lyre • venti

iv

"thank you for taking care of him, i'm sorry for the trouble!"

y/n shook their head. "no worries! i think we both had fun."

the small boy grinned. "hehe, i did! thank you, nice person."

"of course!" y/n smiled. they took one last look at the boy, then turned their attention to his parents. "take care!"

and with that, they were off. y/n had slipped away from the crowd right when cosplayer boy finished his performance to reunite the kid they took with his parents.

now, they had some things they wanted to ask him. y/n head back for the fountain to see if he was still performing, but both he and the crowd were now absent. they looked around the area for any trace of him, until—

"boo!" cosplayer boy snuck up on them, causing them to jump.

"ay! rude!" y/n smacked them hard on the arm. "you just ran off earlier! and i had to deal with the scary lady!"

"ehe," was all he responded.

y/n irked. "don't 'eHe' me!"

"anyways, anyways," the bard interrupted. "why are you back again now? are you going to give me the lyre? you saw my performance, right?!"

"slooooow down boy," y/n waved. "i have come with a proposal."

he raised a brow. "oho~?"

y/n frowned. "i will let you...borrow, the lyre on two conditions. one, you will be my subject for my photography assignment. two, you must be able to make it sound..." they brought out the instrument before continuing. "because i've taken it to every music shop and it won't speak at all."

the boy studied it carefully. suspicious of him, y/n raised the lyre so then it was out of his reach. "deal?"

he frowned. "hmm. well, you see, the thing is..."

y/n eyed him curiously. cosplayer boy took a deep breath and announced, "i'm the god of wind! and i need that lyre now to be able to channel my power and get back to my own world since i have no idea where i am!"

"..."

a gust of wind flew by, and a leaf momentarily landed on the boy's face before drifting off again.

a smile broke on y/n's face, and they started laughing. mr. god of wind, on the other hand, turned pink in embarrassment.

"nice moves, cosplayer-wind boy," they chuckled. "but hold on. your world? this isn't the flash, is it—?"

cosplayer boy sighed. "i guess seeing is believing. follow me, i'll prove my case to you!"

he took y/n's hand and started dragging them somewhere. "aish, let go! i can manage on my own."

he only laughed in response. they were able to get a closer look at him, and he really did appear as the kid from earlier described him— "the people from fairytales." upon further inspection, they noticed a small gem pinned to the back of his cape matched the color of the one on the lyre.

he might not be lying.

the two eventually stopped, and y/n found themself in front of the garden.

"here?" they asked.

cosplayer boy nodded. "i've peeked in and it seems like a good spot. i, uh, don't know how to get in though, ehe."

y/n shook their head. ehe, my foot. they slid a coin in and the gate opened. "right this way."

he seemed impressed. "what did you do?"

"huh?" they asked. "oh. you need a coin to get in. then you put it though the slot. you really don't know much, do you?"

wind boy shrugged. "i don't get why you haven't believed me yet!"

y/n simply turned and gestured him to follow. the two walked in silence before arriving at the pond.

"okay, mr. god of wind. do your thing!" y/n sat a distance away from him, sarcastically cheering him along.

said wind boy sighed. in all honesty, he's found it hard to bring his anemo powers over to wherever he was since he wasn't exactly a local resident. the holy lyre— the lyre y/n had— might give him enough energy to get back to teyvat, but it's obvious the stubborn person wouldn't give it up so easily. and besides, how did it get here in the first place? he got to where he was now through falling down the spiral abyss (as a result of aether's burst accidentally launching him off), but he had no clue as to how the lyre ended up where he was.

he focused his attention back at the pond, deciding to make a few rocks float. there wasn't anyone else in the area, which was good. he didn't need more than one person freaking out, if floating rocks wasn't a norm.

meanwhile, y/n watched in amusement from afar. he looked like a little kid who believed he had powers, which was sort of the case now. they reached into their bag for their camera and aimed it at the boy, taking a few shots of what he was doing.

soon enough, the leaves of the trees began to sway, and the birds flew off. a light breeze circled the area and y/n watched as three rocks levitated from the pond.

they paused in astonishment. the clicks of their camera continued not long after, deciding to include it in their assignment. their teacher would assume it was probably edited anyways.

cosplay boy fell back on his bum along with the rocks, and the rustling stopped. it took way too much energy to do something as simple as that, and he was beginning to worry if he'll ever be able to return or not.

the sound of clapping snapped him out of his thoughts. he turned to see y/n with their camera around their neck, and they seemed delighted.

y/n approached the boy. "that was so cool! but also super scary!"

he laughed. "what can i say? it's a bit embarrassing, though, that i feel exhausted after lifting rocks."

y/n shook their head. "to a normal person like me, though, it was still very cool. heck, even the trees started to move and all."

cosplay boy looked up at the person. "i never got your name. may i be so bold as to ask of it, my lovely dame?"

y/n cringed. "i'm not a dame. but, it is y/n l/n."

"y/n," he repeated. "like dandelions afloat, praise to who wrote!"

"why are you rhyming all of a sudden?" y/n laughed. "but, who are you, cosplay-wind-god-lyre-wanting-boy?"

he smiled. "i'm venti the bard!"