#childe gets caught and you barter saying you'll turn yourself in if he gets out free and unharmed

[that-foul-legacy-lover]

Random silly idea that came up in my random silly head again(i cant believe i just typed that)

A reader that used to work for the Tsaritsa and was practically like a harbinger despite having no connections to the harbingers aside from maybe a couple interactions with the top 3. The Tsaritsa used them as a spy and an informational collector, and they are also pretty strong(as imaginable from someone who steals important information from dangerous sites 24/7)

However, after getting more and more information about such disturbing things, they of course start disliking and soon, hating such a job. However, if they are to ever leave or quit, they would be killed as they hold too much important information and cannot be trusted to wonder around with such knowledge. So they escaped from the fatui and are actively hiding from agents so that they don’t get killed.

Childe had known about them when they worked under Tsaritsa but just like any harbinger under the rank of top 3 he didn’t knew much about them. After being stuck as FL, he is also actively on the run from the fatui, but unlike the reader he would probably just get captured and sent to some sort of cage while reader wouldn’t face any less than a death penalty. When FL and Reader meet, needless to say they understand each other’s situations more than well. So they hide together and try to get out of the mess which they are both tangled in.

I thought of pretty angsty stuff with this scenario, but i guess where it leads us to goes to you :)

- 👻anon

ohhh dear anon can i just say, i LOVE your random silly head so much :D

you swore you'd never get close to anyone- not while you're in this position, anyway, hiding and running from the Fatui. it's not a life you'd wish on anyone, constantly having to move and watch your back, never trusting anyone since they could be a spy in disguise just waiting to drag you back to the Tsaritsa for your looming execution. it'd be a cause for celebration, you're sure, the death of a Snezhnayan traitor. so you keep your distance from everyone, interacting only when you need to and leaving at the first sign of trouble

until you meet Childe one day in the woods of Liyue

you didn't plan to take him with you, only patch up his injuries and see him on his way, because despite being a Fatuus you couldn't bear to see any creature in pain. it breaks your heart to hear the strange, horned beast whine and gasp when you bandage each wound, and afterwards he turns and collapses, head on your lap and crystalline eye looking at you pleadingly

he purrs when you hesitantly pet him, weak but steady, and you sigh and know that you're a pushover

even after you tried to leave him to his own devices, he just keeps following you, never even trying to disturb anything but eagerly fluttering his wings and chirping when you turn to look at him. once it was clear he wasn't just going to leave you reluctantly learned his name, the monster happily nudging your hand towards scratches on the ground that spelt "Childe". admittedly it is quite nice to have a companion after all these months alone, especially one who presses his cheek into your hand, purring and trilling whenever you give him attention. late at night Childe holds you, stroking your hair and letting out soft croons and whines as you struggle against the grasp of the nightmares that come whenever your eyes close, clawed hands gently wrapped around your own smaller fingers in comfort

one day, you find out he's Tartaglia, the Eleventh Harbinger, and oh, he hates the look of fear in your eyes, the pure terror you emit when you're normally so steeled and determined. he whimpers desperately, lowering his head to seem smaller and less intimidating, crying out when you instinctively back away because you're going to die, you've messed up and you can't escape oh Archons-

Childe's head softly presses underneath your chin, careful not to prod you with his horns, and your hands land in his thick ginger hair. he's sitting now as you stand, petting his fluff nervously, his claws clinging to your shirt as he coos. he won't betray you, he promises- he's being chased and hunted too, like an animal. you can be chased together so please, please stay?

he loves you too much to handle your absence