Chapter Text
‘Please don’t tell me you have a crush on him .’
I try not to smile as I sneak a glance at my new coworker, who is giving me the nastiest look I’ve ever seen disgrace her face. ‘Even if I hypothetically liked him, would that be too bad?’
‘Yes!’ She sighs in despair as she fixes the reddish Fatui mask on her face. ‘Lord Tartaglia is out of your league. You know that.’
‘Surely I’m charming enough to make him like me,’ I grin, carefully setting down the day’s paperwork onto her desk. ‘It can’t hurt to try!’
‘Your confidence is hilarious. When he’s around, you can barely breathe , let alone flirt with him.’
My smile cracks. She’s right. For all my talk, I can’t even look Childe right in his eyes. Yet. But there’s no way I’ll admit that to her.
‘Oh yeah? Well, next time he shows up, I’ll make a move on him! Let’s bet on it.’ I say with my head high, a glint shining in my eyes as she scoffs at me.
‘Yeah right . You literally keep your Fatui mask glued onto your face, so he doesn’t even know what you look li-’
‘Ladies! Slacking off, are we?’
I practically evaporate on the spot, turning around slowly to confirm who it was. It’s a good thing employees have to wear Fatui masks, because otherwise, there would be no way I could look straight at him.
It is Childe himself, a playful smile on his face as he regards us carefully. Only a fool could mistake his smile for friendliness.
‘No, Lord Tartaglia,’ Natasha says rigidly, professionalism back into her tone. ‘Our new employee simply wanted a recap on Fatui conduct.’
I nod along frantically, practically feeling her glare into my back. Fantastic way to taunt me, Natasha.
‘Does she know now?’
‘I made sure to drill it into her.’
‘Good!’ Childe nods approvingly, before flashing us a quick smile as he leaves the Northland Bank premises.
We both let out a sigh as soon as he gets out of earshot.
‘Yikes.’
‘Yikes is right,’ She agrees, her posture relaxing. ‘He is insanely scary.’
‘And insanely hot.’
Natasha doesn’t comment on that, instead turning her back to me as she counts the payments.
‘Hey! Don’t ignore me. You know I’m right.’
‘You’re so pathetic, you know that?’
Unfortunately, I do.
…
As my shift comes to an end and Natasha goes to the vaults above for the daily check, I warily eye the front door of the bank as I finish going through today’s loans, crediting the total amount into the cheque book. If my timing is correct, he should be entering just about-
Now.
The door flings open, and he walks in bloodied, a victorious smile gleaming in his blue eyes. He’s in a good mood. ‘Receptionist!’ He calls out as he approaches me.
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Update the balance.’ He says smugly as he dumps a huge bag of mora onto the front desk.
It takes all of my energy to not slump onto the floor, dejected by the extra workload.
‘Yes, sir.’ I reply miserably, once more thankful for the mask concealing my true emotions.
‘You sound down. What’s wrong, comrade?’ He questions, his head tilting to the side slightly.
My heart rate picks up as I raise my head to his level, finally looking him straight into his sapphire-blue eyes. I should not find the splatters of fresh, vividly red blood across his face attractive. Not at all.
But wow, is he attractive .
‘Nothing!’ I say quickly, trying to imbue cheerfulness into my voice, but the long work day zaps any strength out of it.
Almost as if he could read my mind, his eyes flit over to the clock. ‘Ah, so that’s why. Your shift is almost over, is it not?’
I nod, defeated.
‘Then, you can leave and update the balance tomorrow.’ He says brightly. ‘You should’ve just told me, right?’
I simply nod along, too scared to say anything as I start packing up. He’s still watching me, I notice as I try to steady my hands.
‘Have a good day, comrade!’ He winks at me as I get ready to leave, and I freeze in literal shock.
He may as well have a cryo vision for what he does to my poor heart.
‘You too, sir.’ I say weakly, desperate for him to leave already. I cannot function like this. Thankfully, he walks away soon after, unsuspecting of what exactly was happening inside me.
Natasha quickly joins me as I leave the bank, my Fatui mask stuffed back into my purse. I don’t react to her remarks about my dimwittedness around Childe.
‘Did something happen?’
I don’t say anything.
‘Why are you so stony faced?’
I slowly turn to her and, in a blank voice, tell her everything that had transpired when she’d gone for her vault check. ‘And thus, I have decided that if he ever does anything like that to me again, I will hand in my resignation.’ I finish dramatically, dropping onto the ground for the grand finish.
‘But why?’ She insists, forcing me back onto my feet by harshly tugging me by the arm. ‘I thought you wanted to flirt with him! That was your perfect opportunity!’
‘The stupid boss-employee dynamic makes it hard, okay?’ I sigh as I brush the stray strands of flyaway hair off my face. ‘He’s so unnerving.’
‘I get what you mean,’ Natasha agrees as she swerves around a man blindly driving his cart, shooting an evil look at him when he turns to see who he almost ran over. ‘He’s so weird when he’s in his work mode.’
‘Tell me about it. Oh, here’s my stop.’ I grin at Natasha as I point to my newly bought house. ‘See you tomorrow!’
‘See you.’ Natasha nods, waving at me as I watch her rejoin the bustling Liyue crowd.
She’s a good person, I think to myself as I brew myself a cup of jasmine tea to loosen up. Even going so far as to warn me about Childe, she’s definitely nicer than what her harsh exterior might seem like. What if.. what if it’s the same with Childe? What if I just need to give him a little time? I muse over this for a while as I sip my tea, standing on my balcony as I admire the gorgeous view of the port, stunning autumn-like colours already spreading across the sky as the sun begins to set.
Liyue’s beauty never gets old.
And my crush on Childe doesn’t seem to be disappearing either, I admit to myself. It seems like every little thing he does just adds to my fire, even if they’re all immensely huge red flags.
It just so happens that I like the colour red.
…
Childe smiles at me as I don my Fatui mask for the first time. ‘The Fatui are a powerful organisation... And this bank is just one of their places. So please, take this job seriously.’
‘Yes, sir.’
I expect everything to be in perfect condition.’
I nod stiffly.
‘Then, allow me to make one thing clear. The Fatui are my business. You will not interfere with my personal work, do you understand?’ A dangerous edge creeps into his voice, but it doesn’t overpower his lightheartedness.
My eyes widen in fear, but Childe doesn’t seem to care, his previously comforting hand on my shoulder now tightening painfully. I instantly remember how he once bashed someone’s skull in with his bare hands.
‘You will only do what is required. You will do what I say. Nothing else. You will do everything to the best of your abilities.’ He whispers into my ear, all good intent gone from his voice. I try my hardest not to flinch, but he seems to notice everything, because a sinister grin starts to form on his face.
‘If you are uncertain about anything, you will ask. And I will tell you. You will get every task done, or... I shall deal with you myself. Do you understand?’
‘Yes,’ I choke out, and Childe lets go of my bruised shoulder, a carefree smile now replacing his evil one in a heartbeat.
‘Excellent, comrade! Now, please, continue on with your work.’
I wake up with a jolt, the loud pounding of my heart reminding me of what I just saw in my dream.
Yikes .
I was not aware that he had scared me to the point of literally appearing in my nightmares.
Wait till Natasha hears about this, I think grimly as I change my sleeping position, clutching my spare pillow a little tighter than usual. She’ll taunt me about this relentlessly, I think drowsily as the tendrils of sleepiness pull me back into a deep slumber, this time mercifully without any dreams.
Childe, or Lord Tartaglia as I am supposed to call him, terrifies me.
He scares me to shits.
So then, why do I still like him so much?
Am I insane?
…
I stare at the small orange kitten tumbling over itself on the pavement near my favourite cafe, meowing at every stranger that passes it, but everyone ignores it, probably because it’s too dark, and the streetlights haven’t turned on yet. Is this my sign to finally get a pet? I approach it slowly, and it doesn’t seem to notice my presence.
Well, at least not until I hesitantly caress its head. It looks up at me, bright amber eyes finally acknowledging me. It doesn’t shy away from my touch, so I gently scoop it up in one hand as I enter the cafe. The barista that always takes my order catches my eye with a knowing smirk, and I offer him an embarrassed smile. ‘I couldn’t help it,’ I mouthe to him as he playfully rolls his eyes, already starting on my favourite drink.
‘Now to get you cleaned up,’ I mumble to myself as I sit near a window, letting the orange kitten roam around on the table. I get so preoccupied by watching it trying to lick a salt shaker that I don’t notice someone sliding into the seat next to me.
‘Is he yours?’
‘Hm?’
I drag my attention away from the cat and turn to the speaker, seeing it to be none other than the very cute Fatui employee that sometimes has the front guard day-shift. Dmitri, if I’m not mistaken. Score.
‘How do you know it’s a boy?’ I shoot back, my eyebrow raised just a little.
He raises his eyebrows as well, a subtle smile flitting across his face. ‘Statistically, ginger cats are almost always male. Eighty percent of them, to be precise.’
Ah. I just made a fool out of myself.
‘Maybe she’s an exception,’ I smile back as I pick it up, letting it nuzzle into my neck.
‘I know a good vet around here, if you want to take him there.’
I instantly perk up. ‘You do? Can you tell me where I can take her ?’
‘Better yet, I can take you there.’
I nod, and he waits for me by the door as I pay for my drink. With my kitten in one hand and my drink in the other, he holds the door open for me as we walk outside. ‘Do you have any cats of your own?’ I ask Dmitri, and his usually steely grey eyes soften.
‘Two. They regularly wake me up at 4 am.’
‘Guess you don’t need an alarm then,’ I tease as he leads the way, and he rolls his eyes in response.
‘You guessed right. I’ve never gotten late to work yet.’
The mention of “work” tenses me up a little, reminding me of the dream I had when I napped earlier, but I brush it off quickly. ‘So, is it going to be difficult to keep a cat?’
‘Is it your first time?’
‘Yeah, I’m pretty nervous.’ I realise how I sound without context, so I quickly add an innocent ‘But I love cats, if that helps.’
‘Shouldn’t be too hard, then.’ Dmitri says with a chuckle. ‘Just expect a lot of unwanted “gifts” once he grows up.’
‘I’m sure she will be very well-behaved and obedient, if I train her right.’
I notice a playful glint spark in his eyes at my very poor choice of words, and I almost lose my composure. ‘I wish you the best of luck in that,’ He whispers as we enter the pet clinic, and I look away before I can literally combust. Why do I make everything sound like an innuendo, I mentally groan as he nonchalantly greets the vet, introducing me in the process.
‘This guy’s a kitten she found on the street,’ He tells her, and she smiles at me in a friendly manner. I drop my sleepy cat on the table, and it lets out an indignant meow at being woken up.
‘That’s also how Dmitri got his two cats!’ She informs me as she gently handles the kitten, doing a routine checkup. ‘Okay, so he’s a male, but you probably knew that.’
I ignore his not-so-hidden smirk as I nod along, dreading the “I told you so” already. ‘Any diseases? Or injuries?’ I ask, trying my best to keep a straight face.
She shakes her head as she hands him back to me. ‘He seems all set for now, but here’s my card in case you notice anything out of the ordinary.’
‘Got it. Thank you!’
‘Any time,’ She smiles warmly as we leave the clinic.
‘So-’
‘If you tell me I told you so I will not hesitate to report you for harassment,’ I threaten him as he looks at me with amusement.
‘I was actually going to offer to drop you off at your home, but alright.’
I blink, more than a little flustered by his smooth answer. ‘Oh.’
‘So.. is that a yes?’
I unconsciously raise my gaze to meet his silvery eyes, and he grins back. Instantly I look away, embarrassed. ‘Only if it’s no trouble.’
‘Trust me, it isn’t.’
…
Natasha stares at Katze as he crawls out of my purse and onto the receptionist’s desk. ‘What the-’
‘Isn’t he adorable?’ I sigh like a woman in love as she quickly pulls him away from the pending loan documents.
‘You are insane ,’ She hisses, placing him into my lap as Childe approaches for his daily visit. ‘What if your cat tore up the papers?’
‘He wouldn’t do something like that,’ I reply in a whisper, our boss almost in hearing vicinity.
‘Give it one hour,’ She forces through a fixed smile. ‘Lord Tartaglia! How was your day?’
Childe gives her a weird look, but shrugs in response. ‘Uneventful. I didn’t fight anyone.’
‘Yet .’ I quickly say under my breath, and I freeze after I realise that both of them heard me .
Childe’s blue eyes darken for a second, his smile becoming fixed. ‘What was that, comrade?’
‘Nothing. Sir’
I fervently pray that he can’t hear my heart threatening to beat out of my chest. I’m going to die today, my brutally mutilated face will be on the news-
Childe lets out a surprised chuckle. ‘Wow. You have guts, comrade!’
Eh? I spare a glance at Natasha- she seems to be blankly staring at nothing. Ah shit, she’s disassociated. Again.
‘I sincerely apologise, sir.’ I whisper, mortified. ‘I don’t know what I was thinking.’
‘You’re forgiven, but only if you show me the cat you’re desperately trying to hide from me.’
What ?
Guiltily, I carefully scoop up Katze in my palms and place him on the desk. He looks at Childe curiously, and it strikes me that he’s the exact shade of Childe’s hair.
The two gingers stare at each other in silence for a minute, neither one moving even an inch.
‘What’s his name?’ Childe asks, finally breaking eye contact with my kitten.
‘Katze.’
‘Did you-’ He looks at me, confused. ‘Did you name your cat “cat” in the language of Mondstadt?’
‘I- uh, maybe?’ An embarrassed smile appears on my face. ‘How did you know?’
‘I visited Mondstadt on the Tsaritsa’s orders once. They have a bar there, called The Cat’s Tail.’
‘Oh. Am I correct to assume that it is full of cats?’
‘Very correct.’ He sighs, and we both watch Katze tentatively starting to approach him.
‘I see.’ I say politely as Katze scrabbles up Childe, his claws no doubt leaving tiny holes in his outfit. But I don’t say anything about it, because he doesn’t seem to care.
‘How do you know their language?’ He shoots back, still maintaining eye contact with me as he places Katze on his shoulder. My kitten nuzzles into his neck, not unlike how he behaved with me.
Traitor.
‘I don’t, actually. I was looking through my dictionaries.’
‘And Katze was what you came up with?’
I nod, painfully aware of the fact that this was the longest conversation we’ve had so far. ‘At least I didn’t name him Carrot,’ I say hesitantly, a small smile tugging on my lips.
‘Small mercies,’ He grins as he places Katze into my outstretched palms. ‘I have to go now, you take care of him.’
‘Yes, sir.’
Childe narrows his eyes. ‘And drop the “sir”. I’m barely older than you.’
I raise my eyebrows back, just a little. ‘As you wish, Lord Tartaglia.’ I subconsciously add a little flair at the end of his title, just like how Natasha says it.
It’s safe to say, Childe looks very taken aback, and my eyes widen slightly when I see a faint blush dusting his fair face.
Oh . He doesn’t react like this when the other Fatui employees call him that.
It is after he leaves, muttering about how he “needs to collect loans today” that I shake Natasha out of her trance. ‘You’re still alive?’ She looks at me, confused. ‘I thought he was going to kill you after you- why do you look like you’re blushing?’
‘I don't blush.’ I say unconvincingly as I turn to my paperwork, only to see that Katze has already maken quick work of it.
‘What did you do?’
I try to ignore her as I clean up the shredded paper on my desk.
‘What did you do?’
‘I think I accidentally flirted with him.’ I confess, hiding my face in my hands, as if my mask didn’t already do that in my first place.
‘What?’
‘He won’t think I’m weird, right?’ I ask anxiously, and Natasha stares at me blankly.
‘Girl, I think you have a mental problem.’
‘Tell me something I don’t know.’
Natasha and I are still bickering about my poor life choices when I spot Dmitri walking in, clearly headed for me.
‘Hi!’ I wave at him cheerfully, and he waves back. I am vaguely aware of Natasha giving me the biggest side eye in all of history.
‘There is no way-’
‘Shut up. Dmitri, did you finish your shift?’
He nods once, his eyes on Natasha’s disgusted expression. ‘Is something wrong?’ He asks her, a look of mock concern on his face.
‘No. Anyway,’ She turns to me. ‘I have to go.’
‘We still have three hours left-’
She ignores my cut-in. ‘If Lord Tartaglia comes, tell him I have projectile vomiting.’
‘Okaaaay, if you say so.’ We watch her leave the bank in a huff. ‘Did you say anything to her?’ I ask him, my eyes narrowed. I knew that the two didn’t really like each other, but they always kept up pretences for everybody else’s sake.
‘Nah, I think this one’s your fault.’
‘Yeah, you’re right. She’s very disappointed in me.’ I admit.
‘What’d you do?’
‘She questions my poor decision-making skills.’
‘Can I know the context?’
‘No way.’ I say quickly, and he laughs at the morbid look on my face.
‘It’s okay, I won’t push it out of you. By the way, I got something for your cat.’ While Dmitri tries to get something out of his pocket, Katze manages to crawl his way up to my mask, and I only notice because his sharp claws get stuck in the side of it. ‘Oh shit.’ I curse as I try to pull him away from me, but he almost drags my mask along. There is no way I’m getting my mask off. ‘Dmitri, can you help me?’
He instantly looks up at me, only now realising the situation on hand. ‘Of course, just a second.’
He drops whatever it was in his pocket and gently tries to prise away Katze’s claws off my mask, but he doesn’t succeed. ‘Uh, why don’t you remove your-’
‘No.’
‘This might take a while, then.’
I nod as he hesitantly tilts my chin up with one hand, the other hand one carefully prying every claw off my mask. ‘Tell me if you’re uncomfortable,’ He whispers, his eyes fixed firmly on Katze.
‘I’m fine,’
‘Then tell me why your heartbeat is so loud.’ Dmitri grins, his eyes locking with mine through the eye-hole for a split second.
I instantly look away.
‘Oh, maybe it's because Katze is very close to clawing my face off.’ I suggest sarcastically, though we both knew that really wasn’t the real reason.
‘You named him Katze ?’
I’m about to respond in an equally biting tone, but then I notice a familiar figure walking up to us. ‘Dmitri, look behind you.’ I hiss, trying to stay as still as possible.
‘Just one second-’
‘Excuse me, comrades, am I interrupting something?’
You have got to be kidding me.
‘Nothing, Lord Tartaglia.’ Dmitri quickly steps back, Katze now safely in his hands. ‘She just, ah, needed some help.’
Childe looks at him, unconvinced. ‘Your shift is finished?’
‘Yes.’
‘Then go .’
Dmitri shoots me an apologetic look before placing Katze back into my hands and exiting, leaving me alone with an absolutely furious harbinger.
‘Explain yourself.’ Childe says quietly, his arms crossed as he leans against my desk partition.
‘Sir?’
‘Why were you slacking off?’
My dream flashes in front of me, and I unconsciously take a step back. ‘Katze got his claws stuck in my mask.’
‘How did you not notice that before it happened?’
I grimace. ‘I .. I was talking to Dmitri. Sir.’
‘So, you were slacking off.’
‘I truly apologise, sir. I promise you, it will not happen again.’ I bow my head a little, trying my best not to shake.
Childe nods, his eyes now on Natasha’s empty chair. ‘And where is she ?’
‘Projectile vomiting.’
‘Interesting. I’ll make sure to check up on her later.’
I nod, not knowing what else to do.
‘Replace your mask, too. It’s damaged.’
‘Yes, sir.’
He stands there for a second, looking at me. I look back, confused.
‘Sir? Is there something you need?’
He continues looking at me, head curiously tilted to one side, before he slowly asks. ‘Do you… not have an extra Fatui mask?’
‘Oh. No.’
‘Come pick one up from my office.’
I stare at Childe, trying to make sure this isn’t a dream. ‘Sir?’
‘Did I stutter?’