Difficult.

PENIS!!!!

WHAT ANW ANSWER MY IG DM YOU ASS

our secret.

secret relationship trope.

pairings: diluc, scaramouche, xiao + gender neutral reader

author's note: fluff!! also might make a pt.2, what characters would y'all like to see for that? (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

☆ diluc: modern au

the red-haired male simply rolls his eyes, ignoring his irritating brother, kaeya, and his teasings of the mysterious keychain stuck to diluc's belt loop.

the keychain is of a very cute, miniature green dinosaur, which feels very uncharacteristic for someone like diluc ragnvindr to have. and kaeya knows his brother, does he not? the very man who's stoic face and aura drives most women looking for romance away, has a dinosaur looped to his belt.

...it's definitely odd.

every question about the keychain from his brother goes straight through diluc's ear and right out of the other, but once diluc's wine bar closes for the night, kaeya finally leaves out of the door (thankfully! ).

yet the next following afternoon, when kaeya goes out for a relaxing lunch break with his co-workers, he notices that there's a familiar looking bracelet wrapped around your wrist as you wave your hand around and talk to jean.

and what do you know... it's a blue dinosaur...?? that looks very similar to diluc's keychain??

when kaeya asks you about it after your conversation, you calmly respond with a "oh, this? amber got it for me! it's cute isn't it?" while lisa fawns over it, kaeya concludes that there's no way you and diluc are matching accessories, leaving it at that.

you don't mention that amber gave you those in a pack of two.

when it's time to go back to your offices, you let out a discreet sigh of relief and keep a calm smile on your face. because after all, kaeya noticing your bracelet lets you know that your lover did wear his matching keychain, in the end. even after he told you he wouldn't be able to use such a thing.

☆ scaramouche: canon universe

dropping a little something on accident during a harbinger meeting is practically considered normal. you just crouch down, pick it back up, and everybody moves on with the talking.

sometimes it may be childe dropping a pencil, la signora dropping a pen, or dottore accidentally letting a paper slip away. sometimes it's even you who drops something, but nobody ever dotes on it for too long before continuing.

in the current meeting of the day, a pen accidentally slips out of your palm— but as usual, it's no big deal. you bend down to pick it up, but as soon as you get back up, you can feel scaramouche's hand gently cover the back of your head so you don't hit it harshly against the underside of the table.

you sit back into your chair and mumble him a quick thank you, but everyone else around the table still seems to notice it; especially childe who currently has the biggest wide-eye look on his face. but who would dare interrupt the tsaritsa about it during the meeting?

when the meeting is eventually over and childe points it out afterwards, the cobalt-haired male just scoffs in reply that it was "common human decency". and of course, childe has to mention that scaramouche never did that for him— cue the two of them starting a reckless banter in the hallway. even la signora throws you a curious look.

unbeknownst to you, though, all scaramouche can think about is the urge to explain that childe that he isn't his lover, so why should he cover the ginger's head?

but of course, the relationship between you two should be kept a secret... for now.

☆ xiao: highschool au

truthfully xiao does not mind having a private, romatic relationship with his partner. in fact, he prefers it— to be able to be affectionate with his lover with no one there to judge him on the sidelines.

yet... having a secret relationship does have its downsides.

for example: when xiao cannot be found during a lunch break one day, he is unfortunately interrogated by a certain someone when he arrives back to the classroom for the next class. of course there's a bombard of questions from hu tao, 'cause where on earth could xiao could've have gone in that time?? especially when he usually hangs out with her, keqing, and ganyu?

in the end, xiao flatly responds to the main question of "where were you?" with a simple "nowhere", having to sit through the feeling of hu tao's eyes digging suspicious holes into the back of his head during class.

well, what else is he supposed to do? explain that he was exchanging secret hugs with you in the empty classroom on the floor above, and revealing both of your relationship statuses in the meantime?

you had texted him previously that you had failed a test he knew you studied really hard for (because you came over to his house to study), and just something in him despite being the tsundere he is knew to comfort you somehow. and apparently he was right and that physical affection was your main love language, cause tucking your face into his chest and patting the back of your head gently got you to feel better.

...but obviously, xiao won't be informing his friends about that anytime soon. so avoiding questions will have to do for now.

Art block kicked my ass so I pumped these out in spite

The Gray Raven family + Kamui

𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐋𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡

❝ May I request the “making him laugh” prompt you did before, but with albedo, kazuha and scaramouche, please? ❞

; I’m so sorry this took so long! Keyboard issues- but I hope it’s okay regardless :D

; 4/4/22

; Fluff

; CW: physical touch, gossiping (scaramouche)

pt. 1 !

     𝗔𝗹𝗯𝗲𝗱𝗼 ‘𝗞𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝘇’

✧ All you have to do to make the renowned Chief Alchemist burst out into honey-sweet laughter is make a fool of yourself: being clumsy with equipment, acting silly to appease Klee, anything like that. Obviously he’d be somewhat upset if you managed to knock over or soil really important notes, but watching you stumble around all flustered just brings a smile to his face. You just look so…adorable; scrambling to apologize and simultaneously clean up the spilled bottle of water that you mistook for something severely important- why is he laughing so hard, this is serious!! You’d sigh, picking up the bottle before you fully caught a look at him- then you were awestruck. He’s beautiful when he laughs, and his laughter itself sounds like a song even a renowned bard wouldn’t do justice.

Keep reading

Things I Wish I Could Say Out Loud...

¬ Not beta read

Lee x Commandant/Reader

Summary:

There are many things that Lee has documented into his data library. However, lately he has been taking a different method of documentation. This time it's with a voice recorder.

Tags: bittersweet, one-shot, potential spoilers for affection lvl.

"XX of XX, year 21XX, Construct: Lee. Location: Babylonia...... Recording session no. 108 of things I wish I could say out loud..."

*******

It was a small gift from Murray.

Lee took a look at it in his hand.

"What is this for?" the construct asked.

Murray smiled. However, Lee didn't find his own question funny.

"It's something I think you would like. You can record anything you want with it." the man said.

Inspecting the device, the construct only kept a neutral face before replying, "It's not necessary for constructs like me to have these things. My data recording mechanics works just as perfect, if not, it yields 30% more effective than of devices such as these. Output quality, file formating, and sound mixing are all put in consideration when you buy products like this. Constructs have many built in functionality, rendering these thing useless to them..."

Lee's voice faded as he spoke. A dead silence settled between them. The harsh words that Lee put forward didn't seem to hit Murray in anyway, a smile was still kept drawn on his face.

The silence, however, gave Lee an uncomfortable feeling. His synthetic skin mimicked goosebumps. He should say something to ease the silence. That's when he added, "... I don't need this, Murray."

He handed the device to his brother.

Murray shifted and a small laugh escaped his lips.

"I know it's useless, in a technical stand point. But," Murray gently pushed the device back into Lee's hand, "I ought to think that maybe, as useless as it may be, this is exactly what you need."

Lee, after thinking about it, decided to accept the gift out of courtesy. "Very well..." He replied and pocketed the gift.

After receiving the device, Lee gave it a go and tried it out a few times. He didn't like it, and was planning to disassemble the gadget instead.

However, he went against it due to a small talk when he bumped into Murray one day. Who, asked him about the gift, and Lee felt a reluctance to treat the device as it was intented.

He began finding use for the voice recorder. Using it, as a means to record logs or data, however, he found no joy in doing that.

During his weekly frame maintenance check, Lee spotted Asimov, owning the same model of voice recorder on his office desk. In fact there were two.

There was an urge to ask about it, seeing it was a coincidence. Asimov, his look as sour as ever, reply with a sarcastic flare, "One," he held up the left one, "is to document research logs. The other," he held up the right one, "is to collect all my disagreements and complaints against everyone here, hoping that one day I would drop this and have Hassen or someone pick it up and listen to it."

Disputes between departments in the council wasn't unheard of. However, Lee was interested at Asimov's latter use of a voice recorder. It wasn't a bad idea.

Sure, Lee himself has disagreements and verbal fights; especially towards Kamui. But, there were times he restricted his tougne for the sake of his Commandant.

So, when he returned to his quarters, he took the recorder and began to spew his complaints.

*******

"... I dislike the way you always put others before yourself..."

*******

The notification in Lee's system alerted him it was time for a special mission debriefing. The Grey Raven Squard were called in by Celica. Lee left his resting quarters as he headed out to the meeting room. There the rest of his team were waiting for him.

Celica came in last and placed a pile of paperwork on the table. Without hesitation, she began working on the control panel.

Lee noted that this usually means this particular mission is either important or it has a special status in the Babylonia database.

The lights dimmed. Images and information were projected up for everyone to see.

"Operation Underground..." Celica handed out her report file to you, "President Hassen wants the Grey Ravens to be dispatched as soon as possible, " she said.

"After some consideration and thorough analysis, it was concluded an archaic type of memory data is located under this ruin civilisation," the slide show propped up an image of a satelite map, "It was thought, back then, people had been toying about the concept of creating Constructs. Maybe that's why there are so many traces of memory data found there."

"you mean, memory data from the golden age?" you asked.

"Technology -wise yes, but the data... It could be a span ranging way before the golden age. The Science council had send teams to conduct excavation in the ruins, but through out the years corrupted levels are getting higher in that area," Celica said.

"Let me guess, Nikola wants us to investigate the area on the Science Council's behalf?" Lee asked.

"Actually, the main objective isn't to investigate the ruins , more so, President Hassen requested you guys to retrieve an archaic memory data. During the last excavation, the team found a Supercomputer, it was believe it stores the raw data. " she replied.

"but the supercomputers are so old, would the data even been salvageable upon retrieving?" Lucia asked, "As we know, technology back then has a higher probability of crashing and produce incomplete data."

"As long as the data is stored in a super computer, the percentage of data lost during extraction is small, compare to a data chip or a transferring port. Normally, supercomputers have two to four back up drive. If one drive or server courrpts, the other drive will immediately download the data. So extracting straight from a super computer is much safer. But, it's best if data loss can remain below 1.273%." Lee spoke.

Impressed by Lee's analysis, you closed the file and stood up. There was no time to waste in this operation.

"We will look into the details during our descent, Grey Ravens, move out." you ordered and your constructs followed.

As you all walked out of the meeting room, Celica said, "Oh, I almost forgot, this ruin is consider a danger zone, so please do not hesitate to retreat when necessary."

*******

"... I always do my best to serve you, even if my logic and words may make it sound the opposite. Please know, all that I am doing is all for your best interest as well as your future. You have to live, Commandant. At all cost... "

*******

He had been waiting for three hours, twenty four minutes and forty five seconds.

The door in the emergency wards was still closed. Lee could only sit in the waiting seat as his other teams mates were also rushed to the repair room.

He, himself, was considered lucky to have taken minimal damage, in comparison. His arm was ripped off and was given a temporary one for the time being. Although, it was advise to return to the Science department as soon as possible to replenish his vital fluids.

The door automatically slid open and the medical team, along with Asimov came out.

Lee turned his head and waited for the news Asimov had to deliver.

"Calm down, Lee, your Commandant is fine," Asimov huffed, he seems a little exhausted.

"I see, what's the condition?" Lee asked.

"You really need to look out for that Commandant of yours. "Brain damage" might sound a little too harsh, but that's the non techincal diagnosis." Asimov waved his hand, " a much techinal term would be, minor brain scarring."

Lee did not reacted.

"Don't worry about it too much. Your Commandant's condition is consider minor, the situation has been stablize. All that is left to do is to rest and recover."

"May I see Commandant?" Lee questioned.

"..." Asimov heasitated, "... Normally, I don't advise visitation, but, I guess I will let it slide this time." the man narrow his eyes a little.

"... But, I want you out in five minutes, understood?"

*******

"I am doing all this is because..."

*******

"Commandant..." Lee spoke in a small voice. You were asleep on the bed. Monitors and devices all plugged up to you as you slumber in the dimly lit room.

Seeing there was no response emitted from you, Lee spoke once more, "Really, Commandant, why do you have to push yourself again? How many times have you visited the medical bay this month? You know it worries us greatly..." He paused.

He was glad he went against your orders this time. If he hadn't called for Babylonia's retreat plan, you would end up in a much serious condition. Linking with the M. I. N. D beacon for an overwhelming amount of time, is not wise.

For sure, he knew you would get a little annoyed by that, and he played a fake scenario in his head that you were actually awake.

Talking to him, asking him why did he went against your orders, to retreat and not push through. He will agree everyone is close, so close to retrieve the data.

But monitoring the linking time, as well as, asking Liv to scan your physical condition once every 15 minutes. Lee can predict you won't last.

And, his prediction was right, and he should call for retreat much sooner. As soon as you arrived back at the base, you collapse on the floor. You nose bleed as you were rushed to the emergency ward.

His answer would have been the same as of Lucia's and Liv's. To protect your well being is a duty of a construct. However, he wasn't satisfied with that anwser.

There's more he wanted to say.

He knows he's not good with words, often making blunt jabs and spilling out harsh realities. Often times, he felt a little misunderstood because of it.

However, he tries. He really does. And, to be alone with the Commandant, in which, you were in a comatose state, might made it easier for the construct to say something.

Say something that he always wanted to say out loud.

He opened his mouth, lips forming shapes that helps projects words, yet no sound came out from his bionic voice.

He immediately gave up and went out of the emergency ward. That five minutes was over anyway.

*******

"... I want to be with you, be by your side for as long as humanly possible. I don't want to lose you, Commandant... "

*******

After a long break, you peak your head into the Grey Raven's Common room.

There, you saw your constructs resting together as usual. Putting up a big smile you playfully jumped out and reveal yourself at the door.

"I am here!"

"Commandant!" Lucia was surprised and quickly rush towards you Liv followed, happy to see you healthy and well.

As both constructs bombarded you with questions on your well being. Lee only approached and stood with a bit of distance.

"Lee?" you looked at him.

As usual, Palefire wore his signature scowl and crossed his arms, "... I see you are alive and well," he cleared his throat, "Welcome back, Commandant."

"Thank you, Lee."

*******

" Commandant, I...I... Humph..."

**Recording ended**

------------------------------------

Author's note

Hi, I like Lee a lot :)

BTW, the I. T stuff are all based on my limited knowledge of backing up my drawing files. Lol.

©Punishing-eden

Shut up

Ft. Childe & Scaramouche

Cw: mm yes kissing, probs ooc, the reader can be seen as a harbinger, childe and scara real name. Short on scara part

Reader pronoun: Not mentioned

Summary: Your partner have been talking about a certain topic for what seems like hours, and you couldn't get yourself to finish your work. So what will you do to shut them up?

—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–

Ajax aka Childe

How long has it been? Since this certain ginger haired guy or you could say your own boyfriend rambles about how his days in liyue went, you would love to hear him rambles about his liyue days but.... the problem is you couldn't get yourself to finish your work. Especially your report card.

And the way he keeps repeating the name Zhongli for some reason. "And then i met this guy named zhongli-" "he never brings his wallet nor checks the price tags when i was buying him stuff!" "And then Turns out he's the rex lapis himself?!".

You kinda wanna laugh at his statement until you looked at your report card with a written Zhongli in the end of a sentence, it seems that you accidentally written his name eh?

sighing up, you tried to cover the mistake you did only for the ink to end up smudged.

From afar, you could see your boyfriend figure who is still rambling about how his days went in liyue while leaning his back on the wooden door frame. You were thinking about a way to get this ginger headed boy to shut up so you could do your work peacefully, until a certain idea flew over your head.

"Hey ajax" you called him, no response. "Hey!" This time a bit louder, still no response. "CHILDE HELLO??" you finally yelled. And he snapped out of his thought "AH.. uhm sorry, what is it?" He turned his gaze at you, he could see that your expression were somehow pissed.

"could you come here for a second? I need your help with something" you said organizing the stack of paperwork.

"What do you need my help with hm?" He smirked while walking toward your working desk.

"This" you stated showing him some paper with a rather small writing, "and bend down you can't see it"

"Whose papers is this? The handwriting is rather small reminds me of— Oomph!" Just before he could finish his own sentence you pulled his shirt collar for a rather harsh and deep kiss. Too bad, It lasted only for a few moment before you pulled away gasping for air.

"And that will shut you up." Returning your gaze to the report card and paperwork again. leaving your boyfriend standing there looking at you. dumbfounded.

—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–

Kunikuzushi aka Scaramouche

Scaramouche or kunikuzushi himself is rather hard to fluster, but.. today is a bit different he seems rather pissed. Just without asking you could already know what he's up to.

From your desk you could already see his sour expression, how he's grumbling about how his subordinate was being annoying or uncooperative, And then to how his days went.

You, yourself was stuck in an endless paperwork and a report card to fill.

You would've want to shut him up but... its scaramouche, you know how it'll end up right? So you tries to think if there's any way to shut this gremlin mouth up.

"And then this one agent tries to issue his own order, such a nuisance"...."and tartaglia, that ginger. He keeps annoying me about my big hat!" and so on and so on.

Giving up on your paperwork, you stand up and walked toward the sofa your boyfriend was sitting in.

"What?" He said, "nothing.. im just, tired. Need a rest right now" before sitting down on the sofa.

"Wanna know an efficient way to shut someone up?"..."what?" He turned his gaze at you

"You do this" you abruptly grabbed (softly) him by the chin and pulled him for a kiss. Too bad due to your tired body and mind you can only give him a soft tender kiss. It lasted for a few second before you pull your face away from him.

"Now if you'll excuse me, im going to rest" plopping yourself comfortably on your boyfriend lap. "Stay... here.. okay?" Before drifting into an slumber.

You failed to notice his flustered face and the little smile on his face. Guess his day got better then?

—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–—–

Finally finished, sorry if its short lmao. Anw wish me luck, gonna have my math exam soon<3

# . . 𝗞𝗔𝗪𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗚𝗜 𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗝𝗨

blessing your tl with 2 panels of senju today. reblogs are highly appreciated! <3

© hqruchiyo on tumblr. 2021. do not repost / steal.

Damn same

me too Smoliv

no bc- i just read “snowball” and cuddly childe + winter/cold + his family has found its way into my hard and now i’m in need of comfort scenarios now that it’s so cold pls 😭 if you want ofc! this is just a suggestion as a very touch starved reader and fan of ur work :,)!!

home for the holidays

✧ synopsis: [fluff] headcanons and drabbles; childe brings you to his home for the holiday season :) ✧ ft. childe x gn!reader (+some of childe’s family!) ✧ warnings: slightly suggestive towards the end but nothing serious, mentions of food, spoilers for childe’s real name ✧ a/n: not super wintery, but i'm in the mood for family bonding and cuddles; i hope this is alright!! (sorry it took me forever to get to this btw lmao)

»»————-　 ✦ 　————-««

✧ okay, so, harbingers don’t really get time off- including for the holidays, buuuut- childe was finally given a chance to oversee some recruits in snezhnaya, and it just so happens to line up with the holiday season, aaaand… well, he can handle some work and still get to see his family, right? right, of course, he is tartaglia after all, there’s nothing he can’t do!! ✧ plus… he’s managed to convince you to come along with him. so, it’s like he’s killing three birds with one stone! hell yeah!

✧ as eager as he is, childe can’t help but feel oddly anxious about bringing you to meet his family for the first time (despite the fact that he has been begging you to come to snezhnaya with him ever since you two have gotten together. and probably way before that, too. he’s just been very excited to share the part of himself that isn’t completely tainted by the abyss and fatui with you) ✧ he’s aware that they’re going to love you, of course-why wouldn’t they?- but what if you don’t like them? what if his siblings annoy you (or worse, embarrass him) or his parents say something offputting? he adores you, but he doesn’t know if he could handle you and his family not getting on. ✧ though, if he’s nervous, you’re an emotional wreck, whether you show it or not. childe’s told you about his family before, and the fond smile and sparkle in his eyes when he thinks of them has always made your heart flutter- they sound so sweet. you’re excited, but perhaps a bit too eager to please. you’ve spent a lot of your time recently trying to find clothing and supplies that will both protect you from snezhnaya’s freezing temperature while also giving the impression of “really-good-partner-for-your-son-please-accept-me.” oh archons, you really hope that they approve of you. ✧ both of your worries are quickly swept away when you reach his family home-more of a manor if we’re being honest, the lad is rich and he keeps his mf family taken CARE of and one of childe’s sister’s opens the door before squealing happily and calling out for the rest of the family. ✧ childe’s mother absolutely gives you the biggest, warmest hug in the entire world- definitely hugs you first before hugging her son. she might also cry; it’s been a while since she’s gotten to see him in person, and look! he’s so grown up now! he even has a lovely partner!! :’((!!! she has chosen pointedly to not count being a harbinger as maturing. ✧ it’s honestly quite lively for the first few hours of your visit; the younger ones are bouncing around you in their excitement, the older siblings are discussing new happenings with childe (and teasing him about you, of course), childe’s mother is rushing around trying to clean their already very nice house, and childe’s father is… absent. he did not come down to greet you or his son. ✧ if you start to feel overwhelmed, childe is quick to notice, and will usher you to a different room away from everyone else for a bit to make sure you’re okay.

Childe tells his family he’s going to give you a “tour of the house”, taking you by the hand and leading you down the hall before anyone can say anything. He takes you to what must be a study, walls lined with bookshelves (save for the space where a stuffed bear head is mounted on the wall) and a desk in front of the window. Outside, the snow is blowing across the frosted ground in swirling clouds, a frozen howl echoing against the glass.

“You alright?” He asks, pushing to close the door behind him. You nod, working on maintaining control of your breathing. Childe’s hand reaches to brush just in between your shoulders, tentative at first, but as you lean into his touch, he snakes his entire arm across your back and pulls you into his side. He lets you recline against him, allowing you to take however much time you need to calm down. Ever so faintly, you can hear the relaxing rhythm of his pulse mixing with the winds outside.

Once you’ve been grounded and are feeling a bit better, you move from his arms to sit atop of the desk. There’s not much you need to brush aside, though you do spot an interesting paper reading, “Gifts for the kids”. You try to spot Childe’s name, curious about what his family would get him, but a clear of his throat summons your attention before you can.

“So…” He starts, taking a step toward you. His eyes wander away from you, and there’s an air of feigned nonchalance that you’ve come to know all too well.

“Sooo?” You mimic.

“Are they… My family, I mean, do you…?”

He’s cute when he’s stumbling over his words, you think. It’s rather rare for your boyfriend’s smarmy, talkative ass to be at a loss of what to say. You know Childe really values your opinion, but is worried about it at the same time.

“Your family is wonderful, ‘jax.” You smile reassuringly, and his eyes light up. “They’re a bit excitable and energetic, but… I like it. They remind me of you.”

Now you’ve done it; Childe immediately descends upon you to steal a kiss, causing you to laugh a bit at how abrupt he is. His kisses are excitable and energetic, just like his family, just like him.

You two are, however, interrupted by a chorus of “Ooo”s, “Eww”s and “Aww”s. You both part early, glancing over at the door to see his little siblings' pairs of eyes peeking through the doorway, watching your antics in amusement. Childe narrows his eyes at them while your composure flusters, before he puts his lips back on yours. The children shriek with giggles as they scurry off, chanting some Snezhnayan version of “kissing in a tree.”

✧ when the two of you return from your, ahem, departure, you notice a tall, tired looking man in the living room. childe’s mom is discussing something with him in hushed, adamant tones, falling silent when she spots you. the once vibrant atmosphere in the room seems to have vanished. childe’s hand stiffens against yours, but his gaze remains steady. the other man does not speak, merely allowing his eyes to wander from Childe, to you, and then back to Childe. He gives a small nod, before turning to kiss childe’s mother on the forehead and leaving through the front door. ah. that must have been childe’s father. ✧ you want to say something, ask about what the hell that was, but his mother prevents you from speaking with a cheerful announcement that dinner will be served soon. she’s already making her way to the kitchen as she calls childe to come and help set up, leaving you in the now all-too-cold living room by yourself. ✧ big families mean big meals, but your added presence apparently means childe’s mom is going to pull out all the stops. i need you to imagine a 7-course meal with all 7 courses served at once. an entire damn restaurant spread out on the dining table. roasted ham, pirozhki, salmon pie, olivier salad- you couldn’t even name some of the dishes. it kind of amazes you that she not only managed to cook all this, but was able to fit it all in one space. ✧ also. yes you can make your own plate but don’t even try to be coy or modest. you’re a part of this family now and they’re gonna make sure you eat like one.

“Here, sweetie, have some more ham.” Childe’s mother is already slicing pieces off and dropping it on your plate before you can respond.

Your plate is already piled as high as it can go. But, you are nothing if not polite and desperate to get on your boyfriend’s family’s good side. “Oh, uh, thank you, Mrs.-”

“Just call me ‘mom’, dear.” She speaks with a giggle. You nod.

“Oo! You should try the cabbage rolls, me and Anthon worked on those!” Teucer chimes toward you.

“Anthon and I,” Tonia corrects her little brother gently.

“Huh? No, you didn’t- you weren’t even there!”

The warmth had returned with the chattering and merriment of Childe’s family. You steal a quick glance at your boyfriend, who is being abnormally quiet, and see him smiling down at his plate. His blue eyes have an almost melancholic wistfulness about them, one you’ve often noticed when the two of you were in Liyue- always apparent when he’s talking about how much he misses his family. But, he’s here with them now, isn’t he?

You won’t pretend to know what he’s thinking about, but you do want him to enjoy these moments while they’re here. They mean a lot to him. You reach beneath the table to lace your fingers with his. He snaps out of his reverie at your touch, turning his head to look at you. His smile widens as he squeezes your hand.

“Oh, by the way, Ajax, where are you gonna be sleeping?” Childe’s older brother asks, covering his mouthful of food to avoid spitting.

Childe tilts his head. “Uh, the guest room?” Beneath his breath, you can hear him add, almost solemnly, “As usual.”

“But that’s where Y/N is going to sleep.” His older sister comments.

“Yeah?” Childe picks up a spoonful of borscht and guides it to his mouth. “The beds big enough to fit both of us.”

His mother looks absolutely aghast. “Ajax, you know how I feel about funny business under my roof!”

He sputters on his soup, quickly grabbing a napkin to dab the beetroot that spilled out and waving his hand. “Mom-”

“Oh, but, what the hell. It is the holidays!” She chuckles, before switching to a stern mutter, “but you two better keep it down, okay? Teucer’s room is right across-”

“MOM.” Your boyfriend’s face is a deep red, his freckles standing out against his tinted skin, and you can’t help but giggle. He buries his face in his free hand with a groan.

“Wait, so Ajax gets to sleep with his partner, but when I bring my girlfriend over, she has to sleep alone?” His older sister scoffs with disappointment. “It’s not like WE were gonna do any ‘funny business’ and yet-”

“Wait, what’s ‘funny business’?” Teucer asks innocently. The table is filled with roaring laughter-and Teucer’s confused pout- and you lean into your boyfriend’s shoulder. You can practically feel the heat radiate off of his cheeks, but he’s grinning, too.

You’re only about halfway through your monster of a meal when Tonia stands up, clapping her hands cheerfully. “I think it’s time for dessert!” She calls, skipping off to the kitchen.

“Oh goodness, she’s so proud of her kutia.” Mom remarks fondly. “ We don’t normally eat it until a few days from now, but Tonia was really excited to make it for you, Y/N. Please, be a dear and compliment her on it when she comes back, won’t you?”

You shoot Childe a look of surprise and horror, whispering, “There’s more?” And he just chuckles. You should’ve expected this. As with anything to do with Childe, there’s always more.

✧ with his mother’s blessing, you two finally get some real alone time in the guest room. though, for a guest room, it’s huge- probably bigger than your own room at home. it does feel… emptier, though, especially in comparison to the rest of the house. there are no decorations, just a large bed, a nightstand with a lamp, and a dresser. you and childe’s suitcases are tucked neatly under the bed. ✧ already in your pyjamas, you hop on top of the mattress and shimmy beneath the blankets. the soft bedding sinks until you are comfortably encased in your cotton cocoon. if your boyfriend doesn’t hurry up, you might just fall asleep without him. ✧ thankfully, he comes into the room pretty soon after you, dressed in a large shirt and his boxers. he’s more modestly dressed for bed than usual, but you’re not too surprised- this isn’t exactly a private home, after all. ✧ he flops on top of the blankets across your legs, sighing loudly and melodramatically. you stretch down to ruffle his hair lovingly.

He twists his head toward you, catching your palm and planting a kiss on it. You smile before beckoning him to join your side. As soon as he’s spread the blanket haphazardly over himself, he’s weaving his arms across your waist and smushing his cheek against your shoulder.

“Was today okay?” Childe asks softly. He always seems to get unbelievably soft when he’s sleepy. You wonder if he’s aware of it.

You lift your hand to brush the side of his face. “Today was amazing, babe. Your family is really fun, and they’ve made me feel so, so welcome.” You kiss his forehead and he hums, almost relieved. “Thank you, for bringing me.”

Thank you for coming, he wants to say. Thank you for trusting me, thank you for staying with me, thank you for loving me. The words won’t come out, so he instead tightens his arms against your core.

“Ajax, are you okay?” You swivel so that you can wrap one of your arms around his neck, his head falling into the side of your chest.

There’s a pause as he considers it. Is he okay? He doesn’t get asked that a lot- and when he is asked, he always lies. He doesn’t want to lie to you any more than he has to. But what can he say? He’s home, but it doesn’t feel like the home he knew. His family has grown, and he has, too. They’ve changed, he’s changed… He misses everything he had, and there’s no way to go back.

You gently tap his shoulder, bringing him back to you. You, another change in the life he once recognized. He raises his head to look into your eyes, patient and yet worried- for him.

Childe smiles. “I’m okay, sweetheart.” He has you now, after all. He can’t go back to the way things once were. Maybe he doesn’t need to go back, if going back meant not having you at his side. Maybe one day, he’ll find the words to tell you this.

You lean in to kiss his forehead again, but he straightens up to meet your lips with his. It’s a bit clumsy, you’re both sleepy and warm and together, but you melt into each other.

Childe separates from you after a moment, and in your tired, loving haze you miss the sudden devious glint in his stare.

“You know what would make me feel even better than okay, though?”

“Hmm?”

His hands begin to roam under your shirt. “Well, you remember that ‘funny business’ my mom mentioned earlier-?”

You groan, pushing away from him and picking your pillow up to shove into his face, a bark of your boyfriend’s cackle following. He continues giggling as you turn away from him with a huff, making a point to lay down.

“Good night, you big dork.”

His laughter dies down as he slides further beneath the covers to join you, rewrapping an arm around you and pulling you closer. He kisses the back of your neck with a contented sigh.

As long as he’s next to you, Childe is already way better than okay, he’s certain of it.

“Goodnight, Y/N.”