[ Well, Mizuki had been able to rationalize his thoughts fairly well, all things considered. There's still the thoughts of a lover scorned throwing a temper tantrum around in his brain, making him have those sinking feelings of loneliness and disconnect from people and, well, Venti. But there are much kinder thoughts now, too. Those that have had the time to understand his feelings, and had the time to know how to deal with things. Which is quite the development! Certainly better than "just ignore it". There was a while there that Mizuki had actually considered being in denial about it at all, so the fact he's trying to move past it at all??

Someone give the jellyfish a cookie. Except don't, he shouldn't eat sweets.

Mizuki closes his eyes briefly, as if trying to commit the name to memory… not that he hadn't already done so. He only opens them again once he's ready to speak. ]

I hope to never need you, though, my darling. Always want, of course. Forever. But need would mean I've given you a reason to worry about me…

[ … ]

I assume... you want me to still call you Venti when we're together? [ He's not sure how much weight a name like that holds. But he knows that Ebalon wants Mizuki to use his real name when they're alone. Who knows if Venti is the same? He's not about to go comparing an ex-god's mentality to a demon's, though. Still, if Venti is trying to find his identity, maybe that calls for a new name, too? He's not entirely sure. ]