His Eyes Never Change (Gold like Cor Lapis, Blue as Noctilucous Jade)

Straight Forward

Childe took a deep breath. Then another. And one more just for good measure.

Okay Tartaglia, this is definitely a dream. A very realistic dream

He pinched the top of his hand.

A very, very realistic dream. One with conveniently placed phantom pain.

Oh shit, what if Her Majesty sends a letter about my reassignment while I'm in this mess? Wait, no that's not important right now...

I've been through worse. I mean really, what is this compared to the Abyss? There aren't even monsters attacking me right now.

I wish something would attack me right now, I could use the distraction.

Seriously, what the fuck is going on???

As he stood contemplating the situation he was currently in, a slightly stronger gust of wind hit and caused long hair to fly wildly into his vision.

Wait. Long?

Childe slowly reached up and pulled his hair to the side. Sure enough, fluffy mid length hair was now swept over his shoulder. As if the length wasn't surprising enough, while the hair was notably on the ginger side, it was also several shades darker than usual. If his hair was like this, what else had changed?

This new line of thinking led to him noticing many things.

For starters, his clothes. Instead of his usual outfit he was now in what appeared to be traditional Liyuen garb. It was a long robe, with a crossed collar, made out of a breathable but cheap material. Both sides were split. The robe itself was a deep gray color and underneath it he wore dark trousers and boots that came halfway up his lower leg.

He was relieved to find that he did in fact have a hydro vision on him, although it was not in the Snezhnayan design. It looked much closer to the Liyuen design with some slight differences. The vision was located on his belt, not dissimilar from its usual placement. However, it seemed that like his other Fatui gear, he was missing his Delusion. A frown settled on his face at that discovery.

There was also a lack of scars. His hands were not streaked with scar tissue, and while they showed signs of hard labor, they retained the dexterity of a person who had not suffered from repeatedly broken fingers. He wondered if he would find that the rest of his body was the same. It was unsettling to think about.

In the grass near him was a bag containing various items as well as a roughly made fishing pole, but he decided to come back to those later.

"Mirror. I need a mirror."

Unfortunately for Childe, the lack of human settlement also meant a lack of suitably reflective surfaces. The wind began to pick up as he searched, blowing more of his long hair into his eyes and face. After receiving a mouthful of hair for the umpteenth time he had half a mind to just chop it off and be rid of it. Instead he opted for a less physically destructive route, ripping off a strip of his sleeve to use as a makeshift hair tie. He struggled for a bit with his unruly hair and the constant wind, but eventually he was able to tie it off. Luckily, it wasn't long after that he came across a small pool of stagnant water.

He was relieved to find that while there were certainly differences in his current appearance, he could still recognize his own reflection. His hair, while darker and longer, was parted in the same way he was used to. Even the highlights were a match. But most importantly, his eyes were the same shade of dull blue. For some reason, that knowledge gave him the most relief. 

His body felt a bit different as well, it was not toned the same way he remembered it. His overall frame seemed leaner and his shoulders and arms were defined in a slightly different way than he recalled. He was perhaps a bit shorter as well. All of these observations merged together and Childe came to a most unsettling conclusion.