𝗛𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗵𝘂𝗿𝗹 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗰𝘆 ✦ 𝗚𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁

𝘽𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙕𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙞

↢3rd Person POV↣

"Old man! Hey! Old man! Guess what I learned!" y/n chirped as her and Zhongli walked together around Liyue.

Y/n had stopped by the harbor for a visit and decided to help Zhongli out with some errands while she was there.

The tall man smiled at the excited girl who was itching to share the news she had, "What did you learn?"

"Guizhong. God of Dust. I found a book about her." y/n said, "It says that you guys worked together! Could you maybe tell me more about her?"

Zhongli hesitated but it was that hopeful look in the h/c haired girl's eyes that got him to reconsider his answer, which had originally been no.

"What do you know so far?" he asked instead and the girl seemed happy to share what she knew.

"She loved glaze lilies, that's one! She was your best friend too, I believe! Shato... how Paimon and I are best friends!" y/n began, "She was super nice! Intelligent too! And she was a wonderful engineer! She taught her people agriculture and if I remember correctly, Guili Plains used to be a market of some kind!"

For someone who enjoyed fighting so much, y/n was an avid reader. It almost surprised Zhongli, considering how she typically denied her love of books. Her arguments were pretty convincing.

"The book may be wrong but apparently she was the brain to your brawn-!" y/n continued then laughed, "I think the book is implying that you were a muscle head back then!"

Zhongli blinked then chuckled while y/n beamed, happy to have made him at least laugh a tiny bit.

"A muscle head you say?" he hummed, "I wouldn't call myself that but it does sound about right... just a little."

Y/n grinned then stared up at the sky, "After Aether and his sister reunite, maybe I could be an engineer like Guizhong! The first Mitachurl to be an engineer!"

Zhongli smiled, a little amused by the fact that the girl still believed she was a mitachurl. It was a good thing that despite all the stuff she'd experienced after leaving the safety of her home, she still kept that child-like curiosity, that everlasting hope and her desire to learn.

"I look forwarding to seeing that." Zhongli told her and y/n smiled warmly.

"Nyeheh! I'll be the best engineer ever! Maybe second to the God of Dust but I'll totally beat Cloud Retainer!" y/n chimed as Zhongli pat her head, "But first thing's first! Gotta help you with your errands! Go back to Mondstadt! Then help Aether!"

'And being a horrible friend.' y/n thought miserably, internally screaming, 'I hate lying and keeping secrets. It hurts my chest-'

•••

"Whaaat? It broke again?" y/n whined, staring at the Guizhong Ballista with an irritated expression, "Was it those low-life treasure hunters again?"

"Most likely." Zhongli sighed, his voice heavy then observed y/n who was peering at the mechanism with thoughtful e/c eyes.

"Now that I look at it a bit closer, it isn't all the complicated." y/n commented, brows raised, "Are there anymore spare parts?"

"There might be." Zhongli replied and that was all y/n needed to bolt to the last spot she'd found spare parts.

She launched herself through the window, not getting stuck this time but rammed head first into the wall with a, "OW!"

"Are you alright?" Zhongli called, brows furrowed with concern but relaxed relaxed the girl popped up in the window, rubbing her head.

"I'm okay!" she exclaimed before disappearing again as she searched for the parts.

It was a while before y/n popped up again with an excited, "Found 'em!"

She scrambled back through the window, dragging the parts with her and joined Zhongli once more.

"Hold on, I think I can fix it!" y/n chirped then pointed at the man, "I watched you fix it last time."

"Oh? Let's see how much you remember." Zhongli took a step back to let the girl do her thing.

She didn't seem to know where to start at first but figured it out after a minute or two.

She busied herself while working by wondering if she should visit the Abyss again. You know, in case Lumine was lonely.

Did Lumine have a favorite food?

A drink, maybe?

Would she like Puppy Paw Hashbrowns?

Y/n had been so deep in thought that she hadn't realized it had gotten dark. She stood up with a satisfied look and turned her gaze to Zhongli, "Did I do it right."

Zhongli smiled then rubbed y/n's head, earning a bright smile from the girl, "Looks about right. Good job, y/n!"

"Can we try it out-"

"No."

•••

Zhongli knew from the start that y/n wouldn't be able to walk all the way back to Liyue Harbor without falling asleep.

She'd walked all the way there earlier that day without resting and was active all day, not stopping once to rest.

So... it wasn't much of a surpsie while she face planted in the middle of the walk back to the harbor.

Zhongli did what any good Dad-

UH, I MEAN, FRIEND

-would do and carried her the rest of the way on his back.

(I think I might do volleyball when this season of track ends, who knows...)