Chapter Text
Zhongli and Childe had been dating for two years. Their relationship was a bit rocky in the beginning, sure, but that didn’t mean it was now. They were in love, and deeply so. Anyone could see it with just a momentary glance. So when Childe was yelling at his lover one September morning, Zhongli didn’t think much of it. Sure, it hurt a little. A lot, even. It stung to have the one he loved so dearly yell at him with such fervour, especially since it was over something so inconsequential. And when Childe stormed out of the front door, the brunette didn’t try to make him stay. He clearly needed to cool off, and who was Zhongli to stop him?
Childe was mad. No, that was an understatement. He was fuming. His blood boiled as he stormed out of the door. His thoughts were muddled as he descended the steps, leaving the apartment complex and walking through the streets of Liyue. He didn’t know where he was going, nor did he care. He just needed to get away. He walked and walked and walked, until he arrived at a neighbourhood he didn’t recognise. Shabby buildings surrounded him, dirty children were running around chasing each other, unattended by any adult, and there were groups of not-so-friendly looking people staring viciously at him.
“Heh, looks like I’ve arrived in the right part of town,” he thought to himself. “Bet these fuckers wanna steal the stuff I’ve got. I’d like to see them try.”
He continued to walk until he saw a car parked on the pavement in a less-crowded part of the neighbourhood. The windows were shut, but the faint sound of music could be heard from within. The person sat inside was a man in his early twenties, and an attractive one at that. Fumes from what he assumed was weed filled the car, and he appeared to have a bottle in his hand.
“Imagine how mad Zhongli will be if he finds out I was messing around with someone like this,” he thought.
Childe flashed his best smile, and knocked at the window. The door opened and the man looked at him sceptically.
“Hey there. You look like you’re having fun. Mind if I join?” Childe flirted, making sure to pointedly check him out while asking.
“Sure, come on in. Its not often we get beauties like you ‘round here,” he answered in the same tone, gesturing to the passenger door on the other side of the car.
As soon as Childe entered, he locked the doors.
“This place is full of nutters. Gotta make sure no one uninvited comes in,” he said when the ginger looked at him inquisitively.
The man passed Childe a blunt, and not too long after Childe was as high and as drunk as the other. They were making out and touching each other, Childe trying desperately to forget the dispute he had had earlier with his lover as his hands roamed the stranger’s body.
A couple of streets away, a group of thirty or so teenagers and young adults were huddled together. They were clearly not from that area: their clothes and way of talking indicated they were from the upper classes of the Liyuan population.
“Alright guys, remember what we discussed. Spread out, and don’t take your masks off under any circumstances,” a man of around twenty-five said. “Let’s rid our city of this scum.”
With a unified war cry, the group spread out.
Childe was now sat on top of this random man, straddling him as he kissed his neck and palmed his chest, the other holding firmly onto his ass. Outside the car, chaos raged. People were screaming and running, desperate to escape the lunatics setting fire to their homes, to all that surrounded them. No one spared a glance at the two strangers locked in the car, no one at all, and the pair were too occupied with each other to see, too deafened by the music to hear. They were an easy target for the three masked people headed their way, and when one of them smashed the back window of the car and threw a home-made explosive in, the three laughed.
It was sickening to see, three masked people cackling, such a demented and twisted sound in the face of such violence. Childe had been hit squarely by the explosive, and the car had caught fire. It hurt, it hurt so bad. It was so painful, the fire eating away at his flesh, consuming him. He wanted to claw at his skin, wanted to make the pain go away. He reached frantically for the door, pulling the handle, again and again, yet no matter how hard he tried, the door wouldn’t open. He felt numb. Time was flowing slowly. He couldn’t hear, and his vision was blurry. It seemed as if the man under him was screaming, though he couldn’t be sure.
“Why would he be screaming?” Childe thought drunkenly. “It tingles. Is he tingling too? Does he not like it? Oh. Fire. Fire is bad. Fire burns. Fire kills. I’m on fire. Am I going to die? I don’t want to die. I want to see Zhongli. Zhongli feels comfortable. Zhongli doesn’t tingle. Why aren’t I with him? I can’t remember why I left. Will he be sad if I die? I don’t want to make him sad.”
“Zhongli, don’t cry,” he muttered, as he succumbed to the force eating away at him, collapsing.
His last words. The name of the love of his life, uttered moments before he closed his eyes for the last time.