Chapter Text
There’s a new neighbor that moved in the other day.
And although she hasn’t seen him herself, Madame Ping seemed to be present when the move in happened, and told her all about it when they were having tea.
“Strapping young man, that one. Fiery auburn hair, blue eyes; he must be a foreigner.” Madame Ping described between sips of tea, a serene look on her face. “He has a pleasant smile, though I can’t help but feel slightly sad for him.”
Zhongli blinked, putting her own cup on the table. “Did he look like he was troubled?”
The older woman shook her head, her mouth pulled to a small frown.
“Nothing of the sorts, it’s just.. for someone so young, his eyes looked jaded.”
It stuck with Zhongli for a bit, though it didn’t really cross her mind again after that. The new neighbor stayed ever elusive, she seemed to always just miss meeting him, even though the apartment complex they live on wasn’t that big in the first place. But every time she thought she might get a chance to meet him, all she got were footsteps getting further away or a glimpse of red hair going around the corner.
This kept happening for at least a month, and although she’s one to pry much, she was a little curious. After all, it’s not every day they get someone new around their neighbourhood.
“A new neighbor?”
Ganyu seemed interested, leaning a little on the table they were sitting on for lunch in Wanmin’s Restaurant.
“Yes, though I haven’t properly met him. He seemed quite busy.”
The young woman tilted her head, looking thoughtful. “Hmm... Madame Ping mentioned he was young, right? Maybe he’s a student?”
“Oh,” that would explain why she never saw him in day time, “that would make sense. But the apartment’s location is a little far from the Liyue’s university..”
“Perhaps that’s the only vacancy he could get.. He did move just as the new year’s starting.”
Ganyu did have a point. She felt a little odd talking about the neighbor she hadn’t even met, it felt like.. gossiping, but he was the only thing she could think of when they were catching up about each other’s life.
The matter of her neighbor didn’t come back up again until one rainy day, when she was coming home from the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor to help Hutao out. Thankfully, they had a spare umbrella they could lent to her, otherwise she would’ve been soaking wet when she reached the apartment.
As she was walking, she saw a young man sitting on the curb in front of the apartment complex. With the rain pouring, the colour of his hair was muted, but it was still striking enough that it caught her attention.
Concerned on why he was just sitting in the rain, she started to approach him. If he noticed, he didn’t react, keeping his head bowed down with his wet hair covering his face.
She stopped right next to him, umbrella covering them both.
“Hello.”
The young man finally looked up, and Madame Ping’s words came surging back to her.
‘Jaded eyes,’ she remembered, looking down at a pair of beautiful blue eyes that didn’t seem to shine. ‘Like soiled noctilucous jades.’
Another thing she noticed was his scratched cheek, bloody nose, and scrapped knuckles.
“You’re hurt.” She remarked, slightly in alarm.
He didn’t answer her, only stared up at her with his wide eyes, as if stupefied. Did she catch him off guard?
“Come, it’s pouring outside. I’ll treat your injuries.”
She reached down to gently grab a hold of his arm, slightly tugging him up. She was expecting some sort of resistance, but he went with her pull, slowly standing up, eyes never leaving her.
Satisfied, she pulled him in with her, glad to be out of the rain. Closing the umbrella, she started to lead him to her unit, unlocking the door and stepping in, expecting him to do the same.
“Jiejie,” he spoke for the first time after they were both inside, and it surprised her a little. His voice sounded young, and she almost forgot that he was of that age when she saw such clouded eyes. His Liyuen had a little lilt to it, like he’s hasn’t gotten rid of his mother tongue’s accent completely, but it sounded fluent enough. “Do you always let strange men in to your apartment?”
Zhongli turned her head back to him, where he was standing by the doorway, water dripping from his clothes. In the light of the apartment, she could look at his face better, and there was a tiny curve of a smile stretching on his lips, making him look a little more boyish.
“You are my neighbor,” she explained, to answer his question. It made him raise an eyebrow. “You are not a ‘strange man’.”
The young man blinked, silent for a second before he let out a chuckle, the stormy look in his eyes suddenly gone.
“I wonder.”
It wasn’t the sort of response she was expecting, but there were more pressing matters at hand. She went to get the first aid kit she kept in the kitchen’s cupboard, and then sat on the couch, gesturing to the space next to her.
He looked at the couch, expression skeptical. “I’ll get your couch wet.”
“Nonsense,” she huffed, patting the couch once more a little more insistently, “it’ll dry over time. Please take a seat so I can treat your wounds.”
Though not looking entirely convinced, the young man finally shrugged, before finally sitting down next to her.
Immediately she started getting to work with his knuckles, which looked red and angry. His wounds didn’t look as bad now that they’re in a properly lit room, but without proper treatment it would risk an infection.
The young man was quiet as she carefully cleaned his wounds, not even once flinching. She was getting the impression he’s used to this, judging from his rough hands and calloused fingers.
Bandaging his knuckles up, she diverted her attention to the cut on his cheek, but not before dabbing at his bloody nose to clean it. She noticed his eyes never strayed anywhere, always fixed on her, as if to study her. Stares never really bothered her, but she did notice how intense his were.
The question of what he was doing to get these injuries were at the tip of her tongue, but she stayed focused on her current task, only pulling back when she’s satisfied with her handiwork. She felt that it wasn’t her business, per say.
“Done. The risk of infection has been eliminated.”
Looking down at his knuckles then touching the ban-aid on his cheek, there’s an expression of wonder on his face, before he looked back at her with a smile. It reached his eyes this time, and a light twinkle appeared in his eyes.
“Thanks. It’s not every day I get to be patched up by my neighbor, shame this was how we’d get to meet each other.”
“It’s no problem, I was hoping we’d get to meet previously, but it seemed we always seem to miss each other.”
Her companion chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. It’s surprisingly endearing. “Yeah – that’s on me. Getting settled made me a little busy. But enough of that; I’m Ajax, but my friends call me Childe.”
Fitting, somehow.
“Childe,” she repeated, testing it out on her tongue. “I’m Zhongli.”
His expression seemed to soften, mouthing her name quietly, before repeating it lowly. “Zhongli.”
She smiled, her name rolling out of his tongue sounding pleasant. She noticed he went a little stiff.
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet your acquaintance.”
Childe smiled a little wider. “The pleasure’s all mine.”
After that encounter, Childe would spend most of his free time with her. Either coming to her unit to ask her for dinner or lunches whenever he didn’t have classes, or accompany her to her errands – with Hu Tao endlessly trying to tease her somehow in front of Childe when he went to Wangsheng with her, much to her chagrin—, as well as asking her to give him a tour of Liyue, which she was more than happy to.
Surprisingly, he never came back with any additional scars or bruises, which Zhongli was glad of.
She learned that Childe was a third year student, here for an exchange program being held between Liyue and Snezhnaya on the recommendation of his mother. He had 2 older siblings, and 4 younger siblings, which he talked to constantly, either through the phone or from texting.
The reason he moved to this neighborhood was because it was the only one he could get nearing the start of school year, just as Ganyu said, but he didn't mind because it was quiet here. She also learned he's an excellent cook, and his specialty was seafood - which made her internally shudder -, but he didn't always have the time to prepare lunch for himself.
He was also a lot more cheerful than she thought he was, based on their first meeting. He threw smiles and grins around easily, but she noticed not every one of them reached his eyes. Other than his seemingly endless easy attitude, it extended to his generosity, considering he usually paid for her whenever she forgot her wallet.
Currently, they were walking down one of the districts in Liyue.
“Liyue has two main culinary styles; the Li style, which focuses on bold, rich flavors using ingredients picked from the mountains, and the Yue style, which favors lighter-flavored seafood.” She began explaining as they walked down the Feiyun Slope, Childe walking by her side. “The two styles have a long history in Liyue and have been locked in bitter rivalry for just as long; fans of one style often clash with fans of the other.”
Childe nodded along, always so attentive when listening to her.
“Liuli Pavilion and Xinyue Kiosk are the most reputable restaurants of their respective styles, and are both located here, in the city's shopping district. Chihu Rock, which is on the other side of the city, focuses more on street food but has some up-and-coming restaurants of their own, such as Wanmin Restaurant.”
Her companion looked thoughtful for a moment, seeming to register the information in his head. Then he asked, “which one’s your favourite, jiejie?”
Hmm, such a tough decision. “While all restaurants have different cuisines which shows the specialty of their styles each with their own unique touch, I am more inclined to choose Wanmin Restaurant, as they like to offer weekly specialties. I also happen to know the employees there best.”
Childe’s face brightened, the smile on his face coming easily. What Madame Ping said was right, they were always pleasant. “Then let’s go there right now.”
And they did, sitting on one of the tables with Xiangling cheerily taking their order. As Childe asked what was the best was on the menu, Zhongli decided to order everything.
“Coming right up! Oh, Ms. Zhongli, we have Springvale Boar on the menu today, would you like to try it instead of the Salt and Pepper Tofu?”
“We’ll have both.”
If Childe had any inquiries about the amount of food they ended up getting, he didn’t say.
Another thing she soon learned about Childe was that he was helplessly, and desperately, very bad with using the chopsticks.
This was the fifth time Childe dropped his tofu on to his plate.
They both stared at the deflated piece of tofu laying innocuously on the ceramic plate.
“They don’t happen to have fork, do they?”
Zhongli frowned, shaking her head. “I’m afraid not.”
The young man sighed, but he didn’t really give up using the chopsticks, and poked at the tofu once more.
“Well, I’d have to learn how to use it sooner or later, if I’d be staying here for a while.” He said with a defeated kind of smile.
After the sixth time the tofu fell, Zhongli didn’t have the heart to watch it anymore. She took the fallen tofu from his plate with her own chopsticks, before holding it up to his mouth, one hand cupped beneath it.
Childe expression froze, and his eyes widened. It seemed like he was petrified for a moment. Was this considered rude to do for a new friend?
She was going to pull back and maybe apologize, but Childe already leaned forward and took the tofu in to his mouth, eyes locking with hers as he pulled back from her chopsticks.
After a few chews his eyes widened, and he looked happily surprised. “This is really good!”
Hearing him enjoy the meal made her happy, and her shoulders sagged slightly in relief. “Wanmin only serves the best quality of dishes.” Next she took a piece of the Crystal Shrimp with her chopsticks, holding it up to his mouth again. “Try this one next, the delicate and slightly plain outer layer compliments the flavourful filling very well.”
Childe smile widened, then leaned forward to take it from her chopsticks once more.
After stuffing themselves full with Wanmin’s food (and taking some leftovers), they continue walking back to their apartment. Of course, not without stopping for some of the stores, which Zhongli usually does.
“Pasting a Windwheel Aster to wet glaze before it is fired in a kiln? Fascinating. The flower turns to ash, but its shape is forever retained. Such genius – it would be a shame not to purchase this.”
“Cor Lapis is itself hard to gather. It must have taken true skill indeed to unearth two pieces so alike. We should buy them.”
And while Childe wasn’t knowledgeable about any of the things Zhongli just said, he nodded along once more, agreeing with her statements.
“They would be a nice addition to your collection, jiejie. I don’t see why not.”
As they went to the counter to pay, they encountered the same problem as always.
Reaching for her wallet, she found it was nowhere to be found.
“Ah..”
“Allow me.”
Childe easily pulled out his wallet and handed the cashier his card, once again paying for her with no hesitation.
“It seems I have inconvenienced you once again, my apologies Childe, I’ll make sure to—“
“No, it’s okay! You’ve been nothing but kind to me after I moved here, I’m just doing what I can to repay you somehow.”
She frowned, hoping Childe didn’t think their relationship were transactional. “I insist. I’ll pay you what is owed once we get back.”
Childe took the wrapped up vase in to his arms, and handed Zhongli the pair of Cor Lapis. “You can pay me back by making me dinner?”
Ah, well. She didn’t think her cooking prowess has the same value as a pair of Cor Lapis and an artisan vase, but she will still indulge him before paying him back with actual Mora. Nodding, she was listing off the kind of cuisine she could make for him as they walked back to the apartment complex.
With all the time they were spending together, Zhongli developed some sort of… maternal instincts towards Childe, and she can’t help but maybe dote on him a little. It didn’t help that Childe was… well, a little child-like sometimes.
One time they were having dinner in her unit, with Zhongli cooking after Childe mentioned he had missed her cooking, even though she had just cooked for them last week.
“Jiejie, look!”
Zhongli looked up from her own plate of food to see Childe very shakily holding up a piece of boar meat between his chopsticks, sporting a very bright and proud expression.
It lasted for about 2 seconds, before Childe’s chopsticks slipped against the meat and it landed back on the plate with a resounding ‘thunk’.
They looked down at it, with Childe deflating.
While he didn’t manage to eat with it yet, it was still an improvement from before. Never one to discourage anyone from learning – while also being proud of Childe’s achievement – she reached over and put her hand on Childe’s head, patting him through his hair. She was surprised by how soft his hair was, and couldn’t help but ruffle them a little in awe.
“You did well, Childe.”
The receiver of her head pats didn’t seem to react for a moment, before he looked up at her with wide eyes, cheeks slightly pink.
Ah... did she embarrass him?
She was going to pull back before Childe leaned his head on her hand, pushing against it like a puppy wanting to be pet, eyes staring up expectantly at her.
‘Praise me more! Praise me more!’ Was what his expression seemed to say.
Helpless, Zhongli did just that, continuing to pat his head and maybe tidy up his naturally tousled hair a little.
“You’ve… done very well.” She repeated, Childe’s expression seem to get brighter, and nuzzled his head against her hand even more.
It was very curious, but Zhongli didn’t mind. Childe was always so receptive to her touches, like a sunflower leaning to the sun. She figured that may be because he was far from home, and might miss the familiar touches from someone he was close with.
He started telling her about his grades or how his latest projects were doing, which were always excellent, and looked at her expectantly. Not being able to deny him even if she wanted to, she started praising him, her hand once more finding its place in Childe’s bright hair.
Childe seem take that as an invitation to reciprocate her touches as well, and along the way, Zhongli also learned that he was particularly touchy, but weirdly only with her. Whenever she saw him with their other neighbors, or maybe a glimpse of him with his friends downtown, he seemed friendly, but never as touchy as he was with her.
Either a hand on her shoulder, their shoulders brushing against each other as they walked, or offering his arm for her to hold.
She figured maybe it was because he was most comfortable with her.
At one point when they were walking down after lunch at Xinyue Kiosk, Zhongli giving the lecture of the Guili Planes to Childe who was listening by her side, there was a huge crack on the concrete that she didn’t seem to notice. She felt her foot hit something, and her body immediately thrown forward.
In her surprise she didn’t manage to balance herself on time, and she would’ve been sprawled on the ground had it not been the arm wrapped around her waist on time.
Letting out a breath, she looked up at Childe, who looked a little alarmed.
“That would’ve been a nasty fall! Good thing I caught you, huh?” He laughed a little, helping her right herself.
“Yes – thank you, Childe. I am once again indebted to you.”
Childe waved her off, that easy smile back on his face. “Don’t worry about it, it’s nothing.”
They continued walking, Childe’s arm still wrapped around her waist and keeping her close against his side.
It made her feel… warm, somehow. Perhaps Childe had a high body temperature.
She figured it must be so she won’t have to worry about tripping on the pavement once more, and they made their way home.
As weeks went by, and they continue to spend time together, she noticed how he always went to her, but never once did he invite her to his apartment. It wasn’t like she was expecting it, but she felt that it was a little unfair how imbalanced their current arrangements were. It might inconvenience him if he was always the one coming to her apartment.
Perhaps it was messy? She had heard that teenage boy’s abode tended to be a little messy. But Zhongli wouldn’t mind, either way.
The thought plagued her for a while as Childe comes and goes, always knocking on her door to invite her to dinner every week, even if he was fresh from his classes. Surely, he must feel tired, at some point? She won’t mind cooking him dinner in his own home, where he could be more comfortable.
“Childe.”
She called from the table in her apartment, watching Childe’s back as he chopped some vegetables. It was his turn now to cook dinner.
“Hm?” He hummed in response, not looking back at her just yet.
“Pardon me for being a little forthright, and perhaps a little rude, but I can’t help but wonder why do you always insist on coming by to my unit, while never asking for the opposite?”
There’s a moment of pause in his movements, before he put the knife down, and turned to finally look at her. There’s that smile on his face, but something seemed a little off about it.
“Are you saying you don’t mind coming to my apartment?”
“I do not see a reason to be.”
Her companion tilted her head, drumming his fingers on the counter.
“Let me rephrase it; do you want to come to my apartment?”
She opened her mouth to answer, but Childe didn’t really let her answer before walking towards where she was sitting. She had to look up at him when he had reached her side, before putting one hand on the table and the other on the back of the chair she was using to lean his face closer to her.
“Because that’s bad, jiejie.”
She mulled over his sentence for a moment, coming up with nothing to decipher what he meant. “Whatever do you mean?”
Childe’s smile sharpened a little at the edges, eyes crinkling as he leaned a little closer to her face, their noses brushing. This close, she could feel his warm breath wash over her face.
“Because once I let you in, I won’t be letting you out.”
Before she even got the chance to figure out what he meant by that, Childe had already pulled away and went back to cutting vegetables, his back once again facing her.
“Say, what do you think of adding some paprika to the dish?”
While Childe seem to be fine with letting go of that encounter entirely, it stuck with Zhongli for a while. After Childe left, Zhongli laid in her bed on her back, eyes on the ceiling. She thought once more of what the young man could possibly mean, but she came up empty.
Ever so curious, she went to Madame Ping for advice.
At one point, she looked concerned as she relayed what had happened and what had been said to her, but once she told her it was Childe, her worried expression shifted to a knowing one.
“It seemed he was warning you off, old friend. To not set foot in the tiger’s den.”
Zhongli blinked. “But Childe is not a tiger.”
Madame Ping just chuckled, before sipping her tea peacefully.
The conversation with Madame Ping proved to be unsuccessful in getting her the answers she needed, so she went ahead and talked to another friend.
Hu Tao was out of the question. She would maybe give her some advice, before teasing her about it endlessly. Ganyu had been busy with Ningguang lately, and Xiao was currently outside of Liyue…
Luckily, she had another friend who was visiting Liyue at that moment.
“You know Morax, when I came aaallll the way here from Mondstadt to visit a friend, I didn’t think I’d be helping you solve your boy problems!”
Zhongli frowned, looking unamused. “It is not a ‘boy problem’, and don’t call me that. That’s my family cat’s name.”
Venti grinned, propping his face on his hands. They were currently sitting at one of the café in the shopping district, one that had the kind of cappuccino Venti liked. “He was soo cute. I remembered he’d follow you around when I used to come over. And you guys have the same look when you frown!”
She huffed. “Barbatos.”
“Oh so when I call you by your pet’s name it’s a problem, but when you do it it’s fine?”
“I was simply making you… ‘taste your own medicine’, as they say.”
Venti waved his hand in the air, an exasperated look on his face. “Fine, fine. No more name calling. So anyway! Back to the boy problem, how long have you known this guy again?”
“As I have mentioned before, it is not a ‘boy problem’,” Zhongli repeated exasperatedly, before answering his question. “A few months, at least.”
“Oooh, that’s quite long~ and you said you two got really close?”
“We enjoy each other’s company from time to time, yes.”
Her friend hummed, finger tapping on his cheek. “And what was it he said to you again?”
She had an inkling he remembered perfectly well what she had already said about Childe and was just doing this to tease her somehow, but she repeated his words anyway.
“He said, and I quote, ‘once I let you in, I won’t be letting you out’, end of quote.”
Though Venti could be a little… much for her taste, he’s actually rather wise, so she was hoping he could help her current predicament.
But his next words confused her even more.
“You know, if this was any other guy you were telling me about, I would’ve called Xiao and then the police to maybe seek this guy out, but from what you’ve been telling me, it just sounds like you might get eaten.”
Zhongli frowned once more. “I do not think Childe is capable of human cannibalism.”
Venti smile turned a little mischievous. “You’d be surprised.”
His answer wasn’t convincing, because Childe was a good person, he wouldn’t do something so terrible to her. And if he did plan to do something to hurt her, he could’ve done it any other time that they were alone, but he never did.
“Zhongli, I was just kidding! It’s not that kind of eating I was talking about, stop thinking so loud!”
“Yes, it couldn’t be. Childe is a good person, he wouldn’t hurt me,” she nodded, firm about her opinion of Childe, before she asked, “what kind of ‘eating’ do you speak of then?”
Her friend sighed, before straightening in his seat a little. He took a hold of his cup and took a sip of his drink, before looking at her again.
“Zhongli, when was the last time you’ve been with a man?”
That… was not what she thought he’d say. And it felt a little out of topic, since this was Childe they were talking about.
“I have never been with a man.” She answered.
Venti’s eyes popped, and he looked a little scandalized. “All these years and you’ve never gotten yourself a boyfriend?? Don’t you know how many people want to date you?”
This was getting a little out of hand. Zhongli never felt like she needed any other companions other than her friends. “I do not. What does this have to do anything with Childe?”
Looking exasperated for some reason, Venti made a big show of throwing his arms up. “Archons, Zhongli! I didn’t even know why I asked, you haven’t changed a bit since we were young.” He scooted his chair a little closer to the table, elbows propped up to the table as he leaned a little across the table. “Tell me, how do you this Childe of yours?”
Not knowing where he was going with this, but deciding to go along with it for now, she answered, “he’s a very kind and bright boy who has a very promising future ahead of him, as well as a precious friend.”
Suddenly Venti’s pointer finger was hovering just in front of her face, and she can’t help but feel it was in an accusatory manner.
“Aha, see, that’s the problem. You’re looking at him in the wrong way. You won’t get what he actually meant if that’s how he looks to you.”
“I… do not understand.”
“Zhongly, if you really wanna know what he meant, don’t look at him as a ‘precious friend’, look at him as a man.”
That struck something in Zhongli. Looking at him… as a man? She wasn’t sure what she was feeling, but she felt like Venti was right, but she wasn’t sure why.
Looking at Childe… as a man? She had thought of Childe as someone she had to take care of, someone who could rely on her. But… has it been the other way around? Was she wrong about this all these time? Was Childe not only capable of taking care of himself, but was also taking care of her as a man?
Countless of thoughts pass her mind, and she curled her fingers around her chin, eyes glued to the table. Somehow, it made Zhongli feel restless, and thinking of their past interactions now made her face go warm.
“Ehe, your face is getting all red!”
She quickly toucher her cheek, before covering the lower half of her face in an attempt to hide it. “It is not.”
“Yes it is! Did you finally figure it out?”
While what her friend said had shifted her view on Childe a little, it didn’t really explain what ‘eating’ her meant. Since he mentioned it wasn’t cannibalism, what else could it be?
“Not… really.” she answered a little quietly.
Venti sighed once more, this time a little louder than necessary. “Okay Zhongli, when a man is alone with a woman, what do you think they do?”
Zhongli blinked, and so did Venti. There was a moment of silence, before Venti started shaking his head.
“Yup, no, absolutely not. I am not having The Talk with you over coffee in the middle of the day. I don’t think the strongest wine could even convince me to do it.”
“What is The—“
“Nope! No, don’t even think about it. Don’t even say it. I never mentioned it, nope.”
Feeling a little lost at the end, she was nonetheless grateful for the talk with Venti, even if she didn’t actually get the answer she wanted.
After Venti vehemently denied her insistence on actually telling him what this Talk of his meant, they ended up taking a stroll through the docks, reminiscing the old times and talking about nothing and everything at the same time. Though she would never admit it, she had missed Venti’s company, and made a promise to herself to visit him at Mondstadt when the time finally comes.
“How long are you staying in Liyue?”
“Maybe until Xiao comes back, I haven’t seen him in ages as well!” Venti answered as he kicked a stray pebble. “Plus I haven’t gotten to explore Liyue to the fullest, oh! That reminds me, isn’t the Lantern Festival coming soon? I’m definitely not missing that!”
Zhongli smiled. “Then I suggest you come by with Xiao, I’m sure it has been a while since he got to attend it as well.”
“That’s a great idea!”
In that moment, Zhongli felt a distinct feeling of being watched, and she turned around to see if someone was staring at them. But in the sea of people mingling about, she couldn’t find the source of the stare. Was it just a feeling of hers?
She paid no mind to it, and walked with Venti to his lodgings, before going back home. Distinctly, the feeling of being watched lingered against her back, but by the time she had exited the downtown area, the feeling was gone.