CW: Mentions of breeding and Mpreg.
They're having lunch one day when Zhongli notices the way that Childe's gaze lingers.
Children, running through the streets, fingers linked together as they play their imaginary games. Soft laughter and tiny little shouts. Childe watches them with soft eyes and a curving grin, his chin resting in his palm. Zhongli sips his coffee as he drowns in that look.
"Ajax," he starts impulsively, "Are you unhappy?"
Childe blinks, pulls his face from his hand, and looks at him. Confusion flutters across his face in the most adorable way. "Unhappy?"
Zhongli has often wondered. It's been a decade that they've shared, and if there's one thing that Zhongli has learned about mortals, it's that they often get distracted. Their lives are fleeting and so they flit from place to place. Childe has settled down, mostly, but—
Well, you can't erase the nature of man.
"Xiansheng, why would you think that?"
Zhongli hums as he regards Childe, taking in his face. He's older now and more distinguished. So handsome with how he's filled out, and gained little laugh lines around his mouth; soft crow's feet around his eyes from smiling too much.
There was a time where they thought it impossible, the both of them, to find such happiness, to feel so complete. At least, that's what Zhongli assumed until now. Childe watches children with want clearly etched into his face, and it makes Zhongli's gut curl.
Because he's wanted this too— the pitter-pattering of small feet through their home; ginger-haired sons and daughters who look way too much like their father; creating life with the only other person he's ever deemed his equal.
Childe gives off very confusing signals, at times.
"You…" Zhongli tries to think of how to word it gently, "Often look as though you aren't fully satisfied with what we have."
Childe's face turns slightly and he frowns, a precious little crease forming between his eyes. "What on— Zhongli." He murmurs his name softly, and Zhongli nearly crumbles. Childe reaches out and takes his hand, wrapping his calloused fingers around Zhongli's palm. They're rough and warm but always feel like home.
"You are my everything, you know? Like, I have nothing left, only you. I don't just give it up for whatever man comes my way."
Zhongli knows this intimately well. There'd been a fight to free him from the Tsaritsa's grasp, but that's all in the past and this is the here and now. Childe thumbs over his knuckles as he regards him with a loving look.
"But am I enough, Ajax?" he asks.
"What has gotten into you?" Childe looks almost concerned now, his grip on Zhongli's hand tightening. "Is there something the matter? Zhongli, this isn't like you—"
Zhongli laughs, which perhaps isn't the correct reply. Childe looks at him utterly perplexed, entirely at a loss for words.
"Ah, I see that I have perhaps not explained this well. There isn't anything wrong—"
"Then what is it?"
"Ajax, do you want children?"
Childe blinks, certainly not expecting that question. "Um… I mean— I've never really thought about it until—" He sighs, his eyes slipping closed. "That isn't to say that I've never thought about it, but there's just so much that would…"
"I'm not asking about the logistics of it," says Zhongli quietly, "I'm asking what it is that you want."
"Yes." Childe whispers it like it's a carefully hoarded secret, something that as a dragon, Zhongli would certainly understand. "Gods, yes, I've always wanted—" He falls quiet. "It wasn't an option for those like me. Harbingers do not have families."
"Ajax," says Zhongli, "You aren't a Harbinger anymore. You are a toymaker, and you are my husband."
Childe smiles, a fleeting thing that doesn't quite reach his eyes.
"Which brings me to my point— If you want a child, I can make it so."
"I mean, if you want to talk about adopting—" Zhongli laughs again, and this time it's punctuated with a snort, a sound that he doesn't think Childe's ever heard from him. Childe frowns. "I'm sorry, is there something funny about what I just said?"
"Ajax," starts Zhongli, leaning over the table to press his mouth next to his ear, "I can make it so."
Childe pulls back, his eyes wide. "Wait, so when you say—"
"There are necessary arrangements to be made, but I can bear children. You only need to ask."
A decade they've been married and maybe Zhongli should have mentioned this, it just has never been a priority. Zhongli watches as Childe processes this new information, his mouth floundering. Then, Childe laughs as he rubs at his brow, caught between awe and supreme nervousness.
He tugs Zhongli's hand to his mouth and kisses his knuckles, his lips lingering. "Gods, you're amazing, you know that right?"
"Yes," says Zhongli, because it's obvious.
And so, the planning begins.
Being an adeptus comes with perks. Zhongli is old enough to know exactly what to do and how to do it. That being said, it's something that he has to ease into— it's been a long time since he's had a womb and it's about as uncomfortable as he remembers.
But, he thinks, think of the reward.
He does. Thinks of it every day that he wakes up sore and annoyed by the slow changes of his body. It's a gradual thing, far safer that way. Less of a chance to fuck things up— and this is something that he wants to treat with care.
And then, of course, there's Childe who waits patiently and patiently until he's given the go-ahead. He notices the changes and loves them— the softness that packs around Zhongli's waist and how his hips subtly widen.
"No eggs," he'd murmured when they'd talked about the details, "I don't— I mean, if that's how you'd prefer it, then I'm game, but—"
Zhongli laughed, pressing a kiss to his forehead. He much rather preferred a more traditional carrying, relishing the idea of being close with their child as it formed, and so that was the decision that was made.
Their nights are quiet as the preparations are made. Childe marvels at the things that Zhongli can do, and they fall asleep every night, one step closer to a family.
#
Zhongli wakes up drenched in sweat. His skin is on fire and the blood in his veins itches. Heat coils in his gut, deep-set in his belly, and he's— Oh. He moans pathetically, pawing at the front of his sleep trousers, feeling the slickness of his backside between his thighs.
Childe wakes, blinking blearily. Rubs at his face with one hand as he smooths a hand down Zhongli's arm with the other. "Is everything okay?"
Zhongli pulls at the collar of his shirt and whines. It's too hot in here, his skin feels too tight. Everything needs to come off— his clothing, the sheets, Childe's clothing— He needs to find the words to explain.
"Zhongli?" asks Childe, a little more awake and his brow furrowed. "What is it? A nightmare?"
"Childe—" Childe presses close and Zhongli hisses, letting out a sort-of tortured sigh. Childe slides a hand down his front, and then— Oh, how his cock aches, hard and straining and begging to be touched. Childe's hand pauses as he feels the tent in Zhongli's trousers, then just barely slips his fingers into the waistband.
"Oh," breathes Childe against the back of his neck, slotting himself closer.
"It's—" Zhongli swallows a hiccuping groan. "Off," he says, tugging at his shirt, "Off."
"Okay, okay," says Childe, chuckling against his skin. He pulls Zhongli's clothing off with practiced ease, his fingers now ghosting over pale and gleaming skin that pebbles in the night air. Or maybe it's his heat.
At this point, Zhongli thinks anything will set him off. He'd explained it to Childe, how cycles work. It wouldn't be anything off-putting, he'd just enter a period of heady want. He'd want to pin him to the bed and fuck him for hours.
Childe likes the idea, craves it really. He's whispered about his excitement in the comfort of their pillows.
Zhongli is coherent, even if his brain is addled with lust; it just takes him a moment to find himself. The cool air of their bedroom helps. So does the steadying presence of Childe against his back. Zhongli moves, flipping them over. Settles across Childe's hips and grinds their cocks together.
Childe is already half-hard and flushed red down to his neck. "This is a pleasant surprise," he says cheekily, gripping at Zhongli's hips tightly, "Was your dream that good?"
"Children," says Zhongli, heat pooling in his core. Childe's face twists in confusion, still half-asleep despite the way his cock is filling out. Zhongli rakes a hand down his front, nails now claws as he loses his grip slightly. "It's— children."
Childe pulls him closer, pressing their chests together, running his hand down the length of his back. "Yes, I want them," he says, thinking it's the right thing say. And it is, it is, but—
Zhongli feels part of himself slip, Geo swirling about the room. Childe's gaze locks on his antlers and he swoons, and Zhongli loves that he craves him like this, always does. That Childe thinks nothing of his more draconic side. Childe lifts a black-and-gold hand to his face, curling Zhongli's palm against his cheek.
"Zhongli," he says sweetly and Zhongli finally finds his words.
"Breed me," he says, and everything stops.
Childe stills, his nostrils flaring. Zhongli's never said something like this, never pressed the thought of it within their bed. It's feral and inhuman and it makes the heat within him come to a boil. His hole clenches in anticipation as he ruts their cocks together, but it isn't enough, it isn't—
"Oh," breathes Childe, his voice soft with wonder. He slides a hand between them to wrap it around their cocks in a loose grip.
Zhongli whines at the gentle pressure, dropping his head into the crook of Childe's neck. He smells good, sounds good, looks good, he thinks as he mouths at the skin there. Zhongli wants to fuck him until his brain doesn't work anymore.
"So needy," says Childe in a soft murmur. He pulls his hand back and licks it, before grasping their cocks again. Childe is so hard against him, already leaking precome, and Zhongli ruts against his length with furious intent.
He's too slow, getting to the good parts, Zhongli needs him elsewhere. But Childe has other plans, smiling against his neck as jerks their cocks together.
"You woke up hot and bothered?" Fuck, the words sink into his gut, making his cock twitch in Childe's grasp. "Want me to take care of you?" He's always been mouthy in bed, whispering dirty things into his ears as they make love.
But the words are wrong, this time; Zhongli wants to hear something a little bit different. "Ajax," he cries, fucking into his hand, relishing in the friction that drags between their lengths. Childe moans below him, his head tipping back into the pillow. "Ajax," he repeats, sitting up to watch him.
How he loves it, how handsome Childe is, and all for him, only for him. The way that Childe watches him back, pupils blown wide and his face ruddy with want.
What a perfect mate for him, so ready to breed him full. Zhongli's mind can't get enough of the thought, pulling Childe's free hand to the round swell of his ass.
"Impatient," says Childe, his voice cracking ever so slightly.
"It's— Ajax, I'm ready, I'm—"
And for a moment, there's fear on Childe's face. It snaps Zhongli right of his fever-induced heat. His hips slow to a pulsing grind and he whines at the loss of friction.
"Ajax," he murmurs. Zhongli smooths his thumbs over his cheekbones as he takes Childe's face. He feels the fog of his brain lift a little, and that raging tide within him recedes ever so slightly. "What is it?"
"I—" Childe swallows thickly, trying to find his words. Zhongli waits patiently, petting across his face. "What if I'm not a good father? What if I fuck this up? Zhongli, I fell into the Abyss, I was tainted, what if I—"
He babbles on and on, and Zhongli sighs softly. Childe wants children, wants to share this with him, but it comes as no surprise that there is apprehension. Childe often thinks the worst of himself in the dark and middling moments where he forgets everything that he's risen above.
Zhongli leans forward and presses their foreheads together as he takes a deep breath and lets it out. "Oh, darling," he says, kissing him gently. And he kisses and kisses and kisses Childe, lips lingering as he drowns in the feel of him. "You will make the most perfect father."
Childe whimpers softly, closing his eyes and breathing alongside him. His hand reaches up to thread through Zhongli's long hair, fingers scrambling against his scalp. The tips of them slide across the base of his fuzzed antlers, and Zhongli feels tingles in the base of his spine.
"How can you say that? How can you be so sure?"
Zhongli smiles and presses a kiss against the cool skin of Childe's forehead. "You are so good to me," he says, "The best of mates. I couldn't imagine anything else."
And then, Zhongli sits back, pressing his ass against Childe's thighs. He drags a hand down his sternum, smoothing his claws across his pecs to curl around his nipples and then down to his navel. Zhongli's fingers scratch through the coarse hair at the base of his cock.
"How dare you think that you would be unworthy," says Zhongli, his voice falling deep into a low rumble. "Have you so readily forgotten? I'm a God, a former Archon. You've shared my bed for a decade as my chosen mate. There is nothing that I have that you cannot call your own, my heart included."
"Zhongli—"
"I've chosen you to father my children, something that I've never asked another in thousands of years." Zhongli grasps at Childe's cock and works it with deft fingers. "So, I'll ask again," he says, this time barely above a whisper.
He drags his fingers through the slick precome that drips from Childe's dick, and then brings it to his mouth for a taste. It's wonderful and heady, and it tastes like his husband incarnate. "Breed me," he asks, watching Childe from above, "Fill me full until I'm with child, and take care of me as I grow round with it."
"Gods, I love you," says Childe, his fingers raking over Zhongli's sides. "I love you more than anything, I—"
"Shh," says Zhongli, leaning over him again. His hair falls around their faces in a shimmering curtain, blocking out the rest of the world. Here, in their bed, it's as if there's only them, and Zhongli can easily become drunk on nothing but Childe. "I don't need you to remind me, I know. But the question remains; will you take care of me?"
"Yes," says Childe, sitting up slightly and pressing his forehead against Zhongli's chest, "I will take such good care of you. Gods, I will always do so."
Childe settles against the headboard of the bed and pulls him closer, and Zhongli follows so easily. "Like this?" murmurs Childe against his throat, licking along the skin there. "Here in my lap, pressed together like this?"
"Ajax, please." Zhongli tugs Childe's hand back to his ass, moaning against him as his fingers dig into the cleft of it.
"I can't wait, you know," says Childe, "To see you round with our child. I've thought about it so much, dreamt about it, and fuck—"
Zhongli purrs at the words, at how much he wants him, and this. Childe whispers these things into the crook of his neck, along his jaw, into his ear. Presses gentle kisses there as his fingers slide down and across his hole.
Then, Childe pauses, momentarily confused. "Is—" Zhongli is embarrassed, hiding his face against his shoulder. The slick coming from his hole— Childe spreads his fingers through it lazily. And then he dips one in, sliding it in deep.
"Fuck, not just— Zhongli, you're so perfect, Gods."
Childe is already slipping a second finger in, wriggling it alongside the first. Zhongli cries out, fucking back against his hands. It's good, but not enough, never enough, never never never—
That lustful haze starts to overtake Zhongli again as he thinks of being seated on Childe's thick cock. Pleasure churns and coils tightly deep in his gut as Childe spreads his fingers and pulls at his rim. There is nothing else in that moment aside from his husband who's about to breed him full.
"You don't need to," he says, "I'm ready, I'm ready—"
"But I want to," says Childe, slipping in a third, clearly delighting in the squelching sound as he fucks them in deeply. "I want to see you come apart with nothing but my hand, and then I want to fuck you slow and deep, as I watch you do it all over again."
"Ajax— Ah—" Childe twists his fingers, pressing directly into his prostate and Zhongli feels like his blood is on fire, like electricity is firing through his veins. "Please," he begs, his fingers digging into the nape of Childe's neck, "Please—"
Zhongli comes quickly and easily, and fucking against Childe's fingers like he'll lose himself if he doesn't. Geo spills into the room as Zhongli spends against Childe's stomach, moaning when Childe keeps his fingers pressed deep, talking him right through it.
"Gods," he says, pressing kisses against Zhongli's neck, his chin, his lips, "So tight for me and so perfect." His fingers feel so good, thick and buried in Zhongli's ass, the perfect teaser of what's to come next. "I can't wait to breed you full."
"Mate," breathes Zhongli, nuzzling against his neck, drunk on the high of his orgasm, "Mate—"
Childe pulls his fingers from him and gently flips him over. Zhongli willingly falls into the soft blankets and pillows. Immediately spreads his legs to let Childe slot between them.
"Mate," says Childe softly, reverently as he watches him. "Oh, how I love you. And it isn't about starting a family, Zhongli, I just— You are my everything. I've given it all up, to be here. I've gone from carving up bad guys to whittling wooden toys."
Then, he leans forward and presses his mouth near Zhongli's ear. Zhongli wraps his arms around his neck and holds on, demanding closeness. "I'd chose it again, though, time and time again. If I ever went back, I'd pick the same ending, and that's here, with you, no matter what happens."
Zhongli's eyes leak and Childe kisses the tears away. And then, finally— blessedly— and sinks into him, groaning as his cock slides home. Zhongli pulls him closer, whining against his neck, crying out when Childe's hips meet his ass.
Oh, he's so full, so perfectly filled. Childe's cock spreads him so deliciously, his length pressing in all the right places. He can feel it, the tiniest movement as Childe pulls out and grinds right back in.
"Fuck," hisses Childe, his eyes clamped shut. He breathes heavily against Zhongli's neck, and Zhongli traces patterns against the base of Childe's skull. "You're so tight, so hot, I— Look, I'm not going to last long— Wet, Archons above, you're so wet."
The way that Childe moans is so sinful, and Zhongli clamps tightly around him the moment he hears it. "Oh, don't do that, don't—"
Zhongli lifts his hips and demands for him to move, slamming them back against him, punching a choked sound from deep within Childe's throat.
"Come on," says Zhongli, goading him, "Be a good husband and breed me full. Give me a child."
Childe does. Decides that he can't wait any longer, pulls his cock out and slams right in. Zhongli shouts, yelling his name, clinging onto him as though he's afraid that Childe might disappear. He won't, of course he won't, but Zhongli's too focused on the feel of his cock and how Childe fucks into him so well. How deep it reaches and how thick it feels.
It's impossible to hold his power back, and so the room glows gold as Geo consumes it. Zhongli watches Childe with slit pupils and fangs in his mouth. But Zhongli is there, he's coherent, and he loves his husband so very much.
"Yes," he says, "Yes. Ajax, Ajax, please—"
"Zhongli," Childe murmurs, leaning back over and pressing his thighs up. The angle changes and his cock fucks straight into where he wants it most. Zhongli claws at the pillows, does his best to match his movements. Childe holds onto his thighs, fingers curling tightly against the thick of them.
"Look at you," he marvels, his thumb dropping to where they're connected and sliding across Zhongli's loose and puffy rim. Digging just barely into where he's stretched wide around his cock. Zhongli's eyes slip closed and he growls, a sort of moan that Childe so rarely hears but loves all the same.
Zhongli is trying to keep a hold on himself, but it's hard. Childe's devious in his motions and knows just how to please him.
"Come on," he says, bending Zhongli in half, his breath warm near his ear, "You can give me another. Come all over my cock."
"Ajax."
"I'll give you a child," he continues, "Fuck, I'll give you ten of them if it means I get to see you like this, needy and gasping as you take me so well. Perfect, so, so perfect for me. And for them. You'll do so well."
Zhongli whines, pleasure coiling tight again. His cock is hard and aches, twitching stomach. Childe pulls back to watch as he fucks into him, this time slow and deep, languid thrusts that strike deep into his core.
It's too much, it's too much—
It's so easy for Zhongli to come like this, in the midst of a heat, surrounded by Childe and the promise of being bred full. His ass his slick and Childe fucks into him smoothly. Zhongli's cock leaks pathetically, but his hole clenches tight enough for Childe to moan deeply, gritting his teeth.
Zhongli watches him, sees how bright his eyes are and how much he wants this as well. And soon, he's coming too, his cock settled as deep into him as he can be, filling him up just as he promised.
For the moment, Zhongli is satiated, soaking up the warmth and floating hazily in the aftermath. He purrs gently as Childe falls against him, entirely spent. "Don't," says Zhongli as he moves to pull out, "No, no, stay, don't let it—"
Slip out, he wants to say, but the words are embarrassing.
Childe understands though and rearranges him onto his side. Keeps his cock nestled deep in his ass as he cuddles against his back, an arm thrown loosely over his waist. "Fuck," he murmurs sleepily.
"We aren't done," says Zhongli, rather dryly. He's spent for the moment, but he'll want more soon enough. He already feels curling tendrils of want deep in his core.
"Twenty minutes," says Childe into his hair, "I'm older. It's harder for me to go more than once now."
Zhongli laughs into the sheets, feeling himself nod off. "Soon, then," he says. "For now—"
"I love you," says Childe against him. "I know I keep saying it, but I can't help it." His hand moves, settling over Zhongli's stomach, resting there. Warm, over his skin and cradling it gently.
Zhongli covers it with his own, threading their fingers together. Basks in the intimacy and closeness. "It'll get worse," he says softly.
"Hm?"
"My need for you. Are you prepared?"
Childe huffs a laugh. "Yes." A pause. "No." Another pause. "I'm up for the challenge."
Like with everything, Zhongli knows. His edges feel blurred and his cheeks hot. His ass burns with want, and his gut tingles at the prospect of being breed over and over. But, just being near is enough to dull most of those urges.
At least, for now.
Zhongli grins into the sheets, already drunk on the promise of it.