brutal - gi x teen!reader (PLATONIC)

Umm... no thanks!

Groaning, you placed the palm of you hand to your head as you sat up. The sun shone brightly in the sky, sending a burning flare into your eyes. The soft yellowed grass made for a comfortable cushion, and you laid back down on it with a contented sigh.

A growl startled you from your dazed, half-awake state, and you jumped to their feet as the ground beneath you shuddered.

"Uh-oh," You gulped, glancing around at your surroundings. Tall pillars of boulders and rocks bordered the area,leaving no room for escape. You slowly stepped back, eager to get as far away from the oddly familiar noise as possible. Your back hit the boulders, heart racing as a wall of rock turned the corner.

The creature behind the shield spotted you. It stared at you for a moment, before roaring and rushing in your direction. You put your hands up on reflex, shielding your face. The blow never landed. Instead, the creature was trying to break down the glowing yellow barrier that had surrounded you.

"Hey kid," a voice echoed from above you. "Stay still." A blur of red, grey, and blue dashed down from the top of the rock formation and slashed at the monster. It roared in pain, getting ready to charge the man. You caught a glimpse of a long ponytail flashing behind the creature, before a giant rock smashed into it. Your eyes widened in shock as you recognized the people standing in front of you, and the monster they had just defeated.

Childe? Zhongli? A mitachurl? What's going on here?

The men turned to look back at you, concern etched into their faces.

"Hey, kid," Childe said. "Are you okay?" You slowly backed towards the exit, shaking your head as you moved away from them. You had seen exactly what happened to npc's and unimportant characters when they hung around archons and fatui, and you were not particularly eager to die at thirteen. Zhongli frowned at your response to Childe's words.

"Why do you look scared?" He said gently, taking a step towards you as you took three away. You scoffed at the absurdity of the question.

"Because of you two, who else?" You responded. "Nothing good ever comes of being in contact with a god and a harbinger. Everyone you come into contact with gets ptsd or dies." You paused, pondering for a second. "Sometimes both." The two glanced at each other, evidently trying to figure out how exactly you knew Zhongli's identity. You clapped a hand over your mouth, realizing your mistake. "Shouldn't have said that..." you muttered. "I should not have said that..."

You spun on your heel and dashed off, making a sharp left into the nearest cave you saw. It was filled with gleaming blue crystals, giving you flashbacks from when you had to farm those for character ascensions. You would spend all of your free time going around and whacking rocks with a claymore. You shuddered. Dark days. The sound of footsteps behind you urged you on, and you hid yourself in a small nook in the wall.

"Hello?" Childe called out, striding into your area of the cave with Zhongli right behind him.  "We know you're in here, so you can come out now!" The two men glanced at each other and nodded.

"We promise that we won't hurt you," Zhongli said in a forced tone of voice. "We just wanna know who told you about me being a god? I mean, as far as most common folk know, Rex Lapis is dead." Furrowing your brows, you felt like something was off. This wasn't the kind, broke old man in-game, or the battle crazed flirty Fatuus you remembered. They seemed... different. Harsher, more violent.

A laugh coming from your right jolted you out of your thoughts. Childe grinned at you. While the smile was supposed to put you at ease, it felt more predatory than anything. He grabbed your arm and dragged you out of your hiding place to an indifferent-looking Zhongli. You gulped.

"Care to tell us how you knew my identity?" He questioned. You shook your head slowly. What, were you gonna tell him that he was a fictional character that people where you come from wrote fan fiction about? No, of course not! In fact, you said the very first thing that popped into your mind.

"Stranger danger." Both of them looked at you confused.

"What?" Childe said.

"Stranger danger," you replied simply. "I'm not allowed to talk to strangers. It's very dangerous. Just like you!" With that, you calmly walked out of the cavern, re-entering the lazy afternoon sunlight. You set out north, determined to find your way to Mondstat. (Or at least you head what you think is north. You're not quite sure, but you assume that heading towards Wangshu Inn and following the path from there will get you somwhere.)