|This chapter is going to start with Zhongli in liyue|
Zhongli was at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor sorting threw some papers as Hu Tao lively as ever walked in
H "Well hello there Mr.Zhongli, good morning!"
Z "Good morning Hu Tao."
H "Sorting threw those papers I asked of you to do finally?"
Hu Tao said as she walked up to Zhongli's desk and sat on the edge which Zhongli did not take a liking to but ignored it
Z "Uhm..yes.Apologizes I have been too caught up dealing with..other matters. But I assure you that it won't be a problem."
H "Ooo~other matters you say? Did someone die!"
Z "N-No..Hu Tao.No one died."
H "Aw really? Bummer. Well if it's not death what other matters are you dealing with?"
Z "It's nothing of importance at this moment and time right now Hu Tao now please get back to work. Here are the papers."
H "Perfect! Thank you mister Zhongli!"
Z "You are very welcome Hu Tao."
Zhongli handed the papers to Hu Tao which she then grabbed with a smile as she jumped off the desk and walked out of the room
Zhongli sighed
Z "I really do wonder how that child can be so lively..in a place like this."
Zhongli muttered to himself
A knocking sound then came from the outside of Zhongli's window to his office which quickly caught Zhongli's attention but when he turned to look who it was there was nobody there
Though he thought it was just a young child playing a prank he still went to go check soon making it outside and turning the corner of the Parlor to the same side the window was on and was greeted by Childe laughing
C=Childe
C "Haha! Did you enjoy my prank Zhongli?"
Z "I presume this "prank" was just to get my attention?"
Childe walked up to Zhongli moving Zhongli's bangs out of his face while smiling
C "Oh Zhongli, as smart as ever!"
Z "Childe stop it. Were not doing this again."
Zhongli said as he shoved Childe's arm away
C "What..? Did you just..ignore my compliment?"
Childe said while looking at Zhongli curiously with a smirk
Z "*Sigh*..What do you want Childe."
C "Well before you so rudely ignored my compliment I was going to ask you if you wanted to accompany me for a drink."
Zhongli felt bad for being rude but he had a feeling there was something more to the situation than Childe was letting on but he couldn't put his finger on it
Z "My apologies..I just have been busy lately."
C "Perfect! That means you can go get a drink with me. As a break!"
Z "Childe..I shouldn't."
C "But you want to. Come on.. it is just going to be a few drinks is all."
Childe was right about Zhongli needing a break since he's been so busy dealing with Diluc and work also with a few other matters and like Childe said it would only be a few drinks not like it would contribute anything besides giving him company
Z "Hm..alright.I'll meet you at the tavern when I'm done here."
C "Great! It's a date!"
Z "Do not call it that."
Zhongli glared at Childe as he turned around and walked back to the parlour
As Childe waited for Zhongli to get out of earshot his smile faded and his eyes darkened
C "Oh don't worry Zhongli.. it's a date wether you like it or not."
Childe then walked away
|Back in the parlour |
H "And who was that? Childe, I presume?"
Z "Yes..anyways I will be getting back to work."
H "Alright!"
|Timeskip|
It was getting late and night overcome Liyue as the city lights soon lit up
Zhongli finished up some papers and sat them on Hu Tao's desk as he got his things getting ready to leave
Z "Ok I will be leaving for the night. Everything you needed of me is done, correct?"
H "Correct! You are free to go, Mr.Zhongli, have a good night!"
Z "Good night Hu Tao."
Zhongli then walked out of the parlour closing the door behind then taking a deep sigh of relief before he began making his way to the tavern
Some time had passed before Zhongli made it there not long but not short but it was long enough to make Childe impatient
Zhongli finally arrived at the tavern and sat beside Childe
Z "Greetings Childe.Apologies for taking so long I had some paperwork to finish."
C "It's alright. Let's start drinking already, I'm getting bored."
Z "Mm.As you wish."
Zhongli said as he sat down on a chair beside Childe at the bar
Z "I'm not sure about you..but I do not wish to drink much. As I had planned to visit Diluc later today."
Childe glared over at him as he overheard Zhongli mention that name obviously jealous scoffing under his breath before his mood quickly changed as Zhongli looked over at him and Childe smiled and spoke in a fake happy tone
C "Ah-that is a shame. But I get it. How is..Diluc-doing by the way? I.."overheard" about what happened so I thought It would be best to ask you in person."
Z "Hm. He's alright..still recovering in his home though. In quite a lot of pain. I'm quite worried about him."
C "That's good! I suppose..anyway.That just means the quicker we start to drink the faster you can go visit..Diluc."
Z "I suppose you're correct. I haven't gone drinking since I went with Diluc to his tavern. So you can choose."
Childe locked his jaw and tried to force a smile as he was already getting tired of hearing Dilucs name
C "You..sure do mention him a lot. I'm sure yall are quite close..but tonight is about you. How about you forget about him for just a moment."
Z "I..suppose.But-how about you just go ahead and order the drinks. Alright?"
Zhongli said with hesitance in his voice
C "Oh right! I'll get on that. Give me a moment."
Childe said before turning to the bartender and spoke about the first round of drinks he wanted and then paid for it
Zhongli felt uneasy about his choice of being here like he sensed something was off but he didn't know what so he didn't mention it to Childe and just crossed his legs in his chair and leaned slightly on one of his hands awaiting their drinks
After Childe paid he looked over at Zhongli and scooted in closer to him in his seat
C "Don't tell me you're tired already Zhongli!"
Z "Ah-No I'm not-"
Zhongli was starting to say before Childe reached his hand out to Zhongli's chin and slowly moved his head to face him with a small smile and slight blush on his face
C "Well good. Because the night has barely even begun~"
Zhongli looked over at Childe confused before his mood changed to both slight anger and annoyance as he then caught on to what Childe was trying to do and what he had been sensing this entire time
Zhongli then quickly brought his hand over to Childe's and moved his hand away from his face with little force as he continued to look at him with the same look while he lowered his eyes
Z "Childe stop it. I know what you are trying to do and it's not going to work. What we had is no longer and were going to keep it that way. Don't try and fix something that has already broken."
It pissed Childe off as he listened to Zhongli but he tried his best to contain himself and he just chuckled it off then smirked
C "Haha! I have no clue what you're even on about Zhongli. This is just a simple night out for drinks between friends! Unless. You thought this was more than that?"
Z "Of course, I don't. But what did you mean by the night just having begun? I told you already I wanted to go visit Di-"
C "Yea, yea. I know. But come on Zhongli we haven't had a night together like this since..our break up. So you owe me! Come on don't disappoint me. I even already paid for our first round of drinks!"
Zhongli swallowed at Childe even slightly bringing up their break up as he hated to simply even hear a word about it, especially from Childe himself
Zhongli then sighed before speaking once more
Z "Fine. But only a few drinks so we can quickly get this over with."
C "Hmm. That's the spirit! Welp. Come on hurry up and grab your cup."
Zhongli slowly reached down his hand for his cup and grabbed it and brought it up to his mouth and Childe did the same
Little did Zhongli know that Childe purposely had ordered Zhongli's drink to be much stronger than his so the more drinks they had the faster Zhongli would get drunk in a shorter amount of time
It was all part of Childe's plan since the start and in no way did he just want to go drinking between friends he just yurned for Zhongli back more than anything ever since he and Diluc started getting a little too close for his comfort so he quickly came up with this
Yes he didn't know if this plan of his would even work truly since it was a simple plan that he would just get Zhongli a little drunk and kiss him a bit then make Zhongli feel so guilty about it he fesses up to Diluc and that was bound to break them up or at least lower the trust between as what he thought
No, it wasn't the best plan but as it was obvious to Childe that this Diluc guy had Zhongli wrapped around his finger so he had to come up with something quick before it was too late
Childe slowly sipped his drink while he watched as Zhongli tipped up the drink and began to drink it at a regular pace and once Zhongli finished it Childe quickly finished his as well
Zhongli then put his cup upside down on the bar counter and grunted in displeasure
C "Is something the matter?"
Z "Oh..not at all. But..that drink was a bit strong no?"
C "Oh that? That was nothing."
Z "I..see."
Childe said as he slowly lowered his cup just trying to play along so he could get him to have a few more drinks
Zhongli then swallowed now dreading these next few drinks
That continued for a few more rounds as Childe continued to persuade Zhongli to have another drink until Zhongli began to feel drunk and he suddenly stopped then refused to take another drink and then began to speak slowly
Z "Ugh..I..think that...is enough for me. I..really should get going."
Zhongli said as his eyes lowered
C "Aww come on Zhongli. Those couldn't have been that bad cause I've barely even felt anything yet."
Z "Mm..I see."
Zhongli said unfazed as he began to slowly get up from his seat before Childe quickly took his arm and pulled him back down closer to him
C "Don't leave me just yet Zhongli~I haven't even gotten to say my goodbye yet!"
Z "Childe. Just..let go."
C "Oh come on~"
Z "Childe I said let go-"
As Zhongli said that Childe brought kept his hand on his arm and then brought up his other hand to his face and began to slowly get closer to Zhongli
Z "Childe..Childe stop it. Let go-wait!"
Zhongli said while he tried his best to pull away from Childe through him being drunk and not all in his senses until he had to resort to putting both his hands on his shoulders to push him back
Right then someone came through the doors of the bar
It was Kaeya
He had come to Liyue to monitor the delivery of some items from Mondstat to Liyue and decided to come to the bar to try some of their alcohol before making his way back but instead ended being greeted by the sight of this
Kaeya walked in and then looked over at the bar area seating and paused right where he was standing as he saw what looked like Childe forcefully trying to kiss Zhongli as Zhongli tried to push him away
So Kaeya then without hesitation began to make his way through people in the bar as well over to Zhongli and Childe to see what was actually going on
Z "Childe stop I-"
Once Kaeya got up to them he saw that he was right at what he was seeing at first and quickly went up to Childe and pushed him back by his shoulder
K "You heard him he said stop. So do that."
Childe's grip loosened and he looked over at Kaeya
C "What the hell?! Who even are you-"
K "Thats not important right now is it? Now back the hell away from him."
C "Sheesh alright man.I wasn't even doing anything."
Childe said as he retracted his hands from Zhongli definitely angry as hell under his act but not wanting to cause a scene in public like this
Kaeya looked over to Zhongli concerned as he put his hand on his shoulder
K "Come on Zhongli..lets go back to Mondstat."
Z "Mm.."
Zhongli didn't say anything but instead abided by Kaeya's wishes without hesitation and slowly got up from his seat before Kaeya turned around and they both made their way out of the tavern
Childe watched as they glaring daggers at Kaeya for ruining both his plan and chance to get Zhongli back but he just grumbled under his breath and clenched his fist tight before slowly turning around in his chair back to the bar and then going back to drinking his drink once more
As Kaeya and Zhongli walked out of the tavern and began to make their way back to Mondstat it was silent before Zhongli finally decided to talk
Z "..Kaeya..do you...think..Diluc is gonna be upset with me. Once he finds out what happened."
Zhongli said quietly continuing to look forward not even being able to bare a look at Kaeya
Kaeya was silent for a moment before slowly looking over at Zhongli
K "Im..not quite sure.It is Diluc were talking about.But if something does happened between you two..I'll get through to him. For the sake of both of you. I promise."
A strong wave of worry and regret overthrew Zhongli's body and emotions as he thought about losing Diluc and he didn't want that more anything he didn't want to lose someone so dear to him again
He didn't want to go through that once more he just couldn't bare it
Zhongli got caught up in his thoughts and didn't reply to Kaeya
K "Zhongli..Zhongli!"
Z "O-Oh!..Apologies.But thank you..Kaeya.I do hope you are..able to get through to him."
Kaeya looked over at Zhongli concerned as he noticed he was not alright but he spoke anyway to reassure Zhongli
K "Oh..yes..Yes me too.I hope so as well."
Zhongli nodded slowly as they both continued to walk in silence for the rest of the way
-Now at Dawn Winery-
Zhongli stopped at the door entrance not even being able to take another step as he dreaded what Diluc would even say or do to him as he knew he'd be waiting for the both of them
Until Kaeya came up behind and shot a reassuring nod which helped Zhongli slightly before Kaeya then put his hand on the entrance door nob and opened it and began to walk in
Zhongli swallowed before taking a deep breath and slowly walking in as well and following behind Kaeya as he closed the door behind him
They were greeted by Diluc standing there at the entrance menacingly awaiting their arrival specifically Zhongli's of course
He was silent and his breath was light as he only looked over at Kaeya while the two of them walked in not even batting Zhongli a single glance
Kaeya sighed before turning over to Zhongli and motioning for him to go upstairs and rest since he was drunk
D "What are you doing.Kaeya."
K "At least let him stay for the night to rest. He's drunk..and has had a long night."
Diluc scoffed and turned his head to the side away from Kaeya and Zhongli
Kaeya then again motioned for Zhongli to go up stairs
Zhongli looked over at Diluc hurt as Diluc didn't even try to bare a single look at him but he locked his jaw and tried his best to conceal the way he was feeling then quickly went upstairs as Kaeya wished
Once Zhongli made it up the stairs and was out of ear shot Diluc looked back over at Kaeya
D "So."
Kaeya then looked over at Diluc instantly understanding what he was referring too so he then sighed slightly under his breath and slowly crossed his arms before finally speaking
K "It would be best you didn't know."
D "So you're admitting to him doing something back in Liyue."
K "No im admitting that if I tell you what actually happened your not going to believe me.So it would be best you didn't know at all.I know how u are Diluc."
D "You don't know me cause I wouldn't do that."
K "Mhm..sure."
D "I'm not going to be wasting more time here than I have to. So either you're going to tell me or not."
K "Fine."
D "Good."
K "Back in Liyue on my way back. I decided to go to the Bar. But instead the second I walked in I oversaw Zhongli trying to push away this guy named Childe and saying "No" and "Stop" repeatedly. But since Zhongli was drunk he wasn't in his full senses so he couldn't fully push him away. It looked like the guy was..trying to kiss him. But I managed to push him away and get Zhongli out of there. Now were here."
Diluc's jaw locked tight as he grew more angry by the minute as he listened to Kaeya speak about what happened and finding out the fact that Childe was even involved in the situation at all aggravated him even more but that didn't change the fact he was still suspicious of both the situation and what Kaeya saw
Diluc clenched his fist tight
D "Childe..you say?"
K "Hm yes. What? Do you know him or something."
Yes Diluc did know who Childe was as at some point Zhongli had mentioned to him that Childe was his past lover who he ended things with for a reason Diluc didn't know since Zhongli never really gave a clear answer on it
D "Doesn't matter.Is that all."
K "Hm..yes.That is all I recall from earlier when I got there."
D "And are you sure nothing else happened.Anything you left out."
K "Ok you either believe me or you don't-"
D "I mean..nevermind.I do..but-"
K "But?"
D "Ugh..ok.Are you sure..what you saw was really correct? Or what was really happening-"
K "Ugh..here we go again. With you not trusting me nor the story of what I saw. And plus I saw what I saw Diluc. Why would I lie. Especially during a situation where you and Zhongli's relationship could be at stake."
D "Kaeya I do trust you but.."
K "But.You.Don't.Diluc.You haven't even trusted me since-"
D "Do not bring that up.Kaeya.That has absolutely NOTHING to do with the situation right now."
K "Fine. But it doesn't change the fact that it is true. You don't trust me or what I say Diluc. So why should I even be wasting my time trying to convince you."
D "Because how many times do I have to tell you this Kaeya.I do trust you.But I just..have my hesitations."
K "Hesitations? Oh that's rich."
D "Ugh..-"
K "But you know what.I just remembered why im even doing this in the first place.It was because I promised Zhongli that if anything happened between you two I would get through to you."
D "I-I..wait-what-"
K "Because.Zhongli LOVES you Diluc.If it wasn't even obvious enough that he even put you before himself.Because the second we left the tavern YOU were the first thing he thought about. YOU were the first thing he asked about wondering how you would feel after finding out what happened. Because he cares about you Diluc more anything in the world. And you feel the same thing for him and you know it. But your too stubborn to admit it."
Dead silence fell over the room once Kaeya stopped talking and Diluc not having said a single word after all of that
Kaeya looked over at Diluc with low glaring eyes as he kept silent once he finished
While Diluc couldn't even bare to look over at Kaeya surely not able to even be in the same room as Zhongli he stayed quiet for quite some time trying to unpack all that was just said not only feeling the guilt of how he treated Kaeya but especially the guilt of how he treated Zhongli by not trusting both of them before even hearing an explanation despite how close they were to him
Diluc had no idea what to say or do but as both guilt,sadness,and regret flew over him his first thought was just to push them away so he wouldn't cause anymore problems like this to either of them anymore though that was the very last thing he wanted to do he thought it would be the best option for them not even thinking for a split second how this would impact himself
But he just went ahead and did it anyway since it was one of the only ways he knew how to deal with situations such as these
So he swallowed before he slowly brought his head up to look over at Kaeya
D "Kaeya..I think you should leave."
Kaeya instantly felt hurt at what Diluc said but he hid it with the anger he had already been feeling and quickly replied
K "I already was."
And just like that Kaeya turned around and began to make his way to the door and left out of it while slamming the door behind him
Diluc felt even more guilty as he watched Kaeya leave
He then let out a shaky sigh before reaching over his arm to his waist where his wound was while holding it as he sat down slowly and grunting in slight pain as he did
He put his arm upwards on the table and leaned his head on his hand as he then covered his face with it while he then spoke in a shaky low voice
D "Fuck.."
To Be Continued...
After the long awaited chapter it is finally here! And a much longer chapter at that due to how long it took for it to come out and how patiently everyone waited!! Which I am very thankful to you all for!
Sadly during the time I was making this chapter many things during the summer came up for me to do which pushed back the time for the chapter come out and unfortunately some writers block as well which didn't help that either and caused me to not have as much motivation to finish this chapter until now so I do apologize in advance for that
But I do hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and is not to mad I left everyone on a bit of a cliffhanger..
So stay tune for the next one to see what happens next!
Have a great rest of your day/afternoon/night everyone! 💕