childe followed behind the traveler and zhongli. currently he had three objectives: make up with the traveler, figure out how zhongli knew about him, and most importantly find a place to live.
zhongli and aether were conversing in small talk and childe couldn't help but listen in.
"liyue is so different from mondstadt." aether said.
"yes, I suppose it is. the anemo archon and myself believe in very different things." zhongli added.
"do you like your life better now that you're free?" aether asked.
"it's strange. i feel more free, but i also feel as if I have no purpose. for so long I did nothing but watch over liyue, Im not really sure what to do."
childe stopped listening. it felt wrong. zhongli was explaining his feelings to aether, not him.
childe looked at the passing shops and people to try and distract himself. what did zhongli mean when he said he looked over liyue? was he apart of the qixing? that would make sense on how he knew about childe... but why had he never heard of him before? why were they talking about the anemo archon?
"childe? childeeeeeee? are you listening to paimon!"
"sorry paimon, i guess i got lost in thought" childe fake smiled.
"we're here childe. if you pull any stunts I won't hesitate to kill you." aether threatened.
"yes, yes I know. you made that clear at the golden house. I swear i'm good now, i will not do anything." childe truthfully said.
"okay, I believe you childe. come in."
childe looked at the place they were standing in front of. it was a large building with red pillars in the front. the roof was a dark green, and elements of gold were displayed throughout the exterior. a small mountain formed at the back, a created a nice shade for the building. for a funeral parlour, childe thought that it looked quite nice.
zhongli opened the door and aether and childe walked inside. the inside was just as beautiful as the outside. the walls were a dark brown and had golden lights hanging from the ceiling. there were green couches and bookshelves stocked with books in on corner. the entrance had a red rug, that led to the front desk. the desk had two large intricately designed flower vases with black roses sticking out. a girl was sitting at the desk, and she seemed to be drawing something.
"excuse me." zhongli said
"oh! mr. zhongli! i didn't expect you back so soon! can I help you?" a girl said.
"sorry, I should've alerted you that I would be returning hu tao, apologises. we need no assistance, we will be talking in the back room." zhongli politely said.
"okay! have fun!" she said. the girl sat back down and continued to doodle on whatever she was drawing.
zhongli took off his coat and swiftly led the two down the hall.
the entered the room and it was decorated almost exactly like the entrance. childe took a seat on the couch, and aether and zhongli sat on the couch opposite of him. childe began to sweat, this was feeling like an interrogation.
"what do you need help with childe?" aether asked. childe was beyond embarrassed. admitting to aether that he was homeless was bad enough, but now he had to confess in front of his friend.
"would you like me to leave?" zhongli asked.
childes head shot up. he couldn't believe zhongli had noticed that he was nervous to speak in front of him.
"i left the fatui." he blurted out
the traveler and zhonglis mouths opened.
"you did?" aether gasped.
"yes..."
"why?" zhongli asked. his voice was low and he leaned forward, his face parallel with childes.
"i- it needed to happen a while ago." he said.
"wow." aether said leaning back. his mind seemed to be troubled.
"let paimon guess. you didn't think it through and now you have no place to live." paimon sighed.
"right as always paimon." childe chuckled.
"i'd let you stay with me, but kazuha, xingqiu, bennett and xiao are staying in my teapot." aether sighed.
"he can stay with me." zhongli announced.
"what?" aether, paimon and childe all said.
"he needs a home, and I have an extra room." zhongli said to the traveler completely ignoring the floating thing next to him.
