Chapter Text
Childe was in an odd state between elated (about his trip) and terrified (of the consequences if he messed something up again). Sighing, he continued to trudge through the wilds. He had decided to go alone, after all. It was his choice to battle through the wilds of several different nations without any backup, all to see that person whom he loved.
And it was all thanks to the deal he made with the devilish banker.
Honestly, Childe thought, sometimes Pantalone was more terrifying than the doctor. And Il Dottore had several copies of himself. The banker was just one man, always standing straight and smiling at everyone. It wasn’t scary until it was undeniably horrifying.
Childe knew that it was in his best interest not to botch this one.
If there was one person he didn’t want mad at him, it was the Regrator, the keeper of secrets from all of the Fatui Harbingers, even those shofar outranked him. Yes, Childe was sure of it now. Pantalone knew way too much.
Failing to retrieve the supplies from Bubu Pharmacy was not an option.
“If I mess this up,” he told himself in a hushed voice, trying not to attract too much attention to himself as he headed in the direction of Liyue, “He’ll hand me off to Dottore without a second thought!”
And Childe didn’t want that. To be fair, no one did, but Childe was especially concerned with not ending up as Il Dottore’s ginger-haired little lab rat. The Doctor had made the threat once a year prior and seemingly forgotten about it, but, in his heart, Childe knew that Pantalone would surely remind him. And the banker would smile sweetly as he did it, just like he always did.
“Well… That’s terrifying ,” he mumbled.
He tried not to picture the kinds of things that could happen if he messed this up. If Il Dottore was in a cross mood he could be dissected and put back together, have his heart torn out from his chest to be stored for a later use while the open space in his chest cavity would be replaced with some kind of artificial product. The artificialness of whatever it might be would probably make Childe as much of a segment of Il Dottore as Alpha and Lamda were.
Lamda…
Childe shivered at the very name, the thought of such a thing happening to him .
“I like... living,” he told himself.
Did he, though? Debatable. But his life wasn’t so bad right now. It would be best not to end it, he thought. Not yet , anyway. There was so much more left to do: starting with this task!
Walking ahead, he knew what he had to do.
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A day or several days later, after speeding through the wilds like a madman and earning quite a few stares from the inhabitants of every area, Childe had made it to his destination: Liyue. It was reassuring to see the harbor, the people, the civilization instead of trees, bushes, monsters, the occasional weird bug, a bird that tried to peck out his eye, and some people living their countryside dreams who seemed miffed he interrupted them.
“Thank the Archons…” he mumbled to himself.
Heading down into the bustling streets, he was greeted by the smells of the food stalls lined up by the water’s edge. The city's people bought snacks or dinners for themselves and their families. It was a peaceful place, unlike the last time he had been there.
However, the local delicacies weren’t what drew him to this place. Apart from his “task” from the Regrator, Childe had come to the country of Liyue to see a certain man with abhorrent spending habits who owed him more than a few hundred mora by this point.
His steps grew faster the closer he got to that place, the funeral parlor .
It was an odd place to be excited about, but he was. It was the place where this person resided. He could always find him there. He had to be there, Child thought.
I need to see him.
He turned a corner, jumped over someone’s wagon, and nearly collided with a random woman as he moved forward with one place, and one face, in mind.
When he saw him, Childe couldn’t contain himself, running up to the man who was enjoying a drink and some light snacks at a small local restaurant in Liyue.
“Xiansheng!” Childe called out, a bit louder than he had intended.
“Ah, Childe,” the man, Zhongli, greeted him, “Hello! How have you been?”
“Do I have a load of tea for you !” Childe huffed.
He had to explain the entire situation. Didn’t he? There was the “task” from Pantalone, the visit to the pharmacy, the time that would cut from his visiting time. And Zhongli did not know any of the harbingers well.
Do I have to explain everyone’s relationships?
Well, Pierro is easy. I don’t know what Pantalone and Dottore are…
Zhongli raised a brow at Childe’s comment and he leaned a bit closer to him, golden eyes looking intently at the harbinger.
“A lot of… tea ? How fascinating. What kind?”
Zhongli was an avid enjoyer of tea. Noting the reaction from the older man, Childe paused, startled for a moment before realizing what misunderstanding had happened.
“No… Uh,” Childe fumbled, trying to explain, “Not actual tea, uh…”
Zhongli eyed him for a moment before he spoke again, an expression one might dare to call a pout on his face.
“This is one of those slang words, isn’t it?” he asked.
Childe’s shoulders sunk a little as he replied, feeling he was somehow the “bad guy” here.
“...Yes, sir.” the boy said slowly.
“I see.”
The answer was short but the man conveyed its directness in a way that was quite methodical. Zhongli appeared to be deep in thought regarding this matter, fingers to the tip of his chin in a pose that one might argue was fit for a painting.
“It’s not a big deal!” Childe assured him, “Just means I have news for you? Yeah, news!”
“Ah, news,” Zhongli said, relaxing, “Yes, do tell me, Childe.”
Childe sighed before he began to recount his sad tale.
“Well…” Childe began, “You remember Pantalone, right?”
Zhongli nodded slowly, the name sounded familiar to him.
“The Banker of the Fatui Harbingers, yes. You mentioned him once.”
Childe shifted slightly as he said the next part of the story, unsure of how Zhongli might respond to the information. He had been trying to be careful, to be sneaky. Honest! But Pantalone and Dottore were connected at the hip in some ways and they were… That banker was too much for him!
“He caught me,” Childe explained.
“Caught you?” Zhongli echoed, confusion evident in his expression, “I… How so?”
“Xiansheng! You know I’ve been sneaking out here to see you!” Childe said, shocked that Zhongli seemed unaware of his struggles, “Lone caught me and he didn’t like what he found.”
Childe looked a bit embarrassed at having to reveal his mistakes from several days ago to someone he wanted to think he was “cool” and “strong.” The boy wanted to be someone worthwhile to Zhongli, not a… bumbling schoolboy who got caught by his homeroom teacher trying to cut class. That was… lame. So lame.
“I see.”
That was all Zhongli said, staring at Childe as if urging him to continue.
“Please have more of a reaction,” Childe told him, face flushing slightly.
“Aha, I see!” Zhongli repeated, more animated this time.
“Not like that,” the boy told him, red face only getting redder at the embarrassing display.
Zhongli chuckled.
“My apologies, Childe. But that seems not so bad considering you are still here with me now.”
Childe froze in place, embarrassment forgotten for a moment as worry came hurdling back into the forefront of his mind. He had intended to tell Zhongli this part first, but it had slipped his mind. He just wanted to have a nice time with the man, not have to worry about some Fatui business that wouldn’t be his problem if he hadn’t run into Pantalone.
“Ah,” Childe said, “About that…”
Zhongli turned to him.
“Oh?” the man asked, gesturing for him to finish the thought.
“I’m actually here on Fatui business.”
“You are? And what might that be?” Zhongli asked.
“Well…” Childe trailed off.
“Something for that Pantalone, yes?” Zhongli continued, “Does he wish to understand the creation of mora? That is important for a banker, is it not?”
The question seemed genuine and that alone made Childe want to laugh. So he did. Soft laughter slipped from his lips, his worried expression replaced with an involuntary smile.
“Yeah, he, uh, wants me to visit the pharmacy for him or something.”
Zhongli nodded. This made sense to him.
“Bubu Pharmacy?” he questioned, “A good choice. That doctor is a true master of his craft.”
Childe laughed once more, this time almost annoyedly.
“At least I’m getting quality goods for Lone, then,” he told Zhongli, still miffed.
“It may just work out, Childe,” Zhongli mused, taking that wistful tone he did.
Chidle sighed for the second or third time since getting to Liyue. He knew this tone. Zhongli acted this way sometimes. He would get a look on his face and speak to Childe as if he were his grandfather. Zhongli would act like he was the wise old sage giving Childe ages-old advice that would always ring true like some kind of fate or destiny was at play.
“You’re just saying that,” Childe told him.
“Am I?”
“I don’t know… I think?”
“It’s an age-old saying, Childe. Legends have taught us this,” Zhongli told him, “Wait and see what happens, for you never know where you will end up. See?”
“Alright, oh-so-wise and honorable one, I get it.”
“Good,” Zhongli told him, “Glad to help you, Childe.”
“You’re such an ass.”
“Is this one of your young people's flirtations?”
Childe snorted and threw one of Zhongli’s teacakes at him, hitting him in the shoulder and leaving a powdery spot on it.
“Shut up! No, it’s not!” Childe told him, but he was not truly upset.
“Are you certain? It sounds similar,” Zhongli told him.
“Zhongli, come on.”
“I was attempting to jest.”
Zhongli smiled slightly at him.
“I know,” Childe laughed.
The two shared a laugh as they continued to catch up, talking of all the things each one had gotten up to in the absence of the other. Childe explained how being back home could be boring, how everyone still treated him like, well, a child . Zhongli laughed at him but offered comfort as well, explaining that he had spent the last while collecting stories from the young people of Liyue and that he finally understood some of Childe’s “slang verbiage.”
“Should you visit the doctor today?” Zhongli asked him, “The pharmacy is open.”
“Maybe? Lone’s notes say something about talking directly to the doctor and not the herbalist or the assistant,” Childe said, pulling out the papers to read them again, nodding when he confirmed that what he had said was the truth of the matter.
“I see, in that case… Perhaps waiting until it is a bit later in the day would serve you well.”
“You sound so old sometimes.”
“I am ‘so old’ when you truly think on the matter, so I see that it fits.”
“If you say so, Xiansheng.”
“Sometimes waiting is a good thing, but you impatient young ones think it’s such a waste.”
“I’m not that young!” Childe argued, mostly pouting.
“How old am I, Childe?”
Childe prickled as he hesitated though he knew the answer,
“...Like 30?”
“In your human years, dear,” Zhongli told him.
“Like… thousands? I guess?” came the answer.
“Yes, so… I believe that number compared to your own age makes you a young one.”
Childe sighed in defeat.
“Fiiiine.”
“I do believe the term for this is called ‘getting a W’?”
Zhongli looked to Childe for approval on his usage. Was it correct? He did not know himself.
“Sort of? Better than the last time you tried to use slang on your own.”
Childe offered the response with a slight laugh at the proud expression on Zhongli’s face.
If only his time in Liyue could be peaceful like this… But he had work to do. And this wasn’t work, even if he wished it was considered such. He had to do his job, hold up his end of the bargain, or else… Dottore would… He didn’t even want to imagine it.
“Childe, have you tried a taste of the cakes that you previously threw at me?” Zhongli asked him, “They are quite good.”
Childe took a cake between his fingers and brought it to his lips. He bit into it. It was sweet.
Those things can wait .