Xiao+Zhongli (separate) with a GN Bartender!

xiao

Your boss had told you about Adeptus Xiao before you came to Wangshu Inn.

"Don't get your hopes up," she said. "You might see him from a distance, but Xiao isn't very sociable. I doubt you'll interact much."

"Of course," you responded. "I'm not here to meet the Adeptus, anyways."

That was true; you came for the paycheck and free lodging, not Xiao. Whether you met him or not made no difference to you. When you did see him, it came as a surprise, seeing as you didn't actively seek him out.

You caught your first glimpse of him within the first five days of opening. After that, you saw him hanging around the bar frequently. He didn't approach, just lingered.

It took you a week to strike up a conversation. It was a slow day, so there weren't any costumers around; maybe the boredom was starting to get to you.

"Can I get you something?" You asked, looking up from the glass you were wiping off.

"Huh?" The man's voice was snappish as if he was offended by the mere prospect of someone talking to him. Verr wasn't kidding, it seems.

"A drink," you said. "You've been staring for a while, so I thought you might be thirsty."

"I'm not."

You expected him to leave.

He didn't.

"..."

He was still staring at you. You moved on to clean a different cup.

"..."

You decided to wipe down the counter.

"..."

It's been a while since you organized your ingredients.

"..."

What if you arranged the liquor bottles by color?

"..."

What if you arranged them by height?

"..."

You should probably just put them back.

"..."

Finally, you had exhausted all of your options and were now completely out of meaningless things to occupy yourself with. He was still staring. At this rate, it felt like he would bore a hole in your head.

"Are you...sure you don't want anything?" You didn't meet his eyes.

"..." He didn't answer. By the time you looked up, he was gone.

You didn't think you'd be getting much sleep tonight.