[ Childe raises one eyebrow at those words especially when that physical response makes them speak a completely different kind of context than they would alone. However, despite being clearly caught, Aether insists on not spilling any further information, and even claiming he wouldn't mind if it was Childe. ]
Ah ha, is that so?
[ Shifting to rest one elbow on the arm of the couch and prop up his chin in his hand, Childe smiles an extremely friendly smile now— ]
If that's how you feel about it, it's a done deal, then~!
[ —but then it turns just a little bit predatory. Only a little bit, but it's very reminiscent of something he might show in a fight when he gets a little too excited about having an upper hand on an extremely worthy opponent. He makes a beckoning motion towards Aether with his free hand using one finger, inviting him to come over to the Harbinger. ]
My only stipulation is you give me a show of the work you'll be doing since you don't seem to want to talk about it. This loan is going to have my name on it as much as yours, and it's not that I don't trust you, aibou, it's juuussssst I want to make sure I'm satisfied with the kind of work quality I'll be getting here, since you are a bit of a unique client. You aren't exactly a resident of Teyvat that I can guarantee will always be locatable until the debt is paid.
[ That smiles eases back to the much friendlier one, now very much patiently waiting for the response.
[So Childe expects Aether to — what, come over to him and crawl into his lap? Not an altogether unpleasant demand, but given the context, Aether scowls about it. And yet, all the same, he rises to his feet, crossing the table to where Childe is sitting. He settles down next to him, pressing their bodies coyly together, and then —
— he flicks Childe on the nose with a gentle finger, scowling.]
Settle down. It's not what you're thinking.
[The traveler unfolds himself just slightly. Hips pressed into the armchair, legs extended to the side. Aether never really looks tired — there's a sort of ethereal quality to the way that he looks, even when he's haggard from a rough sparring match or slightly bruised — but there's something deeply exhausted hiding behind his irises as he stares dully at Childe's face. Clearly, he spent a lot of time stressing about this.]
He asked me to do — normal things, at first. Go here, guard that, make sure this caravan reaches its destination, clear the road. And I just thought he was... friendly. He'd put a hand on my shoulder, or touch my hair...
[He shakes his head, unsmiling.]
But now he — now all he wants is for me to be his "bodyguard." So he can keep me close, and pull me by the waist, or rest his hand on my back. And I know what he's leading up to. He's not very subtle. He's not going to say the debt is paid until I've slept with him.
[A final sigh of disgust. He traces an isle pattern into the leather armrest beneath Childe's sleeve.]
I know that I don't have to be — rescued. I could hurt him if I wanted to. I know that. I just... don't have the appetite for it. That's why I thought, with you... even if I have to work for the Fatui...
[ Why couldn't Aether just play coy by crawling into his lap first, and then smashing his dick with his knee or something, instead? (Nose flick is certainly preferrable to that, but depending how kind Aether was the pain would have been worth it. probably.)
Childe sighs dramatically, his posture crumpling as he flops against the back of the couch in a bit of a sulk. Still, it doesn't last long, listening quietly as Aether opens up about it. The harbinger keeps eye contact with Aether as long as he does him, but otherwise says nothing until he's finished.
After a moment, he hums thoughtfully before pointedly asking: ]
Do you have an actual price on your debt, then? Besides, what even makes you think he's going to accept the money if he's that intent on sticking it in? I'm not saying I'm not going to help you if you want me to, but this sounds like you'd be better off with a lawyer on work harassment charges rather than a "go get a big loan from the local rich bad guy brigade" kind of solution. What if you take the loan out and then he refuses? Or worse, takes it only on condition you sleep with him? Now you're in debt twice.
[A pause. ]
I mean, unless you want me to hurt him because you don't want to.
[Smashing Childe's dick with a knee is becoming increasingly appealing, especially as he bombards Aether with questions that the traveler frankly doesn't want to answer. Aether sighs sharply, wondering if the sense of exhaustion permeating his bones is because he's sick, but the sense of pressure behind his eyelids is closer to a headache borne from disgust than anything else. His voice is soft but laced with bitterness.]
...I didn't even want to tell you about it. What makes you think I want to take this to a lawyer? Or to a court?
[He suddenly regrets coming to the Fatui for help, but that should have been the obvious outcome from the start. The sense of disgust, the sense of shame — why did he think for even a moment that Childe would understand?
The traveler rises from the armchair entirely, folding his arms. He doesn't seem to want to look at Childe anymore, or flick his nose.]
Seven million Mora. That's all I'm asking for. It's just to make things even. If he won't take it, then I'll make him take it. If you think I'm being stupid, then I'll go somewhere else.
[ Childe doesn't seem to be doing much better in terms of annoyance over the way this conversation is going. He's trying to make a point that clearly the Traveler has no interest in taking.
He's going to go somewhere else? Is that some kind of threat? Like where he wants to ask, but he's a little bit caught off by the debt having a price. 7 million?
The Harbinger's expression turns to a scowl now that he's been given a number (and Aether's weird ultimatum.) He wants to say the obvious, that this is an incredibly big loan to take on and there's probably a better way to do this. ... Still, it's clear Aether has his mind set on how he plans to take care of this, and he isn't interested in any alternatives.
Maybe he's already thought all of them through. Well, fine then. If he just wants money and no advice (or other type of actual help), what can Childe do?
Without a word, Childe gets up from the couch, heading towards another door that leads to an office. Aether is welcome to follow him or stay put, but the results will be the same: he'll come back with a slip of paper and slowly offer it over. ] I'll let you handle this on your own like you want, but I expect you to head immediately over there, pay this scumbag off and report back.
[ those are his terms and while he's not withholding the slip to withdraw the loan from Aether to take, he doesn't seem like he's willing to negotiate any part of what he said.
The unspoken warning Don't make me come after you hangs heavy in the air.
Honestly? Childe thinks it's all pretty damn fair for 7 million mora. ]
[Where would Aether go, if Childe refused him? He honestly didn't even think it through when he said it, just wanted the line of questioning to end, but he could probably find some other wealthy merchant in Liyue who might be willing to cut a deal with him. Someone safer, a woman he's on good terms with maybe, like Ningguang — yes, perhaps he'd go to Ningguang, but the issue with Ningguang is that someone like Ningguang might tell someone like Beidou, and then he'd have to deal with all of it: the well-meaning pity, the well-meaning rage. If he went to Yanfei for help — no, maybe Yanfei wouldn't even take the case; she doesn't like emotional entanglements. But she'd recommend him to a colleague, maybe, and then he'd have to have a stranger advocating on his behalf, and he'd have to explain the whole situation to someone who doesn't know him, have to relive the whole thing from top to bottom, the line between adoration and heroism bleeding over into weakness and victimhood, and he doesn't want that. He can't think of anything he'd want less than for anyone to see past the story they've all been told.
If he asked Childe to hurt the merchant, the Harbinger would do it. Aether knows that. And yet — is this really the kind of crime that warrants death? Is that a judgment that he has the right to pass?
This would all be so much easier, Aether thinks, if it were happening to someone else.
But it's not happening to someone else and wanting the best for himself is so much more difficult than wanting the best for someone else, and Aether only takes the slip of paper silently, his expression inscrutable, looking it over to see what Childe has written on it without surprise. He seems to have lapsed into his usual thoughtful quietude. Then he nods, and stands, and heads for the door.
Maybe Childe follows him, or sends someone else to follow him. Maybe he doesn't do any of those things at all. It doesn't take Aether very long, in any case. The merchant who has been harassing him makes his office on the southern end of Chihu Rock; he's a friendly-looking, slender man with dark hair in a low ponytail, greying, even sort of handsome. Not the kind of man one would ordinarily suspect of sexual coercion, but is any man the sort one would suspect of that, honestly?
The merchant seems surprised by the check at first, then scowls, turns darker; he looks like he's about to fight Aether for a moment, but the way the traveler's hand has been gripped in a fist the whole time stays his hand, and he doesn't pressure. The fact that the check has been written on the Northland Bank's paper probably influences his decisions, too. He takes it, says something that only Aether can hear, and then the traveler turns, and walks out of his office, and is gone.
As promised, Aether returns to the Northland Bank after he's done. Ekaterina does not stop him from walking back into Childe's office.
He takes a seat in the same spot he was sitting in before, feeling a little empty, and a little hollow, but mostly just relieved that it's over.]
...
[He's quiet, and doesn't say much of anything. He looks at his empty mug of tea.]
[ Childe does not follow, and it's out of a slight bitterness over Aether's insistent way on doing things that makes the Harbinger petty enough that he's willing to bet Aether's safety on his own self. If he's stupid enough to get himself into trouble even more after everything else? Well, it'll serve him right.
—Or not exactly, because he does send an agent to tail Aether. It's not for Aether's benefit, he insists to himself, it's because he now has to justify in the books giving a seven million mora loan to someone who doesn't even have a technically definitive source of income. Occupation Adventurer isn't the same as loaning to a syndicate like the Treasure Hoarders. Since the Traveler is unwilling to accept direct assistance, Childe will just have to do it the more traditional way of the Fatui, as much as he resents the process in principle.
( For the Traveler, though... well, he'll always make the exception. )
The agent has returned well before Aether with information on the merchant. The Harbinger instructs the information to be handed off to another worker for cross-checking records. He wants to know if the individual has any current or past loans with the bank and instructs the original agent go to the Chamber of Commerce for records on the shipments sent to this merchant that have been detailed as written off or otherwise undeliverable due to damages occurred prior to being released to the owner. He wants to know the official verdict the shipment company stated and whether there was any sort of settlement or reimbursement transaction.
( Just typical everything days things normal people can get ahold of when looking for some foul play. )
By the time Aether finds his way back to his original spot in his office, Childe is at his desk doing paperwork and doesn't look up until he's actually spoken to. Taking a close look at the other, he doesn't notice anything physically out of the ordinary, at least. That's good. He would have expected a somewhat more cheerful Traveler out of all this at the end, though. He voices this concern without much hesitation. ]
Oh? Congratulations. Gotta admit, though, aibou, I was expecting you to be a little more enthused to be out of that mess if you came back successful. Care to indulge me?
[ there is a slight jab in his tone at asking if Aether will share why he's in such a mood since, you know, he was pretty unwilling to give any useful information beyond a hard number for the loan earlier.
Childe's really just not over being kept on the sidelines by the Traveler, especially because it has to his with his well-being& mdash; even if it's not ultimately his business. It's not the first time he wishes he could make it his, though. ]
[Childe seems a bit bitter wih him, but Aether can't hold that against him; he did sort of storm out in a huff after all, feeling cornered and maybe a little victim-blamed. He wouldn't say that out loud though. Doesn't want to be thought of as a victim; doesn't think Childe wants to think of him that way either. Besides, what did he really lose in the end? Not much. Not his virtue or anything like that. Just a few unpleasant seconds of his time.
Which is also why it seemed so outlandish to think about killing the merchant for something like this. How much punishment is enough for being sexually predatory? For being financially conniving? Yet there's still the thought of maybe we should have, and Aether only looks at his palm, curling it into a fist before he sighs.]
I don't know. Maybe you're right, and I should have asked you to kill him.
[He shakes his head.]
But it doesn't feel right, somehow... to punish someone for wanting something.
[He pulls one knee up to his chest where he's sitting on the chair, heedless of the way his heel is digging into the seat. It's fine. He hasn't really walked anywhere but in Liyue Harbor today; the soles of his shoes are mostly clean.]
[ The problem with Aether has always been and will be that for as just and fair as he tries to treat others and protect those who suffer from lack of such he never includes himself into the equation. It's clear cut what is enough punishment for such things as there are laws already in place for that, when the crime is recorded and the individual is convicted—murder is debatable, especially if Aether was not sexually assaulted, but there is the argument it can't go unreported. For better or for worse, Childe isn't in the neighborhood do-gooder to tip off the Millelith of (potential) sexual predators. If Aether doesn't want to push it, Childe won't push.
The Harbinger watches the Traveler carefully before looking back to the papers on his desk, picking up a quill pen and... simply stares down at it. ]
... We all want things, aibou. It's not the want that is the problem, [ well it's an additional problem to Childe in this case, for multiple reasons, even, but if they are somehow supposed to be unbiased here... ] it's what we do to get it— especially when it's not ours to take.
What kind of things have you wanted that make you feel you and he are alike enough you need to be lenient?
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no subject
Ah ha, is that so?
[ Shifting to rest one elbow on the arm of the couch and prop up his chin in his hand, Childe smiles an extremely friendly smile now— ]
If that's how you feel about it, it's a done deal, then~!
[ —but then it turns just a little bit predatory. Only a little bit, but it's very reminiscent of something he might show in a fight when he gets a little too excited about having an upper hand on an extremely worthy opponent. He makes a beckoning motion towards Aether with his free hand using one finger, inviting him to come over to the Harbinger. ]
My only stipulation is you give me a show of the work you'll be doing since you don't seem to want to talk about it. This loan is going to have my name on it as much as yours, and it's not that I don't trust you, aibou, it's juuussssst I want to make sure I'm satisfied with the kind of work quality I'll be getting here, since you are a bit of a unique client. You aren't exactly a resident of Teyvat that I can guarantee will always be locatable until the debt is paid.
[ That smiles eases back to the much friendlier one, now very much patiently waiting for the response.
Your move, Traveler. ]
no subject
— he flicks Childe on the nose with a gentle finger, scowling.]
Settle down. It's not what you're thinking.
[The traveler unfolds himself just slightly. Hips pressed into the armchair, legs extended to the side. Aether never really looks tired — there's a sort of ethereal quality to the way that he looks, even when he's haggard from a rough sparring match or slightly bruised — but there's something deeply exhausted hiding behind his irises as he stares dully at Childe's face. Clearly, he spent a lot of time stressing about this.]
He asked me to do — normal things, at first. Go here, guard that, make sure this caravan reaches its destination, clear the road. And I just thought he was... friendly. He'd put a hand on my shoulder, or touch my hair...
[He shakes his head, unsmiling.]
But now he — now all he wants is for me to be his "bodyguard." So he can keep me close, and pull me by the waist, or rest his hand on my back. And I know what he's leading up to. He's not very subtle. He's not going to say the debt is paid until I've slept with him.
[A final sigh of disgust. He traces an isle pattern into the leather armrest beneath Childe's sleeve.]
I know that I don't have to be — rescued. I could hurt him if I wanted to. I know that. I just... don't have the appetite for it. That's why I thought, with you... even if I have to work for the Fatui...
no subject
Childe sighs dramatically, his posture crumpling as he flops against the back of the couch in a bit of a sulk. Still, it doesn't last long, listening quietly as Aether opens up about it. The harbinger keeps eye contact with Aether as long as he does him, but otherwise says nothing until he's finished.
After a moment, he hums thoughtfully before pointedly asking: ]
Do you have an actual price on your debt, then? Besides, what even makes you think he's going to accept the money if he's that intent on sticking it in? I'm not saying I'm not going to help you if you want me to, but this sounds like you'd be better off with a lawyer on work harassment charges rather than a "go get a big loan from the local rich bad guy brigade" kind of solution. What if you take the loan out and then he refuses? Or worse, takes it only on condition you sleep with him? Now you're in debt twice.
[A pause. ]
I mean, unless you want me to hurt him because you don't want to.
no subject
...I didn't even want to tell you about it. What makes you think I want to take this to a lawyer? Or to a court?
[He suddenly regrets coming to the Fatui for help, but that should have been the obvious outcome from the start. The sense of disgust, the sense of shame — why did he think for even a moment that Childe would understand?
The traveler rises from the armchair entirely, folding his arms. He doesn't seem to want to look at Childe anymore, or flick his nose.]
Seven million Mora. That's all I'm asking for. It's just to make things even. If he won't take it, then I'll make him take it. If you think I'm being stupid, then I'll go somewhere else.
no subject
He's going to go somewhere else? Is that some kind of threat? Like where he wants to ask, but he's a little bit caught off by the debt having a price. 7 million?
The Harbinger's expression turns to a scowl now that he's been given a number (and Aether's weird ultimatum.) He wants to say the obvious, that this is an incredibly big loan to take on and there's probably a better way to do this. ... Still, it's clear Aether has his mind set on how he plans to take care of this, and he isn't interested in any alternatives.
Maybe he's already thought all of them through. Well, fine then. If he just wants money and no advice (or other type of actual help), what can Childe do?
Without a word, Childe gets up from the couch, heading towards another door that leads to an office. Aether is welcome to follow him or stay put, but the results will be the same: he'll come back with a slip of paper and slowly offer it over. ] I'll let you handle this on your own like you want, but I expect you to head immediately over there, pay this scumbag off and report back.
[ those are his terms and while he's not withholding the slip to withdraw the loan from Aether to take, he doesn't seem like he's willing to negotiate any part of what he said.
The unspoken warning Don't make me come after you hangs heavy in the air.
Honestly? Childe thinks it's all pretty damn fair for 7 million mora. ]
no subject
If he asked Childe to hurt the merchant, the Harbinger would do it. Aether knows that. And yet — is this really the kind of crime that warrants death? Is that a judgment that he has the right to pass?
This would all be so much easier, Aether thinks, if it were happening to someone else.
But it's not happening to someone else and wanting the best for himself is so much more difficult than wanting the best for someone else, and Aether only takes the slip of paper silently, his expression inscrutable, looking it over to see what Childe has written on it without surprise. He seems to have lapsed into his usual thoughtful quietude. Then he nods, and stands, and heads for the door.
Maybe Childe follows him, or sends someone else to follow him. Maybe he doesn't do any of those things at all. It doesn't take Aether very long, in any case. The merchant who has been harassing him makes his office on the southern end of Chihu Rock; he's a friendly-looking, slender man with dark hair in a low ponytail, greying, even sort of handsome. Not the kind of man one would ordinarily suspect of sexual coercion, but is any man the sort one would suspect of that, honestly?
The merchant seems surprised by the check at first, then scowls, turns darker; he looks like he's about to fight Aether for a moment, but the way the traveler's hand has been gripped in a fist the whole time stays his hand, and he doesn't pressure. The fact that the check has been written on the Northland Bank's paper probably influences his decisions, too. He takes it, says something that only Aether can hear, and then the traveler turns, and walks out of his office, and is gone.
As promised, Aether returns to the Northland Bank after he's done. Ekaterina does not stop him from walking back into Childe's office.
He takes a seat in the same spot he was sitting in before, feeling a little empty, and a little hollow, but mostly just relieved that it's over.]
...
[He's quiet, and doesn't say much of anything. He looks at his empty mug of tea.]
...It's done.
no subject
—Or not exactly, because he does send an agent to tail Aether. It's not for Aether's benefit, he insists to himself, it's because he now has to justify in the books giving a seven million mora loan to someone who doesn't even have a technically definitive source of income. Occupation Adventurer isn't the same as loaning to a syndicate like the Treasure Hoarders.
Since the Traveler is unwilling to accept direct assistance, Childe will just have to do it the more traditional way of the Fatui, as much as he resents the process in principle.
( For the Traveler, though... well, he'll always make the exception. )
The agent has returned well before Aether with information on the merchant. The Harbinger instructs the information to be handed off to another worker for cross-checking records. He wants to know if the individual has any current or past loans with the bank and instructs the original agent go to the Chamber of Commerce for records on the shipments sent to this merchant that have been detailed as written off or otherwise undeliverable due to damages occurred prior to being released to the owner. He wants to know the official verdict the shipment company stated and whether there was any sort of settlement or reimbursement transaction.
( Just typical everything days things normal people can get ahold of when looking for some foul play. )
By the time Aether finds his way back to his original spot in his office, Childe is at his desk doing paperwork and doesn't look up until he's actually spoken to. Taking a close look at the other, he doesn't notice anything physically out of the ordinary, at least. That's good. He would have expected a somewhat more cheerful Traveler out of all this at the end, though. He voices this concern without much hesitation. ]
Oh? Congratulations. Gotta admit, though, aibou, I was expecting you to be a little more enthused to be out of that mess if you came back successful. Care to indulge me?
[ there is a slight jab in his tone at asking if Aether will share why he's in such a mood since, you know, he was pretty unwilling to give any useful information beyond a hard number for the loan earlier.
Childe's really just not over being kept on the sidelines by the Traveler, especially because it has to his with his well-being& mdash; even if it's not ultimately his business. It's not the first time he wishes he could make it his, though. ]
no subject
Which is also why it seemed so outlandish to think about killing the merchant for something like this. How much punishment is enough for being sexually predatory? For being financially conniving? Yet there's still the thought of maybe we should have, and Aether only looks at his palm, curling it into a fist before he sighs.]
I don't know. Maybe you're right, and I should have asked you to kill him.
[He shakes his head.]
But it doesn't feel right, somehow... to punish someone for wanting something.
[He pulls one knee up to his chest where he's sitting on the chair, heedless of the way his heel is digging into the seat. It's fine. He hasn't really walked anywhere but in Liyue Harbor today; the soles of his shoes are mostly clean.]
...I've wanted a lot of things.
no subject
The Harbinger watches the Traveler carefully before looking back to the papers on his desk, picking up a quill pen and... simply stares down at it. ]
... We all want things, aibou. It's not the want that is the problem, [ well it's an additional problem to Childe in this case, for multiple reasons, even, but if they are somehow supposed to be unbiased here... ] it's what we do to get it— especially when it's not ours to take.
What kind of things have you wanted that make you feel you and he are alike enough you need to be lenient?