Tʜᴇ ᴇsᴄᴏʀᴛ ᴡᴀɴᴛs ᴘᴇᴀᴄᴇ『ᶻʰᵒⁿᵍˡⁱ ˣ ᵐ/ⁿ ˣ ᵗᵃʳᵗᵃᵍˡⁱᵃ』

XVI

ᴀᴡᴋᴡᴀʀᴅ ʀᴜɴ ɪɴ

Today was a good day, key work was until M/n ran into someone he was instinctively avoiding; Yelan in the market. At first Gale and Xiao tried to do the shopping for M/n but the last time they did, Gale was hounded by women and Xiao was struggling in the crowded area so of course the shopping didn't get done. So M/n decided that having them trail behind him from the shadows was enough...Yeah, he was regretting this decision now because he was face to-face with Yelan and Lady Ningguang.
"M/n."

"Nope, never, not in a million years."M/n swiftly turns before to run away from his sister of this world but she grabs his wrist before he could and weapons were quickly placed at her neck via Xiao and Gale.
"Ack! You two cut it out!!"

"Adeptus Xiao? What are you doing?"

"I've been protecting this mortal in secret for some time now. It's not your concern as to why."

"M/n?"The poor male sighs as Zhongli and Tartaglia approached, he was getting a headache already from this unwanted event! All he wanted was to bake cookies for the brothel. The man was truly regretting his choice to leave the house.
"Oh hello, Consultant Zhongli and Tartaglia, what brings you here?"

"We came to find our lover, What's going on here?"

"Lovers?!"Yelan asked looking at M/n as if he were crazy and his headache got worse, he just wanted to return. Xiao could sense this and a rare gentle expression crossed his face. M/n was one of the few humans that brought a sort of gentle fondness from him in recent days. It was no longer because his master ordered him to, he genuinely cared for M/n and it was the same for Gale.
"M/n let's get you home."

"Not until he explains himself."

"Yelan shut up, I don't have to explain anything to you! Just like you didn't have to explain anything to me. I found out what I needed and left for my safety, now I'm going to leave again."

"YOU WILL NOT!"Yelan yells as M/n turns his back to her, this causes him to turn around and glare at the woman and she returns the stare.
"Not here."His voice was stern, no one has ever heard M/n sound like that. It was clear as day that he wasn't happy with how things were happening.
"How about we continue this talk at the  pavilion over lunch?"

🤎💚💙

The saying 'can it get any worse' applied to this moment, Yelan and M/n were seated across from each other and the air became tense.
"Tell me why. Of all men to lie with, you lie with a Fatui harbinger!"

"Why is that your business?"

"Because he's the same person who put all of Liyue in danger."

"Just like you put me in danger? Does that make you any better? Honestly, Yelan, don't act like you didn't put me in danger too. Only one person died and she deserved it!"M/n didn't back down his eyes were cold as ice, very different from his usual warm and cheerful self.
"I hate to pry but... What's your relationship with our lover?"

"Don't you dare–"

"M/n is my–"

"YELAN!"

"Little brother."Everyone stared at the two, they didn't look alike at all but M/n's reaction told them all they needed to know, that what Yelan said was true.
"I don't understand, why were you hiding that?"Ningguang asked softly as if trying not to aggravate M/n any further than he was.
"If you didn't know, Yelan's 'little brother' is an escort to put it nicely. I didn't want to ruin her reputation since she was close to your side so I left home and joined the brothel in the red-light district. Eventually, she found me and tried to get me to return but of course, I declined."

"You disowned her before she could do the same to you?"

"Precisely, it also kept me alive this long so I say I did something right."Zhongli and Tartaglia sat awkwardly, not because of the sibling spat, but because they weren't sure how to comfort or get the situation to calm down.
"Uh! We should all eat, I'm pretty sure the staff worked hard on this meal!"

"I agree with Tartaglia."