Taking over the Abyss

13- Goodnight

Both Childe and Zhongli were understanding enough to at least sit down to let you try and explain what happened. When you tried to sit down in the grass, you were stopped by Leiptr lifting you off the ground and making you sit in his lap, muttering about how the ground was unworthy of you.

Childe raised an eyebrow at that, but otherwise didn't speak to Leiptr. Looking back at you, Childe struggled to try and keep the atmosphere light, "We leave you on your own for half an hour and you start a religion, huh?"

"It's... um..." you looked up at Leiptr. "Leiptr sort of tried to kill me and I may or may not have accidentally fried... him."

Zhongli glared at Leiptr, clearly not impressed with how he had apparently tried to murder you. "Is this true?"

"Regrettably," Leiptr confirmed, "But I have seen the light. (Name) is the savior of the Abyss-"

"Okay!" You clapped your hands together, "Anyway, it doesn't matter that much! All that matters is that I was able to defend myself successfully."

Childe forced a smile, pleased to hear that despite the strange circumstances. "Well, I'm glad my teaching has already rubbed off on you so well."

"Forgive me for asking," Zhongli interrupted, still glaring at Leiptr, "But (Name), are you sure Leiptr can be trusted?"

You looked up at the strangely passive Lector, "Well, no, not really. But I trust you guys' strength, so I'm not worried."

Leiptr seemed offended by Zhongli's (rightful) suspicions, "I wish nothing but the best for (Name). I am her humble servant, her bodyguard, and her most devoted butler."

Yeah, Leiptr was... probably a dude. You wondered how he knew what the hell a butler was, but assumed some poor adventurer dropped a copy of a book that had butlers in it down the Abyss. Probably how he knew. You hoped. You sincerely hoped that Leiptr getting electrocuted via your Hydro energy hadn't shown him any of your memories. If he wanted to hire himself that badly, you'd let him if it meant he'd never tell anybody about your private bookmarks and your manhwa hoard.

"Butler, huh?" Childe was just as weirded out as you were, but recovered easily, "Well, I suppose it doesn't matter that much. If you're so confident that Zhongli and I are strong enough to take him on if he attacks again, then I'm flattered."

Zhongli sighed, "I suppose I can allow this..."

With the short discussion of how you accidentally electrocuted Leiptr into being your servant over with, Childe reached behind him to pull out a fancy looking brown bag. "With all the excitement, I nearly forgot to give this to you!"

Your ears perked up excitedly, as you got off of Leiptr to rush up to Childe and see what he got you. Was it a rock? You hoped it wasn't a rock. Handing you the bag, Childe watched you pull your present out of your bag. It looked like a small, white leather strap. Confused by awed by how pretty it was, you looked to Childe for help.

"I noticed you carried your staff in your sleeve all the time," Childe explained, "That can't be comfortable, so I had this holster made for you. It's a little big, but hopefully you'll grow into it soon."

Moved by how sweet of a gift this was, you held it tightly and struggled to somewhere to clip it on. Zhongli reached out to help, ignoring Leiptr's quiet protesting to unhand you. Finding a suitable area that would let you pull out your staff quickly, Zhongli strapped it onto you and tightened it so it wouldn't fall off.

Letting your staff fall out of your sleeve, you sheathed it into the holster before striking a pose to show off. Afterwards, you practically jumped onto Childe to hug his arm, "Thank you so much!"