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The soft evening light gently filtered through the half-open paper doors, the painted mountains almost luminous in the sun’s rays. It fell onto two figures, curled together on a comfortable sofa.
Childe slowly dragged his fingers across the glowing palm in his hands, ochre hues smoothly flowing into dark browns with elegant markings etched in the colour of cor lapis. It felt like normal skin, if slightly warmer to touch.
“These are new,” he mused quietly, pressing his cheek against the hand currently in his possession. “Pretty tho.”
A fond chuckle sounded from above him. “I am afraid that these markings are not ‘new’ even by the greatest stretch of the word. After all, I have had them for as long as I have been assuming this form.”
“Really?” Childe tilted his head back to peer up from under his lashes. “But I’ve seen you with your sleeves rolled up even… before, and your arms were as normal as they get.” Oh and did he remember those few instances; it felt almost sacrilegious to peek at those pale wrists and hints of forearms, usually so carefully hidden under long sleeves.
Here he was, the feared Eleventh Harbinger, swooning over hands of all things. Oh how the mighty had fallen.
Zhongli hummed and turned a page - with Childe’s head pillowed on his lap, the ginger stretched over the sofa while he sat comfortably at the corner and his other limb held captive, he was reduced to reading with only one arm. “Mhm. I have simply focused on keeping them hidden at the moment. Seeing as you know my whole identity now, I perceived no reason for continuing to do so.”
“Aww, feeling comfortable around me now are you?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact I am.”
Childe’s mouth closed with a click and he blinked several times, quietly unsettled from the unexpected honesty. Zhongli finally looked at him then, tearing that golden gaze from his book and smiled adoringly. “While it is not exactly uncomfortable to keep them hidden, it requires a certain degree of effort and focus; one I have deemed unnecessary as of late.”
“Oh?” Childe turned his attention back to the hand in his grasp and nuzzled into the ochre palm. A soft sound above, accompanied by a quiet thunk of a book being put away at the side table, before a hand curled into his hair and gently scratched. He arched into the pets with an expression not dissimilar to that of an exceptionally satisfied cat.
“I am, at my core, an elemental being Childe. Condensed geo energy bestowed with power and consciousness - it is what allows me to change between shapes.”
“Hmm, I thought you were a dragon?” He couldn’t help that cheeky question, even as he closed his eyes in satisfaction. There was an ever present thrill in his stomach at the reminder of his lover’s not-so-mortal origins.
Zhongli’s smile was unbearably fond. “I am,” he stressed softly. “I am unable to assume the form of scattered elemental particles for more than just a few moments - a physical anchor is needed, so to speak, in order for me not to dissipate back into the ley lines. I have first opened my eyes as a dragon-qilin deep inside the mountains of what is now known as the Jueyun Karst, and so it is what I am. You can think of my status as an elemental being as a metaphor of sorts, if that helps.”
“No, I understand.” Childe snuggled further into the Adeptus, feeling the warm blanket of Zhongli’s presence settle over his shoulders like a comfortable quilt, before blinking his eyes open. “Although I have to admit it is a bit weird to imagine you as a little geo spirit.”
“I have never been little.” There was the slightest pout in Zhongli’s voice and Childe grinned into his pulse point, before pressing a gentle kiss there.
“Yes yes, the almighty Morax could never have been something as mundane as a seelie.”
Only silence answered him though and the ginger gently tapped his lover’s arms. Zhongli, lost in the thoughts of another spirit of the earth, one too weak to properly assume a physical form, for which he had then carved the most magnificent body, blinked at him a bit dazedly. Sometimes it was too easy to get lost in the millennia of old memories - thankfully he now had something to come back to.
“So,” Childe continued, idly tracing the gently pulsing patterns of the dark-haired man’s forearm, “is this an Adeptus thing? Or an elemental one?”
“‘Prime of the Adepti’ is merely a title.” Zhongli moved some of the unruly locks from Childe’s forehead and cupped his cheek, thumb stroking under that deep blue eye. “Indeed it is something that comes from my status as a being of geo.”
“Doesn’t feel like I'm snuggling to a pile of rocks though.”
“I am pure energy, you little rascal. Energy I can shape according to my will into many forms.” The god leaned over his lover, grinning with just a hint of fang and sparkling eyes, before leaning back and ignoring the disappointed whine that followed him.
He quietened for a moment, organising his thoughts. “However it is… impossible to completely hide my status.” A tired sigh. “I may conceal my presence and power, pack myself into a mortal shell, but pieces of elemental energy will always seep through.”
Childe peered upward while entangling his fingers with those of Zhongli’s right hand, as his left one came back to the gentle scratching of his hair. “Oh is this about your eyes too? They are… very distinct.” The Snezhnayan grinned. “With so many pieces of quality literature referencing your godly gaze, it should be a dead giveaway, no?”
Zhongli snorted at the reference. “Yes. I have never been able to change my eyes and never will. Nor can I conceal this,” he lifted the ends of his dark hair with its golden gradient.
Childe scrunched his nose in understanding. Simply put, the ex-Archon had a habit of glowing whenever he was experiencing a powerful emotion, brilliant flashes from those striking eyes and tips of his hair floating in the air, before dissipating into scattering of golden particles. It suddenly made so much sense.
“Well, that’s good,” he grumbled, before winking cheekily. “I rather love your eyes, if I say so myself.”
Zhongli purred from deep within his chest, planting a kiss on Childe’s forehead and the ginger giggled. “Oh but that was a dragon thing for sure!”
He was so in love.
“Yes,” the Adeptus hissed, before straightening. “I could conceal the markings on my arms, but frankly it is annoying to do, and would revert back as soon as I would try to use my elemental power in any capacity. It is easier to simply cover them.”
Childe hummed, before suddenly rolling off the couch and sliding to the floor. In the next moment, he was already clambering onto Zhongli’s lap, slotting his knees next to his thighs and grinned, as the arms in question wound around his waist. The dark-haired man simply cocked an eyebrow at him.
“Well, that’s good,” Childe mused, before leaning forward and kissing that elegant brow. “Excellent even,” another kiss on Zhongli’s cheek, “if I say so myself,” on his other cheek, “because,” at the tip of that noble nose, “I personally,” under the eyes right at the brilliant stroke of red that never smudged, “adore them.”
The last words he breathed into Zhongli’s lips and the god didn’t waste another second before closing the distance between them. Childe hummed in satisfaction, winding his arms around Zhongli’s neck, as one palm left the ginger’s waist to tangle in his hair, tilting his head back to deepen their kiss. He felt like putty in those arms, melting into his lover and releasing a soft, breathy moan.
Zhongli finally leaned back after seemingly an eternity of warm floating and Childe delighted in the blush that he brought to those pale cheeks. His eyes glowed and sparkled and the Snezhnayan knew, that if he were to tangle his fingers around the similarly glowing tips of his hair, he would find them thrumming with the faintest brush of geo energy.
“Good,” panted Zhongli, but there was the subtlest of reliefs in his gaze. Childe simply grinned at him again, before tucking his face under the Adeptus’ chin and melting into him. He slowly stroked his fingers across that toned chest and lovely shoulders, tapping nonsensical rhythms into the glowing heartbeat of his arms and smiled.
Such a gorgeous, beautiful being - and he wanted Childe. Sometimes he still had troubles believing that.
“I fell in love with the ordinary consultant of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor,” he whispered softly, “but this… these things that make you a god, an Adeptus, a dragon… they are lovely too. You needn’t hide anything of yourself from me.”
Zhongli simply held him tighter, happy purrs vibrating through his form and the golden luminescence painting the room around them in warm light.
———
“Hey Xiansheng.”
“Yes love?”
“Does this mean that you, the oh-so-revered Rex Lapis of Liyue, is basically a glorified Geo Slime?”
The sun set over the sounds of incredulous sputtering and teasing laughter, weaving together the tapestry of home.