Chapter Text
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Night had already long fallen over the city of ‘Freedom’, allowing the bright, neon lights to overtake the cityscape. It was an optimal time to truly bask in Mondstadtian spirit. Despite the modern age Teyvat has entered already, Mondstadt was still referred to as the land of bards. As such, musicians were out on the streets, weaving bars of music together as crowds of children gathered around, singing and dancing along, their parents watching from the sidelines, clapping. Of course, it wouldn’t be Mondstadt if the people didn’t also indulge in a cup or two of wine in the after hours. Mondstadtians frolicked together, allowing their warming cheeks to relish in the cool night air after having one too many a drink, the roads loud with their laughter, and occasional banter.
A pair of such Mondstadtians came tumbling out of the Angel’s Share’s doors, one sober brunette and a blonde long swept away into the ecstasy of intoxication. “I’m no’ done, I’m no’ done! I ca’ take ano’er…”
“Nimrod, just look at yourself, you’re as lucid as a rock from Dragonspine. You need to get home.”
“No, Charles! I ‘on’t wanna go ‘ome! My wife can’ see me like thissss…” He half-heartedly struggled against the hold the brunette had on him. The sober man’s attempt to placate the drunk ended in a pitiful fail, with the blonde ending up face-first on the pavement, slowly drifting off into wonderland. Thankfully, there was only one other person there to witness the spectacle.
The short, dark-haired man simply stared. His striking, cat-like eyes bored straight down at Nimrod’s figure splayed out beneath him. Behind the black mask he wore over half of his visage, his face briefly contorted with a barely concealed grimace of concern, before he went back to staring out at the street, observant eyes scanning it back and forth.
Although generally calm on the surface, the short man seemed to exude a slight hint of unease. The brunette would have checked up on him, had the blonde not started to cling desperately to his legs, his face progressively turning greener, and greener by the second-
Charles hauled the blonde up with lightning speed, and promptly guided him to the nearest bin, those striking eyes trailing after them as they went out of sight.
This was indeed a glimpse into Mondstadtian spirit, the spirit that Xiao had expressed great aversion to on several occasions. The constant festive and jolly atmosphere was simply not his scene. Regrettably, his colleagues could never come to terms with this fact. They always reminded him of how he needed to ‘lighten up’ more often, lest he continue to give people the wrong impression of his character. Xiao never really understood what impression they spoke of; Xiao thought he was friendly enough, but Hu Tao had onced described it as 'serial killer vibes'.
So, here he was, trying to ‘lighten up’ as they said. However, how could he when every time he stepped into this city, he always felt this foreboding sense of defenselessness? The lights were too bright, hindering his vision. The music was too loud, hampering his hearing. And the stench of alcohol everywhere-
… He was doing it again.
He brought a hand up and rub at his eyes, a sudden wave of mild exhaustion clouding his mind. In an attempt to distract himself, he allowed his thoughts to wonder to other things;
He was here to meet with someone; Venti. The other man promised him a calm, relaxing night of sharing drinks - non-alcoholic in Xiao's case - and basking in each other’s company. He was only tolerating the mildly obnoxious atmosphere and the drunkards staggering by him, reeking of cheap booze, for him. However, Xiao had already been standing before Angel's Share, waiting, for nearly an hour , yet there was no sign of the man anywhere.
For no particular reason, it came to Xiao's attention that it was a rare, windless night in Mondstadt city. However, that innocent realization only sat like the heaviest rock in his gut.
He was worrying over nothing. There will always be days when Mondstadt would experience windless nights, just like how there would be days when the unexpected happened, causing a person to run late.
But is it usually this late? What if something happened-
Xiao tried to banish the dark thought. He really did.
5 more minutes. He would give Venti 5 more minutes before he would give him a call…
But as time ticked by with Xiao scanning the streets back and forth, he still remained achingly alone. He pulled out his phone and dialed Venti's number with a soft sigh. He might have unintentionally fallen asleep-
But a foreboding, monotone voice coming from the other end of the call was quick to douse him with icy dread.
His grip on his phone tightened in worry, his mind trailing back to something the pigtailed man had mentioned to him in passing during one of their previous outings before;
“Someone is following you?” The dark-haired man asked, slightly rising from his seat in disbelief.
“Ahh, it’s probably nothing. Don’t worry your pretty head about it.” Venti waved his hand dismissively whilst bringing his glass of wine to his lips for a sip.
“Venti, this isn’t a joking matter. You can come stay with me, or even with-”
“No thanks, no need to tell the old block-head about this,” He interrupted. “He’ll just worry needlessly. Senior citizens shouldn’t be stressing; it’s bad for their health!” Xiao rolled his eyes at the comment.
“Anyway, I’ve got this! I can take care of myself.” When Venti realized that his words didn’t abate Xiao’s worry, he took his hand into his own, and spoke soothingly. “I’m serious, Xiao. I’ll be fine.”
The dark-haired man’s brows still knitted in worry, eyes scanning Venti’s face, thinking of ways he could potentially sway the man to stay with him for the time. Ultimately, however, he relented. “Alright. But remember; I will be here when you call.” He promised. This garnered a chortle from the other. “Oh, Xiao, you’re so dramatic without even realizing it.” The man in pigtails let out an exaggerated sigh before leaning towards the other. “But, that also makes you dreamy.” And he finished off with a peck on the dark-haired man’s cheek, proceeded by a wink. Xiao couldn’t help his fluster at the act, completely unaccustomed to Venti’s mannerisms. He wondered where he got the courage to act so openly flirtatious. It could have been the alcohol, Xiao presumed. It was rare that one found Venti completely sober, anyway.
“You should really stop doing that.” At the comment, it drew yet another chuckle from the older one. “But you’re so much fun to tease! I simply can’t help myself, I’ll take what I can get from you, lover boy.” He sing-songed.
Without even realizing it, Xiao’s feet had already long carried him away from the bar, and towards the direction of Venti’s current residence, on the verge of breaking out into a run like a crazed man. If he remembered correctly, it wasn’t too far from Angel’s share, the man choosing the place precisely because of its proximity to the source of alcohol, much to Xiao’s chagrin.
He stopped before a quaint apartment complex, staring up at the balcony that belonged to Venti, before he rushed to the door. Thankfully, he had visited enough times for the security guards to recognize him, and allowed him to pass without any trouble. He got to the elevators and pressed the button, waiting impatiently as the mechanism slowly responded to the request.
His heart began to gently thrum in his ears, only accelerating as the seconds ticked by. In the end, he vetoed the option of elevators, believing it to be too slow, and ran for the stairs.
Running up never felt so daunting before; every step he took added another layer of paranoia to the stack. He burst through the stairwell door, and briskly made his way to stand before Venti’s door.
Surely he was in there. Venti will open as soon as he rang.
He didn’t waste a second before reaching for the doorbell-
Only to find the door ever so slightly ajar.
Xiao considered his next move. Was the room empty? Were there possible threats inside? If so, how many? He closed his eyes for a moment, only to allow himself to focus on his hearing, but he was met with nothing but eerie silence. Deeming it to be relatively safe, Xiao’s hands carefully reached for the door handle, while the other reached for the pocket knife he always carried in his jacket. The door creaked, causing him to instinctively freeze up, lingering worry tugging at the back of his mind that he had been exposed. But when he heard nothing once more, he broke out of his daze and proceeded inside.
His senses were on high alert now, previous cloudiness long forgotten, as he silently made his way into the apartment, knife skilfully held in hand, ready to strike at any given time if need be. The residence was so quiet, so still, that had Xiao not know any better, he wouldn’t have believed this to be Venti’s abode.
He reached the living room. At the sight, his stomach dropped.
The balcony doors were open, curtains still and unmoving, as the outdoor chill seeped its way into the room, indicating long vacancy. He didn’t think it was ever this cold here before. Although barely noticeable, some of the furniture was slightly out of place, as though reminiscent of a scuffle taking place here. Further into the room, Xiao found something that made him stop dead in his tracks.
Blood.
Luckily, there didn’t seem to be a lot of it. If it was Venti, then he shouldn’t be in too much harm. However, at the sight, he urged himself on towards the bedroom, swiftly checking every other room he came across along the way, noting some of the crooked picture in the hall, and the tiny trail of blood drops leading away from the living room.
The bedroom door was completely ajar. Deeming it to be free of dangers, he threw caution into the wind and strode into the room. He took in his surroundings; the small puddle of blood in the carpet of the room, objects tipped over carelessly from the cabinets, the silence.
Something else caught his eye; Venti’s broken phone, laying not too far from the blood. He walked up to it, and bent down to gently pick up the remnants of what was left of it. The color of it was familiar, and he brought his other hand up to fiddle with the feathered charm dangling off of the phone’s cover.
Xiao could imagine it already. Venti, ready to go and making his way to the door, before he gets ambushed from behind, the intruder, or intruders, getting in through the balcony. They scuffle, pushing the furniture, and someone gets injured. Venti probably tried to retreat to his bedroom in order to escape through the window, knocking the picture frames out of place in his rush, but… he wasn’t quick enough. He was likely knocked out here, and this small puddle of blood could very well be his own. Xiao’s fist clenched tightly around the broken phone as anger started boiling in his chest.
Venti was gone.