Falling for You

Side Story 12 - About that pair

 After that...incident at mister Zhongli's house, I met those two a few more times, both together and separately, though the latter rarely happened.

 "Maybe that is what makes it work so well. Venti can pull Xiao out of his otherwise indestructible bubble and Xiao can act as something of a restriction for Venti's...peculiar behavior."

 Though sometimes they just create more chaos.

 Had it not been for mister Zhongli, I have no doubt that I would have received more complaints than I do now.

 I just wonder how Mondstadt's acting grandmaster is handling all of this.

 I always intended to speak to her after Venti told me the extent of her knowledge on the subject, but the time just never arri-

 "Lady Ningguang, we received an urgent message. Apparently, the acting grandmaster of the knights of Favonious is here for a pressing matter."

 How on Teyvat-

 "Commissioner this..."

 "Please, go ahead. I don't mind."

 Oh, thank the archons. When did I last see such a sensible person? Had he not had an official position in Inazuma, I would have done everything to recruit him.

 Soon, acting grandmaster Jean came through the door.

 She looked haggard and exhausted. From what I could see, she was barely standing.

 "Master Jean. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

 "Lady Ningguang, please, just for a while..."

 "Excuse me?"

 What was she talking about?

 "Take them off of my plate just for a little while. I really can't handle those two anymore."

 "Who?"

 that wasn't a serious question. I knew damn well who she was talking about, but I wasn't about to admit that.

 Surprisingly, she was extremely straightforward.

 (Or maybe just really desperate.)

 "Venti and Xiao."

 "I don't see why I-"

 "I feel like I have been babysitting those two for long enough. Since Xiao is from Liyue, it's only fair that you take a shift as well."

 "I take care of my fair share of troubles." I pointed at the mountains of paperwork.

 "I haven't had more than two hours of sleep for over three weeks." She retorted. 

 I have no intention of taking that troublesome couple from her though.

 Even when it was just Xiao, it was already annoying to deal with. Now, adding Venti to it...

 Absolutly not.

 But...

 I looked up at the tired grandmaster.

 I can't just leave her like this either.

 "Lady Ningguang, from what I hear, your deduction was faulty." Commissioner Ayato said jokingly.

 "Oh, how so, commissioner?"

 "Did you not say that Xiao would act as Venti's restriction? From what I hear, that isn't exactly the case."

 "Commissioner, I-"

 Oh, wait a minute.

 This...

 Isn't such a bad idea.

 that would lessen both my and the acting grandmaster's workload.

 "Master Jean, how about we simply move them instead?"

 Move them very, very far away.

 "Move them?"

 "Well, the Yashiro commissioner here knows our pair as well."

 "Ah!" Her face instantly lit up as realization hit her.

 At the same time the commissioner's face paled.

 "Now that I think about it, I need to leave very urgently, excuse me, lady Ningguang."

 He jumped up, pretty much running for the door.

 "Should I take that as a yes then?"

 "Over my dead body!" He snapped.

 He probably didn't expect our next reaction though.

 "I can arrange that."

 "I believe I can do something as well." Master Jean added with a smile.

 The commissioner's face paled further, bringing him to the brink of collapse.

 Suprisingly, his eyes soon regained their vigour.

 "I cannot decide about such important matters on my own." He began to speak formally.

 A foreboding feeling rose in me.

 And sure enough...

 "Please send a request to the Shogun directly."

 He ran out the door directly, not giving us a chance to speak further.

 Now only the two of us remained behind.

 "Lady Ningguang..."

 "Please do not worry, Master Jean. I'll figure something out."

 If worst comes to worst, I'll ask mister Zhongli.

 "Thank you. Still, putting aside all the trouble those two cause, it's nice to see them both happy."

 "You're right. It really isn't bad."

 That pair might be a trouble magnet, but still...

 "It's good to see them like that."

 "Oh, and Lady Ningguang, if it makes you feel any better, Xiao is actually being blamed for no reason most of the time. Venti is the actual source of trouble, Xiao just can't seem to bring himself stop him."

 "This pile of document tells me otherwise, Master Jean." I sighed.

 One day...

 Maybe one day they will learn some common sense.

After some thinking I chose these three.

I do hope I got close to what you wanted.