Chapter Text
Kaeya shivered with cold as he knelt underneath a tree. Hours beforehand, his father had brought him in front of the Ragnvindr Mansion with a mission: Get the Ragnvindrs to trust him, then infiltrate the rest of Mondstadt through them. He had been particularly vocal beforehand about how he hadn’t wanted for Kaeya to get “caught up in Khaenri’ah’s shit”, but in the end, even he had had to give in.
“I’m sorry, my little star,” was the last thing that his father had said to him before leaving him in front of the mansion. The rain had started not too long afterwards, and Kaeya had been stuck there, unable to leave because of his unfulfilled duty.
Still.. It had been a very long while, and it didn’t look like anyone was coming out to check for young children outside. He sneezed, then wrapped the dirty, worn blanket around his small frame tighter.
It was so cold outside. He just wanted to go to sleep- ah, no.. His father had told him to keep an eye out for the Ragnvindrs, hadn’t he..? He wouldn’t be able to do that asleep. And so, the small blue haired outlander stood up straighter against the tree he was leaning on, and tried to keep his eye open.
(He would later on learn, through his second father, that the man who had raised him through his childhood after his mother’s passing had died not even twenty minutes after dropping him off.
Such was the fate of most Khaenri’ahns- it was either they had been cursed and turned into the monsters populating Teyvat, or the surface air poisoned them and left them suffering until they finally succumbed to the venom swimming through their blood.
To Kaeya, it was just another reason to hate the mark that was cleverly hidden underneath his eyepatch, right under his right eye.)
“Hm? Ah, who’s this I see?”
An upbeat voice drew Kaeya out of his thoughts, and his one eye snapped wide open, all traces of fatigue forgotten. Father had told him that the Ragnvindrs had red hair, right..? So then.. Who was this?
The person standing in front of him smiled softly, their hair glowing a soft cyan at the ends. “It’s alright, little one. What’s your name?”
“I- My name is K-Kaeya,” He managed to stutter out, teeth chattering from the cold.
“Alright Kaeya, you can call me Venti, okay?” Venti smiled at him again, but this time there was something else in his expression. It looked like the same sad look that his father had given him before they had set off to the outskirts of Mondstadt.
“Ven.. tea?” Kaeya asked hesitantly, trying the name out on his tongue. It felt familiar, in a way that he couldn’t quite place yet.
Venti grinned, all smiles and sunshine, “Yep, that’s right! Now, as for you-”
He cut himself off as he lifted Kaeya into his arms, securing the flimsy little blanket tied around his shoulders, “I’m going to take you back to where I live, so that you can get some rest. It’s not healthy for a kid to be standing outside in the rain for so long, you know!”
He accentuated the last part with a small poke to the cheek, to which Kaeya scrunched his nose up and poked him back.
“Ehe, cheeky, aren'cha?” Venti laughed, as the wind around them picked up their speed, carrying the both of them up into the air in a majestic wind current. In Kaeya’s surprise, he wasn’t able to notice the small red-headed boy from down below staring up at both him and Venti with a mixture of awe and curiosity shining in his eyes.
“And here comes the fun part!~” Venti cheered, before tossing Kaeya up and catching him on his back, eliciting a loud scream- “Hold on tight, okay?”
He waited for Kaeya to adjust his grip and for him to deliver a shaky, “I’m ready,” before two brightly coloured wings unfurled from his back and the two of them were soaring through the air.
“W-Woah!” The landscape below him passed by at an alarmingly fast rate, unlike anything that he had ever seen before in his homeland. His homeland.. Ah, wait! Oh.. no, no no- he had just failed the mission, hadn’t he?
No.. he- He just let down his father. He just let down his people, his family, he just- He’s failed.
Maybe if he can convince Venti to bring him back?- But, it was so rainy back there, and up in the skies here it’s cool and clear and-
“Cool, isn’t it?” Venti beamed, just as Kaeya burrowed his face into the man’s clothes. “Hm? Is something the matter?” He didn’t receive a response, but judging from the way that Venti seemed to grow a little tenser, he had probably realized that Kaeya wasn’t exactly in the best of moods already.
“It’s alright, little one.. Shh, it’s okay,” he whispered softly, as they slowly floated down to the ground and landed right in front of a cottage.
“This is my humble abode! It might not look like much, but trust me, it’s home.” Venti said, despite the fact that Kaeya was barely listening to anything that he was saying anymore. “Let’s go in, then I can get you a change of clothes and bandages for your eye. And then, you’re going to take a bath and go to bed, okay?” Venti picked him up again- when did he get set on the ground? - and carried him into the house.
“Gosh, you’re thin- have you eaten anything today?” Kaeya shook his head, still shivering. Venti paused halfway inside, and then set him down on a small kitchen chair.
“Wait here, I’ll go get you a fresh change of clothes and prepare your bedroom. Then- can you run your own bath?” A nod. “Alright, then in that case- I’ll leave you for just a sec, ‘kay?”
The moment that Venti left, Kaeya swiveled around in his chair. How could he get out of here and back to the Ragnvindr Mansion, to complete his mission? Where did Venti take him.. Did they go right or left on the way to his house? Or- wait.
“..Uhm, Mr. Venti?” He called out softly into the empty hallway, fiddling slightly with his hands. He wasn’t really expecting a reply, but it spoke to Venti’s attentiveness that the man stuck his head out through a door and replied with a, “Something the matter?”
“Uh- Are- I just- AreyouacitizenofMond?” Venti blinked, stepping out of the room with a confused expression and a small stack of folded clothes. “I’m.. sorry?” Kaeya looked away, slightly ashamed and also worried that he would blow his cover.
“I- Uhm- A-are you a- do you live in Mondstadt?”
Venti seemed somewhat surprised, then something in his face shifted as he seemed to realize something. Oh, oh no- he gave away too much, he- “Aha, not exactly~ This little cottage is on the outskirts of Mond- but, I do have a job in the city. If you’d like, I can take you with me to go sight-seeing?”
Sight-seeing? In Mondstadt?
Kaeya nodded enthusiastically- at least this way, he might be able to worm his way into the people’s hearts anyway, Ragnvindr or no Ragnvindr- although, it would admittedly be harder with the fact that he was an obvious outlander.
It would be fine, the mission will go fine, Kaeya whispered to himself as Venti ushered him out of the kitchen and into a small room that he was told was for himself. He chanted those words like a mantra as he rushed into the washroom and even as he changed into the fresh clothes.
{ ✧ }
In the kitchen, Venti hummed as he finished the meal. A wave of the hand, and the plates were set. That boy.. He was Khaenri’ahn, no doubt. He sighed as he sunk into his chair, waving his hand as a bottle of dandelion wine appeared on the table, and he took a swig of it.
Venti knew that the archons had been in the wrong for destroying the godless country- even Morax himself, the God of War had said that it had been too much, only for even his protests to be ignored. But, for Khaenri’ah to get so desperate as to send a child to infiltrate Mondstadt and attempt to bring it down from the inside..?
Well, it didn't matter.
He would raise the boy himself until he was of age, and hopefully, provide him the childhood that he was missing. After all, everyone deserved freedom- and for the Archon of Freedom himself, would he not be being hypocritical if he didn’t give him a chance?
..Wait. Did he just consider adopting a child?
By his own dick and balls, Venti wished that he could get drunk.
(About 12 years later, when the Traveler and his floating fairy friend happen upon him getting mugged by the Fair Lady, Venti curses his past self for taking the stupid gnosis for granted: He no longer wishes for the ability to get drunk.)