this same song and dance

5

Teucer took cover behind a bench as another series of snowballs filled the area he'd just been running through. The battle had only begun less than a minute ago, and the yard was already peppered with small, perfectly round holes where Zhongli's snowballs had rained from the sky all around them. A formidable opponent indeed.

If Teucer was going to win this, it would have to be through careful strategy rather than brute strength. He would've much preferred to launch a strong offensive and quickly finish Zhongli off before he could get his bearings, but that was out of the question. How was Zhongli so much faster at assembling and launching snowballs than someone who'd been born and raised in Snezhnaya? Than someone who'd been diligently trained all his life by his older siblings in the noble art of snowball warfare?

Some information-gathering was in order.

Teucer dove out from behind the bench and came up running, just as another meteor shower of snowballs overtook his previous location.

He risked a glance at Zhongli as he dashed for the nearest tree, and the other man hadn't even moved from where he'd been when Teucer had challenged him. He was still standing there in his loungewear, calmly surveying the battlefield as if it were a book he'd read before and knew by heart. A golden, glowing aura swept and swirled around him, catching up nearby snow to surround him in a glittering flurry.

Teucer's indignation at the increasingly apparent power gap between them soared to new heights as he watched several Geo spheres appear around Zhongli, wrap themselves in the snow agitated upward by his golden aura, and begin spinning in place to build up momentum.

Maybe challenging Zhongli to a snowball fight hadn't been his most thought-out idea.

Then again, at least the man was taking this seriously, if he was playing by street rules and putting rocks in his snowballs. He wasn't making a halfhearted effort with Ajax's honor on the line.

Teucer could respect that, even if he was still upset about the false pretenses and marriage contract terms from earlier.

The snowballs he'd watched come into being were launched towards him, and Teucer barely made it behind the tree in time. One did end up hitting him in the shoulder and another in the leg, but he was too worked up on adrenaline to pay much attention to it. There might be bruises later, but he could worry about that when later came.

For now, his priority was finding a defensible area to formulate his battle plan. His usual, 'barrage opponent with snowball flurry immediately after issuing the challenge' strategy clearly was of no use here. It was effective against the average Fatui agent and roving adventurer, but it wasn't going to work on Zhongli.

Teucer scanned the yard for potential locations to shore up a fort. Around a year ago, Tonia had taken it upon herself to landscape the entire estate, and this section had been the first to be redone. There were trees and rocks aplenty, as well as features like benches and fountains, but none of those seemed quite right in this situation.

A fresh volley of snowballs shot towards him and forced him back behind his cover, several of them impacting the tree directly opposite where Teucer was crouching and the rest sailing past at ridiculous speeds.

Time to move, before Zhongli splintered the tree apart and upset Tonia.

Teucer broke into a dead run for the next spot he'd selected, hoping Zhongli was busy creating new ammunition and hadn't left any in reserve...

Three snowballs came flying at Teucer in quick succession. Ducking the first one and sidestepping the second forced him to maneuver in such a way that the third was aimed directly at his blind spot.