"hah..." straightening for a moment of respite, xiao wiped the blood of his face briefly, brushing the back of his hand against his cheek. while his limbs had yet to feel the twinge of weariness, he pinched his brows together all the same. it had been far too long since he had last saw you, thanks to his constant monster-slaying duties.

in the distance, a stonehide lawachurl roared, charging at him with geo-infused fists. flanked by mitachurls and a small army of other, lesser creatures, xiao could only form one thought as he readied his spear: oh, what i'd give to just hear their voice.

as if it had been waiting, the small, rectangular mechanism in his pocket buzzed.

"oh, that..." as xiao cut the arrows directed towards him in half, he recalled what the strange object's purpose was.

..

"a-xiao, over here~" waving him over, you beamed, like the sight of him was something to smile over. "i made some... wise financial decisions and got you the newest model of the 'fone' from fontaine!"

xiao had eyed the thing you had handed him with utmost skepticism, flinching when you pressed the button on its side, lighting the "screen" up. "w-w...what sorcery..." xiao's face paled. even guizhong and cloud retainer had never conjured up something as... well, whatever this was.

"okay, now watch closely..." xiao watched you fiddle with the device, narrowing his eyes with slight hatred at the mechanism that was stealing your attention away from him. "wait here. and press the green button." staring after you like a lost puppy, xiao could only stand in confusion as you sprinted some 100 meters away. all of a sudden, the device in his hands shook, and xiao looked down to see text and a green button. hesitantly pressing it, he was shocked to hear your voice, through the device.

"?? a-are you stuck in there? hold on, i'll free you-" xiao raised his polearm, ready to smash the screen to bits.

"hey- hold on!! this thing cost a lot!! i'm not stuck in here, xiao.. its a device that'll let you talk to me, even if you're away! i thought you would've liked it, but if not, there's always that 30 day return guarantee..."

your mopey voice immediately struck a chord within him. "no, i like it. i do."

"...you do?"

"yes."

"...yay!"

..

"oh, so, then..." remembering what you had told him before, xiao pressed the accept call button without a second thought, holding it to his ear with one hand and wielding his spear in the other.

"xiao?"

there it was, your voice — clear as day, like the early sun dispersing the fog. "yes. it's me." he spun to the side to avoid an attack, before striking down the foolish hilichurl who'd dared to fight against him.

hearing muffled sounds in the background, you questioned, "are you busy? is everything okay? i can always call you ba-"

"no. i'm not busy. and everything is fine." he wasn't lying at all, really. just the sound of your voice had swept a cool breeze through him; rejuvenated, he felt like he could fight better than he had in centuries.

"talk to me. about anything. i'll listen."

the day, as per usual, started with a certain pixelated dragon in need of bloodshed.

"oh yes mrs. katheryne!! the most dangerous tasks you have- ol kinichie over here can handle it nooooo problem!! mhm! yepyep!!" ajaw was the most happy he had been in days, bobbing up and down in the air excitedly as he yapped away. the two stood in front of the adventurer's guild, and katheryne eyed them awkwardly.

"...mr. kinich, is that all right with you?"

"...do whatever."

"HIS OPINION DOESN'T MATTER!! mine!! mine does!! AND MY OPINON IS YES, WOMAN, so f*ck him up!!"

"ah.. alright. here you are, mr. kinich. the commission details."

"thank you."

"YES!! YAHAHA!!!"

more often than not, kinich began his days like this — a manically laughing pixel dragon and a hell of a headache. of course, today was a little different; typically, he'd go through his usual saurian hunting jobs, but as per your request to "add a little variation to his routine," he'd gone out of his way earlier to accept that strange communication contraption you'd gifted him earlier, and now he was taking a commission from the adventurer's guild. ajaw had made sure to find the most dangerous one possible: clearing abyss-corrupted grounds of monsters.

entering the marked area, kinich scanned his surroundings. with experience, he'd become adept at tuning out ajaw's constant chatter, and could remain focused on the task at hand. axe-wielding mitachurls at the forefront, archers in the back... it would require pre-planning, yes, but did ajaw underestimate his abilities to such an extent?

deciding his course of action, kinich launched himself into the back ranks with his skill, sweeping his blade and clearing out the hilichurls in the back, who fell before they even had the chance to load their crossbows. as for the larger monsters in front, kinich called on the aid of ajaw, who let out the cringey response of, "measly insects, now you must pay!" as dendro attacks rained down from above and more purplish, abyss-tainted creatures appeared in the distance, kinich's trained ears heard the cheerful, elevator-music like ringtone of his... what was it called? oh, right. the "fone."

asali... sweet honey. seeing the contact name, kinich paused for a brief moment, as if starstruck. swiftly getting over his stupor, he received clearing his throat before unmuting to speak. "asali? is everything alright where you are?"

"mhm, just checkin' in~! you forgot to take the snack i packed for you this morning so- you aren't hungry, are you?"

"don't worry about me." a mitachurl, dropping its axe and collapsing onto its knees before finally dissipating into the air, let out a crude groan as the last remains of its being was swept away by the wind. kinich scuffed the ground with his boot, tilting his head to hold the device between his ear and shoulder so he could still wield his claymore double-handed. "i'll have them when i get back."

"just make sure ajaw doesn't eat them all-" jumping upwards to avoid the downward cleave of a large axe, kinich carved into the body of another monster. "what's going on over there, 'ichi'? i'm not bothering you in the middle of something, am i?"

"not at all." before ajaw could speak a word, kinich clapped a hand over his mouth, glaring at him. get the hint. "stay on call. i don't mind the company."

"bfug- HEY!" ajaw somehow managed to wriggle his way out of kinich's grasp, yelling fervently. "you have my company, blockhead- is that not enjoyable enough for you?!"

"ajaw, you are anything but enjoyable."

"'ichi'... let's be nice now."

well, of course you would say that, but the male knew you silently agreed on the fact. "so? tell me about your day."

"it won't bore you?"

kinich slung himself into the air, garments flapping in the downward drop as he plummeted his weapon into the ground. his claymore sent out waves of shock in the area of impact, and slaughtered anything kinich deemed to be in his path.

"how could you even think that, asali? no, never."

come on now, his jokes weren't that unfunny now, were they?

having seen the entire sumeru cast walk out on him at lambard's tavern, the man resigned himself quietly, a single, satirical tear escaping his stone-statue-like expression. "haha... seems like my humor is just more advanced..."

cyno said it just to cope, and to console himself further he decided to enact some justice. nothing beat the misery of friends not understanding your hilariously good jokes like destroying evil-doers. he'd been tailing a wayward group of treasure hoarders for several days now, and what better time would there be to eradicate them?

stepping out of the tavern, the night air was cool. subconsciously glancing down at the device he now had on his person at all times — the "fone," as you called it, he quietly frowned to see no activity.

well, no matter. cyno thought to himself, quickly dispatching the blemishes of society. he knew your day-to-day schedule by heart, and it was around this time you would head to bed. expecting a "nighty night, cyno <3" anytime now, the former general mahamatra cracked a small smile while bloodying his spear.

contrary to his expectations, however...

over the past few days, cyno had grown accustomed to that buzzing feeling in his pocket, indicating that you were, figuratively, glancing his way. since he had obtained the device, he now anticipated that buzz at any given moment — except this time, the sound was a prolonged... indicating, what was it- "an audio form of chat?"

swiftly tapping on the green button on the bottom of the screen, cyno spoke. "azizam?" his voice felt raw, unnatural, even, as he continued his onslaught. "what's up?"

before you could even answer or greet him, the man responded to himself. "the sky. haha. hahahaha. do you get it? so-"

"cyno..." the moment he heard that exasperated voice with a cheery undertone, emitting from his fone speaker, cyno broke into a small smile, shutting himself up.

(it was a terrifying sight, really, to the treasure hoarders who were getting obliterated by said mahamatra, smiling oh so sweetly.)

"your joke isn't even relevant right now! i'm at home! it's the ceiling that's above me, that's what... ah, nevermind- it's nothing, i just wanted to call you and bid you goodnight..." there was a pause on the other end of the phone, and cyno waited attentively for you to speak, whirling his polearm before slamming it into the desert sands. "am i tweaking out right now or am i hearing the sounds of something-, no someone? dying... cyno..."

that chastising tone was what he found more endearing than anything else. "hmm, sounds of people dying? i don't know what you're talking about... i'm by myself, at home. you could even say i'm by cy-self, no?"

silence.

"...not funny, azizam?"

"2 stars."

"out of five? y'know, that's quite generous-"

"a hundred. out of a hundred."

"....it's a start."

your laughter starts out quietly, like a bubbling stream- his oasis in the desert. it's a melodic, joyful sound that he breathes in, giddy like a little kid as he finally executes the final blow to the last fleeing treasure hoarder. the man crumples to the ground like paper mache, lying still.

"so, mr. 'i'm at home,' mind lending me an ear?" you're the first one to speak after recovering yourself from your laughter, the traces of a chuckle still in your voice. "you wouldn't believe the new drama at the academia, i swear.."

"talk away. a man by his lonesome has nothing better to do than to listen."

the red on the snow was blooming — strawberries in the summertime.

like an artist expertly wielding a paintbrush, the blank, white canvas was filled with splotches and splatters of a brilliant crimson color. the man himself, tartaglia, was no artist, however. if he had to describe himself, it would be along the lines of the eleventh of the eleven fatui harbingers, childe, and, by his humble opinion, the most charming of the bunch. 

in the early shneznayan morning, drifts of ice fell quickly from the clouds above. after his little excursion in liyue, he had been suddenly sent back to shneznaya for a brief recon mission, the reason provided being “everyone else was busy.” and while childe wouldn’t normally ever turn down a chance to see his family and tuecer again… this time, there was something keeping him tethered to the land of geo.

yes, it was you. you, who had won his heart over (though it had been an inadvertent action on your part) and made him chase after you like a lapdog day and night — of his own volition, of course.

childe picked up the call with a smile, holding the “fone” in the crook of his neck. in the distance, more enemies emerged — treasure hoarders daring to sully the nation of cryo — childe spun his bow, hydro vision flashing as it transformed into his signature double blades. “kotik? what’s going on, you miss me?”

“as if. don’t delude yourself, ginger.”

there it was, that delightful little note of annoyance in your tone. “soo? speak away~” as he laughed, his hydro weapon slashed through his opponents, leaving them to fall in pieces in the snow. white was slowly colored red and a dried muddy-brown, seeping through the ice to reach the budding sprouts below. though shneznaya was never all that warm…

“i was just- zhongli was wondering if you’d be back by next week?”

soon, it would be spring.

“hmm? its zhongli who wants to know? i could’ve sworn i heard-”

“zhongli! it’s zhongli who wants to know! ugh, seriously, you… it’s not like i’m worried about you, but it’s been a while since we ate together… the three of us, i mean.”

“mhm~” childe basked in the sound of your voice, eyes fluttering close as he drunk its melody in. “well, i suppose if i put some effort into it, i could be back before next thursday..”

“effort? hey, you told me you were visiting family… you aren’t on a mission, are you??”

“huh? no, no.” childe chuckled sheepishly as he swept his blade against the new oncomers — one slash, two, three, seventeen, fourty nine — they collapsed to the ground just as fast as they had come. flicking his weapon to clean off the blood on its blade, the man let out a little laugh. “effort in playing hide-and-seek with tuecer. he keeps telling me to play with him, and certaintly won’t let me leave until we’ve played at least a hundred rounds.”

“tuecer…” there was a hint of suspicion remaining in your voice. oops, had you heard the screams and startled shouts of the treasure hoarders as they were cut clean in two? “right, your little brother. you said you’d introduce me to your family soon, so i should’ve just come along with you this time…”

“i guess i’m just a big dummy, kotik. next time, okay?”

there was something fishy about this whole setup, but you relented nontheless. “honestly, you’re such ..”

"... the perfect one for you? hehe, i know~ fallen for me yet?”

(a/n) hi guys. i looked at my old drafts after coming back to tumblr and found this gem sitting in there. genuinely complete and idk why i never posted this. THIS SHIT WAS CREATED SEP 2024. ITS JUNE 2026. holy shit. do we still fw these characters even. happy late birthday cyno LMAO

taglist: (daddys home!!!!)

@manager-of-the-pudding-bank, @iamdedinside, @ilyuu-archive, @falors, @swivy123, @scara-is-my-wife, @lupicalbestwolf, @justyoureader, @fiannee, @aether-darling, @aioniela, @avensuersa, @dainsleif-when-playable, @umiloa, @intpessimistic, @keiiqq, @intpessimistic, @keiiqq, @eutopiastar, @matcha-mintea, @makuzume, @self-awared, @sunyandmony

translations!! (all of these except for mandarin are languages i don't know, so if there are any corrections to be made feel free to tell me ^^)

亲爱的 (qīn ài de): mandarin chinese, honey / beloved

asali: swahili, sweet like honey / honey

azizam: persian, my dear

kotik: russian, little cat/kitty