Chapter Text
Childe woke in a hospital, and for one terrifying moment, he thought he was stuck in a twisted nightmare, where he was forced to watch his younger self turn away from him. But the warmth around his hand grounded him, and Childe groaned quietly.
“ Baobei ?” Oh gods, Zhongli’s voice sounded wrecked. What happened? He only remembered flashes, snatches of what happened.
“I--” Childe started, then doubled over coughing. His throat was raw, and his tongue felt like a slab of salted meat in his mouth. “Water,” he managed to gasp. Zhongli poured him a glass, and he gulped down the cold water greedily, relishing the soothing touch on his sore throat.
“Are you okay? Take it slow.” Zhongli’s hands were rubbing concentric circles into his back, and Childe breathed deeply.
“What happened?”
Zhongli looked down at Childe’s bandaged hands. “It was my fault. The dragon fell onto you because the wires holding it up were not strong enough. I didn’t spread the clay scales out enough, and because of that you--”
“--how bad was it?” Childe interrupted. “The damage.”
“Minimal.” A nurse strode in, and Childe mentally patted himself for not flinching at her appearance. She looked like death warmed over, decked out in silver bracelets and spikes, and-- Archons, was she wearing a leather choker? Was that even allowed? “Lucky for you, the dragon that fell on you was mostly cloth, so it was cushioned and didn’t do as much damage.”
“Nurse...” Childe squinted at her badge. “Rosaria? How long will I be here?”
Rosaria sighed. “Just Rosaria is fine. And I don’t know, I only came in here to escape Barbara.”
“Who’s Barbara?”
“Head nurse of the hospital. I’m like ninety percent sure she’s not human, based on her work ethics.” Rosaria lit a cigarette, but she politely stubbed it out the moment she saw Childe wrinkle his nose. “Sorry, old habit.”
“You’re a strange nurse,” Zhongli said.
“And you’re a strange man, so I guess we’re even.” Rosaria peeked out of the room, turning back to Childe. “I suspect Barbara will be coming in soon, but I’m fairly sure you won’t survive her so I’ll run interference. If you need anything from me, just ask.”
“Thank you.” Childe watched the nurse walk out before he beckoned to Zhongli, who crawled into bed with him. “It’s not your fault.”
Zhongli exploded. “But it is! All this, my penchant for theatrics, the dragon, I...” He hesitated, twisting his hands in his lap.
“I hurt you,” he finally whispered.
“Zhongli, listen to me. It. Isn’t. Your. Fault.” Childe reached over, knocking his forehead against Zhongli's head. “Get it through your thick skull, I don’t blame you for what happened.”
“But--”
“Besides, isn’t it quite fitting? After stealing the god’s gnosis, Tartaglia was struck down by a dragon.”
“Ajax!” Teucer appeared in the doorway, lunging at Childe and ploughing into his chest with the force of a freight train. Childe winced, but he was glad to see Teucer again. “You’re okay!”
“Yes, and it’s all thanks to Zhongli xiansheng here.”
Zhongli’s eyes widened. “I, uh, um. Uh.” Teucer turned to him with stars in his eyes, and Zhongli shut his mouth with an audible click.
“Really?”
Zhongli glanced at Childe, who nodded enthusiastically.
“That is quite right, Teucer. I was the one who… helped Childe get better.”
“That’s so cool! When I grow up, I want to be just like Zhongli xiansheng!” Teucer declared. “I’m gonna help-- no, I’m going to protect my own big brother!”
“Teucer, I’m not made of glass--”
“No, you’re absolutely right, Teucer,” Zhongli interrupted, a smile playing at the edges of his lips. “We need to Ajax-proof the house for when he comes back.”
“Hey!” Childe was about to protest, but his concerns died on his lips when Zhongli and Teucer turned to him-- shit, they both had puppy eyes on.
“ Baobei … let us do this for you,” Zhongli murmured. “It’ll help us sleep better at night.”
Conniving, no-good son of a--
“Please?” Teucer’s next words completely annihilated him. “ Gege , please?”
Wow. Fuck, okay, someone has been teaching Teucer Liyuan. Childe exhaled, sinking back into his bed. He never had any chance, did he?
“Fine,” Childe grouched. “But don’t treat me like I’m made of glass when I get back, got it? The house is going to be a hot mess, I know it.”
“Of course, qin ai .” Zhongli kissed Childe on the forehead and stood up, leading Teucer away, who had an expression of horror and disgust on.
“You and big brother have cooties--” The door shut.
Childe chuckled, reaching over to the pain pump and hitting it. He had a sneaking suspicion that he would be eating with plastic utensils for a while.
“Slowly… slowly…” Teucer ran circles around Zhongli and Childe, guiding them with the seriousness of a pallbearer.
“Zhongli, I’m not an old man.” Childe hit Zhongli’s chest lightly, but he still leaned heavily against his shoulder.
“Sure, grandpa, let’s get you to bed.”
Childe made use of his profound grasp of Liyuan to swear viciously at Zhongli.
“ Ni de zui ba na me ang zang ,” Zhongli mumbled. “ Zhe li you hai zi, bie ne me yang .”
“ Zhe guan ta shen me pi shi, ” Childe retorted. “ Ta ye ting bu ming bai. ”
“What are you guys saying?” Teucer asked. “Zhongli, are you teasing big brother?”
“No, of course not. He just has a potty mouth.” Zhongli frowned at Childe (rude) and continued. “In Liyue, if someone swears a lot, we wash their mouths out with soap.”
“Oooh!” Teucer settled himself on Childe’s lap, grinning cheekily. “Big brother’s in trouble~!”
“Can you guys stop ganging up on me? I’m a sick man!” Childe complained.
“Of course, anything for you, baobei .” Zhongli nudged Childe’s hands with a cup of tea. “Here’s some ginger tea for you, since the weather is quite cold.”
“You--!”
“Come on, come on, Lantern Rite is starting already!” Teucer was dressed in a tiny version of Childe’s outfit, bedecked in the colours of Liyue of red and gold. Childe was wearing blue and grey, and he had decided to bring a coat as well. “I want to try the dragon’s beard candy! Candy, candy!”
“You need to calm down, Teucer. We’re meeting Qiqi for this, okay?”
Teucer nodded sagely. “You guys are going to hold hands and kiss?”
“Indeed.” Zhongli emerged from their bedroom and wow Childe nearly forgot how to breathe . “It is as you’ve said, we’re going to hold hands, though I’m not sure about the kissing part.”
Zhongli was dressed in a long black changshan , the collars and sleeves embroidered with gold-dipped thread that joined together in dragons and flowers. His hair was tied up in a high bun, and-- oh Archons was that a hairpin in his hair-- he had applied makeup on lightly, lining his eyes with his signature dark red eyeliner.
“I take it you like my look?” Zhongli asked coyly. At that moment, Childe felt like there wasn’t enough air in the world.
“It’s not fair,” Childe croaked. “You’re the peak of gender envy right now.”
“Qiqi is at the door. Please let… Qiqi in.”
“I’ll get it!” Teucer bounced over to the door and opened it, revealing the stony faced girl that lived next door, apparently. “Hi, Qiqi!”
“Hello, Teucer.” Qiqi bowed towards Childe and Zhongli. “Hello, Childe xiansheng, Zhongli xiansheng. Teucer is a very nice person. He… waits for me.”
“Qiqi has a lot of things to say about plants! Yesterday, she told me that violetgrass...”
Childe nudged Zhongli. “He’s talking like you.”
“But you enjoy my dispensing of words of wisdom.”
“There you are!”
Teucer yelled, pointing excitedly at Hu Tao. “Miss Butterfly!”
“Hello, Teucer! Oh, is this little miss Qiqi?” Hu Tao wriggled her fingers in a friendly hello, watching as Qiqi shrank behind Teucer’s back.
“What’s wrong, Qiqi?” Teucer turned around, looking concerned.
“Hu Tao is a prankster. Qiqi does not like her.”
“Boo,” Hu Tao pouted and straightened up, grinning cheekily at Childe and Zhongli. “Okay, love birds. I’ll take care of your kids, now go and kiss or whatever.”
“You are impossible,” Zhongli sniffed. Nevertheless, he still reached for Childe’s hand, intertwining their fingers together and strolling down the lantern lit streets. The harsh bite of winter hadn’t yet left the wind, but it was tempered by spring and its tentative promise of warmth.
“So...” Childe began, but Zhongli was faster.
“Did you know, when I first bumped into you, the street we were in was named Anji li ?” Zhongli stared at the sky, where a few impatient people had already released their lanterns. Shame. It didn’t look as good. “ Anji li literally translates to luck and wellbeing.”
“How coincidental,” Childe laughed, pulling Zhongli down to sit with him on the harbour, which was devoid of ships tonight. “Did you wait this long to tell me?”
“No. I met Guizhong like that too.” Zhongli stood up, brushing himself off. “Excuse me for a moment.” He walked away, leaving Childe with his thoughts. His hand slipped into his coat pocket, pulling out a small cloth package. Inside were the pieces of jewelry that he had carried ever since that rainy day, when he’d seen Zhongli break down in front of him.
“Miss me?” Zhongli sat down beside Childe, holding onto a
kongming
lantern.
“What are we supposed to do with the lantern, again?” Childe tucked the jewelry away, glancing at the flimsy lantern apprehensively.
“It’s simple. We write our thoughts and wishes for the next year on this lantern, light the cotton ball and send it off.” Zhongli uncapped a marker. “If it’s alright, I’ll go first.”
“Yeah, sure.”
Zhongli bent over the lantern and looked up occasionally, apparently composing an entire essay, which seemed about right.
“Archons, Zhongli. You look like you wrote an entire essay,” Childe commented, peering down at the dense block of Liyuan script. Call him lazy, but he never bothered to learn the written language, not when his papers were all in the common tongue, and he knew enough Liyuan to haggle.
“Ah, that’s because I have a lot of thoughts about this year. It’s been an eventful one, and I have many wishes for the future, now that--” Zhongli cut himself off, gesturing towards the lantern with the marker. “But you should write your wishes down.”
“Oh boy.” Childe uncapped his marker and wrote down five words in Snezhnayan.
“I can’t help but notice your near illegible handwriting. Is that Snezhnayan?”
“Yes, and it’s been a while since I practiced my penmanship in Snezhnayan, so don’t make fun of me, okay?”
“I would not dream of doing such a thing,” Zhongli smiled. “Oh, the sun has set. Shall we release our lantern? I know of a place where we can watch them.”
“We’ll release them now, and then we’ll go to this super secret place of yours and make out.” Childe caught the scandalized expression on Zhongli’s face and chuckled. “Don’t worry, I won’t say anything if you don’t.”
“Childe, why is it that you have such a dirty mind? I only suggested the place because it was dark, perfect for lantern viewing.”
“Yeah, and also for other things.” Childe waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
“Incorrigible scoundrel.” Zhongli shook his head, but there was a smile on his lips. He hooked his arm through Childe’s and guided him out of the city, towards a quiet park high on a cliff. Well, to call it a park would be generous, it was more like a bench and a few plants.
“It’s almost starting.” Zhongli sat down on the bench and produced a lighter. He instructed Childe to hold out the sides of the lantern while he lit the cotton ball, and wait until the lantern was tugging at his hands.
“When do I let go, Zhongli?” Childe gaped at the lantern straining against his hands, turning to Zhongli.
“Now.”
Childe released the lantern, watching as it joined the river of light spreading across the sky, floating higher and higher.
“It’s beautiful, Zhongli,” Childe breathed. “You’re saying you have this every year?”
“It gets a little boring after a while,” Zhongli admitted.
“What? How can you get bored of such beauty?” Childe turned to Zhongli, pecking him gently on the lips. “I haven’t gotten bored of you yet.”
“Oh you...” Zhongli laughed and shook his head ruefully. “Why are you such a monster? Shall we go and walk along the beach?”
“What for?”
Zhongli turned to the dark ocean, his eyes distant and stormy. “To say goodbye. You have the jewelry, yes?”
“Of course.”
Zhongli nodded solemnly. “Then let’s send her off, once and for all.”
They picked their way down the hill and towards a small, rocky beach, where the ocean had battered at the cliffs until they relented. Zhongli picked up the hairpins and necklaces, turning them around in the moonlight. He waded into the ocean, stopping only when the water lapped at his waist.
“ Zai jian, Guizhong ,” he mumbled, dropping the jewelry into the ocean. Childe reached out and grabbed onto Zhongli’s hand, squeezing it reassuringly. A screech cut through the air, and orange and green sparks exploded in the sky.
“Look. Fireworks,” Zhongli murmured, pushing his hair back from his eyes.
Childe lifted his (thankfully waterproofed) Kamera and snapped.
Zhongli looked like he was standing in a sea of multicoloured stars, his hair trailing gracefully behind him. The shadows obscured his face, but a glimmer of tears could be seen tracking his cheeks, and Childe swallowed dryly.
“I suppose I found my treasure,” Childe muttered to himself. “It’s you, Zhongli.”