of the loved and the unloved

first base

it reaches 2000 hours when they finally reach wangshu inn. it's so beautiful it has diluc gaping in awe at the sublimity of it. he can't imagine how long it must've taken to build such a monumental inn. the silk flowers buried around the area, atmospheric lanterns, people bustling about, the rich aroma of food rich of culture.

it's not like he's never been here before, but in his travels, he was focused on delusions, and the fatui. back then, diluc had no time to stop and appreciate, salivate man's pride. now that he has the liberty to, he takes in all that he possibly can. the redhead is so distracted that he doesn't notice tartaglia is no longer by his side until he realises his hand is no longer being held.

he looks around confused, "childe?"

someone taps at his back and he almost punches the person before the other swiftly avoids it. "diluc, oh archons, you nearly broke my rib again. listen, you may act like a princess, but you've got heavy punches. remember that!!"

diluc scowls, "it's not my fault, you don't just go tapping people around without any warning, it was self-def—,"

childe pushes a lock of his hair behind his ears and he completely stops moving. what the hell is going on.for some reason, his eyes are compelled to stare into the harbinger's eyes as he places a silk flower in wedge of his ear. the hand surfs through his hair, it's so comforting he almost leans into it.

"you look..beautiful."

diluc wonders how one could say that when standing before such an exalted piece of architecture. if someone could call him beautiful after seeing that, then they must be blind— no— he's blushing, he's blushing so hard he can't deny it. he can't even react before childe pulls at his hand again, clasping them together and after what just happened, butterflies scatter within his stomach.

they climb up the stairs towards the main entrance of the inn and he's dragged to a lift, he doesn't think he's ever used one before. the thing moves, and he doesn't even have time to be impressed over it because the moment it stops he's being pulled again. diluc momentarily considers yanking his wrist back from childe and walking all the way back to mondstadt all by himself, but he can't, because childe looks so excited about something he can't place.

they move downstairs, childe briefly stopping by the owner verr holder to greet her. (yes, diluc at least knows that much)

before he knows it, they're both at the lowest level of the inn in the kitchen. the chef gives childe a knowing nod and leaves the place and diluc frowns because childe seems to have connections with the weirdest and randomest groups of people.

finally, now that they've stopped moving, he can not so softly yank his wrist from tartaglia's hold and look at him with an incredulous look. "you're ridiculous, you know that? can't you just tell me where we're going instead of dra—,"

"let me cook for you again."

"i—..what?"

"yes? okay? okay."

he's being lead to a table behind the divider and suddenly he's alone before he gets to even say anything. diluc can't help but huff a disbelieving laugh because he's never been pushed around like this before and tolerated it.

now that it's silent, and childe's focusing on cooking, he can finally think about things. how he feels, what he thinks, and how much he loves being with the harbinger more than he ever should. it's something he can't deny, not anymore. he hates that he has to go home and admit to kaeya that he was right, but he loves the idea of spending every day with that complete adorable fool. it's so uncharacteristic of him that it makes his stomach churn.