Coryn's Snippets
While Kaeya's busy with administrative work while Jean's out on patrol, Coryn has a lot to do this Windblume Festival. Of course, even with the activities, he still has homework to do, and the time has come for him to turn it in.
“You sure you’ll be okay doing all that work by yourself?” Coryn stood in front of Jean’s desk, even as he watched Kaeya sit in one of the chairs behind it. “I mean, administrative work can be a chore, and I’m not completely inexperienced in it—”
“What, and have you miss out on the events of your first Windblume Festival?” Kaeya glanced up, offering Coryn a smile. “It’ll be a good opportunity for you to take in Mondstadt in all that it offers. The gliding, the music, the romantic atmosphere...perhaps you can even talk to Venti about his love poetry classes, hm?”
“I...well, I guess when you put it that way...and we did help out a lot back in Liyue...” Coryn tried not to stiffen up at the mention of the bard, but he did nonetheless feel his shoulders raise a bit, as if his sheepishness had gone through his spine. Hopefully Kaeya didn’t know about his “class” with Venti.
“Exactly. Consider this your break, hm?”
“And you? You’re still going to be busy in this cooped-up office.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll be free this evening. Jean isn’t cruel enough to let me go without sleep.” Kaeya chuckled, before his gaze lowered to the papers on the desk. “Who knows? If I do enough of this work, she might have some time to herself after the festival’s over.”
Coryn took the lapse in Kaeya’s focus to breathe out a soft sigh of relief, before nodding as he turned to exit the office. “Okay, I’ll see you this evening. Uh...in front of the Barbatos statue good for you?”
“It sounds perfect. I’ll be waiting for you there.”
That was this morning.
Sure, it was the middle of the afternoon, but Coryn nonetheless found himself back in front of the Barbatos statue already. He occasionally opened his notebook and jotted something down, a sentence or two, before putting it away with a sigh.
“A punctual student, I see!”
“Christ--!” Coryn whirled around, only to be greeted by the ever-mischievous visage of Venti. “Do you just enjoy scaring people like that?”
“No, but I figured you’d want to get your ‘grading’ over with.” The bard smiled, glancing back at Lumine and Paimon, who were several steps behind him. “Lumine said she’d seen you over here, so we decided to come here instead of heading straight to Kaeya.”
“Oh, uh...might be better for him, he’s working on admin stuff for Jean...something something patrols and all that.” Coryn sighed, opening his notebook to his poem’s notes. Yep, it was notes, nothing truly solid as he was having trouble putting things together. “I hope you don’t mind if it’s just...a bunch of snippets on a page? I haven’t written a poem since I was, like, fourteen.”
Paimon made a face. “Fourteen? Oh, man, Kaeya’s going to be—”
“Paimon, it’s okay.” Lumine smiled at Paimon, before turning her focus onto Coryn and Venti. “Since you’re the first one Venti will read, it won’t be too bad. Nobody else to compare it to yet.”
Coryn nodded, handing his notebook to Venti, brown eyes flicking around the area. Nobody was in their general vicinity, or at least close enough to eavesdrop. At least if he was going to be embarrassed, it would only be from the god of Mondstadt, the Honorary Knight of Favonius, and Annoying Mascot #9. It’s fine. Totally fine.
“Hey, Coryn, would you mind if I read some of these ‘snippets’ aloud?”
“What?” Coryn glanced back at Venti, whose gaze was still on the notebook’s pages. The bard was even flipping between a couple of them, which surely revealed more of Coryn’s attempts. “I mean...sure, I guess.”
Venti made a show of clearing his throat, before looking between the “audience” of three. Satisfied that everyone was paying attention to him, he began to read aloud.
“I’m no expert at matters of the heart, let alone within.
I struggle to express, and then I bottle it all in.
From the moment I woke, when we first met,
My first thought was of the idea you’d regret
Being tethered to a burden, a mystery,
But you laughed, nearly said it was destiny.
When we lit the lanterns in Liyue, I knew,
If I had to make another wish, it’d be you.”
The pause that hung over the four lingered, perhaps a bit too long for Coryn’s liking. That, he knew, was one of his longer snippets of poetry, but he found it corny. With the fact that it had more to do with Liyue than the Windblume Festival, he’d shrugged and moved on.
Before Coryn could comment, though, Venti had begun reading another.
“Lanterns to Windblumes, Mondstadt to Liyue,
Despite all odds, it feels like the right way.
With you by my side, no matter where,
My heart feels there is no compare.
Nobody knows what is a Windblume,
But I hope you know – my answer is you.”
Coryn’s face felt warm, but he did see Venti’s smile even as the bard flipped a page. Did Venti...actually like these? It felt strange to have his shitty work liked by someone who’d been doing it for longer than most anyone had been alive, but – it also felt nice. Sweet, even.
“One more, and then I’ll give you my thoughts, Coryn.” With that, Venti selected one of the snippets and began to read.
“I know it’s silly, but listen: I’m taking lessons
All in an effort to make this confession.
A little bird told me that sincerity is key,
And so, with these words, I offer all of me.
Maybe you already knew, but my soul and heart
Want nothing more than to be stalwart,
To make my affections for you known outright,
Even on a starry Windblume’s night.”
With a nod, Venti closed the notebook, returning it to Coryn. “I think you’ve got the hang of love poetry – except one thing.”
“Just one?” Paimon floated closer to the bard, an eyebrow raised. “What might that be?”
Almost as if seeming to ignore Paimon, Venti’s eyes locked onto Coryn’s. For a brief moment, Coryn felt like he’d lost his breath, as though Barbatos himself were about to throw him for a loop.
“Don’t stress too much over it.” Venti grinned. “You know what your feelings are, but it’s clear that you’re struggling to keep those feelings constrained to the form. Still, in another life, you’d probably have been a pretty good bard, unless you want to consider a career path after all this ‘Corynacht’ business is over...?”
“You mean...you liked them.” Coryn glanced down at the notebook, as if Venti had done something to it. He knew the bard hadn’t, as he’d gone over those poems so many times, trying to make them better, but he hadn’t expected Venti to actually like them. “I...thank you.”
“Yeah! You’re a very expressive person when you begin to open up, like you have been since the festivities started. I’m sure Kaeya would appreciate hearing it from you as you embrace the traditions of Windblume.” Venti finally turned to Lumine and Paimon. “Speaking of Kaeya, we should be good to check on him, huh?”
“I think it’s a good time. Nimrod should be getting home to his wife with that little house.” Lumine smiled, before glancing over at Coryn. “Kaeya won’t know a word of this until you’re ready, Coryn. If I know Kaeya—”
“Ohhhh, come on! Paimon wants to hear Kaeya’s poetry!” Paimon began to tug at Lumine’s arm, causing her to laugh and wave as the group left.
Coryn waved as they left, before sighing and looking down at the notebook, flipping over to the poems.
Nothing had changed, as he’d suspected. Sure, Venti didn’t have a pen, but he wasn’t entirely sure what all of the Archons’ abilities translated to, so he’d felt better making sure.
His fingers graced the dried ink of the last poem that Venti read, even as he took a breath, letting it out slowly. “...a starry Windblume’s night...”