No Time Left | Childe x Zhongli

. . .

That day, I treated him to dinner.

He was a great cook, something I certainly wasn't. His Pork Dry Hotpot was great, one of the best dishes I'd ever tasted.

After a while, a friend of his showed up. He was a little unfriendly, but I didn't mind, though I did suspect there and then that something was up. I was fairly familiar with the Fatui's way of doing things, and doubted two Snezhnayans had come to be in my house by accident.

Still, I was distracted. He wasn't good at handling chopsticks. I didn't know why, but I thought that was cute. I guided him on how to use them, and he didn't seem to be bothered, which made me feel relieved. His friend certainly didn't look happy, but I wasn't really paying attention to him.

The ginger still had a little problem with chopsticks even after they all finished dinner, but I didn't mind. His little chuckle, his little flush every time he messed up, brought a smile to my face ... and not to mention ... my heartbeat seemed to increase when I was around him.

Thousands of years of being the Geo Lord, not once I had this feeling tightening within my chest when I was around someone. Although I felt nearly the same around Venti, which gave me the strong urge to crush him dead with a meteorite.

Sometimes, I even dreamt of him in my dreams ... I felt so close to him ... but whenever I was brought back to reality, the feeling of happiness vanished almost instantly ...

I opened his eyes, looking at the clouds beyond my sight ... fading away as my body fell onto the ground ...

Two arms caught me.

"Xiansheng," a voice called, the voice echoed around my ears, as though he was so ... so far away ...

"Xiansheng?"

I wanted to call back. I wanted to touch him. I wanted to go back to the beginning. I wanted to live with him forever.

"Don't go ... please ..."

"I don't have a choice, Xiansheng. I'm not alive anymore. I have to go."

"N-No ..." I choked, as I felt his presence slowly moving away. With all my might, I flickered my eyes open. I was laying on the ground, helpless and powerless. "NO! DON'T GO!"

"Farewell, Mr. Zhongli ..."