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“Trust me,” Venti says, picking absently at the lyre settled in his lap, “he’ll do it if the traveler asks.”
Director Hu pauses in her folding of the invitation letters. “My dear Mondstadt friend, you know this…how?”
Venti’s hesitation is so minute as to be unnoticeable, even by the shrewd eyes of Hu Tao. Because I have a partner who loves to prattle on about his adopted son’s crush, he thinks. “Because I have met the traveler, and there are few who can resist that silver tongue,” he says instead.
Tao slides her thumbnail across a new sheet of paper, pressing the crease flat. “This is true,” she says, noncommittal.
“We can still make the attempt,” Venti offers. He plucks out a distinctly Liyuen chord, mind wandering back to his aforementioned partner. “It wouldn’t hurt to ask.”
“But oh,” Tao says, placing a hand on her chest, “what if the ever-vigilant Conqueror of Demons were to decide that we mere mortals were a waste of his time, and he decided to—” she lowers her voice conspiratorially “—do away with us?”
Venti’s laugh is like the tinkle of windchimes. “I highly doubt a Yashka would harm his people.”
“I don’t know,” Tao says, expression dark. “I’ve heard things.” She’s hunched over, her eyes peeking up from below the brim on her hat in that way she does when she’s trying to be ominous.
Venti lets a chord ring out before resting the pads of his fingers on the strings to still their vibrations, then slowly raises an eyebrow.
Tao waits a second longer, expression serious, before she leans back and rolls her eyes. “You were supposed,” she complains, “to ask me what I’ve heard, so that I could build the tension and then bam!—” she claps her hands together “—I would tell you that I hadn’t heard a thing and you’d be trying to recover from a near cardiac event.” She narrows her eyes, lips pursed. “You’re no fun.”
“My dear Liyue friend,” Venti says sweetly, copying her earlier turn of phrase, “I’m gobs of fun. I’m just determined to stay far, far away from your workplace.”
Tao sticks out her lip in a faux pout. “No cardiac events?”
“You shall not see my corpse grace the presence of your esteemed funeral parlor,” Venti vows. “Not while I still live.”
Tao snorts and jerks her chin to his side of the table, where a wax stamp and several piles of red wax pellets sit neatly. “Light the candle for the seals. I’m nearly done folding these.”
“Pleeaasseee,” Venti begs, clasping his hands together in front of his chest. “I promise it will be gobs of fun.”
“Like I said,” Xiao nearly snarls, clearly at the end of his patience, “when you and Director Hu were here earlier: no.”
“But—”
“You know as well as anyone the effects my karma can have,” Xiao says stiffly. “Perhaps better.” His body is one long string of tension, and Venti decides to back down before he gives Xiao a cardiac event.
Venti spreads his hands in a placating gesture. “Fine,” he concedes. “I won’t push it anymore.”
Xiao’s mouth presses into a thin line, and a little of the fight goes out of his stance. “Thank you.” His eyes wander down from Venti’s face to his lower abdomen. “And how are you faring?” he asks formally.
Venti eases himself into the singular chair of that Xiao’s apartment. “Pregnant,” he grunts.
“Clearly,” Xiao says wryly. His sharp adeptus eyes do not miss the change to Venti’s body that he has been able to hide from mortals with clever distraction and a bit of magic.
“Excited to see your father,” Venti adds, unable to keep the smile away. “It’s been what, six months?”
Xiao’s face twists in what Venti knows he’s trying to make look like a displeased expression. “Morax is not—”
“Hush,” Venti says, waving a hand. “You can’t argue with me; I’m pregnant. Do you have anything to eat? I’m starving.”
If Xiao were the laughing type, he would chuckle at the non sequitur. As it is, one corner of his mouth pulls back and down just the tiniest amount. Ah, so he is amused. “I do not.”
“Tragic. Anyway,” Venti continues, “I do have an actual reason for intruding once more upon your space.” He strokes a hand across the splay of his cape on his thigh, smoothing out a fold. “One that has nothing to do with the Neighboring Nations Congenial Poetry Gala. Well, not directly.”
“I am still unwilling to leave whoopee cushions at the table at Mt. Aocang,” Xiao says almost immediately.
“Oh, I’m over that,” Venti says. “This is serious this time. Actually serious,” he adds, upon seeing the doubt twitch between Xiao’s eyebrows.
“And how may I assist you?” Xiao asks. He folds his arms and shifts his weight slightly, face expressionless. Coming from Xiao, he may as well have rolled his eyes and sighed dramatically. Honestly, the attitude of young folks these days.
“I need you to clear the event grounds of any monsters or corruption,” Venti says. “Daily, preferably. There will be many citizens of both Mondstadt and Liyue involved. It would be even better if you stayed nearby. Your presence is enough to keep many of the unwanted creatures away. Of course, this is not me asking you to take part in the celebration. You’ve made yourself quite clear on that matter.”
Xiao is quiet for half a moment. “Has Morax grown displeased with my performance?”
“I—what?”
“I understand that I may have grown lax in my duties—”
“That’s not—”
“—and I suppose that if it has become noticeable, then it is only right that Morax feel he should not bother addressing the matter himself—”
“Xiao—”
“—although it pains me to know that I have let down my lord in this way—”
“Xiao,” Venti says, just shy of an exclamation point. “Stop. Stop it.”
Surprisingly, Xiao does. He even goes so far as to take half a step back. Venti realizes he’s out of the chair, encroaching on Xiao’s personal space, skin a little too taut to fully fit a mortal form, presence a little too transient to be truly corporeal. He takes a step back and breathes, settling himself.
“I apologize if I spoke out of turn,” Xiao says quietly. He won’t look in Venti’s direction.
“You—” Venti stops and clenches his jaw. Are all adepti such stubborn and self-flagellating bastards? “Xiao, that’s not—there’s nothing wrong with your work. You’re doing an amazing job, as always.”
Xiao’s eyebrows draw together. “I don’t understand. It is true I have noticed an increase in corruption over the recent days, but if it is not due to my negligence, why mention it?”
“The increase of monsters is my fault, actually,” Venti sighs. “I’m…producing a lot of…tantalizing energies.”
Xiao’s nose twitches. “I see.”
“Four young, helpless adepti. They smell very tasty to bad guys,” Venti adds. He places a hand to his stomach. “So, if you will indulge me.”
“Of course, Lord Barbatos,” Xiao agrees, inclining his head. “Your safety will be my top priority.”
“You don’t need to call me—you know what? I don’t care,” Venti sighs. He eyes Xiao’s bed, one of only two other pieces of furniture in the sparsely-decorated room. It looks like it’s never been used. He suddenly feels very tired; he has not been sleeping well, both from physical discomfort and the strain of warding himself during the nights. The winds are overprotective, shaking him awake at the slightest noise; Liyue monsters very desperately want what he keeps cradled warm in his belly.
Xiao follows his gaze. “Are you—would you…like to rest a moment?” he asks clumsily.
“No,” Venti says, stubborn. “Zhongli should be here soon. I can manage to wait for him.”
“Morax is coming? Today? Now?” Xiao asks. His voice is half of a tone above usual, which means it’s pitched to a hysterical height.
“Yes,” says Venti. He lets his eye wander across the room. Bed, chair, dresser; all dusty. Curtains, area rug, single landscape painting; came with the room. No decorations, no photographs. Xiao doesn’t live in this space. He recuperates here after getting the shit beaten out of him.
There is one noticeable exception to the sparseness, and Venti brightens to see it. “Do you ever play that flute?” he asks, nodding towards the mounted instrument. “Or do you just keep it around to remind yourself of how wonderful I am?” He hasn’t seen it in over a thousand years, since that near-tragic day in Guyun Stone Forest. It felt only right to gift it to Xiao. It never sounded the same played for anyone else.
Xiao, who has wandered to the doorway of the balcony to stand guard, jerks his head around. “I—well—of course, it would be an act of disrespect to leave an instrument bestowed upon one by the gods unused—”
“So, you have played it!” Venti exclaims, elated. “O Vigilant Yaksha, Alatus Nemeseos, Conqueror of Demons, regale us with a tune!” He leans back and places his hands on his swollen belly, smile stretching his face. “All five of us.”
Xiao wavers for a moment. “I’m sure I would not have the skill worthy of the audience of—”
“Pshaw,” Venti interrupts him. “Something simple and sweet. A lullaby, even. For the babies.”
Xiao waits for another few frozen seconds before licking his lips and pulling off his gloves. Venti is careful not to react to this, to act as if Xiao’s hands aren’t latticed with scars or crooked from multiple breaks or streaked with black veins of corrupting karma.
Xiao gently places his gloves on the dresser and then lifts the flute from its mount. His hands, which he continuously claims bring nothing but destruction, hold the instrument with delicacy and care. There are a few moments where Xiao plays soft notes, pausing to adjust the tuning. The instrument is clearly well-oiled and carefully looked after.
Without speaking or looking at Venti, Xiao brings the mouthpiece to his lips and plays the first few clear notes of a Liyuen lullaby, sotto voce. Venti closes his eyes as well, to give the adeptus privacy, to let Xiao have a moment where he can feel like he is creating instead of destroying.
It’s also nice to rest his eyes a bit…
Venti drifts back to consciousness at the sensation of a tickle on his nose, a warmth at his cheek. He had been the kind of half-asleep where he was aware enough to know what was happening around him, but down far enough that there wasn’t anything he could do about it. So when he opens his eyes, he is not surprised to see that he has been carried to bed, or covered with a blanket, or that the warmth he feels is Zhongli’s hand cradling his face.
Zhongli presses another kiss to the tip of Venti’s nose. “Hello, my dove,” he says, low and deep. “I have missed you.”
Venti smiles the way only someone just waking up can: slow and liquid and gold, like honey. “Hello, darling,” he breathes. “I missed you as well.” He pauses, then adds, slyly, switching to Old Mondstadtian, “And your cocks.”
Zhongli’s eyes crinkle in a way that Venti knows is embarrassed. “You’re lucky I never taught the young one in the corner this language. Or that he learned it on his own,” he says lightly, refraining from glancing at Xiao and giving away that they’re talking about him. Zhongli ducks his head down, until their lips brush. “But I missed burying them in you.” He kisses his love, slow, and threads his gloved hands into Venti’s hair, tugging slightly.
Venti’s body thrums, and he decides he needs to change the subject before they traumatize Xiao in an entirely new way. “How long have you been here?”
Zhongli strokes his hair. “Mere moments, baobei.”
“Then why bother putting me in bed if you were just going to wake me up?” Venti pushes himself into a sitting position with an oof, and Zhongli rearranges the pillows so that Venti can lean back.
Zhongli’s smile is small and knowing. “You were already like this when I arrived.” This time he doesn’t hide the glance.
Xiao is standing by the balcony again, gloves back on, turned resolutely away from them. His shoulders are tight, and Venti knows that he’s begging them internally to not mention the fact that he had carried Venti to bed after he fell asleep.
“Xiao,” Zhongli calls.
Xiao has turned and bowed almost before the words are out of Zhongli’s mouth. “My lord,” he says.
Venti watches Zhongli watch Xiao, eyes soft and fatherly. “Will you be joining us for this collaborative sharing of the arts between Mondstadt and Liyue?”
“I will of course participate in the capacity that Lord Barbatos has requested. And I will perform my duties with the upmost vigilance,” he adds, as though still worried Zhongli might be displeased with him.
“Your duties?” Zhongli’s words are light but the look he gives Venti is hard and probing. “And what has the bard asked you to do this time?”
Xiao wavers a moment as Venti shoots him a shut the fuck up look. “My lord—”
“Merely keep an eye on the festivities of course!” Venti interjects. “And he is always welcome to join in a fuller capacity if he pleases.”
Zhongli looks very much like he doesn’t believe him.
“When have I ever led you astray?” Venti asks, struggling out of bed. He accepts the arm Zhongli offers and then flounces over to Xiao’s side, the picture of innocence. “Never once.”
“Really,” Zhongli says mildly. “Not even when you forged my signature to sign a contract that led your nation to believe in my imminent warmongering?”
“I wasn’t leading you astray,” Venti points out. Xiao begins to subtly creep away. “Just rich assholes who deserved it. Besides, I don’t know how you think this relationship is going to flourish if you don’t trust—”
“Venti,” Zhongli interrupts, not unkind in his firmness. “My love.”
Venti sighs, defeated. “I’m very—I can take care of myself, of course,” he begins, pacing to one side of Xiao’s room.
“Of course,” Zhongli agrees.
“But I also…well, adepti aren’t born very often, and when they are, a lot of elemental energy coalesces very suddenly into once place, very fresh and unstable in its power, you know,” he continues, turning around and pacing back the other way.
“I know,” Zhongli agrees again.
“And there’s also—I mean, I am incredibly irresistible even on my worst days, but there is the added matter of—the eggs. Not that it’s anything you need to worry about anyway, obviously.” He waits for a third agreement that doesn’t come, and turns to see Zhongli standing very still, arms folded.
Zhongli takes a breath that anyone not familiar with him would dismiss, but that Xiao and Venti both recognize as being very upset. “Do you mean to tell me,” he says, voice aggressively not a growl, “that monsters have plagued your footsteps for months and this is the first you tell me of it?”
“See, this is why I wasn’t going to tell you,” Venti retorts. “You’re getting all grumpy about something I can handle perfectly well on my own.”
“I am not grumpy,” Zhongli grits, looking grumpy. “And asking Xiao to watch your back while you’re busy is not exactly handling it on your own.” As though only now realizing that Xiao is standing stock-still and watching their argument unfold, Zhongli turns towards his once-general and gives an order. “You may leave us. I’ll find you later.”
“My lord,” Xiao says, and then he’s gone.
“It is only while I’m speaking during the poetry event,” Venti explains. He draws close to Zhongli, reaches out a hand to grasp his sleeve. “I’m entirely capable of protecting myself. I just didn’t want to cause a scene in front of all the attendees.”
In a sudden, fluid movement, Zhongli drops to his knees and wraps his arms around Venti’s waist. He lays a cheek on his love’s belly, sighing. “I wish you would confide in me.”
“I didn’t want to worry you,” Venti says, soft. He cards his fingers through Zhongli’s hair, tucking strands behind his ear. “You tend to nag.”
Zhongli presses a kiss to Venti’s pregnant belly. “I’m more worried when you don’t talk to me,” he mumbles. His arms squeeze ever so slightly. “And I miss you when you don’t talk to me.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be retired?” Venti teases. “I can’t be worrying the elderly with all my petty troubles. It’s bad for your health.”
Zhongli’s laugh is halfway between a growl and a purr. “You are insufferable,” he says, looking up lovingly into Venti’s eyes.
Venti cups either side of Zhongli’s face. “And you’re a miserable old lizard who would never have any fun unless I was around to spice things up,” he declares.
Zhongli laughs, warm, and shoots back: “I wouldn’t have to be retired in the first place if I didn’t have your chaotic mess to look after.”
Venti gasps, putting a hand to his chest. “You wound me.”
Zhongli doesn’t reply, instead kissing Venti’s stomach again and murmuring something inaudible to their children. He looks up to see Venti watching him closely, eyes dark.
“A few centuries ago, this argument would have turned into us not talking for a year,” Venti muses.
“Maybe I have grown soft in my old age,” Zhongli says, voice tinged with a smile.
“Maybe the wind has grown tired of never finding a place to land,” Venti says. “Now come here and let me kiss you the way I wanted to when Xiao was here.”
Zhongli rises from his knees and captures Venti’s mouth in a kiss, open-mouthed and warm. Venti hums appreciatively and places his hands on Zhongli’s chest, slipping his hands beneath his coat. Zhongli’s tongue snakes into his mouth, licking at his teeth, and Venti melts into the feel of his love touching him so tenderly. Fuck, he loves this blockhead.
Venti pulls back with a gasp, and his mouth glistens with Zhongli’s saliva. Zhongli licks his lips, tongue grown long and forked. The lord of geo touches his thumb to Venti’s bottom lip, pulling it down. “What are you thinking?” he murmurs.
Venti touches Zhongli’s ear, tracing the edge of it with his finger until he shivers. “I’m thinking,” he murmurs, “that I’m very glad you sent Xiao away.”
It worked exactly as planned.
Venti and Hu Tao had summoned the traveler to the balcony of Wangshu Inn. Even if Venti hadn’t already asked Xiao to keep an eye on things, he knew that the adeptus couldn’t stay away from that golden smile if he tried. It was truly the perfect trap.
“Join us,” the traveler had said, warm voice a sudden addition to a conversation that until that point had consisted of Paimon being confused and Xiao being broody. “It’ll be fun.” They shared a moment of eye contact, during which Venti pulled on Tao’s sleeve when she opened her mouth and shot her a quiet! look.
Come on, Xiao, Venti thought. Let yourself feel something good for once.
Very tellingly, Xiao did not immediately say no. He even went so far as to grudgingly grunt, “I’ll…consider it,” before he disappeared. Venti didn’t think anyone else would have noticed, but he could tell how flustered Xiao was even from that simple interaction.
Afterwards, day one of the poetry gala went well; the representatives from Liyue and Mondstadt got along, and everyone seemed to be having a good time and enjoying the day’s theme. Even better was the way Zhongli held him later that night, after everyone had dispersed for the day, and stripped them both bare. “If it is your smell that draws foes so near,” Zhongli had growled into his ear, claws pricking his hips, “then I will be sure to cover you in my own scent, so that they know just who they taunt when they come for you.” And then he fucked Venti soft and slow and tender, until his muscles cried out for release.
It was with the remainder of that delicious ache that Venti watched Hu Tao announce the theme for day two. “Pairing couplets!” she cried, doing a little dance. And then she had danced a little more when she invited Zhongli onto the stage.
Delightfully so, neither of the hosts had revealed to their “surprise guest” what the theme for the day was. Venti grinned at Zhongli behind Tao’s back, expression met by a fond eye roll. Couplets? Zhongli’s expression read. You might as well just say that it’s for us, the couple.
You love it, said Venti’s answering eyebrow waggle. You love me.
Anyone could have seen that it was true, what with the soft melt of Zhongli’s smile—so it was a good thing Tao was prattling on about poetry and keeping their guests entertained.
Now, as the day winds to a close and the various guests wander off for the night, Venti holds Hu Tao’s hands to his chest and gives her a winning smile. “As I said, nothing is wrong. Please, go home and go to bed.”
Tao’s eyes are narrowed. “You’re sure that nothing is on your mind? You seemed preoccupied today. And the Millelith reported monster sightings nearby recently.” She summons her spear, smacking the butt of it on the ground in a show of melodrama and sparks. “What if you need me to protect you?”
Venti can’t help but laugh. Does no one believe he can take care of himself? “My dear,” he says, “I plan on leaving as soon as I put out the last of these lanterns.”
With a bit more cajoling and a reassuring brandish of Venti’s own weapon, he finally convinces her to depart for the evening. Finally alone, Venti waves a hand and the few lanterns still lit dim slowly as he chokes them of air. It is dark and peaceful, and Venti waits a moment and allows his eyes to adjust to the moonlight. Alone.
A hand, gloved and strong, claps over his mouth.
“My dove,” Zhongli says, breath warm on Venti’s ear, “perhaps you should not have been so hasty about sending everyone away. You never know who will loom out of the shadows to ravish you.” His body curls protectively over Venti’s back. His other hand splays over Venti’s stomach, pressing fondly to the swell of eggs before his fingers dip beneath his waistband.
Venti pulls the hand away from his mouth and kisses the meat of the thumb. “Perhaps that was the idea,” he murmurs, leaning back into Zhongli’s chest.
“Here?” Zhongli says, voice filled with faux scandal. “Where anyone could come by and see?” His hand snakes lower, fingers ghosting over skin.
Venti turns, pulling Zhongli’s hand out of his pants. He’s holding both of Zhongli’s hands by the wrists now. “You’re the one who said that your scent would help keep away monsters.”
A deep sound grumbles through Zhongli’s chest. “I will drench you in it.”
Venti grins, leaning back against a crate. “You said as much last night.” His hands go to the collar of his blouse, pulling at the ribbon tied at his throat until the fabric dangles down his chest.
Zhongli creeps closer, steps heavy, and slots himself between Venti’s legs. “I’ll say it again.” The words are a promise, or maybe a threat.
Venti fingers the top button of his shirt open, and then the next. Zhongli’s eyes consume every inch of exposed skin. “There’s no guarantee a wandering passerby or insomniac won’t find us,” Venti says mildly.
“I don’t care,” Zhongli says. “Let them know. Let all of Teyvat know that you are mine and no one may touch you.”
“You’re so sexy when you’re possessive,” Venti sighs. He finishes unbuttoning his shirt and pulls it open, baring his torso to the night air. “Is this what’s got you all worked up?”
Zhongli’s hands cradle Venti’s belly almost of their own accord. “Mine,” he croons. “Mine for the taking, and the keeping, and—” he leans close, voice dropping “—for the fucking. My beautiful dove filled full with my clutch, round with children. How wonderfully you took them for me, dearest. How lovely you look with bliss etched into your features—bliss I gave you, and will give you again.” Zhongli presses his lips to Venti’s neck, nipping lightly. His hands push firmly into the skin of his belly, until Venti feels the stuffed-full pressure of the eggs inside him. “I will take you upon my cocks, again, again, until you can remember nothing but your pleasure.”
A shiver of arousal zaps across Venti’s skin. Zhongli so rarely speaks so crassly, so it’s an extra delight when he does. “Take your gloves off,” Venti says, already breathless. “Let me feel you.”
His love complies, tossing the worn leather to the side. The geo sigils on the backs of his hands glow faintly in the dark. His fingers are warm when he presses them once again to Venti’s skin, sliding them once again under Venti’s waistband. “Like this?”
“Mm,” Venti hums. He pulls Zhongli close by his lapels, until their noses touch. “Let me taste you.”
The kiss is anything but gentle. It almost feels as though Zhongli is trying to crawl inside Venti’s body through his mouth, tongue shoved deep and teeth latched tight. Venti crosses his ankles behind Zhongli’s back, pulling their hips flush until they’re grinding together through their clothes like the silly young things they once were. Venti can feel the raw strength in Zhongli’s body, the way it’s barely contained in this mortal form. Oh, how he loves being the one to push this dragon to the precipice of control.
Venti fists a chunk of hair at the back of Zhongli’s head and pulls until Zhongli gasps, head tilting to follow the tug. Immediately, Venti presses his mouth to Zhongli’s throat, teeth scraping hot skin before biting hard enough to mark. “You’re divine,” Venti breathes.
Zhongli only makes a soft sound somewhere between a growl and a purr in reply.
Venti kisses the underside of Zhongli’s jaw. “I’ve felt you,” he whispers into his ear, “and you feel like the steadiness of stone.” The fingers of Venti’s free hand trace lightly up Zhongli’s wrist. “I’ve tasted you, and you taste like mulled wine and qingxin, sweet and bitter and earthy and mine.”
At this, Zhongli dips his head again, chasing another kiss, but Venti pulls harder at his hair until he hisses and stays still. “Now I want to hear you,” Venti says, and slides from the crate to fold himself prettily on his knees. “I want to hear how I make you feel.”
Zhongli licks his lips, hands coming to gently card through Venti’s hair. “You look…delectable,” he says. “Kneeling for me, our eggs resting on your thighs. Your mouth…” he presses a thumb to Venti’s lips. “Sinful. It is no wonder you never got along with Celestia.”
“You’re going to ruin the mood,” Venti tuts, and pulls Zhongli’s cocks free.
They taste as good as always, and Venti moans the second he gets his mouth on them. Zhongli grunts at the vibration, hips jerking forward of their own volition. Venti smiles devilishly, then sucks the head of Zhongli’s ovipositor between his lips. He licks the tip, playing at it with his tongue, then brings more of its length into his mouth.
Zhongli hisses a curse, and he throws out one hand to the crate to keep from buckling into the wet warmth of Venti’s mouth. His other hand stays in Venti’s hair, not quite pulling but definitely holding on for dear life. He grows impossibly harder in Venti’s mouth—and his hand, as Venti takes to stroking his second cock as he sucks on the first, strings of spit and beads of precome slicking the way.
“I have been,” Zhongli gasps, “watching you all day. Waiting for this. For you. My sweetest dove, I—fuck!” The final word is louder than he meant, punched out of him by the absolutely devilish movement of Venti on his cocks. “Fuck,” he repeats, pushing his hips forward. “Don’t stop. Let me finish in your mouth.”
Pleased that Zhongli has gotten the idea, Venti hums appreciatively. The head of Zhongli’s ovipositor hits the back of his throat, and he gags slightly, spittle bubbling at his lips. Venti breathes determinedly through his nose and then swallows, urging the cock deeper until his nose presses to Zhongli’s pubic bone. He stays there for a moment, focusing on not gagging and giving Zhongli’s second cock attention with his hand. Venti glances up to see that Zhongli’s eyes are hazy and gold, and the unbridled lust in his gaze causes slick to leak from between Venti’s legs so suddenly that he whimpers. Zhongli shudders at this, fingers tightening in Venti’s hair. “Baobei,” he rasps.
He doesn’t have to say anything else. Venti pulls back, pressing his tongue to the underside of Zhongli’s cock as he does, until only the head remains in his mouth. He takes a blessed breath, then sinks back down. Venti loves sucking cock, especially when the one he loves more than anything is making all those wonderful noises as he does it.
It’s not too long before Zhongli’s body tenses in growing pleasure, Venti chasing him towards orgasm. “I’m close,” Zhongli grunts. Venti grins minutely, then takes Zhongli’s hand from his hair. “What…?” Zhongli doesn’t have time to finish the question, because Venti places Zhongli’s hand on his throat and then sucks his cock deep again. This—the feeling of his own cock straining the skin of Venti’s neck—is too much, and Zhongli comes with a cry of Venti’s name, shoving deep.
Venti makes a valiant effort to swallow, but his mouth is stuffed and Zhongli’s fingers tighten on his neck in a way that feels wonderful but makes swallowing Zhongli’s come exceedingly difficult. Venti chokes, body betraying him, and come builds up in his mouth and spills forth, forcing its way out of his mouth despite the tight seal of Venti’s lips on Zhongli’s cock. It dribbles down Venti’s chin and sticks in globs on Zhongli’s pants, staining the sensible fabric with a lewd display of sex.
Venti swallows one more time, eyes watering, and then pulls off, giving the tip of Zhongli’s cock one last lick on the way. “You animal,” he teases. “Look what you did.”
Zhongli’s breath comes heavy. “Look what you did,” he retorts. He shoves his groin close again, but not with the intent of fucking Venti’s mouth again. “Clean up after yourself.”
Fuck, and Venti thought he was wet before. “My pleasure,” he says, and latches his mouth to Zhongli’s pants. He sucks diligently at the fabric, hands pulling Zhongli closer by the backs of his thighs, until the only wetness comes from his own saliva. As soon as he finishes with one mouthful of fabric, he latches on to the next glob, moaning both because of the way it makes Zhongli shudder and also because he loves when Zhongli gets all pushy and possessive like this.
Venti mouths one last time at Zhongli’s pants and then looks up at him through his eyelashes. “Feeling decent now?”
“Anything but,” Zhongli growls. “Up.”
As much as Venti would love to spring to his feet and spread his legs in whatever way Zhongli wants… “I’m pregnant,” he says, and holds out his hands petulantly until Zhongli takes them, “and my knees hurt from kneeling on wooden planks.”
Zhongli lets out a puff of air through his nose in a fond snort and pulls Venti to his feet. “You insufferable bard.”
Venti licks his lips. “You didn’t seem to think I was insufferable just now.”
“Because you were quiet,” Zhongli teases, pressing a finger to Venti’s mouth.
“Hmph,” Venti pouts, but he doesn’t have time to say anything else because Zhongli is kissing him.
Zhongli’s tongue is long and firm, licking into Venti’s mouth and tasting his own spend. He’s still hard, cocks pressing into Venti’s stomach in a way that makes Venti feel weak in the knees. “Fuck, I need you in me,” Venti gasps, breaking their kiss. Without further ado, he turns around pulls down his shorts and tights to his ankles, and sticks out his ass. “Immediately, preferably.”
Zhongli makes a choked-off noise, hands immediately latching onto Venti’s hips. Venti’s cunt shines with slick in the near dark, moonlight glistening on his desire. Zhongli slides inquisitive fingers through Venti’s folds and Venti gasps, pushing himself up on his toes. “Holy—darling, as much as I—fuck—enjoy your ministrations, I really just need you to—hngh—put your cock in me.”
With a sigh that almost sounds disappointed, Zhongli pulls his fingers from Venti’s sopping cunt. “You’re not usually so eager to skip so quickly to this part,” he muses, but still presses the head of his second cock, the lower one, to Venti’s hole.
Venti moans, surprising even himself with how slutty it sounds. “I blame you,” he gasps, back arching as Zhongli presses himself inside.
“Me?” Zhongli asks. His hands are on Venti’s ass, pulling his cheeks apart so that he can get a full, uninterrupted view of the way he spears his love’s cunt.
“You,” Venti affirms. He leans the weight of us upper body on his elbows, bent over the crate, and closes his eyes. “You’re—oh—you’re the one who knocked me up. I’ve been unbearably horny ever since.”
As though he’s trying to make it worse, Zhongli only gently rocks his hips forwards and backward in reply, never pushing more than a couple inches in before pulling back to just the head. Venti desperately clenches around him when he does. “Don’t you dare pull out,” he threatens. Venti tries to push his hips back onto Zhongli’s cock, but Zhongli stops him with the firm grip his has on his ass.
“One would almost think you weren’t enjoying yourself,” Zhongli muses. “Or, at the least, not thankful that you were getting so much attention.”
“What?” Venti splutters, twisting to look back at Zhongli. “You’re even denser than I realized if you think—oh, you piece of shit.”
Zhongli is grinning, unable to contain his amusement. “Then perhaps,” he says, words carrying an undercurrent of laughter, “you should more accurately voice your thoughts.”
Venti groans. “I can’t believe I love you. But fine. Since apparently you like torturing pregnant people.” He kicks a foot out of his tights so that he can widen his stance. “I have been thinking about you for weeks,” he says. “Every night I masturbate so hard I see stars and it’s still not the same as having you balls deep inside me. The other night? At the Inn? I haven’t come that hard since you put these eggs in me in the first place.”
Zhongli hums. “Is that so?”
“Yes, you blockhead,” Venti says. A note of pleading bleeds into his voice. “So please just fuck me until I can’t think anymore.”
Blessedly, Zhongli complies, sheathing himself fully within Venti’s wet cunt. Venti cries out, pleasure and pressure building in his groin. “More,” he gasps, screwing his eyes shut, “more. Like that.” Zhongli grinds deeper, the head of his cock brushing Venti’s cervix in echo of the action that impregnated Venti in the first place. Venti grunts and pushes one hand to his lower abdomen, blood tingling at the surprised groan Zhongli makes when Venti presses down on the dual swell of cock and eggs inside him. He fucks in and out of Venti with a strength that makes Venti’s toes curl, but at a pace that leaves Venti yearning for more. “Fuck, you feel good,” Venti moans. “Fuck. Fuck.”
“What a dirty mouth,” Zhongli pants. “Put it to better use.” Two large, warm fingers slide into Venti’s mouth, and Venti happily sucks on them. He slides his tongue over and between each of Zhongli’s fingers, tracing the geo sigils on his skin from memory. He sucks until spit runs from the corners of his mouth and traces down his chin, enjoying the cock in his cunt and the fingers in his mouth. Maybe Zhongli is onto something about the whole being quiet thing, because like this, Venti can hear the obscene slap of their skin and the desperate little noises Zhongli makes as he plunges into him. Precome from Zhongli’s ovipositor smears over his lower back and ass with each thrust, the second cock creating a wonderful external friction.
It's just as Venti is starting to really enjoy the whole having-fingers-in-his-mouth thing that Zhongli pulls them out. Venti can’t help the whimper that spills from his mouth, but it quickly morphs into a whine when those same fingers push instead at the entrance to his ass. “Oh yes, please,” Venti begs. “Both, both—give me both.”
Zhongli huffs a little laugh and prods more firmly at Venti’s hole, slipping the tip of one spit-slick finger inside. Venti’s dutiful oral ministrations coupled with the leaking fluid of Zhongli’s ovipositor ease the way, and almost immediately Zhongli pushes a second finger inside. “You’re so good,” Zhongli purrs, grinding their hips together. “So open and ready for me. Do you want my second cock now, dearest?”
“Yes,” Venti grits, trying to push back impossibly closer. “Gods, yes.”
“You’ll have it,” Zhongli promises, and twists his fingers inside of Venti’s ass, pushing at his walls until he can feel his own cock in Venti’s cunt. He hisses in pleasure. “You’ll have it.”
Zhongli pulls his fingers out at the same time that he draws back his hips, and Venti makes a desperate sound of need, suddenly empty except for a single cockhead. His displeasure is quickly alleviated as he feels the head of Zhongli’s ovipositor press to his ass, and Venti drops his head so quickly he smacks his forehead on the crate they’re leaned over. He doesn’t care though, focusing only on the dual stretch forcing his holes open. A strangled moan tumbles from Venti, and then Zhongli shoves both cocks deep, all the way to the hilt.
There isn’t anything in Venti’s mouth at this point, but the absolute pleasure zinging through his cunt is enough to make speaking impossible. “Ungh,” Venti grunts, and his tongue actually lolls from him mouth. He’s so fucked—in both senses of the word.
“You’re so pretty, my dove,” Zhongli says, words unsteady with lust. “Spread wide for me like this. Surely no one else can leave the verbose bard at such a loss for words. Truly it’s no wonder that every creature who catches wind of your scent can’t help but thirst for you.”
Venti can’t reply, just shakes his head and makes pathetic sounds.
“I wish—” Zhongli punctuates his words with a particularly firm thrust “—that you could see yourself. How wonderfully you take me.” He leans forward, one hand digging almost painfully into Venti’s hip, the other sliding up to splay wide across his chest. “But of course, there’s no reason you can’t.”
With that, Zhongli straightens, pulling Venti with him until his feet leave the ground and his back is flush to Zhongli’s chest. The change in angle and the sudden aid of gravity shove Venti impossibly deeper onto Zhongli’s cocks, and he shouts a “Fuck!” and then he comes, body tightening. His muscles quiver, clenching on Zhongli like he wants to meld them permanently together. Zhongli tenses, biting hard onto Venti’s shoulder until Venti is sure he draws blood.
When Venti comes down enough to pay attention again, he realizes he’s shaking the barest amount. “Fuck,” he says again, as though it’s the only word he remembers. Maybe it is. Well, that and—“Zhongli.”
“My dove,” Zhongli murmurs, licking over the throbbing bite on Venti’s skin. “You’re so beautiful when you climax. I’m sure every being within a mile heard your cries, the proof that I have sole claim on your pleasure.” He kisses Venti’s neck, pushing on his chest with a large hand to squeeze them even closer together. “I want you to watch it happen.”
“Wha…” Venti says, still a little dazed. It’s then that he sees the jade screen, surface uniform and supernaturally smooth. In the light of the full moon and the teal and gold glow emanating from their skin, the screen serves as a makeshift mirror.
The sight it reflects is obscene. Venti, nude except for his unbuttoned shirt, pooled around his elbows. Zhongli, stilly fully clothed but with his cocks jutting forth from his trousers and his hair sticking to his forehead with sweat. And the place the two of them meet: Venti’s cunt, stretched tight around Zhongli’s second cock, his clit swollen with what is surely all the blood in his body; Venti’s ass, speared open on Zhongli’s ovipositor and twitching around the intruding girth. Zhongli’s arms are under Venti’s thighs now, pulling his legs up and open to give them both an uninterrupted view of their coupling.
Zhongli’s breath is hot on Venti’s neck. “Look,” he breathes. “Look at how ruined you are.”
Ruined indeed. Zhongli is living up to his promise to make it obvious to anyone who has the ability to sense their power that Venti is his, is marked as protected by the Lord of Geo.
As though doubling down on the debauchery, Zhongli pulls Venti up by his thighs and then lowers him again, fucking him slowly with the use of gravity and the sheer strength of his arms. The slide is easy, Venti impossibly wet and loose. Venti sighs and leans his head on Zhongli’s shoulder, arms coming up to wrap around Zhongli’s neck. The eggs are heavy and tight in his belly, a fullness compounded by the double penetration in his cunt and ass. It feels so right.
“Watch,” Zhongli urges, nipping Venti’s ear with sharp teeth. “Open your eyes.”
Venti’s body is hot and bright, and he’s hovering in that place between orgasm and overstimulation, but he manages to do as Zhongli commands, prying open his eyelids. He watches the way Zhongli’s cocks appear and disappear, sucked into his holes. He watches Zhongli’s fingers clench on his thighs, bruising the plush skin. He watches Zhongli’s orgasm build on his face, in the tense line of his jaw.
“Come,” Venti croaks. “Inside me. If I’m going to look, give me something worth watching.”
Zhongli groans at this, teeth grazing Venti’s skin. The muscles in his arms are trembling, and his stance is a little unsteady, but he manages to stand firm and solid. Zhongli gyrates his hips up into Venti and gives a few short, desperate thrusts, and then he spills his release deep. Venti squeezes around Zhongli’s cocks, milking him for all he’s worth, urging him on with little needy whimpers. Zhongli comes from both cocks at once, the gush of fluid only adding to Venti’s fullness. With nowhere to go, Venti’s womb closed and his ass tight, Zhongli’s seed has no choice but to squeeze its way back out of Venti’s holes. It oozes out from the tight seal of Venti’s skin around Zhongli’s cocks, dripping from his cunt and his ass at the same time.
Almost in a trance, Venti watches in the jade mirror as he reaches down with unsteady hands to touch the viscous fluid leaking out of him. He swipes his fingers through it, grazing the throbbing girth of Zhongli’s cocks, and then smears the excess on his thighs and up his belly. Hands slick with their sex, he slides two fingers on either side of his clit and rubs until he can feel his own orgasm building back up even as he begins to feel Zhongli’s cocks soften inside him.
To Venti’s utter dismay, Zhongli catches his hand in a firm grip, preventing him from continuing to pleasure himself. He whines, fingers twitching. “Please.”
“Let me,” Zhongli says, breathless. “I want to taste you.”
“Yes,” Venti sighs, body going limp. “Yes.”
The jade screen dissolves into geo particles, and Zhongli takes an unsteady step back to their trusty crate, finally pulling his cocks free from Venti’s holes. Venti whimpers slightly at the movement, especially when both cockheads stretch him at once on their way out. Zhongli kisses Venti’s shoulder, his neck, his jaw, and then, turning Venti around, his mouth, quick and dirty. He hefts Venti onto the crate, dropping to his knees in a reversal of the position that began their tryst, and pulls Venti’s legs over his shoulders.
Venti leans back onto his elbows and sucks in a breath the moment Zhongli’s tongue touches his folds, lapping eagerly at their combined juices as though it’s one of those wines he’s always prattling on about. Venti thought that all the strength had been fucked out of him already, but the tender suckling of his clit by Zhongli’s thoughtful mouth have him squeezing his thighs together until Zhongli grunts. Venti forces himself to relax and just lets himself feel.
Zhongli is an attentive lover, eager in his drive to bring Venti pleasure. It’s this, coupled with the dip of his flexible tongue into the wet depths of Venti’s cunt and the barest hint of teeth, that brings Venti over the edge one last time, a shuddering wave of an orgasm that feels more like aftershocks than anything. It feels so good that his eyes water. Venti bites his lip until it throbs. He’s so lucky to be in love with a dragon.
Venti blinks away his tears, the stars overhead swimming back into focus, and reaches out clumsily for Zhongli. “C’mere,” he mumbles. “Kiss me.”
Zhongli groans instead of complying, hand dropping to his cock, and Venti is just aware enough to see that he’s hard again. “You dog,” Venti tuts, the jab coming out fond through his bliss.
Zhongli just grunts and jerks himself off, stepping closer. Venti struggles to sit up, watching eagerly as Zhongli pumps his hand up and down the length of his second cock. “You need,” Zhongli pants, “to tell me if you don’t want me to finish on you. Now.”
Venti juts his chin forward and pulls back his shoulders, baring his rounded stomach. “Do it, my beloved.”
Zhongli’s hand snaps forward and back once more, and then he comes one last time, ropes of seed striping across Venti’s skin. Venti hums in a facsimile of a purr, tongue between his lips. If they weren’t both so tired, he’s sure the sight of him, covered in and leaking come, would be enough to start up another round. As it is, Zhongli just lets out his breath and pushes their faces together in a clumsy kiss. It tastes like sex, like debauchery. Venti winds his arms around Zhongli’s neck and hooks his ankles behind his waist, pulling him close. Zhongli’s limp cocks press to Venti’s wet cunt, but neither of them make move to do anything more than just be close.
Venti pulls lightly on Zhongli’s lip with his teeth. “Did that satiate you, dear?”
“Nearly,” Zhongli murmurs. He presses his nose to Venti’s neck, drawing back his lips to breathe deeply of his love’s smell. “Let me take care of you.”
Venti touches his cheek gently and lets Zhongli scent him, pressing close to his elbows, the insides of his thighs, and even his slowly pulsing cunt. “Beautiful.” Zhongli compliments him as he tenderly licks Venti clean, swiping his tongue—no longer so obviously inhuman—over his skin until he’s properly cleaned up. “Divine.” He nuzzles his face close to Venti’s belly, thrumming with pleasure and contentment, and tenderly kisses their eggs. “Perfect.”
Venti smiles fondly. “I love you.”
Zhongli glances up at him, eyes still alight with a golden glow. “And I love you, my dove.” It’s not just his eyes that shine softly in the dark. The geo sigils on his hands and arms pulse with energy, the only hint that he’s something beyond human. He keeps his hands carefully still, pressing fingertips lightly to Venti’s waist.
Venti takes one of Zhongli’s hands and kisses his knuckles. “Go ahead,” he murmurs, “I don’t mind.”
Zhongli pauses, expression hopeful but hesitant. “Truly?”
Venti nods, putting Zhongli’s hand back on his belly. “Truly, my dearest.”
Zhongli nearly thrums with anticipation, the geometric shapes on his skin brightening further. He traces patterns onto Venti’s skin, complimenting the existing anemo markings on his chest, his thigh. He draws a complicated tangle of lines over his womb and then kissing the design as though sealing it. The golden sigils sink into Venti’s skin, vanishing in appearance but not presence. Venti can feel their power, the claim of mineminemine that threads back to Zhongli.
“Thank you,” Zhongli says, looking as soft as he sounds.
Venti pets his hair. “I think,” he says, aiming for lightness but hitting sincerity, “that I don’t mind being tied down, being claimed, just a little bit, as long as it’s to you.”
Zhongli surges up and wraps Venti in his arms, curving as much of his body around him as possible. “I love you,” he says, words tripping into a language even older than their relationship in his fervor. “I love you so much.”
Venti kisses his neck. “I know.”
The final day of the Neighboring Nations Congenial Poetry Gala is just as much of a success as the first two, even if the hosts are a bit late to the meeting in the morning. Well—more than a bit late, but if anyone were to ask (which Hu Tao did, when she finally found him), Venti would say it was so that Oceanid he had been keeping an eye on could finally work up the courage to reconcile with her lost love, and not because he was once again getting his brains fucked out.
(And if Venti spends the final meeting with the feeling of Zhongli’s come dripping from between his legs, well…no one has to know.)