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

XXIII

Tʜᴇ ʜᴀᴘᴘʏ ʜᴏᴜsᴇʜᴏʟᴅ

With things going back to normal, M/n decided to hold Dottore hostage to help take care of Tartaglia however....The ginger wanted no one but his darling to be close to him and it was the most adorable thing to M/n! Despite the ginger being a very dangerous and Battle-crazed man, it was cute to have the usually confident man trailing behind him throughout the day.
"Taglia~"

"Hm.."

"You're so damn cute!!! Who knew you being sick would make you so docile and clingy?"M/n gushes while kissing the sick man on the forehead.
"If I get this much affection from you without interruptions, I should be sick all the time!!"

"Tartaglia, what if I get sick then? If you're sick all the time wouldn't that transfer to me at some point?"Tartaglia huffs and smoothes his face into M/n's lap while whining that M/n was right about that.
M/n chuckles as he rakes his slender fingers through Tartaglia's hair as he whines about not wanting to get better just yet but eventually knows it was for the best that he did.

Meanwhile, Aoi was busy teasing the crazy doctor about getting beat up by M/n. So far, it seemed like she was the only person who could get away with this teasing act or the doctor was afraid of getting tied up and dragged around again, either way, it was enduring for him. In any normal situation, people would be too afraid to even glance over at him but here Aoi was mocking him as if he were a child!
"Well I'll be damned, I've never seen that lunatic act so normal before."

"Oh?"Xiao utters as he finally shakes himself fully awake from a rare nap. He rolls onto his side and looks up at Gale; giving the younger of the two his undivided attention.
"Yeah, when I was a child, I ran away from that man faster than he could notice. It was then that he took some notice of my skill when we ran into each other again by accident. Still can't believe that accident changed my life for the better."

"What could be-"

"Before you start, I was a street rat. No home, no family, nothing. So meeting him and being taken to the House of Hearth truly did change my life. I mean look at me now! I have a family, friends, and a reason to be happy."There was a familiar brightness to Gale's smile, he was truly happy to be there with them, a warmth that further pushed Xiao's karmic debt away.
"I'd also like to thank you too. At first, I thought I had a rival that I wouldn't get along with but you proved me so wrong."

"Ha, I thought the same. When Zhongli told me about you I was insisting that I would be a better fit to protect his mate but as time passed working together with you...I concluded that we're equally worthy of protecting M/n...Together..."Xiao mutters the last word hoping that Gale doesn't hear him but the male does and daringly pats Xiao on the head. Only to run a few seconds after doing so!

🤎💚💙

Later that night, Zhongli returned just in time for dinner with everyone, and never had he felt like this, he was truly living the life that he had seen many mortals live.
"Welcome home Li!"M/n greets while giving the retired Archon a sweet smooch on the cheek to which he returns and then kisses Tartaglia on the head, a darling display to the other who lived with them.
"How was work with my best friend? Please tell me she put an end to the sale pitch?"

"PFT! M/n we all know your dream of being rid of that sale pitch isn't coming true any time soon~"Tartaglia snickers while holding a piece of tuna sashimi to M/n's lips.
"Just as Tartaglia said, your dream is like wishing for the stars to fall into your hand. However, we hand an unusual visitor but that's for a more private conversation. Now how was everyone else's day?"Zhongli's heart softens as he listens to the days of his dearest family plus the crazy doctor.

Though Zhongli kept the conversation away from the unusual visitor, somehow M/n knew who it was but decided to lean against Zhongli causing Tartaglia to follow suit, all three sighing happily.