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Childe is the first to yawn but Zhongli had been feeling the slight weight of drowsiness sinking into him for the past hour. He had spent it reading, leaving his mortal lover to his own devices.
In the comfort of his own domain, he has been known to take a form truer to his own size. It is nice to relax like this and have a space where everything is scaled according to him. Everything, of course, except for his mate.
Childe has never complained about being so small compared to the dragon. In fact, if Zhongli were not aware that his lover had ambitions to, “crush the thrones of the gods,” as he so eloquently put it, the archaic lord might believe that the harbinger preferred to be a small companion. He’s perfectly content to move about as he wishes and take whatever he feels he should at any given time, regardless of its dimensions.
Childe seems endlessly fascinated with the nooks and delves of the god’s abode. And he’s been known to adventure in areas a bit too dangerous for someone of his three whole inches (Zhongli has caught him checking out the knives in the kitchen and challenging birds far too many times). Tonight, it seems, he felt his appointed task was to scale the bookshelf in an attempt to reach Zhongli’s eyeline.
It’s been easy to keep track of him in this way. The bookshelf is just beside Zhongli’s reading chair and his lover’s soft reflective planning and cheers of victory would rise to Zhongli every time he reached a new shelf. When his voice finally comes from a place above Zhongli’s head, the dragon lifts his gaze, quickly spotting the ginger in front of a copy of Legend of the Lone Sword. The book's spine is broader than his shoulders.
“You made it,” He smiles, setting down his current reading material and lifting a palm up. “Well done Ajax.” The praise is received with a tiny grin and then Childe backs up before taking a short run to launch himself off the shelf.
They’ve done this a number of times, and after a few seconds, his orange glider flicks open, catching the air beneath him and helping him safely come to land on the offered palm. He doesn’t even stumble as he lands and Zhongli sighs, enamored by the mortal always. He lifts his free hand up, patting the soft curls of the Snezhnayan.
“I didn’t even break a sweat.” The smaller announces proudly, reaching up to tug down the god’s finger. Zhongli willingly goes along with the pulling, soft warmth filling his chest when the digit is hugged tightly.
“It is quite an impressive feat. Next time, you ought to try to reach the very top.” The god suggests. The smaller nuzzles his cheek against his knuckle in response before he releases the pointer. The top of the bookshelf is another three shelves higher. It is surely quite doable.
Zhongli offered to make the space more accessible once by installing human-sized ladders and ropes, but Childe had denied him this, claiming he much preferred the challenge of conquering these things himself. It was a cute notion, and he’s successfully managed to reach most surfaces. The only time he has ever requested assistance is when he is in a rush, or when he wishes to relax. It is impossible for the adeptus to resist praising him for the physical prowess wielded in navigating the home.
“Could you put me on your shoulder?” The smaller asks now, peering up with his request.
“Reaching the shelf must have been more arduous than I understood,” Zhongli’s tease is light and he watches fondly as Childe’s expression pinches.
“I don’t want to break a sweat climbing you!” He defends quickly, already walking across Zhongli’s hand toward his sleeve as though to take on that very task.
“Do not worry, baobei. I am not rescinding my praise of your adventure.” Zhongli shakes his hand gently, forcing the mortal to drop to his hands and knees. “I only wished to acknowledge how tired you are.”
“I am not tired though,” Ajax isn’t offended by the god’s move. And in fact, he allows Zhongli to lift his hand to his shoulder still before crawling off the palm onto it.
“I am sure you aren’t,” Zhongli murmurs, rubbing at his eyes as he prepares to resume reading. He feels his lover shifting to get comfortable, crawling a bit closer to the adeptus’s collar before he lies down there. “Would you like me to read to you?”
“Yes please,” He does not need to look over at Childe like this. They have grown comfortable sharing these positions. He lifts his book, beginning to narrate starting at the passage he left off on. They have both read Moonlit Bamboo Forest before, so it is no trouble Childe to understand what scene he is at.
Zhongli is prepared for his partner to quiet down now, settle into his spot, and listen. Thanks to this, he is only a little surprised when he hears Childe yawn. Not tired, he had claimed. But now, the old god can distinctly feel the form lying on his shoulder slowly going limp. Gradually, he lowers the volume of his reading until he is in fact no longer reading it aloud.
Ajax doesn’t complain, which tells Zhongli exactly the state his human is now in. Along with this, the dragon’s sensitive hearing picks up the soft, steady breaths indicative of deep sleep. He leaves Childe be, resuming his reading until he finds the words blurring together. He blinks, trying to make sense of the last few sentences of the chapter, but it is quite hopeless.
A yawn hitches his own breath now and Zhongli surrenders, setting the book aside and slowly rising. He is sure to keep his posture steady as always in order that he not disturb Childe. The harbinger is a light sleeper though and Zhongli feels him tense into wakefulness as soon as he moves.
“I am going to prepare for bed,” He informs softly as he walks to his room. Truly it has become their space, but by extension of his size, he still considers everything here to be his. It is in his nature to do so, though he would not share this with Childe. He is possessive, but the human is still his equal here.
“Mm.. I should change.” The young man notes and Zhongli feels him shifting some, pushing up into a seated position. He lifts a hand up, cupping it around his lover so that he might not lose his bearings with everything moving. “You know you don’t have to do that, A-Li. I’m used to the movement of ships and stuff, remember?”
“This may be true, but I do not want there to be any mishaps.” Zhongli asserts, listening to the small sigh. Childe crawls close to his neck then, climbing over Zhongli’s collar and seating himself on the god’s collarbone.
“Alright, alright. I am secure here.” He pats Zhongli’s neck and the dragon gives a soft purr, letting his hand fall away.
–
By the time they are both ready for bed, it seems Childe has been reinvigorated from his power nap. Throughout the length of Zhongli’s slow walk down the hall and up the stairs, the younger man had played with the strands of hair that fell at the base of the dragon’s neck. They had both washed up and changed, but now Ajax seems more charged for something than he had been even before climbing the bookshelf.
In contrast, the siren song of rest is pulling at Zhongli’s eyelids. He had started his day early and it was quite full. The downtime in his domain this evening had been much wanted, but reading til he grew too tired for the words was an unusually unhealthy practice for him.
He lets Ajax down onto the pillow beside him so that he can lie down.
“Can I explore you a bit?” Childe’s voice comes over once he’s settled and Zhongli turns his face to see that the human is already climbing up the soft slope of the pillow.
“Now?” The god frowns a bit at this, rolling to his side to face the ginger instead. The small human slides to the edge of the pillowcase carefully and then jumps across the gap to the pillow cushioning Zhongli’s head.
“Mhm, you can go to sleep if you need to.” Childe looks at him hopefully and though the god frets a bit, he considers the offer quietly. “I can tell you need to rest, so I won’t be disruptive.” He tags on the second bit.
“I do not wish to inadvertently pin or suffocate you should I move.” Zhongli worries his lip some and he follows the tiny human with his gaze as he slides down the dip of the pillow to rest against the bridge of the god’s nose.
“If you lay on your back, I won’t go any further than your chest.” Childe offers, gently petting Zhongli’s nose. The dragon gives another soft purr at the move, but he cannot help a bit of concern.
“I cannot guarantee I will remain still in my slumber.” He points this out, trying to stifle a yawn with his lover so near to him. There’s an amused expression in Childe’s gaze and Zhongli can’t quite decide if it is from the yawn or the way he is crossing his eyes to view the human. He closes his eyes, turning his cheek a bit to pull away from Ajax.
“Zhongli I’ve slept on you before and it’s usually fine. I’d notice if you shifted and adjust accordingly” The smaller asserts, scooting close again to sit against Zhongli’s cheek. The god scrunches his nose with the small weight contacting his face. It is always nice to have the human cuddled up beside him, but the unspoken promise of a tiny body squirming against him when he is trying to sleep is not so appealing at the moment. “I’ll stay around your head then.”
“Do not spend too long in your exploration please.” He concedes, stifling another yawn. It is incredibly tempting to turn his face and pin the human as is.
“Thank you love,” Ajax presses a tiny kiss to his cheek and then he crawls back out from under Zhongli’s cheek. The dragon sighs, setting his cheek back down and leaving the mortal to his own devices.
Ajax is unnoticeably gentle and cautious in the first few minutes. Enough so that Zhongli would normally be suspicious. Unfortunately, he is too tired to notice the behavior. His lover is still a trained warrior and the harbinger knows precisely how to be light on his feet when necessary and Zhongli assumes that the ginger's silence is kudos to that.
–
He has drifted into sleep for an indeterminate amount of time when he feels a sharp tug on his hair. Zhongli hisses, jerking to pull away from the source of the pain.
“Hey- woah!” The tug persists for a second before it releases and Zhongli growls, shifting to roll to his stomach. He reaches back, pressing on the tender spot to soothe it.
“Ajax,” He mutters, the glow of his eyes dimly casting light onto the human who now lays prone in the dip his head had created. Childe gives him an apologetic look, lifting his hands in supplication.
“I’m sorry Zhongli, I only meant to move the strand, but it was pinned under you... I just tugged wrong.” His words come quickly and the human positions himself to appear as small as he possibly can. It fails to make him appear more innocent.
“You are being disruptive,” The sentence comes out with more gravel in his voice than he could have intended, but he believes it helps make his point. Childe continues to peer up at him with a wide gaze.
“I know... I won’t do it again.” He backs up a little, turning to crawl back out of the dip so he can stand on the pillow again. “Here, you just make yourself comfortable. Go back to sleep love.” He waves to the dip.
The god pushes down the surge of grumpiness at his mate, sighing. He moves to press a kiss to the human’s hair before he allows himself to lie down. He remains on his stomach this time, burying his face in the pillow. It doesn’t take very long to fall asleep.
It also doesn’t take very long for the human to disrupt him once more. Ajax is leaning against his cheekbone, muttering something to himself that makes its way into Zhongli’s subconscious thanks to its proximity to his ears.
“What are you doing?” Zhongli turns his face, opening one eye to squint narrowly at his mate. Surely, Ajax is tired? Or at least can understand he needs to settle.
“Do you have body hair?”
“...Excuse me?” Zhongli opens his eyes fully to stare at him and Childe just shrugs. “You have seen all of this form.” He reminds briefly, watching the humans slow nod.
“I mean, I never feel any stubble when you kiss me.”
“I am trying to sleep.”
“Sorry.” There are a few more seconds of silence, “Can you stay like this so I can look over your brows?”
A low growl and the human lifts his hands again in surrender. “I promise I’ll only look, not touch!” He adds and Zhongli reaches up now, sweeping Ajax into his hold and lowering it to the sheets beside his chest. The human grunts in surprise, squirming at the unexpected grab.
“Go to sleep, Childe.” He instructs, holding the vanguard gently, but securely as he turns his face back into his pillow. He feels his mate twist and push at his fingers, attempting to escape for a moment before there’s a tiny defeated huff and Childe finally relaxes. After a few more seconds, he snuggles down and Zhongli is, hopefully, relieved that his mate is finally attempting to rest once more.
Sleep takes a few seconds longer to settle in but he’s quickly fallen back into the depths of it.
–
Childe grumbles softly to himself at getting jailed like this. He doesn’t mind his lover’s manhandling, but he can’t believe Zhongli would trap him like this when he still possesses so much energy. It would help if the giant allowed him to get the energy out by doing some proper exploration, but he was trying to be respectful of his love’s request by sticking to his face.
There is only so much Childe could really do before something troublesome happened. He had really, truly made his best effort to remain undisruptive of the giant, but then things went a bit awry. Even if he had been tired, the dragon’s abrupt and rapid movement had spiked a small bit of adrenaline and then it was impossible to fall asleep.
On top of this, Zhongli’s call out had been soft yet authoritative, laced with the huskiness of sleep. It was, tragically, incredibly attractive. His lover has always had a voice Childe could listen to for hours and many times he has. Zhongli’s voice is hypnotic, one that doesn’t quite demand attention, but suggests it so thoroughly.
In the mortal world, Zhongli’s voice is only full, smooth, easy on the ears. Still excellent, but here? Here when he is so massive compared to Childe that his words warp the very air around Childe’s whole body? His voice is deep, rich, molten. Resonant in a way that at times, it shakes the harbinger through his very being.
Childe knew that he shouldn’t be disrespectful of his lover’s resting hours, but he simply had to hear more of that sleep-coated voice. Of course, for this, he now pays the price.
He sighs now, surrendering to waiting until sleep washes over him.
//
Or maybe until the hold around him relaxes enough for him to regain his freedom.
It doesn’t take too long for the hold to relax, but Childe overestimates the depth of the rest Zhongli has achieved. As soon as he starts to push against the fingers surrounding him, they tighten back around him.
“...Ajax, if you interrupt me again, I will eat you.” The god warns, voice muffled and thick with sleep. Childe shivers lightly, going still at the threat. He has one more chance to escape and he supposes he’ll have to bide his time for that.
After that, a full twenty minutes more pass before he can slip out of the hold. He’s careful, quiet, and slow in his movements. He doesn’t push his way out so much as he does shimmy and nudge. When he’s standing on his own again, he quietly surveys the mass before him.
Zhongli is deeply asleep, chest rising and falling. He seems so peaceful now, that Childe feels somewhat bad now for being so disruptive. He will have to make it up to the god in some way.
Childe stretches his arms up, considering his options for what to do next. He is quite sure that awakening his mate will result in the dragon making good on his threat, but what can he do otherwise?
He could go explore the other side of the bed, but it is cold there. Zhongli’s hand is a second, steady option. It had held him steady and he’s pretty sure he’s alert enough to make a quick retreat if the dragon starts shifting toward him. The third option is attempting to make it back up to Zhongli’s face, but that one seems to be putting him in the most danger. The hand it is then.
Childe kneels beside the pointer finger, squinting to make out its features in the dark. The god’s nails are kept short, filed down from the sharp claws they used to be to maintain his mortal appearance these days. Childe had asked about them before and learned that the dragon had not considered them anything revealing until Hu Tao had cited them in her incessant suspicions regarding his true nature.
The harbinger had wished then that the owner of the Funeral Parlor would learn to keep her mouth shut. He always wants his lover to be comfortable. He had made this opinion known and Zhongli had given him one of those fondly amused smiles that always make his heart flutter.
Childe then grew flustered as Zhongli explained that he found benefit in having shorter nails when it came to handling the human within the comfort of his domain. It was such a uniquely flattering thing that Childe hadn’t pushed on it anymore.
The ginger scoots closer to the fingertip, reaching to trace it. Zhongli is such a gift to him and he’s infinitely grateful to be trusted with this domain. He knows that it should feel like he as a mortal is the one trusting Zhongli in allowing himself to be so small, but truly, he knows that it is Zhongli instead who has trusted him with sharing the comfort of his true form. This is so far from the mistrust he harbored for a time after learning of Zhongli’s identity. So safe and good.
The god’s fingertip twitches when Ajax reaches the cuticle and the ginger flinches back, tensing in case he needs to move away. He waits a second and when nothing happens, he recognizes the move must have been entirely subconscious.
Childe slowly resumes his gentle tracing, getting a few more stray twitches in his quiet exploration. He yawns, sliding his fingertips underneath the edge of the nail he’s touching.
An involuntary squeak leaves him as things burst into motion. The hand comes toward him and he has no time at all to backpedal. It envelopes him completely and Childe’s stomach flips as he feels the hand being lifted.
“Wait! I was being gentle and everything!” He already begins to argue his case, waiting for the fingers to unfurl and his final judgment to come.
“Childe, your persistent spirit is something I am eternally fond of,” The god begins speaking, voice gruff, and oh so fine as honey, rolling over Childe. “But being gentle does not change the fact that you have interrupted my sleep once more.”
His hand opens and Childe shuffles to roll over, looking up to his mate again. Zhongli has pushed himself up to his elbows and he glares down at the harbinger. “Zhongli, my love, you know I couldn’t help it? You’re just so captivating.” He attempts to sweet-talk the god, shifting to scoot to the side of the palm and glancing off it to the bed below. He isn’t dangerously high up.
“I know you are perfectly capable of being patient when you wish to be.” The god’s reply is brisk, and his lip twitches in some irritation, flashing a sharp fang at Childe when he looks back at his dragon’s face. “Would it have been so hard to allow me a full night’s rest?”
“I’m sorry you are such a light sleeper.” Zhongli begins to lift his palm up and Childe rolls to abandon ship. He jumps from the hand, falling for a few seconds before he hits the sheets. This is not so graceful as when he glides, but he manages to make a quick recovery.
He starts to run, earning a deep growl that he very well feels penetrates his bones. Zhongli is not in the mood to play around then it seems. Some days, if he feels the want to chase Childe, Zhongli will give the mortal some extra advantage. He’ll reach just short of Childe, allowing his human to make it a few extra feet.
Right now is nothing so playful. Childe doesn’t make it further than seven inches before the giant’s hand has pinned him again. He gasps as he goes down, using his hands to attempt to army-crawl out from beneath the palm.
“Why do you try to run?” The god questions, words genuine and tired. There is no tease here and that is infinitely more chilling. Ajax believes he’s made some headway, but it takes only a fraction of a second to realize that it is instead his mate’s palm sliding down, turning to two fingers which pinch his ankle. “You already had your chances to earn my mercy, Ajax.”
The Snezhnayan looks down, kicking at the fingers clamped around his ankles. It’s a useless effort and he finds himself being dragged along the sheets. “No, come on Li. Just think about this for a second- what if I’m more active there than out here?” He attempts to bargain but his predator’s only response is to lick his lips.
Childe groans softly as he finds himself lifted upside-down suddenly, dangled before his mate’s face. “Zhongli, must I really face your wrath?” He asks, twisting a little to face his boyfriend. The dragon is not meeting his gaze at the moment but instead looks over him with mild disinterest. Childe scoffs, crossing his arms, “No way, big guy! You at least have to enjoy me!” He argues.
“I will enjoy the silence that comes after this.” Zhongli’s response is brief and Childe doesn’t get out another word before the dragon’s wrist flicks and the ginger is tossed into the wet heat of the god’s mouth.
“Hey! That’s not fair!” Saliva immediately soaks through his clothes and the tongue is quick to shift, lapping at the human only a few times. Zhongli yawns around him, allowing cool air to rush in and chill him. Then there’s a weird flip Childe’s brain almost fails to recognize as the giant turning over again.
Childe really expects his mate to at least savor him, but all too quickly he’s feeling the head tilting back familiarly. He does attempt to fight the tongue a little, but it powerfully maneuvers him, guiding him til he is facing the entrance to his fate. It’s too dark for his eyes to relay anything useful to him about what is going on, but his body can quite clearly read how Zhongli’s breathing, tongue, and throat all line up to prepare the god for what happens next.
It happens more quickly than normal, which Childe assumes is a result of the relaxed state of his mate. He’s pushed, then pulled into the throat and it hugs him, squashing him down past a slow pulse and then deeper still until he’s squeezed and dropped into a small wet room—a dragon’s stomach.
“Zhongli!” Childe moves immediately to push at the wall. He feels things shift again as his lover must be lying down. “I know you can hear me!” Well, technically he doesn’t really. They’ve really only used this space for naps and general quiet time, but Zhongli seems like an attentive enough immortal to be attuned to this organ in his body. “This was so excessive!”
“Sleep, Childe.” The command rolls over him, practically echoing through him. Pressure from outside condenses the soft walls of the stomach and Childe groans, shoving at them one final time before he gives up. He huffs a bit to himself, sliding to sit against the floor. It isn’t too wet here, and it’s warm. The walls are a bit firm, but still have just enough yield to cushion Childe.
Forced to occupy one space like this, the human finds himself leaning into it. It isn’t long before the warmth settles into him, his breaths synchronize with the larger ones outside. He listens to the heartbeat even back to slow steady pulses of sleep and finally, finds himself succumbing to the soporific environment.