Chapter Text
Kaeya chills, a bottle of alcohol in his right hand, his feets in the water.
His boat is beginning to sink a bit and he’ll have to board to fix it inevitably but for now he’s too numb to act on it.
He waits for the wind to carry him back to the shore gently, he doesn’t even know where in Teyvat he may be.
He doesn’t really care that much and takes another sip. He’s still 16 year old but it’s not like he cares. He has always wanted to taste alcohol.
Now that he’s far away from his home, out in the open in the middle of the fricking sea, with a sandwich and five moras, it doesn’t really matter anymore that he’s not in the age to drink.
He starts to think he could go to Mondstadt, he has heard they have really good wine. He can choose where he wants to go now he has nothing left to do, no responsibility, no family.
He sighs.
Maybe he could take a nap ? It would be good to pass the time until he hit the shore.
He brushes a hand on his face. His right eye.. was still like that. If he wants to talk to people, get some money and food, he will have to hide it.
A sigh again.
Better practice right now if he has to live with one eye from now on. Damn what a pain....
He picks his black coat he used to sleep on during the night he flew and tore a small piece of tissue from it. He wraps it around his head and under his hair, covering his right eye diligently. Then he looks straight ahead.
That seems kind of manageable…
And at that, he lets go of the empty bottle and looks at it as it drifts away. And falls back asleep.
He is woken up by a ginger kid, shaking his shoulders like a madman.
“Hey hey !!! Wake up !! I need your boat right now !!” He screams.
So loud first thing in the morning...
Kaeya narrows his eyes, eyeing him suspiciously. A tall kid, with short orange hair and freckles, intense blue eyes and ruined clothes with a red scarf wrapped around his neck tries to talk to him.
He also has a weird accent he has never heard before. Hum...interesting .
“How much ?...” he mumbles, still sleepy, and pretends to yawn, hiding a sly smile behind his hand.
"What ??" The kid looks dumbfounded.
Then he sees a figure in the far, ruining towards them with a fork, swearing and looking furious.
"Money." He spells slowly enough for the boy to verify his doubts. "How much have you got to pay me ? I'm not doing anything for free."
Kaeya smirks and lazily sits up.
The kid looks back toward his pursuer, cold sweat dripping down his neck, then pushes Kaeya forward.
“Fine I'll pay you later bro !”
Kaeya is about to argue but then he pushes the boat away from the shore and jumps on it. But the boat still hasn’t been fixed and the wind is weak this morning.
"Haha sorry bro. " Kaeya laughs and his mischievious eyes looks at the boy with pity. "I don't think we will go very far with this actually. Too bad~ "
The man running after them could still easily reach for them.
“Fuck.” the boy swears.
The kid stands suddenly on the wooden boat, determined. The water starts rushing the boat away from the shore at great speed and Kaeya glimpses something gleaming from under his jacket . A vision ??? He chokes out.
Kaeya would have fallen in the water if he hadn’t held tight. They could see the guy screaming and insulting them from afar and he hears the young stranger chuckling darkly at first then loudly at the sight of it. Oh god...did he just let a psycho on his boat ?...
“THANK YOU FOR THE FOOD MISTER !” He roars insanely with laughter
Kaeya stares at him in awe. Then after the boy seems to have calmed down a bit, he says coldly:
“Okay now get off my boat, ginger boy.”
The kid turns back to him with a devious smile: “Make me.”
Kaeya then attempts to push him but he gets thrown in the water instead.
That automatically wakes him up.
He hears him laugh even louder than before. How is he so fricking strong ??!
“Are you stupid ?” he asks him.
He then holds his hands out for Kaeya to get back on the boat but the concerned party then pulls him forward and the boy ends up in the water too.
“That’s such a low trick !” He complains right after, spitting water.
“Says who." Kaeya answers while pulling himself back on the boat.
His dark hair and clothes are all wet now !
“What did you do to that guy for him to be so upset ?” He asks genuinely curious.
The boy sighs : "Nothing much, just stole some carrots and meat, he isn’t going to die from it !”
He pulls himself out of the water with a sigh and Kaeya makes no move to stop him. He admires his colorful haircolor and wonders where he may be from. He hasn't seen such warm colors on someone's skin and hair for a long time now. In his country, they either have dark-blue hair like him or the opposite, very pale and cold blond hair.
They both sit on the boat, Kaeya trying to fix the sail of the boat in silence.
The kid then decides he would try to set a discussion : “What about you ? Why were you sleeping on the shore ? This is your boat, right ? Where are you heading ?”
Kaeya looks at him pensively for a minute.
Hum... what lie should he makes up ?
He looks ahead, the sky is clear and blue now.
Has it been two days now that he flew from the kingdom ? More ?
The sky's so much different from Khaenri'ah where they could barely ever see a light, be it Moon or Sun or even stars. But while travelling by boat during the dark night, he encountered the dashing moon’s light and the milky way and Northern Stars. It’s a whole new world somehow.
Yet he feels bitter about the way he ended things.
He is far away from them now, he guesses that was all that matters.
“...wherever I'm heading doesn't matter.” he mutters to himself.
Ginger boy blinks a few times, still expecting him to answer but Kaeya has totally forget about him.
He picks a small bag he carries tied to his hip and hands him a small piece of bread which Kaeya accepts hesitantly.
He takes another one for him and takes a bite out of him : “humm oOokaAay~ mister mysterious pirate ! " He smiles brightly with his mouth full. "Well" He swallows the bread quickly and coughs "...allow me to introduce myself ! My name's Tartaglia ! Although you can call me Childe if you prefer !"
Two names ? Kaeya reflects.
Childe pursues entousiastically : "I’m from Snezhnaya but after some exciting adventures, I ended up in this part of the world. I was trying to head back to Liyue so I could get on a boat and get back to my country but I got thrown out by the millelythes for “disturbance of the peace''. Now they won’t let me in and I wander around until they forget my face and I can come back. What about you ?”
There are a few words Kaeya knows nothing about in his presentation but he doesn't dare ask.
Who are the Millelithes ? Where is Snezhnaya ? Why does he have two names ??
People from his country haven't taught him much about the other countries or archons. Even of Mondstadt he knows very little.
The boy seems to have lived a crazy life already… and he likes it. Maybe he could learn a lot from him, it wouldn't be a crime to use him to get information for some time. Probably... Until he finds a place to settle and thinks about what he should do.
But for now, he should hide his identity like his father taught him.
“... my name’s Kaeya. I’m trying to get to Mondstadt to get drunk.” he says ironically, hoping he won't push the subject.
And hopefully Childe seems to understand that Kaeya doesn't want to share his past with him so he brushes the idea of asking him :
“...you’re clearly not in the right direction then, don’t you have a map ?”
“I don’t.”
“...” Childe stares at him “let me ask again: are you stupid ?”
“Fuck you.” Kaeya swears bluntly.
The sky gets darker all of a sudden and rain begins to fall.
They sigh in sync : “Aahh great….”
Childe picks Kaeya’s coat up and pulls it above his own head while Kaeya shivers under the rain and throws daggers at him. But Childe doesn't seem to notice he just stole him and says : “We should get back to shore and find a tavern. Can you move the boat ?”
“I thought you could do that ?” Kaeya asks, thinking back on how they escaped just then.
Did that boy truly used a Vision ? An hydro one most likely ? Kaeya is really curious about that.
“I ran all morning trying to escape that guy, I’m tired now. Can’t you do it ?” Childe's complains and pouts.
Kaeya stands up and takes his coat back from Childe's hands, passing his arms in the sleeves because he is freezing: “Ain’t my problem. Plus, you still need to pay me” then lays back, arms crossed below his head.
“Aaahh fiiine, i will do it.” Childe gives in and stands up, the object tied to his hip gleaming once again.
Kaeya stares at it and when Childe notices, he pulls his shirt above it and turns around. Pretending neither of them have saw it.
They finally reach a tavern and the rain is growing even stronger as they make their way to it.
Both drenched, Childe goes first (basically storms in) and Kaeya follows discreetly.
Childe might have not notice his eye (he didn’t even ask why he wears an eyepatch to Kaeya’s confusion), but maybe other people will and it scares him. He will do anything to go unnoticed.
The interior is definitely far warmer than outside. There are a bunch of people and the air smells of sweat, food and cigarettes.
All the tables are occupied and cheerful songs echo in the room. There is a scene in the back of the room where some small bard sings with a bottle of wine in one hand and a lyre in the other.
He inevitably falls off the scene.
Childe goes straight to the bar: “Bartender ! Do you still have free rooms for tonight ?”
“How dare you even ask ? Of course I don’t, I’ve got the whole tavern booked. You should go look somewhere else.” The bartender answers immediatly.
Childe seems like he would give up on the first try so Kaeya decides to step in.
He leans on the counter, suddenly very confident and Childe looks at him startled : “Surely, we can find an arrangement ? Hum~ ? It’s raining very hard outside, you wouldn’t want to be responsible of the death of two poor children asking for merely a room ?~”
Childe gasped " Where do you get that sultry voice from ??? " he whispers to him.
Kaeya grins back at him and retorts darkly : “Bro it’s your fault I’m freezing to death, I ain’t sleeping outside.”
“Hey hey I haven’t got a choice here. " The bartender answers while scratching his head, visibly unsettled and dishonest. "That bard came out of nowhere and rushed everyone in. I can’t let any of those drunk get back home in that state, you know. I’m sorry I really can't help you.”
Kaeya and Childe sigh and face the scene, not paying attention to the bartender anymore.
"A complete failure, my friend." Childe crosses his arms.
"'Cause you think you'd have done better than me ?" Kaeya scoffs at him.
Childe winks at him : "I could surprise you..."
The blue kid coughs at the remark and nudges him : “Okay more seriously, what do we do now… I don’t want to sleep in the rain and the next city is at least two miles away from here.”
Then the door of the tavern is slammed open and a tall beautiful woman enters the room, her coat graciously moving around her.
Childe gasps at the sight: “woah…she’s hot...”
Kaeya laughs at him and snatches a bottle of red wine from the counter while the bartender is turning his back on them : “She seems to be twice your age. Come back down to Earth.”
Childe takes the bottle from him, takes a sip, wipes his mouth and puts it back on the counter, frustrated : “Why are you ruining my dreams like that ? I thought we were friends now !”
Friends ? What kind of crap is that ? Kaeya takes the bottle back and puts it in his bag under Childe's astonished gaze :
“I don’t make friends with people who throw me in the water.”
Kaeya smiles, the fact that Childe seems so very emotional makes it funny to toy with him.
"Well you have very poor tastes."
"Wait you mean the wine or-"
Before Kaeya could finish his sentence, Childe starts screaming :
"HEY MISS" Childe whistles at the lady "YOU FINE AS F-"
Kaeya slams his hands on his mouth, and pulls him into a corner.
"This isn't a way to talk to a lady you uncivilized swane !" he tries to shush him.
Kaeya isn't afraid to be denounced for stealing the wine, he just doesn't want to attract attention to himself. But his friend ignores that.
"How would you know, virgin." Childe retorts with a smirk.
That's all it takes for Kaeya to forget the idea of becoming friends with him :
"YOU FUCKING PRICK-"
A fist lands on Childe's face then Kaeya gets thrown on the back wall.
"YOU BRATS !! FIGHTING IS PROHIBITED IN HERE !" The bartender yells at them.
"THEN GET US A ROOM !" they ask in sync fearless even though the bartender looks like he's about to grab them by the collar and throw them out.
"Ahem bartender ? Are you the owner of this tavern ?"
The woman approaches the counter elegantly, feigning to have not heard them. The bartender puts down the bottle he was threatening the kids with, suddenly very awkward.
"Haha, kids these days, huh ?" He laughs nervously. "Sorry for the ruckus, Miss. Do you need anything ?"
"I am this fellow's friend over there." She points toward the end of the room.
Childe and Kaeya follow the direction until their eyes fall dramatically on the little bard, pass out on the ground, then look at each other horrified. Eww what friend is that ? And for that, Kaeya suddenly considers himself lucky.
"Your... friend ? " The bartender blinks a few times, as bewildered as the kids.
"Yes." The woman asserts imperturbably "I would like to pay for his consommation, if it's okay with you."
She doesn't seem like the type of person you could contradict.
"Well miss…if you insist. But I have to warn you that he offered to pay for everyone and his consommation was well...impressive so the note is quite hi-"
"I can afford it." She says, face blank.
The kids tip toe to another spot, closer to them to hear their discussion. But the woman turns her gaze towards them, interrogatively, spotting them in a minute. Her bright amber eyes somewhat menacing. The kids shudder with surprise before looking away and whistling like they haven't been spying on her.
Waiting for the note to arrive, she turns back to the bar.
"Sir, may I also ask who are those kids standing over there ?"
The bartender furrows at the mention of the kids :
"You mean those two nasty pests, miss ? I don't know, they came in a few minutes ago asking for a room to pass the night. But even if I still had free rooms I wouldn't give it to them, they definitely can't pay for it. They're dozens of kids like these nowadays, wandering in the streets and stealing from honest merchants. Sure they're pitiful, but we can't just help them all."
"I see." The woman places her hand below her chin like she was thinking very hard about it. "I will take care of them too then."
Kaeya almost jumps from surprise when he hears this from behind the counter. What did she said ??
"Wait, miss, are you sure ?? Those two have practically started a fight in here, they're probably delinquents, you shouldn-"
The lady raises her hand.
"It is no trouble. Thank you for your concern." She answers very honestly and humbly.
And just like that, she stops paying attention to the bartender.
Then she turns back to them and indicates to them to come her way.
Childe oblige enthusiastically while Kaeya narrows his eyes and walks lazily towards the counter, watchful of her.
The lady has a very pretty face too. She has amber eyes, with very neatly applied crimson eyeliner just below them, her brows are dark and expresses a strict expression. She's tall with a slender body and she wears a very long brown coat embroidered with delicate pieces of gold and silver figures. Her hair cascades in her back and reaches her waistline easily, and they are kept together with a diamond shaped clip.
Gazing upon them both, she asks : "What are your names, children ?"
"I'm Childe ! And this is Kaeya, my-"
"Acquaintance." Kaeya cuts him.
"Friend." Childe persits stubbornly.
"I don't know this guy." Kaeya ends the discussion.
"Hum…" the lady simply wonders "How old are you and where are your parents ?" She continues.
Kaeya glares at her and downright ignores her question. : "What about you, miss, what's your name ?"
What do you want him to answer ? That his parents are Khaenriah's royalty and that him, the prince of this Kingdom, had run away from them because he felt like it ?
Thankfully for him, the lady took the bait and they change subject : "Ah, my apologies. I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Zhongli. I work as a consultant of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor in Liyue."
"IN LIYUE ?!" Childe beams suddenly.
"Ahem yes. I had planned to take some vacations so I went with my friend to enjoy some time off but-" she takes a look at the poor bard, suddenly back on track with his melody. "He often gets out of hand."
"He seems...friendly" Childe forced a smile, obviously trying to get into her good side.
Kaeya grabs Childe's hand, ready to start running at any moment and asked while smiling : "Miss Zhongli, what did you mean by "taking care of us" exactly ? Are you going to hand us over to the police ?"
"Police ?? Why would you think of something like that ? Did you steal someone ?" She asks surprised.
Kaeya immediately tenses down and represses a sigh. So he won't be handed over to the authorities… but then he remembers the farmer Childe stole from and sends him a mocking look.
"DON’T U DARE BRING IT UP !!" Childe argues and punches him a bit. "Plus you stole a bottle of wine just seconds ago !" He whispers angrily.
Kaeya shrugs with a self-satisfied smile and shakes his shoulders: "I don't know what you're talking about."
Miss Zhongli looks suddenly very uncomfortable : "Well ahem children…" she coughs "I'll have you know that stealing is a very bad habit and you should always be careful of who you're stealing from if you don't want to end up in trouble."
The lady speaks as if she has been in a similar situation before. How can someone as rich looking as her have that kind of trouble ?
Kaeya's startles all of sudden. The bard has apparently decide to join them and passes his arm around his shoulder, barely taller than him.
He wonders how old he actually is…
When the bard opens his mouth to speak, the stench of alcohol immediately passes in Kaeya's nostrils and he squirms away before he could speak:
"Zhonhglii~hic 're ya doin' ??"
"Paying your fees."
She gives him a stern look. The bard's eyes suddenly illuminate and he looks very much awake. Childe thought to himself "He recovers fast…"
The bard hugs her : "Is that so ? Aww~ Zhongli you're taking care of me so well ! Such a good wifey !<3"
Childe flinches at the term "wifey". Didn't Zhongli presented him as her friend ?
But Zhongli doesn't look bothered in the slightest and retorts coldly : "If only there was someone out there willing to marry you, I wouldn't be going through such troubles."
The bard falls to his knees and sulks : "Now that hurts…"
The bartender finishes writing the fee and handles an impressive note over to her with a look of worry : "Well I hope you got enough cash on you, Miss. Your friend did quite the damage."
Zhongli puts the note in front of her and begins to search through her coat.
The bard suddenly grabs Kaeya and Childe by the shoulders, looking no longer drunk, and lowers them a bit so they can't be heard : "Ready to make a run for it, kids ?"
Kaeya and Childe blink and exchange a look, turning back to Zhongli who was still fumbling in her pockets calmly. Why run ?
"Ah…"
Zhongli suddenly let's out.
"I forgot my wallet."
It is the moment Venti choses to take them by the hand and to run, pulling them to the exit.
The door of the tavern opens itself on his way like a tornado. and the kids's feets are barely touching the ground anymore. They make an escape in the rain and hear Zhongli following them, as well as the bartender.
"VENTIII !! NOW !! " screams Zhongli.
The bard suddenly turns her way, crosses his arms in front of him and a green light appears at his feets with a strange pattern to it. It looks like some kind of summoning circle.
He waits until Zhongli catches up to them and the four of them are in the circle and before the bartender could grab them...
"Time for takeoff !"
Before Kaeya can understand what's happenning, the four of them are rushed in the air, flying high above the ground.
Kaeya in Zhongli's arms and Childe screaming and choking Venti with his arms tightly wrapped around his shoulders.
The bard's laugh echoes in the rainy night and slowly the wind carries them away from the tavern. Soon, they can't hear the yelling of the bartender anymore.
It is only then that Kaeya notices the anemo vision hanging from the bard's clothes. And turning around, he sees that Zhongli too has a vision, hers being a geo one.
Those two...are powerful.
The gliders take them far but the rain slows their progression and soon they find themselves freezing to death so they have no choice but to land in a forest and sit under a tree.
"Aaaah that was so fun !!" Venti puts his hand on his hips and smiles, looking content and refreshed.
"I'm never coming drinking with you again." Zhongli complains while carefully landing beside him and putting Kaeya back on his feets.
"You've been saying that for centuries already."
"Humph…" she answers and looks away.
As soon as Kaeya's feets touch the ground, Childe then pulls him in a corner : "What about the boat ? They completely dragged us out of nowhere !"
Venti has heard them and turns to look at them surprised : "You really intended to continue on that thing ??"
"I built that thing ." Kaeya answers slightly offended before he can actually wonder when exactly could the bard have seen his boat.
Zhongli coughs before speaking : "We're sorry for making you come along. But we will definitely compensate you. Wherever you wish to go, we will take you there. Right, Venti ?"
Her tone is slightly threatening and Venti gulps : "But you promised to visit Mondstadt this month ! It's the Ludi Haspartum soon !" he pleads.
Zhongli sighs with her hand massaging her temples: "I never promised anything. I already have a couple of matters that attends me in Liyue and you know it."
Before Venti could complain further, the kids rush to them : "You can take us to Mondstadt ??" Kaeya and Childe ask in sync with their eyes sparkling.
Venti's eyes sparkle equally to them and come running, giggling and hugging them both. Almost strangling them : "Of course we can ! LEt'S goOOo !! Right, Zhongli ??~"
Zhongli lets out a small laugh at the sight of his euphoria.
"If that's what you all wish, I guess there's no helping it."
The bard quickly dries their clothes with his anemo powers and the lady summons a geo shield for everyone to prevent the rain from soaking them again.
She takes Kaeya by the hand, a hinted eye fixed on him.
"Well we better get going now then. To the city of freedom."