As The Sun Gazes Upon The Moon [Zhongchili]

Chapter 30 -Humanity Within Your Arms

Home. They go home.

Upon reaching Jueyun Karst, the group disperses with a few congratulatory words. Ping takes on the responsibility of tending to Cloud Retainer so, more tired than they admit to the others, Zhongli and Ajax drag themselves back to their domain.

He's barely able to hold his eyes open, but despite his weariness, Zhongli is loath to break his promise, so begins searching the wardrobe for his old robe.

Ajax taps his shoulder. "Come to bed." He takes Zhongli's hand and raises it to his lips, kissing across the knuckles, letting his lips linger on each one. "Don't worry about that tonight."

This man. Adeptus or not, Zhongli's limbs grow heavy, invisible strings winding him closer and closer to the ground, and he would have struggled to summon the energy to follow through on more intimate activities tonight.

Thanking the heavens for Ajax's perception, Zhongli follows and they slip underneath the covers, disposing of their clothes and tangling in a deep embrace. Ajax clings to him a little tighter than usual as they trace patterns across each other's skin, and Zhongli is content to hold and be held, whispering words of love into Ajax's ear.

Zhongli's sleep is deep and dreamless, and when they wake in the morning, his limbs are stiff and his joints creak their protest against the strain of the previous day. A soft groan from Ajax tells Zhongli that he must be feeling similar, so he rolls closer, slipping a leg between Ajax's thighs, basking in the morning light as they soak in each other.

"How're you holding up?" mumbles Ajax into Zhongli's shoulder.

"I hold no complaints with you by my side," Zhongli replies. "And yourself? Are you feeling any ill-effects?"

"None at all." Ajax makes a soft, contented sound. "It's quiet, Zhongli. 'T's nice."

Quiet. Relief. How Ajax deserves this.

They both deserve this—freedom to love, freedom to live, freedom to be—and as he noses into the dip of Ajax's neck and shoulder, mouthing kisses across the skin, he allows a low rumble to build, reverberating deep within his chest.

"Zhongli..." says Ajax, a hint of amusement in his voice. "It sounds like you're purring."

"Hmm." The vibrations rise, and another rumble sounds in the back of Zhongli's throat. "It does sound like that indeed."

"Silly." Ajax snorts, wrapping his arms tighter around him. "Thanks again, by the way, for everything." Then, quieter, he adds, "I love you, you know?"

"I do. And know that my adoration of you can be paralleled only by yours of me."

Ajax huffs, his breath tickling Zhongli's bare skin. "I do."

*   *   *

Zhongli, Ajax, and the other adepti spend the next days recuperating from their hard-won fight. Zhongli sends a report of the events to the Tsaritsa, while Mountain Shaper and Moon Carver indulge in bathing in the sun spots beneath the ginkgo, letting their singed fur and feathers recover their usual shine. Cloud Retainer attempts to withdraw to her workshop, but Ping firmly forbids her, insisting that she rest her ankle so as not to aggravate it further. With a huff and a flap of her wings, Cloud Retainer complies.

Even Xiao concedes in taking a single day of rest, and he spends it in quiet meditation atop Qingyun Peak. When Zhongli had offered Xiao the floating stone to undertake his meditation upon, he half expected Xiao to decline, but to his surprise Xiao nodded, thanking him just a little less reverently than usual before setting off.

Zhongli smiles, thinking back on the bolt of green disappearing toward the peak.

Someday, despite all that has passed between them, Xiao will accept that Rex Lapis is gone, and that the Zhongli who stands before him is a peer like any other.