[ It was never going to be that easy, Childe imagines. Zhongli is the former Geo Archon, had thousands of years worth of battle knowledge and experience tucked under his belt. Next to him, Childe's twenty-something years of life on this planet were nothing.
But it doesn't aggravate him, no. Instead - instead Childe's face breaks out into a smile, boisterous and exuberant and exhilarated all at once. This is perhaps the happiest Zhongli has seen him, and if there were any doubts about how much Childe was enjoying himself the short laugh that follows after Zhongli's shield flickering between them does well to dispel them.
The ground rumbling and shifting underfoot is the only warning he'll get - and even then, it's a fraction of a second - before he's thrown off balance by the sudden pillar that erupts into existence underfoot, catching Childe on the leg and making him stumble off to the side in response. He scarcely has time to catch a blur of brown and gold and black, his breath catching in his throat because like this, Zhongli looks like he might actually kill him even though he knows he won't ---
-- but there's a reason for the Hydro trailing after his javelin, a reason for the fact that most if not all of Childe's melee weapons are composed of pure elemental energy. A clench of his fist has the javelin suddenly sailing back into his hands with a sharp snap, quick enough that he can raise it to try and deflect Zhongli's own attack even as warmth floods his gaze, eyes brimming with unspoken fondness and affection.
The Vision at his hip glows brighter, if anything, and the telltale ripples of Hydro begin to form underfoot in rapidly growing circles. ]
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But it doesn't aggravate him, no. Instead - instead Childe's face breaks out into a smile, boisterous and exuberant and exhilarated all at once. This is perhaps the happiest Zhongli has seen him, and if there were any doubts about how much Childe was enjoying himself the short laugh that follows after Zhongli's shield flickering between them does well to dispel them.
The ground rumbling and shifting underfoot is the only warning he'll get - and even then, it's a fraction of a second - before he's thrown off balance by the sudden pillar that erupts into existence underfoot, catching Childe on the leg and making him stumble off to the side in response. He scarcely has time to catch a blur of brown and gold and black, his breath catching in his throat because like this, Zhongli looks like he might actually kill him even though he knows he won't ---
-- but there's a reason for the Hydro trailing after his javelin, a reason for the fact that most if not all of Childe's melee weapons are composed of pure elemental energy. A clench of his fist has the javelin suddenly sailing back into his hands with a sharp snap, quick enough that he can raise it to try and deflect Zhongli's own attack even as warmth floods his gaze, eyes brimming with unspoken fondness and affection.
The Vision at his hip glows brighter, if anything, and the telltale ripples of Hydro begin to form underfoot in rapidly growing circles. ]