Work Text:
It stayed like an old habit, for Childe. A one year thing he loved and was tradition, so it wasn’t a surprise when he got the day off from work, he put on his best clothes and grabbed a plane. He only had clues, small ideas of a place he could go, the only thing that didn’t change was the location, he knew what exact painter he could look for so he had to sit and look for the other ones who were there. This time it was a temporary gallery inside an important museum. This place was specially focused on art who telled history, it seemed like the kind of place /he/ could go, so Childe booked a flight and bought a ticket to the museum.
It was at the other side of the world, so Chide was ready to sleep the whole flight, he had it all planned so he had a hotel close enough to the museum, he had a couple of nights there, got in the city a day early so he could get a little bit used to the time zone and the place, he walked around and eat. The only part that he didn’t like was that he didn’t know when he would see him. There were two things he knew all these years: a painter and a date.
From the outside it looked like not enough, but it was, for them.
It was like a pull, on a part of his brain calling him. And he knew where to go. Humans had a name for that but Childe didn’t know what to believe, he just knew and didn’t think too much about it.
So he went around the museum, because of Zhongli he was interested in art in certain years, so he met some of the painters. He even touched names in golden, he was used to doing that too, finding friends and letting them go. That’s the thing about immortality.
Childe saw the painting, it was the biggest one of the room so he took a seat on a bench. The time was something that they never discussed. Just the day and the connection. Nothing else, they didn't need anything else.
Zhongli arrives an hour later, he is wearing a fancy suit and has this aura that makes him weak on the knees every time they meet. Zhongli sits next to him and starts the usual conversation about the painting that’s in front of them. Childe remembers it from around 70 years ago, it must be difficult to find because he didn’t see it more often that the other ones. 70 years was enough for him to forget so he listens to the other man words.
They stay there for a while, until they are both hungry. So they leave and go eat on a restaurant near there. It’s cold but it’s not raining unlike other times, they catch up on each other’s lives a bit. Zhongli decided to be a writer this time, he is a New York Best Seller under the pseudonym ‘Rex Lapis’, everyone thought the name ‘King of stone’ in latin was such a smart thing to do. Zhongli is currently writing a new book and they interchange ideas. Childe doesn’t absolutely love literature but he knew some big writers in that way he can give some useful advice.
He is not a good writer but his boyfriend writes notes on his phone and tells him that they’re good tips.
Childe doesn’t believe it but he figures he’ll know in a couple of months when the book is out for the whole word. When Zhongli asks him about his current work he says he is a baker and his smile grows with each word that leaves his mouth, Childe describes the small apartment he rents in the back but the highlight is the place where he bakes: it’s large and the open windows fill the whole room, he design it so the clients could order online and left some bread in the front part of the room in case someone passing by wants to buy some. They normally do, hypnotized by the place and the food and how the main window allows you to see from outside. He loves the place. Childe also tells Zhongli about his coworker a girl called Arlecchino but she likes to be called AR and how Childe thought that was such a Gen Z to do but she is a really smart girl. Mostly she manages the Social Media part but when Childe is busy she also talks to the clients and help around.
Zhongli finds cute the dynamic and the way Childe lights up when he talks about the work, they don’t need to work really it’s mostly a hobby and something to do with their time some years they don’t even care about that, Zhongli decided to go and hang out with most of the painters in the beginning of 1990 in Italy. And Childe spent his sweet time having fun at parties in the United States around the 1940s.
Money wasn’t a thing they cared about, they both were born in long dynasties who existed since before the term ‘money’ existed. Zhongli and Childe’s families (or Morax and Ajax their real names) co-existed for centuries before they were even born. So they were childhood friends at the beginning but since they were all inmortal and when they both reached 20 the age they were supposed to look like forever their families parted ways, it was too dangerous to stay in only one place. But Morax and Ajax always found a way to see each other once a year, they would fly countries if it was necessary even in times when the only option they had was to travel for months in a ship. It didn’t matter, they were worth it.
At the beginning they never mentioned the word ‘Love’ not even when their parents said it a lot. Not when they first kissed, not when they spent the first night together, not when they spent a whole month together instead of only a day because it looked so little. Not when they wanted more.
They didn’t call it a break up when in the 90s after two years of living together they took different trains and never spoke. But still, next year on October 10th they were in the same spot again. After some tears and apologies they decided on a new dynamic. They’d met once a year, in a museum, the search was in only one continent and they’d say which museum or guess by the main painter.
Zhongli always thought that they changed the day because it hurt too much, but they were smarter after that. They talked about their feelings, about their dreams and got to the agreement that they were in a relationship, an open one. So they called themselves ‘boyfriends’ but they thought the only way they could work was by seeing each other only once per year, and it looked like a crazy idea but they seemed to work out pretty well. Zhongli used to talk with other people for dynasties and they all think that they worked because they didn't have this domesticity that turned to boredom that couples of people like them had. It wasn’t that crazy, they lived a hundred lives and if they lived together maybe everything would become also monotonous and only seeing each other once per year allow them to have new things to talk about.
Childe had a couple of stories he wrote on his notes app, he tells them to Zhongli, they are holding hands now, walking by this park that’s next to the museum. He won’t lie, he knows this city, especially the big street that they are walking around, but every year seems different and he likes that very much.
It’s like meeting a new city by his lover's side. Childe is not a romantic, he doesn’t think he is but he knows life is better when Zhongli is around, it's as easy as closing your eyes and holding a warm blanket in your hands, like coming home after a long day. Because Zhongli was his, his family, his boyfriend,his home even if the only way they could work was only seeing each other once a day.
Zhongli holds Childe’s hand for the whole walk, and they surround themselves by the little things they can’t share on another day. They end up in a hotel, laying in bed watching at the clock, waiting. They have one more day. And that’s it. If you live a hundred years and more time is a insignificant thing, so a day could be a lot or it could be nothing, but they keep having those days and piled them together knowing it is enough.
It’s a tradition, they have one day every day for eternity.
Childe looks at Zhongli, surrounded by the white blankets with that spark in his eyes. He thinks eternity doesn’t sound that bad. As long as it is with him.