Childe I'm so sorry for hurting you once and projecting onto you. I promise I'm going to spoil him in one of my next stories. Happy holiday season! Enjoy~

Walking into a loud home when Zhongli came home wasn't all the unusual when there were four people who lived together and they all loved to tease each other, but yelling? That was rare. Once Zhongli heard the raised voices, he sprinted down the hallway in the direction of the kitchen where the voices were coming from. Concern rose in him and settled in the pit of his stomach as he ran, it didn't sound like they were in danger, but there was definitely something very wrong.

Zhongli rounded the corner, but before he could say anything, a voice rang out. "At least I was willing to try! Unlike you, who hid away in Mondstadt!" A deafening silence descended on the kitchen as everyone froze. Guilt flashed across Childe's face for a moment after he yelled. Diluc's eyes turned dark, and he opened his mouth to speak.

"That's enough!" Another voice broke through, startling all of them. "Everyone out of the room."

"Bai-" Diluc tried.

"Out!" Baizhu yelled again, not looking at any of them. Zhongli shook the shock out of his system as he walked into the room, he let his footsteps fall heavy to announce his presence and shut down any more resistance.

Childe and Diluc both hesitated for another minute, but neither one of them could bring themselves to argue any more and dragged their feet to go in opposite directions. Diluc slammed the side door as he stalked outside, and Childe threw the bedroom closed with more force than was necessary, but they were finally separated.

"It's okay." Zhongli immediately said before Baizhu even had a chance to speak. He desperately wanted to ask what had happened, but once he saw how Baizhu's hands wouldn't stop shaking he threw the idea out of his mind. He had to ensure he was okay first.

"They just-" He started.

"Breath first." Zhongli said, his voice steady and firm, slowly helping to calm Baizhu's racing mind. Baizhu wanted to argue but as soon as Zhongli tucked his face into his chest he completely forgot what he was going to say. He did his best to slow down as he breathed in the earthy scent that seemed to always emanate from Zhongli as he was held. His shoulders finally sagged when Zhongli massaged the back of his neck and scratched at his scalp.

After what felt like hours, but was probably only a few minutes, Baizhu finally wiggled out of Zhongli's grip enough to be able to look up at him as he propped his chin on his chest. "I don't know how it started." He admitted.

"Have they been like this all day?" Zhongli questioned, kicking himself for having left. It was a rare day where both Diluc and Childe were off for the entire day, Baizhu only had a partial day, but Zhongli had been completely full. He had worked as fast as he could in order to get back quickly, but he could only speed up the process so much without risking costly mistakes.

"I'm not sure." Baizhu sighed, "When I came back they seemed to be in a weird mood, but nothing stood out. I heard them talking, but I was in the other room organizing the herbs I keep here when they suddenly started yelling." Zhongli squeezed him again when Baizhu shivered, the doctor really did not like raised voices and it was normally strictly avoided in their home as it was never a good method to solve anything.

"You know how hot headed the two of them are, it was probably a misunderstanding." Zhongli tried to soothe him.

"You didn't hear some of the things they said." The look in Baizhu's eyes nearly broke Zhongli when their eyes met. They all cared so much for each other, and would do anything for each other, but that didn't mean it was always easy. They had all lived such different lives, and with their strong personalities, an occasional fight was unavoidable. Nerves buzzed under the former Archon's skin though as he considered that normally reactions of this scale weren't present.

"It'll be okay, they just need some time to cool off."

"What if they don't?" Baizhu asked in a voice that was entirely too small for Zhongli's liking.

"Then I'll convince them to." Zhongli teased lightly as his eyes glowed a beautiful amber. He slowly unwrapped his arms from around Baizhu. "I'll take Diluc."

"I'll get Ajax." Baizhu said as he whipped his face to force himself to reset, and walked over to gently knock on the bedroom door.

Zhongli's squinted as he stepped back out into the bright Liyue sun, he was grateful that it wasn't too hot outside at the moment. Finding Diluc was easy, all he had to do was follow the distinct sound of thuds. Sure enough, it only took a few steps for Zhongli to find Diluc completely engrossed with punching their reinforced wooden sparring figures they had set up. He sighed, sometimes Diluc and Childe really were too similar.

"Diluc." Zhongli's voice was soft, but it still made Diluc freeze. He glanced over his shoulder once before throwing one last mighty swing at the figure. The resounding thud and vibrations felt were confirmation that the punch had to have hurt Diluc as well, but that was the last thing on the red heads mind.

Zhongli tried to reach for his hand to check the cuts on his knuckles out, but Diluc kept maneuvering his hands out of his reach. "Just leave it." He grumbled. "It's fine."

"You don't need to be in pain just because you feel bad about fighting." Zhongli scolded him gently, honestly where did he get these bad habits? He gave up on trying to get his hands though, afraid he would accidently push him too far.

"I wasn't hiding in Mondstadt." Shame filled Diluc's voice as he mumbled, purposefully not looking at Zhongli as he spoke. Instead he stubbornly stared out into the distance over Zhongli's shoulder.

"I know that." He confirmed. "He does too, but clearly he's upset about something."

Diluc only hummed in response to his words. Zhongli knew that Diluc carefully split his time between his responsibilities in Mondstadt and visiting them, but he had always felt a little guilty when he couldn't visit. It had always been a bit of a sore subject that they all tried to avoid. As much as they wanted Diluc to be able to visit them more, he was already stretching himself thin by devoting as much time as he already did to them. They were all hopeful that one day they would be able to live closer together, but for now, they did the best they could with what they had.

"Can you tell me what happened?" He asked when Diluc continued to remain silent.

"It was stupid. It was petty. I honestly don't remember how it started." He forced through gritted teeth.

"It happens."

"I should have handled it better."

"We all make mistakes."

"I didn't mean most of it."

"No one ever does."

"Stop comforting me." Diluc groaned. Every argument he came up with, Zhongli immediately turned around. He refused to let him feel guilty. Diluc tried to fight back a few more times, but he was met with the same amount of resistance every time that left him feeling exhausted.

Zhongli caught the subtle slump in his shoulders and knew he was finally giving up the fight. He pulled him into a hug he knew Diluc desperately needed. A soft smile graced his face as he felt Diluc's head drop heavily onto his shoulder and his weight sagged into him. Anyone else might have staggered back a few steps, but Zhongli remained steady as he let Diluc feel his exhaustion from the intense emotions.

Physical tough was incredibly important to Diluc, and he was thankful that Zhongli had only stopped his negative self-talk and hadn't tried to make him voice what he was feeling as his mind felt too jumbled to even attempt such a feat.

"I was an idiot." He muttered, but his head was so buried in Zhongli's neck that he barely caught the words.

"We all have our moments." Zhongli shrugged, smiling when Diluc snorted against him and gave him a gentle shove.

"You're a menace." Diluc said as he raised his head, trying to deflect some of the attention off of him.

"That just means you're rubbing off on me." Zhongli chuckled as he held Diluc's chin to kiss under his eyes. "And that's not a bad thing."

Diluc couldn't hide his blush due to how close they were, so he looked off into the distance again to avoid Zhongli's intense gaze. "I need a favor now." He said to quickly change the subject.

"Yes?"

"Take Baizhu out. I need some time with Ajax."

"Are you sure you want to do this tonight?" Zhongli asked, using his grip on Diluc's chin to make their eyes meet. "Are you two up for this?"

"If he'll still have me." Diluc barely kept his voice from cracking as he spoke around the lump in his throat. Zhongli stared into his eyes, but seemed to find whatever he was looking for. He gave him one last kiss to his forehead before releasing his chin.

"Okay, but you will call us immediately if either one of you needs anything, understand?" Diluc smiled as he heard the overprotective edge creep back into Zhongli's voice at his words. He phrased it as a question, but they both knew better that it wasn't.

"Always."

It took another ten minutes for both Zhongli and Diluc to coax the pout off Baizhu's face when they proposed the idea of them separating to him. Baizhu was insisting that they should remain together, but he knew this was an issue that the two of them needed to work through first. After promising to have everyone together for the night, and then spending a lazy morning together, Baizhu was finally convinced to leave for a few hours with Zhongli.

"So bossy." Diluc muttered under his breath to Zhongli as Baizhu's list of demands grew longer by the second. Zhongli's laughter helped break the tension that had sat heavy in the house since the doors slammed earlier.

"Come on." He instructed, holding his hand out to Baizhu. "We'll be back in a few hours, call us if you need us." He spoke loud enough to ensure his voice filtered into the bedroom where Childe still was. Baizhu had already helped him calm down and had passed along the plan to him, but Zhongli would never leave unannounced.

The front door clicked softly and Diluc breathed slowly as he forcibly ignored the pit in his stomach. He knew in his heart that this fight was not bad enough to make him lose Childe, but the fact still remained that they had not had a fight this badly before and he wasn't entirely sure how to bring the matter up. He took a few more steadying breaths before slowly approaching the bedroom door.

"Ajax?" He called, keeping his voice low. He refused to yell again. "May I come in?" He waited with baited breath for what felt like eternity before Childe opened the door for him. His eyes were slightly red and his face had started to become puffy as he tried to hold to hold in his emotions. A bad habit he had picked up ever since he was a child.

"Thank you." Diluc said. He couldn't stop himself from reaching for Childe as he took in his appearance.

"No." Diluc immediately stopped in his tracks, more abruptly than if he had been frozen with a cryo vision. His heart broke when he heard how pained Childe's voice sounded. Physical touch was always so important to Childe, but he was still a little too heated to have Diluc touch him, because he knew that the second he did it would be all over and they wouldn't talk about what happened.

"Okay." Diluc dropped his arms and Childe opened the door a bit more to allow him fully into the room as he took a few steps back.

"I wasn't hiding." Diluc blurted when Childe still didn't speak. He couldn't hold himself back anymore. Knowing that Childe thought he had been avoiding him was too painful.

"Well you weren't here."

"That's not fair." Diluc said, forcing himself to keep the bite out of his voice. "You leave all the time for deployments and we never say anything."

"That is different and you know it."

"How?" Diluc asked desperately, "Tell me Ajax how is me leaving for work in Mondstadt different than you leaving to work in Archon's know where?"

Childe opened and closed his mouth several times, but he couldn't force any words to come out. What was he supposed to say? He considered it different because he left to further the Tsaritsa's purpose? That is was somehow "more important" if he left, even though the Manor and Winery was just as important to Diluc because it continued his father's legacy and furthered his ambitions to met the lofty goals he left behind? Or how about all of his behind the scenes work that people so desperately needed? It was even drawing Diluc and Kaeya closer together as they slowly had to relearn how to trust each other again.

Diluc constantly scanned his face, hoping to find some kind of clue about what Childe was really trying to say. There was no way that it was just as simple as him having to leave. If that was the case none of them would ever have lasted as long as they did as they all had responsibilities that periodically pulled them away from each other.

"What changed?" Diluc asked softly, doing his best to keep his own growing frustration in check.

"You don't even...me...anymore." Childe mumbled incoherently. His voice entirely too soft to be able to hear.

"Ajax." He gently encouraged, "try again? Please?"

Childe's face burned red and he couldn't force himself to meet Diluc's eyes and instead stared stubbornly at the wall next to him. "You don't even call me anything anymore."

The room was enveloped in silence once again and Diluc felt like the floor was about to spin out from under his feet. What did he mean "call him anything?" He always calls him Ajax, didn't he? What else could he possible mean? He hated being called Childe or Tartaglia when it was just them because he didn't have to be a soldier with them, he could just be himself. What other name could he possible- oh.

Everything froze as realization started dawning on Diluc. There were only a few other names that he would call Childe and it was true...it have been a really...really long time since he'd used one of them in a casual setting.

"Love, I-"

"Don't you even dare." Childe snapped immediately snapped. "You do not get to just suddenly use that again because it's convenient for you."

Diluc didn't dare open his mouth again as Childe's eyes grew more red by the second. "Do you know what that feels like? To so desperately want something but being unable to ask because it wouldn't be fair?"

"You can always ask-"

"I can't ask!" Childe yelled, "That's the point! My body physically won't let me, but even if it did I couldn't! It would be selfish of me. You're already splitting your time enough as it is."

"But we could have-"

"Could have what?" he asked a little harsher than he meant to. "I could beg for the same attention you can give to the others so easily? I've already told you how important casually using names is to me; how much it means to have that softness come up in daily life."

Diluc waited. He didn't know else to do. What could he say in this situation?

"You're not just one of my partners, Diluc." Childe said, trying to calm himself down. "You are, and you always will be, one of my doms too. I wear this for all of you." he thumbed along the strap at his thigh. Childe could feel his soul connected to Diluc from how much he loved him and how special their bond was. Diluc really was an amazing dom, but it also meant that Childe felt everything so deeply and with such intensity as both his partner and his sub.

"I trust you so much, and you are so important to me, but you cannot..." Childe took another deep breath, "I am just frustrated." he finished instead.

"I was wrong to do that to you." Diluc said after waiting a beat to make sure Childe was finished. "I will not make any excuses because there aren't any." There hadn't been anything more important for Diluc to do, it wasn't that he didn't notice how mentally tired Childe had been recently. He had simply gotten busy, and it wasn't in the front of his mind which meant that he hadn't remembered to give Childe the affection he so desperately craved.

"I am sorry." He said, slowly inching closer and carefully keeping an eye out for an signs that he was pushing his luck a little too far.

"It just hurt." Childe said shakily, doing his best to not sniffle. "Especially with...everything." he gestured vaguely around them, but Diluc knew what he meant. They had all been extremely stressed and busy for a while now that it had caused them to have very little energy left for anything else.

"I'm sorry." He repeated.

"I'm not trying to blame you for anything." Childe said as his shoulders slumped.

"I know. I am still sorry." Diluc knew that Childe wasn't saying this was his fault, but it didn't stop him from feeling a little guilty about it either. At the moment though, that didn't matter. There was nothing that he could do to change what had already happened. What he could do now was focus on Childe in this moment so they could help each other and make plans for the future to prevent this from happening again.

"I don't-" Childe tried to say, his tears starting to come back again.

Diluc couldn't stop himself from reaching out. He smoothly latched his hands around his waist and shoulders and pulled him into his arms. Childe honestly didn't know what his reaction was going to be, but the second that he felt comfort and safety that came with their embrace he melted into Diluc.

"I'm sorry." Diluc repeated again and again, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I made you feel that way. You didn't deserve it. I'm sorry." Honestly Diluc barely knew half of what he said as he started rambling some, but he knew he meant every word of it.

At some point they had slid to the floor, but Diluc never let his arms leave Childe once. He held him through it all, just as he planned to do for the rest of their lives. His leg was already half asleep by the time Childe's eyes finally started to dry, but still he did not move. An elbow was stabbing his ribcage, but still he stayed on the floor with Childe in his arms.

"My shoulder is going number." Childe mumbled with his face still squished into Diluc's chest.

"My everything is numb." Diluc deadpanned which made Childe snort. The soft sound was enough to lift the tension though and cause both of them to laugh. Little fits of giggles that felt so natural in their home but starkly out of place for their current situation.

"Come on. Follow me." Diluc gently asked, slowly pulling them both up and leading them towards the bathroom. Childe really did not feel like moving, but allowed Diluc to half manhandle him around.

The water was quickly turned on and Diluc refused to let Childe be out of his arms as he finished setting everything up for them to have a bath together. He knew that Childe didn't really feel like it, but it would be a good reset for the both of them and it would then allow him to be even more cozy afterwards.

"May I?" he asked, tentatively reaching for the buttons of Childe's uniform. After a subtle nod he slowly undid each button, once again keeping an eye on his body language for any signs of discomfort.

By the time they were both out of their clothes, the water in the bath was at enough of a level for them to enter. Diluc stepped in first and then held his hands out for Childe to join him. The second Childe's feet hit the water any resistance he had left melted away as the warmth washed over him. Diluc chuckled as he felt Childe start to go limp and pulled him into his arms again when they sat down.

"I'm not moving." Childe mumbled into his chest after he wiggled into a comfortable place.

"That's okay. Just let me take care of you. Is that okay?" A hum in acknowledgement was the last thing Childe remembered doing before he zoned out. He felt slightly numb from the intense emotions of the day, but the gentle movements from Diluc helping him wash up was enough to help him stay grounded as he tried to process everything. Diluc was also in a land of his own as he focused on being able to take care of one of his boys. He knew they would need a longer conversation later about how to prevent their fight happening again, but for now, they were just going to let themselves calm down and get the comfort they need to know they would be okay.

After a while, a soft voice whispered in Childe's ear again. "Ready to get out?"

"Are you going to give me a choice?" he teased back.

"Not really." Diluc admitted with a laugh. "Come on, comfy cozy time."

Childe perked up at that, and slowly pushed himself off Diluc's chest. He couldn't even get another word out before Diluc was wrapping him up in the softest towel they had and ruffled his hair to get rid of any water that clung to his ends before dipping out of the room. He returned a few minutes later with comfy lounge pants and shirts for both of them in hand.

Childe dragged his feet into their bedroom after he changed and wordlessly flopped onto the bed as soon as he was barely close enough to. Diluc sighed behind him, crawling into the bed from the other side and half dragging Childe into his arms again. He mumbled something incoherently that sounded suspiciously like "I'm not a sack of potatoes." before wiggling around again to get comfortable and tucking his face into Diluc's neck."

Keeping an anxious Baizhu out of the house for a few hours was one of the hardest things that Zhongli has ever had to do. He couldn't get him to eat anything, he was too jittery to walk around, but he also couldn't sit down without making himself even more nervous; it was an endless loop. Eventually Zhongli had enough and grabbed Baizhu's chin to force him to look into his eyes.

"Do you trust me?" He asked, a beautiful golden glow creeping into his eyes.

"Yes." The reply came immediately before Baizhu even had a chance to register the hand on his face, he was too distracted by the power coming from those eyes.

"Good." Zhongli said with a smile, kissing his cheek. "Then follow me."

A hand wrapped around Baizhu's waist and encouraged him to move his feet. It only took a few minutes for them to reach the top of the hill where Zhongli sat down.

"Come here." He called, easily pulling Baizhu to sit in his lap. "Now, look. Isn't that better?"

Baizhu looked out as instructed and finally felt his heart relax a little when their house came into view once more. From this vantage point, they were able to see their house fully and the surrounding area and it all looked peaceful.

"See, it's okay." Zhongli reminded him. "Give them a chance to work through this."

"But do they have to be alone to do it?" Baizhu protested.

"They started the fight alone, they need to work it out the same way. We cannot just intervene and tell them to resolve it that will not solve the root of the problem." He explained.

"I just want them to be okay. I don't like not being able to help."

"I know, but the love they share between them, between all of us, is easily enough for them to overcome a fight." Baizhu hummed in response. He knew Zhongli was right, but he always worried over his overworking boys and yelling made him nervous.

Every time Baizhu's mind tried to start a frenzy, Zhongli would automatically start talking again. The rumble of his voice breaking through Baizhu's spiral and forcing him to calm down again. The gorgeous view of the sun setting over Liyue, painting everything in a golden light also helped to keep his mind distracted as he settled into Zhongli's arms.

"Ready to go back?" Zhongli asked, breaking Baizhu out of his trance when it had finally been long enough. Baizhu could have sprang out of his lap as if it was on fire if Zhongli hadn't anticipated that and held him in place. "Easy." he scolded lightly.

Baizhu rolled his eyes, but slowly stood up while making direct eye contact with Zhongli. "Now can we go?"

"Yes, yes." He chuckled, reaching out to wrap his arm around his waist again though to make sure he wouldn't rush too much and risk hurting himself on their way back.

The two of them carefully cracked the door open and were delighted to not hear any yelling or other loud noises. The soft light from the sunset warmed their home and gave it a peaceful atmosphere that helped to calm their nerves. Baizhu immediately slipped in to look around, still a little nervous since he hadn't seen them yet.

It only took a minute for them to find them and the two had to stop themselves from verbally aww-ing at the adorable sight that greeted them. Childe was curled into Diluc's side and fully encased in his arms as soft snores came from both of them. Baizhu finally felt like he could breathe again and promptly snuck in between the two of them. Childe only wrapped his arms around his torso to snuggle him, while Diluc blindly felt around until he had an arm touching both of them before he relaxed again.

Zhongli gave them a moment before gently grabbing Diluc's chin and tilting his face towards him. "Everything okay?" he whispered. Diluc blearily blinked at him a few times as he tried to focus.

"Hmm, we're okay. Need to talk more about the papercuts later." He hummed. He did his best to focus on Zhongli, but his head was slightly lulled to the side.

"Okay. Good, thank you. We'll all talk about it later too." He confirmed, kissing his forehead and letting go of his chin which he promptly tucked back into their pile. "Papercuts" had been a saying in their little family for a long time. It referred to any small thing that would lead to built up frustrations over time, and the goal was to address these things before they turned into fights.

He straightened up, and after quickly glancing around to make sure nothing else needing to be done before he also tucked himself along Childe's back, wrapping his arms around his torso and kissing at the exposed skin at the back of his neck and shoulders. He used his hand on his chest to check the pace of his breathing, and satisfied with the slow pace that signal that at least the worst of his panic had passed, Zhongli let the soft atmosphere lull him to sleep as well.

Thank you so much for reading, if you have a second, please leave a like/comment as they greatly help to improve my writing and motivate me. Check out my profile for even more Genshin Impact stories, in addition to other, and swing by my Insta ( Kiera540writing) to see stories updates. See y'all next time! ~Kiera540