Liyue, Teyvat
3 : 00
5/21/XX
Sunny

Ah, yes. Liuli Pavilion. The place where Jay has been getting his favorite dishes from, lately. According to Licai, Jay is allowed to eat anything for free... so long as he promises to pay them by the end of the month. Since he came to the place for Noodles with Mountain Delicacies for breakfast, Tianshu Meat for lunch, and Cured Pork Dry Hotpot for dinner. All in all, that would cost Jay a bankruptcy-inducing 21,425 Mora. Though, he only comes to them once per month, and he literally sets aside a huge amount of Mora for the monthly payment of Liuli Pavilion's unique treatment towards him. You ask, "Why does he get special treatment?" Because Jay saved the owner of Liuli Pavilion when he was a child. The details weren't clear, but whatever happened that could've resulted in the owner's death at the time, Jay prevented it, and the owner was forever indebted to him... at least, to him himself.

Jay : "Hey, hey! Guess who's back in the house?"

Licai : "Ah. Welcome back, Mr. Zhōu. The usual?"

Jay : "No, the unusual. Just kidding, the usual for me! Here's the Mora that I was supposed to give to you guys on the 30th. I figure I would just pay early."

Licai : "Hmm. One, two... How did you fit all this kind of Mora in this?"

Jay : "... My secret!"

Supposedly you would also ask me, "Wait, Jay is friends with Licai?" Duh, he is friends with the girl. He has been going to Liuli Pavilion every time before, during, and after the Traveler arrived at Teyvat... at least in about 20-something years. The interior of Liuli Pavilion by this time (mind you, this takes place after the story of Genshin Impact finished) was still the same as it was, almost as though it seemed to be locked in time. the seats and tables seemed a bit worn, especially after THAT incident... Oh, you're waiting for me to tell you what THAT incident was? Well, let me put it in two words : food, and fight. How it started was because of Jay, since someone was pestering him. That someone is not mentioned, but it is known that whoever it was, it was a he, and, obviously, Jay and that guy both got into trouble with the Qixing. Might as well take away his hunger at this point, huh?

Sitting down on a seat, he awaits his order of his usual dinner, Cured Pork Dry Hotpot. As he did so, he fiddled with his scarf, who keeps him company by shifting into something that he has to guess. For the first one, it shapeshifts into a flower, specifically the Glaze Lily, its masters most favorite flower. How? Well, it is connected and associated with a very certain god who made the Guizhong Ballista, and said Ballista was named after her. Seeing the scarf turn into the flower that symbolizes something that he wishes was still here, Jay reaches out for it, and holds it in his hand. He smiles at it for a moment, when the waitress calls out for his name, and places his order on his table.

??? : "Here's your order, sir! Have a nice meal."

Jay : "Why, thank you, miss."

Scarf : 👉🪟🌆

Jay : "It's, what, 4:30? It's not that long. The old man can hang on, it's just a matter of time before he turns into a fossil... if he wasn't already one."

Scarf : 🤦‍♂️

Jay : "It's a fact, honey."

Scarf : ❌

Jay : "What do you mean it's not a fact?"

Scarf : 🫵🗨️❌

Jay : "I'm saying something that isn't true? Honey, of course I know that. It's called joking. You don't actually mean what you say."

Scarf : 🫥

Jay : "Aww, somebody can't make a reply to that? How sad."

Scarf : 🤦‍♂️🫵🍜

Jay : "Alright, alright... I'm getting hungry anyways."

Scarf : 🗨️🤥❔

Jay : "You're saying that I'm throwing sarcasm at you?"

Scarf : 👍

Jay : "... Whatever. Hey, how about you go check the outside?"

The scarf takes his order literally, unwrapping itself from Jay's neck, and going outside the building to check the outside. The sight was pretty much the usual sight as every other day; tons and tons of people walking around like mindless zombies or something, and no threatening stuff at all... the scarf was tricked. It enters the pavilion again, and shapeshifts into a hand that slaps Jay in the cheek, so hard that a visible handmark covered the entirety of his head's left side.

Scarf : 🤬

Jay : "What the hell?! I'm trying to eat here!"

Scarf : 🤥

Jay : "I'm not lying to you, I was literally in the middle of eating my dinner."

Scarf : 🥱

Jay : "... We're leaving."

Scarf : ⁉️

Jay : "I'm no longer in the mood to eat here. Licai, here's the payment. Bye-bye, now."

Jay's scarf wraps around its master's neck again, Licai bowing down in respect. At this time, it was already around 5:00 by the time he left, and mind you, he left by 12:50 when Zhongli took over his job for him to take the day off. What was he doing in-between those times?

                           It's
                                 A
                                   Secret

                                <3