Double Trouble Disco Dance

12

@SilverSaiho see how much ily

...

Tartaglia staggered and opened the door. He glared at Zhongli and walked forward. "You-" he sneered, grabbing Zhongli's shoulders and pushing him up against his bed. 

"Your Majesty..." Zhongli spoke quietly, trying not to be so visibly disappointed. 

"You smiled with him so sweetly but would not give me the time of day," Tartaglia brushed his finger against Zhongli's cheek and watched him try to avoid it. "The coldhearted husband became such a sweet wife next to him." 

"Your Majesty?" 

Tartaglia grabbed Zhongli's wrists and pinned them to the bed above his head. "All of those fond memories you shared, ignore them. They were not me. I am your husband!" 

There are things I cannot tell you.

Zhongli stared into Tartaglia's eyes and noticed they were slightly different. It wasn't just that they were the scorn-filled ones vs the kind ones...these eyes were slightly purple. The emperor...no...Zhongli's preferred emperor...his eyes were slightly blue. 

Tartaglia tore open Zhongli's clothes and stared down at his chest. "You really are quite beautiful, for a man." He leaned down to kiss Zhongli but Zhongli moved his head so that his cheek would greet Tartaglia's lips instead. He gritted his teeth, not only frustrated with himself for not noticing this sooner but in addition, this situation was not ideal. Should he use force to escape? But, who would escape from their own 'wedding' night? Zhongli incidentally shot a glare to the emperor who scoffed, sneering back at him. 

"I am your husband. You chose to come here, to my empire, and now you look at me with such hatred," Tartaglia cackled as his eyes lost their focus, darting around the room. He forced his gaze on Zhongli, moving his hands to his neck. "If I can't have you, neither can he, maybe I'll show your corpse some misery." 

...

Childe stared at the night sky. He shivered and stood up. He wobbled, feeling dizzy from the impact with the ground. Childe moved to the side of the pit and struggled to climb. He grabbed roots as he went and nearly made it, but slipped just as he was almost there. 

"Highness..." Childe groaned, standing up again. "I pray that you're alright..." He pulled out the compass he always carried on his person. The precious gift hadn't broken in the fall. "I'm not going to die like this," he kissed it. "I have to make it back to you. I have to think of a way to save Kaeya. I need to make sure that Teucer is safe. Highness..." he lifted his arm to climb again, unaware of what Tartaglia had planned. 

...

The tighter Tartaglia clutched Zhongli's throat the stronger his imagined ghost appeared to haunt him. Foul Legacy. Foul Legacy. Foul Legacy. 

"Shut up!" Tartaglia snapped, standing up and covering his ears. He swayed back and forth, tearing out his hair. "Why won't you leave me alone?!" He grabbed one of the decorative vases in Zhongli's room and threw it at him. The ghost that haunted him was standing directly behind Zhongli, and so, it was as if he was throwing it at the royal spouse instead. Zhongli ducked out of the way, luckily, watching the vase crash against the wall. But a piece of the vase bounced back, cutting his cheek under his eye. 

"It was an accident!" Tartaglia panicked, watching his memories unfold before him. He was disoriented. His mind had traveled back in time. He was no longer there with Zhongli. 

Zhongli, not sure what was happening, grabbed his outer robe and rushed outside. He ran into the nearest servant he could find and told him the emperor needed medical attention (rather kind of him, considering the circumstances). After that, he kept running until he reached the garden. He went to the bridge and searched his pockets for the pebble Childe had given him. 

"Where is it?" He patted himself down. "I didn't take it out, where is it?" Zhongli lost his cool exterior for a moment, frantically searching. 

He found the pebble Childe had handed him and tears fell out of his eyes. Relief, perhaps, or confusion, or maybe even a delayed reaction to Tartaglia's forcefulness. He brought the pebble to his lips and kissed it, before throwing it as best as he could into the basket. 

"Please..." tears continued to fall. "Please bring my emperor back to me." In the corner of his eyes, he could see a flash of pink, but his distress was too great for him to notice. 

"Master?" Xiao sat down next to him and moved his hand to place it on Zhongli's shoulder. Startled, Zhongli flinched, nearly falling over to avoid him. He caught himself by placing his hand on the bridge for support. 

"X-Xiao?" Zhongli squinted, trying to clear his eyes from tears enough to see. 

"Master..." Xiao avoided staring at Zhongli directly and moved to adjust his robe for him. Zhongli curled up into a ball and hugged his knees, resting his face in them. Xiao gritted his teeth and clenched his hand into a fist. "Master, may I kill him?" 

The question snapped Zhongli out of his fogged mental state. He stood up abruptly, brushing the dirt off of his robe, and stared down at Xiao, still sitting on the bridge. "It is not our place." 

"Maste-" 

Zhongli closed his eyes and inhaled a long breath, exhaling slowly. He returned to his room. "There are still things we must investigate about the state of this empire. It is not the time to cause such an incident." 

"Then, will there be a time?" Xiao stood up, hurrying behind him. "May I do it, if there is?" 

Zhongli remained silent, his eyes clouding over. He dug his fingernails into his palm, causing it to bleed. "By the gods, I pray there is a time that man shall die."