Winery Of Dawn

He's Drunk but He's a Dork

"Here you go, the drink you wanted," Diluc handed him the glass of wine. Venti took the glass and flashed a sly grin at him. Diluc watched him chug down the wine, physically gagging at how quickly the bard could down the glass, and another, and another. It made him disgusted, but he would put up with it and care for him like he did the previous night. This ordeal went on until Charles locked up Angel's Share, Diluc and Venti being the only two left within the tavern by then. "It's getting late again..." he grumbled to himself, watching the bard slowly faint, his face touching the counter.

('Great. Another night with the bard in my room. Not like it's bad. I want him to be safe, but I can't help but think that he's going to overdo it again. Oh my Archons, I shouldn't be worrying like this. Do I want him to worry about me getting nauseous again? No. Calm down, Ragnvindr and just take him to the winery.') He complained internally, that thought process haunting him the whole time he carried the other all the way back to Springvale and to the winery.  He let out an exhausted sigh and climbed the stairs to his bedroom and set Venti on his bed before removing the bard's hat, shoes and cape to make sure he was as comfortable as he possibly could make him. "Sleep well, bard." he undid the braids of Venti's to make sure his hair could get a break from the tightness of the hairdo. He sat by the young bard, admiring the unblemished face that was so youthful and glow-y. He couldn't help but think how cute Venti would be in a wedding dress. Why was he thinking something like that? God, he didn't even know. It was something that he couldn't deal with; trains of thought like this. He just hoped all of this could get off of his mind soon so that he could fall asleep. After the thoughts got away from his mind, he tucked Venti up under the blanket and laid down beside him. He didn't know what came over him, but he leaned closely to the bard and wrapped his arms around him to keep the other warm.

Venti opened one of his eyes and noticed he was being cuddled in his sleep by Diluc, and he giggled softly right before falling back asleep, pretending not to know about what was currently happening.

Diluc woke up in the middle of the night yet again. Why did this happen so consecutively? He didn't know, but he wished it wouldn't happen so easily. He sighed and took off his coat, trying to make himself cool off so that he wouldn't worry about overheating; just in case that was what made him wake up.  He let out a very groggy sigh and shut his eyes, turning away from the bard, not wanting to embarrass himself like that again. He felt like he made a fatal mistake cuddling someone he figured wasn't also interested in him. Was it unrequited love? He had no idea. After falling asleep, he just hoped that Venti didn't know he was cuddling him up until right now. Once he was fully out, he didn't know that Venti had woken up right before he fell asleep again, but they were both asleep now anyways, so not like that could be concerned.

The morning came quickly, Diluc was now awake. Venti wasn't awake yet, but was he surprised? He was probably too hungover to wake up right now. Diluc didn't give up on trying to wake him up after he started to shake him, "hey.. bard, wake up please. Are you okay?" he asked, a worried tone escaping his lips. Venti opened his eyes slightly and stared at Diluc with a drunken glaze in his eyes.

"Mhmm?" Venti cocked his head to the side in curiosity, wondering what Diluc could've wanted.

"I'm just glad you're awake now," Diluc smiled lightly and pat Venti's head, accidentally playing with his hair a little bit.

"You are...?" Venti's voice was slurring, turns out it wasn't a hangover. This is exactly what Diluc was fearing -that he would overdo it- which made him panic. He sighed and went out of the room for just a moment, rushing to the cellar to get the young bard some water to drink to help him sober up a little bit. Once he came back upstairs and opened the door to his room, going over to the bed and sitting Venti up.

"Drink this... it'll help you feel a little bit better." Diluc said, sighing softly and looking at him with worry as he gave him the glass of water. Venti stared into the water, noticing his braids undone.

"Did they fall out...?" he asked randomly and slurred those words. After doing so is when he finally took a sip of the iced water, which led him to feel a bit better, but it wasn't entirely helping to remove a hangover. It would only help him feel like he wasn't as drunk for a little bit, which was the plan the whole time. He just hoped he would feel better later. He prayed that Venti wouldn't keep putting himself in a state like this because it wasn't good for his health, even if he was a god; it just wouldn't be good for anyone to drink as much as he does daily. This is why Diluc was so worried about someone he considered a friend, only because of the fact that he drank so much that it would make him nauseous and sick from worrying. Of course, he didn't want to worry like that again, but he couldn't help it. He knew that the bard would get mad at him if he was caught worrying like this about the other.

"I'm sorry for taking your hair out, I thought it would help you sleep more comfortably."

"Why are you apologizing? It's fine, Master Diluc!" He laughed softly and looked up at him, poking him on the nose.

"If you say so, but..."

"No buts! It's fine! I said it was, now stop worrying!" he huffed and chuckled once again, which was something that Diluc was lightly annoyed by, but it didn't bug him too much. It was just very awkward that he got annoyed so easily by Venti. He didn't want to be annoyed, he just couldn't help it. At least he was able to put up with his antics.

"Okay, fine," Diluc crossed his arms and let out a light huff to the other, pretending to act like the other when he pitched a fit.

"Copying me now? Why?" Venti asked, sounding very confused. It was to the point he flicked the other in the head because he was just that annoyed at him over this.