Chapter Text
“Oh- shit! I mean, good morning.” You grimaced at your choice of words, steadying yourself against the side of the table with a hand. “How are you feeling?” You looked him over head to toe - he seemed to be standing well on his own. Although you had taken care of him through the night, it was still awkward having an almost naked stranger standing in your inn. Well; him being almost naked wasn’t really a problem. In fact, if this were a different situation, you might’ve even been alright with it.
“I’m doing well. Thank you for taking care of me.” He nodded back at you, seemingly piercing into your soul with his nearly glowing amber eyes. You grinned - grimaced? - and crossed your arms over your chest, not knowing what to do with your hands.
“Well, I’ve had more than a few run-ins with fatally-wounded strangers walking into my inn,” you jest, adding a forced chuckle behind the joke. He blinked. Was that a punchline? Did you even have a joke to precede the punchline? Archons above. “Anyways, uh… are you planning on staying here?”
“I thought it was preemptively arranged that I stay here. Unless I am mistaken. Is this not Windy Skies Inn?” He tilted his head like a confused pup. Oh. Oh .
“Yes, actually! Let me show you to your room.” He was the Liyuenese diplomat? You hadn’t expected your initial assumption to, well - actually be right! You side-stepped him and guided him to the room you had prepared, opening the door to the largest suite in your possession. “If I may ask, how long do you plan to stay?”
The tall man stood still for a moment, pausing in his gait. He seemed to not know the answer to the question. “Well, however long negotiations last.” The corners of your eyes crinkled in a suppressed cringe. Wasn’t he supposed to have hammered out these fine details beforehand?
“Alright… Anyways, thank you for choosing to stay with Windy Skies Inn! If you need anything, you can ask me at the front desk from sunrise to sunset.” There it was again - the rehearsed routine of welcoming travelers and then saying goodbye. As you closed the door to his room, a sigh released itself from your breath’s hold. It was much too lofty a dream for any real change to happen now.
At 26 years old, your mother had been pushing you to just find someone and have some babies. After the constant pestering, it seems that you had finally felt some influence from her words. You could hear her cackling from several kilometers away. I mean, what were you thinking? Getting it on with a high-class foreigner? Sure, that sounded great, but how likely was the high-class foreigner to take interest in a common-looking, aging… You shook the thoughts from your head and groaned softly, rubbing the sleep out of your eyes.
Maybe the blacksmith’s apprentice? Oh, what was his name again… Eric, or something? Maybe he would be a good spouse. Ugh. Didn’t this guy have any belongings he had brought? A suitcase - a satchel, even? You hadn’t even asked for his name. Was it mentioned in the letter the parlor had sent?
Taking a seat at your desk, you dug out the letter from beneath a stack of books and read it over once more. ‘Zhongli’... quietly rolling the name over the tip of your tongue a couple of times, you hoped that you were pronouncing it correctly. Zhongli’s door creaked open.
“Where did you get this vase?” Oh no. Maybe the decorations you had bought really were offensive to Liyuenese.
“Ah - a vendor at the Sunday market.” You grimaced, expecting a long speech on why it was cultural appropriation or something akin to that.
“I’m surprised that a vase like this has reached even Mondstadt. They used to be commonplace in the ruins of Dunyu, but since the treasure-hunters have excavated it and scattered them around Liyue, they’re prized possessions now.” He stood at the doorway and continued to shoot off about the vase without missing a beat. “By any chance, do you know which vendor you bought it from?”
You blinked away from your trance. What was he saying? “Oh, um - this old man. It’s funny that you said treasure-hunters excavated them because he said he was one of them, actually.” The amber-eyed man chuckled, shaking his head.
“I knew a few of them, actually. Yilong used to talk of the riches he would obtain by selling the vases in Mondstadt and Inazuma. I disapproved of the selling of the artifacts but what the Liyuenese do in their free time isn’t for me to manage.” You laughed along with him although you were unsure of what exactly he was talking about. Was it just you, or did he sound like a grandpa reminiscing about his past when he spoke?
You laughed and he promptly closed his door again. Oh. Okay.
Before you could get back to whatever you were doing before, the door to his room opened again.
“Yes?”
“Do you know where to buy clothes?”
From what you could tell by his damaged clothes before, he was a spiffy dresser.
“Yes, but it’s going to cost you a pretty penny. Most people tend to make their own, though.”
“I see.” Zhongli pondered at his doorway once again. Honestly, you just wanted to take a nap. Wasn’t he in the city on official business? Shouldn’t he have been getting to that instead of whatever he was doing currently? “Where is the shop?”
“You go out there, take a left and then walk up the stairs. Then it should be immediately to your right. If you get lost, you can ask anyone along the way for a shop called ‘Peach Tree Boutique.’ Is that good?” He nodded and kept standing at the doorway. You could feel his gaze burning into the side of your head.
“Anything else?” You were trying your best not to burst a vein.
“Nothing. Thank you.” And to think that he hadn’t even asked for your name yet! He walked past you and out of the inn, the bell hanging on the door letting out a twinkle as he left.
Maybe you could finally get some rest.
A rap of knuckles woke you from your slumber as the bell on the entrance rang again. Yawning as you rose from hunching over your desk, you smoothed a couple of stray hairs back as your vision cleared with a couple of intentional blinks.
Surprisingly, your guest was accompanied by the red-haired bartender at Angels’ Share.
“Oh, Diluc. What are you doing here?”
“This man wandered into my pub and began to tell stories about Liyue. I don’t have any complaints about that but I believe he was lost.”
“Oh my, I apologize. I’ll… do better to try and guide him around.” Diluc shook his head with a slight sigh as Zhongli returned to his room without another word.
The bartender gave you a knowing look with furrowed brows. “He’s not from around here, [Name].” His words caught your attention as you tried to mask to shock on your face. Luckily, Diluc did his best to not become entangled with the Mondstadt government, should any conflict arise.
“What do you mean?”
“Really? Housing the consultant from Wangsheng Funeral Parlor?” Diluc seemed more disappointed in his tone than anything. You smiled at him, walking over to pat his shoulder.
“It’s fine! Look, life’s been boring around here lately. I’m not exactly the heir to a wine conglomerate, huh? Or whatever you are.” He scoffed and crossed his arms jaggedly, not taking the snipe well. “I know what I’m doing, for the most part, Didi. If anything, I should be worried about whatever’s been going on in your life! Running around with Barbatos? Huh?”
Diluc blushed. It was rare to incite such a reaction within him. “I - well… Listen, just don’t get into more trouble than you need to. Okay?”
“Yeah, yeah. Go on, get! Go home and get some sleep. Last I heard, you were still a growing boy.” He rolled his eyes in good nature and stepped away.
“I’ll take my leave. Have a nice night, [Name].”
“Goodnight, Diluc.”
You had a feeling that he was right about not getting involved in too much. However, you were just going to ignore it.