Finding Atlantis

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/55034077.

Rating: Explicit
Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Category: M/M
Fandom: 原神 | Genshin Impact (Video Game)
Relationship: Tartaglia | Childe/Zhongli (Genshin Impact)
Characters: Tartaglia | Childe (Genshin Impact), Zhongli (Genshin Impact), Fatui
Harbinger Members (Genshin Impact), Tartaglia | Childe's Siblings
(Genshin Impact)
Additional Tags: Fluff, Comedy, Magical Realism, Bookstores, Modern Era, Eventual
Smut, Falling In Love, Cozy romance :), Mild Angst, Slow Burn, So
much Comedy, Felix is an insanely good wingman even if he’s into
crystals, Felix is also an INSANELY good vibe-checker, First Time,
Roommates, fatui gang strikes again, Also known as: the three brain cells
rubbing so hard there’s only one
Language: English
Stats: Published: 2024-04-07 Updated: 2024-04-17 Words: 13,635 Chapters:
2/?
 Finding Atlantis
by IlluminanceinTales

Summary

Childe startles as he trips as fast as Hu Tao, barely catching himself by a shelf as he

looks up. As expected, there’s a man who’s standing in front of them—a man who’s
most certainly tall—and he feels Hu Tao ready to rage when the man turns around.

The man is… unbelievably hot. Like, ungodly hot. Like, if a statue came to life and
carved itself into a body, this is exactly how he’d look like—Tall, Dark, and Handsome
with a three-piece suit, a golden brooch, and gloves that are slowly coaxing through a
thick tome, one that looks old enough to be Childe’s grandfather. But that’s not the
point. The point is: oh no.

Tonia’s right.

There are too many dating prospects here.

OR: In between studying for college and earning 3 new crazy roommates, Childe finds
himself falling in love with a man who's apparently stuck in a bookstore and time.

Notes
See the end of the work for notes
 Chapter 1

“He’s got good vibes.”

For five seconds Childe feels like he’s getting a stroke.

“What?” he croaks. He stares at the boy sitting before him—Felix?—who continues tracing
his palm.

“He looks like he’s got good vibes,” repeats Felix like Childe’s not right in front of him. Like
he’s not sitting in the middle of a crabby apartment filled with too many trinkets, the most
obvious being the too-large collection of magical crystals and a bookshelf that looks like it’s
about to topple over. There’s a couch in the corner, a ripped-up carpet, a too-tall lamp, and a
girl who curls herself into her one-seater, shrugging as she looks up at Childe. “Yes,” she says
when Childe opens and closes his mouth. “He’s always like that.”

“Yes, I think he can be our roommate. Welcome to the team, buddy!” Felix beams again, his
curling eyes glistening in the sunlight. Even in the morning he looks like a sunbeam himself.
“You can move in today, tomorrow, whenever you want. Your room will be at the end of the
hallway—it’s got the pink door, not the black one. Vlad’ll be mad if you enter his room.”

“Vlad’s always mad when anyone enters his room. Here.” The girl—Ekaterina—shakes a
sheath of papers in front of Childe. The one who requested for this interview in the first
place. “You sign this whenever you want, pass it to the landlord, and boom, you’ll move in.
Problem solved. Any questions?”

Childe opens his mouth again. He’s got many questions. Mainly how these people were so
chill with a dude who posted a last-minute apartment request on the basis of 'needed it for a
scholarship transfer'. Albeit it was an extremely famous college, but still: shady. Childe
wonders if they're both secretly serial killers.

He hopes not.

“Right,” Childe says. “Right. So I get to move in whenever I want, yeah?”

“Yep.” Felix nods his head. “Also, take this.” When Childe raises an eyebrow, Felix shakes
his fisted hands again and Childe, reluctantly, opens it. Felix drops a moonstone into his
hand. “Means ‘new beginnings’,” he chirps. “I hope you’ll find us good roommates.”

Right. So Childe got some crystal-loving, palm reading boy as his roommate—albeit a rather
reliable one given that this boy is literally majoring in biochemistry with a pre-med track—
but still. Very strange.

“Okay,” says Childe. “So… do I get a key or something? Or do I also get that from the
landlord.”
“No need,” says Ekaterina. “We copied a few ourselves. You’ll get a shoddy one from the
landlord, but ours has a cat printed on each key. So that you’ll never lose it.” She searches her
own pockets, pulls out a full keychain of like a thousand keys, and slides one out with mind-
boggling accuracy. “Take it,” she adds. “I have a feeling that you’ll come tomorrow.”

“Is it normal for everyone ‘feel’ in this house?” says Childe aloud, but when he realizes his
mistake, flushes. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Felix says his words sagely. “Being curious is good. Being curious is necessary.
You’re going to be a great fortune teller, I can tell.”

“Oh my god, can you stop recruiting people into your business. You’re going to scare him.”
Ekaterina gives Childe another look. “Go. Go! Shoo! You’re going to end up here forever if
you get Felix going on his new spiel.”

“Look, fortune tellers-“ stars Felix, but Childe is already packing his bag, shoving his papers
into his front zipper, and hauling it over his shoulder. “’Kaythanksbye!” he recites out of pure
fear before he darts out from the front door, down the musky alleyway, and towards the
squeaking elevator that Childe is most definitely not using. Instead he takes five flights down
—looks like he doesn’t even need to do cardio around here—and runs out into the Liyuen
night. The cool, comforting wind brushes against his cheeks, reflecting the thousand and one
lights of a city that’s too far from his home, and the endless lanterns that seem to dot the
streets, no matter how many streetlights there are. It’s like they want to stop themselves in
time and are succeeding.

Childe smiles. For all the whackiness he’s been going through recently—his siblings
screeching when he got the scholarship; his sudden realization that he needed to leave now or
he’s going to miss the deadline; the last minute packing, purchasing, and visiting to all his
extended family before he shoves himself into a 21-hour-flight—now, he’s here. Now, he’s in
a world he doesn’t recognize.

But that doesn’t matter. Childe always ended up in worlds he doesn’t recognize, and this is
just one more.

Liyue, a kingdom of opportunities. And his home for the next 4 years as far as he’s aware.
That’s not too bad. Childe tugs his bag higher, making his way down the road, and
apologizing everytime he bumps into someone. Curious eyes. Staring at his bright-red hair,
no doubt an anomaly in a city of dark.

“Have some red buns! Here, the freshest in town!” a lady hollers from her store. Childe raises
an eyebrow at her. “Yes, you! Handsome boy you!” the lady shrieks when Childe meets her
eye and he nearly trips. “Come here and have a bun! The best in town!”

Childe ends up being bullied into purchasing a bun, but that’s fine too. He smiles at the lady,
throws in a few coins, and—when realizing they’re Snezhnayan coins—ends up searching for
Liyuen cash, but the lady coos about how handsome he is, how she’s got a daughter, how he
should meet her one day and little boy, you’re not getting any young, you should get married.
Childe laughs.
“One day,” he says. One day. Not like he’s interested in love anyway. He’s got a major to
conquer and he’s about to win.

“So you’re telling me one day in Liyue and you’re already getting swamped with marriage
proposals.”

“If you put it like that, Tonia, you’re going to summon all the aunties and uncles in town, and
they’re going to start setting me up again.” Childe shuffles around his little hotel room, his
phone propped against his ear as he starts packing his stuff again. For all the madness in the
apartment he looked for, he’s rather grateful that they’ll let him move in effective-
immediately. They’re such angels. “In fact, I’m going to be abstinent for the rest of my life.
You know that, right? I, for a fact, cannot flirt, and will never flirt again.”

“Just because you got rejected by only one guy in your life doesn’t mean you should give up.
Brother, you need to try harder.” Somehow, his sister sounds so much more disappointed that
she should be. “You should be going out there or something. Finding your mister Tall, Dark
and Handsome. No, you don’t get to judge me over the phone, I know your type! I’ve seen
you ogle those men!”

Childe pouts. “You’re being too judgemental. What if I’m just admiring them? Maybe they’re
just pretty.”

“Big brother, who looks at a man and goes, Wow, he’s super hot, and not be gay? Everyone in
town knows.”

Yes, everyone in town including his village, his city, the whole of Snezhnaya as far as he’s
concerned. He’s still getting texts from his aunty going when are you going to meet that sweet
boy down the road from me, he’s still asking about you. Childe snorts.

“Well, I’m going to be a monk and that’s final. I’m going to finish my degree, get a job, and
get filthy rich because there’s no way if you’re working in marine biotech that anyone will
fight for your position. Also-“ Childe grins “-narwhals are cool.”

Narwhals, a subspecies of whales, with beautiful horns, freckled skin, and sweet smiles that
coo at him. Narwhals, which Childe got so obsessed with at some point he begged his father
for nearly a dozen plushies of them, half of which is still in his duffel bag, and another dozen
that he couldn’t bring because no, Childe, you can’t bring it over to Liyue; no, customs won’t
let you; NO, you need clothes, for Tsaritsa’s sake! Childe laughs. “I’m going to be the best
narwhal hunter in the world and you know. I’ll take all of them, put it in a tank, and love
them. They’re going to be so cool.”

“I’m glad you’re enjoying your time there, big brother, even if it’s been only a day.” Tonia
sounds delighted. “Better buy me some gifts though or I’m going to be super sad! And
remember big brother, GO GET A MAN!”

Tonia hangs up on him.

Childe pouts again. He texts, quite simply, Tonia, you don’t get to ask me to get a man when
you’re also not allowed to date a guy. I won’t let you date a guy, by the way. Whoever dates
you dies.

Another ping. Big brother you dont get to control me. I’m SIXTEEN. I get to date Gabriel if I
want

Childe’s jaw dropping. GABRIEL??? THAT’S THE GUY YOU’VE BEEN CRYING
ABOUT?? He’s not worth your time, BREAK UP WITH HIM

Tonia’s laughing voice through her texts. No, he’s cute. Ur being overprotective. Ill do what I
want

TONIA HE LITERALLY LOOKS LIKE IF MIKE WAZOWKSI WORE A WIG, YOU DON’T
GET TO DESTROY OUR GENES LIKE THAT

No response from Tonia. Childe tries calling her like six times. She doesn’t pick up.

Another text. This time, from his younger brother.

Anthon: Sis is mad at u. Stop txting her shes gonna start cutting ur narwhal collection

Childe: She wouldn’t DARE

Anthon: lmao jokes on u she’s already starting

Childe gets another photo half an hour later while showering, his feet nearly slipping while
he struggles for his phone. On it a single picture:

Tonia holding his biggest narwhal plushie hostage with a knife to its throat. Another message:
don’t make me do it

Childe groans. FINE! Fine, date Mike Wazowski. Don’t say I didn’t warn you

I won’t. Six emojis of kisses being blown. <3 you big bro!

NO

“Okay I know the room looks a little bit shabby, but with a little furniture here, a little poster
there, and it’ll look brand new. Also, don’t move in too much of your stuff yet because I need
to work the good energy around.”
“Why are we doing ‘good energy’,” says Childe aloud, but when Felix shoots him another
somber look, Childe adds, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Do what you want. Why are we doing the
rearrangement anyway?”

“A good room is the art of having everything in harmony. If your furniture isn’t in harmony,
your heart isn’t in harmony. If your life isn’t in harmony, you’ll be cursed for life.”

“That… sounds pretty grim.” Childe grimaces. “But are you sure we need to do this?”

Felix shoots him another look. “Want to lose your scholarship?”

Childe immediately starts moving his bed.

It takes a better half of the day to help him unpack everything. Felix helps him put out his
tiny decorations, Childe starts rearranging his clothes. Felix cleans everything with a feather
duster, Childe starts sweeping and moping behind him. Felix helps him put up posters—none
of them which belonged to Childe, by the way—and a decorative cloth that covers Childe’s
entire bedroom door with a slit in the middle. “For protection,” he says. “Leave your door
open and there’ll be ghost that’ll reach the end of the hallway and enter your room. You don’t
want ghosts. You don’t.”

Childe’s about to ask as to why would there be ghosts in this house except there’s the opening
of a door, a stumbling, a few voices arguing among each other. “I’m not cooking tonight! It’s
your turn, Kat, you’re not pulling the ‘But I’m the only one holding us together’ card!”

“You know I’m the only one holding us together and you know it,” says Ekaterina somberly.
“Don’t forget, Vlad. If you don’t watch your mouth, I’m going to rat you out to your
girlfriend.”

That shuts up ‘Vlad’ pretty quickly.

Felix pokes his out from Childe’s room. “Hey!” he exclaims. “Welcome home!”

“Are we helping move the new guy in already?” Vlad appears at Childe’s front door, dark
hair and darker eyes squinting at him. “Are you a college student?”

“The one and only.” Childe flourishes his hand as Vlad snorts. “Are you?”

“Statistics and finance. You?”

“Biochemistry and marine biology,” says Childe brightly. “Liyue’s got the best one in the
world.”

“Now, now, stop peacocking you two overachievers.” Ekaterina sticks her head in too. She
looks around. “Wow, this place looks nice already.”

Felix looks smug. “Right?”

“Felix has a touch for architecture though he’s still in the wrong industry,” says Vlad,
walking towards his room. He cracks his bedroom door just a little. “You should ask him to
also rearrange your clothes and stationery. I’m serious, you’ll never lose your things ever
again.”

Childe’s pretty sure he just saw a massive plush unicorn in Vlad’s room but he rightfully
keeps his mouth shut. “Really?” he says instead. “You trust Felix with touching your stuff?”

Vlad snorts. “He’s the only person I’d trust to touch my stuff. Trust me, his crystals keep him
in check. ‘Keeps the sins away’.” Vlad makes air quotations in the air. “Ask him again what
that means. I promise you you’ll cure insomnia with that.”

“I did cure your insomnia though! Bow down to me!” yells Felix. “I’m the best person in
town!”

“Of course you are,” deadpans Vlad. “Or why would we still room with you? Good night
guys, I’m going to bed.”

“But it’s only 12pm?” questions Childe. Ekaterina and Felix share a look. “What?”

“Vlad works overnight shifts at his bookstore. No, we don’t know why a bookstore would
have overnight shifts. No, he doesn’t want to talk about it. You can go visit him though. It’s a
really pretty bookstore.” Felix beams. “Dinner anyone?”

Felix, like his vibe-checking skills, is somehow monstrously good at cooking as well. By the
time Childe sits at the dinner table, he’s got a cloth settled on his lap, utensils arranged by
type and size, plates made from porcelain, and mushroom soup and steak looking like it came
from a 5 star restaurant. “Like Vlad said,” deadpans Ekaterina from the side as she folds her
cloth like she’s also at a 5-star restaurant. “Wrong major.”

Felix beams. “It’s only a special occasion. I don’t cook all the time, but since we’ve got a
new member, let’s celebrate! Also oh, make sure to give me your number! I’ll add you to our
group chat.”

“Your group chat,” says Childe. “Should I be worried?”

“Be very worried,” says Ekaterina. “Very worried.”

Later at 10pm, Childe’s phone pinging with a notification.

Childe has been added to: Ayyyyy homies with a brony

Childe: Anyone going to explain the ‘brony’ part?

Vlad: For fucks sakes, Felix, I AM NOT A BRONY

*

The next day Childe scurrying out the front door. “Have a good day at college!” yells Felix
with Ekaterina grumbling next to him, looking half-dead while Felix looks like he’s got the
energy of a thousand suns. Seriously: wrong major. “Make sure to take the downtown train
instead of the one near us! I feel bad vibes from the first train! Just trust me on this, you’ll
thank me!”

“Listen to him!” yells Ekaterina even though her voice sounds groggy. “Don’t even think
about rejecting him!”

Childe listens to him.

Somehow, he finds himself horrified halfway through his Bio 121 lecture when he pulls out
his phone and reads, with great terror, that the train near them did, in fact, break down and set
every person in the train at least a few hours back from their responsibilities. There were a lot
of complaints, criticisms, a decent amount of confusion that Childe gets sucked into reading
before he hears the lecturer call a group’s name and nearly jolts upwards.

“Yes, can I help you?” asks the lecturer when he looks at Childe. He’s a spectacularly sturdy
old lecturer with a face that resembles a tree bark.

“Nothing! Nope! Sorry.” Childe shrinks into his seat. “Sorry!”

He looks down at his phone. Seriously. How is Felix so good at this?

Childe’s making his way home by his lectures end and by that point, it was 3pm with Liyue’s
sky slowly darkening into a limping grey. Childe frowns at the sky, squinting at it, before
noting that there’s no way in hell it’s not going to rain in the next half hour, so he might as
well find shelter. He debates about going to a coffee shop, a restaurant, or both so that he can
eat and do his homework along the way when he remembers that Vlad’s bookstore is
probably somewhere downtown and it’s about a ten-minute walk from here. So, he goes.

The bookstore is as Ekaterina describes it—hidden in some alleyway nook, looking like
nothing more except an innocuous store. However, when Childe enters it, immediately it
becomes a new world.

“Welcome!” someone shouts at the back. “I’ll be right with you!”

Childe gaps. The place is amazing. Walls and walls of books soaring everywhere, corridors
and ladders leading towards god-knows-where. Books on the floor, books on the countertops,
books on short tilting tables, books by the window display. The tomes are only interrupted by
the occasional shelf or sign that dictates which section leads to what author, the wooden
things looped with smiling handwriting and fairylights to match. Even the wall-lamps are
intentional: they look like those olden lamplights that used to don Liyue during the 1950s,
surrounded by fake vines and birds perched on top. On some occasions Childe sees a dragon
looping over those lamps, their glinting eyes looking at him. Despite the fact that they should
look threatening they do not. Instead they look like chonky sprawling lizards with their fuzzy
tails and smile curling towards him.

Whoever comes out from the back looks like the most chaotic woman he’s ever seen.

“Hello!” the woman gasps as she stumbles on her feet, bright eyes and fluttering hair spilling
over her. She wears all red—it should look cultish but it doesn’t—with many symbols tapered
on it, her dress pouring over at the end like a long train. Except the train looks like it got cut
short, which most likely happened because she looked like she ripped it with her bare hands.
The woman beams. “I’m Hu Tao! Owner of this shop!”

“Right,” says Childe slowly. “And this is-?”

Hu Tao gives him one of those looks that would make Tonia proud. “A bookstore of course,”
she deadpans. “Why, were you looking for something specific?”

No, Childe thinks, he just knows that Vlad always comes here often and that he works here,
and that maybe he should have just come when he was working but he’s too many minutes
late anyway so he just says: “My friend works here. Vlad? I was just checking out the place.”

“Vlad, Vlad… Ah! You mean the grumpy one.” Hu Tao grins. “Yes, he works here. Fantastic
worker. Always comes for my overnight shifts even though he doesn’t have to.”

“Why do you even need overnight shifts?” questions Childe. He trails after Hu Tao, who’s
guiding him into another infinite corridor.

“Because he’s a bookbinder. I know he doesn’t look like it, but he is.” Hu Tao grins. “He gets
the old tomes that are sold here by some external source, he takes it to the back where he
fixes the spine, and every time we take it out to sell it looks almost brand new. But he always
makes sure that it resembles the originals that it practically looks like its past self. Scary, isn’t
it? How he’s in the wrong industry.”

It looks like everyone Childe’s rooming with is in the wrong industry except for Ekaterina.
Actually, what does she work as? “So you just have Vlad overnight here every day? Can’t he
just do it in the morning.”

“Oh god, no. He hates it.” Hu Tao shakes her head. “He always insists because he wants to
make it at night where there’ll be no light. He thinks the traditional candlelight, wax, needle
and thread is the best version there is. He’s old-fashioned you see.” Hu Tao grins. “Well, next
to our customers.”
Childe can see. Though it’s still well-hidden, he spots a customer or two lingering in between
the shelves, the old and young flickering their fingers over spines. If he looks hard enough,
he sees the way their eyes soften at the books, their eyes shimmering like little children, the
same look Childe gets when he looks at narwhals and reaches for them. It feels a lot like love.

Childe smiles softly. “Well,” he says. “Then it can’t be too bad, can it?”

Hu Tao shows him around—where the upper floors are, where the lower floors are, where the
ground floors are, as if bookstores this tight should even have this much space, and all the
secret golems that apparently, she hides because she finds it funny. “You have to rub their
snout to get good luck,” she says. “Find all four and you’ll be blessed for life.”

“Blessed for life?” Childe smiles. “What does that mean?”

“Like what it says,” Hu Tao grins. “Just a superstition. But it’s a fun one, yes?”

Childe gets guided into the back where there’s a reading nook. “This isn’t as well used as the
others because it’s so far back, but some people come here to hide. Mostly the elderly. But
occasionally we have the young come here-“ At the last part she wrinkles her nose “-Well,
only a few. But that’s not too bad, yeah?”

Childe leans over to look. “I mean, I guess? It looks just fine.”

“Yep.” Hu Tao nods. “Look, we’ve got a few lamps here, a table, a really cool armchair, and
oh my god, Zhongli, what the fuck!”

Childe startles as he trips as fast as Hu Tao, barely catching himself by a shelf as he looks up.
As expected, there’s a man who’s standing in front of them—a man who’s most certainly tall
—and he feels Hu Tao ready to rage when the man turns around.

The man is… unbelievably hot. Like, ungodly hot. Like, if a statue came to life and carved
itself into a body, this is exactly how he’d look like—Tall, Dark, and Handsome with a three-
piece suit, a golden brooch, and gloves that are slowly coaxing through a thick tome, one that
looks old enough to be Childe’s grandfather. But that’s not the point. The point is: oh no.

Tonia’s right.

There are too many dating prospects here.

It’s only one dating prospect, thinks Childe chaotically. Only one. It’s not that bad, right? No,
it’s not that bad. But he also grew up in a village where he had the sexual interest of a panda,
so no, he didn’t think he was going to be this interested since Aleksandr, but here they were.

This ‘Zhongli’ frowns at Hu Tao. “What’s the matter?”

“What’s the matter? What’s the matter? What’s the matter is that you’ve got to start warning
a man every time you come in ehre! I swear to god I’ll be sitting at the front desk like for
forty hours straight and I’ll never hear you. How do you do that? Why do you do that? Do
you want me to die of old age?” sputters Hu Tao.
Zhongli frowns deeper. “But you are not old? I highly doubt that you’d die of old age. If
anything, I surmise it must be your eating habits.”

“And what about your eating habits? Huh?” accuses Hu Tao. “I swear you’re always just
back here, reading, eating, whatever-the-hell you do. How do you even manage to get takeout
no matter what? Are you just blessed?”

“I touched all golems as you’ve suggested,” points our Zhongli.

“That’s not the point! The point is-“

Immediately Zhongli swivels his eyes on Childe. Childe freezes on the spot.

“And who,” drawls Zhongli, his voice so primitively hot that Childe’s really about to fall into
the ground, “is this?”

“This? Oh, this a friend of my co-worker. Your name is…?” Hu Tao looks at him.

“Childe,” Childe croaks. “Childe Tartaglia.”

“Childe Tartaglia,” the man coaxes his name and okay, holy shit, not even Aleksandr could
make his name sound that hot. “Nice to meet you. I’m Zhongli.”

“Zhongli the parasite,” snaps Hu Tao. “Don’t ever listen to him. Or greet him. Or anything
really. I swear to god he’s always leeching off the space here and reading all the books in
town while not paying. He’s like, a waste of space.”

“I would watch your mouth, Miss Hu Tao, or you wouldn’t like what comes out of my
mouth,” says Zhongli, his face too serene for his threat. “Mister Childe,” he adds when he
looks at Childe, his mouth quirking just briefly. “Nice to meet you.” He extends his hand.

“N-Nice to meet you,” says Childe and, oh god, he’s a little boy, he’s a little awkward turtle
dancing in his high school getting his crush for the first time. He grabs Zhongli’s hand. “I’m,
um, glad to meet you, too?”

Zhongli chuckles. “Yes, it’s nice to meet you indeed.”

Zhongli, realizes Childe, has an odd way of speaking. His cadence, his vocabulary, the way
he holds himself—it reminds Childe of someone much older than he’s supposed to look.
Sure, Mister Zhongli looks like he’s in his mid-20s, but he seems so much more mature than
he is, even more so with the way his gait that belays a strange dominance. He walks and talks
like he takes all the air in the room, though he doesn't seem to realize it.

Childe swallows. “Well.” He pulls away his hand, trying his best to not wipe it due to sweat.
“I’m, um, going to get going? This is a really pretty bookstore, by the way. A beautiful one.”
He nods at Hu Tao. “Thank you for showing me around. It’s really gorgeous.”

“No worries!” chirps Hu Tao. “Anyone who’s a friend of Vlad’s is a friend of mine! After all,
he’s always done a fantastic job. I’ve never had someone as talented as him. Now you
however,” Hu Tao glares at Zhongli. “You should seriously leave this shop at some point.
Like, effective-immediately. Like, forever if you can. Stop coming in here! I swear to god-“

“Gods,” interrupts Zhongli, still keeping his eyes on Childe. “Are not a name you should
invoke too carelessly. It is disrespectful, Miss Hu Tao, do watch your mouth.”

Hu Tao snorts. “God or no gods, you need to get out of here. If you don’t-“ But Childe
doesn’t even stay long enough to hear her rant. He just swallows, nods his head towards
Zhongli again, and bolts out. He feels the rain even as it patters over his face, ignorant to his
internal plight. Holy shit.

Holy shit.

Childe might have a crush and it’s day 2 of his stay in Liyue. What the fuck.

“I told you,” Felix points out as he points a sharp amethyst at Childe. “Blessed. Everything in
harmony brings good things to you. You have been harmonized. Only good things will find
you.”

Childe holds his head between his knees. “But you don’t get it, Felix. He’s like, hot. Super
hot.”

“I know.” Felix nods his head sagely. “That’s why I knew to send you to Vlad’s store. It took
some coaxing, but it’s a good thing, isn’t it? That Ekaterina and I introduced you to him.”

Childe inhales. Exhales. Of course his madmen roommates had the eyes of god. They’re
basically god at this point. They use stones to predict his future and somehow work it out.
What the fuck?

“What the fuck?” says Childe again for the thousandth time.

Felix smiles. “Like I said,” he continues. “Harmony. You should go and meet him more. I
feel good vibes from him.”

“EKATERINA!” The door swings open, nearly slamming into the wall. Vlad tumbles into the
room. “DID YOU TELL NADIA I WAS PREPARING HER OUR ANNIVERSARY
SURPRISE?”

Another holler from another room—this time from Ekaterina’s room. “NO,” she screams.
“YOU’RE JUST OBVIOUS.”

“I’M NOT OBVIOUS. I’VE BEEN PREPARING THIS FOR A WEEK I SWEAR TO
GOD-“
“Lots of gods swearing today,” says Felix mildly. “Not a good vibe. I’ll tell them to stop
saying that.”

‘God this’, ‘god that’, it doesn’t matter. Childe’s just seeing golden eyes piercing through
him, the small quirking smile, the man who looks like he’s from the future and past all at the
same time—a man so beautiful he might actually grow some balls and ask him out of he has
the chance. A man who, unfathomably, may take a shot with Childe even though Childe
knows that the chance is close to nil.

“Anyway,” says Felix after he scurries back and forth trying to tame the two roommates,
tipping his head towards Childe. “Try it out. Ask him out. Even if you’re a pure soul with no
experience-“ Childe chokes on his breath “-you can always take time to build up that
experience, to experience things as they naturally go. You don’t have to force yourself. Just
make sure to approach this tenderly as it sounds like something lovely.” Felix cracks a smile.
“All beautiful things are tender.”

All beautiful things are tender. Yeah, like Childe’s heart. And this man who looks like a
heartbreaker. Great. Cool.

“Okay,” says Childe. “Okay. I’ll try.”

Felix smiles wider. “Yeah?”

“Yeah, I’ll try.” God help him, he’ll try. Goddamn Tonia and her insights.

Felix pats his shoulder, flashing his teeth. “I’ll make dinner,” he says. “Who wants pasta?”

More yells from the background.

At 10pm again—how does Felix have an uncanny skill to text exactly at 10pm?—a name-
change for the group.

Ayyyy homies with 2 gaybies

Childe: Who’s the other gay person?

Ekaterina: Who do u think

 Chapter 2
Chapter Notes
See the end of the chapter for notes

Childe’s in the middle of reshuffling his room when Felix barges through the front door and
yells, “It’s time for a makeover!”

Childe splutters as he says, “Makeover? For what?”

“For you!” yells Felix, and begins to rampage all over his room. “What is this? What is that?
Is that a black sweater? Throw that out right now! Black doesn’t look good on you!”

“Felix, what’s-“ But Felix is already throwing clothes onto his bed, his desk, his floors. He
throws so many clothes out from Childe’s closet that Childe yells, “Felix!”

Felix stops.

Felix looks manic, high on sugar even. His eyes are blown wide and his mouth opening and
closing. He glances down at Childe’s outfit now—a white polo t-shirt with some slacks—and
immediately says, “No.”

“No?” repeats Childe, incredulous. “What do you mean, ‘no’?”

“No.” Felix shakes his head. “No, no, no, this is wrong.”

Childe wants to protest again when Ekaterina shows up at his room. Her eyes look over Felix
once before she says, “He’s in his zone.”

“His zone?” repeats Childe as he watches Felix run around again, rearranging his stationery.
Somehow it looks neater than before. “What is ‘the zone’?”

“The zone where his premonitions are about to come true and you, my boy, are his next
victim.”

“The good vibes are here!” yells Felix as he pulls out a blue sweater—Childe’s favorite sky-
blue sweater. “Wear this! This is good!”

Childe clobbers for the sweater as Felix throws more things into his arms: a pair of black
trousers, and outer white coat, some gloves, a hat. The last one Felix eyes critically before he
snatches back. “No,” he says. “Makes you look like a detective. You do not want to look like
a detective.”

“I have classes in an hour,” says Childe, though he silences the minute Felix gives him
another look. Forget the fact that Ekaterina’s right there; Felix looks close to murder. “Okay,
okay! But can you guys at least step out when I’m changing my pants?”
“No can do. Kat can, though.” Felix gives Ekaterina puppy eyes, which she rolls her eyes at
and leaves the room. “Come on, change! I need to do your hair.”

Childe spends the next twenty minutes in a Felix hurricane while he upends Childe’s bag
next. He starts arranging everything by the size—his ThinkPad first, then iPad, then cords
and mouse. He rearranges his textbooks by the subject and color as he makes sure that they’re
well arranged in another black-hole pocket that Childe’s not sure where Felix summoned
from in his North Face bag. Childe raises his eyebrows when he sees Felix pull out a lunch
box from his back—a decidedly large lunchbox with three layers and a metal strap—which
Childe isn’t even sure where it came from. He stuffs it into Childe’s bag too and essentially
turns his backpack into a Dora bag.

“There,” he says as Childe still gaps at him. “Why are you still standing there? Go and sit
down!”

Felix, thinks Childe serenely, should really open his own business. A hairdressing, psychic
reader, stone-collector, and restaurant business. Childe barely recognizes himself when Felix
sweeps his hair to the side with a deftness that should not come with a boy who looks like he
still digs stones from the garden sometimes and starts tumbling in in some back alley closet.
Childe blinks when he leans towards his mirror, noting the way his hair falls over his eyes
just so, his hair slightly shiny but not so much it looks greasy. Honestly, he looks like he just
stepped out from rain and came out like that. A motorcyclist who took off his helmet only to
reveal a super hot hunk.

The hunk being Childe, but he’s not that muscular nor is he that somber enough to pull off
that distant aura. The best he’s got is his Converse sneakers, his crappy G-Shock watch, and
an awful heart-shaped sunglasses that he got as a gag gift from Tonia and now wears it at
every second possible. The fact that his siblings laugh at it all the time is just a side bonus.

Childe blinks again as he says, “Wow, you’re good at this.”

“Right?” Felix beams. “Now you feel good. I feel great. You are balanced.”

“How do you even measure this… ‘balance’?” asks Childe as he gets up. Felix starts fixing
his collar too, smoothening it out when its already crisp like fresh paper. “Do you just have a
radar?”

“I have a radar for everything, Childe—stones, dreamcatchers, pentagrams-“

“-pentagrams?-“

“-and maybe some gut feeling that I’ve been told comes from the divine Celestias, but let’s
be honest, it’s because I sleep 8 hours a day and eat good food unlike some people in this
house-“ at this Felix purposely looks over his shoulder at Vlad’s room “-though he wouldn’t
care since he’s got a chef girlfriend and they always go on weekly dates. Because of me!”

“Because of you,” deadpans Childe. “Wait, so the reason you dressed me up-“

Felix grins at that. Already Childe feels an impending headache coming.

“Look,” Childe starts nervously. “When I said I was going to take my shot-“

“-you mean effective-immediately, as in today, as in after classes you are going straight to the
bookstore so you can happen to bring lunch to Vlad because he just so happens to have
forgot his lunch and, yes, that’s his lunch and I turned off his alarm clock so that he’ll rush to
work in a bit. You’ll find out that he’ll text a consecutive sixteen texts about panicking about
lunch while also helping that nice old lady that he carries books for for an entire hour so that
he can help her not throw her back. After that, he’ll settle in the back rooms where he starves
for life while knowing that he could have had good cooking from me instead of Popeyes
down the road. And trust me-“ Felix gives Childe a somber look “-He doesn’t trust fried
chicken.”

Childe gaps. He blinks a few times before he says, “So you’re telling me you’re intentionally
ruining people’s lives so that you can get me hitched.”

“It’s not hitched if you haven’t made your move!” says Felix. “You need to go on a date first
and then see where this goes. It’s tender, but it’s not without a fight. You must fish, Childe,
and given you’re from a fishing village you should know this by now.”

“But fishing villages don’t include fishing humans-“ starts Childe, but Felix is already
shoving him out the door and down the hallway. Ekaterina throws an extra scarf, a one-time
use poncho, and a Starbucks coffee cup that she no doubt smuggled from her last visit to a
Starbucks shop where she took paper cups for the sake of having them. “Less dishes that
way,” she told Childe before going on to robbing more utensils from nearby fast food chain
restaurants and getting them more dinner supplies than they’ll ever need. “It reduces stress.”

Well Childe’s not feeling any less stressed as he looks at Ekaterina and she shrugs. “It is what
it is,” she says simply and walks away. The traitor. “Good luck!”

“But-“ But Childe’s already shoved out the front door, a jiggling set of cat keys also thrown
into his arms as if he’s not housing literally an entire storeroom at this point. He stumbles on
the molding carpet, nearly careening into another neighbor who looks at him with a raised
eyebrow. “Well,” the neighbor says looking just as eclectic as everyone who lives on this
floor. “And how do you do?”

“Sorry, sorry,” starts Childe as he eyes the stranger. She’s got an old feeling to her even
though she looks young: bright eyes, brighter smile, and dark hair that slides down onto her
glazed lily patterned sweater. If it weren’t for the fact that Childe was as gay as the next
shining star, he would have had a crush on her. “Sorry,” repeats Childe. “I didn’t mean to.”

“Yes, I can see that.” The girl smiles wider, her fingers coming to slide back her bangs.
“Well, I hope you have a good day. It seems like they really-“ she eyes Childe’s large item
pile again “-care about you. Is there something I should be worried about? Are they having
parties again?”

“They have parties?” repeats Childe, but the girl just laughs, shaking her head.

“Not quite parties. More like potlucks. They invite me sometimes. Guizhong.” The girl
extends her hand, delicate and soft. “I’m sure I’ll have to see you at some point if Felix is the
one involved in this.”

“Does Felix just vibe-checks everyone and befriends every stranger?”

“Oh trust me.” Guizhong gives him a look. “If there’s anyone who knows Felix as much as
we do, you’ll know that he’s always like that. Has he taped a Cor Lapis stone to your
doorstep yet?”

Childe wants to ask as to why the hell is Felix taping Cor Lapis stones on people’s doors
when there’s a holler behind him. “Go to class now!” yells Felix. “The train’s being weird
again! I can feel it!”

Childe scrabbles on his feet. “Sorry, sorry, I need to go to class. I need to-“ he glances over
his shoulders, noting how the front door is inched open just a bit with Felix’s terrifying eye
glaring at him. “Sorry, I need to go! I’ll talk to you later!”

“Bye,” says Guizhong amusedly just as Felix steps out and says, “Guizhong! What a
coincidence seeing you out here. Are you going to the flower shop again? How’s Cloud?”

Cloud? Childe nearly tumbles again. Who names their kid Cloud?

Then again Childe can’t say anything about naming issues. His middle name is literally Ajax,
named after the Greek warrior Ajax because his younger brother is called Teucer. Talk about
irony.

Childe runs down the stairs again—he’s still not taking risks with that elevator—and
stumbles out into the Liyuen heat. He squints his eyes at the sun, listening to the whole city
chatter.

Liyue is always loud no matter what. How strange then that a village boy like him feels like
he belongs to it still. Regardless anything with a routine gives Childe stability, and he’s okay
with stability. Like that everything’s predictable—and like that he can dodge Felix’s absolute
monstrosity of his machinations by the time he gets to class. Or will get to class. Or whatever.

Childe takes off again. No nearby train station it is.

He’s halfway through a Chem Lab this time when sixteen exact notifications pop up on his
phone. It rings through the class with his trademark meow notification, one that his siblings
also set up, which wouldn’t be as embarrassing if not for the amused look from his labmate
who says, “Cute ringtone.”

“Thanks.” Childe’s cheeks flush red. “It’s my siblings.”

“Tell me about it.” The labmate passes him another tube. The crystal-clear liquid swirls in it
dangerously. “Siblings. Always the bane of our lives.”

“Always,” says Childe. “But I love them anyway.”

Childe ends up at the bookstore again. The bookstore which, deep inside, he doesn’t want to
go at all.

It’s not that he doesn’t want to see Tall, Dark and Handsome. Frankly speaking if he had to
shoot himself in the leg and then the wall, he’d be more glad to do it. In fact he’d do a lot of
things actually to see this man in person. He’s the most attractive man Childe’s ever seen in
his life and Childe’s convinced he’ll never see someone as hot as him ever again.

Still that doesn’t shake off the jitters in his hands nor the boldness that existed for one
millisecond the night before only to melt into what seems like a remnant of Childe’s dignity.
In fact his dignity looks just like the flower sitting by the bookstore’s entrance, shrinking and
bent as it practically sobs dewdrops. Childe leans over, tilting the flower upward.

It sinks down again, but no matter. Childe might be able to (keyword: might) bring it back to
life with his non-existent green thumb. Then again he’s in a biology major, of course he
should be able to take care of plants. If he wants to love narwhals, he needs to be able to get
their home sweet home too and that includes making it look like the world’s most aggressive
artic forest.

Childe swallows again as he clutches tightly against the metal lunchboxes. It’s okay, it’s okay,
he chants in his head. It’s only one meeting. How bad could it be? If he’s lucky the man
won’t be there and he won’t have to do anything or, better yet, just be that creep who eyes
him from afar and then leaves. Wouldn’t that be a magnificent idea? Good vibes my ass,
sweats Childe. There weren’t any good vibes to make up for his lack of confidence.

Swallowing again, he pushes the door open.

“Childe!” Vlad tumbles from his seat. Somehow he looks so much more alive in this store—
so much more awake compared to his grumpy, zombified self. Then again for all his grumpy
demeanour, there are still moments where he still shows his care: passing Childe a coffee
mug at crack dawn when he’s just come home from work; leaving little amneties here and
there when Childe can’t find shampoos, towels, a toothbrush; providing him little tidbits as to
how to dodge Felix and Ekaterina given certain circumstances including when Felix starts
trying to pelt him with stones again and Ekaterina coming in for the kill. Arguments, as far as
Childe’s concerned, is a common thing in this household where Felix and Ekaterina are
concerned, but they both argue in such a sibling way that Childe still finds comfort in that—
in a way where he can still curl up in the armchairs that scatter all over the home, the
flickering candlelights that Felix sometimes lights up even with their newly replaced light
bulbs, and flowers dotting all over the place when they all get the chance; buying it from a
flower shop that Childe’s now suspecting has to be the neighbors. Of course. Felix probably
charmed his way into that too.

“Thanks for coming,” says Vlad gruffly as he accepts Childe’s offering. “I knew my
lunchbox was somewhere. Felix set you up for this, didn’t he?”

Busted. “How did you know?” asks Childe.

“It’s Felix. He sets up everything.”

“Vlad, who are you talking to? We have another customer who needs another book and- oh!”
Hu Tao comes into view, this time wearing an eclectic combo of a large square hat, another
Liyuen-styled robe, and sandals that are most definitely old; Childe sees the beat-up texture
upon its surface. Hu Tao beams. “Welcome back! I thought you’d wait a bit before you came
back.”

“You’ve been here?” asks Vlad. He gives Childe another questioning look.

Childe scratches his cheeks. “Only for a bit. I was just visiting to see where you worked and,
well, here we are.”

Vlad raises another eyebrow again—the same look that Tonia sometimes gives him when he
steals some cookies from the jar and lies to them that Teucer did it—before he snorts and
says, “Yeah, okay. Whatever. Take your time around here. Ask around if you need
something.”

“Yeah, ask for anything! Though you don’t look like an avid reader. Are you an avid reader?”
Hu Tao asks with squinting eyes. “Not that I want to be judgmental! Just- the last time you
came, you just kind of glazed over the books.”

“Well, yeah, your bookstore is really pretty, so I couldn’t really focus on the books. But
you’re right, I don’t read much.” Childe smiles. “But I might want to. I’ve always wanted to
try.”

“Ah, if that’s the case, what kind of books do you like?”

What kind of books did Childe like? “Well, I like encyclopedias. The ones with lots of
pictures,” he says. “I like science and anatomy, mostly for marine animals though. I like
narwhals,” he adds that last part with a grin. “I’m doing a lot of research regarding that. Or,
well, will soon do research for that. I’m looking to get into a lab or a grad school that
specializes in that. It’s probably too specific, but it's the best I got.”

“That’s fine, specific is good. Specific narrows it down.” Hu Tao taps her chin. “Ah, why
don’t you come to the non-fiction section with me? I might have something for you.”

Hu Tao drags him by the wrist—somehow, the shopkeeper doesn’t seem to have a sense of
personal space, but that’s fine; she seems trustowrhty anyway—as she scrabbles up and down
ladders while muttering, “Encyclopedias, encyclopedias… ah! Right here!” She pulls out one
as big as her torso as she passes it to Childe. “All about marine animals! Just the way you like
it!”

Childe cracks it open. Dust starts flying all over. “Wow,” he says in between coughs. “That’s
old.”

“Oh, it’s old alright! It’s one of the older editions of an author that no longer prints right now.
It’s just that and the leftover prints all over Liyue. Its abundant enough that we’re not worried
about having limited stock on it, but well.” Hu Tao grins. “Vlad re-bound that book actually,
so it still holds up pretty well. Well, better than most copies of this anyway.”

“Cool.” Childe flips through the pages and raises an eyebrow. “Wow, these are old diagrams.”

“Right? I think you’d like it. Good history.”

“Yeah, I guess I will…” starts Childe but he’s already feeling a stare burning on his back. A
decidedly intense stare. “Who-“

Tall, Dark, and Handsome is right there.

Immediately Hu Tao goes into a flurry. “Oh no you don’t. You don’t get to come into this
section! I know what you’re looking for! No, I won’t argue with you about Liyuen history!”

“It is inaccurate,” starts Tall, Dark and Handsome as he proffers a thick tome. “Nothing in
here talks about the wars in truthful detail.”

“Zhongli, that’s literally a Liyuen scholar from a thousand BC, of course it’s not accurate! It’s
all hearsay!”

Childe swallows again as he stares at Zhongli. True to his assumed nature, Zhongli seems
like the kind who likes to stay the same: still that pristine suit, still the golden brooches
pinned close to his chest, still the same ink-swept hair as it curls down his shoulders. It’s like
he gelled it in the same style as Felix did to Childe this morning and somehow made it look
natural. Though Childe highly doubts that Zhongli did it on purpose like he did.

Zhongli’s eyes swivel up towards him again. Those golden eyes still sear on him as he says,
“Childe. It’s been a while.”

Childe gives a wobbly smile. “It’s been one day, Mister Zhongli. It really isn’t that long.”

“Still—it’s nice to see you. I suppose it’s a refreshing start as opposed to the keeper before
me.”

“Who are you calling a keeper!” snaps Hu Tao. “I’m just saying, I’m not going to replace the
books just because you think it doesn’t work. It’s all historical figures! They’re not supposed
to be accurate! That’s how history is!”

“History is written by the victors and they are embellished, but they are not so disrespectful
to lie about the atrocities like this,” responds Zhongli. “I would like to talk with this person
eventually. They’ve gotten it all wrong.”
Childe stares down at Zhongli’s tome again. Yep, it looks old alright, and it looks like it came
from way older than Childe’s fervid imagination could ever think. Childe clutches against his
encyclopedia as he says, “Well, uh, I’ll just go there while you guys have fun here, yeah? I’ll
just go through it and see if I want it. Are there any more places I can find more of these?”

“Two rows down, third shelf!” says Hu Tao before she turns to Zhongli. “And you, first
hallway, directly down. Out the front door why don’t you?”

“Hu Tao,” says Zhongli with a severe look. “You must learn more tact for your customers.”

“Oh I know to have tact for customers, just not you!”

Childe grimaces as he bolts out from the scene. Right. Okay. So he’s seen Tall, Dark and
Handsome. He’s witnessed him in his full glory as well as those penetrating eyes. He’s good
now, thank you very much. In fact he’s set for life. Felix, you’re right, he’s got good vibes.
But that’s all he is—vibes. You’re supposed to feel it and let it go.

Childe starts pulling encyclopedias from the shelves again and wanders into the nearest
reading nook. For all he knows he can just hyperventilate there or think about the meaning of
life. Whichever works.

Except- Except he should have thought twice because it’s still the same reading nook as last
time—the reading nook that they studied and found Zhongli in—and for all his faith in being
able to dodge his mistakes, Childe fails to recognize this:

That maybe Zhongli is also just as adept as escaping tenuous situations and running into the
nearest place to hide as well.

Childe startles when he sees Zhongli already day.

“What-“ he starts but Zhongli gives him another mild smile as he says, “My apologies. It can
be quite hard to extract myself from Hu Tao when she gets herself started. Though it’s been
such a common occurrence it’s not quite as hard to escape after that.” Zhongli sighs. “It is
still a disappointment that she would not talk to me more about the inaccuracies of the history
books here.”

“A-are they really though? Inaccurate, I mean.” Childe’s not even sure where he’s going with
this train of thought anymore. He just knows he needs distractions, and his encyclopedia is,
temporarily, not one of them.

“Yes,” continues Zhongli, glancing over him. Whatever he sees remains a mystery from how
neutral his face looks. “A lot of the accounts do not align with the truth that I’ve researched.
Most of them talk about generals and weapons and invasions, but that is only one part of the
story in the olden wars. In fact, the reason why the Archon Wars are called by that name in
the first place is precisely because there are Archons, though most people wouldn’t believe
that. People tend to think Gods as a symbolism.“ Zhongli smiles briefly. “They think if it is
impossible then it cannot be true, but that is false. Anything can be true if looked at hard
enough. It is the cycle of life. It is precisely what makes life life.”
Childe swallows. “Y-Yeah, I guess so.”

“And what about you?” asks Zhongli. “What do you think about life?”

What Childe thinks about life is that it’s fundamentally a homewrecker right now as Childe
shifts on his feet, clenching and unclenching his encyclopedia. “Well,” he starts, voice
shaking. “I don’t really know much about history like you do, but I do know this: Narwhals
are cool.”

Zhongli raises an eyebrow. “Narwhals?”

“Y-Yeah.” Childe gives another wobbly smile. “It’s a subspecies of whales. It’s really cool
with an oval body, speckled skin, and a large tusk that protrudes from its head. I-It’s got a lot
of sensory nerves in the tusk,” Childe adds the last part in a rush. “Even though people think
it’s just a horn that’s used to spear through prey, it actually has a lot more uses: sensing
temperature, pressure, and particles. It detects the world with such vivid accuracy that it’s
almost impressive for a structure that looks dead like any other horns. But it’s not.” Childe
laughs. “It’s really brilliant, if you think about it. A century of Darwinism and that’s what we
get—a brilliant, unsuspecting species, hunting the world as they feel it. Empathetic to the
point of being human.”

“’Empathetic to the point of being human’,” repeats Zhongli. “That is a lovely line.”

“I-Is it?” Childe smiles. “Well, I think it’s just a fact. It’s just, well.” Childe wants to run
himself into a wall. “It’s just amazing. How the world moves.”

For that’s just how it is. In between Childe sitting in his squeaky mattress and Coca-cola cans
being scattered by his feet—in between curling himself up among microwaveable Poptarts,
scattered wrappers of candy, the occasional bowl filled with health food—he always ends up
doing this: looking out his cracked windows and translucent curtains as he stares at the
clouds, long and infinite and imagining how it would be like if the ocean was in the sky. A
thousand narwhals swimming in tandem, staring down at him with those brilliant, all-seeing
eyes. Divinities. All in their own subtle ways.

Childe chuckles. “Sorry, sorry,” he says, wondering how many times he’s apologized today.
“I’m rambling. Sorry,” he adds the last part while inching back further. “I’ll just- go.”

Zhongli blinks. “Go? Why would you go?”

“Ah, well-“ Childe racks his brain. He needs to go to a grocery store? Go back home? Hide
himself in his room as he continues bashing his head literally into a wall, deeming that he’s
incapable of even having a straight conversation with a man who he just met in a bookstore?
Regardless, it’s still going to be a one-time thing. Imagine coming back only to find out that
the man no longer comes here after all. Wouldn’t that be grand?

He's just lucky that the man comes here quite often. But he doesn’t come here always, and
that’s the main point.

Childe grins. “Well, I just need to do things, you know? Some things. Nothing too much.”
“Then why would you need to go?” Zhongli looks genuinely confused and Childe wants to
skedaddle out of here as fast as he can. “You can stay for a bit, can’t you? You are interesting
company. I do want to hear more about your narwhals.”

“R-really?” asks Childe, and nearly forgets that he needs to actually go. “I mean, maybe next
time? Some other day? I just need to go home. I-“ Childe rampages his mind again. “I think
my roommates said that I was cooking dinner tonight. But only for tonight. And maybe other
days, I don’t know. I’m just-“ Childe shakes his head. “Sorry, I’m rambling again. I’ll- I’ll
go.”

“Childe,” says Zhongli simply as Childe fumbles with his encyclopedia again. He focuses on
how the spine looks beautifully new, held together by a leather skin with stitching in between
that are barely visible. Vlad’s own handiwork. “Do not apologize. I do enjoy listening to you.
And if you may permit me, I would like to hear more from you again if I do bump into you
eventually. You seem to be here quite often-“ Zhongli adds the last part with a smile, though
what it means Childe can’t discern. “Though I suppose that is presumptuous of me, seeing
that you’ve only come here twice.”

“Ah, well, I just moved here,” Childe laughs, and at Zhongli’s inquisitive look, “I’m, um,
Snezhnayan. I don’t know why I’m telling you this but, well, I’m here to get an education.
College, you know?”

“Yes,” says Zhongli. “College.”

Childe blinks as he laughs nervously again. He desperately, horrifically, needs to hide in his
room. “Yes,” he says. “Yes, okay. Cool. Well, I’m going to, um. Get going? If that’s okay?”

“Yes Childe.” Zhongli gives him another devastating smile. “You may.”

Childe swallows. “Haha, I mean-“ I’m sorry, he almost says, but then he remembers
Zhongli’s words and shoves those apologies back in. “Okay,” he says. “Okay. See you
eventually?”

“Yes.” Zhongli tilts his head. “See you eventually.”

Childe bobs his head again and scurries out. If he feels Zhongli staring at him, he doesn’t
acknowledge that he knows it. He also doesn’t say anything when he buys the encyclopedia
without another word—it was filthy expensive given that Vlad used good leather to bind it—
and Childe shoves it into his bag as Hu Tao tells him, “I swear, I’ll get that pest out
eventually. He’s such an annoyance, I don’t know how he keeps circumventing security.”

“Maybe he’s just always here,” jokes Childe, and when Hu Tao looks at him horrifically. “Is
he actually always here?”

“Oh Childe,” Hu Tao says in the same way Tonia says Oh big brother. “You have no idea.”

Great. Even better. That means no matter what, Childe’s expectations are debunked: Zhongli
will always be here, and Childe will always be gayer than the gayest penguins currently
housed in a Fontaine zoo. Just great.
*

“You did not ask him out,” says Felix as Childe steps into their home. Childe freezes. “I knew
it,” says Felix. “The blue did not, in fact, help.”

“I mean, I don’t think any outfit I’ll wear will do anything,” responds Childe. “It’s not about
the look, Felix, it’s about the confidence.”

“Which you have in abundance of until you started talking about narwhals, in which case I
know you’re nervous. So did you?” Felix adds the last part with a raised eyebrow. “Talk
about narwhals?”

How the hell is he so good at this? “U-Um, maybe?”

“Did you talk about it for a minute, or did it span almost the entire conversation?”

“I-It might have been at least half the conversation.”

“Okay.” Felix nods, like he’s some politician’s disappointed assistant. “I suppose we can
work with that.”

Childe fumbles again as Felix tugs him in. On the table already sits three distinct things: tarot
cards, a few stones, and lines of bracelets.

“Pick one,” he deadpans.

Childe takes a seat. “Uh, like now?”

“Yes Childe, right now. I need you blessed.”

Childe grimaces as he picks up a tarot card. A woman looks back up at him, eyes closed with
a golden scythe held in her hands. A thousand flowers weave around her, framing her in an
elegant throne, as she settles comfortably in it with a single pot settled next to her. Childe
passes it to Felix.

“Okay,” mutters Felix. “So the Empress. Creation of new things. I got that right.”

Childe sweats as he chooses a rock next—one that Felix aptly stares intensely at because
that’s his realm of specialty. “Pick the first one you see,” says Felix as Childe hurriedly grabs
the first stone. It’s a jagged pink one, almost translucent.

Felix opens his mouth. “Kunzite? No way.”

“What does that mean? Is it a bad thing?” asks Childe.

Felix shakes his head. “No, no, just-“ he fixes his jaw. “Nevermind. Next one?”
Childe eyes the bracelets next. Each are made different: one from silver with butterflies
streaked across it; another one made from beautiful twisting ropes with an owl on it; a third
one which Childe can’t stop looking at, which is a silver deer strapped upon a leather strap.
Childe reaches out and touches the deer.

“Archon’s above,” says Felix. “You’re such an idiot.”

Childe shrinks back. “Is that a bad thing also?”

“No, but you’re just special.” Felix shifts his jaw. “That’s it. Intervention time.”

Intervention time includes Felix shoving Childe upon couches, tucking him in a large, knitted
comforter, popcorn and Sprite in his hands, and the aging, rickety smell of sage coming from
somewhere—no doubt Felix’s handiwork. Felix tucks next to him, relaxing himself, as he
says, “Watch,” and turns on the TV.

Somehow Felix has lined up an entire Netflix selection between the time Childe went to
school and came back. Specifically, Hallmark movies.

“Hallmark movies?” says Childe aloud. “But I don’t-“

“Shut up and watch,” says Felix. “Your romance life is desolate. You have no experience.
Watch and learn; I expect you to take notes.”

“But-“

“You will watch every main character and watch how they flirt,” snaps Felix, shutting
Childe’s mouth up. “Now come. Let’s start with the first one. They said that this one has a
city girl losing her memory only to fall in love with a lumberjack. A specific lumberjack. One
that looks like your man.”

“But I don’t-“

Felix doesn’t even hesitate. He just starts playing, somehow also formatting it in a way that it
starts straight at the movie itself. Childe sees the main guy and falls silent.

“Watch,” repeats Felix, and Childe, his still too-gay ass, watches.

“That’s bullshit,” says Vlad as he points at a third guy showing up on their sixth movie.
“There’s no way she’s going to fall in love with him. Look at him! He’s, like, beneath her
league.”

“Watch it, Vlad,” says Ekaterina as she tucks herself between Childe’s thighs. Somehow,
they’ve all left bases 1, 2, and 3 in friendship and went to 100 and going as though they’ve
been here their whole lives. “You got Nadia and how do you look like? That’s right, that’s
what I thought.”

Felix continues chewing on his popcorn, eyes bright even in the flickering television lights
and the sunset red as it slowly turns into a deep purple. The darkness comes soon after,
shrouding the whole living room in a miasmic silver, the world flickering on and off like it’s
a starlight blinking Morse Code. Childe keeps on chewing on his own popcorn as he watches
the main girl on the show gasp at the sight of the new man.

“Oh no,” says Childe.

“Oh no,” says Felix. “He’s definitely competition.”

Ekaterina ends up winning the bet. “I told you he’s going to be end goal!” she shrieks and
Vlad groans as he digs his pockets for money. Felix doesn’t even say anything; just extends
his hand towards Vlad as well.

“I didn’t bet with you,” says Vlad.

“You did not,” says Felix. “But I also blessed your room. Payment?”

Vlad passes him a 100 mora note.

Childe raises an eyebrow as he says, “Do you do that often too? Bless people’s rooms?”

“I bless everyone and anyone so as long as hope stands,” says Felix. “Also because a psychic
has to make money sometimes. Capitalism, you know?” He nudges against Childe. “Where’s
your notes? I want to see.”

“He’s taking notes?” asks Ekaterina. “What, he didn’t ask the guy out?”

“No, not as far as I’m concerned.”

“He chickened out? Wow, Vlad, you owe me more money.”

“I didn’t even know he had a crush,” grumbles Vlad, though he’s still digging for money.
Where’s he getting his cash from? “If I knew you just wanted an excuse to drag him into the
shop, you could have just asked me.”

“But panic is so much better, isn’t it?” says Felix. “It’s a gem.”

“Fuck you, Felix. I nearly got a heartattack.”

Childe smiles mildly as he passes on his phone. True to his word he took notes even if he
wanted to. Though when Felix looks over his Notes he raises an eyebrow.

“He loves like a narwhal?” Felix recites.

“What does that even mean?” asks Vlad.

“Oh my god,” says Ekaterina third. “I can see it—he’s one of those metaphorical guys. She
loves him like the sun. That’s it. He’s a closet romantic.”

“I’m not a closet romantic!” protests Childe though if he thinks about it he… might be… a
closet romantic? “I’m not,” he adds weakly. “I mean, I don’t know if I am.”

“We need to make a candlelight dinner,” says Felix.

“Add some flowers,” continues Vlad.

“God, don’t even forget the soft music. You want to dance? I’ll teach you how to dance.”
Ekaterina sticks out her hands like she’s holding a flaming potato. “Though I hate dancing,
but I like you enough, so we’ll make this work.”

“No no no no no, guys please!” sputters Childe. “No wingmanning! No, um, getting
involved! I’m going to let this, uh, go naturally. Yeah! Like, normal people stuff.”

“’Normal people stuff’,” says Felix sympathetically. “Do you hear this, guys? Is that the
sound of narwhals crying?”

“Oh they’re crying alright,” adds Vlad. “I can hear it.”

“They’re slowly dying one by one,” says Ekaterina. “Please, if you love them you’ll let them
go.”

Childe flushes. “I’m not that bad!”

But he is. He is that bad. He’s so bad he’s good and he’s probably one of those bad boys
who’ll be like, “Hey girl, do you like a bad boy? ‘Cause I’m bad at everything,” and wink by
blinking both eyes. He’s that horrific.

“I swear I’ll do better,” says Childe. “Promise!”

“Promise he says,” says Felix. “No good vibes.”

“Ah, if Felix says it, it’s over for you,” says Vlad. “Good luck, homie.”

“My god,” says Ekaterina. “Are we going to watch the next movie or not? I heard it was a
horrible fanfic of something online. I’m going to watch it if you guys don’t.”

They end up watching shows until it’s 6am, and by then Childe’s struggling into class,
Ekaterina going god-knows-where, Felix running off to his biochem labs, and Vlad already
gone from earlier so that he can make his night shift—all of which they do with sleepy
yawns, brief touches, and ambling away from each other. All tiny affections between friends
even if they’re nothing more than brief strangers.

Or at least Childe is.

But still—not so bad. It could have been worst. A 700-mora rent per month in the middle of
the busiest city in the world? Coming with these three idiots, it might even be a steal.
*

Inevitably the bookstore becomes A Thing.

Childe, can you pass Vlad his lunch, Felix texts him.

Childe, can you pass Vlad this leather he left, Felix texts him.

Childe, I know you’ll hate me, but you need to buy Vlad fried chicken. I forgot to cook for
him, Felix texts him.

“If you just want me to go,” grumbles Childe into his phone. “You could have just told me.”

“Ah, but that would ruin the fun of things,” responds Felix, loud clattering noises in the
background. “You just need to drop off his textbook this time. No worries, I didn’t actually
smuggle it out this time. He needs it for a new project. Whatever it is, I have no idea, but it’ll
be best to give it to him before he gets pissed.”

And that’s how Childe ends up in the bookstore for the fifteenth time in the span of a month,
grasping around the thick textbook as Vlad comes stumbling out from the back of the shop.
His attention falls on the textbook immediately as he says, “Thanks,” and snatches the book
away from Childe and disappears back into his cave. Hu Tao, always at the front cashier,
shrugs.

“Yeah, it’s his Grumpy Mode,” she says, and goes back to reading.

Who does not go back to reading, however, is Zhongli who always seems to be perpetually in
the bookstore, curled up in the furthermost reading nook where he slides his fingers over the
ancient pages. When he hears Childe come in, he always seems to find time to appear
between the bookshelves. “Childe,” he says, and Childe would end up following him even
when he ends up sputtering ten extra facts about narwhals. Zhongli would indulge him. He’d
nod and smile when Childe says something particularly amusing, moreso when Childe
stumbles over his words and says, “A-Ah, but that’s enough from me. Why don’t you talk,
Mister Zhongli?”

And Mister Zhongli would.

He’d wax on and on about the books he read that day—mostly history—and extra facts that
Childe found himself reeling back from—mostly nature—and they’d spend at least 3, 4 hours
sitting by each other, waxing until god-knows-what. They’d talk for so long that Hu Tao’s
started coming to the back, closing time imminent, while she says, “I hope I don’t have to
kick both of you out this time since you’re both starting to be just as bad.” Childe would
sputter his apologies before he dashes out.

Zhongli never seems to follow though.

“Why do you stay until the last minute?” Childe asked him one day, to which Zhongli
hummed. “Don’t you, um, have something else to do?”

“Childe,” Zhongli would drawl as he glances up at Childe, smiling. “I usually don’t have
much to do. After my, ah, morning shifts, I rarely need to go anywhere at all. It’s just how it
is.” And they’ll leave it at that. Childe has yet to know what Zhongli works as, but from what
Hu Tao says, Zhongli definitely appears anytime past noon, though how he gets in is still a
mystery to her.

Still, it’s nice this way: the dragon lamps flickering above them, the musky smell of wood,
the dusty motes flying all around the surface, the warm red carpet hissing beneath their feet.
Childe curling up in his own seat while Zhongli does the same, though his knees seemed to
always be poised towards Childe, his eyes sometimes darting between his books and Childe’s
nervous smile. At some point Childe feels something from these—feels the way Zhongli
glances over his face and away. The brief stillness that sometimes overcomes them is almost
ridiculous as much as Vlad’s occasional involvement, poking his head into the nook as he
says, “Childe, how about we go-“ And he’d stare between the both of them and says,
“Nevermind. We’ll go later yes?” Childe wants to beat him up for how obvious he’s being.

Yet he doesn’t mind it. Not much. He just knows that it’s nice to be able to see Zhongli
beyond just his unreadable demeanor, voice and hands carding together stories for all the
world to see. An unrecognizable fantasy. Childe wonders what possessed him one day when
he watches Zhongli talk about a place called The Guili Plains when he says, “Um, Mister
Zhongli?”

Zhongli blinks. “Yes?”

“Um, I was wondering-“ Come on, Childe. Come on. You’re twenty-three with actual balls “-
if you want to get dinner after this? After your reading, of course. I can see that you’re quite
involved in it.”

Zhongli blinks. “Dinner? As in downtown?”

“Yes. Do you have any preference?”

There’s a kind of narwhal shrieking in Childe—the kind that’s much younger, much fresher,
when they enter the oceans. Sometimes these baby narwhals float, motionless at the surface.
Occasionally, they will all leap out of the water or dive at the same time. We don’t know why
they act this way, only that it makes sense to them.

Only that it makes sense to them. Like how Childe’s shaking right now, trying his best to not
throw up.

Still an inscrutable face falls over Zhongli’s expression. His mouth opens and closes as he
says, “Childe, I-“ And that's how Childe knows; that's how he knows the answer.

“Sorry,” he whispers. “Sorry, I mean- Um. Forget that I brought that up. Sorry.”

“Childe-“
But Childe’s already fumbling with another encyclopedia—he’s starting to buy them out of
sheer guilt of always spending time in the bookstore but never paying for things—and thinks
about how he’ll end up going home to read it anyway, surprisingly getting very into studying
the anatomies of animals so as long as it benefits his research. He’s even tried applying to a
few labs. Hopefully, they’ll let him in.

“Sorry,” Childe says for the fourth time, watching as Zhongli’s face twists. “I’ll just- I’ll go-“

“Wait, please-“

But Childe’s already running out the door.

“Oh no, the narwhal’s crying,” says Ekaterina.

“He’s crying,” adds Vlad. “Felix!”

Felix barges out from his bedroom door.

“Ice cream, cake, chips. Which do you want?” demands Felix.

Childe continues bemoaning from the floor. “None,” he says. “I don’t want anything.”

“So all of it. Great.” Felix jumps back into his room, loud slamming noises coming from
somewhere, and barging out with a handful of snacks. “Come. We’ll watch The Fault in Our
Stars and watch Vlad cry like a baby.”

They end up watching The Fault in Our Stars and Me Before You where Vlad, as expected,
cries at all of it. “It’s not that sad!” he says angrily but takes the tissue from Ekaterina
anyway. “It’s not!”

“Say what you want, Vlad, but you’re a softie inside,” says Ekaterina simply. “A good trait,
I’m sure.”

“Are you crying enough? Do you want something sadder?” asks Felix as Childe continues
wrapping himself tighter into his blankets. “I’m sure he didn’t say no because he wanted to.
What if he’s just busy? You didn’t even hear his whole reasoning.”

“There’s no reasoning,” mutters Childe. “I’m just, well. Me.”

Because Childe knows—between everyone in the city and himself, there are so much more
people who would be better suited to dating Zhongli. Zhongli, who looks like he keeps
mementos of his ex-lovers while they all sigh about losing him. Zhongli, who looks like he
probably even treats them well because he can’t be anything less than a gentleman and has
never once truly broken a heart—not really—other than the contemporary way of showing
people that he’s not achievable. Zhongli, who literally looks like he came straight out of a
romance book and is now staring at Childe in the face as they watch a third sad romance
movie for the night—some Liyuen romance about an eternal god who remained single until
the end of days after the death of his initial lover—and making Childe feel all the more
terrible.

Childe, who can never really be a great catch other than being a sad single virgin who knows
too much about whales.

“Man,” says Childe. “If this is how awful I feel every time I get rejected, I’m probably not
supposed to date.”

“Nonsense,” says Felix. “Tonia says otherwise. Even if you cried over Aleksander over a
month.”

Aleksander which, honestly speaking, was a whole lot better. At least Childe went on a date
with him.

But still- “Tonia told you that?” sputters Childe, glancing at Felix. Felix looks almost
sheepish. “You keep in contact with my siblings!?”

“Well, there’s Instagram these days…”

“You can’t just contact my siblings!”

Felix gives him a look. “Why not? I needed to know what I’m working with.”

“Let him be,” says Ekaterina. “Trust me, you don’t want him getting worse.”

Childe can’t even imagine what’s worse.

Still he sighs again as he leans back. He grumbles as he says, “I’m going to talk to Tonia
about this. Just you wait. I’ll block you off her phone and make sure that you can’t contact
her again.”

“Oh yeah?” asks Felix demurely. “Well, it’s not my fault that you won’t let her date Gabriel.
They’re three weeks strong, by the way.”

“Three we- Felix! You can’t make her date Mike Wazowski!”

“’Mike Wazowski’ is actually a good vibe. I think he’ll be a good pair for her.” Felix nods
sagely. “I know it’s true. I felt it when I pulled another stone.”

“It’s always the stones,” says Ekaterina. “Gets him going every time.”

“It’s not sad!” exclaims Vlad, still eyeing the television. “Guys, can we just change the
channel at this point?”

Childe groans as he slides down the couch. He smooshes his face with a pillow as he says, “I
don’t want to this anyymooreee.”
“Now, now, don’t be pessimistic,” responds Felix. “There are more people in the city. More
people that, well, I’ll try feeling out. You want someone that’s still Tall, Dark and
Handsome?”

“I am not- That’s not my type!”

“Not what Tonia says,” says Felix. “Not a good vibe. Do not lie.”

“Felix!” says Childe. “Stop talking to my siblings!”

“It’s not sad!” continues Vlad as he smacks Ekaterina on the legs. “I swear-“

Childe gets another face full of pillows as Felix tries snuffing out the lies from him. Ekaterina
just continues punching Vlad in the face until he succumbs to her. Overall, it’s just another
night for them.

By the time Childe ends up at the store again, Childe nearly startles when he finds Zhongli
already waiting by the door. He’s frowning at Hu Tao as she yells at him before he snaps his
eyes towards Childe.

“Childe,” starts Zhongli, and Childe almost wants to bolt. How unfortunate then that Vlad
still needs his textbooks and, for the second time, Felix hadn’t actually smuggled it out of his
room and Childe was genuinely the only one who could pass it to him. Childe shrinks.
“Childe, I would like to talk.”

Childe shifts his jaw. “Yeah? Well, give me a sec. I need to, uh, pass this to a friend. Can you
wait?”

Zhongli shifts his jaw again and nods. Childe just smiles as he passes through, no doubt
interrupting Hu Tao on another rampage while Zhongli pointedly ignores her. It’s like another
ritual at this point, walking into them going at each other.

“Thanks,” says Vlad again, looking like he got mauled for the dozenth time again as he sticks
his head out from the back. He takes the textbook from Childe. “I just needed the manual in
this. Really appreciate it.”

“That’s fine,” says Childe. “I’m glad it helps.”

Vlad darts his eyes over Childe. “You going to talk to him?”

“Uhh, I guess. Yeah? I dunno, maybe we just won’t talk about it. Hopefully.”

“Hopefully,” repeats Vlad dryly. “Doesn’t look like it though. He looks like the kind of guy
who ‘talks about it’.”
 “Well at least pray for me. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Childe?” Childe nearly screams and grapples for Vlad. “Are you done?”

“He’s done,” says Vlad just as he gives Childe another look. He vanishes into his cave again.
Childe swallows.

“Um,” he says. “Yes?”

Zhongli looks relieved. “Good,” he says. “Shall we go to the back?”

They end up in the nook again, Childe still fiddling with his shirt. He ends up sliding into the
couch and trying to make himself as small as possible as he says, “Uh, sorry, I made things
weird last time. I swear I just wanted to invite you to dinner. It was a friend thing, you know?
I know it's weird for me to-“

“Childe,” interrupts Zhongli. “It is not that I don’t want to have dinner to you. It’s just that
every time after the store I have-“ Zhongli looks like he’s warring with himself “-I have, hm.
Some obligations, I suppose. I lied to you last time. I do have responsibilities, though it
oftentimes isn’t as dire as it seems. Though one day I hope,” Zhongli’s mouth shifts at that,
“that I can have dinner with you. Soon. Perhaps sometime this week. Will that be amenable?”

Childe opens and closes his mouth. “Uh, what?”

“This week. Shall we have dinner? Though I suppose you will think my idea quite
incredulous.”

“Incredulous? I mean, I don’t mind. What do you have in mind?” Not that Childe cares at this
point. The point is Zhongli said yes, he wants to have dinner, he wants to- “Wait, didn’t you
say you were busy? I mean-“

“We can have it during the time in which we’re here. An early dinner, perhaps,” says
Zhongli. “That would be fine. It wouldn’t interfere with your schedule and neither it will with
mine. Would that be okay?”

Yes, absolutely. Without a doubt. Childe can do anything if it means spending time with
Zhongli even if he still feels as inadequate as the carpet beneath him. “Yes,” says Childe.
“Yeah, sure. Absolutely.”

“Yes?” Zhongli looks almost bright, radiant even. Or maybe Childe’s just biased.

“Yeah,” says Childe. “Yeah that works.”

Chapter End Notes

Haha brain is brrr so I will brrr this piece and maybe edit it a bit later on for better flow,
but again, story won't change. Also would you believe I am also a narwhal addict?
End Notes

Because I'm always writing dark sad stuff, I need something to take me out of the sadness
because yall sometimes I just want a soft bookstore romance that takes me out because I
LOVE romantic comedies, especially the ones that makes me a giddy kid again. Hope you
guys liked it! Cause I love this world a lot

Definitely inspired by Casey McQuinston if you know LMAO

Please drop by the Archive and comment to let the creator know if you enjoyed their work!