on the nature of one's—
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“Before I leave,” Childe asks, “will you fight me, Zhongli?”
“Fight you?” Zhongli replies, his expression open and his gnosis gone, and Childe feels his heart beat heavy within his chest. “To what end?”
Childe takes a breath. “Because,” he says simply. “I want to.” Then, he amends, “because I need to.” There’s a burning selfishness that curls inside him at the admission, and Childe bites his lip, then continues a final time: “please.”
Or, in which Zhongli and Childe fight (and then Zhongli tends to Childe's wounds, afterward).
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- Part 1 of on the nature of one's—
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Wow, xiangsheng—only a few weeks out and you already miss me! (Want to beat me up again? It’s lucky you'll be visiting me soon then, isn’t it? ♡)
Or, in which Zhongli and Childe send each other letters upon Childe's departure from Liyue, and Zhongli makes plans to visit him.
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- Part 2 of on the nature of one's—
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“I will admit,” Zhongli says with a grimace, “that I am used to sweeter liquors,” and Childe’s family laughs loud and pleased, pushing even more alcohol his way. Zhongli feels his face grow warm—feels the weight of Childe against his side as Childe leans in—and Zhongli takes their proffered glasses with a polite smile, children clamoring for his attention as he takes a careful sip.
Or, in which Zhongli meets Childe's family, and they get him drunk in the process.
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- Part 3 of on the nature of one's—
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“Have you never had a cold before, xiangsheng?” Childe asks curiously, and Zhongli blinks back at him, before carefully shaking his head.
Or, in which Zhongli gets sick thanks to Childe's antics, and then Childe—and his family—spend their time taking care of him.
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- Part 4 of on the nature of one's—
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I can hear your voice down the hall, chatting amicably with my family as they rope you into telling yet another story. Your voice is even and soft—resounding through the hardwood walls of my family’s ancestral home—and I sit at the edge of my bed as I listen, certain that my heart has been laid bare upon my sleeve.
It’s strange to have you here in Snezhnaya with me.
Or, in which Childe thinks upon his relationship with Zhongli, and knows that he will love him until the day that he dies.
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- Part 5 of on the nature of one's—
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Tartaglia to Childe. Childe to Ajax.
Friend... to Beloved.
I do not know when you became beloved to me, yet I am certain that it happened well before I became as much to you. One might think I would fall in love slowly—what with the number of years that I have spent upon this earth, and what with the many years more that I will surely stay—yet I knew from the moment I saw you that you: Childe, Ajax, beloved—were someone special.
Or, in which Zhongli thinks upon his relationship with Childe, and knows that he will love him until the day that he dies.
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- Part 6 of on the nature of one's—
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Snezhnaya is cold—far colder than Liyue has ever been—and Zhongli sucks in a breath.
Childe had, of course, told him as much before he’d arrived, yet Zhongli had scarcely believed him until after he’d taken the first step onto the country’s snow-soaked soil.
Or, in which Zhongli reflects on his love for Childe, and the two of them navigate their goodbyes.
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- Part 7 of on the nature of one's—