Surprise Party

Y'all I really don't know how a simple idea turned into this, but I'm blaming my friend Anze for putting this idea in my head. Anyways- I love Zhongli so much, so I decided to give him a little birthday present. I know holidays are hard sometimes, but I hope everyone is having a good end of the year. Enjoy, and happy holidays!!!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Childe was about to embark on what would be his most difficult mission yet- keeping a secret from Zhongli. He had no idea how he was going to pull this off. In addition, he wasn't the only person who would need to keep this secret. You see, Childe wanted to throw a surprise party for Zhongli. Since his birthday was December 31st, Zhongli didn't normally celebrate his birthday and simply celebrated the new year, but Childe was determined to change that. In order to pull this off, he knew he was going to need help. A lot of help, in fact.

First up, he had to find a place to hold the party. Liuli Pavilion immediately came to mind. It was perfect. The only problem was trying to get a reservation for the day. It turned out to be easier than he thought it would be when he gave in to their questions and mentioned it was Zhongli's birthday. The staff was elated to be the place of celebration for his birthday, and Childe was about to book the restaurant out for a discounted rate. He pleaded with them to keep secret and not let the rumor spread. Childe ended up banging his head on his desk when he heard the rumor spreading of how "Liuli has been rented out for important business!" He supposed he shouldn't be surprised, but he was thankful that was the only information spreading.

It didn't last long. A few days after the rumor had really taken off, Yelan and Ningguang were knocking on his door.

"How can I help you ladies?" He asked, genuinely confused as to why they were here. Normally, if they needed something, they would send him an official summon or a messenger. Having them show up to his office unannounced was unheard of.

"Don't act coy." Yelan scoffed as she invited herself into his office and began to look around.

"Peace Yelan." Ningguang scolded gently. "We have business to discuss, may we come in?"

"Looks like you already have." Childe grumbled, glaring at Yelan, but opened the door wider for Ningguang anyways.

"Thank you." The blonde said politely as she waited for the door to fully close. "Now, we've heard that you've rented Liuli Pavilion for business on the 31st. Why?"

"It's not business, it's personal." The ginger grumbled. He really didn't want to give any more information than that. Firstly, because it wasn't any of their business really, but secondly, he wanted as few people to know about this as possible to minimize the chance of Zhongli discovering his plans.

"Not according to our sources." Yelan informed him.

"What sources? Baseless rumors?" Childe snapped. In the back of him mind he knew he should be more respectful, but there was just something about Yelan that rubbed him the wrong way. It didn't matter what the situation was, he would never get along with her.

"Enough." Ningguang's voice commanded, ringing out enough to freeze the small room. "I'm afraid in order to continue you will need to tell us the intentions behind this rental or the Qixing will be forced to take further action." Childe held her gaze, but as much as he didn't want to give up information, it would be ridiculous to put the Fatui and Qixing at odds over this matter.

"Fine." He relented, looking away. "I rented it with my personal funds for a party for Zhongli's birthday. This has nothing to do with the Fatui."

"Ah, that's right, his birthday is coming up. I'm sure he'll appreciate the celebration." Ningguang acknowledged, while Yelan looked shocked at the reasoning behind the rental. It appeared she was convinced the rental was for an entirely different matter. "I'll be sure to order a gift to be ready for it."