It was a good thing neither of them needed to sleep, because Childe didn't have a bed. He didn't have much of anything, actually, at least from what Zhongli could see. Perhaps most of his possessions were stored on the top floor.

The top floor, way at the highest point of the watchtower, was the one place Childe had sheepishly requested Zhongli not go. Zhongli had agreed; everyone had a right to privacy, after all. He had no reason to believe Childe was hiding something nefarious. If Childe happened to give him a reason, well…privacy would have to come second. But for now, Childe would have his space, and Zhongli would have his.

Zhongli, as someone who required very little, did not have many possessions with him save for the clothes on his back. He had initially come to Snezhnaya for a simple visit, a few weeks wandering the countryside and exploring the little villages dotting the coast. While the denizens of Liyue would always take priority, it was a particular passion of his to get to know the peoples of the other six nations, too, so he made it a point to spend time among them. And while he was in between villages? Camping alone in a snowy forest with naught but your own mind for company turned out to be quite therapeutic, actually—presuming you were a god who was immune to hypothermia.

So, while Zhongli had ended up settling on one of the lower floors, far away from Childe, to spend most of his time on, it wasn't necessarily because he needed a lot of space or alone time. He considered himself an introvert, but being around a single person at a time was far from his limits. Rather, it was because being in close proximity to Childe's Abyssal energy for long periods of time drained him rather severely. Zhongli felt more tired than he'd been in a number of years.

That was why, initially, he avoided Childe almost completely. If he was being honest, it alarmed him how quickly Childe could wear him down into a weakened state. He did not speak to the monster unless spoken to, staying down low in his newly settled lodgings or otherwise taking a walk through the village for as long as he could bear the cold.

Still, he could tell Childe was excited about his presence. He would often detect that uncomfortable feeling of being watched, and sometimes see that loud red mask, that eerie purple eye, peering at him from a distance. Now, however, the sensation reminded him slightly less of being stalked by a predator and slightly more of being gawked at by a curious kitten who had not quite left its mother's nest and wanted to know who this new person was, coming in and breathing the same air as it. Zhongli would do his best to quietly slip out of Childe's sight.

They coexisted in this way for a week, perhaps, living only in each other's peripherals, and Zhongli had to admit that neither of them were content with it. Childe seemed restless, eager to make more connection, and Zhongli himself was stressed by this tension existing between him and his abnormal roommate. Still, he kept away. He was not going to approach this beast.

Not intentionally, of course.

As circumstance would have it, Zhongli was drawn out of the tower one morning by a vicious cracking sound and hurriedly made his way down to the docks. His brow furrowed in utter bewilderment at what he found.

The sleek sheet of ice over the sea had been marred by a gaping hole, jagged around the edges but likely deliberate. He stared at it, perplexed, for a few moments before the surface of the exposed water began to bubble, and then a large, masked head popped out of the ice.

"Oh, hey, Zhongli," the head said.

Zhongli blinked. "Childe…? May I ask what you're doing, exactly?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Childe sat his elbows on the ice and propped his chin atop his hands as if his actions were entirely normal. "I'm swimming!"

He had a long mane of ginger hair, and seeing it loose and wet around his shoulders, speckled with snowflakes and tousled with wind rather than slicked back in thick, wiry locks as it had been while dry was almost enough to make Zhongli chuckle. He looked ridiculous, if Zhongli was being quite honest, like a long-haired cat who had just been given a bath.

"…Right, of course you are," Zhongli said.

"Care to join me? The water's great!" He paused. "Actually, the water's pretty terrible, but you get used to it."

Zhongli raised an eyebrow. "Thank you, but I will have to pass."

Childe shrugged. "Suit yourself," he said, and ducked back under the water.

Zhongli watched his shadow move under the ice. He stayed under for a long time—such a large form must allow for large lung capacity, he supposed, or perhaps Childe simply didn't need to breathe at all. Zhongli couldn't imagine how he could stand the freezing temperatures down there. It was bad enough on land. Zhongli huddled into his woolen coat. He may be immune to hypothermia, but he was not immune to something so primal as temperature.

"Say, Childe," Zhongli said the next time Childe surfaced. The monster made an inquisitive noise. "Why go through the trouble of breaking through the ice if you want to swim? You might choose to fly out to where the water is melted next time."

"Oh, I can't go that far," Childe said.

"Pardon?"

"I can't," Childe said, as if it were obvious. He snorted when Zhongli took a moment to respond. "Really, Zhongli, do you think I would stay in this town all the time if I had the chance to leave?" He chuckled to himself, glancing back down at the water. He gasped all of a sudden, raising Zhongli's alarm, before he exclaimed, "Oh my gods, Zhongli—do you see that?!" And then he was gone, diving back into the frigid depths.

So, Zhongli thought to himself, that was important to note: Childe was stuck in Morepesok.

It wasn't at all surprising once Zhongli thought about it. Childe was right; there was no reason for a sentient being like him to confine itself to solitude for so long if there had been other options.

Childe's head emerged again. "I saw a shadow," he said gloomily. "I thought it might have been a narwhal."

"Was it a rock?" Zhongli guessed.

"It was a rock." He heaved a dramatic sigh. "I should have known. It's too cold for anything to live here anymore." He was gone once more.

It almost made Zhongli feel bad for the creature. He's…lonely. Despite himself, Zhongli felt his resolve slipping. He had always had a soft spot for outcasts.

Surely it couldn't hurt to spend a little time around him. Zhongli knew his limits. If it became too much, he would simply step away. Yes, this would be acceptable.

And so he decided to hang around him the rest of the day, to Childe's pleasant surprise. It was suspicious, though; logically, Childe should be experiencing a similar drainage of energy from spending time around Zhongli, but if he was affected, he showed no sign of it. He maintained his bubbly nature and stuck to Zhongli's side like a burr until the latter had to kindly shoo him away when evening came because please, Childe, if I spend one more hour with you, I think I may pass out.

He didn't say that, of course. But even as he began to stop avoiding Childe, he still managed to garner what alone time he needed, which was either spent exploring the village or perusing the surprising amount of books Childe had in the watchtower. In fact, there was a whole floor dedicated as a sort of library, which Childe showed to him on the second day Zhongli tentatively decided to spend with him.

"Most of them have gotten wet at some point," Childe admitted when he first showed them to Zhongli, "since I had to transport them here from their respective houses. But other than that they're in decent shape. A guy's gotta keep himself entertained, right?"

"Indeed," Zhongli said, perusing the collection with intrigue. Many of the books were written in the common tongue, but a fair few were in Snezhnayan, as well. There was quite a wide variety as well, from Snezhnayan folklore to cheap yet feel-good romance novels to thick scientific tomes. Zhongli had been reading books for as long as books had been around, so naturally, he recognized a few. One caught his eye, though, because its title was a word in a language evidently not seen anywhere in Teyvat. He recognized it and picked it up with wonder.

Childe perked up when he saw what Zhongli was holding. "Oh, you've found the Iliad!" he exclaimed. "That's one of my favorites."

"I have heard of this poem, but have never managed to secure a book for myself," Zhongli said in awe. "It is very rare that we are able to obtain a story from another world, and rarer still that it is put down into writing. Very few copies of this story exist in Teyvat, and they are highly sought after. However did you manage to acquire this?"

"All my books come from what the villagers left behind," Childe said. "This used to belong to a retired adventurer." He seemed to ponder the book. "I'm not quite sure where he got it from, though."

"Incredible," Zhongli said, passing his fingers over the cover. "May I borrow it?"

"Sure," Childe said. "Just, uh…" His voice lowered into something meek. "Take care of it, please. It's really important to me."

Zhongli smiled. "I understand. No harm shall come to it." He spent the better part of that evening engrossed in the poem.

The next day, Zhongli gave him a spar in thanks.

Childe whooped as the tip of Zhongli's polearm barely missed his midriff, fizzling out of existence and re-materializing immediately behind Zhongli to swing a punch towards his head, which Zhongli blocked. "That was a close one!"

That was the most annoying part about Childe's fighting, Zhongli thought with an internal huff as he swatted the monster away from him. The teleportation.

Childe was good at head-to-head combat. His great brawn and refined melee skills made him a worthy adversary, but Zhongli wasn't known as a martial god for nothing. Millenia mastering the polearm combined with his own godly strength made him virtually unbeatable, and Childe had not yet managed to so much as nick him.

Childe had seemed to realize this a little ways into the spar, so he had switched to a different tactic. He'd taken to using his abilities to flit in and out of sight, leaving Zhongli to guess where he would appear next. He still had the upper hand, but it certainly made maintaining it more tedious.

The hum of electro filled Zhongli's ears as Childe's form wavered again. He listened closely, and while it only took a second for Childe to phase through the air, he could hear the sounds of the energy most loudly from above him.

There!

Childe appeared a few meters above his head, spiraling down in a plunge attack, but Zhongli had already summoned a counter attack, and his geo construct smacked Childe out of the air. Childe somersaulted in the air, recovering before he could hit the wall, and cocked his head at Zhongli.

"Woah, how'd you do that?"

"How did I do what?" Zhongli said, because it was funny.

"Oh, don't be annoying," Childe complained, but there was a grin in his voice. "How did you guess where I'd teleport?"

"Electro is quite the noisy element." He threw his spear with perfect precision, and Childe yelped, barely managing to duck beneath it. He snatched its shaft as it ricocheted off the wall, throwing it straight back. Zhongli laughed as he caught it.

"What are you?" Childe exclaimed, bemused. "No human fights that way."

Zhongli flashed him a mysterious smile. "Perhaps not."

His smile dropped suddenly. Wait…was that the only reason he suspected Zhongli might not be human?

That confirmed it, then: either Childe wasn't affected by Zhongli's Celestial aura at all, or the effect was so miniscule he hadn't even noticed. That…shouldn't be right. He had heard many an Abyssal creature, from the Mages all the way up to the Heralds, lament his overpowering presence. It was meant to be as stifling to them as they were to Zhongli. So what was so different about Childe? Why was he so different than others of his kind? Why—

Zhongli's feet slipped up from under him, and he hit the ground with a pair of large hands pinning his shoulders. Childe's masked face loomed over him, and his glee was palpable. Ah, Zhongli's distracted state had left him open.

"Hahaha! Yes! I finally got you!" Childe crowed.

Zhongli chuckled. "So you did," he said. "Well done." Despite his trapped, vulnerable state, he was surprised to find that his muscles were relaxed, as if his body knew Childe would not hurt it.

Childe floated upwards, offering Zhongli a hand, which he took, letting the monster effortlessly pull him upwards. Like this, with Childe a colossal figure above him, it was hard to ignore just how gargantuan he was. It wasn't just his height—he had a wide chest, a broad back, and he could probably crush a chair under one of those giant boots of his. He couldn't help but let a line of poetry drift to mind, one that he had read only the previous night:

"Who then is this other Achaean warrior, valiant and tall, towering above the Argives with his head and massive shoulders?"

Zhongli would probably have had an easier time fighting him if he had bothered to shapeshift; his own true form, while not quite as tall as Childe, was a reasonably large body of its own, easily adding an extra two feet to his six-foot stature (not counting the golden dragon horns, of course). But he'd keep that particular card stored up his sleeve for now. If Childe hadn't figured out exactly what he was yet, it couldn't hurt to keep that secret close to his chest.

Childe, on the other hand, seemed to be an open book. "Is using my electro abilities really that noisy?" he mused, legs lifting up to sit criss-cross in midair. "I wonder how I could be stealthier, then. You'll have to give me feedback!"

"Sure," Zhongli said.

It probably wasn't the best idea to help his natural enemy improve his combat abilities. But the excited cheer Childe let out in response and the way he began chatting away was so…unlike what Zhongli had first pegged him as that it made him stop and stare. His personality was so normal in spite of what he was. He didn't act like what he was.

But what was he, exactly?

And it was then that Zhongli realized he might have been too quick in criticizing Childe's failure to question Zhongli's identity, because he now realized that he too may have assumed. It was becoming quite clear that whatever species Childe was, it was much different than any Zhongli had ever encountered, and so he must navigate dealing with it in a completely new way. It was good to have knowledge, and it was good to keep your wits about you while in unfamiliar territory. But it was also important to throw some of those preconceived notions to the winds and observe your subject from a new perspective.

So, what had he observed?

Childe was odd. He was trigger-happy and relished in violence but yet grew excited to show Zhongli his favorite book. He was an absolute tank that could withstand Zhongli's geo attacks and brave freezing cold water, but he did so because he found these things entertaining, like hobbies. He seemed to have a conscience outside of the Abyssal hivemind, however skewed and twisted it might be.

Zhongli could work with minds. The way to do so was to charm, to get on their good sides. Then, when it was time to make a move and actually complete the task assigned to you, you had them in your corner and at your disposal. And as open as Childe was now that they were talking, he had mentioned very little about the curse since that first day. Zhongli needed that information.

So he did offer Childe sparring feedback in the weeks to come. He did try to spend what time as he could around him, chatting about the weather ("Nice day today, huh?" "Childe, it's still blizzarding.") and discussing the latest developments in Zhongli's reading. ("If you could pick any character to have a fight with, who would it be?" "I don't think that's the point of the story." "You're so boring! I want to fight Hector.") He even dipped his toes into the icy seawater one morning, much to Childe's delight and amusement, even though he had to stop once the water reached his knees.

"My apologies, Childe, but I am n-not quite as suited for this sort of activity as you are," Zhongli said, a bout of shivers seizing him.

"Just a little more?" Childe, who was already bobbing in the water, pleaded.

He dared to sink his leg an inch further in, then immediately pulled it back out, cringing. "No."

Childe laughed at the grimace on his face. "Okay, okay! Let's go inside." He emerged from the water and shook like a dog, mercifully far enough away that Zhongli didn't get splashed. Zhongli wasted no time in speeding back to the…not exactly warmth, but at least shelter of the watchtower.

"I had half a mind to pull you in by your feet and dunk you," said Childe, poking at the coals in the fireplace. "But I'm not that mean."

Zhongli shuffled his chair closer to the flames grouchily. "You'd have regretted it," he grumbled, but it was far from a true threat.

Childe chuckled at his sorry state. "Alright, wait here. I'll be right back." He sprang upwards, disappearing into the upper floors of the tower. Zhongli watched with mild curiosity, but was ultimately more focused on warming himself up.

Childe descended again not long after, something long and red gathered in his hands. Zhongli barely registered what was happening until the item was wrapped twice around his neck; he struggled against Childe's hands, and the latter made a noise of frustration.

"Hold still!" Childes complained, and once Zhongli realized that he was not, in fact, trying to strangle him, he did, trying to blink away the sudden wave of dizziness caused by their proximity.

The scarf was soft and very thick, and the knitting was charmingly imperfect in a way that meant it must be homemade. Zhongli feathered his fingers over it, wondering if this was another belonging Childe had pilfered from a villager's hastily-abandoned house.

Whatever its origin, it was nicer and thicker than the flimsy scarf he was already wearing, and it was also wonderfully warm. Relieved, Zhongli burrowed into it, closing his eyes.

"Better?" There was a smile in Childe's voice.

"Indeed. Thank you, Childe."

"Don't mention it! You're my guest, after all," Childe said cheerfully. "And it's probably not so cold where you come from, huh?"

Zhongli nodded. "That is true. While it is not impossible for us to get snow or other bouts of extreme weather, Liyue is known for a much milder climate."

"Liyue, huh?" Childe settled down on his armchair. "I've never been. What's it like there?"

"I wouldn't expect you to have," said Zhongli. "And that depends on what you are asking about. Would you like to know about the social environment there? Or perhaps the thriving economy? I could tell you about the wonderful gastronomy we enjoy."

"I'll listen to as much as you have to say!" Childe said. "We have all the time in the world."

"You are quite correct." Zhongli dipped his head. "Then perhaps I should begin with the landscapes, and what Liyue is like as a place on the map…"

Childe was an attentive listener. He asked questions often and seemed genuinely enthusiastic about the things Zhongli had to share (although he did admit that economics usually bored him to tears, so Zhongli spared him that particular spiel).

Zhongli found himself content as well. The physical illness he felt was possible to push to the back of his mind for the most part as he focused on his own words; discussing his people and his country never failed to make him feel pride and happiness. It felt good to share these things with someone so willing to learn. He felt almost regretful by the time his body became overwhelmed and he had to end the conversation under the guise of simply being tired.

"Alright. Well, it was nice talking to you. You're a cool guy, you know?" Childe rose from his chair. "Goodnight then."

"Goodnight, Childe."

Childe began to leave him, then paused, as if he'd forgotten something.

"Is something wrong?" Zhongli questioned.

"No, but…" Childe turned back around. "Would you like me to get you a bed? I know you've been having to sleep on the chairs up until now."

Zhongli blinked. Oh. Despite having discerned that Zhongli was not exactly human, Childe must still be under the impression that his body required sleep, or at least that he had been sleeping.

"That will not be necessary," he assured. "I am comfortable as I am."

Childe snorted. "I know that's a lie. No one would be after sleeping upright for over a week!"

Before Zhongli had time to ask how he could possibly know that, Childe was making for the door. "Okay, I'll be back soon. Hang tight and don't go to sleep yet!" Then he was gone.

Zhongli couldn't help but feel a little touched. It was a nice gesture. And if he was being honest, a proper night's rest in a real bed did sound appealing. He didn't need sleep to survive, but it was still something he indulged in rather often, as he found it calmed and refreshed him.

So when Childe came back towing a large mattress, several pillows, and a heap of warm blankets, Zhongli couldn't find it in him to protest anymore. He even felt endeared as Childe fussed about, laying the blankets flat and doing his best not to rip anything with his claws.

"I didn't get the bed frame because I didn't think it would actually fit in the door," the creature explained. "I'll probably have to take it apart to get it in here. Project for tomorrow?"

Zhongli had to smile. "Alright. Thank you, Childe. Your efforts are much appreciated," he said, and was surprised to find how much he meant it.

Childe made to leave again, but Zhongli called out to him. "Childe?"

He turned around. "What's up?"

"Do you have the ability to sleep?"

Childe paused. "I think you can hazard a guess," he joked, but his voice had become more subdued.

Zhongli's brows creased. He had assumed sleep might be the one escape Childe had from the monotony of all those years he'd lived alone here, but apparently, he didn't even get that small mercy.

"Childe, I don't need to sleep. I may do so if I wish, but I also have the ability to remain awake indefinitely," he said. "I will stay up with you, if you wish."

Childe looked almost guilty. "Zhongli, you don't need to do that."

"But I am offering," Zhongli said patiently.

Childe seemed to struggle with himself for a moment. He shook his head. "Maybe another time," he said. "But not tonight. I want you to rest."

Zhongli gave in. "Whatever you desire, Childe."

Childe retreated to his floor, and Zhongli sank into the makeshift bed. The plush mattress, warm fire, and comfortable blankets were the perfect cure for his sore body after a week of living in these harsh elements, and he sighed in contentment as he finally achieved a moment of true rest. And to think, it was all because of Childe.

Why the Abyssal being was treating him like a friend, Zhongli couldn't say. But surely it couldn't be all bad to repay kindness with kindness. He could almost wonder if it would be okay to consider him a friend in return.