Chapter Text
Aether came and went from Liyue Harbor often in the weeks following the battle with the Lord of the Vortex and the Rite of Parting. For a while he went to the Dragonspine and spent time with Albedo, but once he exhausted all the distractions that provided, he found himself back in Liyue out of habit.
When he was in the city, Aether would go and find Zhongli, who seemed to appreciate having someone to pass his now ample free time with. Usually they would just take walks around the harbor, watching as the city slowly patched itself up and settled back into normalcy. Just as often, they would find somewhere to eat, Zhongli seemingly determined they not go to the same place twice.
Occasionally they would agree to meet up somewhere, with Zhongli giving Aether frighteningly detailed instructions on how to find whatever hole-in-the-wall place he wanted Aether to try.
It was, on one such of these occasions, that Aether arrived to find Zhongli sitting at a table set for an extra person. Curious, Aether sat down and started to ask Zhongli what was up, only to be cut off by the answer to his question.
“Hey comrade, fancy meeting you here,” Childe said, that easy grin of his on his face. He grabbed the last chair and sat down heavily, as if he was just exhausted.
Aether looked sharply over at Zhongli, who wasn’t phased in the slightest, still perusing the menu idly as if an unwanted guest hadn’t just appeared at their table. Worse, it seemed like he was expecting this.
Neither one of them well versed in subtlety, Aether and Paimon, practically in unison, said, “What’s he doing here?”
Childe’s grin didn’t even waver. “When you two talk like that, it almost seems like you don’t want to see me.”
“No, I mean,” Aether began, expression incredulous, “What are you doing in this country? Last time I checked the general populous thought you tried to destroy the city and murdered a god.”
Childe’s smile went slightly predatory. “Nobody can prove either of those things, comrade, and I’m a diplomat.”
Aether narrowed his eyes, because what was that supposed to mean-
“Apologies, the fault is mine. I agreed to meet with you both today and rather than cancel with one, I thought it might be best to simply see you together,” Zhongli interjected, finally looking up.
Once Zhongli had reminded Aether of his presence, he realized he had another pressing question. Pointing sharply at Zhongli, he asked Childe, “And another thing- I thought you two weren’t speaking since- no offense Zhongli- he manipulated you for the entire duration of your relationship.”
“None taken,” Zhongli replied, not even looking up from his menu.
Meanwhile, Childe’s smile went back to his carefully curated cheer as he explained, “I’m a Fatui Harbinger. I’m being manipulated constantly, so if I stopped talking to everyone who ever played an underhanded trick on me I wouldn’t be on speaking terms with literally any of my coworkers. And, you know, Zhongli is the only one who’s ever been polite about it so I could only stay mad for so long.”
Aether could understand that, at least. He also had a chronic inability to stay mad at Zhongli; the man was just so earnest it was hard to believe he ever had any negative intentions. He really didn’t get what the ex-Archon saw in Childe, though.
Aether put his hands up in mock surrender. “Fine, fine, just order something so we can get this over with.”
“That’s the spirit, comrade,” Childe said, and he reached over to steal the menu out of Zhongli’s fingers. Zhongli didn’t fight it, and instead turned to Aether, completely unfazed.
“I can't help but notice this is your first time back in Liyue Harbor after several days. What caught your interest?” Zhongli asked, and Aether gave up glaring across the table to answer him. Besides, Paimon was glaring hard enough for the both of them.
“Nothing too exciting, just odd jobs here and there,” Aether replied, and it was true. With his sister, he had never stayed anywhere long enough to worry about each world’s unique currency. But seeing as he was stuck in Teyvat for the foreseeable future, he found himself in the unenviable position of needing to worry about money. Of course, he mitigated the cost as much as possible by mooching off the many friends he had made in his short time here (for example: he always stayed with Xiangling when he was in Liyue Harbor, as it was both a free place to sleep and free food), but that didn’t cover everything. And he got the feeling that whatever happened when he finally got to Inazuma, it was going to be a wild ride and he would be thankful to his past self if he didn’t have to worry about Mora during it.
“That doesn’t sound very fun. Have you gotten into any interesting fights at least?” Childe asked, tone perfectly conversational as he continued to study the menu.
“Plenty,” Aether replied, suddenly not wanting to admit that he had mostly run deliveries and cleaned out hilichurl camps.
Something in his voice must have sounded a little defensive, because Childe finally looked up, a devious tint to his smile. “Please then, regale us with your exploits. Archons know I haven’t done anything interesting in weeks,” he said.
While Aether was trying to come up with a good reply, their waitress reappeared, and after getting a blank look from Aether (who hadn’t seen the menu) and a shrug from Childe, Zhongli ordered for all three of them (and Paimon). She left a menu with them, and looking for a distraction, Aether snatched it up so he could avoid talking to Childe.
After giving it a once over, Aether looked up at Zhongli, a little surprised, and asked, “How did you know what I would have ordered?”
Zhongli smiled, a soft upturn of the corner of his lips, and said, “We’ve eaten together many times now.” Which wasn’t really an answer, since while that might be true, it wasn’t like they had eaten at this particular restaurant before. And Aether prided himself on trying a variety of different foods wherever they went.
Childe made a thoughtful hum and propped his elbows up on the table. “You got mine right too,” he said, looking curious.
“Yes, well, I’ve shared many meals with you as well,” Zhongli said, like he was explaining it to a kid, although he was still smiling; he clearly thought it was funny.
“Ah, but Zhongli, you know I don’t really care for any one food over the other,” Childe shot back, grinning.
“I am aware you claim to have no preference for any particular type of food, yes,” Zhongli replied.
Childe adopted a look of mock offense. “Are you saying you know more about my food preferences than I do?”
“No, I simply think there are some things you are not willing to admit to yourself, and a distinct dislike of cabbage is one of them.”
Dramatically, Paimon leaned in close to Aether’s ear and whispered, “Are they flirting? It’s gross.” She was most certainly loud enough that everyone at the table heard.
“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” Zhongli replied without missing a beat, but whether he just meant to deflect Paimon’s suspicions or if he genuinely didn’t know what she meant, Aether couldn’t tell. He could see it going either way, honestly.
Childe tilted his head, the picture of innocence, and said, “If I was flirting you’d know.”
Aether wasn’t so sure about that one either, although he did imagine that flirting with Childe was probably a lot like taking the flat side of a blade to the face.
Their food arrived, and the conversation blessedly ended with that. Unfortunately for Aether, now that he was no longer distracted, Childe circled back to his favorite topic: “You never did finish telling us about all the exciting fights you’ve gotten into recently.”
Aether took a massive bite of his food to avoid answering, but when he finished Childe was still looking at him expectantly.
“Are you really that desperate to talk about violence?” Aether said, trying to look disdainful and failing.
“You bet I am! My job here’s gotten so boring lately. Turns out if people think you’ve assassinated a god, they start respecting you from the get-go, which is way less fun for me personally,” Childe explained, and then he winked, like he was letting Aether in on a secret. “And plus, there isn’t anyone in the Fatui stationed here in Liyue that can keep up with me.”
“What, Zhongli won’t humor you?” Aether asked, because if the conversation up until this point had told him anything, it was that Zhongli was a lot fonder of Childe than he was.
Childe gave Zhongli a lopsided smile as he replied, not looking at Aether at all, “all he ever does is toss me on my ass, if he will at all- I enjoy it but I think it bores him after a while.”
Placid as ever, Zhongli said, “I’m sure Aether would make a much more suitable opponent.” Then he took a sip of his tea. Aether thought he was being ridiculous, so he just rolled his eyes at Zhongli and said nothing. In retrospect, Aether wasn’t sure if he regretted letting the conversation end there or not.
It wasn’t until an hour later, when Zhongli and Aether were dropping Childe off at Northland Bank, that Aether realized Zhongli had apparently offered his services with that comment.
Standing in the doorway, Childe said, “Come on in, there’s a big open space for recruit training on the fourth floor we can use.”
Very eloquently, Aether said, “What?”
Paimon, her tiny arms crossed in suspicion, chimed in helpfully with, “Yeah, what the heck are you talking about?”
Childe snapped his fingers in Paimons face, twice in rapid succession. “For our spar, try to keep up.”
“I don’t remember actually agreeing to that,” Aether protested. Next to him, Paimon looked more affronted than Aether had ever seen her. He looked over at Zhongli for help, but Zhongli just gave Aether one of his indecipherable smiles and said, “It’ll be fun for both of you, don’t you think?”
Aether did have to admit he still had some pent up aggression leftover from lunch, and could use the outlet. He had gotten a new sword recently, too, and testing it out on slimes just wasn’t the same. Plus, the way that Childe looked at him sometimes, with this incredible intensity in his blue eyes, kinda made Aether want to punch him in the face.
Throwing Childe a stern look, Aether finally replied, “Yeah, alright. But if I mysteriously go missing I want you to know Zhongli is a witness and I’m counting on him to avenge me.”
Zhongli’s eyes shone as he suppressed a huff of laughter. “I suppose that can be arranged, if it would make you feel better.”
“Alright then! Come on comrade, we’re wasting daylight.” Childe clapped his hands together and pushed his way through the bank’s front door.
Hesitantly, Aether followed after him.
- - - - - - - -
Aether looked across the empty room at Childe, his gaze weary.
“Aw come on traveler, I promise I won’t bite. Hard, anyways,” Childe taunted.
They had been sizing each other up for a few minutes now, or at least Aether was sizing up Childe. The Harbinger himself seemed content to grin over at Aether, not a hint of tension in his posture. His eyes had that shine to them that Aether remembered from the Golden House, though, and it made Aether tighten his grip on Festering Desire.
When Childe’s patience finally ran out, he came at Aether like a ton of bricks. For all his staring, Aether still had to throw up a hasty block to avoid taking a hydro knife to the gut.
Childe was ferocious. His grin had gone from easy and friendly to something else entirely, his facade peeling away to reveal a manic intensity underneath. His eyes were just as sharp as his knives, and they dissected Aether’s every move to determine his next one. Any thoughts beyond their spar were blown from Aether’s mind as they maneuvered around the room. Out of habit Aether held back at first, but Childe’s ferocity demanded he use his full strength. If Childe wanted a real fight, Aether could do that.
Well, as much as either of them could manage a “real fight” in a confined space. They were limited to mostly swordplay, lest they do permanent damage to the building, but Aether found it immensely satisfying to force Childe to engage him at close range, again and again, where he was the superior fighter. No more taking pot shots at me from across the room, asshole, Aether thought, before he mercilessly kicked Childe into the back wall.
For what it was worth, Aether really wasn’t a bloodthirsty person. He enjoyed fighting, but not any more than he enjoyed a lot of other things, like cooking or gliding down from mountain tops. He had learned how to wield a sword because he was supposed to, and for most of his life his only consistent sparring partner was Lumine. The fact that he was good at it was coincidental (Lumine had always been better, but he wasn’t going to think about that).
Two hours later Aether and Childe were both sprawled out on the cool wooden floor of the training room, breathing heavily and covered in sweat.
“Maybe let’s eat afterwards next time,” Aether said, without even quite realizing the words had come out of his mouth.
And there did end up being a next time, and a time after that, and so on. They met up mid-morning, and then Aether trekked back across the city so he could wash up at Xiangling’s apartment and then met Childe and Zhongli for lunch. Usually Zhongli or Childe picked where they ate- if it was Zhongli’s choice, they’d end up at a tiny place only someone who had lived in Liyue Harbor a long time would ever know about; if Childe picked, they’d go somewhere that Aether would never even consider without the Fatui bankrolling his meal.
One night when they went out, Childe planted his elbows on the table so he could lean forwards towards where Aether sat across from him. “You know, I bet a three-way would be fun,” he said, a mischievous glint to his eyes.
Aether went a little red in the face and made a soft but distressed noise. Next to him, Zhongli hummed thoughtfully and then said, “Yes, I suppose something like that would be interesting at the very least.”
The three of them were out to dinner, eating cold noodles at a tiny, open-air restaurant Zhongli had selected. It was bordering on uncomfortably warm and the humidity hadn’t gone down even when the sun set. Initially, Aether had been a little annoyed to squish into a booth with Zhongli while Childe sat across from them by himself, but now he was glad that Zhongli couldn’t see the look on his face.
Aether had, admittedly, been a little zoned out, thanks to a combination of the heat, food, and Childe’s initial topic of choice (a new market regulation Aether didn’t care about).
“I, uh, didn’t quite catch what we were talking about,” Aether admitted. Childe just kept grinning at him, like he was perfectly aware that Aether hadn’t been paying attention.
Zhongli, ever the saint, came to his rescue. “Childe thinks it might be fun to facilitate a three-way sparring match between us. It has certainly been a while since I joined Childe in his favorite activity, so surely the two of you have learned something worthwhile in all that time.”
If Aether didn’t know any better, he would think that Zhongli was taunting them, just a little, but more likely he was just stating what he thought were the facts of the situation. Then again, he did have a certain spark to his eyes when he turned towards Aether, so maybe he really was interested after all.
For his part, Aether was immensely relieved that was all they had been talking about. Childe, who still looked like he was on the verge of laughter, was clearly aware that his mind had gone somewhere else first and was definitely going to hold it over his head until a later date. Aether resisted the urge to kick him under the table.
“Thoughts, Aether? You’re being awfully quiet,” Childe commented, sounding as carefree as ever.
“Something a little different sounds good,” Aether replied. Although, if he was being honest, he wasn’t exactly keen on going up against Zhongli, since he’d fought alongside the ex-Archon plenty of times and didn’t think super highly of his chances. And he wasn’t like Childe- he didn’t bang his head against problems until one of them broke. Then again, Aether wasn’t about to say no, either, because Childe had that kind of effect on him.
“Alright, it’s settled then. I’ll see you both at 10am sharp, and I will come find you if you’re late, Aether,” Childe said, his grin gone predatory.
Aether rolled his eyes. “Sure, whatever.”
- - - - - - - -
“How is it, Aether,” Childe said, from his position sprawled out on the floor, “that between the two of us we have command of four elements to Zhongli’s one, and we still can’t win?”
“In the struggle of quantity vs quality, I have often found quality to be greater,” Zhongli replied. He was the only one still standing; Aether was on the ground near his feet, but at least he was sitting upright.
“Also, if you want a fighting chance you’ll have to stop fighting amongst each other. I propose we make a change to the rules of our engagement,” Zhongli added.
A half hour earlier, the three of them had decided, since there was an odd number of them, that the fairest way to do things would be to pit them all against one another. Zhongli had suggested that they each tie a ribbon around their right wrist, and whoever was the last with their ribbon undisturbed would be the victor. Three rounds later, and the score was 3 - 0 - 0, in Zhongli’s favor.
“Thought you said you didn’t want this to become an us versus you thing,” Aether said from his position on the floor (he’d get back up. In a minute). Initially, that was why Zhongli had proposed these rules in the first place: to make long-term teamwork impossible.
“Ah well, think of it as me taking pity on you,” Zhongli replied, with just enough smugness that Aether was sure he really was being taunted this time.
Childe groaned and finally sat up. “Sounds good to me. We aren’t getting anywhere like this, so let’s spice it up a little.” Now determined, Childe hopped back onto his feet and walked over to Aether to offer him a hand up. Aether took Childe’s hand and Childe grinned, saying, “We got this, comrade,” as he hauled Aether to his feet.
Zhongli offered them both back the ribbons that he had deftly stolen, and then said, “I am ready whenever you are.”
Aether looked wearily to Childe and then back at Zhongli. “Okay, but since I’ll have my back to him you’d better make sure he doesn’t do anything funny.”
“I’ll be sure to watch him very closely,” Zhongli replied, tone gravely serious.
Childe snickered. “I wouldn’t dream of it, comrade.”
Aether let out a huff of frustration and glared at Childe. “Stop calling me that.”
Before Aether and Childe could devolve into bickering, Zhongli manifested one of his golden spears and forced them both to scramble backwards.
And therein lied their biggest problem: reach. Zhongli’s range of attack with his polearm was much longer than Aether’s with his sword, but once he was inside Zhongli’s guard he had the advantage- he just needed an opening to get there. Aether shot a glance back at Childe, and when their eyes met Childe nodded sharply. He was well aware of their disadvantage as well.
But Childe wasn’t stuck in melee range like Aether was. While Zhongli engaged Aether, Childe put some distance between them and fired three rapid shots, all of which Zhongli easily evaded.
“If you hit me in the back I’ll definitely come haunt you!” Aether called out, although he didn’t turn back to look at Childe.
“Can’t make any promises,” Childe yelled back, and Aether was 90% certain it was a joke.
After recovering from his first failed attempt, Aether tried again, but this time came at Zhongli from the other man’s right. Childe, quick on the draw, fired a shot to the left to force Zhongli to move towards Aether’s attack; for a brief moment Aether got close enough to strike, but when he swung his sword the blade hit up against a freshly constructed Geo shield. The shock of hitting his sword against solid rock threw him off balance, and Aether was forced to retreat back a few steps to avoid being knocked flat.
Zhongli pressed his advantage and nearly blew past Aether while he was still off balance, but as he was forced even farther back Aether was able to create a Geo pillar of his own in front of Childe, to stop the other man’s momentum.
“Good job Aether, what was that, fifteen seconds?” Childe taunted from behind the pillar.
“Shut up,” Aether snapped, the last word coming out as barely more than a grunt as he deflected another blow.
Childe sighed, loud and dramatic enough that it could still be heard over the sound of clanging metal. “Guess I’ll have to help you.”
Childe, unable to retreat further back, ditched his bow in favor of finally manifesting the Hydro knives that Aether had come to dread and respect in equal measure. In one smooth motion Childe jumped up on top of Aether’s pillar and then back down again, trying to take advantage of Zhongli’s weaker defense from above.
Childe’s biggest advantage with his knives, beyond their elemental nature, was their unpredictability. The length of the blades, being water, could subtly shift from strike to strike, making them a pain to deflect. In close combat, Childe’s opponent had to pay very close attention to exactly where Childe’s strike would land in order to defend against them.
That didn’t matter, of course, if Childe couldn’t stay close enough to use them. In melee range, he was even worse off than Aether, as his knives were (on average) even shorter than Aether’s sword.
I guess we’re each taking a side, Aether thought, and then he came at Zhongli again. For a moment, it looked like the two of them had the advantage. Coming from two different angles, it was difficult for Zhongli to keep both of them at arm’s length, so if he pushed one back the other could move in closer.
We might actually be able to do this, Aether thought, and then in one fluid sweep of his polearm, Zhongli swept Childe off his feet and hit Aether in the stomach with the back end, knocking him to the ground as all of the air was forcefully ejected from his body.
Aether didn’t even bother to get back up; he just held out his arm while Zhongli pulled the ribbon off his wrist. “Thank you,” he said, like he hadn’t just knocked Aether flat to get it.
“You’re welcome,” Aether replied. He was getting too used to looking up at Zhongli from this angle.
“That was easily our best attempt yet,” Childe said, eyes sparklingly and a smile lighting up his face as he sat up.
He is way too excited about this, Aether thought, even if it is kinda cute. Immediately he shelved that thought, to hopefully never think about it ever again.
Zhongli offered a hand to help Aether to his feet as he said, “Your teamwork is impressive, considering you neither fought together previously nor discussed your strategy in advance.”
“You think so?” Aether asked, although silently he had to agree. He’d had much shakier team fights with some of his other companions.
“I do,” Zhongli confirmed, and on his other side Childe stood up, still with that insufferably pleased look on his face.
“So, are you ready to try again?” Childe asked, and Aether had to resist the urge to throw his sword at him.