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"That's the last of everything here," Zhongli sighed, closing the suitcase as he slid it onto his lap, "I still can't believe we're finally leaving."
Guizhong hummed, putting a final botany magazine inside the sports bag she was packing: compared to Zhongli's baggage, hers was significantly lighter. "I think you mean good riddance," she quipped back, before chuckling quietly, sitting back on the bed she'd laid on for almost a decade, "It'll just be the two of us and Ningguang, anyway. It's better for us to downsize and leave the big house to Ganyu and Xiao. Besides, I think Ganyu is sick of us playing gooseberry to her and Keqing. I agreed to let her have the place."
Zhongli forced a smile, the bittersweet memories of the rehabilitation home always on his mind. "Of course, Gui'er," he affirmed, not one to disagree with his wife about something he knew as fact, "A small place means there is less of a need for us to use that elevator. Saves on electricity." As his eyes swept across the room to check on things one last time, he exhaled, suddenly at ease before making his way outside, pushing the door aside to let himself through.
As they made their way outside, a loud honking got their attention as a black hearse emblazoned with the familiar Wangshengtang logo approached them, slowing to a stop before the back door popped out. From the tinted window, Zhongli could almost imagine Hu Tao's face behind it before tutting in mild annoyance, watching it roll down to reveal the familiar, bucket-hat wearing funeral director they knew all too well.
"But it's not my time yet," Guizhong feigned exaggerated distress motioning towards the hearse, "It's taboo to sit in something in this when I'd just fist fought death and won."
"We should just take a taxi, Gui'er," Zhongli's voice was dry, directing a glare at Hu Tao (he knew there were plenty of cars at Wangshengtang's disposal, and she had to drive the one hearse they had), "I'd rather not get too much bad luck moving in tonight."
"Woah woah woah, hold up. You guys are really not going to ride?" complained Hu Tao, her smug grin instantly fading realising she might've taken things a little too far, "I only had one wheelchair-accessible van, are you really going to snub me like this?"
Zhongli eyed the hearse up and down in disdain, before giving Hu Tao an admonishing look. Hu Tao shrank back inside and rolled her window up to avoid his fatherly glare, just as another, sky-blue sedan arrived behind the hearse: Guizhong gave a wave towards the occupant, unaffected by the antics of her husband.
Ganyu poked her head out this time, offering a small bow as much as she could towards her aunt. "Oh, no, did someone die? Is that why Wangshengtang is here?" she asked, visibly clueless before stopping to help Guizhong with her items, "Don't worry about it, shenshen, you and shushu can ride with me! I had a bit of time before my next assignment, so I figured I'd pick you two up and then go fetch Keqing afterwards."
"If Wangshengtang doesn't leave, I feel their director might be in the hearse next," Zhongli scoffed, and the hearse lurched forward at his words before driving off in shame, "That Hu Tao. She really should know better, even if she means well. The last thing she should be doing is driving anyway."
Serenitea Apartments was about as comfortable as advertised: Madam Ping had talked about it being a low-maintenance place for the old couple, but not too small for someone like Ningguang to stretch her legs, and as Zhongli and Guizhong browsed their new ground-floor apartment, Guizhong was already putting together architecture plans for it.
"...and I think that we could afford to put an alchemy table here," she ended, gesturing to the yard where they could see the entirety of Guili Plains, "What do you think, A-li? Am I missing anything?"
Zhongli stifled a laugh. "You want an alchemy table in every room, Gui'er. Considering the mess, can we agree to just put one in the yard?" he sighed, marking the spot by gesturing at it: a steele immediately rose at its position, "It'll help us not trip over things when we move around the house. Besides, shouldn't we greet the neighbors? While everything has been settled in, the rest of the items for the garden will only come tomorrow night. Letting them know we're moving in soon and apologise for the noise the renovations made."
"Ah, what renovations?" Guizhong scoffed, but had reached into the fridge to produce some fruits she placed in a basket alongside a bottle of osthamus wine, "We barely did any furnishing. Wouldn't want you doing a flip turn crossing over the items scattered around. You're right though, maybe we could go visit and get ourselves some dinner."
With a chuckle, Zhongli let Guizhong lead him across, and Guizhong stood on her tiptoes to knock. The door slipped over to the tall, slender man, his antlers extending to touch the tips of the door as he peered through the rim of his glasses before he offered a wide, surprised smile seeing the duo.
"Xiezhi!" Guizhong thrilled, wrapping her arms around the man's neck with a giggle of giddy happiness, "So that's where you've been this entire time! I missed you so much!"
Zhongli offered his colleague a polite smile, rolling into the apartment where he gave the pink-haired woman at the dinner table a nod of acknowledgement before he spoke again. "You and Zhangyi moved here in the end," he responded lightly, though he couldn't help but look around the comfortably-furnished apartment, "How is Yanfei, then? I've heard she's quickly made a name of herself as a pro bono lawyer at the harbor. She really takes after you, Xiezhi. I can't say I'm surprised she ended up inheriting the family mantle."
Xiezhi's laugh was deep and melodious. "As your personal law consultant, Dijun, I can't begin to say how honored I am to hear this from you," he replied with a fanged smile, placing a clawed hand on his chest as he lowered his head, "I am always happy to be of service. As for my child, I doubt she recognises you...she was born in a time of peace, and I could not ask for anything more."
The quartet sat at the dinner table, sharing oranges and chatting about old times before the door slipped open, and a pink-haired, antlered girl approached them with hands on her hips. "You didn't say we had company! Are they your friends?" she huffed, striding over and swiping an orange from the table, "Uh. Shushu, ayi. I'm going to wash my hands and go to my room."
Watching Yanfei make a beeline to her room to put her bags down, Zhongli chuckled before giving a nod to his old friends, waving a hand for them to continue talking. After years of having children move through his house, he was used to awkwardness between the young ones.
Xiao and Ganyu had made their way to the apartment, where they were soon greeted by Ningguang draped comfortably across both Zhongli and Guizhong's laps, helping herself to some grapes.
"Ew," Xiao gave an exaggerated moan of disgust as he pulled the hood off his hoodie, "You've got to be kidding me."
Ningguang lifted her head, looking them both over before relaxing back into her usual spot. "Why? I thought you'd be used to this by now," she scoffed a retort, finding this baffling, "I suppose you must've been away for too long to have noticed. Let me help you with that." She flipped off her spot acrobatically (as if this was a regular occurrence) and made her way towards them both, accepting the gifts they'd brought before leading them towards the table to set them all down.
Once again, Xiao covered his face in annoyance. "At least some people are getting comfortable," he snorted in disgust, before picking up some soy milk from the fridge to take a few sips, "How's the neighbors? Seems far too quiet for me, personally. It's very different from when we were close to Yuehai for sure."
Zhongli shrugged, glancing across. "Do you remember Xiezhi, my old law consultant? He lives next door with his family. His girl is Hu Tao's age...I wonder if they've met," he commented, though a small smile tugged at his lips, "Nonetheless, the neighbors are pleasant, and I appreciate the change of pace. The less eyes on me, the better. It was why I retired, after all."
Xiao sagged, rubbing his nose realising he might've said something wrong. "I don't mean it that way..." he began, before trailing off, scratching the back of his head, "I'm just glad things are a lot slower. A bit too slow for me, though."
"Maybe you should go for the martial arts meet Beidou is hosting," commented Ningguang, resting the back of her head on her arm, "It seems right up your alley, son-in-law. I'm sure Beidou would enjoy seeing a familiar face, and what she's trying to do...hm...I think you'd have to see for yourself."
"I can't. It's for non-Vision wielders. The moment I put my mask on, people are going to die, and I'm not going to go all out for a regular martial arts meet," Xiao rolled his eyes, but took another sip from his soy milk packet, "I could probably do some grunt work for her though. I'm sure she'd kill for little old me helping her move sandbags around and keeping the place tidy."
"She promises freeflow drinks from the Haishan Bar," Ningguang replied lightly.
"I'm in," Xiao didn't hesitate in his reply.
Ganyu chuckled, pausing from her massage of Guizhong's shoulders. "Maybe I should visit...I've not seen the meet in person before, I've been so busy at work despite Beidou trying to get me to watch at least one of the spars," she replied lightly, before motioning with her head towards Ningguang, "Wasn't Beidou so keen on you in the first place because of your Vision?"
Ningguang closed her eyes, her lips curling into a smirk. "Obsessed, even, after she found out the deactivated Vision she'd gotten me started glowing," she replied, resting her hand on the Vision hanging off her waist, "I wouldn't know why. Do you, Zhongli?"
"It picks whoever is worthy," Zhongli rested his hand on Ningguang's shoulders as she snuggled up in his lap before gently running a gloved finger across her chin teasingly, "I do not control the powers of the archons. After all, it would be quite the travesty if it refuses to acknowledge the Tianquan who pulled herself out of poverty in less than a decade."
With an indulgent sigh, Ningguang lifted herself off her perch and rested her arms over Zhongli's shoulders, pulling him into an embrace. She rested her head on his shoulder, red eyes following the grooves of Zhongli's chin as she stared back at him. "Why me?" she asked softly, nuzzling his neck fondly, "Did you already know?"
Zhongli pulled her close, resting his arms on her hips as he planted a kiss on her cheek, then another, and another as he followed the path from her cheek down her neck. "No," he replied, his final kiss on her chest as his amber gaze flicked up towards her, "You were worthy. More worthy than you believed yourself to be. My feelings for you is another matter entirely...but I'm certain you already knew that by now."
Guizhong wrinkled her nose, resting a hand on Ganyu's hands as she motioned to the front door. Ganyu nodded, heading towards the door to let Hu Tao in, whose arms were already full of fruit baskets and housewarming gifts.
As she relieved the younger woman of her bundles to reveal the bucket hat-toting director, Hu Tao was greeted instead by Guizhong in Ningguang's lap, snuggling up against the white-haired woman. The usually-chipper Hu Tao paused, as if frozen in place, pointing a finger towards Ningguang.
"She's girls?!" Hu Tao's incredulous voice rose, gesturing at this furiously.
"To some degree, we all are girls," Zhongli picked up his teacup, and took a long drink from it.