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[leaveofabsence]

[ The default voicemail message greets you. ]

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[leaveofabsence]

[ And so he does.

Very carefully. With just the press of his fingertips. ]

[childeishly]

[ he grabs zhongli's wrist and holds it there, cheeks flushing a dark red as contact remains persistent. ] It feels like my entire body is on fire, Xiansheng.

[leaveofabsence]

[ Oh.




Oh, okay. He gets it now.

He doesn't know what he is supposed to do about it, but he gets it now. ]

Childe...

[childeishly]

[ he takes a step back, though his grip on zhongli's hand only tightens, like he wants to break the contact, but at the same time he wants to keep it there, because it's his only source of relief at the moment. ]

Why the hell would they do this? [ he manages to release his wrist and force himself another step back. ] This is... ridiculous. [ and embarrassing. ]

[leaveofabsence]

[ When Childe takes a step back, Zhongli reaches for his retreating hand with both of his and squeezes his fingers lightly. ]

I suppose the answer would be like any other. Entertainment.

[childeishly]

[ he forces a broken laugh. ] I guess that's true. The others just change different hues or seem to move around, but they don't... [ sighs, exasperated. ] This is the only one that does this, but I thought the placement was a little... off.

[leaveofabsence]

It does seem...

[ But the words trail off as Zhongli gets caught up in his own thoughts. With a shake of his head, his focus returns to Childe. ]

But let's get you comfortable, and then you can decide how you'd like to proceed.

[childeishly]

What? [ squeezes zhongli's hand in an attempt to shake him from this thoughts. ] What's it seem? Does it's placement mean something?

H- Hah, Xiansheng, I... do you, ... [ takes his hand back and presses it to his face and then forces it back through his hair. he's very thankful he's got a tail, so he can cover what would have been an obvious boner. ] I'm not going to take care of it right now.

[leaveofabsence]

I was going to say like your riptide mark. The placement is very similar, is it not?

[childeishly]

[ covers his face with his hands and tries to banish THAT thought from his head. ] N- No! I do not put my riptide mark there. [ at least not intentionally. AND LEAST OF ALL ON MONSTERS. ]

[leaveofabsence]

You would know best.

But regardless, it is just going to get worse if you leave it, yes?

[childeishly]

[ as long as it's not like his mask since he's not interested in losing his dick... ] I think I can deal with it. Who hasn't been [ trails off. ] H- Hahaha.

[leaveofabsence]

Who hasn't been what...?

[childeishly]

[ clears his throat. ] ...horny. L- Look, we can talk about something else. I- in fact I wanted to, ah, talk about one of my other ‘corruptions’, the mask...

[leaveofabsence]

[ Does Childe really want to talk about this when he's in such an obvious state of discomfort?

Well.

Zhongli isn't going to deny him, so--- ]

Of course.

We can talk about the mask.

[childeishly]

[ no, but having a conversation about being horny is somehow worse. he’ll figure that out somehow. ]

I don’t think the game was the sole source of my nightmares... the mask breaking seemed to make matters in my head worse. It might not have broken this time, but I’m sure it won’t be pretty when it does.

[leaveofabsence]

And have you found what causes it to break? It does not seem to be related to physical injuries. Or at least - it seems to be more than that.

[childeishly]

I think it's connected to how I'm feeling... mentally. If I remember right it started breaking apart when you fell from the ceiling following that one game, you know, with the rest of Heart...

[leaveofabsence]

. . .

[ He reaches up to take Childe's face in his hands ]

[childeishly]

...

[ covers one of zhongli’s hands with his own. ] I’m fine now.

[leaveofabsence]

It is not unknown to me that Heart has a certain reputation for self-sacrifice and not tending to ourselves. And I know that must be difficult for you.

But know that we are trying to make it through every game. And even on those occasions where we cannot---

Please look after yourself.

How cruel of them to place such a corruption on someone who feels as deeply as you do.

[childeishly]

Wild City prioritizes itself, first and foremost, so you don't really have to worry about us or... me. If we can protect other units we generally talk among each other and go from there, so I intend to try when I can, but I can't promise I'll always be of use... [ and that bothers him. ]

Hah. Hell is a cruel place, as I've been told. [ said with a touch of sarcasm. ] I don't know for sure, but it seems like that's the case. I almost want to see what happens when it breaks, so I know, specifically, what to be wary of... [ though he's got a hunch, especially given the nightmares he had. ]

I need to show you something though, Xiansheng.

[leaveofabsence]

If there is ever a danger that it would break and you are able to, would you let me know so that I may be there?

[childeishly]

[ nods. ] If I'm able.

But... Xiansheng... [ sighs, combing his fingers through his hair and taking out his phone as fingers catch the edge of his mask. ] Here. [ he offers the phone and the entire golden house scene plays out, from when the traveler walks in up until childe summons osial and fucks off as a water sphere. i'm at work so i'll write this up later. ]

I think you'll be dealing with something like this.

[leaveofabsence]

[ Zhongli watches the memory with a blank expression. After all, this is what he wanted when he made the deal with the Tsaritsa in the first place. And Childe had performed his part admirably. What a stunning performance.

And yet--- ]

That power.

It comes from the Abyss.