Im a firm believer in the idea that Xiao probably is the type of dude who never actually says 'I love you', but like, you know he does.
Zhongli doesn't know how to fix him, not that Xiao would wish for it.
It feels so long ago that Zhongli gifted him the title of Yaksha. He'd meant for it to be a new purpose, something that would drive Xiao forward and away from his dark and heavy past. Perhaps Zhongli should've known better, though. Should've given him more time to adjust to being his own person.
And then, of course, there's his own misunderstanding of exactly what was at stake. Zhongli knows a lot, but he's never been all-knowing. Never considered the cost of ridding the world of such evil, or the toll it might take.
Xiao took the mantle with a quick bow and low-murmured words of gratitude, and he still works it now as a sort of sick, self-inflicted torment.
Zhongli's tried over the centuries to get him to see that he's worth something. Xiao never listens, his past a terrible bog that he can't pull himself from. He's sunk in deep, nearly mummified. Thinks that he's beyond saving, and so this is what Xiao does to himself; submits to the endless torment under the heavy weight of karmic debt.
He's wrong and perhaps he'll learn in due time. Perhaps it'll take an eternity. Time he has, thinks Zhongli, even if no one else does. Every Yaksha falls to their fate— except for Xiao, who despite his penchant for thinking he's worth nothing, has an enviable desire to keep living on.
And so, Zhongli tries to show him, tries to get him to see. Soft murmurs of secretive praise, whispered into Xiao's ears. Gentle, kindly touches as Zhongli smooths a hand down the curve of his spine.
The way Xiao's breath hitches and he moans into the sheets as Zhongli slips inside him.
It's a some-what love, cultivated over eons, something that Zhongli is still hesitant to express in full. He knows that Xiao sees this differently, sees this as a way to rid himself of that everlasting darkness that threatens to drown him, but he must be aware. Somehow, Xiao must know.
But, the more that time passes, the more he slips into the hatred that consumes him. Zhongli can think of a worse way of erasing it than fucking it out of him.
This particular night is rough. Xiao falls onto his porch with a thud, clawing at his skin, nails sinking deep into his flesh. Breathing hard and shrieking in horror. Zhongli cuts off the horrific sound with a biting kiss, despite his sleep-addled brain and the slow stirrings of his cock.
Xiao fights him, fingers wrapping around his wrists and yanking, but Zhongli holds him firm by the chin. "Xiao," he says quietly, but his name is uttered unyielding, ever like the hardened rock he's built his home from.
For a moment, the haze clears and Xiao looks afraid, pulling at Zhongli's hands for an entirely different reason.
"Shh," he murmurs, running his other hand through Xiao's hair, trying to soothe him. Xiao settles ever so slightly, nostrils flaring but his breathing more relaxed.
"It hurts," he cries against him.
"I know," says Zhongli, sliding his thumb along Xiao's bottom lip. A soft touch as Zhongli considers him, pleasure slowly bubbling in his core. It's unfair of him to relish this, to want it so.
"It burns," continues Xiao, his voice cracking and desperate, "It's going to— this is the end, it's going to consume me!"
"It will not." Zhongli huffs, almost offended. But then his tone softens as he leans in once more. "I won't let it."
"Help," says Xiao with a plea, "I don't deserve it, I don't, but—"
"Nonsense." Zhongli presses a sweet kiss against his forehead, his mouth lingering there. Xiao scrambles against him, fingers curling into Zhongli's sleep shirt, yanking at the smooth and soft silk.
"Master," he murmurs, sighing against him, and that's all it takes for Zhongli's resolve to crack.
Zhongli picks him up as though he weighs nothing. Settles Xiao into his bed like he's something precious. To him, he is, ever worth the effort of saving.
Xiao writhes in the sheets, the pain like a choke hold as he claws at his throat, leaving behind red marks. His legs are already spread, wanting and waiting. He watches Zhongli through hawk-like and anguished eyes. And Zhongli swallows, his throat bobbing as he takes in the sight; Xiao's flushed face and hiccuping breaths, the tenor of his voice as he groans in desperation.
There is so little that Zhongli can do. He can't turn back time, but he can relieve him of this torture, if only for a short while. Pull Xiao entirely apart and lay him out bare before reassembling him. Buy him some time before he's back out on the hunt, protecting others as he always does, slipping into that slow-creeping madness once more.
Xiao's tunic comes off with practiced hands, Zhongli's fingers caressing down his front with reverent care. He takes in Xiao's marred skin, and how warm it feels under his hand. Xiao arches against him, spreading his thighs wider with envious flexibility.
"Master," he cries forlornly, pawing at the front of his pants. Zhongli sees where his cock tents the soft material and sighs at the sight. He lays himself overtop, pressing a kiss against Xiao's neck.
Xiao whines, no doubt annoyed at the soft and loving display. He's too frantic at the moment, too hard and aching for such pleasantries, but this is Zhongli's price— just a few moments where he can praise Xiao like this.
He mouths at his jaw gently, his tongue snaking out to lick along the bone there. Then down to his neck, where he worries a mark into Xiao's skin. It won't last long, but it'll be enough to satisfy that dragon that lurks deep within Zhongli's bones. Down his sternum and to his chest; Zhongli mouths at Xiao's skin wherever he can. Swirls his tongue around a nipple, nipping gently at the nub.
Xiao chokes on a moan, his voice pitching lower than before. "I—" But whatever he's about to say dissolves immediately when Zhongli kisses down his stomach and noses along the hem of his trousers. "Please," murmurs Xiao instead, forgoing his earlier thought entirely. "Please."
Zhongli undoes the fly quickly, Xiao's cock springing forth once the fabric is pulled away. Then, Zhongli slides his mouth along his length, biting gently at the skin of its base. Xiao's hands find his hair, digging into the strands and pulling. Zhongli groans against him, wrapping his fingers around Xiao's cock.
"Master, Master—" Xiao breaks off in a keen, hips lifting as Zhongli wraps his mouth around the tip of his cock, tongue swirling along the underside.
He holds Xiao's hips, pressing him firmly to the bed. Sucks Xiao's dick right down, his nose pressed nearly to Xiao's groin. Xiao scratches at his scalp, claws digging in, the burn of it grounding in the way that it feels.
Zhongli hums around him as Xiao bucks into his throat. "Fuck," he whispers, "Archons, please—"
Zhongli pulls off of him, perhaps a little cruel in his timing. He smooths his palms over Xiao's legs, trying to calm the tremors of his tense thighs. Zhongli wants him to come, wants to see him as he loses it all, but not like this.
"Not yet," says Zhongli, "A little bit longer."
"Unfair," hisses Xiao, clawing at the bed instead, his voice taking on a dangerous edge. Zhongli pulls back and regards him with a warning gaze.
"Is that how it's going to be tonight?" asks Zhongli, his head cocked to the side. Certainly not angry. No, he relishes it, all his blood rushing south and tenting his sleep pants uncomfortably. Xiao watches him back, his chin tipped up in defiance, golden eyes narrowly slit in arousal and rage.
Zhongli drags a hand down Xiao's front again, this time clawed with dragon-like talons and leaving pink, raised marks in its wake. Xiao shivers underneath him and his mouth tips into a feral smirk. Then, he moves, reversing their positions and pressing Zhongli into the bed.
"I wanted a fight," challenges Xiao, grinding down against his crotch, feeling his hardness there. Zhongli's breath hitches, his hands finding Xiao's hips to still him. But Zhongli doesn't stop him, not entirely.
Xiao looks down at him, his pupils blown wide. His fingers make quick work of Zhongli's clothing, leaving the both of them bare. Xiao is so beautiful like this, so handsome in his destructive wake. Zhongli is all but willing to lay back and let him do as his wishes.
"Xiao," he murmurs softly, nearly breaking the contract that he's made with himself— the one where he indulges when he can, but mostly ignores how he feels. But it's so impossible to look past it in moments like this, with Xiao hanging over him, watching him ravenously.
It warms Zhongli's heart that it's him Xiao comes to, one of the rare decisions that he makes for himself. Xiao's a selfless man whose every action is for someone else; but here, in these apartment walls, he's only a man with wants and needs. And those wants and needs are only answered by one.
And how Zhongli delivers, every time. Brings Xiao back from the brink, that rage that builds with karmic debt. Smooths out those sharp edges until Xiao's crying as he comes on his cock. It satisfies a visceral part of Zhongli but also calms his own raging need— the desire to take care of those that he cares for.
Xiao's aggressive in the way that he touches him, raking his fingers down Zhongli's chest, digging them in. Ferocious, in how he handles him, teeth bared as his eyes flash with intent. And Zhongli just watches him, moaning as Xiao's hand finds his dick, palm curling around it.
"Master," he breathes, leaning forward as his hand slides over the length of it. His hand looks so small in comparison, the sight of it settling deep into Zhongli's thoughts as the hunger within him rises.
"Closer," says Zhongli, tugging at his hips, and Xiao complies wordlessly. Zhongli bats his hand away and tucks their cocks together instead, his own hand tightening around the both of them and squeezing.
Xiao slaps a hand against the mattress, crying out, rutting into Zhongli's fist. The sound is so delicious and Zhongli wants more. But Xiao can't help it, the way that he slips, that pain and agony taking back over as his fingers slice into the mattress.
Zhongli lets go of their cocks, his hands finding purchase against his waist. "Xiao," he says, but Xiao doesn't listen, bucking against him instead, his cock sliding against Zhongli's skin, smearing precome across his groin.
"Xiao," repeats Zhongli, reaching up to grab him by the chin once more. Sternly, but not too tight. Just enough to force him to listen. "Slower," he says, tugging Xiao's face down close to his. Xiao growls in his grasp, but then whines, trying to grind against him again.
Then, he blinks, eyes opening and that lustful haze clearing ever so slightly. Xiao presses his nose into Zhongli's neck. Zhongli pauses— this is new. Xiao is the handsy type, sure; fervently grasping at him and rutting against him as he pleases in such moments, but he doesn't so much indulge in this sort of sweet intimacy.
That's more what Zhongli prefers.
"What is it," he asks quietly, threading his fingers through Xiao's hair, gentler than he was just moments before.
"It's different this time. The pain. It's all-consuming, I can't think of anything else, except—" Xiao stops himself, frustrated.
"Except?" asks Zhongli, as patient as the stone mountains which slowly weather.
"You calm me," murmurs Xiao, his voice soft like the late night breeze. "Every time that I come here, you pull me back from that darkness. Master, I don't… I shouldn't… I am undeserving—"
Zhongli kisses him fiercely, all tongues and teeth, nipping at his mouth. Quietly possessive in the way that he wants to pleasure Xiao. Of course, he deserves it; Xiao deserves the entire world. He's his most faithful Yaksha and the last of his kind, still defending the world from the horrors that evil brings despite how his end looms closer and closer with each day.
Unerring and passionate, so perfect in his work. Zhongli says this to Xiao as he kisses him, he whispers these praises right against his lips. Takes Xiao's face gently between his hands to slot it into a different angle. Xiao moans against him, Zhongli's fervent acclaim doing its work.
When Zhongli pulls back, he presses their foreheads together and breathes.
"This isn't just for you," he says in a moment of rare and true honestly, "I am a selfish man, Xiao, and a selfish lover. I take what you give because it's what I want, despite how it helps you."
"Oh," murmur Xiao as he sits back slightly, dragging his nails across Zhongli's chest. "You—" Xiao sighs as he meets Zhongli's gaze, eyes half-lidded but thoughtful. "I've always assumed this was a burden to you."
"No, no," says Zhongli, brushing his bangs back, "Never. I… want this more than I can express properly with words." So he's always done so with his actions, even if Xiao hasn't seen them for what they truly are.
Xiao's expression turns then, melting into something almost wistful.
Zhongli knows what comes next, so he speaks first. "Don't tell me that you aren't worth it." His hand slides along the curve of Xiao's shoulder, fingers trailing down his arm.
"That isn't it," says Xiao softly, turning away, unable to meet his face. He's awkward as he waffles. "Master, you're the one that deserves more than someone who's so utterly broken."
"Nonsense," says Zhongli, reaching out and grasping for his hand. He pulls Xiao's knuckles to his mouth for a sweet kiss. "I offer myself to you without reason."
"Offer yourself," repeats Xiao, and oh, it's the phrasing that does it for him. The way that Zhongli says it seems to change his mind. His chin tips up just slightly as he watches Zhongli from above. "To me."
"Always," says Zhongli, earnestly and with intent. It's the closest to a confession he's ever gotten, the word flying from his mouth before he can stop it. Because with Xiao, he's tired of pretending. "It's an indulgence." He licks across the rise and fall of Xiao's knuckles, his tongue lapping at the skin sensually. "Servicing you. Watching you underneath me, above me, spread wide around—"
"Oh," says Xiao, his eyes suddenly dark and cat-eyed. Pupils slit and nostrils flaring. His grip against Zhongli tightens again, his fingers sinking into soft flesh. Zhongli doesn't budge, taking what he gives.
Xiao preens with the praise, shifting over Zhongli, pressing his hips close. He pulls at Zhongli's hair, gripping at it just tight enough to sting in the best of ways.
"However you want me," says Zhongli, watching him, "I'll give it to you, always." Zhongli looks into his eyes, entirely unblinking. Xiao is younger, but he has the same kind of ageless knowing that Zhongli carries in his breast. An amber-eyed gaze that's seen both too much and so little.
"And if I want to devour you?"
"Happily so."
"And if I want you to devour me?"
Zhongli's mouth twitches at that, pleasure pooling in his gut once more. "When have I ever not?"
Xiao's eyes darken as he shifts once more, pressing Zhongli's shoulders deep into the pillows. The feral look is back on his face again, that well-loved, predatory grin spreading his lips wide. Xiao looks like he wants to devour Zhongli right up. And Zhongli loves it.
His hands find Xiao's waist, tugging him upwards. Xiao settles over Zhongli's face, knees sinking into the soft mattress near his ears. He watches Zhongli from above, his face flush with want, eyes hazy with lust. Xiao's cock is hard again, resting near Zhongli's cheek, a drop of precome pooling at the tip.
Zhongli's already brought him close to the edge once. The least that he can do is finish the damn job. And so, he takes him in hand and pumps the length. Xiao sighs at the touch, his head tipping forward, his eyes never looking away.
It's never been like this, Xiao's never watched so fervently. It's always been hushed whimpers and hisses and hiding his face in the pillows and blankets. Zhongli feels like his skin is on fire from the attention.
He licks across Xiao's cock, tongue lapping at the tip, tasting him. Salty and sweet. Then, Zhongli seals his mouth around his cock, swallowing him down. Xiao hisses this time, his hands scratching against his scalp. He doesn't stop himself from fucking into Zhongli's throat.
And Zhongli encourages it, pulling him by the hips, enjoying the way that Xiao feels thick and warm in his mouth as he licks around his cock.
"Fuck," murmurs Xiao, a punched little sound that's followed by a moan. His hands leave Zhongli's hair to grasp him by his face instead for better leverage as he presses in deep. Zhongli's nose is flush with the skin at Xiao's groin, nuzzling the softness there.
It doesn't take much for Xiao to tip over the edge and lose himself to his orgasm. He comes into Zhongli's mouth unexpectedly, taking them both by surprise, and Zhongli just swallows it down, his chest swelling in pride in how well Xiao's responded.
But the night is still young and Xiao still wears the smirk of a devil. He pulls his flagging cock out of Zhongli's mouth and marvels at the way his cum spills over his lips. Zhongli moans when Xiao smooths a thumb over his bottom lip to push his spend back in. He can't help but lick around the digit, sucking it into his mouth.
"Look at you," says Xiao, marveling. His eyes still hold the depravity that brought him to Zhongli's doorstep that night, but they're alight with awareness. Tonight, they'll share a different sort of coupling. Zhongli feels it in his bones.
It's usually Zhongli who sings these kinds of praises, soft little whispers tucked right into Xiao's ears. The dragon inside him shifts with unease— but not entirely without want. Zhongli yearns for attention and praises, even if his instincts demand that he take his lover properly.
All in due time.
Zhongli's cock is hard and aching against his thigh again at the promise of slipping into Xiao's tight heat. His hand smooths over Xiao's backside, squeezing at the muscle there. Generous where it counts, soft in the places where Zhongli likes to hold onto him. Framed by powerful thighs, one of which Zhongli turns to press a kiss against the inside of.
Xiao is impatient, as he often is. Finds the oil in the bedside table and before Zhongli can stop him he's pressed two of his own fingers, slicked, right into his hole. Zhongli watches, a lump forming in his throat. Relishing the way that Xiao puts on an unhinged performance. Enraptured by how his fingers pull out and slip right back in, how he spreads his hole and tugs at his rim.
Delicious in the most decadent of ways. Zhongli stops him just as he's about to add a third finger. Tugs at his hand to replace it with his own. Zhongli slicks his fingers in the mess that Xiao's made and they slide right in to the last knuckle.
Xiao moans, heavy with want, already bucking his hips back, trying to meet his palm. Zhongli chuckles against his chest, his tongue dipping out to lick a stripe up his sternum. Then across his pec to swirl around a nipple. Zhongli's fingers work to pull him apart as he suckles the nub, biting at it gently until it's stiff and cherry-red.
"Master," Xiao gasps, his hold tightening again, nails digging sharp pinpricks into Zhongli's shoulders. He hopes that they leave a mark.
Zhongli slips a third finger in and spreads them wide, and Xiao cries out as he finally nudges his prostate. "Oh, oh—"
"So beautiful," murmurs Zhongli against him, biting at his other nipple, lavishing equal attention for it to match the first. "So responsive, so—"
"Please," cuts in Xiao with a pathetic whine. He fucks back against Zhongli's hand, trying to take his fingers deeper. "Please."
Xiao has lost himself to it, finally. The pleasure. He's very nearly gone as his instincts kick in and he just enjoys the rapture. He watches Zhongli with a lustful and debauched gaze, and half-lidded eyes. His face is sweaty from the strain.
Always so beautiful, thinks Zhongli as his gut clenches tightly. Archons, his cock aches.
Zhongli pulls his fingers out and wipes them against the sheets, uncaring of the mess. Xiao shifts back, settling over him. Takes Zhongli's cock in hand, and before a protest can be made, he sits right down on it. Impales himself, taking Zhongli's length easily in one go.
It's Zhongli that cries out this time, the sound a sort of half-choked growl. A sound that he's never made before during their fucking and Xiao notices instantly, nostrils flaring. He pauses, his hand pressed flat against Zhongli's chest.
"Ah," says Xiao, that lecherous and foul smirk finding his face again. "Is that how it's going to be?" Repeated words from earlier that night as he turns Zhongli's teasing back on him.
Zhongli can feel his grip on himself shift slightly. The room fills with the power of Geo, tinging the air a glowing gold. "Didn't you want a fight?" he teases right back.
Xiao lifts his hips and drops them suddenly, starting their long-awaited dance. He sets a pace that's a little frantic, quick and hard movements that drive Zhongli's cock in deep. Xiao moans above him, breath stuttering with every movement. The sweat on his skin shines in the low light of the room.
Zhongli just holds on, gripping him tightly by the waist, claws digging into his skin. Xiao won't mind the marks and how they'll stay for days. Zhongli is mesmerized by the sight of him and how Xiao moves; the way that he watches him back, unbreaking in their eye contact.
Never before has it been like this, so utterly electrifying. Zhongli's always loved their trysts for the rare moments of intimacy that they provide, but this is something entirely different. This is fervent and worshiping, and Xiao looks like he's about to devour him whole.
He rides him like a man starved, and it pleases Zhongli; pleases his own dark beast that lurks in the corners of his being. That older part of him that used to know war and fought in the most marital of ways to rise to the top.
"Xiao," says Zhongli in a warning, feeling the tips of his fingers go numb. He's starting to lose the tight grip on his current form, Geo swirling around them in a glittering haze. Xiao only fucks him faster, takes him deeper, grinds against his groin in circles on every downstroke.
Zhongli shifts his grip on him, claws pulling at his skin. "Xiao," he warns again— but it's too late. He can't rein it in and the power lets loose. Zhongli's arms turn obsidian black, like a deep and starless night. Lines of gold thread through his being, connecting him to the Geo of the world. And his horns, of course, fuzzed and curling antlers that will themselves back into existence.
He manages to hold on enough of himself that he's still mostly mortal.
Xiao stops, settling Zhongli's cock deep into his ass, and Zhongli groans at the tight hold.
"Morax," he says, eyes wide as he takes in the sight of him, running his fingers across Zhongli's chest as though he's seeing a ghost. Likely because that's what it feels like. Xiao hasn't seen him like this in over a millennia. Zhongli hasn't seen himself like this in that long either. It feels nearly foreign.
"No," he says.
Xiao's face softens then and he leans over, pressing their foreheads together. Zhongli tries to regroup himself, tries to find that centering balance that he's long since perfected. But Archons, it's impossible, with Xiao seated on his thick cock, his insides warm and fluttering around him.
"Master," amends Xiao.
"No," says Zhongli, his voice cracked and feeble. Anything but dead names and unwanted titles.
Xiao's eyes open and for a moment there is fear. Like it's all too much. Like he suddenly regrets coming here. Zhongli won't fault him for it. Such a thing has happened before. Xiao's grip on reality fades with every day that passes, but at this moment, he looks clear-eyed and more aware than he has in a long time.
"Zhongli," he says, trying one last time.
Zhongli's breath hitches, and it's he who keens a pathetic sort of sound. How he's wanted to hear Xiao call him that for what feels like an eternity. Zhongli pulls him close and shifts their weight, rolling them over until Xiao's pressed into the sheets by Zhongli's larger weight.
He looks. Runs his hands across Xiao's skin, thumbing over every inch that he can. Takes in the beautiful sight of him, and how he takes his cock so well, his hole, tight and warm and spread deliciously wide. Zhongli presses his thumb there too, along the stretched rim, marveling at how they're connected, something deep within him wholly satiated.
"Zhongli," says Xiao again, snapping him from his thoughts.
He moves. Pulls out and fucks right back in, but it isn't the dizzying pace that Xiao expects. Xiao scrambles against him, begging for something faster and more frenzied. But that isn't what Zhongli wants, so he settles for a languid and relaxed paced, with long strokes that strike deep instead.
"Please." A whimper from Xiao, who covers his embarrassed face with his arm.
"Patience," says Zhongli, reaching up to pull his arm away, only to reveal a lewd expression and ruddy, pink cheeks. Xiao's furious, annoyed that he isn't getting what he wants, being the brat that he sometimes can be—
But Zhongli doesn't care. He fucks into him with slow and rolling movements, his cock savoring the tightness of his insides. He presses his face into the crook of Xiao's neck, nipping at the skin there.
"Zhongli," says Xiao again, trying to appease him with his name. He's never called him by it before, and now he has thrice. Zhongli chuckles, his voice rumbling deeply. Desperate, so desperate, and only for him. He loves it, drinks it up, soaks it right in through his pores and straight to his bones.
It's the kind of thing that fuels him to say and do stupid things in the heat of the moment like—
"Gods, I love you," says Zhongli into his ear, a murmuring whisper that leaves Xiao gasping.
"What?"
"I love you," he says again, pressing a kiss there as he grinds his cock deep. Xiao makes a mewling sort of noise, his fingers digging into the back of Zhongli's neck, scratching him up. "I love you. So magnificent. So powerful. How you stand above all and selflessly save others. The way that you take your duties so seriously, and how you cling onto what you find important."
Then Zhongli's voice pitches lower and his praise takes a turn into something far more debased. "The way that you always come to me," he continues, "How well you take my cock. So good for me in every way, so perfect.
"Fuck," says Xiao with a hiss, the praise sinking straight to his cock as it hardens again.
Zhongli presses his thighs back and pulls Xiao's legs over his shoulders. The angle changes, his cock driving straight into his prostate, and Xiao howls with the next thrust.
"Made for me," says Zhongli, kissing Xiao's ankle bone as he picks up speed and fucks into him fiercely. Pleasure coils in his gut, nearly overflowing. Zhongli's eyes are pinned to Xiao's form as he watches him meet his every movement. Xiao's cock bounces between them, angry-looking and dribbling at the tip.
"I—" starts Xiao, but he loses his thought instantly, his back arching, head thrown back. Zhongli's eyes zero in on the elegant line of his neck, his breath caught by Xiao's beauty. Pale and pristine skin. Dark locks, spilling over the pillows. Long fingers, pulling at the sheets.
His rim tight around Zhongli's cock, sucking him right back in. The way that Xiao whines every time that he pulls out to nearly the tip.
A thought comes to Zhongli at that moment, as he settles his hand across Xiao's waist. His palm is so wide in comparison that he nearly spans it, and the things that it does to him. Unbidden feelings and desires that he's long kept hidden.
Things that he would never dare say to Xiao because this is supposed to be an outlet. He's supposed to be dampening that karmic debt, loosing it through unrivaled pleasure, not growing old and catching feelings. But he can't help it, what his heart wants, the way that it yearns for Xiao.
Zhongli settles Xiao's legs around his waist again, in favor of leaning close. He nuzzles his nose against Xiao's cheek, his jaw, his neck; lavishing everything that he can with attention.
What if he tempered that debt instead? Took it and forged it into something entirely new? Slippery darkness turned into pleasure; strong enough to pull Xiao back from that sinking edge time and time again because—
"Mate," murmurs Zhongli against Xiao's face, finally voicing a deep and guttural thought that's only permeated his dreams until that point.
All of this works because they're two pieces of a whole, two halves of a circle, yin and yang. So wholly different, but meant to be, made for each other.
Zhongli expects Xiao to call for a halt, to freak out and decide to leave. He doesn't. Xiao gasps against him, arms slipping around Zhongli's neck to pull him flush to his chest. His hole tightens around Zhongli's cock, holding it in an impossible grip. He smells— Archons, he smells divine.
"Yes," says Xiao with a hiss, yanking at Zhongli's hair again. That aggressive need and want is back, this time triple-fold. "Yes, yes, yes—"
Zhongli fucks into him with renewed vigor, like they've just forged a contract with nothing but unspoken feelings. He nips at that sultry length of Xiao's neck, teeth sinking in just barely, sucking a mark into the tender flesh. Xiao groans, baring more of his skin, and Zhongli has to force himself to pull away.
"Not today," he murmurs, pressing a soft kiss there instead, but one day, maybe. One day he'll bite and make that claim. For now, though—
Xiao cries out when Zhongli's hand finds his cock, fingers curling around it. He strokes his length in time with his thrusts. Zhongli ruts against him, quick and articulated strokes that aim right where Xiao wants him most.
And it's delicious, the way that Xiao moves to meet his every thrust. How he soaks up the attention and feel of it, and how his throat bobs in anticipation. Sweat beads along Xiao's brow, his lips are kiss-swollen and plump, and his eyes—
Xiao can't stop looking at him. Zhongli holds himself up on one hand as he thrusts into him, over and over. Jerks Xiao's cock with the other, his palm tightening around the crown of his dick with every upstroke. The pleasure feels like it's going to boil him alive with the way that it coils deep in his core.
Zhongli snaps first. He tips over that edge and comes deep into Xiao, filling his quivering insides up with his spend. Xiao keens, biting at his lip as Zhongli keeps his fingers finger across him. "Zhongli," he murmurs, "Zhongli—"
"One more," he says, pressing a kiss to Xiao's eyelids. And then his nose, and his cheeks, and his jaw. He licks over the line of bone there before settling his face into the crook of his neck. Zhongli's spent, exhausted by too many things. And yet. "Just give me one more," he says to Xiao, trying to coax another orgasm from him.
Xiao shakes underneath him, his thighs tense around his waist. But he does, he comes quickly, succumbing to the feel of it all and losing himself entirely. Zhongli groans as Xiao's ass clenches, overstimulated himself as his cock slowly softens.
They're both left breathing heavily. The room is suddenly tense. Zhongli's mind clears and he realizes exactly what he's said in the sanctity of his bed. "Xiao—"
"Later," says Xiao in a sleepy murmur.
Zhongli blinks; Xiao's never stayed past having his needs satisfied. The moment the encroaching evil is filtered away, he usually takes his leave. But he hasn't budged, eyes slipping closed wearily. When Zhongli moves to pull his cock out, Xiao stops him. Just a simple hand against his wrist. Enough to make him pause.
"I don't…" Xiao cracks an eye open and his cheeks redden in embarrassment. "I'd rather not lose— Ugh." He doesn't finish, but the intent is clear.
Zhongli's heart bursts at the thought of Xiao wanting him to stay seated deep for as long as possible. So, he will. Zhongli shifts them onto their sides, his chest nestled gently against Xiao's back. He lifts a hand and strokes through Xiao's hair idly, sighing softly.
But it's Xiao that speaks first. "I was aware," he says softly. "Of how you felt, but I didn't realize just how…"
How deep those feelings went. Zhongli hadn't either, not until fairly recently. "It's new for me too," he confesses.
"Takes a mess to know one, I suppose." Xiao's tone is a little more biting than he likely means for it to be. But that's just how he is; ornery exterior, but soft on the inside.
There's a pause, and then he continues with: "Did you mean it? When you said, 'Not today'." Xiao's voice is so quiet, so frail. Like he's afraid to ask. Afraid to dream.
Zhongli kisses his shoulder and then says, "I meant just that. Not today. There are many things to discuss." He sighs, a soft and content thing. "But yes, I meant it. Mate."
Xiao shudders in his grasp, which only pleases Zhongli.
He says nothing more. Zhongli combs through his hair, whispering sweet nothings into his ear until Xiao slips into a dreamless sleep. It's the first time they've shared a bed in such a way. Zhongli feels the lingering pull of his draconic instincts but manages to settle in, his eyes growing tired.
The quiet, domestic bliss is perfection. Zhongli falls asleep, his arms wrapped around Xiao and his cock snug in his ass.
Perhaps he's the one who's been tempered this entire time.