𝙍𝙚𝙙𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 [𝘼𝙐 𝙕𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙜𝙘𝙝𝙞 +18]

11: Darling

The days passed, and Ningguang's party was approaching at a dizzying pace. In those days they rarely went back to the FBI base, keeping their distance as much as possible, only going there to deliver reports on how badly the investigation was going —which was true.

Still, during that time Zhongli was thankful that Childe had good survival instincts, as he frequently alerted him that someone was following them when they were out in public. Sometimes Zhongli was more distracted in looking for clues or things like that, that he was not aware of someone's presence —sometimes he had a bad habit of locking himself in his thoughts and not paying enough attention to what was around him. Childe was shown to have quite a bit of control of his surroundings, something that Zhongli found normal for him to have (spending so much time in jail trying to survive must have forced him to be much more attentive to the world around him).

Zhongli was disappointed that they hadn't been able to find anything else on their own, having to resignedly wait for the day of the party to arrive so they could talk to Ningguang... In case she was willing to help them, of course.

Childe didn't seem to have much hope that this would ever happen, but Zhongli decided to ignore his discouragement. The party was in two days, and the redhead realized that he didn't have proper clothes to go to the party, so they went back to the mall they had gone to when Zhongli picked him up from prison. Hu Tao accompanied them to do their shopping, inviting herself upon learning of his plans.

Zhongli and Childe got out of the car, finding Hu Tao cheerfully greeting them at the mall entrance, holding a bag. It was half-past six in the evening, she would have left work an hour ago at least.

"Zhongli, Childe!" She greeted them as they walked toward her position. "It's been a while since we've seen each other in person," she smiled, placing her hands on her hips. She and Zhongli had been talking on the phone daily, but it was true that they hadn't seen eye-to-eye since the restaurant, despite having been on FBI base several times. "I'm glad to see you're okay."

"For now," Zhongli nudged Childe, who groaned under his breath as he winced.

"I'm glad to see you too," Zhongli smirked, ignoring the glare Childe gave him. Zhongli turned his attention from him to the bag the girl was holding, pointing, then asking what it was. "What's that?"

"This?" She asked, raising it slightly. "It's nothing, I've had to go buy several things before," she answered, making a movement with her hand, dismissing it. "Anyway, I want to tell you something," Hu Tao said, lowering her voice and leaning toward him. Zhongli frowned. "They're realizing something isn't right, Zhongli," The brunette pursed his lips, nodding. "I don't think it's safe for you to stay in your apartment."

"Okay," Zhongli whispered back. "I'll think of something," Hu Tao smiled, turning away from him. Zhongli turned to look at Childe, who was looking at him with a somewhat worried expression. It was pretty obvious that it wouldn't take long for the FBI to realize they were up to something, especially when he was responsible for Childe.

"Well, putting that matter aside..." Hu Tao walked over to Childe, patting him on the shoulder. "We have to find you clothes, right?" Childe nodded, smiling back at her.

They entered the mall, it was quite crowded since it was Saturday.

"Okay, I want to go to a specific store," the redhead said, moving to the front and starting to move forward, not waiting for an answer.

Zhongli and Hu Tao followed him without asking many questions, heading to the upper floors using the escalators. Childe was looking at the signs indicating the position of each store and the customer, looking for the store he wanted to go to. Zhongli had no idea what they were supposed to be looking for, but he let it pass, unlike Hu Tao who kept asking over and over again where they were going. Childe did not answer once. Zhongli was quite curious as to why so much secretiveness, but nerves about the party and the FBI kept him quite distracted.