stranger [C. TARTAGLIA]

24

"tartgalia, this mission... it's  not one that should be taken lightly." the woman took a deep breath, her eyes boring into the man's head as he knelt down before her. "are you sure you're up for it?"

"i'll do anything in my power to fulfill your wishes your majesty." he says.

"alright then. this is your top priority as the 11th fatui harbinger," she pauses, taking a deep breath before continuing. "you are to eliminate [Y/N] if she were to lose control of her powers. if you are to fail, you know the consequences."

"childe?" you called out to him, seeing that he had been silent ever since you asked him the question he feared the most.

he didn't want you to know, not because you could run away from him and sabotage his mission but because you might be afraid of him of the thought that he might kill you anytime. he didn't want you to go anywhere, he wanted you by his side.

he wanted to protect you from yourself.

"how... how did you know?" he asked, lips turned into a frown as you stared at each other.

"before i killed dottore, he told me about my hidden ability." you looked down, unable to look at him directly any longer. "i had a hold of this immense amount of power all along, it was normal to have a means of destroying it right?"

childe's heart tightens at the fact that you knew the truth already yet you were still here right in front of him.

you notice that he'd gone quiet again, so you took his hand and held it. "if you're worried that i would run away or anything like that, i won't. don't worry."

his eyes widened, "but–"

"escort me to the palace by tomorrow." you stand up from the sofa, giving him a small smile. "i went out of control earlier didn't i? it's only right to fulfill your mission tartaglia."

your words made his chest ache, like a bunch of sharp edged knives had repeatedly stabbed him. he wouldn't even dare think of what you wanted him to do. "what are you saying?"

you turn away from him, "it's... an order from the tsaritsa. i'll help you achieve it by tomorrow morning, for now we should–"

suddenly, you felt the warmth of his arms wrap around you from behind. your breath hitched, not expecting the sudden action he did.

"don't you ever say that." he murmured, his head resting on your shoulders. "don't.."

your hand touched the arms that he had wrapped around you, his grip tightens at this. "childe..."

"what you said earlier, that all i ever did was part of her orders." his voice grew softer, his whispers would've been inaudible if his face wasn't inches away from your ear. "that's not true."

you gulped, feeling his hot breath hitting the skin on your shoulder. your breathing got uneven, unsure of what to do at that moment.

"she did tell me to ask you out for the ball, but even if she didn't tell me i would've done it either way." he continued. "she did tell me to train you, but would i really need to if you were already nearly as storng as me? sparring with you... it was fun. i would've loved to do if you asked."

you didn't get why he was saying all this, but it made you feel strange. it was the good kind of strange, but you didn't know why.

"getting tired from work was one thing, but the thought of coming home to you soon after... it was one of the reasons why i found those short moments in liyue fun." he chuckled slightly.

childe lifted his head up, grabbing your shoulders and slowly spinning you around to face him. "what i'm saying is that... most of that was part of my will too."