Work Text:
“Zhongli, where are you?” Ajax bowed down onto his knees, letting out an annoyed groan as he looked under the bed. His gaze moved to the storage boxes to the dust that collected on the floor and squinted his eyes. The former archon’s small exuvia form was too dark and small to see but he hoped to catch a glimpse of him. “I know you hate baths but it’ll be quick.” There was no movement under the bed, making the fatuus sigh.
For some reason, Zhongli hated getting baths. Or at least, the first few minutes in the warm soapy water.
He got off the floor, wiping the wrinkles away in his pants and looked around the bedroom. Where could that annoying lizard be? It wasn’t the first time Zhongli hid because he had to take a bath. The last time, Ajax spent half an hour searching for him and ended up finding him crawled up in a corner under the bed, growling when the fatuus’ hand came close.
Ajax still had the scars on his hands he got while straddling the dragon, forcing Zhongli to bath.
“You know, you can transform back to your mortal form.” The ginger slowly began trying to coax Zhongli, glancing around the room. From the corner of his eye, he saw some movement from the closet and instantly dived towards it, his arms stretched out to grab the tiny, long body. He struggled to hold the former archon, bringing him closer to his body. Dear Tsaritsa, even in the small exuvia form, Zhongli was strong.
It was a wrestle to stay motionless, hearing his husband growl and hiss made Ajax feel slightly sad but it disappeared as quickly as it came. He wasn’t easy to be persuaded with the puppy dog eyes the former archon showed him, his younger brother was much better at it.
With careful movements, he walked to the bathroom, locking the door so Zhongli wouldn’t escape. Ajax still didn’t know why his husband wouldn’t transform back to his mortal form and then take a bath. It would’ve been less stressful for the both of them but something told him that the consultant preferred the exuvia form. At least he changed to a smaller version of the exuvia, not the normal sized one. It was way too big and he knew that he wouldn’t be able to carry even the tail. He ran his fingers through the former archon’s mane, softly humming a tune as he started to prepare the bath.
Zhongli’s squirming died down, accepting defeat and the fatuus smirked softly, placing a kiss on one of his horns. With one arm holding the former archon, Ajax turned on the faucet, letting hot warm fill the bathtub.
Not too much, he always filled the bathtub halfway with hot water so he could fill the rest with cold water from his vision. He watched the bathtub fill up, grabbing a bottle of soap. “Stay.” He said sternly as he sat Zhongli down on the stool, expecting the dragon to stay put.
Carefully, he opened the bottle and poured some of the liquid soap in, not wanting to add too much or else there would be too many bubbles. It hadhappened once and he somehow lost the former archon in the countless bubbles. Turned out, Zhongli thought he could sneak out and Ajax saw him in time before he slipped out the bathroom, scratching the door.
Thankfully the ginger grabbed him on time or the floor would’ve been soaking wet. If he could, Ajax was going to wring out Zhongli like a wet towel. But he didn’t, only giving his husband a scolding.
He stopped the faucet, filling the rest of the bathtub with water using his vision. There was a soft annoyed huff coming from the dragon, who preferred his baths hot. The ginger was completely the opposite, he loved ice cold showers. When he was a low ranked fatuus, he used to skinny dip in the freezing rivers to get an adrenaline rush.
Nowadays he took cold showers, as much he wanted to take a dip into an ice-cold bath. It was a hassle going back and forth from Dragonspine. Not to mention, he was sensitive to getting a cold.
With slow movements, he dipped one of his fingers in the water, feeling how warm the water is. Zhongli’s tail was stomping against the stool, impatient and Ajax softly smiled. He was never able to stay angry at his husband for long. “Are you done sulking?” He asked and with a swift move, the water disappeared from his finger. The dragon huffed, pouting as he looked away. His cheeks were puffed up and his tail swayed around annoyed, making the harbinger coo.
“Aww, you’re so cute when you’re grumpy!” Ajax pulled on the scaley cheeks, smiling brightly which only Zhongli pout more. “Stop that.” He heard the former archon growl into his mind and he only giggled in response. There were a couple of last pets given and the fatuus grabbed the dragon under his armpits, lifting up.
A soft splash echoed through the bathroom and with a gentle motion, Ajax started making Zhongli wet, his fingers gliding over the scales. He tried his best to be as soothing as possible, wanting his husband to relax. Under his fingers, he felt the scales twitch. It was something he could never get used to, hell, Zhongli being the Prime of Adepti and being an archon.
He started softly humming, trying to unwind the consultant’s nerves. Taking a bath should be a time to settle down and get rid of any tension.
It didn’t take long for Zhongli’s grumbles to stop and turn into soft purrs, his tail started to slowly wag in joy. That was what the ginger wanted to see. He shook his hands to get the water off a bit and grabbed the shampoo, only pouring a drop onto his palm.
Rubbing his hands, the shampoo started to bubble and he could begin with combing his fingers through the golden mane. He made sure to get every hair strand, pulling on them gently. “When you transform back into your mortal form, can I braid your hair?” He asked and finished washing Zhongli’s mane, making sure to keep his hand above the dragon’s eyes, not letting any soap pass down his face. It had happened once before and he never thought that his husband could let out such loud screech.
The only answer he got were some soft grumbled and suddenly, a light shined brightly as the former archon transformed. “That works too, I guess.” Ajax muttered under his breath, a reddish hue taking over his face as he looked at Zhongli’s broad shoulders and his long flowing hair. Goddess, how handsome can a man be!? He started combing his fingers through the hair again so everything was covered with shampoo. With repeating motions, he massaged the scalp in the between the two pairs of horns.
Water splattered around when Zhongli’s tail swayed in the bathtub, indicating that he enjoyed the attention he was getting. He way more expressive with his emotions in this form, from his tail wag and to the twitching of his pointing ears. It was so adorable to see it almost made Ajax’s heart burst with joy.
He gently tilted the other’s head back and poured water onto Zhongli, carefully washing the shampoo out. It was kind of a tedious process and he sighed softly, continually combing his fingers through the dark hair. Although he was kind of jealous how easy he moved his fingers through the hair, his own ginger curls were annoying to take care off. If he was unlucky, his hair in the morning was a like a bird nest. Untamed and wild.
Zhongli always offered to wash when they were showering together, so luckily didn’t have to do it himself. For some reason, the former archon loved brushing the curls when they were wet, staring in fascination when they curled up.
With the last drop of water, the ginger finished washing the hair, patting him on the head. “All clean!” He pulled away, seeing the consultant brush his long fingers through his hair. “Thank you.” A rumbling sound came from his throat and Ajax’s cheeks flushed a deep red, instantly pulled away. He sat on the side of the bathtub, watching Zhongli stand up. The amber obre shined brightly, the light bouncing off the surrounding.
He was never able to get used to how gorgeous his husband was. His face flushed redder as Zhongli turned around, watching him blush. Ajax also stood up, handing him a large towel over with a soft smile. “Did you enjoy your bath?” He couldn’t help but let out a giggle and was hit with the fluff of the end of the former archon’s tail in his face. “Hey-“ He felt the fuzzy hairs in his mouth and instantly pushed the tail away, his mouth forming into a disgust. Bleh!
“Zhongli!” He huffed and it made the former archon laugh, smiling softly as he wrapped the large towel around his body and gave the flustered fatuus a soft kiss on his forehead while standing in front of him. “Thank you for washing my hair, my treasure.” He placed another kiss, cupping Ajax’s cheeks as he stared into the dead blue eyes with admiration.