Operation: Make Zhongli Smile Forever

Part 15 - The Statues of Liyue don't lie (Childe found out the'friendly' way)

Four people in a one bedroom apartment, Childe decided, was a nightmare; especially with two individuals like Venti and Hu Tao. Zhongli, as he promised, was cooking dinner for the four of them while Childe lay with his head on the table, exhausted by trying to control the chaos unfolding in the living room; apparently Pyro and Anemo was a really, really bad mix.

"This is kind of what it's like to have younger siblings," Childe piped up, turning his head to the side to face Zhongli, who was stirring away in his pan.

"Seems nightmarish," Zhongli chuckled, adding more chilies to the dish; for a man that primarily ate out in fancy restaurants, he was a shockingly good cook. Childe giggled slightly, tapping his fingers on the table.

"You get used to it. I love my siblings dearly but sometimes I'm really, really grateful they don't have visions," the Harbinger snickered, a fond smile filling his face; after some more seasoning, Zhongli pulled down 4 plates from his cupboards and evenly distributed the food he had prepared. At the sound of plates being laid out, Venti and Hu Tao appeared in the doorway, huge grins on their faces. Zhongli set out the four plates and took a seat opposite Childe, while Venti and Hu Tao leaned against the counters with their plates in hand. Much to everyone's surprise, Venti was shockingly good at using his chopsticks.

"Please, Childe," Zhongli half begged across the table, "you really have to learn to use these. We didn't buy those nice ones for nothing." Hu Tao perked up a little.

"Nice ones?" she smirked through her question as she shovelled more stir fry into her mouth.

"Yeah, these gold plated dragon and phoenix ones that, well, I paid for in the first place," Childe explained, desperately attempting to pick up the food with his chopsticks; the teenage girl almost choked on her food.

"Oh yeah? Zhongli got them for you?" she chuckled, casting a look to a very flushed Zhongli.

"Yeah I guess... still with my money though. Why are you asking?" Childe continued onwards, finally grabbing a piece of Jueyun Chili. Hu Tao smirked.

"Ah, no real reason. They're just rare to come by these days. They're very... traditional ," she snickered, taking more bites of her food; Zhongli's face only grew redder and redder, and Childe knew it wasn't the chillies because the man had a rather high spice tolerance.

"I see," Childe smirked, deciding to ask Zhongli about their meaning later, "I promise I'll learn, I promise ." Zhongli shuffled in his seat, lips twitching between a scowl and polite frown; their two visitors were clearly too much for Zhongli to handle. The Harbinger chuckled a little and returned to struggling with his food.

Hu Tao finished first, the absolute glutton that she was; it was rather shocking how fast she managed to finish the dish despite how full the plate was. She hopped out of the kitchen as soon as she was finished, dropping her plate in the sink as she skipped away from the other three men. Zhongli finished second, followed by Venti and finally Childe; at least Zhongli had the decency to stay at the table while Childe finished off, a low 'mmm' leaving his mouth as he swallowed the last bite. Both men placed their plated in the sink to clean later and joined the two 'gremlins' (as Childe called them) in the living room.

And thus the problem of four people arose again; the sofa only had room for three people, leaving the two tall men standing awkwardly staring down at the last remaining seat. Both of them moved forwards at the same time, bumping awkwardly. Hu Tao groaned loudly and pulled Zhongli down into the sofa by one of his long coattails, slamming him into the soft cushions; while Zhongli was still in a slight daze, the young director pulled Childe down into the consultants lap. Beside them, Venti broke into laughter.