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Venti, in his wisp form, was a menace.
Zhongli was no stranger to the bard’s antics and carefree personality, but this only seemed to increase when he was such a small creature.
A missing spoon, Venti.
A pen moved, Venti.
The disruption of Zhongli’s peaceful retirement, Venti.
Though despite it all, Zhongli couldn’t seem to send the wisp on his way, to deal with the large world alone. Venti was an old friend, after all. He knew as well, that if the roles were reversed, and Zhongli was in a lesser form, Venti would offer the same help to him.
One evening, Zhongli returned to his abode after a long day’s work and was curious to see how his temporary houseguest had spent the day, praying silently that Venti had decided to not fill his home with treacherous hurricanes.
When walking through the door, instead of destroyed furniture, he was greeted with the sight of the wisp perched upon Adeptus Xiao’s shoulder, munching away at what he could only assume was part of the apple that Xiao held in his ungloved hand.
Xiao’s attention snapped to the open door, and he bowed his head in respect. “Welcome home, Zhongli.”
“Thank you, Xiao. How nice of you to visit again so soon,” Zhongli removed his jacket to place upon the hook situated by the front door. “My thanks to you for keeping Venti company, as well.”
Venti bounced up and down upon Xiao’s shoulder, creating a small jingle sound as his happy chirps greeted Zhongli before he used his tiny hand to gently pull at a strand of Xiao’s hair, indicating that he is ready for another apple slice.
“It’s hardly anything worthy of your gratitude,” Xiao cut off another tiny piece of apple using a knife and gently held it up to the wisp, who took a huge bite out of it. Xiao had already scolded the little guy for trying to eat a whole slice before, so it explained why the Yaksha watched him intently while he chewed.
“Well, regardless, it’s still appreciated,” Zhongli concluded, checking the house over for any notable damage but was thrilled to find that the house was just how he left it, minus a few objects moved around. “Any insights for this transformation? I have had no luck in deciphering it myself.”
Xiao shook his head, watching Venti happily munch on his apple slice. There were no clear indications as to why Venti chose this form as of late, but this was something they would patiently await the explanation for.
“No matter, I’m sure the time will come when he is feeling more like himself again.” Zhongli reached out a finger to gently pat the small head, though to Venti, it felt like he was getting smacked with a rock over and over.
He made small chirps of protest and bit down on the imposing finger. Of course, this created no pain whatsoever for Zhongli, but it did stun him for a moment as he stared at this small act of aggression.
Xiao too found himself raising his brows at the sight, watching the wisp hang from Zhongli’s gloved finger by his little mouth latched on to it, emitting some small growls.
“Won’t you join us for dinner, Xiao?” Zhongli asked, having decided that this little tantrum had received enough attention.
“Huh?” Xiao was pulled out of his observation. “Oh. There’s no need to trouble yourself, M- Zhongli.”
“It’s no trouble at all. Why, I even have the ingredients to prepare some Almond Tofu should you wish to have it.”
Xiao found it impossible to refuse and gave a nod of his head. “Then I shall. Thank you.”
“Splendid,” Zhongli smiled which morphed into an amused expression once he looked back down to his hand. “Are you quite finished?”
Venti continued to growl around Zhongli’s finger.
“This is the gratitude I am given for my assistance,” Zhongli sighed, trying to wiggle out of the wisp’s grasp, but it seemed like Venti didn’t plan on letting go. “Come now, Venti.”
Zhongli lifted his finger upwards, then to the side, then the other side, but Venti seemed to just dangle no matter which way he was held up. He was certain he heard Xiao huff a small laugh at the scene.
“The Anemo Archon,” Zhongli scoffed, though a simple jest as he used his other hand to gently grab onto the wisp, pulling him away. Though Venti seemed to still be latched to the glove, which he started to glide off Zhongli’s finger the more he was pulled away. “Barbatos. Let go.”
The use of his Archon name only increased the tantrum it seemed, as Venti began snarling and rapidly shaking as if fighting with the glove.
“Oh, come now, really?”
Xiao watched intently before balling his ungloved fist around Venti, trapping him in his palm and with a squeeze of his hand around the wisp, Zhongli felt the glove release from Venti’s grasp and managed to pull away at last.
“Thank you.”
“It’s – Ack!”
Zhongli startled at Xiao’s sudden outburst. “Is something the matter?”
“N-No, he…” Xiao cleared his throat, but it was mixed with a breath of laughter as he opened his palm once again. Venti, who wore a mischievously happy grin, had started to wiggle his tiny hands against Xiao’s palm, tickling the Yaksha.
Zhongli blinked at the sudden discovery. Xiao had ticklish palms? How unusual. Though it did bring a small smile to the Geo Archon’s face.
“E-Enough!” Xiao tried to shake Venti away, but he was just as stubbornly attached to Xiao’s hand as he was to Zhongli’s. The wisp made little happy chirps as Xiao began to let out some more quiet laughs.
“What are we going to do with you, Barbatos?” Zhongli sighed, crossing him arms across his chest as he watched the scene unfold. Thankfully, Venti took the bait and stopped to glare his tiny eyes up at Zhongli for using the wrong name again.
Xiao took this opportunity to get revenge on the little wisp and used a finger to tickle at Venti’s tiny body. His happy chirps of laughter rang out as he wiggled around in Xiao’s hand, he hovered upwards and try to fly away but Xiao was quick to give chase.
“Try not to make a mess,” Zhongli chided, heading towards his kitchen area. “I’ll get started on dinner.”