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As unexpected as it had been, it was difficult to turn down the sudden invitation from the Yashiro Commissioner to join him and his sister for tea, or so Lumine had explained with a sheepish smile on her face.
They had barely been in Inazuma City for a day, Lumine pointing out all the things she’d learned about the city and its people during her travels and Zhongli for once being the one listening in silence though with keen interest. Having heard of the Traveler’s arrival, a young lady by the name of Kamisato Ayaka had come by to greet them personally. After pleasant but long introductions (“Oh! You’re from Liyue? I’ve always wanted to try the food there!” was met with Zhongli’s personal list of seasonal dish recommendations), Ayaka had politely but hastily excused herself from the conversation by explaining that she was actually only here to pass on a message from her brother.
Lumine’s expression had changed rapidly, her slightly glazed-over eyes widening in obvious surprise, before she cast a mildly apologetic look at Zhongli.
“Please, you needn’t be concerned on my behalf. I’m certain I can find something else to occupy myself with,” Zhongli said pleasantly, though he had just earlier thanked Lumine profusely for acting as his tour guide and, more importantly, for lending him some mora (he had badly underestimated how many fine quality souvenirs he would wish to purchase in the city, and hadn’t brought nearly enough).
“Oh! There’s no need for that,” Ayaka said with a kind smile as she turned towards Zhongli. “I’m sure my brother would be happy to meet a friend of Lumine’s. Especially one as knowledgeable as yourself.”
Zhongli hummed, but he was smiling slightly. “I possess but a small amount of knowledge on Liyuean customs and tradition. Indeed, I am rather more curious about the culture of Inazuma, and particularly the customs concerning tea.”
Ayaka smiled back at him. Then, in a hushed tone, she said, “Not that you heard it from me, but my brother is, well, a bit overzealous about tea. I think you may get along well.”
For reasons Zhongli couldn’t quite figure out, Paimon was extremely amused by this exchange, despite Lumine’s attempt to nudge her floating companion with an elbow. Zhongli cleared his throat, ignoring the way Paimon clutched her stomach and rolled over midair in laughter. “I’d be glad to accept your generosity.”
“Yes, we’d love to come,” Lumine’s eyes were as bright as her smile.
“Wonderful. I’ll see you all in a few hours, then.”
“It seems you are rather well connected,” Zhongli commented, when Ayaka was out of earshot.
“That’s our Lumine! But honestly, it’s not just that he’s the Yashiro Commissioner or that he’s Ayaka’s brother. He’s also kind of… mysterious? Reclusive?” Paimon chimed in. She rubbed her chin thoughtfully.
“He is,” Lumine agreed. “We really wanted to seek his help with a lot of things during the whole Vision Hunt fiasco, but he was basically impossible to get a hold of.”
“You must have been through quite the ordeal here. It may be a blessing to be able to meet under less stressful circumstances,” Zhongli remarked. Lumine had not shared all the details of her travels in Inazuma with him, but from her broad descriptions and a few offhand comments from Paimon, he had a clear enough picture of the events.
“... Yeah,” Lumine finally said, a little stiffly. She glanced from Paimon to Zhongli, who were both looking at her with mild concern, and then, abruptly deciding to move on from the topic, added with a little forced cheer, “Want to take a look at the bookstore next?”
“Of course,” Zhongli said gently, nodding to them both. Paimon continued to act a little fussed over the sudden shift in mood, but eventually brightened when Lumine mentioned a dango stand near the bookstore that they should also try.
For his part, Zhongli would simply be patient. If the Traveler decided someday to share her troubles with Zhongli, he would be more than willing to listen, and perchance, to offer his aid; for now, however, they were simply going to have a good day if they could help it.
The invitation turned out to be to an establishment called Komore Teahouse. Though modest in size, the teahouse stood out from the residential houses along the same street owing to its prime location overlooking the clear sea and its tastefully designed garden. In the warm afternoon light, it would have made for a perfectly serene and picturesque place to gather at, if not for the Shogunate officials crowded around the entryway of the building, their polished spears glinting in the sunlight.
“What’s going on over there?” Paimon murmured, floating cautiously closer to the Traveler, who already looked ready to dash towards the mob.
“Wait,” Zhongli said, quickly holding a hand out to stop her. It was difficult to see through the crowd, but as they approached, they could hear heated yelling.
“... Like I said, I’m not doing anything shady! Look, just ask my associate here. He’s got all my travel documents taken care of.”
A frantic whisper. “... Lord Harbinger, with all due respect, I have no idea what you’re talking abou—”
“—Hahaha, what a hilarious guy! Hey, shut up for a second, you, uh, jokester.”
Several spear tips had come down, being brandished threateningly towards the voices. One of the officials shouted, “Did you say Harbinger? I knew this guy was trouble! Seize him!”
Zhongli and Lumine exchanged worried glances.
“You don’t think it’s…” Lumine trailed off.
“Yes,” was all Zhongli said.
Before he could think of a better plan, Lumine had already squeezed her way to the front of the crowd.
“Comrade! What a coincidence!” Childe was grinning broadly at Lumine as if he hadn’t even noticed the half dozen spears pointed at him, but his smile immediately faded as Zhongli stepped into view behind her. His eyebrows shot straight up in surprise. “What are you doing here?”
Paimon put her little arms on her hips and huffed, “That’s our line, isn’t it?!”
Just then, one of the officials attempted to bar them from getting any closer with an outstretched arm. “What do you think you’re doing? Stand back! These men are dangerous.”
Beside Childe stood a tawny-haired Snezhnayan man who was wearing a thick coat despite the warm weather— a regular civilian by all appearances. The man’s eyes darted between Lumine and the officials, and he seemed quite rightly terrified at the prospect of being lumped into the same category as the Harbinger. Peering at the armored men closest to him, Childe clenched his fists like he was ready for a fight to happen, but then very unsubtly looked directly at Lumine, and mouthed, ‘help’.
Zhongli couldn’t help it; he chuckled a little. Childe immediately shot a miserable look in his direction, half-glaring and half-pouting, like an indignant puppy. Pretending not to see this, Zhongli turned his head to the side, towards Lumine. “Shall we lend him a hand?”
“I’d really rather not,” Lumine muttered, but then she faced the official nearest her, who was now looking warily at them, and said, “Okay, look. Here’s the thing… he is a Harbinger, but he’s actually harmless.”
The man grew angry at this. “Do you take me for a fool? I’m not going to ask you again. Stand back. Otherwise—”
Just at that moment, the door of the teahouse slid open. A man dressed in a crisp, white suit of Inazuman design stepped forward and into the mayhem, walking right past Childe and the civilian to greet Lumine by bowing deeply to her. Upon seeing him, the Shogunate officials seemed to all straighten simultaneously in attention, at the same time raising the tips of their spears up and away from the center of action.
“Sorry to keep you all waiting. I am Kamisato Ayato, head of the Yashiro Commission. You must be the Traveler, Lumine,” he smiled serenely at her. Lumine nodded once, stunned into silence. Paimon similarly had her hands over her mouth. Briefly, Ayato cast an appraising look at the others present, and then turned to address the officials. “Gentlemen, these are my esteemed guests. I trust that they have not been a problem?”
“No, sir!” “Apologies, my lord!” After a round of awkward but hasty salutes, they were quick to make themselves scarce.
“Please come in,” Ayato said. There was a tense pause, before he narrowed his eyes at the two Snezhnayans, and added, “Everyone.”
Almost immediately once they had stepped inside the teahouse, Ramsay, the Snezhnayan merchant, quickly blurted out that he had only been having his usual order of tea and sweets in the garden, and had absolutely nothing to do with the earlier commotion or the Harbinger’s appearance. This seemed to irk Childe, whose initial reaction was to stare grimly at the man without speaking a word, but whether or not the merchant was telling the truth, under the glares of both Lumine and Paimon, Childe eventually only shrugged and agreed, before casually laughing off the fact that he’d had to be rescued.
After that, Ramsay had hurriedly excused himself and left. Ayato looked remarkably calm as Childe took a moment to introduce himself by his official title, offering token wishes to the Commissioner that he and the Fatui would get along before providing a flimsy excuse for why he also had to leave right away. Just as Zhongli was about to protest this, Lumine said suspiciously, “Hold on. What I still want to know is, how did you even get here? Inazuma isn’t completely closed off anymore, but that doesn’t mean traveling here is easy, especially for the Fatui.”
“Oh, well, you know, uh, the usual way,” Childe said. There was a lengthy pause. “Legally.”
Lumine and Paimon stared at him skeptically. Zhongli folded his arms over his chest, a thoughtful expression on his face.
“What? I swear it’s true!” Childe groaned. “I mean, if you’re going to put me on the spot… then, Zhongli-xiansheng, how did you get here?”
“Legally as well,” Zhongli offered. Childe snorted with laughter, while Lumine and Paimon turned their glares on Zhongli. He gazed at them innocently. “Did I say something wrong?”
“I’m sorry about his sense of humor. What Zhongli means is, he wanted to travel around Teyvat, so I helped him prepare his documents,” Lumine said by way of explanation to Ayato, while a surprised Childe mouthed at Zhongli ‘you wanted to travel?’, to which Zhongli only nodded.
“Hmm. Interesting,” Ayato remarked at last. His stare was piercing as he regarded each of them in turn, before saying, “So, the Eleventh of the Fatui Harbingers is here in Inazuma… Well, I suppose a friend of Lumine’s is a friend of mine. Ayaka has told me all about you, Traveler. It is an absolute honor to have you here today.”
Lumine’s ears went red. “She has?” Then, she caught herself. “I mean. He’s not my friend. I just think we should, you know, keep an eye on him. Sorry for the trouble— I know we just met, but…”
Shaking his head slightly, Ayato reassured her that it was not a problem, while Childe whined with one hand thrown melodramatically over his eyes, “How cold of you, Lumine!”
Ignoring the Harbinger’s theatrics, Ayato then turned towards Zhongli. “And you are… Zhongli-xiansheng?”
His pronunciation of the Liyuean honorific was less accented than Childe’s or the Traveler's, almost natural-sounding, but still noticeably studied.
“Just Zhongli will do,” Zhongli said. He bowed politely, to the waist as was customary, and Ayato returned the gesture. When he straightened back up, all eyes were still expectantly fixed on him, so he said, “As you may have inferred, I am just a traveler here.”
“That’s way too humble! Zhongli is a consultant, and an expert on… uh… all sorts of things,” Paimon said, going quieter when she noticed Zhongli’s stern warning gaze. She seemed to struggle to think of a more detailed description that wouldn’t give away his true identity. Finally, she recalled, “Oh, and he loves tea!”
“Is that so? You’ve come to the right place then,” Ayato laughed. “And what about yourself?”
“Glad you finally asked! I’m the Illustrious Paimon!” Paimon said proudly, as if this explained anything.
“Very curious,” Ayato commented. The slight smile on his lips and his pleasant tone of voice seemed to indicate that he was more or less satisfied with the explanation thus far, but there was nonetheless a rather formal amount of distance between them, and a reservedness in the way he carried himself. Graciously, he bowed again. “Well, it is truly a pleasure to meet all of you today. Please, come this way.”
After that, he instructed them to remove their shoes, then led them to a private room of the teahouse, where they were seated at a long, low table. One of the staff came around shortly with a pot of roasted green tea, which was served with a plate of small brown sugar candies. Ayato spoke a few words to her in his native tongue before she bowed and left the room, the sliding doors closing with a quiet click.
There was a brief lull in the conversation as Ayato turned towards them, looking like he was perhaps about say something about himself, or the teahouse, or any number of possible and appropriate subjects, but then, completely ignoring their host, Childe faced Lumine and blurted out at the first possible chance, “So, you and Zhongli-xiansheng decided to travel around Inazuma together, and you didn’t invite me?”
“... Yeah, that was intentional. Why in Celestia’s name would we invite you?” Lumine muttered, putting down her cup of tea before she had even taken even a sip. She was making a pinched expression and frowning as if she had a migraine. It was news to Zhongli that the Harbinger apparently had the spare time to tour Teyvat with Lumine… let alone that Lumine had apparently chosen not to extend an invitation. Maybe she could be convinced otherwise?
Childe apparently had the same idea. “Why wouldn’t you invite me? I’m great to have around! I can fight, I can shoot stuff, I can stab stuff, I can kill stuff,” Childe listed off a few more items that were just further variations on this theme. Zhongli brought his teacup to his mouth to hide his smile.
“We don’t need you to kill anyone!” Paimon said. “Thank you for your interest in the position of ‘Lumine’s friend’, but unfortunately we’re not accepting new applications from crazy people! ”
“I’m at least more useful than Paimon!” Childe complained. Paimon let out a little indignant gasp at this, and when Lumine laughed, hovered protectively between her and the Harbinger.
“You can’t replace Paimon!” Paimon cried out, and looked genuinely upset.
“I would never,” Lumine said reassuringly.
“I can cook for you,” Childe suggested.
“... Can you really?” Lumine asked, sounding quite interested. Zhongli thought that he could feel a cold sweat gathering at the back of his neck.
Thankfully, Paimon immediately shouted, “Lumine! Don’t fall for his tricks! He’s Fatui, remember?! He’s probably lying!”
Seated next to Zhongli, Ayato watched in silent amusement as their bickering continued for some time. With nothing to add to the conversation, Zhongli took the opportunity to truly focus on the taste of the tea. It was pleasantly mild, and very drinkable, but otherwise a little unremarkable. He put his cup down gently, and then noticed that Ayato had not touched his own drink.
Their eyes met, and inclining his head slightly towards the other three, Ayato said with a smile, “What a lively bunch. I’m rather curious how you all know each other.”
Zhongli looked fondly at the trio seated across the table. It had been a long while since they last dined together, and the memory of it made him a touch melancholic. “It is a bit of a long story,” he murmured, but didn’t elaborate.
“Perhaps another time, then,” Ayato said smoothly. “How long are you all planning to stay in Inazuma?”
“I believe Lumine has longer-term plans here, but I shall only be here for about a week,” Zhongli explained. “I am enjoying the city, of course, but I also already rather miss my home.”
With a rather sly look, Ayato asked, “Could it be that the tea not to your liking?”
“Oh, no,” Zhongli replied quickly. “In general, I find the broad selection of teas here to be very impressive. This,” he gestured to the cup before him, “is also quite nice, although surprisingly light.”
“What a discerning palate! This is actually just the complimentary pot that they brew by the gallon,” Ayato chuckled, and then surprised Zhongli by clapping him affably on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’ve already put in a special order for you all. You should try these candies though; they’re made in-house.”
Ayato had picked up the whole dish of candies to offer them up, so Zhongli only hummed and politely accepted, popping the sugary treat into his mouth and licking the sticky residue off his fingertips. Like the tea, it was very mellow in flavor, and less sweet than he would have initially guessed.
“It’s not overly sweet. I could get used to this sort of taste,” Zhongli commented.
“Have another then,” Ayato suggested. Delicately, he picked up one from the dish with his thumb and index finger, holding it out in front of Zhongli. “Here, have this one. They’re not all the same, you know.”
“Are they not?” Zhongli asked mildly, curiosity in voice. He put out an open palm to receive the candy, but Ayato made no motion to place it into his hand. There was a beat of tense silence.
“Give me one,” Childe suddenly said, stretching his hand out towards Ayato. When Zhongli glanced over at him, he had a strange, unreadable look in his eyes. Meanwhile, Lumine had one hand over her mouth and another over Paimon’s eyes, and was blushing for some inexplicable reason.
Ayato only smiled and dropped the candy obligingly into Childe’s hand. With a dark expression, Childe immediately put three more of the candies into his mouth, crunching on them loudly and almost with a kind of violence, but then his gaze softened and he said, “Oh, hey, these are pretty good.”
“Let me see! I want to eat one!” Paimon squirmed out of Lumine’s reach and immediately dove towards the dish.
A short while later, there was a voice at the door, and Ayato called for them to come in. Rather than the server, however, it was Ayaka, and behind her was a tall blond man.
“You’re both late,” Ayato chided them.
“I’m sorry,” Ayaka said quickly, while at the same time, the blond pressed his palms together in an apologetic gesture and said, “Sorry! It’s my fault. There was a bit of a problem I had to deal with in the shipyard first.”
“Not the shipment of fresh tapioca roots…?” Ayato whispered.
The blond’s eyes drifted towards the ceiling, and he let out an exasperated sigh. “No, it wasn’t that. Don’t worry, it’s been sorted out now, anyhow.”
“Thoma, be polite and introduce yourself,” Ayaka huffed in the blond’s direction. “We have a guest from—” She abruptly cut herself off, and was now staring in apparent shock at Childe.
“Hello,” Childe said cheerfully. “I’m Tartaglia, Eleventh of the Fatui Harbingers. You can call me Childe.”
Ayaka glanced, wide-eyed, from Childe to Lumine.
“I don’t know him,” Lumine deadpanned. The line seemed to go over Ayaka's head, however, and soon an icy chill was forming in the air around her, her breath coming out in puffs of white. Lumine quickly said, “That was just a joke! I do know him. He's my... uh... frenemy.”
Ayaka was still looking very suspiciously at the Harbinger.
“It’s a long story, apparently,” Ayato said with a hint of amusement in his voice.
Another round of introductions were made, and then Ayaka and Thoma took their seats at the table. It had taken some maneuvering, but Ayaka managed to convince Lumine to sit a little farther away so she could plant herself between her and the Harbinger. Childe only laughed this off, saying something about how her fighting spirit reminded him of his own sister. This earned him a warm laugh from Ayato, who then went on to talk about the various endearing but embarrassing things Ayaka had done when they were both young, much to the delight of Lumine, who practically hung on his every word. Ayaka, however, looked decidedly less pleased about this turn of events, and retaliated by sharing her own stories about her brother, often soliciting opinions from a reluctant Thoma.
The conversation was, all in all, wonderfully lively and entertaining. Soon, some plates of food arrived, fried snacks and cold desserts mostly, and with them, individual glasses of some sweet-smelling, caramel-colored beverage that Ayato enthusiastically introduced to them as “pearl milk tea”, a new culinary trend that had reached Inazuma in recent years. The drink typically came in many flavors, but he had requested the house special for them all today: an imported oolong from Liyue, slow-roasted in their own charcoal ovens, brewed overnight and made mild and sweet with rich cream and brown sugar.
Ayato's gaze had landed squarely on Zhongli as he mentioned the name of the Liyuean tea vendor that the teahouse was in contact with, perhaps curious if Zhongli had anything to add, but although Zhongli was indeed familiar with that vendor, he only remained tactfully silent throughout Ayato's exposition. Zhongli's amber eyes were fixed on his cup. To think that this had been brewed with such fine tea leaves made his heart stir a little painfully. Zhongli recalled at one point seeing a similar concoction on the menu of one of the trendier restaurants in Liyue Harbor, but had dismissed it at the time as some transient fad that would hopefully disappear soon. However, now, he was beginning to realize with no small amount of despair that if it had made its way to Inazauma already, the drink was likely here to stay. A traditionalist through and through when it came to Liyuean tea culture, Zhongli had never been fond of adding milk to begin with, but those many black little orbs, the so-called “pearls” (what a deceptive name!), lurking in wait at the bottom of each cup… they were just…
Zhongli suppressed a shudder. He glanced at Ayato, who was now happily sipping his drink through a straw. This man was not to be underestimated, Zhongli decided.
“It’s really sweet,” Lumine remarked. Bravely, she had been the first to try the drink. “And the pearls are kind of… chewy? Paimon, you should try it. I think you’ll like it.”
“Uhh…” Paimon looked hesitantly at her cup. It was the most prudent Zhongli had ever seen her act. “I guess it can’t be worse than the slime condensate Xiangling puts in her dishes…”
Solemnly, Zhongli watched as Paimon very cautiously tried her drink, her expression instantly brightening before declaring it to be her new favorite food, no, her new favorite thing, ever. He remembered brewing for Paimon and the Traveler some of his best pu-erh not too long ago, an exquisitely aged tea that he had convinced a certain someone else at the table to purchase on his behalf, and which had been worth every mora in his opinion… but which had not been met with nearly as enthusiastic of a reception. A small sigh escaped his lips.
“... Hmm. I never would have thought of slime condensate in food! What a novel and interesting concept,” Ayato said a little while later, a gleam in his eyes. “I wonder how the texture would be in a drink. How would it compare to that of tapioca?”
“Oh, no... Please, everyone, don’t give him any more ideas.” Thoma winced. He put his own cup down on the table, shaking his head. “Honestly, waka, you shouldn’t drink so many of these things. They’re full of sugar.”
“Ah, not this argument again. It’s fine,” Ayato insisted.
“He would sooner give up his title as Commissioner than his daily cup of tea,” Ayaka remarked dryly. Ayato shot her a sharp look, but didn’t refute the point. Ayaka only hummed and looked away, sipping at her own drink.
“Ayaka, you're drinking it too, though…” Thoma muttered. He had barely had any of his own drink, and was now prodding at the ice cubes in his cup with his straw. “What do you think, Lumine? These two are crazy about it, but is it really that special?”
“It’s good, but it’s hard to go wrong with sugar and caffeine,” Lumine said amicably, and Ayaka nodded in agreement. “Hmm, I wonder if Diona could make this kind of drink. If she could, maybe this could become popular in Mondstadt someday, too.”
Zhongli was trying very hard to keep his anguish from showing, but he couldn’t help but make a slight face at the idea of the drink's popularity spreading to Mondstadt, and Barbatos one day barging into his house and bringing him pearl milk tea instead of wine. Dear Celestia, please no.
“What’s wrong, Zhongli-xiansheng? You haven’t touched your tea,” Childe’s voice brought him out of his thoughts. Zhongli glanced up to see that the man was looking at him with an amused smirk. Had Childe been observing him? Zhongli’s gaze then fell to the half-finished drink in the Harbinger’s hands. The straw had been gnawed on so badly that it was nearly flat and the remaining pearls couldn’t pass through. An interesting solution. Unfortunately, not a practical one, as they would surely just replace Zhongli’s straw if he mangled it to the point of unusability. He frowned at his own glass as he tried to think of something to say.
“It’s okay,” Thoma said to him reassuringly. “You don’t have to drink it.”
His savior…!
Then, Ayato cleared his throat pointedly.
“No, you do. Please, as an honored guest of mine, I simply must insist,” Ayato said lightly, but the cool look in his eyes suggested he was serious. Zhongli nodded, once.
“Waka…” Thoma sighed as he cast a sympathetic glance at Zhongli, but fell quiet when Ayato shot him a sharp look.
“Thoma," Ayato drawled pleasantly. "Since you don’t appear to be enjoying your drink, why don’t we trade?”
Before the blond could protest, Ayato had swapped his nearly empty glass with Thoma’s full one. Thoma let out a strangled sort of noise. “Aren't you just stealing from me? You ordered all the same flavor!”
“They’re subtly different. Try mine and see,” Ayato said with a rather devious smile. Thoma blanched slightly, now staring distrustfully at the cup placed before him, turning it over in his hands and examining it from multiple angles. Amused, Ayato turned back to Zhongli, and then said expectantly, “Well?”
Resigned to his fate, Zhongli finally lifted the drink to his lips. It was by some truly evil design that he could see the little orbs traveling up the colorful straw as he drank. The second before the first one reached his mouth, he calmly reminded himself that this was nothing, and that he had endured much worse in the past.
Perhaps owing partially to the quality of the leaves, and partially to the teahouse's preparation, the tea itself wasn’t completely undrinkable; as sugary and cloying as it was, the fragrant roasted aroma was not entirely unpleasant. However, the squishy, slimy texture of the pearls almost immediately made Zhongli feel sick. They were like… eel eggs, his mind vividly supplied for him, and although he tried to rationalize that it was really more like a combination of eel-like and egg-like in terms of texture and shape, and not the actual eggs of such a foul creature, this did nothing to quell his nausea. He closed his eyes, and sat very still and silent, waiting for the wretched sensation to pass. After some unknowable amount of time, it finally did, and when he opened his eyes again, he noticed that he was lying down, for he was now looking at the ceiling.
Zhongli attempted to prop himself up on an elbow to look around, but there was something heavy on his stomach: a quilted blanket, and on top of that blanket, a Harbinger.
“Zhongli-xiansheng… ” Childe murmured. It seemed he had been asleep, for he gave a start at Zhongli’s movement, and was now blearily pulling himself into an upright position. Rubbing his eyes with the backs of his hands, he blinked at Zhongli, and then said with audible relief, “You’re okay!”
Zhongli squinted at him in mild confusion. “Why would I not be okay?”
“You suddenly passed out,” Childe said.
“No, I didn’t,” Zhongli said firmly. “But I can see why you might have thought that.”
“You closed your eyes and stopped responding,” Childe said slowly, and then gave him a perplexed, curious sort of look. However, it was neither the time nor the place to get into the finer details of the functionality of adepti forms, so Zhongli said nothing more. Peering around the tatami-floored room, Zhongli gathered that they were probably still in the teahouse, and now that he had stopped to listen, he could hear the quiet, muffled voices of the Traveler and her companions coming from beyond a nearby wall.
Perhaps they would just accept it at face value if he said he was feeling unwell, and not look too closely at the potential reasons why. Childe, however, was still staring at him silently, concern written plainly across his face.
“I’m fine, Childe,” Zhongli stated calmly. He had not peeled back the blanket because it was warm, but perhaps staying in the bed made him seem rather vulnerable. He moved to get up, but Childe moved faster, his hand now resting on a shoulder and gently holding him in place.
“Are you really?” Childe asked, completely serious. “This is the second time this has happened.”
“... Is it?” Zhongli frowned.
“You don’t remember? That one time I made soup for you, you basically took one bite and…”
Oh, that. He did, of course, remember that incident— indeed, perhaps more vividly than he would have liked to.
“If it’s any consolation, your cooking technique is not bad,” Zhongli said, hoping this would placate him. He then cleared his throat and looked away. “I simply cannot eat certain things.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Childe muttered. “Is it… an adeptus thing? Or allergies? It’s not because you’re sick or injured or anything, are you?” The last few words all came out in a rush, as if Childe couldn’t bear to hear them himself.
“No, it is none of those reasons,” Zhongli said, somewhat sheepishly. “It’s just a personal preference.”
Childe looked at him skeptically. “You passed out.”
“I only closed my eyes for a moment. The fact that someone apparently dragged me into another room and put me in a bed like some sort of invalid seems like a bit of an overreaction—” Zhongli cut himself off, realizing something. “That was you.”
“Uh,” Childe coughed. “Well, when you put it like that… Anyway, I’m just glad you’re alright. I feel like it’s been forever since I last saw you, and if you were sick...”
“It hasn’t been that long,” Zhongli said gently. Then, he paused, considering. “In measures other than mortal time.”
Childe gave him a faintly exasperated look. “Sorry for being mortal.”
Zhongli smiled. “I’m only joking. I missed you, too.”
At this, Childe sucked in a sharp breath, and then fell completely silent. It seemed to require some great effort, but after a long moment, he appeared to have gathered himself enough to speak.
This was all that he said, though: “Was the milk tea really that bad?”
Zhongli closed his eyes, laughing quietly. “It was terrible. Please don’t tell Kamisato Ayato I said that.”
Then Childe started laughing too, but it wasn’t his usual, bright laugh when he was delighted by something Zhongli had said. Instead, it was rather subdued, and almost... diabolical. “I’m telling him immediately.”
“I just requested you to not,” Zhongli said, alarmed.
“No, I have to. Then he’ll never be able to look at you again, and then at least one of my problems will be solved.”
“What? What problems? Childe? Childe!”
But the Harbinger had already scrambled to his feet, and although Zhongli also quickly rose from the mattress, he took a brief moment to smooth out the rumpled blanket before he left the room, and so he was still in the hallway when he heard Childe say smugly, “Hey Ayato, guess what? ”