I get it - you'd like await semantics in a function without having to expose that detail to the caller.

You can't get it directly in javascript but you're only one step away. Just not awaiting your function in the caller 'breaks the chain' so to speak, so that at least the caller doesn't have to be async. That way you can avoid tagging your function as async completely.

Therefore one syntax workaround while still being able to use await semantics would just be to nest this extra level inside your function -- wrap those await calls in an anonymous inner function which is tagged async, which you just instantly call that without await, so the function itself doesn't have to be (and does not return a promise).