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Zhongli finds himself in Mondstadt after a gratifying failure at trying to be a normal mortal working man, his inability to save money resulted in him losing his apartment (that was mostly empty since he lived in his own teapot) and his spending habits had him relying on the funeral parlour to cover his expenses which led to his firing. Venti had dragged the miserable man to a tavern to spend what little of his finances remained on wine, it was enjoyable for the most part until his drinking partner had drained it all in a matter of hours thus leaving him with a sizable debt to the owner, Venti managed to weasel his way out of any backlash by paying with music but Zhongli however was not winning any sympathy. The bartender, a fiery man with bright red hair was staring the ex-archon down as if he just made a personal insult, as enchanting as the redhead was the murderous stare was a little too intense for him to appreciate much.Zhongli attempted to offer a few alternatives like work or education in the history of the land but he wasn't getting anywhere, "C'mon Master Diluc, give him a break! I can pay for us both~" Venti attempted to break the deadly silence with the offer but was met with that same glare,

"I am sick of giving you and your friends freebies! I am trying to run a business and your drinking habits alone are a dent in my revenue! Do you have any idea how much I've lost over these years because of you!?" ah so he was stressed, the strangled yell of a sentence made that glaringly obvious. The man slammed his fists on the counter "J-just get out! I'm done serving you. You're banned until you pay at least half of your tab!"Diluc then pointed to the door as smoke started to rise from the rag he was gripping a little too tightly.So here they are, booted out of the tavern by a high strung Diluc, Venti was livid but at the same time its not like he could do much about it so he just stomped around the empty streets and complained about how early it was along with how sober he is, "is he usualy like that?" Zhongli enquired as if he understood what was going on.

"Yes and no, he's been a little extra lately after some slimes got to his winery and wrecked a bunch of plants." Venti kicked a few rocks as if saying a winery losing the very crops they use for the wine wasn't a big deal, it would explain why the master was losing his temper over unpaid tabs.After thinking for a moment Zhongli figured out a small plan that could solve Venti's problem (mostly being on the wrong end of Diluc's temper) and Diluc's stress issue. "Venti, have you ever heard of an emotional support pet? They're usually an animal kept because their presence has a beneficial effect on a person with a psychological condition such as anxiety or depression. Perhaps Master Diluc could benefit from one?". This caused Venti to stop walking and he turned to Zhongli with a questioning gaze

"Maybe? But he doesn't look like the kind of guy to keep an animal around." Zhongli nodded "Yes but if you were to convince someone close to the master to have one then perhaps he will agree, I once saw a friend of mine go through a difficult time and upon getting a pet to help cope with the stress they improved greatly." Venti was in deep thought, surely if Morax said this could work then DIluc could finally start improving and be less of a grump all the time.

"Okay! I know just the person! But.. what pet are we gonna give him?" Venti paused once he turned back and suddenly Zhongli was gone, looking down to the floor Venti sees an odd fluffy version of Rex Lapis but instead of a towering beast it was the size of the common housecat, the ball of fuzz and spikes sat on it's hind legs and tapped it's underbelly as if to say 'Me', Venti was confused but shrugged it off "How come you wanna get so close? Wouldn't it be faster to just hand him a random cat or bird?" Venti leaned down and gently scratched the top of the reptile's head, while it would be easier if one of them could figure out how to fix the grumps mood in the place of stress as well but he hopes that Venti understands that letting a random untrained animal into a winery would just so more harm then good. Venti picked up the soft reptile and skipped off to the knights headquarters despite the complaining yips of the creature in his arms. "Y'know what I trust you!, you know what you're doing! If we want Master Diluc to agree then we gotta have the one person he'll listen to hand you over!" 

It was 11pm and Kaeya was actually asleep for once, granted he passed out fully clothed on his couch it was the first time in weeks that he was able to get some proper rest and he was thankful for it due to the exhaustion starting to affect his work... that was until a heavy thud was heard against his window and he shot up so fast that his head started to spin. There was only one person dumb enough to not only know where he lives but brave enough to straight up slam on his residence until he went to beat the crap out of them. Of course once he got to the window in his bedroom he saw a mass of green and the most punchable face in the region, he allowed the bard in and was greeted by an intoxicated barrage of words, he was still pretty tired and didn't listen to how Venti was kicked out of the bar for the 4th time this week (it was only Wednesday for crying out loud) and how he was the victim, yadda yadda, same story different day. What got the Cavalry Captain's attention though was when he was presented with a bag with a very weird cat.. lizard in it.

"Okay where did you steal it from and how fast do I have to put it back?" Kaeya assumed the worst from the bard as usual and was expecting to be the one to save the day (again), he dragged his hand against his face while trying to brainstorm another way to fix the problems caused by him. 

"Oh no no I need to gift it to someone! Honest! I'm no thief, I'm simply a humble bard who wants to spread joy" He feigned offence but Venti was well aware of why his friend would be sceptical of such a random request. He gave a nervous smile and nervously tired to gather the brain power to explain his plan to Kaeya.

"A gift? Since when did you give people random animals you've more then likely just scooped off the street?" 

"Uhh, C-Can't you see I've clearly made an effort to find a rare and beautiful creature? This elegant reptile has come from the great land of Liyue an-" He was cut off by a large hand slapping itself over mouth. 

"Look, I don't really care about the origins at the moment, just tell me who it's for and why." Clearly sick of the bard not only interrupting his rest but potentially wasting more time he could be sleeping he just wanted to get to the point

"It's for Master Diluc, he's been really stressed and... this creature has been specially trained to deal with people like him! I can guarantee that by the end of this month he'll be happier then a child on their birthday!" But with this statement Zhongli became very aware that he's just been signed up to be a permanent anti-depressant and that a contract may be in the making without his consent, he made this deal happen just because he wanted to help Venti get out of trouble but it seems he will be the one in hotter waters by the end of it. On Kayea's end of things he think he just found some hackjob miracle to end his brother's emotional reign of terror as he took the back Zhongli was curled up in and walked out of the building rather quickly, there was no confirmation that he was being taken to Diluc and for a brief moment he though that the plan was thrown at the window. Zhongli hid himself back into the bag and prayed to himself that he wasn't about to royally mess up someone's life or dim hopes of others, when Venti said 'people like Diluc' it hit him that there were more problems below the surface and now he was being tasked to somehow fix it all just by being there. "Celestia slay me if this goes wrong..." he mumbled to himself.

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After a rude awakening Kaeya arrives at the Angel's share with a suspicious bag in his arms and is greeted with the sight of a very disturbed Diluc, ruffled red hair that's barley being held up at this point, there's black bags under his eyes and the crooked frown on the man's face is very concerning, Diluc looks like he's one broken glass away from angry sobbing so he cautiously approached, "Welcome to the... Angel's share" the poor thing sounds exhausted and has yet to actually look up long enough to register who entered. Kaeya sat the bag on the counter and tilted his head "You don't look so good, have you had a break recently?", Diluc didn't respond for an entire minute before sighing "No, Kaeya. Are you going to order or not?", since the conversation was just going straight to the point he figured it would be best to get this over with "Well uh, Actually I have something for you! I think it could help." at least thats what he insisted he wasn't convinced before but after seeing Diluc's condition this was the only decent shot they had at getting the redhead any help, before Diluc could argue the bag was shoved into his arms and Kaeya stood back far enough that it could not be handed back "Good luck with your new buddy! I have head off, y'know how it is with the knights!" and as quickly as he appeared he ran back out so he didn't have to hear the Redhead complain. 

Diluc was annoyed to say the least, he knew his brother was occasionally unpredictable but this was ridiculous. Upon having a little peak into the bag to confirm if it were some weird joke his eyes widened, he could only see dark brown fuzz and it was obviously alive judging by how the bag was warm and slightly moving, he quietly asked Charles to take over as he stepped out of the Tavern to get a better look at this odd mass that was gifted to him, he sat on the floor behind the Angel's Share to get a better look at this animal and he was actually surprised to see he was handed a small beast that resembled a fat dragon, the creature had small golden horns with spikes trailing down it's body, a light brown mane along with an familiar pair of bright amber eyes, the man who came in with the bard was sporting a similar pair but he brushed it off as a common colour in Liyue, he was clearly expected to care for this thing as Kaeya claimed it was now his buddy. Diluc gave a defeated huff and ended up having to leave much earlier then he wanted to so he could figure out how he was going to adjust to this, he never considered getting a pet that wasn't a falcon due to the fact that anything else would have probably been eaten by the bird. 

For Diluc adjusting to this new part of his life was insultingly easy, upon getting to his lavish home Adelinde had ran off to prepare a small room for the creature as it refused to leave Diluc alone to the point that he couldn't step out of the winery without it latching onto his coat or forcing it's way into his many layers of clothing, eventually a week had past and Diluc was unaware of how attached he gotten to the beast, the first day was annoying as it always wanted to be around him and it was starting to feel like Adelinde had wasted her time setting up the room as the little creature now dubbed "Rex" (due to it looking like a tiny chunky version of the recently deceased god) wouldn't leave him alone for more then a minute, the second day it was almost always a few inches away from his boots and becoming more of a hazard with each passing moment thus forcing him to carry it around so from the third day forwards his routine was adjusted to bend down and pick up the adorable menace every morning before going on to start his daily tasks. 

Due to the first few days of having the creature in his life Diluc started becoming anxious whenever it wasn't in his field of view (once he stopped his paperwork just to confirm it was asleep on the little cat bed that had been dragged into his office), it was clear that this thing had a hold on his heart and he honestly wasn't complaining, having a defenceless pet that relied on him to come home to gave him something else to think about and the thought of his business being crippled for the next month by the vineyard accident was starting to become a little less stressful to think about, its hard to imagine the budget cuts when there's a fuzzy warmth pressed against his face at night. Rex would often be docile and stay quiet unless he needed something or wanted a little attention, truly this odd creature was more of a cat then the strange dragon it took the form of, Diluc wasn't overly bothered about what it was anymore all he knew was that it's calming aura would melt his worries away and he just wanted to indulge in it for as long as his breaks would allow. After the more draining days Diluc would often drag himself to his room while ignoring the staff who claimed he should just bath and lazily peel off his clothing so he could go straight to bed, he would just quietly sob into a pillow until he fell into a dreamless sleep but now he had a comforting ball of fur that for some reason adored him. Now Diluc would come home, do the usual tiring routine of getting to his room and hug Rex tightly as if it was going to run away, after taking in a deep sniff of the earthy scent that the small creature seemed to naturally produce (the dust baths it took probably contributed to it) it would leave Diluc feeling peaceful and he could rest easier with Rex in his arms. 

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Zhongli has become completely spoiled, his small draconic body has become thick and full like an overfed Dachshund, he doesn't bother moving too much his body as it has become too heavy to heave itself more then a few feet on his worst days. Due to the more.. voluptuous form he's mostly carried around as if he were a prized pet so he's not overly bothered by his inability to walk. After months of living like a precious pet he obediently responds to the name "Rex" and he drags himself over in the direction which he is summoned, all he is aware of is that it means he's about to receive more food or affection. On better days Zhongli is able to trot for short periods of time in an attempt to burn off the fat the small body but the heavy slams caused by this causes alarm and he is usually picked up before he can get far, the maids shower him with love and gentle scratches until he is handed off to Diluc who holds him to his chest gives small kisses on the top of his head. Diluc carries Zhon- Rex to his office and sits him on his lap where he is treated to head pats, Rex could fall asleep for hours at a time but before he can get his fill of a much needed nap he is moved onto the soft cat bed in the corner of the cluttered office so that Diluc can go on his nightly escapades as the Dark Knight hero.

One night Zhongli is taken to the Angel's Share where he is given his own seat behind the bar, its a stool with a pillow placed on it and he is comfortably curled under a blanket where he lays undisturbed if it wasn't for the drunken chatter that surrounds him, occasionally he is given a head pat or two whenever Diluc starts getting stressed by the atmosphere and as far as Zhongli is aware he is doing his job flawlessly. Kaeya however tried to peak under the blanket but was met with a harsh slap, the sound of the impact caused the strange lump he was attempting to investigate under the blanket to sit up.

Zhongli managed to paw the blanket off his face and a some of the drunk patrons let out "aww"s but also a few confused murmurs about the bartender's odd pet, Kaeya was surprised to see the once skinny and alert dragon had become circular and drowsy. Venti let out a dramatic gasp as he realises that his old friend had completely changed and their plan to win the favour of Diluc via gifting him an emotional support animal has either gone really well or twisted into potentially giving a 6002 year old dragon heart disease. Diluc lifts the rotund beast up to his chest and holds it like a child which causes Venti to almost cringe at the sight but all this reaction did was result in a blushing bartender and a boisterous laughter from the oh so smooth cavalry captain, which further sours the redhead's mood and makes him rub Zhongli's mane out of frustration (not that the little dragon was complaining). 

Despite the hiccups in the months Zhongli has been living at the winery with the young master he has found that he enjoys being a spoilt little beast, he didn't have this kind of lifestyle in mind for his retirement but now he was glad he stumbled across it. Diluc was a loving owner and a far cry from the cold hearted bartender he had met so long ago, he would smile every time he saw Zhongli but the days where the master was too tired to even muster a happy huff at his presence had his heart break and he would try everything in his chubby little power to make him smile (usually involving him rolling over and laying on him). The maids have caught the master pressing the fat dragon to his face and inhaling deeply to help himself relax recently, Adelinde thought it was weird but sweet and Zhongli could do nothing but freeze up and try not to move too much as to not disturb this.. therapeutic moment.

Of course... something just HAD to come along to ruin this happy little life, his old friend Barbados had been spotted in the area in the past few days but thankfully he was the only one to spot this nuisance. Zhongli was sure that the bard would not interfere and so with this sprinkling of confidence he went outside during the early hours of the morning for his daily waddle in the vineyard and to do his "business" in the bushes in which he buries freshly made cor lapis by his chosen tree. (Yes his droppings are stones, nobody said this body was perfect). He wasn't bothered by the rustling of leaves or the odd shapes at first but his stomach dropped once he recognised the familiar green and the damned smile. As soon as he felt hands around his soft body he let out loud screeches in panic in a desperate attempt to get the attention of the master or at the very least one of the employees that loiter about the property but unfortunately nobody came in time as the mischievous anemo fiend whisked him away in the claim of "saving him" from a psycho who only wanted to fatten him up for dinner. (lies, all lies). When Venti landed it was clear he had taken Zhongli far from the Winery grounds and opted to taking him to Stormterror's lair where he was met with a vicious bite to the nose, with a yelp he dropped Zhongli and grasped his face in an attempt to stop the minor bleeding.  

"What was that for!?" the bard barked through the pain, "I was saving you!" 

"From what!?" The calm collected demeanour of the ex-consultant was all but gone as he had learnt only to be snappy or soft to get his way "I was perfectly fine in that environment until you rudely kidnapped me." he turned around and sat down in a childish manner to exenterate his offense.

"Ugh! Look at you! I can barely recognise you! This wasn't meant to be permanent! You were meant to go in, make him happy and then leave! Then go back to job hunting or whatever, you look like a SAUSAGE!" Venti threw his arms open in frustration, he was tired of watching his friend become a lazy log and wanted the blockhead he knew and loved platonically back.

"I AM NOT A SAUSAGE!" Zhongli's little mane had completely fluffed up in rage but a gurgle in his stomach caused him to flop onto his side in defeat. "Well.. maybe I am a little... mrph.." his energy had been used up already and it was a struggle to keep up the small argument.

"Thats it. I'm gonna take care of you till this... extra mass has been taken care of. This isn't healthy even for an archon." Venti picked up his tired friend and once more whisked him away, he wasn't sure how exactly to treat a sick fat dragon but he hoped the traveller could offer some assistance, he would just make sure Kaeya could distract Diluc long enough so that he wouldn't catch wind of the reptilian theft. 

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A week had passed since the tragic dragon-napping and not a soul has slept since, the Dawn winery employees haven't been allowed a rest day since (this is probably illegal) due to no-one being able to locate the master's precious rotund pet. It's incredibly hard to imagine how nobody noticed the creature was missing for a few hours after the initial disappearance and their master made his unhinged anger known, unfortunately a solid quarter of the crops had suffered during his tantrum rampage but that wasn't the main concern plaguing the staff's minds as there was an obese reptile on the loose that might die without the correct amount of heat the amount of fat it was burning off from walking was probably keeping it going but nobody dared mention it, getting the small beast back was at the top of everyone's to-do list as their master was growing more and more distressed as the days pass by without sign of the reptile but at this point they were resorting to putting commissions up with high rewards for the return of it, of course this caught the attention of the infamous traveller and their mora hungry pixie that had no problems accepting just a task on their behalf.

Venti heard of the chaos he had caused upon the gentle breeze and while he had been forcing Zhongli into taking part in many inhumane exercises to speed-run weight loss (it was working at least) and laughed each time the out of shape ex-archon collapsed against a wall to catch his breath like a true best friend. For a good reason Venti never told Zhongli about the absolute hell Diluc was going through because he knew the blockhead would go running back, it goes against their little plan to help Diluc but if he let his old friend keep getting spoilt he'll just lose himself entirely to the mentality of a pampered pet and he knew waaay too much ancient knowledge for it all to be forgotten and covered up in piles of unearned mora and pampering. Venti had half a mind to expose the truth to someone but it was hard to do with his poor credibility with the man, he'll figure this out... probably, maybe, kinda somehow. 

Zhongli has had enough of the unreasonable exercise though and he knew he worked for 168 hours straight and fed very little to keep him going, his repressed grumpy attitude had finally surfaced and he refused to go through with more work, he hit his ideal weight and wanted to have some proper food. Whilst Venti was lost in thought he slipped away in his smaller form and trotted out of Stormterror's lair in search of someone who would give a lonely little reptile something yummy. While he was happy that he could use all four legs again he can't help but feel like he should learn to stop begging for more food just because he was bored, a thought for another day as he currently needs to find a way back to his home with his beautiful, overly attached master.

Kaeya was getting sick of Diluc's brand new layer to his bad temper, all the drunkards of Mondstadt learnt to shut up and sit down after ordering their pick of the poison after a massive outburst from the fiery man. News of the literal explosion (one even Klee would be proud of) at the Dawn winery spread fast and everyone got nervous because the man behind it and been edge ever since, one maid was fired that day and she would whisper to anyone who would listen about the cause of such an outburst and it turned out the unstable master had been panicking about his pet going missing but the incomprehensible speech turned into shouting as he blamed each member of staff for losing track of the little creature whilst he was busy. It wasn't long after that he started throwing things around as his tears vaporised before they slid down his cheeks, one thing lead to another and then he was subconsciously setting everything he was throwing on fire as soon as they touched his hands. Poor Adelinde must have been incredibly stress and very busy trying to put such a flaming mess out but she's probably seen worse from the man, this was just another bad moment in a long line of poor decisions with shit consequences made by the Ragnvindr family. 

So as Kaeya made his usual order for the night he noticed that the glass his brother was holding was warped in the man's grip, "You should really let Charles take over now." he tried to keep his voice level and devoid of the usual flirtatious tone but it only seemed to cause the glass to completely melt, that was the only sign he needed to understand he should leave. Kaeya paid his tab for the night and got up to leave but before he got to the door he turned around just to see his sibling one last time for the night, it was then that Diluc's overly dishevelled look stared to become more noticeable, from the multiple out of place red tufts of fur to the way the black shirt was clearly a few days old and unbuttoned at the top. Diluc looked up at his adoptive brother and scowled in a way that showed the pitch black bags under his eyes but the scowl quickly faded as he noticed the sympathetic expression on his face before watching him leave, it was confusing but decided maybe he should take the rest of the day off if even Kaeya was getting legitimately worried.

Diluc may have taken the rest of the day off but it in no way meant he had taken the night off, now he could finally blow off some steam and get back to his hunt for the idiotic person responsible for taking his precious little Rex. The fast desperate swings of a heavy claymore were heard throughout the streets and not a single knight was brave enough to confront the source in fear of getting caught in the furious rampage of the unknown wielder, even the sleep deprived Jean was wary of the terrified reports she was receiving at this hour but its not like she had time to deal with it herself and told the last few knights willing to stay on duty to keep people off the streets until someone grew a pair and decided to deal with an obvious threat to the citizens. Diluc however ignored the pathetic knights and kept at his little Darknight hero act as he hacked and slashed at slimes by the city side gates, there were no abyss mages to face retribution so this is the best he could do to get rid of some stress before setting up on his search. When Diluc had calmed down enough he stomped into the wilderness and mentally went over his plan for the night, it was simple really, throughout the week he had been going over the locations that Rex could have been or taken to and the only place left was Stormterror's lair, he was dreading the journey as it was no place for his little angel muffin and it was worse considering that Dvalin could have done something to Rex due to them both being reptiles. Diluc pressed on and was more determined to find him now more then ever, Barbatos forbid he ends up needing to slay a massive dragon in order to save someone he loves, it didn't exactly work out last time. 

Zhongli however was just happily waddling through the woods and was taking a very unconventional path home, he wasn't bothered though as the exercise was worth it and he was absolutely loving the challenge. He never considered how Venti would feel upon realising he's missing but at the same time its karma for suddenly taking him to those ruins in the first place, he was so enamoured by the sights that as he ventured along he completely missed the bright red blur rushing past him and brushed off the breeze as Venti locating him so naturally he started running towards the winery in order to evade another kidnapping. It took a few hours but he was able to see the statue of the seven and took a minute to catch his breath, he was happy to see he wasn't followed but it made his heart flutter to see the winery not far from him. He hopped off the cliff towards the building but came to a screeching halt upon seeing the charred grass and the patch of ruined crops, it was clear something terrible had occurred while he was missing and he scratched at the main doors to get anyone's attention because all he knew was that Diluc needed him before anything else gets destroyed in his emotional outbursts and alas he DID get someone's attention!

except it was Venti who managed to find him. 

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Zhongli was horrified once that damn bard picked him up, about to summon a gust of wind to take him away once again he thanked his stars as the doors opened and who he could only assume was Adelinde had let out a gasp upon seeing him. "Oh thank the archons! you found him!" it was all he heard as he was snatched out of Venti's arms, he let out a relived sigh as he was finally safe from his old friend's chaotic plans. Afterwards he was more interested in resting in the head maid's arms but he snapped out of this little bliss as the chatter turned to yelling, he had zoned out for too long and only realised how far the situation escalated when Venti lunged at the maid in order to get to him. Luckily Adelinde was fast enough to dodge the little man and went back inside the winery with Zhongli in her possession but before she could get to the meticulous locks the door was ripped off the hinges as it was thrown back open by a powerful gale, Adelinde was launched across the room with only the table to soften her landing, of course Zhongli was thrown up into the chandelier as a result and hung on for dear life as his little claws curled around the complex bends of the light. 

Venti stomped inside and waited underneath with his arms ready to catch the slipping reptile but was caught off guard by the flaming phoenix that barged in and shoved him over, his cloak was completely incierated from the assault and he had to roll on the crispy carpet in order to put the rest of the fire out. With the room itself starting to burn all Venti could do was stare at the black figure with burning red eyes, to say he was going to die in that moment felt like an understatement and he knew that talking his way out of this one or even offering a song wouldn't save him this time. With a quick gush of strong wind he was able to extinguish the flames and carry himself out in the hurricane of heat (that and he kinda didn't want the winery to brun down because of him) but this act of kindness was not enough to calm the Master he had greatly angered and he was chased. Venti had to run as the rains were too much for him to create a strong enough breeze and the one he had already made was too hot to fly upon by his standards but it only contributed to Diluc catching up with him, the young master slapped the god with the side of his claymore and stood over him with a murderous look upon his face, the dark expression mixed with obvious exhaustion and the red of his "red dead" coat was haunting to say the least, the gravestone claymore was raised above and was aimed to behead the latest victim... until a familiar towering figure could be seen running up to them, Zhongli had shed his small reptilian from and tackled the unhinged Winery owner turned executioner. Zhongli had to use his inhuman strength too pin Diluc down as the young man struggled and wriggled underneath him, the claymore was far enough that he was unable to reach it and it seamed the vision that was nestled in the eye of the bird designed on Diluc's waistcoat had been knocked loose so he was rendered reasonably defenceless. 

Diluc continued struggled for a good few minutes before he started tearing up from the frustration, soon the raging fire gave way to a man who was tired, someone who was less bloodthirsty and simply desperate to get back something he loved. As far as Diluc knew he had lost yet another loved one and it brought back memories of the past, first he was unable to protect his own father and now he was incapable of taking care of his own pet... how pathetic he thought to himself, another life lost because of the mess of a man he had grown into. Zhongli sighed as he finally gave into his fate and just how badly he had effected this poor human's life, while he enjoyed being spoilt and loved he never considered how dependant someone could become on having a pet around, sure he would outlive Diluc in the end and this could become another tale to tell of his life he had driven someone to madness because of his absence (even if it wasn't his own fault for disappearing). Diluc took a long look into Zhongli's eyes and became deathly still, Zhongli blinked upon realising this and gave a lopsided smile as he connected the dots. 

"No... NO NO NO, IT WAS YOU!?" Diluc was disgusted but he couldn't find himself to hate the man practically straddling him, while discovering that his pet was the annoying friend of Venti was pretty devastating part of him was more pissed that the grown man couldn't have just walked back to the winery. "You slept in my bed! I.. I fed you everyday and you RAN AWAY!?" 

Zhongli smiled tiredly once he saw that Diluc wasn't going to attack again, he slowly moved off the man and sat on his knees. "Believe me, Master Diluc, I did not leave you on purpose. I think we both know who the true cause of my 'disappearance' is." he motioned towards Venti who was currently running away as if he were being chased by the knights again. Zhongli stood and offered a hand to Diluc who strangely took the offer.

"You have alot of explaining to do, but you're coming with me." Diluc grabbed Zhongli's hand and dragged him back to the winery where they saw Adelinde sat on a chair and having her thankfully few injuries tended to by a few of the maids, seeing she was in good hands he continued to drag Zhongli along until they were in his bedroom. "While I deal with the destruction downstairs I expect you to clean yourself up and for my own comfort.. just for tonight can you go back to your smaller form?" he had become oddly shy but Zhongli understood and returned to his smaller form as Diluc went back out the room. 

Zhongli was a little confused by Diluc's overall calm reaction but summed it up to the sleep exhaustion that was very evident on the young master's face, the next morning would be very interesting as they would need to have a very long conversation about this entire mess that divulged into Diluc going into a mad chase for him only to discover the pet he was gifted was really just a man in disguise, now that he thinks about it he would understand if he's kicked out by morning or whenever the young master would wake up. Zhongli stretched his little back and shook off the water from the rain, he crawled up the bed and curled up on one of the fluffy pillows. From this curled position he was able to see some of the room and saw that the walls were covered in notes and just how messy it had become since his last visit, there were clothes thrown about and random small objects dotted around the table in the corner.

It felt like hours before Diluc returned, he had stripped himself down and half hazardly put his night clothes on and crawled under the covers of his cosy bed. It had been days since Diluc had attempted to sleep and despite the horrific revelation about his little Rex's true identity is was very clear that he didn't give a toss about it, as far as Diluc was aware this reptile was his and he refused to give up this overwhelming comfort just because it's really an attractive man underneath the scales. To help rationalise this unhealthy attachment he considered it to be like the old fairy tail about a young woman falling in love with a beast who through the power of love was turned into a gorgeous prince, while there are obvious differences he didn't really care and he just wanted to spoil his man reptile until his heart stops but they may have to start from scratch... Diluc was no stranger to challenges but if it means he gets to see those warm amber eyes everyday for as long as he lives then it would be worth it, now he just needs to figure out how to approach it in the morning. 

After an eventful night and a weird reunion, the real victims of this entire mess was actually Adelinde who probably needed to go the the cathedral after being assaulted by the harsh wind, the poor winery had its foyer burnt and the doors having to be temperately replaced by planks of wood, the doors that were thrown had hit various paintings and the cartoonish owl statue was knocked over but oddly enough the ghastly vase only had a leaf or two stuck to it. The other maids were desperately trying to clean up the mess and a couple even managed to cover up the obviously ruined walls with more paintings they found in the spare rooms, Adelinde made sure the master was not disturbed but made note of the strange man he snuck into his room, it was odd to see him do such a thing in a stressed state but at this point she was just happy he wasn't still outside chasing down the weird green bard but she did look around for a bit considering she was holding the small reptile before she was blown away.