you hide your face with your disguise // 'cause someone filled your head with lies

[monoceroscaeli]

[It had been a few days since the hunt for the Great Mujina Youkai had come to an end, having to say goodbye to the kids and to Yoimiya too. The ship that was to take him back to Snezhnaya would be arriving a bit later in the day, and Childe sighs as he sits back in his chair in the tent he's occupying in one such hidden Fatui camp. He had a great time in Inazuma. The country was beautiful, rich with a new culture to learn and all sorts of places to explore and fight new and more exciting enemies. All his things were in order- the gifts that he'd bought to bring back to his family, Teucer's Onikabuto in a little bug box with some food to keep it alive during the trip back- all he'd have to do is wait for the ship and he'd be on his way.

He tells himself that he'd return to the country one day, once tensions between the Fatui and the Shogunate calm down. It was a miracle that he was able to stay as long as he has, evading the Tenryou Commission. He has some people to thank for that, and he won't forget what they did for him while he's been here. Some gifts would be in order for them upon his return.

The Harbinger idly plays with a writing utensil between his fingers. He'd like to bring something from Snezhnaya for Yoimiya, too.

There's a sharp rap at his door, and Childe sighs. He doesn't really want to deal with work right now, perfectly happy reminiscing on the time he's spent in Inazuma before he leaves, but answers with a bored tone to his voice:]

Come in.

[An agent enters, bowing and standing at attention.]

Sir, we've captured a Tenryou Commission spy that was found sneaking around. We've taken her into custody and are awaiting your orders on how to deal with her.

[Childe's eyebrow raises. It should have been hard to find this camp, even by the Shuumatsuban. Somehow, doubt creeps into his mind, but stands from his chair.]

Alright, I'll deal with it myself. At least I can have one last bit of fun before I depart.

[The agent only bows once more, to lead Childe towards the prisoner. He knows better than to argue with the Harbinger, but feels sorry for the spy. The two cross the camp to another tent, the agent stopping him right before lifting the flap for his senior commander.]

She claims to be from the fireworks shop, but we've seen Tenryou soldiers stop frequently at it.

[Before he can answer, the flap is lifted to reveal a certain girl that he'd met not but a few days ago...]

Comments

[monoceroscaeli]

[Look at this angry little goldfish. He didn't know goldfish could huff at all.

He folds his arms over his chest, letting her just go at it and get all that steam out. He knows that mussing her hair was going to get a reaction like this out of her, so he's going to sit back and enjoy his little hot-headed fireworks queen go off. She's really worked up and he's excited to see how far she's going to grow as a warrior. Really, he couldn't be more proud.]

Haha, then I expect that you won't let me down.

[Taking the time to at least figure out these new powers of hers would be beneficial...for everyone's sakes.]

But give me a little time to figure out how to really push you. This has given me a lot of food for thought.

[niwabi]

[ Even though she obtained a small victory, it somehow still feels like Ajax is the real winner in all of this...

Not only did he get to fight, but his girlfriend uncovered unknown powers and he gets to fight over and over again? Yeah, this can easily be considered a W for him. Too bad Yoimiya herself is none the wiser. She's just happy he finally acknowledged her a little bit. ]

Okay! I'm not scared of you. I'll rise up to any challenge you throw my way.

[ At least she's gained a little bit more confidence through this fight. There is one thing Yoimiya isn't going to let slide. Grinning, she brings her hand to the side of his face to tug on his cheek, just for good measure. ]

That's what you get for calling me boring.

[monoceroscaeli]

[He almost laughs. He's glad she's not scared of him, she's one of the few who he wouldn't want to be scared of him. Everyone else though, they should be scared. They should be terrified.

But when she starts tugging on his cheek, he frowns, making all sorts of protest noises at her.]

Owwwww...perhaps you should learn to be a little scared of me. That hurts...

[It doesn't hurt. He's being a giant baby.]

[niwabi]

[ Having dealt with children her whole life, Yoimiya knows a baby when she sees one. And right now, she's staring at the biggest ginger baby she's ever laid eyes on. Her diabolical giggles fill the air as she proceeds to squeeze his cheek like he's the cutest baby in all of Teyvat. Goochie Goochie Goo ]

Awww, baby Ajax can't handle a little squeeze? Where's the big bad Harbinger who summoned that whale?

[ But, she does feel a little bad for popping off at him. After giving him one last squeeze, she pulls her hand away to stand on her tiptoes and give him a small peck on the cheek. ]

All better now?

[monoceroscaeli]

[It doesn't stop, she keeps tugging and squeezing his cheek. Tartaglia grumbles underneath the Pinchy Yoi Attack, eye closing on the side where that kiss gets placed as she does it.]

No, [he pouts, but he's fine.] It still hurts, right here.

[He points to his cheek where she was squeezing it, still pouting at her.]

Big bad Harbingers need additional care for all the hard work they do.

[niwabi]

[ Archons help, he's sounding more and more like a gigantic baby with each passing second. It takes every ounce of willpower to not double over with laughter as he points at his cheeky like a brat wanting to be spoiled. She wonders how his coworkers would react if they saw their Eleventh acting like a baby. ]

Hmmmm. Normally I would agree, you do work your butt off and deserve a little extra attention.

[ Unfortunately for him, she also knows how to act like a huge brat. ]

But you were being a huge stinker in our fight.

[monoceroscaeli]

[Now it's Tartaglia's turn to huff. He knows how he was acting during the fight, but he feels like he's justified in his actions. His angry gf needs to know how to handle a Harbinger for what she's asking for him to allow her to do!]

Ah, I was simply showing you a sliver of what you're going to go up against. I was hardly being a 'stinker'. This is what battle is.

[He folds his arms over his chest and gives a small little huff again, as if she were falsely accusing him of something.]

I just like to have a little fun while I'm at it, is all. Fighting talk is one of my favorite things to do. It brings a level of heat to it all, taunting your opponent. Sometimes, you can even make them angry enough that they slip up- and then you punish them for it.

[( ๑‾̀◡‾́)✨]

[niwabi]

[ Oh, that huff is splendid. She's over the moon now that the tables are turned and he's the one acting like a huffy child. Yoimiya hears everything he's saying and even kind of gets it. Kind of. In the face of his fighting talk, she simply rolls her eyes right at his face with no shame or guilty conscience. ]

When you put it like that I suppose it makes sense. Even if they're cheap tactics, I guess you gotta do what you gotta do to gain the upperhand. But you want to know what you sound like to me? A brat.

[ Not that she has any room to talk but details, details. Of course that's not all, she has something else to add: ]

A huge brat stinking up the air.

[ She even goes as far as to cover her nose and make a show of batting the air away.

(≖ᴗ≖) ]

[monoceroscaeli]

[WTF cheap tactics? It's all a part of the experience, how dare she say that. It's like she's itching to fight him again, right? This is clearly her trying to rile him up to go at it, because why else would she say that? Why would anyone say that? Calling him a brat, what a hypocrite...]

Excuse you!

[Tartaglia sets his arms akimbo, feeling the itch to draw his blades in his fingertips...]

Perhaps you'd smell too if you were actually trying during our fight. Those stars did all the hard work for you.

[His mom taught him to be polite, but right now, with his sassy girlfriend all bets are off the table. He lifts his arm, and starts wafting his BO at her as he fans it with his hand!]

[niwabi]

[ She is absolutely eating up his reaction after all the shit he gave her during their battle. The grin on her lips curves even wider as she listens to him sound so indignant. He even sets his hands on his hips!! Riling him up and getting a reaction out of him is exactly what she wanted. ]

Excuse you. Big talk coming from the guy who had to bring out a whale to try and stop me.

[ But then her smug aura changes when he starts drifting the "smell" right back her. Yoimiya feigns looking horrorstruck as she covers both her mouth and nose. He doesn't actually stink, she's just being a brat. ]

Yuck! You need to take a shower, mister. Your BO is putrifying the air! Ughh... are you sure it's from the battle? Or did you actually fart?

[ Dragging my hands down my face at this dialogue. ]

[monoceroscaeli]

[Whether or not he actually smells is irrelevant to him, she's recoiling and actually takes a few steps closer to her for the fun of it all. If he's gunna be stinky, he'll give her something to call him stinky about!]

I don't know, [he sasses right back,] I don't normally allow myself to do something so crude in front of others. But if it makes you regret your words, I suppose using another weapon in my arsenal isn't out of the question.

[Too bad he doesn't have to fart. Maybe if he eats a whole bunch of vegetables and digests it later he'll fart on her when she's least expecting it.]

For now, suffer in the face of my battle-stink.

[Sniff him Yoimiya his armpit is right there]

[niwabi]

[ Oh Archons help. What has she done??? Only Ajax would somehow harness the power of farts as a weapon. She feels like she's made a mistake by bringing this up but that's okay, it just means she has to fight fire with fire.

Which includes eating the spiciest food Sumeru has to offer. Watch out Teyvat, this will be the most terrible battle of the century. But for now, she's more concerned about this smelly mofo walking closer and closer to her. Yoimiya leans in to give him one good sniff and it's not long until she's springing away from him. ]

Ewwwwwww! Get away from me you walking stink bomb!

[ And with that, she runs, all the while biting down on her bottom lip to hold in her giggles. ]

[monoceroscaeli]

[It's too much, he has to do a small little spit-take as she sniffs his armpit, screeches and runs away. He wasn't expecting her to do that and that was really funny, so naturally there's only one thing he can do now.

Give chase!]

Oh no, you won't get away that easily. Come here and give me a hug, Yoimiya!

[Time to run after her, sprinting until he can at least get just within arm's length so he can keep a good close distance to her without actually catching her. Just to put the pressure of him on her back for a minute or two (*-`ω´- )人]

[niwabi]

[ Yoimiya took off running knowing full well he would give chase. As ridiculous as this convo is, it's doing wonders to raise her spirits and put her in a better mood. A welcome change of pace from all the doom and gloom from earlier. So, she keeps running away from him but not so fast to where he can't keep up with her. ]

Noooooo! I don't want to get infected by your stink!!!

[ She squeals, feigning terror in her voice. She senses that he's right behind her so she purposely slows down, curious to see if he'll swoop in to give her a big ol' smelly hug. ]

If you hug me... I'll become a stinker too.

[ GASP-P!! But lbr she's already a giant stinker. ]

[monoceroscaeli]

[Here he comes! He can tell Yoimiya isn't running as fast as she can away from him, and he catches up to her easily enough. They're both acting like such children, but he's having a blast doing it, laughing as he grins wickedly behind her.]

If all goes according to plan-!

[He takes advantage of the opening she gives him, catching her from behind once he's gotten an appropriate squeal out of her and giving her that stinky hug he promised. Tartaglia wraps his arms around her, twirls her around in a circle, and laughs victoriously now that he's caught his Yoifish.]

Hahahaha, now you're just as smelly as I am. Did you really think you could outrun a Harbinger?

[Because now that he's caught her he's not letting go! His Yoimiya!]

[niwabi]

Eeek-!

[ He catches her just as planned. She lets out a cutesy squeal as soon as his arms are wrapped around her. This little act is something children would do but she doesn't care, she's having the time of her life and it shows through her giggles as she's being twirled around. ]

Oh nooooooo~! I've been caught by the big bad Harbinger. Now I'm stinky just like him...

[ She says as if his stench isn't already all over her. This counts as a win for Mr. Eleventh Harbinger, he's successfully managed to reel in his Yoifish and now, there's no escaping him. Try as she might, she's unable to free herself from him. Not that she's trying very hard to begin with, a hug from him is just what she wanted. ]

How will I ever recover from this?

[monoceroscaeli]

[He's sure that she's feeling a lot better than before they had their spar. The giggles definitely give it away, and he's glad she's not in such a bad mood anymore, so he'll capitalize on it and keep his Yoi in a good mood.]

I'm not sure, few have managed to recover after an attack like this...

[Tartaglia hunches over her shoulder, nuzzling his cheek against hers as he laughs mischievously...]

Perhaps the only remedy is to throw you right in the lake. It could be the only way to wash this stink away. That is, until the moment you leave it...I'll just catch you again.

[niwabi]

[ So scary, first the whale and now Ajax's stink attack? Maybe she should be counting her blessings that she made it out unscathed today... she thinks to herself while giggling. She can tell he's trying hard to keep her in a good mood by acting silly and it's working. There's no way she could stay mad as he cutely nuzzles his cheek against hers.

It's so sweet. She's more than happy to reciprocate by leaning her back and snuggling against him. ]

Oooh, relentless, aren't ya? Sounds like your stench will be all over my body forever. [ a beat ] Unless...

[ She looks over her shoulder with a grin tugging at the corners of her lips. ]

Why don't we hop into a lake, together? I hear it's really pretty at night with the moon shining down upon it.

[monoceroscaeli]

[Childe is definitely shamelessly enjoying Yoimiya's reciprocated snuggles. He gives the side of her head a little kiss before he adopts a grin of his own- what a naughty, dirty girlfriend he has.]

I didn't know you were open to skinny dipping.

[But he's not surprised. Not in the slightest.]

Sounds delightful. Shall we?

[He's definitely ready to leave the training area, now that his mind is wandering in a different direction from fighting. Besides, when was the last time they actually bathed since they got to Vanaranara?]

[niwabi]

[ The kiss to the side of her head is sweeter than her beloved candied apples. Giggling, she relishes in his affections, and seeing him openly enjoying her snuggles makes her want to spoil him even more for being such a sweet boy. She nuzzles her cheek against his to soak in his warmth and it's then, her dirty boyfriend hits her with a suggestion that's pleasing to her ears. ]

Oh? When did I say anything about skinny dipping? [ She with a sneaky grin, totally feigning innocence. ] I think you're more naughty than me.

[ As much as she wants to stay in this position, duty calls! And now that she ponders on it... yeah, they do kind of stink. She places a soft kiss on his cheek before untangling herself from him. ]

Let's go! After today, we could use a nice soak in the crystal clear water.

[ With their fingers intertwined, she takes his hand and leads him to the silapna's entrance. ]

[monoceroscaeli]

[He's got the urge to turn that around on her, but it's better to be patient and strike at the perfect, precise moment- so he laughs a little under his breath instead. Yoimiya leads them to the exit of their training ground, and as they exit, the village comes back into view but with far less Aranara milling about. Good for them, they can sneak off without someone following them out of curiosity.]

If I recall, there's a small lake right outside of the village this way. If there's monsters, I'm sure we can dispatch them quickly.

[Looking around, Tartaglia makes sure they aren't followed, tugging on her hand to head over to the little lake. Large vegetation surrounds it just like in Vanaranara, but the moment they leave the dream, he can feel reality sink back into their bones. The moon hangs closely overhead, giving everything a milky-white hue, and eliminates any need for a light source.]

I hope you don't mind if the water is a bit cold. You can fix that though, right?

[niwabi]

[ After taking on that monster whale, taking on a few fungi and stray hilichurls will be like a walk in the park. She gives his hand a gentle squeeze as she peers around the vicinity, their two companions aren't in sight, no doubt they're probably still cooking up dinner for the two of them. But that works in their favor, they should hopefully have some time to themselves while their Aranara counterparts are hard at work in the kitchen.

Stepping out of Vanarana will always feel so surreal to her, almost like they've woken up from a long dream. She takes a short moment to soak in the environment, taking in a deep breath as the cool night breeze whisps across her skin. ]

Of course. I have plenty of tricks up my sleeve to ensure the water is nice and toasty for us.

[ Is it another goldfish? Probably. It's always goldfish when it comes to her.

Hand-in-hand, Yoimiya guides him through a grassy path leading to an alcove nestled in the middle of the tall leaf-like trees. Every so often, she finds herself glancing up at the sky to admire the milky-white moon above them. The moonlight shining down on the forest is stunning, she's able to clearly the signs of a lake just ahead of them. ]

Don't forget, Arajax and Aramiya are preparing dinner for us. We shouldn't keep them waiting too long.

[monoceroscaeli]

[Sumeru has proven to be a really interesting, beautiful place to visit. Even little spots like these where they can find refuge in a small alcove is just another proof of its splendor, and as they reach the water he takes a moment to take it all in. If only their adventure were to allow more serene moments like this between the fighting and the tension...though in some ways, he wrestles with himself over the fact that others whom he loves are getting roped into these battles.]

So you're saying I can't keep you all to myself tonight? I suppose I'll relent and allow it...

[Laughing, Tartaglia takes his boots and socks off first, so he can dip a toe into the water. It's maybe a little cold for his liking, but then it's definitely not the coldest water he's ever plunged into.]

Mmmmm, this might need your touch to be comfortable for us tonight. If you could.

[Meanwhile, he'll just start stripping while she does that, looking forward to a nice little bath with Yoimiya out in the middle of nowhere ;)]

[niwabi]

[ He supposes he'll relent and allow it..... she swears, she's got the silliest boyfriend in all of Teyvat. Poor Arajax and Aramiya catching strays like this, but truthfully, she feels the same way. If she could, she'd love to have him all to herself and spend every waking second with him.

But nevermind them, she's more interested in watching her hunk of a man strip. Her eyes are practically glued to him as he removes his boots and socks. But, it sounds like her lovely boyfriend is cold and there's no way she can stand for that. ]

I got just the thing to keep you warm.

[ With a snap of her fingers, Yoimiya summons a cute little firey goldfish familiar that will follow them around to provide them with warmth. She gently motions her hand to guide to Ajax, acting like a mini furance and providing some light for him to see.

Yeah, she purposely sent a light his way so she can watch him strip. HUFFS. ]

That lil fella should keep you warm and toasty. If that ain't enough, let me know and I'll make another one since you're being sweet.

[ As she lets her blonde hair fall to her shoulders, she sends another wink his way and begins stripping out of her clothes as well. The first thing to go is her geta and hair accessories until eventually, she's down to unwrapping the sarashi around her chest and hips. ]

[monoceroscaeli]

[He can feel her eyes on him, and inwardly he's got to laugh- Yoimiya isn't hiding that she's liking what she's seeing. He tosses his clothing into a pile on the shore as the goldfish warms him and illuminates his skin in the night air...he sees what you're about, Yoimiya.]

Are you sure you wouldn't want to send another one my way just for yourself?

[He smirks at her, now completely naked in front of his girl as he watches on while she undresses so they can get in the water. He walks over, slipping his hands around her middle, unabashedly feeling her body up a bit as she unwraps the sarashi.]

Or, perhaps, I can give you a hand?

[Showing Yoimiya a little love is overdue since their escape from Sumeru City- and he's missed it.]