Kill Me Slowly || Tartaglia/Childe

Chapter 06

It has been two weeks since your encounter with Tartaglia in his room and you've been trying to avoid him by making yourself busy with the tasks that Ganyu and Xiangling gave you or you would hang around with Qiqi and Xingqiu though today was different. Ganyu, Xiangling, Qiqi, and Xingqiu weren't around this morning.

Qiqi wasn't in your room and Ganyu wasn't there to fetch her, Xingqiu wasn't reading his book by the garden, and Xiangling wasn't rambling to you about the wild boars in the forest that tasted good when prepared by the right hands.

With no soldiers training around, you decided to roam around the camp since you had already finished the tasks and had nothing to do.

Meanwhile, in Liyue, General Tartaglia had brought several people with him including Beidou and Ningguang, to meet an old friend of his who had help him a lot with the bodies of his fallen comrades in war.

Donned in a white hanfu with streaks of gold and a black silk coat with a few golden flowers embroidered hanging from his shoulders, a man with dark brown hair enters the room where his old pal was waiting. "Ah, Childe... it's good to see you again."

"Likewise Zhongli."

The two conversed with different topics that enlightened them, most of which were concerned with the enemy kingdom while the others had gone to get supplies to keep the military's inventory of food and other items enough for a few months before they come back and restock again.

It wasn't only until the afternoon, you heard a parade of footsteps from your room. Assuming it was the four, you swung your door open, only to be greeted by a surprised Beidou who had her hand midway in the air to knock on your door supposedly. "Greetings, Princess." She bows, before taking your hand to press a kiss on top of it. "I do express my sincerest apologies for the way I acted before!"

"O-Oh," You retracted your hand from her and said, "That's alright. You were just doing your job." She gives you a look, almost as if she was going to cry from you accepting her apology. Before she could tackle you in a hug, Ningguang appears and pulls her back. "Behave yourself, Beidou."

Beidou clears her throat, her gaze averted away from Ningguang's to avoid letting her see the tint of pink decorating her cheeks from embarrassment. "My deepest apologies for her behavior..." She places a hand on Beidou's shoulder before continuing, "She tends to be quite... nevermind. How have you been? Have you been eating well with Xiangling's cooking? Beidou recently returned from her trip to Qingce Village and has gathered a huge amount of lotus heads, matsutake mushrooms, and Jueyun chili along with some sunsettias and valberries. Surely, Xiangling could whip something good for you to eat."

"Ah, She's—" Your reply was cut short when you heard the rapid sound of footsteps coming in your direction. A small girl with light purple-haired suddenly appears from a corner and tries to grab your hand but only manages to grab a few fingers. "Qiqi wants you to see something!"

You give Ningguang and Beidou an apologetic smile, telling them you need to go with Qiqi. They didn't mind and said they'll come along to see what it is as well. Qiqi leads you to the garden and pointed at the few pots on the ground. "Qiqi got those blue flowers... what do you call them again?"

Qiqi searches her pockets for something and then pulls out a semi-crumpled paper before reading it aloud. "Glaze lilies." She sets the paper back into her pocket and said, "Qiqi heard that Princess (First Name) doesn't have this in her kingdom..."

Your lips curl into a huge smile. "Such a precious girl." You thought as you crouch down to her height. You brush aside her bangs and plant a small kiss on her forehead. When you pull away, Qiqi's hands travel to the warm spot on her forehead, and her face flushes in a color of bright red. Her hands stayed in that position for a while until the warmth dissipated.