Maybe? (ONGOING)

Prologue

Maybe it was the fact that the days that were spent in Mondstadt had been uneventful for most of his stay here. Or maybe he was tired of the same routine, walking around the city for the day, only to go back to the Hotel.

Whatever the case may be, all the ginger knew was that he needed a drink. The fatui had been getting on his case a lot more recently being that he was a harbinger, constantly asking him when they would finally be allowed to leave the city. They were all begging to feel too cooped up being that they have stayed in the same hotel with the same people for quite some time now.

Not everyone can get along with their co-workers for such an extended period of time.

It was of no help that the Tsaritsa would dance around the topic of when they could return to doing as they had before Mondstadt, so much so that no matter how many letters he would send, he would never be told a thing.

A couple of days ago when he was wandering around Mondstadt, he noticed that there were two different taverns. One was next door to the Adventurer's Guild. He didn't even remember the name of it being that he never went inside, it seemed much too full of people and he really did not feel like being around Katherine any time soon.

The tavern which he did remember the name of, Angel's Share, seemed to be much less crowded and more of his style anyway. That being said, he was already rushing to make his way over, knowing full well he'd need something strong to get him through the rest of the day. Possibly even the rest of his stay here, however long that'll be.

As soon as he opened the door to the tavern the noise he heard from just outside was all he would hear from all the drunken conversations and clinking of glasses being placed on tables. The tavern was almost completely packed which would make sense seeing as work days and dinners usually came to an end by now.

Looking around, there was even a bard to the left of the door playing some quiet music, somehow undistracted by every other noise throughout the busy building.

Across the way of the door was a typical bar set-up; a long countertop with bar stools lined along the side opposite of where the bartender was. Speaking of, the man behind the counter turned out to have bright red hair that had been tied back in a ponytail. His face actually made him seem not all that glad to be in his position, not that it was one anyone would want to be in.

There were already a few people taking up a few of the stools at the bar with only two left for whoever managed to steal them first and this man was damn sure he'd be one of those people just so he could get any of his drinks as quickly as possible.

He walked over to the nearest open stool which was placed one the right, almost in the exact middle of the bar.

The man behind the counter gave him a side-eye, clearly not happy that there was yet another customer for him to serve. Despite seeming as though he'd rather continue washing cups, he came over and just stared.

The ginger already didn't like this guy all that much but knew he'd have to get over it if he wanted some drinks, "One Weißbier, bitte."

The man turned around to grab a bottle and a cup. Normally the Ginger would just ask to have the entire bottle but he had a feeling that if he did, he wouldn't get it. So he just watched as the guy behind the counter placed a cup in front of him and filled it.

The ginger didn't even wait until the bottle was fully pulled away before snatching the cup and downing half of it, putting back down in front of him after.

If the guy behind the counter wasn't fond of him being there before, he probably wanted the new customer to leave already.

Slowly, the ginger drank cup after cup, the bartender forcing him to only have about five within the hour or so that he's been sitting at the bar, listening to everyone around chatting and the bard playing whatever songs he pleased.

By the time he finally convinced the bartender to give him a sixth cup, the door to the tavern opened loudly, bringing the ginger to look over his shoulder in order to catch a glimpse of the newest attendant to the building.

The bartender sighed and turned to grab something from behind the counter which had turned out to be a bottle of what the ginger realized to be Dandelion Wine. He then got a wine glass and placed it on the bar as the man who walked in sat at the only other open stool, the one next to the now confused customer.

The man had blue hair, along with an outfit also consisting of a large amount of blue. The man even had a cryo vision hanging from his belt. As he sat down, the ginger's eyes made their way to the mass on his shoulder of white....fluff? Whatever it was, it looked very soft and was very tempting to just reach out and touch.

But no matter the outfit, the ginger knew exactly who he was. He'd seen him around during his stay in the city and had even heard many things about him, mainly just praises.

The man smiled at the bartender who just scowled and looked away again to go back to what he was doing.

It took only one sip from his drink for the man to finally realize that the other next to him had been staring for longer than most people in Mondstadt usually do, even foreigners like the ginger seemed to be.

So, putting on a smirk, the Calvary Captain turned to the man next to him who was flushed knowing he had been caught staring, and said, "Hallo. I guess the rumors of a harbinger in the city had been true."

Word count: 1,027

Date: 23/3/22