Chapter Text
The streets were buzzing with people, merchants and shopkeeps trying to catch the customers attention with their wares and goodies.
It was a particularly nice day, not too hot nor too cold - with a gentle breeze swishing lightly through the air.
The trio sat in a nice restaurant in an open balcony (childe rented the whole floor so they would have some privacy) with plenty of foods and drinks to eat (zhongli most definitely insisted that they tried everything on menu, but all of them could not fit on the table so they opted to get only half of it for today and half of the rest on another time)
Unfortunately for childe...the only utensils on the table were spoons and chopsticks. He was fine with the dishes that needed the spoon...but as soon as it came to the other dishes,,,,
Zhongli did not allow childe to use a spoon for every dish, for that would be very disrespectful - so the poor guy tried to handle the chopsticks. He struggled more times than he would like to admit and it's been centuries of trial and error (he was very much embarrassed about still not being able to handle two pathetic pieces of wooden sticks. Haha goodbye to his pride.)
He lets out an exasperated sigh and puts down his chopsticks in defeat.
‘’I’ll go around the city to find and buy a fork,,, if you’ll excuse me,,’’
But before he could get up, kaeya pushed him back down - barely hiding the giggles that he’s been keeping in this whole time.
‘’Oh don’t be such a hatchling. Here~’’
Kaeya picks up the food on childes plate with his own chopsticks before he holds it near the gingers mouth , cupping his hand underneath the food so it doesn't drip or drop onto childes clothes.
This is the time where childe would tease kaeya, but honestly? He’s genuinely thankful for the help so he takes it without a fuss...in turn, he gets a sweet smile from kaeya that makes his heart pound.
Zhongli smiles and picks up a side dish before holding it to childes mouth ‘’it’s okay to ask for help, you know?’’
The hydro archon gets more flustered, pouting...but again, he eats the food without a fuss.
He never thought that being pampered like this would actually feel nice. The two of them keep feeding him and chatting casually about everything and nothing at the same time.
Once they were finished, they paid the bill and went out for a little walk outside of the harbor.
The best part about having a hydro god around was the fact that he could walk you across the waters...and so, with that knowledge, they took a shortcut to arrive at yaoguang shoal. It was the hydro gods favorite place to be at.
The sand that littered the whole area, the breeze that carried the smell of the salty ocean, the various conches that were spread around the place...especially the starconch shell. The other two noted that the ginger very much adores them, so they secretly gathered up a few of them once they visited the place and then kept them at home for him.
The hydro archon discarded his boots, kicking them off wherever before digging his feet onto the sand, taking a deep breath before huffing out with a satisfied smile.
‘’Now this...this is what i call relaxing~’’
Kaeya and zhongli, too, took off their shoes, but they carried them in their hands as they followed ajax.
Kaeya closes his eyes and enjoys the breeze ‘’yeah...this is really nice...how come you don’t bring us around here, big guy?’’
Zhongli hums and looks over at the bluenette ‘’...terrible experiences with the ocean.’’
‘’...’’ Kaeya looks away, covering his mouth with his hand and letting out a cough to not laugh. ‘’A-ah...i see…..mm.. How come you’re tolerating this now though? We could go elsewhere if you dislike it here.’’
Zhongli shakes his head ‘’no need...i learned to associate this place with happier memories now...besides,’’ He looks ahead at the ginger who is lightly bouncing with each step along the shores. Smile spreads onto the brunettes face
‘’I like seeing him enjoy himself.’’
Kaeya smiles softly ‘’awh, that’s cute...especially coming from you, li~’’
zhongli looks over at his companion with a confused expression ‘’oh? Were those incorrect choices of wording?’’
Kaeya shakes his head with a fond smile before glancing ahead at their third companion ‘’not at all. I find it quite endearing… and you’re right, i do enjoy seeing him like this as well.’’
He holds his hand close to zhonglis elbow, looking at him ‘’do you mind…?’’
The other smiles and extends out his elbow for the bluenette, allowing him to hook his arm with his own.
They spend the rest of the evening strolling through the beach...though at one point childe came across a ruin guard and happily dismantled it- quenching his battlelust for the day….nice.
Once home, they all decide to shift into their half-dragon form - much comfortable in them especially around each other.
Zhongli decided to make some tea while the other two leaned against each other on the couch.
Childe turns his head and nuzzles his nose onto kaeyas head. ‘’Hey, bluebird?’’
Kaeya hums, reaching his hand up to gently stroke the gingers cheek.
At that, childe lets out a little purr and leans more into the others palm.
Kaeya giggles and pulls away, cupping both of the gods cheeks before rubbing them in a soothing motion.
Childe, at this point, looked like a feeling leaning into the owners hands for more affection- eyes closed and tail swishing from side to side in a relaxed manner. Oh how this scene alone made the astro gods heart melt with glee.
‘’...can i ask for something?’’ Childe peeks open his eyes just a tiny bit, staring at the one in front of him with an expression full of fondness.
Kaeya smiles playfully and lightly pinches his cheeks ‘’since when did you ask for favors, lil rascal?~’’
The ginger huffs, but does not lean back from the touch.
‘’I’ve been watching the humans…’’
‘’Mmhmm, so have we, but go on~...’’ He returns back to rubbing childes cheeks.
Childe averts his gaze a little, pondering before speaking.
‘’They were pressing their lips onto each other...they looked like they enjoyed it’’
‘’We learned that that's called kissing,yeah....’’ He smiles playfully.
‘’Oh, don't tell me you actually wanna try it?~’’
The ginger stares at him with a pout.
Oh,that actually catches kaeya off guard...his cheeks warm up a bit at the sight.
‘’Oh...you’re serious...are you sure though?...if i’m not mistaken, that's quite the intimate act for humans to share. Humans who are very close and comfortable with each other.’’
Childe lifts his hands and cups them on top of kaeyas pair that is still resting on the gingers cheeks. He looks completely serious with not a drop of playfulness behind his expression.
‘’...i don’t think you know how comfortable i feel around you and zhongli...i can’t speak for you, but if you don’t want this - i won’t force you to do it.’’
Kaeya opens his mouth to speak, but closes it...he keeps his hands rested on the others cheeks.
The corners of his lips tug up into a sweet smile before he leans in close ‘’silly...if you think i feel any different about you then we must fix that immediately~...’’
Before the childe could speak, their lips pressed onto each other in a soft and passionate kiss.
It didn’t last long, but once they pulled away only inches from each other - they were starving for more.
They hear the sound of cups being carefully put down on the table. They look over at the same time and they see zhongli looking unfazed.
‘’Ah, apologies, I didn't mean to interrupt. Just didn’t want the tea to get cold so i brought it over’’
They both stare at him and pat the empty seat as if they did nothing out of the ordinary.
Zhongli smiles at that and gladly takes his place.
Childe, like the bold bastard that he is, asks with a straight face ‘’hey xiansheng, wanna engage in the act of kissing with us?’’
‘’...why...why’d you have to word it like that???’’ 
Zhongli places his knuckle on his chin, looking like he’s thinking about it.
‘’Is there any practicality for kissing, if i may ask?’’
Childe just shrugs ‘’it releases the dolphins.’’
Kaeya sighs ‘’dopamine…’’
The brunette hums in acknowledgment ‘’i see, so the chemicals that makes one feel happy...i do not see a reason to turn it down.’’
‘’Oh...wow that was easy- wait-’’ childe pouts ‘’would you accept if someone else offered it to you?’’
Zhongli takes on his thinking pose yet again ‘’mmm...no, i do not think i would feel comfortable putting my mouth anywhere near theirs.’’
Kaeya smiles,leaning against childe ‘’so you’re fine with us?’’
He nods
‘’Good...rock paper scissors?’’ Kaeya glances up at childes face. In turn, childe holds out his fist just like kaeya.
‘’mhm’’
Zhongli stares confused at them, seemingly not understanding why they decided to play such a childish game at this time.
In short, childe wins. He fist pumps the air, turning to zhongli. Without a moment of hesitation, he grabs onto the brunette's collar and pulls him down in a kiss.
There was a single moment when zhonglis tail straightened out in shock, but soon he relaxed fully into the kiss.
After a few seconds, they both pull back...childe with a smug grin and zhongli with a calm expression with rosy color lightly dusting his cheek.
‘’Nice, huh?~’’ The tip of childes tail wagged from the excitement.
Zhongli pursed his lips and lightly trailed his finger on his own lips ‘’mm...yes, that was quite enjoyable…’’
‘’My turn~’’ kaeya stands up and walks over to zhonglis side, getting onto his lap carefully and cupping his cheeks. He glazes his thumbs over the geo archons cheekbones and leans in to plant a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth first...slowly moving closer to his lips before, finally, pressing his own onto them.
It was much more gentle than childes one, a light and a feathery kiss full of tender love, while the gingers kiss was full of passion.
Zhongli finds himself enjoying both of their kisses equally, so when they ask him whose kiss was better- he answers that both of them were delightful...they couldn’t argue about it considering how honest the god looked.
This was the day that started their kissing habit.
Childe was the one to kiss the others awake if he was to wake up first, if not- then we would make it his job to sleepily waddle into the kitchen, kiss both of them and then go back to their shared room and sleep some more before breakfast was ready.
Kaeya particularly liked kissing when he was on top of one of their laps. He did not win in height with them around so getting on tiptoes every time was a hassle.
As for zhongli, He would not know how to ask for kisses so he would go up to one of them and stare at them in hopes that they would kiss him. Both childe and zhongli act like overgrown cats when they are in need of affection, but kaeya would be lying if he said that he didn’t enjoy that.
Aside from kisses, they would often cuddle, hug each other from behind or shower each other with gentle kisses across the face and petting on the cheeks or head.
They would only do those things inside the confinement of their house...they wouldn’t go out of their way for PDA, especially zhongli. The only time they would be more than friendly with each other outside is when they would go out to eat and they would have to feed childe...at this point, the gingers not even trying to learn how to use them due to enjoying getting fed by his two favorite people.
All three of them became so emotionally attached that they couldn’t really spend any longer than a few days apart from each other...so in each region they had their own house to go to whenever the others visited.
Each time they would experience new things together and discover more of what humans that are close with each other do together.
They learned that those who are this close are referred to as ‘’lovers’’ or ‘’significant others’.
Not that they needed a label for their relationship, but if anyone asked what they were - those three would know how to answer...but it’s not like they’re gonna start telling people about this randomly- gods no- they’re happy in their little bubble.