@worldly-diversity sent: "I just... It helps. That's all." He muttered avoidantly, wishing he could simply focus on the soft, absent tune the bard was playing rather than the inevitable direction that line of questioning would take them. || Xiao
Venti’s fingers dance across the lyre’s strings, playing a calm and gently melody that is carried away by the wind, across the plain and far into the distance. It is a melody of hope and peace, one that fills the heart and mind with words of courage and promises even though none are sung to accompany it. It might be a melody older than him or one he only thought of a moment ago - either way he plays it with ease and grace, each note plucked without hesitation.
He doesn’t stop when Xiao speaks but plays a little softer, allowing for his voice to be heard. The yaksha’s words make him smile, an expression that lights up his entire face all the way up to his eyes. “Does it?” He knows it does, he hoped it would, but he wouldn’t be Venti if he didn’t act at least a little surprised at the scope of his own abilities.
“Hmmm..” Xiao does not seem keen on telling him more about the way his music makes him feel but Venti admittedly is curious about it. He knows what ails the adeptus, knows what is eating away at him every moment of every day, no matter how much light he surrounds himself with. “Then I will keep playing and hope that it will reach you - wherever you are,” Venti concludes. For a moment he falls silent, the only sound between them the soft notes coming from his lyre.
“--You can speak of your burdens to me, Alatus. Who knows, maybe it will also help?”