Target: Tartaglia Childe

Target: Tartaglia „Childe”

No. 11 of the Eleven Harbingers of the Fatui

A small knife flew towards a boy with hair in the color of ginger.

Surely the blade would have hit his scalp, between amber curls, if the boy hadn’t turned around and sprang it with his weapon.

“Good morning, [Name]” he raised his eyes to see a small—or at least in the presence of the surrounding wooden beams and marble columns—silhouette crouching almost under the ceiling.

"Hello, hello," you replied, jumping off the raise. You neatly landed next to him and smiled broadly. "I can see that you are still in good condition.”

"To your misfortune," he shrugged, but also smiled.

Your afternoons usually followed this pattern: you break into Fatui's base, attack Childe, he avoids every hit, and later, as if nothing ever happened, you both go into conversations about everything and nothing. Sometimes you do a little sparring for skill.

Days like these had been going on months, but apart from your two, no one knew about them.

Not that you wanted to tell someone.

[First Name] [Surname], was a hair to a small outlaw-military organization. The organization disagreed with Fatui's actions and pursued its own policies to oppose the removal of Gnosis from the seven Archons.

The problem is that your family business employed no more than half of the employees compared to Fatui. Although every person who joined your organization was trained (in combat – like you or even in law or speaking), every day you have been overwhelmed by another load of tasks to be done since there were no people to fulfill all the missions.

One of them, which began exactly two months ago, was a task to murder Tartaglia.

You knew it wasn't going to be easy.

You also knew he was probably much stronger than you.

But you tried anyway – in the name of your honor and for your family.

You couldn't admit that you can't kill him. And it was no longer about the skills themselves.

Every day you spent with him, made you feel frustrated, excited, and full of butterflies in your stomach. Each day, whenever some feelings were growing up in your body, you wanted to find out why you felt that way. Why only with him?

Your work should have never allowed you to let your personal feelings into your thoughts.

You were a spy! A killer! How dare you think in such a girlish way since you have such a tainted innocence card?

"[Name],” your parents called you to the office. Ever since they founded this organization, your relationship has been more like an employee-employer than a daughter-parents. "We decided to change your mission.”

"Is... is it because I did not get rid of him?” you asked. Your hands started to shake, even when you clenched your hands on your shirt. "Give me some more time, I promise I'll eliminate him!"

Father shook his head.

"We've already lost too much time," he said. "We'll get rid of Fatui later. If we get as many allies as possible now, we can actually gain an advantage” with his right hand, he moved the some paper towards you, and even without reading, you could tell it was someone's data. "We want you to improve your relationship with this man. Try to convince him to sign with us.”

You nodded wordlessly.

You knew you should have killed Childe beforehand.

Maybe then you wouldn't feel that today was your last, relatively friendly, encounter.

‎‎‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎

‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎

Childe turned around again.

For several days now, he has been constantly checking if anyone was following him. But he no longer felt this familiar, playful sight.

And that was the problem.

He didn't want anything other than for you to jump out and try to take his life. Of course, he wouldn't get hurt, but he'd watch you start pouting that in this four-day break for attacking him, he didn't forget your tactics.

Then he would smile, pat you on the shoulder and say that "the loser is not forever a loser, but in your case, it is" and allow you to lightly hit him with your elbow. He didn't even realize how much he enjoyed your meetings until you stopped appearing.

"Have you seen how cute she is?" he heard whispers from excited teenagers. Both were dressed in floral outfits and held small, elegant handbags in their hands.

Ah, yes.

There was a holiday in Liyue, right? On the occasion of the new year?

Tartaglia found himself in the main square, not noticing all the stalls surrounding him and the floating lanterns and aromas of Liyueian dishes. Most of the passers-by wore elegant robes in warm colors, but in their normal attire did not stand out from the crowd.

"Yes!" her dark-haired friend replied. "Do you think we can get the same hairstyle as hers?"

Childe lurched when he finally took his eyes off the cobblestone path and looked ahead. His heart stood when he recognized you.

You were standing next to a man, dressed in a kimono-inspired by lilies – light blue, made of delicate material, which sleeves flowed down your shoulders. You had your hair tied up in a high bun, and through it came a gold, decorative hairpin, the ending of which resembled a flower. Light make-up and long earrings further completed your outfit. It flashed under the light of all the lanterns as if you were their beloved person on this festival.

Tartaglia knew you were beautiful.

He always met you in dark, practical, and comfortable clothes that would not get anyone's attention. Even in them, he thought that you would be able to outdo many beauties.

And now, in such a beautiful outfit, you were standing there, attracting eyes of passing constants... in front of him... and with a man putting his hand around your waist.

He frowned when he took a step (or at least wanted himself to look confident since his mind was surrounded by doubts) he moved towards you.

"Good evening, [Name]," his voice didn’t betray the nervousness as you turned harshly towards him. "I did not think we'd meet here.”

"Ah, good evening... Tartaglia," you replied, breaking eye contact with him. One more second and you'd forget your name and how you breathe.

"Is this your friend?" asked the man standing next to you. You nodded as he turned to Childe. "Excuse me, but tonight I will kidnap her from your company," he laughed at his own joke.

"Kidnap?" Tartaglia repeated, smiling friendly. "I'm sorry to say that, but you don't know anything about kidnappings.”

As soon as he said it, he grabbed your wrist and snatched you from the man's embrace. You collided with Childe's torso before he took you in his arms and rushed into one of the side streets. You were all confused when people started talking louder about the call of the guard. Childe slipped through a few less crowded streets as you tried to punish himself with his strong embrace, only seeing a rapidly changing floor in front of his eyes.

"Let me go! "You hit him with your foot and tried to push him away with all your might. "Childe, leave me!"

"Hehe," he laughed bitterly. "And why is it? It's a penalty for running away from our daily workout.”

"This is the end of our training!” you swung your knee again, but after this attempt, you gave up. "I couldn't get rid of you, so now I have to do something else.”

"And that's something to do with that man, right?" he was silent. "Believe me or not, I definitely preferred that mission with my assassination. At least then I could see you every day.”

…

"I... I also liked these days," you admitted. You sighed loudly, feeling the smell of the forest. This meant that Childe had already took you out of Liyue and you two were far from the city. "But... I can't object to my parents, so—”

“As I said before," he interrupted you, and a mysterious flash came in his eyes. He smiled at you as if ensuring that everything would be fine. "This is a kidnapping.”

hi there - just binged your “how to win a heart” twst series and oh my GODDD PUTS IN MOUTH!! CHEWS!!!! it is so scrumptious and wonderful and it has kept me so fed i am LIVING thank you!! you do amazing work, cannot say enough about how much i ADORE it! have a nice day!

Thank you so much!!

Thanks to this message I actually motivated myself to complete one dialogue on Trey's "guide"...!

I hope you will find my further writings to your liking~

Heart Competition 💕

It is the fifth pint of beer, and there is no sign that it is the last one.

Kaeya stares at the beer, its golden surface waves slightly. His hand is trembling as if the weight of the drink was too much for him. In the reflection of the glass vessel, he sees his face;  eyebrows furrowed by grief or anger – he hasn't figured it out yet – and corners of his mouth twitching, once up, to keep an impression of happy guest, once down, when his muscles refused to obey him.

Being out of control of his own body made him also incapable of flirting, the art he practised years in the bar, that some could assume that Kaeya did it mostly to get on Diluc's nerves.

Oh, right. Diluc Ragnvindr, the star of today's event.

Through a glass pint, half-filled with alcohol, Kaeya sees the distorted silhouettes of the bride and groom, in honor of which this whole party was held.

Loud, quite unexpectedly large for the groom's tastes, the event was a mixture of attempts to make the lady in the veil the happiest woman in the world, but with some balance. This party was also a sign that Diluc won't even consider future marriage offers, having such a sweet wife on his side.

[Name].

[Name] Ragnvindr, from today.

A girl who came to Mondstadt a few years ago and stole the attention of a Cavalry Captain at the first meeting.

At first, it was just another entertainment; he flirted with you, being so natural in this as if it was his personal dialect he used everyday. Well, it wasn't far from wrong. After few minutes the blush couldn't leave your cheeks, leaving your face painted with a rich strawberry scent. He teased you even more until you realised you are too engaged in conversation and cocked your head at the side, trying to hide a blush behind your hair.

And then something went wrong.

You've spent too much time together, and each moment made Kaeya fall in love with you. He didn't know, he doesn't know yet, but his heart started to be blind and slowly started heading towards you every time you smiled at him.

One day he noticed that his heart no longer belonged to him.

If he could turn back time, he would surely try not to fall in love with you. Or he would do everything not to let you meet his not-really-encouraging-to-spend-time-with-and-vice-versa sworn brother.

Really, he could give up taking you to the tavern when he knew that his red-haired relative was right there. At that point, he just felt the need to show you to everyone and wordlessly inform them "she is precious to me, and I will defend her with all my might."

Apparently, Diluc didn't notice the aura of his intentions because he was genuinely interested in a person who would stand up with his brother's quirks („These are secrets," Kaeya corrects every time someone points it out) and without a shadow of a doubt could talk about his disadvantages as advantages.

"You have quite an interesting way of looking at the world," Diluc admitted at one of your random meetings. They happened often; you two even started suspecting each other of tracking each other, but then accepted the fact that whenever any of you will be in a flower shop or going to the library, you will meet the other one on your way there.

"Or I'm pushy because I'm looking for the other bottom in everything," you said, smiling. Diluc also almost smiled in response. "You too, are completely different from Kaeya's descriptions.”

"And... what did he say about me?"

"I'm sorry, but if I told you, you probably would never sell him any alcohol again."

"There, who are you talking about, you two?" Kaeya appeared behind you.

He approached, behaving rather carelessly, though he felt like some invisible force was tightening on his throat. You two looked so good together that with every memory of your view, the needle of jealousy and desperation was sewing through his heart.

And what bothered him the most was the fact that Diluc seemed to like you very much.

Of course, he wanted you two to have a good relationship, but the fact that you spent a lot of time together was very, very, very difficult for him.

Kaeya takes another sip of beer, which this time seems extremely bitter on his tongue. He winces slightly but takes another swallow.

He must have delayed his love confession too much.

A day, no, a few hours would be enough, and everything could've been different. If it weren't for that one evening, when Kaeya decided that he must tell you about his feelings, he would definitely be better without your announcement that you would like him to help you figure out how to confess your love to Diluc.

The heart you've taken from him was broken into pieces. It being overwhelmingly delicate in your hands, was most likely destroyed inadvertently.

...And so, he helped you with your love confession.

After all, he lived with this guy for several years and knew more or less his preferences. Probably, even without his help, Diluc would have accepted your feelings without batting an eye. Kaeya spent a lot of his time watching redhead, and he could tell that these frequent glances towards yourself weren't only a coincidence.

"Only you seem alone in such a grand crowd," says Venti, who sat next to him. Like many other guests, he wears an elegant white shirt with frilly sleeves and black trousers. There is some blush on his cheeks, but even after drinking since the start of the wedding reception, he still manages to look serious.

They haven't talked very often, but as many times they sat together in the tavern and found good drinking companions in each other, they weren't as much of strangers as many could suppose.

"I am being happy for the bride and the groom from a distance," Kaeya replies with harshness in his voice that makes it sound like a growl.

Such a quick excuse could not deceive a poet as skilled in heartbreaking stories as Venti. "I know how losing someone hurts."

Kaeya doesn't ask what he meant. In his head one moment was still playing on repeat; the one when he took you to the altar. He really didn't feel anything, when he was leading you to the groom, who wasn't paying attention to anything but you.

The moment you let go of Kaeya's hand and walked the next steps in that white snow and princess-like gown was the most striking one. With every tap of your heels against the floor, the distance between you two was growing wider.

Kaeya looks at Venti, who rises from his seat and pats him on the shoulder before walking away. He could swear he saw him mouthing “good luck” before disappearing between guests.

It didn't take a minute before you appeared next to Kaeya with a beaming smile on your face.

"Are you having fun?" You ask, and he forces himself to send you a smile, even though for a moment the corners of his mouth trembled uncontrollably.

"Of course," he replies with an eagerness that he tries to raise in himself.

He starts to look for a topic that isn't going to betray his cloudy head. At least not now, when everyone should rejoice for the sake of a new relationship.

His gaze falls on a glass of white wine, which you held in your hands.

"Ah, right," you pick up his gaze. "Diluc chose these wine because he said you somehow recommend that one. He also said they are good for toast."

"Oh? Why don't we raise a toast [Name]?" Kaeya replies, pouring the wine into his glass. He turns to you, now stiffly holding crystal vessel uncomfortably between his fingers.

"What will we raise it for?"

Kaeya cocks his head lightly as if he's trying to come up with a good reason. His gaze wanders to your face, and then he swiftly looks away.

Of course, he knew what he should say in this situation and accept that fact, he wanted to do away with.

"Toast for," He raises a glass, you echo him. A few other guests start to lift their glasses as well. "The bride and her life alongside the man who won the heart competition."

i like your writing a lot. the kaeya diluc one has really impressed me,, i hope to write like you some day

Oh, thank you for your kind words!

However, I believe - no, I know - that there is still a long way to get myself to the point where I would like myself to be. And I think you should be aiming higher as well!

I wish us both good luck and having fun with writing, Anon! ⭐

Hi :)) i asked for the jack one and im fine with waiting, take the time you need 💖

Thank you so much!!

It puts a great weight off my heart.

I hope once I write your request, you will like it!! 💕

Hu Tao x Reader || Business meeting

You woke up in a coffin. Again.

You racked your semi-conscious brain and put your hands to the top wall. With all your strength, you pushed the heavy oak lid up, and it wasn't until the deaf knock convinced you that your efforts weren’t in vain.

You closed your eyes when the bright sun struck your eyes. You felt like a vampire taken straight out of romanticism, but after a quick blinking, you got used to the brightness in the room.

"Hey, hey!” you were greeted by a joyful voice as you sat down. "Did you sleep well?"

You looked at Hu Tao, who as usual was dressed in her dark, official outfit. She tied her hair in two ponytails, and put her hat on her head, even if you two were in a room that always was more likely to not have sunlight than it was.

She bowed over the coffin and let you lean against her arm as you stand up.

"Like a dead," you replied with a heavy sigh. You could only guess that you fell asleep while working and by this, you exposed yourself to tricks from Hu Tao. By these pranks, workers either quickly quitted their job, or gained resistance to all obstacles and every joke "funny-until-you-are-victim".

She sent you a snappy smile.

"Excellent. Because today we have a small corporate mission!”

‏‏‎ ‎

Hu Tao has not particularly given you time to prepare.

Less than ten minutes after she disappeared from the vestibule, you were able to dress up for work, wash your face and correct your hair before she showed up again.

You've put up several posters promoting the wangsheng funeral parlor (which will be taken off again by the guards within hours), and palm business cards off on several passersby until you reached a remote building where a young woman was waiting for you.

She quickly signed some of the papers Hu Tao brought with her and promised to come to her in person later, to complete the formalities related to her cousin's death.

Hu Tao was far more relaxed after you left that house.

In the jumps she walked past you, wandering through the uncrowded streets, energetically talking about everything and nothing. Sometimes she got lost in her thoughts for a moment and smiled at her own ideas, which you started asking her about.

"Hehe~ Everything that's going on in my head is a mystery," she gently tapped her fingers about the roundabout of her hat.

As you passed restaurants and food stalls, you were overwhelmed by the smell of all the Liyue delicacies.

Something twisted in your stomach.

On a par with the loud sound your belly made, you realized that you ate nothing today. You left so quickly that you forgot about breakfast. Ha, you couldn't even drink anything!

"Ho, ho," Hu Tao sighed theatrically. "I see that we have to stop and eat something.”

You burned with a juicy blush.

"A-ah, no, no," you protested quickly. "Let's finish what we have to do first. I'll eat something when we're done with work.”

"Come on, it’s my treat!" she clung to your arm and forced you to follow her. "Or rather... I haven't had the opportunity to have someone as my official taster for a long time!”

You found yourselves in the kitchen.

Hu Tao, almost all in the flour, which she had been brushing off from her dark outfit for the last fifteen minutes, took the dumplings out of the oven. She had to be inspired by a dish from Wanmin Restaurant, but she made them far quicker than anyone else who ever prepared dumplings.

Several of them were put on a plate and with a loud "bon appétit!", she placed them in front of you.

"They look... suspicious,” you glanced at the dumpling and came to the conclusion that they all look... very pale, even for a dumpling.

"I'd like to say you don't have to eat it. But I want you to try them," she used the chopsticks to pick up a dumpling from the plate and pressed it into your mouth. She covered them with her hand so that you wouldn't spit it out and watch as you chewed her culinary work precariously. "And how is it?"

You grunted when you felt how an extremely slippery dumpling was being swallowed by you.

Although you could not say that it was so bad.

Something just... was off. Maybe not enough spices? Or some strange ingredient in the stuffing?

"It's good," you replied. "I guess.”

"You sound very convincing," she said, giggling quietly. She seemed very proud of these dumplings. "I see that cooking is another of my hidden talents.”

You didn't answer, but you smiled gently.

Being indifferent while spending some time with her was... impossible.

‏‏‎ ‎

On the table was placed a pot of hot black tea.

In addition to decorative cups with patterns that evoke plum flowers, the pile of cards grew on the countertop every minute. Soon Hu Tao threw the last card she had in her hands and smiled triumphantly.

"I won!" she scooped the cards off the table and deftly began to shuffle them. A few of them fell out of her hands, but she quickly collected them and began handing them out between the two of you.

This was the eighth round of the card game she presented to you less than two hours ago. Throughout the game she seemed to give you forums, but as soon as you got to the end, she showed her mastery skills and within minutes made up for what you collected the whole twenty minutes.

Although you'd like to win with her, you were not particularly angry with that. Because you two were talking a lot, you mostly didn't notice the key moves you could make. It wasn't until you put another card down that you noticed your mistake, and Hu Tao, with a too-sweet and teasing smile, reminded you that you can't undo your moves.

What a stupid game.

With resignation, you have brought together a newly shuffled card tray.

"So that's what your corporate meetings look like, hmm?" You asked, propping up your chin with your hand and browsing through your new options.

"That’s weird to call date a business meeting," she replied, throwing another card on the table.

"Huh?" you shivered, almost biting your tongue in surprise. "So, it was a date?"

"Wasn’t it?" she said surprised. "Don't think I treat every employee like that. You are the exception," she hesitated, and for the first time in a long time raised her eyes from above the cards and looked at you. You couldn't tell what feelings were painted on her face. Gratitude? Joy? Love? In any case, it made you feel such strange, pleasant warmth... “But if so... How about another "corporate meeting", [Name]? You know, you have to take care of your customers, but you need to take care of your loyal employees even more.”

You were sure she had invented it just now, but...

"I shouldn't say no to my boss, shouldn't I?" you answered with a smile that she returned with big grin.

"Surely!"