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Childe stretches his paws lazily and yawns, before curling back into a red ball of fur. Ever since winter began, he has been spending almost all of his time at home in his fox form. It isn’t that the weather bothers him; he has been raised in Snezhanaya, after all, and has endured countless freezing nights in the Abyss. It takes more than a little snow to faze him.
The same, however, cannot be said for his husbands.
Zhongli and Neuvillette both hate the cold with a passion. Long before the temperatures dropped, they started gathering countless blankets in their bedroom and hoarded tons of artifacts imbued with Pyro energy to keep themselves warm. And yet, even with this careful planning, they still shiver at night.
In their sleep, they are in a constant search for any source of heat, which is exactly why Childe so often turns into a fox these days. Whenever he senses that his husbands are getting too uncomfortable, he settles on their chests to shield them from the cold with his fluffy body. This invariably earns him tender caresses and heartfelt words of praise, all of which make his heart swell with pride.
It is a little different from their usual cuddling, sure, but Childe doesn’t mind it one bit. If he has to be honest, Zhongli and Neuvillette do make for a comfy mattress, not that he is picky with sleeping accommodations to begin with. Anything is fine, really, so long as it doesn’t remind him of the Abyss.
The only thing that irks him is that his fox body isn’t big enough to cover his lovers entirely. He did offer to snuggle with them in his Foul Legacy form, as it also runs warm, but both Zhongli and Neuvillette vehemently refused to have him exhaust himself for their sake. A shame, really. Maintaining it for long periods of time outside of battle would have been a great challenge.
Their current arrangement suits him just fine, though, since he does love having his husband’s strong arms wrapped around his smaller frame, or being awoken by gentle ear scratches. These days, Neuvillette also lingers in bed longer than usual, unwilling to leave his side even as his duties as Iudex call, and Childe sure won’t be the one to berate him for it. As for Zhongli, Hu Tao has put him on leave for the whole duration of winter, stating that “in his cranky state, he is more likely to scare spirits and ghosts away than to be of help”.
The consultant sure grumbled about it for a while, to Childe’s great amusement, since he knew that despite all his complaints, he truly cared about her and probably appreciated the rest anyway.
The Harbinger himself sure is grateful for it, since it means he gets to spend more time with his mate. Nothing fills him with more happiness than when Zhongli and Neuvillette are both by his side. Their presence alone eases most, if not all, of his worries, and his inner fox never feels safer than when he’s snuggly nestled in their arms.
And so, with his snout pressed right over Neuvillette’s heart, he closes his eyes, and promptly falls asleep, all warm and content.