Archon Quest: Custom Night [FNAF/Genshin]

Chapter 5: You're Raring to Go Today, I See

"Zhongli."

"...Yanfei?"

He gulped; although she was an adeptus staring down an Archon, Morax still felt uneasy.

"Why are you making my girlfriend's job harder than it has to be!" she exclaimed, hitting him lightly on the arm.

"Hm?" he rubbed his bicep, "What do you mean?"

Yanfei raised an eyebrow, "You left her to close up yesterday during your night shift."

Sighing, Zhongli walked with his friend away from the funeral parlor down the sunny streets of Liyue Harbor.

"I didn't do anything, she was the one who let me go early. She said she could handle it alone."

"No, you should've helped her," Yanfei folded her arms childishly.

"It's not my fault I have three children now. I have more business to attend to than usual."

Yanfei shot him a glare, "Mhm, sure. It's not like they're living with Childe and Kaeya!"

He huffed, "You shouldn't forget that I can take away your adeptus status, Yanfei."

Immediately, her demeanor changed, "Ooh, yup! Just another good day, totally not mad at you at all! Is that even how it works? Morax?"

"I'm joking," he snorted, "I know how much you care for Miss Hu Tao. It won't happen again."

"Yeah," Yanfei sighed dreamily, making Zhongli snicker. He wasn't sure why he found it so funny—maybe it was the concept of puppy love that made him giggle. So pure, and so naïve.

"Don't joke like that!" she said quickly, her face burning up, "So, anyway, how do you feel about the kids?"

"How do I feel?"

"Like, about Mike n' Liz n' them. Do you like 'em?"

He faltered, "Well, yes, of course, but...I just can't seem to figure them out. Like Lumine. I feel the same sort of troubling feeling when I think about it. I know of most things that have happened in this world, and yet, I cannot figure out how to help those I may be indebted to."

"That makes sense," Yanfei nodded.

"But, further, I can't figure out any of their pasts, either. I know it is not my business, but usually I can at least make an educated guess on the pasts of others. However, again, I cannot figure them out. Perhaps abusive or neglectful parents? But, on the other hand, they also could have led completely normal lives up until this point," he shook his head, "It's hard to say. Something happened, but I have no idea what, and it exhausts me trying to figure it out."

"Maybe...they're just scared by the new surroundings. Maybe nothing happened at all."

Zhongli put a hand on his chin, "No. That's not it."

Stopping in his tracks, he rubbed said hand along his face and circled his temples.

"Forgive my brashness. Let's just head over to Childe and Kaeya's place. I think it's best if we push this topic to the side for a little while."

"Yeah, I think so, too," the lawyer agreed.

When they walked through the halls of Childe and Kaeya's apartment building, they found it was a lot louder than usual. The bleak walkways that usually were only alight when Childe walked through them now were bustling with noise. No doubt it was due to the kids. Did they even notice they were rays of sunshine? Yanfei wondered to herself about this. She was baffled at how dysfunctional they could be, yet they could bring so much light to other people's lives. She was jealous of that. Sometimes, it seemed like she only brought darkness to the world. The ugly responses she received as a lawyer were more prominent in her memory than the good ones.