Chapter Text
It was a hot summer night in Liyue. The fireworks boomed in the distant, illuminating the sky so all you could was sparkles that turned into shapes of all kinds then disintegrated into dust. The smell of all sorts of dishes floated through the cities streets, making it smell delicious and comforting. Children played with paper dragons on the road, not caring if their parents yelled at them to stop running so far.
This was exactly how Childe wanted the night to be: Comforting and delicious. He wanted the night to be perfect for him and his "friend". Maybe it was a little too perfect, because before he knew it, the harbinger was dancing along to the beat of the music with Zhongli. Both of them jumped around acting like little kids until they grew tired.
Childe didn't want Zhongli to get tired too quickly, since he had many things in mind.
"Zhongli, don't get tired too quickly please, I still have so many things I want to do with you!" Childe said with a whine. The archon could only laugh.
He gave the red head a small smile as he spoke, "I'm not tired in the slightest dear, so do not fear."
𝐷𝑒𝑎𝑟...Had he just imaged that or did Zhongli really just call him dear?
Whatever, either way he loved it.
"Say, Zhongli, how about we go to Wanmin Restaurant and try some of Xianglings new recipes?"
The brunette nodded, seemingly ok with it.
They both headed off to the direction of Wanmin Restaurant to try some of the finest cuisines they had recently created. When the two men got there, Xiangling was already waving at the to come over to where she was.
"Mr. Zhongli, Mr. Tartaglia! Welcome to Wanmin Resturaunt!" Xiangling exclaimed with a big grin on her face.
Childe internally cringed at the fact she had called him Tartaglia. 𝐼 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑤𝑒 𝑤𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠? He thought.
Zhonglis seemed to have taken notice of Childe's silence, because he soon turned to Childe and tapped him on the shoulder, knocking the other man out of his trance.
"Are you okay?" was told through the brunettes eyes. Childe could only nod. He turned back to Xiangling who had concern written all over her wave. Zhongli quickly wvaed it away with a small smile and a pile of mora placed on the counter.
He actually brought his wallet this time.
"Mr. Zhongli! That's a lot of mora–more than we would need." The blue haired girl soon begin to panic, but was quickly calm down as Zhongli placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Do not panic little bear, it's my treat and a bonus for you being so kind to us in the past." Zhongli spoke.
Childe watched the two share a fit of laughs, while he just stood there acting as if he was in the shadows. Slowly, Zhongli turned to look at him, nudging him over to one of the two person tables.
They both went to sit down, and quickly ordered their drinks.
"Fire water, really?" was all that came from Zhongli. The harbinger let out a loud laugh, looking at Zhongli with the slightest hint of lust in his eyes.
"Don't underestimate my alcohol tolerance."
"Oh don't worry, I most definitely will."
"Oh really?"
They both stared at each other for a while, neither sharing a word, just gazing into each other's eyes. The moment was interupptrd with both of their drinks were brought.
A wine glass of Osmanthus wine and Snezhenyan fire water was paced on the round wooden table. (Idk if I spelt that right)
Both men doused the drinks down until they were both empty. Zhongli set his glass down first, reached his hand up to his mouth and running his thumb across his lip to get any access wine off his lips.
While he did that, Childe caught on and stared at him for a good minute, seemingly entranced with how sexy that looked.
"That was so hot." Childe suddenly said. He immediately clamped his mouth shut, but the archon had already heard what he said, only looking at him with a brow raised.
"Come again?"
Yes sir.
"How's Liyue for you been?" Childe suddenly said. Archon, he was so embarrassed that he bad said that. Why did he say that?!
"Alright I guess, ever since Osial was defeated in battle things have been going a lot more smoothly. Although I do miss the times where I could actually use my powers"
A wave of sadness filled the brunettes eyes for a small moment, before disappearing into the waves as if it was never there at all.
Without thinking, Childe forced his hand out and placed it on top of Zhongli's. Zhongli looked a bit shocked at first, but quickly returned the gesture with a small squeeze.
For a moment it was just them smiling at each other, and nothing else. But it all had to be interrupted when a girl coughed in front of them.
Both heads turned to look at the waiter who was staring at them with a smirk on her face.
"Alright lovebirds, here's your food, don't worry I wonder bother yoy again until you ask for the check." the woman said as she placed a big plate of Jueyun Chilli Chicken on the table. It looked marvelous: the chicken drenched in a special sauce and the variety of vegatble scattered around it.
The woman left, and both of the men immediately dug in. It tastes so good, almost as it your tongue had lost its virginity. Neither of them talked for a while, just eating until the dish was devoured.
After they had payed for the meal, the men set off towards the Liyue docks.
As they walked, Childe noticed judt how many couples there were, married or not. Arms were wrapped around each other and heads lay on shoulders. Oh how badly Childe wished that was him with Zhongli.
Zhongli had found a spot right that was a bit hidden from everyone else. Both men sat down at the edge of the dock, letting their legs dangle above the water.
They both talked and talked. They talking about everything: future jobs, future family, Snezhenaya, Liyue, Morax, Osial, love, money, animals, anythig you could think of. Both engaged stories until it felt like they were about to fall asleep.
Zhongli let out a loud yawn, his eyes drooping, threatening to fall to fall asleep. Childe stared at the man's face for God knows how long, mesmerized by the way his eyes became slightly more puffy and how his soft pink lips parted for yet another yawn.
"Zhongli,"
The brunette turned his head over to Childe.
"Say," he placed his finger on Zhongli's thigh and began to trace little drawings on it, "just how muchbdo you wish for this night to end?"
The man next to him let out a small gasp, shivering from the movement of Childe'a fingertips.
"I do wish for this wonderful night to continue onward, if that is alright with you of course." Zhongli replied.
Childe let out a low hum, seemingly impressed with how Zhongli can stay so formal even though he looks extremely tired at the moment.
The harbinger moved his thigh up only a bit, before resting his entire hand on Zhongli's thigh.
"You look awfully red, how 'bout I take you back to my place so I can treat you to some, 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑒𝑟 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑒?"
Zhongl's cheeks were splattered with a deep red hue, and his eyes were wide with shock. "I–um," he let out a cough, "that is very, bold of you..."
The red head's hand began to move up and down his thigh, only slightly grazing the growing tent in his pants.
"You're growing awfully hard Zhongli, mind if I take care of that for you?" Childe spoke.
Zhongli gulped, looking down at his painful erection. He looked at Childe, then down, then back at Childe and sighed. "Are you asking me to have sex with you?"
"Do you want to have sex with me?"
"Absolutely"
That was all it took for Childe to smash his lips against Zhongli. The archon was caught a bit off guard at first, but didn't hesitate to return the kiss. It was slow at first, but their lips moved swiftly together soon after.
Childe was the first one to make a move on Zhongli: by putting his hands on Zhongli's hips, he pulls his waist flush against him. The Archon let's out a low moan, cluthing onto the harbingers shoulders.
"Lets bring this to the bedroom shall we?" Childe suggested. Zhongli nodded.