Happy Birthday, Zhongli
A light, late December snow was falling, and the Dihua marsh was beautiful today. It wasn't especially cold, though a light breeze swirled the tiny snowflakes around him. A thin film of ice was just beginning to form along the edges of the water.
"Xiao?" Unfortunately, someone was tromping up the stairs of the inn- looking for him. "Hey! Adeptus kid?"
Xiao had been watching the Fatui Harbinger approach the Inn for a while, unfortunately now he was inside and coming up the stairs. He wondered what the bastard wanted. But he wasn't curious enough to respond.
The red head was his master's new lover. "Yo, Xiao?"
Xiao had been his old one and it had not ended well. Honestly, he was about as angry as a rattlesnake at this invasion of his sanctuary.
"I've brought Almond Tofu!"
'Damn it…' Xiao rolled his eyes. Was there anyone alive who didn't know of his craving for Almond Tofu? So many random people he'd never met brought him peace offerings lately…
He thought for a moment of the Traveler- Aether, and knew he was blushing. What the hell was that- why did he do that? He was well over two thousand years old, not some innocent, wide eyed virgin…
"Xiao?"
Damn it, why couldn't his current visitor be Aether instead of this bastard?
Aether was so innocent and attractive- everyone's golden boy, literally. From his clothes, hair and eyes, everything about him was represented in gentle tones of gold, brown and cream. But more than that, Aether liked to help people and he was good at making friends.
Xiao was still touched by his friend's repeated attempts to bring him out of his shell. Aether wanted him to have fun- to the point of setting up a tiny, private festival for him at the Inn…
Aether was kind, generous and warm. Xiao desperately wanted to spend more time with him. He wanted to fall for him but he couldn't bear the thought of corrupting anyone, especially Aether, with his darkness.
And besides. All of Xiao's other friendly relationships had failed spectacularly. Eventually Aether would move on to someone else too. It took a lot longer than he thought it would, but it had even happened with Morax.
Damn Lady Guizhong for encouraging them to get together… He closed his eyes, and hung his head knowing even as he thought it that he didn't mean it. Kind and gentle, she was the one to befriend Xiao when they found him in the dungeon some 2,000 years ago. She had been the love of Morax's life- everyone knew it.
But she didn't want Morax to be lonely when she died, so she cleverly put them together. Her excuse was that even though she was a goddess, Morax was too verile and demanding in bed. So, his master spent a few nights a week with Xiao to let Guizhong rest. His master didn't want to try the arrangement at first. But after they spent a few nights together, Xiao and his master were as inseparable as Guizhong had hoped-
"Yo, Alatus? Are you here?"
Xiao rolled his eyes. He would rather go out on the prowl hunting for demons in the middle of the afternoon than have anything to do with this red headed bastard.
"Look…" The Harbinger said quietly. He set the plate of Almond Tofu on the railing and sighed. He was standing on the uppermost balcony near the roof where Xiao was sitting, invisible. "I know you probably hate me as much as I hate you. But I'm planning a birthday party for Zhongli and I want you to be there."
Xiao snorted. Realizing his location was no longer secret, he appeared where he sat at the very top of the Inn.
"Ah, there you are," The red head said, smirking. "Damn, he's right, you know. You are hot. That body of yours was made for riding a cock like mine."
Xiao rolled his eyes. "What are you trying to do?"
"Get you to sleep with me and Zhongli? I mean, you're not seeing anyone else right now, right?"
Xiao thought of Aether immediately and almost blushed. He couldn't count Aether! They barely knew each other, but he wanted to! He wanted to protect him, to hold him and taste him- Xiao shook his head, surprised at himself. What the hell? He had to stop thinking like that!
He just glared at his visitor. "Do you always do things so bluntly?"
"Hehe. Sometimes I'm worse. And I'm not always this polite to people I don't like."
This was polite? Xiao snorted again. "How did you even find me?"
"You'd be surprised how much you can find out about people if you bring the right person the right gift and ask the right questions. You and Morax are lovers, right?"
Xiao wanted to growl but settled for staring at him impassively. Damn Cloud Retainer… That damn bird and her gadgets. And, she really did love to talk once she got started. "Not anymore."
"But, you'd definitely sleep with him again, if he asked, wouldn't you?"
"He's still my Lord. I would do anything for him."
"Well, good because he told me he wants to fuck both of us- at once. So, that means I can count on you, right?"
"Me?" Xiao snorted. "He actually told you that he wants me?"
"Absolutely. We were really drunk- or at least I was. But when I asked him if he'd ever do a threesome with me, he said yes- "as long as Alatus was with us". Naturally, I had to find out who the hell that was, since he wouldn't tell me."
Xiao almost laughed. "Didn't he tell you that he used to do those with all of his former lovers. I never wanted to join him then why would I now?"
"Really? Why not?"
"I'm not attracted to females. But, I'm sure he had no trouble replacing me in his bed and neither will you."
"But this is perfect- this time there won't be any girls! Just you and me and him."
Xiao went very still and then shrugged. "Mortals..."
"Come on, you did just say you'd do anything for him, right? I think that should include me!"
" I haven't forgotten what you did to Liyue."
"So, let me make it up to you. You and I can have hate sex while he's making love to both of us. It'll be really hot."
Xiao must've looked confused because Childe laughed.
"Honestly, what do you people do for fun around here? Zhongli had never heard of it either. But basically you fuck someone you hate and try to see who can last the longest without coming. And if it's a tie, you see how many times you can get the other one off. Seduction is always useful- all of the Fatui are trained in it. One way or another, we get the Tsaritsa whatever she desires."
"The humans would say you have a one track mind."
"Yeah, well when I see something I want, I go right after it."
"And right now you want me?"
"And you don't? Admit it, if we met under different circumstances?" Childe took a step closer. "Kiss me. If you don't feel anything I'll leave and never come back."
"You should be careful even kissing someone else- he's a literal dragon. He has a jealous streak."
"Yeah, well so do I. And I have a feeling you do too. But you've never been with anyone but him, have you?"
Not willingly, no. Morax had told him many times that his former master didn't count as a lover because of his cruelty. So, no, he hadn't.
But Xiao was happy to keep it that way…
Wasn't he?
Again, he tried to keep Aether out of his mind. Nope. He shouldn't think of the much younger man that way…
So, to distract himself, Xiao growled and yanked the smirking red head into a rough kiss by his scarf. He meant for it to be short and detached. He meant to tell him to go straight to hell right afterwards.
Unfortunately, Childe's lips were soft and smooth, and he tasted faintly of Osmanthus wine and something sweeter. As he was distracted by the familiar taste of his master's favorite wine, Childe put a knee between his thighs where he sat. The Harbinger pulled him into his arms as he deepened the kiss.
Five hundred or so years without sex had been five hundred years too long, apparently. Damn it, Xiao swore at himself. Because when Childe slipped his tongue in his mouth, he moaned. But he was relieved to see that they were both flushed and breathless as the kiss finally broke.
Xiao still shot him a poisonous glare. But the Harbinger only smirked, "See, I told you we will be really hot together. So, I guess that means I'll see you in three days? We'll be at the old house on the coast. You know, the one that looks like a giant seashell?"
"I have absolutely no reason to trust you."
"But you're still coming, right? I've always heard that the mighty and illuminated adepti take their word very seriously. In the meantime, we're gonna need a way bigger bed," Childe said, heading for the stairs to leave. "Enjoy the Almond Tofu. I'll see you later, Xiao. I have some more stuff to get ready for the party. Be there at noon or I'll bring the party to you here at the inn."
Xiao snorted again at the unnecessary threat as he went to work hunting demons that night. Why the fuck had he accepted that stupid kissing idea?
'Because you wanted to,' The annoying little voice in his head chirped happily.
His master still wanted him? He had assumed all this time that the god had forgotten about him. After all, Morax could have anyone he wanted.
They hadn't slept together since Bosacius disappeared. He had asked his master where his friend had gone, but as always when asked a difficult question, Morax was evasive.
Xiao pulled away from him too and then regretted it immediately. But he was too stubborn to beg for forgiveness and his master seemed to want to respect his space…
So, afraid that he'd been abandoned by everyone, Xiao tried for many years to carry on quietly, without complaint. But finally, late one night, the burden was just too heavy and something shattered inside him…
It was Barbatos that had saved him from his dark karma that night… Xiao was afraid that his own god just didn't want him anymore because he was too weak to hold it together.
After all, Morax hadn't come to check on him even once since he disappeared… Too shy to ask and too angry and sad to confront him, Xiao withdrew even farther from everyone.
He hadn't even seen Morax in ages. The only exception was in one lousy, generic dream. The now Zhongli told him that he wasn't dead but he was retired and wanted to live solely as a mortal. Everyone of the adepti had recounted exactly the same dream, word for word.
His heart was broken without him. His god was the only person he'd ever loved and Morax- err Zhongli, knew it. Xiao had always wished he could resist the desire to touch him and be held in those arms.
He had been a slave- he didn't understand how could his master ever have wanted him to begin with? Wouldn't it have been better to have never been with him than trying to forget what he had lost?
He shuddered at the memory. Why had Morax bothered to rescue him? He was nothing, so how had he ever managed to catch the eye of the most beautiful and amazing creature he'd ever seen? And how was he supposed to pretend that he didn't want him even now?
Damn it. Why did the Geo Archon have to be so perfect, elegant and graceful? It wasn't fair that anything- even the human form of a dragon could be that arousing and powerful at the same time. He was too hopelessly drawn to him.
Morax- or Zhongli had never ever treated him as a slave but that didn't mean his vile past had been erased. The other adepti hadn't forgotten and part of his past had even found its way into a human book a few hundred years ago… He knew the terrible things he had done as a slave shouldn't be forgotten… But how could anyone even want him, knowing all of those things?
The red head and Morax suited each other in a way that Xiao couldn't quite explain. Both were manipulative in their own way, but Childe had attacked Liyue! He had actually tried to destroy it and nearly succeeded! So how Zhongli could stand to touch him after that was incomprehensible to Xiao too.
Morax was still an Archon though; he didn't owe Xiao or anyone else an explanation. He knew he was lucky to have spent even one night with him. Whether Morax had ever actually loved him or not, Xiao once thought he did and that would have to be enough.
Xiao sighed watching the Fatui warrior leave the Inn, heading back toward the city. He knew he was still stupid for kissing that cocky human too, but it was over and done with now! By taking that dare, he was now bound to honor Childe's proposal. In three days he would finally see his master again. So why was he more nervous than excited?