More Than Meets The Eye

Chapter 15

The panic settled in immediately as Childe's body turned to fight or flight. What happened? Was Zhongli in danger? Had he had another accident? Why wasn't Childe immediately notified of this? Was he in pain? Was something wrong? One question rang louder than all others. Was Zhongli okay?

The expression on his face must've been painfully obvious, because Signora rolled her eyes. "Stop staring like that. Your idiot of a boyfriend is fine. I think. Just- here. Read this."

Signora shoved the paper into his hands with enough force to stumble back a little, and it took Childe several seconds to snap out of that panic-driven state and actually be able to read the massive heading that said: "Rex Lapis Sells Lapis Inc., Refuses To Give Details" followed by a very long article about how the oh-so-mighty Rex Lapis had decided enough was enough before eventually selling his massive company for an unknown sum of money. 

Childe didn't bother to read the whole thing - he just skimmed over the article, picking up important bits and pieces as he went, and by the time he reached the end of the page, he'd confirmed several things. One, the author of the article had no idea what they were talking about. Two, they didn't even have the facts set straight (they'd mentioned that Rex Lapis was the sole owner of Lapis Inc., though anyone with common sense knew better). And three, they were absolutely wrong. Zhongli loved that company more than Childe would ever admit. There was absolutely no way that Zhongli would sell something that he spent so much time on, that he dedicated so much of his life on. There simply was no logical explanation as to why he would just... sell Lapis Inc. out of nowhere.

He turned to Signora, a lot calmer now that he was certain that nothing bad actually happened and that the news reporters in Liyue just happened to really suck at their job. "There's no way this is real. The man almost died because of his company, he wouldn't just sell it on a whim."

Signora raised an eyebrow in response, her arms crossed as what looked like a smug smile dawned over her face. Why would Signora be smug? "Are you sure about that? Y'know, darlin', that fall he took could've made a few screws get loose. Maybe he just doesn't know what he's doing anymore."

Okay, Signora was getting more and more punchable by the second, and it was taking everything in Childe's power to summon the self restraint needed to not tackle her to the ground and knock out a few teeth. Instead, he grit his teeth and gave her a tense smile. "I think I know my boyfriend better than you do. I also know that if you insult him like that again, I'll break your nose, m'kay?"

Signora, in all of her ethereal glory and amazing customer service skills, gave him a laugh that almost sounded genuine. "I'm just teasing you. If you say he wouldn't do that, then he surely wouldn't. You might want to give him a call just in case, though."

Of course! How could he forget that he could literally just call Zhongli and clear things up? Childe almost slapped himself for his stupidity. He had the easiest access to the man, the myth, the legend, the almighty Rex Lapis, and he'd somehow just... forgotten about that? Without another word, he dashed outside and whipped out his phone, his fingers immediately dialing Zhongli's number purely off of muscle memory. The line didn't even finish its first ring before Zhongli connected - that's how it always was. Any time Childe called, Zhongli would immediately pick up.

"Ajax?" Zhongli's voice was rough and scratchy over the line, and it only now occurred to Childe that most people didn't wake up as early as he did. He glanced at the time. Not even seven in the morning. "I didn't know that you woke up so early. Good morning, my love. How are you?"

Childe did his very best to not get distracted by Zhongli's voice - he found that he particularly liked listening to Zhongli talk when the man just woke up - and instead focused on getting straight to the point. "Yeah, I have work today. Gotta check in early. Good morning to you too. Sorry if I woke you up, I love you, and I'm doing good. Hey, there's this one newspaper that said you sold Lapis Inc. and I just wanted to ask if the reporter is really fucking dumb or if that's true."