Spying on the Wind | Venti♡Reader

💫💫𝕋ℍ𝕀ℝ𝕋𝕐-𝕋ℍℝ𝔼𝔼💫💫

(For the picture above, just focus on the outfit and ignore the character.)

Hu Tao's POV:

"HAHAHAHAHAHA..." Tears of laughter filled my eyes as I clutched my stomach tightly. "Why would the director of a funeral parlor know anything about Lantern Rite preparations?"

"You live in Liyue Harbor. Haven't you seen the workers passing through?" Childe's rival/Zhongli hater asked, folding her arms as her face contorted into a deep frown.

"I wish," I rolled my eyes and winked cheekily, "My sales would have increased by a gazillion! Hehe, my pranks too!"

"You prank others?"

Giggling at the absurd question, I poked the easily-frustrated agent and defended myself, "Mr. Zhongli doesn't mind~"

Rolling her eyes till they turned pure white, the Fatuus pointed out, "He's your consultant. These are completely different scenarios. Tartaglia's b- Mr. Zhongli wouldn't enjoy being fired."

"Hehe! Would you prefer pranks and Mora, or no pranks and no Mora~" I sang, "Knowing the dude who can't spent currency wisely, he'd choose the former!"

"Stop distracting me," the emo version of Childe snapped with a death glare. "Show me what the Qixing have in store."

Venti's POV:

"Albedo came back!" the Spark Knight exclaimed, waving her chubby arms enthusiastically.

"Ehe, what ecstatic news!" I gave Klee a closed-eyed smile and asked, "Klee, what do you think about going to a dress-up party?"

"Dress-up party?" the elf stared at me with big curious eyes and exclaimed, "Ooo, can Klee dress up as Dodocco?"

"Anything," I assured her, "That Lisa will approve of, at least. After all, it was her idea! Ehe, but Master Diluc was kind enough to provide the funds for it."

"Yay! Klee'll invite big brother Albedo! What can he dress up in?"

Dying of cuteness inside, I sighed, "Anything, Klee. A cat, a puppet, a Hypostasis... Anything."

"Yippee!" And the youngest Knight was off, dancing and skipping and shouting.

Such fond memories of childhood.

Y/N's POV:

"THERE YOU ARE!"

"Tartaglia?" I spun around and snapped, "What do you want?"

"Have you contacted Scaramouche lately?" he asked with a hint of anxiety, "If I don't find him soon..."

"That's none of my business. Tch, you do know how to spoil someone's mood," I scowled, all fantasies of enjoying fireworks with the green bard dissipating.

"I-"

"Y/N! Fancy meeting you at the Stone Gate!" a voice I loved called out, weaving some pleasant feelings into my heart and pushing a certain Harbinger out of my mind. "Venti?"

"Hey Childe, hey Y/N, hey the Zhongli spying on your boyfriend, ehe~ What do you guys think about a dress-up party?" he yelled joyfully, twirling to the back of a tree and pulling the Geo Archon out.

"I-"

Shushing Childe with one hand and pulling me with the other, the bard skipped along the path to the city of Mond. I grabbed Childe too, since he seemed like the type to go to a dress-up party, and about the right age too. The screwed ginger held on to his amber-eyed friend and ended up getting us all dragged to the tavern.

Wait-

TAVERN??

It was as if something broke within me when I stepped into the cursed place again, feeling as though I had failed to meet my aunt's expectations. How would I ever be able to do something drastic that changes Teyvat when in a drunken state?

"Miss Y/N! You're here too?" a familiar cute voice sounded in my ears and I looked down to meet Klee's wide surprised eyes. Dressed as a Pyro Regisvine, Klee still managed to make my heart melt. "The dress-up room's that way!" Klee pointed a chubby finger towards flowy velvet curtains.

"Ehe~ Let's go!"

It was bizarre to think that I would ever step into a party full of drunken fools dressed in ridiculous outfits. A waste of my precious time, too. What was I thinking? Letting a mere bard drag me to a place I swore never to step into and attend a party for commonfolk while dressed in a...

"What's this?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow at the giggling Venti who was dangling an outfit in my face.

Tartaglia failed to hold in his laughter and was ushered away by Zhongli, while Venti just hurried me to change. I tucked my battle outfit away and felt the need to ask, "What's so funny about this?"

Before Venti could reply, Zhongli reminded us to greet the owner of the tavern first before helping ourselves to endless glasses of Dandelion Wine. His tone made me wonder how often that lowly bard drank, for the Geo Archon (who was notorious for loving Osmanthus Wine in his younger days) to show such severe disapproval.

As we climbed down the creaky wooden stairs, I studied Rex Lapis and Tartaglia's outfits. Tartaglia had a childish costume that resembled a whale, and Zhongli dressed up as some being that resembled the Geo Archon, with the horns and the hood and everything. Ridiculous. But didn't I agree to this too?

But why?

Why in the world did I do this?

Why in the world did I come here?

It was too out of character. Plus, wasn't my plan to spy on the bard? I had never considered hanging out with him when we first crossed paths.

Well, I highly doubted he knew I was a spy, and so, I could still spy on him while standing in broad daylight. Yes, no suspicion, and if the need ever arose, striking in broad daylight always had its perks.