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Teucer wasn’t supposed to travel on his own anymore, and definitely wasn’t supposed to stow away on another boat to Liyue, but his big brother didn’t always do what he was supposed to either and he was the best! So his brother wouldn’t be too upset with him when Teucer showed up without warning. No, Teucer was sure he’d be happy with the surprise.
If only Teucer could figure out where his brother was…
Liyue was so big! And Teucer hadn’t run into Lumine again, but that was okay. He could be an adventurer too, he was sure, and if he stayed near the city, then he was bound to find his brother or a friend eventually.
So he wandered around and found food, kites, and toys, and all of the amazing things that his brother always writes home about, but he didn’t find his brother. If it took too much longer, he might have to use some of the mora his brother gave him to buy something to eat, but he really didn’t want to do that. He was keeping the mora in case he needed to make a friend. His brother always said that money helped make friends.
But he was getting really hungry, he realized as his stomach growled when he smelled the delicious scents coming from a nearby restaurant. It smelled so good, he thought as he turned to see a tall man being served a dish where he was seated at an outdoor table already laden with food. As the man raised his tea cup to his lips, Teucer’s attention was drawn from the food to his face.
Gold eyes, long hair, an earring, a suit in colors much warmer than any Teucer had seen in Snezhnaya, and a long coat that…did it look billowy? Teucer was sure if the man was standing that it would. He must be his brother’s friend!
“Mr. Zhongli!” Teucer called as he ran up to the table.
Mr. Zhongli’s attention snapped to Teucer and he blinked before smiling and saying, “Hello, young man, I don’t believe I know your name.”
“I’m Teucer,” Teucer said as he climbed into the seat next to Mr. Zhongli. “You’ll help me find my brother, right?”
“Your brother?”
Teucer nodded. “I’ve looked everywhere and I can’t find him, but you’ll know where he is,” Teucer was sure of that. His brother’s letters made it sound like he spent a lot of time with Mr. Zhongli. “And we can be friends, right?” Teucer asked before motioning to the food in front of them. “I’ll buy your food for you so we can be friends!”
Mr. Zhongli made a soft ah noise before nodding to himself and saying, “I see the resemblance now. You must be one of Master Childe’s siblings. Of course I’ll help you find your brother, but first, help yourself to some food. These are all traditional dishes of Liyue, each with their own interesting and unique history and flavors. The triple-layered consommé for example…”
Teucer started eating some of the food while Mr. Zhongli described each one. In detail. A lot of detail. His brother always described Mr. Zhongli’s stories as interesting and informative, but Teucer was having trouble focusing on his words enough to learn anything, and he didn’t think it was very interesting or entertaining. But his brother was right, Mr. Zhongli knew a lot about Liyue.
They ate and talked–well, Mr. Zhongli talked–for Teucer didn’t know how long, but eventually they were on their way to find his brother. They didn’t have to go too far outside of the city before Teucer heard his brother’s laugh.
“I know you can do better than that,” his brother said from just over a hill, and at the sound of his voice, Teucer broke into a run.
On the other side of the hill, he saw his brother and Lumine. Another friend! Or so he thought, but as he slowed down to a walk, he saw Lumine use a geo vision to throw his brother onto the ground. Then she lunged forward raised her sword to–
“No!” Teucer shouted as he ran forward again. Lumine had just enough time to look up before Teucer crashed into her legs and knocked her over. “You leave my brother alone!” he screamed as he tried his best to hit her.
“Teucer!” his brother called before Teucer was being lifted in the air and placed back on the ground in front of his brother. As soon as his brother let him go, Teucer threw his arms around him in a tight hug.
“I won’t let her hurt you!” he yelled. “She’s not my friend anymore, she’s mean!”
There was a moment of silence as Teucer clung to his brother with his eyes clenched tight, but then Teucer’s brother was hugging him back and saying, “No, no, the Traveler wasn’t being mean. We were just playing.”
“Playing?” Teucer asked, his words muffled from where his face was buried against his brother’s shirt.
“Yes,” his brother said with a laugh. “We were play fighting.”
“That’s not a nice game,” Teucer mumbled.
“Maybe it’s not,” his brother said before pulling back from Teucer, “but it’s one of my favorites to play with the Traveler.”
Teucer turned to Lumine and told more than asked, “You won’t hurt him.”
She quickly shook her head and waved her arms to signal no.
Well, if his brother was sure, then Teucer would believe him, but he’d keep his eye on Lumine during his visit. He wasn’t going to let her hurt his brother, even if they were just playing.
Even though his big brother and the “Traveler”, if that was even indeed her title, had assured him that big brother wasn’t going to come to any harm, Teucer had his doubts. In fact, he was determined to make sure that his big brother spent his days with a higher caliber class of people, namely Mr. Zhongli! Who was nice, and talked a lot, but didn’t fight his brother until he was on the ground and about to get really hurt.
But much to his dismay, he was informed in the early hours of the morning (early because he’d just woken up), that big brother and traveler have to go on a big journey to help find more Mr. Cyclopses to make toys! But he couldn’t help but worry about his big brother, especially because big brother said the Traveler was one of the strongest people he knew!
So he sat, legs crossed on a chair, at the front of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, while Mr. Zhongli drank his tea and told him about the history of adapting gods and something about noses.
“Awwwhhh, look at the poor thing, his eyes are glazing over,” Hu Tao said as she stepped into the lounge. “Maybe we can play a game!” She offered, her voice high and chirpy like a bluebird’s. “Like pin the ghost on the coffin!”
“Ghost?” Teucer asked, eyes widening. He didn’t think he saw any ghosts here, but just to be safe, he jumped off the chair and hid behind Mr. Zhongli, who protectively held a hand over Teucer’s shoulder.
“We should not need to do that,” Mr. Zhongli said, squeezing his shoulder to comfort him. He looked down at Teucer, making eye contact with him before speaking again, “Perhaps the young man has an idea of what he would like to do,” Mr. Zhongli said, looking down at Teucer with an expression that made him feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside.
“I wanna do something nice for my big brother!” He exclaimed, deciding right here and now he’d make sure that big brother makes better friends than the stupid mean Traveler, and Mr. Zhongli, the man that big brother wrote about in his letters home, was the perfect candidate. He glanced up at him, feeling that warm and fuzzy feeling again when Mr. Zhongli placed a large hand over his head.
“Then we shall do just that,” Mr. Zhongli said. “‘Have you any ideas for what you would like to do?”
——————
They decided, in the end, to make a nice dinner for big brother with Mr. Zhongli’s specialty soup which had bamboo boar meat, and shoots and leaves. And a lot of other things that Teucer was not paying attention to, but he was told that it had significant healing properties, and he figured that after a day with the Traveler, big brother would need to be healed.
They both got to work, Mr. Zhongli preparing the meal, which will take the rest of the day, and Teucer cleaning up around the funeral parlor where they will be hosting the meal.
Soon the Traveler and big brother walked into the parlor looking a little worse for wear and Teucer went running to his brother, jumping up into his arms.
“What’s all this?” Ajax asked, looking around at the table laid out for the four of them.
“We made you dinner,” Mr. Zhongli said, entering the room with his hot pot full of soup.
Teucer pulled back to see Ajax’s expression and felt a rush of joy when he saw the sparkle in his eye again. This was a good idea, and he’d be a much better friend than the mean Traveler who seemed content to just push Ajax around.
He jumped down from Ajax’s arms and put his hands on his hips in front of the Traveler, giving her a look of appraisal before dragging her all the way down to the other end of the table where his own bowl and spoon sat, leaving two seats next to each other for Ajax and Mr. Zhongli.
He couldn’t have planned it better if he tried.
However, dinner did not exactly go as planned because they only had chopsticks and a spoon to scoop up all the broth, and Teucer watched as his big brother struggled holding onto the sticks.
“Have you not had a chance to practice with the dragon and the phoenix chopsticks I gifted you?” Zhongli asked, raising an eyebrow to Ajax.
“I tried! I just can’t get the hang of it,” Ajax responded, a pout on his lips.
Zhongli sighed and Teucer noticed that he took the chopsticks and began feeding Ajax whose cheeks were bright pink. Oh no! He must be so embarrassed having to have Mr. Zhongli feed him.
The dinner was a mess! This wasn’t good at all.
Teucer frowned, wondering how his plan to cheer his brother up had gone so poorly. He’d have to try again tomorrow.
When Lumine took Teucer out to sight see around Liyue, he wasn’t sure it was a great idea. Sure, it meant his brother wouldn’t be left alone with her, but he still wasn’t sure he could trust her. But he didn’t mention that there might be a problem, not when going with Lumine meant that his brother could have some time alone with Mr. Zhongli. Maybe after an afternoon together, his brother would realize that Mr. Zhongli should be his best friend and he should spend more time with him than the Traveler.
“So Teucer,” Paimon asked from where she was floating beside Lumine, “what do you want to do today?”
“I want to do something nice for my brother.” Not only does his brother, the best brother in the world, deserve something nice, but Lumine owed him an apology gift anyway. This way, they could do something nice for him together!
“Something nice for Childe?” Paimon asked, moving her hand to her chin as she gave the matter some thought. “Do you have any ideas?”
“I don’t know,” Teucer said. He tried to surprise his brother with a visit and ended up ruining his play fighting. He tried to plan a nice meal, and ended up embarrassing his brother, who didn’t know how to use chopsticks. What else could he do?
“Maybe we can get him a gift,” Lumine suggested.
“That’s perfect,” Teucer said, getting excited about the idea. “Brother always says that buying people things makes them happy. Of course a gift would make him happy too.”
“That sure sounds like Childe alright,” Paimon said as she and Lumine shared a look, but Teucer wasn’t paying much attention. No, he had to go pick out the perfect gift.
Lumine and Paimon showed him around to all the best stalls in Liyue. There’s so many different types of food, but Teucer didn’t want food, not when he already tried to plan a dinner for his brother. Though the cakes did look really tempting…
Then there were pens and stationery, but that was so boring! His brother loved fun and outdoors, there was no way he wanted something for work.
There was a shop with vases, and dishes, and a bunch of other glass and gold things. Lumine didn’t let Teucer look around for too long in there, but that was fine. He didn’t think his brother would want something boring like chopsticks anyway.
“Who knew Childe was so hard to shop for,” Paimon complained as they made their way out of yet another store.
But Teucer didn’t hear Lumine’s reply. He was much too distracted by the colorful wares on a nearby table. Was that…? Yes! Teucer recognized those toys. His brother had sent some home for him and his siblings.
He took a few steps towards the table before remembering, he was shopping for his brother, not himself.
“Did you see something?” Lumine asked.
Teucer gave one last glance to the table before turning to her. “Do you think…” He bit his lip as he looked away. Was it a stupid idea? “Do you think my brother would like a kite?” he asked, turning back to Lumine. “We could fly it together while I’m here. He hasn’t been home to visit since I got the kite he sent, so I thought maybe…”
“I think he’d love that,” Lumine said, voice softer than it had been all day.
“Really?” Teucer asked, staring up at her with wide eyes.
“Yeah!” Paimon agreed. “Let’s go pick one out.”
They found a kite in the shape of the geo archon, a big dragon that Teucer couldn’t wait to see fly across the sky.
The Traveler and Paimon seemed amused by his choice, but even they admitted it looked awesome. How could a dragon not be the best gift? Teucer would show them. As soon as his brother saw the kite, Teucer knew he’d love it.
With that thought in mind, he ran into his brother’s apartment…
…only to find Mr. Zhongli pinning his brother to the floor.
Mr. Zhongli, Teucer’s new friend, the man who should be his brother’s best friend, was kneeling over his brother, straddling his waist, leaning over him with his hands on either side of his brother’s head, one even holding his brother’s wrist to the floor.
Teucer thought he’d come back to the apartment to find them laughing and smiling, but instead they were staring at each other so seriously that Teucer was sure they must have been mid-argument. And Mr. Zhongli had gotten so angry he’d attacked Teucer’s brother!
Teucer gasped and dropped the kite to the floor, making both men jump and turn to stare at him.
“Teucer?” His brother asked as Mr. Zhongli started to get off of him.
Good. He should get off of Teucer’s brother. But he shouldn’t have attacked him to begin with!
“You were supposed to be nice!” Teucer yelled as he shoved Mr. Zhongli the rest of the way off his brother. He didn’t even stumble a little bit, and it made Teucer want to kick him.
But before he could, his brother grabbed his hands. “Wait, Teucer. We were…uh”
Teucer turned to look at his brother, who was looking at Mr. Zhongli as if confused.
“Were you play fighting again?” Teucer asked.
“No. Well, kind of?” His brother said with a laugh. “I was teasing Mr. Zhongli. I stole his book,” as he spoke, he held up a book that Teucer hadn’t even realized was next to him on the ground, “And I dared him to get it back.”
They were fighting over a book? And if they were on the ground, Mr. Zhongli could have just grabbed it. He didn’t have to sit on Teucer’s brother.
Teucer gave Mr. Zhongli a look full of all the betrayal he felt when he walked in a moment ago as he said, “You’re supposed to be an adult.”
Mr. Zhongli blushed as Lumine and Paimon tried to muffle their laughter near the doorway.
“I know,” Mr. Zhongli said, bowing his head to Teucer. “I’m sorry.”
“Zhongli–”
“No, Childe, your brother is right,” Mr. Zhongli said. “I behaved poorly. I’m sorry, Teucer.”
“Well…okay,” Teucer said. He didn’t expect anyone to apologize to him so seriously–he bowed and everything!–and it drained his anger away, leaving him with an excess of energy and no outlet to channel it towards. “But don’t do it again.”
Once Mr. Zhongli nodded, Teucer turned back towards the kite, and Ajax muttered, “I started it,” as he got up from the ground.
“We got you a present, brother!” Teucer said as he picked the kite back up. Maybe his brother didn’t deserve a present after teasing Mr. Zhongli, but he was still the best big brother ever. And Teucer still wanted to go fly a kite with him.
“For me?” His brother asked as he came forward to look at the kite.
“Yeah! It’s a kite of Rex Lapis!” Teucer said as he held it out. “You said he was really cool and beautiful, right?”
“Uh-” His brother started blushing, probably embarrassed that Teucer had gotten him such a great gift while he’d been misbehaving at home.
“We can fly it together, right?” Teucer asked.
“Of course,” his brother said, smiling at Teucer even if he was tossing glares at Lumine, whose laughter was only getting worse.
Okay, so his last three attempts to do something nice for his brother had backfired. First, he’d been attacked by the Traveler! Second, he couldn’t eat his food with the chopsticks and had to be fed by Mr. Zhongli! And last, he had been attacked by Mr. Zhongli. Teucer sat up in bed, waking up early in the morning to try to figure out something nice he could do to cheer him up.
When he was sad or sick and big brother was at home, Teucer would always be treated to a biiiiig breakfast in bed. And Paimon said that she and the Traveler knew how to cook…so naturally he sat up excitedly, bouncing out of bed to go find the two people, who, as far as he was concerned, owed him a big favor for being mean to his brother before.
He ran through the hallway, accidentally bumping into big brother’s door. He stood really still hoping he hadn’t woken him up and, curiosity overtaking him, he pressed his ear up against his brother’s door listening to see if he’d awoken him.
Teucer heard a loud thump inside and the sound of big brother cursing, and he jumped back a hand over his mouth. He was not ready to hear that kind of language from his big brother! So he decided to scurry away, tiptoeing down the hall until he had reached the Traveler’s room. He knocked at her door and moments later, Paimon answered, shooing him down the stairs so that they could help make big brother breakfast in bed. Though a part of him couldn’t help but wonder if it was too late.
A half hour later, he’d made it, the perfect breakfast. Pancakes, eggs, and juice that the Traveler had learned how to make in Mondstadt! He carefully helped her arrange it onto his tray, clamoring up the stairs afterwards, holding the tray while Paimon bounced excitedly behind him, eager to see the look on big brother’s face.
“Big brother!” He called out once he was outside of Ajax’s door, and the door flew wide open. Teucer was not at all prepared for what he saw.
Ajax opened the door and was dressed in his usual attire. No, his normally red shirt was replaced by a brown one, the buttons half done. One side of his collar was up, the other one was down, and the shirt looked a little too big on him. Behind him, the window was wide open, the curtains billowing in the wind. Teucer heard a thump every few seconds pulsing against the side of the house, rattling the structure.
“Hey baby bro!” Ajax said, leaning against the door, his face bright red, his hair mussed. Teucer frowned, it didn’t look like he’d gotten much sleep last night, he looked more tired than ever…but happy. And there were marks on his neck, trailing down past the collar of the shirt. Like he’d been bruised and bitten by something, but Teucer would know if some sort of creature had bitten his brother yesterday, right?
He opened his mouth to ask a question when there was a knock on the door.
“Oh! Who could that be?” Big brother asked, scratching the back of his neck as he bounded down the stairs to the door. When he opened the door, Mr. Zhongli was standing there, impeccably dressed as usual.
“Oh wow! Mr. Zhongli, what a surprise! We’re just about to eat breakfast!” Big brother said, his voice sounding high pitched for some reason Teucer couldn’t put his finger on.
Paimon and the traveler giggled as they both stood on the landing and Teucer felt like he was missing something very important, but he wasn’t sure what it was.
“I made you breakfast,” he said, holding up his tray.
Big brother’s eyes lit up and Teucer felt happy at that, finally he did something to cheer his big brother up.
“It smells absolutely divine,” Mr. Zhongli said, looking intently at Ajax.
Teucer tilted his head, the grown ups were acting like they knew something he didn’t. Which wasn’t very nice at all.
He glanced over at Mr. Zhongli, and then glanced back at Ajax who coughed.
“I’m going to–uh, get ready and then eat this delicious breakfast you made.” Ajax said, his face bright pink.
Teucer glanced over at Mr. Zhongli, before making a decision, still holding onto the tray. “You should join us Mr. Zhongli!” He said.
“I’ll make more pancakes,” Lumine piped up, ducking into the kitchen where she and Paimon began to laugh again.
Teucer wondered what in the world was so funny, but he thought nothing of it, happy he could finally do something nice for his big brother as they all sat down at the table to eat.
But there was one small thing that was bugging him. He looked up at Ajax and tilted his head. “Why is your neck all bruised?” He asked.
Which for some reason made everyone break out into a fit of coughing.
Well that was weird.
“What’s wrong, Teucer?” Paimon asked as they ate lunch with Mr. Zhongli and the Traveler while Teucer’s older brother was busy at work. There must be a lot of children in Liyue because his brother seemed to always be busy with his work selling toys. That’s why it was so important that Teucer help him. He needed someone to take care of him and do nice things for him, or else he’d just always work and have no fun at all.
“My brother didn’t get to eat breakfast in bed,” Teucer said from where he was slumped against the table. “So now I have to think of something else I can do for him, and I don’t know what to do.”
“Hmm,” Mr. Zhongli hummed as he crossed his arms and rested his chin in his hand. “I might have an idea if you’re open to suggestions.”
Teucer sat up and turned to Mr. Zhongli. He was still a little mad at Mr. Zhongli for sitting on his brother, but he could really use the help.
“Okay,” Teucer said. “What’s your idea?”
“We have a number of customs in Liyue that have been in practice for many centuries and are still commonplace in modern society. These customs are used to show affection, respect, and commitment. I have been considering inviting Childe to engage in such traditions with me for some time now, to show how much I care for and value him. With your blessing, Teucer, I believe such an invitation from me would be much welcome by your brother. He showed such enthusiasm when I gifted him the dragon-and-phoenix-patterned chopsticks after all.”
“Uh,” Teucer said when he realized Mr. Zhongli was waiting for him to say something. “You want to…tradition with my brother? With chopsticks?”
Mr. Zhongli’s amused smile had Teucer turning to look at Lumine and Paimon, but they looked just as confused as he felt.
“I would like,” Mr. Zhongli said, bringing Teucer’s attention back to him, “to express my joy at having your brother in my life and my desire for him to remain with me. Through a traditional Liyuean ceremony, your brother and I would express our admiration and affection for one another in front of those closest to us, and we would make a commitment to each other. That is, if your brother agrees to the proposal.”
Teucer still didn’t really get it, but before he could ask–
“You want to propose to Childe!?” Paimon screamed.
Mr. Zhongli nodded, making Teucer’s eyes go wide as he said, “I believe if I were to propose marriage, Childe would have a nice surprise, which was your goal, was it not, Teucer?”
Mr. Zhongli wanted to marry his brother? That was…
…a great idea!
If his brother married Mr. Zhongli, then he wouldn’t be alone anymore. Teucer wouldn’t just be doing something nice for him for the day, he’d have found a husband to make him happy for forever!
And if they were husbands, then Mr. Zhongli would be Teucer’s brother too! Two brothers meant that he’d get twice the presents from Liyue!
“He’ll love it!” Teucer said as he bounced in his chair.
“What!?” Paimon asked as she and Lumine watched with wide eyes.
“But if you marry my brother,” Teucer said, “you can’t play fight with him or sit on him.”
“Ah,” Mr. Zhongli hesitated as his face started to flush. “I’m afraid that your brother might insist. He does so love to fight.”
Teucer frowned, but after a moment, finally nodded. “Okay,” he said. “But you can’t hurt him and you have to hug afterwards.”
Mr. Zhongli nodded, his face serious, which was better than Lumine, who was laughing–Teucer didn’t understand what she found so funny.
“You have my word. My promise is solid as stone.”
Before he knew it, it was time for Teucer to leave, and he was feeling much better about leaving his big brother here by himself than he was before. At least now he’d have a husband to take care of him. Big brother had spent all of yesterday showing off the elegant ring made by his fiancé’s own hand.
“Is it really heavy?” He asked, looking up at his brother as they both reached the docks.
Big brother laughed at that, shaking his head. “No, it’s just right,” he said, ruffling Teucer’s hair.
“Hey!!!” Teucer said, pouting, his hands on his hips.
Big brother only responded with a wink as they approached the docks where the ship to Snezhnaya would depart.
Teucer looked across the dock and saw Mr. Zhongli approaching them, and he immediately began waving. He looked up at big brother and let go of his hand, scurrying over to Mr. Zhongli.
“Hello Mr. Zhongli,” he said, bowing, just as Miss Hu Tao had taught him.
Zhongli laughed, his eyes softening as soon as he saw the young man. He also inclined his head in a small bow. “Hello, Teucer, I am immensely glad that I was able to see you before you departed.”
Teucer tilted his head, tapping his chin as he tried to figure out what Mr. Zhongli said and he stiffened his lower lip. “LIsten, I don’t have time for all that,” he said. “I got something portant to tell you so listen up!” He said, hands on his hips.
Mr. Zhongli laughed in return. “Very well, Mr. Teucer.”
“Now listen, I’m leaving big brother here to you, so you better make him happy,” Teucer said, waggling his finger at Mr. Zhongli the way his mother did whenever she scolded him.
Mr. Zhongli responded with a serious nod. “Of course, his happiness is all that I wish for.”
“Okay good. And now you gotta send me presents too, since you’re gonna also be my big brother,” Teucer added, crossing his arms.
“I will do that,” Mr. Zhongli responded, bowing his head in respect to the young boy.
“What are you guys talking about?” Big brother asked when he got to where Teucer and Zhongli were both standing.
“Nothing!” Teucer replied in a happy sing-song voice. He jumped up and turned around, wrapping his arms around his brother’s middle. “Promise you’ll write to me soon?” He asked.
Big brother nodded, hefting Teucer up to give him a warm hug. “I promise, little buddy.”
“Yay!” Teucer exclaimed. And he threw his arms around big brother’s shoulder.
After a tearful goodbye to both the traveler, and Paimon, Teucer boarded the boat, staying on the deck until he saw the harbor disappear on the horizon. Everything was going to be okay.