Once again, Zhongli was going to be late.
He ran through the crowd, apologizing to anyone that he bumped into. After some time of running, he finally arrived at his location, stopping in order to make himself look as if he didn't just run a marathon.
He opened the door that belonged to the daycare that took care of his sweet angel, Xiao. He was excited to see his son once again, even if he saw him some hours ago. He headed towards the room that usually housed the children once it was time to be picked up.
Since he often arrived late, it wasn't a suprise to see the room empty. Well, except for Xiao and the caretaker. However, he did not recognize this new caretaker, which immediately brought him suspicion.
"Excuse me, I'm here to pick up my son." Zhongli's voice held authority, his expression professional. At hearing him speak, little Xiao ran to him, hugging his legs. Zhongli bent over to pick him up and give him kiss on the forehead.
"Oh. You're here." The caretaker stood up, grabbing the bag that belonged to Xiao, and headed towards the father son duo.
"I apologize for being late. It was rather busy you see." He carefully placed Xiao on one hand so that he could get the bag with the other. "I don't believe we've met, Miss..?"
A frown appeared on the other's face as they crossed their arms. "It's not 'Miss', it's 'Mr'." The man was used to this, often mistaken for women when he was clearly a man. Maybe it was his hair.
"Oh! I am so sorry for mistaking you as female." Zhongli felt embarrassed to have done such a thing, his apology sincere.
"It's fine. I'm used to it." The man sighed. "My name is Diluc, pleasure to meet you."
"Diluc." Zhongli repeated. "It's nice to meet you too. I'm Zhongli. Oh and, quick question. How come I've never seen you before?"
"Right. The previous caretaker mysteriously got into an accident of sorts. I am merely filling in for her until she recovers." Diluc felt displeased at the situation, but he owed her a favor anyway. "Do not worry, I have experience with children."
"I'm not worried about that at all. I trust that you'll take care of my little angel here." With those words, he turned to look at Xiao, a loving smile on his face.
"Little angel?" Diluc seemed confused at the whole nickname, not seeing Xiao as any type of angel. "Ah. No matter."
"What is it?" Curiosity appeared in Zhongli's features as he looked at Diluc.
"It's nothing." Diluc responded, shaking his head slightly. "I don't mean to be rude but, don't you think you should get going? It's rather late, and I doubt that you'd like to walk the streets at night. Especially with your son."
"Oh, you're right!" Zhongli put down Xiao in order to check the time, suprised at how late it had gotten. "Thank you for reminding. But what about you?"
"Me? I'm only going to lock up and head home." Diluc spoke as he started organizing the room. "See you tomorrow I suppose."
"It's dangerous to be alone at night. I'll wait for you so that I can walk you home." Zhongli suddenly declared.
"No need to do such a thing. I can take care of myself." Despite looking rather feminine, that was only his face. The rest of his body was.. rather muscular to say the least. "If you're worried that I'll get in some type of trouble because of my appearance, I'm able to defend myself."
"It's not that. I just want to. Plus, you'll be taking care of my son, I have a right to try to know at least a little bit about you." Zhongli's eyes followed Diluc as he moved around, placing toys in bins and stacking books on desks. "I won't be taking no for an answer."
