Archive of Our Own

If someone were to ask him how his life felt like for the past few months, Ajax could only use one word to describe it,

Surreal.

But, if he is being completely honest, his whole life has been surreal. It just happens that the past few months of his life are even more unbelievable.

If he went back in time to tell Childe what happened, he would wheeze for air, breathless from his laughter.

'What? Settle down? Tie the knot? How ridiculous your tale is, Ajax.'

But he knows it is no fiction. The truth speaks for itself.

Myriads of scenes flash through his mind when he remembered what happened not long ago.

The scent of tea crept up the edge of his mind. Amber eyes as mesmerizing as the mora jingling in his pouch pin him under a gaze he finds himself forgetting to breathe. A buttery smooth voice calls one of his many names.

"Childe. It is a fitting name for you."

A slight upturn of lips he dare to imagine slot with his made the beating of his heart irregularly loud in his chest the bane of his dreams.

The humid climate lick the back of his neck, the overtly warm air one that made him tug at the collar of his red undershirt sticking uncomfortably to his clammy skin. But the presence of a chilled hand on his neck cools him down enough to pull him out of the heat-induced trance to meet worried amber orbs.

The polished pillar painted in a bold red hot to the touch under the gaze of the sun in the land of contracts almost as vibrant as the eyeliner decorating eyes as rich as pure cor lapis. A hand chases after his own, enveloping him when soft warm lips press against his.

"I love you, Childe."

A shiver ran down his spine at the warm breath on his gland. He felt akin to a priceless antique held by a connoisseur that knows his worth. Ironically enough, he is no antique. Nor a treasure.

"You are my treasure, Childe. I want to cherish you."

Yet words as sweet as honey implanted hope in him.

It made him preen in the praise, relish in the sweet words, pampered by what he never had in his life before.

The golden sheen of a dragon and phoenix, the harmonious symbol of marriage, carved in chopsticks smooth to the touch presented to him by the alpha holding his breath.

"I hope you accept them."

Amber eyes crinkle in joy when he took the utensil home.

A golden dragon descended upon them, lifeless in all its deceased glory. Its eyes were dull, gazing back at his ocean-blue ones as wrath crept up his spine.

The rustle of paper floated atop his hand, yellow in colour as he flashed a winning smile to the traveller who willingly let him pull their strings, moving them as his pawn in this grand game of cat and mouse.

He chuckled remembering his foolish acts, thoroughly played when the golden gnosis he has always been searching for was hidden behind a handsome face, a buttery smooth voice, warm amber eyes, and wearing the skin of the alpha he has grown to...love.

"The contract is fulfilled. That which thou seeketh is now bestowed unto thee, for my promise is as solid as stone."

His heart shattered into a million pieces when his warm amber eyes, always so warm as the summer breeze of his land, did not once turn to him. No more does it look at him now that he has fulfilled his mission.

What a bizarre turn of events. Childe has always abhorred the fact he uses his beloved for his plans. Never, did he fathom it was quite the opposite.

They did not talk. He knows he lost his place now that all is revealed. He was used. His body manipulated and tossed, his heart toyed and quashed.

Yet still, still, he tried his best to understand the man, God. He dragged his broken bleeding heart to knock on the door of his logic. Trying to fit himself in the shoes of the 6000-year-old Archon. Trying to see the view from the God who has reigned for 3700 years long over the pride and joy of his whole existence.

And he does understand. He stupidly does. The things love did to him.

'Foolish.' Tartaglia echoed, 'Weak.' Childe laughed, 'Betrayed.' Ajax whimpered.

He knew the kisses, the heated gaze, the courting, the marriage dowry, was but a sick joke the God played on him. Pulling his strings so he would fall to the right places in His grand game.

But a small whisper in the back of his head nagged him, 'Courting has nothing to do with the plan. Doesn't it sound more like a personal affair?'

He tunes out the foolish reasoning, knowing it is not logic speaking. It is his sentimental heart that wished it was not what it thought to be, that the man, God, genuinely does love him.

He is done entertaining his sentimental heart as he boards the ship back for his homeland. But a warm hand circling his wrist ground him in place.

Ragged breathing followed by the scent of petrichor and tea enters his air,

"Childe, please, let me explain before you leave."

Amber eyes pleaded to him as if the God, complete in all his glory, begged for mercy to him, a mortal.

Shouts of denial and anger echoed in his brain,

'Yank your hand away from him! He has no right to come and try to explain things after a week of radio silence!'

'Slap him in his face! Berate him for what he did to us. He shall feel the brunt of our wrath!'

The resentful shouts grew muted, the wooden floorboard creaked when he stepped off the ship as he answered in a soft wishful tired voice,

"Okay."

And listens to what his love has to say.

The man explained to him everything he already understood. From why he kept silent about his true identity, up until the silence that settled like a week-long trash between them. Unpleasant, unprecedented.

"I understand, Zhongli."

Amber orbs widen comically,

"I pieced things together when you left me alone, for a week."

The God flinched, looking away from him, guilty as charged.

"I am-"

"Shut up, Morax."

Silence settles akin to a storm brewing in the north. Close, yet far. Small, yet humongous when it hit them.

"I don't want your apology. I want you to settle things with me properly."

A hand grasp his own, he swatted it away. Pain laced within amber eyes yet the man did not make another attempt to close their distance.

"How can I make amends to you? Please, tell me. I will do anything, Childe."

His heart near stopped at the desperation laced in amber eyes.

As if...as if the God cared for what he had to say, a mere mortal.

"A spar. Then I'll forgive you."

He knew he never had a chance, the God beat him. But he calls it a worthwhile fight.

"Marry me, Childe."

Was the first words that left the man's lips when he tend to his minor wounds so small even a kid would shrug it off. Yet the hands handling him are delicate, like an archeologist handling a millennia-old fossil.

"I may have hidden my identity and fooled you. But the intimacy shared with you, courting, proposing, none of them were fake."

His heart palpitates when amber eyes pin him under a heated gaze. He finds himself forgetting to breathe again.

"I love you, Childe. Will you marry me?"

And who is he to deny the man of his heart? The man who accepts him in all his flaws. The man who sees him beyond the cracks of his broken mortal shell. The man that loves him, in all his entirety.

"Ajax, call me Ajax. It's my real name."

The man holding him froze, his amber eyes widening comically before his lips pull into a sweet smile. Right, he has to breathe.

"And yes, I'll marry you."

The answer did not come from logic or sentimentality. It is one that came naturally without thought. It is the purest form of his answer. It came, from his desire.

"What is it that you are thinking of, Ajax?" The crown in his head clinked when he turned to the source of the voice.

"Nothing, Your Imperial Highness. I am simply...reflecting on my life." She looks beautiful. Clad in a sky-blue dress that flowed to the ground. Myriads of diamonds scatter on Her chest down to the ends of Her dress, forming splotches of snowflakes. For once, She was not in Her white iconic dress that would leave every citizen of Snezhnaya speechless of Her beauty.

"Reflecting in your life? Why so?" Her heels clack dully to the ground as she closed the small distance between them, "I find it surreal. That I am the one in the white dress for once." Arctic blue eyes crinkle as a thin smile decorates Her lips.

"I see. Life is unpredictable. No need to think over it too much, Ajax. What matters is that you do not regret it." No, he never regrets it.

"I come to tell you that your groom is waiting for you." His heart palpitate at Her words. Right, he should not keep him waiting.

"Thank you, Your Imperial Highness. I will leave my musings for later then." She extends a hand out to him and he took it willingly. Her hand is warm, much like the thin smile on Her lips.

He finds it surreal, even when the veil over him is curled open, him meeting amber eyes, "Hi." Offering a small smile to his now husband.

"..Hi..." Zhongli sound breathless, his cheeks pink, his eyes listless, gazing at his face, holding him like how he would to those trinkets they find in the night market, delicately.

He steps closer, erasing the small distance between them, peering up into amber eyes, "Are you going to kiss me, laogong?" Gently tapping the forearm holding him.

"...Apologies, I am just too...speechless. It feels unbelievable. To have you as my wife." A soft sentimental giggle left his lips as his heart palpitates when the familiar scent of petrichor paired with tea came closer.

"I share the sentiment. But look where we are now." At the altar, with the Tsaritsa Herself officiating their wedding. His family sitting in their intended seats. Zhongli's adepti bawling their eyes out (he knew Cloud Retainer is pretty dramatic but he never knew just how...sappy the group is when it comes to their prime adeptus's marriage.)

"Indeed..." He leaned towards the hand on his cheek, "How lucky I am to now call you my wife." His eyes crinkle in joy as his soft giggle is swallowed down by lips on his own.

"I now pronounce you, husband and wife." The pipe organs came to life, joyful music came from it as they walk down the path scattered with silk flowers and everfrost chamomile.

It is believed in Liyue that silk flowers are a popular choice in one's wedding. Only those that have an abundance of patience could see it bloom. Just like how love could only blossom when patience is in the equation.

While in Snezhnaya, everfrost chamomile is the flower that represents the everwinter land. The land of love. And thus, it too, is the flower of love.

Unlike the silk flower, they are everywhere. They do not need the patience to grow them or the tedious process of cultivating them.

But it has its heartfelt meaning. The fact it blooms all year long, everywhere, even in the harsh cold winter shows the steadfast nature of love. The fact they are everywhere shows that love could be found everywhere, even in the smallest crevices.

Combined with the silk flower, the meaning is one that made his cheeks grew warm.

"May your love be filled with patience for one another. Steadfast in its nature, and every corner in your life."

Joy, laughter, and well wishes fill their day to the brim all while a constant hand on his waist is keeping him steady, a soft baritone voice whispers in his ear as they conversed quietly amongst the cheery atmosphere, amber eyes gaze at him with so much love he has to remind himself to breathe again.

"Ah...finally back." His heels clatter to the ceramic floor loudly, he didn't bother to undress from his wedding gown, opting to lay flat on his back on the mattress lest his makeup stain their bed.

"Good work today, love." Warmth envelops his hand, a kiss laid to it, "You too, Zhongli." The man leaned to it, turning his head to inhale his scent on his wrist.

"I can't believe we're married." Not a year ago, the bridge to their relationship is in shambles, and today they tie the knot. Bound together until death due them apart.

"I find it hard to believe as well. You look...breathtaking." Pink dusts the man's cheek, hands holding him akin to an appraiser holding a diamond.

"Li, I'm your wife now. No need to praise me so I could warm your bed." His earring jingled much like the amused giggle leaving his lips at the pink flush that tinted darker.

Zhongli is never one to blush. Seeing colour in his face is a fresh sight, "I praise you not for it. You know me well enough, I do not marry you for your body." And that is precisely why he finds it so...surreal.

The abyss may have tinkered with him, but his beauty remained undeniable. Skin as fair as the snow and submission as easily as he breathes. Many alphas and betas would grovel on their feet just to get a taste of him. Zhongli is the first alpha that sees him beyond it.

"I know. And that's why it's so surreal." Ocean-blue met with molten amber, "To have you as my husband. I feel like it's too good to be true." A breathless sigh left his chest, "You're too good for me, Zhongli."

"On the contrary, it is you I do not deserve, Ajax." His heart constricts in his chest when he sees the smile so full of...love offered to him.

"My dear lover, my breathtaking bride, my precious wife." His vision grew blurry at the praise that does not fit him, yet uttered to him regardless.

"My strong harbinger, my warrior." A stray sob left his lips, Zhongli kissing his tears away, "My Ajax."

It's too much. The love, the endearment. He doesn't deserve any of it. Yet his husband reminds him again and again and again that he will never be deprived of it.

"Even with your eyes puffy, you are still so beautiful, Ajax." He playfully hit his husband's shoulder, "Stop it, I know I look like a 5-year-old with a runny nose." Zhongli only chuckled, shaking his head.

"None of it. I am speaking the truth." And he believes the man, no more secrets or lies between them, "Alright, it's late now. We should head to bed." Arms caging him in his place made him stay still, "Let me unwind you, Ajax." Lips on him made him relax back to the bed.

A warm damp cloth ran over his eyelids, the faint scent of glaze lilies and Sumeru roses acting as an agent to clear off the makeup on his face.

Lips press to his closed eyelids, ocean-blue eyes meet with warm amber, "Your eyes," He peers up into his husband, "I always find myself lost in the beauty of them."

The irony when countless comments about his eyes have been uttered, to which none talk about how beautiful they are.

'Hideous.'

'Dull.'

'Terrifying.'

Yet the man before him said otherwise. Fingers lost in his sunset locks, pulling off the crown in his head, lips kissing the top of his head. A hand gently tilt his neck, his earring jingled when delicate fingers pull them off.

He lay down when lips lock to his own, dancing slowly against one another in a practiced rhythm as he spread his legs open, hooking them behind his husband's hips.

The weight of the ring on his finger, gently pulled off as fingers intertwined with his own, the white gloves made from the highest quality of silk courtesy of the well wishes of the Tianquan for their marriage gently pulled off as he feels the lukewarm touch to his skin, the cool material of the gold wedding band slide back to his warm ring finger.

"I feel akin to a child unwrapping a present." The pink flush returned to amber eyes as he relish the warmth caressing his skin, "A present? You're exaggerating, laogong." Shaking his head at the absurd comment of his dearest.

"Far from it. You are a present after all. The most precious present." A breathless laugh left his lips, feeling his cheeks grow warm at the slide of a hand on his thigh covered with his white stocking.

"One I will cherish even after the world perishes." Legends say Rex Lapis is not a romantic. It records the fierce Warrior God, steadfast against any danger that befalls Liyue, merciless in enacting death to the one that poses a threat to the nation. Rex Lapis does not do love, he does war.

Yet the man in front of him, holding his limb as if it is diamond itself, lips that ran up the expanse of his thigh made him realize, "The legends about you were wrong." Amber eyes met his, "How so?"

"Rex Lapis is a romantic. Maybe even more than Barbatos or the Tsaritsa herself." Venti and Her Highness would not appreciate that comment of his. Then again, he is biased.

He does not blame the people constructing the fierce persona of Rex Lapis, that is no doubt true at one point. But going as far as saying he does not do love, is completely wrong. They never bore witness to this side of the man, the God that is so...gentle with him, softened through time, changed with love.

"Is that so?" He tugs at brown locks soft as cotton, pulling his husband closer, slotting his lips against warm ones, "Hm."

Fingers thread lightly upon his skin, keeping him on edge, guessing its ministrations, hitching his breath when he feels the fingers under the curve of his ass, slipping inside the light fabric of his stocking, tucking it off gently.

His gaze sharpen, searching amber eyes to show his annoyance when he hitched his breath at the expression painted across his husband.

Brown locks turn amber in the ends like molten gold slipping off sturdy shoulders tickling his thigh. Amber eyes eroded to gain a hazy cloud over them, crimson colour pale cheeks, lips part as the man breath.

"What's the wait, laogong?" His hand ran upon a well-built forearm, snapping his husband out of his trance, "I...am admiring you." He preens at the gaze roaming on his body, shuddering at the finger that accidentally brush the sensitive spot between his legs in the process of pulling off his stocking.

"The most beautiful man I have ever laid my eyes upon." It's an honour. To have the eldest being that walk on Teyvat to compliment him as such.

"Always love to pamper me, Zhongli." He hooks his leg behind the man's hips, pulling him closer, his dress pools in his hips, his lower half exposed to his husband.

His cheeks feel warm, this is the first time Zhongli has ever seen the lower half of his body without his pants. His romantic husband had wanted them to tie the knot first and foremost before laying a finger on him. Truly a gentleman.

"Every inch of you is divine, Ajax." He hitched his breath when their eyes met. Amber eyes heady with an unknown feeling swirling in them.

"And to think I have you as my wife..." He smiled, running his hand up the man's forearm, "All yours, Zhongli."

The finger in his stocking pulls the fabric lower, freeing his limb from it, "I am truly the luckiest man alive." Another finger hooked inside his left leg, freeing it from the thin fabric.

His dress bunched on his hips is pulled down, covering his legs once more before arms gently took hold of him, sitting him up.

Petrichor and tea fills his air, the scent of his alpha as Zhongli closed their distance, fumbling with the zipper behind him.

He wrapped his arms around his husband's neck, tilting his head to press his nose to his gland, emitting a scent he could never get enough of.

He let his husband manhandle him, pulling off the complex stitchings followed by the many ribbons in his dress before it is shed off from him and he is laid bare for his husband, complete with all his scars.

"Well, this is me." The statement left his lips but a whisper. Anxiety churns in his stomach. Zhongli has seen his body before. When he tended to his wounds, he has seen everything there is.

But that was then and this is now. His then lover did not judge him for his scars but who's to say the same now?

"Beautiful, Ajax." He shivers at the fingers treading over his skin, over his scars, "I'm glad." He exhaled a breath he did not know he was holding.

"You know, most of the time, I kept my shirt on when alphas help me through my heat. They say I look disgusting with so many scars on me." A growl from his husband surprised him. Zhongli never growled.

"The mere audacity they have. To tell my mate such ridiculous words." Hands on his waist grip him tighter, amber eyes grew a shade of malice, hiding upon layers of wrath. If they were back in Liyue, the ground would no doubt shake in the God's wrath.

"Ah, well, they're not wrong, you know. Omegas are supposed to be kind, caring, and nothing like me." He lightly pats his husband's arm, hoping to appease his anger.

"And what exactly is wrong with you?" He blinked, not expecting the question. Lifting his gaze to meet amber eyes, "I will remind you; nothing is wrong with you, Ajax. The criteria of an omega is not something you have to adhere. You are you. And you are enough for me." His eyes grew blurry, a wet inhale disrupt the momentary silence between them.

"Really, I'm so lucky to have you, Zhongli." He pull his husband close, pressing his nose to his gland, inhaling the scent that screamed of comfort and...home.

Zhongli, his home. It sounds fitting.

"I would argue it is quite the opposite." A soft laugh was shared between them before their lips collide, "Then we're both lucky."

A soft fabric caressed his skin, hands gently lift his hand to slip inside the robe. It is coloured a bright crimson, shiny due to its nature as a silk robe.

The collar of his robe paints molten gold flowing down to his ankles no doubt. A dull shimmer caught his eye, gold weaved in its thread to create a majestic bird foretold in legends, a phoenix.

"In ancient times, only omegas of high status can wear phoenix-patterned garments. Due to the elevated nature of the phoenix, they are only weaved in pure gold thread on the highest quality of silk. Often heavily opulent merchants or government officials could be seen with such garments." He hummed at the small lecture his husband gave, always loving to share little trivia with him.

"Now, the phoenix is often paired with the dragon in dowry gifts, engagement rites, or," Amber eyes trained on his robe, straightening the fabric on his body, leaving him to feel the ghost of his husband's touch.

"The night of the wedding." He held his breath when he met amber eyes. A bit reluctant, a bit embarrassed simply from the pink dusting his pale cheeks.

"How is it like? On a wedding night." He tugs his husband closer, giving him the option to draw back. Yet Zhongli didn't. Closing the small distance between them, breaching his personal space.

"In ancient times, the couple would scent one another in a more...intimate setting." Sex. The alpha meant sex. It's the same with Snezhnaya as well. They would even line it up with the alpha's or omega's rut or heat cycles respectively to ensure a...fruitful wedding night.

"Will you scent me in a more intimate setting then?" He uttered his question but a whisper, gazing into amber eyes, peering into the God's soul.

"Did you not express your fatigue? I wish to not tire you further. We have time, Ajax." Lips claim his softly, a hand caressing his cheek, lulling him to a mild trance.

"Not gonna lie, I am tired." Not a day ago he just arrived back to Snezhnaya for their wedding. Even so, as a harbinger, he cannot skirt his duties. He did not have a wink of sleep in between approving his part of the paperwork, checking up on the troops, overseeing their training, meetings, and of course, his own wedding.

"I heard that a certain harbinger's arrival had shaken the Palace by storm. From morning to night, a ginger was all the soldiers could talk about." He has always been a little...popular amongst his other colleagues.

Many soldiers would express their interest to work under him. Their numbers are certainly not little. Alas, popularity begets all sorts of characters.

No short amount of these soldiers are alphas that would like the chance to bed him. He took pride in his looks.

"That harbinger was going around doing all sorts of errands from morning up till dawn after all." He tug Zhongli closer, making the man sit on the mattress, easily crawling to his lap, leaning his head on his shoulder.

"Is that so? I do not doubt that harbinger is a very diligent man." He did not suppress a purr at the praise and the hand stroking his head.

"But a little birdie also informed me just how popular that harbinger is. Loved amongst the soldiers." His lips tug into an amused smile.

"Is my husband jealous of that?" He searches amber eyes colour blatant jealousy, "Yes." Arms tightened around his figure, pressing them closer together.

"Even when I am married to you, laogong?" He lift his hand, the low gleam of the cor lapis stone on his ring finger caught the man's eyes.

"Yes." The unchanged answer made him burst out laughing, "You're so funny, Zhongli." Pulling his husband closer, claiming his lips in a chaste kiss.

"I only have my eyes on you. No need to worry so much." Closing their small distance to rub Zhongli's gland lightly.

"My trust in you remained unchanged. It is the fact they eye my wife that does not settle with me." Addicting lips mere millimeters away from his mingle with his breath, "Dragons, so possesive."

"Our mate is our most prized treasure. We would sacrifice anything for them." He tilts his neck to the left, letting sharp teeth nibble at his skin, leaving marks on its wake.

"Really? Anything?" He wraps his arms around Zhongli's neck, feeling his muscles relax the more teeth nibble at his gland.

"Anything. Even our lives." He shudders at the weight of Zhongli's words, feeling it rests on his shoulders when he meets amber eyes. His husband is not one to joke.

"And I am no exception." Lips claim his own, a hand gently guiding him to properly lay on the bed, "I love you, Ajax." No matter how often Zhongli says it, he never finds himself getting accustomed to it, his cheeks have a pleasant warmth amidst the biting cold of his homeland.

"Me too." He close the short distance, conveying what words could not, "You should rest, Ajax." His husband is off him before he could properly relish in his protective cocoon.

"What about you?" He latched out to the man's hand, peering up into amber eyes, "I will be with you shortly. Let me change first." He tugs at Zhongli's hand, cueing him to come closer.

"Let me do it." The bed creaked as he rose, slipping his hands inside the man's blazer, "You do not need to." Pulling the fabric off him, "I want to."

He finds himself on the man's lap, fingers undoing the buttons of Zhongli's high-quality dress shirt.

"Your arms..." Obsidian colour strong arms, turning molten gold once it reaches his hands. Geomatrical patterns a mesmerizing gold adorn his arms, blending into one with his hand.

"Ah, I apologize. I seem to forget about my arms." Anxiety flash on amber eyes before the mesmerizing colour is covered with human skin.

"Why did you cover them?" His hand ran up a strong arm, as if trying to unveil the human skin, wanting to gaze upon the majestic colour again.

"Do I not startle you?" He easily shook his head, "I know you're not human. Why try to be one with me?" Zhongli went stiff under his hold, "Does that fact not bother you?" He easily shook his head again.

"No. You're my husband, Zhongli. My other half in soul, body, and heart. I accept you whatever you are. Need I say more?" He feels his lips tug to a smile, kissing glossy amber eyes that threaten to spill.

"Never knew Morax is so easily touched." His thumb swipe against soft cheeks, admiring amber eyes that shone as bright as the sun.

"Truly, I am lucky to have you as my wife." He weaved his fingers in brown locks, caressing the man who held him tightly.

"Besides, I find them really cool." He stares at the unique coloured arms, bringing one up to lean his cheek on it, "The patterns are cool."

A soft chuckle left Zhongli's lips, "One of a kind." He marvels at the earthen scales, dully shining in the sunset of Snezhnaya, pulling off fabric after fabric, eager to see more.

"This is me." Zhongli echoes back when he is shed to only his underwear, "Handsome as always, Zhongli." He drapes the silk robe over his husband, one identical to his own, except a dragon is weaved in it instead of the phoenix. Fitting for the literal dragon.

"Now, we match." His hand lingers on Zhongli's chest, straightening the already smooth fabric, finding an excuse to touch his husband, eventually lifting his hand when there is nothing else he could smooth over.

"We do." A hand grasped his own, pulling it to soft lips, "Sleep with me?" He knows Zhongli needs no sleep. The fact he is the one proposing it tugs at his heartstrings.

"You sure do know what I need."

"Indeed."

He let his husband guide him, pulling him close to an embrace, bathing him in a scent screaming of home, lulling him to sleep with a foreign turn familiar old lullaby.

And thus, their wedding night comes and go uneventfully.

'We have time, Ajax.'

Says the man who did not touch even a hair of him even after he is well rested. Then again, they are on their honeymoon. The Tsaritsa gave them the liberty to travel anywhere they wish to.

Surprisingly, or perhaps, unsurprisingly, Zhongli did not wish to return to Liyue.

"I am no longer bound to Liyue. She can stand by herself without my guidance. Now, I am merely a man bound to my wife. I will follow you wherever you wish to go, love."

It warms his cheeks, his heart, his soul. To have such a caring alpha. They spend a few days back in his childhood home as he relishes the company of his family before his parents kick them out and tell them to use their honeymoon properly.

"Bring me a grandchild next you come. I'm taking no excuse!"

Was the message she send them off with. On the trip back to Zapolyarny, none of them meet each other's gaze.

The awkward air slowly dissipated when they are back in Zapolyarny Palace with what seemed to be two weeks left of their honeymoon. The Tsaritsa is mighty generous on their honeymoon. Yet he cannot help but feel something is brewing in the distance. Much like the calm before the storm.

He shrugged it off, finding himself more inclined to think of their destination for a honeymoon rather than something that might be a false alarm.

They consult the library for a honeymoon spot. Alas, none of the nations quite...click with them. Even Zhongli finds himself at a loss for once. His husband is never found without options before.

Stuck in a stalemate, they turn to their officiator in their wedding, the Tsaritsa.

"Why not visit Mondstad? It is said to be a romantic nation as well."

Zhongli visually cringed, verbally denying her suggestion without a second passed, earning an amused glint in arctic blue eyes.

"What of Fontaine? I believe it is the third most romantic nation."

The number one spot is of course, not up for debate. Seeing as the God of Love herself reigns upon the nation.

"Hm...A plausible solution. Thank you for your advice, Tsaritsa."

They bid her goodbye, retreating to his chamber to discuss the matter of their honeymoon.

It was not long before they find themselves in Fontaine. Sightseeing, buying souvenirs, even exercising (to which, it is just sparring with his husband in his abode) they did all of them.

On the last day of their honeymoon, Zhongli prepared them a surprise;

A candle-lit dinner on the cruise ship.

He questioned his husband about the source of money for such a...lavish spread. Yet the answer leaving Zhongli's lips only made him smile, amused at the man.

"My pocket. It is from my salary that I have yet to use, courtesy of my wife that is always there to pay for me. Hence, it is time for me to return the favour as well, my love."

The night breeze kiss his cheek, seeping into his bone, inciting a small tremor to his figure, no doubt the sleeveless dress he came in did a poor job to keep him warm.

Just when the chill breeze grew a note of discomfort for him, Zhongli surprises him yet again when a live orchestra started playing a familiar tune.

It is the song that played when they first danced at their wedding.

"Care for a dance, my wife?"

"Of course, my husband."

A hand slot against his own, another on his waist as they moved as one, swaying to the familiar beat, eyes on one another, savouring the sweet moment between them.

It was a very much romantic honeymoon. A dreamy sigh left his lips as he reminisces.

"Slacking off, Tartaglia?" He hissed when the back of his head is hit, hard enough to warrant a rub on a spot of his head, soft enough for it to remain a dull ache.

"Can't a man get lost in his thoughts for once?" Pierro does not reply, his eyes trained on the recruits in front of them.

"You had a vacation for nearly a month. And you ask me to give you some leniency? It's time you come back to reality, Tartaglia." He rolls his eyes at the man, always so stuck up.

"There are barely any recruits here. Cut me some slack." The morning breeze kisses his skin, sending a light shiver down his spine. How he wish he stayed in the bed, even Zhongli seemed warm right about now. He's a dragon, he is naturally cold-blooded, not warm.

"True, but they look up to you. More than you think." He knows. He is young and often an inspiration to them, or so he is told multiple times before.

"Fine, fine, I'll pick up my slack." He sighed, tucking the coat around his figure tighter, trudging through the snow to check around the training field one last time, greeting some recruits that came earlier.

Training went by as usual. In the morning they would train by themselves then a 20-minute lunch break followed by sparring with their comrades in the afternoon before they retire for the day in the evening.

It was a rather slow day, at least for him. Not for the recruits.

"Sir, can you show me how to properly hold a swallow again?"

"Sir, can you show me the proper way to wield a bow?"

He has a poor form on the bow. No idea why they wanted him of all people when Sandrone happens to visit the arena, for whatever reason (though knowing her, she's trying to see a potential candidate she could turn into a puppet even though the Tsaritsa warned her to not do so).

It was as if they were purposefully keeping him on his toes. At least it made him walk more to keep his temperature up.

"Sheesh, never knew they're this passionate." Pierro huffed, resulting him to turn to the older man, "They're not. It's an excuse to talk to you." He furrows his brows, opening his mouth to question what his leader meant when a group of recruits interrupted them.

The sun was setting, painting the sea of white a soft orange glow. The men and women alike in front of them smell pungently of sweat and their natural pheromones, mixing into one to form a rather...disturbing smell. Then again, he is an unmated omega, their pheromones could have agitated him.

"Soldiers, what's the issue?" Training for the day is almost over, their comrades have gone to the mess hall to fight for better food portions. Yet instead of doing the same, they stood there in front of him with what seemed to be curiosity in their eyes.

"Sir, we were wondering if you would like to join us for dinner. It has been a while since we all last saw you." He blinked, caught off guard by the question from the group. He knew he has a slightly better reputation than the rest of his colleagues, but not to the point of warranting a meal with the recruits, willingly.

"Did you all miss me that much? I was off duty for a mere three weeks." He chuckled, shaking his head at the group's absurdity.

"Yes, sir." Blinking rapidly when he was not expecting the frank answer, "Well, you all certainly matured up." He knew this certain group of recruits, always a rowdy and a little childish group. So to have them admit their true feelings is a feat.

"Unfortunately, as much as I would like to accompany you all for dinner-"

"Childe."

He turned to the familiar voice, smiling when he sees the familiar face, feeling his heart palpitate at the sight of his husband.

"I have my husband waiting for me." He excused himself, missing the shocked face of everybody to throw himself in the warm embrace of his husband.

"Ah...you're so warm..." Sighing in delight at the warmth the dragon exudes, "You just spend the day out in the snow, Ajax. The cold is warranted." Arms held him tight, a giggle drowned when lips claim his own, "Good work today, love." Eager to taste more, he wraps his arms around Zhongli's neck, pulling his husband close.

"Would you like some dinner? I cooked you some pelmini." Always a dear, the man volunteered to learn how to cook his childhood dishes.

"That sounds nice. Let's-"

"Excuse me, what is going on?? Tartaglia, you have a husband???" A confused voice came from behind him, it's Sandrone, "Uh...yes? Her Highness didn't tell any of you?" Pierro immediately shook his head.

"She only stated you're off on a vacation for three weeks." He furrowed his brows, "Huh, well, okay. I got married three weeks ago. I didn't go on a vacation. It was my honeymoon." Sandrone choked on air, Pierro stood there, blankly staring at the snow and the group of recruits were frozen still.

"And you didn't think of telling us that your freaking husband is the fucking Geo Archon??" In his defense, "He's not now."

"Was the fucking Geo Archon." To that, he doesn't have anything to retaliate, "Well, now you know." He shrugged nonchalantly.

"And maybe next time, soldiers. My hubby cooked me food today. Enjoy your meal!" Fingers laced with his own as they fall into step.

"Hubby?" Amusement colour amber eyes, "Yes. You are my hubby, no?" He brought up their intertwined fingers, showing Zhongli his ring.

"You are right, yes." Zhongli stopped him in his tracks, pulling him into a chaste kiss once more, "My wife." Caressing his cheeks as if he is glass, a smile on his lips.

"All yours, hubby." He tiptoes to kiss Zhongli again, eventually continuing their walk back to his room.

They share a simple hearty meal of pelmeni while he made some dessert for them, jade fruit soup, courtesy of Zhongli's request when he asked the man.

He had to substitute some fruits seeing as Liyue native fruits do not grow in Snezhnaya. Thankfully, Zhongli simply finds the substitutes add a unique taste to them.

After dinner, they retire for the day. He took a bath, exiting it only to find Zhongli already on the bed with all his regalness.

His hair is let down, cascading down his shoulders like the river behind Liyue Harbor. A robe coloured earthen brown decorated with molten gold swirls took his breath away from how handsome the man is when he is simply doing something as ordinary as reading a book.

Even with the absence of red eyeliner on his eyes, he still finds himself drawn to him. Like an unseen magnet that pulls him close.

"Hm? Ah, you are done with your bath." He snapped out of his trance at the soft flap of papers, "Y-Yeah, just done." He squeaked embarrassingly.

"Why the sudden timid behaviour, baobei?" A hand pulls him close, lips kiss the back of his hand. It was then it sank in that they are sleeping together.

Back in their honeymoon, he has always been too tired to fully appreciate his husband. Even yesterday he simply jumped straight to the bed. Passing out after their long trip back from Fontaine.

"N-Nothing! Just...realizing I'm actually sleeping with you." Amber eyes blink before Zhongli chuckled, "What ever do you mean, love? We have been sleeping together for the last month." While that is not wrong, "True...but I was too tired to realize it. It just...dawned on me today." Right then, at the moment.

"Is that so?" He hummed, raising his hand to caress the man's cheek, "Sometimes, I still can't believe you're mine." He says it in a whisper, still finding it surreal, to have an alpha that wants him more than his body.

"All yours, Ajax." He let Zhongli pull him close, guiding him to sit on his husband's lap, "I'm still in my bathrobe, you know." It is identical to his husband's, only the colour is different. A navy blue adorned with an exuvia wrapping around him. The alpha had it custom-made for him, dragons, always so possessive.

"It is enough. You are enough." He hitched his breath when Zhongli leaned lower, inhaling his scent in his gland.

"I have been meaning to ask you, is it alright if we stay up a bit later today, Ajax?" He shivers at the warm breath on his neck, "You want to do something today?" He laced his fingers on brown locks, wrapping his arm around Zhongli's neck, pulling the man closer.

"I want to scent you." He hitched his breath at the lips on his gland, leaving a kiss mark over the sensitive nerve, "I could barely discern your scent amongst the various scents of alpha and betas alike that clung to you." An involuntary mewl left him accidentally at the lips nipping at his neck, leaving marks on them, "And for that, I cannot let it slide. Unless you need to sleep early?" He has to wake up at 6 in the morning tomorrow but...

Who is he to deny the man he is madly in love with? "Anything, Zhongli." He pulls the man close, letting him leave all sorts of marks on his neck, his gland rubbed more than he could count on one hand. His skin must be an angry red.

A haze overcame his brain at the scent of petrichor-tea pair he associates with Zhongli, his home. Lips claim his own in a kiss he is barely coherent enough to reply with.

His robe is pulled askew, the sleeves hanging on his elbows as he clung to the man running his lips on his shoulder, "Zhongli..." Mewling his husband's name, "Hm? Do you need something, love?" A shiver ran down his spine when he met with amber eyes that seemingly glow in the dimly lit room.

"I need..." You, "More. Give me more, Zhongli." Amber eyes grew a shade darker and he finds himself gently settled on the bed with his husband over him.

"Of course, Ajax." He willingly parts his legs, inviting his husband to settle in between them. Hands run upon his body, gentle kisses peppered to his skin, whispers of adorations ringing in his ears as his brain grew more muddled at the nose rubbing at his gland.

His muscles instinctively relax at the scent of his husband to the point-

He fell asleep. In the middle of sex. Well, Zhongli haven't pried his bathrobe completely off him, nonetheless, the fact remains he was so close to attaining the intimate act.

Until his fatigue has got to catch him at the worst time possible. Zhongli, always a dear, had countlessly eased him, "We have time, Ajax." Always with a sweet smile on his lips, reminding him it is not his fault.

He promised himself that the next time something remotely close happened, he will not succumb to his second nature of relaxing when his alpha scented him.

Except, that 'next time' never exactly happened. Sure he is busy with training the recruits and or small scout missions but he could and would always spare time should Zhongli initiate something close to sex.

Alas, the alpha never did. Even when he hinted several times that he is ready for it. A nip on the man's gland, a hand he guides to slip inside his bathrobe, going down his waist, past his hips, and settling on his shaved pubic bone.

"Take me, Zhongli." He would whisper in the man's ear, releasing his hand to let his husband decide to deepen the heated moment between them or step away.

"I would love to. But you have a scouting mission tomorrow that departs at five in the morning, no?" Zhongli always, always has a valid excuse to avoid him.

"But-"

"We have time, Ajax."

Always with the same words, same assurance, same smile on his lips. Steadfast in his patience.

Time, Zhongli always says as so, but he does not have that luxury. An abundance of time in his hands but a fleeting moment when he kneels in front of the Tsaritsa's throne, "You are to assist Arlecchino in the retrieval of the Hydro Archon's gnosis, Tartaglia." A new directive sat on his shoulder.

"You depart midnight tomorrow."

And now, the responsibility of relaying his message to his husband weighs heavy on his shoulder. Especially when the man greeted him with a sweet smile, "Good work today, Ajax." An addicting kiss, placed on his lips.

He mulls over the heavy fact resting on his shoulders, trying hard how to relay the information to his husband.

"Is something the matter, Ajax?" He hummed vaguely, snuggling closer to his husband's embrace. This would be the first time he is separated from Zhongli for a long time.

"Nothing..." He tightens his hold, "Just...hold me?" Arms pull him close, tugged under the man's chin, pressed close to a gland emitting a scent he associated with home.

Home...he will miss him dearly, "Is it alright with you if we stay up today, Ajax?" He blinked, surprised at the sudden request.

"Uh...sure. Why the sudden request?" He has no pressing agenda either, "You will see." That is, other than the fact he will leave his nation, his home, for a long while.

In the embrace of his husband, the hours pass by quietly. From a deep magenta colouring the sky, to the early shades of obsidian, to the moon and stars that shine dully on the abyssal night, Zhongli held him close, reading to him the book that occupied his nights.

"Ah, it is midnight." He followed Zhongli's gaze on the clock on the wall, "Oh, you're right." He can now officially count the hours before he left his home, a part of his heart.

"Happy birthday, Ajax." Lips kiss his own, a meagre press that spoke millions of unspoken affection.

"Ah...is this why you want us to stay up later today?" He chuckled, feeling his cheeks grow warm at the nod from his husband.

"I have a few things planned today but wishing you a happy birthday is something that cannot be delayed." His heart ache, and hearing Zhongli have plans for him both made him warm and dread the moment he will have to burst the news to his beloved.

"Hm...really?" He chuckled, letting lips claim his own again, "Of course. You are my most precious treasure." It was whispered with an overflowing love he feels drowned in it.

Love...he feels it of course, even without Zhongli saying it verbally. Yet a whisper is on the back of his mind,

'Does he truly love you if you remain an unclaimed omega?'

He has lost count of the amount of time Zhongli has scented him because he came home with random alpha scents plastered on him.

That reoccurring problem will have a very easy solution if the alpha claims him. But Zhongli...seem to have reservations.

He wants to be patient, to let the alpha initiate. But it has now been two months since they tied the knot yet not once did Zhongli claim him.

In a last attempt before he departs, desperation overtook him, "Can I ask for my present, Zhongli?" He peered into amber eyes, caressing the alpha's cheek, biting down tears at the prospect he will leave him behind.

The things love does to him. Not a year ago and he has no reservations about leaving his nation for another due to his mission, but now...

He is not solely leaving his nation. He is leaving his home. For who knows how long.

"Of course, Ajax." They say the eyes are the window to the soul, he believes that is the truth. He sees the shade of amber that dimly glow with adoration, "Anything I will give to you, my love."

"Then...can you give me your claim?" He tilts his head, guiding a hand to rest on his unblemished scent gland, "I want to be yours, Zhongli."

He sees the flash of anxiety in amber eyes, the contemplation that goes inside the alpha's head, "I love you, Zhongli." Amber eyes widen comically while he only giggled, "Why so surprised?"

"It is my first time hearing you say that." He laughed, shaking his head at his husband, "Silly, I'm your wife, Zhongli. Of course, I love you." Closing their small distance with a short kiss, "I have always do. Even when you left me alone for a week." An old wound that has yet to properly healed in his heart.

"I am-"

"Shut up, Morax." He wraps his legs around his husband's hips, "I don't want your apology. I want you."

The same reluctance is back in amber eyes, "I would love to give you myself," He senses a 'but' following through, "I simply cannot give a claim to you." He blinked, not a 'but', it is a closed-off argument. Something he cannot attain.

"A claiming mark on you...might turn you into a half-adeptus." He froze, going rigid on the alpha's words, "Imparting a fraction of my powers is something that always occurred no matter how controlled the environment in which I claim my past lovers." The hand on his gland lifted.

"And I do not wish to impart my powers to you with changing your race on the table." Lips on his press meagerly, "Why? It's fine if I end up changing into a half-adeptus. Maybe I'll have a cool animal form like Ganyu." He laughed, trying to lighten the rather heavy mood that somehow settled between them.

"A half-adepti came with baggage you perhaps forgot. It is the only thing that is keeping me on the fence about claiming you." Zhongli's lips press into a thin line, "Half-adepti begets amongst them powers, advanced healing, and,"

"A long life." He feels the weight settling on his shoulders at the man's words, "Ganyu, is 3000 years old, Ajax. She is half my age. You will see your parents, siblings, friends, even comrades, die in front of you whether it is through old age or more. That mental pain is something I do not wish for you." A hand caressed his cheek, so tender he barely felt it.

"I can give you pleasure, I can give you myself, but I cannot give you a claim." Hands cradle his cheeks as if he is the most precious treasure in the entirety of Teyvat.

He understands where Zhongli is coming from. It is a decision that may change his whole life. Long life...it's not something he ever fathomed.

As a harbinger, he is always ready to die on the battlefield at a young age. He envisioned himself lying lifeless in a pile of snow, or destroyed by the lava of Natlan, or drowned by the endless sea in Fontaine.

But never did he imagine a long life. 70 is a stretch, let alone 3000. Not to mention death and partings. He doesn't need his parents or siblings passing to know how painful they could be. But on the other side, "Doesn't that mean you'll see me die?"

A bittersweet smile decorates the man's lips, "I will." No words needed to be said when he sees the sombre smile decorating his lips.

"When you breathe your last, I will be there to hold you close." Lips claim his own in a bittersweet kiss, "Just like now." Even he feels tears well up in his eyes.

"But you still have a long life, Ajax. I will make sure of it." He chuckled, letting a thumb swipe the tear that stain his cheek.

He is torn, between living as a mortal and dying early or living as a half-adeptus with a long life. On one side he got to live and die with his era. Yet on the other side...

Stood Zhongli, his husband. The one he took an oath with to care for one another, in sickness and health, joy and sorrow, until death wrung him away from his beloved.

"I can see you debating it, Ajax." He jolted at the soft voice that interrupted his line of thought, "I am not imposing you with a choice. You need not debate it, love." He is pulled into an embrace, held tightly as if he could disappear at any moment, "To have you in this short time is more than enough for me."

It shatters him when he hears the words leaving Zhongli's lips, "A long life begets pain than joy, Ajax." Hearing it firsthand, he could only think of one thing,

The pain Zhongli has to endure. He can't help but sob, torn between the choices, "You're making this so hard for me, Li." A hand caress his head, "You need not think about it, Ajax. This is what I have decided for you. Live a normal life. No need to worry for me, love." Lips kiss the tears running down his cheeks.

"But...wouldn't you be sad?" Zhongli nodded, a sombre smile on his lips, "Of course, I would be. You are the love of my life. My treasure. But that is exactly why I cannot let you live longer. Long life...is a curse, Ajax." Hands cradle him, thumbs swipe at the tears running down his cheeks.

"But...I can't stand seeing you sad." He knows his husband has gone through enough. The burden he carried, the partings he was forced to witness, the responsibility he shed before he now has the sole identity of Zhongli, the consultant of Wangsheng funeral parlour, the love of his life, the half of his soul, his beloved.

"The feeling is mutual. It pains me when I see you part with your family if you chose to have a long life. And you need to remember," Zhongli took a shaky intake of breath, "I have erosion. My time in this world is not long either, Ajax."

He knows that, he is aware of it more than he would like to be. Yet despite the odds, he knows his answer.

"Despite it all, I still want it." He wetly laughed, shaking his head, steeling his heart to gaze at his husband, "Make me yours, Zhongli."

"Despite my warnings? Despite the fact you will see your loved ones die in front of you? Despite the fact I may not be with you as long as you thought?" He sobbed, smiling at the painful questions, nodding to Zhongli.

"Yes. Despite all that, I still want it. Claim me, Zhongli. Turn me into a half-adeptus or whatever. I want to be yours." He closed the small distance between them, pressing their lips together, tasting the salty tears, their salty tears.

"Incomprehensible, Ajax." Zhongli wetly laughed, shaking his head, pulling him close to slot their lips properly, "Always so stubborn, my love." He chuckled wetly at the man's words.

"I'm stubborn because you let me to." Zhongli always indulges him, "You spoil me rotten with anything I want." He cradles the man's cheeks.

"So spoil me one more time? Claim me, Li. That would be the best gift I could ever ask." He could see the reservation in amber eyes, "You will not age any longer, Ajax. Should you not console this with your parents or the Tsaritsa first?" He shook his head, "I made up my mind. I want to be yours."

"And as for my parents...they didn't judge you when they found out your real identity. I don't think they'll berate you for what is my choice." He knows his parents will support his choice.

"All that's left, is for you to claim me, Zhongli." He let his hands fall, hoping that this time, Zhongli takes the lead.

"Are you sure, Ajax?" He nods, "Definitely sure." Letting lips claim his own in a more heated kiss, "Once I turn you into a half-adeptus, there is no reversing it." He met amber eyes sharp with the man's warning.

"Okay. Claim me, Zhongli." He met amber eyes with the same conviction. Zhongli sighed, leaning on his shoulder as he shook his head.

"Is there any chance I could deter you?"

"Nope."

He yelped at the sudden kiss to his gland, "Always so stubborn, Ajax." A hand fiddles with the button of his pyjama, "But you spoil me either way." He took a sharp intake of breath at the hand that roam inside his shirt, caressing his skin that was scarcely touched by his husband before.

"I do. You are my weakness." Lips ran the expanse of his neck, dexterous fingers unbutton his pyjamas, "One I cannot deny." His heart races as he clung to the man, gently taking off the top half of his pyjama.

"Beautiful." A breathless comment made him open his eyes he did not notice he closed. A flush crept up his cheeks when he sees the dimly lit amber eyes heavy with a mutual feeling.

Desire, lust, "So even the mighty Morax can feel carnal desire." He hummed, reaching out to tug Zhongli closer, gazing at the lust swirling in amber hues.

"Morax does not. Zhongli does. Especially when his mate is the most beautiful man he has ever laid eyes upon." Despite the words, despite the lustful gaze, Zhongli remains gentle with him, running his lips over his scars as if mapping them out one by one.

"These scars of yours...they will disappear if I claim you." Shame, they are his battle trophies, but compared to the weight of a claim, "So be it. Claim me, Li." He repeats for the nth time that night.

"Let me properly remember them." His back meets the mattress as lips trace his every scar, intent to remember a part of him.

Zhongli trace every part of his skin, feather-light in their presence, stone heavy in their love until he stopped in between the band of his pants, the only piece of clothing keeping him covered from his husband.

"You can take it off, Zhongli." The remark came off breathless from him, "Are you sure, Ajax?" He nods, his heart racing in his ribcage.

"You know, we never slept together. Even after you told me you'll sleep with me after tying the knot." The soft cotton pants brush his skin lightly, exposing his thighs to the cold night air.

"I am afraid you would ask for a claim." Amber eyes gaze at his thighs, resting each on his husband's hips, "I would. Definitely. I'm your wife." His fingers laced on earth brown locks, tugging it behind Zhongli's ear, earning his attention.

"And that is why I avoided sleeping with you, even if I yearn to touch you." He hitched his breath when he met amber eyes burning alight with desire.

It is the first time he ever sees the man so...intense. Full of something he did not know was capable of Zhongli, "But you still treat me like I'm glass." His words contrast his actions.

"Because you are my treasure, Ajax. I want the best for you." An involuntary mewl left his lips when lips nibble at his gland, "I wish not to hurt you. I want this to be memorable, enough to replace all those alphas that have bed you." Arms wrap themselves around Zhongli's neck, his nose pressed on his husband's gland, inhaling a scent he knew he will dearly miss.

"Trust me, I never remember what happened during my heat." It wasn't a lie, but not a truth either, "Is that so? How did you remember that said alphas would make you keep your shirt during intercourse?" Ah, Zhongli, always so sharp.

"You got me on that." A strained laugh left his lips, "Indeed." A smug reply pulls the man's lips into a smile, "Those bad memories, I want to erase them and replace them with memories you can look back to. Whether it is with me beside you, or not." He doesn't, or perhaps, refuse to acknowledge the last bit of Zhongli's sentence, even if he heard it loud and clear.

"Can you do me a favour, Zhongli?" His request came out but a whisper, his hand caressing the man's cheek, coaxing him to meet his eyes.

"Anything, love." The endearment, the affection, the unconditional love, it made him warm, "I don't like it when you talk like that. About you going." It made tears well up in the back of his eyes.

"I know it's inevitable, but for now..." He pulls the man closer, meagerly pressing their lips together in a silent prayer, "Can I live this fantasy with you just for a while longer?"

A bittersweet smile etched itself on the man's lips, "I will try to minimize them. But you have the right to know every change there is to my body. I do not wish to depart from you too suddenly." He nods, inhaling a shaky breath, "That, I can do with." Sometimes, he has to stop running to catch some breath and see his surroundings, appreciate, what is left, while there is still time.

He laughed wetly, "Sorry, didn't mean to cry again." Inhaling wetly, wiping the tears that threaten to spill from the border of his eyes.

"No need for apologies, Ajax. You still look beautiful." He feels his cheeks grow significantly warmer at the man's words, "My most precious treasure." Their lips slot against one another perfectly, like puzzle pieces complete with ridges, chips, to it. Imperfect, yet perfect when they are placed together.

"I love you, Zhongli." He caresses pink cheeks, leaning up to press their lips again, "I love you so much, Li." Welcoming the slot of lips on him once more.

"I love you as well, Ajax. No words could describe the weight of my feelings for you." His heart pound rapidly in his ribcage, touched by the man's words, "Can actions describe it then?" Bold by the opportunity that presents itself as he guides the man's hand to his underwear, guiding it to slip inside.

"Pull it off from me, Zhongli." He met amber eyes with an intensity that would melt the very snow coating Snezhnaya, "Look at every inch of me. I'm all yours to see and touch, laogong."

The man sat up, eyes zeroed in on his hand a quarter inside his underwear, "I will take it off." Nodding wordlessly at Zhongli's confirmation, closing his legs for his husband to take off the piece of clothing from him before his legs settle each on the man's waist.

"Just throw it somewhere random, Li." Zhongli, ever the neat alpha, fold his underwear, just like he did with his prior clothing.

The alpha froze when he turned, staring at him to the point he feels his cheeks grow warm. It was when he looked down did he realize. Bits of small hair colored ginger sprout from his pubic bone, blooming down towards a more sensitive part of him. He hasn't shaved, Zhongli must be put off by the hair no matter how scarce they are.

He feels embarrassed at himself. The first time they spend the night together and he is not at his best.

"Um...maybe...maybe we can do this next time, Li." A strained laugh left his lips, next time, he will be ready at all times, "Why?" A hand trapped him in his place.

"I'm um, I just...remembered I need to get up soon!" He pulled a lie from his ass, "Pray tell, where?" He short circuit, drawing a blank to where he needed to be in tomorrow.

Then again, if he lied now, he will end up with Zhongli waking him up when he doesn't need to be anywhere.

"Love, you can tell me anything. No need to lie." A mix of warm and cold body press against him as he is pulled into an embrace, a hand stroking his head in a comforting lulling manner.

"It's embarrassing." Lips kiss his temple, "I will not belittle you." A soft comforting voice eased his anxious spiked up nerves.

Amber eyes plead to him silently, no words given to pressure him, only a reassuring smile, "I haven't shaved."

The man went rigid, he doesn't meet his eyes, if Zhongli didn't notice that about him before, he most definitely noticed it now that he said it out loud.

Wait, if that wasn't what made the man stare at him, then why-

A laugh shook Zhongli's body as the man sat up, shaking his head at something he finds funny.

"What's so funny?" He feels a pout on his lips, "Nothing, I did not know hair is something that made you insecure." He hitched his breath at the hand lightly stroking his outer folds, "It is not an issue to me." Biting down a gasp when fingers gently part his outer folds to caress his wet inner ones.

"It seems you have been enduring this for a while." He feels his cheeks grow warm at the soft squelches bouncing off the walls.

"It's been a while since I last had any release, since my husband decided to let me be." He curls his toes at the fingers that gently nudge the sensitive nerves peeking from the hood of his folds, biting the insides of his cheeks to prevent a moan.

"I see. Allow me to apologize properly and make it up to you." He was about to laugh it off, saying he is joking when he widen his eyes at the man who lean lower.

"Hey, Zhongli, don't-ah!" A gasp left his lips when a tongue licked a fat stripe from his entrance to his clit.

A shiver crept up his spine at the foreign pleasure, a mewl escape his lips unwillingly when lips suck at his clit, sending waves of pleasure up his spine.

A hand caress his thigh, gently parting him wider, a moan let loose as he reflexively juts his hips to the mouth pleasuring him so well.

"Hey...ngh...don't do that...you don't know how dirty I am..." His words contradict his actions as he throws his head back at a particularly insistent suck, jutting his hips to the expert mouth, seeking pleasure, friction, anything to lead him closer to his peak with a murky road leading to it.

"And miss out on this delicacy? I am afraid I cannot pass on it, Ajax." He was only given a moment of respite before a moan left his lips at the loud suck to his clit.

It's nearly unfair. Zhongli knows how to bring him to his peak so well it's insane. The tongue that wraps on his clit, giving gentle strokes to make sure he doesn't get overwhelmed, the tongue lapping on his inner folds, teasing and stroking him, keeping him on edge yet making him seek for more.

"Ah...hah..Zhongli..." Moan after moan wrung out from his lips as he crumpled the sheets below him, his back slowly arching higher, feeling his orgasm imminent, "I'm close...so close...get off from me...Li...!" Fingers laced in earthen brown locks, rather roughly tugging his husband to get off him.

A disapproving hum paired with hands on his hips, pulling him close as Zhongli licked a fat stripe from his twitching entrance to rub at his clit was the deal breaker that send him crying out the alpha's name in his ecstasy.

He panted, trying to regulate his breathing, his toes curled at the orgasm still rolling off his body, a hand supporting his back, holding him steady before he is guided back to the bed.

"Breathtaking, Ajax." A breathless comment made him open his eyes to see Zhongli staring back at him, pink colour his cheeks.

"Truly the most beautiful man I have ever laid my eyes upon." Fingers laced with his own, gently prying them from rustling the bedsheets further.

"Flatterer..." He breathlessly laughed, covering his eyes as he recollects his bearing, "That...was crazy. How the hell are you so good at that?" Truth be told, he doesn't exactly have a bar to compare Zhongli with.

No alpha or beta ever eats him out. A satisfied smile etched itself on Zhongli's lips, "Because I know you are very sensitive in your clit." He blinked, widening his eyes.

"How...did you know?" They never slept before, it's impossible for Zhongli to know that he is extremely sensitive in his clit. Then again, all omega do.

"Because I noticed how fast your pupils dilute when I gave the slightest attention to your clit. Even if you were holding back your wonderful noises, I could tell you are far more sensitive than other omegas when your clit is involved." He blinked, flushing when he heard the detailed explanation.

"You gathered that much from so little?" Zhongli hummed, his eyes roaming his figure, amber eyes dipping a shade lower the more it ventured, "Yes. Every micro change in you is ingrained in my memory." Warmth spread down his neck, feeling suddenly exposed to his husband.

Yet strangely, he does not feel alarmed. Only...excitement, to show more of him to the half of his soul.

"Then...would you be curious?" He sat up, pulling the ribbon keeping Zhongli's robe together, "Curious? Of what?" Gently, he tugs one sleeve off.

"Of how I look when I have you in me?" He met amber eyes that widen a fraction before a heated gaze send a shiver down his spine.

Despite being an alpha, Zhongli's scent has always come off in a more mild tone. But tonight, his scent grew stronger mixed together with arousal, their arousal.

"Of how I would feel around you as we become one." He sat on the man's lap, prying off the other sleeve from Zhongli's hand who unceremoniously shrug his robe off a stark difference to how his clothes were handled.

"Are you curious?"

"Yes." The immediate answer followed by a hand looped on his waist, pulling him closer to his husband made him yelp in surprise.

"But I want to take my time with you, Ajax." A hand caress his waist, the heavy lust in amber eyes changes into a more...hazy cloud, as if Zhongli is hypnotized.

"I want to appreciate each inch of you. Prepare you properly, make this night memorable for you. For both of us." His heart squeezed in his chest, touched by the man's words.

"Will you let me savour you, Ajax?" A defeated yet fond sigh left his lips, "When my darling husband asked me so nicely, how can I say no to that? Of course, Li." He let the man guide him back to the bed, let lips trace his thigh, calf, ankles, mapping out each part of his skin, leaving none uncharted.

He tilts his neck, letting the man leave a kiss mark over his gland, enough to turn his skin an angry red yet short from claiming him.

"In ancient times, a claiming mark goes both ways." He blinked back to reality, gazing at his husband, "Really?" Who nods to his question.

"It made the bond between an alpha and an omega irreversible. It is often described as a bond stronger than a God's strength. It is not an exaggeration. No living being could break it." It sounds...romantic.

"But as time goes by, the bond loses favor. Mortals change so...quickly, at dawn they want to commit to a relationship, at night they change their minds. Divorce became popular as the bond lose favour, eventually buried into non-existence." He hummed, gazing at amber eyes that seem...distant.

"What about you? Have you ever had that bond?" Zhongli shook his head, a surprise seeing as the alpha is most likely the most romantic person he has ever met.

"They...died before we could discuss something like so." A bittersweet smile etched itself on the man's lips. A hint of jealousy made him open his lips, "What about me?"

Zhongli blinked, meeting his gaze, "Care to elaborate?" He pursed his lips, second-guessing himself, "Do you mean...an irreversible bond with me?" But the man is too sharp before he could think to back off.

"...Yeah." He met amber eyes a bit surprised, "Of course, I would love to be bound to you. But would you want the opposite?" He blinked at the anxiety swimming in his husband's eyes, laughing softly at his words.

"Of course. I'm willing to change my race for you. I don't need to say more, do I?" Pink colour the man's cheeks, "Indeed." Lips slot against his own, dancing a practiced motion.

Their breaths mingle when they separate, a string of saliva connects them, proof of the intimate moment shared between them.

He caressed a pale cheek, earthen brown locks falling like curtains on him, shielding him and keeping his attention on the man over him.

His hand tugs a stray lock behind, and his eyes roam the soft pink tinted on pale cheeks, tracing a chiselled jaw soften by the moonlight before meeting with dimly lit amber eyes.

No words needed to be exchanged as they gravitate towards one another, their lips slot in a more heated kiss, feeling the heavy tension that settled between them.

His arms naturally wrap around the man's neck, his fingers lost in earthen locks, angling his husband to better slot their lips together.

He parts his legs willingly, letting the man settle in between them, hitching his breath in anticipation at the hand that went down to rub at his entrance.

The need for air made them separate, a gasp wrung out from his lips as a hazy blanket wrapped around his head.

"Ajax, can I-"

"Yes. Come in, Li." Addicted, he pull his husband into another kiss again, seeking the man's lips. A soft chuckle vibrated from their connected lips before he gasped at the sudden breach.

Zhongli took that chance to take charge, prying open his mouth easily, tasting him as a sole digit moved inside of him at a slow pace.

He chases after the fleeting pleasure creeping up his spine, like waves in the ocean, it came and went away even when Zhongli added more fingers to him.

The need for air made them separate once more, their breaths mingling from their close proximity. Perhaps it was the lack of oxygen or perhaps it was because he is drunk from the alpha's oppressive yet addicting scent that muddle his brain that made his muscles relax involuntarily.

He tries to keep his eyes open, but the thumb nudging at his clit made it hard for him to focus on anything, "Breathtaking. Truly a work of art." Zhongli praised him yet again, a mewl left his lips hearing the praise his alpha gave him.

Fingers work him open gently despite his request to pick up the pace, "Patience, baobei. Let me appreciate you." And his husband's reply only left him with a warm cheek.

He whined when the fourth finger entered, scissoring him open, "Li, this isn't my first time, I'm ready. Put it-ngah!" His eyes reflexively roll shut at the pleasure sending shockwaves up his spine, his toes curl, his hand fisting the sheets as his lips let loose a wanton moan.

"Hm...I see." An amused voice he knew belonged to his husband was near lost as he tries to regain his bearings, "Huh? What do you-ah!" He now feels it. Amongst the pleasure crashing into him, he feels the nudge to something deep inside him.

"Your spot, I found it." Ah...he heard of this so-called spot before. Located a bit deep inside of him, although his fingers are too small to reach them and none of the alphas nor betas have ever brushed that particular spot before.

"How does it feel, Ajax? Good?" He nod, appreciating the fingers that stall in their movements, "Amazing. I never felt it before." Zhongli comically blinks at his words.

"How come?" He nonchalantly shrugs, "No one really tried to search for it, like you do. Hell, I rarely get prepped either. You're the first." And his last as well.

A guttural growl made him shiver, "If I could, I would impose the wrath of the rock on them. The audacity they have to not appreciate you." Sharp teeth bared for him to see, it's novel, to see the man so...mad.

He closed their distance, dispersing the frown on his husband's lips with his own, "Thank you, Zhongli." He does not know what it is he is thanking, only knowing he feels...thankful.

"I am doing the bare minimum, love." Lips slot against his own again, prying his lips open gently as he took the cue to let his husband in.

A moan left his lips when the fingers inside him pressed on that bundle of nerves again, sending pleasure up his spine, his toes curl from the sensation, feeling it tickle his being.

"Zhongli, I think that's enough." He caressed the man's wrist, fingers still deep inside him, "Come inside, solontse." Gently, he pulls the fingers inside him out, keeping his gaze on heated amber ones.

"I've dreamed of this for a while." The confession came out a bit breathless as he feels his cheeks grow warm, enough for him to want to cut their gaze short. But he never did. Laying himself bare for his husband. Showing his deepest desire.

"Dreamt of being one with you." His fingers caress the man's cheek, his eyes tracing his husband's figure, "I'm sure you know it but we Snezhnayan consider sex as a very intimate and important moment. Traditionally shared only between mates. But..." He smiled bitterly, "I'm sorry I can't give you that." He whispers apologetically. Knowing he cannot offer that singular bond to his husband when he is not his first. From time to time, he regrets it.

"And I am sure you know we Liyuens value contracts above anything else." A hand coax him to meet his husband's eyes, "You and I, we are bound by the highest form of it. A marriage contract." Lips brush his forehead, "It is a contract whose weight is insurmountable. It care not that you have past lovers. It cares that the moment we enter this marriage, you belong to me," Lips press to him in a meagre chaste kiss, "As I belong to you." He pulls the man for a kiss, one that started chaste evolving into a heated one.

"You always have me the moment we enter this relationship, Zhongli." He gently presses the man over him, cueing him to a sitting position, "I only have you in my mind." Sitting on his husband's lap, his fingers interlace as he wraps his arms around the man's neck.

"I'm obsessed with you, Zhongli." His legs wrap around the man's hips, pressing the two of them close together. Nights in Snezhnaya should be cold, yet at that moment, he feels hot, scorched by the heated gaze pinned on him, by the humid tension in between them.

"To be yours...is always what I wanted." He bares his scent gland to the man, leaning towards Zhongli's gland, pressing his nose to inhale his husband's scent.

"I share the sentiment, Ajax." Arms wrap around him, pulling him closer, pressing them together as he feels his husband's arousal brushing against his own, pressing to his stomach as he tightens his legs, wanting to feel Zhongli.

"I too, yearn to be bound to you." A hand caress his head, "Not even death due us apart." He shivers at the weight of the man's words, at the possessive gesture shown by the dragon.

Yet that only made his heart skip a beat, "Then do it, solontse. Make me yours." He peers down at amber eyes, a haze hugs his mind as he finds himself intoxicated by the heated tension between them.

"Only if you do the same. Make me yours, baobei." Alphas seldom want to be chained down. Let alone the old claiming bond Zhongli spoke of, they would not even let their mates leave marks on them.

But for the alpha to request as such to him...

"Okay." He whispered, his hand going down to tug at Zhongli's waistband, "Come inside, Zhongli? Let's be one." His thumb smoothing out the wrinkles from the fabric where the elastic formed.

"Of course, Ajax." In one smooth motion, Zhongli's pants are off. A gentle hand guides him down onto the bed, legs each on the side of his husband's thighs.

He hitched his breath when a chilled hand suddenly stroke his inner folds, "Apologies, did I startle you?" A strained smile offered to him, "N-No...I just wasn't expecting how cold your hand is." He finds the amber-colored hand, interlacing their fingers, sharing a fraction of his body heat.

"I can make you warm." He loosely hooks his legs behind the man's hips, inviting him to nestle himself in his walls, "How bold, Ajax." Amber eyes gaze at him, amusement laced in them followed by a pink hue on pale cheeks.

"You're my husband. Who else am I supposed to show how badly I want you?" The pink hue deepens in colour. How he wishes to see his husband's blush in all its glory. Curse the dimly lit room.

"But don't let me pressure you." He caresses Zhongli's hand, "We can do this later if you don't want to." He would be lying if he says he is not disappointed. But forcing his husband is the last thing he wanted. He loves him too much to do so.

"I would be denying myself, Ajax." He yelped when Zhongli's unclothed length brush his inner folds as the man leaned close to him.

"To have you is my deepest desire." A mewl unconsciously left his lips at the teeth that nibble his gland, "Then..." He squeezed their intertwined fingers, "Come in, Zhongli." Lips slot against his own, stealing his breath, muddling his brain as their breaths mingle together when they separate.

"So beautiful, Ajax." He flushed when lips kiss his cheek, mewled when a hand stroke his inner folds, his heart skipped a beat when the man sat up.

Flushed when he sees Zhongli's soiled hand, wet with his slick, stroke his inhuman length, obsidian in colour decorated with gold geometrical lines.

"Next time, let me blow you." Zhongli choked on his saliva, coughing several times before his airways cleared once more, "Why the sudden bold request?" Amber eyes blink at him several times, its owner caught off guard.

"Just curious. I've never blowed anyone." Amber eyes dip a shade darker, he widens his eyes when he sees cor lapis horns manifest out of thin air, jolted when a foreign weight coil around his leg, looking down to spot a scaley tail around it.

"Tell me, what else have you never done before?" He shivers at the baritone voice that dips a level deeper, "Having sex with a dragon." A rumble shook their bed lightly, "Having a husband that loves me as much as you." Hesitantly, he reached out his hand to the tail wrapped high to thigh. Its tuft tickles his inner folds.

"Never hide this side of you from me again, Li." He hitched his breath when the tail wrap around him tighter, enough for him to know how clingy it is with him.

"Showing you this side of me was not intentional. But I am glad you find this form of me acceptable." He feels the drag of the inhuman length to his inner folds, stopping to nudge at his loosened entrance.

"Of course, you're my husband. I love you in any form you take." He shivers in anticipation when Zhongli took hold of his length to press on his entrance, enough to tell him of his husband's intention.

"May I come in, love?" He feels the heat between them, feels it crawling upon his skin, slipping inside his flesh, piercing his bones solely from the amber eyes locked with his own.

"Of course, Zhongli." His reply came out breathless. He feels intoxicated, detached from the world, yet coherent enough with what is happening, brimming with excitement, mewling in delight at the first breach of Zhongli's tip into his walls.

He feels full, content, satiated at the length spearing him open, etching a place in him, in his heart, in his memory of this heated night.

Moaning when a sensitive spot inside him is nudged, his breath coming out ragged as he adjusts to the length spearing him open.

"Do you need me to stop, Ajax?" Shamefully, he nodded, "You're...too big, Li. Let me catch my breath." He shudders, squeezing and unsqueezing from the size of the length in him.

"Shall I reduce my size then?" He definitely heard wrong, "W-What? Reduce your size?? You...can do that???" The man nod, gazing at him as if he is the peculiar one.

"Ah, yes, it went above my head that mortals have no capability of that. But as a prime adepti, I have the option to reduce or add my size." The way his husband state the fact sounds as if it was common sense.

"So, would you like me to reduce my size?" Curiosity got the better of him as he shook his head, "Do you have...an original size?" His heart races, gazing at his husband, waiting for his answer.

"I do. But you could not take it, Ajax. It would split you open. I am a dragon, remember?" Ah...he foregoes that fact, "Nonetheless, I do not experience pleasure any less. You are already delightful around me as it is." He hitched his breath at the hand caressing his abdomen, amber eyes zeroed in on it.

"Ah, yes, before I made a fatal mistake," A golden light near blinded him momentarily as he reflexively closed his eyes, opening them when the light ceased to exist.

"What's...that?" Pointing his finger at the Rex Lapis symbol glowing on his abdomen. The size is as big as his pinky, but the dull glow of it catches his attention nonetheless.

"I used an adepti arts on you. To make sure you do not conceive should I accidentally release in you." Pain stung his heart, "You...don't want children?" He cannot say he is not heartbroken when he has countlessly imagined how their children would look like.

"Of course I do. I want everything if it is with you, Ajax." He hitched his breath, finding himself locked to amber eyes seemingly glowing with an unspoken desire, heavy in its weight.

"But you have your duties to worry about at the moment, no?" Zhongli...isn't wrong. Within hours, he has to board a ship bound for Fontaine. And who knows how long he will be there? Carrying with him a child is not ideal. The furthest away from ideal.

"Pregnancy, especially with me, begets countless worries. Atop the usual pregnancy symptoms, you would need to accommodate the child's adeptal energy intake. I would of course be with you every step of the way. But this is something you need to prepare thoroughly. We need to prepare throughly." He hum, nodding at the man's wise words.

"I see. Never knew it'd be different. But I guess it's not surprising." Zhongli is the prime adepti, "With that said, I wager you have enough time to adjust. Shall we continue? Or would you like more time, baobei?" He shook his head, wrapping his legs tighter around his husband's hips.

"You can continue now. And no need to reduce your size. I can take you." It doesn't feel as overwhelming now that he has time to adjust.

"Tell me if you need any more breaks, love." He hums when his lips are occupied with slipping and sliding against Zhongli's own. Any sounds leaving his lips are swallowed down by his husband's lips on his. Filling him in both of his mouths.

Zhongli inched closer, closer, closer, until a pained yowl made them break their kiss, "H-Hurts..." He gasped when he feels both pain and pleasure coming up in waves, "Apologies, baobei. Let me pull out." Hastily, he shook his head, locking his legs around Zhongli's hips.

"I-It's fine...it's both...painful but...good? It's hard to explain." A finger swiped at the corner of his eye, "The cause is possibly my tip hitting your cervix. I have heard it would induce both pain and pleasure when it is nudged." Cervix...

"Isn't that like, really really deep?" It would take at least his hands outstretched to even reach his cervix from the outside.

"Perhaps feeling it would shed some understanding for you." The hand intertwined with his guide it to rest atop his abdomen where a bump resides.

"Do you feel it? The small bump is how far I am in you." So, it seems as if Zhongli did hit his cervix. Insane. Considering no alpha nor beta that bed him before have ever hit him that high.

"Would you like me to reduce my size, Ajax?" He shook his head, "Unless there's more?" He doesn't think he can take past his cervix.

"No, there is none. I am fully inside you." He leaned on his elbows, his eyes goes north to confirm that their hips are indeed pressed flush together.

"Then no need to reduce it." He lay properly on the bed once more, lacing his fingers in brown locks as he pulls the man into a kiss.

"Finally, we're one." He feels the intimate connection between them, preening at how...inseparable they are, "We have always been one, my love. The moment we got married, we are one." Lips claim his own in a chaste kiss, none of them moved, simply basking in the presence of one another, kissing like there is no tomorrow.

"Do you want to move? I can feel you twitching in me." He giggles at the impatient length hitting his walls now and then, "Unless you let me to, no." A sweetheart, such a sweetheart for him.

"It's okay, you can move." His hand snaked to Zhongli's nape, pulling the man close to a kiss as his husband start a slow pace, pounding into all his corners.

Unwounding the strings pulling him taught took little to no effort. Perhaps it was the firm push and pull, or perhaps it was the size moving in him but he feels each and every movement like the erratic sound of his heart, beating rapidly for the man above him.

Moans and mewls easily slip out of his lips, his toes curls as he throws his head back, yowling both in pain and pleasure when Zhongli kisses his cervix. Lips trail his cheek, "I am sorry, baobei. Are you sure I do not need to reduce my size? This is the fifth time I hit your cervix." Amber eyes gaze at him with anxiety, a hint of pink colour pale cheeks. His husband sounds a bit breathless, small beads of sweat roll down the side of his chiselled jaw.

"No...It would get better.." He knows it would, "Just...keep moving, Li." He finds respite in the lips of his lover who hummed his answer back to him, rolling his hips once more, sending both pain and pleasure up his spine.

The blend of pain and pleasure slowly dissipates with pleasure emerging victoriously the more Zhongli hits his cervix. But the alpha is as gentle as ever, making sure to keep his thrusts firm and slow, making sure the experience does not hurt once even if he did feel it.

The cold crisp air, piercing his skin slowly turn hot, heated, and unbearable as he jump in on the effort of moving his hips, meeting Zhongli's own in the middle as they push and pull like magnets.

"Faster...solontse..." He sounds breathless, like he has run a marathon for the past 30 minutes. He no doubt would look like an overboiled tomato.

"Beautiful, Ajax." Yet the alpha above him praises him as if he is the most beautiful creature to step on Teyvat. Amber eyes unfocused, gazing at him as if he is a drug, intoxicating him to the point the man, God, known to be strong and sharp, finally lowered his guard, only taking a mere mortal to do so.

"So beautiful..." Amber eyes roam his body as he squeezed around the length moving in a faster pace, yet keeping its firm rolls to him.

"You should see yourself, Li..." He breathlessly laughed. Both from the activity they are engaged in and from the bottom of his heart. His husband is breathtaking. Mesmerizing in his own way. Majestic beyond words could describe. It felt like it was a sin to even gaze at him.

Yet the man, dragon, God, sees it otherwise, "I would say the same. If you see yourself from my perspective..." Lips claim his own, as if Zhongli is trying to see if this is a dream, or not.

"You would understand where I am coming from." He can't help the bittersweet love, "All I see in me is a killer, a creature of the abyss, and a broken omega. I can't see what you see, Zhongli." Because their views differ like their race. A God compared to a mortal. A divine being compared to a sinner.

"And yet, you are more than what you describe. It is not my position to chastise you about blood in your hands. Certainly not when I too, have blood colouring my hands red. Creature of the abyss or mortal, it does not matter to me. Not when you accept me for who I am." His chest constricts at the warm smile directed at him. Dare he say it fills of endearment.

"You are nothing close to a broken omega. You are complete with all your flaws and charms. Charming, divine, in your special way." His vision blurred as he took a shaky breath.

"Says the God."

"And you know full well I am not one. I am simply a consultant infatuated with his wife." He can't help the laugh leaving his lips, "True."

He pulls the man close as their lips meet with his husband's, his heart racing a mile per minute, words clump in his throat, "I'm complete only because you're with me, Zhongli." The other half to his body, mind, soul.

"You complete me." He whispers, "As do you with me." He shivers at the hips that roll to him, nudging his sensitive spot, kissing his cervix as pleasure coarse through his core much like a geo resonance would.

"You complete me when I feel empty." A moan slips past his lips, squeezing around his husband, his alpha, "You shed your love on me when I am undeserving of your time." He could hear the unspoken words, softly reminding him of Zhongli's erosion.

"You are everything I could want and never thought I need." A moan slip past his lips when fingers fiddled with his clit, sobbed at the length pressing to the sensitive spot inside him, at the tip kissing his cervix.

"My love, my Queen, my Empress, my soulmate." His eyes roll shut, he shudders at the heat pooling at his core. Akin to a glass of water threatening to spill, he feels his climax on the precipice.

"My other half." He sobbed at the pleasure making the words on the tip of his tongue collapse like the walls of his heart for his husband.

"My Ajax." His heart ache at the heartfelt confession, "I love you, Ajax. More than words could describe." The bed creaked loudly, yet it could not mask the sound of his erratic heartbeat.

"I love you too...Li...I'm close..so close..." He gasped, scrambling to hold his husband, pulling him close to his gland, "Claim me..alpha..." His hips roll uncontrollably, chasing after his climax.

"Are you-"

"Yes! God, I'm never more sure than I am right now! I want to be yours, Zhongli. Make me yours until not even death due us apart..!" He gasped, squeezed, spasm as he tries to hold on to the last threads trying to reign in his climax, willing himself to wait, the time has yet to come. Not until Zhongli claims him.

"Please...! I can't...hold off any-ah!" Pain surge through his core, tears well up to spill down his eyes. Teeth pierce through his delicate skin as he feels a foreign presence creeping up his spine, entering him like vines climbing up an abandoned building, filling every nook and cranny of his body.

"H-Hurts..!" Insurmountable heat riles him up, enveloping him more, overwhelming his post-orgasm, "It will be alright, Ajax." Yet a baritone voice whispering in his ear assures him of everything.

He feels overwhelmed. Everything came at him all at once. Pain, pleasure, heat, everything he feels all at once.

"Breathe for me, my love." So much so that he needed Zhongli to guide him to breathe. He listens to the voice, steadfast in its presence as the heat and the pain simmered, lingering in the corner of his mind, keeping him on edge.

"Hah...hah...it...hurts..." He pants, rolling his head from one side to the other as a hand gently deposits him to the bed once more.

"I know, Ajax." Lips claim his own, taking his mind away, "Just focus on me, my love." He moaned at the hips that roll to him, replacing the heat and the pain with pleasure.

"It will go away soon, baobei." He fervently nods, grasping to that promise like a lifeline, letting his husband overwhelm him with pleasure.

Yet Zhongli was gentle, pounding into him softly, enough to not overstimulate him yet taking his pain away.

"Zhongli..." Like a child, he whined, his hand grasping for his husband, his eyes that had unknowingly close open to search his lover's.

"I am here, Ajax." Lips kiss the corner of his eye, a thumb swipe at the other, wiping away his tears.

Zhongli held him close, assuring him the man has always been with him, "Rest assured, I will be here with you, Ajax." Erasing his insecurities, inciting safety and assurance in him.

"To think I now have you to myself...truly an honour." He hitched his breath at the thumb grazing his mark, his heart skip a beat at the lips kissing his gland.

"None of it, Li." It is quite the opposite for him when Zhongli, his sweet husband accepts every side of him. Even his most disgusting part, his darkest side of himself he had hoped to hide for eternity was exposed to the man who accepted it with open arms.

What can he ask more than that? Nothing. He could ask nothing else.

"You can move, Zhongli. I don't mind if you want to come in me too." He wrapped his arms around the man, "You have that adepti arts thingy right?" His hand on the man's shoulder gently guides his husband to sit on the bed.

At Zhongli's nod, he smiled, straddling his husband's hips, "Then come in me, laogong." He feels the tickle of something in his back as he rolls his hips, moving up and down from the length rock solid in him, squeezing it, milking his alpha dry.

He sees the amber eyes that dilute, revels in the groans and shivers shaking Zhongli's body, kept his gaze on his husband's own.

"Let it out, Li. Those millennia spend without release, let it out on me. Let me have your knot, alpha." He whispers in Zhongli's ear, wrapping his arms around the man's neck, using it as leverage to move better, revels in the pink hue on pale cheeks.

"I want you, Li. I want all of you." The man shudders, the hands holding his waist squeezing it tighter as he picked up the pace yet kept the firmness of his movements.

"So let me have you, Zhongli?"

"Always, Ajax." His heart races as his thrusts became more fervent, passion increases in it as he drives his alpha close to his release.

"Ajax...I am close..." He hummed, claiming lips that part to let out Zhongli's ragged breath, "Then release it. No need to hold back, laogong. I'm all yours to knot." His hands cradle his husband's cheeks, slotting his lips to his alpha's, dancing a slow rhythmic dance as compared to the fervent pace of his hips, slowing down only when he struggles to move at the tip that swells for a knot.

"Claim me, Ajax..." A hand directs his nape to Zhongli's unblemished scent gland, "Make this bond last a lifetime, love.." He kisses the sensitive gland, "Are you sure, Zhongli? I don't want to chain you to me." His alpha merely laughed breathlessly.

"Of course, my dear wife. Bind me to you, for eternity." He hitched his breath at the clouded amber eyes showing a glimpse of clarity, of a desire that weight heavy on his shoulders.

"Come, Ajax. I cannot hold back much longer..." He snapped out of his trance, letting the hand on his head guide him to the sensitive gland.

"Okay." He rolls his hips one last time, sinking his teeth at the warm spill of liquid inside him, kissing the wound on his neck, lapping his tongue on it to stop the bleeding, whispering assurances at his alpha.

"It'll get better, Li." He knows the pain, having experienced it not an hour ago, leaving his marks on the man's neck, talking about everything and anything to take Zhongli's mind away.

He was mid-sentence complaining about Dottore when Zhongli chuckled breathlessly.

"Really? Your co-workers sound like they are certainly an interesting bunch." Zhongli chuckles, amusement in his eyes.

Zhongli smiled at him warmly, sending his heart skipping a beat, "Now, the bond is complete. You are mine, as I am yours." He feels his heart skip a beat, feeling his lips tug upwards as he pulls the man to lay with him on the bed.

"I love you, Zhongli."

"I love you as well, Ajax."

Lips slot against his own in a slow dance privy to only them, "You are now a half-adeptus, Ajax." Zhongli informs when they separate, "Okay." He simply replies, pulling the man to rest on his chest, caressing his husband's hair.

"I do not know what it entails for you. But what is certain is the fact your hair has grown longer." He hummed, nodding nonchalantly at Zhongli's words, taking notice of the way his hair tickles his back.

"Okay. We can find out about it later." He cranes his neck to kiss the man's cheek, mulling something he has struggled to share with his husband all night long.

"Li."

"Hm?"

"I'm leaving for Fontaine this midnight."

A hum.

"I know. Tsaritsa told me." Ah, so it seems She knows he struggled for this moment, "I don't know when I'll come back." He bite back a sob, shakily inhaling a breath at the mere prospect of leaving his beloved.

"I know." Yet it doesn't seem as if Zhongli sounds as reluctant as he is. He feels a bit sad, just a bit at the fact that his alpha would not even miss him.

As if Zhongli read his mind, "Would you like to know why do I not sound solemn even for a fraction?" Curious, he opens his lips,

"Why?"

"Because I will go with you."

It was as if a record abruptly scratched as he blink, furrowing his brows, before the fact slowly sink into him as he pull the man to face him.

"What?? What do you mean you'll go with me???" Zhongli chuckled, leaning closer to him to kiss his lips, "Exactly what I meant. I will follow you to Fontaine. I followed you to Snezhnaya. Nothing is stopping me from going to Fontaine." A hand caress his warm cheek, lips leave a chaste kiss on it, "I will traverse the ends of the world, as long as it is with you." He feels his cheeks grow warm, touched at the privilege.

"Besides, it is custom to us adepti to spend time with our claimed mates. Call it both a sentimental and an intimate moment. Usually, it is spent in the confines of one's private abode but..." Lips claim his own, stealing his breath away.

"I can make an exception for you." His cheeks grew warm, "I'm going there for the Hydro Archon's gnosis."

"Yes, I am privy to that. Would you like me to help you? The faster it is done, the faster we can spend time together. Preferably with just the two of us, without our clothes." His cheeks burn, surprised at how bold his husband became.

"I am not talking about sex. Simply a sentimental and intimate time with you." But he sees the dip of amber eyes, "But we can also make love should you want to." He hums, pulling the man close for a kiss.

"I'd like that." The mere prospect already made him want to go home. Ah, what is he talking about? He is home. No longer will he have to leave his beloved home for his mission.

"But the Tsaritsa-"

"Is privy I will go with you. She predicted it." He can't help the laugh leaving his lips, "She knows you well."

"Indeed." Lips slot against him in a slow kiss, he hums in delight at the teeth that nibble at his bottom lip, opening it willingly for his husband.

"So, what is your answer, my love?" He smiles at his husband.

"You know what it is, laogong."

Snezhnaya is the epitome of a winter nightmare at midnight. The temperature plummets to negative degrees that one could not count on their two hands. The cold pierce the many layers of her winter coat, bitting at her skin.

"Curses." She will not falter, will not show a hint of weakness as she waits on the harbour, silently cursing for her incompetent co-worker that is nowhere to be found. Then again, the quiet water reflecting the moonlight shows that their ship has yet to come.

"Curse this." Why must She decree that they leave at midnight? Had it not been for her pyro vision, she will have frozen to death.

"Standing around in the cold of the night? Not very wise of you, Arlecchino." She hissed at the familiar voice, turning to glare at the youngest.

"Silence, Tartaglia. Where were you all this time?" The recruits came to take away Tartaglia's baggage as she belatedly notice that he looks significantly different than the last time they met.

His hair has grown longer and what seems to be a small lizard is wrapped around his neck, its body disappear under his winter coat.

"Tying some loose ends. The recruits were fussy when they heard I'm leaving for an unprecedented time." She clicked her tongue, always the favoured one he is.

"Someone's jealous." She huffed, "You tell unfunny jokes, Tartaglia. I do not find their infatuation to have any merit for me." Ocean-blue eyes laced with amusement gaze at her.

"I was joking. They'll be hearing from Pierro about my leave. I was making sure everything was in order before I leave." She could care less, yet hummed at the extra unnecessary information.

"Besides, they know to not prey on a married man." She blinked, turning to him, "Married man? Who?" He smiled, "Me." Pointing at himself.

She laughed, finding it to be the joke of the century, "Now that is a funny joke, Tartaglia." Yet her laughter died slowly when he does not laugh, merely smile, pull off his gloves, and showed his ring. The amber gem gleam dully under the moonlight.

"Who says I'm joking?" She is left speechless at the fact, "Oh, the ship's here. Let's go." She snap off her trance at Tartaglia who walked ahead of her.

"Speaking of, I never knew you picked up a pet. Did Liyue sell those small lizards?" She finds herself amused when the small lizard wrapped around Tartaglia's neck, glared at her. Or was she imagining it?

"Oh, you mean this?" She wordlessly nod when Tartaglia scratched the chin of his pet, "This is no pet." She furrowed her brows, clearly it is a pet.

"This is my husband."