Audience: Tartaglia Childe

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Comments

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[the rumor come out: does pride is have friends? no.]

Incredible. What a good guess.

[toyska]

[Wow. Childe's still smiling, but he shakes his head.]

He did say you were, ah, "prickly".

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[huff.]

You're not the only one used to being disliked.

[toyska]

I like you.

[That's probably the most honest thing he's said the whole time he's been here, besides telling Lust how much he loves his siblings.]

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[...]

What.

[toyska]

[He shrugs. He means it! Whether Pride believes him or not.]

I respect honesty. It's far more comfortable to be treated with open disdain.

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[hm.]

You're not wrong, I suppose. [they say, tilting their head.]

[toyska]

To be honest, I'd expected more of it.

[And not just because the Fatui are disliked on default wherever they go. It doesn't bother him, regardless.]

I'd certainly expected much... stricter terms, for this deal.

[He figured they'd all be fighting to the death for ultimate power tbh.]

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Stricter terms? Such as?

[curiously.]

[toyska]

[GMAIL my NOTIFS]

More violence, quite frankly.

[Did you expect that or did you want it, Childe]

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[YOUR NOTIFS]

Mm. Violence is not out of the question. Don't know why you'd think it was.

[toyska]

Oh, I'm aware. [He has been indulging in that plenty. Mahito is his favorite indulgence partner already. I hate it.] But that's different from a fight to the death to earn our prizes.

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[mahito should not be anybody's favorite indulgence partner excuse me]

That's not out of the question either. You've no idea what people will do once they've been locked in the same space as each other for a while.

[toyska]

[TRUST ME, I KNOW.

Also he just stares into the void for a second. Pride's void face? The general void? Either one.]

Trust me, I'm pretty sure I do.

[PLEASE. CHILDE IS "PEOPLE". Also his coworkers are 5000 times worse than him? He's like 98.9% convinced Pride knows this shit already so he doesn't bother saying it out loud.]

But you make it sound like a choice, not an expectation. [And even if it is--] No one offers ultimate power for the price of a good time.

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[they're quiet for a moment.]

Everything is a choice. [they say, finally.] Ultimate power, as you put it, is worth whatever you think it is. Is it worth dying for?

[toyska]

If I didn't think it was worth the risk, I wouldn't have agreed to be here. But I don't plan on dying.

[In other words--he doesn't buy what they're selling, but he also doesn't much care; in his mind, this is a trap he's walked willingly into. And he's confident enough in his own strength that he's not too worried about his chances of success.]

If the other people here don't feel the same way, I'll be very disappointed.

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[they tilt their head.]

I'm not surprised you call Gu Yun your friend. [is this an insult? who knows.]

[toyska]

[It should be. But Childe apparently doesn't care if it is; he shrugs.]

I have no interest in the weak.

[They pointed at each other and said "I see you too are stupidly OP"]

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[hah.

they seem amused.]

No. I don't either. [...] Hm. Maybe you can replace Masters as a Pride.

[this is like 99% a joke.]

[toyska]

[He taps the Lust symbol on the back of his hand.]

Can't I be both?

[And maybe add Greed on there as well, while we're at it, apparently. Catch 'em all.]

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Mm.

[a pause.] Have you spoken to them? Lust.

[toyska]

Of course.

[He'd promised he would go see them, after all.]

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[another pause, and then, vaguely grouchy:]

Were you kind to them?

[toyska]

[He snorts.]

I have six siblings, I know how to play nice with others. [The charm and amiability aren't even that much of a facade--he likes plenty of people perfectly well. His ruthlessness is truly nothing personal most of the time.] We spoke for quite a while. You can ask them yourself, if you'd like. They're quite fond of you.

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I don't care what they think of me.

[pride.]