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⤹ DISCLAIMER. NONE of the pictures used in this smau are mine. they belong to another amazing creators whom i’ll properly give credits to in every chapter. (if you’re the owner of any of these colored manga panels and you don’t want me to use your works, please tell me so i can remove them).

THE CHARACTERS

y/n’s buddies | tsumu’s buddies

THE STORY

01. wait... what

"teucer?"

you hated how quickly you'd been able to recognize that voice. it was none other than the guy whom you’d had a crush on from the very first moment you had laid your eyes on him.

you didn't want to start panicking, as you had a much higher priority mission at hand. you weren't going to let that boy wander alone and lost in streets he obviously didn't know, so before he could see you, you made the attempt of grabbing the boy by the hand to take him somewhere else and start looking for his brother. however, you didn't get the chance to do so, since the boy started running in the direction of childe's voice.

watching the scene with no time to react, you were clearly able to hear the boy excitedly calling out to his older brother before jumping up and falling into his arms. to say you were flabbergasted was probably an understatement. because, tell me: what were the damn odds that his brother was tartaglia, your crush for months?

"tartaglia?" you managed to say without your voice getting three pitches higher. you took a few steps over to where the brothers stood, glancing at teucer and then at childe, and vice versa. up close, the resemblance was more than obvious. childe's hair was a little more orange than teucer's, but otherwise...eyes, nose, skin and mouth were identical. not to mention how obvious it was where teucer had gotten that energy from when he spoke.

"this is my brother, miss!" teucer said, hugging the older one tighter.

you let out a nervous giggle. "yeah, i can see that." turning this time to childe, and trying not to make too much eye contact so that it wouldn't be more than evident the effect that man had on you, you spoke, "i didn't know you had a little brother."

"that's true, i never mentioned it," said childe as he scratched the back of his neck subtly.

the little blue-eyed boy stared at me while squinting, as if trying to fit the pieces of a puzzle together. then he looked at his brother and blurted out, "so, this lady is the same lady you talked about in your letters?"

you could’ve sworn hearing that had stopped your heart and brought you back to life in less than a second. any place would’ve been more comfortable than that, at that very moment. on the one hand, you wanted to run and jump into the sea and never ever come back, because the humiliation of hearing your crush reject you without even having the chance to confess properly? yeah, no, that was just fucking horrible. but, on the other hand —like a 70%— something inside you was wondering what would happen if he confessed it without any kind of shame or gave no indication that the statement was a lie.

you opted for the most logical option, which was to just stand there not knowing what to say or do. and thank morax you did, because otherwise you would’ve missed how childe's face went through every color from light pink to almost crimson red.

"teucer! what a talker you’re today, kiddo!" he chuckled, obviously embarrassed. "besides," his expression changed at once to a more serious and worried one. he let go of teucer, set him down on the ground and then crouched down to his height. "the most important thing of all is: how on earth did you get here all by yourself! mom must be really worried! why did you come all the way to liyue?"

pouting and clenching his fists on either side of his body, teucer said in his defense, "i missed you! you said you'd come home to visit us, but you didn't!"

you felt sad for teucer. while it was true that what he had done was extremely dangerous —and more so for a child— he just wanted to see his big brother again. even if it meant traveling halfway around the world to see him. childe let out a big sigh and ruffled his hair affectionately. "i know, i'm sorry. work has kept me busier than usual. but i promise i'll visit you and the rest of you soon."

"really?" teucer asked, hopeful. it was impossible to ignore how much his eyes sparkled just imagining the possibility of that idea.

"really." affirmed the elder. then he pointed to a street food stall that was right in front of you. "look, teucer! it's your favorite sweets!"

that said, the younger brother ran off as fast as a bullet towards there. that was the moment when childe took the opportunity to lean close to your ear. the sudden action —and also maybe the proximity of his mouth on you— almost caused you to fall backwards. "thank you for taking care of him."

"oh, you don't have to thank me. it's something anyone would’ve done," you said waving your hand. there wasn't much merit in being a decent person.

"still, i'm glad it was you and not anyone else." he insisted with a smile on his face. you didn't want to start ranting about how tremendously handsome he was in your mind, but it was complicated. "by the way, do you know what i was doing before i saw you two?"

you looked at him questioningly. "what?" "looking for y—"

"brother, look! i bought one for each of you" teucer interrupted. he was holding three sweets in his hands, stored in handmade bags. he held one of them out for you to take. "this is the dark chocolate one. do you like it?"

"i love it! thank you, teucer."

you wanted to try and focus on the kind gesture and put aside what the elder had said —or almost said— before the little guy showed up, but you found it extremely difficult. because, looking for you? for what? not that you had much time to think about that, since to your surprise, you felt a little hand grab yours after a few seconds. he then did the same with his brother.

"teucer, have you finished yours yet?" you asked, to which he nodded proudly, still chewing his sweet. apparently teucer was easily amazed by anything, and so he proved as he began a rant of every tiny detail of the streets of liyue, from the birds to the millelith guards. tartaglia took advantage of how self-absorbed the kid was to lean closer to your ear again. "the idea was to properly ask you to go on a date, but i guess it’ll have to be postponed."

your grin resurfaced, spreading from ear to ear, and you looked into his eyes. "i can't wait."

and right there, in that instant, you realized that maybe it wasn't the most romantic plan on the planet, and maybe there was going to be another date that would leave you speechless in the future. but you were happy nonetheless. and how couldn’t you when the guy you were head over heels for and his little brother were happy too.