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

A Contract

The bandits fled, not even bothering to collect their scattered weapons. Childe watched carefully as they merged into the darkness of the tree line. He was fairly confident they wouldn't be causing anymore trouble, but it never hurt to be vigilant. Once he could no longer hear them trampling through the underbrush, he allowed his hydro spear to dissipate.

The tension in the air had dispersed for the most part now that everything had settled down. Only the sound of the young boy's sniffles and the crackling fire remained. Childe slowly set Haolan on his feet, hovering close in case the child's legs gave out again.

"Are you okay?"

Haolan sniffed and nodded, "Mn."

"Good," Childe reached down and gently ruffled his hair, "just remember, you won't always have someone to come rescue you from danger. Be more careful in the future."

Childe didn't know this young boy, not even slightly, but he couldn't help but slip into that headspace reserved for his younger siblings. Haolan nodded, voice still not strong enough to form words.

" A -Lan!"

The boy turned at the sound of his nickname. The woman who had placed herself at the head of the group and glared daggers at Haolan's kidnapper walked forward with arms open. Her eyes were glassy with tears of relief and concern. Haolan took one look back at Childe, who gave him a small smile, and then ran to her open arms.

"Are you hurt anywhere? Let me take a look at you," she fussed over him, checking for any sign of injury and, finding none, let out a sigh of relief, "Thank Celestia."

At that point the rest of the group followed and crowded around the boy. However, Childe could feel eyes on himself as well. There was a feeling of hesitance in the air between them, a sense of caution. He may have just saved them from danger, but they still reserved a healthy amount of suspicion towards him. Childe send a kind smile in their direction. He certainly couldn't fault them for that.

The first woman faced him and bowed low. Childe returned the gesture.

As she raised herself back up her expression was thankful but reserved.

"Thank you for your assistance. I am called Ren Yinghua, I'm the leader here. The one you saved-" she looked to where Haolan was being given a more thorough checkup by another person, "-is my nephew, Haolan."

"It was no trouble at all!" Childe responded in kind, "I'm Tartaglia, but you can also call me Childe. Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Ren- xiaojie ."

Ren Yinghua remained unmoved, but a small smile did briefly grace her features.

"Tartaglia, while we are extremely grateful to you for returning A -Lan to us safely, I'm afraid we don't have much to compensate you with. We hope you understand."

Ah, there it was. Childe figured that might be the case. He had saved them, yes, but he could just as easily have hidden intentions. Which wasn't all that far off, really, he was hoping to join them as a form of disguise. However, given the current tension, he figured he should wait it out a bit longer before suggesting such a thing. He put up his hands in a placating gesture.

"Oh, don't worry about that. Getting the chance to beat back people like them is its own reward."

Tension still lingered in the air but it was considerably less palpable than before. They seemed to at least half believe his words, and Childe figured that was a good enough start.

A few people had begun to return to their chores as they realized their leader had a handle on the situation. Only Ren Yinghua, Haolan, and two others remained.