stranger [C. TARTAGLIA]

12

you were currently on the boat with teucer, looking after the child as he pranced around the deck.

"hey, don't go anywhere too far okay?" you said, leaning over against a post to rest.

"i won't!" he giggled. he watched the ocean water while on his tippy toes to get a better sight of the view.

"just a word of advice, don't go talking to strangers alright?" you said, walking over to him.

"i don't do that so don't worry."

"you talked to me though, aren't i basically a stranger?" you raised your brows at him.

"you're not! in fact, i think i actually know you."

you blinked in confusion, "i think you have the wrong person teucer."

"no, i'm right i'm sure of it!" he then points at you. "you have [E/C] eyes, [H/L] [H/C] hair, and your name is [Y/N], just like in the letter!"

"the letter? what do you mean by–"

"alright everyone off the ship, we've arrived at the harbour!" a sailor shouts, waving his hand up to alert all the passengers.

"we're here!" teucer took your hand and pulled you to exit the ship. "come on [Y/N] let's go!"

"hey! slow down!" you said but the smaller boy still kept on running, dragging you with him.

when you reached the dock, you had to catch your breath from all his running. "where should we go?" he asked.

"just... slow down a bit would you?" you panted.

"come on come on! we gotta find my brother!"

"well, how are we supposed to find him? liyue is pretty big y'know." you brought your hands on your hips. "do you have any idea where he might be?"

"um..." he placed his hands on his back, swaying a bit. "no..."

you sighed in defeat, "right... well, shall we eat something first? you might be hungry after the trip."

"yes please!"

and so off you two went to wanmin restaurant. you ran into xiangling there who was cooking inside. you knew who the young chef was since you used to always eat here back when you worked at ying'er's shop.

"[Y/N]! it's been a while! what can i get for you?" she asked. "oh, i see you've brought a guest."

"hey xiangling, nice to see you again." you smiled as you took a seat next to teucer. "this is teucer." you introduced him.

he waved at the blue haired girl and continued to order the food. you had your usual [F/F], while teucer had to make a custom order for himself.

"so, what's your brother like teucer? if you gave me some clues maybe we'd find him quicker." you asked as you ate.

"hmm... well like i said, he's the greatest toy salesman in snezhnaya! everytime he goes back home he always takes home huge toys for me and my siblings!"

"so there's more of you huh..." you could only imagine the ruckus being made where he lives. "anything else?"

"um... he looks like me?"

you stared at teucers features. "so blue eyes and orange hair?"

"yup!" he nods.

"does he have a name?"

"his name's ajax!"

"unfortunately i don't know anyone with that name." you frowned. "but don't worry, i'm sure we'll find him soon."

teucer agreed with you and went back to finish his dish. after you were both done, you paid xiangling for her delicious cuisine and went out the restaurant.

"mind if i went somewhere real quick? there's someone i'd like to meet." you asked him.

"sure!"

you went to hold teucer's hand so he wouldn't get lost or run off to somewhere again. you planned on going to the bank to get some of your stuff back from your room, while also planning on greeting childe if he was ever there.

you weren't going to lie, you somehow looked forward on meeting him again. you also wanted to know what happened to liyue after the loss of morax's gnosis since you were still unaware of what happened.

you went up the red staircase and opened the door to the bank. there stood childe and ekaterina talking about something.

"that seems a little bit inappropriate don't you think sir? how can you–"

"relax, once in a while can't hurt. it'll be fine!"

you were about to call out to the harbinger, but teucer had beaten you to it. "yay my brother! i found you!"

the small boy ran over to childe, hugging his knees in the process. you on the other hand, was too shocked to process all this.

"i know that voice! why if isn't my little brother teucer, my goodness!" he leans down to reach his height and ruffled his hair.

"wait– what?" you gaped. "how come– huh?" when you stared at the both of them you can now see the resemblance they both shared. you had nearly forgotten that childe came from snezhnaya too, and their similar features was a really big hint now that you think about it.

"[Y/N]? what are you doing back in liyue?" childe asked when he noticed you.

"i had some business to take care of." you lied.

"brother! [Y/N] helped me find you and escorted me all the way here! she's as pretty as you described her too!" teucer giggled.

your eyes widened in surprise, "...what?"

childe had a light shade of pink dusted on his cheeks, "o-oh, is that so? well then, thank you for helping my little brother [Y/N]."

"wait that reminds me, teucer said he knew me already but i've never met him before. how could that be teucer?" you asked, bringing your fingers on your chin.

"well, big brother always sends us letters whenever he can! in his last one, he introduced us to someone in his work! he even said you were–"

"i think that's enough teucer." childe cuts the boy off, preventing him from saying anything else. you raised your brow at this but childe continued what he was saying. "now that you're here teucer, why don't we do something?"

"yay! i want to play with my big brother and [Y/N]!" he cheers. "i want to see mr. cyclops, now!"

"mr... cyclops?" you tilted your head in confusion.

"it's a long story..." childe lets out a nervous laughter.

"oh oh! and i want to visit your workshop too! can we please?" teucer pouts, begging at his older sibling.

that reminds you, teucer mentioned that his brother was a toy salesman. childe was nowhere near to being a toy salesman, could he have hid the fact that he was a fatui harbinger? if that were the case, you couldn't blame him. everyone knew that the fatui didn't have the best reputation, it would definitely affect the way his siblings saw him.

"alright, but you gotta promise me to go back home after this okay? mother and father are probably worried about you just going away like that." he scolds.

"i will..." teucer drops his head. "i promise..."

"good. well then, shall we take [Y/N] with us?" he looks at your direction.

teucer's mood suddenly brightens, "will you? will you?!"

"uh, where are we going exactly?"

"to the institute of toy research of course." he chuckled. you had never heard of such place, but still went along with whatever childe had in mind.

°

a/n: i've been playing Tears of themis for the past few days god hwlp me i should've never touched this game im addicted now