Eyes of Perception

Chapter 9

Childe blinked up at him in surprise. "Zhongli? I thought I told you to stay behind."

The consultant shrugged, that strange aura around him still hovering like some sort of menacing cloud. "I was not about to let you charge into danger head-first without any confirmation that you would be alright."

Childe felt his cheeks flush a little. Zhongli cared about his safety? "I, uh, will try not to do that anymore? I mean, no promises, because of my job and all, but I'll do my best?"

The cloud around Zhongli seemed to lift a little, the smile on his face now closer to the genuine one that Childe had gotten used to seeing. "That's all I ask of you," he replied. "As for the matter of the culprits, I trust you have a plan on how to deal with them?"

"They're the millelith's problem now," Childe said, waving it off. "We just need to get them off the ship. Can you help me out? Grab the smaller one, we can take it slow, take a break if you need to rest a little-"

Without letting him finish, Zhongli knelt to the ground and draped the unconscious pyro agent over his shoulders, standing as if the large man weighed nothing. He gave Childe a satisfied smile and was he imagining it or was Zhongli trying to impress him? No, he was just going crazy. Why would Zhongli need to impress him? 

(That moment from before, where Zhongli had pinned him against the wall flashed in his mind again. Had Zhongli meant to do that, or was it just an accident? Childe shouldn't care. He shouldn't care. They were business partners, friends at most. He shouldn't care. He was on a mission, for fuck's sake. He couldn't allow distractions. Was being so close to Zhongli really enough to change how he saw the consultant?

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wondered what would've happened if he'd just leaned in a little, if he'd kissed Zhongli then and there, in the middle of the hall on some glamorous ship. Would Zhongli have kissed back? Would Zhongli have pushed him away? Or maybe pulled him closer? Maybe they would've-

Childe mentally slapped himself.)

"Y-you don't need to take the bigger one, I've got it," Childe stammered, unable to look Zhongli in the eye anymore. 

"I can handle it, Childe. I am nowhere as powerless as you think I am. You needn't worry about my safety so much," Zhongli responded.

"You're as stubborn as a rock," Childe muttered under his breath before picking up the other agent. "Just... let me know if you need a break, okay?"

Zhongli hummed in response, and for a while, the two walked in a comfortable silence through the halls. From somewhere above them, loud music rang out and the chatter of dozens of voices flitted through, and suddenly, Childe was extremely glad that the majority of the ship's guests were on the upper deck. Besides, it was pretty late, wasn't it? Hopefully the majority of them would be too drunk to notice two men in extravagant outfits carrying unconscious Fatui agents.

They were passing through the same hall as before when Zhongli paused at the door, a teasing smile (did Childe see that right?) creeping onto his face. "You know, Ajax-" (Childe's knees went weak for a second - why did he think that using his birth name as a disguise was a good idea?) "-usually when someone carries their partner into a bedroom, they don't run off right after."

"Huh?" For a few seconds, Childe's mind went blank as he tried to register Zhongli's words. He carried... Zhongli into a bedroom and then ran off? The implication behind Zhongli's words hit him all too suddenly, and Childe's eyes went wide, another wave of scarlet painting over his face. "That was a bedroom? I'm so sorry, I didn't mean that, I just wanted to make sure you were safe-"

An easy laugh left Zhongli, the sound more beautiful than any melody Childe had heard before. (What the fuck? Childe knew that Zhongli had a pretty laugh, but why was he so much more affected by it now?) "That's quite alright. Truly, I'm thankful for your will to protect me, but you need not worry about that. I am quite a capable fighter myself, after all."