Warnings: Smut. Includes explicit depictions and depictions of sex acts, nudity, and adult situations.
Chapter Eight: Veneer
"What's wrong?" Albedo asks softly as the older man squirms besides him.
They are aboard the Pearl Galley adrift near Liyue Harbor watching a troupe of Liyue's finest performers recount epic tales of Liyue's vaunted deity and his illustrious adepti.
"It's nothing," Zhongli lies, averting his gaze from the sea and turning to give the blond a forced smile.
"Something's on your mind," the Alchemist presses, a frown creasing his forehead.
Something about this expression softens Zhongli's heart and he leans forward to plant a chaste kiss on the younger man's forehead.
"I'm fine. I just remembered something I need to do back at the Funeral Parlor."
"Do you want to head back?" Albedo offers.
"No," the Archon declines. "Please ignore me and enjoy the rest of the play. I will resolve that matter tomorrow morning."
"You're lying," the Kreideprinz states frostily. "We haven't been together long but that doesn't mean you can insult my intelligence like this."
The God of Commerce's jaw falls open at the blond's sudden outburst and he watches the Knight rise and walk away. The Archon follows him without thinking and catches his arm as the Kreideprinz approaches a crewmember ferrying revelers ashore.
"Stay, please," the Lord of War pleads quietly as their eyes meet.
"Why should I?" Albedo seethes. "I've revealed so much to you and yet you always dance around my questions. The only time your true intentions ever surface is when you're kissing or sleeping with me."
"Come with me," Zhongli mutters softly as he turns to lead him by the hand. At first the blond resists, standing his ground firmly and glaring at him with icy teal eyes. "Please."
"I want answers, Zhongli," the blond insists watching him apprehensively.
"And you shall have them," the older man lies. The Knight sighs as he finally relents allowing the taller man to lead him below deck. They pause briefly to check into Zhongli's regular cabin and close the door behind them.
"What's going on?" Albedo asks when the Archon does not immediately volunteer the promised information.
"What suspicions do you have?"
"That's not how it works, Zhongli," the Alchemist snaps placing his hands indignantly at his hips. "I know you're trying to protect me from something but I'm not some delicate flower. I am a Knight of the Ordo Favonius and I can fend for myself."
"I know, it's just—"
"If you're worried about the Eleventh Harbinger he hasn't approached him since your argument at the teahouse," Albedo informs him with a flippant shrug.
"I am glad to hear it, but I fear something far more sinister is trailing you," Zhongli replies. "And I worry that I do not have the strength to protect you."
"Just tell me what it is and we'll deal with it together," Albedo assures him quietly. "I'm not some helpless damsel that needs protecting. I have a vision you know."
This last bit of information catches the God of Commerce completely off guard and he can only watch slack jawed as the youth reveals the gleaming Geo vision dangling from a long golden chain encircling his thin wrists. Zhongli stumbles forward to inspect the sacred relic he had personally bestowed upon the aloof alchemist.
"When did you get this?" He murmurs thoroughly flummoxed.
"I'm not sure," Albedo mumbles tapping his chin with a contemplative frown. "It must have a few weeks after I arrived at Mondstadt."
"Arrived at Mondstadt?" Zhongli repeats as he turns to meet his lover's gaze. "I thought you were originally from Mondstadt."
"When my master disappeared, she left behind a note with her final assignment and a recommendation letter that was addressed to Klee's mother. Klee's mother connected me with the Knights of Favonius and I joined to gain access to their vast library."
"I see," the Archon muses. "These are quite difficult to come by. Surely you remember how it fell into your possession."
"Sorry but I do not," Albedo shrugs. "One moment I was researching and the next thing I knew it was there."
Zhongli leans forward and embraces him, holding him flush against his pounding heart as he buries his face into his neck, inhaling the youth's mesmerizing scent.
"Stay with me," Zhongli commands as he finally pulls away. "Forever. I mean it."
"But Klee, my research I can't—"
"Fine, then marry me," the God of War presses. "I know now that we are fated to remain together for all eternity."
"Are you asking me—?"
"I am," Morax admits beaming broadly. "Say yes."
"T-this is so-so s-sudden," Albedo stutters uncharacteristically flustered. "Where is this coming from."
"Say yes," the Archon repeats firmer now leaning forward to claim the Knight in a fiercely possessive kiss. "Be mine and we will uncover the truth of this world together."
"Z-Zh-ongli—ah!" The Alchemist exclaims as the taller man backs him into the nearest wall. "I nee—eed…t-time to th—in—ngfh!"
But the Lord of War will not be so easily denied and rips open the Kreideprinz's robes before reaching between them to seize his hardening member.
"Careful! Clothes…gift…X-X-Xingqui!" The Chief Alchemist hisses incoherently closing his eyes as his body arches into the taller man's touch. A guttural groan flies through his parted lips, matching the rhythm of the Archon's ministrations. As he nears his release, Zhongli squats to suck his manhood finishing him quickly with a few hungry suckles.
"Interesting," Zhongli observes after swallowing the last of his lover's seed. "Even your ejaculate tastes amazing."
The blond's knees buckle beneath him and finally give out as the Geo Archon pulls away to free his own straining organ from the confines of his trousers. Albedo crumbles to the ground in a disheveled heap, panting wildly as his lover sheds his own clothes. When the Alchemist meets his gaze, the taller man kneels and reaches down to part his thighs before pulling him towards his waiting manhood.
"W-wait! We nee-eed c-condensate," the Alchemist cries out flushing slightly. Zhongli leans back and watches as he fumbles through the folds of his robes before pulling out a pouch of vials he kept on his person.
"Ever prepared," the Archon teases, causing the blond to flush darker.
"Your appetite is insatiable, and I never know when you'll try to initiate intercourse." As he is speaking the blond extends his arm shyly, offering the lubricant to his lover.
A wicked smirk curls the Lord of War's lips as an obscene notion begins to take root.
"Prepare yourself," he commands leaning back to palm his own arousal.
At first, the Knight merely blinks up at him in bemusement uncertain if he had somehow misunderstood his lover's intent.
"Aren't you going to do it for me?"
"I'll observe and guide you," Zhongli says smiling broadly as the heat in the Kreideprinz's face intensifies. "Unless you want me inside you so desperately."
Shaking his head, Albedo uncorks the vial and pours its contents unto his palm, coating them over his long fingers before reaching down to tease his puckered entrance. Zhongli's arousal twitches obscenely as the Alchemist inserts the first finger with an studious frown, thrusting and swirling it around uncertainly.
"Now another," the Geo Archon instructs in a husky murmur. The smaller man obeys silently, wincing slightly as he begins to scissors his now-pulsing entrance. It is all the Lord of Contracts can do to keep from pouncing on the younger man as he watches his awkward ministrations attentively. By his third finger, Albedo is biting back an obscene moan as his back arches off the floor.
Unable to restrain himself any longer, Morax pulls the Kreideprinz's fingers away from his entrance and nudges his sex forward, burying himself fully into the smaller man's convulsing form. The familiar tightness is indescribable as the Archon rocks into his lover wantonly. The Alchemist's strangled screams fills the cabin around them, sending pulses of euphoria through the God of Contract's sweaty body. He releases deep inside him once more and reaches out to stroke his lover's member until it erupts.
Mustering every ounce of his remaining strength, Morax carries the blond and deposits him unto the cushy mattress pausing only to rip away the layers of clothes concealing his naked flesh from his roving amber eyes. Albedo's eyelids flicker weakly as his teal eyes scan the room until falling on his lover's form.
"Z-Zhongli?" He murmurs uncertainly as he notes the taller man's lascivious gaze.
"Say yes." The tone of the older man's voice is quiet and possessive as a manic gleam settles into his glowing amber irises.
"Z-Zhongli we barely—"
"We have all of eternity to discover each other."
"I'm too tired to think," the Knight confesses with a weary sigh. "Come to bed and we'll discuss this in the morning."
But their proximity only arouses the Geo Archon and soon Albedo is sprawled on all floors, mewling into the rumpled bedsheets, the Archon's hand clasped possessively around his dripping manhood as the God of Commerce's thrusts rock the bedsprings obscenely. When the Archon deems his backside full to capacity, he ejaculates over the expanse of his back, marking him thoroughly with his seed before guiding his lover unto his lap. He enters him for the umpteenth time that night sending a spasm of pleasure through the blond at the moment of insertion. Albedo bobs wantonly on his lover's thrusting organ, grasping his strong, broad shoulders for dear life as the Archon's muscular arms encircle him, anchoring him firmly to his powerful chest.
They finally fall asleep as the morning's first rays trickle in through the cabin window and remain entangled in a lewd mass of limbs and defiled sheets. When Zhongli awakens, the blond is watching him quietly.
"Marry me," the Archon repeats groggily as the Alchemist leans down to kiss him.
"I have to go," Albedo mutters quietly as he rises to untangle himself. Zhongli catches his arm and holds him fast until he turns to meet his gaze. "I can't marry you when I know that you're hiding things from me."
"Like you aren't either?" the Lord of War snaps suddenly impatient.
"All the more reason to leave things like this," the Kreideprinz returns calmly.
"If you will not marry me—"
"Do you honestly believe threatening me will change my mind?"
The Archon rises with a feral snarl kicking a nearby chair across the cabin as he storms away. He feels the Kreideprinz's gaze trail him and grimaces at the stab of shame at his sudden outburst.
"There is a man," Zhongli relents with a deep sigh. "Tall, clad in black and blue, with a black right arm with glowing blue veins. Do you know of him?"
"No," Albedo replies quietly. "Is he a Harbinger?"
"This far bigger than those simpletons!" The Archon snaps running a hand through his hair. "He has been watching you for quite some time now and disapproves of our relationship. I was content to ignore him since he seemed far too cowardly to approach you, however, he seems to have grown more audacious over the past couple of days."
"This man, I can tell from your tone that you are worried about him," the Alchemist observes. "Is he that powerful?"
"He is," the Geo Archon confesses with a forlorn sigh. "In some ways he frightens me because he reminds me so much of the person I once was a long time ago."
"I have to go," the Chief Alchemist repeats calmly as he begins to get dressed. He briefly inspects the wreckage of his clothes and salvages a few robes and sashes which he hastily slips into.
"You're worried about Klee?" the God of Commerce mutters listlessly as the blond slips on his shoes.
"And Xingqui and his family," the Kreideprinz shoots back with barely concealed annoyance. "If anything happens to them…"
"Relax," Zhongli says with an assuring smile as he rises to embrace him. The shorter man shoves him aside reaching for the doorknob instead. "What's wrong?"
"Step aside!" The Knight snarls. "I have to get to Klee. I…I can't…I can't lose her too." His voice cracks on the last syllable as his veneer of tranquility finally shatters.
"Albedo," Morax murmurs weakly as he reaches out to stroke the younger man's cheek.
"Please, step aside." As the Archon begins to oblige he catches sight of Vigilant Yaksha peering through the cabin window and feels a jolt of trepidation.
Without thinking he channels a pulse of adeptal energy into the blond's face knocking him out. He catches his limp form and deposits it unto the bed, gently pulling the sheets over him as he motions for the Yaksha to enter.
"It is done my lord," Alatus informs him with a reverent bow.
"Take me to him," Morax commands as his beige overcoat transforms into flowing white cloak with gold accents and a hood which he promptly drapes over his head.