For Archon's Sake

Little Birdie

Childe pursed his lips as each arrow sank into the tree bark. Thwack! Thud! Thwack! He'd been at this for almost an hour and a half, and he was fairly certain he could hear Skirk laughing at him from wherever she'd ended up. Perhaps teaching himself archery was a bad idea. He'd seen archers before in his numerous conquests under the banner of the Fatui, and they looked far more graceful. He'd almost envied them; the way their arms moved as one, the way their hands held callouses from years of practice and battle, and how quickly their fingers could make the arrow strike true even under the most brutal conditions. There was one girl he always admired in his flank, her skin a glowing, deep ochre despite the lack of sun in their land. Whether she was from Sumeru or Natlan, he didn't care. She always hit whatever she set her sights on, tawny eyes narrowing before she delivered her target's end. She rose through the ranks so quickly that she ended up being Childe's superior before long, leading the elite detachment he'd been serving in before he was inducted into the Harbingers. When he was young and stupid, he asked to court her after a particularly long patrol through the Zalpolyarny Palace grounds.

She politely told him to leave, as she had no time for a man who wouldn't even introduce himself by his given name. Even more so for a man who was one of her subordinates.

Sighing, he put the bow down and walked to the center of his training space, closing his eyes as he breathed in. Sneaking out of Zhongli's house at the crack of dawn hadn't been easy, mostly due to the squeak he let out when he tried getting out of bed the first time. Muttered curses and lots of angry tugging had gotten him dressed and out of the house without so much as a peep from the consultant's room.

Weapons cannot always save you. Learn to rely on your body just as much as the sword you swing. He slowly moved through his daily stretches, wincing. His Foul Legacy transformation must have taken far more from him than he thought. Just as he finished and was about to move on to kicking the makeshift punching bag he slapped together at dawn, he heard rustling in the trees. Childe groaned inwardly. "For a god who supposedly laid waste to so many during the archon war, you sure are a mother hen." Zhongli stepped out, carrying a brown satchel with him. "You'll find that being the patron god of a nation makes you reconsider a lot of things, including the necessity of appraising the condition of those you are responsible for. May I ask what you're doing all the way out here less than a week and a half after you got your ass handed to you? " Childe blinked. "You seem to swear a lot more when I'm around." Zhongli curled his lip. "Believe me, I find this little habit you gave me despicable. Stop dodging my question."

Childe sighed, picking up his bow and the arrows littering the ground. "I can't sit still for that long. It feels like an itch I can't scratch. Knowing that there's someone out there moving more than me, striking harder than me, running faster than me..." He studied an arrow between his fingers that was on the cusp of being broken. "I can't handle that. It's far more painful than my injuries." Zhongli stared at him for a while, then shook his head as he reached into his satchel and pulled out a parcel wrapped in cloth. Childe raised an eyebrow. "It's breakfast," he groused, extending it towards the Harbinger. "You need to eat. Surely you don't expect heads to roll without proper nutrition." Childe rolled his eyes, but accepted the offering, settling down with his legs crisscrossed in the dirt. He gestured towards the spot in front of him, and Zhongli silently sat down with his own breakfast.

Childe's mouth was watering, and it took everything in him not to just inhale it all. There was a hunk of hard cheese, a thick slice of buttery bread, some kind of dried meat that smelled heavenly with a marinade of herbs and peppers, an apple, and an egg cake wrapped in parchment. He went for the bread first, almost moaning with the first bite as his teeth sank into it. He couldn't stop himself after that, tearing it apart in a matter of seconds before moving to the cheese, breaking a chunk off, and popping it into his mouth. "Thank you for the food. What's the plan for today? Don't you have work?" Zhongli shrugged, discarding his gloves before he helped himself to a strip of meat. "In a way, yes. The city is preparing for the annual Lantern Rite, so there's much to be done. But my assistance is not needed at the moment. Hu Tao has requested that I take a few days off, lest I 'die of exhaustion in her place of business'." Childe chuckled. "Would that not be convenient?" Zhongli's face turned pensive as he drummed his fingers on his knee. "You say you cannot sit still, yes? Since you plan on running all over Liyue despite your condition, may I offer a compromise?" Childe nodded, his mouth still full of cheese as he gestured for Zhongli to continue.