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Childe’s thumb gently smooths over the fine paper, a smile curving upwards on his lips as he notices the red lipstick that painted your lips touching the material at the end of the letter. He had been in a relationship with you for a fairly long time now, about a year?
He was quite the charmer even back then, but for a while, his eyes had always only been on you. You were hostile at first, but thankfully settled down and began confiding more in him as time passed by. You were incredibly indifferent to his advances too and only shoved him away with such strength that he couldn’t have expected from you if he tried to land a single finger on your hair. Maybe that was what he liked about you — you were strong and a good sparring partner, and with that, he was definitely into your personality and values that was both confident, cynical and provocative but sweet and had the right amount of hardheadedness for him to bump heads with; something he liked in a woman.
He remembers vividly trying to woo you and you were a rather difficult one to get due to your doubts of his loyalty and just his position in general — him being a Fatui Harbinger, after all. But all his efforts were not spent in vain, thankfully.
And on a cold afternoon, he invites you out to stargaze on the hill near his home in Snezhnaya, just lying there for hours — you finally said ‘yes’ to being his partner.
“A letter from a close acquaintance?” Childe’s companion assumes. The ginger-haired male glances up to meet eyes with Zhongli who was ‘treating’ him to Wanmin’s special dish for the day
The Fatui agent chuckles. “A lover, actually.”
The former Geo Archon blinks at Childe with surprise. He genuinely didn’t expect this thrill-starved young man to be in a relationship, especially with his public figure appearing as a threat to the country, he wouldn’t even think about Childe casually telling others about his established relationship with a woman he seemed to dearly adore.
Nevertheless, Zhongli smiles. “’Lover’? Do tell.”
Childe feels himself turn red at that from bashfulness. Don’t get him wrong — he loves talking about his significant other and showing her off. But that didn’t mean the thought of you never failed to fluster him. He was such a softie for you.
He loves you that much.
“Well, where do I even begin? There’s so many things about her that I love so much.” Childe laughs, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment, his ocean blue irises darting towards the lipstick-planted letter with fondness and fluster. “(Y/n)’s… an amazing woman.”
“I’m sure she is if she’s caught your eye.” Zhongli releases a chuckle, raising the teacup to his lips and sipping the hot drink.
Childe shrugs, laughing. “I guess so. She’s really strong and smart, there was this one time that…”
The conversation went on there, and he couldn’t stop himself from babbling to his old buddy about how much he admired and loved you.
“It’s pretty late already.” Childe pipes up, stretching his gloved hands above his head and exhaling deeply. He turned towards Zhongli, “I’ll be on my way then. Thanks for listening to my rambling, Zhongli.”
“It’s no problem. Young love is…” The brunette pauses, keeping Tartaglia in suspense before smiling. “It’s quite the sweet fairytale between two lovers, so listening in on them is very pleasant, I’m not complaining. Thank you for sharing instead.” Zhongli nods his head, standing up as well and bidding farewell to the young man.
Childe watches Zhongli’s silhouette fade away into the bustling crowd and he, too, soon makes his way opposite of the former god — the letter you’d sent him gently but firmly in-between his thumb and index finger to keep it from flying away. He makes haste towards a boulder that looked comfortable enough to sit on and there, he made himself comfortable there.
He unfolds the letter and lays his head on the flat surface, holding the paper up high. A bright smile worms its way onto his face as he giddily and enthusiastically reads it again, and again, and again. The blush on his face never disappeared as he eyed your pretty penmanship, his cerulean orbs gazing at the red lipstick mark. His smile softens, his gloved thumb brushing over the mark.
He chuckles, “You’re such a romantic, (Y/n)…” He mumbles, lowering the paper to plant a kiss of his own onto the letter where your lips touched. “But I love that about you too.”
After a few more minutes of rereading the letter over and over, he stretches his legs and sits up, tucking the clean slip of paper into a pocket and patting the spot he inserted it in. He dusts off his clothes and looks up at the full moon shining bright at the sky.
“Dearest Ajax,
When are you coming home? I miss you. I miss you playing with my hair, you laying your head on my lap as I comb my fingers through your mess of locks, hearing you whisper how much you love me, seeing a big bright smile stretch across your face the moment you see your family whenever you visit, or when you suddenly wrap your strong arms around me from behind or just us sparring and having stupid bickering while laughing right after — I miss you. I miss you dearly. By the time you receive this letter…
Maybe I’ll be there in Liyue too. Until then, please wait for me.
Yours Truly, (Y/n)”
Childe should’ve been euphoric at your hint that you could be coming to visit him here in Liyue, but he didn’t want you to get mixed up in the dangers he was facing right now. There was no doubt about your strength, but he wasn’t too keen on the imagery flashing in his head that you could be impaled or struck down due to differences in strength.
But you were stubborn, weren’t you?
No matter how much he’d chase you away for your safety, you wouldn’t probably budge and stay rooted to your spot.
Childe lets out an amused chuckle.
If that was the case, then… he’ll wait for you, he supposes.