Taking over the Abyss

11- Honey, you've got a big storm coming

For you, the tension at the lunch table was thicker than any knife could possibly cut. For Childe, this was probably a regular Tuesday. Acting like he wasn't about to questioned about highly confidential Fatui plans, Tartaglia gladly took a seat next to Zhongli. Unnerved by the lifeless look to his eyes, you fidgeted in your seat.

"Would you care to explain, Childe?" Zhongli asked, doing his best to be a neutral party to determine what the hell was going on. You suppressed the urge to shiver as Childe's eyes passed over you.

"I honestly have no idea," Childe stared at Aether, who glared fiercely, "Comrade, you should know by now that my fellow Harbingers and I aren't exactly in close contact. If it was something done by another one of the Harbingers, then I honestly wouldn't have known about it unless they told me."

That explanation didn't help Aether in the slightest, as the blond gripped his cup tighter than before, "And how do I know you're not lying again? That you're not going to have one of your agents try to kidnap her?"

Childe sighed semi-dramatically, and shifted his gaze over towards you, probably trying to gauge if you were a suitable sparring pal. "My only interest is battle. I told you before; out of the Eleven, I'm the one who handles things directly. Whatever happened with your friend here, I'm not the one behind it. Not all Fatui activity comes from me."

"Then who was it?" You asked. Probably a terrible idea, but in public, Childe wouldn't kill you. He was already under scrutiny. If he attacked you like this, even with you being the way you were, since you assumed Aether was one of the 'heroes of Liyue' by this point, he'd get into even more trouble.

"Oh?" Childe's eyes glimmered slightly, "How brave of you, asking me something like that. Do you really think I'd give any information about the other Harbingers?"

"Doesn't seem like you get along with any of them," you commented, accepting that you were playing a highly dangerous game.

"My dislike of my fellow colleagues is outweighed by my loyalty to the Tsaritsa," Childe stated, propping his head up on one of his hands. "But, given that they've yet to stick their necks out for me, I see no reason to do the same for them."

Was this his way of saying he wouldn't interfere with any investigation? You took a quick sip of water, not missing the way both Childe and Zhongli watched you struggle with the almost comically oversized glass in your hands. Remembering Albedo's note, and seeing that Aether was too caught up in picturing daggers sticking out of Tartaglia, you decided to bring it up yourself, "Didn't our friend say that the Fatui activity withdrew in Mondstadt?"

Aether paused, before nodding. Please, say something about the Goth Grand Hotel being rented out by the Fatui, you didn't want to look like you knew things you absolutely shouldn't have known...

"So it would've had to be a Harbinger who operated mostly in Mondstadt then," Aether reasoned. Although less accusatory than before, he still glared at Childe, "You're still not off the hook."

"Harbingers in Mondstadt," Paimon thought for a moment, before gasping, "Oh, right! That's where Signora was before! And the short one! Um... what was his name...? Scary shoes...?"

Childe laughed at Paimon's butchering of Scaramouche's name and her description of him. Dottore was still the highest on your list of suspects, but you couldn't ask about him with these three (and Zhongli, who was just kind of vibing) around unless you wanted to raise their suspicions of how you knew that name. Debating whether it was worth risking getting nabbed by Childe, just to try an get him to at least de-confirm your three suspects, you sighed and took another sip of water.

At the very least, he was probably going to stick around for a while longer, so it could wait for a while. You'd like to at least get stronger before taking on a dangerous mission like bugging Childe for answers.