𝙍𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 [𝘼𝙐 𝙕𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙘𝙝𝙞 +18]

4: His resolution

The sound of the cutlery gently hitting the ceramic, the sounds of the street, and the singing of the canary was the only thing that could be heard at that moment, those being the only sounds that interrupted the endless silence that had been installed for a long time and seemed not to want to leave the room. Zhongli watched out of the corner of his eye as Childe ate the plate of stir-fried meat and vegetables in silence, seeming to pay no attention to anything around him, locked in his thoughts. The redhead was the one who set the table, so Zhongli wasn't surprised to see that he didn't set out chopsticks for dinner, even for him.

They had hardly exchanged a word all day, the longest conversation they had consisted of Childe being incensed by the fact that he hadn't named his bird.

Zhongli wanted to ask him a lot of things, and the weekend was almost over. Tomorrow they would start the investigation, and although he would have much more time to solve his doubts, Childe would probably be more irritated, and he would be busy trying to solve this case. Well, they would both be busy with it, though Zhongli doubted his partner would contribute.

"Can I ask you something?" Zhongli finally spoke up, watching as Childe snorted in response, stuffing food into his mouth —probably thinking he wouldn't have to answer this way. Zhongli stared at him silently, the blue eyes staring at him for a few seconds only to then ignore him again. "Childe."

"I'm eating," Childe said with his mouth full, without looking at him.

Zhongli frowned slightly, popping a carrot into his mouth. He wanted to ask him about his case before he had to send him back to prison, fill in the gaps and satiate the curiosity he had been holding back for those four years. That was why he had volunteered to take care of him after all, apart from being able to solve the new murders.

"I'll ask anyway," Zhongli said, having finished eating and leaving the cutlery on the plate, wiping the corners of his lips with the napkin. He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms and placing his right leg over his left, pinning his golden eyes on Childe, who didn't look back at him. He had many doubts, and he knew that Childe was not going to answer them all at once, he even doubted that he was going to say anything at that moment, but he had to try. "How was your arrest?"

Childe exhaled loudly, stabbing his fork hard into the piece of zucchini, lifting his head to frown at him. Zhongli held his gaze, the redhead tightening his lips and gripping his fork.

"What do you care?" He questioned, frowning even deeper and his voice sounding menacing. "If you want to know it so bad, go and look at the records," Zhongli was silent for a few seconds. He hadn't told him that he couldn't do that because of his rank, and he wasn't planning on doing it now.

"Then I'll ask something else," Childe snorted, biting into the meat and chewing hard. "Why haven't they visited you in these four years? According to the records, the only contact you've had with the outside during all this time has only been a call to your family on your admission to prison," Childe widened his eyes, dropping the cutlery and suddenly getting up, moving his chair back, which it almost fell to the ground. Zhongli stood still, staying where he was without taking his eyes off Childe, watching as the redhead approached him, his fists so clenched his knuckles were white, the vein in his neck bulging.

"Why do you care about my personal life?" Childe hissed, narrowing his eyes, his blue eyes boring into his, the blue seeming to have swallowed the pupil. "Leave my family alone, or I swear that even if I don't kill you, I'll try. All the cops are the same, interested and nosy, stop busting my balls and go eat shit!" Childe pushed away from him, slapping the chair leg as he passed him. Zhongli didn't move an inch, watching as Childe left the living room and headed down the hall, listening as he slammed the bedroom door shut.