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Jul. 5th, 2021 05:28 pm“And what of Azhdaha.”
“You’re really stubborn about this topic, aren’t you,” grumbles Venti, and he tries to quash the ugliest of emotions sprouting in his chest. “That was before I met you. Right before you became the Geo Archon and were just a super powerful adeptus, I think.”
“I apologize, then. In that case, you wouldn’t know the answers to my questions,” murmurs Zhongli, appearing pensive.
“You can try, I guess,” says Venti and swallows down the lump in his throat. “You’ve brought him up three times already. Might as well just say what’s on your mind, old man.”
“What became of him?”
Venti bites his bottom lip. “You did,” he says and then instantly regrets it, the pettiness stinging his own mouth. “I mean, you did what you had to. He was corrupted and threatening Liyue. So you… did what any good leader would do.” Not like Venti would know, not like he’d know what it meant to lead so valiantly.
“So he was banished by my own hands,” concludes Zhongli, a touch forlorn.
Venti feels dizzy at the gravity of it all. “Morax,” he begins, tone uneasy, “you protected Liyue. I know I give you a lot of trouble for how much you like order, but you did the right thing.”
“I may have loved him.”
Venti doesn’t want to hear that, either. His ears bleed from it and he looks back out upon the slumbering city. He doesn’t unpack why that hurts so much, suspects it must just be because as a romantic, he feels the pain of losing a loved on, knows that pain from losing his first friend. He doesn’t analyze why he feels wretched, sick and overheated.
“…You probably did,” Venti says, small. “You remember him, after all. We never forget about the ones we love.”
And it hurts him to no end that, with that admission, he’s realizing for the first time that there was never love for him.
“You’re really stubborn about this topic, aren’t you,” grumbles Venti, and he tries to quash the ugliest of emotions sprouting in his chest. “That was before I met you. Right before you became the Geo Archon and were just a super powerful adeptus, I think.”
“I apologize, then. In that case, you wouldn’t know the answers to my questions,” murmurs Zhongli, appearing pensive.
“You can try, I guess,” says Venti and swallows down the lump in his throat. “You’ve brought him up three times already. Might as well just say what’s on your mind, old man.”
“What became of him?”
Venti bites his bottom lip. “You did,” he says and then instantly regrets it, the pettiness stinging his own mouth. “I mean, you did what you had to. He was corrupted and threatening Liyue. So you… did what any good leader would do.” Not like Venti would know, not like he’d know what it meant to lead so valiantly.
“So he was banished by my own hands,” concludes Zhongli, a touch forlorn.
Venti feels dizzy at the gravity of it all. “Morax,” he begins, tone uneasy, “you protected Liyue. I know I give you a lot of trouble for how much you like order, but you did the right thing.”
“I may have loved him.”
Venti doesn’t want to hear that, either. His ears bleed from it and he looks back out upon the slumbering city. He doesn’t unpack why that hurts so much, suspects it must just be because as a romantic, he feels the pain of losing a loved on, knows that pain from losing his first friend. He doesn’t analyze why he feels wretched, sick and overheated.
“…You probably did,” Venti says, small. “You remember him, after all. We never forget about the ones we love.”
And it hurts him to no end that, with that admission, he’s realizing for the first time that there was never love for him.
