#please watch Ekaterina
Note
Maybe it's bc I'm a massive bitch myself who loves sex, don't want children, and have very high professional goals, but I'd rather have a female character be an autonomous being whose decisions directly impact the plot & be morally wrong will doing so, than be a morally pure victim of circumstance and a feckless decoration who watch life happen around me.
#bestie you're serving#I understand I am cringe AF for using TWO gifs but I couldn't decide which of my Queens fits more to what you say#so both is good#don't care#GoT queens#please watch Ekaterina#the story of Catherine the Great#if you want to learn more about the magnificent life of a CHILD BRIDE who literally ruled the world for 30 years lmao#anonymous#anti alicent hightower
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frostbite — pt. 2
pairing ; childe x gender neutral!reader
content ; childhood friends to “rivals” to lovers, slowburn-ish
cw ; swearing, a LOT of canon archon quest yappery (sorry)
note ; part two baybee!! in comparison to the ao3 version of this, i’ve decided to merge the chapters two by two to make them seem longer and since so far, i’ve only written five- next one might take a little longer to come out. or maybe i’ll just post chapter 5 stand-alone, who knows
also i’ve got a taglist now!
previous | next | masterlist
your arrival in liyue harbor goes less than stellar.
the port is packed full of people who are either confused or outraged at the line of millelith soldiers who refuse to let anyone through. you end up waiting in a line for an annoying amount of time, up until you’re finally attended to by a soldier.
“i’m sorry but liyue harbor is not accepting in any tourists, we are trying to keep our… current situation under control as best we can while investigations are still in order, i hope you can understand.” the millelith states formally.
“oh, well err- i’m no tourist, i was born in liyue harbor! my parents migrated from overseas many years ago and i was just on a leisurely trip to snezhnaya, haha…” you lie through your teeth.
the mere mention of snezhnaya sets off the most minute reaction in the millelith solider, hence why you’re under a fake identity to begin with. you politely hand him a folder with forged documents so gracefully provided to you by your employers and pray to your lucky stars- and, well, tsaritsa, that it’s good enough for him to let you pass.
the soldier remains neutral for a few seconds as he eyes through the paper.
“very well. but please behave in an orderly fashion inside the city, as i said the trail on the ahem- incident is still fresh. welcome home.”
it takes a lot out of you not to snort at the welcome.
the poor naïve man truly wasn’t lying- the inside of the harbor was just as tumultuous as the outside. people in the streets gather in small groups and anxiously whisper their worries to each other. but most of all, they eye you suspiciously like you were the one to stab a sword through rex lapis with the entire harbor watching. you’d say they’re within reason to do so, losing their protector god and all.
you wouldn’t call yourself the most devoted of subjects but you’d also hate to imagine a snezhnaya without the tsaritsa so… benevolently
watching over it. challenging the heavenly principles like she has would certainly cause a catastrophic bite in the ass for the nation if she were to perish. maybe you could be a devoted subject enough to prevent that from happening.
drowning in a whirlpool of your own thoughts, you don’t even realize you’re already standing in front of the northland bank branch of liyue harbor. you try to walk inside as discreetly as possible, so as to not raise any suspicion toward you from the millelith or civilians and to not disturb the workers inside the bank.
unfortunately your efforts are in vain, because you’re recognized immediately.
“ah, sergeant y/n! we were expecting that you would arrive soon. please, allow me to take care of your luggage.” calls out the receptionist, ekaterina.
not only does she practically announce your arrival, she does it while the very bane of your existence is present in the main hall of the bank, formerly distracted as he spoke to a blonde woman in the strangest garments you’ve ever seen and a uh… floating baby?
childe’s ears, no- his entire body, almost instinctively perk up at the mention of your name and he abruptly stops his sentence midway through to look over to the entrance, to you.
“y/n? what in the name of the tsaritsa are you doing here?” he inquires, eyebrows furrowed with the purest of confusions. that is until he remembers the traveler and paimon are still present and most definitely more perpexled than he is.
so he decides to save face before anything else.
“missed me too much?” childe adds cockily.
your eyes almost roll on their own accord. “whatever you’d like to tell yourself. unfortunately, they decided to station me here to help… stabilize the situation, surely that has nothing to do with you screwing up?”
he scoffs. “there’s been nothing to screw up. in fact, the situation is plentiful under control and we’ve already devised a plan to solve it. your intrusion is unneede-”
“wh- you big liar! we literally met after you kicked a bunch of millelith butt in broad daylight! we’ve been stumbling up and down these past few days just to clear our names.” the floating baby speaks up.
you cock your head to the side at the revelation with curiosity and just a smidgen of smugness.
“and you! don’t think just because paimon likes making fun of childe doesn’t mean you’re off the hook. we heard what the lady called you, you’re fatui just like mr. pants-on-fire over here. just who are you anyway?!” the floating baby glides over to you with an accusatory finger pointed and a suspicious squint to her eyes.
the blonde woman, who’s been radio silent this entire time, merely puts a hand on the floating one’s shoulder to pull her back, though she also looks wary of you.
childe laughs at the display and holds out a formal hand as to introduce you. “traveler, paimon, this is y/n, my.. coworker as you can obviously tell. don’t worry though, they’re not a bad guy or kind of a bad guy like me, you have nothing to worry about. they’re actually an amazingly talented battle medic and head nurse of the fatui, that’s why they carry the sergeant title.”
you’re taken aback for a brief moment at the unexpected praise. you were waiting for just a formal introduction of your position in the fatui, or even one that contained a little snarky comment about your attitude towards him. but no, he only complimented your talents. it’s almost a little too courtly too.
“y/n, this is the traveler and paimon. these two not from around here but they unfortunately managed to land right in the bullseye of the incident and are being considered murder suspects. i’m merely helping them clear their names.”
ah, there’s the kicker. he’s “helping” those two.
you know childe well enough to comprehend that he wouldn’t just help some strangely dressed bystanders if he didn’t think he could snake his way into benefit, in this case most likely the geo gnosis. that’s why he’s trying to make somewhat of a good image for himself and those associated. conniving bastard.
then again, takes one to know one.
“so it’s true then, rex lapis is dead.” you hum. “but why has the millelith jumped to the conclusion that it was a murder so quickly? what exactly happened in the rite of descension?”
“weeell, the ceremony was starting just fine and dandy when suddenly the sky got unusually dark and then- bam! thunder strikes and this huge amber dragon drops dead from the sky.” paimon explains dramatically before shivering.
“eugh… really gave paimon the heebie-jeebies… then, the tianquan went over to examine the body and immediately announced it was a murder.”
“interesting.. did the dragon seem to have any visible injuries? any slashes or punctures? weapons sticking out of his body?”
“it’s tricky to say, as i was just relaying onto the traveler before you arrived, the qixing have long since confiscated the exuvia and are refusing to let anyone see it.” childe joins in, looking down pensively with a hand on his chin.
“it feels too early to draw any conclusions but paimon can confidently say it was not us and our names are squeaky clean! either way, we should get going- we’ve done so much walking up mountains since we got here and it’s making paimon famished.”
“see, you keep saying that but you still float, paimon-“ you hear the traveler say as the pair turns to leave.
“oh shush, you!!”
the air between the remaining two of you is thick with awkwardness. you decide to be one to break it once the traveler and paimon are well away from earshot.
“so, how will your charitable little side quest tie into getting the gnosis?”
“hah, you’ve barely arrived and you’re looking so far ahead?”
“aren’t you? in fact, didn’t you say you’d already ‘devised plan to solve it’ and that my presence was ‘unneeded’?” you question, accentuating the quotings in your sentence with a less than half-assed impression of childe’s own pesky tone at the time.
“jeez, i do not sound like that-“
“not the point-“
“yes yes, whatever… for the record i do already have a plan.” he admits. “unfortunately for you, doc, it is a bit airtight and therefore- your interference is unneeded.”
“y’know what, you’re right. if someone like you is describing their plans as airtight then maybe it’s best if i stay out of its splash zone.” you bite back and childe scoffs.
“who even ordered you be sent here?”
the malicious grin grows on your face with haste.
“the jester.”
“wha-?! argh, that old man…”
—
“ekaterina?”
“yes- how may i help you, sergeant?”
“what would be your recommendations for restaurants ‘round here?”
evening was nearing and you could feel the emptiness eating at your stomach from the inside. the few days that had passed of your stay in liyue were remarkably unremarkable. half of your time was spent cooped up in northland bank with diplomatic or medical paperwork while the other half was you doing whatever discreet investigation inside the city that you could, up to little avail.
childe was moving forward with his scheming while effectively keeping you completely in the dark from it- well not completely, as he wasn’t the only stubborn one out of the two of you. some intel about his flawless, artful plan had “slipped out” (meaning you pried it out of ekaterina) and come to your knowledge- for example, today he’d be going out to meet with the traveler and paimon for another meeting with one of his… contacts, he called it. you just didn’t know where.
luckily your source of discovering that had just walked through the door.
“welcome, friend of childe! and congratulations on the first day of your illustrious career with the fatui.” ekaterina greets formally and you’re too late to stop yourself from visibly cringing.
“i have no intention of joining the fatui.” the traveler says curtly.
“you sound remarkably sure of yourself… remember, we are mere mortals- our ideas are fluid like water. only the tsaritsa truly has a will as solid as permafrost.”
you huff at the receptionist’s straightforwardness.
“i’m sure we can maintain.. beneficial connections without anyone signing away their names. why don’t we keep to the matter of this visit?” with a slightly forced business smile, you try to ease the traveler’s stone-like expression. thought, if you were in her shoes you believe you’d react much the same.
and you would sure as hell never recommend for someone to join the fatui.
“hm, yes, back to the matter at hand- childe tells me that he has upheld his end of your agreement.”
“what agreement? ..oh, the thing about him helping us find a guy?” paimon inquires.
“correct. childe promised he would find someone to break the stalemate. and harbingers do not break their promises lightly.”
this time you succeed in internalizing your reaction to the comment- from your personal experience, childe did not exactly fit that concept. but there was no time for dwelling on that now.
“ah, where is that guy anyway?”
“childe is currently at liuli pavilion.”
bingo.
“liuli pavilion?” you ask.
“oh, oh! paimon knows this one!” paimon exclaims, proceeding to give an insight of the rival cooking styles of liyue and you almost admire how dedicated she is to liking food so… academically. you’re half zoning out at their conversation when your stomach traitorously growls for all ears to hear.
“hey, y/n, why don’t you join us? you’re a friend of childe’s too afterall!” the floating guide propositions naively.
“ah err… i-i wouldn’t describe it like that, plus, i wasn’t invited to this meeting. i’d hate to intrude.” you try to wave it off. while this could be your current best chance at receiving more context on their investigation, you’d rather not do it where childe would catch onto you.
“well it won’t hurt to ask him! c’mon, at least walk with us, you’ll have to find a place to eat anyway.” paimon drags you by the sleeve out of northland bank, along with the traveler, with unexpected strength in her grasp.
the streets are bustling with people, walking back and forth as they also step out to guarantee themselves some dinner. the crowd covers the sight of liuli pavilion’s entrance and it’s not until you’ve actually arrived that childe sees you.
he looks no less than befuddled.
“aha, y-you’ve made it…” he laughs awkwardly, clearly not expecting the current situation to ever occur. “care to explain the plus one?”
“they’re just that! they were also looking for a place to eat so we invited them to join us.” paimon contextualizes, oblivious to the silent glare battle taking place between the two of you.
“w-well anyhow-“ childe effectively retreats from the as promised, i’ve found someone who can help you. someone who can solve the mystery of why the liyue qixing would hide the geo archon’s vessel.”
“so.. where is he? in liuli pavilion?”
“he certainly is. come, i’ll… introduce you.” he intends to sound cheerful but the last part of his sentence comes out the smidgen most strained as his eyes flicker to you momentarily.
“i took the liberty of setting up a business dinner, as per liyue custom.”
the traveler and paimon walk ahead and get distracted with the warm welcome of the restaurant’s staff while you and childe try not to jump to an argument then and there.
“trust me, i resisted this impromptu invite as much as i could.” you mutter, preferring to look at the surroundings rather than the harbinger beside you.
“good, because you won’t be joining anyway.” he replies coldly as he starts walking inside ahead of you.
“at least let me see the damn restaurant first, maybe i won’t join your table but that doesn’t mean i won’t eat there.”
“how will i know you’re not listening in on our busine-“
“childe? y/n? c’mon, let’s get to our table!” paimon calls out from further into the pavilion.
as you round to the reserved table, you see a brown-haired man in refined amber clothing seated at the far end of it, tea in hand. somehow you think you’ve seen him before but only out in the streets, perhaps at third-round knockout listening to the storyteller at the front tables.
“yes yes, i’m here.” childe steps up, half-sheepish at his late arrival. “unfortunately, y/n won’t be joining us as they have other matters to attend to.” he says like you’re not standing right beside him.
“really? but y/n didn’t say anything, plus, they seemed like they were awfully hungry-“
“forgive the intrusion but, childe, might this be the same y/n you’ve mentioned before?”
the man at the table joins in and childe looks like he’s promptly died on the spot. you, however, look elated at the revelation.
so elated that you don’t see the flush of red that plagues childe’s face and ears.
“why yes, i might just be.” the grin on your face seems only friendly to the other three and only the harbinger feels it’s real sting of triumph.
“then, please, let us all eat together.”
you all waste no more time to do so, childe sits on the man’s right, you sit beside him while the traveler and paimon mirror you on the other side- well, paimon at least floats on top of the chair.
“allow me to introduce mr. zhongli, consultant to an organization known as wansheng… and a trusted associate of the fatui.”
“wansheng?” the traveler asks.
“indeed.” the redhead answers. “wansheng’s line of work can be… sensitive at times. let’s just say they understand when discretion is needed. and we, the fatui, have always been glad to do business with friends who walk in the shadows.”
“w-walk in the shadows..?” paimon shivers.
“it is an honor to meet you. i have heard tell of you from mondstat.” zhongli turns to you. “you as well, doctor, i have been meaning to arrange for us to meet ever since hearing word of you from childe.”
you’re pleasantly surprised by him calling you doctor for a moment, as no one has ever really referred to you in such a respectful manner. sure, childe and others have called you “doc” playfully but never fully doctor.
and then you remember who the title is usually reserved for.
“discretion… shadows… ah! is wansheng some kind of business involving… ‘dealing’ with people?” paimon panics.
“indeed. it is as you have guessed.”
“ahh!!” she screams.
“don’t worry, wansheng is a funeral parlor.” you assure her amusedly and paimon’s fear shifts to confusion.
zhongli cluelessly nods in affirmation. “the wansheng funeral parlor organizes burials. we ensure that those who pass on do so in peace.”
“e-eh?”
you hear childe laugh warmly from beside you, the warmest you’ve heard from him in years. “did you think he was some sort of hired killer? the fatui calls many such people friends, but the wansheng funeral parlor does not dabble in such business… well, ostensibly.”
“ostensibly?” you question.
“well, they are still- ah, i shouldn’t say too much. in any case, i brought you to meet mr. zhongli because…”
“because i can bring you to see rex lapis’ vessel.” the consultant follows up plainly.
“what?!” exclaims paimon.
“ha, don’t be so surprised. sure, the geo archon’s body has been squirreled away by order of the tianquan ningguang… but first, let’s hear what mr. zhongli has to say, shall we?”
how childe managed to hide such a supposed fatui associate, an insanely useful one at that, from you with all the snooping around you’d been doing is beyond your mortal comprehension. what baffles you even more is his unwavering determination to keep you as far away from the entire operation as possible, going against the order of your involvement that came directly from not only dottore, the very second fatui harbinger, but also the director of all of the fatui himself.
unfortunately you’ll still need to wait until zhongli preaches his tale before you get to strangle childe where he stands.
“rex lapis may be the prime of adepti, but he is ultimately an adeptus. many adepti have left us over the millennia- this is the inexorable trend.”
zhongli turns to the traveler. “the times have changed- you must have felt it too when you were at jueyun karst.” with the travelers confirmation, he continues. “as you have seen, the time of adepti is ending, and the time of mankind is slowly dawning.”
the dinner proceeds with talks of the rite of passing and as the traveler and zhongli become more well acquainted, they all agree to leave liuli pavilion and further discuss their arrangements.
“you can go if you want to, don’t worry about me. i might just have a few more drinks…” childe dismisses the two travelers.
“and me also. somebody needs to teach a certain other someone how to use chopsticks if we’re to stay in liyue for a good while.” you imply half-jokingly, grateful that the two get on their way quick so you can give the redhead beside you an exclusive earful.
as you feel your cheeks start to warm with the burn of the alcohol, you down decisively the last one of your drinks for the night and slam the cup on the table with vigor.
“am i some sort of joke to you?”
childe almost chokes on his own beverage at the suddenness. “e-excuse me?”
“actually no, let me rephrase that- do you think it’s funny to play around with the job i’ve been assigned here and purposefully leave me to wander around streets i don’t know like a bumbling idiot while you keep contacts like mr.fucking-rex-lapis-historian under your belt?” you practically bark.
“y/n, please, i think you might’ve drank too mu-“
“answer the question or so help me celestia, i will leave this restaurant with my hands as red as that stupid scarf of yours.”
the harbinger huffs. “alright alright! no i don’t think it’s funny to do… all of what you said. but i don’t think that’s fair- this is my mission and it’s been running smoothly since before you even got here. at least i thought it was until they decided to send more manpower with zero forewarning, do you know how insulting that is?”
“how is it insulting to have backup in case something goes wrong? that’s all i’m here for- to help, and ideally help with the investigation. but i can’t do that if i don’t know where the hell jueyun karst is, much less where else to go to look for clues.”
childe only sighs again, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingertips. “you’re right… i shouldn’t alienate you from what’s your assignment too. but let me keep up with my plan for now and if something goes awry, i’ll call you. i’ll fill you in on it tomorrow morning.”
you nod firmly- easier than you thought it’d be.
“now will you please teach me how to use these damned sticks?”
taglist ; @kentply
#childe x reader#childe x y/n#childe x you#childe tartaglia#childe genshin x reader#tartaglia x reader#tartaglia x y/n#tartaglia x you#childe tartaglia ajax#childe imagines#tartaglia genshin impact#childe genshin impact#genshin impact fic#genshin fic#genshin impact imagines#genshin impact#genshin x reader#genshin x y/n#genshin x you
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Childe being the boss of a bank while being Absolutely Feral
The Tsaritsa sending Childe, A Boy From The Countryside Who Never Had Any Formal Schooling, to run her bank: This is going to be the funniest thing ever
In Childe’s head, accountants cover everything to do with numbers, so when he’s in doubt, he just assumes someone’s job is “accountant”. This is almost never true. Vlad is a bodyguard, he literally stands outside the bank doors, WHY WOULD YOU THINK HE WAS AN ACCOUNTANT--
Childe: Haha yeah I’m an accountant!
Ekaterina, exhausted: You are not. But points for trying.
Childe, very proud: I work at a BANK!
Nadia, who knows that Childe basically just fights people without Actually Working and is the office’s baby: That’s right, honey 😊
Every night Childe gets tutored by someone who does work in the bank on various financial matters and he becomes ridiculously financially savvy even for a twenty-something working in a bank
Childe is crazy good at understanding money if you give it to him in terms of fighting-related things. “Wow, ten of these are worth one Dull Sword!”
Childe who doesn’t understand why people can’t just fish for a living. It’s simple. You find a good cave, set up a fire, and catch fish whenever you’re hungry. His employees are horrified. Childe, is this why you’ve been eating so much fish lately. Childe, are you just catching your own fish despite being one of the most well-paid men alive. CHILDE--
Someone shows up for an appointment with a bank advisor, and Childe, who is HORRIBLY disappointed after learning this truth, pulls them aside and is like, “You know they’re not a fiduciary, right? Banks just want to make money. They don’t actually care about you.” His employees are like. You literally are the boss of this bank can you please stop chasing away business
Childe watching a fisherman about to buy mutual funds or something: “You need to understand that they take a 2% management fee off this, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but in fact if you compare it to products from places that aren’t our bank, you could lose a lot in the long run--”
“Childe banks aren’t a scam”
“Okay then explain why Andre the accountant taught me to always be careful about mutual funds with high MERs and then immediately tried to sell that same bad example mutual fund to a client HMMM”
Childe who honestly thinks the concept of money is a scam. Why can’t we just all fish and hunt meat together and share food.
Childe’s employees are ALL scrawny paperwork office job people so they’re like. Childe we can’t. Just hunt down wild boars. That’s primitive and we don’t have muscles.
Childe backseat driving to other people’s financial decisions and they’re like can you please get this twenty year old out of my face while I decide on mortgages. Childe doesn’t even give good advice he’s just really freaking annoying
#genshin impact#childe#tartaglia#ajax#genshin ekaterina#genshin vlad#genshin nadia#northland bank fam au#why are there so many tags to tag :/ sir :/#'quill why is your content so outdated' i haven't played in a long time okay TT i haven't even unlocked the chasm i'm so behind TT#the way that i didn't even like childe and don't even have him but i still make so much content for him. okay clown.#everyone coming in like 'sumeru is SO good and amazing and [insert any chara from sumeru] is SO good you'd love them' and i'm like#i KNOW and i am SO excited but unfortunately i will probably not be playing anytime soon rip#life is meant to be enjoyed at your personal leisurely pace and i am for sure doing that but also.#can i enjoy it at a faster pace so that i can get hyped with my friends over new updates please
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🐋 — [ Tartaglia. ]
👤 — [ gender neutral reader. ]
🏷️ — [ enemies to lovers, good ending, fluff. ]
📜 — [ fic. ]
You had a mission. Kill the Eleventh Harbinger, through any means necessary.
You had heard the tales. He's a monster, a killing machine that brought with him devastation and ruin. The Vanguard of the Tsaritsa, and someone who crawled out of the Abyss.
It was insanity. Your higher ups must have known that sending one person to kill Tartaglia was a death sentence. But you would carry it out, regardless.
You didn't know what you expected, but it certainly wasn't this lanky, awkward young man, talking with the confidence of a Harbinger. Your organisation had managed to sneak you into the Fatui as a new recruit, and you had been posted to Liyue, which was apparently under his jurisdiction.
"I wish you all glory; glory to the Tsaritsa, glory to our motherland, and glory to yourselves. Dismissed. Your captains will tell you what you will be doing, and Y/N? A word, please?"
You pushed past the crowds, uncaring of how all eyes were on you. Tartaglia was waiting for you, a small smile on his lips. Again, you wondered how he could seem so young.
"You weren't listening at all, were you? Did I bore you?" Tartaglia leaned forward, his tone one of mild curiosity.
You fought the urge to reach for your weapon, instead focusing on keeping your breathing even.
"No sir. Sorry sir, it won't happen again." You replied crisply.
To your surprise, Tartaglia threw his head back and laughed like he'd heard the joke of the century.
"Sir? Why so formal, recruit? Call me Childe; everyone here calls me that." Tar- Childe said, his eyes dancing with mirth.
"Understood, Lord Childe." You said carefully, testing the word out on your tongue.
Childe clicked his tongue, looking pleased. "Okay, that's a start. I know exactly where you'll be working. Katya!"
A Fatuus hurried over, turning to Childe.
He turned to you with a conspiratorial grin and whispered loudly, "Ekaterina here takes care of the shady side of things at the bank, so I can go out and play Harbinger without the metaphorical blood on my hands."
"Need I remind you of the times you appeared in the bank with blood all over you, sir?" Ekaterina replied drily, and you noticed that she didn't seem to use that reverent tone of respect most recruits did.
"It's just blood, and it wasn't mine."
"Blood doesn't wash out of carpets easily, and you're lucky it was closing time then." She turns to you, and despite how her face was obscured by the mask, you got the feeling that she was sizing you up.
"Is this who you want, sir?"
"Give them an office at the bank, okay? I'll be going now, I just came back from Inazuma!"
The two of you watched Childe hurry away, his figure shrinking into the distance.
"Good luck."
"What?"
Ekaterina turned to you, her voice dripping with pity.
"Childe isn't an easy boss. Come with me."
-
Your days at the bank were long and dreary. It wasn't so bad, but there was a lot of work to be done. Mostly it was just the Qixing nitpicking some small detail or other, and your days were filled with passive aggressive letters insisting that the other party was far too kind, and that you would remember this.
All well and fine, until Childe crashed into your office like a dust devil.
"Y/N, can you fight?"
Your first thought was that the bank was under attack. Your second thought was that your cover had been blown, and your hand twitched towards the polearm that always remained just out of arm's reach.
"A little. I'm not too good at it, though." Technically not a lie, since you specialized more in subterfuge and assassination.
Childe seemed appeased by this response, gesturing for you to follow him.
He left the bank at an easy pace, exchanging greetings and words with people on the street. Vendors seemed particularly enthused to see him, and some even asked him where their "source of income was", whatever that meant.
He always replied with a sunny smile, and more than a few times you had to remind yourself that this was a bloodthirsty creature you were dealing with.
He brought you to a wide, empty field, and you suddenly remembered something.
Being the secretary of the Eleventh Harbinger, you heard things.
Things like how he would wheedle his way into spars with recruits, and he would always leave the field looking refreshed while the recruits all looked haggard.
To be picked for a spar with Childe was to have all the flaws of your technique pointed out with a smile. But it was also a good way to see how he fought.
So you let him tug you into position, and you watched as he pulled his bow into existence, seemingly giving you the first move. Not one to let go of an opportunity, you dashed forward, drawing your sword and aiming for his chest.
You longed for your polearm, but it was unwise to show your hand so early. The sword was shorter than what you were used to, but it would be fine.
Childe sidestepped, using his bow to send quick flickers of water at you, throwing you off. All the while, he was watching you intently.
You kept attacking, and he kept dodging. This frustrating game kept up until his face lit up. Then, with a casual gesture, your sword went flying out of your hands.
"You've got a strange style," Childe commented, catching your sword and inspecting it. "I think you would be more suited to a polearm, not a sword. Or, you were trained with a polearm, anyway."
"You barely fought me." You gritted out, glaring at Childe.
He shrugged and passed your sword back. "I didn't have to."
-
And just like that, another event was added to your repetitive routine. Paperwork, think of a way to murder Childe, and occasionally, indulge him with a spar.
When you took out your polearm and fell into a familiar stance, Childe's eyes lit up, and he actually did trade blows with you this time, though you could tell he was barely using his strength. But he disarmed you easily enough, which put an end to your plans of facing him in head on combat.
You wondered if he checked his food for poison, but then you dismissed it. Too risky, and if he didn't die, he would know who you were, and the mission would be ruined.
As you plotted in circles, you became aware of Childe's tells. How he lied, how he smiled when he never meant it. He wore his heart on his sleeve, and you wondered how anyone could fail to kill this bumbling man.
Childe's behaviour was becoming erratic and strange. Some days, he would be cheerful and bubbly, always chatting incessantly and overly generous. Those were his most common moods.
But recently, he had been moodier of late. More volatile, easier to provoke. He lost more of his spars like that, but he didn't seem to really mind. In fact, he seemed happier after those defeats, often treating you to a meal.
It happened during lunch. The two of you were at Wanmin, and Childe was regaling you with a particularly tall tale about a sea snake and a fishing rod when suddenly, his hand shot out.
Your head was snapped down, and Childe let out a hiss of pain. You scrambled out of your seat, looking down at the neat round hole burned into his arm and the smoking bullet bobbing in your soup.
Childe stood up, ignoring how his arm hung limply. His eyes were cold and dead now, scanning the rooftops and balconies.
"Lord Harbinger-"
"There." Childe hummed, and in the blink of an eye, something zipped past you. You only survived because he wasn't focused on you, but you felt the touch of electro-charged water against your cheek.
Electro? But how did he…
"Y/N, we have to go."
This was your chance. He was injured and distracted, you could easily plunge a fork or your knife into his chest and shock his heart to a standstill.
You grabbed his bleeding arm, ignoring the startled hiss. Of course he'd forgotten about the wound.
"Lord Harbinger, you're injured. Perhaps you should recuperate before tracking them down." You murmured. "People are looking."
"Fine." He snarled, summoning some Hydro to wipe up the blood and pick up the bullet.
He didn't let you touch him all throughout the walk back to the bank, and when he reached the bank, his murderous expression kept people from asking after his arm.
You retreated to your office to get a medical kit and returned to Childe surveying the bullet, turning it this way and that in its watery prison.
"Interesting build." Childe's voice was conversational, and you pulled up a chair to him and started working on the wound.
"What is, sir?"
Childe made a dismissive noise. "Just call me Childe. And I was talking about this bullet. It has been imbued with pyro energy, so touching it would burn very badly."
You tried to school your expression. That sounded like the work of your organisation. Bullets that cauterized the wound as it went, with a dense knot of pyro energy that would dissipate after a while.
But why would they steal your kill? You were promised Tartaglia. This didn't make any sense, so you just made an affirmative hum and continued to bandage his arm.
-
"Is that all you got?" Even pinned under your weapon, Childe still had that cocky light in his eyes, and he pressed his throat closer to the tip of your spear. A spar. that was all it was supposed to be, until he let slip that he knew your intentions and all of a sudden, it had become far more dangerous.
"Come on," he cooed. "You can kill me right here, right now. Unless you like seeing me helpless like this?"
"Shut up, Harbinger."
Childe sighed heavily, sounding very put upon. "I thought we were getting along swimmingly. What's with the sudden change in attitude?"
"Don't play dumb."
Childe snickered. "But it makes you so mad."
"You're not scared?"
"Why would I be afraid of you?" He cocked his head, sounding genuinely confused. "You were a spy sent by an organisation to do an impossible task. But you still tried anyway. Isn't that enough?"
"I-"
"There's no use arguing." Childe pushed your spear away from his throat and sat up. "I did my research; the organisation simply wanted an easy way to get rid of you."
You gritted your teeth. You had long suspected it, but hearing it laid out so simply… it stung. Discarded like an old tool in order to make way for others.
"So? Are you going to kill me now?" You asked.
Childe burst out laughing. "Ha! I'm not letting myself get used like some attack dog for an enemy organisation. My loyalty belongs to the Tsaritsa alone. Of course I'm not going to kill you."
"What?" You were baffled. Was he really going to let an enemy live like that? But Childe didn't seem to sense your disbelief, his brow scrunched in an adorable furrow.
"I don't see why I need to kill you. Ekaterina already spent so much time training you to be my secretary, and it'd be a shame to put all her hard work to waste."
"I…"
Childe grinned. "Of course, you can still try to kill me. But I will try my best to continue thwarting your efforts."
Well. Who were you to look a gift horse in the mouth?
#🖋️ — [ outgoing. ]#tartaglia#childe tartaglia ajax#childe genshin impact#tartaglia x reader#childe x reader#gender neutral reader#childe x gender neutral reader
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How about 18 & 76 please!
(Thank you lovely!)
Link to the Fanfic Writing Ask list
Hey babes! Thanks for the ask!
Do you enjoy research? Which fic of yours required the most research?
I love researching for fics. I love looking up as much interesting shit as I can. The downside to that is that I often will end up down a rabbit hole of completely unrelated shit. 😅
As for which fic has required the most research, I really can't be sure. My First Impressions Pride and Prejudice fic involved an audiobook re-listen before I decided to go off of the 2005 movie because that was a bit easier to deal with.
Similar with the recent Anastasia AU I wrote, I watched the movie multiple times as I wrote it and went into a deep dive on The Winter Palace and tobacco production in pre-revolution Russia for the smell from Wayne that triggers a memory for Eddie. Ekaterina Nikolaevna Shaposhnikova took over her husbands tobacco factory when he died and became known as the 'Queen of Tobacco' in Russia for a little bit so it made sense to me that Wayne would smoke that.
Even then it would be smaller bits of research for different fics. What movies/tv shows would be out at the time, what technology was available, what albums/songs were available, the laws around sodomy or the legal drinking age or same sex marriage as well as constantly quizzing my husband about what a particular injury/attack/sickness would do to a body to try and make it as real as possible.
I don't expect to get everything 100% accurate 100% of the time but I try my best and that's all that I can do in the end. 😊
How do you deal with writing pressure, whether internal or external?
So when it comes to external pressure I'm happy to say I haven't recieved an awful lot of it. As is usual in fandoms most people are very sweet and just as passionate about the things they love as the rest of us. So when they come to me begging for a part 2 or and extension to a fic that I consider done I don't really see it as pressure, I take it more as a compliment because I've been there. I know what it's like to have a piece of writing infect my brain to the point I want another 30k+ words and would drink it up and to me that's a high compliment.
I'll never say never when someone asks me if something else will be written but I cannot force myself to write something I have no inspiration to write. So if the inspiration hits again for a story I've considered complete, I'll extend it. But if the story stays complete in my head, I won't force myself because it'll turn out shit and make me not want to do it and no one wants that.
But when it comes to internal pressure?
Pressure from inside my own head?
Well that's a little more difficult.
I come from a quite crative family. My sister has a degree in Fine Art and is a baker by trade. My brother is a sound engineer and a drummer in a metal band. My brothers girlfriend is a textile artist.
The one thing they've all told me is to not pay attention to the numbers and I was really good at doing that for a while.
Until I wasn't.
Until I started to feel obsessed about how successful or unsuccessful a fic was getting.
How my numbers were stacking up against other people's and the interaction they were getting that I wasn't and it gradually started to eat away at my passion.
I no longer felt accomplished whenever I published anything and kept trying to force myself to write things that would be more popular that I didn't necessarily want to read myself or want to write.
I don't do that anymore. I haven't actually published anything from that era of my life and I won't. It's not what I want to do.
I've had to pull myself out of my head and stop obsessively tracking my numbers and start writing for me again like I did at the start.
I love writing.
I love it.
So dealing with internal pressure has become a regular thing of getting myself to stop and breathe and really look at what I've written down.
Is this actually something I'd want to read or is it something I think other people want to read?
Nowadays that answer is almost always the former. I do passion projects and am trying my hardest not to care if people don't love it as much as I do.
But that's okay, it's a journey and at the end of the day this is not my job, it's a hobby and I'm allowed to be self indulgent and write what I want to.
A little bit long winded and I got into my feelings a tad, sorry about that! 😅
I hope I answered your questions well enough! 🖤
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Tartaglia's idea of overtime and raises are a little bit different than most would think.
Be sure to check out this fic on AO3!
--
“This isn’t exactly what I had in mind when you suggested overtime.” A pause, a gasp, a breathy moan that floats through the air. High-pitched. Tinny. Shuddering as a lip is bitten. “Or what I expected in a raise.”
Tartaglia’s hair is thick and coarse against her fingers. She tugs at it, hand curling into luscious ginger locks, nails scraping across his scalp. He whines against her cunt, digging crescents into her thighs as he grips them tightly. “Katya,” he murmurs against her, kissing her wet folds, tongue slipping through them to lap at her juices.
“Desperate thing,” she says, petting his head. He must be. She sees the way that his cock aches in his trousers, the hard line of his erection on display. It’s late. They were both doing paperwork until Tartaglia whirled into her office and dragged her into a storage closet at the back of the bank.
The door was barely closed before he was on his knees, spreading her legs, begging to be suffocated until he couldn't breathe. Ekaterina is a tease and Tartaglia responds so well, eager to please like a puppy.
“Yes,” he says. Licks a strip across her slit, the tip of his tongue barely dipping in. Then around it, exploring every crevice he can find.
“Mhm.” And maybe she needs this too. It’s not as though she put up a fight. The moment overtime is mentioned, paired with the glint of his eye, she’s as gone and desperate as he is. There’s something to be said about having a Harbinger between her thighs, suckling at her like she’s a treat, moaning against her like a whore.
She’s called him that before and he’d moaned, doubling his efforts, swallowing everything down that she offered. Ekaterina considers it this time, brushing back his bangs. She takes in the pink tinge to his face, the way that his nostrils flare as he watches back, eyes glassy with arousal as he eats her out.
No, no, not this time. Something else, something a little rarer. “Oh, you poor thing,” she murmurs, voice turning soft. Almost affectionate. Ekaterina might not love the damn boy, but she cares for him at least. Dealt with his impetuousness over the years, pulling and plucking at strings to keep him out of trouble.
Fucking her is the least he can do in return.
Tartaglia is good at it, too; clever with his tongue and fingers, enthusiastic in his touches and the way that he presses against her. That damned tongue, circling around her clit, sucking at it until it's hard and peeking out from its hood. She gushes, his face and cheeks wet with her slick.
“How do I taste?” she asks him sweetly.
Tartaglia groans into her cunt, nibbling at her clit, teeth blunt against her swollen flesh as he works her closer to orgasm. She pulls his hair, yanking back his head to stave it off. Her sex aches, throbbing—but she can bare it if it means lasting.
“Delicious,” he says, lips glistening. His tongue slips out, making a show of licking them. What a sight. Ekaterina’s seen him fight, dripping in Abyss, inhuman and hulking. And yet, here, he’s youthful and wily. Smirking back as he kneels between her, bones smarting against the tiled floor.
She loosens her grip, stroking through his hair instead. Tartaglia leans to the side, nuzzling the inside of her thigh with his cheek. He licks the stream of slick that streams there, leaking from her cunt. “Yeah,” he says, kissing the skin there, teeth dragging over it, raising gooseflesh. “Absolutely scrumptious. Zhongli would say something about tea, but I’d drink you up any day over it.”
Ekaterina isn’t the one that gets off on praise, she gets off on Tartaglia asking for it. His words are carefully picked, geared towards easing her into comforting him. “Oh, you’re a good boy, aren’t you?” He whimpers at that, just the reaction she wants to hear. A breath slips from his mouth, eyes slipping closed as she says it again, petting his hair as though he were a loyal dog. “Yes, such a good thing for me.”
“Katya,” he says, his voice hoarse. Dry. Raspy. Another whine, softer this time, keening. “Please.”
She leans against the wall of the storage closet, raising her hips, offering a better angle. She guides Tartagalia’s face right back between her thighs and he moans, immediately getting back to work. His tongue, hot and wet, sliding through her dripping folds. His breath against her, stuttering, muffled by the way she drops her hips against him.
“Good boy,” she says again, rolling herself against his mouth. Tartaglia responds so readily, eager to swallow her up, lips doing the overtime. Pleasure curls again, heat spreading through her. Ekaterina’s face is hot behind her mask. “Gods.” A hiss as she bites her lip.
Tartaglia’s slipped two fingers inside, fucking her cunt in time with his mouth. “Katya,” he breathes against her, “Katya.”
He doesn’t talk to anyone else this way. Hot whispers of Katya are for her alone, in moments like this where she rides his face until completion. His fingers are long. He hooks them, hitting the right spot, gently nudging at that spongy spot while he sucks at her clit.
“Just like that,” she says, “Yes, yes, just like that.”
“Please,” he says.
She knows what he’s asking. Ekaterina smiles slyly as they meet gazes again. “Beg for it.”
Tartaglia pauses in his attention, throat bobbing, a little embarrassed. But— “Your foot,” he starts. Then stops.
“Come on, you can say it,” she says, cupping his cheek, smoothing a thumb over his cheekbone.
“My dick. I’m—” He presses his palm against his cock, grinding it down.
“You’ve asked for worse things.” Like fucking him with a Geo construct, face-down until he was crying, snot-nosed in the sheets. That’s a sight she isn’t likely to forget—not that she wants to.
“Step on it. Katya, please.”
Ekaterina sighs softly, pleased. His begging is delicious and settles deep in her gutting, stoking the burning pleasure. She nudges his hand away from his crotch and clicks her tongue at the sight of his hardened erection that tents his trousers.
“You asked so nicely,” she soothes, pressing her boot down against his cock. Not hard, just enough pressure to make him moan. She drags the sole down his length and he bucks against her, seeking out friction. “I’ll take care of you,” she promises, “but don’t forget you were in the middle of something. Don’t you owe me overtime?”
“Yes, yes—” He’s eager again, ardent in the way he shoves his face back into her cunt. He licks at her, sucks and moans, bobs his face against her sex as he dives in.
She moans, rutting against his face, pulling at his hair hard enough that she knows it must sting. Tartaglia groans but doesn’t stop. Tears well in the corner of his eyes but he keeps at her, tongue sliding against her folds, fucking her with his fingers, doing his best to drag her to a happy end.
Ekaterina is close—he’s a wonder with his mouth and the way that he curls his fingers inside her. His cock twitches under her boot as she presses harder. “Go on, you can fuck yourself against it.”
The sound he makes is lost between her thighs, choked off with a gurgling sound as he drowns in her slick. He grinds against her, rutting against her foot. “Fuck,” he whispers, kissing her, soft little butterfly touches. “Oh, Archons—fuck.”
“Still so good for me, doing as I ask.” She brushes his hand back, fingers digging into his scalp. Tartaglia latches onto her clit again, sucking at it, tongue swirling around the nub. He rocks against the sole of her boot, using his spare hand to hold it down against him for better leverage.
“Katya.” He moans, his thrusting losing its cadence as he fucks himself against her boot.
“I like you like this, stripped down and bare. No one else gets to see you like this.”
“No, of course not. Of course not—” He hisses, grunting as he comes, pressing hard against her boot as he sinks into the sensation.
Ekaterina won’t be much longer. He still laps at her cunt, tongue lolling and lazy as his orgasm crashes into him. She sneaks a hand down to touch herself, fingering over her clit as he still fucks her cunt. Knows just wear to touch, fingers smoothing over the spot inside that leaves her legs trembling as she braces herself with a hand on his shoulder.
“Such a pretty thing,” she says, gasping softly, feeling the way that her arousal is thick in her throat. And Tartaglia is, eyes wet, face red and ruddy, mouth swollen and slick from his voracious appetite. His eyes flutter, half-lidded, long eyelashes wet and clinging with tears.
She tips over the edge easily, watching him flounder about, overstimulated as she keeps grinding her boot down against his cock. He moans softly, pathetically almost, worn out. He says her name again, nuzzling her sodden sex, licking at her gently as she just comes and comes.
Heavy breathing in the tight and tiny room. Tartaglia cleans her up with his tongue as he always does. Wipes at his mouth as he stands on shaky legs, nearly falling over as if he’s been at sea for a month and just found land.
“Sir,” she says, reaching out to steady.
“Yeah, I’m—Gods, I needed that.” A pause. “You too, no doubt. I know I stress you out. Gotta give you something to keep the grays away.”
“Sir.”
“Okay, okay, I’m going.” Tartaglia pauses at the door, waiting until she’s dressed and decently presentable. His voice dips quietly as he says, “Um, thanks.”
Ekaterina punches his shoulder lightly. On his feet, he’s so much taller but she’s still the one with power. She holds this Harbinger in the palm of her hand. She reaches up and grabs his chin, sliding her thumb over his bottom lip. “You’re a mess.” A pause. “Pretty.”
They don’t kiss—they never will—but he pecks the pad of her finger sweetly before tugging her hand away. “I have paperwork to finish.”
The rest of the night goes smoothly, said paperwork in standard order. Ekaterina tries not to snicker when Tartaglia tries to hide the soiled wet spot on the front of his trousers anytime Vlad walks by.
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I too am stuck in skating hell and up watching the gp rn... dare I ask who your faves are??
my favourite men tend to be those who COMMIT to PUTTING ON A SHOW so keegan messing & kevin aymoz & adam siao him fa are up there, and I think junhwan cha and camden pulkinen are lovely skaters to watch. jason brown remains my forever fave.
I have no favourite teams in the current pairs field, every time I think I have one I get another one, I LOVE THEM ALL!! but gun to my head I will say stellato-duduk/deschamps based on this year's GP events.
ditto I love ALL THE LADIES but kaori sakamoto remains queen of my heart, and I am so happy for loena hendrickx. others I love watching: ekaterina kurakova, amber glenn, starr andrews.
my secret wish in ice dance is for lilah fear and lewis gibson to win everything, but I have adored gilles/poirier for years and I'm so pleased to see them winning things now. hawayek/baker are also favourites of mine, and I am a new huge fan of taschler/taschlerova and their INCREDIBLE SPEED. and also guignard/fabbri!I okay it looks like I love all the dance teams as well.
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Alternative Season 1, Extra Episode A: "The Count of Pleasantview"
In an alternate universe
Pleasantview, Goth Family Mansion
Mortimer had the mansion remodeled, the old style bored him too much. His children, Cassandra and Alexander agreed with his father's decision to remodel the mansion, that change "could" calm Mortimer's reputation a bit throughout Pleasantview.
Cassandra (While approaching her father): Father, I am very worried that the other neighbors see you as a "Black Widow"... They keep making up rumors about you, since you bit Don, you could say that almost everyone is afraid of us.
The older vampire began to laugh at what his daughter said.
Mortimer: They have their reasons to be afraid of us Cassie, we are Vampires, we don't have to be "affectionate" and give flowers to every sim we find!... But right now I don't really want to listen to the local rumors and gossip, I'm very concentrated...
Cassandra: Father if you think about biting several sims again or going to bite animals at the nearest farm... Please don't do it
Mortimer: Do you remember the time I felt watched?
The woman nodded, she did not know that she was going to say her father
Mortimer (looking out the window): According to my studies, someone from another universe is watching us, but I don't know how he can see this reality... But hey, my daughter, we should focus on your little brother's wedding! How are you doing? that cloning invention?
Cassandra: The truth has gone very well for me, father, I wanted to clone Don to try... Would it be okay?
Mortimer: Of course Cassie!
At night
Alexander Goth and his fiancée Ekaterina Dunnoff were talking about his wedding.
Alexander (Smiling as he looked at his wife): I can't wait for our wedding dear! We have already arranged all the decorations, the guests and even the honeymoon!
Ekaterina: Alex, there is something I want to tell you, I know it will sound strange, but I had a strange dream and I don't know what it means
That confused the black-haired man who looked at her fiancee with interest in helping her.
Alexander: Tell me what happened Ekaterina! Maybe that way we could solve it...
The blonde took a deep breath and she decided to tell her dream
Ekaterina: I dreamed that i had been kidnapped by some Werewolves, one of them was called Geoff, and then you and my cousins decided to save me... And I also dreamed that your mother was alive..
That froze Alexander's blood, who already had a hypothesis of what had happened to his girlfriend, she had "seen" another dimension...
Alexander: I think it must be that you're very tired honey! I'm too haha, work overwhelms us a bit!
Ekaterina: Well, I think that must be it... Did you hear that the Montys and the Capps have a very big lawsuit?
Apparently in this reality, some things could be considered peaceful and "normal", will the Goth family know more about this topic or what will they be hiding with the "cloning"?
#sims 2#sims 2 uberhood#cobycobs alternative uberhood#mortimer goth#cassandra goth#alexander goth#ekaterina dunnoff#vampy alternative timeline
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* * #SUPERMARKET & #WALKIE-TALKIES CONVO WITH @ginnypark
Ginny Park
Here. I've got a reward for your honesty and eggplant expertise. [tosses him Ermano's walkie-talkie] Ermano left this behind earlier. Maybe you can leverage its return against him or something.
ike
-catches the walkie, then waggles it at her- You're a shit-stirrer. You can't fool me.
Ginny Park
Whaaat? Shit-starter how? I have no idea what you're talking about. How else is he gonna get his walkie back? [grins] Maybe you'll be his heeeero.
ike
-snorts at her speculation- I have met some hard-asses in my time but never anybody who even APPROACHED the levels of stoneface that guy has. I could come back to town with a sitrep that meets military standards and he'd still side-eye me like I was wearing a fuckin' clown nose to deliver it.
Ginny Park
Maybe he’s just not one for stats. Could be a softie for a walkie-talkie. You never know. The clown nose might be a good idea! You’re, uh, Izzy. And Ermano’s… [she pauses thoughtfully then smiles again] Chuckles. Or… Smiley. Bozo. He’d really like that one. Hey, wait, gimme that, I wanna poll people on which names they prefer — [she grabs for the walkie talkie again]
ike
-harrumphing- I don't think he's a softie for any… -trails off, blinking once she says 'Izzy'. eyes narrowing slightly, jaw tight, keeping the walkie out of her reach- Who told you to say that? Izzy. Why'd you choose that fucking name out of everything.
Ginny Park
Whoa. [takes a step back, turning her head to look at him sidelong] What do you mean, who told me? It’s a pretty simple nickname. Your name’s Isaac, right? It’s like: Virginia is Ginny. Isaac is… that.
… Why would someone have told me to say that, Ike? Who called you that?
ike
-still staring at her warily, like he might bolt if things go a direction he doesn't like- Izzy … Izzy was Ember's mom. That was her name, Isabella. I'm the only one she let call her that, though. She's -- she's fucking dead now, Ember said. -a little more viciously- Ike. Ike is what's the nickname for Isaac. You're just being a bitch.
Ginny Park
Hey. Let’s back the hell off with the ‘bitch’ stuff, got it? I didn’t know. How could I have known? I brought Ember some food. I didn’t get her whole life story. [more gently, after a beat] I didn’t know. I’m sorry. Ike, then. Ike the clown. Doesn’t have as good of a ring to it, but that’s alright. We can still market it.
[a contemplative pause] Kat. That’s what I called my wife. She hated it at first. [in a mock-up of her wife’s accent] Ekaterina, she said, is a good name. But I told her five syllables was too much to expect from me, given how tongue-tied she made me. So it was Kat.
ike
-keeps on watching her narrow-eyed, without responding to her trying to soften the mood, until she mentions her wife- She was, what … is that Russian? Sounds like a ballerina name. -grunts a little, a de-escalating sound- It's hard to think of you doe-eyed over somebody like that. You seem like you'd. I dunno. Think you were above that sort of soppy shit. Not for Kat, though, huh.
Ginny Park
Yeah, Russian. Press correspondent. That’s how we met. [laughs, albeit tight, a tendon ticking in her throat] I thought that, too. That I was kind of an exception. But you should’ve seen her. You’d get it, if you had. I cried so hard when I tried to propose that she told me to ‘please get up, you know I’m going to say yes.’
[twirls her bracelet a few times, looking away] That’s all to say that you’re not the only one here who’s felt a loss like that. So I wouldn’t mess with you about that. Not me. … You think of Isabella often?
ike
-visibly softening more- Some fairy tale. Your Kat managed to tame the fearsome beast. -exhales gustily when she draws a line between them- Look. I didn't need to jump down your throat about it, I just -- it caught me off-guard and I'm kinda rubbed fuckin' raw over all that shit right now. You got way more reason to feel a loss than I do, considering I was only with Izzy for five years. For maybe five years. And marriage was never even on the table. -shrugs a shoulder- I think of her every so often. If there was a one, she was gonna be it.
Ginny Park
I don’t know that I was ever fearsome. Just stubborn. [she pokes at his arm with the eggplant, an attempt to diffuse] I get it. I can’t imagine processing what you’re processing right now. And we don’t have to compare apples and oranges here. Loss is loss. We all know it. And ‘the one’ is no small thing. [looks down at the bracelet again for another beat, clearly distracted, before looking up at Ike with new conviction] Next time you go out, I want to go with you. [the unspoken: to search for Henry] Kat would kick my ass if she knew I was just sitting around while our son was out there. And I’d deserve it.
ike
-he nods, mutely; he knows all this, but it's another thing hearing it from someone else- Yeah. Shit sucks all over. -eyes her curiously at her request, then says slowly:- Ohhh-kay. I'll work up a milk run for us. Don't argue, there's an actual place I wanna check out. We don't need all our raids to be straight-up subsistence, not with Redwood on its feet. You and me can afford to do something that neither life nor death hinges on. Them's my terms.
Ginny Park
I’ll take whatever terms I can get. Thanks, Ike. I should go, but… I’ll be by your place later, alright? To bring you some of this. [she waves the eggplant then turns to go]
===
Ginny Park
Come in, Ike. Ginny calling Ike.
ike
Ike here. What's shaking?
Ginny Park
Heard word that you saw a hoard from Lookout C the other night. Is that true?
ike
Affirmative. What, you got eyes on 'em? Where are you?
Ginny Park
Oh, no. No, nothing like that.
…
…
…
Did you get a good look at any of them?
ike
Gin. [deep sigh] Don't.
Ginny Park
It was kids, though? You're sure it was all kids?
ike
It was all kids. But they were in hospital gowns. Like a whole peds ward got bit in one visit to the buffet.
Ginny Park
…It could've been, though. Fairmont Medical's not far from here, right? He could've gotten scared after… and…
Did you, um… put any of them down?
ike
Even if he got scared, would he put on a hospital gown? Assign himself one of those id bracelets?
Ginny Park
Do we know when Fairmont went down? It could've still been operating… I mean, I know most of the hospitals went to shit immediately, but…
ike
Ginny. You're not making sense.
Ginny Park
You didn't answer my question.
ike
I'm not gonna answer your question because your entire line of thinking is fuckin' batshit! Get a god damn grip on yourself!
Ginny Park
Fuck you. Batshit? Look who's talking. When your kid just walked right in here? Please. My grip's just fine. Thought you might spare me the walk, but if you won't do anything, I'll go look for myself.
ike
Fuck yourself. You think going out there on some wild goose chase based on something I'm TELLING you is not plausible is gonna help anyone? You or Henry or ANYONE? What the shit did you even ask me for if you're not gonna listen?
Ginny Park
It's not a goose chase! It's my son! I just – [sudden disconnection as her voice breaks… a moment before she comes back on] I need to see. I'll look from the tower. That's all. I just… need to see. I need to know.
ike
They've moved on, Ginny. Past my Eyries. It would take an actual trek out to catch up with them and it's not worth it.
Ginny Park
… Oh. I didn't realize. … Okay.
… We're still on for the, um, milk run?
ike
Maybe if you didn't try to use my fucking daughter against me.
Ginny Park
That's fair. I'm… sorry. That was wrong. Call me jealous.
ike
What in God's name is there about me to be jealous for?
Ginny Park
You've got her. Messy and scary as I'm sure it is right now, at least you've got time with her. And certainty about where she is. If nothing else.
ike
I didn't want any of that. You're not jealous of me for anything that's to do with me, you're just thinking about yourself. Sack up and admit that, at least.
Ginny Park
You're telling me you don't want your kid in your life?
ike
Ta-daaa.
Ginny Park
Jesus, Ike…
ike
Come on. This isn't a shock to you.
Ginny Park
It is. But maybe you're right. Maybe I'm just thinking by my standards. And clearly we've got very different ones.
Tell me that you haven't told her that.
ike
[low chuckling] Theeeeere we go. Back to the moral rankings that everyone's more comfortable with.
And no, I haven't said that to her. It's not the kind of thing you append to a welcome-to-Redwood card.
Ginny Park
Well, at least you wrote her a card.
ike
Ha-haaaaa! Hey, you should take your act on the road!
Ginny Park
Ba dum tss.
Speaking of out on the road… I'm free, over the next few days. If you still want to go on a run. If not… let me know.
ike
Yeah, we're still going. I'm going anyhow so you might as well come with.
I killed three of them.
Ginny Park
… Okay. Thank you.
I'm going to… I've got to go check. If he's any of those three. I know that he's probably not. But… I've gotta check. If I'm late to the council meeting, that's where I'm at.
Ginny out.
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hi!!! aaah im so excited that we have so many things in common <3 okay so my period drama recs. honestly i like all bbc versions of jane austen novels, especially pride and prejudice. the movie is good but the series is better (plus colin firth!!). but also emma (2020) was sooo good. now i’m not saying that the tudors is objectively good, but i am saying that i’ve watched it several times and uhh yeah i enjoy it. a lot.
the favourite is amazing too!! everything about that movie is just ❤️💖🤎 marie antoinette is also a fave. poldark is good! the gilded age, i wasn’t impressed with it but it scratches an itch! there’s also vikings but that one really deteriorates so yeah.
sorry for just throwing my opinions at you! but i’d love to hear if you have nah recommendations too ❤️❤️
you've convinced me to give p&p a second chance! i watched the keira knightly one but felt like it was too fan-service-y and not too true to the book so i was put off. but series!!! the opportunity for drama!!!
do you mean the marie antoinette with kirsten dunst? because i've been ON THE FENCE about it for the longest time! i want to watch for the lavish scenes but i don't wanna see her downfall 😭 i remember reading a biography about marie antoinette a long time ago so i'm sympathetic towards her 😭
vikings with travis fimmel as ragnar? i was crazy over that series!!! was so so excited to watch ivar's seasons because i was head over heels with him (with all the ragnarssons except sigurd, bec who don't like em?)!!! so happy you like that too! 😭😭😭😭
my reccs are splish splash love (time travel) - omg please please watch it. tropey but well done kdrama. it's a movie but definitely makes you wish it was a series. soooooo romantic! 😭 another time travel drama i was obsessed over (as in, watched it when i was supposed to be studying for the bar exams 😭) is Faith. It's another kdrama and so good. I loved the 2nd love interest to bits 😭
actual historical drama that i've loved are the white queen (she's too pretty! like a fairytale queen!), and Ekaterina (russian drama, loved it best up to when she seized the throne and was crowned empress because the GURL POWER! after all she'd been through to get there, the looooong listing of the places she held power over was really the savage cherry on top).
thank you for taking the time to share your opinions! 🥰
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(10/09/2022) PLEASE DON'T REPOST WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!
I'M BACK TO DRAWINGGG!
Finally!!
While I was busy, Ekaterina Ryabova ( @_rina.r )from Azerbaijan has announced retirement from competitive figure skating. So I wanted to try to draw her again!
Rina was one of the first skaters I got hooked on. First time I watched her was at Rostelecom Cup, back in 2019. I remembered absolutely loving the Godfather program and she instantly became one of my favorites. I can't explain exactly why, but I guess one big factor was the fact we are both the same age and seeing her competing in such big stages made me proud and hopeful that I could one day do something of the same level (not figure skating wise, lol).
Anyways, I wish Ekaterina all the best.
Off-topic: I was ✨ struggling ✨ throughout this drawing.
TAGS:
@ryabov_team #art #traditionalart #illustration #traditionalillustration #fanart #portrait #figureskating #figureskatingart #azerbaijan #ekaterinaryabova #ladiesfigureskating #womensfigureskating #olympicathlete #olympian #beijing2022 #lausanne2020
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everyone please watch this video of Ekaterina Kurakova talking about Yuzuru 🥺
#check the source for the twt user i got it from ^^#ekaterina kurakova#yuzuru hanyu#figure skating#video#rants#this is so cute i hope it doesnt flop i want EVERYONE to see 🥺
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Tartaglia, Get Out of My Office
childe x reader
word count: 1.7k
genre: fluff, is this crack?
warnings: not proof read (are we surprised), brief mentions of injury
you're a private Fatui doctor and there's just one patient who keeps finding his way back to your office
a/n; this is probably not very cohesive at all, for which I apologise. also I'm a teenager and not interested in medicine in the slightest. I am literally talking out of my ass for 100% of the medical thingies. this turned out a lot more dialogue heavy than I would have liked. basically this is Very Bad but i still hope you like this annoying guy.
“Doctor, it’s-” Ekaterina’s assistant squeaked out to you before you promptly cut them off.
“I know. Bring him in.” You sighed already knowing who was interrupting your peace.
Until a few moments ago, you were sat quietly and relaxed in your small office in the back of Northland Bank. It’s a place that doesn’t meet the public eye, the only people who know of its existence are those in the Fatui. The room itself is fairly well lit, though none of that is due to natural lighting, and you have enough space for your own desk, a seat for one patient and a sickbed.
As a private service specifically reserved for the Fatui (and mostly only really used for emergencies), you never really have much to do – of course you’d have the beat up pyro-slinger here and there but, overall, your time is usually spent revising old files, with your nose in a book or sleeping on the job resting your eyes. Though it does get quite boring at times, you know you wouldn’t trade it (even if you had the authority to) because you’d rather not have a lot to do than have too much on your plate.
Well, that was until recently – and then a certain ginger haired Harbinger started having a lot of business in Liyue and, suddenly, you’ve had more paperwork in just a couple of months than you’d had in all your years gathering experience. Ever since his arrival he’s been in and out of your office nonstop and, although it’s none of your business and you’d be lying if you said you cared an awful lot, you still wanted to know how exactly he ended up in such a poor state so often and how he could laugh about it so easily.
“Hello, Lord Tartaglia.” You didn’t bother looking up at him; you knew he was there because you heard his footsteps as he sauntered into your office. Clearly there was something humorous about how exhausted your voice sounded as you greeted him because he immediately erupted into laughter when you spoke to him, causing you to hold back an eye roll.
“Somebody sounds happy to see me.” Although you weren’t looking at Childe, you could just hear the shit-eating grin on his face.
“I’m overjoyed, my Lord. Now, please take a seat,” you uttered flatly as you wore your gloves and finally left your seat to make your way over to the redhead. With a smirk, he obliged and set himself down on the edge of the bed and watched as you gathered the documents and equipment you needed.
The harbinger was fairly compliant and docile during your check-up procedures – making sure his breathing was steady, checking the stability of his heartbeat, testing his reflexes, the usual – and he seemed perfectly fine. But as soon as you began to focus your attention onto his actual reason for being in your office this time, he began acting out again.
You noted his check-up results down at your desk before eyeing him up and down for a moment. He didn’t seem nearly as beat up as usual, if at all, and his clothes only displayed their original colours rather than presenting that deep crimson he tended to come into your office stained with. Even his hair that’s usually scattered in the shape of a bird’s nest seemed a lot less disheveled and you couldn’t help but wonder if this is how good he looks when he isn’t singlehandedly sending the Liyue hilichurl population to the brink of extinction.
“Like what you see?” he cheekily raised an eyebrow and you forced yourself to remember who out of the two of you was more disposable before making your next move.
“So, where is the injury this time, my Lord?” You decided it would be best if you ignored his comment altogether because you couldn’t trust that anything good would come out of any reaction you were capable of giving.
“Haven’t I told you to just call me Tartaglia? It’s weird that a close friend of mine like you would still use such honorifics when referring to me”, the redhead teased.
“I’m not sure if what we have can be classed as a close friendship, my Lord”, you replied, trying to remain as stoic as possible.
“Why not? Unless…” From the way he dramatically trailed off, you had a feeling his next words would be moronic.
“Don’t tell me you see us as more than that?” Yeah, you were right. His voiced carried a faux tone of surprise as he put a hand to his chest in shock and you just couldn’t restrain the groan that tore past your lips.
“Lord Tartaglia, please show me where you are hurt so that I may treat you appropriately.” Frustration and desperation was starting to bubble over in your voice and demeanour and you almost felt embarrassed at how audibly and visibly exasperated you were with the man and his childish taunts.
Feeling satisfied with just how much he had managed to irritate you in such a short time, Childe finally gave up his teasing and pointed to his abdomen. You wanted to be wary of the mischievous glint in his eyes but dismissed it because you couldn’t say that such a look on him was a rare occurrence.
“That’s where your wound is?” He nodded innocently. “Okay, then I’ll need you to lift up your shirt so I can take a look, or you can just take it off if that’s more comfortable than holding it up the whole time.”
You dismissed him saying that he ‘likes where this is going’ while removing his layers but when you laid your eyes and softly pressed your fingers on his abs you noticed something – apart from his old scars and muscles that looked like they were carved by an archon themselves there wasn’t anything there. You could feel your face heating up as you stared for a few moments longer because, although you were simply just examining the area he pointed out to you, you could tell that some kind of taunting was on the way if you stared for much longer.
“Is the injury here internal, my Lord? Perhaps poison?” you spoke after clearing your throat.
“No, what makes you say that?”
“Well, there’s no fresh external wound for me to treat, neither is there any swelling or bruising that would be displayed had you received this from combat so-” A loud scoff interrupted you.
“What are you saying? Of course there’s a fresh wound”, Childe said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. His fingers wandered around his stomach and faded scars for a while before settling in one place. “See, right there!”
Eyes narrowed, you leaned forward to inspect the place where his fingers pointed to and, lo and behold, there was a wound. However, the reason you hadn’t noticed it before was that it was quite literally smaller than a paper cut.
“My Lord,” you began slowly, failing to mask your bewilderment. “Is that the wound you’re here for?”
“Sure is”, Childe spoke with a grin.
You blinked in complete confusion for a moment, the ridiculousness of this situation rendering you speechless. So, he interrupted your quiet time, wound you up like a jack-in-the-box and potentially hindered somebody who actually needs medical assistance from receiving it all for a cut that his mother could have kissed better? Is that what just happened?
“And… what exactly would you like me to do about this?” you asked, still trying to process the situation.
“Come on, I want you to fix me up, doc!” he playfully jabbed you with his elbow and it took all the self control you could gather in that moment not smack his arm away.
Eyes closed, you inhaled deeply and held your breath for a few seconds before exhaling and relaxing your shoulders. Childe had officially become the most annoying person you knew. You shuffled back to your desk where you found band aids along with small wipes which you doused in alcohol before awkwardly dragging your feet back to where the harbinger sat merrily swinging his legs back and forth.
“I’m about to, uhm, clean your wound,” you started, still irritated at the fact that he felt this was an appropriate reason to waste your time. “This may- sting- a little bit.” The lines that you’ve become used to reciting felt redundant but you had to say them nonetheless. Your words were broken up and your voice was robotic, the utter stupidity of Childe’s behaviour making you feel as though your brain had been overloaded.
Gently, you pressed the disinfectant wipe onto his cut and felt your eye twitch in annoyance when you heard the man dramatically suck in air as he pretended to be in pain. As you wiped away the invisible blood surrounding his booboo, you could feel his gaze on you the entire time. Even as you went to grab the band aid, you could see him smirking from the corner of your eye and before you could think, your mouth started moving on its own.
“What are you smiling at?” you huffed without thinking, and then restrained yourself from smacking your hands over your mouth from using such a disrespectful tone on a harbinger.
“You.”
What?
Suddenly, you were frozen in place, your brain turned to juice, your face grew warmer and your mouth stopped working – perhaps you were now the one in need of medical attention. You tried to quickly gather yourself after your brain short circuited by clearing your throat and shaking your head whilst clumsily slapping the band aid onto his cut. Unfortunately, you weren’t quick enough as Childe burst out laughing at you for what felt like the thousandth time, an endeared glimmer in his eyes.
“Did you just come here today to inconvenience me and laugh at me for fifteen minutes?” you sighed in defeat.
The redhead winked as he replied, “Hmm, I guess you could put it that way. After all, seeing you is enough to brighten my day… but inconveniencing you is definitely part of the fun.”
“Tartaglia?”
“Yes?”
“Get out of my office.”
#genshin#genshin impact#genshin x reader#childe#genshin childe#childe x reader#tartaglia#genshin tartagalia#tartaglia x reader#childe-dni writes
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Zhongli sends his first lewd.
Read here on AO3 for better quality!
Zhongli’s letters are verbose, sweet at their core but prone to over-exaggeration. He waxes poetically about moons and suns, or how the earth feels underneath his feet. His feelings are described in over-descriptive detail with nothing left to the imagination.
I find myself watching the night sky, pondering the peculiar feeling that hollows out my chest. We used to do this together before your departure. Those moments were hot like the flickering flames of a fire. My chest is still warm, but it’s more like lingering embers—there is a longing for your presence that I did not quite anticipate.
Childe can imagine Zhongli reading this letter aloud. He’d crawl into Zhongli’s baritone voice and never leave, steeping in the sound of that low timbre. The need is visceral. Childe feels pulled only in one direction and that’s towards Liyue when the stone is strong and the earth is soft. Where Geo pulses, the life beat of the world, and everyone can feel it.
When Childe presses his hand to the ground here in Snezhnaya, he feels nothing but frozen dirt, cold and lifeless.
I do not like it. Being alone. I’ve grown so used to you being beside me that all there is now is emptiness. I’ve read that hearts can ache, chuckling the thought away as overzealous prose. The books are correct, though; my chest hurts in a metaphoric sense. And perhaps these are the sentiments of an old, mildly temperamental dragon, but I miss you.
Please come home soon.
It’s cold in his camp. Childe sits by a fire that has no heat, his butt wet and cold from the snow. He rubs a thumb over the crinkled letter, smoothing the crunched parchment. He’s read it a dozen times. Memorized every word, every phrase, every confession that Zhongli pens in curling letters and dark brown ink.
“Home,” he murmurs, scratching at the word, thinking about it.
It’s been a while since that was Snezhnaya. Childe only dreams of soft, gloved hands and mutterings in old, archaic languages that lull him to sleep.
#
Ekaterina hands him another letter from Zhongli, her mouth curved into a devious grin. Immediately off-putting, the way that one corner of her mouth is quirked with amusement. Childe’s eyes narrow as he asks, “What’s with that look?”
“Oh, nothing. Just—Well, I likely won’t be checking your correspondence with Mr. Zhongli in the future.”
“I—what?” Reading through his letters is part of her job. Childe’s always found it a little annoying but it’s above his pay grade. “Don’t you have to like… file paperwork about anything I receive?”
“Yes,” replies Ekaterina a little tartly, “but there have been plenty of times where I’ve fudged reports, usually in regards to Mr. Zhongli.” The implication of apparent reasons isn’t lost on him. Ekaterina smirks again. “Besides, once you read this, I think that you’ll understand why. I’d prefer not to see something that might blind me.”
“Are you implying that I’d send something to Zhongli that is inappropriate in nature?” Because he definitely would if he wasn’t a Harbinger. But he hasn’t. He wouldn’t, not with as many targets he has on his back.
“Of course, not, Sir. The same, however, cannot be said for Mr. Zhongli.”
The expression Childe gives her is open-mouthed and slack-jawed. Ekaterina makes herself scarce as he pulls the letter from the already opened envelope. There is immediate comfort in Zhongli’s familiar handwriting, in the smell of the parchment, and the color of the ink he uses.
Something else falls into his lap, two fluttering, thick squares which he ignores for the time being.
Ajax, pens Zhongli, I was given useful advice regarding the wiles of courtship. I am old and out of touch, so these are the things that I never quite think about. Upon telling The Traveler about our letters, they suggested that it would be nice to send you a photo. I am unused to Kameras. There is a learning curve.
Oh, a photo. Childe sighs softly, thinking about tucking it against his breast, carrying Zhongli with him wherever he goes. He already treats Zhongli’s letter with the same sort of reverence.
There is an additional picture. While antiquated, I am not unused to more… lewd sentimentalities written into letters. I find myself missing your touch and kisses. Is it not apt to write about these things? And so, why not a picture in addition to words? Perhaps it will bring solace during your cold nights, warming you from the inside-out.
Of course, if you do not welcome these things of a more licentious nature, I apologize in advance. Please let me know.
Childe licks his lips, expression agape. Has Zhongli sent him a nude? He’s teased him in their letters but nothing more than soft beginnings of how he misses his presence. He scans the rest of the letter and—oh, he leaves nothing out. Zhongli pens his wants and needs in horrific, lurid detail.
No wonder Ekaterina was irate. She now knows more about his sex life than she should or wants to.
He loves it though, the desperation in Zhongli’s words. The graphic detail of the things he loves and wishes for again. Childe has never wanted to go home more in his entire life.
I love you and I miss you like the shore misses the sea. I hope these pictures find your heart well. Look at them and dream of me.
An easy task. Childe looks at the first Kamera picture that’s a little bent around the corners, a carefully poised portrait of Zhongli smiling. Liyue Harbor glistens in the background. Zhongli’s expression is soft and compliant, looser than anyone else would ever see him. At ease, in love, happy.
It makes Childe’s heart clench as he pulls the picture to his chest and tries to breathe.
And then, of course, the other picture. Zhongli’s erotic prose comes to mind. The next time they meet, Childe will have him read aloud the letter so he can hear every debauched detail whispered into his ear.
Childe should have known. Zhongli puts effort into everything that he does but when it comes to certain matters, he’s woefully out of his depth. When Childe looks at the picture laughter bubbles up from his throat, hoarse and cracked from the bitter winter air.
The picture is of his wrist, the hemline of his suit jacket pulled up just enough to reveal a slip of pale skin. The gentle slope of his palm and the jut of his wrist bone, are no doubt, lewd in Zhongli’s ancient mind.
#genshin impact#genshin impact fanfics#genshin impact fanfiction#Comedy#zhongchili#childe/zhongli#fanfiction
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Disappearance III
Character: Childe, gn!reader
Word Count: 2,581
Warnings: None
Premise: In which there is an argument and the reader disappears.
Author’s Note: Childe my favorite character, how I love to torture you.
But genuinely I really like how this one came out.
Childe
Childe craned his neck to stare at the clock on the wall behind him. Sighing at the lateness of the afternoon he turned back towards the papers in his lap, trying desperately to focus, to not let his thoughts drift off to the argument that had taken place in the morning.
It had started out simple enough. Childe had informed you that he might be gone for some time, as the Tsaritsa had requested a high-level reconnaissance mission, and Childe was to be the one to lead it. He thought that you react much the way that you always had, assurances of his success, light-hearted reminders to stay safe, and a goodbye kiss as you two settled back into a normal routine before the day of departure. Instead however, your lips had slanted into a frown, and you stopped making your breakfast to turn and face your partner.
“Childe, I wish you wouldn’t always take things on yourself.”
“What do you mean darling?” Childe felt a wave of surprise wash over him. After all, what else was he supposed to do?
“I mean that you’re being entirely too reckless Childe. You know that you have too high a profile to be doing stuff like this. I… I would like you to sit this one out. Just this one.”
Childe couldn’t help but laugh, whether out of irritation or genuine amusement he wasn’t sure of. “As much as I appreciate the concern, I can’t do that. No leader worth their salt would send their underlings off alone, even if they are some of the weakest underlings in the world. No one’s been able to pull the wool over me yet darling, it’ll be perfectly alright.”
“You’re not listening to me,” your voice picked up in intensity. “Childe I really try, I try to remind myself that you’re a Harbinger and able to take care of yourself; but sometimes it’s just too much. This is too much.”
“You’re being silly,” Childe said, trying to keep his tone light. “I’ll be fine. Besides, I can’t disobey the Tsaritsa. She wishes me to do this so I will. It’s as simple as that.”
“The Tsaritsa is far away, she has hundreds, thousands under her command. She won’t bat an eye at your safety.”
“Like you said, I can take care of myself.”
“But what if one day you can’t? What if, what if one day you don’t come back. Please, just this once; just this once don’t go.”
“I know that the length of time is upsetting, but you can’t react like this every time I have to go away for a while. I promise that you’ll have me all to yourself afterwards.”
“It’s not about that Childe! Please, please listen to me. I’m worried about your safety. I’m worried one of these days you’re going to end up in a fight too big even for you. What will you do then? What will your underlings do? What will I do? Please, tell the Tsaritsa you have to stay and make sure the Bank stays out of trouble, or that nothing happens in Liyue. Please, don’t go this time.”
“You’re being irrational.” By now Childe was definitely irritated.
“No, I’m being realistic. You don’t take care of yourself enough.”
“You’re just underestimating me. Besides, I’m a better fighter than you’ll ever be. It’s not like you can protect me even if I stayed here.”
“What?”
“It’s not like staying in Liyue would be any safer, better to face things head on. For the Tsaritsa, for Snezhnaya, that is the most important thing. If you can’t see that, you’re just being stupid.”
Although Childe regretted the words almost immediately after they left his mouth he could see that saying that would’ve had no effect. So instead he watched silently as your face clouded over and you stormed out the door, not bothering to grab your food as you slung your pack around you back and walked out. A part of him wanted to call after you, but he knew that even if he did you probably wouldn’t listen. Even if you did, what could he say? After all, he had simply spoken the truth; even if you couldn’t accept it as such.
Now Childe sat on the couch, eyes glazing voer as he stared at all the paperwork that needed to be done before his mission. He had already spent a hectic, uneasy day at the bank. Though he knew that none of his underlings would be foolish enough to try to pull something while he was gone, Andrei would make sure of that and Childe would make sure of Andrei, it was still tedious, boring work. This was in no way helped by the lingering ill will from his fight with you earlier. Though Childe ultimately forgot fights relatively quickly the time right after was always an uneasy one, filled with sudden flashes of irritation replaced suddenly by the wish for it all to have never happened.
He had hoped that you might be home by the time he arrived, but your absence wasn’t truly much of a surprise. Besides the fact that you were still probably angry with him, something Childe couldn’t really fault, you had recently been involved with some project near the Chasm, and it was hardly surprising that something that big caused you late hours. Still he couldn’t deny the fact that he was somewhat disappointed, or maybe disheartened was a better way to put it. He hated fighting with you, especially fights that lasted. Even if he was irritated with you, even if he thought that you had demanded something impossible, he still regretted snapping at you. He just wanted you to come home now, that way he could apologize and explain the situation better. That way he wouldn’t leave with any ill will behind him.
The clock was excruciatingly slow, but the insult of that wasn’t registered until Childe dozed off. Waking up in the middle of the night he was surprised at your continued absence. Though he had expected that sleeping on the couch might’ve happened, your total disappearance was certainly something that threw him for a loop. Making his way to the bedroom and flopping down on the bed Childe closed his eyes, pushing away the anxiety that clustered at the edge of his thoughts.
Perhaps you’d ended up staying with Hu Tao, or maybe you’d gone back home to your family. He had been awfully mean after all, and you were never the kind of person to take his insults sitting down. Still, if that were true why hadn’t you packed more, or come back to collect your things? It didn’t make any sense. Questions and half baked reasonings floated through Childe head as he tried to delay the inevitable pull of sleep. The last conscious thought he could remember was the knowledge that at least you would be back tomorrow.
You were not, in fact, home tomorrow. The Harbinger’s time spent at the Northland Bank was almost completely useless, the meeting with the people he’d be going on his mission with even more so. Though Childe wasn’t necessarily the most attentive listener, often letting his mind wander when his fellow Fatui members fell into arguing about the most insipid things, he knew that paying attention to a plan as a whole was critical to its success. Even so he couldn’t bring his mind to focus on the maps and profiles that sat in front of him. Where were you? It seemed like such a silly question, but the longer it floated in Childe’s head the colder he felt.
Finally the meetings and the menial tasks ended and Childe could go home. Sprinting down the winding streets of Liyue, not bothering to hide the fact he was in a hurry, Childe burst into the apartment. His heart sank as he was met with the same image he’d seen when he’d left that morning.
Afterwards Childe wandered around the docks of Liyue, trying to keep the quickly fragmenting pieces of his mind together. He knew that he was probably overreacting, knew that you were simply staying away because of what he said, knew that it wouldn’t be forever – you would have definitely told him if that were the case. Still he couldn’t help but feel dread crawling over him, saturating the cracks of his brain as he wondered how he’d managed to fuck everything up so much. He had underestimate how much his words must have affected you, and that only made him feel worse. Finally exhausting his walk along the pier Childe set off towards the edges of the city and into the vast wilderness of Liyue. He needed to find something to fight.
The nightmare continued on into the next day, then into the day after that. Childe could barely remember what he did during those days, walking around as if possessed, unable to concentrate on anything for more than a few moments before his thoughts inevitably found their way back to you. Mostly Childe ended up sleeping, dozing off at his desk or on the couch, papers fluttering from his hands onto the floor. Mostly Childe dreamed of you.
They weren’t dreams of any particular note, their contents incredibly mundane. Not that it matter to Childe; within those dreams he felt nothing but happy domesticity, a calm that washed over him as he walked with you to the market or lay next to you under the stars. Always you would appear in his dreams suddenly, and always he would throw his arms around you, clinging to you as if even an embrace wasn’t enough. Always he woke up with a sense of desolation so vast it threatened to consume him.
Finally on the fifth day Childe couldn’t take it anymore. Waking up at almost the crack of dawn the Harbinger rushed to the Bank. He wouldn’t stay long, only enough to inform Andrei that he’d be out for the day. Then he’d go to the Guild and check and make sure everything was okay. Then, well he’d figure out what to do then. It seemed pathetic to chase after you, not to mention gross. He wouldn’t become a stalker, wouldn’t let himself fall into such pathetic behavior. Still, he had to make sure you were at least okay. As long as he did that, well, the rest could come later.
Striding into the Bank Childe was met with a surprising sight. Normally Ekaterina stayed firmly tucked inside her receptionist cubby, even more antisocial than the likes of the Balladeer or the Fatui that guarded Dragonspine. Now however she stood at the front of the booth, wringing her hands this way and that as she stared at a piece of paper in front of her. Feeling a sudden sense of dread Childe walked up to her.
“Ekaterina?”
“Oh!” Ekaterina whirled around, look on her face one of utter anxiety. “My lord, I was horrified to hear of the news, tell me, do you know if they’re almost free?”
“What are you talking about?” Childe narrowed his eyes.
“Why, your partner. I only heard today from Nadia; no wonder you’ve been so distant recently, if it’s not too much for me to say so. I only hope that they’ll soon be rescued, I’m sure you know about the situation better than I do though.”
“Ekaterina, what in the Tsaritsa’s name are you talking about?”
A shadow passed over Ekaterina’s face, a look of utter dread. Swallowing slightly she stared at a spot in the wall right to the side of Childe. “You partner, my lord, I’ve been informed that they have become trapped in one of the caverns of the Chasm. I thought that you knew about it, it’s been five days after a–”
Childe didn’t hear the rest of what Ekaterina had to say. Whirling around the Harbinger slammed his way out of the bank, aiming towards the nearest waypoint. Cold dread washed over him and with it desperate determination. He’d rescue you. If he had to tear apart the entire Chasm and raze all the mountains in Liyue to the ground so be it.
Approaching the Chasm Childe felt a rush of adrenaline wash over him. He was terrified. By the Seven, he was utterly terrified. Images of you flashed in his mind, images of you cowering in the dark, stuck at the bottom of an endless pit, lying on the ground with no air or food or life in you. How could he have let this happen? How could he have not known of this before? Anger burned within Childe, anger at himself. He should have never let you walk out of your apartment without apologizing first. He should have enquired after you after the first night you didn’t show up. He should’ve been the first person there for you, instead of the last person to know. He was so utterly stupid.
Approaching what must’ve been the site of the accident Childe felt his stomach drop to his feet at the sight of you. You were covered in dirt, cuts spread across your arms and legs as you slumped against a Guild member, dragging your feet in an awkward shuffle towards the stretcher that must’ve been meant to bring you to the apothecary. There were a variety of Guild members flocking around you, along with one of the doctors of Liyue, who was scribbling notes down furiously. Your expression was utterly dazed, as if you weren’t exactly sure of what was going on, something that tore Childe apart.
Stepping towards you Childe called out your name. At the sound your head jerked up, and you gave a hoarse sort of cry before turning to make your way towards him. Sprinting towards you Childe stepped backwards as you fell awkwardly into him. Steadying you for a moment before wrapping his arms around you Childe felt all his emotions crashing over him, so intense that he couldn’t control them anymore. Ignoring the tears that tracked their way down his cheeks the Harbinger let out a shudder.
“Thank the Seven, thank the Seven you’re safe. I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry. You don’t have to forgive me, alright? You don’t have to forgive me, but by the gods I’m so sorry.”
“I wish you had been there,” you mumbled softly. “It was so dark, I couldn’t see anything. I thought, I thought that I might never see you again.”
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry I said all those things to you, I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you, I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.”
“It’s fine.”
“It’s not fine. You should’ve fold so easily you know, you should be really, really angry at me.”
“I don’t want to be angry at you though, I just want you to stay.”
“Then I will,” Childe tightened his embrace around you. “I promise I will.”
“Okay.”
Having apparently said everything that had to be said you let Childe sling you onto his back, refusing to be carried to the hospital in the stretcher. As you appeared to doze off on his back Childe made a promise to himself. Even if he couldn’t disobey the Tsaritsa, even if he couldn’t change who he was, he would never leave you when you needed him to be there.
You would never find yourself needing him to be there without the chance of your need being met. That he promised you.
#genshin impact fanfiction#childe x reader#childe#genshin impact#genshin childe#requested#fanfiction#scenarios#my writing
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Alternative First Season, Final Chapter (Part 3 of 3): "Until death do us part"
Alexander (Getting up without any difficulty): I'M NOT GOING TO ALLOW YOU AND YOUR FAMILY TO KEEP HURT INNOCENT PEOPLE!
The vampire began to attack the redhead, who looked at him angrily, all the others approached in fear, the fight was very rough, since Geoff had turned into a werewolf.
Geoff (Running towards the vampire to attack him): Soon you're going to regret ruining the time of MY life!! YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR IT ALEXANDER GOTH!!
The werewolf clawed at the vampire with one of his claws, hurting Alexander a little, who bit back. Geoff started punching Alexander, some punches missing while most hit the dark-haired man...
Ekaterina (starting to break the spell): Alex be careful, please!!
Kiernan (Covering her eyes so as not to see): Come on Alex, you can do it!!
Geoff (Screaming): DAD FIND THE POTION AND GIVE IT TO MY WIFE!! THE CURE IS WORKING!!
Kenneth (while looking for the potion in her pockets): It's ok son, I just can't find it! ...
Gabriella and Jennail (Looking at Kenneth, while they had the potion): Were you looking for something, doggie? You've been very mean!
At that moment Jennail kicked Kenneth, causing Marissa to attack her. Gabriella for her part was running with the potion trying not to be caught, until she tripped because of the old werewolf, who grabbed the vial from her.
Kenneth (Grumbling a bit as he approached his daughter-in-law): Don't mess with us too!!
Back with Alexander and Geoff..
Alexander was losing strength, he felt very weak, but he had to keep fighting for his beloved...
Geoff (While hitting Alexander) : Did you think all the story endings where the wolf lost were true? HAHAHA! You're so wrong Alexander... You're just a weakling vampire, neither you nor your little friends can defeat me... I'm STRONGER than you!!, I'M MORE ATTRACTIVE THAN YOU'!!, AND I'M MORE CUTE THAN YOU!!... What will be your last words!?
Alexander (trying to get up With the last of his strength): ... I ... I ... I love you .. E- Ekaterina ...
Geoff (Angry as he bit hard on Alexander): NO THOSE WORDS!!
Alexander had unfortunately passed away... The bite was so strong that it hurt him a lot... Geoff was panting with exhaustion, while he watched the scene in silence...
Ekaterina (Crying as she approached the vampire): ALEXANDER, NOOOO!!!, Please forgive me, I didn't know how to appreciate you by my side!!... I beg your pardon...!
Kvornan (Crying): Alex... please... don't do this to us... Come on, wake up, friend...
Lola (Sad): Alex... come on...
At that moment Geoff approaches to hug Ekaterina...
Geoff (Smiling): I'm so sorry Dear, Alexander was just a nuisance between us!!... Now we'll be very happy-
Ekaterina (Angry and crying): YOU KILLED HIM!!, you're a fucking murderer Geoff!!
Geoff (smiling psychopathically as he opens the vial of potion): Soon you'll understand why I did it darling...very soon you'll see everything our way...
THE END...??
#sims 2#sims 2 uberhood#cobycobs alternative uberhood#alexander goth#geoff rutherford#ekaterina dunnoff#kiernan tricou#kenneth rutherford
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