Archive of Our Own

“Will you come back?” Kaeya asks, sullenly throwing stray pebbles into the lake.

“I don’t know,” Ajax drags his feets across the water. “They said it’s only for this year but if Pop doesn’t get better, I’ll have to keep going.

Kaeya sighs, leaning back on his hands as he watches a fish dart under his tail. They usually don’t get too close to him because he’s prone to start chasing them down on a whim and tearing them apart with razor sharp teeth. Neither Kaeya nor Ajax have the motivation for something like that right now.

“I’ll… I’ll try to come back,” Ajax says. “Once I’m an adult, they can’t stop me from doing anything. Even if it’s not for years, I’ll come back.”

When Kaeya looks at him, Ajax is reminded of his youngest brother's expression when he was sent to live with his grandparents. Kaeya has always been inscrutable and hard to understand but those fleeting moments where he can’t hide what he’s feeling makes Ajax want to try harder.

It’s gone in the next second though, and Kaeya is grinning mischievously at him. “Have you ever been diving before?”

“Huh?” Ajax doesn’t have time to say anything else before Kaeya is grabbing his arm and dragging him into the water.

Ajax can’t take a breath before he’s plunging into the cold lake, eyes still open in shock. Before he can even register the fact that he can’t breathe, Kaeya pulls him closer and presses a kiss to his lips. As Kaeya drags him further down, he’s able to breathe easily and despite being dragged into the depths by a mermaid, he’s not afraid.

Once they reach the bottom, Kaeya keeps his hands on Ajax’s arms to stop him from floating back to the surface. The light shines through the water and illuminates the rocks and plant life surrounding them. Fish wisely keep their distance as Kaeya eyes them hungrily but Ajax is too taken by the underwater landscape to pay attention.

“Well,” Ajax hears Kaeya’s voice in his head and finally looks back at him. “Wanna race?”

-

It’s nearly seven years later that Childe drives down the gravel road to his grandparents' old cabin. He almost crashes at least five times as the familiar greenery brings back old memories of playing hide and seek with his grandparents and hunting down fireflies. He’s still careful not to hit any of the bunnies running along the path and instead nearly swerves into a tree when he thinks about watching them as a kid.

The driveway isn't that long, soon the trees thin out and he can see the cabin. It’s recognisable as his grandparents home, but the place definitely needs some work. The grass surrounding the building has grown taller than the windows and the wood is covered in moss and bugs. Being abandoned for seven years would do a number on any house, let alone one out in the middle of nowhere.

Childe parks off to the side and hops out of the car to enjoy the fresh air and sounds of wildlife. Some of the best moments of his childhood were spent here. He thought he’d hate it, being stuck in the outskirts of the city with no other kids around and his grandparents constantly nagging, but it wasn’t as bad as he feared.

And there was Kaeya. If ever Childe was bored, Kaeya could find a way to remedy that.

Staying with his grandparents hadn’t been his choice, but it ended up being the best thing his parents could have done for him. Being somewhere quiet and far away meant there were less things around to set him off, and less people meant less fights. He fought Kaeya a few times, but Kaeya’s tail was strong enough to break all of his bones and he also had claws sharper than Childe’s favourite knives.

No risk of Childe killing anyone. That was the main reason his parents sent him here at age fourteen.

He encounters his first problem when the lock is too rusted to get the door open. Being the problem solver he is, he smashes the first window he finds and climbs in that way. His second problem will be fixing the window.

He quickly finds problems three through three hundred in the forms of dust covering every inch of the house, rotted furniture, and a nest of squirrels glaring at him from inside the couch. The dust makes him sneeze and he spots at least a dozen cockroaches skittering around him at the noise.

It’s going to take some work getting this place back into living condition, but he doesn’t want to let it be claimed by the wilderness. Pop passed away a few months ago, but he knows Nana would love to see the place once he’s fixed it up. She probably won’t move back now that she’s settled in with the rest of the family, but it could still be a good place for his younger siblings to spend the summer.

Childe manages to get the door open from this side and heads to the car to grab his phone. He heads back inside so he can note down all the things he needs to buy when he goes into town, but he’s too distracted to even notice half of the problems.

The lake is what’s most prominent in his mind. He wonders if Kaeya is still there, now a full grown adult and probably just as much trouble as he was back then.

He quickly gives up on trying to get any actual work done and begins pushing his way through the overgrown grass surrounding the cabin to reach the lake. Dealing with the greenery is another thing he needs to add to his list, but he’ll think about it later. The day is still young, and meeting the only friend he had as a child is more important to him.

It doesn’t take long to reach the lake and he takes a seat on one of the large rocks surrounding it. The water is still, which usually means Kaeya isn’t around, but maybe he’s just calmed down in the past few years. There are noticeably more fish than usual, so he obviously hasn’t been terrorising them recently.

Childe takes off his shoes and kicks his feet in the water. It’s freezing, but he knows it'll warm up closer to the afternoon. The lake was his favourite part of staying with his grandparents, not just because of Kaeya but also because he loved being in the water. Even before he met Kaeya, he spent most of his time sitting at the edge watching the fish.

He met Kaeya on a particularly sunny day after a shopping trip in town. He’d managed to convince Pop to buy him a beach ball and after spending the entire trip back struggling to blow it up, he rushed over to the lake.

When he saw it in town, he thought of going to the beach with his siblings and jumping into the waves with Tonia while his parents struggled to keep Anton and Teucer from running directly into the ocean. Eventually, they made a volleyball court in the sand to keep them occupied and it led to the world’s worst volleyball game as they sent the ball flying into various other families trying to enjoy the sun.

Of course, when Childe finally reached the lake and stopped, he realised that he was alone. Pop and Nana didn’t have the energy to spend hours playing games with him and his parents didn’t want him around his siblings after his disappearance. It was just him and his beach ball.

-

Ajax bounces the ball on the surface of the water, looking out at the trees as if something would emerge from the forest and play with him. If anything does pop out of the greenery though, it probably won’t be friendly so he watches with caution instead of hope.

He doesn’t notice the ripples on the surface of the water coming closer until the ball suddenly shoots up and smacks him in the face. He yelps and falls backwards, landing uncomfortably on the bushes behind him. The sound of giggling makes him rush to sit back up, grabbing a rock as he goes in case it’s one of the aforementioned forest monsters.

He can’t help how his heart rate speeds up. Skirk’s voice is in his head, telling him to stay calm but he can't find the monster. Where is it? Where is it? Where is it?

“Hey,” a voice rings out from the water. “Are you dying?”

Ajax tilts his head slightly down, and spots a boy in the water. His vision is blurry and he feels a little lightheaded as he throws the rock at the boy, missing by at least a metre. He realises he stopped breathing and forces himelf to take a breath before he aims his next projectile. This one is closer, but still doesn't hit.

“Stop throwing stuff at me! I’m trying to make sure you didn't die!”

“Then go away!” Ajax throws another rock and the boy dives forward to dodge it, his tail emerging from the water briefly and shocking Ajax enough to drop the next rock he grabs.

What kind of monster is that?

The boy cautiously pops his head back up, mirroring Ajax’s suspicion as they glare at each other. “Are you going to throw more rocks at me?”

“Maybe,” Ajax answers. “What’s with the tail?”

“What’s with the legs?” he counters.

Ajax stares at him for a moment, taking in his strange features. His teeth are reminiscent of a sharks and the scales on the side of his face lead up to large webbed ears, even bigger than the baby bunnies that are running around everywhere. There are stars in his eyes and pointed fins run up along his arms. All that mixed with the dark blue-black tail, Ajax can assume what the stranger is.

He considers throwing another rock, but quickly decides against it. He’s never met something non-human that didn’t want him dead on sight. Maybe the boy does want to kill him but can’t reach him on land. Ajax is confident he can defend himself though, he always keeps a knife on him, even though his grandparents wouldn’t approve if they knew.

“I’m Ajax,” he says, making sure to keep his distance from the water. “You’re a mermaid?”

“I’m Kaeya, actually,” the boy says. “You a human or a fairy?”

“Human,” Ajax answers. “There are fairies out here?”

“Not anymore,” Kaeya says. “I tricked one into giving me their name and now they don’t want anything to do with this place.”

“I’ve never met a fairy,” Ajax says.

“That’s a good thing, they suck,” Kaeya makes a face at just the thought of them. “They used to cover the lake with larvae.”

Ajax frowns down at the water. He was dangling his feet in it just minutes ago.

“There’s none anymore,” Kaeya watches him wipe water off his feet. “I ate them.”

“What?”

“My brother dared me,” he shrugs. “He regretted it when I actually did it though.”

“My sister dared me to eat a jellyfish once,” Ajax says absent mindedly. “I passed out when I picked it up though. I think it was poisonous.”

“Did you die?”

“I’m right here.”

“You could be a ghost,” Kaeya pauses. “Wait, ghosts can’t move water. You’re definitely alive.”

In the time he’s been talking to Kaeya, his heart rate has returned to normal but he's too tired to bother with the ball anymore. He feels off, but he doesn't want to go back to the cabin. His grandparents will ask why he's back so quick and why his hands are shaking and he doesn't want to deal with it.

Instead, Ajax settles into a more comfortable position on the rocks and lets Kaeya complain about fairies for the next half hour.

-

Childe doesn’t find any sign of Kaeya after spending nearly an hour sitting by the lake so he eventually returns to the cabin, trying not to feel too disappointed. He hadn’t intended to spend so long watching the water, but something about this place makes him lose track of time. He’s been thinking about Kaeya a lot lately, mostly about where he is now.

Kaeya had a lot of dreams as well as the motivation to fulfil them. Childe enjoyed listening to him talk about them, but he didn’t have any dreams of his own. He didn’t think he’d live to adulthood back then, so now he mainly just wanders through life with a vague idea of what’s going on.

What he needs to do at the moment is clear to him though. If he wants to be able to spend the night in the cabin rather than uncomfortably crammed into his car, he needs to get a few things sorted. Rather than working on the whole place, he decides to focus on the bedroom first, since that’s where he’ll be staying.

As a kid, he slept on the fold out couch in the living room but there's currently a hole full of squirrels in it so that’s not an option. The bed in his grandparents room isn’t looking much better. He kicks one of the legs to test how sturdy it is and it immediately crashes into the ground. He adds a new bed to his list.

He spends the next few hours dragging out decrepit furniture and stacking it in the living room. It doesn’t leave much in the bedroom, just a tall wardrobe and the mattress itself. He finds bedding folded neatly in one of the cupboards which sorts out his bed for the night, but it’s freezing inside.

Childe used to hold the flashlight whenever his parents had to go out to fix the generator but he never had to do it himself, and he doubts the thing even still works after so long. Getting power up and running is his top priority, but other than that, the bedroom is in working condition.

With his first list of necessities, he heads back into town to buy what he needs.

-

“You’re going to die,” Hu Tao says. “Out in the middle of the forest, only able to rely on yourself… you’re going to die.”

“I’m not that incompetent,” Childe mutters into the phone. “Where is Zhongli? I need to know how this thing works.”

“I dunno,” she responds. “He left his phone here. I thought I’d pick up in case you were already dying, get you to pick out what colour coffin you want.”

“I just need to know when Zhongli will be back. There’s no reception at the cabin so he needs to tell me how this generator works before I head back.”

“Well, he left his wallet here too so probably soon,” Hu Tao answers. “Oh… oh, no.”

“What?”

“He left his keys here as well,” Hu Tao says. “The car only starts if they’re close by so…”

“So he’s stuck wherever he is,” Childe sighs. “Alright, I’ll just figure it out myself.”

“Good luck!” Hu Tao cheers. “Hope you don’t freeze to death tonight!”

“Thanks, you too,” Childe ends the call and slumps back in his seat.

He’s not feeling very hopeful so far, but he refuses to give up on the cabin already. While Childe normally throws any instructions he’s given into the nearest incinerator, he forces himself to pick up the booklet that came with his brand new generator.

Childe gets about two pages in before deciding to just wing it, but he’s proud of himself for trying.

He heads back to the cabin, a trailer full of supplies and false confidence in his ability to complete simple tasks towing along. He won’t be able to do much more before sundown but if he’s lucky, he’ll get his power working.

Once he makes it back, he wheels the generator out to the shed the old one is kept in. Just looking at it confuses him, but he still doesn’t dare touch the instruction booklet.

“Okay,” he mutters to himself. “Now to simply become a master engineer.”

Childe takes something out of the old one and plugs it into the new one. Nothing happens.

“Solid start.”

After an hour of failure, it’s starting to get dark and he’s not any closer to figuring this thing out. He groans and slumps against the wall of the shed, hoping for some miracle to just make it work. He flips one of the switches on and off and it continues to sit there being useless.

“If you weren’t so important to my survival out here, I’d kick you,” Childe threatens. “ So hard.”

Threats don’t get him anywhere either so he decides to take a break. The sky has turned orange as the sun falls and now would be the perfect time to sit by the lake and watch it. He heads back to his car to grab a snack, and begins walking to the lake.

As he gets closer, he hears a splash, and though he tries not to get his hopes up, a smile is already forming on his face. He picks up the pace to reach the lake faster, narrowly avoiding the various hazards blocking his path, and manages to stumble his way over.

His breath catches in his throat when he sees someone there. The sun blocks his view, letting him see only the silhouette, but it’s definitely a person.

Childe takes a step forward, but before he has the chance to call out to them, his foot hits a rock and he faceplants directly into the ground.

The noise makes the stranger twist around in panic and immediately dive back into the lake. The spray of water hits Childe’s crumpled form and he groans as he picks himself back up, trying to ignore the way his head aches.

Hu Tao was right, he’s going to die out here.

“Hey?” He calls out as he blindly feels for a flat rock so sit on. “Is that you, Kaeya?”

Within seconds, the mermaid is in front of him, hand wrapping around his throat and claws digging into his neck. “How do you know Kaeya?”

Childe takes in their appearance and sees that this is definitely not Kaeya. Kaeya had dark skin and a deep blue tail. This one is pale, with long red hair and a similarly coloured tail. He retains many of the other features Kaeya had though, including those vicious nails.

He remembers Kaeya having an otherworldly kind of beauty to him, and this mermaid is no different. The way his hair falls in front of his face makes Childe want to brush it away so he can see more, but he’s distracted by the mermaid's grip around his throat tightening.

“He’s a friend,” Childe manages to choke out and the mermaid slightly loosens his hold.

“I knew it,” he mutters. “I knew he was talking to humans up here but dad never believed me. That lying little-”

Despite the mermaid being ready to kill him earlier, Childe can’t help but laugh at his anger. He’d recognise that tone of voice anywhere, his sister made the same indignant noises whenever he got away with something he shouldn’t have. “Kaeya’s brother, I take it.”

“He told you about me?” The mermaid glares up at him.

“Not much,” Childe responds. “He never told me your name, or how beautiful you are.”

He looks unimpressed. “Humans remain indifferent to the danger of our kind, I see. I could kill you with just my tail.”

“I’ve met much worse things than mermaids,” Childe laughs. “And I could kill someone with my thighs too.”

“... Thighs?”

“This bit,” Childe taps his thigh.

“They do look thick,” he nods approvingly.

“Thank you.”

With not much else to say, Childe holds out a hand. “Well, I'm Childe. It’s nice to finally meet you. I live in the cabin over there.”

Diluc slowly removes his hand from Childe’s throat. “Diluc… What are you doing?”

“Handshake,” Childe grabs Diluc’s hand and slowly shakes it. “It’s a human greeting.”

“I know,” Diluc responds. “I mean, what are you doing here?”

“Fixing up the cabin,” Childe answers. “Or at least trying to. I haven’t been around in seven years.”

“How long are you staying?”

“Until work calls me away,” he says. “I’ve got plenty of leave saved up though, so at least a few months.”

Diluc doesn’t look too pleased at that, but at least he doesn’t try to strangle him again. “Just stay away from my lake.”

“It’s on my property,” Childe points out. “So technically it’s my lake. You’re a trespasser, I could have you arrested.”

“Not if I killed you.”

“How will you catch me?” Childe teases. “You don’t have legs.”

“Yes, I do,” Diluc mutters. “They’re just… bad.”

“You mean, not strong enough to catch up to someone who’s spent their life on land?” Childe smirks as Diluc glowers at him. “Don’t worry, I’ll be generous on this one occasion. Wouldn’t want you to be homeless.”

Diluc scoffs. “How did Kaeya stand you?”

“By being the only person even more irritating than me,” Childe says. “Where is he anyway?”

“Not here,” Diluc answers. “He left a long time ago. It’s just me.”

“Oh… where did he go?”

Diluc shrugs. “Somewhere with humans. He comes back once a year, if you’re willing to wait.”

“When?” Childe asks urgently. He might actually be able to see Kaeya again.

“I don’t know human dates,” Diluc says. “It’s… thirty-five nights away now.”

“A month?”

Diluc nods and Childe grins. He’s so close. He can finally see his friend again.

“Thanks for the talk, Diluc,” Childe looks up to the sky, which is almost completely dark now. “I need to sort out my power or I’ll probably die. See you!”

Childe offers a wave as he walks away, but Diluc ignores him. Maybe Kaeya isn’t around, but Childe thinks he can become friends with Diluc too, no matter how resistant to the idea he seems.

First things first though, survival.

-

Childe wakes up to the five am sunlight filtering in through the windows and he regrets getting rid of the mouldy curtains. Maybe they would have given him some obscure lung disease but at least they would stop the sun from blinding him at this ungodly hour.

It had been a long, uncomfortable night. He’d managed to figure out the generator eventually. Turns out he had everything right except for the fact that it had no gas. He ended up syphoning some out of his car so he could stay warm but it wasn’t enough and he didn’t feel like getting up in the middle of the night to drink gasoline so he just piled more blankets on himself.

A rough first night to say the least, but he’d survived and he could get the generator working properly for the next night.

His breakfast ends up being the biscuits Teucer had given him before he left and he sits by the lake to eat them, hoping for Diluc to show up again. The surface of the water isn’t still, so Childe knows he’s there, but he doesn’t come up to talk. Maybe he’ll catch him on the surface another time and force him into a conversation.

After his morning routine is finished, it’s back to work. He loads some of the broken down furniture to take back into town so he can dump it, then he takes off. He charges his phone in the car and the moment he gets reception, it starts ringing.

“Hello?”

“Oh, good, you’re still alive,” Zhongli says. “Hu Tao said you were going to freeze to death.”

“I said probably! ” Hu Tao shouts in the background.

“I figured out how the generator works!” Childe cheers. “All on my own too! It was actually pretty easy once I realised I’d just forgotten to fill it up.”

“You forgot to fill it up,” Zhongli states blankly. “How.”

“Hey, you forgot your phone, wallet, and keys, and got stranded in town,” Childe points out. “Don’t you dare call me out for my stupidity.”

Zhongli sighs. “Are you sure you don’t need any help with this?”

“I definitely do,” Childe responds. “But it’s pretty far out and the place isn’t very big. I’ve also only got one room critter free, so…”

“Alright,” Zhongli says. “Call if you need anything else. Hu Tao actually seems worried about you.”

“Aw,” Childe grins. “Tell her if I die, I’ll haunt her.”

To most, that would be a threat but Hu Tao loves ghosts. She seems to like dead people more than the living, actually.

“I will pass on the message.”

Childe spends most of the day in town, only heading back when the clock hits four. He thought he’d be more bored doing all this work but there’s no time for boredom. He gets the power going, replaces old light bulbs, and even gets a new bed frame set up. He feels so productive. Who knew home improvement could be so thrilling?

The bedroom is starting to look homey by the time he notices the sun going down. He figures he’ll try and talk to Diluc again before settling down for the night so he heads over to the lake with more biscuits for dinner. He’ll eat better meals when he’s sure he can turn the stove on without it catching fire.

To his luck, Diluc is there, and this time he doesn’t embarrass himself by face planting into the rocks. Instead, he takes his usual seat and watches Diluc glare at him from his own rock.

“You’re back,” he states simply.

“I did tell you I’d see you again,” Childe responds. “It’s been a long day. What better way to unwind than to talk to a pretty guy?”

“There are many ways,” Diluc says. “Talking to me is definitely not one of them.”

“I don’t know,” Childe says. “I’m already feeling all my stress melt away. Maybe it’s mermaid magic.”

“That’s not a thing.”

“Must just be you then,” Childe grins at him and Diluc rolls his eyes.

He doesn’t say much else as they sit by the lake and watch the sunset. One it’s disappeared over the horizon, Diluc slips back into the water and leaves. Childe stays out for a little longer, enjoying the noises of the forest, but eventually it gets too cold and he heads back inside.

-

Over time, Childe learns that Diluc mainly comes out to watch the sunset which only leaves him about ten minutes to talk to him. It’s hard to make a good impression in such little time but Childe has taken to preparing gifts and cheesy pickup lines in advance. He feels like he’s slowly worming his way into Diluc’s heart but there’s only so many times he can say ‘fintastic’ before Diluc really does strangle him.

Still, Diluc’s stays on the surface start to become longer. He comes up earlier to enjoy the warm rocks and Childe takes advantage of the extra time to tell his stories. There’s no one else out here so he appreciates the company.

Childe marks the 30th of April as the day Kaeya will arrive and he wants to have the cabin in mint condition by then. He’s already got plans for renovations once he’s finished fixing up what’s already broken, but he doubts any of those will be completed in time for Kaeya’s visit. It feels like he’s encountering a new problem every day, but his stresses all melt away when he collapses by the lake at sundown to bother Diluc.

No matter how tiresome his day is, that familiar scowl always makes him smile.

Today has been a particularly tiring day because he finally made an attempt to move the squirrels out of his living room. Mama squirrel had quickly put a stop to that by tearing apart his arms until he gave up. His limbs are still stinging as he sits by the lake to admire the scenery. It’s not quite sunset so he doesn’t expect Diluc to be around, but it’s not long before he notices the water moving and Diluc surfaces.

“I smelt blood,” he says. “What did you do?”

“I got in a fight with a squirrel,” he answers. “I… did not win.”

“They’re vicious,” Diluc agrees. “You should eat them.”

Childe blinks at Diluc, who remains completely serious. “What?”

“Squirrels are the little fluffy things in the trees, right?” Diluc continues. “You have to eat them. It’s the only way to assert dominance.”

“I’m not going to eat them,” Childe says slowly. “The mother was just protecting her babies.”

“Eat the mother and raise the children as your own,” Diluc says.

Childe can’t help but chuckle at Diluc’s sincerity about squirrel murder. “Is that how you adopted Kaeya?”

“My dad didn’t eat anyone,” Diluc looks aghast. “We found him in the depths, he wasn’t used to the warmth.”

“Hm?” Childe won’t pass up an opportunity to learn about his old friend. “I thought mermaids liked the warmth.”

“I do,” Diluc says. “But he came from somewhere cold, it took a while for him to adapt.”

Kaeya mentioned something about that. Mermaids are highly adaptable creatures, even their tails can change colour based on where they were. Kaeya’s dark blue-black tail had been fading to a regular blue in the time they’d known each other.

“Are you from here then?” Childe asks.

“Around here,” Diluc answers. “Not this lake specifically. I only come up here when the sun is out.”

“It’s a nice view, isn’t it?” Childe squints up at the sky. “It makes the water warm too. I’m tempted to go swimming but I’m still not sure you won’t immediately drown me.”

Diluc scoffs. “I wouldn’t want your body floating around in my lake. There’s enough down here already.”

“... Never mind,” Childe decides. “Don’t feel much like swimming anymore.”

Diluc’s lips turn up at the corners in something nearing a smile but it’s gone a second later. “They’re all at the bottom, and they’re just skeletons now. You’re fine on the surface.”

“Is that an invitation?” Childe doesn’t care to hear Diluc’s response, which he already knows will be a firm no. He immediately tugs off his shirt and slips into the water, ignoring Diluc’s annoyed sigh as he does so.

“You’re getting blood in the water,” Diluc says. “It attracts predators.”

“Says the guy with razor sharp teeth.” His arm stings and he’s pretty sure lake water isn’t the best for open wounds, but that’ll be a problem for later. “Tempted to eat me? I wouldn’t mind-”

Diluc grabs his arm and tugs him closer, nearly sending him crashing into his bare chest. Before Childe can recenter himself, Diluc moves a hand over his arm and relief washes over him. The stinging subsides and when Diluc moves away, there’s nothing there.

“Thanks.” Childe rubs his hands over his arms, feeling for the cuts that were there only moments ago. “Didn’t know you could do that.”

Diluc shrugs. “I haven’t had to in a while since there’s no one around.”

Childe starfishes on the surface of the lake and floats as he watches the trees sway above him. “No one?”

“No one,” Diluc confirms. “For the last four years.”

“You aren’t lonely?”

“I have fish.”

“Kaeya used to chase them down and eat them,” Childe says. “I could never catch them.”

“He liked this place,” Diluc says. “I suppose you were the reason.”

“Do I seem particularly likeable to you?”

“When you’re quiet.”

“Is that your way of saying I’m nice to look at?”

“You’re very talented at misconstruing my words,” Diluc sighs. “It was an insult.”

“Yet I don’t feel very insulted,” Childe says.

“That’s because you’re an idiot.”

Diluc does share some similarities with his brother, even if it’s just their willingness to call Childe names. Kaeya was much meaner than Diluc, but Childe was also even less tolerable when he was small.

-

“It’s so hot today,” Kaeya groans as he bounces the ball back to Ajax.

“I’m going to die,” Ajax says, spiking the ball directly into Kaeya’s forehead. “God, I miss air conditioning.”

Kaeya scowls up at him as he picks it up. “What was that for?”

“Remember when you did it to me?”

“And then you cried for three minutes, yeah.”

Ajax narrows his eyes at Kaeya, who continues to glare at him in defiance. “You scared me. Usually people that scare me end up much worse off.”

“Worse than watching you fall over and fail to throw rocks at me?” Kaeya asks. “Oh, how I pity them.”

Ajax is tempted to kick Kaeya in the face, but he also doesn’t want to lose his only friend so he reigns in his anger. Kaeya is annoying but he can always just throw the ball at him again.

“I don’t like surprises,” Ajax says simply before catching the ball Kaeya threw back. “And I don’t have a flight instinct, it’s just fight.”

“Same,” Kaeya says. “My dad keeps telling me I need to swim away when I see something dangerous, but I don’t need to listen to him. He’s not my real dad anyway. And my brother will protect me if he has to.”

“I don’t think my siblings like me much,” Ajax admits. “No one wants me around back home. I guess I put someone in the hospital, but still.”

“They probably deserved it,” Kaeya, ever the instigator, says without hesitation.

Ajax thinks back to the boy that had followed Tonia home, trying to get her to pay attention to him. Ajax had already been expelled from school by that point so he couldn’t walk with her anymore, but he noticed her passing by the house, unwilling to show the kid where she lived.

His mind immediately went to a dark place, one that flashed images of his sister, broken and bruised, found in a ditch somewhere. The next thing he knew, he was confronting the kid. He didn’t regret anything until he heard Tonia screaming.

The boy was just twelve and Ajax fully intended to kill him, but his parents pulled him away before he could finish the job.

“Maybe,” Ajax responds. “I gave my sister nightmares though. It wasn’t worth it.”

Ajax doesn’t catch the ball on the next throw, instead letting it fall back into the water in front of him. Tonia still couldn’t look at him the last time he’d seen her. It was the incident that forced his parents to send him away but even if it wasn’t court ordered, they still would have wanted him gone.

“Hey,” Kaeya leans forward onto the beach ball. “Stop interrupting my playtime to mope.”

Ajax laughs lightly and kicks the ball out from under Kaeya, sending him flailing in the water. “Alright.”

-

“I wish I had a beach ball,” Childe sighs. “We could play a game.”

“Like what?”

“I dunno,” he says. “Kaeya and I used to play catch. I don’t really have any other ideas.”

Diluc is silent for a long enough time that Childe has to turn to check he’s still there. When they lock eyes, Diluc quickly turns away and clears his throat. “You and Kaeya… you were close?”

“I guess,” Childe says. “I was never sure if Kaeya actually liked me or just wanted someone to hang out with.”

“He liked you enough to lie to us,” Diluc says. “That’s probably not saying much though, considering everything else he lied about.”

“Uh…” Childe didn’t expect to be stumbling into family drama in the lake and completely blanks on what to say next.

Before he can come up with something though, a spray of water hits him and he sees Diluc’s tail disappear into the water. He feels both relieved at being spared from the conversation as well as disappointed that Diluc is leaving so early. The sun hasn’t even finished going down yet.

Childe drags himself back onto the rocks and shakes the water off as he grabs his shirt. Without Diluc around, he isn’t as interested in the sun as he usually is, and he heads back inside to grab dry clothes.

-

The town near his grandparents cabin isn’t very big, though it felt a lot bigger when he was little. Despite how tiny the town itself was, there were a lot of people, which led to crowded streets and stores. Ajax hated going shopping. Childe loves it.

It’s a nice change of pace from his current lodging. Being filthy rich also helps, he can buy pretty much anything he wants. For Ajax, shopping was just an hour or so spent stuck to his Nana’s side, anxious that any one of the strangers on the street might kill him. Everything terrified him back then, and any kind of negative emotion put him on the offensive. It was exhausting.

He finds himself in a convenience store he remembers from when he was little. The layout is different than it used to be, but it’s too small to get lost in. He throws some small gas canisters into a bag along with easy to cook food. As he internally debates whether or not to buy out their entire chocolate supply, he spots a spiky bouncy ball out of the corner of his eye.

There’s a whole display of them and he picks up a red one. It’s not the same as his old multi-coloured beach ball, but you can play catch with anything. Balls, knives, small children... He tucks the ball under his arm and approaches the counter before he can change his mind on not buying any chocolate.

He gets through the checkout quickly and returns to his car. As he walks, he spots posters on buildings and street light poles, all advertising a yearly fireworks festival. Childe cringes at the idea and notes the date so he can be prepared this time. It’s about two weeks away, which matches up with his memories of the event.

It… wasn’t a good day.

-

Ajax crouches down by a tree, struggling to catch his breath as he covers his ears. His feet sting and his head rings louder and louder the longer he stays still. His brain is screaming at him to keep moving, but he wraps his arms around his knees as if holding himself in place.

Skirk always said not to run, running will tire you out and they’ll always catch up. Stay and fight. If you’re lucky, they’ll consider you not worth the trouble. Ajax is never lucky, but he has a knife, and that’s more important than luck.

He’ll never survive on his own if he doesn’t stop panicking though. You need a clear head to win a fight. If Skirk ever leaves him, he’ll be dead within an hour.

“Ajax,” a soft sound cuts through the ringing in his head and he forces his eyes open. There’s a person directly in front of him, too close, close enough to kill him, but don’t lash out, don’t lash out.

He waits for the fog in his mind to clear before he lets himself act. The person is familiar, not an enemy. They can protect him until he’s calm, like Skirk does.

There’s no loud noises anymore, and he times his breathing with the sway of branches high above him. His skin feels overheated and his clothes are stuck to him with sweat, but the wind helps cool him down and he’s left with only a pounding headache. He’s not in the abyss, he hasn’t been there for years.

“Kaeya?” He looks back to the person in front of him. “How are you…”

“Here?” Kaeya grins, sitting cross legged in front of him. “I have legs, I just don’t need them.”

“Oh,” Ajax says, averting his eyes from his friend that he’s only just realised is naked. “Cool.”

“I guess,” Kaeya says. “What happened to you?”

“What happened?” Ajax mutters. “I don’t… know.”

There was a bang, and then another, the sky lit up with red. The same red the abyss monsters burned him with. And when Ajax cried, his Nana tried to hold him and… oh, no.

“Nana… is she…”

“Your grandparents are out here looking for you,” Kaeya says. “They’ve been searching for, like, half an hour now.”

“Okay,” Ajax sighs in relief. “So I didn’t… hurt her.”

“How often does this happen?” Kaeya asks. “This is the second time I’ve seen it.”

Ajax shrugs. “At least once a week. Nana and Pop probably hate me by now.”

Kaeya is silent for a moment longer than usual and Ajax looks up to check he’s still there. He is, looking at Ajax with a curious gaze. “I doubt it. I’ve done much worse things to my family and they don’t hate me. And we’re not even related.”

“Have you physically attacked them?” Ajax asked. “Or made them spend thousands on legal fees?”

“No,” Kaeya answers. “I don’t even know what those are, but if they’re important, it must mean they don’t hate you.”

Ajax shrugs again. No, his family mustn’t hate him. They were willing to spend their retirement funds to keep him out of prison. It might just be Ajax who hates Ajax.

“Does anyone know?” Kaeya asks.

“About what?”

“The things that make you panic,” he answers. “If they know, they can help.”

Ajax frowns. Never show fear, that’s what Skirk said. “Why would I tell them?”

“Because you’re not in danger anymore,” Kaeya says. “It takes a while to realise, doesn’t it? You get used to lying, or hiding, or… whatever it is you do.”

“Fighting, occasionally running,” Ajax responds.

“Right,” Kaeya continues. “You don’t have to anymore though. You're with good people.”

Ajax meets Kaeya’s eyes and sees an understanding he didn’t expect to find anywhere. Someone knows, someone gets it…

Kaeya’s head snaps up and Ajax watches him cautiously. Kaeya notices his apprehension and looks back at him. “It’s nothing. Your grandparents are just getting closer. Should I leave you for them or do you want to go somewhere else to hide for a while?”

“I…” Ajax doesn’t really want to spend anymore time sitting on the damp forest floor with mosquitoes attacking him. “I’ll go back with them.”

Kaeya nods and stands up. “Next time don’t stomp so loudly past my lake, you woke me up.”

Ajax snorts. “You’ll live.”

“Maybe, but I can’t miss out on too much beauty sleep or I’ll start to look like you.” Kaeya sticks his tongue out as he walks away. “Laters, ugly.”

Ajax almost forgets about his developing headache as he struggles to comprehend the sheer audacity.

-

Childe manages to get the squirrels out of the couch. It takes almost everything he has and for a moment, he wasn’t sure he’d make it, but he did, and now… well, he still can’t use the couch so there’s not really any benefit. He pushes it out the door to load it onto the trailer and returns to see his living room nice and empty.

On his next shopping trip, he’ll probably get a foldout couch and a small TV. He might even get a cute little stand to put the TV on rather than a random box. And why not, some plants too. He’s starting to get into the cottagecore aesthetic.

The sun will start to set soon though, so he’ll make his shopping list later. For now, he has a mermaid to play catch with. He finds the ball in his car and takes it with him to the lake. Diluc isn’t there yet, so he occupies himself by bouncing it on the surface of the water. It’s the same thing he used to do when Kaeya wasn’t around.

It’s not long before he notices bubbles on the surface of the water and he hugs the ball to his chest in anticipation. Childe can see the red of his hair through the water and watches as Diluc swims over to his usual rock. He pops up and takes his seat, stretching his arms above his head as he looks up at the sky.

“Anything particularly interesting going on with the fish today?”

Diluc shrugs. “Not really. Gil ate a pebble.”

“Gil…?”

“She’s a goldfish,” Diluc responds. “She's usually smarter than that.”

He names the fish. He really is the complete opposite of Kaeya, who only saw them as food. It’s also adorable, and Childe keeps his mouth clamped shut to avoid blurting that out.

“What?” Diluc sideeyes Childe when he notices him staring.

“Nothing,” he grins. “I thought we could play a game.”

Before Diluc can ask what game, Childe throws the ball directly at him. Diluc’s eyes go wide as he covers his face, letting the ball smack his arms and bounce back towards Childe. When he puts his arms back down, his scowl has evolved into a stabbing glare.

“It’s a game,” Childe says, throwing the ball up in the air and catching it. “I throw it to you, you throw it back to me.”

Diluc scoffs. “What if I punched you in the face and then went ‘oh, it’s just a game?’”

“I’d punch you back!” Childe says. “Weird game, but I’m always open to new experiences.”

He throws the ball again and this time, Diluc actually catches it. He holds onto it for a second, squeezing the ball and rubbing a finger over one of the spikes. He makes a face at the texture before throwing it back. “What is that?”

“It’s rubber,” Childe has to lean forward to grab the ball before it hits the ground. “Probably. Try throwing higher.”

Diluc nods absently as he catches the ball and throws it back. This time, Childe only has to veer a little to the side to catch it. On his next throw, he gets it pretty much perfect. Diluc barely says anything when Childe talks to him, too intent on playing their game.

“I should see if my old beach ball is here,” Childe says, mostly to himself because Diluc is lining up the perfect throw. “That’s what Kaeya and I used to play with.”

Diluc’s throw is a little too high this time and Childe has to reach up to catch it.

“He always stayed in the lake though,” Childe continues. “I guess he didn’t like the sun as much as you.”

Childe throws the ball to Diluc, and watches as one of his nails punctures it and the air slowly starts to drain out. Diluc stares at it in disdain before throwing it’s remains back to Childe. “It’s broken.”

“Yep,” Childe holds it up. “Now I really do have to find that beach ball.”

“Don’t bother,” Diluc mutters, staring off into the forest. “It’s a stupid game anyway.”

“It’s not meant to be the best game ever,” Childe rolls his eyes. “It’s meant to pass the time. Kaeya and I-”

“Yes, you and Kaeya played stupid games, I get it,” Diluc interrupts. “That doesn’t mean I have to.”

Childe’s eye twitches at the hint of anger in Diluc’s voice. “Sure, but you don’t have to be hostile about it.”

Diluc’s attention snaps back to Childe with a vicious sneer. He doesn’t say anything more, and a moment later, he’s slipped back into the water.

“Well,” Childe mutters. “Bye, I guess.”

Vaguely affronted, he heads back inside.

-

Childe spends the next day working on the living room, focusing mostly on the kitchen area. He probably needs a specialist to fix the oven, but he’ll just get Zhongli to give him instructions. The man knows everything. For the moment, he can clean out the counters and fix up the cupboards.

Time passes slower than usual, anticipating seeing Diluc again. He’s not entirely sure what angered him, but hopefully with enough fish themed pickup lines, he can rectify it. That, or he might have to try… ugh, apologising.

When the time finally comes however, Diluc isn’t actually there. Childe sits on his designated rock and watches the surface of the water until it’s dark, but it stays calm. There’s no one there.

He trudges back inside once the air becomes too cold for comfort.

The next day, he goes into town. He buys fresh fruit, stuff that he knows Kaeya used to like stealing from him, and plans to leave it beside the lake as a peace offering. If that doesn’t work, he might buy scuba diving gear.

While he has a signal, he also asks Zhongli how to fix the oven.

“Do you even know what’s wrong with it?”

“It doesn’t turn on?”

“... You are hopeless.”

He gets back before sunset and places the bowl of fruit by the lake. Diluc doesn't emerge in the evening, but hopefully some of the fruit will be gone by morning.

It isn't. The bowl is still completely full when Childe wakes up, which he pointedly ignores as he gets to work setting up his new furniture. He even has curtains now so the the sun can stop forcing him up so early in the morning. By the time he’s finished setting everything up, the living room doesn’t look so apocalyptic, and he can have lunch by the lake.

Childe notices that one apple is missing from the bowl. He’s not sure if it was Diluc or a random animal, but he hopes for the former and finishes his lunch with a grin. That good feeling only lasts until Diluc once again doesn’t show up at sunset.

So it takes three days in total. Three days until Childe gets annoyed that there’s no pretty mermaid to bother and he sits down at the lake with a knife.

Kaeya once told him that mermaids were on par with sharks when it came to their hunting skills, and that extended to their ability to detect blood. Childe’s not sure if this will make Diluc finally show up, but he at least knows what Childe’s blood smells like, so he’ll know it’s him.

Childe makes a light cut on his arm and leans forward to dip it into the water. The blood swirls in the water around his arm before dissipating as it spreads out. It stings, but even if Diluc refuses to heal it, he can easily deal with it himself later on. He sits back up after a while, and waits for Diluc.

It doesn’t take long. Well, it takes long enough that Childe almost gives up but he’s not known for his patience, and within a minute, Diluc is in front of him.

“I told you blood attracts predators,” Diluc huffs.

Childe can’t help but grin as he grabs an apple out of the fruit bowl. “Attracting a predator was kind of the point. How’ve you been?”

“Fine. What do you want?”

“To hang out with my favourite mermaid. Merman? Merperson?”

“I don’t care what you call me.” Diluc looks slightly red. “Actually, I do. Don’t call me anything. Don’t refer to me.”

“Oh, come on.” Childe bites into the apple. “You have to admit you were growing fond of me, until I somehow pissed you off. I’m just too much of a charmer.”

Diluc scoffs. “You’re egotistic, brash, loud, delusional, talk too much-”

Childe hums, listening to Diluc’s criticisms as he continues to eat his apple. He’s heard all that and worse in his lifetime.

“-I can see why you get along so well with Kaeya,” Diluc spits the name like venom, but Childe can pick up on something lying under the words.

“Not a fan of him, hm?”

“My feelings on the matter are irrelevant, but you never shut up about him.”

Childe’s grin only grows wider. “Jealous, are we?”

“I-what?” Diluc blinks. “Of what? You? Of Kaeya? Do you really think you matter that much? You- you’re not even- you… suck.”

And with that, Diluc is gone again.

Childe finishes off his apple and stretches as he lounges against the rocks. “For what it’s worth,” he says to the lake, “I do find you more pleasant to be around.”

-

The next time he sees Diluc is… a surprise.

“Oh my god,” he covers his eyes and turns around, feeling blindly for whatever clothes are on the washing line. “You can’t just do that.”

“What?” Diluc asks. “I can do what I want. Human modesty is annoying.”

“I agreed! Wholeheartedly!” Childe declares. “But you are literally the definition of beauty and I am not fucking dying like this.”

“You are dramatic,” Diluc mutters under his breath. “I’m not even… shut up. Give me your stupid clothes then.”

It takes longer than it should, because Diluc hates all his shirts and Childe decides fine he can go without that but he also hates all his pants and Childe will not let him go without that. He finds one of his grandmothers old summer dresses instead to reduce the amount of fabric clinging to Diluc, and they are finally able to sit down in his cabin like normal people.

“So,” Childe says. “You’re out of the lake.”

“How observant,” Diluc says dryly. “I wanted to see what was so special about this place. It looks more rundown than my desolate cave.”

“It’s a… fixer upper, for sure,” Childe responds. “But I spent a year here when I was a kid. It… matters to me.”

“Even though it’s unlivable."

It’s odd to see Diluc inside the cabin. He’d only seen Kaeya on land twice, and he’d never even come near the building, they remained in the forest.

-

Ajax had been aware something was following him since he left the cabin. At first, he'd thought it was Pop, making sure he wan't getting into trouble. They'd been understanding about the fireworks, and had even bought him really expensive headphones, but they haven't let him go farther than the lake since that day.

Nana was out doing the shopping though, and Pop was asleep in front of the TV so Ajax just… wandered out. He had nowhere in mind, he just started walking and found he didn't want to stop. If it was Pop, he would have yelled at him to get back to the cabin by now, but the clumsy uncertain steps he hears can be none other than a certain creature unused to its legs.

Ajax wants to speak up and say hi, but he can't bring himself to do so. He's sort of numb except for the buzzing in his finger tips. He can only imagine black and white static spilling out of his mouth if he tries to speak. So he just lets Kaeya follow him.

He's jolted out of his stupor when there's suddenly a tree in front of him. Ajax hadn't noticed it get dark. In daylight, the tree would have cast enormous shadows with its large dead branches, but right now its just another shivering thing in the forest.

He sits in front of the tree. This would be a good place, probably. Suitable macabre.

Ajax waits.

-

“Are you thinking about Kaeya again?” Diluc says with a scowl.

Childe has to take a second to remember where he is. Right. In the cabin. With Diluc.

“You really need to get this jealousy of yours handled-”

“I am not jealous!” Diluc hisses. “I just- he’s annoying to hear about and you always bring him up.”

“I’m pretty sure you’re the one who just brought him up.”

Diluc stands and turns to walk away, but Childe rushes to intercept. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry! Please stay.”

Thankfully, it doesn’t take much pleading to convince Diluc not to dive back into the lake, and Childe shows him around the cabin some more. There’s really not much to show, but Diluc still seems fascinated. The caves under the lake probably don’t have much furniture.

Diluc stays with him for the rest of the day before they head back to the lake at sunset and Diluc disappears into the water once more.

Childe is simultaneously glad and horrified that he continues to visit. Glad because he gets more Diluc time. Horrified because he won't wear any fucking clothes. Childe ends up building a little box to leave by his lake so Diluc can pick something to wear when he decides to have legs, but he always ignores it and Childe always has to direct him back to it.

When he convinces Diluc to wear clothes, he usually picks out the flowy dresses his grandma had left in the back of her closet. She only wore them when she was gardening, they were a little too big for her so she didn't mind getting them dirty. It's still odd to see Diluc in Nana's yellow dandelion dress.

But it’s nice. Just having him around while Childe works on the cabin. He manages to make Diluc laugh while he’s attempting to cook and it puts him in a good mood for the rest of the day. He’s still upset that Kaeya isn’t there, which Diluc would probably yell at him for if he said out loud, but Diluc is there.

And Childe loves Kaeya. He was his best friend. His only friend when he was going through the worst time of his life. Kaeya was the only light he had and probably the only reason he didn’t do anything drastic between then and now. He misses him so, so much, but he is so fucking glad Diluc is here.

Childe’s not sure what the mermaid version of the bro code says about fucking your best friends brother and he absolutely does not care.

Diluc pauses in his story about how he came to live in the lake when he notices Childe staring. “It better not be-”

“It’s not,” Childe rolls his eyes. “I promise if I’m thinking about Kaeya, I’ll smack myself for you.”

“Don’t do that,” Diluc cringes. “Then I’ll know.”

“I can be discreet.”

“I highly doubt that.”

Sorry Kaeya, Childe thinks as he flicks himself on the nose, I am so into your brother.

-

This is the first time since Diluc started leaving the lake that they’ve spent the entire ten minutes of sundown sitting in silence. Diluc is in the water, laying against a rock with his eyes closed, while Childe watches him from his place on top of the clothing box. It works as a relatively comfortable seat when he brings out a cushion.

He knows he should go back in soon, that fireworks display is on tonight and while Childe has improved significantly since his childhood, he still doesn’t love fireworks. It’s not even really the noise, although that doesn’t help. The colours are just… too much. Too similar to the monsters of the abyss.

He can only imagine how bright and loud everything would be if he were in the village proper.

Childe shakes his head, forcefully pushing any memories back. He’s gotten better for sure, but that doesn’t mean he wants to indulge any flashbacks.

“Hey, Diluc,” he says, just to say something. “What do you do in the lake? Like, for fun?”

Diluc shrugs, not opening his eyes. “Not much. I protect the fish from predators. And sometimes themselves. Dreamcatcher laid her eggs in the worst place and Mark keeps trying to eat them. There's more fish than there used to be."

Childe doesn’t mention Kaeya, even though he knows that’s the reason there used to be so few. Diluc briefly opens his eyes to glare at him in warning, so Childe flicks his own arm, and manages to get a smile out of him.

“So you’re like a guardian of the fish,” Childe says. “Cute.”

Diluc’s smile drops and he turns away. “Shut up.”

They’ve never sat together by the lake past nightfall, but neither have moved to leave yet, and Childe certainly won't if Diluc doesn’t. Childe spent plenty of nights sitting by the lake with Kaeya, which is why he doesn’t expect the small light coming from the water.

“Are you… glowing?” Childe asks. “What? How? Kaeya didn’t glow.”

Diluc scowls and Childe flicks himself again.

“You can’t adapt to every trait,” Diluc says. “He was from somewhere light, he didn’t need to. I grew up in caves.”

“Wow,” Childe can’t help himself from moving closer, taking a seat on the rock Diluc is leant against. “I never did much research on merpeople. I just assumed I knew it all.”

Diluc scoffs. “Seriously? You took Kaeya as an ultimate source of knowledge. He once tried to convince me we could control water with our minds. My own species. To Kaeya, lying is both a hobby and a personality trait.”

“I mean,” Childe coughs. “You can heal people. It’s not that far a stretch to believe.”

Diluc levels him with a blank stare. “You didn’t.”

“I know,” Childe sighs. “I’ll do some more research when I get back.”

Diluc laughs, which happens more often now but it still surprises Childe. “Do you know what else we can do?”

“Hm?”

“Bonding,” Diluc answers. “When you're part of a family, you bond together. You talk through thoughts. We can also create temporary bonds through touch. We used to have to hold Kaeya's hand to talk to him, but one day I woke up and could hear him complaining about being hungry. That’s how I knew we were family.”

Childe clamps his mouth shut. Diluc never brings up Kaeya of his own volition. Childe is not going to ruin this.

“He hated it at first. He couldn’t figure out how to keep his thoughts hidden while trying to communicate with us. He…” Diluc stops, frowning. “He’d never done it before.”

Childe waits until at least ten seconds have passed before he risks speaking. “What do you mean?”

“I was… little when I figured it out,” Diluc says. “Kaeya wasn’t little when we found him. He just… never made that bond with anyone.”

“Oh.”

“I don’t remember not having it with my dad,” Diluc continues. “He said I was born with it, because we were family. Why didn’t Kaeya have it? Why didn’t anyone love him?”

“Maybe he spoke to them out loud,” Childe answers. “Or maybe his family wasn't… family.”

“I’ll kill them,” Diluc declares. “I will leave my caves and go to whatever ocean Kaeya is from and find them-”

BANG!

Childe near jumps out of his skin when he hears the explosion. He doesn’t look at the sky but the red reflects on the water and it looks- it looks like-

He doesn’t have time to recall what it looks like because there’s another one, and another one, and another one, all showering colours and he can feel the sparks against his skin. He’s not in the abyss. He knows, he escaped years ago and it took so long but he recovered and it can’t. still. scare. him.

It's fine. He knows now. It's easy to calm himself down. Hold your breath, think of something else, it will ease. The sky lights up and he jumps again, but doesn't stop holding his breath. He presses his hand against his throat, as if it will help him keep the air inside. Don't indulge it.

As another firework explodes, water rushes in around him. He nearly gasps it into his lungs, but doesn't give in. He opens his eyes to see Diluc in front of him, hands over top of his own, which are covering his ears, and with the water surrounding them, he can’t hear the fireworks anymore.

Which is good. It’s good. It’s not real danger, so he doesn’t need to hear it. Skirk told him never to run away, he’d always be caught. He doesn’t know why he remembers that. It’s irrelevant. There’s nothing hunting him.

Diluc looks… concerned. But pretty. Childe’s never seen him from underwater. His hair is floating behind him like some kind of Disney princess and Childe opens his mouth to say that, but he… can’t. Right. Water.

It looks like Diluc realises it at the same time as him, because his eyes widen and he nearly headbuts Childe when he moves forward to kiss him. Childe’s poor heart was already beating too fast for comfort and that certainly didn’t calm it down, but he can breathe again, so he tries to focus on filling his lungs rather than… that.

“Are you okay?” Diluc asks, lips not moving. “Please be okay, please be okay, please-”

And then it goes silent again as Diluc blinks in surprise. Childe would probably laugh at his dumbstruck expression if he had the energy to.

“Disregard,” Diluc says. “I have to get used to this again…”

“Adorable.”

“Shut up.”

“I can’t! I’ve only done this once before! I don't know how to control it!”

“Just… don’t think anything.”

“No can do, I’ll start imagining our grizzly deaths at the hands of the abyss and then uh… can you talk some more actually so I don’t do that?”

“About what?”

“Anything!”

“Uh… the lake is quite cold tonight. The fish were scared away. That rock is ugly but I can’t move it. I want you to be okay. My hair is too long, it’s getting in my face. You should stay here forever. You’re lucky I care about you enough to keep rambling like this.”

Diluc is right about the lake being cold, but he looks unbearably warm. His hands are still covering Childe’s and he’s not sure if it’s his own pulse or Diluc’s that he can hear against his ears.

“It’s okay,” Childe moves his hands away from his ears to wrap around Diluc and pull himself closer. Now he’s sure it’s Diluc’s heartbeat he can hear. “I’m okay. I like your hair but I can cut it for you if you like. I don’t want to leave anyway. Thank you.”

Diluc wraps an arm around Childe’s shoulder to keep him from floating away, but doesn’t move beyond that. And then Childe waits. He can’t tell if the fireworks are over or not. He’s going to stay put until Diluc decides he’s sick of him. This is good.

Eventually the cold begins to bother him, and once Diluc feels him shiver, he takes them both back up to the surface. The wind makes him even more cold, so Diluc sticks close, using his body heat to keep him warm.

“You can… ignore most of what I said,” Diluc eventually says. “They’re just… thoughts. They aren’t always true.”

“Hm…” Childe leans into him. “How disappointing. I guess I’ll leave tomorrow then since you don’t actually want me here.”

Diluc sighs heavily. “Okay. Fine. They were true. You still suck.”

Childe beams up at him and Diluc sighs again. It’s completely dark except for the glow of Diluc’s tail, which is still cool as fuck, and Childe can’t see much, but he thinks he’s reading Diluc’s face right. Probably. Diluc is fully capable of killing him if he’s not.

“Hey,” he says, to get Diluc to look at him properly. “It sounds suspiciously like you like me.”

“I do, unfortunately.”

“How much?” Diluc can see in the dark, so Childe knows he can see his grin.

“A not insignificant amount.”

“But, like, specifically.”

“Enough to put up with this.”

“Which is…?”

Diluc grabs his face in both of his hands. "You are genuinely insufferable. I don't know why I like you."

"Are we about to kiss?"

Diluc blinks and drops his hands. "You know what? Not anymore."

"What?" Childe freezes. "Wait, no, I'm sorry, I was just playing-"

"Don't care, I'm going to sleep." Diluc starts slipping into the water.

"No, no, no- I was just- you-"

"Good night!"

And with a final wave, Diluc slips into the water. Childe watches as the light of his tail moves further and further away, as do his hopes of kissing the pretty mermaid in his backyard again.

God damn it… Childe needs to make Diluc fall in love with him or he may die on this trip.

-

Today is April 30th and Childe is being normal about it. So normal. The normalest he’s ever been. Having fixed the oven over the weekend while being completely normal about Diluc, he’s spent most of today normally baking whatever he can find in his Nana’s old cookbook so he can continue to be normal over seeing Kaeya again.

He’d like to talk to Diluc but it had been made clear that as long as seeing Kaeya was a risk, Diluc would not be leaving the lake. Childe would buy some diving gear and go bother him anyway if it didn’t mean he might miss Kaeya’s arrival. As long as he really does arrive.

Maybe he’s died in the last year. That would be just Childe’s luck.

He stares out the window while he waits for his cupcakes to cook. Kaeya lives as a human now. Does he drive? Will he show up in a car? On a bike? Does he live close enough that he can just walk?

The oven timer goes off as Childe grapples with the realisation that Kaeya probably has a job. And a house. Like most human people do. Wild.

Childe’s pulling his tray of cupcakes out when he hears the sound of a car pulling up and leaves them there, oven still on and open to throw himself out the door. By the time he’s made it, Kaeya has only climbed out of the passenger seat of a scraped up toyota before freezing when he realises there’s someone else here.

Kaeya looks so different, and not just because he’s grown up in the last seven years. He looks like a human now if you don’t know where to look. The only evidence that he could be anything else is in the odd shape in his eye. The other one is covered up by an eyepatch, which is also new.

“Kaeya!” Childe only jumps on the spot a few times. Because he’s normal. “Diluc said you’d be here today, hi, hello, welcome, it’s good to see you again. I have food ready if you’re hungry, and I also fixed up the cabin which you should see, it looks good and-”

“Ajax?” Kaeya’s eye (where did the other one go?) widens in recognition. “You’re back?”

“I am,” he nods enthusiastically. “I haven’t died in the last seven years! Isn’t that amazing?”

Kaeya laughs, and though it sounds somewhat pained, Childe is glad to finally hear it again. “Do you still hate hugs?”

He opens his arms immediately to embrace his childhood friend. Despite what Kaeya meant to him, he’s pretty sure this is the first time they’ve ever hugged. Childe makes up for that by squeezing him as hard as he can.

“Hey, I’m not going to try and escape if you give me a little space,” Kaeya complains. “Didn’t you say you have food?”

“We haven’t had breakfast.” A voice from next to them says and Childe jumps back, nearly tripping over his own feet.

“Jesus fuck where did you come from?”

“I’ve been here the whole time,” she says, holding out a hand. “My name is Jean, it’s nice to meet you.”

Childe shakes her hand and looks back at Kaeya for any explanation on what her deal is.

“Introductions are best made over food!” Kaeya says, marching towards the door. “And we’ve got a lot to talk about.”

Childe gives Jean a once over, but can’t spot anything out of the ordinary. Is she just another human that’s gotten tangled up with the supernatural? She follows Kaeya into the house and Childe quickly joins them.

Once they’re settled at the table, eating Childe’s various baked goods, they start to share what the past seven years have looked like for them. Kaeya only left three years ago, and Jean is the only reason he was able to adjust to a human life. She’s also not the only friend he’s made, and Kaeya promises to introduce Childe to all of them should he make the trip there.

Kaeya’s house is only a two hour drive away from the cabin. He could go whenever he feels like it.

His own tale of the last seven years is quite different. Childe had gone home, briefly attempted boarding school, then been sought out by a mysterious member of a mysterious organisation and found himself with a well paying job that gave him an outlet for all his fear and anger. Maybe recruiting a fifteen year old to an elite supernatural paramilitary group was unethical, but he was just glad that other people had seen the same things he had and knew how to fight them.

Childe still doesn’t deal with the abyss, but he’s better at artifact retrieval anyway. And it lets him meet interesting people like Zhongli.

Jean is interested and very concerned in the tales of his exploits, but once everyone’s full, Kaeya gets up from the table. “I’m going to… try to talk to Diluc. Wish me luck.”

“Good luck.” Jean smiles sympathetically as Kaeya leaves. His face is set in grim determination which is a stark contrast to the embarrassing grin Childe can’t keep off his face whenever he goes to see Diluc.

Although Kaeya has incredible hearing abilities, Childe still waits for him to close the door before turning to Jean and grilling her about Kaeya. Just to be polite.

“What’s up with him and Diluc? It’s been three years, my grudges only last as long as I remember them. I know we only just met, but you’ve probably figured out that’s not long. Anyway, what’s up with them?”

“You know…” Jean starts. “I actually… don’t know. I still haven’t figured it out.”

“Diluc told me he lied about something, but then he got mad and swam away.”

“Kaeya said they got into a physical fight but then he also got mad and swam away.”

“Is that a mermaid thing or a them thing?”

“I haven’t met any other merpeople, but I suppose if you can go somewhere that other people will drown if they follow you, it’d be a pretty good way to get out of conversations you don’t want to have.”

“Yeah, Diluc does that constantly.”

“Now that Kaeya lives with me on land, he can’t do it anymore. Now he just teleports away.”

“He can teleport?”

“Yeah, but not far. He’s usually just in the next room. Can Diluc not do that?”

“I don’t think that’s a merpeople thing… but I also don’t know.”

Gah… Diluc’s gonna call him an idiot for asking if he can teleport. He can hear it now. Did Kaeya tell you that? He’s a lying liar. Now stop thinking about Kaeya, I get sooooo jealous because I’m in love with you.

“Uh… Ajax?”

“Ya?” Childe snaps back to attention. “Do you think different merpeople can do different things? Diluc can heal me and Kaeya never did that. He also probably thought it was funny when I got hurt.”

“He has never mentioned being able to heal people,” Jean narrows her eyes, then goes quiet for a moment. “He says he can’t.”

“He what?”

“Maybe your theory is right?”

“No, how did you ask him that? Where is he?” Childe turns around. “Kaeya?”

Jean laughs at him, which is unfair because he could really surprise her too if he suddenly turned into an eight foot tall monster but in the interest of not ruining a new friendship he kindly decides not to.

“Now I know Diluc has telepathy too because Kaeya told me about it,” she says.

“I thought you had to kiss for that.”

“Well,” Jean shifts awkwardly. “It’s also if you form a bond. The other thing helps. A little bit.”

“Oh. He has mentioned that.”

Which. Does mean. A few things.

One, Kaeya has good taste and Childe is very happy for him. Two, Diluc clearly doesn’t like him that much. And Childe did suspect that, because his method of making friends is annoying someone until they grow used to it and then ramping it up tenfold to test the bounds of their friendship at which point the person will either try to kill him or accept their fate. But he did… hope.

Childe would like to stew in misery for a few minutes before bouncing back and deciding to try harder, but Kaeya comes back a moment later, looking much more miserable. Normally, Childe would threaten to kill whatever caused his friend to be upset but he’s pretty sure it’s Diluc so he’ll have to try… whatever normal people do to comfort their friends.

“I have more cookies in the cupboard.”

-

Childe and Kaeya sit by the lake at sunset, the water completely still, undisturbed by anything except regular fish. Jean went out to get gas to give Kaeya and Childe some more time to talk, but they’ve mainly watched the sun go down in silence. It’s similar to how Childe and Diluc spend their evenings, and reminds him of how much he compares the two brothers.

The adult version of Diluc and the child version of Kaeya are so different. But that’s an unfair comparison, maybe they were both loud and chaotic children, maybe they’re both calm and contemplative adults. He wishes he could have met Diluc as well when he was younger. He hopes he can get to know Kaeya again now that they’re older.

“Why’d you decide to leave this place?”

Kaeya, who hasn’t touched the water, only waved his hand above and watched it move with the wind, finally dips his fingers in. “Lots of reasons. It’s so much more comfortable sleeping in a bed than on rock. The food up here is better, and I’m not the one who has to catch it. Honestly, living in a lake blows.

“Diluc likes it.”

“No, he doesn’t,” Kaeya scoffs. “We used to talk about leaving all the time. But Crepus would get this sad look and we’d stop talking about. He thought we were safer in our little cave and as long as we never left, nothing else in the water could get us. If we had left, he probably wouldn’t have died.”

“Oh.”

Kaeya sighs, stands up and steps away from the water. The hand he dipped in the lake has slightly longer nails and Childe watches them slowly shrink back into his fingers. “It’s a big world. There’s something to be found everywhere. I know Diluc will like it, he just won’t leave.”

Childe wouldn’t have gone to stay with his grandparents if he hadn’t been forced to. His home may not have been good for him at the time but it was the only thing he knew. He’d rather have wasted away and died there than moved here, got to know his grandparents, met Kaeya, learned to be human again. Now he can’t imagine his life if he hadn’t.

“You and Diluc are friends, right? Maybe you can convince him?”

Childe coughs. “I don’t know if Diluc actually likes me that much.”

“He talks to you. That’s more than he does for me,” Kaeya continues. “And I’ve never seen you blush but you do it every time I mention him.”

“I don’t.” Childe feels his face. Is it warmer than usual? How the fuck is he meant to tell? “Please tell me I don’t do that. Kaeya? Say you’re messing with me.”

Kaeya only grins at him, his teeth are still sharper than a regular humans. “I understand, we of the sea are an ethereally beautiful species.”

“You’re not from the sea, you’re from a lake.”

“Some call us sirens because of our charms.”

“I don’t find you charming at all.”

“Hey, Diluc!” Kaeya yells into the lake. “I kissed him first!”

“It was so I wouldn’t drown!” Childe rushes to explain himself. “Next time, if it’s between kissing Kaeya and drowning, I’ll just die, I promise!”

Kaeya laughs at him while Childe yells assurances into the lake. Diluc probably can’t hear them, but on the off chance that he can, Childe needs to make it clear that for the rest of his life, the only person he will kiss will be Diluc. No stray harlots will tempt him.

Before Kaeya can reveal anything else to the lake, Jean pulls up and they all head back inside to say their goodbyes. Kaeya gives him his address and Childe gives him his number, but Kaeya promises never to use it after Childe refers to his phone as a ‘shellphone.’

He leaves with leftover baking because Childe went way overboard on that front, and a promise to visit before Childe’s little holiday is over. He watches miserably as their car leaves and only stops when Kaeya texts him and tells him to go talk to Diluc instead of moping. He decides to take the advice and returns to the lake to lay down next to the fruit bowl.

“I thought he would never leave,” Diluc appears mere seconds later. “This is your fault. He usually only stays an hour.”

“How’d you know he left?”

“The fish told me.”

Child sits bolt upright. “You can talk to fish?”

“No, they just know to come get me when he leaves,” Diluc says. “Stop asking stupid questions.”

“It’s not stupid! You glow! Kaeya teleports! There’s probably a mermaid out there with octopus legs!”

“They’re called cecaelia, not mermaids.” Diluc shifts awkwardly. “What do you mean 'teleports?'”

“Ha! I knew something you didn’t!” Childe contemplates texting Kaeya about this victory but he only left like a minute ago so it feels a bit soon.

Diluc doesn’t seem as impressed, only annoyed. “He looks human now, right? More like you than me.”

“You could see for yourself.”

“I don’t want to.”

Now Childe knows he's treading dangerous waters. Most mentions of Kaeya lead to Childe getting splashed with water as Diluc flings himself to the depths of the lake as quickly as possible. But Childe isn't known for subtlety, and he isn't known for 'minding his business.' So. He's already prepared to return to the cabin soaking.

"Kaeya wanted me to ask why you don't want to leave the lake." Childe says. "You wanted to when you were a kid, what changed?"

"Everything. My father is dead. My brother is a monster. It's better if I just… stay here."

"What did Kaeya even do?" Childe can't help the exasperation in his voice.

"He-" Diluc stops. "It doesn't matter."

"It matters!" Childe shouts. "He loves you! He comes here every year and waits for you because he wants you to come home! He asked me to try and convince you because you won't talk to him but you'll talk to the weird guy who moved into your backyard."

Diluc stares at him. He doesn't look furious, only… concerned.

"You know, he was going to kill you," Diluc says slowly. "It's why they put him here. To learn how to hunt. It was meant to be us first but clearly he got… attached. You though? You reek of the abyss, and you would have been a great trophy for his masters."

"Yeah, well," Childe sighs. "He didn't."

Diluc only blinks at him, trying to piece things together. Eventually he says, "… you knew."

-

"You knew," is the first thing Kaeya says when he emerges from the darkness.

Ajax had expected a stealthier approach. Well, not stealthy exactly because Kaeya is woefully inept at 'leg stealth.' But he didn't expect him to just walk up and start a conversation.

"Do you think it's better if my grandparents can find my body or not?" Ajax asks, with nothing else swimming around in his mind. "They might think I ran away again. Is that better or worse?"

"I don't know," Kaeya says. "What do you want?"

"I don't want to be found, but I'd be too dead to care so what does it matter."

Kaeya doesn't say anything. Or move. It doesn't even look like he's breathing.

"What would you want?"

He startles, like he forgot Ajax was there. "I… I want to be found. I want a funeral with lots of people and speeches and… I don't think anyone will give me one."

"I'd give you one," Ajax says. "Here lies Kaeya, murderer and charlatan and my best friend."

Kaeya laughs. It pierces the quiet night and Ajax feels some of that static clear away. His ears have been buzzing since his grandparents sat him down and told him about pops illness. He's never understood how Kaeya's presence can have such a calming effect on him.

"Are you not going to fight back?" Kaeya asks somewhat desperately. "It-it's not a hunt if you don't so it doesn't count."

"Semantics."

"Plus, you could win so… you may as well try."

Ajax remains on the ground. This is all too much effort on his part. He's supposed to be the victim.

"What's the point? I win and you're dead and I go back home and keep being this thing, or you win and I don't have to do it anymore." Ajax scratches at the dirt, hoping a little bit that he can sink into it and bury himself. "I should've died in the abyss, I should've gone to prison, I shouldn't be here. My family thinks I'm still alive, but I'm not even human anymore."

Kaeya is silent.

"The abyss doesn't let anyone go," Ajax continues. "I don't wanna go back. I'd rather die here. I… I really like it here."

He can see the sky through the empty branches. There's no moon tonight, so the only things lighting up the sky are the stars. He'd been a little fascinated with constellations as a kid, but now he knows they're just rocks people decided to fit into shapes.

"So you're just going to lay down and die?" Kaeya finally raises his voice. "That's pathetic! You survived the abyss and now you're giving up?"

"So what?" Childe snaps. "You can't lecture me! You came here to murder me!"

"I came here to murder a worthy foe not an idiot!"

"Well, find someone worthier. Fuck you and your stupid plan!"

The nerve to follow Ajax all the way into the forest and then stand around insulting him instead of killing him. He should just stomp all the way back home. Kaeya is clearly too much a wimp to actually do it.

Kaeya huffs, then drops to the forest floor and continues to glare at him. "This was never going to work."

"Of course not," Ajax says. "You don't want to kill me without a fight, but if I put up a fight, I'd win."

"No." Despite their many petty arguments, this is the most offended Ajax has ever seen Kaeya. "I-you don't even know. I could kill you so bad."

"Prove it."

"Don't tell me what to do!"

Ajax can't help it. Kaeya is mad, genuinely mad, and it makes him laugh. Normally Ajax's attempts to piss him off just make him smug, like he's won the fight just by getting Ajax to start it. He finally understands that feeling now.

Kaeya manages to look even more displeased as Ajax laughs at him, but doesn't say anything. Or even move. He continue to sit and stare and eventually rolls his eyes. "It's not that funny."

"You're like a little kid throwing a temper tantrum."

"Well, you're like-like-" Kaeya sputters, unable to come up with anything. "Whatever."

Ajax only laughs harder.

-

"You just… forgave him?"

"What was there to forgive?" Childe asks. "He didn't even try, only ever thought about it."

"For lying to you. For…" Diluc scowls. "You really don't care?"

"I'm not exactly the most truthful person in the world either," Childe says. "My names not even Childe, are you going to hate me forever?"

Diluc spins around to glare at the trees in silence.

"I'm sorry," Childe speaks once he realises Diluc isn't going to. "I know I don't fully understand what happened with you two. I know I'm biased."

Diluc doesn't fully turn around but he does tilt his head back towards him.

"I could never be mad at Kaeya for considering kiling me. I would have done it myself eventually anyway. Not on purpose, but…" Childe awkwardly clears his throat. He's not going to talk about that. "You know, I'm a monster too. I wouldn't have made it out of the abyss if I hadn't become one."

"You're not a monster-"

"I am," Childe interrupts. "It's okay. It's a good thing. It kept me alive and it's a good thing that I'm alive."

Diluc finally faces him again. He swims closer, until he's lying directly in front of him, head propped up in his hands. It's pitch black expect for the glow of his tail, which does a poor job illuminating their faces.

"Tell me your name."

"Ajax."

"Mine is still Diluc. Tell me about your family."

Childe does. He lists his siblings, and Diluc repeats that his only sibling is Kaeya. Childe talks about his parents, and Diluc tells him about Crepus. He asks where Childe was before he came back to the cabin, and he tells him about his disasterous mission to recover an ancient artifact. Diluc once again talks about the fish.

Diluc keeps asking questions, and once Childe has answered, Diluc gives his own answer. He doesn't have many stories to tell, but Childe has thousands. He's been all over the world at this point, and Diluc is eager to hear about the far places outside of his lake.

Once his arms start to hurt from leaning on them, Childe flips onto his back. Diluc does the same as Childe continues his story about breaking out of a magical underground prison by triggering an earthquake that opened up a sinkhole in the middle of town. And the subsequent grilling he got from his bosses for doing that.

Eventually his voice starts to die and his eyes start to close. Once the storys finished Diluc doesn't ask another question, and Childe tilts his head back to look at him. He's fast asleep, and now that Childe isn't talking, he can hear him snoring.

The ground is kind of wet, his shirt is damp, the air is cold, it's the most uncomfortable position he's laid in since the abyss, and he falls asleep easily.

-

Tomorrow comes sooner than expected and, honestly, wanted. Childe doesn't know how late he was up but even when he's had a full nights sleep, he's not the kinda person that appreciates being woken up at five in the morning.

The sun is blinding. He turns his head away and finds Diluc, also awake and similarly disgruntled by the light.

Childe mumbles something that's meant to sound like 'good morning' but sounds more like gibberish. Diluc has moved further out of the lake and closer to him overnight, close enough that he can twist and press his face into Childe's shoulder to hide from the sun. Childe lays his arm over his eyes and tries to ignore his stiff muscles slowly waking up to yell at him.

Even with the shade, the sun is too bright for him to fall back asleep. "I hate sunrises."

The morning sun loves waking him up before he's ready, blinding him while he's driving, filling his instagram feed with aesthetic photos from, ugh, morning people.

Diluc shifts again so that he's lying face down, trying to get away from the light. "Why aren't I in my cave?"

"Because I bored you to sleep last night," Childe says.

Diluc moves too quickly for Childe's tired brain to comprehend. He watches from the corner of his eye, still trying to cover them with his arm, as Diluc sits up and leans over him. With Diluc now blocking the sun, he drops his arm.

His hair is dry, which Childe is just now realising he's never seen. It looks like a frizzy rats nest, covered in dirt from sleeping on the ground. There's mud on his nose and his skin is dried out, not used to being in open air for so long. The sun behind him is like a halo illuminating Diluc in the worst state Childe has ever seen him.

Kiss me. Kiss me. Kiss me.

And Childe might have been mentally begging for it but he's still surprised when it happens.

"You're so loud," Diluc says. Or doesn't say. Because his mouth is on Childe's.

It's brief. Shorter than when Diluc had kissed him in the lake, but it's intentional. Diluc isn't kissing him so he can breathe, he's just… doing it.

"You heard me?" Childe asks. Diluc still hovers above him and Childe realises he's holding him there with a hand on his shoulder.

"Yes," Diluc says.

"We're bonded? Like your family?"

Diluc cringes. "Not like my family. I would not do that with them."

"I know, I mean-"

"Terrible," Diluc interrupts him, but he's not speaking aloud. He sits up and stars running his fingers through his hair, trying to brush it out. "This is terrible. My hair is a mess. Why are my lips so dry? He looks perfect, I'm ruining this."

"No, you're doing great-"

"Liar."

"No! I like your messy hair!"

"So it is messy."

Diluc is pouting at him and Childe tries his best not to laugh at his expense. Trying is not succeeding however, and even if he held it in, Diluc would probably be able to hear the laughter in his mind.

"I like it when it's messy."

Diluc gives up trying to wrangle his hair into a presentable state. Childe watches his tail disappear and he reaches into the clothing box to pull out one of his favourite dresses and a sunhat.

"Are you staying with me today?" Childe lights up at the idea. Now that Diluc has shown his hand, the hand being 'interested in kissing Childe,' he's going to take advantage of it as much as possible.

"We can go today," Diluc says. "To visit."

"To visit…?" Childe trails off, then freezes. "Kaeya?"

"Yes," Diluc frowns. "When you-when we talked about family… I miss him. I guess."

"Yeah, okay, I'll go get ready now." Childe stumbles to his feet and practically runs for the cabin. Twenty minutes tops to get ready, then just a two hour drive, and-

And he has it. His best friend. And a mermaid… boyfriend? If Diluc will let him call him that.

"I said I don't care what you call me," Diluc mutters from somewhere outside. In his mind. This rules.

Childe can't stop grinning. His phone reveals its 4:59 am so they can probably be at Kaeya's a little before eight. Hopefully he's an early riser.

Diluc's snort suggests he isn't.