thin ice | childe x reader

two. the boys

tw/cw: minor injury, no blood

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

coach zhongli invited you out for a sunday brunch to meet "the boys", but you felt as you needed no introduction, especially childe. now that that face who made your friday mornings a pain in the ass actually had a name, you suddenly knew that he was that boy on campus. when you were walking to your seminar classes, you could hear his laugh across the campus lawn, booming and bold. when you headed back to your dorms after cleaning up at the rink, you would hear his team's shared house blasting pop music until three in the morning. and finally, when you were trying to study in the local cafe, he would always be there with the rest of his frat house, somehow spitting out his boba through laughter every time.

but, you knew it would be sooner than later that you would get to know them. besides, it couldn't be that hard to manage twenty-something, hockey loving, brutish jocks, right?

right?

as you opened the door to the brunch house, you weren't surprised to find that their table of seven was loud with laughter. "you should've see her face! it's not my fault that she lost 5000 dollars to me in cup pong, she just sucked!" childe howled as a blue haired boy wheezed in response, pounding his fists into the table.

"how unsightly," coach zhongli sighed as his bangs flopped over his face. "oh, good morning, y/n. apologies about my team."

"it's nothing," you replied, taking the only empty seat at the head of the table.
suddenly, childe stopped laughing as his eyes caught yours, turning to face you with widened eyes. "you're the one who coach wanted us to meet? you're our new manager?"

"and? what about it?" you said with raised eyebrows. "coach zhongli was telling me that you said i was great at cleaning up after you."

"that was meant as a joke!" he seethed.

"it seems the rest of team quite liked them, and they agreed, so it's out of your grasp, 11," coach hummed nonchalantly. "now that y/n is here, let's order."

after ordering, zhongli ordered each member of the team to introduce themselves, starting with yourself.

"good morning," you smiled down the long table. "i'm y/n, and your team manager for this year. i'm a senior here at teyvat university, and i study sports medicine. i used to be a figure skater, so you don't need to worry about me falling on the ice."

"and an incredibly talented one at that," zhongli stated at the end of the table. "when i was in the league, they were the four-time national champion within the ice skating community. all four years of high school. and then, they signed with the national team three years ago, where they brought home–"

you flushed at the praise, but cut him off. "thanks, coach, but we really shouldn't make this about me. i'd like to hear from the rest of the team."

"right, of course," he said before nodding to the boy next to him. "alright, let's start with our freshmen."

"hi, y/n," a boy with a teal blue hair and asymmetrically cut hair greeted with a smile. "i'm xingqiu. i study literature and i'm a freshman."

"hello, y/n," the kid next to him piped up, with light blue eyes and hair. "i'm chongyun, roommates with xingqiu, and one of the d-men."

"and of course, our juniors," zhongli chimed. "xiao? kaeya?"

"xiao." a boy with golden eyes said with a twinge of annoyance in his voice. "goalie."

"don't mind him, he's always cold, but he's secretly a big softie," a boy with dark blue hair chirped happily, pressing his hand against his cheek. "i'm kaeya, but you can call me your new boyfri–ow, diluc!"