An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: ćç„ | Genshin Impact (Video Game)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Tartaglia | Childe/Zhongli (Genshin Impact)
Characters: Tartaglia | Childe (Genshin Impact), Zhongli (Genshin Impact), Tonia (Genshin Impact), Anthon (Genshin Impact), Teucer (Genshin Impact), Liyue Characters (Genshin Impact)
Additional Tags: Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Reunions, Forgiveness, 5 Things, Getting Together, Falling In Love, Confessions, Reconciliation, Zhongli is a Mess (Genshin Impact), Introspection, Regret, Romantic Gestures, Tartaglia | Childe is a Mess (Genshin Impact), Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Zhongli's Love Language is Gift Giving (Genshin Impact), Clingy Tartaglia | Childe (Genshin Impact), Clingy Zhongli (Genshin Impact), Protective Zhongli (Genshin Impact), Evil Celestia (Genshin Impact), Tartaglia | Childe is an Idiot in Love (Genshin Impact)
Summary:
After their falling out (post Liyue's archon quest), Childe returns to Snezhnaya, leaving Zhongli behind to wonder what all went wrong. On one of the many nights the ex-archon is lamenting his choices, Childe surprises him by returning- and he's suspiciously kind.
The two of them proceed to have a long and frustrating but frank (and overdue) conversation about what they mean to each other that ends with them - yup, you guessed it!- confessing their undying love and kissing! Lots!
Complete with random headcanons and fanons about the Tsaritsa, Celestia, the gnoses, and Childe's Foul Legacy
*Title after How Could I Have Known by Keaton Henson
Be not afraid! For this Witch Hat Monday I bring you the most blursed creature of all, Biblically Accurate Brushbuddy đïžđïžđïžđïžđïž
Bakugo Katsuki didnât do "subtle." He didn't do "quiet," and he certainly didn't do "pining." To him, liking someone was just another mission to be completed with maximum efficiency and total dominance.
The rest of Class 1-A had realized he was into you long before you did. It started when he stopped yelling at people for breathing too loudly near your desk. Then, it escalated to the point where the "Bakugo Blast Zone"âthe five-foot radius of scorched earth he usually maintained around himselfâsuddenly had an open-door policy, but only for you.
"Move it, Soy Sauce!" Bakugo barked, shoving Sero out of the way as the class headed toward the training grounds. He didn't even look back at the confused boy; his eyes were locked on you. He marched up and shoved a lukewarm can of coffee into your hands.
"Drink it," he ordered, his voice a low growl that lacked its usual bite. "You looked like a zombie during English. If you faint during sparring because you're tired, Iâm gonna lose my mind."
You blinked, holding the can. "Oh, thanks, Katsuki. But how did you know I liked this brand?"
"I pay attention, unlike these extras!" he snapped, though his ears were turning a suspicious shade of pink.
Behind him, Kaminari leaned over to Kirishima. "He literally spent ten minutes at the vending machine yesterday analyzing the caffeine-to-sugar ratio of every single can. It was terrifying."
"Shut up, Dunce Face!" Bakugo roared, a small explosion popping in his palm, but he didn't move away from your side.
Throughout the afternoon, Bakugo made his intentions clear to anyone with eyes. When Monoma from Class 1-B tried to make a snide comment about your performance during a drill, he didn't even get three words out before Bakugo was in his face, palms smoking and teeth bared.
"Keep your mouth shut about Y/N unless you want to see if your quirk can copy being blown into next week!"
It was loud. It was aggressive. It was unmistakably protective.
By the time the sun began to set, the class was heading back to the dorms. Bakugo stayed two steps behind you, acting like a self-appointed bodyguard. He didn't care that the "Bakusquad" was whispering and giggling behind them. He didn't care that Deku was looking on with a mix of awe and pure confusion.
"Hey, Y/N!" he yelled, loud enough for the entire campus to hear.
You turned around, startled. "Yeah?"
"Iâm making spicy ramen tonight. You're eating with me. Don't make plans with anyone else or I'll blow up your room!"
He didn't wait for an answer, stomping past you toward the kitchen, his cape fluttering heroicallyâor perhaps just intensely.
Mina Ashido slid up next to you, nudging your shoulder. "You know, for a guy who claims to hate everyone, heâs basically screaming his feelings through a megaphone."
You looked at the back of Bakugoâs head, noticing the way his shoulders were stiff with a very specific kind of pride. He wasn't hiding a thing. In his world, if he wanted somethingâor someoneâhe made sure everyone knew exactly where the line was drawn. And right now, he had drawn a very loud, very explosive circle around you.
Writing multiple ships for the same character is so fucking funny it's like....
Me writing shindeku : no wdym katsuki and izuku are JUST friends. ONLY FRIENDS your honor. I mean PLATONIC with THREE capital 'P's. Them? In love? Gag, gross. They're bro dudes. Homies. Nothing but bro all around. You really think IZUKU is gonna get with that dude? No, that's like his brother. GROSS EW. They would never kiss smh people are so wrong for thinking that
when bakudeku : how can you ever believe there is anyone else for them but each other THE STARS ALIGN in light of their love. They are the most iconic friends to enemies to rivals to lovers. GOD their entire lives are dedicated to each other. They're fated. THE PROPHESY foretold of BOY KISSER katsuki bakugou. Friends? Best Friends? Worse, they have such good chemistry that mid battle they can read each other's minds. This is the ship of all ships.
tododeku : GOD katsuki is such a asshole. Izuku, get behind me that angry repressed bitch is yapping again. Yeah, Katsuki may be cool but he'll NEVER be cooler than the one and only Shouto Todoroki. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? The sunshine x stoic always wins. NO ONE ELSE could be for todoroki except Izuku and his 'it's your quirk not his'. BRO SAVED HIS LIFE. BRO WAS SHOUTOS AWAKENING. BRO WAS SHOUTOS FIRST FRIEND. They're so soulmates. Literally perfect for each other.
This is only three example but my ability to switch up and gaslight my own writing will never not be funny
Thinking abt Todoroki Shouto, and how he isn't as dense as he comes across...
When reading fanfics Shouto is always oblivious and dense, and yes, I wholeheartedly agree with thatâ
But i feel like Shouto also does it on purpose, you know? Like, one day you're both talking, and he's just soo up close to your face. 'He probably doesn't realize' you rationalize inside your head, but no, he's definitely aware of the affect he has on you. Your reactions are cute, he thinks, cute in the way he can't seem to stop teasing you.
I think he'd pay extra close attention to people that are close to him, people he holds dear, so whenever you stutter, or your mind goes and blank and you think 'Oh, I hope he didn't notice thatâ' he does.
I think that's why I like the idea that he's actually a little menance, but the worst part is that he gets away with it !!
Whether it's saying something so humbling and out of depthâ something that many would take offense to but think, 'well, he didn't really mean it that wayâ that's just how he is', NOPE!! he definitely meant it that way, but not clarifying anything saves him the trouble so why should he care yk...
Though, he mostly (all the time really) does it with you. Getting up in your personal space, saying things like "When we're on a mission together, I feel like I can handle anything as long as you're the one by my side"â and it flusters you sooo badly, but no, this is Shouto we're talking about, clearly he didn't mean it like that, right? Right? (And the entire time, he's trying to bite down a Cheshire grin)
So, yes, in the earlier years of being a hero he wasn't really great at communication and unaware of social cuesâ but now, he's practically evil with the way he acts around you.
Sometimes you think you see it; you're going to call him out on his behavior. There's no way he didn't know what he was doing when he held your face in his hands on a hot summer day, pulling you close and saying, "Is this cooling you down?" (No, actually, this was just heating you up)
But whenever you do call him out on itâ
"You know, you're not that slick." You say one day, ice cream cone in hand as you walk next to him, bumping him with your hip. Your eyes slide over towards his mismatched ones, gauging his reaction closely. If you were anyone else you would have probably missed the slight quirk of his lip; the uplift of his brows. But you don't, and the grin on your face overtakes most of your features. Maybe today will be the day he finally admits it. Instead he doesn't speak, takes one lick of his mint chocolate ice cream and then he turns to you, a silent question appearing on his face. A taunt.
You let out a humourless breath, cone tight in your hand as you point it in his direction. Accusing him of something both of you know you won't be able to prove, but he knows you know, and you know he knows you know. But, it'd be really great if he could just admit it, because it's almost like a game.
A game between just the two of you.
"Don't try and act blonde now!" You chide, biting on your bottom lip to control the smile that tries to force it's way on your face.
Shouto smiles at your antics, leaning in close to you, and all of a sudden he completely invades your senses. The smell of mint on his lips is so close, and yet so far. He stares deeply into your eyes, and just as you thought you were getting closer to the truthâ he brings his thumb up to wipe absent mindlessly at the corner of your mouth. He pulls back, looks you in the eyes, and takes a tentative lick at the frosty flavour on his thumb. With a cat-like tilt to his head, he says, "I'm not blonde?"
But, the worst part is whenever he speaks about you to others, he speaks so fondly of you; like one would do about their partnerâ but you guys aren't together. Sometimes he does it right in front of your face whenever you guys are at a hero gala. Shouto sees you talking to a new and upcoming, young, pro-hero and he immediately comes to your side. With how close he is, and with the things he says to them, "I can never imagine myself without them by my side." It gives people the idea that you're both, you know, a thing.
Little do you know, he's been playing this 'game' ever since high school, and even though the two of you aren't exclusiveâ it doesn't mean he can't get in his fun.
Whenever he talks to someone, his eyes stay locked onto theirs with such focus that it feels like heâs trying to memorize every blink. Heâd been told once, very seriously by his friends, that âeye contact means youâre listening,â and Todoroki, being Todoroki, took that as an absolute rule of human communication. So now he listened with his whole soul. With his eyes wide, steady, and completely unblinking (he still did, itâs just unnoticeable).
And somehow, you had become the person he stared at the most.
He was staring.
Well aware of it.
âSo,â you said, scribbling something down in your notebook, âI think I absolutely bombed that written quiz today.â
âYou scored well,â Todoroki replied calmly.
You paused, peeking up at him through your lashes. His eyes were already on you, steady as ever, the contrast of grey and blue catching the light. It still made your heart skip in the tiniest, most annoying way.
ââŠDid you already see our scores?â you asked.
He blinked once.
âYes.â
âYou couldâve at least let me be dramatic for a little longer.â
âI apologize.â
You laughed softlyâand the sound brought a sense of ease to him as you shook your head. âYouâre weird, you know that?â
Todoroki tilted his head just a little, still not finding anything wrong with what he was doing. âIs that a negative evaluation of my behavior?â
You snorted. âSee? That. That right there.â
He considered that in silence, his gaze never leaving your face. The longer he stared, the more self-aware he noticed you became. You shifted slightly on the couch, the pen slowing in your fingers. It wasnât uncomfortable exactlyâmore like standing in warm sunlight that you werenât sure you deserved.
ââŠYouâre doing it again,â you hummed.
âDoing what?â he asked.
âThe staring.â You gestured between your eyes and his. âDo you ever blink when you talk to me?â
Todoroki blinked, as if on cue. Once. Slowly. Then, you resumed staring without any interruption. âIâm listening,â he says, like itâs common sense.
âI know, I know,â you said, smiling despite yourself. âI justâsometimes it feels like youâre looking straight through me. Burning through my skull.â
âThat would be inefficient,â Todoroki said seriously. âI am looking at you.â
Your smile grew fonder and a little shy.
âYeah. I noticed.â
Outside, the distant sounds of training echoed faintly through open windows, but in the room it felt like your own small world. Todoroki noted how you went back to tapping your pen, pretending to focus on your notes, though you were keenly aware of his gaze on your face, your hands, and every tiny movement you made.
And unknown to him, a mischievous thought crossed your mind.
âYou know,â you initiated casually, without looking up, âif you keep staring at me like that, I might just fall for you.â
Todorokiâs eyes widened a fraction.
ââŠFall?â
You finally looked up at him, cheeks fighting inner demons from holding in a smile. âItâs a figure of speech. I mean, like, romantically?â
âOh.â He processed this quietly. âWould you be injured?â
Your pen slipped from your fingers and clattered onto the notebook.
âWhat?â
âYou said you might fall,â he explained, brows knitting together with sincere concern. âIf you are injured, I could escort you to Recovery Girl.â
For a split second, you stared at him in disbelief. Then you burst out laughing, the sound bright and unrestrained as you bent forward, clutching your stomach. âTodorokiâoh my godâI donât mean literally fall!â
His expression softened at the sound of your laughter. It always did. The tension in his shoulders eased, and though he didnât quite understand the joke, he understood that you were happy. That was enough, he thinks.
âYou laugh often when you speak metaphorically,â he noted.
âBecause you take everything so literally,â you managed between giggles. âItâs part of your charm. Even if you donât mean it to be.â
âCharm?â
You wiped a tear from the corner of your eye with your handkerchief, still smiling at him. Your eyes met againâyours bright with amusement, his focused and earnest. âYeah. Youâre strangely charming.â
He held your gaze, heart thudding just a little faster than usual. ââŠIâm glad.â
Silence fell upon you two again, but the silence felt different nowâsofter, warmer, more comfortable. You retrieved your pen, though you didnât return to writing. Instead, you rested your chin in your palm and studied him openly.
âYou know,â you murmured, âyou really do have pretty eyes.â
Todoroki stiffened almost imperceptibly. Compliments still caught him off guard, especially ones so direct, because how does the average person take them? Still getting used to this whole socializing thing.
ââŠThey are functional.â
You smiled tenderly. âThatâs not what I said.â
He looked at you a little more intensely, as if trying to analyze your words from every possible angle. This time you didnât look away when he took the time to think. The world seemed to slow around you, the late sunlight painting soft shadows across his featuresâbut Todoroki dared not to look away even for a second.
Your voice dropped to something quieter. âDoes it ever make you nervous? Looking at people like that?â
He considered for a moment. âNo,â he answered honestly. âIt makes me feelâŠclose to them. As though I am giving them my full attention. You deserve full attention.â
You nodded thoughtfully.
âYouâre unfair,â you finally told him.
âI am not trying to be,â he replied.
You peeked back up at him, a small, bashful smile tugging at your lips. âI know. Thatâs the problem.â
He watched you carefully, as if afraid to miss even the smallest expression. Then, slowly, hesitantly, he spoke. ââŠWhen you joke about falling for me, is that also a metaphor?â
You froze.
The room felt very still.
ââŠMostly? I think?â
âMostly,â he repeated. âSo there is also a part that is not metaphorical.â
You swallowed, then gave a tiny nod. âYeah. There is.â
He didnât look away. Not even for a second. Instead, his gaze softened in a way you hadnât seen beforeâstill intense, but gentle, almost vulnerable.
âI do not mind if you fall,â he said quietly. âI will make sure you do not get hurt.â
âYou really donât know when youâre being romantic, do you?â
âI am not attempting to be romantic,â he said. âI am being honest.â
âThatâs even worse, you know.â
He leaned forward just a little, closing the small distance between you. His eyes searched your face with careful attention. âDoes my staring bother you?â
You shook your head. âNo. Not at all.â Then, more quietly, âI like it.â
ââŠYou do?â
âYeah,â you admitted.
âDo you want me to lessen this behavior?â
âWhat? No! I mean,â you sighed, âdo whatever makes you happy and comfy.â
âWhatever brings me happiness,â Todoroki says, nodding along, âis simply looking at you.â
âOkâthat is absolutely corny, you cornball!â
âBut you also say things like thatââ
âI know, oh my gosh, and it sounds better coming from me,â you laughed. âKidding, kidding. I need to get used to the things I start because youâre going to be the death of me, Shou.â
