𝚂𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝙰𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 [𝚐.𝚒 𝚟𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚡 𝚐𝚗!𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛]

XXI

Packing was always something you hated. You always under packed or over packed, no inbetween. So now, you stood at the end of your bed, staring at the collection of clothes, toiletries, and more that you had to strategically fold to fit it inside the traveling bag you bought not too long ago.

You and Aether had conversed over the past few days, now that his mood had significantly improved, about going on your trip to Liyue. Tomorrow was the day the two of you were going, of course being accompanied by your respective companions, and today was preparation and goodbyes.

So you tucked everything the best way possible, somehow leaving enough room for more stuff should you pick anything up in Liyue that you wanted to take home. You left the bag by the door, leaving the apartment to pick up some more things for travel before saying goodbye to your friends.

Heading to Good Hunter first, you picked up some non - perishable snacks for the road. You didn’t know how long the trip would be now that you had no access to waypoints so you wanted to be prepared in case Aether couldn’t cook or you didn’t have enough ingredients to make something yourself. You would tuck them into your bag alongside your clothes. You’d have to risk them smelling like food cause you weren’t paying for another bag.

You did some final commissions after dropping the food off back at the apartment, gathering some last minute money for the road. By the time you finished everything, it was thoroughly evening, allowing you to finally head to the Angel’s Share and spend the last night you had with everyone.

-

The bar was in full swing by the time you came. Filled with desperate alcoholics and tired adventurers, the scent of wine and cocktails permeated the air. Music joined the smell of alcohol and you spotted Venti surrounded by several men laughing with a wide grin and lithe fingers strumming his lyre. Diluc was at the bar, a slightly annoyed look on his face but amusement danced in his eyes as he listened to what Kaeya was saying as he swung a drink carelessly through the air. Aether was sitting next to Kaeya, a calm and serene smile, with Paimon floating close by.

You smiled at the sight and felt warmth pool in your stomach as you made your way to the bar, a call for a glass of dandelion wine at the tip of your tongue, but a glass was already placed before you could get the words out.

“You always order the same thing.” You heard the redhead mumble and you narrowed your eyes playfully.

“Thank you.” Bringing the glass to your lips, the sweet wine slid down your throat. “How have you all been?”

“Oh same old, same old.” Kaeya laughed. “Though I haven’t seen you lately. Where have you been dearest? I missed you.” He tucked an arm around your waist and pulled you to him where you wrapped your arms around him in a tight hug.

“Just been planning the trip to Liyue with Aether.”

“Ah.” He raised his glass to you. “Well I hope you have fun. When are you leaving?”

“Tomorrow morning. I wanted to have one more night of fun before we head out with everyone.” You gestured around the tavern. “I’m lucky everyone decided to show up to the tavern tonight.”

“Lucky indeed.” An airy voice giggled behind you, smoothing slipping to sit on the bar counter. “I wasn’t sure whether or not I should sing my beautiful songs tonight but something just compelled me to come here.”

You sighed fondly at the bard’s dramatics, outright laughing as he yelped when Diluc snapped a bar towel at him, scolding him for sitting on the counter.

The rest of the night was full of laughter and happiness. Jokes were traded between the five of you, some drank more than others, and Venti hummed many tunes that only amplified your jovial mood. It was at the end of the night, when the tavern was deserted and Diluc was now  only letting you all stay there for special privileges instead of the bar actually being open, when you brought up one of the things you wanted to finally do with everyone there.

“Can we take a picture?”

The group looked over at you, smiles still present on their faces, some a little more prominent than others, but happy all the same. You reached to the side bag at your hip and pulled the Kamera that Diluc had gotten you, what felt like so long ago.

Without a second to lose, they scrambled together. Kaeya sat on a barstool while leaning back near Venti’s legs as he sat on the counter, his feet kicking back and forth. Diluc leaned over the bar counter from where he had been all night and Aether sat next to Kaeya, turned away from the bar to face you. You brought over another bar stool to place the Kamera on and ran between Kaeya and Aether at the five second countdown.

Your rush caused you to bump into the two, causing the drunker of your group (*cough* Venti and Kaeya *cough*) to burst into peals of laughter and that set off a chain reaction of yours and Aether’s giggling and Diluc’s almost silent chuckling.

For a while, you all sat there, forgetting the Kamera had gone off and continued to laugh about nothing in particular.