Winner Takes All

chapter 12

"Childe, is this absolutely necessary?"

Childe pouted. "You made me think you were going to kill me. You expect me to forgive that immediately?"

"I already explained, that if you had apologized immediately, the terms of the contract would have been fulfilled-"

"Which you didn't tell me. Now chop up that eel!"

On Zhongli's kitchen counter was a very alive, very slimy bucket of eels. Zhongli held a knife in his dominant hand, shaking.

"The recipe says they're better if you kill them yourself," Childe hummed.

"It also doesn't recommend you do it yourself," Zhongli shot back. "Perhaps we should return these creatures back to the fishmonger-"

"No way! You promised you'd make me some Unagi! You made a contract! Contracts must be followed!!"

Zhongli approached the eels apprehensively. Their wriggling bodies filled the bucket.

Childe walked up to the bucket and looked in. "They sure are lively."

Zhongli tried to stab the knife into the water, causing the eels to scatter.

Childe stepped back. "Ah, don't do that! They'll-"

The wriggling in the bucket caused it to tip over, spilling water and eels all over Zhongli.

"Oh no...they're all over the place..." Childe sighed.

Zhongli froze. The writing, wriggling, slimy bodies of the eels touched his skin. He went a deathly pale, unable to move.

"I'll clean them up, okay?" Childe said, laughing awkwardly. "They really aren't that bad, just a little slimy! Is your phobia of seafood really that bad?" He picked up an eel, only to have it slip from his grasp, and fall straight on Zhongli's face.

Zhongli's eyes rolled to the back of his head, and he went limp.

Childe scratched his head. It was really that bad. Now he had three things to take care of; the eels, the spilled water, and Zhongli.

He transferred all the wriggling sea creatures back to the bucket and filled it with water, brought Zhongli over to his couch, and began cleaning up the spill.

After a job well done, Childe went to check on Zhongli, but got distracted by a certain Geo construct.

When he went to fight Zhongli, he was holding it in his arms. It had a strange shape, like a dumbbell. He picked it up, surprised by the lack of weight. Was it hollow on the inside? He tapped on the sides, and shook it around a little.

Suddenly, it made a clicking noise. A panel in the middle opened up, revealing-

"Don't touch-!"

Childe dropped the dumbbell, shocked at Zhongli's sudden outburst. It clattered to the floor. Turning to Zhongli, he saw his expression shift from fear to confusion.

"How did you...?" Zhongli moved to pick up the object.

"I swear I don't know! I just held it and it opened up!" Childe said. He also moved to pick it up. Their hands met, both lifting up the Geo dumbbell to see what was inside.

A small pouch lay within, along with a folded letter, and a vial of liquid.

"I've had this...for centuries. I could never open it myself..." Zhongli mumbled.

"Maybe...you couldn't open it yourself. Maybe you needed someone else to open it with you," Childe suggested.

The two sat down on the couch. Zhongli took the letter, and opened it slowly.