gacharolls | >> 010

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>> 010 | oh, worm

[ It's been a few days since he'd arrived in Liyue proper and the jet lag was only now just starting to wear off. A few days and he'd managed to become familiar enough with the terrain to be able to map out any viable escape routes, discover that he does not have much of a spice tolerance and that also, the man known as "Rex Lapis" was much more of a common face in the streets than he'd imagined him to be.

At first he'd thought he might have been mistaken, that the intel he'd received was wrong in some way. With nothing but a brief description (height, weight, hair color, eye color - and really, couldn't they have come up with a better term than "cor lapis gold"?) and a semi-blurry photograph taken from the side, Childe imagined he would have to scour Liyue for at least a good week or two before he found his target. The people of this fair city didn't seem to want to deviate from their traditional norms and they all seemed to dress the same way, too, making it hard to pick any one apart in a sea of browns and blacks and golds with the occasional vibrant but respectful color thrown into the mix.

Finding "Rex Lapis" would be a chore in itself, never mind going along with the Tsaritsa-sanctioned mission he had been assigned to kill the man. He wouldn't be surprised if he didn't see Snezhnayan shores for a month or two. The harbor city wasn't exactly small, after all, and from what he could see of the photograph the man looked like every other Liyuen walking about.

Imagine his surprise when said man was spotted immediately, perusing the market at his leisure and appraising each individual valuable when it was showcased to him by a hungry-looking merchant. Childe didn't have much of an eye for antiques so they all looked the same to him; nondescript and useless, no real worth in them aside from what they could be melted into. Rex Lapis seemed to have taken fault with literally every item shown to him for over an hour, and in the end had left the stall empty-handed with a fuming, exasperated worker glaring after him.

The man's schedule was easy enough to pick apart after that. Childe had spent the entirety of the first day tailing him and working out his walking path, following him at a leisurely distance and acting every bit like an enamored tourist so taken with Liyue's sights and sounds that lingering in any one place didn't seem too out of the ordinary. Rex would go from one building to another, hitting up all the merchant stalls in-between, always alone, never once breaking his poised, methodical stride. The fact that no one else seemed to be wary or suspicious of him - which, shouldn't they be, given he was effectively the ruling head of his "family"? - Childe was starting to wonder if maybe his intel had been incorrect.

By the third day he'd set up something of a base of operations in one of the buildings that he'd seen Rex meander in and out of. It was a modestly large hotel, boasting the sort of Liyuen-style decoration that a connoisseur of the East would lose themselves in. The architecture and paintings within were distinctly in the same style as the rest of the city, immortalizing Liyue's cultural arts with every brush stroke, ever swath of paint. The people at the lobby were certainly cordial enough and, despite the backwater-country vibes the interior gave off, it was clear they were relatively up to date and rather technologically savvy, the staff able to reserve him a room for a few weeks in a matter of moments after a few swipes on their touchpads.

It might have seemed foolish to book a room in the same building that he planned to trail and potentially murder Rex Lapis in, but Childe had confidence in spades. He knew the best ways to escape the country and, barring that, it wasn't as though there weren't Fatui already infiltrating the city. The element of danger was what made it most exciting, after all.

A few days turned into a little under a week, and then a little over a week, and eventually the time came for Childe to make his move. As much as he had no issues with killing an innocent man, if word that he did got to Rex Lapis himself it wouldn't make finding him any easier. He was pretty sure the man he'd been tailing had to have been him. He looked like the one in the photograph, after all... but then, also, he wasn't entirely sure. He certainly didn't look like the mean-mugging head of a mafia family.

So Childe decides that it would be best to give him a little test of sorts.

It's around seven at night, when the lights of the city have started to flicker to light. The people on the streets are making their way home after a long day's work, threading around each other and making idle chatter in the form of greetings and farewells. Nothing more than that, since everyone has somewhere they need to be.

Childe's target is among them, his height and distinct strides making him stick out like a sore thumb. The man navigates through the crowds easily, smoothly, and were Childe not as good as he was at general reconnaissance work - thanks to his training when he was a grunt in the Fatui - he probably would have lost him minutes ago. Admittedly, there is something about this man that just screams of a higher plane of existence, he thinks, but it's not something he can actually place his finger on.

His chance to strike comes when the man takes a sudden turn into a darkened alley - a usual for him, Childe had learned, but only on certain days. He waits a few moments outside the entrance before stepping in after him, and their footsteps echo hollowly on the high walls around them as the other continues to walk, purposefully, like he hadn't just heard Childe coming in after him.

Yeah, there was no way this was Rex Lapis. Childe reasons this to himself even as he's pulling his Tokarev out from its holster at his side. He fits the silencer into the weapon with a click that seems to ring throughout the area, and he's quick to lift it up and point it at the man in front of him once they've reached a far enough distance from the streets. ]

You're a brave man, you know.

[ He's taken care to dress casually, forgoing his usual suit and vest in favor of slim-fitting jeans and a hoodie. To anyone else he would probably look like a kid attempting a robbery; to Rex, he's not quite sure. Even Childe knows from his reputation among the lower recruits that he's something of a sight on the battlefield. There's particular rumors swirling about his eyes and their hue directly correlating to all the murders he's committed.

Childe's arm never wavers, and his gaze fixates on the man's back as he speaks again, a little louder. ]

Empty your pockets.

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[ It's certainly a discreet affair, he thinks, and while normally he would be on his guard at the prospect of being ambushed it seemed like Zhongli had this handled. He almost did wish that he would get jumped, but perhaps it was better that it stayed relatively calm and peaceful for now.

Admittedly, hearing him speak in Liyue is reward enough, and he commits every syllable to memory as the foreign language rolls of Zhongli's tongue, trying and failing to not let the interest show on his face. It wasn't like he could understand it or anything, but if the man wanted to make a recording of him speaking Liyue for hours on end Childe would be the first in line to get a copy.

The vials are placed into his hands and Childe has a moment of realization. So that's why the price tag was so steep. He feels mildly better but he's still gonna try and write it off as a business ex-- fuck, he didn't get a receipt. Okay, after maybe he can find his way back to the merchant and get a receipt.

Once Zhongli is done explaining it and he smiles at him, adorable as always, Childe finds himself unsure of what to do with everything that had been handed off to him. The business card is put away, the vials tucked into the same pocket as the talisman where they clink loudly as they settle within, and then he's left to look at Zhongli with the jar of incense in his hands.

There's a number of questions simmering in his mind about the whole thing. He should probably ask them aloud - but instead, he lets his free hand curl into the front of Zhongli's shirt because yeah, he's just gonna go for it, and abruptly draws the man in to a quick kiss. It's a little more eager than a peck, but not as sordid as shoving his tongue down his throat, and before he pulls away he licks along Zhongli's upper lip with relish, deep blue eyes dancing mischievously. ]

For good luck.

[ Good... Luck...?

Zhongli certainly wasn't expecting this, and while his eyes narrow when he's kissed (what does he do, what... what is this—?), any potential displeasure is gone in favor of pure shock and embarrassment because what...no, what just happened?! Why does he feel like he was just knocked in the head with something hard and now he's dizzy but in a pleasant sort of way? Is the Harbinger actually wearing some kind of hallucinatory—

The consultant's face is bright red and somehow he can't even look away from this person now... except when he hears the sudden awkward sound of maybe a strange squeal, and his head snaps with an almost murderous intent towards the two suits who definitely just witnessed that and look as flustered as the man who received the kiss does. To them, Childe is officially the ballsiest individual now known to man now, and they know they shouldn't gossip, and they're getting the glare that they better not gossip, but even their overlord knows it's too late for silence. Even killing them wouldn't do any good at this point. Somehow.

Completely beside himself, Zhongli buries his face against the whale shyly (and he's trying so hard to calm down and save face this has never happened ever nevermind in front of subordinates, what the hell did Tartaglia do to him it's just a stupid kiss— ) before he speaks quietly. ] Y-yes... good luck, Childe... and ... come later for the rest properly, if it pleases you. [ ...Wait, no, that wasn't what he wanted to say, what did he want to say? Why did he add that last part? How could Childe do this to him!! He's so flustered, he's never been flustered like this in his entire six thousand plus years of existence, he's sure so how did a mortal child he's just met manage to... it's... this... it's just not right. ]

[ Oh no, he's embarrassed. It just might actually be the cutest thing he's ever seen so far.

If it pleases him. He can't help himself - he laughs a little at that, leaning in just enough so his lips brush the shell of Zhongli's reddened ear.

Maybe he's a lot thirstier than he thought. It hadn't been that long, had it? It might also have something to do with the fact that he had just shelled out thirty-thousand mora for a drug-stuffed whale, so a little recompense was in order. Not that he would have minded either way, since he imagined meeting Rex Lapis was payment enough. ]

I'm sure you'll get a first hand demonstration of what pleases me, later. [ It's spoken softly enough that only Zhongli can hear which is perhaps the only saving grace of this whole situation, and then Childe is leaning away and turning to face the suited men with a bit of a spring in his step. ]

You're the ones that are gonna make me to meet him, right? I'm ready whenever you are.

[ As though he hadn't just smooched another man right in front of their eyes. ]

[ Zhongli can't help the small shiver that goes through along his spine at the whisper that sounds a lot more like a promise than a suggestion, especially feeling the brush of his lips along his ear.

He's never been so grateful to meet a man out to kill Rex Lapis because if it was any other sort of thing right now, he's not sure he would be able to put this meeting into proper play.

With Childe approaching them, the two suits look at each other and then bow respectfully to him before turning to lead him along. Beyond the area where they leave Zhongli, there is another open stretch of floor, albeit much smaller and stacked about is various cargo to better blend in. There is a door on the floor that leads to a narrow passageway beneath the building. While the steps down are rather primitive, the "tunnel" that Childe finds himself in is ... very much not. The walls, the ceiling, the floor: all are in marble, gold, and jade, quite extravagent and full of a long standing culture and tradition in Liyue that suggests that perhaps these were not always considered the underbelly of the city.

The halls are wide and pristinely cared for and well lit despite being mostly deserted save for a few apparent servants here and there. The walk in the underground passageway is calm but a bit of a ways before things seem to start changing— they must be underwater by now or have reclimbed from the harbor up towards the inner city. The first sight of ascending stairs comes eventually, and Childe is led up them where things become more populated. There are others that seem to be of the same manner as the two men leading him as well as more servants. Some ignore the new stranger, but most seem to have time enough to spare a curious or otherwise suspicious glance. It's not every day they have an unannounced member of another clan as a "guest," but not a single individual seems to question it.

Childe is led through the lavish mansion up another two flights of stairs before arriving on a floor that is now equally quiet to the tunnels that brought him here (the other floors, comparatively, were almost like that of an extravagent hotel— and in fact if he looked around enough he would have noticed that this building is somehow adjacent and branched to the hotel he himself is staying at... even if it's not quite clear how to cross between the buildings in any way should one wish to.)

The two men stop at large double doors to what can only be either someone's office or their living quarters... or perhaps both, in a sense, which may be the proper interpretation when the doors are opened to let the Harbinger enter. The suited individuals let Childe in and for him to proceed, but they do not follow. The corridor is dimly lit but far well enough to navigate from the lighting on the floor that guides the visitor to a large open floor where a large desk is situated on a semi-raised platform. One could argue a throne world be more suited for the architecture, but a grand desk it is instead.

Of course, there is someone waiting in front of the desk, as well, rather than sitting. The lighting does not give away who it might be, but it doesn't have to: Childe will immediately see and understand that 'cor lapis gold' description from his intel right away now with the eyes that seem to somehow stare right into his own despite him also being covered in the shadows and obscured from the Mafia leader beyond that he has arrived.

Rex Lapis is known to keep the privacy of his business partners and acquaintances alike in fair confidence when transactions are taking place. Perhaps for the safety of both. Perhaps for atmosphere. Perhaps for no reason at all.

There is silence initially, as if the 'king' is indeed assessing what has been brought before him—and who. For better or for worse, it's just the two of them—or, at least it certainly feels that way. So far there's been no sense of being watched or a sensation that this part of the mansion is somehow occupied. While Childe shouldn't be careless, it's safe to say his instincts and training are telling him that there are really only two people here alone. ]

[ As Childe walks he wonders just how much time and money had gone into designing this underground rat tunnel. The Liyuen mafia head is quite cautious, he thinks, to have created something that stretched on for this long unhindered, travelling a fair distance beneath the city. He can't help but be taken by all the decorations and the composition of the hallways, floors and ceilings, but he never once unfolds his arms - even with the jar of incense in his hands - as he walks so he's within reaching distance of his weapon at all times.

To some, this could probably be seen as walking into the lion's den. Childe can only hope he would have the pleasure; it's been some time since he's jumped into a trap, and even if he'd had any idea that this would be a trap he still wouldn't hesitate following the suited men after. Zhongli's warning about pulling a gun on Rex Lapis doesn't go unheeded but that didn't necessarily mean Childe was going to listen to him. The Harbinger was the last person to be expected to refrain from charging headlong into danger. That was just how he was.

Through the lavish floors of the mansion and then up another set of stairs... the walk seems to finally be coming to an end, and when they stop in front of a set of large double doors Childe braces himself for the worst. Would the suits finally try and off him? They're big and quick, but he will always have the advantage. He's been in this business since he was a teenager, there were few out there who had faced him in battle and lived to tell the tale.

But instead of the fight he'd been expecting, they instead open the door for him. Childe takes a moment to survey the room - taking particular note of how much space the desk takes up - and steps inside. The doors shut behind him and he is alone with only one? other person in the room for company. He can see the glow of golden eyes and the sight takes his breath away, a mixture of anticipation and relief churning in his chest.

At last. This has to have been him.

Remembering Zhongli's words he fumbles for the talisman and holds it up to let the light hit it just right, then drops his hand and takes a step forward.

He doesn't feel eyes on him aside from the man in front of him, so it's safe to say they're alone. Good - that'll just make it easier. The path taken here wasn't terribly twisted, so he imagines he can find his way out easily enough even if he happens to be fighting for his life the whole time. ]

Rex Lapis. [ He begins, and even if the other can't see it, he smiles. ] I've been looking a long time for you.

[ The man at the desk seems to acknowledge the talisman, judging from the slight shift in the direction those eyes wander. It's only for a moment before they are right back on the other.

So, indeed, this is him. The voice only confirms that Childe had indeed decided to see this through rather than change his mind halfway. How unfortunate, he had his phone the entire time waiting to see if a text would indeed arrive from the Harbinger changing his mind in the process. It wouldn't have been the first time such a thing had happened, afterall. He does relatively similar an opportunity for most that make an attempt on his life, albeit never has he offered an alternative to them. Perhaps Childe should be commended for resisting? He wouldn't know, sadly, since it's the first time he himself allowed such a thing. He is glad for the darkness, not to conceal his identity, but to make sure to hide his face in case some ounce of fluster remains from earlier. It wouldn't do to be busy preoccupied with thoughts of another's lips when the same individual is present and would much rather see a bullet through your head.

... That does kill the flutter sensation with a certain amount of morbidity, does it not? No matter. Opportunities are constantly lost, what is one more?

This is a Fatui Harbinger, and it can't be expected that he would turn away so easily. Rex considers how to respond, if at all, before speaking. His voice, of course, will sound familiar, albeit it colder, more neutrally uniform (pleasant, but a little too mechanical unlike the smoothness of honey Zhongli's possessed), devoid of any friendliness, and certainly sharper with even a bit of haughtiness tinging his words. ]

...So you have. Speak quickly, if you must at all, your reasoning for this audience. I am a busy man.

[ The moment "Rex" speaks, Childe feels his entire body stiffen with the familiarity of it all. Despite the methods he might go to disguise it, there's no mistaking that it's... certainly a timbre he has heard before.

The previous situations flash through his head. Zhongli not flinching when staring down the barrel of a gun. The way such a slim, weak looking slip of a man was held in such high regard to the family. The way the suited men had treated him with respect. The golden hue of his eyes.

Yes, he understood now.

Zhongli was Rex's brother.

... which made it really awkward if they were ever going to hook up, truth be told. Nothing was more romantic than messing around with the guy who killed your brother. ]

Well - first of all, I suppose I should be giving you these.

[ And if he is allowed, he will step closer, the vials and incense held in both hands. ]

[ Polite enough, he supposes. Rex allows him to approach, gloved hands reaching to take the vials and the incense. If nothing else... at least Childe completed the transaction as requested.

He would like to compliment him, even, however... he refrains from doing so and, instead, deliberately turns to one side to set the incense down on his desk as well as two of three vials.

Rex Lapis is still waiting for an answer. ]

You were probably expecting your brother, so sorry about that, first of all.

[ Childe thinks back to the path he'd taken to get here. He thinks of the double doors, the men standing on either side of them, where they might have been able to hide any potential weapons or the like.

It would be easy to kill Rex Lapis and then make his escape. Easy, he thinks, and yet... ]

I suppose there's no beating around the bush. I'm here to assassinate you, per the orders of Her Majesty the Tsaritsa.

[ Rex Lapis stiffens, but it has nothing to do with the mention of an assassination attempt and everything to do with mention of his brother. Rex snaps his head to look straight at Childe because oh what the ever living— ] —Yes, well, my brother... I daresay we see enough of each other every day.

[ You know... in the mirror. For fuck's sakes, is this her idea of a joke? He's going to send her something vile in return for this. ] If that is what you are here for, then get on with it.

[ he continues to speak, now muttering under his breath further as he goes back to the incense and the vial, although he picks up a different one as he had dropped the first one at such revelations. ]

Yes, perhaps having my brains blown out will be a way to clear my head.

[ Clear it of this handsome but apparently very ~~stupid~~ dense assassin that can't put two and two together— who's the old man here, anyway?! ]

[ it’s so obvious that they’re brothers. Who reacts to the arrival of an assassin that way??? Childe normally wouldn’t complain, given it meant he could return home faster, but… he expected a little fight. ]

Wh… what do you mean, “get on with it”? Are you underestimating me?

[ He probably thinks he can’t do it. Well, that’s fine, he’ll show him…!

His fingers curl around the hilt of his pistol and he pulls it free, aiming at where he’d seen golden eyes in the shadows. Clearing his throat, he tries again. ]

I’m number eleven of the Fatui Harbingers. A pleasure.

I can only hope that you’ll give me a good fight.

[ Rex Lapis is silent a moment. A good fight? What a strange assassin. He halts in dumping the liquid into the incense, recapping it and setting it down with the others even as he shifts to face the gun and its owner. ] I see.

[ If allowed, Rex will now reach out to gently touch beneath the other's chin assessing curiously despite the gun to his head as if it's not even there. ]

And what is it that you are offering me in return should you lose, boy? Your own desire upon victory is already quite clear.

[ he’s certainly allowed, but that doesn’t mean the touch won’t have Childe startling in surprise, immediately shoving his hand forward to grab at whatever Rex is wearing - a suit??? - and haul him forward a bit. It’s reflex more than anything and by the time he’s realized he’s done it the gun has shifted a little in his hold. ]

… you talk as though you have any kind of choice in the matter. The only reason why I haven’t killed you yet is I can’t stand the people who work in the shadows. I’d rather let you try fighting me over shooting you in the back.

[ Which was a terrible mindset for an assassin to have but here they were. ]

You’re pretty confident in your own abilities that you’ll give me more than a good fight. I suppose it’s to be expected.

I’ll humor you. What would the great Rex Lapis want that he can’t simply buy or force? I’m curious.

[ Ever stranger, to be pulled closer rather than forced back. Full of contradictions, hm? Rex is wearing a suit, a white one at that, so do your best not to bleed all over it in the near future.

There's a small tilt to his head, almost curious now before a soft hmph escapes him and he leans forward to bring his mouth to the other's ear, an almost gutteral (but it could... must??... be just be a hallucination as it's really more dangerous sounding than anything) chuckle escaping him. ]

And you... you who are so confident that you can fell a monster for your Queen. Nevertheless, I will act as your Goliath if you believe yourself a David of your Tsaritsa.

[ His grip will now tighten on Childe's chin like a vice, threatening, testing to see if he can get the other to panic and fire the gun even as he makes to take a good look into the other's eyes. Beautiful and utterly hypnotic—the color, he means, he's never seen such depths that can devour even in the dark of night.

The so-called assassin is willing to entertain him something that he is unable to buy and can't take by force? Ha! Rex Lapis thinks not. ] Mm, that leaves very little, does it not? ... No matter, I do have one.

[ Rex Lapis now goes to boldly press his mouth against the other's but not in a kiss— and his eyes never close to suggest such, either, staring him down the entire time his lips move against the Harbinger's like a brush on parchment; as he lays out his terms on Childe's flesh, staining it the same as ink and blood. ]

Your loyalty.

[ the kiss is certainly unexpected (if it could even be called that) and were he not a very finely trained assassin, his body honed like an instrument of war he imagined that would have been enough for him to pull the trigger. But he is, and so when Rex speaks his next words Childe only laughs instead.

He has to turn his head a little to speak , which is made difficult by the hand on his chin but he manages an inch or two. ]

You greatly underestimate a Snezhnayan’s loyalty if you think it can be swayed so easily.

[ The grip he has on the man goes from pulling to pushing, trying to make room between them. Even in the darkness he can see how utterly white and pristine Rex’s suit is and it makes him want to dirty it up. ]

Maybe it’s for that reason the Tsaritsa tasked me with this mission. To show you what true loyalty looks like.

[ His weapon shifts, the barrel pressing just under Rex’s chin. ]

Come on. You can at least do me the favor of looking a little more nervous.

[ Rex does let him push him back and he's even kind enough to let go of Childe's chin despite the barrel of the gun shifting. He's done his assessment. Pretty boy, the eyes are a favorite. He will do if he decides not to reject her gift altogether and send him back on the next ship to Snezhnaya. ]

On the contrary, I underestimate nothing. You asked a question and I provided true answer, did I not? Unobtainable by purchase or force, indeed, I do believe I know it perhaps better than even you yourself.

[ As for the goading with that gun's movements, Rex tilts his head up rather indignantly with the press of the barrel, averting his eyes to look at something more interesting— nothingness, apparently. ] Did she really let you come here only with a gun? How cruel... regardless, I have nothing to give you, Outlander. [ not even a fight. ]

Shoot, if that's all you have. I am not here for your pleasure.

Edited 2021-09-29 19:11 (UTC)

[ Cruel, he says, as though Childe can't take him out with just a gun. It's almost laughable how high-and-mighty Rex thinks he is, for all that he had lavished on the manor and the hallway leading into this place. Perhaps back in the day he might have been more fearsome and not-so-easily reached, but now -

Now he was just a pull of the trigger from death. ]

I suppose you're right, in that respect. Though you're stupider than I thought if you expect my loyalty to be swayed so easily.

Don't worry. I'll be sure to take good care of your brother at your funeral.

[ Enough dallying. He squeezes his finger over the trigger and the bang that rings through the office is muffled enough by the silence Childe had affixed to the barrel earlier that the sound hardly reaches past the door. ]

[ What a spoiled little thing: mouths off, doesn't do as told, doesn't take a hint, and overstays his welcome.

And yet... he pulls the trigger, at least, which is enough to color him interesting for Rex Lapis. The bullet has nowhere to go but through flesh and bone and blood splatters as cleanly as it rips. Rex's body jerks from the force of the bullet before slumping back against the desk even as there's a gurgled grunt of pain that escapes him.

Unfortunately for Childe, he doesn't slump quite enough as one should for being dead when a bullet goes straight up through your brain like that. One hand moves back behind him grabbing all three vials and crushing them simultaneously, letting the corroded liquid mix, seep, and drip into the leather of his glove and the incense before a vicious grin—blood spilling from either side of the man's mouth in the process, as his other hand produces a lighter to ignite the incense. It seems to almost splash instead of spark (but, really, should it spark, either?), the colors of the liquid flaring to life strangely as they clearly mark their path along Red Lapis's soaked hand and as they sink into the incense that has started to smoke. There's really no time to be lightning incense now, though, is there? Surely, he's going to die any moment now, this is just somehow some impressive feat of the body, a last ditch effort— what could it possibly do, anyway? It certainly won't waft about enough to even cover a few feet of distance before Childe will have no further reason to stay with his target dead.

... Or will it? Should Childe linger too long (which Rex expects he will) he will get a wift of it and despite just how... calming and pleasant it smells, it will send every neuron firing in warning to the Harbinger's brain telling him to get away from it. He won't have much chance to make a decision in the suddenly chaos, however, before Rex is suddenly reaching to grab his face, to smother him in the high-concentrated fumes of the drug conditioned and soaked into the leather of the glove. ]

... How kind of you, but you will be the one needing taking care of. I don't sleep with humans, but you were almost worth the risk, I must say. [ He doubts the other is going to make the connection any better now than he did before. He won't be surprised if he has to hear about his "brother" again from this child once he comes to after all of this, assuming he survives.

One inhale and Childe's done. At best, the fumes will cause a severe onset of delirium and disorientation. At worst, it's going to be a hell of a lot more of just that along with a sudden onslaught of auditory and visual hallucinations to boot.

The Mafia head doesn't seem nearly so affected, even after getting a bullet through his head, coming to lean and practically sit at the edge of his desk— that is, after he roughly flings the other from his grip to the ground and watches with what can only be a malicious sort of interest as he wipes at his mouth... and the blood soaking his neck and chin, as well. Humans are so messy, aren't they. ]

You are now the brave man between us, Tartaglia. Nevertheless... everyone is afraid of monsters.

[ His words would be head-splitting to Childe now, as if they're trying to rip flesh from bone, and that incense is quickly filling the area, amplifying whatever the concentration of drugs has as their function (and to sum up it more than to simply drive insane in the most harrowing way possible would be needless.) ] Now, show me something of intrigue. Show me human tenacity in the form of a beast and perhaps next time... you may have your fight and my head, as you so wish.

[ Seeping in so easily into the skin the drugs are potent and truly unkind. There is no methodical aim to them that disarm the Harbinger and rob him of consciousness as many so often do. Quite the opposite, in fact, they set his nervous system into overdrive, on fire, like an overdose of adrenaline to the point it seems to itch incessantly and painfully to hold back. Hold back what, however... well, that depends as those vials hit three different areas.

Fear, the need to fight to survive, to do anything and everything imaginable to come out on top. Lust, the desire for that which is not yet within one's grasp, whether it be in the form of greed or pure basal lust of animalistic nature for an object, a person, a power—or a goal. Rage, the purest form of anger, pertaining to anything at all and when combined with one of the other two, the rage of being denied what that individual feels belongs or is otherwise owed to them.

It's an absolute onslaught of nightmarish hell that is beyond anything Childe has probably experienced, but if he could think long enough he may remember something vaguely similar in practice during one of his trials to become a Harbinger. This is far more potent, but the test bared before him then is the same as now— it isn't about escaping it, it's about enduring it without going mad whether that is via satiation of the feelings provided in any way possible (murder, rape, pillage— no possibility is barred from the mind's solutions and the visceral need for it to be realized) or by mere inaction.

It's no more pleasant (even if on some level it causes a heat in the belly, a desire that can't be quelled by any other means but to act) to witness its effects, but one wouldn't be able to tell that that from the expression on Rex Lapis's face as he observes the drug in action, seeming to even be over his momentary agitation of being shot. In truth, it's the first time he's used it on a human of any sorts— he'll take the Tsaritsa's hand picked suggestion with trust in her decision. If nothing else, he should provide brief entertainment. It doesn't seem to have the same effect on the Mafia boss, at all. It seems to calm him unnaturally, a strangely high tolerance overcoming him where impatience and disinterest were nestled firmly prior.

It has to be tested, and the only way to test its effects is to interact himself... with the results. It just so happens the drug effect on non-humans makes him something of a willing victim, far too interested in the effects and the relatively serenity obtained by staying in the waft of incense present to bother leaving the other writhing on the floor.

... For the moment, anyway. Rex imagines he'll be leaving the boy to his own devices within the minute. Very little is so captivating these days, after all. ]

[ Childe has done this enough times that the sound of everything that comes after pulling the trigger hardly phases him any more. It's perhaps less so because the manhadn't begged or pleased for his life, robbing Childe of that particular satisfaction without even realizing it.

He's already turning away when the sound of the vials crushing draw his attention, and while it would be easy to write it off as the man's body smashing them under his weight - the air feels different, somehow. Charged, anticipatory, and it sets all of Childe's nerves alight with some unseen, impending threat.

Rex Lapis is not dead. Despite taking a gunshot wound to the head, he is not dead.

How - he hadn't missed? The barrel had been pressed right up against his throat and Rex had not dodged at the last second, so how -

Childe is already moving, trying to pick out the white-suited man in the darkness, bringing his pistol around to point it at what he can see of the mafia head - but then he's speaking, and that voice is both a warning and a rumble of a promise that makes his knees go weak for all the wrong reasons.

I have to get away, his brain screams at him. Childe has never before run from a fight in his entire life, but his legs are stumbling backwards despite the grip on him, head swimming with the scent of whatever it was he'd just inhaled. His emotions pingpong around so violently it robs him of his breath, the only thing he's aware of the way his blood rushes in his ears, how his heart hammers violently against his chest like a bird beating its wings against a cage, trying to escape.

Perhaps mercifully, he's flung away; his elbows and knees knock on the floor hard, sending pain lancing up through his joints, and even though the room is dark and impossible to see in he can feel his head swimming with the impact and the fumes. He vaguely registers the fact that his weapon had been separated from his hands and gone spinning across the floor somewhere far out of reach.

A lesser man would have wept and pissed himself, surely. Childe - Childe just needs the world to stop spinning. He presses his forehead against the cold ground and draws in deep, ragged breaths, feeling his emotions war and tear at each other in his chest. He's trembling, shaking with the onslaught of sensation. While his body screams at him to move, to run, there's another, deeper primal need to rip and tear and kill, a deep-seated desire he hadn't unearthed since the early days of his being in the Tsaritsa's employ.

But he knows this feeling. It's familiar in the vaguest sense, and it takes all of Childe's efforts piecing his mind back together from where the pieces have drifted apart to place this nostalgia. His fingers curl into his palms hard enough to hurt, knuckles going white under the exertion - and then he's suddenly pushing himself up into a stumbling stand, and then turning, and -

Rex Lapis should have expected this, surely, from the Tsaritsa's youngest Harbinger. Out of all of them he's the most rash, the one with room to grow and mature. He doesn't know where his gun is, but that's fine - he has his fist, which he swings at the mafia head now with all of his strength, the sheer force of it probably enough to break his own hand in the process.

But it'll be worth it if he can at least dislocate the other man's jaw. ]

[ That would require Rex Lapis to have a jaw to unhinge, which he shouldn't considering that bullet should have completely shattered it. And yet, here they are. The fumes seem to calm him, yes, but they haven't dulled his reaction times— or perhaps, it's simply predictable for an unpredictable and rash human child to lash out in such a manner.

Childe's fist connects with air, which is perhaps just as well considering the amount of force he's throwing into it. He may very well end up throwing himself against the desk, but Rex Lapis is gone, as well as the small jar of incense.

Or, no, not entirely gone. The soft click of his shoes can be heard, as much as they probably sound like thunder in Childe's head alongside his own pulse, although it's a momentary sound before they, too, disappear. The already dim lighting suddenly drops into blackness entirely as if the power has been cut and aside from the Harbinger's mind, everything seems to come to a deathly halt.

But, if Childe turns, he will see those haunting yellow eyes now in a terrifying sort of way as they don't quite seem to be on a human, anymore. Not with their size, not the way they pierce the darkness like jagged spears and seem to bleed the desire to rip into the tiny Harbinger piece by piece, not the waythe floor sounds as if it's being carved into horribly with clawed nails as someone(thing...?) drags themselves along the marble and jade beneath Childe's feet was if slithering closer to their target.

Someone? Something? There's the sound of a growl from one end of the room, the gutteral stirring of a beast in heat. Another sound from another part of the room sounds an ear piercing cry as chains jingle violently as something throws itself in the darkness against their restraint demanding release. Yet from another direction is what seems like a monstrous set of fangs and teeth attached to a snapped and dislocated jaw as smoke of unknown origin billows out as its unsteady panting breath.

All pieces, no wholes, like some sick twisted experiments of the most vile, beasts at every angle with no dignity of their own as they're left flailing, dismembered, entangled in their own entrails and gore unable to die as they claw and thrash around with the insane need to lash out and kill —just like Tartaglia, and they all focus on him as their prey and strike down mercilessly.

Rex Lapis sneers as he steps out of the room into the hall, dripping in blood , ingnoring the startled sound of his subordinates even as he issues commands to them. ] Have Xiao sedate him and chain him to the floor, if you have to, until I decide what to do with him.

[ And that decision could take a very long time, depending just how long he wants Childe to suffer in agony alone inside his own head for his audacity on every level. ]

[ The momentum of the punch has him stumbling into the desk, knocking into it with a clatter and a scrape of wood that's hard enough to clack his teeth together. Childe can just barely keep himself upright but he manages, twisting around to peer into the room behind for the man in question.

He can hear Rex's shoes click like thunder, resonating in his head with all the subtlety of bricks slamming around in his mind, and then suddenly - nothing. Nothing but the sound of his own heartbeat and his pants, the blood rushing through his head with adrenaline and anticipation, waiting, watching...

The beasts are... unexpected. They weren't there before, were they? He can hear, salivating, tearing and ripping and growling, he can hear the chains strain as they're pulled and yanked at, the creatures desperate for release. It brings him back to a time in Snezhnaya, a time when he thought he was going to die, so very long ago...

Needless to say, his battle with these imaginary beasts go as well as one might expect. With the effects of the vials and incense rampaging through his body he rips and tears and gets the same done to him in turn, flashes of bright, searing heat fresh in his mind even if they didn't show outwardly on his body. Like this he's reduced to his most basic instincts and the need to surive, and in his mind at least he does so gloriously, until a fatal blow against his neck rips out his throat and he's left to fade into unconsciousness on the mafia head's floor.

Funny that the mind could be so powerful so as to convince one that they were dead, despite how perfectly healthy their body was. Even someone like Tartaglia is not immune, it would seem.

That's what makes his awakening even more confusing, when he finds himself in one - albeit slightly bruised - piece, chained down to the floor of the very office he'd "died" in. He's sore and aching and tender but that doesn't stop him from yanking at his chains anyway to test the give and straining his already pained muscles even more in his endeavors. ]

Fuck...

[ Not the best night of his life, one can imagine, especially considering that the incense is still burning—but, at least, it's not nearly such a devastating effect as getting the concentrated inhale that Childe was forced to earlier. The effects ebb and flow more subtlety, so he's lucky that no more massive hallucinations of one's own death should be crawling around his consciousness. The tug at his mind still exists, of course, along with a suggestive haze to push certain emotions one way or another. Without a direction for them to be pulled at current, though, Childe will simply feel dazed and sluggish like typical sedative drugs do rather than want impulse need to act in any fashion.

He will also see he is not alone despite being rather unceremoniously chained to the floor like an animal. That familiar large plush whale is near him and Zhongli is hugging onto it while flopped on it, eyeing Childe from a position on the floor as well. ]

I imagine that was not how you intended the meeting to go.

[ his head’s swimming in a haze, but he recognizes the plushie first before anything. And then the man clinging onto it, and with a groan he shakes his head like that would dispel the sudden weird combination of heat and nausea and drowsiness that suddenly swarms his senses.

Inexplicably, he feels a pull towards the other man and shifts to the best of his abilities to get a little closer. The only crime Zhongli has committed against him was making him pay out the ass for a stuffed animal.

A few things about his talk with Rex Lapis stick out, but it’s hard to parse with how his mind is stuck on how cute Zhongli looks right now. ]

Your brother’s kind of an asshole.

[ ...Ah yes, clearly this is how humans deal with capital-t Trauma: pretending they are two different entities.

He supposes he'll go along with it just a little longer for... diplomacy reasons(??)

It doesn't have anything to do with how interesting the affection variance is. Absolutely none. ]

...Oh? Yes? I have heard such things before. [ This isn't the first time a victim has refused to acknowledge them as the same person... probably.

Zhongli reaches out to gently press a hand to the other's face
as if checking temperature. ]

Shall I let you out? Or are you uncertain if you will attempt to escape or not and believe you are best left as is?

You act like I want to be trapped here.

[ which makes sense, he supposed, especially if Zhongli were serving the family in some way. Even if he were to escape from here unscathed, that didn’t hide the fact that he had effectively failed in his mission and would be unable to return home.

A shame, the homesickness was just starting to set in.

A low hum rumbles through his throat at the touch against his forehead albeit belatedly, and he closes his eyes to the motion. ]

Are you gonna stay in here with me to make sure I don’t off myself? You don’t have to worry about that.

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