Work Text:
Childe tapped his fingers on his desk, staring at the clock. There were five more minutes until his break time and he was getting impatient. However, he did plan out a strict schedule with the intent to stick to it.
He slumped over in his chair. If only he had something to distract him as he waits—
Knock.
Childe sat up. He wasn’t expecting company, who in their right mind would bother him at this hour?
The knocking continued and Childe sighed before standing up and opening the door.
“Alright, what do you… Once? What are you doing here?”
The Onceler took a step back in surprise as Childe opened the door, his fist only a few inches from hitting the other’s face from a second knock.
“Childe! Hi, I just wanted to drop by. I apologize if you’re busy right now, but I have something I wanted to give you.”
“Oh, okay then. Why don’t you come in? It’s just about break time for me anyways.”
Childe ushered the Onceler into his office, trying to sneak a look at what he had brought. The Onceler unfortunately caught him in the act and hid the item behind his back.
“Aw, come on, Once. One sneak peek?”
“You’re gonna see it in just a second anyways, sit back down.”
Defeated, Childe collapsed onto a chair and crossed his arms with a pout.
“Okay, like I said, I got something for you. It was pretty expensive— considering I bought it from Fontaine— but I thought you’d like it so I got it anyways.”
The Onceler handed Childe a small wrapped box and couldn’t help but smile as he watched Childe open it.
That is, until Childe’s look of anticipation transformed into a frown.
The box held a special Kamera, decorated with swirls of blue and white resembling the element of Hydro. The Kamera itself was of top-quality and could even record motion pictures in a reasonable number of frames per second. For a mobile Kamera, it was of the highest quality.
“…I’m sorry, Once, but… I already have one.”
“A Kamera? I’m not surprised, a lot of people have them… I just wanted to get you a nicer one.”
“No, I have this exact Kamera. I bought it last year on an expedition to Fontaine as a souvenir. I’ve barely used it and it’s good as new, too.”
The Onceler’s face dropped and Childe avoided looking at his eyes. The tension hung heavy in the air.
“Look, Once, I’m sorry—“
“No! I wanted to get something nice for you, and you can’t even appreciate it! I don’t care if you already have one, but couldn’t you at least say ‘Thank you’? Is it really that hard?”
“Once! Stop, please! I do appreciate it, I’m just not sure what to do with it!”
Childe brought his hand up to rest on the Onceler’s shoulder.
“Look, I’ll still keep it, it’s a gift from you and that’s what makes it important.”
“Wouldn’t it be a waste of money then? You could at least sell it and get some of the money back…”
Childe smiled and shook his head.
“Not everything is about money, Once. You’re more important to me than any piece of mora could ever be.”
“I…”
“It’s okay, take your time, babygirl.”
The Onceler flushed at the nickname.
“…would you stop calling me that? It’s embarrassing!”
“Never.”
The Onceler shoved Childe away as the redhead laughed and put the Kamera on his desk.
“Hey, why don’t I make this up to you and take you out to lunch? I’ve still got plenty of time before I have to go back to work.”
The Onceler sighed.
“Alright, but next time I’ll pay.”