ALBEDO "the way i loved you"

chapter eleven

"who are we meeting with?"

"oh, it's xiao. a friend from liyue." venti replied as he continued to hop across the street; he was gleaming with pure excitement and joy, and it has been a while since venti dressed normally.

hu tao huffed, fixing her hat with annoyance. "he better be cool cause the sun's frying me alive! i'm so annoyed that we have to walk a lot because of him!"

lumine let out a giggle. she scooped another spoonful of ice cream from tartaglia's cup. "hu, venti's friends are all cool — i mean, look at us!"

hu tao snickered, "well, i mean yes we're all cool except from tartaglia."

"excuse me?"

tartaglia's gasp was followed by y/n's chuckle. she glanced at the scorching sun and the busy downtown street filled with different food and merchandise stalls. today is saturday which means it's their freeday — sunday is not a rest day anymore (well, for her) she has to help in the cafe and as well as advance study her future lessons.

"you're excused."

"that's so lame. you've probably heard it from a twelve year old creator on tiktok who gives 'quirky savage pick up lines slash comebacks ideas that have over twenty thousand or even hundred thousand likes." tartaglia fired back, earning a laugh from lumine.

"the way you had to speak a whole ass paragraph for my reply is enough for me to know how threatened and annoyed you are."

"the way you wear a thick ass coat with this weather and still have the audacity to complain that it's hot will never be funny to me."

"the way you act like you're lumine's boyfriend in front of me but we're literally flirting with each other through dm is hilarious."

childe scoffed. "ain't no way lumi's gonna flirt with someone who looks like you. you came out straight from hell and you smell so bad — lumi's not gonna flirt with somebody who can't afford perfume."

"i bet your ugly ass face would reach the floor if you see how we text each other."

as the two continued to bicker, venti wrapped his hand around y/n's shoulders with a smile plastered on his face. "how is my favorite friend doing?"

y/n pursed her lips together. "well." she replied with sarcasm, blocking the rays of the sun with her hand. "it's hot venti."

"hang in there, love. it'll be worth it when you see xiao." he assured.

"what do you mean by that?"

"he looks like..." venti trailed off then looked at her eyes. "someone who came out straight from a movie or book, someone you'd do and risk anything for?"