A/N: It's near Venti's Birthday, and you bet we're celebrating it!

After this one, I'll put up another extra on Venti's actual birthday, ehe~

For this one, this is more of a 'deleted'/'cut' scene that is more like a 'I forgot to add this part, but since I detailed Xiao's experience, there was no room for it anymore' sort of thing.

So, I decided to flesh it out here. ;)

As always, special thanks to my friend who edits with me! She deserves a big glomp!

The Sprite awakens to the sound of a piercing cry. White eyes snap open as its body is shaken by a turbulence underneath it. Frazzled, it floats up from where it lay—its little head erratically turning as its beady white eyes dart everywhere.

It is dark—still nighttime, wherever it is.

It is situated high above ground, on a tree perhaps.

The body under him thrashes about and groans.

The Sprite locks its eyes on Xiao, taken in by the sight. A deep sadness fills its being. It takes a moment for the little one to collect enough of its bearings to act. It inches closer towards the Yaksha's face.

Anguish is clearly painted on those features. Teeth gnash. Eyebrows are drawn together. Sweat drenches his forehead and temples. Deep, hurried breaths make his chest heave, with groans and growls filling the gaps in between.

The Sprite, undaunted, tries to come closer still.

Xiao looks like he is in so much pain. It could only do so much.

The little one flits slowly to the Yaksha—with great care, not to pose as a threat—hoping that a nuzzle or two would ease that pain, even the slightest bit.

The Sprite should have expected it, but careless as it was, the little one finds itself caught off guard. A hand accidentally swats him away in another fit of thrashing. The Sprite winces as it is blown away by the impact. Xiao is quite heavy-handed. The hand connecting with most of the little one's body undoubtedly hurt it. But the Sprite believes itself to be not as fragile as it looks! It is able to stop the momentum at which it was hurtling away and zooms back towards the Adeptus.

Panic seizes the Sprite when it catches the moment Xiao's thrashing makes him move—leaning a little too far onto his left—causing him to fall off the branch he was lounging on, moments ago. The little one summons a gust of Anemo underneath the Yaksha, but realizes it is not strong enough to hold him afloat or break his fall. The effort, however, pushes it to transform into its human form, and catch him just in the nick of time.

"Oof, aren't you a heavy one?" With a heavy thud, the Yaksha lands securely in the bard's arms. He shifted the Sleeping Beauty in his arms to make both of them comfortable with a giggle.

The bard muses about how ridiculous they must look to a passerby's eyes. For someone of his stature to be handling a grown adult—who, at the moment, looks like a giant baby in the middle of a temper tantrum—must be quite a comedic sight. He dodges the elbows and punches that came his way with ease this time around. It took a good couple of minutes for the man in his arms to settle down.

Venti breathes a sigh of relief, even if it doesn't take long for the silent growls and groans to resume.

Really, this pained look does not suit Xiao. A smile would suit much, much better.

Shame, he could only dream what that smile would look like, as he is not privileged enough to see one directed at him.

He seats himself under the ginkgo tree and lets Xiao's head lay on his lap. He brushes off the strands of hair that clung messily the Adeptus' forehead.

Venti lazily hums a tune he just thought up as he plays with the Yaksha's hair.

He does not know if a tune will help, but before he knows it, his fingers were moving to swipe at his lyre, providing accompaniment to an unknown tune.

If there were passersby listening, they would say it is light and upbeat, a perfect song to a jovial round of dancing. And if asked, the bard would not describe it as a tune that is 'happy or 'perfect'.

It is a tune full of mistakes and cover ups. Don't misunderstand. 'Happy' and 'light' are his goals in composing this tune. While not truly conscious, he does have an audience to please.

Happy songs do the trick.

And yet, his fingers seem to betray him. They refuse to play that perfect, little, happy song that his audience expected to hear.

Every so often, he would pluck a string too harshly, responding to a spike of resentment he has no right to feel. Every so often, the tempo slows down, responding to the dismay he has no clue where it stems from.

With each missed note, he makes sure the next is played flawlessly.

The cycle continues.

He could only blame himself for an imperfect performance, but it wouldn't be fair.

Not when Morax could be so terribly cruel.

He cannot lecture the old blockhead for he did not possess the right qualifications for it. But how he wishes he could.

No, the God of Geo is not cruel for bestowing upon such a pure-hearted soul the duty he now keeps close to his heart. Especially now that the Yaksha believes that his benefactor is no longer amongst the living. That is not cruelty.

There are some tasks in this world that need to be done—no matter how gruesome, abhorrent or painful they may be—and someone has to accomplish them.

There is always someone who needs to fill in those tough positions.

Morax is cruel for making the most devout of his followers needlessly grieve for his death for this long. How could he let them feel so much grief as he frolicks along the plains of the mortal realm with a sugar daddy in arm?

Test, or no test, don't all the participants need to know the truth after the results are in?

The loss of a loved one can become a shackle. Doesn't that oh-so benevolent and wise Ruler of Liyue see that?

Venti sighs. It is hard to remain angry at that thick-headed fool. He probably does not realize his mistake, and does not mean any harm.

The old man always has been quite out of touch with time.

He'll just have to take matters into his own hands. He's not pressed for time anyway.

What's to lose with keeping tabs on this overly serious, angsty and anti-social Adeptus?

The bard does not stop his humming or let his lyre rest—not until the heavy and hurried breathing turns into slow, regular breaths, until the groans and growls cease, until a peaceful expression settles on Xiao's delicate features.

It is when the sun peeks from a faraway mountain range that he stops.

Venti plucks a few final notes on Der Frühling before he lets the lyre rest as a Vision back on his hip.

He knows that it will not take long for the Yaksha to stir awake, so he removes himself and gently lays the other's head onto the root under him. He does not cease his humming, even as his lips curl up at the sight, a babysitting job well done. He stands up and dusts himself off before turning into a small Anemo Elemental Spirit once more.

Venti's assumptions are proven to be true as Xiao jolts awake soon enough. He zooms over and fusses over the Yaksha. He makes sure to show his relief and contentment, flitting close to his face and patting at a soft cheek.

"Cu-cut it out," the Yaksha protests lightly. "You act as though I were dying."

But really, he looked like it, in Venti's humble opinion. And another thing he has an opinion on: how cute Xiao is, getting flustered over his care and attention.

But all things must come to an end. When he spots an opportunity, he drifts out of sight, and does not look back. He doesn't want to see the disappointment in those golden eyes.

He closes his eyes and lets the wind guide him to wherever he is needed—quite literally too, for his body is light enough to be carried off, like Dandelion Seeds that spread out bits of hope and carry wishes with them.

The wind carries him to Wangshu Inn.

—○ ● ○ ◇◇◇ ○ ● ○ —

BEHIND THE SCENES:

No one asked for it, but I present the tree in question*:

(Let's try this. please copy-paste and the remove the spaces wherever applicable)

i . ibb . co/4Pr9CP6/20210610-215857. png

And here are some views while atop the tree:

i . ibb . co/HXTX5QD/Screenshot-20210312-195243-Genshin-Impact. jpg

(View while facing towards Cuijue Slope)

i . ibb . co/2vxKJjg/Screenshot-20210312-195303-Genshin-Impact. jpg

(View while facing towards Luhua Pool)

*Thing is... the 1st image is taken more recently, and the images below were taken while I was originally writing the fic. I tried climbing it again… and the branch pattern was different, so I'm not so sure if it really is the same tree. O_o

The location and placement should roughly be the same, though.

AND

This is the spot Venti was hiding from the Traveler:

i . ibb . co /xzQq1Tc/Screenshot-20210309-025801-Genshin-Impact. jpg"

(There are also shots of me—well, Xiao—checking if Venti could fly from that ramp [as it is near the elevator/water mill] to get to Xiao's balcony via climbing and geo constructs thanks to Geo Traveler, but you don't need to see that. I found a common chest while doing it XD)

A/N: If you could, please leave me a little something?

I hope you enjoyed~ 😊💕