Back to the surface

Missed

When Zhongli's foot was better and they had also all found time, they set off for the variete. If he hadn't had his friends with him, he probably would have been too excited. This way, he was just looking forward to a nice evening. It was just a pity that Xiao hadn't wanted to come along. But if he did not want to, then one could not force him, he had already experienced that more than once. Together with Aether and Hu Tao he was not afraid to go to the underground. Hu Tao was fearless anyway. Zhongli trusted her to get through here unharmed in the little black dress she wore. She would just curse anyone who tried to touch her. She also had the best sense of direction, and so they arrived directly at the Snezhnaya Variete.

"The lady is paying. How much for the fun?" she said confidently at the box office.

"For all three?" the cashier asked, confused.

"Of course. I don't run a funeral home for nothing! And if you keep looking at me like that, I just might expand my clientele..."

"$120...uhm enjoy the show," the salesman replied intimidated. Hu Tao nodded and put down the money. Then she continued walking.

"Hahahaha, pranked, man, did you see the look on his face!" she said laughing. Zhongli just shook his head laughing slightly.

"You're incredible," he said, looking around the bar. But he could not spot Childe anywhere.

"Where should we sit?" asked Aether, and together they picked a spot.

"Have you seen him yet?", Hu Tao wanted to know curiously after a moment.

"Not yet, I'm afraid," Zhongli muttered, somewhat dejectedly.

"Maybe he's in the kitchen?" speculated Aether.

"Maybe we should go to the bar, too," Hu Tao suggested, simply dragging the overwhelmed Zhongli behind her. Once there, she sat down on a bar stool. Behind it was a more or less pissed off bartender wearing a huge hat.

"Hey, you wear a hat too, I like you," she addressed him simply and winked, "can you maybe tell me quickly if Childe is here? Otherwise, three beers!"

Zhongli tried to stop her, but too late. Somehow he was so damn uncomfortable. The bartender apparently was too, looking plenty confused and overwhelmed.

"Childe? I haven't seen him today. I don't think he's working," he muttered grumpily, slamming the three beers down on the counter.

"Ah? You really don't? What a shame... because there's someone here who would love to see him," she said, fending off Zhongli, who gestured for her not to say that and pulled her away. The bartender raised an eyebrow.

"I really have no idea. I can leave a message otherwise?" he muttered.

"No, no need, thank you!" said Zhongli, smiling slightly, then he took the beers and Hu Tao and moved back to their seats.

"Man, you're a coward," she muttered, shaking her head.

"No, that was pretty embarrassing. Now... let's just watch the show," Zhongli muttered dejectedly. Aether sighed and touched him lightly on the arm.

"You should have asked for his number instead maybe..." he muttered.

"Yeah, I'm saying, but the stone here next to me doesn't dare do anything," Hu Tao said, shaking his head.

"I... just wanted to thank him again anyway. It's a shame it didn't work out, but that's just the way it is," Zhongli downplayed it. But it made him sadder than he had thought. And although the show was beautiful, he couldn't really enjoy it.

#

Childe had taken the day off from work today. For a long time he had been waiting for Zhongli to stop by the variete and give him back his wallet. But he hadn't shown up. And so he thought he would probably never be a guest at Snezhnaya Variete either, for whatever reason. Still, he felt bad about still having his wallet with him. He decided to give it back to him. To do that, he had to leave the underground. This proved to be somewhat difficult.

As a member of the Fatui, he was a wanted criminal up there. If someone recognized him, he could end up in jail for a long time. What he had done in his past, he was not proud of, on the contrary. But he couldn't undo it, and down there he could at least live a normal life, even if he just couldn't get out of the milieu. Pulcinella had forbidden him to leave the underground. But he wanted to give the wallet back to Zhongli and see him again. So he didn't care what anyone said to him.

Above all, it was only once. Who would stop him? And so he just kept walking. It was only a few steps and he was already back - in the normal world. He would have loved to pull off the hood and just be free. But that was not possible. And so he shuffled to the bus stop, where he sat down like one of those drunk kids and then eventually got on the right bus. When he got off, he found himself in a neighborhood full of interesting buildings.

"Oh... Chinatown..." he said, smiling. Then he walked on, looking for Zhongli's address. He, being too impatient to read the signs, just pressed all the bells and someone opened the door. But when he got upstairs, Zhongli's door was closed. He rang the apartment doorbell again, but no one opened. Unfortunately, not even the second time. Childe considered just throwing the wallet in the mailbox, but then he might never see him again. And so he just decided to wait for him for a while. Eventually, he would surely come back. Childe sat down on the stairs. Only the while turned into hours and eventually he nodded off on the spot.

#

After Zhongli brought Hu Tao and Aether home, he came home sometime late at night. He tried to be quiet in the house and sneaked through the stairwell so as not to disturb any of the neighbors. Surprised, he then noticed that someone with a hood on his face was sitting on the stairs outside his apartment door, apparently asleep. Zhongli wondered since when homeless people had access to the house and felt minimally disgusted. Carefully, he tried to sneak past and it was harder than he thought, almost stepping on him. He noticed he was holding an old wallet and had to grin slightly.

"Looks like my old one. How fortunate that I finally got myself a new one," he thought as he unlocked the apartment door. Then he stepped into the apartment and closed the door behind him.

#

The soft sound behind him made Childe startle. He must have fallen asleep. How long had he been asleep? Glancing at his phone, he realized it was already the middle of the night. He glanced at the door, wondering if it had been Zhongli's apartment door he had heard. But if so... he couldn't just ring his doorbell in the middle of the night? Maybe he wasn't even alone, who knew? He sighed - now he had missed the opportunity. And he didn't even have anything with him that he could have left him a note....

For a moment he hesitated as he walked sadly down the stairs. Then he turned around.

"Fuck it," he said to himself, and rang Zhongli's doorbell.