i'm glad you like my characterization! he's really fun to write and he's flexible to take in diff directions. he was kind dealing w the feelings over the whole evening and pushing them down each time until it's like a soda youve shaken and can't keep from exploding. i interpret him as high self confidence, low self worth (admits he's sort of a bad guy, can't even be honest about his work to his young sibling, considers himself a weapon, seems used to ppl not trusting him) and then zhongli treating him like a person w worth reaches a tipping point.

there's a quote where pulcinella says it's best not to get attached to him and childe is self aware enough to realize that. he likes zhongli, but knows zhongli liking him will cause more hurt in the long run, and it's worse since he doesnt feel worth it. compounded with the fact that it's nice, being with zhongli, but it isn't meant to last. on top of he just hasn't really had to process complex emotions of this sort and it's just a lot. i hope that all sorta makes sense