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The stars were beautiful.
The dark night sky was like a canvas to be painted on– black paper decorated by the tiniest, beautiful shining dots that illuminated the entire background and accompanied the silent beauty of the moon.
There was nothing quite like it, Childe thinks.
Sighing, he moves around a little until he is able to lay his head on Zhongli's shoulder, who was staring up at the sky with a silent awe in his beautiful amber eyes, sparkling as bright as the stars.
Childe thought he was beautiful– no, he knew he was beautiful, he just thought that Zhongli held a different kind of beauty when he was under the moon and stars rather than the shine of the sun that complemented the colors of his attire wonderfully.
The redhead hears the older man's voice, speaking lowly yet clearly enough for him to be able to hear him, pointing out faint constellations with the tip of a gloved fingertip, lips moving. But Childe can't hear him– can't understand what he is saying, because he is so enamoured by the star-dipped beauty in front of him that he cannot see or hear anything else but his face and the sound of his voice.
“For the former Geo Archon,” Childe murmurs softly, eyes lingering as he catches his lover's attention. He almost regrets speaking because Zhongli has stopped talking, but he knows he must continue. “you sure know lots about the stars and sky.”
Zhongli chuckles, gaze shifting back to the sky. Childe hopes he would look back at him again, even just for a second.
“If you have lived as long as I, it does not matter whose domain it is, you find yourself curious and wanting to know more about what lies beyond your own comfort zone. For me, the sea has always been my weakness, and I have never bothered to learn much about it, but the stars– they fascinate me. Their myths, their history..” Zhongli begins to babble once again. This time, Childe finds himself willing to listen.
Oh, how he wished they could stay like this forever...
But forever is not possible, this, he knows, accepts, even, he acknowledges that his lover will outlive him, that his lifespan is but a speck of time in Zhongli's, that one day, he might even forget him.
In any other situation, this dawning realization would have devastated him.
But in this situation, where Zhongli smiles like everything is alright and the stars and the moon shine on his face– pointing out constellations Childe cannot even remember in times of need and explaining the myths he used to fawn over, in these passing moments of shine and glitter, Childe is happy.
He is in love, and he is happy.
And that's all that matters.
FIN.