Well, you were kind enough to accompany us the night we returned.
[...]
And I haven't spoken to Greed personally, so summoning them just to complain about how ridiculous the killer on their team is is a bit rude, don't you think?
I can't talk about it a whole lot, but uh - I know exactly how everything happened, so trust me! I'm fucking exhausted. [they'll eat whatever it is that he brought them! hope it's poisoned. please kill wrath.]
Honestly, I doubt you need to. I'm sure they'd both be willing to explain the rest, if I wanted to ask.
[He does not want to ask. Except about the fucking clown shoes, he asked about those. BUT NOTHING ELSE.
And yeah they're all Toblerone-flavored poison croissants--no, it's just Liyue food. Childe is not using his marriage chopsticks to eat his, even though they're still in his pocket, he's just using a fork and spoon like a fucking white boy. Awful.]
Not that I'm not honored by the trust, but I'm choosing to believe they had a backup plan, in case I couldn't help them out.
[Because he was never going to say no, but like. HIS FUCKING HANDS.]
[STOP HE HEARS THAT TONE. He stares into the void for a minute. Not Wrath's void, just the general void.
He also opens his mouth, then pauses, apparently changing his mind. Or he just wants to take a bite of noodles, either or.]
On the contrary, it's been a long time since I've been on my own. Though I'll grant you I'm more used to managing my own division. [He misses his reliable team... his info network... people he was, like, 98% sure weren't going to stab him in the back at any time. He's a good boss, thank you very much.] The other Harbingers and I don't see eye-to-eye very often, but occasionally we're supposed to work together as well.
[WRATH, PLEASE. He just snorts, taking the whiskey for another drink. He brought his own booze. It's literally sitting on the table. But no, Wrath Whiskey.]
You haven't even met them, how do you know it's because of me?
[HE JUST STOPS FOR A MINUTE TO STARE AT THEM INCREDULOUSLY.]
You're fucking the Marquis, and you're telling me that?
[Like he's vaguely offended about his coworkers BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY HOW DARE WRATH IMPLY HE'S WORSE THAN GU YUN OF ALL PEOPLE, WOW, WRATH EVEN MADE HIM USE A SWEAR WORD]
[He just stares at Wrath like he can't believe this is a real question]
Don't you know I fuck him every week? [Apparently he's just not in the mood to censor himself like he usually does, which, given the week he's had, is PROBABLY QUITE FAIR.] You didn't even fix the table!
[WHO ELSE COULD AND WOULD HAVE SET THE BEDSIDE TABLE ON FIRE. WRATH. PLEASE.]
[Yeah honestly he wanted to sit on this and bust it out at a better time because it was funny as hell, but listen, he's tired. So he just rolls his eyes, going back to his food, apparently unbothered by that smoke. Set him on fire, binch.]
I promise you, I have no desire to make it my business. [Please. He does not care about the spicy deets. He thinks about Gu Yun's dick once a week for business purposes and he has no intention of changing that anytime soon.] But please don't insult me carelessly.
[Like, if you're gonna be mean to him, that's cool, but at least pick better insults than "SMARMY"!! Call him a battle nerd like everyone else!!!]
for five minutes, childe will only be able to hear very, very loud buzzing. like a thousand bees right up against his ears. wrath leans over and steals the whiskey out of his hands, and drinks it.]
The initial burst of sound gets him to wince, and he presses a hand to his ear on reflex, but after a moment he just shakes his head. He looks annoyed, but also kind of like he wants to laugh. Y'all are so goddamn sensitive, jesus christ. What are you, protagonists?!]
Very mature.
[But you know what, fine!! When it's clear the sound isn't going away soon, he'll just drop his hand and finish up the meal that Wrath probably spit booze all over. Whatever. Through sheer force of will, he will not acknowledge the buzzing. Apparently he's not the only one who can pretend to be deaf. God.
But whatever else he might want to say (after this display of extreme maturity) gets interrupted, as a memory (potentially?!) slips out.
(If you are curious, here's the 60 seconds. Also the localization isn't the best but I don't want to bury you with two links and a personal translation don't look at me I just have a lot of feelings.)
ANYWAY. Ah. Whether Wrath saw that or not, he suddenly has a faraway look on his face.]
[cackles as all my sad family lore falls out of my trenchcoat
Childe, meanwhile, closes his eyes, just for a moment. That very same doll (broken though it may be) sits on his bedside table, now, the same place he keeps his chopsticks. A memento from that little adventure... maybe this place is trying to tell him something? Hah.
Under different circumstances, Childe would probably tease them for forgetting their first conversation. And it's not the threat of petty revenge or violence that holds him back--but regardless, he simply looks at the scars on his hands, visible without his gloves.]
Two, and a sister.
[And three older siblings, on top of that. It's a simple answer, but his tone is softer than it usually is--fond, but in a complicated way.]
[u_u me and childe, both alike in being unloved by wrath
But he just shrugs. He'll take "bastard" tbh that's fine. At least he's smart enough not to get attached to people who could die overnight, he does not say, because he wants to die in a proper fight and not by being smote on the couch after a long trial.
He does laugh quietly, though, reaching for the alcohol he'd brought instead. Wrath can keep their whiskey.]
[Fluffs both mods and Wrath!! But it's true, Childe is a bastard with a braincell. Tragic, because it would've been very funny for him to show up to execution set on fire.
Instead, though, he just tips his bottle in a mock toast.]
As they say, С волками жить - по вольчи выть. [It's worth the effort to switch into his native language, regardless of whether or not Wrath understands him. Though after a moment, he gives them a tired smile.] You've got quite the squadron of defenders, though, did you see that last time?
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Well, you were kind enough to accompany us the night we returned.
[...]
And I haven't spoken to Greed personally, so summoning them just to complain about how ridiculous the killer on their team is is a bit rude, don't you think?
[BUT APPARENTLY WRATH IS FAIR GAME FOR WHINING]
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[they say, flopping down next to childe. they hand him the whiskey. it's open.]
Trust me, Greed is just as ready to complain about ridiculousness as you are. [sniff.] How much do you know?
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You mean, besides all the injuries and marks I recreated, that I never wanted to know they had?
[HE NEVER NEEDED TO LEARN ABOUT MAHITO'S SHIBARI KINK BECAUSE MAHITO PROBABLY DIDN'T FUCKING EXPLAIN IT WAS FOR COVER-UP PURPOSES ONLY
--Oh, he pauses, nodding towards the food on the table.]
Help yourself, by the way. [He is generous to have brought food to this bitchfest.]
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I can't talk about it a whole lot, but uh - I know exactly how everything happened, so trust me! I'm fucking exhausted. [they'll eat whatever it is that he brought them! hope it's poisoned. please kill wrath.]
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[He does not want to ask. Except about the fucking clown shoes, he asked about those. BUT NOTHING ELSE.
And yeah they're all Toblerone-flavored poison croissants--no, it's just Liyue food. Childe is not using his marriage chopsticks to eat his, even though they're still in his pocket, he's just using a fork and spoon like a fucking white boy. Awful.]
Not that I'm not honored by the trust, but I'm choosing to believe they had a backup plan, in case I couldn't help them out.
[Because he was never going to say no, but like. HIS FUCKING HANDS.]
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[they say, picking at the liyue food. also if you ever say toblerone or croissant ever again i'm deleting the comm]
You don't strike me as the type of guy to be really into teamwork.
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He also opens his mouth, then pauses, apparently changing his mind. Or he just wants to take a bite of noodles, either or.]
On the contrary, it's been a long time since I've been on my own. Though I'll grant you I'm more used to managing my own division. [He misses his reliable team... his info network... people he was, like, 98% sure weren't going to stab him in the back at any time. He's a good boss, thank you very much.] The other Harbingers and I don't see eye-to-eye very often, but occasionally we're supposed to work together as well.
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Wow, people don't see eye-to-eye with you? Weird! You're such a nice guy. Can't imagine why. [wrath, be less terrible.]
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You haven't even met them, how do you know it's because of me?
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Because you ooze smarm, my dude, every time I talk to you I want to take your face and smush it into the carpet. [they say this... so casually.]
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You're fucking the Marquis, and you're telling me that?
[Like he's vaguely offended about his coworkers BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY HOW DARE WRATH IMPLY HE'S WORSE THAN GU YUN OF ALL PEOPLE, WOW, WRATH EVEN MADE HIM USE A SWEAR WORD]
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they just choke, actually, like they were taking a drink and they choke on it and spit it everywhere.]
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First of all, how did you know, did he tell you?
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Don't you know I fuck him every week? [Apparently he's just not in the mood to censor himself like he usually does, which, given the week he's had, is PROBABLY QUITE FAIR.] You didn't even fix the table!
[WHO ELSE COULD AND WOULD HAVE SET THE BEDSIDE TABLE ON FIRE. WRATH. PLEASE.]
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Hey, shut the fuck up! [there is smoke coming from under the hood.] The bedside table wasn't even sex related, you complete horse's ass.
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I promise you, I have no desire to make it my business. [Please. He does not care about the spicy deets. He thinks about Gu Yun's dick once a week for business purposes and he has no intention of changing that anytime soon.] But please don't insult me carelessly.
[Like, if you're gonna be mean to him, that's cool, but at least pick better insults than "SMARMY"!! Call him a battle nerd like everyone else!!!]
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for five minutes, childe will only be able to hear very, very loud buzzing. like a thousand bees right up against his ears. wrath leans over and steals the whiskey out of his hands, and drinks it.]
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The initial burst of sound gets him to wince, and he presses a hand to his ear on reflex, but after a moment he just shakes his head. He looks annoyed, but also kind of like he wants to laugh. Y'all are so goddamn sensitive, jesus christ. What are you, protagonists?!]
Very mature.
[But you know what, fine!! When it's clear the sound isn't going away soon, he'll just drop his hand and finish up the meal that Wrath probably spit booze all over. Whatever. Through sheer force of will, he will not acknowledge the buzzing. Apparently he's not the only one who can pretend to be deaf. God.
But whatever else he might want to say (after this display of extreme maturity) gets interrupted, as a memory (potentially?!) slips out.
(If you are curious, here's the 60 seconds. Also the localization isn't the best but I don't want to bury you with two links and a personal translation don't look at me I just have a lot of feelings.)
ANYWAY. Ah. Whether Wrath saw that or not, he suddenly has a faraway look on his face.]
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they sit there for a moment, stiff, and then:]
... You have a little brother.
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Childe, meanwhile, closes his eyes, just for a moment. That very same doll (broken though it may be) sits on his bedside table, now, the same place he keeps his chopsticks. A memento from that little adventure... maybe this place is trying to tell him something? Hah.
Under different circumstances, Childe would probably tease them for forgetting their first conversation. And it's not the threat of petty revenge or violence that holds him back--but regardless, he simply looks at the scars on his hands, visible without his gloves.]
Two, and a sister.
[And three older siblings, on top of that. It's a simple answer, but his tone is softer than it usually is--fond, but in a complicated way.]
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Huh. [... they take a sip of whiskey.] Well. Doesn't stop you from being a bastard. Sure as hell doesn't stop me from being one either!
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But he just shrugs. He'll take "bastard" tbh that's fine. At least he's smart enough not to get attached to people who could die overnight, he does not say, because he wants to die in a proper fight and not by being smote on the couch after a long trial.
He does laugh quietly, though, reaching for the alcohol he'd brought instead. Wrath can keep their whiskey.]
What a pair we make, then.
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also, that's probably a good thing that he doesn't say that out loud.]
Two bastards with sibling soft spots? Yeah. What a fucking pair.
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Instead, though, he just tips his bottle in a mock toast.]
As they say, С волками жить - по вольчи выть. [It's worth the effort to switch into his native language, regardless of whether or not Wrath understands him. Though after a moment, he gives them a tired smile.] You've got quite the squadron of defenders, though, did you see that last time?
[The Wrath Defense squad from last trial...]
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