"I can't eat anymore," you exclaimed with a heavy sigh as you leaned into your chair, you had barely touched your plate, but you felt as if you were going to explode if you ate another bite.
"You've barely touched your food," Zhongli commented with a quick glance towards the food left.
You gave a dismissive shrug in response, as you were about to stand your legs suddenly gave out. You reached your hands forward just in time to catch yourself by leaning on the table.
Your plate fell to the floor breaking into pieces instantly, a second later you felt warm hands wrap around you, keeping you from falling to the floor.
"I-" you found it difficult to speak as your throat swelled, any second now you felt as if you'd puke.
"Don't speak." Zhongli quickly interrupted, without warning, he trailed his hand down your back and lifted your legs.
"Let me go," you began swallowing a mouthful of saliva, "I'm going to puke," you added, but your voice was so faint you doubted he'd heard you.
You tried to move but seeing how Zhongli refused to let you go and instead started walking, you merely turned your head and stared at him. His jaw was clenched, his expression was hard. Noticing your stare, his eyes met yours, worry clouded his.
"It seems like coming here was a mistake," Zhongli murmured more to himself than to you.
You shut your eyes in an attempt to keep nausea at bay, which to your surprise worked. A few moments later Zhongli put you down on a bed.
"I'll get you some-" Zhongli began.
"Wait," you interrupted, your eyes snapped open and you grabbed hold of his sleeve. "Don't go." you pleaded.
He hesitated momentarily before sitting down at the side of the bed, his eyes refused to meet yours.
"I'm-" you struggled to find the right words, "I'm dying, aren't I?" you whispered with a pained smile. You already knew you were getting weaker by the second, that still didn't keep your stomach from dropping at the thought of death.
"No," Zhongli snapped instantly, "you're not." he shakily exhaled, if you didn't know better you'd say he looked infuriated.
"I think I've finally figured out who you are."
Zhongli's eyes snapped to yours, in silent acknowledgment. "Rest Y/N," Zhongli hummed, with a surprisingly soft tone. He reached out and placed a hand on your forehead.
You couldn't help but smile as he ran a hand through your hair, you wanted to say his name, his true name. But doubts and fear stopped you.
You don't know when exactly, but at some point, you fell asleep evident by the fact when you opened your eyes again the room was visibly much darker.
Just as you were about to try and stand up, you felt a weight on the blanket. Your eyes trailed down and even though it was a bit darker you could see Zhongli resting his head and arms on the bed, fast asleep.
Your heart fluttered in your chest, how long had he been here? Just waiting for you to wake up? A small smile grew on your face, slowly you reached forward and hesitantly touched his hair. It was surprisingly soft.
Suddenly his eyes opened, instantly you took your hand back.
"Don't-" Zhongli paused, his voice so soft it made you want to melt. He sounded so calm, "Don't stop." he said through a tired sigh.
Humming ever so softly, you twirled some of his hair with your fingers. Zhongli visibly relaxed.
"Thank you for staying with me." you softly thanked, while he didn't reply you could see him slightly nod his head.
"But," you began with a smile tugging at your lips, "why are you on the floor?" you couldn't help but silently chuckle.
"I did not want to disturb your sleep," Zhongli mumbled in response, clearly he was incredibly tired or just very relaxed.
"Come," you patted the space next to you, Zhongli lazily moved his head upwards, your sudden boldness caught him off guard. However, you didn't expect Zhongli to slowly stand up before laying down next to you.
"How come you're always so warm?" you suddenly asked before you could stop yourself, nervously you smiled, quietly hoping he didn't see the change of color in your cheeks.
Zhongli blinked at you, his amber eyes giving off a faint glow. He suddenly reached out and touched your cheek, "You always seem to be freezing." he sighed, before you were able to reply he moved his hand behind your back and suddenly pulled you towards him.
You froze as your body met his, even though you weren't tired at all you could feel your body relax against his rhythmic breathing. Not only that but he was practically radiating heat which you so desperately needed.
The sound of loud knocking caused you to instantly become wide awake, "excuse me." a familiar feminine loudly called.
"I've come to inform you that dinner hours are soon over." the woman said, knocking once again after getting no reply.
Zhongli grumbled something about privacy and disturbances, you laughed lightly to yourself as he groggily got up. You couldn't help but stare, you had never seen him look tired. He looked oddly human.
You shut your eyes tightly as the bright light from outside the room blinded you, as Zhongli spoke with the woman you slowly got up. To your surprise, you found that you felt much better, not only that but you felt calmer.
"Odd," you whispered to yourself.
"Are you hungry?"
You quickly looked up, realizing Zhongli was talking to you. While you weren't necessarily hungry you knew that if you didn't eat now you'd get hungry later.
"A bit." you just replied.
"Good." Zhongli nodded in response, you tilted your head in slight confusion as he motioned for you to follow him.
"Where are we going?" you curiously asked.
Zhongli ran a hand through his hair and patted his coat down before answering, "to somewhere quieter.
"Tell me if you get cold." Zhongli hummed as the two of you took a seat on the balcony of Wangshu inn. While the evening breeze did chill you down, it wasn't something you couldn't handle.
After ordering the two of you sat in relative silence, which gave you a few needed minutes to think. You tried not to think about what had happened earlier since it would make you blush, instead you silently wondered how you were able to use dendro without your vision.
The questions seemed endless, while the seven could use their respective elements without a vision or gnosis you weren't like them, you weren't a god. Not to your knowledge anyway, and you sincerely doubted it.
An adepti seemed more likely and the thought had crossed you before, but sadly you had no way to confirm it.
Your eyes flickered upwards to Zhongli, you knew he had all the answers. Perhaps tonight, you would reveal all you knew.
Before you got a chance to continue thinking, your dinner arrived. You grinned at the smell before noticing a third plate.
"I was beginning to doubt you were coming." Zhongli hummed as he glanced behind you, you whipped your head around and came face to face with a very familiar Adeptus. One that had in fact, tried to kill you not too long ago.
The green-haired Adeptus gave a silent scoff and wordlessly walked over to take a seat, you stared at him with complete bewilderment.
"You look," the Adeptus paused staring at you, "better." he forced out.
As if satisfied with himself, he looked away and began eating. You blinked in clear confusion, Zhongli merely smiled at your interaction.
Awkwardly you turned your attention back to your food, and just like expected you ate a few bites before stopping. However delicious it was, you knew if you ate any more you wouldn't be able to keep it down later.
"Did you already use the pain killers I gave you?" Zhongli suddenly asked.
The Adeptus gave a quick nod before glancing towards you again, "who are you?" he asked his curiosity finally getting the better of him.
"I'm Y/N." you slowly answered, "and you?" you swallowed nervously.
"Adeptus Xiao." he robotically answered, you couldn't help but smile it almost sounded as if he had rehearsed what to say.
"Excuse me," a new voice rang out. You glanced upwards towards a waiter, Xiao and Zhongli seemed unbothered, clearly already knowing of his presence. "Is the food not to your liking?" the waiter gave a soft smile.
You glanced down at your food and then back up at the waiter, something about him seemed familiar but you quickly shook your head, "No, no- I'm just not very hungry." you waved your hands dismissively.
He nodded once more before slowly turning around, feeling guilty you couldn't help but force down a bit more of the food.
"They've never asked me about the food, strange." Xiao suspiciously glanced towards the direction the waiter had gone.
"Don't force yourself to eat," Zhongli commented having seen your nauseous expression from forcing yourself to eat more.
After that, you stopped eating. A few minutes later, both Zhongli and Xiao were done as well.
"Leaving so soon?" Zhongli sighed lightly as Xiao stood up, the Adeptus glanced at Zhongli with a cold expression. Silent words were exchanged between the two.
"Y/N," Xiao began walking in front of you, you moved your head backward in slight surprise. "If you ever find yourself in danger, do not hesitate to call out my name." the seriousness of his tone caused you to only nod in reply.
"It is the least I can do after-" Xiao paused, his expression hardening ever so slightly.
Just as you were about to reply, he vanished, leaving just as you were getting comfortable around him.
"Don't think of him as being ill-mannered, he still struggles with human emotion." Zhongli hummed to himself, he had also gotten up and was waiting for you to do the same.
With a small smile, you gave an understanding nod. "I don't mind." you shrugged it off.
"Next time I wanna try what Xiao ate," you laughed silently as the two of you headed back to your room, "it looked delicious."
However, much to your confusion, Zhongli's eyes were momentarily clouded by sadness.