My Archaic Jewel [Childe X Zhongli] (Fanfic)

Chapter I: Childe, Tartaglia.

Cacophonous chatter reverberated throughout the bustling streets of Liyue, the glorious beams of the scorching sun painting the sky with a young yellow hue, slowly fading into a warm blue as the day went by. Entrepreneurs and merchants stationed along the pathways desperately sought the elusive attention of people strolling by with their families or children held close to them, usual occurrences that he was familiar with.

Glancing over the harbour while he adjusted the mask that rested atop his lustrous strands of hair and basking in the blazing rays of the day. He leaned against a rough stone wall with his left shoulder pressed against it, while his arm on the right playfully spun and flipped his dagger, momentarily before he sheathed it right beside his Hydro-infused Vision. His presence came across as mildly unnerving to the busy people of Liyue, yet they were presumably oblivious to the fact that standing there was the 11th Harbinger of the Fatui, the youngest of all Harbingers. He took a deep sigh, exhaling his lament towards his conscious lack of a lover that he yearned dearly for.

Then, he started shuffling off towards the Wangsheng Funeral Parlour to tend to the mission he was assigned to that very morning when suddenly, his skull violently collided with something that let out a pained groan. He stumbled back and his eyes darted swiftly to lock on to the object that he crashed into, on the brink of engaging in sudden combat. Before he was a man with luminous light brown eyes that the sapphire-eyed Harbinger found himself lost in; a faint glow of brilliant wisdom hidden beneath his demure pupils.

The two were centimetres, dare I say millimetres away from engaging in a clash of lips. They recoiled and flinched, both exhaling from shock while minuscule droplets of sweat trickled down their pained foreheads. The blue-eyed Harbinger bit his lip in apprehension as his eyes slowly ran up and down the man before him, examining his flawless facial features that resembled that of the surface of a polished shard of Cor Lapis. After a moment of intense pondering, the beige-eyed man questioned the Harbinger.

"What is your name?"

The Harbinger chuckled gleefully to have the elegant voice of the man echo through his ears.

"Haven't you heard of me?"

The response fired back etched a pleased smirk on his face, almost smug but rather elated that he need not an introduction

"My mistake. I had to reassure myself that it is truly you. Childe, Tartaglia. The 11th of the Fatui Harbingers."

The opportunity was fleeting but instantly grasped the moment it arose. Tartaglia wasted no time to ask the question that burned deep within his heart.

"My oh my, what would your name be?"

xx

Credit to stanis23  from Reddit for the artwork