A Winter's Tale

Last but not least

It was the last day of the month and Childe's work time with him was coming to an end. Pulcinella had continued to meet with him in the meantime, but since he hadn't brought up anything in that regard, he was now finishing up the final accounting. Probably it hadn't necessarily been such a good idea to go out with his colleague. At work, he always had to pretend that nothing ever happened between them. Childe was able to hide it appropriately well, he wouldn't have thought. He himself, however, kept catching his gaze wandering to him....

He could only hope that the recruits would not notice. But today he could quite well avoid letting his eyes wander.... With a serious face he walked across the snowy field towards Childe after the training and pressed the document into his hand.

"Here, your pay. It should already be in the bank. I thank you for your help," he said stiffly.

"Um... yes... thank you... sure thing," Childe replied a bit shyly, running a hand through his hair.

"You have enough Mora by now..." came slowly and torturedly from Pulcinella's lips.

"What do you mean?" asked Childe, irritated.

"Well... the payment from the Adventurer's Guild.... My pay...", Pulcinella explained, nodding slightly.

"Oh...yes..." replied Childe sheepishly, and an awkward silence fell between them as the snowflakes danced around them.

"If you want to go back to Liyue, then I wish you all the best," Pulcinella finally spoke up.

"Liyue? Ah... ahaha, yes, there was something..." replied Childe, smiling sheepishly.

"Before you go, though, there's something I want to tell you. In private ... ", Pulcinella asked him and waved Childe with him. Hiding as best he could from other looks behind a shack, he looked at him.

"I'm not going to stop you. Go wherever you want. Just know that I liked the Winter's Tale with you," Pulcinella said softly, smiling faintly. Letting him go now was really not easy, but he had had to endure it then too. And maybe it was better that way. Childe apparently had other plans and this between them was.... maybe it really was just a Winter's Tale that melted away like snow in the spring. Who really knew. Maybe it was better to leave it at that and if he didn't feel any deeper and more for him now. He wasn't capable of that anyway, was he? Only... why was his heart always beating fast like this?

#

Childe just stared at Pulcinella with wide eyes. What was that all about now? Had he just fired him? Actually, he hadn't been aware that the work at headquarters would suddenly end, especially now that they were so close. But apparently his former mentor still thought he was going back to Liyue as planned. He had already completely blocked that out. Especially after he had slept with Pulcinella, it hadn't really been an option for him anymore. He had thought that it would have been more than a few dates for his counterpart too. But when he really thought about it, they had never gotten to a deeper level, emotionally.

"Thanks. I liked it too," Childe took heart. But it was difficult to remain honest. His heart beat heavily and tears gathered in his eyes.

"I'm glad to hear that. Then ... have a nice trip," Pulcinella said seriously.

"But ... what's this all supposed to mean? I... said I liked it with you. I wasn't planning to leave," Childe brought out. His hands were shaking and it was so hard for him not to let on.

"You weren't...planning on leaving?" asked Pulcinella in surprise, as if he wasn't expecting it now.

"Of course not... I... I want to stay with you...", Childe answered, smiling through his tears. Hastily, he reached for his hands and squeezed them tightly.

"Uhm... this changes everything. To be honest, until just now I thought you wanted to go back to your guy there," Pulcinella confessed. Was that a blush on his cheeks? Childe couldn't help but laugh that after everything, he really seriously thought he'd rather go back to Liyue now.

"No. You meant the most to me out of everything and that hasn't changed now. On the contrary," Childe replied, smiling sheepishly. His heart was pounding like crazy and he felt like he was about to fall over, but Pulcinella caught him and held him tightly in his strong arms. He pressed himself against him and closed his eyes. It felt like... Home...

"I'm pretty sure you're going to regret this one day, because I'm not lovable or relatable," Pulcinella said with a laugh.

"Stop talking such nonsense. I love you, though. And you... you love me too, don't you?" asked Childe, bracing his arms at his sides indignantly.

"Maybe...?" replied Pulcinella with a grin, but Childe only punished him with a displeased look.

"Yes... ", Pulcinella continued, partly annoyed, but also a touch shy. Childe found it so cute how his cheeks were now even redder. While he could feel his heart beating violently, he minimally stood on his tiptoes, leaned forward and kissed him lovingly and for a long time.

#

After a moment, they both disengaged from each other and looked deeply into each other's eyes.

"So from now on, you're ... my Childe?" asked Pulcinella with a laugh, "but you always were..."

"No, I'm your boyfriend. You can call me Ajax if you like, though. That's my real name," Childe replied with a wink. If they were a couple now, maybe they should at least know each other's real names, shouldn't they?

"Ajax? Seriously now??!", Pulcinella responded in amazement, bursting into loud laughter. Childe just nodded in embarrassment, knowing why it amused him so much now.

"I look better naked than your statue though, don't I?" he teased him, grinning cheekily.

"You do..." replied Pulcinella, smiling gently, "Now do you want to know my name too?"

"Of course!" exclaimed Childe energetically, "I've been dying to know it for ages!"

"Very well. I guess it's about time then," Pulcinella said with a laugh, "My name is ... "

- The End

##

Thank you so much to everyone who read this fanfic, despite the rare pair. At first I thought I was writing this for only 3-4 people, but seeing more interested in my story and this ship made me so happy, honestly. Thank you so much!!!

So I wrote more chapters than I even wanted to at first. If you want to read more about Pulcinella and Childe, feel free to let me know <3 heheh.

And well, they revealed their real names to each other, last but not least.... What do you guys think Pulcinella's real name is? ^-^ write your suggestions in the comments, I'm curious~.

Otherwise, we'll read each other again very soon, all the best until then

Innocentia