Time Gone To Waste - ChiLi: Another fanfic

Chapter 1:

Zhongli looks up and sees a clear blue sky above the yellow maple tree he is sitting against. 
"Zhongli, why live? You already know it's not the end for you," a voice coming from under Zhongli utters. He looks down to see a guy, a brunette with his long hair all over Zhongli's lap laying down on him. The unknown person looks up. Zhongli's eyes dart over to his, they've got peircing blue eyes but eyes that are somehow.., dull. They smile, "Oh come on now, I'm suprised even you don't get what I mean by that. Reincarnation! As long as you've got a lead on who or what you need to look for, it's pretty easy." 

Zhongli shakes his head to get out of the current trance. He looks around to see his surroundings then notices that he is at Wamin Resturant, dining with Venti. Venti puts a concerned look to Zhongli.
"Are you feeling ok lately, old man? It's not healthy to be spacing out this much."
"I saw him. Ajax." Venti gets startled by Zhongli's comment and chokes on his food. 
"Aha, I never knew you we're such a prankster, Zhongli!" He looks back at Zhongli after pounding his chest a few times. Zhongli gives Venti a stare.
"Well, old man, you don't have to worry. I'm here, and it was just a daydream." Venti says, trying to reassure him.
"If you are finished with your food you are able to leave."
"Fine, if you're so pushy. So mean.., I'm taking this with me by the way, I wasn't finished." Venti takes the plate and starts to walk away. Zhongli looks at Chef Mao signaling him if it's ok for him to take the plate. Chef Mao laughs and nods slightly showing amusement to the situation. Zhongli reaches into his pocket for his bag of mora.
"I'm sorry for the inconvenience, Chef, but it seems that I have forgotten my wallet."
"No, that's fine. My wife is about to have a baby girl and you've already shown your support to my family by eating my food," Chef Mao explains, "Altough, this is the only time I'll let this go off the hook. Please be more careful next time." Zhongli thanks him for his kindness and walks in the direction of Mt. Aozang. He sees his tea ready to be made. He puts focus in his actions, making sure everything is precise. He sits on the stool with his name engraved into it and watches the sunset while drinking his tea. 
"Ajax.., I hope to see you again."

Zhongli sits hit tea cups down on its saucer. He has made his body younger to fit the age group of young adultary, Venti had said to change a few day before, for a special occasion. Zhongli takes the path from Mt. Aozang to Liyue Harbour. As he walks he admires the Jade Chamber up in the sky and how Liyue Harbour has grown over the past years. Zhongli sees the 2 Millelith guards at the front gate and greets them a good morning while walking past. He walks further to see Venti already waiting for him to take his seat at the new Wamin Resturant. 
"I see you look younger than ever, Zhongli," Chef Mao states, "It's my daughter's 10th brithday today, I was hoping you and Venti would come along to celebrate it." Venti glances and gives a smile to Zhongli and agrees to the celebration of Xiangling's birthday. 
"We'd like to buy her a gift, is it alright to leave for a moment, Chef?" Venti asks. Chef Mao allows them to go out gift shopping for the moment while he prepares an area to celebrate the birthday. 

"So, Zhongli. What do you suppose we should get, Xiangling?" Venti proposes.
"A toy should be suited for a young girl her age." 
"Ehe, I expected that answer from you." Venti begins to run off to a small nearby kite stall, Zhongli walking at a faster pace to catch up to his small friend. They wait in line, watching a young ginger in front, buy a fairly large bird kite. As the young man starts to walk away, Zhongli catches a glimpse of his face. His eyes, a dark shade of blue and his skin, pale as snow. The ginger turns his head and locks eyes with Zhongli. Zhongli stumbles back a step at the sight of his eyes. The small sparkle of life could not be seen. The man smiles at him and continues to walk away. Venti finishes the payment to the lady at the stall for the kite. He turns to Zhongli then jumps to tap his nose. Zhongli looks down to Venti and looks unamused by his actions. Venti laughs and skips back to Wamin Resturant.

They return to the resturant and start celebrating the special event. Time flies by as many others come to the resturant celebrating the birthday and it is now time for Xiangling to open each of her presents. Suddenly they hear a knocking coming from the door. Chef Mao drops his camera and opens the door. Then a voice starts to begin talking, "Hello, I was just wondering if you are able to make one of Liyue's specialty dishes, if it isn't a bother." Chef Mao turns around to his daughter, then answer the stranger.
"May I ask why at this time? It's late and the sign at the front says 'closed'."
"Well, I'm not here at Liyue for long and I would like some food to give to my younger siblings as a treat."
"Ah, so you're a brother? I like you. It's my daughter's birthday today and you're able to stay for tonight and the food left over is yours, aha."
"Are you sure? I'm just a stranger and I'm sure I'd be a bother as I am another mouth to feed."
"It's no problem The more the merrier and Liyue welcomes you."
"Thank you very much! Sorry, for the bother."

The stranger walks in and catches Zhongli's eye immediately. Zhongli's eyes follows him as he takes the open seat next to him. The ginger introduces himself as Tartaglia and takes out his hand for Zhongli to shake. He takes Tartaglia's hand then introduces himself. 
"Are you the one at the kite stall?" Tartaglia initiates a conversation between them.
"Ah yes, sorry for staring at you."
"Oh no, that's fine. You we're buying a kite for this little one, eh?" He nods his head to small Xiangling opening a small box present while still locking his eyes with Zhongli.
"Yes, me and my.., friend we're invited last minute."
"Aha, I get it don't worry. Luckily you we're able to get a gift, before it started."
"Fortunately." Zhongli chuckles and looks at Venti, drinking away with strangers that are facinated by his out-lander clothing. Venti catches Zhongli's gaze and decides to sit between him and Tartaglia.
"Hello there, good-looking ginger," Venti smugly announces, winking in Tartaglia's way, "what are you two up to?"
"Tartaglia, this is my friend, Venti. He is from the Nation of Wind and visits time to time."
"Ah, hello, I'm from Shneznaya." Tartaglia introduces himself, awkwardly. Venti smiles and whispers in Zhongli's ear, while looking at Tartaglia. He then begins to exit out of the inbetween and walks back to the group of men he was with before.


!!notes!!: Hi, first of all. And credit to my editor who created some ideas when i was stumped and helped me, ehe. Just want to say that when Zhongli had made his body look younger, it was because Venti had said that he didn't want an old man coming to a child's birthday party and scaring them. And I also want to say that there is going to be angst (I'll try my hardest), and I'll try my hardest to keep uploading chapters because I'm still in school aha. That's basically it, have a good day/evening/night. 

Credit to: bukojuiice on tumblr for the cover. (I couldn't find to original artist)