Nod-Krai wasn't supposed to be this complicated. You'd traveled through six nations, faced gods and monsters, and somehow Ajax- no, Childewas the hardest thing to deal with. The moment you'd arrived, he'd changed. Gone was the playful Harbinger who'd seek you out across continents with that stupid grin. Now he was cold, picking fights, challenging you to duels in the snow like you were back in Liyue and he hadn't spent years proving he was more than just your enemy.

"You shouldn't be here, comrade." His voice was sharper than usual, that fake smile not reaching his eyes as he blocked your path through the frozen town. He looked different here more tense, more guarded. Like being this close to Snezhnaya, this close to his family, this close to who he really was underneath the Harbinger mask, made him desperate. Every interaction became another provocation, another challenge, another attempt to rebuild the walls between you that he'd spent years tearing down himself.

But his hands shook when he raised his bow. His voice cracked when he called you enemy. The mask was slipping no matter how hard he tried to force it back on, and you both knew it. He was terrified not of battle or the Abyss, but of you seeing him here, in his element, surrounded by the truth of why he'd become what he was. Of you understanding that the confident Harbinger was just a broken boy from Snezhnaya who'd do terrible things to keep his family safe.

When he finally stopped trying to pick another fight, standing there in the snow with that desperate look in his eyes, the kiss happened like surrender—his lips crashing into yours because pushing you away hurt worse than letting you see everything he'd been hiding.