Seven Months in Heaven [Zhongchi/Tartali]

Chapter 3 - Imagine I'm a Chopstick

My Loyal Tartaglia,

It is good to hear that all is proceeding as required. As usual, your unconventional methods do not surprise me – Please accept my commendations on so efficiently securing a solution.

Nevertheless, the willing involvement of Morax surprises me, for he is not a man who can be so easily persuaded to do that which he does not wish to; you must have made quite the positive impression on him.

On the topic of Morax, please do not concern yourself with his suspicions. I shall be writing to him imminently to clarify the situation. His mind shall be eased soon.

Well done, Tartaglia, you are proving your use once again.

I continue to leave this task in your trust.

The Tsaritsa

A smile snuck across Childe's face as he read Her Majesty's words of praise before tucking the letter into his desk drawer. He would burn it when he left for the day, but he wanted the chance to read her words once more before then.

He was doing good, he was doing well. She was pleased with him.

However, the progress, or rather lack of progress, that Childe had made over the past weeks had become a topic of concern to him. Zhongli's remaining suspicions regarding his purpose in Liyue had confined Childe to his office, carefully upholding the guise of being required in the day to day operations of the bank.

This was also the story he told to the majority of the bank staff. No matter how stringent the Fatui's screening and training procedures, the risk of a security leak was always present if too many ears were given access to key information. Although she had been spared the precise details, only Ekaterina knew of Childe's additional business in Liyue, as well as the truth behind his mysteriously earned relationship permit and his not-so-legitimate relationship with Zhongli.

He wandered to the wastepaper bin he'd placed in the corner, counting the number of paper balls he'd landed in it, with those he'd missed sitting scattered around the surrounding floor. Ten in, five out – an improvement of one compared to the previous attempt.

This was a typical day for Childe, with the majority of his time spent paper-throwing, or engaged in an equally meaningless activity, for in reality, there was no need for him to be at the bank at all.

However, if Her Majesty were to put Zhongli's mind at ease, he could loosen his strings a little, no longer being subjected to that questioning gaze each day when he arrived home, pretending to be exhausted from a difficult day of paper pushing.

The singular productive task he'd been able to partake in was slogging his way through Tonia's romance novels. It wasn't that they were terrible, per se, but there wasn't enough fighting in them for him. A bit more conflict might've spiced things up a bit.

Regardless, he had picked up some useful tips and phrases that he planned to make use of, should he and Zhongli again find themselves in a situation requiring them. So well read he'd become, that Zhongli would surely marvel at his romantic prowess.

That was, if he was ever given the opportunity to use it.

Since the Butt-Tap Incident, life with Zhongli had been strange. The first two days afterward had proceeded as normal, but from the third onward, Zhongli had burrowed himself away in his room with a book, avoiding any suggestion of another outing. Instead he repeatedly supplied the excuse that he'd had a "very long day at the funeral parlour" and that "he'd planned on a quieter retirement", uttering barely a word beyond that for the past fortnight, despite the premise of their arrangement.