"Well, we're at that gate. It's darker then I thought it'd be, you can go on by yourself right?" Childe asked while standing in front of the gate with Kaeya, "Yeah." He nodded then waved to Childe before slightly opening that gate. "Tell Albedo I'll be back tomorrow," Kaeya quickly smiled then left.
Childe groaned, he then went back home.
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"I'm back, Kaeya's house is pretty far so It took long." Childe put his coat on the coat rack as he closed the door. "Childe!" Klee bounced up and hugged Childe. "Hey Klee," he smiled at her, "You should go to bed, you shouldn't be up this late. Where's Albedo?" Childe asked, "He said that he was going to go out to look for you and Kaeya because you were taking long,", "He got worried." Klee said.
Childes eyes widened. "Shit.." Childes attention turned to the door when he heard it slam shut. Childe stared at Albedo, he looked anxious. "Oh, there you are. I thought you got lost." Albedo seemed normal. "Oh, did you go out looking for me and Kaeya?" Childe asked, "Yeah, but I didn't find you guys so I came back." Thank god. Kaeya's secret was safe!
Childe let out a small sigh of relief, "It's getting late, we should all go to bed. Right?" Childe looked at Klee, Klee nodded happily. "Mhm, I have to work tomorrow." Albedo said as he yawned, "Didn't you work a few days ago?" Childe asked, "Yeah, but they wanted me to come back into tomorrow." Albedo shrugged as he went over to his bed.
"Please don't read all night like last time, your little mutters make it so hard to sleep!" Childe made a tired, slightly annoyed, face at Albedo. "I heard you sleeping when I was doing my 'mutters', you dozed off in seconds. Maybe you like a little bedtime story." Albedo joked, he had a small smile on his face. Which was more common then ever now, ever since Kaeya showed up.
Childe thought about for a minute then let out a small soft chuckle.
They soon all went to bed.
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next day idk
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"Kaeya," Kaeya's father woke him up, "What..?" His sleepy voice responded. "The driver..Zhongli, he wants to speak with you." His father was as confused as Kaeya was. "Okay, whatever, I'll come down in a minute or two." He yawned.
"Thank you," his father then left the room. Albedo sat up and took a minute to process what he was doing, he then got dressed and did his hair. He felt like he was going to die of exhaustion.
He went downstairs and was greeted by Zhongli and his parents, Kaeya shook Zhongli's hand, "What do you need?" Kaeya's head titled a bit, "I need to talk to you..in private." Zhongli's voice always surprised Kaeya because of how gentle the man looked and how deep his voice was.
"A-alright then, would you like to take a step outside?" Kaeya opened the door, Zhongli nodded. This made Kaeya notice that Zhongli never met eye to eye with Kaeya during that small chat.
They both went outside and Kaeya closed the door behind them. "What is it that you would like to talk about?" He asked, "It's about.." Zhongli took a long pause.
"Hm?" Kaeya was getting a bit impatient. "Childe." Zhongli stared right at Kaeya with a slightly worried look. Kaeya's heart sank, has Zhongli followed him to Toska Town? "I-I don't know who you're talking about!" Kaeya tried to cover up the fact that he knew, he couldn't stare right at Zhongli.
"I know you know who he is, I saw him at the gate with you..in Toska Town." Zhongli fidgeted with his fingers, "I won't tell anyone." Zhongli said. Kaeya sighed, "Really?", "Yes, really." Zhongli gulped.
"Alright, then I do know about Childe, why do you care?" Kaeya tried not to sound mean, "He was my lover," Zhongli replied. Kaeya let out a small gasp, "Was?" Kaeya was as curious as always.
"The guards..they told me he died while on a mission." Zhongli felt like crying, but he knew it wasn't appropriate to do it in front of the king. "What? How did the guards know him?" Kaeya asked,
"He was a guard." Zhongli replied, "I good one too, I don't know what happened to him, he just..they told me he died and never said how or..or anything." Zhongli felt a tear roll down his face but he quickly wiped it off.
"I'm sorry, it's unusual for me to cry in a situation like this. He just met so much to me," Zhongli took a long breath to calm down. "It's alright, we all cry don't we? It's completely normal, especially in this situation." Kaeya smiled kindly.
"Can I——come with you to Toska Town..? If you're going today of course." Zhongli asked, hoping Kaeya would say yes. "Of course, I'm sure Childe will be beyond happy to see you!" Kaeya nodded with a smile.
"How's 7:30?" Kaeya asked with a tilt of his head, "Sounds great." Zhongli replied. "Mhm." Kaeya kept his smile.
"And.." Zhongli began,
"Thank you."
"So much."
———
Kaeya came back in and it sounded like his parents were kitchen. Kaeya walked to the kitchen and they stared at him, "Kaeya, about marriage.." his mother began, "Oh my god mom, I said I didn't like talking about this stuff. I honestly think I'm to young too marry someone, I have my whole life to find someone!" Kaeya groaned as he opened the fridge to find something to eat.
"Yes but..what about an arranged marriage? So that you won't have to really decide among all of the citizens!..well, royal citizens." His mother added.
"Mom, I don't want to talk about this." Kaeya took out a cereal box, "Your mother is just trying to help, I agree with her that you should find someone while you're still young!" His father said.
Kaeya poured his cereal in a bowl and got some milk. "Me and your mother were in an arranged marriage and we love each other! We think it'll be good for you..you just need to accept the offer." His father added.
Kaeya poured the milk then put it away quickly, "Well, I'm joy accepting, sorry!" Kaeya rolled his eyes before taking his cereal and himself elsewhere.
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