Nothing Hardens the Dick Like a Good Study Session

"I'm sorry?"

"You heard me."

"I—" Childe laughs as if he doesn't believe him. Maybe he doesn't. "Zhongli, you can't be serious."

He is, of course. Zhongli might bend the truth here and there, and omit important things, but he doesn't lie. Especially when it comes to academics.

"Childe, your grades are slipping."

"What, are you my dad?"

Zhongli grimaces. "I—no. But I'm part of the problem. We spend more time—"

"Fucking each other. Yeah, I know. It's great. Literally the highlight of my day."

"Childe, be serious."

"Gods, you can't be." Childe leans back in his chair, whining.

Zhongli leans back as well, his hands folded neatly in his lap. "No sex until your grades are up."

Childe makes a pitiful sound that nearly makes Zhongli retract the request, but no. He must be strong too. As much as the ache in his gut hates it. Zhongli went months without fucking, he can survive a little bit longer. He'll likely just be incredibly friendly with his hand for a while—

"So like, all sex?"

Zhongli blinks, turning back to Childe. "What do you mean?"

Childe makes a ring with his thumb and forefinger, then slots his other pointer finger through it. Oh. Zhongli sputters slightly, looking away to drag a hand down his face.

"I knew it!" says Childe. "You don't want to do this either."

"Of course, I don't—" Zhongli sighs. "Childe, someone has to be the voice of reason, and it certainly isn't going to be you. You should take more care about your schooling."

Childe pouts, his cheek puffing out. "Easy words coming from the local genius."

Zhongli shoots him a look. "I feel partially responsible, anyhow. I've taken up a lot of your time, and—"

"Your dick grounds me."

"I—what."

Childe watches him innocently. "I couldn't think before. Now that we've fucked, I'm more in the zone. I can focus better."

"Childe, you are failing three classes—"

"I was failing four." Childe rubs at the back of his neck. "You're right, though. I have to pull up my grades. Coach has been threatening to bench me if I don't."

"Childe."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I should have told you before." Childe rests his cheek against the palm of his hand. "Will you help me?"

Zhongli should say no because he doesn't think that Childe will learn much if he's constantly distracted by his general presence. But, when it comes to Childe, he's never had the strength to say no, has he? He rubs at his brow and against his better judgment, agrees.

#

Xiao watches Childe study from where he stands at the espresso machine, steaming milk for Zhongli's coffee. Lattes have rubbed off on him recently, Zhongli often defaulting to Childe's preferred choice, much to Xiao's disgust. "What's got his whitey-tighties in a bunch?"

"He doesn't wear—"

"Archons, I don't need to know that. Spare me the fucking details."

Zhongli snickers softly, fully aware of Xiao's discomfort. "Joking aside, it is nothing much. He's failing a few classes and I told him that he needs to bring those grades up."

Xiao gives him a look. "You told him and he just…" Xiao trails off, waving a hand.

"Well, when presented with the proper motivation, he was quick to agree." Xiao's resulting face is comical. "Wait, no, that isn't what I mean."

"Gods, the two of you. Insufferable." Xiao pulls the milk away from the steam wand and dumps it into Zhongli's cup with little technique. Zhongli will not be tipping him, old friend, or not.

"Needless to say, he can't keep failing. He'll lose his scholarship if it persists."

"Oh, the horror," says Xiao dryly.

"You might not like him, but I—"

"I don't hate him." Xiao pours more milk into a pitcher and sets it to steam. "I just don't like what he's done to you. You used to be responsible, you know. Then you meet him and it's like…"

"You never minded Guizhong," says Zhongli cooly. And really, as if Xiao is the paragon of good taste. Zhongli remembers the drunk choral student well enough.

At first, Xiao doesn't respond, focusing on the espresso shots he's pulling. Then, he says, "It wasn't ever serious with her." Zhongli opens his mouth to protest, but Xiao continues. "I know what you thought, but you never watched the two of you. You got along, yeah, but that was it. Best buddies that fucked each other?" Xiao shrugs.

"Childe and I are friends with—"

"I know what you insist that you are, but it's different. At least from my end. You never looked at her the way you look at him. I want you to be happy, but like… him?" Xiao makes a gagging sound.

"I…" Zhongli doesn't know how exactly to respond.

Xiao finishes Childe's drink and slides both cups across the sticky counter. "Look, I'm fine with it. You can definitely do worse. But, you should at least be honest with each other, otherwise, it's all going to go downhill instead."

"We're just having fun," says Zhongli quietly. "Your concern is noted, though."

Xiao scoffs at that, shooting him a rude gesture right before he turns around.

#

To his credit, Childe tries to the point of near desperation.

"It's like a foreign language to me," he whines, rubbing at his eyes.

"And you think that I would understand chemistry better?"

"No, but you can at least read these answers off for me, right?" Childe tosses him a deck of flashcards rubber banded together and Zhongli catches them with ease.

Zhongli pulls the top from the deck. "An example of a homogenous mixture is—" he reads off. Zhongli looks at Childe, awaiting an answer.

Childe's throat bobs as he swallows. "Saltwater?"

Zhongli tosses the card to him. "Correct, apparently."

"See? I knew I'd focus better if you got involved."

Zhongli would roll his eyes if he didn't know better. It's innocent, almost, but Childe seems more at ease just with him asking the questions. Perhaps there was something to Zhongli helping him study. Which is how they wind up settled onto their shitty futon, Zhongli leaning against one end with Childe's feet in his lap.

"Define polarity," he asks next.

Childe groans, his head hanging off the arm of the couch. "Something about bonded electrons. Don't remember past that."

"Half-correct," says Zhongli, pinching at his calf.

"Ow."

"Do better. Carbocation."

"Wait, I remember this actually." Childe tilts his head up to look at him. "A carbon strand with only three bonds and a positive charge."

Zhongli watches him back. "Your wording could use work, but it seems correct enough."

The further they go on, Childe eases into it, getting more correct than he gets wrong. Zhongli delights in watching him think, the furrow between Childe's brows cute.

"You're doing well," he says eventually, pausing once he reaches the middle of the deck.

"Well enough for a treat?"

Zhongli blinks, instantly on alert. "Treat? Childe—Oh."

Childe shifts closer, sitting up and leaning over the couch with that wily smirk spread wide across his face. His hand traces the length of Zhongli's leg before pressing flat against the inside of his thigh. Zhongli's cock twitches, instantly interested, filling out slowly until there's a bulge.

It isn't easily missed. "What's this?" Zhongli reaches out to stop him in his tracks before Childe can nuzzle his cheek against it. "Oh, come on," he moans. "I know you want—"

"Of course I do," says Zhongli, petting through Childe's hair. "But we had an agreement."

"You said no sex. You never said no blow jobs."

"That is an impressive show of nitpicking."

Childe pulls away then, leaning up until he's face to face with Zhongli. "You know what would motivate me more?"

"I could guess," says Zhongli, sinking back into the couch. He does nothing as Childe settles across his lap, wrapping his arms around his neck. "I doubt the answer is a kiss."

"Hm, sounds nice, though." Childe swoops in, pressing their mouths together.

Zhongli lets him, fingers curling against Childe's hips, tugging him closer. They rarely do this outside of sleeping together, but Zhongli takes the moment to indulge. And perhaps it is manipulative, but Zhongli doesn't care as he sinks into the feel of Childe's mouth against his, tongue snaking out to slip between his lips.

Childe moans, his hips dipping slightly to seek out more friction. Zhongli holds him firm. "None of that," he says against him. "We have a deal, don't we?"

"That's—" Childe whimpers. "Come on."

Zhongli chuckles then, kissing him again. He drags a hand the length of Childe's back tugging gently at his shirt in a tease. He wants something too, anything, really, but what example would he be setting if he gave in so easily. So he doesn't, despite the way that his cock aches in his trousers, begging to be touched.

"Don't think that I don't want to, darling," he says. A slip of the tongue. He's never called Childe that aloud, but Childe doesn't seem to mind, moaning, trying to swallow Zhongli's tongue down.

Zhongli grabs him by the chin, thumbing at Childe's bottom lip. "Needy, aren't you?"

"A game," blurts Childe then. "Why don't we turn studying into a game? You read off those flashcards while you jerk me off, and I struggle to answer them."

Zhongli hums at that. "Sounds like you'd fail spectacularly."

"If I don't answer, you stop. You get to control it, I get your hands on me—it's a win-win, right?"

Oh, that sounds delicious. Zhongli can imagine it now, Childe trying to answer questions while blissed out by Zhongli's touch. Kinkier than he's ever imagined, but Zhongli thinks that he likes the idea of it. He drags his knuckles across Childe's taut belly and then down, pausing just above his dick.

"Please don't make me beg."

"Not this time." Zhongli pulls away to draw the next flash card.

"Oh my god, I was joking. I didn't actually mean—"

"Define electrons," cuts in Zhongli, smirking at Childe. He's so rarely cruel like this, but the idea seems fun, and if it gets Childe to take his studying seriously, he's willing to be a little bit absurd.

"I—"

"Electrons, Childe. This is an easy one."

Childe hesitates, his cheeks pinked as he watches Zhongli. "Parts of an atom," he says. "Something about a negative charge. They move around a lot, like I'm about to do if you don't—oh, fuck."

Zhongli cups the tent in Childe's trousers, squeezing at his cock. Childe moans at such a simple touch, his hips bucking. He loosens his grip as he pulls another card. "PH scale," says Zhongli this time. "Tell me about it."

"It's… isn't that the thing that measures the acidity of a solution?"

"And the range?"

"Uhm, uh—fourteen is the highest? The lowest is one?"

Zhongli squeezes at his dick again, jerking it slightly through the rough fabric. "Correct again. Perhaps this wasn't the worst idea, you seem rather focused now."

"I'm—fuck, that feels good."

It's cute. Childe bucks against his hand, chasing the friction with a soft moan, desperate for more. Which means another question.

"What type of bond consists of a metal with a nonmetal?"

"Co-Covalent bond," says Childe, punching the word out.

"Incorrect," says Zhongli, pulling his hand away.

"Oh, come on!"

Zhongli laughs, reaching up slightly to nuzzle the curve of Childe's neck. "You were the one who said to stop if you answered incorrectly."

"I—yeah, that was a mistake."

"There's still half a deck. We can keep going if you want." He kisses the column of Childe's neck. "Or we can stop if it's too much for you—"

"No," says Childe immediately. "Keep going. Anything if it means just the chance of getting your hands on me."

They continue with their game and Zhongli learns that he loves teasing Childe. Eventually, his trousers come off, leaving Childe prone as he straddles Zhongli's lap, his cock hard and leaking. Zhongli's fingers are wrapped loosely around him, jerking his length lazily.

"What is an indicator?"

"Like a litmus strip. Tests a solution to find out the acidity of it."

"Correct," says Zhongli, curling his palm around the tip of Childe's cock. "Is this what it takes for you to remember?"

"I'm—I mean, maybe. The reward is definitely worth it—fuck."

Zhongli agrees, enjoying the press of Childe against him, and the way that he thrusts into his grip. He lets him for a moment before slacking his fingers and asking another question. "What is atomic mass?"

"The mass of an atom."

"Be more specific," asks Zhongli sweetly, kissing the smooth skin that peeks out from Childe's shirt collar.

"I—protons and neutrons. In the—the sum right? All of them added together? I think that's right."

It is, and Zhongli pauses to slick his fingers up in the lube that's stashed between the couch cushions. Childe cries out once his hand finds him again, slick as Zhongli coats the entirety of his length.

"Dammit," murmurs Childe. "Dammit, you're—"

"What type of bond is intermediate?"

"I—" Childe cuts himself off, frustrated as nothing comes.

"Think, Childe," says Zhongli.

"I don't know," he mutters, annoyed with himself.

Zhongli lets go of him, letting Childe's cock fall, no doubt aching, and purple at the tip. It leaks precome everywhere, twitching as Childe sobs softly, his hips bucking. "Zhongli," he cries.

"Shh, you can try again." He pulls another card, the paper fluttering. "What is resonance?"

"Oh, thank fuck," says Childe. "I know this one. More than one bond position. Please, touch me again—"

Zhongli is kind, squeezing at his dick again, jerking it from base to the tip. "Just a few more, I think," he says, knowing that Childe must be close. His mouth finds Childe's ear, whispering the next question. "Define—heterogeneous mixture."

"A mixture of two substances that are not combined completely. Please, I'm so close. Please, please—"

"One more," says Zhongli, kissing the tip of his ear. "Just one for me. You've been doing so well."

"Fucking ask it already. I'm dying here."

Zhongli chuckles softly and pulls one last card. "Oh, this is an easy one. Even I know it. What is a compound?"

Childe laughs, breathing a sigh of relief. "Something that has two or more elements—shit, Zhongli. Chemically combined. They can't be separated."

"Like us?" asks Zhongli, teasing.

"Was I right?"

"Yes, you were, which means you get a prize." Zhongli strokes Childe's cock faster, sweeping his thumb across the weeping tip. He drops the flashcard, cupping Childe's balls, and rolling them gently.

"Gods," hisses Childe fucking into the tight grasp of his fingers. "I'm—oh, that's—"

Zhongli sweeps his fingers across the smooth skin of his perineum and Childe tips over the edges, coming all over him, soiling his nice shirt with his spend. He doesn't care, enthralled by the way that Childe looks over him, his hips jerking. Zhongli can't help but press his fingers between his asscheeks, ghosting his hole. It clenches, quivering at the prospect of more.

"I'm begging you," says Childe.

Zhongli kisses his throat, pressing a finger against it, just barely digging in. And then he pulls away. "No," he says. "Not until you pass Chemistry, at least."

"I'm going to kill you."

"You won't." Zhongli brushes Childe's bangs back and kisses his forehead. "And, let it be known, I don't want to stop. I should be commended for my restraint."

"You're inhuman," says Childe, slumping against him, basking in the warmth that Zhongli so readily offers. "I'll show you."

#

Childe does, of course. Several weeks later he practically kicks their dorm room door down, the latest update of his grades pulled up on his phone to show off.

Zhongli doesn't even get the chance to praise him before Childe attacks him with a kiss, tugging him to the futon. It is quick and feverish. Their clothes come off quickly, tumbling to the ground in crumpled heaps. Zhongli nearly tumbles to the ground as well in his excitement, his knee nearly slipping off of the couch cushion as he tries to balance himself over Childe.

They laugh as they fall together, eager to get their hands on each other properly after such a long time of abstinence. Zhongli drags his hands along Childe's sides. He kisses every small scar and freckle that he can find, and when he swallows Childe's cock down, it's right to the root. Childe's fingers curl into his hair, tugging as he bucks into his mouth, unable to stop himself.

It is a little feral, but it isn't rough. When he slides his cock into Childe, Zhongli moans at the tight warmth. "Fuck," he murmurs as he bottoms out. Feels like coming home. Zhongli's heart tightens as he thinks, once again, that this must be love.

"Yes," cries out Childe, his back arching, legs tightening around him, heels kicking at Zhongli to get him to move.

Zhongli fucks him quickly, with long and measured thrusts. He lays out across Childe, their chests pressed together, trying to feel the entirety of him. "Good boy," he whispers into Childe's ear, embarrassed by the way that it makes his cock twitch inside of him. "So, so good for me. All that studying that you did."

"I'm—oh god's, there, there."

Zhongli can't pretend anymore, but Childe can't either. It's clear in the way that he moves against him, how his hips rise and fall to meet everything thrust of Zhongli's cock. In the way that he squeezes around him tight, and how his insides yield so willingly, pulling Zhongli in deep.

"Please," whines Childe with a choked moan as Zhongli's cock bullies its way against his prostate. "Zhongli, please. I'm, I—"

Zhongli could say it right then, an easy slip of the tongue. This isn't just fucking to me, it's more, can't you tell?

"Childe," says Zhongli, hiding his face in the crook of Childe's neck, afraid that perhaps his feelings show plainly on his face.

"Ajax."

Zhongli stills then, his cock settled as deep as it can go.

Childe looses a sigh. "It's…Childe is a dumb nickname from my childhood that stuck. My name is Ajax."

Zhongli pulls back, resting his weight on his elbows as he hovers over Childe. Childe looks vulnerable at that moment, biting at his lip. Zhongli presses their foreheads together in a touch that is far too romantic, but Childe doesn't shrink away, he sinks into it instead, holding him there.

"Ajax," says Zhongli, testing out the name. It feels right, affection blooming in his chest. "Ajax."

Childe moans, his ass tightening around his cock. Zhongli grinds against him, circling his hips as they cling together. This is different. This isn't just fucking. Childe holds Zhongli close, a hand pressed flat against his back between his shoulder blades. "Zhongli," he murmurs, "I…"

The thought doesn't need to be finished. Zhongli pulls his hips back to fuck into him eagerly again. They melt together with every punch of his hips. He moans Childe's name against his ear, his real name, the one that leaves Childe's toes curling as he cries out.

Zhongli comes first into that quivering, wet heat, groaning. Childe fists his own cock, tugging at himself, tipping over the edge right after. They ride the hides of their orgasms together, the creaking of the futon ceasing as they fall still.

"Fuck," mutters Childe, slack underneath him.

Clean-up is quiet, as it often is, but something has shifted. They both know it. When Zhongli comes out of the bathroom, Childe is already settled in his tiny little bunk, waiting for him. Zhongli smiles, leaning against the doorframe.

"What's that goofy look for?"

"Nothing," says Zhongli. Everything, he thinks instead. Childe huffs as he slides into the covers and pulls him close. "Ajax," he says, nosing at the sweaty hair of his nape.

"Hm, I like it when you call me that," says Childe, yawning.

Zhongli does too. It's the last thing he thinks of before they both fall asleep.

#

It is easy to forget that Childe came here for a reason.

Teyvat University, Liyue Campus wasn't exactly his first pick when it came down to things, but he was willing to take any school that was far away from Snezhnaya. Zhongli makes it easy to forget the life that he's left behind. The complicated family drama, and all those years of getting into fights in primary school.

Childe thinks that he might be happy, which is a mistake. He's never deserved things like this, just as his father has always said.

So, when he's directed to the counselor's office, Childe isn't surprised.

And when Miss Ganyu reads aloud the terrible news, it comes as expected. "It is good that your grades have improved," she says, "but it wasn't quick enough. Your scholarship is being revoked, I'm sorry to say."

"If I lose my scholarship—"

"You lose your visa, yes."

"And there's nothing that can be done?"

Ganyu, to her credit, looks regretful at least. "I've tried to work with you for months, Childe. You knew that this would be the end result."

"I—" It's punishment, he realizes. He's always punished himself, especially when he's finally found something good. Zhongli's face flits into his mind's eye and his chest tightens. "I understand," he says next, his head hanging slightly.

Miss Ganyu lists off the next steps and he tries to listen.

"Ajax," he'd said to Zhongli, just so he could hear that delicious timbre curl around his name. A moment of something like happiness.

The dullness in Childe's being is all that he feels now.