It's an ordinary morning at Liyue Harbor, Xiao wakes up to the sunlight shining through the windows. The bright sunlight wakes him up and he got up from his position, he wanted to head to the library to do the work he left off yesterday.
He pulled his backpack from it's shoulder strap and threw it over his shoulder while picking up his laptop case which had his laptop inside it. He walks out of his room to a nice smell, he sees Zhongli cooking breakfast while dancing to a song playing.
" Why, good morning Xiao, where are you going? You haven't had breakfast yet. I insist on letting you stay for breakfast. "
Zhongli notices Xiao's gaze and gently pulled him to the sofa by his wrist, letting him sit down
" I- no, it's fine, I'll just grab a coffee and bread somewhere. "
Xiao responds to Zhongli and quickly gets up from the sofa
" No, no, it's a simple breakfast, it won't take you long. "
Zhongli puts some toast on a plate and spread some jueyun chili sauce on the toast, he gave a few toppings such as salt and pepper. He puts the plate onto Xiao's hands, Xiao sniffs the delightful smell of jueyun chili and decides to take a bite of the toast.
" You should take Hu Tao with you, she's been sulking in her bed all day. "
Zhongli says while he chops some vegetables
" I will. "
Once Xiao finished his breakfast, he walked over to the door and put on his socks and shoes. He was about to open the door when a girl ran right straight into him.
" Xiao wait!! "
The younger girl shouts as she runs out of breath
" Rushed because you were afraid I would forget about you again? "
He turned to look at the girl
" Your hair's a mess, let me find something for you.. "
Xiao points out as he takes out something from his backpack
Hu Tao started to squeal after hearing Xiao say something like that, she controlled herself from getting too excited and took a deep breath. She sees Xiao holding an elastic hair tie " Is he gonna tie my hair?! " Hu Tao thought to herself with enthusiasm.
" Turn around. "
Hu Tao turned around facing the same direction as Xiao
Xiao started to grab all of Hu Tao's hair and pulls them all together to put the hair tie around her hair. After putting a double knot, he brushed Hu Tao's baby hair on her face and looked at her.
" Do you like it? "
" AAHH! I LOVE IT!! "
Hu Tao shouted as she pulls Xiao in for a hug
" Okay, okay. Now let's go. "
Xiao said, letting go of Hu Tao's arms
Once he opened the door and stepped out, he saw the stranger next door, it reminded him of the experience last night. He caught himself gazing at the stranger's soft small face with messy hair contrasting his look. He snapped out of his 'trance' when Hu Tao shoved his back.
" Hu Tao, what the hell?! "
Xiao yelled as Hu Tao giggled
They both walked away and the stranger notices Xiao from his back " He looks.. Rather familiar. " He thought, he was drunk and couldn't remember most of the things that happened last night, Xiao only looked familiar to him as he remembers bumping into someone like his appearance on the sidewalk.
He quickly jumped out of his thoughts and started walking to the elevator. The elevator doors were closing once he arrived, thankfully, the doors separated right when he went to step closer to enter.
Both Hu Tao and Xiao were startled by him, they both gazed at him and looked away when the elevator doors closed. The duo separated from the stranger when they arrived at the lobby.
" Xiao, I'm having a Starbucks mood right now.. "
Hu tao spoke up while skipping alongside Xiao
" Fine, we'll drop by Starbucks. "
Xiao responded while rolling his eyes
They walked until dropping by Starbucks, they didn't take too long since both of them were only ordering simple drinks. Cappuccino for Hu Tao and coffee for Xiao.
The duo stepped out of the coffee shop and continued on with their way to the library.
Time passed by and they arrived at the library, Xiao threw his empty coffee cup he drank out of in the bin in front of the door and caught up with Hu Tao.
" I'm going to the comics section! "
Hu Tao turned to look at Xiao and pointed at a certain isle of book cases
" Alright, I'll be at history. "
They both separated for their own interests of literature.
Xiao held onto his chosen book, reading it as he walks alongside the book cases. He later gets blocked by a taller man with a white shirt and rolled up sleeves, Xiao slowly looks up to see his face. He had a surprised yet amused expression on the man's face.
" Hi kid! What're you looking for? "
The man greeted, bending down to reach Xiao's height
" I'm 19. "
Xiao corrected while glaring at the taller male
The man was a red hair, he had marine eyes and a tie matching the colour, he had messy hair and glasses.
" My bad. Moving on, what are you looking for? "
The man continued
" Nothing. Just carrying a book of my liking to a table. "
Xiao responded while slowly walking to the opposite direction
" Hm.. Strange kid. "
Xiao went to a table but before that, he went to look for Hu Tao. Once he found her, she seemed to be talking to someone else so he decided to not interfere in their conversation by continuing to find a table to read his book. He sat down on one of the chairs and flipped open his book, page by page. An hour or two passed by, Xiao was ready to go home so he put back the book he was previously reading on one of the book cases.
" Xiao~! Let's go for ice cream before heading home! "
Hu Tao shouted while hugging onto Xiao from his back
" Fine.. I'm sort of hungry too. "
" Yay!! "
Hu Tao squealed in excitement, letting go of Xiao
They walked out of the library. Before Xiao made another step, Hu Tao jumped onto Xiao, making him alarmed.
" Hu Tao, what the- "
" My legs are tired~ give me a piggyback ride! "
Hu Tao says dramatically while having her arms around Xiao's neck
" Er, alright. "
Xiao was tired of Hu Tao's doings but he gave her a piggyback ride regardless. They finally arrived at the ice cream shop, minutes after Xiao giving Hu Tao a piggyback ride. Hu Tao jumped off of Xiao and dashed inside of the ice cream shop.
When Xiao went to step in, a man with braids pushed him off by accident and didn't notice. When Xiao went to look back up, he saw the stranger from last night and this morning.
" Oh my god, I am so sorry! "
The stranger apologised as he helps Xiao get back up
" It's- fine, nothing serious. "
" If you say so..! "
The stranger continued on dashing to the cashier
" Strange.. I've seen him too many times today. "
Xiao thought to himself, but he didn't wanna jump into conclusions so he just thought of it as a coincidence
" Xiao, Xiao!! Hurry up and pick a flavour!! "
Hu Tao yelled, making Xiao quickly walk towards her
" I'll pick..- "
Xiao was cut off by the stranger he met earlier
" Oh, Kaeya~! Go out for a drink? "
He says as he jumps onto the cashier that he seemed familiar with
" Maybe after work, these two in front of me are waiting to get their ice cream so shoo. "
The taller man said while shoving away the shorter like he was a cat
" Anyways, hello! Please choose a flavour of your choice, or would you like to try one? Perhaps two? Let me know anything! "
The taller man quickly changed expressions for the sake of good service
" I'll take the strawberry flavour!! "
The younger girl shouted
" Vanilla, I guess. "
Xiao said, standing beside Hu Tao
The duo sat at a table for two outside of the ice cream shop, it was already the evening and Xiao thought that he could call Zhongli over to find dinner outside.
" Hey Zhongli? "
Xiao spoke over the phone with Zhongli
" I'm doing some work right now, what do you need, Xiao? "
Zhongli responded as Xiao could hear keyboard clicking
" As you can tell, me and Hu Tao haven't made it home yet and we were thinking that we should just eat dinner outside. If you're okay with it, that is? "
Xiao asked Zhongli while eating his ice cream
" Oh sure. Should I come right now? Where are you currently? "
" Rich Ice. The ice cream shop down the street. "
Xiao says through the phone while looking at the ice cream shop sign
" Very well, I'll get ready. "
Zhongli ended the call and Xiao continued to eat his ice cream while waiting for Zhongli
A few minutes passed and Zhongli has arrived, but with another guest. Xiao's eyes widened as he looked at the other guest " The man from the library..? " He thought.
" Ah, hello Xiao, Hu tao! I forgot to mention that I was bringing another guest. He just came along while I was on my way. "
Zhongli recalled as he greets Xiao and Hu Tao
" Zhongli, you're here!! And who might this fine man be? I admire the outfit sir! "
Hu Tao jumped towards the other guest
" Why thank you, and call me Childe. I figured it was a fancy dinner but you seem to wear something rather- casual. "
The red hair pointed out, looking at Hu Tao's outfit from top to bottom
" Well.. Me and Xiao were out here from the morning and we didn't think we would have dinner out after heading to the library! "
Hu Tao explained
" Oh! Aren't you the kid from the library I saw? What a coincidence! "
Childe said as he turned to look at Xiao, chuckling softly
" Yeah, hello. So, where are we having dinner? "
Xiao let out a big sigh before saying anything because of Childe still calling him a kid despite Xiao already clarifying he was nineteen
" Perhaps Third Round Knockout? I'm guessing we've all been there before, it's a quite high rated restaurant I'd say. "
Zhongli spoke up
" Why not? My treat!! "
Childe says with enthusiasm as he puts his arm over Zhongli's shoulder
They all arrived at Third Round Knockout and had already ordered everything they wanted.
Childe was the most talkative and cheery, Zhongli was just Zhongli, Hu Tao giggled along with Childe and Xiao just kept quiet as he usually does at group dinners.
" Look, I see Xiangling! That must be our food she's carrying!! "
Hu Tao jumps in excitement to eat the food
" Here you go! Anything else you'd like? "
Xiangling asks as she puts down all the dishes on the table
" Why don't we have a little drink yeah? What's in it for you Hu Tao and Xiao? "
Childe suggested, also asking the younger ones
" Nahh, I don't really do alcohol. Bleh.. "
Hu Tao says in disgust
" I think I'm good, thanks.. "
Xiao says as he gave the 'eww..' Expression while turning away
" Alright then, what about you Zhongli? A few shots won't hurt! "
The red hair asked the brown hair beside him
" I will, not much. I still have a lot of work to take care of tonight. "
Zhongli responded while chuckling slightly
" Hell yeah!! "
The red hair shouted
" I'll give you a couple of glasses, let me know when you need a refill! "
Xiangling says as she walks away
A few minutes pass and Xiangling served some drinks, she figured that she could just leave the whole bottle for extra convenience.
" Would you like to do the honours Xiansheng? "
Childe asked, looking at Zhongli while holding a glass
" My pleasure. "
He responded while trying to take the glass out of Childe's hand
" Zhongli, you have a short limit, you sure you could take it? "
Xiao recalled, stopping Zhongli from taking the glass
" I'll be fine, it's only one glass, Xiao. "
Zhongli says, chuckling
" Whatever you say.. "
Xiao responded while taking a bite of his food
Time passed and they all finished their food, while Zhongli on the other hand was completely knocked out. Childe was slightly drunk but it was manageable enough for him, Xiao and Hu Tao were the only ones sober so they had to help Zhongli get back to their apartment.
" See you next time, Xiansheng! "
Childe shouted while walking backwards, almost tripping
" Not even a goodbye for us? Pshh.. "
Hu Tao mumbled as she rolls her eyes
" Let's just go home. "
Xiao said as he puts Zhongli's right arm over his shoulder and the other arm on Hu Tao's
As the duo carried Zhongli back to the apartment, Xiao once again, saw the person he had seen at least multiple times today.
" Is that..- "
" Hm? "
Hu Tao looks over to Xiao
" It's nothing. "
They finally managed to get Zhongli back home even when he's knocked out, they put him on the sofa to lie down and sleep while they sit down on the floor leaning on the sofa.
Hu Tao and Xiao eventually closed their eyes and fell asleep.