Of Calm Calamities

Of Calm Calamities (13)

"I'm glad you asked, because I have absolutely no clue!" Both Childe's tone and smile seemed to be entirely too cheerful for someone who was just asked about how he was alive. "But, um, just for reference, could you explain what you mean about the whole 'how are you alive' thing? If I'm dying, I'd like to at least know why."

"You're not dying," Zhongli interjected, though it seemed more like he was reassuring himself rather than anyone else. "Baizhu, tell him he isn't dying."

Baizhu, poor Baizhu who definitely wasn't getting paid enough for this and already looked completely done with Zhongli's overprotectiveness, pinched the bridge of his nose and held back an annoyed sigh. Somehow, Baizhu and Xiao seemed to be in a very similar mood right now. "Childe, you aren't dying. At least, not anymore." Zhongli's arm instinctively wrapped around Childe's waist, pulling him closer, and Baizhu rolled his eyes. "I'm just really surprised that Zhongli managed to keep you alive."

"Yes, yes, all hail Zhongli for keeping the piece of shit alive. Can I go now? I'd really rather not be here," Xiao complained, arms still crossed over his chest and the usual tone of distaste as present as ever. 

"Xiao, sit down," Zhongli ordered. Xiao sat down. No one argued with Zhongli, not when he used that tone. "Baizhu, explain."

The misshapen group settled around the kitchen table, with Childe practically sitting on Zhongli's lap, Baizhu respectfully sitting across from the couple, and Xiao looking as if he had absolutely no clue why he was there. To be fair, neither did Childe - his health seemed like a personal matter between only Zhongli, a healer, and himself, but he decided not to bring up the fact that Xiao had no reason to be there, not when Zhongli had directly told Xiao to stay. Angry Zhongli was scary, but overprotective Zhongli who ordered people around was even scarier.  

"As I'm sure you're aware from your Foul Legacy transformations, and yes, I know about your transformations," Baizhu stated when Childe shot Zhongli a confused look. Only a select few knew about his ability to shift into a more powerful form, and he was fairly certain that Baizhu hadn't been one of those people. "Zhongli told me." 

"Ah." Childe nodded along, as if that explained everything.

"Anyway, you probably know but there's only so much elemental power that a person can use at a time before they feel repercussions. The same can be said for delusions." Okay, the healer's knowledge about Childe was suspiciously vast, but he decided to ignore that for now. "Visions, although less taxing on the body than delusions, still take a lot of strength to wield properly, so a one would need frequent breaks in between of uses to make sure that they remain without injuries."

Childe briefly recalled that morning when he'd fought the ruin guards using his transformation, and how he absolutely hadn't given himself 'frequent breaks'. "And, uh, what happens if a person doesn't stop?"

"Patience, Childe. I'm getting to that. By the archons, you really live up to your name, don't you?" Baizhu mumbled the last part, so Childe wasn't too sure if he'd heard it right, but that was the second time that someone had made a dig at his name in a very short period of time, and he decided he didn't like it. "Though I've yet to work with a delusion, some of my clients have been affected by them, and the after-effects of pushing oneself too hard are several times stronger than with visions."

Oh. This. Childe could see where it was going, and he really didn't like it. "So... you're saying I'm screwed?"

"That's one way to put it," Baizhu shrugged. Xiao still looked perfectly uncomfortable. "There's only so much that a person can do before their vision starts giving them repercussions. If it didn't, then nothing would be stopping Zhongli from throwing meteors all the time or Xiao from going into 'I will kill all evil' mode. Usually, when a person feels these symptoms, including headaches or nausea, they have enough common sense to stop and give themselves time to recover."