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Her eyes are green.
Sharp, brilliant, olive green. Flecks of gold dust the ring of her iris, glittering in the crisp sunlight of the early morning. Long, thick, ash-colored lashes flutter gently as she wakes, eyes unfocused as she slowly comes into consciousness.
Silken sheets hug the smooth, toned curves of her body; baby blue fabric forming soft waves across her waist.
She is incomprehensibly beautiful like this, in her natural form. A rare view of the mighty strategist, brilliant inventor, naked and vulnerable, hidden away from the world.
An exclusive view. Something precious.
“You’re staring.”
Her pink, plush lips are curved in a slight smile. They’re dry, slightly chapped from sleep.
“And what if I am?”
His own voice sounds rough, scratchy, and far too soft, even at this early hour.
Her smile widens.
He would paint her if he could. If he was capable of capturing such ethereal beauty. If his hands were made to hold a paintbrush and not a spear.
He would paint her a thousand times, on a thousand canvases.
Then he would burn them all, because this view of her is only for him.
“I will not stop you.” She murmurs. “I cannot take my eyes off of you, either.”
They lay facing each other in this plush, king-sized bed. The sheets are gathered around both of their waists; their legs tangled together under cool silk.
Here, miles above the golden land of Liyue, they are untouchable. Jueyun Karst is a place unseen and unknown by both man and god alike - a haven in a world of war.
He sits up, allowing the sheets to fall away from his body. He does not miss the way her gaze sticks to him, and she does not attempt to hide the way her eyes slide over the chiseled plane of his abs; the flex of his thighs as he moves closer to her.
“Sometimes I think you’ve placed a curse on me, my love.”
She sits up, mirroring him - legs tucked underneath her, leaning forward and supporting her weight with one arm. Her other arm reaches out, slender fingers grabbing a lock of hair that has slipped over his shoulder.
He captures that hand and brings it to his lips.
“I believe it is you who has bewitched me.”
His mouth moves against her knuckles, barely brushing the thin scars that litter her hands.
And how could he not be bewitched by such a sight?
The sun is higher in the sky now, the bright, golden light of the morning spilling through the beams that support their cloud-level island.
It illuminates her in such a way that no god or mortal could deny her status as a goddess; a woman so enchanting and brilliant that any creature would bow before her. Her long, ash-colored hair, silky and thick, falls over her shoulders in twin waterfalls, covering her breasts and pooling on the mattress at her thighs.
His gaze settles on the hand that is held in his own. At the pale blue tattoos that swirl around her wrist, trailing all the way up her arm in delicate, complicated patterns; the softly glowing ink that he knows extends to her back.
“We could stay here.”
He lowers her hand; intertwines their fingers and squeezes gently as he speaks.
“Just you and I. Forever.”
The words flow far too easily from his mouth; the mouth of a man who has everything to lose.
“Oh?”
Her lips quirk in an amused smile.
“Forever is certainly a long time, my love. Are you sure you won’t be bored of me?”
His brow furrows in confusion, his mouth turning down in a pout.
“I will never be tired of you. I will crave you until the earth crumbles and the sky falls and until I take my very last breath. And after, still.”
She laughs, a soft giggle that makes him feel like he’s melting.
“And I will crave you just the same.”
He surges forward, muffling her laughter with a passionate kiss.
“We must go back to the village.”
The sun is high in the sky now, bright and demanding at the cusp of noon.
His hand is lazily tracing patterns on her waist, the soft skin comforting under his fingertips.
“No.” He murmurs against her hair. “Not today.”
“For a warrior, you are quite lazy.”
He hums softly in response.
How could he ever articulate it? How could he ever make her understand, the effect she has on him?
“We have duties to attend to, my love.”
Despite her soft protests, it seems she is not keen on getting out of bed, either. She is curled perfectly into his side, so close he can feel the movement of her jaw against his rib when she speaks.
“For how long?” He muses. “Are we to spend the next thousand years catering to the whims of mortals?”
She sighs.
“No, dear. We are only meant to guide them, to help them until they can help themselves. There will come a day when they no longer need us.”
He thinks of the mortals they’d vowed to protect, living simple lives a dozen miles below them. Unaware of how fleeting they are. Unaware of how severe the violence he faces on their behalf is. They do not, and cannot, understand the depths of war, nor the depths of life.
“I doubt such fragile creatures will ever be able to live without our guidance, dear.”
She shifts with a soft groan, her hand lightly smacking his stomach.
“And I doubt you will ever be less harsh towards creatures that are simply more fragile than you.”
He sits up quickly, causing her to fall back onto the mattress with a startled yelp.
She pushes some hair out of her face and glares up at him, annoyed.
“I am the perfect amount of harsh when necessary.” He huffs, rather childishly.
A giggle slips from her mouth as she rolls over onto her stomach, displaying the toned, inked slopes of her back.
“What?”
“Oh, you certainly are terrifying. The great dragon warrior, irked by an offhand comment from his beloved strategist.”
“Beloved wife.” He corrects instantly. “And it is you who is harsh, bullying your husband.”
She hums incoherently into the pillows.
They are quiet for some time.
He stares out at the clouds, at the sunlight reflected upon them.
“What will we do, when all of it is over?”
This question comes from her several minutes later, so soft he is only partially drawn away from his thoughts.
“Hm?”
“At the end.”
His hand drifts across her back, tracing the tattoo of her true form. Each spot he touches glows brighter, just for a brief second, and fades as fingertips move to a different spot.
“I must admit I do not know what you refer to.”
She will not face him. She doesn’t even move. There’s an odd, solemn tone to her voice that he does not recognize.
“When our duty has finished.“
His hand pauses on her back.
Her concern is something he truly had not considered. No, he did not think they would be leading their people forever. But what comes after?
What comes when there is nothing left to protect?
Nothing left to fight against?
“It doesn’t matter.” He finally says.
She still will not face him.
“We will be here. Always.”
Now she does turn. And he understands why she wouldn’t face him.
Tears glisten in her eyes.
And she knows he hates seeing her cry.
Even though she is crying, she smiles at him.
“You and I. Forever?”
As if she even needs to ask.
Zhongli’s eyes flutter open two thousand years later, his hand grasping at silk sheets.
The bright light of the morning sun streams in through his window. Noise reaches his ears; conversations and laughter mixed with the bustle of the harbor outside.
His golden eyes slip to the space next to him, illuminated by the daylight.
Zhongli smiles.
“Just you and I, my darling.” He murmurs to an empty room.
“Until my last breath, and after still.”
No god can punish him for the way he closes his eyes and chases after the remnants of a life that is no longer his.
Nor can any god save him from the voice echoing in his head - a siren’s song, sweet and loving, carrying across the waves of time.
Untouchable. Unreachable.
Just you and I. Forever, in this bed.