A Contract With You

The Aftermath

Grumbling quietly with the uttermost disapproval, the older male tightly clutched his forehead and frowned. Grudgingly rolling onto his side in an attempt to get up from the bed, he then halted for a few brief seconds. There happened to be a rather peculiar barrier arrogantly preventing him from being able to do so. A warm barrier… A soft one..? Lifting his chin slowly so that he could observe whatever was before him, his eyes suddenly widened in somehow both a mixture of surprise and horror. “What in the actual fuck?!” he belted out to the snuggled up Harbinger beside him, who happened to have a bold, gleeful grin placed upon his face. With his arms still wound around the Adeptus, he looked upright, the expression not yet wiping itself off.

“Morning, Zhongli! How are you feeling?” he asked, genuinely caring about the other’s wellbeing. Lowering his face again, he squashed his cheek onto his shoulder with endearment. It was at that very moment in which the ex-archon had realised their lack of clothing. Not at all sure what emotion he was even meant to be experiencing he remained silent, before feeling his head spin some more from last night’s alcohol. Darting upright without a second thought, he pushed Childe away from him, ready to dart away and locate some clothing. That was until he felt his throat tighten up and then aggressively threw up onto the unfamiliar carpet. “Shit! Zhongli, are you alright?!” Tartaglia yelped out, feeling a significant rush of panic soar through him. Leaping up from the mattress, he lifted a blanket and laid it onto the other’s shoulders. “Uhhh… Uh….” he found himself mumbling, trying to decide on what to do. “Wait there a minute!” the Harbinger blurted out, before hurriedly grabbing some underwear and shoving them on. Not bothering to check his appearance, he had yet to realise that they were inside-out and backwards. Darting out of the mystery bedroom, he fled down the stairs to the tavern’s ground floor. Out of breath from the exercise, he panted between his words. “Hey… Can I have a few glasses of water…?” He asked the bartender, deciding that it would be best to not mention the mess upstairs and to simply leave behind some money to its owner for professional cleaning. Raising an eyebrow at the customer, he poured a few glasses and placed them onto the counter. Childe thanked him politely and abruptly made his journey back up the stairs, avoiding contact with anyone who was dotted around.

Barging into the bedroom with the water in his hands, he blurted out a ‘hey’ before realising that the hungover Adeptus was no longer present. Starting to panic, he began looking in random and rather ridiculous locations, such as underneath the bed and outside the window. To his relief (or not so much), he heard the sound of vomiting coming from an ensuite bathroom. Rushing to it, he used his elbow to open the door, his fingers still gripping tightly onto the glass. Placing them down onto the ground beside the other, Childe chose to kneel beside Zhongli, who had his head over the toilet’s bowl. Reaching out his hand, the red-head gently began caressing the other’s back in an attempt to soothe him and to make the situation slightly less grim. Several moments later, the brunette’s stomach was empty, permitting him the time to breathe. Trembling beneath the blanket, he felt significantly weak, not currently able to do much of anything for himself. Who would have thought that an almighty ex-archon, who ruled a whole nation for thousands of years and was the reason for the death of various Gods would have had such a weakness towards alcohol?

Choosing to take the opportunity to make Morax appear a bit more presentable, he grabbed some toilet roll and wiped the mess from his face and collar. Tossing the tissue into the toilet, he then began combing his fingers through his long hair, tying it up into a messy bun so that it was completely out of his face. He did appear rather strange without the presence of his fringe hanging by his eyes, which was rather humorous to the Fatui member. Once the other appeared clean enough for his liking, he chose to wrap his arms around his torso once again. As a thank-you, Zhongli chose to return the hug, much to the Harbinger’s surprise. Smiling once again, Childe decided to tighten his grip. “Now, Zhongli.” he started to speak. “What did you learn from this experience?” he asked teasingly.