute..." He propped himself up on his elbows.
Still lying on his back, Oliver watched him rise. "Hmm? What's the matter?"
"Sometimes I keep forgetting I'm literally a god," Venti said, almost laughing at himself. "I could've just... used the wind." he closed his eyes, centering his focus.
To Oliver's eyes, nothing seemed to change, but for Venti, the world was shifting. The breeze around them picked up its pace, swirling with unseen whispers.
Venti reopened his bright eyes. "They're okay," he smiled, settling back down into the grass. "All their people, too."
The wind softly lulled back to a calm breeze.
Oliver beamed. "That's good," he said.
Glerrrgg~
"Oh! Right," Venti giggled, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "You need food for your mortal tummy~" He reached over, playfully tickling his boyfriend's bare brown skin.
Oliver erupted into giggles, squirming gently. "V-Venti!"
"What?" Venti grinned. "You poke my belly button whenever you feel like it, but I can't return the favor~?" He pressed a finger right into Oliver's innie.
"Veheheentiii!" Oliver laughed loudly, thrashing about in the grass.
Venti melted. "You say my giggles are cute, but yours? My oh my~ It's melting my heart like butter~" Venti cooed, leaning over to press a sweet peck to Oliver's cheek.
Oliver giggled again, offering Venti a radiantly shy smile.
Hopping up to his feet, Venti offered a hand and pulled his boyfriend up beside him. The Archon stretched his arms out grandly. "Get a good look at my sexy archon outfit before I change back into my bard form~" Venti did a cute, dramatic little twirl.
Oliver blushed a deep red and let out a breathless giggle. But he didn't turn away, his eyes locked fondly on his boyfriend.
After giving Oliver a moment longer to admire, Venti snapped his fingers. In a sudden, swirling gust of anemo energy, his familiar bard attire materialized, seamlessly replacing the Archon clothes. "And there we have it—the finest bard in all of Mondstadt has returned~!" Venti exclaimed, striking a proud pose.
Oliver could only giggle at the theatrical display. "But noooo~ my belly button king disappeared~" he whined playfully, making his voice sound dramatic as possible.
Venti completely lost it. "BAHAHAH— baaabe!" He wheezed. "Okay. Okay. I'm still your belly button king regardless of the outfit, for the record~" He couldn't even finish that sentence without cracking up again.
He came back over and took Oliver's hands. "Ready?"
Oliver nodded firmly.
Suddenly, with a sharp crack of wind, they teleported.
When the rushing air settled, Oliver realized they had materialized right in front of a camp... filled with those monsters again.
Oliver gasped, taking a step back.
Venti blinked, looking around. "Oops... I think I overshot Mondstadt," he admitted sheepishly. But then, a sword materialized in Oliver's grip. "Oh? You wanna fight them?" Venti asked, an eyebrow raised.
Oliver blinked in surprise at himself, then nodded with determination.
"Alright, babe~" Venti stepped back with a little smile. "Show me what you've got."
Oliver gripped the sword. Then he exhaled. "Okay! Here we go!" Without another word, Oliver took off, sprinting straight toward one of the massive beasts holding the wooden shield.
"YO! MONSTER TRUCK!" Oliver screamed at the top of his lungs.
The towering mitachurl, and every other monster in the vicinity, turned their heads in confusion to stare at the boy charging them.
"YEAH, YOU! I'M TALKING TO YOU, BIG BITCH!" Oliver smirked, flashing out of existence to teleport directly behind the brute. He slashed his blade across its back. "Ha! Too slow!"
The enraged monster whirled around, swiping a massive hand to grab him.
But Oliver was quicker. He launched a kick that sent the huge creature stumbling down, spun his sword with a flourish, and pointed the tip right at it. "Too slow again! NOW FREEZE!" An icy shard blasted from the blade, slamming into the mitachurl and freezing it solid in a block of frost.
Oliver fluidly slid out of the way just as an arrow whistled toward his back, burying itself into the dirt. He spun around to find three hilichurl shooters drawing their crossbows.
"Ha! Missed me! You don't have aim-bot like a Minecraft skeleton!" Oliver mocked confidently. He slashed his sword through the air, whipping up a violent gust of anemo energy that hurtled straight at the trio. "WINDBLADE!" he roared.
Venti was watching from the sidelines, entirely unnoticed by Oliver, who was completely deaf to the fact that his Archon boyfriend was currently dying of laughter.
Behind him, the frozen mitachurl shattered its icy prison and climbed back to its feet. Oliver blinked, then grinned. "Big bastard wants more? Well, come and get it!" Oliver lunged, slashing his sword with enough force to make the beast stumble. One more devastating strike, and the monster dropped its heavy wooden shield.
Oliver dropped his sword, then hoisted the massive shield off the ground. "Heh, you dropped this!" Oliver chucked it at directly at monster's face. "There you go! You're welcome!"
Venti was in absolute shambles. The bard was practically rolling around in the grass, clutching his stomach.
Caught up in the adrenaline of battle, Oliver still paid no attention, completely oblivious to the fact that his gamer-bravado was making his boyfriend lose his mind.
Suddenly, something struck Oliver's arm. An arrow. But it didn't pierce his skin—it simply bounced off with a dull thud. Oliver blinked in surprise, staring down at the unmarked spot on his arm where the projectile should have lodged.
He slowly looked up over his shoulder, locking eyes with the hilichurl that had shot it. "You son of a bitch," Oliver muttered. He summoned his sword back to his hand and slashed out. A burst of vibrant green dendro mist erupted from the blade; thick vines shot up from the earth, tangling around the monster and crushing it instantly.
"Yeah, make like a tree and leaf!" Oliver quipped proudly. He swished his sword to the side, letting it vanish into thin air. That was the last of them.
But as the tension left his shoulders, a frantic, wheezing sound caught his attention. Oliver blinked, turning around to find Venti absolutely dying on the ground.
"Uh... V-Venti?"
Venti tried to calm down. It wasn't working. "I... haha, heeee... HAHAHAHAHAHA!" He let out a breathless string of giggles and guffaws before finally managing to push himself up onto his knees. "Oh my word... Ollie... Ollie! Oh no!" he sobbed with more laughter.
"W-What?" Oliver asked, suddenly self-conscious. "Did I not fight right?"
Venti let out another helpless giggle. "Oliver... Oliver! Okay, Ollie. I did something—" He gulped hard, trying to swallow back his amusement. "I did something before you arrived earlier. I checked on you with my wind. I wanted to see if you were coming, and I heard you fighting the hilichurls then. I was going to intervene, but it sounded like you had it all under control, what with how the monsters were yelling and screaming."
Oliver blinked, glancing around the empty camp. "Oh," he said. "But... uh... why were you laughing just now?"
Venti took a deep, shaky breath. "Because... babe, you sounded so serious when you were fighting them the first time! But just now, you turned into a complete and utter dork!" Venti lost his battle for composure, bursting into laughter once more. "All the yelling! The bad jokes! The 'BIG BITCH'—" Venti collapsed back onto the grass, completely undone. "BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!" he wheezed, kicking his legs. "Babe—BABY, WHAT WAS ALL OF THAT?!" Tears pricked the corners of his eyes. "Were you showing off, or were you just trying to make me laugh?!"
Oliver's face instantly heated up, a furious blush spreading across his cheeks. "I—"
Venti stumbled back up to his feet, wiping a tear away. "Oh my word..." He rubbed his belly right over his corset. "My tummy literally hurts."
Zap
Standing so close to the crackling fire cause by him, Oliver felt a strange sensation—his mind snapped sharply back into place, if only for a fleeting second.
Venti noticed the subtle shift.
Oliver stared blankly at Venti for a moment before slowly looking away, utterly mortified. "I am an embarrassment."
Venti burst into yet another explosive fit of laughter. "PIrrrFfFffffttttTTTT!" he snorted, hunching over and clutching his aching stomach. "BAHAHHAHAHAHAAAAA!"
~~~~~~~
Hours later, Oliver and Venti had finished a hearty dinner at Good Hunter and were heading back to their tree, ready to crawl into their hammock for a peaceful night's sleep.
But as they arrived, Venti was in for an unfortunate surprise.
"Oh, shoot," the bard grunted, stopping in his tracks.
"Huh? What's wrong?" Oliver followed his gaze and let out a soft, "Oh..."
The hammock, along with a sizable chunk of the branch it was tied to, was lying in a heap on the ground at the base of the oak.
"I forgot it broke off while we were in the middle of that fight with that dark thing," Venti sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Wait right here, I can fix it. I just need to find a sturdy new branch to attach it to up there." He made his way over to the pile, kneeling down to toss the broken wood aside before gathering up the soft fabric. "Be back in a flash!" With a gentle whoosh of wind, the bard took off into the canopy.
Oliver waited patiently on the ground. Eventually, he felt a sudden, soft kiss pressed to his cheek.
"Ready!" Venti announced, wrapping his arms securely around Oliver's waist and lifting them both into the night sky.
True to his word, Venti had secured the hammock to a thick, strong branch high above. This time, however, it was facing a completely different direction, offering a breathtaking, unobstructed view directly toward the glowing city.
Venti carefully lowered his boyfriend into the suspended bed. "Good as new, yeah?"
Oliver nodded, adjusting himself comfortably among the blankets Venti seemd to have gotten fresh ones. "Very good," he agreed softly. "And it's a really nice view of the city from this side."
"I know! I dunno why I never picked this side to begin with," Venti said, smoothly lowering himself down to cuddle next to his boyfriend. He looked up at Oliver. "Wanna play with my belly button before we go to sleep?"
Oliver nodded, a soft smile returning to his face.
Venti beamed. He took off and tossed his corset aside, before unclipped his glowing Vision belt, and hiked up his frilly white shirt. Settling onto his back, he gave his bare tummy a little pat. "Have at it~"
Oliver giggled softly, resting his hand against his boyfriend's warm skin and gently poking his navel.
Venti smiled, a deep warmth blooming in his chest as he watched Oliver's eyes flutter and drift closed.
"Good night, my sweetheart~"
~~~~~~~~~~
But Venti didn't go to sleep just yet. He decided to stay awake this time, wanting to watch over Oliver as he drifted off first.
The bard lay perfectly still, his bright eyes wide open, staring up through the intricate canopy of moving leaves from up above. He gently tapped a finger against his own stomach. Oliver's hand was still resting on his belly, his finger still lazily hooked into Venti's navel. Venti wouldn't dare move it for the world.
After a long, quiet while, Venti gently rested his own hand over Oliver's, tenderly stroking his skin.
Being send back
The robotic voice was incredibly faint, barely a whisper. But in the dead quiet of the night air, Venti heard it clearly.
His head snapped to the side, looking closely at Oliver's face. "Babe?" he called out, his tone laced with sudden uncertainty. Venti reached up and tapped Oliver's shoulder softly.
System reboot commencing.
Venti blinked, his turquoise eyes widening in alarm. "Babe?" he asked, to make sure one more time.
Body transfer in 3... 2... 1...
Oliver's body gave a sudden, gentle shudder. And then, he went completely, unnervingly still in the hammock.
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Frantic, Venti gently shook Oliver, but the boy didn't move an inch. It was as if he was entirely lifeless.
"He... he's not here right now," Venti mumbled to the empty air. "He's back in his world. So... this is what happens." Venti murmured the words heavily. He had never been awake to witness this happen to Oliver before.
Slowly, the bard sat up. "And... he probably won't come back right now," he reasoned quietly. "He's got a whole life in his own world."
Venti knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that Oliver loved him. But deep down, a painful ache rested in Venti's chest—the grim reality that Oliver wasn't always going to be around. The simple fact that Oliver was operating a immortal avatar meant he could never truly stay in Teyvat, no matter how hard Oliver himself might push for it to happen.
Venti placed a trembling hand on the unresponsive shell of his boyfriend.
"Ollie," he whispered. "I'm going to miss you." He looked down at the peaceful face. "I really am. I know you're probably not going to come back tomorrow morning. So... I doubt you can hear me right now in your real realm... but just know that I really love you. I love you, my little windblume."
Leaning in close, Venti pressed a lingering kiss to Oliver's cold forehead.
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Refusing to let that be the end, Venti placed both his hands firmly on the chest of the lifeless avatar model and pushed with the wind.
But unlike the time when he met Oliver for the first time... he saw something.
Venti gasped and violently yanked his hands away. "What?" His eyes widened in shock.
He stared down at the empty vessel in disbelief. Glancing wildly around the dark tree branches, and then back down at his boyfriend's motionless form, Venti steeled his resolve. He placed his glowing hands right back onto the avatar's chest. He squeezed his eyes shut, and pushed.
The bard's mind was suddenly flooded with a dizzying glimpse of a strange room—a place entirely beyond the scope of anything he had ever seen before. He caught a fragmented flash of two people, though the details were blurred.
Venti pushed harder. And harder.
Until, suddenly, it felt like he was being grabbed. He was being pulled, violently sucked through into something unknown...
Warning warning... Dimensional Breach