Work Text:
He can't believe this was happening. He just can't-
"Hey there, comrade!"
Aether clutches his fist around the strap of his shoulder bag. His lips press together tightly in a straight line. The only other student in the room waves and smiles at him as if they were close friends. Aether sighs, feeling uneasy already. Does he have to spend detention with this guy??
"Even I'm feeling sorry, Mr. Aether," says Mr. Kaeya, or Sir Kaeya as some people would call him. He shrugs, looking at Aether apologetically. But Aether doubts that smile was anything but sorry.
Mr. Kaeya huffs, flipping a coin in the air, "Honestly, I understand the need to just have your own spot. But… did your spot of choice seriously had to be the roof…?"
Childe doesn't bother to hold in his brief laughter as the teacher catches his coin. Aether looks away, the ground suddenly very interesting. Sir Kaeya shakes his head, walking past the blond student.
"Sit anywhere you like. The two of you better get along." The teacher begins to walk out of the room, "I have some other things to take care of. Don't even think about walking out."
Aether snaps his head at the door as Mr. Kaeya closes it. The door clicks.
Did… Did the fucking teacher just…? Aether quickly goes over to test the doorknob. It doesn't budge.
"He locked us in." The blond allows that to sink in. He whispers to himself, "He actually just did that."
"Yeah, he does that all the time," the other student says. His voice ever-so-nonchalant, as if this really is nothing new, "He means it too. He'll be back when detention is over."
Childe gazes at his one other company. Usually, he would consider other people boring being this quiet. But… For once, he isn't alone, and another thing- t his dude is pretty cute .
Minutes pass by them, the only other sound filling the room being the ticking of the clock on the wall. Aether settles onto a seat, far from Childe. He reads through his notes he had written earlier that day. It was like he was trying to keep his mind off his company. Eventually, Childe did become bored.
“You know, you could at least talk, right?” The redhead says, his head propped up by his arm.
Aether only glances at him, giving a slight glare before going back to reading his notes. Childe raises an eyebrow at the reaction. He picks himself up from his desk and makes his way towards the blond. His hands behind his back, he bends forward slightly, towering over the smaller student.
“History notes?” Childe asks, reading Aether’s handwriting, “Let me guess- Mr. Zhongli?”
Aether sighs. Clearly, this guy ain’t going away, and he himself isn’t going anywhere for the next...hour. Also, the silence was making his head ring.
“I’m surprised you’d even know,” the blond retorts, “considering how much of the class you skip.”
Childe snickers, walking around behind Aether’s seat, waving his hand dismissively, “I already knew most of the stuff he talks about. The least I could do is humor him by going to the exams.”
He doesn’t miss that eye-roll from the blond. He grabs the nearest seat and brings it over. Aether visibly cringes at the sound of the chair scraping against the tile flooring. He snaps his head to glare at Childe again, only to jerk back a little.
Why is he this close? He could’ve just sat at the side of the desk. Why did he have to sit next to him?
“Ever heard of personal space?”
Childe smiles, “Ever heard of being less boring?”
Aether scoffs. He leans back on his chair, crossing his arms over his chest, “That ain’t my problem, you harbinger.”
Childe laughs softly. The Fatui Harbingers- a sort of gang in Teyvat Academy, ruled by one only known as the Tsaritsa. These guys were not ones to mess around with, Aether knew that much. Did he care that he's in the same room as their youngest member?
Yes, actually-. He is going to show it? Absolutely not.
"Got some spunk in ya, huh, pretty boy?" Childe smirks, leaning closer in his seat.
Aether moves back, leaning away from the other, "No comment."
The redhead rolls his eyes. He reaches out and closes Aether's notebook. He glances at it before shifting his eyes back at the blond. He sighs, "Honestly, I don't wanna be here too. I have places to be."
"Oh really?" Aether scoffs, "More ' debt collecting?' "
The smile on Childe's face falters slightly, "Wrong, pretty boy. As much fun I'd have fighting people, I rather spend my evening with my little siblings.”
...This guy has siblings?
“You’re an older brother too?” Aether asks before he could stop his mouth. He flinches at himself as he processes his own words. Damn, he really just asked that-?
Childe gives him a lopsided smile, “Ah, right- You’re the older twin! You have a sister, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I do.” The two mysterious twins coming into a prestigious academy in the middle of the year. That was Aether and his sister, Lumine. The word on them practically spread like wildfire throughout the campus. He isn’t surprised Childe knows about them.
Aether sighs, “She’s a handful, really. Especially when it comes to her habit of collecting things. Our house is just full of trinkets.”
The air between the two suddenly feels playful. Childe smirks at him, “Oh, and I’m sure you’re a handful to her too, Mr. Climbs-to-the-roof.”
“Hey, she climbs the walls with me!” Aether says, a smile now on his face. He rolls his eyes and playfully scoffs, shaking his head, “Honestly…”
The two of them go back and forth, talking about family or classes. There were moments where Childe would wheeze in laughter as Aether talked about what he and his sister would get into before they transferred.
“What do you- ahahah! You guys did what?!” Childe forces the words through his laugh, practically on the floor.
Aether flails his arms in front of him in exaggeration, “All we did was feed the birds in a schedule! I didn’t think all of them would just- dive bomb the entire freaking stadium-”
The hour goes by without the two even noticing. The door clicks, attracting their attention, and stopping their conversation. Mr. Kaeya sighs as he walks in, quickly looking around before nodding at the two.
“Good. I don’t have to clean up~” He says with a pleasant smile. He gestures to the door, “You’re free to go now. I hope you have a ride home.”
Childe returns to his original seat to grab his bag. Aether cleans his desk before returning the seat Childe used. The blond waves farewell at the teacher, passing by with Childe through the door. He sighs, plucking out his phone from his pocket.
“Shoot…” He frowns, “I forgot that Lumine borrowed the car for the girls’ study session at a friend’s.”
Childe leans close to Aether’s side, “I have a car, you know? You want to ride with me?”
“And have you know where I live?” Aether looks at the other as if he was crazy, which...is not entirely wrong. He doesn’t like the smug grin suddenly on Childe’s face. The redhead shrugs.
“If you want to walk home, be my guest~”
…
“Just drop me off here, please.”
The car comes to a stop by a bus stop and Aether gets out. Childe smiles, waving, “See you tomorrow, my little pogchamp!”
“Shut up!” Aether shouts back with a grin.