Centimeters [Childe/Tartaglia x reader]

Chapter 6

Word Count: 1054

In Y/n's POV:

Waking up that following morning, it was the Sun that ruined it for me. As I rubbed my eyes to get used to seeing once again, the sight that was sitting in front of me made my heart skip a beat.

Childe was just wearing a white tank top along with the pants he was wearing last night, and his hair was disheveled as could be.

"Mm... is it morning already...?" asked Childe groggily, starting to wake up.

"Sadly... uh..."

"Hm?"

Childe then turned to look up at me.

"Your face is all red— what's up with that?" chuckled the ginger weakly, reaching his right hand towards me to play with a loose strand of my hair.

"Ah! Well— I— P-please s-s-st... mm..." I stuttered, trying to get out the words, 'stop playing with my hair,' but I couldn't. It just felt so nice to have someone to play with my hair, even if it was just for a mere few seconds. "Don't stop... Please..."

This time, it was Childe's turn to blush.

"W-what? (Y/n), that sounds so weird out of context," said Childe as he let a weak, nervous chuckle afterwards.

It was then when he stopped playing with my hair. I guess it was my fault for being too selfish about it.

"Anyways, we basically have the day to ourselves since we pulled an all-nighter working on our papers," yawned out Childe, stretching out his muscles in his seat.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," I said, starting to stretch my own muscles as well. "Oh, what time is it?"

After checking his phone, Childe said, "It's about eight-forty. Teucer should be up by now. I'll let you freshen up for the day, while I wake up that little troublemaker."

As I walked out of Childe's personal bathroom, I smelled something amazing coming from the kitchen. Had Childe made pancakes?

"Wow! These look super yummy, Big Brother!" exclaimed the younger ginger, practically bouncing up-and-down in his seat. "Oh! Good morning, (Y/n)!"

I waved at the child before taking a seat beside him at the small dining table.

"Only the best for my Little Brother and my childhood friend," chuckled Childe as he continued to make a few more pancakes.

"You would make a great dad, you know," I said, laughing a bit afterwards. No one else laughed though. Wow. Tough crowd.

"(Y/n)..." started Childe as he turned off the stove. He then piled the last few pancakes onto a plate in the middle of the table before taking off his apron. "May I speak to you in the other room?"

I nodded, totally oblivious to what was about to happen.

As we sat down on Childe's bed, I had still been gnawing on a piece of pancake from just earlier. Childe just looked at me all serious-like, his ocean-blue eyes staring into my (e/c) ones.

"(Y/n)," he said, holding my hands into his own.

What the fuck was going on.

"Mmhmm?"

"Did you really mean what you said back there? About me being a great dad someday?" he asked, his eyes practically glistening from the compliment.

As I swallowed the last of the piece of the pancake, I swiftly nodded, my hands starting to become a bit clammy.

"Thank you... You know, after I graduate Uni and everything... or even just fully transfer out of the Fatui... I would like to join you at the Café."

"W-what?"

"Haha, sounds kinda stupid, doesn't it?"

"N-no! It doesn't sound stupid at all! I mean, God knows that Zhongli, Hu Tao, and I can't run the entire place by ourselves! We'd be more than happy to employ you!" I exclaimed, getting up from my place on the bed.

"Hu Tao?"

"Oh, uh... turns out she's kind of our boss... She was on some vacation for a while, or some journey or whatever... She mentioned something about helping a friend."

"I see... Well, now that that's out of the way, we should probably get back to Teucer."

At around ten or so, Childe dropped me off at my apartment complex. We said our goodbyes before he went to go drop off his kid brother at a meeting place him and his mom arranged. As I climbed up the stairs to the apartment Xiao and I shared, all I could think about was Childe. I then took out my keys to unlock the door, my attention turned to the small starconch Keychain he got for me yesterday. He mentioned something about it being a memento of us going to the museum together. What a dork.

When I opened up the door, I saw an unimpressed Xiao waiting for me.

"Ahem?"

"Hehe, h-hey, Xiao, long time no see—"

"Don't give me that crap of yours. I was worried sick about your dumbass," cried out Xiao as he dug his head into my shoulder.

"X-Xiao...?"

"If that bastard hurt you or touched you in any way, shape, or form, I would've went crazy just tearing him apart, avenging you."

"Xiao..."

"You just can't trust Fatui. Their heads were screwed on wrong the moment they were born or something, I swear—"

"Xiao!"

He then looked up at me, his eyes a big puffy.

"Xiao, I'm okay— I'm better than okay. Childe —Ajax— didn't hurt me. Not one scratch. He was a sweetheart and a dork more than anything," I explained, chuckling a bit as I set down my bag.

"You promise?"

"To the Archons above."

We then lightly hugged it out before I went to go organize my things from last night in my room. I seldom saw this side of Xiao despite living with him for, basically, the entirety of my University years.

Later that day, at around five or so, I had received a call from an unknown number. Hesitant to pick it up, I eventually did, thinking that maybe it was important.

"Hello?"

"(Y/n)?"

"Childe?!" I exclaimed, getting up from my seat at my desk. "Wha— How did you get my number?"

"I asked Mr. Zhongli."

"You could've just asked me, y'know?"

"Really? You would've complied?"

"... okay, maybe not. But why are you calling me in the first place?"

"Come down. I'm in front of your place right now."

A/n: wahhhh sorry this is so short... i just wanted to update this to let you guys know that I haven't abandoned it :0 also about the morning thing- I was referencing a fanart by @/snifflesmp4 (on IG) idk if they have other social medias or not... :>