Taking over the Abyss

35- Wind Waker

You'd say you were surprised by the sight before you, but that'd be a lie. Somehow, you weren't surprised that Childe had gone along with Zhongli to say goodbye to you. You were even less surprised to discover that Zhongli never invited him along in the first place. You didn't mind, since he'd kept his promise on not ratting you out so far. Still, you weren't exactly enthused to know that he'd know you were going over to Inazuma.

"Although it'd be a lie to say that I won't miss you, I have no doubt that you will succeed with whatever it is you want to do in Inazuma," Zhongli said, a brilliant smile on his face. Why was he so radiant all the time? It felt like your heart was melting.

You felt flustered, unable to meet his eyes, "I'll miss you too, Zhongli. Thank you for everything."

Zhongli nodded happily, while Childe pouted, "What about me?"

"What about you?" You huffed, glaring half-heartedly at him. "Quit your job, then I'll miss you."

"No can do, girlie," Childe laughed good-naturedly and shook his head, "I'm getting stationed somewhere else soon, so this might be the last time we meet up in Liyue for a while. Who knows? Maybe we'll meet up in Inazuma and finally have that duel you promised me."

You suppressed the urge to shudder. You hadn't checked Childe's stats out of fear of whatever the hell he had going on. Still, to not let him know you were dreading having to fight him, you crossed your arms over your chest and breathed an annoyed sigh, "In your dreams."

Childe winked at you, "I'm known for having big dreams. And I don't mind waiting, if it means I get to fight you at your strongest."

Not bothering to argue with that, you just shook your head in mock disappointment, biting your tongue to keep back a comment about him having a big head. Uncaring about the petty squabbling between you and Childe, Kazuha called out to you, "The ship is sailing in a few minutes!"

To not miss your easy way into Inazuma, you quickly zoomed forwards to give Zhongli a hug, squeezing him tightly. Zhongli chuckled and gave you a gentle pat on the head. Lowering his voice to not let anybody overheard him, he reminded you quietly, "Remember, if Osial bothers you, you need only say the word."

"I'll kick his ass if he tries anything, don't worry," you reassured him. You let go of Zhongli and moved on to Childe. He seemed surprised to receive a farewell hug, stumbling back a step when you practically tackled him. Still, he caught you and had the audacity to lift you off your feet in the process.

Before putting you down, Childe also gave you a word of advice, "Careful now, comrade. Signora's in Inazuma right now, and we don't want you getting burnt to a crisp before that match of ours, do we?"

Shocked that he was willing to possibly sell out his comrades, you blanked out before nodding mutely. Childe put you back on the ground, already back to being all smiles. Then again, Signora played Childe like a fiddle, so this was probably some form of payback. Oh well. You were fine with it. Anything helped.

Childe spotted the little glass bottle containing Osial in it. He crouched down to check it out, an innocent wide-eyed look on his face that didn't fit the battle-hungry warrior he was, "Aww, what's this? Did you get a little pet to bring with you?"

You showed him Osial's bottle, careful to keep a tight grip to prevent it from getting snatched or dropped. Childe stared as the fun-sized form of the god did a little spin. "This is Osial."

"You named him after THE Osial?" Childe asked, looking at you with an incredulous expression, "I don't think this little guy quite lives up to the title."

Osial bonked his face against the glass bottle in anger, as you sighed. You put him back in there to stop him from causing any problems. Also because Shenhe had immediately tried to impale him, and you didn't want any of Cloud Retainer's furniture to end up broken just before you left the country. Osial's head thumped against the top of the bottle. You popped open the hinge but didn't let him out.