Chapter Text
"Mornin'," Childe yawns, leaning against the door to the underground lab and blinking lethargically. His coworker is, of course, already there - green hair pokes out from behind a kaiju corpse and its owner gives Childe an almost lethal glare.
"About time . We have a meeting in fifteen minutes, did you forget?"
"'Course not! I've got all my notes 'n stuff right...here…"
Childe's hand feels around the surface of his desk, where a notebook was supposed to sit. Had he taken his notes back to his room and left them there? Not likely, but not impossible. Had he - a jolt of fear runs down Childe's spine - had his personal notebook been stolen, would he have to do damage control already? He had just gotten here, couldn't he get a break -
A thud . Childe looks up, startled, only to accidentally lock eyes with Xiao as he gestures at the newly rediscovered notebook.
Xiao raises an eyebrow. "Don't make me think about presenting your material unless it's an emergency. Got it?"
Relief washes over Childe's entire body like one of his favorite cold showers. "Got it, comrade!"
"And stop calling me that, please," Xiao grimaces, before heading for the door.
"No promises, comrade!" Childe yells, and then scrambles after Xiao.
"...And that's as far as I've gotten as of now. Any new results will be reported immediately, of course, as well as any unforeseen circumstances."
"Thank you, Xiao."
The man sitting at the desk in front of them ( Zhongli, the nameplate on the desk helpfully supplies) smiles gently, and waves at the chairs scattered around the room. "I'll be looking forward to that. And I've said before, there's no need to be so formal - "
Xiao bows, a stiff little movement, before taking a seat. Zhongli cuts himself off with a faint sigh, then turns to face Childe.
"You're Childe, correct? I must apologize, I haven't gotten the chance to say so, but I hope your welcome wasn't...too off-putting."
Xiao's glower from across the room says the opposite.
"Don't worry yourself, it was great! Nothing I love more than something to spice up the workplace, hm?" Childe grins, and watches as his joke falls flat. "Anyways, I'm sure you're more interested in my research. I'm more familiar with kaiju anatomy, since that's what I specialized in, so that's why I got sent to the Liyue branch. You guys are closer to where all the kaiju spawn, and because of that you've got one of the best labs around. Isn't it natural for people to get sent here to learn more?"
Zhongli nods. "Fair enough. And you have selected a research topic to work on with Xiao during your time here?"
"Topic, a rough timeline, got all of it in this bad boy right here."
Childe sets his notebook down on Zhongli's desk, and feels his pride in his work increase whenever Zhongli makes an approving noise. The applications of systems already present in kaiju biology to modern technology - it was a relatively new topic, currently being pioneered by the Snezhnaya branch, which meant that anyone reaching out to them were either rich people eager to invest in something new or companies taking a risk in the name of innovation. Liyue had reached out first, offering a contract that would be beneficial to both sides, and, well.
Who would Snezhnaya's top scientists be to refuse?
"This seems feasible, and I can give you the okay if you are certain that this is what you want to continue with. I know that this is likely what you have already submitted through official channels, but if you would like to change topics I am more than willing to accommodate you."
Damn, this Zhongli's nice . Childe feels a brief stab of guilt, then brushes it off with a shrug and puts on his most radiant smile. "Nah, this is what I'm set on doing. Awfully nice of you to offer, though. Might want to watch who you extend that kindness to, it might backfire on you one day."
Xiao, who had been quietly taking notes the whole time, stands up from his chair with a loud scrape. "Is that a threat?" he says, voice carefully controlled.
"And what if it was?" Childe replies, matching Xiao's tone.
Xiao inhales sharply, hand reaching for the phone in his back pocket as Childe allows his smile to take on a sharper edge. But before either party can move and cause a full brawl in Zhongli's office, Zhongli himself steps in.
"Xiao, that will be enough. Stand down," he says sharply, ignoring Xiao's protests. "If there are any threats to anyone's safety, I'm certain that we can deal with it."
Then, Zhongli turns to Childe with the same warm expression that he had worn when Childe had first stepped foot in his office. "And Childe, you might not want to talk to everyone like that. I would prefer not to take action against you so soon - I am rather looking forward to working with you."
"Same here, comrade." Childe offers a nod each to Xiao and Zhongli, and throws a wave over his shoulder as he brushes past them and out the door.
Ningguang thinks that, as far as first experiences go, her first time being a Jaeger pilot is one of her better ones.
Beidou had called her a masochist, when Ningguang first brought it up. Ningguang had just shaken her head in amusement - there was no good way to put into words the satisfaction that she felt as her hard work began to pay off, so she opted to stay silent instead. Training began to feel easier, even with Zhongli continuing to find new and improved ways to make Ningguang's muscles sore. Without her noticing, she had settled into a workflow with the rest of her coworkers in the control room - perhaps the first time Ningguang had ever grown comfortable in a work space, and she...didn't hate it. Perhaps, somewhere along the line, her motivations had changed - perhaps she could rebuild the legacy that her parents had destroyed while also staying in Liyue -
A piece of paper flies into Ningguang's line of sight. "Penny for your thoughts?"
...She had almost forgotten where she was. Namely: in the training room with Beidou late at night, taking a quick break from a sparring session to drink some water and catch her breath. "Nothing in particular," Ningguang shrugs. "Just thinking about the future, is all."
Another piece of paper lands on the ground. "Always thinking ahead, huh? You gotta live more in the present, 'specially if you're fighting to stay alive."
Ningguang flicks Beidou's arm. "Awfully confident, are we?"
"Hey, I never said it was about me - "
The lights go dark.
They turn back on almost immediately, but begin flashing red. A horrible high-pitched siren begins to blare from seemingly everywhere.
Ningguang jumps to her feet, realizing that something has gone completely and horribly wrong.
She strides towards the exit, immediately deciding on making it to the control room as fast as she can, only for the door to fly open before Ningguang can lay a hand on it and Zhongli to walk in. "There you two are," he says, sounding surprisingly calm. "Congratulations, you're getting your first field assignment."