Chapter Text
It’s almost weird to think the traveler used to be an enemy of mine with how they treat me despite who I am and what I’ve done. If anyone, they are the only one who would know the true depth of sin I am drowning in, yet here I am, sent on a trip to Inazuma to “find myself” and to atone for my misdeeds, sent with a smile and a “see you later”. At least the damn floating toddler treated me more accurately without even knowing the full extent.
After parting with the traveler and Nahida it felt odd to return to my homeland alone. No fatui servants, no former enemies turned allies, just the electrified air and my silent footsteps. It was like when I was thrown away, wandering, aimlessly void of meaning or destination. I found myself following the wind, its soothing touches comforting when surrounded by the element charged with tragedies of the past.
I wandered a week before I gathered the courage to venture to the locations that haunted my dreams and nightmares alike. Firstly, I stopped at the Grand Narakumi Shrine. Climbing the steps I reminded myself for the billionth time that I was simply a wanderer taking in the sights, even Yae Miko could not escape the power of Irminsal.
Cherry blossoms were carried away upon the wind as I reached the top to see the cherry colored wood and heard the soft chimes dancing in the air. A shrine maiden bowed slightly in greeting, remaining silent as I walked further into the shrine, careful to maintain a regular beat to my breathing.
I made it to the sakura tree without looking past my hat, but as soon as I let myself look into the branches of the tree the hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I felt her presence. Of course she would be here the day I finally built up the courage to visit.
“Welcome, I don’t believe I have seen you here before.” Her words dripped with suspicion, I simply turned to face her without a change in body language.
“Yes, it has been a while, I haven't been back in Inazuma for some time.” I replied, making my words smooth and smiling softly.
“Interesting, what brings you back then if you don't mind me asking.” Yae Miko crossed her arms with a sly smile as she raised an eyebrow in question.
“I am just a Wanderer, I was reminded of my homeland recently and decided to come visit.” Not a complete lie, the traveler had told me it was okay to name drop them if I needed, but I knew that would only bring forth even more attention from the fox, as she thought of them as one of her favorite playthings. Though, being vague would also bring unwanted attention, so either way I was still digging my own grave by simply interacting with her.
“I get the odd feeling I should be familiar with you and I usually have a much better memory than to forget a face.” She showed no sign of giving in, her eyes sparkling with curiosity at a new plaything.
“Well, I do make quite the wonderful sword, even if I am just an apprentice.” I decided to take a new route, risking the possibility of her seeing through my lies.
“Hm. A swordsmith?” She stared at me, noticing my vision and the feather I still kept close to me.
“Yes. You may see more of me as well, I am thinking of returning here after all, after getting a taste of home I can't help but want to come home permanently.” I lied through my teeth. Dissolving all mystery and the fleeting nature of a short visit just might help make her lose interest, assuming she believes me of course.
“Curious.” She turns around to leave me be, but pauses while barely in earshot, “come visit me again kitty, but next time I would like to hear your real story.” With that she left me and a huge weight lifted from my shoulders.
After the shrine I took a couple days to recover before heading to the city. I was hoping for a more peaceful opportunity to reflect without any unpleasant figures from my past, so I couldn't help the double take when I made eye contact with Childe.
Unfortunately, my double take was not overlooked, and once more I was stuck dealing with an overly curious and sly character with their sights set on me. I was at least grateful I hid my vision and feather to seem less interesting when my former comrade waltzed over to meet me.
“You have a thing for redheads beautiful stranger; or just a thing for a pretty face?” He immediately opened with a pickup line, instantly deciding the tone of the conversation.
“You have a thing for staring at yourself in the mirror and hitting on random strangers out of loneliness?” He just had to annoy me, so it was only natural I would insult him, therefore his interest was unavoidable, all because of his idiotic decisions.
“Got a tongue on you hm?” He smirked, clearly delighted by the development and unbothered by the people moving around us to visit the food stand beside us.
“Naturally. It would be rather odd to find a person talking without a tongue.” It was like he was purposefully provoking me, just like back in the fatui. I could only reply in kind, meaning it was his own fault i was gaining his interest.
“Name’s Childe, I’m here on a business trip and stopped in the city to get some food and souvenirs.” He smiled, his eyes sparkling, something rare that usually only happened when he was amused or enjoying a good fight.
“Congratulations, not only do you act like one, you’re even named a child too, remarkable really. Is your mother psychic?” I couldn't help the sarcastic words drip from my mouth, without even realizing how similar they were to something I said when he became a harbinger. I could tell though the mother reference irked him a bit and a small bit of pride welled in my chest as I mustered up my nastiest shit eating grin, the feeling multiplying as his eyebrow twitched in a subtle sign of genuine annoyance.
“Usually,” he spoke slowly trying to regain his pride and as if speaking to a child, making my smile falter sooner than I wanted, “usually when someone introduces themselves,” he paused again, smirking down at me, “the other person replies with an introduction themself.”
“Oh my deepest apologies, I hadn’t the faintest clue.” I smiled, again feeling my teeth grind.
“That’s okay, less refined people don’t always know.” he clenched and unclenched his fists. I was surprised we even made it this far without violence, in the fatui we communicated through others specifically because we constantly fought when we spoke face to face.
“You know what, fine.” I relented. Maybe being nicer to Childe would count as repentance of some sort, after all he was one of the less shitty fatui and probably the best person among the harbingers. “Call me Scaramouche.”
“A name! Now, was that so hard?” he teased, leaning down slightly to try and get an better view of my face.Though, it wasn't very hard to be the best person in the harbingers when all of us were assholes of a phenomenal degree. I purposefully yanked my head to the side, pretending to look at something making sure my hat moved harshly.
“Fuck! You got me in the eye.” He jumped back, hand over his injured eye and an unhiden frown gracing his face.
“Oh no! I am so sorry.” I grinned at the frown that dug into his cheeks. “How can I ever make up for this terrible blunder Sir Childe?” I batted my eyelashes for extra effect.
“Come with me for a bit.” He replied quickly.
“Oh, I thought you were here for business.” I replied surprised.
“Ah, so you will? Wonderful. I shouldn’t have to deal with anything dangerous so you should be fine, but I do want to grab some food before we go. Do you have any preferences?” Childe carried on so fast I struggled to keep up.
“Nothing sweet, but I never agreed to-”
“Sure you did, and I know a place you’ll love.”
I stared at him as if he had two heads, dragging me along with his every will even without knowing who I was.
“Fucking moron I’m not going anywhere with you.”
-
“Fight me.” I looked down at the sixth harbinger, the Balladeer. He was short, had no vision, and I heard he was Dottores lap dog, but still ranked higher than me, so I had to see what he was made of.
He scoffed and turned away from me much to my disappointment. I reached out to grab his hat, lifting it from his head and holding it up away from his reach. He turned and I finally got to look into his eyes.
They were a blue flame, so hot it felt cold, I nearly froze up at the shear force behind his glare. I couldn't help the smile that broke out on my face, this was about to be fun .
“Give it back shithead, I won't ask again.” His voice sent shivers down my spine, the intensity behind his words made me confident he would murder me if i didn't do as he asked.
“Come and get it, or do you need Dottore’s permission?” My provocation worked well, as I was immediately engulfed in electro energy, as if being struck by lightning. I would have died if i didn't have my electro delusion on me giving me some resistance to the attack. But still, I couldn't help but drop to my knees.
“Know your damn place.” he spat, strolling over and swiping the hat from my numb grip. “See, it’s right here.” he slammed my head into the ground with his foot as he carefully put his hat back on his head, not even sparing me a glance before walking off.
Archons there is something wrong with me.
-
“You’re such a liar, you devoured the sweet pork I ordered for myself, I had to get a whole ‘nother order.” Childe whined while we headed out towards a camp he said his comrades were at.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I glared at the horizon as we continued. “I just wanted to make you waste money.”
“Who knew I would meet an actual tsundere while I was here!” He smirked down at me. I wished I could strike him with a bolt of lightning like when we first meet and throw his burnt corpse off a cliff with my anemo vision, but I couldn’t raise more attention from him so instead I kicked in his knees from the back, making him face-plant onto the dirt path we were walking on. I looked down at him with the largest grin I’ve had in a long time. He turned over with a frown on his face and our eyes met for a split second before he rolled his eyes and stood back up, brushing himself off. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.
“You know I have a vision and a weapon right?” He showed me his bow and pointed at his vision threateningly.
“Somehow you still were the one on the ground though, weak as ever.” My tongue slipped a bit but based on the annoyance on his face he must have thought it just odd phrasing.
“Big talk, but still-” he stood only to see a group of electro slimes appear over the hill we were climbing, “get behind me.” He grabbed the back of my shirt and threw me behind him like a ragdoll, instantly summoning twin blades of hydro and rushing at the slimes.
I stared as he rushed them, slashing and hacking, water droplets floating and electro crackling in the air as he defeated the three slimes with ease. He took a moment staring at the condensate they left behind, letting me take in his silhouette, his shoulders moving slowly as he caught his breath, a droplet of sweat creeping down his neck.
He turned around and I watched quietly as he walked back towards me, combing his hand through his hair with a smirk on his face and a slight flush from the excitement.
“Well? Impressed? I’m pretty talented with my hands.” He leaned down till I could feel the breath on his face. I looked into his eyes pausing before answering a bit longer than I could be proud of.
“It was just a couple slimes. Anyone with a sword could’ve dealt with them.” I stepped back, my nails digging into my palms as I tried to maintain my composure. Why am I struggling in the first place?
He leaned in again, brushing our noses, before pulling back with a massive grin across his face.
“Y’know, if you learned to fight you could come join me.” I smiled, his eyes almost kind.
“What.” I spat, surely he wasn’t-
“I mean, it is pointless to hide it, you have seen me fight, I’m obviously beyond the level of some measly explorer or adventurer. I’m with the fatui.” He showed me the delusion on the back of his vision, I tried to calm my breathing. “I’m actually one of the Harbingers even, Childe, the eleventh Harbinger.”
“Eleventh? Isn’t that the lowest?” I replied, fumbling around for how I was supposed to play off the confession he just laid in front of me.
“Well, that’s not most people's reaction, but yeah.” his grin faltered at that bit before something flashed over his face. “Wait, how do you even know that much about the fatui?”
“My friend told me about them.” I brushed off, leaning on the travelers advice.
“What friend?” He stepped closer to me, suspicious. Shit, if i fight him the fatui would end up investigating win or lose, I have no choice but to tell the truth and hope the traveler somehow is friends with him.
“They go by ‘traveler’, I met them wandering.” I let out a sigh when his face lit back up.
“Ah, I see. They are certainly a formidable opponent, I wish I could fight them again.” He smiled fondly at the memory. I cringed, of course Childe the sadistic masochist would have fought with them and still think of them as a friend.
“I see. So you are acquainted.” At the calmed atmosphere Childe started to continue walking towards the destination.
“Yes, they foiled one of my schemes yet I still find them intriguing. They are a very interesting friend.” His smile made me frown for some weird reason, but before I could investigate why we came up on the camp, abandoned.
“That’s odd, they were here yesterday.” Childe ran to look for any signs of life while I looked at the supplies left and a found a journal hidden in one of the abandoned bags. I thumnbed though it till i found the most recent entry.
“They followed a talking fox to treasure chest it found.” I announced as the moron peaked under a rock much to small for an adult to fit beneath.
“You are quite good at investigating.” He smiled, looking at the entry I handed him. “Well, I can just use elemental sight to track them, they all have delusions that give off elemental energy, so follow me, perhaps we will come across them bathing in mora.”
I followed silently, unable to brush off the feeling that Yae Miko had something to do with all this. A talking fox.. I was probably too paranoid, and while Childe wasnt on my level, he still would probably be able to protect me if need be, and if not I could let whatever attacked us kill him and escape, leaving the fatui to rule his death in battle with a monster, without any record of me.
We walked a few miles before coming up on a clearing, three fatui members collapsed in the center with an ominous electric energy in the air.
“Childe, wait-” I grabbed his arm in warning before the ground cut away, we had somehow been lured to a grounded piece of Seirai island, and as the island rushed into the sky and I grabbed onto my hat struggling to keep it safe on my head the electro in the air gathered into one large explosion and the electro manifestation appeared above the fatui corpses.
“Get back!!” Childe yelled over the rush of the wind, rushing forward with his summoned hydro blades.
“Wait, Childe!!” I yelled after him, reaching out my hand, my hat flying away in the wind.
He hit it hard, barely avoiding its attacks and hitting as fast as he could, but I could tell he wasn’t doing enough damage. I stared at his silhouette again, his shoulders moving harsher as he struggled. I gripped at my vision hiding beneath fabric, the wind dispersing as we reached a height no one could survive a fall from. I felt my vision glow as I watched Childe take a strike to his stomach, stumbling back.
“Childe!!” I started towards him only for him to glance back at me with a glare.
“Stay back!! This is my fault for dragging you into this! Im sorry, I swear I will protect you!!” He yelled, one hand gripping his side and the other holding onto his blade, dripping as he struggled to control his vision.
Then the manifestation twirled around and I felt my doom as Childe backed up only slightly, unfamiliar with its attacks.
“Run!! You have to move!!” I yelled, screaming with emotion I didnt know I had.
He stood firm as a box of electro appeared before him. My brain shut off for a moment as I instantly activated my vision and dashed through the air, cutting though the air and grabbing Childe in my arms, rushing away from the moving electro box till it disappeared. Childe stared at me as I set him on the ground. I looked at him and paused, debating, before turning back to see the manifestation charging us.
I dashed to the side, only to see Childe, unable to move fast enough to dodge, get hurdled off the floating rock.
“AJAX” I shouted when he disappeared from my view and in an instant made the decision to fly off after him, catapulting myself through the air. He fell ahead of me, his expression unreadable, I reached for him, “GRAB MY HAND CHILDE” I screamed, stretching my arm out for him and willing my powers to push me faster to catch up to his falling speed. He looked at me with an expression I’ve never seen before, his eyebrows scrunched up and lips ever so slightly parted. Finally, he reaching his hand out, which I grasped tightly and pulled him into me wrapping my arms around his waist, then used all my power to soften the fall, ending our momentum, bringing us to a pause in the air before dropping us a safe height from the ground. I gasped in relief, laying atop Childe. He was dead quiet so I released my arms that were tightly wound around his waist and propped myself up, looking into his eyes.
“Why’d you lie about having a vision?” Our faces were as close as when he would lean in to tease me, but somehow, looking down from atop him felt different and I was hoping the heat I felt in my cheeks wasn't visible.
“I didn’t lie, I just never told you I had one.” I mumbled, my tone low as I made no move to get off him and he lay still despite having plenty enough strength to push me off if he wanted.
“That’s basically a lie.” He matched my low volume, his voice dropping an octave with
the deeper tone. You know, it feels cold outside suddenly , of course, that is why I shivered a bit and felt goosebumps trail up my arms.
“I’m not a fan of the attention my vision brings, especially near the adventurers guild which recruits anyone with a vision or general talent with weapons.” Once more, not a complete lie.
“Sure. Well, thanks for saving my life, twice even.” He smiled, his breath warm.
“Whatever. I didn't do it for free or anything.”
“You trying to make me pay for risking my life to protect someone who was perfectly capable of protecting themselves and lied about that fact?” I paused, looking into his eyes and not at all struggling to stop my eyes from drifting anywhere else.
“Yes.” At that simple answer he left out a hearty laugh, his eyes crinkling at the sides as he reached out to help support me hovering over him, the compassionate bastard.
“Well, any requests? Or should i just guess on what you want?” He smirked. I knew it was stupid bait, he was egging me on as if to say I didn't have the balls to let him choose, so of course my pride overtook my common sense.
“Fine. You can choose, since you seem so eager to-” He cut me off pushing my head down onto his and crashing our lips together harshly. My eyes widened in surprise, only to see Childe looking through his eyelashes, slowly moving his lips while soaking in my every reaction through hooded eyes. Of course this freak would kiss with his eyes open.
I surprised myself by not pushing away, savoring the kiss despite the staredown we had simultaneously. It reminded me of when we would have staring contests during harbinger meetings. When I pushed up and back onto my knees I was completely out of breath and my face was probably, maybe a bit red . Childe sat up, and since I only backed up onto my knees I was essentially now straddling him on his lap. I ignored our position and the state I was in, opting to scold him instead.
“Didn't we just see your dead comrades and barely escape an incredibly dangerous entity? Is this really the time to…” I paused, as I realized I was about to admit to what we just did and realized Childe looked incredibly hot, his hair tousled in the wind and his face flushed from the excitement of the fight, fall, and frisky situation we found ourselves in.
“Hm? Was that payment unsatisfactory? You want more?” He leaned forward, his hand tracing down my neck towards my collar bone. I stumbled to my feet and backed away from him in an instant.
“No! That was fine!” I rushed in reply.
“So you did like it then? Wanna do it again?” He stood, seemingly unphased, creeping over to me with yet another smirk. I groaned at his trick and the fact I lost my hat and had nothing to hide my face from his predatory gaze.
Instead I kicked him in the shin and turned around, walking towards the shrine, smirking as he let out a pained whimper and hopped around for a second holding his leg.
“Wait- Scara, where are you going?”I paused at the nickname, it was the same one he used to call me.
“Well, obviously we have to look into whatever that talking fox was, right?” I glanced back at him.
-
“What the hell is he doing here?” Scaramouche yelled upon entering the meeting room, late though still not the last to arrive. I grinned excitedly and stood from my seat,
“Nice to meet you, I’m Childe, the new eleventh Harbinger.” I gave him a little bow to really piss him off and looked up from my lowered position to see his fiery glare.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me! His nickname is even Childe, like his mother realized his first name wasn't accurate enough and decided to slap a goddamn warning on him!” He sat across from me refusing to break his glare. I couldn't help flinch a bit at that comment before a grand idea popped into my head. I swung my foot to hit him in the shin, spawning a flinch, yet he still refused to break eye contact.
He swung back immediately, hitting me hard in the same spot I hit him. I also couldn't help but flinch, irritated as he smiled at my reaction. I kicked again, as did he, both of us refusing to break eye contact or let up on our violent game of footsie.
I heard the final person enter but didn't bother averting my gaze, the look of concentration that had slowly overcome his glare was intoxicating and I refused to give in. We kept this up for a whole fifteen minutes into the meeting, refusing to give up till Columbina cut through our concentration.
“Aw, look at you Scaramouche, staring down Childe, so cute to see you getting along so well already.” His face went slightly red as he broke eye contact to yell at the sly Columbina and the others who were giggling behind their hands. When he looked back the massive smirk on my face from my victory was quickly whipped off when his foot connected with my crotch instead of my leg.
“Whoops.” he whispered across to me, a smile I found intoxicating, despite the pain in my nuts.