#cant have a red dragon so she gets a red hen

[wolfiemun-official]

Lae'zel and Shadowheart living on a farm together with Xan as their son makes me giddy.

Lae'zel's been learning about so many egg dishes since they've got the chickens. She pretends she doesn't like the little feathered beasts and names them after food.

Anyways, her favorite is a red hen named Quiche who she tied a silver bell to.

[mondstadtbreeze]

Under the Windtree

Word count: 2.5k

Genre: Hurt/comfort

Aether returns to Mondstadt only to find that Venti hasn't been seen in a few days. He can't shake the feeling that something isn't right.

~

Aether and Paimon come back to Mondstadt after a long time of traveling the country between Mond and Liyue to collect ingredients, artifacts and looking for more clues of the whereabouts of Lumine.

Everyone is happy to see them and he's immediately roped into helping out here and there, despite being tired.

Paimon eventually tells him to stop because she knows he's exhausted and he goes to stay at the Angel's Share.

He was really hoping to see Venti before retiring for the night, but the bard is difficult to get a hold of on the best days, since he doesn't have actual residence in Mondstadt.

He wishes Charles a good night and goes to end the day after a good meal.

~

Aether wakes up the next morning with Paimon gone, probably to get breakfast somewhere and gets ready for the day, happy for the access to a good bath with warm water after weeks.

He finds Paimon at the counter talking Charles' ear off who seems happy to entertain her and Aether sits down with them.

They talk and Aether finds out after asking (he tries to sound casual when he asks, but Charles looks at him a bit too knowing) that Venti hasn't really been seen by anyone around for about 3 days now, which is somewhat rare, but it happens.

Aether cant help but feel worried despite Charles being calm about it but he, better than anyone, knows Venti can take care of himself.

He doesnt look for him.

He goes talk to jean to see if she needs help and to lighten the load he knows she has on her shoulders and then sneaks off with Kaeya to take a break in which they see who can catch a slime faster.

Aether wins and Kaeya promises to smuggle him a drink later.

Kaeya pulls him into a half hug-half headlock and ruffles his hair, dodging Paimon who playfully swats at his head to 'defend' Aether, before they go off to continue their jobs.

Aether finishes some commissions and sinple tasks asked by the citizens until Paimon tells him to go sit for a while.

Venti still hasn't shown his face and Aether is getting anxious now.

He knows the bard is often busy with his own mischief and isn't always around but whenever Aether goes back to Mondstadt he's been there at least a day and most of the time immediately sought him out, as if he knew he was in town.

Which, as the archon of wind, is very likely.

So why hasn't he visited yet?

Was he on a trip?

Did Aether do something wrong the last time he was here?

The thought of that sits like a stone in Aether's stomach, adding to the heavy weight of his anxiety.

He can't sit around and wait.

Something tells him to go look for Venti instead of waiting.

"You really are like a mother hen sometimes, you know?", Paimon says when he asks her to come along.

"Paimon would love to come but...."

They look at the food that's still on the plate.

"Paimon is tired from getting up early and being busy all day."

"I can carry you."

Paimon puffs her cheeks and huffs.

"No way! Paimon isn't a little kid OR a pet! Noone carries Paimon around! Why don't we go look for him tomorrow? He's probably with that dragon anyways. Paimon will come if we wait until tomorrow."

She looks at him a little pleading and Aether can see a hint of concern bleed through.

"You should sleep, too, Aether."

He knows he should.

Aether sighs.

"I'm sorry Paimon, I need to check on him. Something feels... off."

Paimon pouts but nods.

"Paimon will save you a snack for when you come back."

Aether is out of the city faster than he planned to, worry and the growing knot in his stomach bite at his heels and drive him forward.

He decides to go to Starsnatch Cliff first to see if his friend is there but realizes quickly that it was pointless.

He does his best to avoid fights and obstacles on his way back to Windrise.

If Venti isn't there he'll look at Dvalin's Lair and then return to Mond.

He is already making a plan on how to get to Dvalin the fastest when he reaches the statue at Windrise.

He immediately knows that something is wrong.

Looking over the area it seems the same, nothing unusual, not even slimes or hilichurls.

But as soon as Aether steps up to the roots, his foot touching it's tip, the anxiety he'd had the entire time turns into cold, clawing fear.

His throat closes up and he gasps in shock of the sensation as it washes over him.

Aether stumbles back and has to lean against the statue, hold on to it, to keep himself upright.

He knows they aren't his own emotions, has experienced this once or twice before when connecting to statues of the Seven and somehow that knowledge makes it worse, because it means Venti is terrified.

He has to find him, quickly.

Aether fights to push the feelings into the back of his mind and concentrates on the foreign feeling of wind rushing through his body as he leans closer to the statue, closing his eyes.

He can feel it flowing through him, around him, into the statue and back out and-

An image flashes up in his mind, blurry.

He sees the blue sky vaguely and a lot of strings and roots that obscure it. He can also see the river.

Aether let's go immediately and rushes around the tree to where the water would be visible, heart pounding.

He doesn't find Venti right away, mostly because the fear doesn't ebb off but becomes stronger the more he searches.

When he realizes why, he stops moving.

"Venti!", he calls.

No answer, but the fear spikes.

Aether has to blink, to get the tears out of his eyes from the intense feeling.

"Venti, it's Aether!"

He keeps searching and shortly after this he feels the fear lift a little and can think more clearly again.

"...ther.."

Aether freezes and turns to where the voice came from.

Carefully he approaches a spot overgrown with roots and bushes.

Venti is practically invisible behind it, with his green clothing.

He's pushed himself into a hollow at the tree's trunk behind them, like a miniature cavern. Aether can't see a lot with the gloomy lighting but Venti looks like he's slumped against the bark.

"Hey... Traveler", he greets and the faint glow of his braids and half lidded eyes shows just enough for Aether to realize there is blood on his face.

His heart almost stops.

He tries to get closer, but the roots make it impossible for him to reach, almost as if they'd grown there just to protect anyone from getting to Venti.

How did he even climb in there?

"Venti, what happened?", he asks softly, copying the soft tone the bard had used before. Venti looks at him as if he only heard half of it.

"Wait no, don't answer that. I'm here to help, can you move?"

Aether doesn't wait for an answer and instead starts pushing roots aside with more force.

Venti watches him the entire time, sometimes blinking rapidly as if to stay awake, so Aether continues to mumble what he's doing for Venti to concentrate on.

Finally, he reaches out but Venti shakes his head.

"Don't think I should move... right now."

"I can't get a look at you or help you in here", Aether explains and grabs for him anyways.

Before the bard can do anything against it, Aether has shoved his arms under his legs and behind his back and lifts him out of the hole.

He almost drops him when Venti screams in pain.

"Down! Aether!", he yelps right after, but Aether carries him further.

When he puts him down, it's in a spot he can prop Venti's back up against a large rock.

The bard is still holding onto him, fingers clawed into Aether's shirt, but let's go tohold his sode when he moves too sudden.

And then Aether finally catches sight of what happened.

He gasps in horror when his hands come away from Venti's stomach stained in red.

There is old blood plastering his shirt to his body and new that now seeps further into spots that used to be white.

Aether realizes that, whatever this wound came from, he just opened it up again.

But there is no time for blaming himself now.

"Venti. Venti look at me."

The bard is staring at his stomach, breathing heavily, and Aether has to practically force his head up to get his attention.

"Can you understand what I'm saying?"

Venti blinks. He looks tired.

He nods.

"Good. How long have you been here?"

"A day... maybe", is the quiet answer and Venti seems to struggle with even just that.

Aether's mind is racing.

A day with a wound like this would've killed any normal human.

Which Venti is not.

Should he leave him here? For the tree to heal him?

Venti answers the question before he can ask it.

"Isn't working. Not... healing."

He moans in pain when he tries breathing in deeply and then... doubles over, coughing and gasping for air.

Aether yells his name, doing his best to hold him upright, so he doesn't hit his head.

Venti coughs one more time, wheezing painfully, before he slumps against Aether.

He stops moving.

The blood in Aether's veins freezes.

"Venti! Venti, wake up!"

He doesn't think he's ever felt this cold.

Venti isn't responding and his breathing is too shallow.

The fear Aether feels is his very own this time.

He does his best to swallow around the panic, checking Venti's pulse and, upon finding it, lifts him up again.

Venti is so much lighter than he looks and Aether has to hold back a sob, when he feels the blood run down his hand.

Before he knows it, he's running.

He knows he shouldn't move someone with a wound like this, but he doesn't have any other choice to help him.

This way there is at least a chance of reaching Barbara before... before...

Aether concentrates on the wind around him and sprints.

Barbara is just about to leave the church when there is a ruckus from outside and the doors burst open, splintering in their hinges at the same time as Aether yells "HELP! I NEED HELP!"

She's at his side within a second and flinches in shock when she recognizes who Aether is carrying and what state the bard is in.

There is blood all over both of them and the look Aether throws her is one of feral desperation.

Barbara gets to work.

~

Venti had stopped breathing right when Aether had reached the steps of the Church of Favonius.

Aether still feels the dread and panic sit in his throat, which is why he hasn't taken his eyes off of the bard since Barbara told him to lay him down in the churches backroom.

A few hours ago, Venti had woken up, feverish and in pain, repeatedly mumbling what Aether believed to be the word "Himmel", before slipping back into a fitful sleep, brows furrowed and face screwed up in pain.

Eventually Aether starts switching between carding a hand through Venti's dark hair and running a finger along his brows and forehead as if to ease the creases out of it.

It works for a while.

Venti wakes up feeling like he got stomped on by a geo vishap.

His vision is blurry, everything hurts and he's still tired.

What keeps him from going back to sleep, however, is the body next to him.

When Venti looks down, he finds himself face to face with Aether.

He's snoring lightly, eyes moving behind closed lids.

A few lose hair strands hang into his face.

When Venti moves a little, Aether hums and then buries his face in the crook of Venti's neck.

He holds his breath and when he moves again, he realizes that Aether's hand is on his hip, holding him losely to his body.

Venti lets out the air he's holding in a stutter, doing his best not to disturb the other.

His heart is thumping loudly against his ribcage, fluttering every time Aether's breath hits his skin.

He almost forgets his own pain.

Almost.

He groans loudly when he tries to turn and suddenly Barbara is right next to him.

"You should move him if it hurts you", she says quietly without greeting but Venti shakes his head softly.

"I'm fine. Promise!"

Barbara smiles gently as she puts her hand on his forehead, nods a little and holds a straw towards him.

He drinks and makes a face at whatever medicine she's just given him.

She gives him another glass with straw and only water and he drinks it greedily.

"You were hurt pretty badly. Who attacked you?"

"Noone who will ever hurt anyone again", Venti replies cryptically and Barbara nods, although a little disapproving.

Then she nods to Aether.

"You were lucky he found you on time. You weren't breathing when he got here."

Venti swallows.

Not breathing? That was close.

"O...oh. Guess I'll have to thank him for that."

"You better. A lot of us would be in trouble without him. It's no surprise that he'd end up helping you out eventually as well."

Venti giggles softly.

If she only knew just how MUCH he owed Aether for.

Speaking of...

"What is he doing here still?"

"He insisted on staying. He was very distraught when he arrived and only calmed down when he was able to see you were breathing again."

She clicks her tongue disapprovingly when she add: "Ripped the church doors out of their hinges when he arrived."

Venti gapes at her.

"That's... kind of h-"

Barbara puts her hand over his mouth faster than he can finish and tries to look upset.

"I will not have this kind of conversation in our Lord Barbatos' church. What if he hears! Such frivolous words, bard."

Venti chuckles.

"Oh, I'm sure he'd agree with me."

"Blasphemy!", she hisses playfully and he laughs lightly and sticks his tongue out.

"You seem to be recovering well. I'll leave you to sleep some more. Kick the honorary knight out of bed if he hurts you."

She pauses shortly.

"I'm glad you're better, Venti. Don't go off alone next time."

With that she leaves.

Venti lets out a shuddering breath as he relaxes.

Aether mumbles something against his neck and Venti shudders under the sensation.

He experimentally runs his fingers over Aether's spine.

The other hums in his sleep.

Venti swallows his nerves.

He could let himself indulge in this.

This one time.

He closes his eyes and, as far as he can, curls closer into Aether, who's quiet snoring and slow breathing lulls him into a soft daze.

He turns his head to bury his nose in Aether's hair, feeling nothing but comfort and safety, before he fell back asleep.