Chapter Text
The boy never questions why he was able to fly at that moment. At first, he thought Uncle Venti had heard his call for help, so when they got back home to Liyue, he sent his uncle a nice thank you letter with pressed flowers, proofread by Fuqin too. But then Uncle Venti sent a letter back claiming he didn't have anything to do with it (he liked the pressed flowers, though).
Since then, the boy concluded that he must have awakened the ability to fly. His Fuqin is a dragon who can soar through air, so it makes sense that he can fly too. But then why hasn't he been able to do it again?
"What are you doing, sonechko?" Tato asked him one time he caught the boy poking his head inside his parent's wardrobe.
"I'm going to try and fly again," The boy said, determinedly pulling one of Fuqin's big robes off its hanger. Climbing his parent's bed, he tied the robe's long, flowy sleeves around his neck and jumped off, flapping his makeshift cape with all his might.
"Philya, careful!"
He'd been forbidden from jumping off anything other than beds or fallen logs, much to his disappointment.
"But Tatochka, how will I be able to try flying again?" He asked Tato with big, sad eyes.
His father could only sigh, kneeling down so they were the same height. Still, there was a soft look in his blue yes. "I'm not against the idea of flying, sonechko… it's just that sometimes, your father and I won't always be here to catch you if an accident happens. What if you jump into danger all alone and you get hurt?"
The boy pouted. "But…"
"Okay, how about this. You get to practice flying and jump off things taller than a bed if either me or your father watches over you. Pinky promise?"
"Pinky promise," the boy smiled.
Together, father and son linked pinkies, chanting in unison, "You make a pinky promise, you keep it all your life. You break a pinkie promise, I throw you on the ice. The cold will kill the pinkie that once betrayed your friend, the frost will freeze your tongue off so you never lie again!"
Fuqin walked into the room just as they finished the pinky promise. His amused golden eyes zero in on the robe around the boy's neck. "Pray tell, what contract are you sealing that would require ceremonial robes?
"A flying-practice-contract," the boy informed him. He wrapped the silk robe-cape around himself and hummed in contentment. "Baba's robe is so pretty… so ele-gant and comfy… perfect for flying."
"He's acquired your taste in fashion," Tato joked, sharing a soft, amused look with Fuqin.
"Don't worry, Baba, I will be careful with your nice robes," the boy stated seriously. "It's a pinky promise contract."
"I know you will," Fuqin said fondly.
Still, even with both his fathers' permissions, the boy still hasn't managed to grasp flying, though other interesting things would happen around him. Like one time, while feeling frustrated with his lack of progress, his parents' wardrobes suddenly burst open one by one and all the robes came flying out to drop infront of him. He, Tato, and Fuqin had to neatly fold back all those robes, which was boring.
Another time, his hair turned orange when Xiao-gege was babysitting him while Fuqin and Tato were both out for work. At that time, the boy was telling Xiao-gege about a rude man he and Tato bumped into on their way home last night.
"We were passing through an alleyway, and then a man with bad, smelly breath called me a…" The boy opened his mouth and enunciated slowly, "Fatui-scum's-bastard-child."
"He…" Xiao-gege's face went through several expressions, before he settled on grimacing. "Was Lo— was your Fuqin there with you?"
"No, he was running an errand for Miss Hu Tao. Anyway, I didn't know all of those words at that time, but I didn't like the way he was shouting and spitting. Tato didn't seem to like it either, so he challenged the man to a game of hide-and-seek."
"Hide-and-seek," Xiao-gege repeated.
"Mhm. He told me to turn around, close my eyes and count to ten—"
Xiao-gege made a strange, strangled noise, for some reason—
"— and then after the man hid, me and Tato tiptoed home so that he couldn't find us during his turn." The boy recounted happily. "It was fun!"
"… That's good," Xiao-gege muttered. He looked tired, maybe he was still hungry. The boy got down from his seat and pattered to the kitchen. "Xiao-gege, are you still hungry? Do you want more almond tofu?"
"I— no, it's fine, young master Baozhai…"
The boy blinked at him. "Are you sure?"
"…"
While they snacked on more almond tofu, Xiao-gege suddenly said, "Wait. Young master, earlier you said… that you didn't know all of those words at that time."
"Mhm. I know the bad words now because I searched them in the dictionary."
"Oh…"
"There's one thing I don't understand though." The boy said with a little furrow to his brow. "Why did that man call me a 'bastard' ? Fuqin and Tato are married, and they love each other and love me too. If the definition in the dictionary is right, then I don't fit it. If he was just trying to be mean, that makes sense. But then he already said 'scum' which is si-mi-lar enough to the other definition of 'bastard'. "
The boy paused to chew his almond tofu . "What do you think, Xiao-gege?"
Xiao-gege didn't seem to know what to say. After a moment, he clasped the boy's shoulders with his hands and looked at him. "Young master Baozhai, I don't think there's any use trying to parse out his reasons. Some people… just have no shame in insulting a child."
"… That's what Tato and Fuqin said too." The boy stared at his empty plate. "Xianyun-gugu said something a bit weird though."
Xiao-gege blinked. "What did she say?"
"She said that the man was being rude and pre-zum-chus just because I don't look like my parents… but that doesn't make sense, because I do look like my parents. I have Tato's long nose and fair skin, and Fuqin's dark hair— well, maybe my hair is a bit darker— and… and…"
The boy trailed off. After a moment, he walked towards a hanging antique mirror and looked at himself through the old glass. He didn't have Tato's blue eyes or Fuqin's golden eyes. He didn't have Tato's freckles or Fuqin's eye shape or warm skin tone. He didn't have Fuqin's straight hair or Tato's tousled ginger hair… he…
He didn't look like—
"No. No, I look like my parents!" The boy argued with his reflection. He stared at his face, like he was seeing it for the first time. "I'm— I'm not… a bastard…"
And then before he knew it, his hair was suddenly as orange as a loquat— and it stayed that way until the next day. Tato and Fuqin were surprised when they got back, but after getting over the shock, they had a nice time taking funny new family pictures with Tato's new Fontaine camera.
After thinking about it for some time, the boy eventually reached the conclusion that all these strange happenings were likely other manifestations of his dragon ancestry.
"It makes sense," the boy muses during dinner. "At that time, I was still upset from that rude man's mean words and I wanted to look like Tatochka, so I triggered the dragon shape-shif-ting powers Baba also has and gave myself orange hair. The wardrobes must have recognised I was a dragon too."
Tato snorts as he ladles more bamboo shoot soup into the boy's bowl. "I think you're giving those wardrobes too much credit, Philya."
"It's not like the wardrobes would act that way around you, Tatochka…"
Tato sends Fuqin a playful look. "Damn, Xiansheng… after all these years sharing a home and raising a child, you hid the fact that you had… dragon-recognising wardrobes?"
"Forgive me, baobei," Fuqin says, overly solemn. "Do you wish to reconcile with a spar?"
Tato bursts out laughing while Fuqin hides a smile behind his tea cup. The boy feels like he's missing something, but quickly brushes the thought away to continue his musings.
"I'm just sad I can't fly again," the boy frowns, blowing at his soup. "I didn't get a tail or horns either… I wish I got them as an egg…"
Tato cocks his head. "As an egg?"
"Yeah, it would have been cool if I had a horn or tail while I was still an egg in a tummy."
Tato makes a funny noise and nearly drops the soup ladle, while Fuqin's eyes were wide as he set down his teacup. The boy barely notices, deep in his thoughts as he chews.
"Hmm… whose tummy did I come from? Actually, I bet it was Tatochka's," the boy declares, assured of his answer. "Since Tatochka is a hoo-man, my first form is hoo-man too. That's why I can't turn into a dragon like Fuqin yet."
"That— that is not how… " Fuqin trails off, brow knitted. "There is little correlation between who carries the egg and the form of the child, because Adepti traits will eventually manifest regardless— ah."
He stops suddenly, likely recalling the boy did not know those words yet. Clearing his throat, Fuqin looks away and murmurs, "I… do not recall talking to you about dragons and their eggs, Baozhai."
"But dragons and lizards are family, right? I read about lizards in a book, and it just made sense that they also laid eggs." The boy reasons in his child's mind.
Trembling, Tato avoids the boy's gaze, ears bright red and covering his mouth. Even Fuqin looks a little embarrassed. Their reactions only confuse him.
Suddenly, the boy remembers his Uncle Venti's words. "Is it because I'm a descender?"
His parents seem to jolt at the mention of the word.
"Wh-what?" Tato stutters.
"Do I not look like a dragon yet because I'm a descender? Also, what is a descender?" The boy asks, curious and innocent.
"Where did you hear this word from, Baozhai?" Fuqin asks. His face was hard to read.
"From Miss Paimon?" The boy states, a little confused. That's the second time someone asked that question when he brought up the word 'descender'. Was it a bad word? "She said I was a descender, but she didn't want to explain! What does it mean?"
Eager for the answer, the boy waits, but the silence stretches too long for his impatience. "Is it a special type of Adep-ti? Like you can descend into Geo? Descend into the sea? Something to do with eleme… elementuh…" He struggles to come up with the right word.
His parents look at each other. After a moment, they smile and coo at him.
"It means you're a special little one," Fuqin chuckles, stroking the boy's head.
"A special little egg, carried here by a biiiig stork!" Tato punctuates with a tummy tickling that has the boy giggling.