immortality • childe

chap. 3

(y/n) followed Zhongli and Childe into a small room. It was empty, only a table filled with dishes stood in the middle of this place.

„Well, let's eat. My treat", Childe said with a cheeky smile. Zhongli quietly sat down at the end of the wooden table and stared at the served dishes in front of him.

Other than the other adepti, he wasn't very picky about his food and always took what was given to him.

The girl took a seat next to the Geo Archon and crossed her legs under the table. Awkward silence filled the room, until Childe tried to loosen the tension.

He curiously peeked at the girl in front of him.

Her eyes were fixated on her slender fingers and her face was a little red from the heat.

He didn't want to stare, but somehow she was captivating.

'You don't even know her, dumbass', he scolded himself and continued eating.

If he knew that (y/n) didn't look like this in reality, he probably would have forgotten about her in an instant.

Just like Zhongli, the female chose to appear as a human. A very beautiful one, to be exact. Bright eyes, soft skin, smooth hair and a charming smile.

A few years ago, she thought it was amusing to see mortals reaction to an appealing woman walking past them. But as time passed she got used to that form and decided to stay like that.

"So, how do you know each other?", Childe broke the silence, causing Zhongli to stop chewing on his food for a moment.

(y/n) hesitated- she wasn't sure if Childe knew about Zhongli's true identity as the Geo Archon, so she just simply answered "We are old friends".

Childe slowly nodded in response, not sure if that was the truth. In the end he just let it be and finished his food.

The female watched Zhongli stuff more food in his mouth, a little surprised that he could eat so much.

"By the way (y/n), I heard you are here for a friend", Childe spoke, catching the girls attention. She nodded in response, waiting for him to continue.

"I suppose you are not planning on staying here.. but why don't you consider it? The Lantern Festival is in a few weeks and there are many places to visit around Liyue Harbor".

She chuckled to herself. Over the 6000 years she had explored every single place in Tevyat, before settling down on Mt. Nagoya.

But she didn't want to seem rude and decline the offer, so she lied to the brown-haired male with a small smile on her lips.

"I would love to, but I don't have a place to stay. Plus, I am planning on visiting Mondstadt".

That was just made up, but the more she thought about it, the more she wanted to spend with the cheerful bard again.

Someone cleared his throat, causing her to look to the person next to her.

"I would enjoy your company. We haven't talked for a while", Zhongli added and continued to stare at his food.

'Are you really that lonely here, Zhongli?', she thought, a bit surprised by the male's statement.

"I suppose I can change my schedule", (y/n) answered and hesitated after a few seconds. "But I think I will visit a friend in Mondstadt for a few days first".

Childe looked at her and blinked. Zhongli knew who she was talking about and sighed quietly, but (y/n) heard the male and suppressed a giggle.

If anyone knew about the relationship between the Geo Archon and the Anemo Archon, it was her.

She remembered when Barbatos would always annoy Zhongli until the taller man started to chase the smaller one around, while he was just laughing. It was quite a rare sight to see Zhongli that angry.

But considering the fact that Barbatos had replaced all the food in Liyue Harbor with apples, his anger was reasonable.

Until today, the female wondered how the Anemo Archon had done that- but every time she asked him, he would just wink and giggle nonstop.

—

"Looks like it's not as hot as before", Childe pointed out. "Why don't you look for the friend of yours? I can help, if you want to", he quickly added with a welcoming smile.

(y/n) thought about the offer for a moment, before nodding. "Thank you, Childe. Her name is Hina. She has brown hair and is a little smaller than me", the girl explained.

Normally she wouldn't think that a stranger knew Hina, but since Childe was a Fatui, it was possible that he does.

Zhongli told her that he even was the 11th Harbinger, which caught her by surprise. What was he doing here then?

(y/n) was never really interested in groups like the Fatui, so she didn't really know very well what kind of people they were.

'Maybe they collect information about all the people in Tevyat to use it against them one day?', she knew it was a dumb thought, but it wouldn't hurt to ask for some help.

Childe shot her a closed-eye smile. "I will try to help you. But let's pay first", he added and pulled out his stuffed wallet.

Zhongli quietly listened to the conversation and stood up after they finished talking. "I will get going. See you soon, (y/n). Tartaglia"

(y/n) nodded and replied with a short "Goodbye", while Childe just waved at the tall man.

She figured that Childe was only a codename, since it was quite a strange name.

—

Childe paid for the food and opened the door for the female like a gentleman.

To be genuinely honest, he didn't know what he was doing. He lied about 'Hina'. How was he supposed to know anything about a complete stranger?

Plus, he still had to do his duties as a Harbinger. Childe grimaced for a second and looked at (y/n), who walked through the door after thanking him.

Something about her felt wrong to him.. was it her divine looks? Or the strange (but pretty) smile, that she always had on her face?

Although he didn't want to admit it, she was somehow interesting. 'For a normal citizen at least'.

"Let's get going now, shall we?"

—