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You had climbed up into the hands of the archon’s statue in Mondstat as the sun was setting beyond the horizon. You just needed to not exist in the world for a little bit. The cool breeze pricked at your eyes, making them tear up. It was as good an excuse as any to let the frustrations that were building up inside of you out. You pulled your knees up to your chest as you watched the lighting up of the sky in the orange, purples, and midnight blues of the sunset. The tears of frustration ran rivulets down your cheeks, head buried in your legs, only your eyes visible.
As the night continued to fall, the air grew colder and your skin had goosebumps from the chill in the air. A heavy cloak dropped on your shoulders, smelling like mint tea, dandelions, and fresh cut grass. You instinctively pulled the warmth further around you, letting the soft fabric brush gently over your skin.
“No one ever comes to visit me up here, ” a lilting voice sighed above you.
You smirked through your invisible tears. “Might be because it’s a little difficult to climb up and get to.”
The laughter pealed out from the person you both most and least wanted to see as he carefully sat next to you, his shoulders bumping into yours softly. “ So, Little Wisp. Why make the trek up here if it’s so difficult? ,” he asked, kindness filling his voice.
You huffed, a heavy sigh escaping your lips. Your thoughts were a swirling mess, trying to think of where you would start. The day was just a day of minor frustrations and setbacks, nothing really major, and yet here you were - crying, in the hands of the statue that could be difficult to get up to. And here Venti was, patiently sitting here and allowing you to feel the full impact of everything you were feeling.
“ It’s just been a day and I needed to not exist for a while,” you muttered into your thighs.
He nodded softly, one of his hands reaching for your touch-starved skin, gently tracing soft lines to ground you back into reality. You released your legs so that he could see your face and he smiled while wiping your cheeks dry. “ I may not be able to solve your problems, but I have another idea, ” he whispered softly. His other hand produced a pile of dandelion seeds in the silent space between the two of you. “ Tell the seeds everything that’s going on and then we can blow away all your troubles.
You smiled at the cheesy gesture but you still nodded. You started to explain every tiny frustration that had been building up over the last however long that you had just kept inside of you. His hand kept tracing lines, gently encouraging you to continue talking, as he quietly listened to the venting you were releasing, the struggles that you had kept bottled up inside yourself.
Eventually, silence fell with the tears that continued to spill over. You swiped at your tears, even more frustrated at what you perceived as weakness. He caught your hand before you could close up your defenses again and softly pressed his lips against your cheeks where the tears ran down. “Seems like these seeds are ready to be released into the wild. Right, Little Wisp?, ” he whispered gently, his breath brushing across your skin.
You nodded your head, closing your eyes and melting into his warmth just for a moment. His thumb traced your jaw, memorizing every angle, every movement that you made. Your eyes fluttered open and you took a deep breath to blow the seeds away. The wind picked up around you as you released your breath. “Venti, did -,” you murmured softly, catching his eyes and feeling tension leaving your muscles.
His smile was gentle and kind, his forehead resting against yours, the dandelion seeds carried away on the drafts of the wind. “ Isn’t it so freeing to let someone else carry some of the burden, Little Wisp? You should let me help more, ” he whispered in between kisses pressed to your lips. “Let’s just stay here for awhile, not existing to the rest of the world,” he said, as he pulled the cloak tight around the two of you.