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“He’s so cute, Childe.” Yae gushes as she rubs her head on top of the little boy, who squeals in happiness upon being doted on. “Can’t I keep him here with me?”
Childe laughs in response. “You can always visit us whenever you want.”
“Just make another one with Morax and let me keep this cutie with me.” The fox priest pouts at the answer. “He’s so adorable.”
“Young miss is adorable too.” Yuchen replies bashfully. “Very beautiful.” He adds while shyly looking up to the pink haired female.
The currently off-duty Harbinger only shakes his head as he watches his son being squished and shaken around by Yae while muttering about his cuteness.
“Yae, you’re going to smother him for real.” Ei’s voice echoes in the corridor as the current Inazuma and Liyue’s Archon walk side by side to them.
“How couldn’t I?” Yae says as she lifts his son with both of her hands. “Look at this cuteness! Can we keep him here for a while, Morax?”
“I can only allow you to get in line for that.” Morax responds kindly as he approaches his mate. “I’m pretty sure Cloud Retainer is the first in line if it comes to that situation.” He stretches his arm to pull Childe beside him, wrapping his hand around his waist before leaving a chaste kiss on his forehead.
“Hmph, I can assure you I’m better than that fussy lady.” Yae scoffs lightly. “Right, Yuchen? Auntie Yae is better than Auntie Cloud right?” She makes a moony face to the little boy, flushing him.
“Mm…” Yuchen hums before nodding shyly.
“See! See!” Yae happily says.
Childe laughs again while Zhongli chuckles in amusement.
“Yae, you’re being rather disrespectful to Morax’s adeptus.” Ei admonishes gently while freeing Yuchen out of her friend’s hold. “Hello, Yuchen.” She crouches after putting the boy down.
“Good evening, Raiden-sama.” Yuchen bows respectfully.
“Such a mannerful boy.” Raiden praises gently while patting his head. “Just call me Aunty Ei, okay?”
“Yes, Aunty Ei.” Yuchen obediently says with a smile. “Aunty Ei is so beautiful too.” He bashfully confesses.
“My my. Such a smooth young man you are.” Yae coos.
“Come on, Yuchen. Let’s not bother Aunty Ei and Aunty Yae anymore.” Childe calls his son. “Papa is done with his business.”
“Yes, Mama.” Yuchen replies. He bows once more to Ei, before he scurries and latches onto Childe’s leg. Zhongli’s hand automatically rubs the top of his son’s head affectionately.
“Having a child really has softened you up.” Ei comments kindly.
“Perhaps.” Zhongli admits as he hoisten his son up to his shoulder. “Alas, as you said Yae, how could I not? Right Yuchen?” He says while he strokes the back of his son’s head with his hand.
“Yuchen loves papa too.” He giggles lightly while circling his arms around Zhongli’s neck.
“How’s Mikoto by the way?” Childe asks.
“She’s in Snezhnaya now.” Yae replies as she dusts down her outfit. “Tsaritsa has been quite lonely these days, so she’ll stay there for a while I guess.”
“Is she okay?” Childe can’t help but ask.
“Oh she’s fine.” Yae waves with her hand. “Just a little burnt out with everything, but she’s fine. Tsaritsa will be a good companion for her.”
“Guizhong has been going in and out to Snezhnaya too recently.” Zhongli chims in.
“More reason not to worry then.” Ei concludes. “They’ll definitely be fine with Guizhong around.”
“Are you going straight back to Liyue?” Yae inquires. “There’s a seasonal celebration in the town. Might as well check it out since you’re here.” She nudges the Liyue’s Archon.
The Eleventh Harbinger tentatively turns his head to Zhongli.
“You should, Morax.” Ei adds. “It’s been a while since you visited, no? It’s a summer festival so it should be fun for little Yuchen too.”
“Should we?” Zhongli asks back to his mate, who only nods in consent.
“It’s not like we have pressing matters back in Liyue.” Childe reasons. “A few hours of walking around won’t hurt.”
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“Whoa, it’s so pretty, Mama.” Yuchen whispers as both of his hands are being held by both of his parents. He turns his head to the left and right as the crowd and the decorations take his attention away.
Childe hums in agreement as he too, looks around. To make themselves look more inconspicuous, Childe has hid his mask while Zhongli dons his more mortal looks. However, their attire is still too out of place among the crowd.
From the corner of his eyes, he can see a clothing shop with various yukatas and kimono being displayed on the glass wall.
“Should we dress for the occasion as well?” Zhongli hums thoughtfully, in sync with his mate’s thoughts. He leads his little family to the clothing shop where they’re immediately greeted by a kind woman.
“Welcome to Ogura Textiles and Kimonos. My name is Ogura Mio, how may I help you?” She bows politely.
“We’re looking for something to wear during the festival.” Childe replies as Zhongli looks around with their son in tow.
“Absolutely, we have various kinds of yukatas around. Do you have any fabric, color or pattern preference?” She asks while offering a book of catalogue to Childe. “Incidentally, we have just received a new batch of kid’s yukata.” She offers a thinner book to Childe.
Together, they peruse through the book as Zhongli stands beside him with Yuchen in tow.
“This will look good on you.” Childe points out a dark navy yukata with distinctive pattern and a lighter-almost grayish obi.
Zhongli hums in approval. “The red and white one will suit you.” He comments.
“It definitely looks nice.” Childe nods. “We’ll take these two for us.” He swiftly decides, before opening the book for the children yukata. “Now, the most important part, which one should we get for our little prince?” Childe teases as he holds the book in front of Yuchen, letting the young child choose his own yukata.
“Yuchen wants this one.” He points his little finger on a teal and white colored yukata with little whales as the pattern.
“Yuchen wants this one?” Zhongli crouches beside his son. “Do you want another pattern too? Papa will buy them for Yuchen.”
“Yuchen just likes this one.” The child in question shakes his head. “But can papa buy the white fan too?” He shyly tugs on his papa’s finger. “Yuchen wants it.”
“Because it has a whale on it?” Zhongli gently asks.
Yuchen nods.
“Of course, anything Yuchen wants.” Zhongli gently kisses his son’s forehead.
“Thank you papa.” Yuchen immediately hugs his papa in gratefulness.
“Well, we’ll get the whole set then, Ogura-san.” Childe says to the rather young looking woman while offering the bag of Mora.
“Thank you for your purchase. Please wait while we prepare them.” Ogura Mio replies.
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“It’s really cool and comfortable to wear, Papa.” Yuchen curiously moves around in his recently purchased yukata. After going around for some time, Yuchen claims he’s thirsty and they’re now waiting for their drink at a nearby stall.
“It is, isn’t it.” Zhongli responds as he pulls his son’s hand to get back by their side, not wanting Yuchen to wander way too far from their reach.
“It is certainly fascinating.” Childe states as he looks down to his own yukata. He then takes a look at Zhongli, who looks absolutely ravishing in his opinion. The dark yukata shows Zhongli’s particularly fair, unblemished mortal skin while emphasizing on his rather broad shoulder and sturdy and tall stature.
He looks like a young lord, like he’s the temptation personified into a man.
The disguised Liyue Archon internally smiles at the rather frontal scan from his mate. “Be careful, love. Another intense look and people would notice how you undress me with your eyes.” Zhongli whispers.
Childe immediately flushes bright after registering his husband’s word and slaps him lightly on the shoulder. “Zhongli!”
The Archon just smiles charmingly. “Lower down your tone, love. One would think that I’ve told you something outrageous when it’s just a fact.”
“You-”
“Thank you for the wait. Here are your orders.” A man in his early thirties greets as he hands them three lidded cups of cold ocha.
“Thank you.” Zhongli takes charge as he receives the beverages. He hands both to Childe, before giving the other to his son.
“Thank you papa.” Yuchen says as he sips the cold drink.
“Your welcome, my prince.” Zhongli affectionately pats the top of his son’s head.
Childe just sighs as he takes a sip too after giving the other cup to his husband.
Zhongli amusedly stares at Childe’s still quite red ears. He leans his face again near Childe’s and says lowly, “You can always undress me yourself when we’re back at Liyue, love. Don’t be too dejected.” He mirthfully teases.
“Zhongli!”
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“What should we eat, Yuchen?” Childe asks as the little family of three walk around the food stalls. Honestly, he’d prefer to eat in a proper restaurant rather than these stalls, but the foods they offer don’t look that bad either.
“Do you want anything in particular?” Zhongli turns his head to his son, who is also looking around thoughtfully. Just like him, Yuchen is particularly picky with his food and they’ve walked through most of Inazuma’s signature dishes with zero interest from his son. They’re now walking around the foreign foods area, where the stalls mostly sell foods from Mondstat, Liyue and other nations.
“Yuchen wants-” His word is cut off when he inhales the scent of pepper and promptly sneezes loudly.
Both Childe and Zhongli are immediately in alarm, as they watch their son turn into a mini dragon, with his yukata pooling on the pavement.
The thing is, Yuchen is still unable to control his dragon form fully. Zhongli has been teaching and training their son about it, but he still struggles most of the time. When this occurrence happens, they’re always either in Zhongli’s domain or in one of Zhongli’s adepti areas where it’s absolutely safe and okay for Yuchen to shift into a dragon.
However, they’re in Inazuma, amidst its mortal crowd whereas Yuchen has never even been exposed to Liyue’s crowd.
Their son swiftly squeaks in distress and fear, inciting Zhongli’s own instinct to rear up at the sight of his youngling in anxiety - vulnerably exposed like this.
“Yuchen- Yuchen calms down.” Zhongli immediately crouches and pulls his child’s dragon form into his embrace. “Papa is here. Calm down. You’re safe.” He tries to soothe him, but to no avail, Yuchen is already too overwhelmed by his natural instinct.
Childe too, begins to panic as the crowd starts to look around to search for the source of the foreign sound. He’s a bit thankful that it’s a little bit too crowded to immediately show the outsider what’s happening, but this won’t hold out for long. Usually, Zhongli will turn into a dragon as well to ground Yuchen back into his human form, but there’s no way they can do that here. The young Harbinger bites his lips as he agitatedly looks around for a quiet shelter or alley where they can retreat to, but there’s nothing.
Fuck.
When a hand suddenly taps his shoulder, Childe almost stabs him if not for the familiar voice. “Let’s go, I will lead you to somewhere safe.”
“Thoma?” Childe incredulously says.
“My Lord, please follow me.” Thoma only nods at Childe before he focuses back on Liyue’s Archon. “We are here to assist your needs as per Shogun-sama’s instruction.”
Zhongli looks intensely at the young mortal, before nodding. Childe bites his lips in worry as he realizes Zhongli’s eyes are glowing golden.
“Your eyes, Zhongli.” He whispers urgently at which Zhongli quickly blink and they turn back into his usual molten orange.
“We have to distract the crowd.” Childe states as his mate manages to secure their son into his hold, albeit still crouching on the ground.
“Don’t worry, soon-”
“Good evening everyone.” A rather loud, feminime voice echoes in the crowd. Soon, choruses of “it’s the Shirasagi Himegimi” begin to echoes around.
“Look, the distraction has arrived.” Thoma grins. “I will take you to a nearby shelter.” He promises as he offers a rather big shawl to Childe.
Childe nods and Zhongli stands up with their son in his hold, where he immediately covers Yuchen who is still howling in distress with said article of clothing.
“Lead the way, mortal.” Zhongli commands. His tone is firm and dangerous, silently offering a promise of painful consequence if he lies.
“Yes, Lord Morax.”
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They’re being led to a nearby Teahouse, which Childe quickly recognizes as Komore Teahouse. Zhongli nods at the dog on the counter, where he woofs in response. He too, nods respectfully before following his husband inside.
“This is the room you can use for the meantime.” Thoma says as he shows them a rather vast, empty room.
“Thank you for your assistance.” Zhongli curtly says before slipping into the room.
“Thank you, Thoma.” Childe thanks him as well. “It’s such a shame we have to meet each other in this kind of situation.”
“Don’t mention it. We can catch up later, I’ll be at the frontdesk if you need something.” He assures.
Childe nods before he slips in too.
Zhongli is already in the middle of the room with their son still in his hold. The shawl and the yukata have been discarded on the side, while the Liyue’s Archon form itself has turned into a half-dragon.
“Yuchen…” Zhongli shushes gently. “You’re safe. Papa is here. Mama is here too. No one will hurt you.” He tries to coax his son to let go of his death grip. “Take a calm breath. One… Two… One… Two…” He softly guides his son. “It’s okay. You can slowly try to transform back when you’re ready. Just relax first.” He touches the top of his son’s dragon form and rubs them slowly.
“Papa is here. No one will be able to hurt Yuchen.” Zhongli continues to soothe his son. “Papa is the strongest, remember?”
Childe lets out a relieved sigh when their son peeps quietly in response. Okay, at least he’s already able to listen and respond to them.
As Zhongli continues to talk and hushedly calm their son, Childe can’t help but to feel unexplainable, intense warmth in his heart at the sight. Zhongli’s own face has changed from deep worry and wariness into one of more gentle and tender expression as he carefully cradles Yuchen in his embrace.
Fatherly.
He used to be worried whether they could be good parents or not. Especially Zhongli, who is so busy and needed everywhere by everyone.
What if Zhongli doesn’t love their child and rather be a somewhat distant and strict parent? What if Zhongli doesn’t really care for their child’s wellbeing aside from being a good and obedient heir, to keep up their title as the Archon’s offspring? What if he demands perfection of their child?
He knows these worries are silly little thoughts, but it used to bother him all the same. He grew up in a loving house, with many siblings to look up to and dote on to. Zhongli, on the other hand, is not. He’s still a God at the basis of things. Not knowing of parental or romantic love before he taught him how to.
The relief of knowing and seeing the intense, natural love and protective glints on Zhongli’s golden eyes as he cradles Yuchen for the first time will forever be unforgettable, as the loving image is also forever burned into his mind.
On the day Yuchen was born, the sky was very sunny and bright with a light drizzle of rain showering the whole land of Liyue. Signaling the joyful, full of blessing event. That year’s harvest was the most bountiful with more gold mines being found in Liyue’s soil. (Sometimes both he and Guizhong still teases Zhongli about that.)
A light giggle from Yuchen who’s finally able to turn into a human snaps his mulling. He watches how Zhongli rubs his nose with Yuchen’s, also smiling gently as he still protectively holds their child.
And by Celestia, in that moment, he finds Zhongli is the most handsome, most enchanting when he’s like this.
A very caring, attentive papa.
He can’t help but to be reminded of the affection he holds for the Liyue’s Archon and fall in love a little deeper, a little more intense.
There’s just no way out of this love Zhongli has bound him for life, it seems.