im pretty sure my dad didn't leave for milk

Peepaw's Story

But you can't! What about our manpower?!

Manpower ur mom lololol jk i need to go take care of my wife and kids bye morax ttyl!!!

They did not, infact, ttyl Zhongli, instead leaving him on read, Or what you could say is the version of read in real life, for the next 50 years. And counting. Thus resulting in a scraped knee Xiao because they were one adepti short.

"god FUCKING DAMNIT [insert Yanfei's dad's name here] YOU FUCKING SON OF A BITCH UR WIFE'S PROABBLY DEAD BY NOW WHY ARE YOU STILL NOT BACK"

But wait! You must be thinking, didn't the quest where we get the teapot say that Morax gave them their blessings? also aren't yanfei's dad and mom on a honeymoon-

Morax watched with tears in their eyes as [insert Yanfei's dad's name here] kissed [insert Yanfei's mom's name here] and got married. idk. (ive never been to a wedding before except for when i was little and duh if i was little i don't remember idk how this works) But contrary to what the guest's were thinking, they weren't happy tears. no, Zhongli wasn't happy about [insert Yanfei's dad's name here] and [insert Yanfei's mom's name here]'s union. Not one bit. Instead, they were angry tears, angry that [insert Yanfei's dad's name here] decided to abandon the adepti, thus lessening their manpower. No one gives a shit that the age of the adepti were coming to pass, this was about comrades in arms goddamnit, why why don't leave me alone i don't no no no

He gave his blessings to them through clenched teeth.

god fucking damnit weren't they on their honeymoon since Yanfei was born and given that adepti age slowly(I think) the wifes prob dead. (If i have my information wrong and yanfei's mom is alive then pretend zhongli doesn't know.)

And so, from then on, Morax decided, he'd give them a test. He would make sure that no other adepti would leave. He would make sure that none of them abadon him (ur issues are showing honey (no idk if canon Zhongli has abandonment issues this is something I made up on the fly bc of guizhong and all the other dead comrades)).

And lo and behold, it worked!!!! IT WORKED!!!!

well not on ganyu. he'd find a way to get back at her later but. IT WORKED!!! ON ONE PERSON!!!

Xiao was someone he treasured dearly. He looked out for him, as Xiao suffered from karmic debt and trust issues, as well as PTSD. And a bunch of other things. He felt as if Xiao was not ready to go out into the world alone again. He needed someone. Zhongli was there for him so much, he almost felt as if it would never change. But then he met her.

At first, Zhongli felt nothing of it. Good, he though, he's finally going outside and socializing. He's making friends!

But then it became apparent that Xiao, too, would leave him.

Our dear peepaw was suffering from empty nest syndrome.

He would NOT let Xiao leave. Because though he knows that Xiao is very capable, he find himself wondering.

Can he take care of himself? Is he ready to bear this responsibility? Who will be there for him?

Now he's going to kill him. A pity; but to Zhongli, this is better than letting Xiao leave him.

Yes, he may have witnessed firsthand Xi's frustration at her father for not being there for her.

Yes, he may have witnessed Hu Tao's anguish at not being able to be with the person she loves.

Yes, he may have felt a tad guilty seeing their emotions at his decision.

But ultimatley, he was unmovable as stone. He would not budge. He would go down with this for eternity (ok raiden), if it means to keep the child that was lost and abandoned on his own in his arms, to take care of him, to know that there is at least someone who won't leave. (Peepaw he is no longer like this also you can always visit 😭)