Secure. Contain. Protect. These are the words Zhongli lives by, working his way up the ranks of the SCP Foundation-an organisation dedicated to protecting humanity against anomalous threats. Now a respected researcher, he has spent the past two months as a consultant in Sumeru. His time on his current case at its end, the details of his next assignment arrive: he will relocate to Snezhnaya to assist with the initial analysis of a freshly contained SCP-a creature infused with forbidden energy and an insatiable drive to fight any who dare enter its containment cell. For a man who has built his career on the principle of protecting humanity, his new assignment will test his resolve as he discovers that there is humanity even in the most monstrous of appearances, and a little monster hidden in the places least expected. Cover art is a commission for this fic by AyuPixel on Twitter. Please do not repost / reuse. Warnings / Ao3 Tags: Alternate Universe - SCP Foundation Alternate Universe - Modern Setting Alternate Universe - No Visions Supernatural Elements Suspense Plot Twists Unethical Experimentation Ethical Dilemmas Zhongli is trying his best The inherent hopelessness of trying to fight the system Worldbuilding Built on lore up to and including Version 3.2 Tartaglia's Foul Legacy Transformation Captivity SCP Foul Legacy SCP Researcher Zhongli Power Imbalance (Although they don't get together until that's resolved) Age Difference (Ajax is 22 Zhongli is 31) Widower Zhongli Past Guizhong/Zhongli Guilt Angst Slow Burn Angst with a Happy Ending Tartaglia is Called Ajax Torture (Of SCP-231) Minor mentions of loss / grief / moving on in relation to Guizhong Violence

Childe fell in love with a professor at his university and decided to get a minor in geology just to experience his classes even though it's completely unrelated to his major...but how will he confess his feelings when graduation comes?

Idol!Childe x Actor!Zhongli Ajax (stage name Tartaglia and fan named Childe) is the youngest member of up and coming Sneznyan Hip-Hop/Rap group The Harbingers (aka the Fatui by fans). The twenty-three year old is a background singer and lead dancer for the group, yet is probably one of the most popular members of the group for his looks alone. Zhongli is a popular movie star, who's reached quite the status already already winning both an Emmy for a television series he was in and several Oscars for recent movies. Not much else is known by the public as he's quite the private person. He's a household name regardless and definitely someone Childe admired for his vast success by age twenty-seven. Recording a new single for an upcoming album, Childe was browsing Twitter when he wasn't needed in the recording room. This was pretty often since he was mostly there for dancing, so he had plenty of time. That's when he found out Zhongli was doing one of his very few meet and greets, in town nonetheless. This was a rare and very lucky occasion, so Childe was pretty quick to get a VIP pass for it. And that night, he set out to meet the star... Inspired by a comic I saw on Twitter (link to the artist and their comic in the first chapter.)