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“Zhongli! How nice of you to join us!” Venti grinned, waving over the taller man to his and Aether’s table outside of the Angel’s Share.
“Venti, Traveller.” Zhongli nodded to both of them, although he shook his head and didn’t sit down when Aether offered him a chair. He seemed to understand, since it was indeed way too early in the day to be drinking, but Venti whined childishly.
Venti then huffed, clinging onto his comically large jug of Dandelion Wine. “You’re such a boring old man!” He claimed, shooting an accusatory look towards the other ex-archon. “Live a little!”
Zhongli glanced at Aether and Paimon, both of whom shrugged at his gaze and continued drinking their own drinks. Paimon was carrying what could only be described as a cup only slightly bigger than usual shot glasses, filled with a bright blue concoction that Zhongli assumed was mint. On the other hand, Aether was holding a glass of Apple Cider — most likely nonalcoholic if Zhongli interpreted Aether’s complaints about a certain red-headed bartender correctly.
“What are you doing in Mondstadt?” Paimon curiously mumbled through her straw.
In truth, he didn’t have a reason at all except from the fact that it had been at least a century since his last visit to the City of Freedom. Call it how it may, curiosity killed the cat, but he had to admit that the windmills towering over all the buildings did give some comforting background noise.
“Maybe you’d like the Cat’s Tail?” Aether suggested out of the blue. “It’s got a pretty modern take on drinks compared to the Angel’s Share.”
Modern? Fascinating.
After a few vague directions and a couple arguments between Paimon and Aether on how to get there, Zhongli was standing outside the door to the Cat’s Tail Tavern. The door chimed with the sound of a cat bell and he stepped inside, taking in the Mondstadt-usual rustic furniture.
“You’re not from around here, are you?” A young voice suddenly called from behind the counter of the bar. Zhongli frowned, wondering if Mondstadt had developed talking furniture since his last visit. Theoretically, that was impossible, but you could never be quite so sure with Barbatos as a God.
“Down here! Don’t ignore me!” The voice yelled at him again, a young girl climbing up a stool and standing on top of it.
Zhongli hesitated for a second, wondering if the girl was possibly the daughter of the owner of the tavern and she had simply wandered to the front of the establishment. She huffed at his uncertainty and motioned for him to sit at a bar stool while she scuffled towards another man, obviously very drunk, and reminded him to pay his bill.
Once she came back, she asked Zhongli what he wanted to drink. He blinked in confusion before realising that she was indeed the bartender and not some random girl. He asked who she was and why she decided to work at a tavern at such a young age, gazing at the many bottles lining the shelves behind the counter.
“My name is Diona,” She curtly introduced, “and I’m going to destroy the wine industry.”
“An admirable endeavour.” Zhongli praised. “An inside job then, I presume?”
Diona lit up immediately, nodding her head as she quickly put a couple cups and cocktail shakers in a nearby sink. “I’m going to get you a drink now.”
“Is it possible for you to have Osmanthus wine?”
The little bartender hummed in thought and then ran to a back room, bringing a vacuum flask decorated with ornate Liyue patterns with her.
“Margaret wanted me to try brewing Liyue drinks a couple weeks ago to try and expand our audience. It should be ready by now.” Diona explained, opening up the flask and pouring the wine into a matching cup.
“It looks different than usual wines that I’m used to.” He noted as he accepted the cup.
“I tried to make it as awful as possible.” Diona assured him confidently.
Deciding to trust in Aether’s recommendation, Zhongli took a short sip of the wine and despite what Diona added into the drink to make it taste bad… it was rather enjoyable. There was no wonder why the Cat’s Tail was successful enough to rival the Angel’s Share, even with the several years of the Ragnvindr family’s monopolisation of Mondstadt’s wine industry.
He supposed this is what Aether meant by modern, considering Mondstadt’s comparatively old demeanour compared to the obvious progression of Liyue Harbour’s traditions after many centuries of Adeptus uninvolvement and Rex Lapis’s death. Barbatos was unlike Rex Lapis, unwilling to be a ruler after the likes of Decarabian and the Aristocracy period of Old Mond. It seemed that even with their admirable devotion to the Anemo Archon, the City of Freedom was a mostly godless nation.
He wondered if the Age of the Seven was coming to a close: only one of his friends remained.
Diona poked him unceremoniously in the shoulder, bringing Zhongli back from his thoughts. “Did you hate it? You’ve been quiet for a while.”
Setting down a now empty cup onto the counter, Zhongli shook his head and laughed quietly. “No, it’s not that. In fact, it was very enlightening. I was just thinking about how much brewing has changed over the years.”
The young girl frowned, looking him up and down. “Are you sure you aren’t a grandpa? You talk like you witnessed the Archon War.”
How ironic that was.
Zhongli asked for another drink.
In spite of her obvious reluctancy, Diona obliged and refilled his cup several times until the flask was empty. “You’re going to need to pay me for the special order, you know.”
Pay...? Ah, yes. Mora. Zhongli brought out Childe’s mora pouch, a parting gift from the Harbinger to make sure he wouldn’t anger any Mondstadters with his quote “worrying broke-ness”. Unsure about how much money wine costs in Mondstadt, he counted out what was equal to 10,000 mora and handed it to Diona’s outstretched hands.
Diona hissed — ah, so she was indeed Kätzlein as he suspected — as they all fell with a clink. “This is too much!” She cried, although Zhongli had already stood up away from her reach before she could give back his change.
“Think of it as a gift. Your interpretation of osmanthus wine is one to remember.”