Archive of Our Own

When all is said and done, Childe lingers.

His hands grip wooden railing as he loiters on the bridge overlooking the docks of Liyue Harbor. The covered bridge keeps him out of the light while the sun is high in the sky. Still, his skin burns. It must be all the stares he’s getting.

Between the sun and the lively chatter of the people below, it’s as if the city weren’t on the brink of destruction just a week ago. Not that the chaos he invoked ever had the chance to reach the city proper. The mere threat of near-destruction doesn’t shake the people of the city, either. If anything, they shine brighter, smiling and laughing. Meanwhile, Childe lingers in the shade. La Signora left days ago, and Childe should’ve followed. But he hasn’t.

He watches as some of the adepti linger as well, no doubt keeping an eye on him. Xiao darts around the harbor with Lumine, helping her with some sort of delivery. Once in a while, he’ll look up at Childe, probably to make sure he hasn’t tried to kill another archon.

Lumine, if she knows he’s there, doesn’t spare him a second glance.

The Qixing are out and about as well. Ningguang must have had some back up plans for the Jade Chamber that she’s now enacting. He’s almost surprised it’s not already back up in the sky. The watch they keep on him, however, is less subtle. The Millelith aren’t exactly shy about staring him down or tailing him wherever he goes. Though, it’s deserved. He did try to destroy the city.

He leans forward on the railing, pillowing his head in his arms. The sun is in just the right position to burn his hair and forearms, yet Childe rests there. He closes his eyes and listens. There’s so much noise. Shouting, wooden wheels against stone floors, creaking boats, billowing large sails; it’s…peaceful. It’s life. It’s everything he almost destroyed, and yet he finds comfort in the fact that it survived. The merchants calling out discounts, the storytellers spinning tales, the hot sizzle of a wok, the gentle glugs of pouring tea, the children shouting, the laughter—

The pitter-patter of unfamiliar footsteps on wood, rushing towards him.

They’re light steps, quick and soft, running straight at him, not past him. Childe sighs.

He wouldn’t put it past the Qixing or adepti to try and run him out of town, but doing so in broad daylight was bold, for them. To hire an assassin to keep their hands clean was downright dirty. He calls on his vision, fashioning blades out of water. He draws them sharp and long. His body still aches from his fight with Lumine. The scabbed over cuts whine as he flexes and readies himself, but if someone wants a fight, they’ll get one.

Childe turns, raising his blades. No one is there.

Then, something slams into his legs.

A distraction?

Childe swings his blades down. He barely catches a glimpse of his assailant before he dispels the blades and sends the water splashing harmlessly onto the wooden bridge.

The small kid that crashed into his legs rubs her head and looks up. “Sorry, mister!”

“Ah ha ha, nothing to worry about. Just be careful next time!” he says, plastering a smile on his face. His heart hammers in his chest.

Stupid.

The child starts to wave at him, but her mother, standing just a few feet away pulls her back. The look of horror on her face is enough to scare off his smile.

He sighs. A week ago, the mother would’ve smiled back. Then again, a week ago, Childe wouldn’t have been so distracted that he almost sliced up a fucking kid.

Archons help him. He really needs to leave the city.

A few feet away, the mother whispers something to his Millelith tail, and Childe takes that as his cue to leave. He gives up his spot on the bridge, wandering the harbor for some lunch. Eyes follow him as he walks. They bore into him, burning him all over. No one closes a door in his face, not like they would in Snezhnaya, but in a way, it’s worse.

“Sorry, we’re all full,” says a waiter, as he moves past Childe to seat a family that arrived just after him.

“Kitchen’s closed for the day. We’re out of fish,” says a hostess, as traders deliver boxes of food around the back of the restaurant.

“You need a reservation,” says a food-stall owner.

Not that it was a surprise, of course. Just that, he’d gotten used to the warmth and welcome.

He’d stopped trying to sweet talk his way back into restaurants after the third day, which is how he ends up sitting on a stool behind Wanmin Restaurant, taste-testing a bowl of slime-glazed meat.

“Hmmm, it’s good, but it’s missing a certain....ba-ba-boom!” Xiangling exclaims. She’s already finished her bowl.

The kid had no problem feeding him, despite his recent actions, as long as he agreed to eat anything she cooked. It’s a different kind of burn, compared to the stares he gets, but at least he kind of likes spicy food.

The smell of wok-charred food wafts out from the restaurant, but the smell of Xiangling’s experiments is stronger. Childe chews thoughtfully. It’s not a bad dish. Certainly not the strangest thing he’s eaten. Definitely not the strangest thing she’s fed him. “Jueyun chilis?”

“No--” Xiangling shakes her head, “--that’s more of a ba-pa-pow, kind of boom. I need a BA-BOOM kind of boom.”

He keeps chewing. “You could use pyro and electro slime in the glaze instead of whatever you’ve currently got?”

Xiangling rounds on him, eyes going wide. “That’s...GENIUS! Using both kinds of slime would definitely give it that explosive ba-ba-boom!”

She runs off without a second thought, leaving Childe to eat in peace. Childe shakes his head and keeps eating. Slime will never not be a strange choice for food, but it makes a damn good glaze. The sheer amount of butter Xiangling put in it helps too.

“Oh, sorry!” Xiangling says, somewhere in the distance.

The soft murmur and footsteps that follow are unmistakable. Childe sighs, weighing the pros and cons of running versus trying to fight: he’s in no mood to talk, but his body is just beginning to heal from using the Foul Legacy Transformation, and he’d prefer not to run without finishing his hard-earned meal.

“I did not think you were one for indulging in ‘ba-ba-boom'.” A voice says behind him.

Childe shrugs, stabbing at his food with his spoon. “Not all of her experiments are bad. I mean, neither of us can stand the smell of most of them, so those never make it to the eating-phase, but you know. Some of them are good.”

A laugh, soft and deep and rumbling, fills his senses. Zhongli sits across from him, lounging on the stool that was Xiangling’s. He still looks like himself, calm and poised. It’s like nothing happened, like his gnosis isn’t gone. Childe always thought there would be something more to it, like a decay or withering of some sort, but Zhongli…is still Zhongli.

“It is most kind of you to taste test for her,” Zhongli says.

Kind. Desperate. It’s all a matter of semantics.

Childe flashes a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. “What can I say? I’m just a nice guy.”

Zhongli smiles back, genuinely. “I was hoping to catch you for lunch, but you were not at the bank this morning.”

Why? Is he unaware that Childe has been avoiding him? Willfully ignorant, perhaps? Or does the great Rex Lapis really have no issue with everything that happened?

“There’s more glazed meat, if you want to try some. Rice is in the pot.” Childe gestures to the outdoor stove with his spoon.

Zhongli follows the motion with his eyes and rises to serve himself a bowl. Careful and methodical, he scoops the rice first, adding a side of stir-fried veggies that Childe blatantly ignored, then moves on to the meat. His brow furrows as he attempts to scoop it, only to have it slide around the wok. It’s unnatural, almost, the way his attention focuses so singularly on his task. The rest of the world seems gone from his mind. And though he’s as good as mortal now, he still moves with all the fluidity and grace of an archon, even when doing something so mundane.

This man was a dragon, an archon, reigning over all of Liyue, and he gave it all up for what? A test, proof that the nation he raised was ready to stand on its own without him?

When he finally collects a bowl full of food, Zhongli smiles to himself. He places the serving spoon neatly on the side of the wok and returns to Childe, not daring to begin eating until he’s properly seated. He fills his spoon with equal amounts of rice and meat, blowing gently on it before taking a bite. His lips clean off the spoon, leaving no slime-glaze behind. Then, he smiles again, humming as his spoon returns to the bowl.

It's so human, but he is, now. Without his gnosis, he’s as good as mortal. And here he sits, across from the Harbinger who he…coerced? Manipulated? Let bring chaos down on Liyue, just to test them?

His thumb comes up, pushing against his lips to clean off a bit of glaze lingering there. He pushes his thumb just past his lips, kissing it clean. His hand lingers, pulling at his lip, gently.

“Childe?”

Childe’s eyes dart up to Zhongli’s before he tears his gaze away. His face burns. He shovels a spoonful of food in his mouth, almost spilling some on his shirt.

“Is everything alright?”

Childe dares to look back up. Zhongli’s hand still lingers by his mouth. Those lips smile, innocently wondering. Or just teasing. It’s never been clear which Zhongli means when he smiles like that, and Childe’s never bothered to ask.

“Yeah. Just. How do you like it?” Childe asks.

Zhongli hesitates a moment longer, watching Childe watch him. Then, he goes back for another bite. Childe looks anywhere but at his mouth.

“It is a good dish. Miss Xiangling did an excellent job, perhaps unknowingly, of capturing the heart of food commonly enjoyed about four-thousand years ago, a bit before Liyue was formally established.” Zhongli says.

Childe raises an eyebrow to be polite. There’s a story there, and Zhongli always tells it to him. Evidently, recent incidents aren’t going to change that.

“Slimes were actually used in cooking quite commonly. Dendro and geo slimes, especially, are surprisingly nutritious, though the practice of using them in popular cuisine fell out of fashion when trade began with other countries. Mondstat, especially, was not particularly fond of consuming slimes. And as they are Liyue’s closest neighbor and trade partner, the natural intermingling of cultures pushed slimes out of the kitchen, so to speak.”

“Huh,” Childe said, around a mouthful of food. Strange to think that slimes were a popular food, once.

Zhongli frows around another spoonful. “Although, Miss Xiangling is correct. This dish is missing a certain, boom.”

His eyes go wide for emphasis, mimicking how Xiangling excitedly describes her food, though in a far more subdued way. Childe snorts, laughing as he finishes the last of his meal. Idly, he wonders how well the food would keep if he stowed some away for dinner that night.

“I told her to add Jueyun chilis, but she said it wasn’t the right kind of boom, so I suggested she use pyro and electro slime for the glaze instead,” he says.

Zhongli ponders the suggestion. “Hmm, yes the reaction between pyro and electro would certainly create a boom, though the concept has rarely come up in cooking.”

“Really?” Childe sets his bowl aside, leaning back against the restaurant wall. “In all the millennia you’ve been alive, no one’s thought to do that?”

Zhongli shakes his head. “Chefs have certainly thought of it, but their experiments ended in a more literal boom. Slime jelly, though it retains little of elemental properties of live slimes, is still reactive. Though, if anyone could figure out how to make slimes taste explosive without being explosive, Miss Xiangling certainly has my confidence.”

“Maybe if this works out, slime will be back on the menu,” Childe jokes.

“It may indeed. She’d certainly have more luck that the last chef that tried. Why, it was just eighteen-hundred years ago that a Liyue chef tried slime back into the kitchen after his son fell ill.

“The tale follows a chef of meager reputation stricken with fear as his only son falls deathly ill. He traveled to many towns, hoping there was a doctor that could cure his son’s ailment, but he had no such luck. So, he fell back to the only thing he knew: The chef cooked day and night; spicy food to burn the illness, long noodles to prolong his life, warm hearty soups to nourish and keep his body from running cold. However, nothing he prepared made a difference. Still his son suffered, and his condition grew worse by the day.”

“After days of non-stop effort, the chef was granted a sigil of permission to seek help from the adepti, but on the journey he ran out of food. He was too weak to hunt, fish, or forage, but a small Dendro slime had wandered past his camp. With his knife, he slew the slime and cooked it. The meal gave him the energy to finish his journey, but instead he turned back."

“A single Dendro slime was enough to sustain the chef for his entire journey back to Liyue, which in turn led him to discovering how nutritious they could be. He fed his son Dendro slime jelly, and in the next day the boy began to recover.”

“And he started cooking with it?”

“He tried,” Zhongli says. “Unfortunately, this chef did not have the creativity that Miss Xiangling possesses. He cooked and sold the Dendro slime plain. Though very nutritious, it was not a popular dish. Instead, it became something to cook when one fell ill.”

“Like chicken soup!” Childe says. “That’s what we eat in Snezhnaya. It’s plain, but the broth, especially if you add a bunch of herbs and veggies, is really good for you. My Nana used to make it when we were sick, and…well, Dad tried to make it once when Nana was sick, but it turned out sweet, for some reason…”

Zhongli smiles. “You know, sweet soup is a Liyue dessert.”

“What?!” Childe exclaims. “You make that on purpose?”

“Yes, usually with fruits, though mushrooms are sometimes included as well. The teahouse sells a few varieties, some of which date back to—”

“Oh no, I know where you’re going with that,” Childe interrupts. “There is no way you’re getting me to try that. Soup should not be sweet!”

Zhongli laughs.

His voice rumbles as he laughs. It’s deep and melodic, like it could shake the very earth beneath them. At the same time, it’s grounding and stable, gentle and warm. Childe feels that rumbling laughter in his core, holding him in the present, anchoring him in the familiar. He can’t help it if he stares, again. It’s like there’s a spell cast over him, holding him in place, freezing time to keep them there in that moment.

This time, when Zhongli catches him staring, there’s no comment, no teasing; Just Zhongli’s laugh, and then a peaceful silence.

And then.

“How much longer will you stay in Liyue?” Zhongli asks.

Like that, the spell is broken.

Time starts again, jerking Childe with it. His heart hammers in his chest, and the wind steals his voice.

“Um. Not long, I guess.”

“Did the Tsaritsa not order you back?”

Childe frowns. Why did he have to ask?

“Not exactly. Signora just likes to boss me around.”

“But you do have to return.”

Childe stands, time still stuttering his motions. He looks for his bowl, and takes Zhongli’s too, to give himself something to do. To get Zhongli’s eyes off of his face. He gathers it all with the used pots and utensils that Xiangling used to cook. They’ll need to be washed.

“Yeah. At some point.”

Childe glances out at the city beyond the little back alley behind Wanmin Resturant. Tree leaves, both a shining jade green and glowing cor lapis orange, blow in the wind. The city itself seems to smile in greeting at the sound of the sea lapping against the docks. The sun is warm on the city, but it feels too hot on his skin.

Zhongli’s gaze presses on his back. When he turns to meet it, the spell pulls at him again. He’s caught between gentle warmth and burning heat.

“It’s a shame,” Childe says, forcing a smile. “It’s nice here.”

“Join me tomorrow, then. We should tour the city before you go.”

“…Xiansheng, you know I’ve lived in Liyue for a few months, now.”

“Perhaps, but you had a mission to complete. I’m sure there is much you have not yet seen,” Zhongli says. His smile is gentle but eager. There are a thousand more stories waiting to be told.

“I…yeah, okay.”

“I will come for you in the morning, then.” Zhongli stands. “Thank you for lunch, Childe. I should take my leave to prepare for tomorrow.”

“Prepare? What exactly are we doing?”

Zhongli’s smile grows. His eyes are warm, but they don’t burn. He doesn’t answer.

Childe watches him go.

“Don’t you think we’ve been to enough shops already, Xiansheng?” Childe says.

He plasters a smile on his face, hands shoved into his pockets as casually as he can manage. All eyes are on them. As they travel from shop to shop, it seems as though all of Liyue Harbor has come by to stare at them. Even though Childe is quite used to the nasty looks by now, this is a bit much.

“—the quality of which is…” Zhongli trails off, holding up a pair of earrings. There’s not a hint of guilt on his face. “Ah, forgive me. You’re quite right, there’s still much more to do. I believe our order is ready as well.”

“Order? What did you order?”

Zhongli doesn’t answer. He’s too distracted appraising the earring selection while the shop owner stares warily at Childe.

It’s been like this for the past three days. Zhongli has dragged him all over Liyue. They’ve sampled every restaurant (to the dismay of the restaurant staff and the smug satisfaction of Childe), went on tours of the Golden House and Jade Chamber (after making many promises air-tight contracts with an unhappy Ningguang), and shopped for more things than either of them could ever need (Childe paid, of course). And everywhere they go, they’re greeted by glares and wary merchants.

Zhongli seems not to notice. Rather, he’s happy to spend all day seeing everything he can. Childe wonders more than once if the past few days have been for Zhongli to experience life as a mortal rather than for Childe to do some last-minute sight-seeing.

Finally, Zhongli picks out a pair of earrings: one being a ball of cor lapis surrounded by a ring of noctilucous jade, and the other with the same design but swapped gems.

“I’ll take these,” he says. The shopkeeper smiles and packs the earrings into a small wooden box with a rose pattern etched on the lid.

Sighing, Childe reaches for his wallet, but Zhongli stops him. “Thank you, Childe, but I will pay for this one.”

Childe frowns. “With what money?”

Zhongli doesn’t answer. Again.

It’s a habit Childe realizes Zhongli always had, dodging questions by simply not answering and trusting that Childe won’t ask again. Being the idiot he is, Childe doesn’t. Maybe he should.

“Surprising to see you paying for something, Zhongli Xiansheng. Where’d you get the money?” Childe asks as they’re walking away.

“Oh, you’re actually curious? If you must know, the Tianquan of the Qixing saw fit to grant me a monthly stipend. I told her it was unnecessary, but after learning of my identity, she insisted,” Zhongli says with a smile.

“I thought they didn’t want anything to do with you and the adepti anymore?”

Zhongli shakes his head. “’The time of contracts between gods and Liyue has long since passed. Now is the time of contracts between Liyue and its people.’ Despite this, the Tianquan does not forget all that the adepti and Rex Lapis have done for Liyue. She insisted on ensuring I was comfortable, as a show of respect, a means to keep watch over me, and because I am now one of Liyue’s people.”

“Oh.”

“Not the exciting tale you were hoping for?”

No, he just wasn’t expecting to get the truth so easily.

Childe laughs, “Well, I was certainly under the impression that the God of Commerce might’ve had some stash somewhere. Or, better yet, some power reserve you can use to make more mora.”

Zhongli shakes his head. “No, nothing of the sort. Though I still maintain a strong connection to Geo, as well as some power, it is nowhere near the level needed to create Mora.”

How easy it is to get answers when Childe bothers to ask.

“Speaking of, how much power do you still have? I didn’t think you’d retain any once the Gnosis was gone.” Childe keeps his voice low, as they walk towards the north exit to the Harbor.

“A curious question. One I pondered myself, prior to relinquishing my Gnosis. Of course, there is no truly accurate way to measure power…”

“But if you had to make a comparison…” Childe pushes.

Zhongli slows his pace as he thinks. “If I had to make a comparison, then I am significantly weaker now than I was as Geo Archon. My power, as I am able to gauge it, seems to be just above that of the adepti guardians that were sworn to guard Liyue.”

“That’s still pretty powerful.”

“Yes, though still not to the level that it was. Additionally, I am unsure if my power will remain at this level, or if it will diminish with time…perhaps one day I will be truly mortal, without any elemental power at all and only the memory of power to connect me to a life I no longer have.”

Childe stops. Zhongli continues walking without him, through his new life, since Childe stole his old one.

Zhongli pauses then, too. He turns. “Childe? Is something wrong?”

Despite his words, Zhongli is steadfast. There is no hint of mourning, of sadness for the life he no longer has…and yet his words…

Childe forces a laugh. He moves forward, stepping up beside Zhongli. “Sorry, just got distracted by a cat! Where’s this order you were talking about?”

“Ah!” Zhongli smiles suddenly. He points upwards, to the mountain just north of Liyue Harbor. It’s the tallest one around, by far. “It’s up there.”

Childe frowns. “And how are we supposed to get up there?”

It takes the last hour of daylight, a lot of geo-pillars summoned by Zhongli, and a bit of (literal) kicking hilichurls off the shorter ledges to climb the mountain, but they get there. Childe is exhausted by the time they reach the top, but Zhongli seems barely winded. When Childe finally catches his breath, it takes him a moment to reorient himself and figure out what their “order” is.

Instead, he sees everything. The mountain they’re on overlooks the whole of Liyue Harbor, and it shines like the sun against the darkness. He can see all of it. Hell, he can see all of Liyue. On the north side of the mountain, the Wangshu Inn is like a lighthouse in the sea of night. To the south, the chasm gapes, even in the dark. To the east, Guyun Stone Forrest is like a beast in the sea, coming up for air. To the west, the amber on Mt. Hulao glows a soft orange, pointing the way to the rest of the major mountains around Minlin. To the North East, Dragonspine stands proud, and just past it to the North, Childe can even see Mondstat. If he squints, there’s a dome that looks like Stormterror’s Lair, too.

“Do you like it?” Zhongli asks.

“How did…” Childe can’t figure out what to look at. He darts from one end of the mountain peak to the other, taking in everything he can. “Did you make this? So, you could look at everything?”

Zhongli laughs, deep and rumbling. “Unfortunately, I am not so gifted with foresight. Lumine stumbled upon this spot in her travels and told me of it.”

“It’s…” Liyue, bathed in moonlight. The sea glimmers, reflecting the stars, and lanterns of travelers and hilichurls alike light up the mountains. In the distance, just over the Chasm, the receding sunset bleeds orange and purple onto the land, casting long shadows before the sun finally dips over the horizon.

Childe turns to Zhongli with a smile. “It’s beautiful.”

“You’re…” Zhongli pauses. He lingers a moment too long—a moment long enough to let Childe wonder—and then he thinks better of sharing. “…You haven’t seen Liyue like this, then? In that case, I’m glad my efforts were not in vain.”

His gaze lingers a moment longer, then Zhongli turns away. Childe wants to ask, wants to press him, but he follows Zhongli’s gaze and finds yet another surprise waiting for him. There’s something hidden there, in the middle of the mountain peak. A broken-down structure, really just rocks in the shape of four corners, and in the center of it all is a blanket and basket.

A soft yellow encompasses the rock structure, shifting it with Geo. The rocks reveal lanterns, nestled in those corners, illuminating the scene. Childe steps closer, kneeling on the blanket to open the basket. There’s food inside. He takes the dishes out, one by one, finding all of his favorites: Fullmoon Egg, Golden Shrimp Balls, Jade Parcels, Fried Radish Balls, Lotus Flower Crisps, and a small container full of soup. It’s a picnic.

Around him, Zhongli claps his hands together, summoning geo pillars at the corners of the rock structure. He hangs the lanterns from the pillars and summons a Jade Shield over top, building a little pagoda around them. When he’s done, he lingers by the edge of the blanket. It’s picturesque, how the soft golden glow illuminates him. And just behind him is Liyue Harbor, twinkling in the night. If only Childe had a kamera right then.

Under Zhongli’s expectant gaze, Childe picks up one of the Jade Parcels and eats it, groaning as he bites into the warm dumpling. It’s been weeks since he’s had Jade Parcels. Xiangling is the only one who can make them right, and she’s only been feeding him experiments for the past week. He reaches for a Golden Shrimp Ball next, savoring the crunch.

“Come on!” Childe says, around a mouthful of food. “Come eat! It’s gonna get cold!”

Zhongli smiles, and sits down across from him. Childe pushes plates of the food he’s already sampled towards Zhongli and takes samples of other dishes as he goes. “Take your time, Childe. There’s plenty of food.”

“I know but—” Childe licks his fingers clean, then goes back for a second Fullmoon Egg. “—it’s so good!”

“I’m glad,” Zhongli says, taking one of the Jade Parcels. “You should try the soup.”

He fishes out a pair of spoons from the picnic basket, handing one to Childe. Childe opens the jar, taking a Louts Flower Crisp as he works, and immediately shovels a spoonful of soup in his mouth without checking it, first.

He nearly spits it out. But, to be courteous to Zhongli, after a moment of processing, he swallows.

“This soup is sweet.”

Zhongli laughs. “I thought you were reluctant to try sweet soup, and yet you ate it quite eagerly.”

“I—you—” Childe stumbles over his words, still tasting the warm, sweet, soup in his mouth. “I was preoccupied with eating, and you took advantage of that!”

“Perhaps.” Zhongli takes two small bowls out of the basket (how much stuff is in that basket?) and passes one to Childe. “Is it to your liking?”

He pours himself some soup as Childe thinks. It’s definitely not good. Soup isn’t supposed to be sweet, and this was some weird milky soup with…well, he’s not exactly sure what was floating in it, but it’s edible? They’re soft and easy to mash in his mouth, and they taste a bit chocolatey, but they’re not chocolate.

“It’s…not bad.” Childe says.

“It’s red bean soup,” Zhongli says. “A common dessert; I’m surprised you hadn’t tried it sooner.”

“It’s sweet soup.”

“And it’s not bad.” Zhongli pushes the container of soup towards him. “It can be served hot or cold, and it’s usually served cold this time of year, but I thought you might appreciate a warm soup more.”

Childe pouts, glaring at the soup. “Soup shouldn’t be cold, either.”

“The red bean is common in other desserts as well,” Zhongli continues. “Leftover soup can be frozen into popsicles, and the bean alone can be mashed into a paste to fill steamed or fried buns. I believe Inazuma likes to make their fried buns into fish-shapes, though in Liyue, plain balls, fried and covered in sesame seeds is more common.”

Childe glares at the container a moment longer before curiosity wins and he reaches for it. He pours himself a bowl, and sniffs at it, tentatively. It certainly smells sweet, now that he’s actually paying attention to what he’s eating.

Carefully, he takes a bite. A small one. He chews on the beans, and, to his surprise, tapioca. It has a subtle sweetness to it; not overwhelming like a candy, rather it’s warm and smooth with just a hint of a chocolate flavor.

“…It’s not bad,” Childe says, taking another bite.

Zhongli smiles, but doesn’t tease him further. Childe frowns as he eats, but finishes his bowl of soup. It’s kind of good.

Their conversation lulls, but it’s a comfortable kind of silence. At least, it is until Childe looks up at Zhongli. He feels it again, that spell freezing him in time. There’s an itch in the back of his mind, and he feels like he needs to say something, but all he can do is look. His gaze sweeps over the sharp angles of Zhongli’s face, the way he smiles to himself as he eats, as if each bite is something miraculous—and then Zhongli looks up at him.

Childe startles just a bit, but Zhongli smiles at him, soft and warm. His eyes are piercing, as if he sees right through Childe. Through the title of “harbinger”, past the mask of “Tartaglia” and “Childe”, down to little “Ajax”; he sees, and his gaze still warm. He is still warm.

A bell rings in the distance.

It pulls their attention away from each other. Childe looks past Zhongli, towards the harbor where the bell still echoes. Slowly, the lights in Liyue begin to dim.

Childe frowns. “What’s happening?”

He stands to get a better look. Was it an attack of some kind? He certainly didn’t authorize anything. None of the Fatui should be making moves in Liyue at the moment, especially without his permission. But if it’s not his own people, then is it another god? A rogue adepti?

“Come watch,” Zhongli says. He’s already standing, walking towards the south edge of the mountain, unbothered by the sudden noise.

So, Childe does. He joins Zhongli at the edge and watches as the city that warmed him even at night, slowly went dark. One by one, the lanterns were put out. It started from the edges of the city, from the water, and slowly crept inwards towards Yujing Terrace, until the whole city was dark.

It was odd, watching such a beacon be snuffed out. Childe has only ever seen one other instance of the city going completely dark.

And if as on cue, lanterns start to rise into the sky. Like the Lantern Rite Festival, the streets of the city become rivers of light, glowing as the lanterns are released into the sky. But as they float away, they aren’t led by a statue or accompanied by fireworks. Rather, they quietly drift off towards the sea. As the fly overhead, more lanterns begin to sparkle, floating in the ocean. They cluster at the harbor, then drift out on the waters, some reaching as far as Guyun Stone Forrest. It’s as if the stars descended on the harbor, lighting the land, the sky, and the sea.

“The Qixing Tianquan asked me how I should like to be remembered,” Zhongli says. “She suggested a festival, much like the Lantern Rite, but I declined.”

Childe frowns. “You were their god. You ruled for thousands of years, but you don’t want a festival in your name?”

“There are many things in my name. I am not so vain that I needed another…besides, my ‘death’ was not an honorable one. It’s undeserving of a festival. Just observing the Rite of Parting would’ve been enough, but—” Zhongli sighs. “—The Tianquan insisted.”

It’s a beautiful sight, more so as the lanterns float towards them, surrounding them with floating paper stars. It’s not loud and joyful, like the Lantern Rite, rather it’s quiet and reflective. Some of the lanterns have prayers written on them, others have names.

Childe can’t help feeling a stab of guilt, that all of this is happening, in part, because of him. “…So, we’re watching your funeral.”

“Yes.” Zhongli reaches out for a stray lantern that floats by them and pushes it higher into the sky. “In the vastness of history, choosing how I am remembered is insignificant. The memory of Rex Lapis will change with time, eroding in some aspects, and building in others. In the future I may be a villain rather than an honored Archon. So then, this funeral—festival, if the Tianquan has her way—is nothing more than a comfort to those who live on today, to make their memories joyous.”

“Then why have it? You could’ve told her no.”

Zhongli smiles. “As if anyone could tell the Tianquan, ‘no.’” He turns to Childe. “…I did, at first. She wanted to do this earlier, but I insisted she not. It…This is supposed to be a new era, a new contract between Liyue and its people. I can’t help but feel that festival in my honor would only serve to look back, when future is what they should be celebrating.”

He takes a step closer, not quite meeting Childe’s eyes. “And then Lumine, ever the problem-solver, told me something profound. ‘Only by looking back and remembering what we’ve lost can we be thankful for what’s to come and look forward with both our memories and hopes to guide us.’ She was speaking of her brother, I’m sure, but the sentiment remains.”

Childe’s fist clenches, leather gloves creaking under the strain. So, this is also to mark that day, then, when he tried and failed to destroy Liyue Harbor. A reminder for him to look back and remember that he lost, but at least Liyue came out better on the other side because of it.

“I know you will be leaving Liyue soon, but I’ll cherish the memory of when you were here, and…” There’s a pause. Zhongli looks out over the lanterns, the warm light illuminating his gold eyes and pink cheeks. “…I’m glad that we could remain friends, despite having been on opposite sides of the conflict that led us here.”

Childe scoffs. “Friends. Right.”

Friends, despite Childe actively trying to steal Zhongli’s Gnosis for months. Friends, despite Childe almost destroying the Harbor and the people along with it. Friends, despite Zhongli lying to him about…everything.

There’s a part of him that wants to run, wants to shove aside everything that’s bubbling up and just let them be friends. It would be easier, to forgive and forget, as easily as Zhongli seems to have done. It would be easier, especially when Childe almost killed thousands and Zhongli only lied.

But if he never asks, then he’ll never know.

“Say, Zhongli…would you consider friendship a contract?”

“I…suppose. Though it’s not an explicit contract, in a way, a ‘contract’ is nonetheless formed when a friendship is formed,” Zhongli says. His brow furrows, confused.

Childe shoves his hands in his pockets, casually swinging himself back and forth on the balls of his feet. “Would you say, maybe, that a contract of friendship includes things like spending time together, talking to each other, even trusting each other?”

Zhongli frowns deeper. “Yes, it would include those things.”

“And, as the God of Contracts, what’s the punishment for breaking a contract?”

There is silence.

Zhongli’s gaze presses on him, but it is no longer warm. It burns, knowing and guilty. “‘Ones who break their contracts shall suffer the Wrath of Rock,’” he says.

“So then—” Childe’s hands shake in his pockets. He balls them into fists to keep them still. “—what’s your punishment for lying to me?”

They stand, staring at each other as minutes tick by. More paper lanterns begin to float up towards them, decorating the sky and casting shadows on their faces.

Childe hates it, standing there with nothing to say, nothing to do. His feet beg to run, his heart pleads to hide, but he stays firmly in place. Zhongli stares back at him, eyes searching. For once, he is shaken instead of steadfast. For once, he is…hurt.

“…I couldn’t tell you,” Zhongli says, eventually. “I had a contract with the Tsaritsa. I could tell no one of it, nor could I reveal my true identity.”

“And in keeping one contract, you broke another,” Childe shoots back.

“I couldn’t—”

“You chose!” Childe shouts. “You chose that other contract over your friendship with me. Why?”

Zhongli doesn’t answer. He can’t.

Childe answers for him.

“You chose a test, over me. You chose losing your Gnosis, over me. You chose Liyue, over me.” Childe throws his hands up, pacing around the cliff edge. “I wasn’t the smart choice. I wasn’t the contract that could start a war if broken, so I get the short end of the stick, right?”

His hands twitch, itching to pull a hydro blade out of the air. He laughs, bitterly. “That’s why you lied, isn’t it? Because I wasn’t worth it.”

Zhongli reaches out for him. “Ajax—”

But Childe backs away, pulling out a hydro blade as he moves.

“YAK YIKA! MUHE YE!”

There’s a scream from the other side of the mountain. Childe turns on his heel and throws the hydro blade as hard as he can, nailing a hilichurl dead center on its forehead. The blade drops, losing form as the hilichurl falls backward over the edge of the mountain.

As it falls, a mitachurl climbs up over the edge. It drags its shield up with it, pausing once it stands to prepare for a charge. Matching it, step for step, Childe draws his hydro blades, walking towards the mitachurl as he does.

“Ajax!” Zhongli reaches out for him again, but the mitachurl charges. Childe follow suit, barely feeling Zhongli’s touch against his arm as he runs off, blades in his hands and blood on his mind.

He jumps, just as the mitachurl runs up to him, using his hydro vision to boost him. The mitachurl stops short, skidding to a halt. Childe drops down from above, stabbing his blades into its back. The mitachurl screams and flails, throwing Childe off. He’s knocked back, flying through the air until he crashes into something solid.

A jade shield.

Zhongli drops the Jade Shield as soon as Childe is back on his feet. Lumine has appeared beside him, looking ragged and apologetic with Paimon floating just behind her. On the other side of the mountain, the mitachurl stands, shaking off its injury. Just behind it, a second mitachurl, a geo samachurl, a gang of hilichurls and a couple of hydro slimes climb up on to the mountain, ready to join the battle.

Childe draws two more hydro blades and gets to work.

As he fights, his blood roars in his ears. The motions of battle pull against his still-healing wounds, but he keeps fighting. The pain feels good.

Distantly, he can hear Zhongli and Lumine talking.

“Paimon isn’t sure what happened!” Paimon exclaims. “They just came out of nowhere!”

With a spin, Childe slashes his blades through the air, swirling them into a double-bladed polearm. He uses the momentum to sweep his weapon in front of himself, slicing through a hilichurl and forcing the rest of the group back.

“Are you alright?” Zhongli asks.

“Yeah. Lumine finished off a lawachurl, and then the others ran right past her up to you guys,” Paimon says.

Childe dashes forward, cornering the geo samachurl. He raises his polearm to stab down, but the samachurl summons a platform. It shoots out of the ground, nearly smacking him in the head. Childe rolls backward and the two mitachurls fill in the empty space, blocking the samachurl from view.

“One of them said something about ‘mountain’ and ‘falling,’” Lumine says.

Dashing backward, Childe trades his polearm for a bow, aiming two hydro infused arrows at the hilichurls. He tags one of them, but the arrow hits its arm and the hilichurl shrugs it off. The whole group of them charge towards him, and just behind them, the axe-wielding mitachurl runs up to join the battle.

Zhongli hums. “We did kick some hilichurls off of ledges on the way up here.”

Paimon sighs. “Great, so it’s a revenge party…”

Something like footsteps comes rushing towards him from behind. They’re light steps, but deliberate, running straight at him, not past him. He calls on his vision, fashioning blades out of water, and turns low and fast.

He barely catches a glimpse of Lumine before he dispels the blades and sends the water splashing harmlessly onto the grass. She charges at him, looking just past him, but in a split second they share a look and adjust.

Childe crouches lower, ignoring how his limbs burn with the effort and offering his hands as a stepping point. Lumine takes it, jumping on him and over him as Childe boosts her into the air. She flies at the hilichurls and slimes, unleashing a raging tornado that tears through the mountain, picking up all kinds of debris, including parts of the picnic.

With his bow, Childe charges up a shot, aiming straight for the group of hilichurls. He shoots, and the arrow explodes in a burst of water just before the tornado hits. The hilichurls and slimes, dazed and soaked, get swept up in a violent mini-hurricane. They spin round, taking hits from the debris and each other. The slimes burst from the overload of elemental energy, sending hydro slime flying everywhere. The two Mitachurls push past it, coming out with just a few scrapes, but the mini-hurricane falls off the edge of the mountain, taking the hilichurls tumbling down with it.

Lumine lands back on the ground just as the second mitachurl swings its giant axe down. Childe draws his bow, but he’s too slow. Lumine, tired, barely has time to react.

The crack is sickening as the axe comes down on a Jade Shield, rebounds violently, and hits the mitachurl in its face, cracking its mask. Zhongli stands beside Childe, in front of him almost, with one hand out, maintaining the shield as Lumine stands. He barely turns over his shoulder, glancing back at Childe. Childe pretends not to notice.

Pounding footsteps from one side are the only warning they get as the first mitachurl charges at them with its shield raised. Zhongli throws out his other hand, raising a pillar from the ground just in front of the beast. The mitachurl crashes into it, stumbling and swiping its shield around.

Childe races towards it, running behind it, rearing back, and stabbing it once more. The motion pulls at his wounds again, but Childe stabs hard, dealing out as much pain as he feels. The mitachurl screams and starts thrashing about again, but Childe is ready. He lets go, and backs up, waiting for it to see him again. As soon as it does, it charges again; predictable and stupid. Childe waits until the last second to jump out of the way, not bothering to watch as the mitachurl launches itself off the mountain.

Across the way, Lumine and Zhongli make quick work of the remaining mitachurl and samachurl. Lumine is quick with her stabs, backing up her mitachurl to the cliff edge. It braces itself against her attacks, but with one charged anemo blast, the mitachurl is knocked back off the cliff edge.

Meanwhile, Zhongli matches the samachurl pillar for pillar, knocking it around like a toy. A geo platform rises in front of Zhongli to block him, and Zhongli retaliates with his own pillar, shooting it out of the ground diagonally to knock the samachurl off its platform. A second geo pillar shoots up, punching it upwards. He hardly lifts a finger as Lumine finishes it off with another anemo blast, sending the final enemy flying off the mountain.

Lumine breathes hard, leaning on her sword like a cane. Zhongli straightens his coat.

“Yeah! And that’s how it’s done!” Paimon flies out from behind some of the rock piles where the picnic used to be. “Whew! Paimon could sure go for some food after that fight.”

Lumine rolls her eyes, but smiles as she beckons Paimon over. “Then it’s a good thing I brought my emergency food with me.”

“Hey!” Paimon shouts, angrily stomping her feet in the air. “That stopped being funny ages ago…wait—that’s not what Paimon means! It was never funny!”

Childe clenches his blades, adrenaline rushing through is veins. His body aches, screams for rest, but his mind continues to race.

Lumine looks up at Zhongli. “Sorry about that. We didn’t mean to ruin your night.”

Zhongli smiles. “Nonsense. Hilichurls attacking is not your fault…Though speaking of food, it seems our dinner did not escape the fight.”

“Awh, and after all the trouble we went through to help you set this up,” Paimon says.

Zhongli shakes his head. “It’s no matter. We were mostly finished anyway. Right, Childe?”

Childe looks up, meeting Zhongli’s eyes. He grips his blades tighter.

Paimon floats forward, trying to look at his face. “Uh, Childe, the fight’s over. You can put away your weapons.”

He holds Zhongli’s gaze. No. It’s not over.

“Childe.” Zhongli steps towards him, one hand reaching out. Childe takes a step back, bracing himself.

The motion stops Zhongli in his tracks. He frowns.

“Uh, guys?” Paimon calls.

Zhongli watches him, shaken and cracked open. He practically bleeds his feelings onto the ground. Confused eyes, reaching hands, pleading frown—but Childe stands his ground.

“Lumine, Paimon, you’ve been a great help to me in the past few days, but I believe it would be best if you departed,” Zhongli says.

“Zhongli—”

“Go,” He commands. He frowns at the harsh edge in his own voice. Then, softer. “We’ll be fine.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Lumine and Paimon leave, with the soft woosh of a glider flying through the air.

Then, it’s just them.

“…What would you have me say?” Zhongli asks. “Would words even be enough to satisfy you?”

Childe doesn’t answer. There isn’t answer.

The quiet only grows as Zhongli tries to find another way, but they both know there isn’t one. Finally, Zhongli sighs, defeated. He draws his pole arm. “Very well. If you want so badly to fight, then fight.”

Childe charges.

He barrels towards Zhongli head-on. At the last moment, the feints to the side, slicing his daggers across Zhongli’s side. Zhongli blocks with his pole arm, barely straining as Childe pushes with all his might to break Zhongli’s defense.

When Zhongli finally pushes him back, Childe lets the momentum carry him, bracing against the ground for another charge. He slashes again, not forcing it this time when Zhongli blocks. He jumps back again. He charges again. He slashes. Blocked. Back. Charge. Slash. Blocked. Back. Charge. Slash.

It’s like a dance, almost. A pattern that keeps them circling each other, that pulls on Childe’s wounds and strains his body until everything burns, but he can’t stop. He keeps up the barrage for as long as he can. All he needs is for Zhongli to make a mistake.

A geo pillar shoots up in front of him.

Childe charges right into it. He stumbles back, a little dazed, eyes searching for his target.

Zhongli appears behind him. He sweeps his polearm low, knocking Childe’s feet into the air. Childe falls forward, but catches himself in a roll. As soon as he’s upright, he draws his bow and shoots. A jade shield blocks his shot. Water bursts all over the shield, and Zhongli dismisses it to clear his field of view. From behind the water, Childe charges again. Slash.

Hit.

It’s barely a hit. All he did was tear up Zhongli’s coat sleeve. Childe stares at the torn fabric, panting, trying to process his small victory and pick his next move as Zhongli stands there. He just stands there, watching.

Waiting.

Taunting.

Childe takes a step forward. Slash. Zhongli takes a step back.

Forward. Slash. Back. Forward. Slash. Back.

“Childe—”

Childe charges. He slashes. Zhongli takes a step back.

Charge.  Slash.   Back.    Charge.     Slash.      Back.

“Childe, please—”

Childe swirls his blades into a polearm, using the reach to his advantage. He hits. It’s just more torn clothing, but he hits.

“Ajax—"

“Shut up!”

Childe throws the polearm like a spear, forcing Zhongli to throw up a Jade Shield. Again, the water bursts over the shield, blocking Zhongli’s view. It gives Childe a moment to breathe, to think.

He backs up a few steps and gasps for air. His body aches. His muscles burn. Fighting at all is pushing his limits as it is. It’s sheer luck that none of his existing wounds have torn open yet. He can’t go on like this, but he also can’t stop.

It’s clear he’s in no state to beat Zhongli, to truly punish him the way he deserves…but maybe if he uses the Foul Legacy Transformation…

His body is wrecked as it is, but it’s still a chance. So what if it wrecks him more? He has the whole trip back to Snezhnaya to recover.

Childe reaches for the delusion lying dormant on his scarf. His arm burns with the effort, but as his hand nears the delusion, sparks of electro dance on his fingertips. He feels the electricity shoot through his body like a jolt of lightening. Every part of him shakes with sheer energy.

Then, just as he grabs it, a hand grabs his wrist and pulls it away. He loses his grip on the delusion, sparks fading from his grasp. He tries to pull his arm back, but Zhongli is stronger. His grip is bruising. Childe pulls, and Zhongli pulls back, forcing Childe to stumble forward.

Another hand grabs the front of his shirt. It lifts him off the ground, into the air. Childe panics as his feet leave the ground.

He punches Zhongli, square across his face.

The move stuns both of them. Zhongli doesn’t stumble, but he does let Childe go. With one hand on his cheek, he rights himself, honestly shocked to feel the sting of a sucker punch. He looks at Childe, wide-eyed and hurt.

Childe punches him again.

Childe goes back for a third hit, but Zhongli is faster, catching the fist with his hand. Childe swings his other fist, but that, too, is caught. He tries to summon hydro blades, but Zhongli’s bruising grip hurts too much for Childe to keep the blades stable and formed.

“Let go of me!” Childe screams.

He tries to back up and tear himself from Zhongli’s grip, but a geo pillar shoots up behind him and Zhongli backs him into it. Childe grunts as he hits the pillar, his own arms dragged above him, Zhongli’s grip still-too-tight on his wrists. In one final attempt to escape, Childe slams his leg up, trying to knee Zhongli, but Zhongli is quicker. As soon as Childe’s leg moves, Zhongli presses closer, presses against him with one leg slotted between Childe’s thighs.

“Coward!”

“Ajax—”

“Just fight me!”

“Please—”

“Let go—”

“STOP THIS!” Zhongli bellows. He shakes Childe, pulling him off the pillar by hardly an inch, only to slam him back into it, hard. His eyes glow through his frown.

“WHY?” Childe screams back, unafraid. He blinks back tears from his eyes. “So you don’t have to face your terrible Wrath of Rock?”

“I had no choice!”

“You did!”

“A contract cannot be broken—”

“But our ‘friendship’ can?”

“That’s not—”

“You lied to me! You think your fucking contracts are so much more important than the people around you, that you won’t hesitate to keep your fucking identity from me for the sake of one!”

“And what if I hadn’t?” Zhongli asks. “Would you still have continued your mission? Would you have kept your vow, your contract to the Tsaritsa and taken my Gnosis?”

Childe hesitates. He presses his lips together, staring Zhongli down. Would he? Would he betray the Tsaritsa for Zhongli? It would mean abandoning everything; his rank, his power, his title, his home…his family. But he’d have Zhongli.

The grip on his wrists loosens. They don’t drop, but they’re no longer held in a crushing vice. Zhongli sighs. The glow in his eyes fade.

“You wouldn’t,” he says. “How could you possibly choose between your life, everything you’ve worked towards, everyone you love, and me?”

“But, I do love you.”

The words make Zhongli pause, and for a split second, Childe wonders if he just shattered his own world. They could recover from a fight, but love? Sometimes, those wounds never heal.

“Maybe. Maybe I would have left it all behind for you.” Childe’s voice shakes. “Because if—if I didn’t then…”

He hates to think about it. Just the thought hurts him more than any sword or arrow. “If I didn’t choose you, then I’d have to kill you.”

Gentle fingers scrape against his wrists, releasing him. Then the drag up his wrists, to his palms, until their fingers finally slot together, and Zhongli holds his hands just as tightly.

“You wouldn’t have been able to,” Zhongli says.

“Then I wouldn’t have stopped until you killed me.”

“I wouldn’t have.”

“You don’t know that!” Childe shouts. “If I had gotten to you—if I used the Foul Legacy Transformation, and released Osial, you can’t just say you wouldn’t have! Even you can’t protect everyone by yourself. You would’ve had to choose. I would’ve made you, and you…you still wouldn’t have picked me—”

“Ajax.” Zhongli presses their foreheads together, forcing Childe to focus on something other than his own thoughts. Once Childe’s eyes are back on him, he leans back, bringing their hands down to rest between them. Then, he lets go of one hand and wipes the tears from Childe’s face.

Childe hadn’t even realized he was crying.

Zhongli cradles his face, as if he was precious. As if he was loved. “I’m sorry.”

Childe scoffs. He’s sorry. After all that, he’s sorry.

“You’re right, and I’m sorry.”

Childe sobs. It’s the truth, even if he doesn’t want it to be. Neither of them would turn from their responsibilities. Zhongli had Liyue to look out for, and Childe vowed his life to the Tsaritsa. Things would’ve turned out the same for Childe whether Zhongli lied or not.

He looks up at Zhongli, still holding him close. His free hand comes up, knocking Zhongli’s away as Childe wipes his own tears.

“Prove it,” he says, even as his frustration bleeds away. “Show me how sorry you are.”

“What would you have me do?” Zhongli asks.

He could ask for anything, really. Zhongli doesn’t have to say it, but there isn’t a doubt in Childe’s mind that Zhongli would give him whatever he asked for. He’s just not sure how to ask. So, he doesn’t ask.

Instead, he brings his hands to Zhongli’s face, holding him as if he was precious, and kisses him.

It catches Zhongli by surprise, but just for a moment. With warm lips on his own, Zhongli presses Childe back into the pillar, kissing back like a parched man finally finding water. He’s gentle but firm, eager and excited, and he only stops when Childe finally pushes him back to breathe.

Dazed, they stare at each other, panting.

Then, Childe greedily pulls him back for another. He wraps an arm around Zhongli’s neck to keep him there, and Zhongli’s hands snake around his waist, pulling them flush together. Childe gasps, suddenly reminded of where Zhongli’s leg is. Zhongli doesn’t stop, kissing up his jaw, being altogether distracting as Childe tries to decide whether or not grinding down on Zhongli’s leg is a good idea.

“Archons, fuck me…” Childe mutters, letting his head fall back against the pillar.

Zhongli freezes, lips just behind Childe’s ear. “…Are you not hurt from our fight?”

That’s not what Childe meant.

Zhongli presses his thumb into Childe’s side to prove a point. It’s just below the nasty sword wound Lumine gave him over a week ago, and though the skin has healed over, it’s still delicate; Moreso from all of the fighting today. Pain blossoms, spreading all along his side as Zhongli presses against the tender skin. It’s a dull kind of ache, the kind that leaves his nerves humming long after Zhongli stops pressing down.

It makes Childe moan like a whore.

Against his neck, Zhongli smirks. “Though, I suppose this is as good a way as any to prove how sorry I am.”

Childe gasps again as Zhongli lifts him into the air. Zhongli isn’t shy about grabbing his ass to hold him up, and Childe clings to him as the pillar disappears from behind him. There’s a bit of rusting behind him, then Zhongli deposits him gently on the picnic blanket, leftover food and plates pushed off to the side haphazardly. Childe lets his arms fall above his head and his legs fall open as his body is finally allowed to rest.

Zhongli sits on his knees between Childe’s legs. Slowly, he crawls his way up Childe’s body until they’re face-to-face again. He looks for a moment—just looks—and then leans down and kiss Childe, gently.

“If there had been another way…” he whispers.

“I know,” Childe says.

“I truly am sorry, Ajax.” He presses more sweet kisses to Childes lips, his face, his neck.

Childe sighs, heart leaping at the sound of his name in Zhongli’s soothing baritone. He stares up at the lanterns floating around them, at the moon and stars above, wondering if he’s dreaming. “Then stop teasing me and get on with the ‘proving’ part.”

Again, Zhongli smiles against his skin. “Teasing? I believe you’re mistaken.”

He sits up, dragging his hands down Childe’s shirt, undoing the fastenings as he goes, until his shirt lays open.

“This is teasing.” Slowly, he drags them further, feather-light over the bulge in Childe’s pants. Childe moans, breathy, as Zhongli drags his hand all the way down and all the way back up.

“This is also teasing.” Zhongli rubs his hand up Childe’s side, stopping to rub his thumb over one nipple. It perks under the attention and cool night air. Childe leans into the touch, struggling to keep his eyes open as Zhongli takes him apart.

“But this?” He pinches the nipple between his finger and thumb, hard. Childe whines, arching up off the ground, following Zhongli’s touch as he pulls ever so slightly.

With his teeth, Zhongli removes the glove from his other hand and drags his nails down Childe’s side and back. He’s gentle over the fresh scars, but digs in closer to Childe’s hip. It burns in neat lines down his skin, but Childe can’t help leaning into it, making the nails press into him harder.

“This is called masochism—when sexual pleasure is derived from pain.”

Even as Zhongli lets go, he doesn’t let go completely. The hand scratching down his side comes up to abuse his other nipple, circling, pinching, and pulling until he has two matching perky buds. Zhongli removes his glove from the other hand and reaches down, pushing Childe’s leg towards his chest. The stretch burns as his flexibility is pushed to its limits, and Zhongli’s grip on his thigh digs into bruised flesh, even through his pants.

“There are some who find such desires perverse and shameful.”

Zhongli leans forward, forcing Childe into an awkward pose, one leg pressed close to his chest, hip burning with the effort of trying to stretch that far. Lips press gently against his jaw, followed quickly by teeth. Zhongli nips at him, biting at his jaw, sucking on his neck until Childe’s sure it’ll bruise.

“Luckily for you, I am the God of War.”

He kisses down Childe’s neck and chest until he reaches Childe’s nipples. He kisses around one of them, letting his tongue lap at the bud. He sucks on it hard, making Childe whine again, lapping and sucking until the bud is swollen. Then, he takes it between his teeth and bites.

Childe screams. His hands fly down to Zhongli’s head, grasping at his hair to pull him away and push him closer. His hips jerk up against Zhongli’s stomach, the dull grind not nearly enough friction to satisfy him. Zhongli lets him go, blowing gently against the abused bud.

“I have no such qualms.”

Then, he repeats with the other nipple; kissing, sucking, biting, until it’s just as wet and swollen as the other one, and Childe is panting and sensitive all over.

Zhongli sits back on his heels and looks at his work. There’s this terribly satisfied smile on his face as he eyes Childe up and down with his dark glowing eyes. He takes his time, until Childe feels like a meal laid out for a king. Childe has bite marks everywhere, his lips are swollen, his nipples are swollen, there are red scratch marks down his sides, and fresh bruises over the ones that were just starting to fade. Worst of all, his cock strains against his pants, making a hard line up the front, ending in a little wet spot where he’s been leaking pre-cum.

Archons, if Zhongli kept sucking on his tits, he could probably come untouched.

“Xiansheng,” Childe pants. “Zhongli.”

“Hm?” Zhongli hums as he reaches to remove Childe’s shoes, then pops the button on his pants, dragging the zipper down slow.

“Fuck me.” Childe tries pushing himself up, arms and stomach burning as he moves. Zhongli has to help him, one hand at his back as they work together to get his shirt and scarf off. He lays back and lets Zhongli take care of his pants.

“Don’t be gentle.”

His face burns as he lays there, naked, hard, and leaking, and on display for the Geo Archon himself. It’s not like he could resist, even if he wanted to. Even with that spark of lust running through him, his body is exhausted. It hurts to move. Despite that, Childe ignores the burn as he tugs on his cock, spreading pre-cum down his shaft. The satisfaction he gets from Zhongli’s gaze follow his hands is worth the pain. Those golden eyes flicker down further as Childe reaches down with his other hand, spreading his ass apart as an offering.

“I want to feel you all the way back to Snezhnaya,” Childe says. He circles his finger around his rim, frowning with the realization that they don’t have any oil.

Zhongli doesn’t answer right away. Instead, he sheds his coat, folding it neatly, then rolls up his sleeves to his elbows. His eyes drag over Childe again, lingering spread little hole. Then, he leans over, reaching to his right to pick up something just past the picnic blanket.

When he sits back, his hand is covered in hydro slime jelly. He throws a questioning look to Childe. Childe shrugs and almost laughs. Apparently, Xiangling isn’t the only one who can find a creative use for slimes.

Reaching down, Zhongli spreads some of the jelly over Childe’s cock, squeezing as he pumps it slow and rubs over the head with his thumb. Then, he takes the rest of it and lets it drip off his hand, down Childe’s balls, and onto his hole.

“I’d like to hear you say it again,” Zhongli says. He brushes a finger against Childe’s rim, circling it with the jelly, using just his finger tip to push it in. His other hand reaches for Childe’s leg, throwing it over his shoulder.

“Fuck me, hard.”

“Not that.” Zhongli teases him with smile, dipping that one finger in and out of him, but still just the tip.

Childe frowns, too focused on Zhongli not doing nearly enough to satisfy him and swatting his hand away every time he reaches for his own cock. Zhongli adds a second finger, spreading Childe at the rim. He turns his face towards Childe’s leg, nipping at his calf. He watches with eager eyes as Childe struggles to think clearly.

“Stop teasing,” Childe whines. His hands pull at the blanket around his head as he tries to grind down on Zhongli’s fingers. So, Zhongli hold him still with his free-hand, pressing his hips into the ground and his nails into Childe’s ass.

“Not that either.” Zhongli laughs. He leans forward, pressing Childe’s leg to his chest again. It hurts more as Zhongli tries to keep his hips pressed to the ground, despite Childe’s inflexibility. Between Childe’s groans and glares, he’s smothered in kisses and bites all over his face and neck.

“Fuck, Zhongli,” Childe begs. He wraps his arms around Zhongli, one hand clawing at his shirt, and the other locked in his hair. What the hell does he want? How does he expect Childe to come up with an answer under these conditions? All of the attention makes it too hard to think, especially when he feels a third finger at his rim, stretching him without ever giving any real satisfaction.

Dazed, Childe tries to remember everything they’ve said to each other in the past hour, when it hits him:

“I love you.”

The three fingers at his rim push into him all in one go. He’s too-full, too-fast, but the hand doesn’t stop. Childe gasps, instinctively twisting away, but Zhongli follows him, fucking him steadily. At the same time, Childe pulls Zhongli closer, pulls his hair tighter as Zhongli keeps pressing kisses to his neck and jaw.

“Again,” Zhongli says.

“I-I love you!”

Zhongli’s fingers spread, scissoring inside of Childe. They keep fucking him as they spread until they finally brush across his prostate. Childe moans, grinding down desperately, despite the way his limbs burn and protest. Kisses trail down his chest, only pausing to bite and suck hard on his nipples. Childe bucks his hips, squirming, arching. His cock brushes against Zhongli’s stomach, the fabric of Zhongli’s shirt giving him friction, but not nearly enough. He’s so close.

“Again.”

“I love—love you—a-ah!”

Zhongli’s hand pauses, deep inside him, but his fingers keep moving, pressing and rubbing against his prostate until Childe is screaming. His vision blurs, only able to focus on that sweet pressure inside him and the dull scrape of Zhongli’s teeth on his skin.

And then it all disappears—the warmth, the bite, the fullness—leaving Childe cold and grasping at nothing. His hips jerk up into nothing. His hands reach out, but Zhongli is too far away.

“N-no, no, please!” He babbles. “Please! I need—love you!”

Childe blinks rapidly, chest heaving for air, trying to figure out what’s happening between the sudden lack of sensation and aching hard cock, desperate for release. Above him, Zhongli laughs. He takes one of Childe’s outstretched hands in his own and kisses the palm.

“Hush, baobei,” he says. “I’m right here.”

He lets Childe’s hand go, but the sound of his voice is grounding. He leans over Childe, reaching for another handful of hydro jelly. The tell-tale sound of a zipper finally clears Childe’s head as he looks down just in time to watch Zhongli pull his cock out of his pants. And shit, he sure is an Archon.

Childe sighs shakily as Zhongli coats himself with the hydro jelly. It’s mesmerizing, watching the steadfast and stoic Zhongli pleasure himself. He breathes careful and slow, even as drags his hand down his cock, fucking into the tight ring of his own fingers and squeezing at his balls with his other hand.

Zhongli catches his gaze and reaches forward, leaning over Childe again. He braces himself on one hand, leaning down for a kiss. Childe reaches up and pulls him close, locking his arms and legs around Zhongli. It pulls another smile from him.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left you like that,” Zhongli mumbles.

“How sorry?” Childe asks. He feels the tip of Zhongli’s cock against his ass, and he bites his lip.

Slowly, steadily, Zhongli pushes in. He groans as he goes, pulling Childe’s hips down onto him. Childe arches off the ground, mouth hanging open in a soundless scream. Zhongli’s cock is so much thicker than his fingers, and it drags past his prostate slow and hot. Zhongli pants into Childe’s neck. He snakes one hand into Childe's hair as he leans on his elbow. The hand in Childe’s hair pulls up, and the one on his hip pulls down, stringing Childe taut for what feels like minutes, even if it’s only seconds. Zhongli doesn’t stop until he’s fully seated.

“Is this proof enough?” Zhongli asks. His hands don’t move, still holding Childe tight.

“No,” Childe says. His vision starts to blur again. “Give me more.”

So, Zhongli does.

He gives one last kiss, tongue darting out to drag across Childe’s lips. Then he sits back, grips Childe’s hips with both of his hands, drags himself out, and slams back in. Childe scrambles to find something to grab. His hands pull on the blanket just above his head, but it does nothing to support him as Zhongli, again, drags out slow and slams back in.

Pleasure rockets through him with every slow drag of Zhongli’s cock over his prostate as he pulls out, and every bruising hit as Zhongli slams back in. The pace is slow and steady, but Childe still screams out little ‘ah-ah-ahs!’ every time Zhongli thrusts in.

And then, he whines when Zhongli moves one hand to his cock, pumping it in time with his thrusts, making a tight circle with his fingers for Childe to fuck up into as he chases his release.

Then, Childe makes the fatal error of trying to change the angle and bring one leg up. Zhongli catches it as soon as he moves, throwing the leg over his shoulder. He grabs Childe’s hips again and fucks him faster. Harder. He even leans forward a bit, using Childe like a cock sleeve.

All Childe can to is watch and feel—and he feels like a whore, barely coherent as he’s fucked by a man still fully dressed while he’s naked and crying over it. The blanket and ground beneath him give him no purchase, and Zhongli is out of arms reach. So, he screams, crying even, as Zhongli fucks him rough and hard, just like he wanted.

His hips lift off the ground as Zhongli presses his leg further back, and Childe can see Zhongli’s cock fucking in and out of his puffy hole. He squeezes around Zhongli’s cock, then struggles to keep his eyes open as Zhongli fucks him harder.

Childe’s head lolls back. He looks up, catching Zhongli’s gaze, and Zhongli looks back with golden lusty eyes.

Childe comes right there, hips jerking as he makes a mess all over himself. His vision whites out for a second, though he can still feel Zhongli fucking him through it, one hand moving to his cock to milk him for everything he’s worth.

His heart beats hard; ears pounding, head spinning. Everything starts to slow as his vision slowly refocuses again, but as Zhongli starts to pull back, Childe shakes his head.

“More,” he begs. A hand comes up to his face to wipe at his tears, and Childe captures it, holding it to his face. He turns his head, pressing kisses to the palm. “Fuck—keep-keep fucking me.”

“Ajax—”

“Please,” Childe moans. He pulls Zhongli’s fingers into his mouth, making a show of sucking on them, tongue lapping at them messily.

Zhongli sighs. He pulls out completely, taking his hand back from Childe’s mouth as well. Childe starts to protest, but he’s flipped, suddenly. Zhongli manhandles him onto his stomach and props his knees up. Something wet and cold drips onto his asshole and down his balls, and Childe gasps. He arches his back at the sensation and then tries to lean away when two fingers start to push the wet stuff into him. Another hand holds him still, however, forcing him to feel the two digits sliding in and out of him.

It's too-much-too-soon as his mind is still hazy in the afterglow of his orgasm and his body’s sensitivity is dialed up to eleven. Still, Childe groans, loving the high, the way his nerves light up as those fingers press against his sensitive hole, against his prostate.

And then the fingers are suddenly replaced by a cock, and, Archons, Childe cries. It’s honestly too much, being fucked open again, after having just come, but Zhongli doesn’t stop. Once he’s fully seated, Zhongli leans over Childe’s back, holding him close as Childe shakes.

Zhongli hushes him, quietly, mumbling into his shoulder. “Shh, I’m sorry. I’m sorry, baobei. Is it too much?”

“No!” Childe gasps, immediately. He reaches back, grabbing Zhongli’s ass to keep him in, pull him closer. “No, no please. Please please…”

Childe grinds back against Zhongli, crying out again because it’s too much, but it makes him dizzy and he doesn’t want to let go of that high.

“Alright.” Zhongli is mean. “I’m here. Right here.”

He whispers sweet nothings, but grip is crushing. He starts fucking again at a punishing pace. It’s all Childe can do to hold on for dear life, pressed back against burning heat, as Zhongli uses him. His nerves are fried, but the little growls against his neck and

the way gropes at him, nails raking over his skin, has Childe’s cock swelling again.

He hears it as much as he feels it, too. The sound of Zhongli’s skin slapping against his own is louder when Childe is on his knees. It’s wet, squelching as Zhongli’s hard cock fucks in and out of him. It’s desperate as Childe cries, needing more, even though it’s already too much. It’s deep as Zhongli groans and growls against his back. Sometimes he hears words, but mostly it’s just nonsense; compliments, promises, and apologies whispered in millennia-old languages that Childe doesn’t understand.

Zhongli adjusts again, hips stuttering as he lets Childe go to hold his hip and drag Childe back on to his cock. The kisses are less then. It’s really just Zhongli breathing into his neck as he uses Childe. Childe reaches down, pulling at his own cock. He can’t match Zhongli’s pace, but it’s enough to bring him to the edge.

“Zh-zhongli. Close.” Childe gasps. He clenches around Zhongli, trying to bring him in further. Zhongli bites down on his shoulder, and does exactly that, fucking him harder, both hands on his hips.

Something warm blossoms inside Childe, and he realizes Zhongli is coming inside him, fucking his way through it. Childe squeezes around Zhongli again, and Zhongli reaches up to pull Childe to his chest again. He moans, long and low, and that sends Childe over the edge too.

Childe comes in weak spurts, spilling on the blanket beneath him. Zhongli’s hand snakes over his own, continuing to pump him even after he’s come all he could, keeping Childe in that high even as the pain of oversensitivity sets in again.

Zhongli’s thrusts slow to a gentle rock, and for a minute, it’s slow like that. They rock together, Zhongli’s hips barely jerking into Childe as he presses kisses to Childe’s shoulders and holds him close, holds him tight. It’s warm with Zhongli at his back. Gently, Zhongli lowers them onto their sides. Their breathing is ragged, chests heaving.

Zhongli keeps rocking into him, gently, as he squeezes Childe to his chest. Childe sighs, finding Zhongli’s hand again, and lacing their fingers together. With heavy limbs and drooping eyes, Childe drifts off to sleep, vaguely aware that he was supposed to be upset about something. Zhongli presses kiss to his shoulder, and squeezes his fingers.

Ah well. It probably wasn’t important.

When Childe stirs, he’s warm and sore. He doesn’t want to get up, but there’s a breeze across his leg that forces him to move. He bends his knees, pulling his legs in, but they burn with the effort, and a sharp pain shoots up his spine.

“Ah!” Childe groans, frowning with his eyes closed.

Gently, a pair of arms holds him tighter and wraps the coat around him closed. Childe sighs, settling back again. The kiss against his hair gives him pause.

Slowly, Childe blinks awake. He looks around himself, frowning at the darkness around him. How long had he slept?

“Did you sleep well?”

Childe turns, wincing as he does, to find Zhongli smiling back at him. Zhongli sits, propped up against the rubble of the broken-down building on the mountain just south of Liyue Harbor with Childe nestled in his arms and wrapped in his coat.

“How long was I out?” Childe tries to sit forward, but his back protests, forcing him to lean back against Zhongli.

“Ah, I apologize. I did not mean to…” Zhongli trails off, adjusting the coat around Childe as he settles again. “Well, I suppose I did mean to. Nevertheless, I’m sorry…Also, about an hour has passed since we…finished.”

Childe looks up. The lanterns have floated high into the sky, looking more like stars now, though a few of them still float up the mountain side, illuminating them. In the distance, Liyue Harbor is lit again, and the moon is high in the sky. It must be around midnight. Behind him, Zhongli’s head drops to his shoulder, lips hovering over what little skin isn’t covered by the coat.

The remnants of their dinner are gone, plates and food probably packed back into the basket. Childe and Zhongli themselves are situated very strategically on the picnic blanket, away from the obvious wet spot.

It’s strange, waking up feeling like he’s floating.

Childe lets his head fall back against Zhongli. It’s an awkward angle, but he sees Zhongli’s eyes looking back, warm and steady. Childe sighs, tired and breathy. “I should’ve asked you to do that a long time ago.”

“I would’ve said yes.” Zhongli smiles down at him as Childe pushes his hand into Zhongli’s hair.

Childe scoffs, smiling. “Oh, now you tell me.”

“When should I have let you know? A month ago? Two?”

Childe laughs. “We were kind of busy a few months ago…hmm, might’ve made everything harder, actually.”

Zhongli’s smile falters, then. “…Are you still upset?” He asks, carefully.

Childe’s hand drops back to his side, and he sighs.

“I…” Childe frowns. The feelings seem so far away now, numbed by the sex, washed away by the warm arms around him. It hardly feels like an issue now; just another thing to beat himself up over. Childe sighs. “I was…scared. There was—I thought a lot of things, but…”

He twists in Zhongli’s grip, sitting almost sideways so he can hold Zhongli back. Yes, Zhongli lied. But, it was a necessary lie, and knowing the truth wouldn’t have made things different, just harder. So…

“I just didn’t want you to leave me behind.”

“If there had been another way, I would have told you.”

“But there wasn’t,” Childe says. “You had to choose Liyue. You had a responsibility to do so, just like I have my harbinger responsibilities.”

Zhongli presses another kiss to his head. “Well, I’m choosing you now.”

Childe laughs. He brings his hand up, drawing patterns against Zhongli’s chest. He pushes away the thoughts of Snezhnaya, of the Tsaritsa, the other Harbingers, and their grand plan. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

“Then let me make one I can.”

Childe looks up at Zhongli, watching as he digs into his pocket and pulls out a little wooden box with a rose etched on the lid. Zhongli holds the box between them, frowning at it. He takes a breath to steady himself.

“Tonight did not go exactly how I imagined it would, but I am still satisfied,” he says. “I…When I finally revealed my identity to you, it was not an ideal situation. Though I clearly underestimated how upset you were by it, I thought that, due to my lie, I owed you a truth before you left for Snezhnaya.”

He takes one of Childe’s hands in his own and kisses his knuckles. He looks up, and they lock eyes. “And that truth is that I love you, Ajax. I have for a while.”

Childe grins like an idiot. “Well, I figured,” he says, trying to sound cool. “You fucked me like you’re head-over-heels. Wasn’t hard to put together after making me come twice.”

Zhongli smiles as well, despite the furrow in his brow. He leans forward, resting their foreheads together.

“Still, it’s nice to hear, finally.” Childe cradles Zhongli’s face in his hands, and pulls him in for a kiss, sweet and chaste. “Especially after I screamed it for you a dozen times. You think the harbor heard me? Jade Chamber? Ooh, Lumine probably definitely heard.”

Zhongli sighs, but otherwise ignores his comments. Instead, he opens the little wooden box. Inside it rest a pair of earrings made of Cor Lapis and Noctilucous Jade. The two earrings are inverse of each other: one designed as a small ball of Noctilucous Jade surrounded by a ring of Cor Lapis, and the other a small ball of Cor Lapis wrapped in a ring of Noctilucous Jade.

“You bought these earlier,” Childe says. He picks up the Cor Lapis wrapped in jade, watching it sparkle as stray lanterns float by. “Why these, though? Knowing you, there’s a reason deeper than just that you like them.”

Though his expression remains unchanged, Zhongli’s cheeks turn red, barely visible in the dark. “The jade matches your eyes.”

Childe feels warm, heart suddenly in his throat. He looks past the earring in his hand, to Zhongli, and then back. “And the Cor Lapis matches yours.”

Zhongli picks up the other earring, placing the box on the ground. “In Liyue—and Inazuma—it’s tradition to give a gift when one confesses their romantic intentions.”

Gently, he pulls at the earring already in Childe’s ear, removing it. He places it in the discarded earring box, and then hangs the Cor Lapis-wrapped jade earring on Childe.

“I thought this would be appropriate.”

Childe smiles, doing the same to Zhongli: replacing his earring with the jade-wrapped Cor Lapis.

“Because…I’m at the center of your world?” Childe asks.

“Yes.”

“And what’s your promise?”

Zhongli leans in and kisses him again. “To love you, no matter what choices we have to make.”

“Then I’ll promise the same,” Childe says.

This time, when Zhongli kisses him, he lingers, and Childe hold him there, warm, and steady, and loved.