thin ice | childe x reader

seven. your boys

looking at one another, chongyun nodded to his defense partner. "we were going at it for nearly 20 minutes straight during that play period. not going to lie, we were kind of slipping. calling for a time-out let us have a breather for a moment to clear our heads."

"next? in the third row?"

"this one is for the ragnvaldr-alberich brothers," the journalist said. "that second goal was less than a minute after the first. how big was that for team morale?"

kaeya piped up first. "extremely big for morale. y'know, the expectation these past few weeks has been absolutely dominating the ice, and to hit that first goal was amazing."

"agreed. there was a buff from the first goal, but it was the second goal that made us feel like we were out of the warm-up phase. the second goal was the push we needed to step up," diluc replied curtly.

"back there, fourth row."

"for xiao," the reporter said, donning a red suit. "that play from the other team was an almost guaranteed shot at the goal, but you dived for it and blocked it. how did you do it?"

"simple. my peripheral vision allowed me to predict where it was coming from."

"ah, we should wrap this up," coach zhongli said, leaning back in his chair. "let's take a few more questions, and then call it a day."

"this question's for childe," a correspondent called. "next game is going to be against the abyss team across the country. the 'prince', as they call him, is starting to become a threat to some of the other major teams. is this of any worry to you?"

"aether's no big deal," he replied casually, blue eyes sparkling against the studio lights. his hand laid on his cheek as continued to talk, smiling as he pushed aside any worries. his hands moved languidly but his voice stayed solidly smooth.

"he's quite charming, isn't he?" a voice piped up next to you. almost squeaking, you jumped in place.

"coach-coach ningguang! you frightened me, i'm so sorry," you apologized softly, as to not be overheard by the crowd.

"no worries," she replied, crossing her arms against her white colored suit. her heels were bright red, and necklace a beautiful gold. "you can see how he presents himself. easygoing smile, breezy hand movements and efficient yet playful responses. it's the reason why he's on almost all of the advertisements around the city."

"really?"

"yes. who wouldn't be swept away by his good looks and brilliant playstyle? i'm not saying that the rest of the team isn't as good at presenting themselves, but childe's perfected the art of doing it."

"you know, there were a lot of people calling out his name. they swoon every time he skates past their stands."

"oh, those are childe's puck bunnies," she said, almost scoffing. "while i don't mind the extra mora that comes in because of them, they are such a nuisance after games."

"puck bunnies?"

"someone who clings to a hockey player for the simple reason of their attractiveness."

"oh."

"but who can blame them? childe's good-looking and a tease."

you only stared at the redhead a few feet away from you in response.

—

"a roadie? i haven't been on one since my senior year of high school," chongyun murmured as your team skipped down the stairs of the arena. the sunshine peeked through the clouds as a nice breeze swept through. practice had finished successfully, so coach had let you all go quickly. the next game was right around the corner, in less than two days.