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

XVII

Tʜᴇ ᴘʟᴀɴ

Today was the day that M/n slept unbothered by the world outside of his window. Things had gotten strange after being faced with his older sister that day but M/n didn't mind the extra care and gentleness from Xiao and Gale. The two were worried about the male since he seemed to have a mental decline afterward.
"He's been sleeping in a lot more, should we notify Zhongli and Tartaglia?"

"Hm, I heard it's common for some humans to sleep longer after a complicated part of life but I could be wrong. Let's hold off on that report for now. Maybe sleep is his way of avoiding the situation. It's only been a few days. If it goes on longer than this, then we make the report."

"Alright, I'll trust you on this."Gale found it fun to hang around the Yaksha while protecting M/n because not only is he dragged in to have tea, but so is Xiao. It was a nice warm feeling he got from this since he's never experienced this before.
"I have an idea that the three of them will like."

"Oh, what plan do you have, Xiao?"

"You know that large mansion just outside of Liyue harbor, the one going towards the golden house?"Gale smiles brightly and Xiao couldn't help but smile too, it was a small one but it didn't matter.
"Tell me what it is you're going to do, I'll try my hardest to help."

💚💚💚

Lately, Xiao and Gale have been sneaking off assuming no one has noticed, but M/n did. He found it funny how well they got along when they thought no one was watching. M/n was curious as to what the two had been up to for the past three weeks.
"I wonder where they ran off to?"

"Hm?"

"Xiao and Gale have been sneaking off. To where I have no idea but Gale sleeps half the morning when they get back and Xiao smells like dirt from time to time."M/n explains while pouring Ai tea to drink. It was quite late and the two settled for tea for the night to relax.
"Say, M/n...That woman Yelan–"

"What about her?"

"Do you know her?"M/n sighs softly and nods but doesn't reveal his ties to her just for his mental health.
"I met her before, a long time ago."

"Oh? Where did you meet?"

"Hm, in the market. She nearly knocked me over but I did drop the eggs. She bought me some more before walking away from me."M/n scoffs at this, did Yelan like the woman or was it by chance that they met?
"Did you ever meet again?"

"Unfortunately, I never saw her again. I just learned her name today. I've been looking for her since that day, I haven't been lucky at all."Ai sips her tea and said if it wasn't meant to be then it wasn't meant to be.
That left a bit of a sour taste in his mouth.
"I don't think you should give up. She's a hard one to track down but if you stop paying attention or seeking out her attention she'll come to you eventually."

"Really?"M/n nods at the hopeful woman then changes the subject off to his new world sister.
"Ah! Here you are M/n."

"What brings you two here?"It was Childe and Zhongli, they looked rather confused at this, they saw Xiao and Gale rushing off to wherever assuming they were walking after M/n but that wasn't the case.
"Do you know where Xiao and Gale were heading off to? They rushed by so quickly that they didn't realize it was us they went by."

"They've been quite secretive lately, but I have a feeling that they've been working on something so I decided not to bother them on it. Eventually, they'll tell us what's going on. I trust them–"The window slides open displaying Xiao and Gale just as M/n finished his sentence.
"M/n!"

"Ack!? Archons, you two startled the hells out of me! Where are you coming from and why are you two so dirty?!"The two males look down at themselves and then back up at M/n with gleeful smiles.
"We have a surprise!"