Chapter Text
For once, Zhongli finds himself unable to sleep. After millennia of having days pass by him in a flash, he feels every second of the night tick by. Morning feels like it is ages away, even though he’s lived for ages and knows that ages are longer than a night.
His mind seems to wander instead of rest. He thinks of how much Baoyu will love playing with all of her favorite aunts and uncles, and wondering what kind of pictures he’ll be able to collect during the party. She has so many presents piled up in the living room already. Which ones will she love? Which ones will they have to politely return? Will she enjoy the cake? She’s never had cake!
The thoughts keep him up, keep him restless, so even when he does finally fall asleep, it’s fitful. He’s kept up by dreams that felt strangely real, but he can’t recall much of them. It was a shiver, like winter had come early, an image of Childe lying beside him just holding his hand, and then Childe becomes Guizhong, watching him and stroking his hair. Then, all of a sudden, he wakes up to sunshine on his face and the smell of fresh tea wafting in from the kitchen.
Zhongli rises, dressing quickly when he hears a frustrated cry from the other end of the house. He steals a glance at the clock in the kitchen to find that its already 9:30 in the morning. He frowns. It’s unusual to have woken so late, but he and Childe did get to bed rather late last night.
He strides over to Baoyu’s room first. She’s already awake, standing in her crib with her hands braced on the railing for support. Her crying calms a little when she sees him, but she continues to frown.
“Good morning Baoyu,” he tells her, picking her up. He presses a kiss to her cheek. “Happy Birthday.”
“Abbah! Ah teugh…”
“Really now?” Zhongli asks. “And just how long have you been awake for?”
He glances around the room, noting the blanket in her crib that’s not usually there and the rocking chair moved across the room, positioned right next to her crib. She must have been up early—Childe as well, if he had to guess.
Baoyu squirms in his arms, wiggling uncomfortably until Zhongli gets the message and changes her diaper.
“Ba bam mam mmm!” She tells him, once she’s settled back in his arms.
“Indeed,” Zhongli replies, already making his way back to the kitchen. “Breakfast sounds like a wonderful idea.
He glances into Childe’s room as he passes it, but the door is open and the room is empty. Zhongli smiles, shaking his head. He won’t be surprised when Childe returns later with another armful of presents or a last-minute bundle of streamers to hang up. At least it seems like Childe had some sort of breakfast before he left, if tea alone counts as breakfast. The tea on the stove is still hot, a pyro talisman stuck to the bottom of it, and its Zhongli’s favorite. There’s a mug sitting out for him—Childe’s is already in the sink, and there’s even a bottle sitting out for Baoyu with another pryo talisman sitting nearby to warm it up.
Zhongli indulges in that tea as he makes a bottle for Baoyu. She’s watches him curiously as he works, then excitedly wiggles in his arms when the bottle is offered to her. Zhongli taps his mug against her bottle, muttering ‘cheers,’ when he gets a refill of tea. He’s then forced to put his tea down as he laughs while Baoyu pauses her meal to stare at her bottle, trying to figure out what the heck he just did to her food.
“Eeee!” Baoyu looks up at him and holds her bottle out.
Picking up his tea mug again, Zhongli bumps it against her bottle one more time. “Yes Mei Mei, cheers!”
He takes a sip of tea, and Baoyu watches with rapt attention. It takes another moment of studying her bottle before she sips on it again. Immediately, she looks up at him, and Zhongli nods encouragingly. Baoyu seems to take that as approval and continues eating, satisfied. Zhongli takes the time to painstakingly cut up a sunsettia while still holding Baoyu, and they finish their breakfast together in between a bit of babbling and morning cuddles.
Zhongli splits the last piece of sunsettia with her as someone knocks on the door. He glances up at the clock—10:13AM. It must be Xiangling with the food. Zhongli eats his half of the sunsettia slice and makes for the door. Low and behold, it’s Xiangling and Lumine with a whole cart of dishes between them.
“Sorry I’m a little late, Zhongli Xiansheng!” Xiangling says. “We’re a little busier than usual today! I can’t stay to help set out the food, but Lumine and Paimon said they can help out!”
“Ah, it’s no trouble, Xiangling,” Zhongli says. “Will we still see you this afternoon?”
“For sure! I’ll see you later. Bye Baobao!”
Baoyu hums, laughing when Zhongli picks up her arm to wave back at Xiangling.
“Bye Xiangling!” Paimon shouts. She looks back at the cart full of food, but Lumine is quick to pull her towards the house before she says anything else.
“Oh no you don’t,” Lumine says. “That’s for everyone to share.”
Paimon scoffs. “Paimon wasn’t going to eat it!...Well, maybe just a nibble, but not all of it!”
Zhongli steps aside so that the two of them can enter the house.
“Uh huh,” Lumine says, not at all convinced. “Why don’t you keep Baoyu company while Zhongli and I take care of the food?”
“Ugh, fine! Come on Baoyu, let’s go see what presents you got!”
Zhongli laughs as he follows Paimon over to the living room and sets Baoyu down near her pile of presents. “You may open one.”
Paimon gasps. “You hear that, Baoyu? We can open one! Now, which one should we open….”
“Ahmmmm…” Baoyu looks curiously at Paimon, seemingly more interested in her than in the stack of presents.
Leaving them to it, Zhongli returns to the front door to help Lumine. The work goes rather quickly between the two of them, and soon enough all of the dishes are piled in the kitchen with the cart outside placed out of the way.
“Thank you for coming to help this morning,” Zhongli says. He offers Lumine a cup of tea.
Lumine smiles, accepting it. “Happy to!” She looks around as she sips on it. “It looks great in here.”
“Ah, that’s Childe’s handiwork,” Zhongli says. “He was very excited to decorate for today. Apparently, he and his siblings go ‘all-out’, so to speak, on each other’s’ birthdays.”
“Aether and I used to do that too,” she says. “Where is Childe, by the way? And Xiao? I thought they would be here…”
“Childe is out in the harbor, picking up a last-minute decoration, probably. He was fretting over them last night. I also would not be surprised if Miss Ekaterina had one or two tasks for him this morning. And Xiao is out patrolling. He wanted to be sure that no threats would cast a cloud over this afternoon.”
Lumine sighs, smiling. “It wouldn’t kill them to take a break.”
“I believe that they are thinking of this afternoon as a break.”
“Of course, they are.”
There’s another knock at the door. Zhongli answers it to find the tailor with Baoyu’s special birthday outfit in hand. It’s a very formal tunic in traditional red and gold satin with a set of cotton pants, hems decorated with the same red and gold fabric. Zhongli had wanted the expensive all-silk set, but Childe insisted that a baby didn’t need something that fancy, so they compromised on something nice that Baoyu could still move in.
He takes the outfit and thanks the tailor, mentally checking that item off their to-do list for the morning as he puts it away. Zhongli glances at the clock again—10:58AM—then looks to Baoyu in the living room. She’s gleefully crawling around, chasing Paimon in circles. Paimon’s scarf seems to be more interesting to her than the small present that Paimon is holding. Baoyu is surprisingly coordinated, only falling a few times as Paimon floats around her. Every few steps, she’ll reach out for it, only for the piece of fabric to float out of her grasp as Paimon turns around to scold her again. She doesn’t look too tired, but they can try for a nap anyway. Baoyu was up earlier than he was any way—perhaps early enough to go down for a nap soon.
Zhongli looks towards the door. He’d expect Childe to be back by now, but there’s a very good chance that he’s being held up by some good-natured elders with last-minute presents. Ah well. He still has some time before the party starts.
“Lumine,” he calls out. “If it’s not too much trouble, would you have time to assist me with another task?”
“Sure, what do you need?”
“I would like to make sure that Baoyu has some time to rest before guests arrive, however the furniture still needs to be rearranged, and I suspect there will be more presents arriving with our guests…”
Lumine surveys the living room and nods. “Move furniture and move presents, got it. Should I put the gifts somewhere specific?”
Zhongli smiles in thanks. “Yes, take the larger boxes and place them in Childe’s room, alongside the others.”
“Others?!” Paimon shouts, still dodging Baoyu’s grabby-hands. “How many presents did she get?”
Zhongli laughs. “An abundance, suitable for her status.”
“So, a lot.”
Zhongli hums and walks over to retrieve Baoyu. She whines, protesting as Paimon gets further and further away from her, but a few kisses and brief game of pretending to eat her hand distracts her easily.
“Thank you both,” he says, walking off.
“No problem!” Paimon calls back. “We’ve got this, Zhongli!”
Zhongli bounces Baoyu gently as he walks her to her room. Between his hand rubbing circles on her back and closing the window blinds to darken the room, Baoyu catches on quickly to what’s going on. She frowns up at him.
“Ah-bumm! Adeegh uh!”
“I am aware, but you’ve probably been awake for a while, yes?”
“Emm…”
“And I’m sure you would like to have energy for this afternoon. All of your uncles and aunties will be here. It would be a shame if you were too tired to play with them.”
“Am-muh mumm.”
“I’m sure if you lay down, you’ll find yourself sleeping sooner than you thought you might.”
Zhongli continues to talk to her, going on wondering about the kinds of presents she might get and who exactly is coming to the party. Baoyu doesn’t stop resisting, but she at least lays her head down on his shoulder. She babbles back to him, and he answers as if she had spoken actual words. His baby books claimed it was good for her speech development.
It takes a half-hour to get her down, but finally Baoyu lays heavily on his shoulder, fast asleep. Carefully, Zhongli transfers her down to her crib and picks up her blanket. It’s a wonder that Childe would even put it in the crib—they’ve both read that book about how to best put babies to sleep—but perhaps she was awake when he placed it there? That then poses the question of why he would leave Baoyu in her crib to run last-minute errands if she was awake, but that’s a question better asked later, when Childe returns.
When that will be, however, is still a mystery. Childe is still missing from the house when Zhongli returns to the living room, and to his surprise, Lumine is too. The living room is nicely rearranged, couches pushed against the walls and the single arm-chair also pushed against the wall, right next to the hallway Zhongli walks out from. Paimon is still there staring down the now-smaller mountain of presents, rearranging them until they look perfect, but Lumine is absent from the scene.
Zhongli puts the blanket down on the arm chair and looks back towards Childe’s room, assuming Lumine is there, shoving the larger presents into a corner, and he sees her there, standing at Childe’s bedside, looking down at something.
“Lumine?” Zhongli calls. She whirls around, spooked by his voice. There’s a piece of paper clutched in her hands, and a frown on her face. And as she sees him, her look of shock turns to one of profound sadness. “Is everything alright?”
Lumine hesitates, looking down at the paper then back up at him. Then, she’s striding down the hall, right up to him.
“Zhongli, it’s—” She stops herself, frown turning to frustration, as if the words she’s thinking of simply aren’t good enough. “There’s…I need to tell you—”
Someone pounds at the front door.
“Hey! Anyone home?” It’s Captain Beidou. “We brought presents!”
Zhongli excuses himself and opens the door for her. Beidou bursts in, carrying a stack of gift boxes in her arms. Keqing and a few Millelith soldiers are behind her, unloading boxes from three carts.
“Captain,” Zhongli smiles. Dear Celestia, they sent three full carts of presents. Perhaps he can convince Childe to move to his bedroom so that the spare can return to being storage space. “You’re a half-hour early.”
Beidou laughs, seeing herself into the living room to put the presents down. “Well, technically we’re late. I know Ningguang told you we’d drop off presents yesterday, but some of the gifts from Inazuma and Sumeru were late. I figured it would be easier to bring it all in one trip, so we waited to come.”
“I see. This is all very generous.” Zhongli stands aside, trying to figure out where to direct all of the presents to.
Beidou grins at him as she heads out to haul in more gifts. “Oh if you want generous, you should’ve heard Ningguang talking last night. She’s thinking about having one of the mountains renamed in the kid’s honor.”
“That’s…” A tad overzealous, and definitely excessive. “…quite an honor.”
A strong hand thumps his back, and Beidou snorts. “I’m just messin’ with you…she was actually thinking about a hill, or a large rock.”
That gets an amused huff out of Zhongli and another laugh from Beidou. He turns to follow her out and help bring in some presents, but there’s a tug at his arm.
Lumine is there behind him, a frown still etched on her face. She hesitates again, but manages to get out a, “Zhongli, we really should talk.”
As she says it, Beidou also calls from outside: “Hey Xiansheng! Can you help me lift this? It’s a big one!”
He’s eager to get the present situation sorted before more guests arrive, but Lumine so rarely insists. She’s always quick to help and slow to ask, unless it’s something to do with her brother.
Zhongli frowns, thinking. “Is the matter imminent? Is there a concern or threat that needs to be addressed immediately?”
Lumine sighs, clearly frustrated. “I…well no, I suppose, but…you really should know.”
Nothing imminent and nothing threatening means that it can wait. The issue is clearly serious, but for all of Lumine’s worry, Zhongli isn’t. Thousands of years of life have taught him that threats and concerns and worries will come up at the most inconvenient times. Serious things and serious conversations will happen again and again, but his daughter’s first birthday will only happen once.
“Then, let us talk once the party has concluded,” Zhongli says. Lumine doesn’t look satisfied, so he puts a hand on her shoulder as comfort. “There will be time for serious matters later. For now, let us make good memories and celebrate—indulge in this ‘calm before the storm,’ so to speak.”
She considers it. She sighs. She nods.
“Okay,” she says. “If you’re sure.”
“I’m sure,” Zhongli reassures her. “Come, I believe Captain Beidou could use our strength.”
The three of them work in tandem to move the presents, while Keqing gets quickly gets a handle on the present situation and directs them. They manage to get everything sorted just in time for Zhongli to receive the guests. They start pouring in a few minutes before noon, and then the party really gets going.
Hutao is the first to arrive, dragging Xingqiu and Chongyun behind her. Cloud Retainer comes in her human-form, alongside Shenhe. Xiao arrives just after them with another armful of presents from the Wangshu Inn staff, Xinyan and Yunjin come in a few minutes later, then Doctor Baizhu and Qiqi come a few minutes after that.
The arrivals start to slow, then, as the current guests gather in the kitchen to have their pick of the food. Zhongli takes the moment to look for his kamera. In all of the excitement, he forgot to load it with new film. The device refuses to cooperate, however, and he still needs to set out the supplies for the party’s first game and check in with his guests and watch the clock so that he wakes and dresses Baoyu at the right time, and where is Childe?
Archons, this would be easier if he was back already.
“Need a hand with that?” Beidou manages to sneak up on him. She points to the kamera.
“Yes, thank you.” Zhongli hands the kamera off.
“Don’t mention it! Got one for the crew a few months ago after seeing all of the pictures you took of Baoyu. Where is she, by the way?” Beidou pries at the back of the kamera, getting it open almost immediately.
“Asleep,” Zhongli says, watching her replace the film. “We wanted to make sure she’d have energy for the party.”
“Good call.” She hands the kamera back to him. “Gotta make sure she’s all smiley for the kamera!”
“Thank you, Captain.” Zhongli smiles.
“Ah, don’t mention it!” Beidou says. “Let me know if you need anything else. Seems like it’s just you running things around here.”
“Oh no, Lumine has been a been a big help this morning.”
“What, just Lumine? Did Childe sleep in or something?” Beidou laughs at her own joke and Zhongli laughs along politely.
“Childe left for the Harbor early this morning. It…may have been something with work, but he will be back soon.”
Beidou grimaces. “Oof, work on your kid’s birthday? Man, you’d think even the Fatui would give their guys the day off for something like this.” She claps Zhongli on the shoulder. “Well, until he’s back, just tell me what you need, and it will be done!”
“You’re too kind, Captain. That’s really not necessary.”
“Neither is working today. Come on, what else do you need?”
Zhongli sighs. Beidou isn’t going to give up. He’d insist that she enjoy the party with everyone else, but Childe isn’t there, and Lumine seems distracted by whatever news she wanted to talk to him about. Besides, an extra set of hands can’t hurt, and the clock says it’s about 12:24; perfect timing to wake Baoyu.
“Very well. I’m going to wake and dress Baoyu. I was hoping we could do the cake first, but seeing as Childe has yet to return…can you gather the objects for Zhuazhou? Almost everyone should have brought something, but there are a few extra items in the kitchen if anyone forgot.”
Beidou lights up. “Oh, the fortune telling game! So, that’s what Ningguang wanted me to bring the toy ship for…You got it boss! We’ll be ready to go when the kid is.”
“Then I will leave you to it.” Zhongli turns to go, but pauses mid-step as a thought crosses his mind. “Captain, by chance, did you happen to see Childe in the Harbor this morning?”
Beidou frowns slightly at his question, confused. Zhongli is quick to find an explanation. “I’m unsure how early he left. Hopefully, there wasn’t some sort of work emergency.”
“Ah.” The explanation seems to answer any question Beidou might’ve had. “No, sorry. I was at the docks all morning, waiting for those last few gifts. You know, the trade captains said they actually weren’t supposed to arrive until this evening, but some strong currents managed to push them into the docks—ah, but no. No Childe.”
“I see.” Zhongli gives her a smile. “It’s no matter. I’ll ask him when he returns. Thank you, Captain.”
“No problem, Xiansheng!”
Zhongli departs, making his way to Baoyu’s room. Maybe it was something work-related, then, if Childe was not seen around. Hopefully Miss Ekaterina hasn’t given him too dangerous of a mission.
The noise softens considerably as he enters Baoyu’s room, closing the door behind him. She stirs at the brief jump in noise, face scrunching up in a frown as she stretches and tries to get comfortable again. Zhongli smiles down at her, gently picking her up, despite that little frown.
“Come now Mei Mei, it’s time for your party.” He speaks gently as he carries her over to her changing table, making sure she has a fresh diaper for the afternoon’s festivities.
She yawns and blinks through the process, slowly waking up. Zhongli can’t help chuckling at her hair sticking out in all directions. She pays him no mind as he maneuvers her around, attempting to doze despite Zhongli’s best efforts to wake her up. She does wake, eventually, when she sneezes and startles herself. And finally, the grogginess starts wearing off as Zhongli dresses her and carries her across the hallway into the bathroom. She sits, a little dazed, on the bathroom counter as Zhongli brushes her hair down. It’s still not long enough for a proper hairstyle, but he can make two little pigtails decorated with bows, and add a matching clip to keep her bangs out of her face.
Baoyu finds her rubber duck and waves it around. Every now and then, she stops to stare at it, expectantly, then smashes it against her cheek. Zhongli laughs, gently taking the duck from her.
“Ah-ah!” She shouts, twisting to look up at him.
“Quack quack,” Zhongli says back to her. He bumps the duck against her cheeks and makes kissing noises that makes her giggle. “It’s not bath time yet, Baoyu!”
Zhongli clears his throat as he puts the duck down, grimacing at his own character voice. Childe is much better at it. Looking in the mirror at himself and Baoyu and holds each of her hands in each of his. Perhaps he should send Xiao out to find Childe and help expedite whatever is delaying him.
“Aughm mah! A deh ba.” Baoyu leans back against him, looking up at him with big eyes. Zhongli smiles down at her and she smiles back.
“You’re quite right, Mei Mei. We ought to go see everyone before they wonder where we’ve gone. Come now.” Zhongli scoops her up, lifting her high in the air to make her laugh before settling her in his arms.
She’s wide awake now, smiling, and looking curiously towards the noisy living room as Zhongli opens the bathroom door. It calms him, seeing her so bright and excited.
“What’s over there, Mei Mei?” Zhongli asks her.
Baoyu looks up at him and then back out towards the living room as they enter the party.
They linger at the edge of the living room as Baoyu takes in the sight before her. The house is full and lively. Party goers have slowly migrated over to the living room, and Beidou is carefully placing various toys and tools in a line. Zhongli recognizes most of the items as nicknacks or tools that his guests own: a calligraphy brush, a spatula, a WangSheng Funeral Parlor uniform hat, a toy boat, a toy crane, a large toy mora piece, and even a little toy sword. Childe bought that sword in the harbor last week.
He only notices the hush that’s fallen over the room when Baoyu babbles something. Zhongli looks up to find everyone staring at them with barely contained smiles.
Zhongli leans down. “Who do you see, Baoyu? Have all of your friends come to celebrate your birthday?”
Baoyu points at nothing specific, and looks up at him, shocked. “Ummugh ah!”
“That’s right, they’re all here for you.”
“Ogh!”
And then, with a rush of energy, there’s a gaggle of teenagers surrounding him, all asking for their turn to hold Baoyu. Zhongli acquiesces to their requests, handing Baoyu over to Yunjin. The teenagers let him go and crowd around Yunjin, all of them eager to make Baoyu smile and laugh.
“Hi there, Baoyu,” Yunjin says. She bounces Baoyu on her hip gently.
Baoyu looks up at her, studying her face carefully. She reaches out a hand and grabs a fistful of Yunjin’s hair, bringing it up to her mouth. Zhongli almost intervenes, but Xiangling gets there first, producing a fired tofu stick from somewhere and putting it in Baoyu’s other hand. The distraction works like a charm, and Baoyu is quickly preoccupied with the miraculous appearance of a snack. She doesn’t let go of Yunjin’s hair, but Zhongli leaves the teens to take care of it, trusting in their gentle coaxing and mile-a-minute strategy debates.
There’s a knock at the door.
Zhongli excuses himself to answer it. He glances up at the clock as he walks. It’s 12:52PM. There’s a fleeting though that crosses his mind that it might be Childe. He has a key and would never need to knock, but perhaps he’s carrying something. Perhaps he’s brought back more gifts and that’s why he’s been out for so long.
But it’s only Ningguang and Ganyu.
With a smile painted on his face, Zhongli greets them, stepping aside to let them into the house. He spares a glance outside, looking out to the harbor, but the only other person out there is Lumine. She watches him, shooting him a wary smile before turning to watch the road.
Ningguang is waiting for him when he closes the door. She stands at the edge of the living room, watching the party play out. Zhongli steps up beside her.
“Lord—ah—Zhongli Xiansheng. This is nice,” she says. Her judgmental eye scans the room. Though there is a neutral smile on her face, Zhongli knows there’s more she wants to say.
Zhongli smiles. He appreciates her efforts to speak to him casually, even if she still stands as if she’s addressing an Archon. “Not what you had in mind?”
Ningguang shifts, never breaking her ever-poised façade. “A banquet and festival would be more appropriate to celebrate the birthday of the first dragon adeptus to be born in centuries, the daughter of the Geo-Archon, possibly the next Geo-Archon herself.”
“But, this is nice,” Zhongli finishes for her.
They glance at each other and smile.
Zhongli hums. “Nice, quaint, warm, and perfectly suited to celebrate a child’s first birthday.”
Ningguang sighs. “At least keep the presents I’ve sent you.”
Zhongli laughs. “As long as we can find space for them, we’ll keep them. I’m afraid Childe’s room will be overrun soon.”
“Where is he, by the way?” Ningguang asks.
Zhongli hesitates to answer. It’s only for a second, but Ningguang is shrewd. She looks over to him, and though her expression doesn’t change, he knows that she notices.
“He’s…”
And as that one second becomes two and three and four, Ningguang’s gaze narrows, ever so slightly.
“He’s busy in the harbor. Something came up with work, I believe,” Zhongli says.
Ningguang clearly doesn’t believe him, but she doesn’t say anything. Under the weight of her gaze, Zhongli finds himself saying more than he intended:
“He left before I woke this morning, but I am sure he’ll be back soon.”
“He told you that he’d be back, or are you assuming as such?” She asks.
Zhongli doesn’t answer.
Ningguang stares at him a moment longer before redirecting her gaze to the party. With a few seconds and a small jerk of her head, she summons Ganyu to her side. She whispers something that Zhongli doesn’t catch, and then Ganyu is frowning at him. She bows and then quickly leaves the house.
“I’ll have Yelan check on him,” Ningguang says, turning back to Zhongli. “The last time ‘something came up with work,’ we dug him out of a hole in the ground.”
Zhongli pauses. He hadn’t thought of that. The last time Childe was gone for so long without communication was just like this, wasn’t it? He’d left early in the morning, and then Zhongli didn’t see him for three days.
His gaze snaps to Baoyu. She got sick rather quickly back then. A little cough turned into a worrisome fever. She’s playing with the teenagers still, clapping as they dance around the living room. She looks fine now, but there’s no telling how long that will last. If something happened again…
A hand touches his arm, and it shakes him from his thoughts. Ningguang looks up at him apologetically.
“I shouldn’t have said that. I’m sorry,” she says, shaking her head. “I’m sure he’s fine.”
And she sounds like she believes it. The thought is placating, though the worry won’t leave his mind, now that it’s there.
“Go, enjoy your daughter’s birthday. I’ll take care of finding him,” Ningguang says.
“Yes, of course…thank you,” Zhongli manages to say.
Ningguang sends him off with a reassuring hand and an apologetic smile, but the worry is hard to put out of his mind. He wills himself to step back into the party.
Immediately, Baizhu and Beidou pull him into a conversation about how to best set up the fortune telling game. They can’t seem to agree on an order for the toys. But then, the teenagers come running by and mess it all up anyway, amusing Baoyu with a wild game of musical statues. Baoyu laughs each time they start dancing in the silliest ways they can think of, and then she laughs harder at the silly poses and faces they choose to take when the music stops.
Zhongli does his best to focus on it, to enjoy the day for what it is. Someone will have eyes on Childe soon. Then, he’ll be back and they’ll have cake, and once the party concludes, Zhongli will have Childe all to himself. All he needs to do is wait.
“Okay people, let’s get the party going!” Beidou shouts out. “We’re all set up for the game, Xiansheng.”
“Ah, wonderful,” Zhongli says. He takes a breath and smiles. Just a little longer, and Childe will be home. “Please, gather round!”
The partygoers make their way to the outskirts of the living room, giving the center, where the toys are set up, pleanty of space.
“What are they toys for?” Xinyan asks.
“Our first game of the afternoon: Zhuazhou,” Zhongli answers. The teenagers chatter amongst each other, trying to figure out what the game is supposed to be.
Zhongli takes pity on them, describing the game aloud. The last time most of them encountered this game was likely when they were Baoyu’s age. “Zhuazhou is a fortune telling game. The objects I asked some of you to bring will help predict Baoyu’s future. She will sit on this side of the living room, and crawl to a toy of her liking. The one that she picks will tell us what kind of future may be in store for her.”
As he speaks, Xiao takes Baoyu from the teenagers and brings her over to Zhongli. He kneels down, sitting her on the floor facing the toys. Zhongli crosses the room to stand behind the toys.
“Our role is to cheer her on. After all, though I may be her father, there is no guarantee that she will want to work as a consultant as I do. Perhaps she might prefer to be a chef or a sailor.”
The teenage chatter grows louder, and even among the adults, Zhongli hears predictions being tossed back and forth.
“Now, are we all ready?”
The teenagers cheer, and Baoyu echoes them, shouting happily.
Zhongli smiles. “Then let us see what the future has in store!”
He nods at Xiao and Xiao lets Baoyu go. Immediately, the teenagers and Paimon all start cheering. They split up, gathering in groups behind a few of the items, each of them trying their best to coax Baoyu their way. Beidou bounces from group to group, taking as many pictures as possible. Even Cloud Retainer and Shenhe get in on the fun, making their own attempts to sway Baoyu to certain toys.
Between all of the noise, Baoyu watches the people in front of her, shouting back at them as they cheer her on. Rather than crawling towards any of the toys, she stares, confused and maybe a little scared, then turns around and reaches up for Xiao.
Zhongli is sure that Xiao smiles as he bends down to redirect Baoyu, pointing to put her attention on the toys instead of him. He tries again to let her go, stepping back to give her space to choose.
She stares again, still confused. Zhongli bends down to join in the fun, and he sees the moment her eyes lock on him. He sighs as she leans onto her hands and knees, finally crawling forward. The cheers grow louder, but Zhongli knows no toy will be picked. She makes a b-line for him, crawling straight past the toys.
The cheering dies down as he picks her up and kisses her cheek, making her laugh.
“Thank you, Baoyu. I love you as well, but I am not a toy.” Zhongli walks her back across the living room to Xiao. “Why don’t you try again?”
He puts her down on the floor, repositioning her a few times as she tries to reach for him. She finally gives up with a little confused frown.
“Now, pick a toy,” Zhongli says. He points to the line of toys and the partygoers on the other side of the room helpfully wave them around to get Baoyu’s attention. “You can do it.”
The cheering starts back up, but Baoyu still doesn’t seem to understand. She redirects her frown to the toys. Despite Zhongli and Xiao’s best efforts, she doesn’t want to move.
Zhongli chuckles. They’re never going to get anywhere like this. He stands and makes his way back behind the line of toys. Using himself as bait will at least get here moving toward the toys, though he doesn’t want to be biased and lead her towards any toy in particular.
And then, amid the noise of the party, the cheering, and the laughter, Zhongli hears the front door.
It’s a quiet thing, just the turn of the handle, but he hears it. He turns around as the door opens and smiles. A quick glance at the clock tells him that it’s 1:36PM. Finally, after being gone all morning Childe is—
—still not there. It’s only Lumine letting Ekaterina into the house.
Zhongli can feel the smile falling from his face.
But he’s quick to school his expression. As Ekaterina finds him in the crowd, Zhongli smiles, walking over to greet her. He also looks just past her, out the front door as Lumine closes it, but there’s no one else out there.
“Hi! Sorry I’m late,” Ekaterina whispers. She holds a few gift bags that Keqing is quick to spot, take, and sort into the massive pile of presents. “Just had to wrap up a few things at the bank.”
“It’s no trouble,” Zhongli says. If Ekaterina was busy at the bank, then…“Is Childe on his way as well?”
Ekaterina frowns. “What do you mean? Childe took the entire week off for Baoyu’s birthday.”
He’s not at work.
“Right,” Zhongli says.
If he’s not at work, then where is he?
“Is he not here?” Ekaterina asks.
No, he’s not.
Zhongli smiles, reassuringly. “He stepped out this morning to get a few last-minute party favors in the Harbor. He’s been gone for a while, so I assumed he’d stepped into the bank.”
“Ah,” Ekaterina sighs. “No, sorry. No sign of him today.”
“It’s no matter. He’ll be back soon, and with another arm-full of presents, no doubt.”
Ekaterina smiles, accepting the answer easily. Zhongli steps aside to invite her properly into the party, but as she walks off, he finds it difficult to follow her. He’s stuck there, for a moment, watching the party unfold without him—without Childe.
He glances at the clock again. It’s 1:40PM.
He takes a breath.
Childe will be back soon. Yelan is out there, somewhere, helping him finish whatever is delaying him, so he’ll be back soon. Then, they’ll cut the cake, open a few presents, and once they’re sure that Baoyu has had the best first birthday ever, he’ll have Childe all to himself.
In the living room, Baoyu has managed to make it half-way to the line of toys. She’s veered towards the right half of them, but it’s unclear if she’s truly interested in the toys or just amused by all of the faces HuTao keeps making.
Zhongli smiles. He takes a step back towards the living room.
But a hand holds him back.
Lumine looks up at him, that same somber frown still there on her face.
“Lumine—”
“I know where he is.”
Zhongli stills. “…How?”
She lets go of his sleeve, and holds out a letter, the paper she had been reading earlier.
“You need to read this. Now, not later,” she begs.
Zhongli takes it from her. She doesn’t meet his eyes, rather she glares down at the envelope. He follows her gaze, finally looking down at it. It’s a plain thing, no address or recipient marked on the front. The back is almost identical, save for the wax seal, broken open. He runs his thumb over the grooves in the wax. It’s a familiar seal, one that he’s seen before, even if it takes him a moment to place.
It’s the Tsaritsa’s seal.
Quietly, he pulls out the letter. It’s crumpled at the edges, but the ink is drawn delicately, perfectly. He reads every perfect word. He reads them over again, skipping words, restarting sentences, tracing the letters of the signature with his eyes ten, twenty times. It doesn’t feel real, though it’s there in his hands and he’s reading the words.
Finally, a hand touches his, pulling the letter down so that he’s staring at the floor instead of the page.
“I found it on his bed, when moving the presents,” Lumine says.
Zhongli isn’t sure how to respond. He’s not sure he can find his voice, and even if he could, he isn’t sure what he’d say. It doesn’t feel like he’s even in the room, rather he’s just watching himself there in the entry hall of his home.
“…Zhongli?” Lumine asks.
He looks at her. He looks out to the party, to Baoyu sitting between two toys and all of the smiling faces trying to entice her one way or the other. Her little frown is adorable. Her laughs that bubble up from the antics before her are melodious. She is perfect.
She is here.
Zhongli puts the letter back into the envelope and places it in his pocket. He takes a step back towards the living room, but a hand holds him back.
This time, he doesn’t turn around.
“Zhongli,” Lumine says. She’s worried.
“Thank you for bringing this to me.” Zhongli glances over his shoulder as he speaks, his voice carefully calm. “Let us return to the party.”
Her hand holds him for just a moment longer before she lets him go.
Zhongli steps back towards the living room, watching quietly as Baoyu considers the toy boat and the spatula. Xiangling waves the spatula around, going on and on about all of the wonderful yummy food that she could teach Baoyu to cook. Meanwhile, Beidou has paused her picture taking to advocate for her little toy ship, moving it to mimic how the ship might sail on the seas.
Baoyu watches both of them, enraptured by their expressions. And then finally, she seems to have made up her mind. She crawls forward. Xiangling and Beidou keep the toys low to the ground for her to grab.
To no one’s surprise, she crawls right past them.
Rousing cheers become amused and dejected grumbles as Baoyu crawls forward on her own mission. No one stops her as she weaves past everyone’s feet, going straight for the arm chair. Carefully, she pulls herself up to stand, using the chair for support. She reaches up, and after a few attempts, grabs her blanket that Zhongli left there.
Triumphantly, she turns, holding up her “toy” to Xiangling and Beidou with a, “Abah!”
The room laughs. Zhongli laughs too. Technically, she picked something.
“Good job, Mei Mei,” Zhongli says.
Baoyu turns around, searching for his voice. When she finds him, she smiles even bigger, showing him her blanket.
“I’m sure, in the years to come, this means you will be a comfort to those around you. Someone we can all rely—”
She walks.
It’s a little slow, and a little uncoordinated, but she walks! One foot in front of the other, she brings the blanket, holding it out to Zhongli. She takes step after step in a mostly straight line with the biggest smile on her face.
There’s shouting and kamera flashes and cheering, and among it all Zhongli can’t help but smile. He can’t help but laugh as he bends down with open arms and Baoyu walks right up to him. The moment she’s within reach, he scoops her up into the air and presses kisses to her cheeks. Baoyu laughs, delighted with all of the attention.
“Look at you! Who taught you to do such a thing?” Zhongli praises. “Ajax, did you see her? Did you—”
No, he didn’t see. He isn’t there.
Zhongli remembers that, suddenly, as he searches the crowd for Childe’s face, for his smile, for his eyes. There are many people there, but Childe is not among them. What he does find are questions, concerns in the faces of his friends, worries in their smiles, and even pity in their eyes.
Because Childe isn’t here to see Baoyu take her first steps. He isn’t here to watch her laugh, to cheer her on, or to celebrate with her. He isn’t here to see how, out of all of the toys she could have chosen, of all the futures she could have picked, she chose the blanket that he gave her. She picked him and that old red scarf he wrapped her in the day she was born.
And he’s not here.
“…Zhongli.”
Zhongli startles as a hand touches his arm. Xiao stares back at him, concerned and confused. There are questions that he doesn’t ask, but they’re there in his eyes.
“Umm mmm,” Baoyu hums.
Zhongli glances to her and the little frown on her face. Then, as he glances around, he sees the same expression everywhere on everyone in the room.
Instinct kicks in, and he tries to save face. He tries to smile and reassure everyone that he was merely lost in thought for a moment and that they should all return to the party. But as he looks around, all he can think about is how Childe isn’t there, and then the words won’t come out, even though he knows what to say, and he can’t seem to smile even if only for a second.
It’s a familiar feeling. It’s a terrible, hollow feeling that he hasn’t felt for a few millennia now.
“Our sincerest apologies everyone, but I believe this party is concluded for the time being.”
It’s not him who says it. It’s Ningguang. She steps in front of him to hide him from view, shield him from the stares, and smile when he cannot. Zhongli is grateful.
He knows there are questions, but he can’t seem to hear them. He knows that people come and go, but he isn’t sure who. There are hands on his arms, gentle pushing at his shoulders, and hushed words spoken past a half-open door.
The details only come back into focus when the weight in his arms shifts. He blinks and suddenly, it’s late afternoon and he’s sitting at the edge of his bed. Cloud Retainer is there, gently prying Baoyu from his hold. Baoyu is squirming, trying to get to the toy rainbow-bracelet toy that Cloud Retainer holds.
Cloud Retainer smiles gently at him.
“Allow one to take her,” she says. “We will not go far.”
Zhongli has just enough awareness to nod and pass Baoyu over. She goes happily, holding her blanket in one hand and her toy in the other. Cloud Retainer smiles at her, makes promises to build her grander toys. With one last acknowledgement to Zhongli, she leaves the room.
Xiao is standing there in the door way when she goes.
“Rex—ah…Zhongli.”
There’s a frown etched on his face. It’s not an unusual look for him, but this one seems so much sadder and angrier than normal. Those questions are still there in his eyes, but he doesn’t ask right away. It takes a few moments to decide which he wants the answer to first, and the one he settles on is:
“What happened?”
Just beyond him, Zhongli sees watchful eyes in his living room. There aren’t as many as before, but Lumine, Ningguang, and Cloud Retainer have all lingered. There is concern there, but no knowledge. Lumine hasn’t told anyone else about the letter.
“Is Childe in trouble again?” Xiao asks. “We’ll find him, I swear it. And, he is resourceful. Even in danger, I do not doubt his ability to keep himself safe.”
Xiao stares at him, expectantly, determined, and it’s not fair.
“Did his secretary send him on another mission?” Xiao huffs. “Perhaps I should start accompanying him on those.”
It’s not fair for Xiao to be so concerned, for him to so honestly believe that they will be able to find Childe and bring him home.
“Or…” Xiao frowns. “Did you…was there a disagreement?”
It’s not fair for Xiao to worry so much. It’s not fair for Zhongli to put this on him. But the longer Zhongli sits there without answering, the deeper Xiao’s concern grows. He’s just not sure how he’s supposed to say it.
And then Xiao kneels before him, not like a soldier, but like a child waiting for a story. He deflates as the concern and worry work its way into his shoulders and down to his hands. And then quietly, and more gently than Zhongli has ever heard him, he asks:
“Baba, where is Childe?”
It’s not fair. To either of them.
“He’s gone.”
Xiao’s shoulders tense. “…What do you mean he’s ‘gone?’”
“I…”
The letter burns in his pocket—an easy explanation, but a cruel truth.
“Baba.”
Zhongli hands him the letter and prays that his son doesn’t retreat, doesn’t crumble like he did millennia ago.
Xiao opens the letter and reads. Zhongli sits there, still as stone while Xiao’s face contorts into shock, and then anger. The letter crumples in his hand under the force of his grip. He pauses for a moment, hands falling to his lap as he puts all of the pieces together. And then with the fiercest determination, he shoots up and storms away.
He’s nearly out of the room when he stops. He turns. He is furious, and rightly so. But more than that, he looks shattered and lost. It’s not fair, but it’s also no surprise.
Zhongli stands, crossing the room, and closing the door behind Xiao just enough to keep those watchful eyes out of view. Gently, he pulls Xiao close, just holding him. And though Zhongli is ready to feel Xiao slip away or for a breeze to push him backward, he instead feels arms hug him back.
Xiao holds on tightly, allowing himself just a few moments of clinging to Zhongli—much in the same way Baoyu does—and a single shaky breath. Then, he does slip away, refusing to look at Zhongli as he blinks away the blur in his eyes.
“I will inform the others,” Xiao whispers. He leaves as the Vigilant Yaksha, all traces of Zhongli’s pained son hidden away behind that frown.
The voices from beyond the door pick up again and Zhongli closes his eyes as Xiao reads the letter aloud. Each word echoes in his head as a reminder that this is the circumstance they agreed on. But those same words weigh on his heart, like stones dragging him down into an endless sea.
Zhongli makes it to the end of the letter, but he’s still standing there in the middle of his room. Gently, he closes his door, and then closes the curtains to his window.
Then, when he is truly alone with no eyes to see him and no ears to hear, he sits on the edge of his bed and cries.
I have let you play house for long enough. As of today, your contract with Morax has ended, and so your responsibilities to me will resume. I cannot help but wonder if your lack of report pertaining a contract with such a long period was intentional, but seeing as Morax has cooperated so kindly with our plans previously, I will consider this an oversight. It will not be so if this happens again.
Your refusal to accompany Capitano to Natlan has not gone unnoticed. Seeing as you no longer have any responsibilities to tend to in Liyue, I trust that you will be aboard the ship to Natlan at dawn. I also trust that you are not so foolish as to ignore me as you have ignored the other Harbingers. Il Capitano’s plan will proceed as intended, and when it is concluded, you will return to Snezhnaya. I will send another to look after Liyue; someone less prone to distractions.
Give my best to Morax and the child.
With Love,
Her Royal Highness, the Tsaritsa