Chapter Text
It was one of the many cold, desolate days in autumn. However, the only way to tell that it really was autumn was by looking at the calendar, as it snowed in Snezhnaya all year round. A cold breeze blew through the room and the curtains rattled softly, the flames in the fireplace danced brightly.
Scara was sitting in his office. The thousands of piles of papers and files spread out chaotically all over his desk, seemed to stare back at him almost mockingly. He hated this. He wasn't created for a stupid boring office job like this. Quite the opposite actually. He'd rather make an expedition into the abyss again than doing this kind of torture - well not really.
But for some reason some of his supervisors believed that he, the feared Balladeer and 6th Fatui Harbinger, should also take part on this and spend hours sitting here and sorting some documents. Documents nobody would ever look throught again in the future and which would probably just rot in some bookshelf until they crumbled back to dust again.
Why couldn't he just ask one of his subordinates to do this for him? - Well he couldn't cause appartenly the documents contained highly confidential data intended for the eyes of the Harbingers only. Tch, as if one would want to read any of this or even possibly use it against them.
His eyes were already burning and a sharp pain in his neck reminded him of how long he had already been in this uncomfortable position - he didn't even know since when he was struggling with those typical human problems. In fact, even his body seemed to be protesting after several hours of work.
His shoulders tensed up when he suddenly heard a loud knock at the door. He turned his head towards the door - the paper he had just been examining still stuck in his hands. Whoever it is, they'll be lucky if they don't feel Scara's anger and frustration.
"Who is it?", he muttered under his breath, the tone of his voice a sharp reminder of his mood. But even that didn't seem to repel whoever was standing in front of his office.
The wooden door opened with a flourish and a certain redhead - he could have expected that already - stuck his head round the corner of the doorframe. "Uhm Hi Scara, I hope I'm not interrupting you somehow"
"You are"
But as usual Childe couldn't care less. He closed the door behind him and stepped further into the room. Small snowflakes had accumulated on his boots and melted in the warm room, leaving wet traces on the floor. He stopped in front of Scara's desk, furrowing his eyebrows as he studied the all papers which were flying around on it without any kind of recognisable sorting.
"Huh, what the hell are you doing?" Childe questioned, raising his eyebrows in surprise. His gaze wandered from the papers over to Scara who was sitting on a chair on the other side of the desk, his arms casually propped up on the armrest. Still he could feel the slightly tense atmosphere in the air. For a moment his eyes lingered on the features of his face.
"Just some pointless and boring files", the 6th replied shortly and focused back on the paper in front of him, not giving Childe another single glance. The paper was written in a stupidly minimalist font and the longer he stared at the words, the more the dark ink seemed to blur right before his eyes.
"How long have you already been working on these?", the redhead asked as he grabbed one of the papers on top of the pile and quickly scanned the text, but put it away again a few seconds later, since it wasn't interesting at all and just some boring statistics.
"I didn't see you at the banquet or anywhere else today", he added, narrowing his eyes.
"A few hours maybe?" Scara wasn't even sure of it himself. He just knew for too long and that he really didn't want to go through even one more of these annoying files this evening.
His gaze drifted off to the window on the opposite side of the room. It was already pitch dark outside, small drops of water were racing eachother down the thin glass. It had been snowing. At least the last time he had checked. But he couldn't estimate how long ago that had been.
"It's not like you always have to know my location tho" He said, his eyes still fixed on the window pane.
"But you know I'm a really curious person" Childe answered, with a small grin. Hearing his protest, Scaras eyes snapped back into Childe's direction and met his dull blue ones before he let out a frustrated sigh and his concentration went back onto his work. For the 11th it still was like a win since at least he had managed to make him look over into his direction again. Even just for a second.
They fell into a more or less comfortable silence, which was only interrupted by the sound of the quite aggressively turning pages. Scara's fingers slid roughly over the papers and he skimmed the next text, completely ignoring that on purpose that Childe was still in the room with him.
At some point Scara heard how he cleared his throat.
"Hmm what's it?", he asked, with an usual tense tone, not looking up. His fingertips drummed restlessly on the wooden plate.
"Just reminding you that I'm still here", Childe hummed. His lips stretched into a broad grin, as he made a step closer. Then, with a loud crash, he placed both his hands on the table in front of Scara, causing the wooden plate to slightly jolt under the pressure. Scara flinched unwillingly, but just shook it off with a roll of his eyes. He didn't have time for any of this now.
"There's no reason for you to still be here, as you can clearly see I'm really busy", he retorted, a thin line appearing between his dark brows.
Childe's grin turned into a frown. "You said you already worked on this for hours, doing a break for a few minutes won't hurt y'know. There's actually something I have to tell you"
"Childe, don't you have anything better to do than distract me from my work?", he asked, his voice sharp like a knife. A knife he currently would have loved to throw at something. Or someone.
To be fair it wasn't as if he didn't like Childe's presence and that he didn't like the fact that Childe had been looking for him. He actually enjoyed it. But of course he wouldn't admit it, specially to him. He'd rather die then admitting that. And besides even if the ginger could be quite lovable sometimes, right now he was just in the way of him and his work.
"Hum...you think i'm distracting you...?", Childe hummed, the corners of his lips slowly twitching up again, forming the annoying but at the same time strangely charming smile, which was the expression Scara hated the most on his features - they both knew that.
"Not in this way, idiot"
"In which way then?", Childe questioning raised one of his eyebrows, a victorious glimmer in his blueish eyes. Scara noticed how Childe slightly tensed his shoulders, his hand went on his hip and his head tilted to one side, accompanied by a more than just self-confident grin, almost as if he was posing for him.
"Childe, just shut up, leave and you better never come back. I'm sure you also still have some kind of work to do, other than getting on my nerves", Scara snapped at him. He wasn't in the mood for Childe's games in the slightest.
"But that's my favourite job-"
Childe was suddenly interrupted by a flying pen that went straight to his forehead and that he barely managed to dodge, just missing it for a few centimeters. But he luckily managed to make a step to the left side in the last second.
The pen crashed to the floor with a muffled sound and rolled a bit further until it hit the opposite wall and came to a stop. Childe's gaze had followed its movements but now he turned back to Scara, the hand that had been on his hip before placed on his forehead.
"Hey, are you completely crazy Scara?! You could have poked my eye out!", the redhead loudly complained, staring at Scara with his eyes wide opened in disbelief.
"Next time I will", the other replied in a low voice. Though this most likely was an empty threat and Scara most definitely wouldn't do it. But Childe could never really know. Scara could be pretty unpredictable if he wanted to.
"Can you just put your work away for a few seconds, I have to ask you something, I promise after that I'll leave you alone", Childe muttered while he bend down to pick up the pen Scara had thrown at him and twisted it a few times between his index and middle finger, before placing it back on his desk.
"Ugh... alright...you better be quick" With a groan, Scara threw the paper he was holding onto the table, his fingers still clutching the edge and leaned back on his chair, finally giving Childe his full attention.
"Okay, look. You will probably not like what i'm about to say...", he prompted carefully, noticing how Scaras indigo eyes became darker and darker with every word he said and how his grip on the edge of the table tightened so that his knuckles already slowly turned white.
"Just spit it out!"
Childe sighed, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. His fingers fidelled at the small ruff of his coat. As he spoke his throat felt unsual dry. "As you might know in about a week all of Snezhnaya will celebrate Halloween and-"
"No I won't celebrate that stupid mortal holiday with you", Scara interrupted him harshly and crossed his arms tightly before his chest.
Somehow he could have already guessed that Childe would suggest something like this. At least after they had been on a mission and had walked through the city a few days ago. He noticed that Childe had admired all the Halloween decorations with almost childlike joy. But to the 11ths displeasure he didn't share his mindset when it came to celebrations like this at all. What was the point of it anyway? Just some human nonsense.
"At least let me finish explaining", Childe said with small chuckle and leaned a bit forward over to desk, slightly tilting his head. Scara was about to open his mouth again but didnt get a chance as the 11th quickly continued.
"I used to always celebrate it with my family" Scaras gaze slightly softened as he started to talk about his family. "This year, I don't have the time to travel to them, so Teucer has decided that he wants to visit me here. But he thinks it's boring to just go trick or treating alone with me so i promised him that you would come with us"
"What?! Why would I even do that? Do I look like a babysitter to you?", Scara narrowed his eyes, looking back down on his table. He was the 6th Harbinger and not just some no-good babysitter for Childe's siblings.
"You don't have to babysit him - just come with us, so we aren't alone. The more people, the more fun!", Childe said. But Scara didn't share this opinion at all.
"What about your other siblings?", Scara asked, his frown hadn't faded at all but Childe still believed to see a little softer glow in his eyes and not the usual fire.
It also was a good sign that Scara didn't directly disagree to his request. He definitely had a soft spot for kids especially for Teucer - even if he wouldn't admit it. In fact, the few times he had already met his siblings, they always seemed to get along well, and Teucer had even managed to get a genuine smile out of him sometimes. So maybe he had a chance to convince him after all.
"Tonia and Anthon told me that they think they're too old for this 'kids stuff' now. They're just typical teenagers", his eyes crinkled at the corners and a small smirk played around his lips. When Childe talked about his family, he sometimes seemed to be a completely different person. He just loved his family and could spend hours talking about them.
"They think they're too old? What should I say then?", Scara scowled, his gaze never leaving Childe's. The expressions on his face was so cute that Childe was struggling to hold back his laugh, but tried to hide it by coughing and quickly putting his hand over his mouth. Scara gave him a suspicious look but luckily didn't comment it.
"Oh come on, isn't it the case that the older you get, the more you long for things that younger people enjoy to do?", Childe asked.
"That's just your child(e)ish brain which thinks so. I never celebrated Halloween so i also don't miss it", the 6th responded in a cool, sharp tone.
"That's even better! This way you can try it for the first time!", Childe did not let up. Once he had set his mind on something, there was no turning back. He looked at him with big pleading eyes, which reminded Scara of a little puppy. "Please Scara, I promised it to Teucer. I can't break that promise"
"You should have thought about that earlier before promising him something you can't keep", to Childe's disappointment Scara didn't give in that easily. But this didn't mean he would just give up yet. Talking with Scara often was a challenge but that was part of what also made it so interesting. He liked that back and forth.
"Fine, but when he comes in a week, you'll be the one to tell him that you won't go trick or treating with us", Childe hummed with a grin knowing by saying that he could drive Scara into an dead end. Nobody could endure the sad gaze of Teucer for long, when he didn't get what had been promised to him. Everyone would buckle at some point. Even someone like Scara. Especially him actually.
"Hmph alright, I'll go trick or treating with you, but nothing else. I won't celebrate it in any other way and I also won't wear a stupid costume." He finally reluctantly agreed.
We'll see about that, Childe thought. But for now he had achieved everything he wanted, he could take care of the rest later. The 11th threw his arms up joyfully, knowing that he had won this 'fight'.
"Thanks Scara, trust me you won't regret saying yes to this", Childe chuckled, leaning over the desk and down to Scara, so he could press a soft kiss on his forehead. Scara's eyes widened in surprise, but Childe quickly moved away, so Scara didn't even have the chance to protest or to bring any other conditions or objections.
With brisk steps, he headed for the door. But before he left, he turned round to face him again. "I'll let you continue your work then. Have fun~" He chirped, for a moment their eyes met again and Childe could see Scaras annoyance more than clearly but he didnt care about it. He closed the door behind him again and the office fell in complete silence once more.
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7 days later
There wasn't much going on on the platform at this early hour. Well, it was during the week and most people who went to work would allow themselves at least another good hour's sleep. Besides the sun hadn't even risen yet and it was freezing cold, clearly in the deep minus degrees - though most of Snezhnayans were already used to that condition.
It was almost as if Snezhnayans were born with an extra layer of skin that protected them from most of the cold temperatures. At least that's the impression it gave to tourists but Childe unfortunately knew himself that this wasn't true.
The only few people who had ventured out at this hour were either planning to take a train or were waiting for someone to arrive with it - which was the case for them.
Childe was standing next to Scara on the plattform, both of his hands as deep as possible in the pockets of his winter coat. Even the thick gloves he was wearing weren't completely enough to protect his fingers from the icy temperatures and his hands were already feeling unusual stiff. But he tried not to let it show, because he knew then he would only catch one of Scaras scolding gazes.
It really was unfair. Scara was leaning at the wall next to him, his arms crossed in front of his chest. The coat he was wearing was not even fully buttoned and he had refused to put on a scarf. At least he was wearing gloves.
But still, Childe felt a little envy. Sometimes he wished he would have the same ability as him. It would have made many of his missions easier. On the other hand that would also mean that he would never be able to understand the satisfying feeling to come home in the evening and sit at the fireplace and watch the dancing flames while the body slowly got used to the warmth again.
"When will the train finally come?", Scara asked, impatiently running his fingers through his hair.
"It should arrive any minute", Childe mused, with every word, his breath leaving traces of smoke in the cold air. His gaze wandered down to Scara.
Since they had arrived at the station, the snowfall had increased considerably and thousands of thick flakes were falling down on them. A few snowflakes had gotten caught on top of Scara's hat and in his hair. Shimmering like small crystals it created a somewhat ethereal look in his indigo strands.
"You still didn't tell him about it, did you?"
Childe snapped out of his thoughts. Of course he knew immediately what Scara was talking about. Scara hadn't been enthusiastic at all, since he had told them that they couldn't wear their Fatui coats when they were picking Teucer up. He wouldn't have known how to explain him how they had gotten those fancy expensive looking white fur coats. Instead he had insisted on them getting normal coats like most of the people wear. He kinda regretted it now since those were a lot thinner than his usual one and also much more wind-permeable.
"I can't, he's still too young, he wouldn't understand it...", Childe protested, begging Scara with pleading eyes to understand his point of view and his position.
"But you're lying to him. How would he trust you if he finds out in the future that you're not just a normal 'toy sellman'?", Scara questioned and narrowed his eyes, this gaze drifting down on the cold stone pavement.
Childe knew that he had a point, but he just couldn't bring himself to tell Teucer in what kind of dangerous business he was working every day. Teucer, who had no idea of the real dangers in Teyvat and for whom most of it seemed like just a game. Teucer who adored him like a hero and had told him almost every day that when he grew up he wanted to be exactly like him. His little brother, the only person who didn't care about his dull look… He simply couldn't tell that to his innocent eyes. Because like this he would crush all of his dreams. He just didn't want to disappoint him. But were it really just dreams or only illusions he had build up within the last years?
"When he gets older, he'll understand everything", he tried to sound firm but unintentionally a subtle note of doubt had crept into his voice, which Scara - being as observant as he always was - definitely had picked up. Fortunately, he didn't mention it to him and Childe was very grateful for that.
A few moments later a loud rattling sound was echoing throught the whole train station and shortly after the train they had been waiting for rolled onto the track. The brakes squealed loudly until it fully came to a stop with a loud rattle.
When the doors were opened a small figure was one of the first passengers who jumped out, pulling his little luggage with him. As soon as the little figure saw them standing there, he ran into their direction so fast that Childe was worried his little brother might slip and fall onto the wet floor.
"Woah careful there, Teucer!", he called out but his brother ignored his warning and didn't slow down even a bit.
At record speed Teucer was standing in front of him, his little arms stretched out to embrace Childe, who had bent down so that they were at a similar height. After letting go of his luggage, Teucer almost flew into his arms.
"Big brother, I missed you so much!", Teucer exclaimed happily, his words were muffled by the fact that he was embracing him so closely and his mouth was covered from his scarf.
"I missed you too, Teucer", Childe said, a broad smile forming on his face. He fondly ruffled his little brother's ginger hair, similar to his own hair color, which was messy from the weather conditions.
After a while Teucer finally turned his attention to Scara who had been silently standing next to them and only watched them with an unreadable expression on his face. Knowing Scara, he could imagine he was feeling wistful as he often struggled to see Childe with his family, since it always reminded him of his own creator. But Childe had to admit, he hid it really well.
Suddenly Teucer stepped closer to him and also put his little arms around Scara.
Scara's gaze wandered down to him and his eyebrows shot up. He wasn't used at all to receiving hugs and certainly not so sudden ones. He stood there, frozen for a moment. Then slowly his lips curved up at the sight, forming a for him quite rare smile. He looked down at Teucer and stretched his hand, giving him a pat on the head.
"I also missed you, Mr. Scara!", Teucer said grinning broadly from one side to the other side of his face.
Mr. Scara. He still didn't know what to think about this name. But somehow Teucer had started to call him that ever since he had met him for the first time when he had once visited Childes family and he had never stopped with it. Childe was the only one who usually called him 'Scara' and he just barely tolerated it. But it seemed like he would also have to made an exception for his little brother.
Teucer had started talking wildly about his family and so on, but above all, about how much he was looking forward to the celebration. And this was the moment when Scara knew he definitely had made the right decision in agreeing to go with them, although he would never admit out loud. He really couldn't have beared to disappoint that happy and excited little boy in front of him. At least he thought that for now...
"This will be the best celebration ever!", Teucer cheered so loud that the other people on the platform were already starting to stare over at them. Scara deliberately turned her eyes away from them, feeling a bit uncomfortable.
"It definitely will!", Childe agreed sounding almost as euphoric as his little brother.
It were those little moments when Scara could get a closer look at the little boy Childe once had been himself. The boy who hadn't been traumatised by all the nights he spend into the darkness of the abyss. He almost seemed like a completely different person like this. But this didn't make him any less lovable, quite the opposite actually.
He was torn from his thoughts as he suddenly felt a small pull at the edge his coat. "Mr. Scara, what kind of costume will you wear?", Teucer asked him with his big curious eyes.
"Costume?", he froze in the middle of his motion, his gaze wandering over to Childe who seemed to struggle to hold his laugh. Hell, hadn't he told him straight out that he wouldn't be wearing a costume?!
His indigo eyes met Childe's eyes, a crystal clear warning in them.
"Yes, a costume! Costumes are the best part of this celebration! And you'll need them, otherwise you'll have bad luck for the whole next year. Right, brother?" Teucer turned to his brother and waited for his confirmation. Scara could literally feel how the both of the brothers were working together - and unforturtunaly against him.
"Yeah right, otherwise the evil ghosts will come and haunt you and won't leave you alone", Childe hummed in agreement and grinned broadly but suddenly his gaze turned hollow and empty. He slumped his shoulders, and tilted his head, while his movements became sluggish and creeping as he stretched out his arms. Then, with a deep voice he whispered: "Booooo!"
He winked at Teucer who was giggling loudly but Scara's eyes just darkened and he furrowing his brows deliberately.
"Ghost's don't exist. That's just fairytales", Teucer announced overconfidently and crossed his slim arms infront of his chest. The way he was standing there, he almost looked like a mini version of the overconfident Childe. "Fairytales you just tell us kids to scare us"
"Are you sure about that, Teuc'?", Childe leaned down to his little brother with a broad grin.
"More than just sure."
"Maybe you just think so because you haven't met one yet", Childe hummed and looked over at Scara. Something was in his gaze that the latter couldn't quite grasp. As if Childe had something on his mind that he hadn't the slightest idea about.
"Anyway. Scara, you can only come with us if you also have a costume."
"You can wear one, but I won't"
"C'mon Scara, do you really wanna go from door to door like you are right now?" A soft chuckle escaped Childe’s lips and a glimmer of amusement danced in his eyes. "Well...I mean, you'll probably scare them anyway, almighty Balladeer." he teased mockingly. "You don't even need a costume for that."
Scaras eyes were throwing daggers at him, even before Childe had finished that sentence and it looked like he was about to dash forward and strangle him if he just would say one more word.
The 11th raised his arms defensively. "Hey, calm down! I didn't mean to-" For a brief moment, he looked away, pressing his lips together as if trying to hold back more laughter, but the quiet, breathy sounds slipped out regardless.
"This was your plan from the beginning, wasn't it?", Scara scoffed in a dismissive tone.
"No I-" Childe was about to say but he saw how Scara's eyes narrowed, and a hint of annoyance flickered across his face. "Okay, yes it might have been my plan" He reluctantly admitted.
He leaned closer to him, his warm breath brushed over Scara's face and he could feel his cheeks heating up - probably just because of the warmth. With a low but slightly pleading tone Childe whispered into his ear. "Please just do it for Teucer."
The mentioned one had only watched their exchange of words with a slightly puzzled expression and didn't seem to have followed what they even were talking about. His head just had kept jerking back and forth from one to the other as he watched them with his mouth slightly open.
"What is a Balladeer?", he suddenly asked in a timid voice.
The Harbingers were both a little taken aback by his sudden question. They freezed for a second and then exchanged a knowing look. A brief moment of silence hung in the air as they stared at each other, both seeming to search for an explanation.
"Uhmm, uhmm...", Childe's thoughts were racing while he was trying to find something he could possibly say to make Teucer happy and satisfy his curiosity at the same time. "...Well you know Mr. Scara here" For a brief moment, his hand brushes over the others shoulder but he quickly pulled it away again. "As you know he's one of my colleagues and me as well as our customers in our toystore are used to call him Balladeer because...-" Finally an idea popped into his head. "He's a pretty good singer."
Teucers eyes widened in disbelief, so much that it looked like they would fall out completely if they were just a little wider. "Wow! Mr. Scara can sing?", Teucer nearly choked from excitement. He glanced over at Scara who had listened to Childe's explanation with mild amusement.
"Yeah, he really has talent", the 11th said, a big bright smile plastering on his face. Hopefully Teucer didn't recognise the relief hidden under it.
"Can you... show it to me, Mr. Scara?", Teucer's big, round eyes were filled full with hope and excitement as he used a pleading tone. He bounced up and down on his toes.
"Maybe at a different time...", Scara tried to talk his way out of it. "I thought we first should get costumes ready."
When Teucer heard this, he completely forgot about Scara's 'singing talent' within the next few moments and his attention fully turned back to their actual plan. An exciting thought was followed by another for the little boy, an even more exciting one.
"You'll really dress up with us for the celebration?", he wanted to know. Even Teucer seemed to be surprised by Scara's sudden change in mind.
"Tch...Yes...I will", Scara replied through clenched teeth. "But-"
He didn't get a chance to voice his objection because suddenly a small hand grabbed his and pulled him forward, taking him by surprise.
"Let's go!"
Teucer had an incredible amount of strength for his thin, small body, and Scara stumbled after him until he finally regained his balance.
As he was being dragged forward by Teucer, he turned his head back to Childe his gaze obviously saying something like 'you owe me something' before he let himself be pulled away. Childe was already right on their heels, he had grabbed Teucer's luggage and was pulling it along with him. The loud contended laughter of Teucer and his big brother filled the cold morning air. Childe couldn't be happier as he knew his plan has worked more than just well.
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On their way to the centre of the city, they passed countless buildings decorated with any kind of stuff which seemed to be related with Halloween. Thousands of pumpkin laterns were standing at the doors or within the front gardens, many different scary emotions carved onto their faces.
Some people had took the decorations even on another level and filled their houses with creepy ghosts which, when approached, made you jump with fright. They even passed a house with a gigantic, realistic spider on the roof, which had startled Teucer, who had seemed almost unshakeable up to this point.
Snezhnaya really was taking this celebrate seriously.
This was the first year Scara was voluntary on the streets. Usually, at this time of the year, he would have just stayed at the Fatui headquarters or tried to get a mission in another region where Halloween wasn't celebrated that big. What was it even about Halloween? You went from door to door to beg strangers for sweets. Sweets that he loathed anyway. He hadn't had the slightest reason to take part in the festivities until now. But it seemed like this year he didn't have a choice...
They reached the town centre, where one shop followed another. Pretty much all of their windows were also specially decorated for the occasion and filled with figurines, garlands or other scary items.
Teucer walked ahead of them, stopping every now and then in front of one of the shop windows to admire the things on display with an "Oh" or "Ah", or pointing to things that interested him to show them to Childe and Scara.
"Brother! Where is your toystore? You promised me you would show it to me the next time I visit you!", Teucer had stopped in the middle of the street and turned back to them.
Scara noticed how Childe struggled with the words for a moment and how the colour in his face faded slightly when he heard Teucer's question - an unpleasant topic that Childe would have certainly preferred to avoid.
As Childe still didn't reply, Scara gave him a quite harsh nudge with his elbow to bring him back to reality. "Ouch- Uh... well, it's a bit away from the centre, I don't think we'll have the time to visit it today, Teucer", he finally came up with an answer.
Teucer's shoulders sunk at that reply and his eyes which had been full of anticipation became dull. Stil at least he was believing that lie. "We'll go there next time, I promise", Childe added apologetically.
His brother seemed to accept that and started walking again. Scara could hardly believe his ears. Had Childe really just promised his brother something he couldn't possibly keep? Childe, who would normally never break a promise? Well, they both knew he would break this one at some point. Childe was already too deep in the spiral of his own lies.
As Teucer was far enough away, Scara glanced over at Childe and muttered. "That was a close one"
The other one let out a low sigh. "Gods, I know."
Scara just could tell him a thousand more times that he should finally tell Teucer the truth but knowing Childe, he wouldn't listen anyway. It was like talking to a wall. Stubborn idiot.
They were torn from their conversation when they suddenly heard Teucer's high-pitched excited voiced. "Look they sell costumes there!" He cheered loudly and pointed to one of the well decorated stores just a few houses away.
Just a few moments later the little boy stopped before the shop and pressed his nose against the steamed-up window to get a better view of what was inside. "Woah!" Teucer exclaimed with sparkling eyes.
Scara just could stare at the clothes which were displayed behind the fogged window panes. Several mannequins made of a fabric that already had a few dark, worn patches decorated the area. One of them wore a long floor-length dress with countless ruffles and bows and a pointed hat was draped on her head. Another mannequin had a much less stylish outfit consisting of shreds of fabric and clearly resembling a hillichul. The third one was even worse and looked like a slime which had turned into a human. For The Seven, nobody would be able to convince him to wear something like this.
Childe had also stopped in front of the window and looked curiously at the clothes on display. He must have noticed the disgust in Scara's face 'cause he muttered, not loud enough for Teucer to hear. "Don't give me that look."
"I won't wear-"
"We'll find something, also for you", Childe said in a voice that allowed no more arguments while a small grin played around his lips. Childe of course liked the fact that he would make a fool of himself just to please a little kid. (Well Childe rather liked to push Scara out of his comfort zone and make him try new things and Teucer was partly just an excuse for that.)
"Let's get inside before we gonna freeze!", Childe announced and reached for the door handle and with a flourish pushed the door open. He held it open for them and he gestured for them to come in. He didn't have to tell Teucer twice who quickly jumped into the shop. Scara threw a scowl at Childe before following Teucer inside.
The temperature in the shop was surprisingly warm compared to the outside and it almost felt as if you came from the snowy cold into the desert. The shop was full to bursting with various stands and hangers hung with costumes in the weirdest shapes and colours, hanging untidily from the wall or even standing in the middle of the room. Everything was so disorganised, that it seemed like a labyrinth of clothing.
They were almost the only customers inside. Well, they came last minute, most of the other people who celebrated this holiday had probably already bought their costumes days or even weeks before.
As soon as he was inside, Teucer had already disappeared within the tons of clothing and Scara had completely lost sight of him. Childe had also entered, his gaze waving around a little disorientated. Too many things to be able to look at everything.
"Where did Teucer-"
"Look what I found!", Suddenly Teucer was standing right before them again and held up a piece of fabric, presenting it just like a trophy.
Scara's jaw dropped in disbelief as he realised what the little boy was holding. It was a coat but not just a random one. It looked exactly like their white Harbinger coats. But it was in miniature size for children. Never in his life would he have expected to see something like that as a costume.
"Can I try this on, please?", Teucer asked and waved the white coat excitedly in his hands with a big smile.
Childe and Scara exchanged knowing glances. "Uhm Teucer, do you even know what kind of costume this is?", Childe knelt down next to his brother and took the fabric from his tiny hands, examining it carefully. This also gave Scara the chance to get a better look at it. The costume was super detailed, not just only the big soft hood, but it even had the logo of the Fatui embroidered on the back. How did they even manage to do something like that? Where did they get the reference from? Whoever had designed it had gone to great lengths to make it look realistic.
"A vampire, isn't it?", Teucer asked, looking at the costume in Childe's hands in irritation.
If it wasn't such a weird situation, Scara would probably have laughed. The innocence of Teucer was on a completely whole new level. He probably hadn't even heard of the Fatui before. Which means his family had really tried to isolate him from all the 'evil' in the world. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing though. But just now he realised why Childe was so careful when it came to Teucer. It really would turn his whole world upside down if he would suddenly find out.
"Yeah, it's a vampire", Scara muttered with a small agreeing nod. Childe's eyebrows shot up in disbelief as he turned to him. He surely hadn't expected him to play along.
"Yes, you can go and try it on Teucer", Childe let out a sigh and gave the costume back to his brother while he stood up. A few moments later, Teucer had disappeared again and he started to look for a costume for himself in the chaotic shelves. Scara was directly on his heels, more or less forced, since he didn't want to just continue standing at the entrance like an idiot.
"You lied to him", Childe murmured when they were a few rows further in the store while he admired the multitude of costumes on display on the shelves.
Scara casted an alert glance through the aisles to see if Teucer was nearby, but when he didn't see him anywhere, he replied briskly. "I only lied to him, so you could continue with your little story." - thread of lies.
"Thank you." A tormented look flitted across Childe's face and he could see how he was slightly clenching his firsts even if he tried to hide it in his gloves. "Seriously, I wouldn't have known how to explain it to him."
They both fell into silence as they searched through the hangers and Scara was trying to find something that he could at least tolerate wearing without looking ridiculous - which wasn't an easy criteria.
After a moment, Childe turned to him, having some kind of dark fabric in his hands. "I found something you might like!" Childe unfolded the costume in his fingers. He looked with disdain at the object that was presented in front of him.
"You expect me to wear this?! There's no way."
Childe leaned in with a teasing grin, nudging him playfully with his elbow. "But I think it would look pretty nice on you"
And that's how the rest of the morning went. Childe presented him with one costume after another, each one more hideous than the last - in his opinion.
At some point, Teucer rejoined them and helped with Childe's attempts at persuasion.Together, they eventually managed to convince him to accept one of them, and he grudgingly agreed.
Archons, he already knew this was going to be a very long day.