[ baizhu is one of the first people he’d met in liyue, right after hu tao of course, when she had taken him straight to the pharmacy after finding out about his condition. the good doctor didn’t have any salves or cures for amnesia but he’d provided a few remedies and teas for forgetfulness, to improve mental acuity, the likes. they didn’t seem to have a noticeable effect back in his first visits, but regardless the pharmacist brews a few more cups while zhongli stays for a spell longer at bubu to detail a bit more about his memory recovery.
parts of it anyway. he leaves out the whole… rex lapis deal, which he supposes he can’t exactly deny very adamantly now that he has proof of his inhumanity. and of course he leaves out the transformation, the little fight he had with childe over the octopus. but he tells enough about how he’d remembered how to manipulate geo and his weapon. baizhu takes it all in with quiet intent fascination; there’s just something about the cryptic quirk of his mouth that almost makes zhongli wonder whether his lies of omission might not be as subtle as he’d hoped, he may apparently be an amateur at it especially compared to rex lapis.
but the doctor’s orders, or recommendation, is to stay with childe a bit longer. clearly, because he needs a place to stay. but the fact that he’d recovered this much of his memory, even if it’s primarily muscle memory, is promising. surely more interaction with someone who seems to know him well may prompt more recovery. and well, how can zhongli argue with that? he wasn’t exactly planning to leave childe anyway, hu tao and baizhu now expect him to stay with him, and he no longer really thinks of him as an enemy. he should probably return to childe’s place.
baizhu is considerate enough to bill the medicines to wangsheng tang so he leaves with a small paper bag and tries to recall the way back to childe’s apartment. liyue really is unfamiliar to him, a maze of buildings and streets and people that both disorients him and kind of viscerally unnerves him, not in itself, but the fact that it’s so foreign to him. and yet he’d once guided it as a god? he breathes in the city air of late night, near early morning, near dawn. he closes his eyes, focuses.
he’d also been practicing for a few hours, this--he transforms his tongue just briefly, just once so he could taste the air, sharper senses than just human. and in the distance he could even scent that sharp bitterness of that liquor childe had drank. what? he blinks, startled. surely only childe would have that drink, right? or maybe another snezhnayan, but…
he beelines towards that scent. and after some moments, turns the corner to find childe at the far end of the street, apparently out on a late night walk, maybe like zhongli himself. did he really drink again after he left?
zhongli frowns. then experimentally, lifts a hand to uplift a small stone outcrop on the street for childe’s next step. it would trip him if he’s really inebriated and distracted, but zhongli would ensure to catch him. ]
no subject
parts of it anyway. he leaves out the whole… rex lapis deal, which he supposes he can’t exactly deny very adamantly now that he has proof of his inhumanity. and of course he leaves out the transformation, the little fight he had with childe over the octopus. but he tells enough about how he’d remembered how to manipulate geo and his weapon. baizhu takes it all in with quiet intent fascination; there’s just something about the cryptic quirk of his mouth that almost makes zhongli wonder whether his lies of omission might not be as subtle as he’d hoped, he may apparently be an amateur at it especially compared to rex lapis.
but the doctor’s orders, or recommendation, is to stay with childe a bit longer. clearly, because he needs a place to stay. but the fact that he’d recovered this much of his memory, even if it’s primarily muscle memory, is promising. surely more interaction with someone who seems to know him well may prompt more recovery. and well, how can zhongli argue with that? he wasn’t exactly planning to leave childe anyway, hu tao and baizhu now expect him to stay with him, and he no longer really thinks of him as an enemy. he should probably return to childe’s place.
baizhu is considerate enough to bill the medicines to wangsheng tang so he leaves with a small paper bag and tries to recall the way back to childe’s apartment. liyue really is unfamiliar to him, a maze of buildings and streets and people that both disorients him and kind of viscerally unnerves him, not in itself, but the fact that it’s so foreign to him. and yet he’d once guided it as a god? he breathes in the city air of late night, near early morning, near dawn. he closes his eyes, focuses.
he’d also been practicing for a few hours, this--he transforms his tongue just briefly, just once so he could taste the air, sharper senses than just human. and in the distance he could even scent that sharp bitterness of that liquor childe had drank. what? he blinks, startled. surely only childe would have that drink, right? or maybe another snezhnayan, but…
he beelines towards that scent. and after some moments, turns the corner to find childe at the far end of the street, apparently out on a late night walk, maybe like zhongli himself. did he really drink again after he left?
zhongli frowns. then experimentally, lifts a hand to uplift a small stone outcrop on the street for childe’s next step. it would trip him if he’s really inebriated and distracted, but zhongli would ensure to catch him. ]