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Childe walked through the bustling streets of Liyue with Zhongli, glancing at his hand every few seconds.
“Hey! Can we hold hands?”
“Would it be ok if we could hold hands?”
“I want to hold hands with you.”
“Your hand looks cold,” Childe noted. “Do you want me to hold it?” Cue the urge to smack himself.
Zhongli looked down at his hand, then up, then back down again. “I don’t know what gave you that impression, but don't worry, I’m wearing gloves so my hand is not cold.”
Childe chuckled weakly while he fanned himself as his face heated up from embarrassment.
He coughed. “Oh, you know, the weathers just been a bit cold lately so uh I tho-thought your hand might… be… cold?”
Zhongli tilted his head. “It’s in the middle of summer. Are you feeling alright? I know that with fevers, one sometimes tends to confuse temperatures-”
Frantically waving his hands, Childe spluttered. “No, no I’m fine! Nothing's wrong with me!”
An unconvinced eyebrow was raised. Zhongli huffed, giving Childe the side-eye while crossing his arms. “I see.”
“Hey!” Childe protested. “Don’t give me that look! I’m perfectly fine!”
“Of course you are,” Zhongli remarked, only glancing at Childe for a quick second before glancing away again. “It’s not like every time I see you again after you take a... ‘vacation’, you have a new scar or anything.”
Childe frowned as he viewed his lover's suspicious side glances, then sighed. “Ok, fine! I’ll tell you! You can stop acting like a concerned mother hen now.”
Zhongli wrinkled his nose at him. “I am not acting like a concerned mother hen.”
“I…” Childe paused and looked away, covering his mouth with the back of his hand in equal parts shame and embarrassment for what he was going to ask.
“You… what? Are you actually hurt somewhere?” Zhongli paused his weird side glances to inspect his body before getting pushed, gently, away by Childe.
“I, uh,” Childe coughed into his fist, looking everywhere but him. “Want to hold hands.”
Zhongli blinked. “Oh. Was that it? You’re not... hurt anywhere?”
“No, no. I just... wanted to... hold your… hand.”
“I... see.” Zhongli tried, unsuccessfully, to cover a snicker with an odd-sounding cough.
Childe narrowed his eyes and punched the other’s shoulder and started walking away. “Shush! We don’t have to! Just ignore what I said!”
Zhongli laughed as he jogged up and leaned over, lacing his hand with Childe’s. “I do apologize, you were too cute to resist teasing a bit.”
“Yeah, yeah. You’re cooking for us tonight.” He sniffed.
Zhongli smiled back fondly. “Sure, why not. Oh! Maybe I should make some hot soup since it’s oh-so-cold out-”
Childe tried to weasel his hand out of Zhongli’s with a scowl. “Oh, shut it!”
Zhongli just laughed as he squeezed Childe's hand and Childe grumbled under his breath while giving a stink-eye before eventually squeezing back.