Zhongli had officially become the babysitter of Childe's siblings and he enjoyed it. Well, to some extent. Although enjoyable, having to take care of 3 young children and your own can get quite tiring. So, Zhongli would sometimes follow Childe to work. It was a great moral booster for him, getting tired of the constant repetition so having someone else there served some comfort. Zhongli was getting some water to drink when 2 people collided into him. The paper cup flew out of his hands, spilling water all over the front of his shirt.
"Owwie! Oh, my bad mis-MORAX?" A boy with dark blue hair that faded to turquoise tied into 2 braids that hung over his shoulders was shocked to see Zhongli, as was he.
"Stop your yelling, Barbatos! Wait, Morax?" A woman had hit the boy across his head. She straightened her long purple braid before her eyes widened at the sight of Zhongli.
"Barbatos? Beelzebul?" The brunette stared at them in shock.
"Venti! Ei!" Someone called out to the people.
"Just a minute!" Ei yelled at them. She then turned to Zhongli. Sighing, Ei grabbed a towel and began to dry his shirt.
"What are you doing here?" Venti rocked back and forth on his heels.
"I work for Childe."
"You what now?"
"Are you going deaf, Barbatos?"
"No! I just never seen you here before! You mean that ginger that looks like shit everyday?"
"Well, I work as his siblings' babysitter."
"Ooh! I have seen them before and they are adorable!"
"Morax, may I ask about your husband?"
"Me too, me too!"
"Uh...Well, things are not going well..."
"What? Why?"
"I am curious as well."
"Uh...That's a story for another day. I believe someone called you?"
"Oh yeah! Come on, Morax!" Venti grabbed Zhongli's hand and dragged him, Ei still halfway drying his shirt.
"Barbatos! I wasn't finished!" Ei yelled at the boy, who just stuck his tongue out at her. They ran all the way to Childe's office, Zhongli questioning how he chose his friends.
"What? We were catching up with an old friend!" Venti ran into a room filled with people. He answered a white blonde boy. Beside him was Beidou, Ningguang and a pink haired lady.
"Mom?" Zhongli cocked his head at the 2 women behind Kazuha.
"Ah, A-Li. I didn't expect we'd meet so soon." Ningguang gave him a soft smile.
"Ei?" The pink haired lady turned to face the purple haired woman.
"Miko. This is Morax. Or Zhongli." She shuddered at saying his real name.
"Nice to meet you, Mr Zhongli." The white blonde shook his hand. "Kaedahara Kazhua."
"The pleasure is all mine."
"You work for Childe, no?" Miko asked him.
"I do."
"Speak of the ginger." Beidou muttered as Childe entered the room.
"Why does it feel like I'm intruding on something?"
"Nothing, nothing. We'll leave." Zhongli turned to get out of the room. Venti and Ei followed him out.
"So he works for you?" Miko raised an eyebrow at Childe.
"Takes care of my siblings. Sometimes follows me here."
"Seems fair. Now, on with our meeting..."
"Morax! Shall we go to the mall?" Venti was skipping towards the exit.
"I don't see why not. I need some new clothes anyway." Ei followed him. Zhongli hesitated for a bit, hoping he wouldn't run into Baizhu. But he decided that it would be highly unlikely that they would meet somewhere like this. The 3 friends went to the nearby mall and went shopping. Well, Ei went shopping. Venti and Zhongli went to buy some food. As they hung around one of the aisles, Venti asked Zhongli a question.
"Hey. Can you tell me about Baizhu?"
"W-What?"
"It's only natural for me to be curious since you mysteriously disappeared after you got married."
"Well...I went to visit Osial..."
"Mmhmm."
"Then he started to think I was cheating on him..."
"WHAT? Morax! Osial's taken by Beisht! Plus we all know you!"
"I know...but he wouldn't believe me..."
"Then what? Are you okay?"
"N-No...he started to become overprotective..." Tears began to form in Zhongli's eyes. "Then he...beat me..."
"THAT'S IT!" Venti slammed his drink on the table, startling quite a few passerbys.
"Barbatos? What's going on?" Ei had just returned.
"His hell of a fucking 'husband' literally beat Morax because he thought he was cheating on him with his ex!"
"What!?" Ei snapped her head to face Zhongli. "Morax, is this true?"
Zhongli nodded, looking like he was in shame.
"We're going back now." Ei grabbed his upper arm with her free hand. Venti grabbed his other. The 2 began dragging the very confused brunette back to Childe's company.
"You wait here." Venti pushed him into one of the empty rooms. "Call us if you need anything."
And they left Zhongli alone, sitting awkwardly on the sofa.
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Runaway
FanfictionAs one who is trapped in a cage, when the bars are open, will they take flight of fright? Zhongli has made a mistake. And one he lives to regrets. As he runs away from the harsh conditions with his husband, he runs into a well known, rich Snezhnayan...
