[Dearest sister, Childe had written once, long before he'd known the true nature of his mission. I've been away for so long, I've almost forgotten the cold of our home...
"Almost" had been the key word, apparently. He'd discovered as much when he'd been summoned back to his motherland, ice settling back into his bones with comfortable familiarity. But that, too, had been fleeting; the Tsaritsa does not take the loss of her chosen lightly, and the chill of her grief had clung to him even as he'd set sail back to Inazuma once more. It had made his heart ache for her, but it had also been a deadly reminder: they could not fail their ultimate mission. She would not survive it, and neither would anyone else.
There was, of course, nothing to be found--the intel from their spies at the Irodori festival had been all there was to know. With Dottore in charge of Sumeru for the time being, there was little to do but wait for their quarry to resurface; in the meantime, Childe had his own business to attend to, nothing so pressing that he couldn't take the long way to his next destination.
Quite simply, he misses Liyue. He's traveled all over the world, but there's something undeniably special about the harbor. Putting the city in danger had been an acceptable risk, and it's a decision he'd make again, if needed--but he's glad there was no true risk of decimation, even if he'd sacrificed the freedom to exist without scrutiny and hatred in pursuit of his goal.
Ah, well. The warm kindness had been nice while it lasted.
But he's Fatui, so the shift in attitude is nothing new. And more importantly, it doesn't stop Beidou from letting him catch a ride in exchange for helping out around the ship. It means he gets his scenic detour--and it means he pens a letter on a whim, one that starts with Dearest xiansheng.
(He misses Zhongli too. Zhongli is Liyue. But those are sentiments that will never be put to paper.)]
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the pining adds Flavor 1/2
"Almost" had been the key word, apparently. He'd discovered as much when he'd been summoned back to his motherland, ice settling back into his bones with comfortable familiarity. But that, too, had been fleeting; the Tsaritsa does not take the loss of her chosen lightly, and the chill of her grief had clung to him even as he'd set sail back to Inazuma once more. It had made his heart ache for her, but it had also been a deadly reminder: they could not fail their ultimate mission. She would not survive it, and neither would anyone else.
There was, of course, nothing to be found--the intel from their spies at the Irodori festival had been all there was to know. With Dottore in charge of Sumeru for the time being, there was little to do but wait for their quarry to resurface; in the meantime, Childe had his own business to attend to, nothing so pressing that he couldn't take the long way to his next destination.
Quite simply, he misses Liyue. He's traveled all over the world, but there's something undeniably special about the harbor. Putting the city in danger had been an acceptable risk, and it's a decision he'd make again, if needed--but he's glad there was no true risk of decimation, even if he'd sacrificed the freedom to exist without scrutiny and hatred in pursuit of his goal.
Ah, well. The warm kindness had been nice while it lasted.
But he's Fatui, so the shift in attitude is nothing new. And more importantly, it doesn't stop Beidou from letting him catch a ride in exchange for helping out around the ship. It means he gets his scenic detour--and it means he pens a letter on a whim, one that starts with Dearest xiansheng.
(He misses Zhongli too. Zhongli is Liyue. But those are sentiments that will never be put to paper.)]