what if you were by Childe's side the day he transformed and got stuck in Foul Legacy. you knew something was wrong when you'

what if you were by Childe’s side the day he transformed and got stuck in Foul Legacy.

you knew something was wrong when you’re greeted with the sound of silence through your house. it’s not entirely unusual- Childe often gets home later than you due to his Fatui duties- but you can see his shoes near the front door, a sure sign that he’s home, yet he’s nowhere to be seen. worry twinges in your chest, and quietly you check all the downstairs rooms for your beloved ginger-haired Harbinger, but to no avail. gulping down your nervousness, you tread upstairs, and hear something that sounds like whimpering coming from your shared room. reaching out your hand, you grip the knob, and the door creaks open.

an enormous creature sits hunched in the corner, covering its face in clawed hands and sobbing. you can hear its cries of pain, shaking the poor beast’s body and making it wail in agony. when you turn on the light and see the monster’s coppery hair, you know this is the form that Childe described as “Foul Legacy”.

Childe flinches when he sees you, whining and trying to curl into himself more, make his body smaller and smaller and take up less space until he disappears entirely, and you slide into the space beside him, asking what happened in a hushed tone. he whimpers again, shaking his head, but turns his hunched body towards you so he can bury his face into your shoulder. with one hand you stroke his hair, threading your fingers through the ginger locks and tracing his vibrant red horns, and the other hand you trail up his back, drawing random shapes and letters in between his metallic armor. Childe clings to you, desperately, his one tether to “normalcy” and it’s like the Abyss cries with him as you gently whisper and hum.

“Hey, don’t worry, you’re alright. I’m here. We’ll figure this out, okay? I promise we will.”