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[leaveofabsence]

[ The default voicemail message greets you. ]

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[leaveofabsence]

[ He watches Childe play with his hair out of the corner of his eye but otherwise does not comment it. ]

Then it is as you say.

[ And he drops his hands, though he does not move away from Childe. ]

You should clean up and rest if your vision is causing you problems.

[childeishly]

...can I do both of those things here?

[leaveofabsence]

Yes.

[ And he pulls back from Childe so that he can straighten up. ]

Follow me.

[childeishly]

And can I stay the night?

[leaveofabsence]

Yes, of course. I would rather that you were with someone if you are still suffering from a concussion.

[ And it's not like Zhongli wants to be alone with his thoughts after everything that happened at the game today. ]

[childeishly]

[ he slouches straight into him and shuts his eyes, smiling. ] Good. I don't want to be anywhere else.

[leaveofabsence]

[ He carefully makes his way to the communal (and rather luxurious) bathroom since his starter bedroom doesn't have a personal one. He'll walk Childe all the way to the wash area. ]

Take your time.

[ And he glances down at Childe's bloodstained clothes ]

I'll bring you something else to wear and leave it here on the counter.

[childeishly]

[ as soon as he's brought into the bathroom and lead into the wash area he's going to start attempting to remove his own clothes. this proves to be a lot more difficult, but he's slowly but surely managing. ]

...alright. [ murmurs to himself as his torn and bloodied clothes end up discarded in the corner and he starts washing himself. depending on whether or not zhongli is around to see him completely naked ( save for his fatui mask, HMMMM ) or not he's covered in scars and there's the faintest outline of some strange tattoos? patterning?? something??? all over his body. ]

[leaveofabsence]

[ Once Childe starts disrobing, Zhongli politely looks away. In fact, he wanders away completely to go looking for a fresh set of towels and also to return to his room so he can retrieve the only clothes he has to spare at the moment - his arrival pajamas.

Luckily it's decent and that the two of them are about the same height and build. ]

[childeishly]

[ he’s taking care as he washes himself, so he doesn’t end up even more hurt. childe’s probably rinsing off by the time zhongli returns, and also spacing out a bit. ]

[leaveofabsence]

[ He clears his throat to announce his presence when he returns: ]

Childe.

[childeishly]

Xiansheng...

[ he doesn’t turn to face zhongli, but he does lift his head, clenching and unclenching a fist. ]

I’m done... I think.

[leaveofabsence]

[ "You should enjoy a soak in the baths," he was going to say before he notices how uncharacteristically timid Childe is being. There is the rustle of cloth behind him. ]

I've set towels and a change of clothes on the counter.

I will wait for you in the common room.

[ And footsteps start to recede for a moment before: ]

Take all the time you need.

[childeishly]

[ a bath would be a fantastic idea, because he does need to relax following a fight like that, but it's not something he would consider on his own. ah well. he stands there another few minutes and then shuts the water off and towels himself, changing into the clothing zhongli left out for him. ]

[ some time later he wanders out into the common room looking for him. ] Xiansheng?

[leaveofabsence]

[ He's sitting in one of the spinny chairs, which he is still awkward about. ]

Oh, you're not going to relax in the bath?

Would you like a cup of tea instead? I believe I have finally figured out how these stoves work.

[childeishly]

...no? I wouldn't have wanted to soak for hours a time along. [ that's a bit of an exaggeration. he probably wouldn't have been in there for hours. ] Sure. Tea sounds nice.

[leaveofabsence]

Then please make yourself comfortable in the soft room while I prepare it.

[ The common room chairs are awful is implied as he hastily retreats from it before it can swivel and hit him.

And he gestures Childe in the direction of the soft room. ]

It should not take too long.

[childeishly]

...

[ he looks from the swivel chairs to the "soft room" and then just stares at zhongli. ] Or I could... come with.

[leaveofabsence]

Ah yes. You could also do that.

Though I do not know how comfortable the chairs are there. They look like large colored blocks.

[childeishly]

You should come over to Wild City sometime. Our aesthetic is just loud, but at least it's comfortable.

[leaveofabsence]

Yes, of course. All in due time.

[ And he heads into the kitchen, briefly making sure that Childe follows considering the concussion and all.

And starts brewing a pot of tea. ]

I would like to meet the people that you are working with now.

[childeishly]

Good group. I like them.

[ he follows zhongli into the kitchen and moves in behind him, resting his head on his back and shutting his eyes as he starts boiling the water and brewing the tea. ]

[leaveofabsence]

[ Zhongli glances over his shoulder but otherwise does not move to dislodge Childe from his back.

He hums quietly to himself as he continues to make the tea, movements restrained as to not jostle the person leaning against him.

Ah.

He must be very tired indeed. ]

[childeishly]

...shouldn't I be making tea for you, ... [ loops his arms around zhongli's waist and shifts, setting his chin on his shoulder to peer down to watch what he's doing. ] You had a bad day. [ the tea would taste awful though... ] And you need to rest too. [ the last part is muffled as he turns his head down and speaks half into zhongli's shoulder. ]

[leaveofabsence]

[ He runs his fingers along the back of Childe's hands before turning to carefully measure the tea leaves. ]

Your concern is much appreciated, Childe. But I am quite comfortable like this.

We can both rest once the tea has been prepared.