Anemo Simp

You awoke to the sun rising and shining through the curtains of your house, with the sounds of birds gleefully chirping as the morning dew spread across Mondstadt, signalling the start of a new day. The air was fresh, and the skies were blue and showed promises of a beautiful day. The breeze had a gentle caress to it, beckoning the people who resided in the land of the wind to come out and start their day.

It was all just as well and perfect, considering today was the birthday of your beloved boyfriend. You had every intention to ensure that he would be having the perfect day with you, and you had made preparations in advance to achieve your goal. Smiling, you looked at the bard who was still sleeping and held him closer, one of your hands reaching up to gently play with his hair. It was so smooth, and the blue in it was alluring to look at.

You heard a small yawn as his eyes slowly opened up to look at you, as though he had felt you staring at him, he drowsily smiled at you, “Good morning windblume, admiring a piece of art?” he asked teasingly as he snuggled himself up to you, placing a kiss on your cheek.

“Good morning my love, perhaps I should be getting charged museum fees for waking up to such a delicate piece of art every morning.” You joked as you playfully tangled your legs up with his own. “Happy birthday, Venti. Let’s spend the day together to celebrate it.” you simply said before leaning in to place a kiss on his lips.

He hummed in response, as he returned the kiss, “I intended to spend the day with you anyways, you’re not getting away from me on my birthday!” he laughed as he poked your sides to tickle you. You gasped and squirmed to get away from his hands which were now making their ticklish assault on you.

“Woah, woah, Venti, my love, my wind, my air, there’s no need to torture me so early in the day! Mercy, mercy I say!” You dramatically squeaked out as laughter escaped your lips. He continued to tickle you, with your hands feebly attempting to push his own away in hopes of putting a stop to his attack on you; alas, such an effort was in vain as his hands were more agile and persistent than yours.

Eventually, once he felt like he heard his fill of your sweet laughter, he stopped tickling you and rubbed your sides in a soothing manner as though he was apologizing for making you laugh so much; though you’re very much sure that he’s not sorry for it at all in even the slightest.

“Come on, we should get up.” you said after catching your breath.

He pouted and shook his head, “Nope, I wanna lay with you just a little longer! I wanna cuddle. Please?~” He asked, showing you his best display of puppy eyes that he could muster.

“Well, how can I say no to a face like that?” you chuckled as you leaned back into his embrace, “But what about breakfast? Are you not hungry?” you asked, poking his stomach as if prodding it for answers.

“Nope!~ Well, maybe a bit hungry- Ah, but if you need a meal because you’re hungry, then I’m here, I’m the meal.” He laughed and afterwards puckered out his lips for more kisses, as though his kisses would satisfy your hunger for food. You indulged him, and pecked his lips before leaning to the side and gently biting his soft and slightly plump cheek.

“Well, if you insist, then I guess I’ll start by eating your cheeks.” He gasped in betrayal and pushed you away from his face, “Nooooo, how could you betray me like this!? Was my kiss not filling enough? Windblume, you hurt my heart!”

You cackled out a loud laugh as you gently smacked his butt, which he quickly returned the favour before his stomach grumbled and he sat up. “Alright, I guess I’m more hungry than I let on. Ehe~ I just wanted to hold you a little longer.” He smiled softly down at you, as you slowly rose as well, getting up from the bed and holding your hands out for him to take as you pulled him up with you, chests bumping against each other.

“Don’t worry, I promise there’ll be plenty of cuddling today, and more.” you pulled him along with you to the kitchen.

“I have to say, I’m quite curious as to what you have planned today. Do I get any hints? Spoilers?” He asked as he sat down at the table as he watched you open the fridge and have a look at what to make for breakfast.

“Yeah, it’ll be great; I’ll start your day off by feeding you your absolute favourite; cheese pancakes, and after that I’ll take you to Jean to go over a book of Mondstadt gliding laws, and once you have that down, I’ll take you to cat’s tail to pet some cats as we drink some non-alcoholic beverages.” You joked as you pulled cheese out of the fridge as if to show him you were serious.

He gasped and pretended to sob out in despair, “I can’t believe you would do all of that to me, that you would make me suffer so much in one day! Did I wrong you somehow last night? Did I snore too loudly?!”

You giggled at his dramatics before putting the cheese away, and instead started pulling out some fruits. “Well, your snoring was a bit obnoxious last night- maybe I really should do all of that.” You flashed a loving smile at him before you started putting together a simple breakfast fruit parfait for the two of you.

Bringing the dish over to the table and sitting in your own seat, you slid one of the portions over to him and the two of you proceeded to start eating it.

“To be honest though, a lot of the stuff I have planned for today are just small and little things. It’s nothing big or crazy, but I think you’ll enjoy the day. I hope you do, at least.” You said as you were eating your dish.

“I’m sure anything you have planned will be great; what’s important is that we’re spending the day together! I mean, we could literally just go to steal some wine from the dawn winery today and I’d be happy with just that!” He let out a giggle as he recalled the amount of times that he had in the past stolen some grapes and wine from the place; of course he got in trouble for it, but according to him, it was well worth it.

“Well, for Diluc’s sake, we will not be stealing from his winery today.” you laughed before continuing, “But rest be assured, there will be wine today. Just not stolen wine, what kind of crook do you take me for?” You grinned knowingly at him.

“Calling me a crook on my birthday? Why, I was simply sampling the wine and the fresh produce from the winery! I was simply doing them a favour, what feedback could be more important than that of a repeating customers’ feedback?”

You shook your head and stood up, taking the finished bowls to the since and washing them clean, “Nevermind all of that, let’s get ready and head out. We’re gonna go wind gliding, it’s the perfect day for it!” You gestured with your head out the window for him to see the clear blue skies and pleasant breeze that graced the day.

The two of you finished getting ready and left your humble abode to enjoy the outdoors, as you headed towards Cape Oath to take advantage of the large cliff height to dive down and go for a long pleasant glide over different areas in Mondstadt. The two of you had some races with each other; Venti of course winning every single race as you tried to call him out on cheating for using his anemo powers to push himself forward. He would simply laugh and say that he wasn’t doing it, it was the wind.

“Just because you’re the anemo archon doesn’t mean you can go around using the wind in your favour.” you stuck your tongue out at him and playfully pouted.

“Oh? But the wind is in my favour! Ah, but don’t worry, my cute little windblume, it’s in your favour too, just watch!” And with that you felt a heavy gust lift you up off the ground and into the air.

“Woah! Wait, put me down, I wasn’t ready!” you panicked as he let out a giggle before using his powers to project himself into the air as he reached out and held your hand.

“Don’t worry, I promise I won’t let you fall. You’ll be safe as long as I’m here.” he smiled reassuringly and you took a deep breath and nodded. You trusted him; with your life and heart. You knew he’d never do anything that would put you in danger, the suddenness just caught you off guard.

“I know, I feel safe when I’m with you, regardless of what everyone else says about you being irresponsible, I know you’ll always be here by my side to keep me safe.” taking advantage of your linked hands, you pulled him in and planted a kiss on his cheek, and once more again on his lips.

Once the two of you landed from mid-air, you suggested heading back to Mondstadt to get some lunch at Good Hunter, since it was noon and you were getting hungry. He agreed that it was a good idea, and the two of you headed there and ordered food.

“You know, originally I was planning to make lunch for you today too, but I figured that this might be better so that the things I have planned for later might seem a bit more special. Having home made food usually seems more intimate since you know the other person put effort into it, but you already knew that.” You explained to him as the two of you were sitting at the table and waiting for your meals to arrive.

“Even sitting down for a meal like this with you is special to me. I wanna save every moment we have together in my memories and heart. Maybe I’ll write a song about this all later, you know!” He replied as the food arrived and the two of you started eating.

“Oh? I’d love to know how a song like that would go, if you’re writing about eating at a restaurant with me. Maybe it’d be something like,

The bard and his lover went out to eat,

She then dropped on him some sick beats.

He laughed out with a merry joy,

She was desperate for the heart of this boy.”

You laughed at your poor attempt at writing a verse for a song; which quite frankly, was just poor poetry that you decided to add a tune to.

“You already have my heart even without doing that but you know, we could be a duo; you can sing that at taverns while I play my lyre.” He grinned at you teasingly.

“Yeah, and everyone in Mondstadt will say: “The bard is great, but who is that terrible singer and lyricist?” and I’ll have tomatoes thrown at me.” You joked back at him.

“Ah, but people at taverns just want entertainment! We said nothing about providing them good entertainment!” He winked at you, slapping on his signature “ehe!~” at the end.

You simply let out a chuckle and shook your head as you both finished your meals and you paid for the bill. The two of you got up afterwards and decided to take a walk around Windrise together.

“You know, I’ve always liked walking around here. I mean, before we even met too. There’s just something that seems so serene and relaxing about Windrise. Somehow the air feels more free and clean, and it has a very… refreshing feeling to the area.” You spoke as you walked along with him, watching the crystal flies fly around Vennessa’s tree, freely and happily, adding a beautiful glow to the area. It felt so picturesque that no matter how many times you’ve seen it, it still leaves you in awe from the sheer beauty.

“I know what you mean. I’ve always said that I feel like I’m being healed whenever I come here; standing or sitting under the tree in particular has always been my favourite spot. It feels like your soul is being healed, right?” You nodded in agreement with his statement as you both made your way over and sat down under the giant tree.

You looked up and took in a deep breath as you watched the wind caress the leaves of the tree, making them rustle, and it felt like music was filling your ears. The sound of nature, the sound of the wind, bringing and giving life to everything around you. Dandelion seeds floated around in the wind, going on their own journey to find their own new homes. The windwheel asters looked so beautiful as their petals spun in the wind, and all around you, you could smell the fresh greenery.

“It really does feel that way. I really love the way that you shaped Mondstadt to be. It feels so… alive. It’s hard to put into words how I feel about it, but I’m thankful all the same.” You leaned your head on his shoulder and rested on it as you closed your eyes, truly trying to take everything in to its fullest extent.

“I’m glad you feel that way. I wanted everything to feel open and free, I wanted people to be able to enjoy looking at the world around them. The blue skies, the green grass, the flowers, everything. It’s what the people of old Mondstadt would have loved to see. He would have loved to see this all too.” He explained as he leaned his head against yours, resting with you.

You could only nod a bit in agreement, “I’m sure he would have. I’m sure everyone would have.” you reached out to hold his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. He interlocked your fingers and gently squeezed your hand back, taking comfort in your presence.

The two of you basked in the sunlight at Windrise for a couple of hours, talking silently to one another at times, sitting in silence at others, and even taking a nap at one point as you both just enjoyed being able to be with each other.

After a while, you got up and held your hand out to him, “Come on, there’s one last area I’d like to take you- ah, but we need to pick up a basket from home first.”

You both headed back to the house to pick up the basket mentioned, and you did a quick check to make sure that it had everything in it, all while making sure that Venti didn’t get a peek in as to what you had for him.

“Alright, we’re ready to go, I have everything all packed up and set, so everything should be nice and secure in here.” You smiled and held the basket in one hand and took his hand in your other one once more again and started to lead him to the final destination.

“You know, I didn’t think you would take me here. I thought you’d be more cheesy and take me to Starsnatch Cliff or something, since so many lovers go there.” He said as he looked at the ruins that surrounded the two of you; the ruins of old Mondstadt as the two of you sat on one of the higher areas, close to where Dvalin was resting.

You had set out a blanket for the two of you to sit on and pulled out two wine glasses as well as a bottle of chilled dandelion wine and popped it open, pouring the two glasses half way full for the both of you. The two of you clinked your glasses together for a cheers, as you took as sip, while he took a couple of gulps.

“Admittedly, I did think about going there at first. But I thought it would be more meaningful to come here. Especially with the gifts I’m planning on giving you.” You reached into the basket and pulled out two neatly wrapped gift boxes. One of them was much larger than the other.

“It’s not much, since both of these gifts are handmade, but I really hope you like them regardless of their value.” You handed both boxes over to him, and he unwrapped the bigger one first. Inside of it, he found a leather book, and upon opening it, he found that it was filled with pictures and paragraphs all put together lovingly.

“You’ve told me before about how you don’t remember everything from back then, since it was so long ago. And that everything felt like it was fading away to time. So I thought that if I put together a journal of our time together, we could have the memories forever. You have pictures and words now to help you remember everything.” You explained as he slowly flipped through the book, looking at each page, taking it all in. You truly had logged down the highlights of your days together. He could even spot some pressed and dried flowers attached to the book, as well as other unique trinkets that the two of you have come across together. He could feel his heart warm at the sincerity and love put into the gift.

“Thank you, it means a lot to me. Now we can go back to those moments in time whenever we want and remember it exactly like how it was.” He smiled softly at you, and placed the book down before starting to open the smaller box.

Within this box was a tiny brooch in the shape of a cecilia, it had some small imperfections on it, but in Venti’s eyes it was perfect as it was because it came from you.

“It’s not perfect, and it wasn’t easy to make, but you have a lot of little charms on you, so I figured that adding a small little brooch to the front of your cape wouldn’t be the biggest crime in the world. But also because cecilias only grow and thrive on the mountains where the wind is at its strongest. I felt like it was a good way to represent you, and… because the cecilia looks like the sign of the resistance from back then, when the people here defeated Decarabian, and took charge of their own freedom. I did my research you know- not just based on what you’ve told me, but I also spent some time in the library. I wanted to bring you a meaningful gift.” You watched him examine the brooch before he clipped it onto the left side of his cape, close to where his heart would be.

“He wore something like this, you know- the nameless bard- right here where I’ve put it. The sign that you speak of does look like a cecilia, because it is one. Thank you. This gift is- it’s perfect. Now I have another way to remember him, while at the same time having a piece of you with me at all times.” His voice was full of emotion as he looked at you, he was truly touched by your actions.

“You put a lot of thought into this; I wasn’t expecting such a personal gift. It means a lot to me, and I’ll treasure both items with me forever.”

You smiled and gently pulled him over towards you and into a hug to embrace him. He wrapped his arms around you and pulled you closer, taking in your warmth.

“Happy birthday, Venti- no, Barbatos. I promise that I’ll be by your side for as long as the world allows me to be here. I love you so very much.” You leaned back a bit before kissing him on the cheek.

“Thank you- it’s been the best birthday I’ve had in a long, long time. I love you too. This day wouldn’t have been so amazing without you by my side.” He then pulled you into a slow and loving kiss, to convey all of his love and gratefulness into one place.

“Why don’t we just sit here, and enjoy the night together to some dandelion wine and cake?” You asked, after the two of you pulled away. You took out a tray from the basket containing an apple and cinnamon cake and cut it up into slices for ease of eating.