deja vu - venti & bard!gn!reader tags: fluff, angst, (implied) major character death, (vague) spoilers for venti’s story quest,...

deja vu - venti & bard!gn!reader

tags: fluff, angst, (implied) major character death, (vague) spoilers for venti’s story quest, some bad rhymes for comedy purpose, platonic, 3rd person view

spoilers are vague because nothing is *directly* said, but please keep this in mind

summary: after living so many years, he was used to the feeling of deja vu, especially after seeing so many things. till he meet someone and, venti could swear, it feels like they already knew each other for years.

word count: 1792 + fic utc.

hello welcome in another “how much angst i can fit into a fic?”! i’m not fully proud from this one but i want to post it anyway so <3 special tag for @yostresswritinggirl go suffer with me 

archons, he was already late! what kind of a bard he was if he got late for his own perfomance? but then, time is a tricky beast and you don’t even notice how five minute changed into ten, and then into twenty, thirty, sixty-

but when he opened the doors to the tavern, he already saw someone playing happily, standing on a table with a lyre in their hand.

“for mondstadt, the greatest city of freedom!” they called with their hand in the air. the people in the tavern seemed so happy and they joined this mysterious person without saying a word. they then jumped from the table, just to sit on it.

“it’s a last song for today- but no worries! it won’t be my last!”

they started playing, slowly pulling the strings of their instrument, slowly filling the air with their singing and pretty melodies, and venti had no idea someone else could sing about freedom so freely, so pretty and he felt like someone just put a spell on him, unbreakable spell- wait, they already finished singing?!

was this song so short and fast, or did he just got lost in thoughts? and then they left so fast too and venti didn’t even had a moment to talk and- oh archons, someone already asked him to play- 

ah, truly things can be so fast today… 

meetings can be so fast, goodbyes even faster, second meetings also can come without saying a word in a blink of an eye-

“the tunes you play are so great, they… could take my last breath!” oh, it was a bad rhyme. hardly even a rhyme.

“why, thank you for being so kind! yet, your rhymes aren’t the best, my dear friend.” they laughed, “but then, mine also aren’t the best, so we both are bad in the end~”

“ahahah! it’s true, they were pretty lame! but, may i ask for your name?”

“ah, it’s [y/n]. and yours…?”

“i am venti, the greatest bard in mondstadt!” the greatest bard that gets late for his own perfomance, yes…

this time however, he got just in time for his songs and for his surprise, the mysterious bard from previous time also was there, this time as a customer. ah, does this mean he will have a little moment in this chaos to talk with them? he kinda hoped for it, after all, you rarely find a bard so interesting as them!

“i’ve heard about you!” they put their hands together, “but i’m not sure if i ever saw you… tell, you did you ever heard my music?”

“ehehe, it’s a funny story~” he put his hand on the desk, “bartender! can we have a drink or two, for the amazing bards?”

the bartender, instead of fulfilling his request, shaked his head, “no alcohol for kids.”

“apple cinder at least…?” he asked with a shy smile. ah, why getting anything to drink was so hard when diluc wasn’t the one behind the bar… 

“apple cinder, then." 

he looked back at [y/n], who was looking at him with eyebrows raised. ah, the typical look he always gets from people…

"anyways, what was the story? you’ve made me curious.”

“the story, right!” he cleared his throat, “so, i was running throught the forest, getting… chased by wild hilichurls!”

[y/n] gasped, which, of course, was fake, “really?!”

“yes! they did it because i took a single apple from them! just one! and what else i was supposed to do, when i was hungry…” he sighed heavily, with a fake frown on his face.

“that’s such a sad story! but, tell me, what happened next?" 

"they almost got me, so i needed to use my bow and deal with them swiftly!” he put his hand into a fist, and with a determined look he continued his such believable story, “it was hard, but in the end i did it! they might have caught me out of guard, but nothing is impossible for this bard!”

“wait, you use a bow? i also use it!” they smiled. a bard with great rhymes and a bow user to it? that sounded… a little similiar to something.

but, he was also a bard and a bow user, after all.

“however, i’m not the best at using it…” they trailed off.

“i can teach you, if you want! but first, allow me to finish this story.”

and so he went on about how dangerous it was, at late hour, all alone in a scary forest, when in reality the hilichurls didn’t even realized that an apple was missing and the forest wasn’t that scary anyway, but… 

“…because of it i got a little late at my perfomance- and that’s when i saw you!” he pointed at them, “that’s the story.”

“i see… well, the previous time i had a perfomance here i was in hurry, too. i promised to help someone with something but didn’t realized how late it is and how much time i already spent on singing…”

it was surprising how easily their conversation went, just like they knew each other for years. 

and yet, it was only some minutes! 

“ah, venti?" 

"yes?”

“do you think it’s too late for the bow lesson…?”

it was late, yes.

did venti cared? not exactly.

the sun was slowly going down, so it wasn’t really dark. he kinda liked those times when the sun would shine ever when it was late evening. he would go on a walk around windrise, or just stroll around mondstadt. 

so why say no to this request? 

they left the tavern quick after it, and so mondstadt too. it would be a bit dangerous to practice shoting with people around, right? 

when they arrived at their practice place (which was a rock and a tree), venti took… a sunsettia from a tree. and put it on the rock. 

“first of all, we need to see if you can hit this great looking sunsettia!" 

the first fruit was down. and so second target. and so third- ah, they didn’t managed to hit a moving goal. 

minutes went after minutes, arrows after arrows and venti didn’t realized that… throwing arrows can be so funny actually. 

funny, yet there was this weird feeling again. something familiar yet not at the same time and venti wondered, what was that feeling?

he got at answer some time later.

"isn’t it sad how some people yet fight for freedom?” they both were walking down the streets of mondstadt, sun, once again, slowly going down behind the horizon. it became a small tradition, something, they would do every week, and they would talk about birds and songs and everything else. 

“you know, i was talking with someone, they said they liked my music and that they want to play too, but their parents says no and… that’s so wrong!” they huffed and venti couldn’t agree more.

“and i thought.. if ever here, in the city of freedom some people still don’t have it, then what about the rest, outside mond?” there was this hint of sadness in their voice and it became bigger as they continued, “many people struggle with doing what they want and i wonder, why would you give the bird wings if you won’t let it fly anywhere?”

deja vu.

“people are supposed to follow their own path, their dreams, yet so many of them can’t… hey, venti?”

the annoying feeling of deja vu.

“…yes?”

the annoying feeling that he had heard similiar things in his life.

“do you think one day, things will change?”

from a friend, maybe?

the answer was sitting between them quietly, not wanting to be said out loud by anyone. 

many, many things will change, sooner or later, for better or worse, for a moment or eternity, but even venti couldn’t tell how the future will look like. not even after living thousands and thousands of years. he saw so many, even things he didn’t excepted to see and it was hard to predict what hehe will see next.

he couldn’t even predict (or maybe he did, but maybe…) what happened next.

“hi venti!” they called him days later, noticing him sitting in a tavern. he looked at them and smiled, hoping no one will see this tiniest bit of nervousness in it.

“oh, hi [y/n]! i didn’t excepted you here.” they sat next to him, with the same kind smile as always, with a lyre in their hand, a bow on their back.

“i also didn’t really planned on coming here, but i got a little tired from exploring…" 

things changed, slowly changed, talking became hard, excuses became easier to say, the hurt in their eyes became bigger and venti really didn’t wanted to do it but…

he realized why it was so easy to talk to them, why they seemed so familiar and the thought that, one day, he will be forced to see them ending in the same way as him was too painful to deal with and so he thought, again-

"venti, are you alright?” they asked, “is something bothering you?" 

"ah, it’s nothing! just a feeling that i’ve forgot about something…”

“you did mention yesterday something about having a song to sing today… so, maybe this is the thing you forgot about?”

truth to be told, it was just a simple excuse to get out from the tavern that worked perfectly everytime, and so it worked this time, next time worked too, and so another, and another till there was nothing to excuse anymore, and venti thought it would be a good choice, even thought he knew it really wasn’t.

he realized it even more when, one day, he just overheard a simple convo. nothing so surprising, nothing too interesting until-

“that’s crazy, this place is full of ruin guardians, isn’t it?" 

"i know. just a bard and their friend won’t deal with such danger.” a bard?

“what was their name, [y/n]?" 

it took him a moment to realize what was about to happen, another moment to argue with himself if he should run to help them because despite what he was doing for the whole time he didn’t wanted to hear about anyone’s getting hurt, anyone’s dying and it took him one moment more to leave the two men talking confused, because why he needs to know where they are?

just when venti thought, that distancing himself from them, avoiding the problem will solve this all and make those annoying feelings and little voices in his head disapear, that he won’t need to worry once again about someone he considered a friend dying, that his flawed way of dealing with problems will work this time too but-

not this time. 

archons, he was late.

pov you are venti and you meet someone very similiar to your old friend do you a) just spend your time with them ignorin’ the fact that one day they will leave you or b) avoid them because you aren’t ready for losin’ another friend and realize how big mistake it was when it’s too late and they are dea-

honestly i think venti would try to avoid makin’ friendships at some point in his life because god he doesn’t want to go throught the same pain again. so. also while writin’ the part where y/n and venti talks about freedom i made myself sad GOOD JOB MEE