Zhongli noticed Y/N from the corner of his eye and turned. "Hm? Did you need something, Y/N?"
Stunned, facing a situation she had never thought she would, Y/N couldn't do anything but stare in silence with her jaw on the floor. "Y/N? Are you alright? Why are you staring at me like that?" The sound of his voice snapped her from her thoughts and she turned away quickly. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, Zhongli- I didn't know you were in here-" Her cheeks flushed as she apologized. A gentle laugh told her that she was okay, she hadn't meant to walk in. "It's quite alright, I should have told you I would be in here before you left," Zhongli said good-naturedly as he brushed past her and got dressed into the clothes that they had brought home.
Y/N turned around and saw that Zhongli was running his hands through his hair, which flowed down his back like a waterfall. "Mr Zhongli, do you need help with your hair?" She asked, hoping to make up for her awkwardness earlier by helping him out. "I'd like that," Zhongli stood in front of a mirror and Y/N could see a soft smile on his face as she approached him. Taking his hair in one hand and grabbing his hair tie with another, she brushed through it gently and tied it back, first tying it up with the black hair tie, then adding on the Cor Lapis clip afterwards. "Alright, it's done." She drops her hands and makes to leave him be, but his gentle grip around her wrist stops her. "Y/N..." Zhongli says her name, and he looks like he wants to say something, but he shakes his head and lets her go. "Never mind. Go help the others. I'll be out in a while." She nods, then leaves, closing the door behind her.
"Y/N? Are you alright?" Kaeya catches her expression as she walks out, furrowing his brow in concern. "What happened in there?" He glances at her room, but Y/N shakes her head. "It's nothing, Kaeya. Just an accident," she brushes it off then heads to the garden to take a breather. As she steps out, she notices Tighnari laying in the grass, his eyes closed peacefully as butterflies fluttered above him. His ears twitched every once in a while, rustling the nearby blades of grass.
Y/N closes the back door behind her quietly, but Tighnari's ears flick and he opens his eyes and sits up, sending the butterflies that flew around him scattering. "Hi," he said simply as he sat cross-legged in the grass, his tail curling by his legs. Y/N waved, and walked over to her flowerbeds, starting to tend to the many bushes. At this, Tighnari too furrowed his brow, for from what his observations over the past few days suggested, Y/N would never be this quiet. Unless...
"Did something happen?" Y/N was taken aback. Tighnari had never really spoken to her, yet he could read her so easily. "Uh, yeah, I'm alright!" She brushed it off again, giving a nervous smile to seal the lie. But Tighnari would not be so easily brushed off as Kaeya or the others. He stood up from the grass, walked over, grabbed Y/N's hand, and dragged her over to the grass, and sat her down in front of him. "Tell me what's wrong." "It's nothing, believe me. I wouldn't want to burden you with this," Y/N shook her head. Tighnari huffed, and took Y/N's hands in his. "You're not burdening me with this, it's not any better to keep it inside," he insisted, his eyes burying deep into hers. "Tighnari! I'm not depressed, I just walked in on Zhongli showering!" Y/N finally cried out and buried her face in her hands, her cheeks flushed.
There was a beat. Tighnari didn't have anything to say, so he just tilted his head, making him look like a puzzled kitten. When Y/N looked up from her hands and saw that, believe me, you would have spilled your secrets to those innocent eyes too. "I went into my room after coming back from the store, and I walked in to change into some comfortable clothes, when I heard the shower running so I went to go see who it was and Zhongli got out of the shower and he-" Y/N's cheeks flushed more as she recalled every little curve of his body when he had turned to her.
Little did Y/N and Tighnari know that the entire time, Kaeya, Lisa, Childe, Xiao, and Diluc (Kaeya dragged him along) were watching and listening through the window. At this confession, Kaeya and Lisa's jaws dropped, Childe burst out laughing, and Xiao and Diluc stayed silent. With the sudden roar of noise from the window, Jean looked up from the book she had been reading (or attempted to read anyways). "What in Barbatos is going on over there, Kaeya?" She asked, setting the book down in her lap, looking over incredulously. Between wheezing and gasps for air, he answered; "Y/N walked in on Zhongli showering!" At this, Zhongli's head snapped up from where he was sitting, where he had also been attempting to read one of Y/N's books. As he heard everyone's laughter, his cheeks prickled with a blush he couldn't see, and quickly excused himself to a guest room to compose himself.
He sat down on the bed and buried his head in his hands, trying to force back the blush that heated up his face and the sudden butterflies in his stomach, breathing deeply. "Morax?" A voice called out quietly, and Zhongli looked up to see Xiao poking his head in. He sat up and hurriedly shook his head, gesturing for him to come in. Xiao closed the door behind him and sat down next to him. "Are you alright? Their laughter didn't bug you, did they?" Zhongli shook his head. He didn't know why he was so nervous about what had happened, and it wasn't like their laughing bothered him. So why did he so feel anxious and awkward?
