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Zhongli heard a knock on his door. The consultant frowned. He didn't expect anyone to bother him this late at night, except if it was an emergency of some kind. When he went to check, he was surprised to find a snezhnayan kid on his frontdoor, who just happened to look strikingly like Childe. Same ginger hair, same blue eyes.
“Are you Mister Zhongli?”
The former Archon almost winced. That way of referring to him was familiar, too. They brought back memories of simpler times, when Childe didn't resent him yet for the part he made him play in testing Liyue.
“Indeed. And who might you be?”
“My name's Teucer. You need to save my big brother, he's been coughing flowers because of you!”
At those words, Zhongli's mind went blank. Oh, he was well-acquainted with the condition Teucer was talking about. It was what it implied that he struggled to grasp. Despite everything, Childe loved him still. However, he was currently letting it kill him, because he apparently believed Zhongli couldn't possibly return his feelings. Either that, or he would rather die than face him again. It was... a lot to stomach. He stayed frozen, unable to find what to say, when a small hand grasped his.
“C'mon, there is no time to waste!” Teucer urged him on.
“Wait! While I understand the emergency, I doubt any boat will depart for Snezhnaya in the middle of the night.” He reasoned.
The kid dragged him outside nonetheless, deaf to his protests.
“My brother isn't in Snezhnaya. He's here, in Liyue.”
Zhongli could barely hide his surprise. Liyue was his city. He made it his duty to know what was happening within its walls. The fact he wasn't aware of the Harbinger's return only proved the care Childe must have put into hiding it from him. It bothered him more than he'd like to admit.
It also meant it was only a matter of minutes before they saw each other again. His heart pounded hard in his chest at the realization. Their last conversation had been anything but pleasant. It hurt even more to think Childe resented him so much that he'd prefer death over asking for his help.
He still wasn't quite ready for the encounter when they reached the Northland Bank, but Teucer didn't exactly leave him time to prepare himself. He rushed inside, and Zhongli had no choice but to follow him.
Teucer had been right. There, in the entryway, stood Childe, busy chatting with his employees. However, they all went silent the moment he stepped inside.
“Zhongli,” The Harbinger greeted him, his tone colder than the harsh winds of Snezhnaya. However, his expression softened the moment he spotted his little brother and the ice in his voice melted. “Teucer! Did you come all this way to see me?”
He ran to his sibling and took him in his arms, hugging him tightly. His reaction took Zhongli aback. This was a side of Childe he had never seen before. The tenderness in his blue eyes betrayed just how much he cared for Teucer.
“I missed you, big brother!” The kid exclaimed.
“I know, I missed you too,” Childe chuckled.
He held onto Teucer for a few more seconds before shifting his attention back to Zhongli.
“Thank you for bringing him here safely.” He thanked the consultant.
It made Zhongli's heart skip a beat, to have Childe smiling at him again, all animosity gone from his stare.
“That was the least I could do. However, it isn't the sole reason for my presence here. I would like to discuss some private matters with you, if that is alright.”
He couldn't forget why he had come to the Northland Bank in the first place: Childe was dying. Zhongli needed to make things right before it was too late. He refused to lose yet another person he cared about.
The Harbinger didn't look too pleased, but with a sigh, he accepted nonetheless.
“Fine, since you looked after Teucer, I guess I can humor you. I'll have Ekaterina take care of him while we talk.”
Before leaving with the receptionist, the kid sent Zhongli a hopeful look. It only added to the pressure that was already weighing on the shoulders of the former Archon. As the Harbinger led him to his office, he couldn't help but be nervous. He loved Childe, of that he had no doubt, but he couldn't help but fear it would be too late to cure his disease.
“So, what did you come here for?” Childe asked after closing the door behind them.
Zhongli took a deep breath. Since time was of the essence, it was better not to lose a single second and go straight to the point.
“To confess my love to you. My actions may have failed to express it, but I truly care about you. My heart has belonged to you for a long time now, and although the circumstances are not ideal, I assure you my feelings are true. I love you. I truly do. Of course, if you wished to never see me again after today, I would respect your decision, although it would cost me, but I needed you to know how I felt about you.”
He anxiously waited for Childe to start coughing flowers, for bloodied roots to be expelled from his body, but nothing happened. Zhongli stared at him, horrified. Was he mistaken about his own feelings? Was... Was his love not honest enough to heal Childe?
His heart tightened in despair. This couldn't be happening. He... He couldn't lose him. Not like this.
“How dare you?” Childe finally spoke up. He looked livid with rage. “How can you pretend nothing wrong happened between us, especially after how you played me? What did you even think you would achieve, coming here with your meaningless words of love? Did you expect me to just fall into your arms, without so much as giving me an apology first?”
Zhongli shook his head frantically.
“Of course not, that was never my intention! I... I didn't do this in hopes you would return my love. Your brother informed me of your condition, and I simply thought I could help... I... I apologize, I truly believed my feelings would be strong enough to...”
His voice broke and he hurriedly wiped his tears away. He had no right to bother Childe with his sorrow, not when he had failed him.
“What do you mean, my condition?” The Harbinger inquired, head tilted to the side, his anger tamed by his puzzlement.
“You do not have to pretend to be fine.” Zhongli laughed sadly. “I know you have been coughing up flowers, your brother has told me. And I... I foolishly believed I could save you.”
Childe's eyes widened at his words, his expression turning into one of shocked understanding.
“Oh no, has he really...? Archons help me, this is so embarrassing...”
He hid his face in his hands, to Zhongli's greatest confusion, before facing him again.
“Look, I don't know what Teucer has told you, but I am not sick. When I came back to Snezhnaya, I wasn't exactly doing well. I hate to admit it, but our last meeting left me quite... shaken up. Miserable, one could say. My younger siblings noticed. I couldn't exactly tell them the truth about what happened, they don't even know I'm a Harbinger. So, I dug up some old tale about a flower love disease, twisted it a bit, hid a few petals in a handkerchief and used it to explain why I wasn't being my usual self. I never thought it would come to... this.”
Childe gestured at the both of them. A slight blush caused by embarrassment adorned his pale cheeks. Zhongli frowned, as it was his turn to be bewildered.
“You are telling me you pretended to be plagued with a life-threatening illness to... reassure them?”
“Yeah, worded like that, it sounds stupid, I'll grant you that. But it's just an imaginary disease, and I did tell them that in my case, it was temporary! Not to mention, the fairytales always end well. There is always a knight there to save the dying princess, or something along those lines. I didn't think they would get worried about it.”
“Although no new cases of this illness have been accounted for in the last few centuries, it is anything but 'imaginary'. I have seen it take many lives.” Zhongli corrected him. “So pardon me if the news has left me a bit distressed. As for your siblings, maybe they have come across darker versions of those tales that are closer to reality? I know them to exist.”
His nerves were slowly starting to settle down. Childe was not dying. He didn't fail to rescue him. His feelings for him weren't a fraud. It brought the consultant a deep sense of relief.
“Oh, I didn't know that. Wait, so you really thought I would die if... if you didn't love me back?”
“That is the idea, yes.”
“And... You believed you could save me?”
Zhongli averted his eyes, suddenly feeling shy. Now that it wasn't a matter of life or death anymore, he was starting to realize that he had just bared his heart to Childe. He only looked up again when the Harbinger moved closer to him and gently cupped his cheek.
“Do you know why I was so angry at you, after you handed out the gnosis to Signora?” Childe said in a hushed tone.
“I... I am not exactly sure.”
It was the truth. He still struggled to decipher human feelings, even though he was doing his hardest to learn.
“Because I believed you never cared about me. That in your eyes, I was just a pawn you could discard later. All the moments we spent together, I... I thought it meant nothing to you. That I meant nothing to you. But you just proved me wrong, didn't you?”He murmured as he tenderly wiped away the last of Zhongli's tears.
The consultant gasped in surprise when soft lips brushed against his. He timidly wrapped his arms around Childe, afraid to do something that would break the charm. But the Harbinger only pressed himself closer, entangling his fingers in Zhongli's long hair.
“Just in case that wasn't clear enough: I love you too.” Childe quietly confessed, right before kissing him again.
Zhongli closed his eyes and allowed himself to bask in the perfection of the moment. Childe was not dying. They had all the time in the world to let their love bloom.
Nothing could have made him happier.
When they returned to the Northland Bank's entryway a while later, Teucer immediately ran up to them, and expectantly looked up at Zhongli.
“So, did you save my big brother?”
“Yeah, he saved me alright,” Childe laughed heartily.
“I knew he would! Just like in the stories! Thank you, Mister Zhongli!”
The consultant smiled fondly when Teucer hugged him with all his little strength. He was such a sweet kid. Zhongli easily understood why Childe would go to such lengths to make sure he would enjoy his childhood to the fullest. Teucer only released him when he realized that in his haste, he had forgotten some toy of his on the other side of the room. Childe took advantage of the distraction to put a quick, teasing kiss on Zhongli's cheek while his brother was looking away.
“Well, you're more of a dragon than a knight in shining armor, but I think I prefer it that way.”