zhongli x childe short stories

boys go to jupiter to get more stupider

The warm Liyue winds ruffle Childe's hair as he walks through the harbor, his smile as bright as the blazing sun.

Majestic mountains stand guard around the harbor. Pools with water clearer than his vision house glittering fish. The sound of children laughing can be heard on the street as vendors shout for customers, their stalls stocked with more fruit than Childe's seen in his entire life.

This land is plentiful, glowing golden with sunlight and opulence. Rich in resources, bright with the people's warmth. Even the wind is friendly as it tousles Childe's hair with a warm hand. The salt in the air reminds him of his homeland, but none of the chill that comes with it.

As Childe wanders the streets of the harbor, people milling about as flowers blossom bountifully on the trees, he thinks that Liyue smells like happy memories.

In the time he's spent in Liyue, Childe has come to like a great many things about the place. But if Childe likes Liyue, then he loves Zhongli.

It was inevitable. One does not simply look at someone like Zhongli, with his rich voice and striking eyes, and not fall head over heels in love. The god carries himself with a breathtaking dignity that made Childe's mouth dry the first time he saw him, and then every time after that. Zhongli glows golden in the light of the sun, shining like the gems Liyue holds so dearly. Childe finds himself a little breathless every time those eyes of gold turn towards him and crinkle into a smile. He stumbles towards the sound of his voice when he calls to him in greeting, helpless as a moth to a flame.

But Childe can hardly be blamed. It's entirely Zhongli's fault he looks like golden glory in the shape of a man, always smiling so readily at him, eyes alight with a story even when the rest of the harbor looks to Childe with wary eyes. He may as well be the one who brings the sun with the way he lights up the world around him. At that though, Childe's lips never fail to quirk up. Given his identity, it may very well be possible.

Zhongli smiles at Childe. Zhongli laughs with him and has lunch with him, treating him to the wonderfully sonorous sound of his voice as it reverberates through Childe's bones. And Zhongli's eyes have never looked at Childe unkindly, always confident with a knowing glint. Childe thinks he could spend the rest of his life looking at nothing else and feel perfectly content.

No one ever smiles at Childe, not the way Zhongli does: wide, unafraid, his throat bared as he throws his head back and lets his joy ring out, the sound rich as the soils of Liyue.

It is disturbing, the things he'd do for him. Sometimes Childe looks at Zhongli and thinks of serving him, wearing his seal on his chest as he leads a legion to fight in his name. He'd give him his trophies, his glory, his title, just to tell him he loves him. Such thoughts are squashed quickly; he has sworn his life to the Tsaritsa. But Zhongli smiles at him, and Childe thinks he can have his heart, his thoughts, and all the other soft bits of him more suitable for a lover than the rage of war.

It's all too easy for Childe to let his guard down. He finds himself at the door of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor more times than not in hopes of more time, more warmth, and more smiles. Zhongli's eyes crinkle when he sees him. "Childe", he says as their eyes meet, and it never fails to shake Childe with how sweetly he says it, like his name is safe in his mouth.

His subordinates at Northland Bank have caught on, perceptive as they are, although it doesn't take a genius to see the burning of Childe's heart whenever he's around Zhongli. Childe can hardly find it within himself to care, despite the risks that come with a Harbinger showing partiality to another. They're a nice crew, and Childe can't deny that it pleases him a little to see them snicker behind their hands when he goes off to lunch with Zhongli.