We are not yet at war though I cannot deny that such may be inevitable. Currently the Blight is everyone's focus and in stopping it we are united. That is why I am able to stand in front of you here in Highstorm with little worry for my own safety.
[ Perhaps if the argument had been left there, the rest of this conversation could have returned to something more amicable and less heated. This was a ridiculous argument to have after all - when both parties just wanted to help out the other.
Why does that matter to you? Later, Zhongli will admit to himself that such an accusation unsettled him in ways that he could not fully comprehend. The events in Liyue had surely made this strained for a time, but he thought they had worked passed all that.
(It turns out they had worked passed nothing. Broken trust was hard to mend after all, and ever patched could never return to what was. Perhaps not dealing with such an issue directly had only caused this issue to fester further.)
So, if trust was not something Zhongli could request or expect, and if his past actions were not proof enough of his intentions--- the path forward was simple. Zhongli would have to work harder to repair this rift between them. And that assuredly meant that Childe could not be left behind here to play this conversation in his head over and over, coming to the worst possible conclusions like he before Manon's revival. No, it was more imperative than ever that Zhongli prove exactly what he meant. ]
I know that our past makes things complicated, but your safety and well being are very important to me. It is selfish of me to ask this from you as you have done nothing but offer me shelter and company since I arrived here, but at least in times of duress such as this one, I wish to know personally that you are unharmed.
no subject
[ Perhaps if the argument had been left there, the rest of this conversation could have returned to something more amicable and less heated. This was a ridiculous argument to have after all - when both parties just wanted to help out the other.
Why does that matter to you? Later, Zhongli will admit to himself that such an accusation unsettled him in ways that he could not fully comprehend. The events in Liyue had surely made this strained for a time, but he thought they had worked passed all that.
(It turns out they had worked passed nothing. Broken trust was hard to mend after all, and ever patched could never return to what was. Perhaps not dealing with such an issue directly had only caused this issue to fester further.)
So, if trust was not something Zhongli could request or expect, and if his past actions were not proof enough of his intentions--- the path forward was simple. Zhongli would have to work harder to repair this rift between them. And that assuredly meant that Childe could not be left behind here to play this conversation in his head over and over, coming to the worst possible conclusions like he before Manon's revival. No, it was more imperative than ever that Zhongli prove exactly what he meant. ]
I know that our past makes things complicated, but your safety and well being are very important to me. It is selfish of me to ask this from you as you have done nothing but offer me shelter and company since I arrived here, but at least in times of duress such as this one, I wish to know personally that you are unharmed.