Chapter Text
“We’re almost there, I promise.” Childe reassured, smiling as he watched the man next to him pulling the large coat in tighter to his body. “Look, it’s just on top of this hill.”
Zhongli’s cheeks and nose were stinging from the bitter cold, and his eyes were watering from the wind. When he breathed in, the air felt sharp. The fact that Childe had talked him into an impromptu trip to Snezhnaya in the middle of the winter was practically a miracle. Childe had provided him with the heaviest winter coat he’d ever seen, along with boots, gloves, and a hat, and had smiled and convinced him that everything would be perfectly fine.
It had been so long since he’d gotten the chance to go home, to his parents and siblings. He wanted to introduce his family to his Liyuan lover. They’d been going rather steadily for about a year, so it was only the next natural step. Zhongli should meet his family. It hadn’t taken much persuading for the Geo Archon to bend and give in to the redhead’s whims.
The snow was hard to walk through, and required more effort to lift your legs with each step. The falling snow in his face made it incredibly difficult to see. However, he looked up towards where Childe was pointing and saw the log home on the top of the hill, its windows lit up yellow like a beacon through the blizzard. It looked so warm.
Childe took hold of his hand and picked up the speed as much as he could, leading the way up the snowy hill through the trees until they finally stopped at the front door, breathing heavily together.
“There, that wasn’t so bad. You ready?” Childe asked, reaching over to brush some snow out from Zhongli’s long hair.
“I’m more than ready to get inside. Any nerves I have about your family are less important to me right now.” Zhongli replied honestly, keeping his hand in Childe’s
“That’s the spirit.” Childe hummed. He squeezed the archon’s hand before turning to the door and knocking on the wood.
Almost immediately, sound erupted from inside the house. Zhongli couldn’t hear what the voices were saying, but the sound of three young voices shouting over each other was unmistakable. Then, all at once, the door pulled open, revealing three red haired children with big blue eyes.
The oldest of the three was a girl, who Zhongli could only guess was eleven or twelve. Maybe thirteen at the very most. The next youngest was a boy, who looked close to eight or nine. The final child looked quite young, probably only around five years old. All three of the children were grinning up at them. Behind them, further into the home but still nearby, stood a pair of adults, a red haired woman and a brunet man. Both of them looked tired, but happy.
“Ajax is home!” The older of the two boys exclaimed.
“Tonia, Teucer, Anthon!” Childe greeted them warmly, grinning from ear to ear as he pulled his siblings into his arms.
“Hey, come on. Let’s let them inside to warm up.” Childe’s mother said gently, guiding the children away from the door frame.
Zhongli followed Childe into the home, looking around as he settled into the comfortable warmth of the home.
Childe’s family home was split into two levels. The main level held the kitchen and a larger family and entertaining room with a hearth at the end. At the back of the home was the first half of a dark wooden staircase, which undoubtedly lead to the sleeping and bathing areas on the level above their heads. In the living room, there were plenty of blankets, all bearing colorful patterns and all looking hand made. The cabinets of the kitchen were also painted in similar bright colors. The wooden home seemed to be filled with color, and teeming with life despite the bitter cold outside. Almost immediately, Zhongli felt warmer and more comfortable inside of it.
Eventually, Childe was released by his siblings and straightened up again, still grinning. “Everyone, this is Zhongli. He’s the one I told you about in my letters. Zhongli, this is Mama and Papa, and this is my sister Tonia, and my little brothers Tuecer and Anthon.” he explained.
“He’s the funeral man!” Teucer piped up, looking up at Zhongli with awe. The awe in his eyes was rivaled only by little Anthon’s, who was staring in both awe and pure confusion.
“He’s from Liyue?” the little boy asked. “He’s not a rock man, though.”
“Anthon, I told you, people from Liyue are made of skin and bone like everyone else. There are no rock men.” Tonia said with a sigh to her younger brother.
“I went to Liyue once!” Teucer added. “Everyone there looked really normal. Except someone told me a story about how their archon’s a dragon, so that’s less normal. But no one was made out of rocks.”
“Whoa, their archon’s a dragon?” Tonia asked, looking between her younger brother and older brother, and the new man standing with them.
“Not a normal dragon with wings, though. Kind of a long, wiggly dragon.” Teucer clarified.
“Well, in Ancient Liyue, there were many gods, and quite a few others took the form of a dragon, or like long, four legged reptilian creatures.” Zhongli explained as he let Childe take his coat. “They held dominion over things like rainfall, water, typhoons and floods. Rex Lapis has power over stone and earth. However, there are mentions in classical literature of a dragon called Fuzanglong, who held dominion over the treasures hidden underground. He is also associated with volcanoes. So, perhaps that was the Rex Lapis of thousands of years ago, when he was still considered young for an archon.”
The children all stared at Zhongli in awe as he spoke, hanging onto each word as he enunciated them.
“Wow.” Teucer said, deciding to take each word Zhongli had said as gospel.
“I heard there was a dragon in Mondstadt a while ago. Was that Rex Lapis?” Tonia asked curiously.
“No, almost definitely not.” Zhongli replied to her easily. “I’m not as familiar with tales of dragons from the north. However, from what I’ve heard, the dragon of Mondstadt was blue, and probably had elemental powers over wind, much like their Anemo archon. Rex Lapis in his dragon form was mainly a deep brown, with gold along his spine and down his tail. They were very hard to confuse for one another.”
“I like him, he knows a lot about dragons.” Teucer whispered audibly to Childe.
“Zhongli knows a lot about everything. He’s paid to know a lot. He’s like a professional Smart Guy.” Childe hummed to his brother.
“Well, I’m not sure about that.” Zhongli replied to Childe, earning a grin from the other man.
“Why don’t we talk more around the dinner table?” Childe’s mother interjected, gently ushering her kids along to the kitchen. Tonia, Ajax, you two can help me set the table. Tuecer, can you help Anthon wash up?”
Within moments of getting directions from their mother, the four red-haired children set off to do as they were told.
“Yes, Mama made borscht.” Childe said as soon as he got to the kitchen and spotted the large pot of red soup.
“Is there anything you’d like me to do, madam?” Zhongli asked Childe’s mother.
“You’re our guest here. We can put you to work tomorrow, but tonight you just need to worry about keeping Ajax in line.” She replied with a warm smile up at him. “And you can call me Natalya. I’m Natalya and that’s my husband, Alexei.”
“I will do my best to keep him under control. However, he often seems intent on anything but.” Zhongli replied with a small smile.
“That sounds about right.” Alexei hummed, sidling over to the pair and sticking a hand out to Zhongli. The Geo Archon took it and shook his hand cordially. “I hope Ajax hasn’t made too much trouble for you.”
Zhongli momentarily remembered the way Childe had awakened Osial to set him loose on Liyue Harbor in the hopes of drawing out Rex Lapis, only for the Qixing and Millelith to do all his work for him. Then, there was the part where Childe got upset over not being told outright that he was Rex Lapis, and that he wasn’t the one to be able to receive his gnosis. The redhead had been so adamant about not forgiving him until they had a ‘trial by combat.’ As it happened, their so-called trial started with multiple rounds of drinks at Third-Round Knockout and concluded with the two of them fumbling in the darkness of Zhongli’s apartment to simultaneously strip each other nude, find their way to the bed in the dark, and keep their hands on each other as much as possible.
“He’s no trouble at all.” Zhongli said easily to Alexei with a soft smile. “If anything, I think he keeps things interesting.”
“Well, good. As long as he’s not making too much trouble down there.” Alexei nodded, walking over to the kitchen sink with Zhongli and Natalya to wash their hands before eating.
Childe was setting the pot of borscht in the center of the table, along with the fresh baked bread and sour cream. “Zhongli, you’re going to love this. It’s my favorite ever.”
When his hands were free, Childe leaned over to put a hand on the small of Zhongli’s back and press a kiss to his cheek, an action that was immediately spotted by his younger siblings, who all groaned loudly in protest.
“Oh, don’t be babies. That wasn’t even that bad.” Childe said to the younger kids as he slid Zhongli’s seat out for him before taking his spot by his side. “He’s my boyfriend. I can kiss him on the cheek if I want to, I earned that right.”
“But it’s mushy.” Teucer whined.
“That’s the point, kiddo.” Childe grinned before kissing Zhongli’s cheek one more time, just to get a rise out of his siblings again. The children groaned once again, and Zhongli couldn’t help but start smiling. He could feel Childe smiling against his cheek as he kissed him.
The archon turned his head towards Childe and put a hand on his jaw as he leaned in and pressed a kiss to the freckled bridge of his nose. He wanted to kiss the other man more, but decided to have mercy on his siblings and keep things relatively tame. There would be plenty of time for kisses on the mouth later on. He was fairly sure full kisses on the mouth would be impolite at the dinner table anyway.
“Mama, they’re being icky.” Anthon spoke up as the parents settled down at the table.
“It’s not that bad, honey. You’re lucky I don’t start kissing your father.” Natalya replied, pushing her son’s hair back as she settled in at one end of the table.
When they were all settled at the table, Childe took Zhongli’s bowl and filled it with the borscht, then a large spoonful of sour cream on top. Zhongli took a slice of the fresh bread from the basket in front of him and passed it along to Childe to do the same.
“Mr. Zhongli, you have really long hair.” Tonia said from her spot across from him on the other side of the table. “It’s even longer than mine, I think.”
“Ah, yes. I’ve kept it long for as long as I can remember. Personally, I don’t think short hair would look very good on me.” Zhongli replied to her as he spread some butter over the bread. “A couple centuries ago, everyone in Liyue would have kept their hair long. Your hair was considered a gift from your parents, much like the rest of your body. Thus, it was considered an affront to those who gave you life to cut your hair in any way. It was only ever done after someone brought great shame and dishonor on their family, as a sort of punishment.”
“Wow.” Tonia hummed. “So, do you keep it long to honor your parents? Or just because you like it?”
“Just because I like it.” Zhongli replied easily.
“He also keeps it long because he likes when I play with it.” Childe hummed happily as he started eating.
Tonia’s eyes seemed to light up at the realm of possibilities that her brother’s boyfriend’s long hair brought to mind. The fact that he only had it in a low ponytail was a shame. He could do so many things with his hair that would look even better while still keeping it out of his face.
“After dinner, can I play with your hair?” Tonia asked hopefully.
“You wish to play with my hair?” Zhongli repeated.
“Yeah!” Tonia nodded. “If you let me play with your hair, I’ll let you, um, paint my nails. Any color you want.”
“Now you’ve done it.” Childe hummed as he saw the look in his lover’s eyes shift from mild confusion to hardened sureness.
“That sounds like a contract.” Zhongli said, keeping eye contact with Tonia.
“There it is.” Childe smirked as his lover ignored him.
“If you wish to enter this contract with me, you must be prepared to uphold your end of the agreement. Your word must be your bond, or you may incur the wrath of Rex Lapis.” Zhongli said seriously to the girl across from him, while her younger brothers listened in awe.
“Whoa, the wrath of the rock god.” Teucer breathed.
Tonia seemed nervous. But at the end of the day, their contract only involves her playing with Zhongli’s hair, and then Zhongli painting her fingernails. She’d heard that Liyuans took the idea of a contract seriously, but she wasn’t totally prepared to see that in action.
“I can do it.” She said, steeling herself to match Zhongli’s seriousness.
“Then we have a contract. After dinner, you may play with my hair.” Zhongli decided before picking up his spoon.
Tonia smiled with a sense of victory before picking up her own spoon and starting to eat her borscht.
Zhongli started to eat his own soup as well. The initial taste was sweet from the beets, cabbage, and onion. Then came a sour flavor from the tomato and vinegar. The sour cream on top seemed to tie the entire flavor profile together by adding a layer of rich, creaminess. He hummed as he considered the soup before continuing to eat it as he decided he didn’t mind it. He couldn’t tell if he truly liked it or not, but it wasn’t bad, and it seemed to mean a lot to Childe that he enjoyed it. So, he made it a mission to empty the bowl in front of him.
When the meal was finished and everyone’s bellies were full, Childe and Teucer helped clear off the table. Tonia grabbed Zhongli by the hand and tugged him along to the living room, where she sat in a chair and guided him to sit on the floor in front of her.
Tonia set to work on releasing his hair from the band that held it back, humming in awe as the long strands came loose. Her hands found their way into the long hair, enjoying the simple feeling of it sliding through her fingers.
“You have a lot of hair. And it’s really soft.” She observed, amazed at the thickness, as she kept running her fingers through it. “Oh, the ends are a lot lighter. They’re almost reddish. Is that natural?”
“Yes, it’s been like that my entire life.” Zhongli replied.
He had to admit, the archon rather liked the feeling of someone’s hands in his hair. There was something about the feeling that was incredibly relaxing. The archon had been a bit nervous about meeting his lover’s family, but so far things seemed to be going well. Now his lover’s younger sister was seated behind him, admiring his hair, and he couldn’t help but wonder what he’d been so nervous about.
“Everyone in the family here has red hair, except Papa. You have brown hair like him, and your hair is reddish at the ends, like the rest of us.” Tonia observed as she worked gently to pull his hair up into a higher ponytail. “So, I think you fit really perfectly in our family, Mr. Zhongli.”
Zhongli blinked at the sentiment, but smiled softly. His only major goals when meeting Childe’s family had been to be liked. He simply wanted them to like him and approve him as their son’s partner. He hadn’t expected to be told he would fit well into their family.
“Thank you. That’s very kind of you.” He hummed in reply.
Tonia let his hair fall from the hypothetical ponytail and set to simply braiding the length of it. “It’s been a while since I saw Ajax at all. There was a long period where he only came home every so often. He smiled a lot back then, but they were all clearly fake. When he’s with you, his smiles seem real.”
“I do hope I can make him happy.” Zhongli said, sitting still as the girl weaved his hair into a braid that would fall to his hips. “I suppose since I came up here, you and your family will need to make your way down to Liyue sometime. My apartment wouldn’t be nearly big enough to fit everyone. But the Wangshu Inn is beautiful and not too far from the harbor. And your brother and I can show you around the harbor and the countryside. Almost every area is beautiful.”
“That would be nice. I can make you be a tour guide.” Tonia hummed. “Do you and Ajax live together?”
“No, not really. Though, we do stay the night in each other’s apartments rather often. So, he keeps some of his things in mine and I keep some of my things in his.” Zhongli said honestly. “At the rate things are going, though, I’m sure it won’t take long for us to move in together completely.”
“Are you two going to get married?”
This question threw Zhongli, and he went quiet for a moment. He figured marriage had always been the ideal outcome for the two of them, though they’d ever really talked much about it. He knew he would be open to marriage, but he also knew Childe’s role in the Fatui would keep him away from home every so often. And he didn’t know for sure what Childe thought about potentially becoming his husband.
“Well, I suppose that’s something he and I will need to discuss.” He said simply as Tonia finished off the braid and draped it over one of his shoulders.
“Well, if you do get married, I want to be in the ceremony.” She decided.
“I’ll make sure to let your brother know. But I doubt that would be an issue at all.” Zhongli replied.
As if on cue, Childe made his way out from the kitchen and found his place at Zhongli’s side. The sleeves of his shirt had been rolled up to his elbows, and the archon decided that his lover looked perfect like that.
“Tonia‘a good at braiding, your hair looks nice.” He hummed, sliding an arm around Zhongli’s waist. “Mama and I were thinking, tonight, you and I can stay here in my old bedroom. But tomorrow night, we’ll get a room at an inn a little further in town. That way we can spend a lot of time with the family, but we still have our space at the end of the day.”
“I think that’s a wonderful idea.” Zhongli replied. They would need some space, considering the way Childe’s hand was moving down from his waist to his hip and lingering there. He’d started gently rubbing his hip through the fabric of his pants. If the man kept touching him like that, they would eventually want some privacy.
“Mr. Zhongli, I’ll go get the nail paints.” Tonia said as she got up.
“Lovely, thank you.” Zhongli replied, watching the girl notice the way her brother was holding him and scurry off to the stairs. “Maybe you’re getting a bit too handsy around your siblings. Tonia might be old enough to know what you’re up to.”
“And what am I up to?” Childe asked, keeping his hand in place as he pressed closer into his lover.
“Don’t pretend to be naive, Tartaglia. You’re a master in the art of seduction, and you know as well as I do that it works on me every time.” Zhongli replied, turning to face his lover. Childe was smiling at him with something mischievous dancing in his eyes.
“I just love my boyfriend. Last I checked, that’s not a crime.” He hummed, leaning in to steal a warm kiss. Zhongli sighed through his nose, but took no more time to start kissing him back.
“Your parents are in the room, Ajax. Get off that young man and get your hands where we can see them.” Alexei warned, effectively ending their kiss. Childe just laughed, but moved his hand from Zhongli’s hips to hold them in the air. From there, he simply put an arm around Zhongli’s shoulders.
The rest of the evening was spent in comfort. Zhongli spent a considerable amount of time painting Tonia’s fingernails in various earth tones. Teucer and Anthon asked him roughly a hundred questions about Liyue, all of which he was happy to answer. Every answer became a story, and the boys were happy to sit and listen to every word. He told them stories about Rex Lapis and the other old gods of the various regions of Liyue. He told them stories of adventurers and human heroes. Zhongli talked and talked throughout the night while Childe toyed with his poor parents, gradually seeing what he could get away with.
His hand went from Zhongli’s shoulder to the center of his back. Then it slipped down to the smallest part of his waist. His parents didn’t seem to notice that. If they did, they didn’t say anything. So, Childe let his hand slide down further, and put it on the other man’s thigh, quietly amused by the subtle way Zhongli shifted and opened his legs a bit at the touch, seemingly without thinking. He got a hand to the inner part of Zhongli’s thigh when his mother said his name like a warning, and he moved the hand back to the top of the other man’s leg.
Zhongli found common ground with Childe’s parents as the topic shifted to the seafood from the harbor and local cuisines and flavors of Liyue. By the end of the night, the archon had Alexei smiling and laughing with his entire chest, and Childe knew his parents had been won over. There was barely anything Zhongli could do now to displease them. They’d love him forever and, on the very slim chance the two of them had to break up, he’d never hear the end of it. His parents would forever be asking about Zhongli.
The first to go to bed was Anthon. Then came Teucer, then Tonia. Finally, Childe and Zhongli were left with his parents.
“So, Zhongli. You ever tried fire water?” Alexei asked once the kids were safely in their beds.
“Papa.” Childe sighed.
“I can’t say I have, no.” Zhongli replied. “Though I’ve heard it’s similar to baijiu, at least in terms of potency.”
“Only one way to find out.” Alexei hummed, getting up to head to the kitchen.
Zhongli got up to follow him, followed by Childe and Natalya, who simply wanted to see how the man fared.
“Fire water used to be made from fermented grains. These days, though, most people use potatoes as a base.” Alexei explained as he pulled the bottle from the top shelf of a cabinet, as well as a small glass. “It doesn’t really have much of a flavor, but it does burn, hence the name. My advice is to just down it like medicine.”
“I can’t believe you’re getting my boyfriend to do shots.” Childe sighed, watching his father pour out the small glass and slide it over to Zhongli.
“It was bound to happen sometime.” Alexei justified. “We’ll all come down to Liyue sometime, and then he can make me do shots of baijiu. It’s cross-cultural research.”
“I will be holding you to that, Mr. Alexei.” Zhongli hummed as he picked up the glass, raised it in salute, before putting it to his lips and emptying the contents of the glass into his mouth and swallowing immediately. He coughed a bit from the burn as it went down his throat, but quickly recovered. “Actually, that’s not bad. I can see why it’s called fire water.”
Alexei laughed heartily and poured another shot for him happily.
“Papa, don’t try to get him drunk.” Childe accused, watching Zhongli take the shot anyway.
He’d seen first hand just how strong Zhongli’s tolerance was to alcohol. He figured it came with being an archon. However, he’d also seen Zhongli drunk, and become a man he could only describe more as Morax than Zhongli. Despite the flush that had covered his face, Zhongli seemed to get particularly feisty when he was drunk. Seeing him like that made it suddenly very clear how he’d managed to live for thousands and thousands of years.
“This is fine, really. I’m perfectly fine.” Zhongli assured Childe after downing his second shot of fire water. “You’ll know when I start getting drunk.”
Childe sighed and reached over to ruffle Zhongli’s hair. “You have the option of not getting drunk in front of my parents, you know.”
“Drinking with new friends is a very effective method of turning them into close friends.” Zhongli hummed easily to Childe, leaning into him. “You can drink with us, if you’d like.”
“Smart man.” Alexei hummed, pouring himself a shot of the fire water as well and tossing it back. “Ajax, Nat, do you two want any?”
“I’ll have some, but just know that it’ll put me to sleep within an hour.” Natalya hummed, watching her husband get a third shot glass out.
“Ajax?” Alexei asked.
“Fine, I’ll do one or two.” Childe sighed.
With that, Alexei got down a fourth glass and filled each of them before handing them off to each person in the kitchen. They all raised the glasses to each other before taking the shots and coughing from the burn.
The four of them stood around the kitchen chatting for a while longer, until Natalya got tired from the alcohol, kissed the three of them goodnight, and went to bed.
Childe and Zhongli stayed up a while longer, talking with Alexei the whole time. Childe cut Zhongli off of the alcohol when he noticed the new redness across his cheeks and nose. It was incredibly cute, but he didn’t necessarily want the man getting too completely drunk around his parents.
Alexei, for his part, was genuinely impressed and delighted by Zhongli’s ability to drink. “You took six shots of fire water within an hour. Archons alive, man, you’re too skinny to be standing upright right now.”
“I feel perfectly fine, I promise you.” Zhongli smiled, settling into a spot on the couch and crossing a leg over the other as he leaned into his lover. “As it so happens, your son and I met in a tavern. The first place I ever met him was late at night in Third-Round Knockout. The storyteller there was weaving some impassioned and atrocious tale about Rex Lapis, as per usual. Your son was sitting next to me, by coincidence alone and - “
“It wasn’t coincidence.” Childe interjected.
“Hm?” Zhongli turned towards him.
“I saw you from the other side of the tavern and thought you were cute, so I sat next to you and started talking to you. You just thought I was there the whole time because you weren’t paying that much attention.” Childe explained. “I saw Zhongli and knew I had to swoop in on him. Someone else would have, for sure. So, I sat next to him and listened to the storyteller guy and I could tell Zhongli wasn’t really buying anything he was saying, so I started talking to him about how bad the story was. The next thing I know, he starts talking to me about how it all actually happened for the next couple of hours. Then, after I’ve bought him multiple drinks, and we’ve been talking for hours, I told him I’d love to know more about the Geo Archon, and he just lights up. He tells me to meet him at a restaurant the next day, so I do, and he shows up with about five books and a whole box full of rocks, and he just talks me through it all for hours again.”
“Many of our first dates were like that. We would meet somewhere, and I would teach him something. At some point, I think our dates turned into something more resembling a normal date.” Zhongli hummed, putting a hand in Childe’s to hold it tight. “We started to talk more about ourselves than the old gods and ancient philosophy.”
“Well, I’m glad Ajax found someone who can make him happy.” Alexei hummed in reply. “You’ll definitely have to tell your mother that story in the morning. I have half a mind to tell her you told me just to make her jealous.”
“I’ll gladly tell it again.” Zhongli hummed as he leaned into Childe next to him.
As the three men wound down, they all eventually agreed to head to bed. It was late, they were tired. So, Childe led Zhongli up the stairs and into his childhood room, his parents had turned into a guest room.
“Finally, I get you alone again.” Childe sighed as soon as the door was closed, his arms finding their place around Zhongli’s waist.
“Tartaglia?” Zhongli asked before the redhead started pressing soft kisses across his face.
“Baby?” Childe cooed in reply, squeezing his waist.
“Would you prefer if I called you Ajax? Or is Childe or Tartaglia better?”
Childe paused at the question, thinking it over. “When we’re alone like this, or when we’re with my family, you can use Ajax. Otherwise, I think Childe or Tartaglia would be better.”
“I understand.” Zhongli replied. “Ajax.”
“Hm?” Childe asked, going back to peppering his lover’s face in kisses.
“Nothing, I was just testing it out. It is a good name. It’s very heroic.”
“Not super fitting for me, though, huh?”
“In all fairness, I, too, have done plenty of less-than-heroic things in my life.” Zhongli hummed as Childe started kissing his lips. “You can call me Morax, then, if you would like. When we’re alone like this.”
“Really? You’re sure?” Childe asked, pulling back to look at the other man.
“Yes, I’m sure. It puts us on a more even plane of existence. Well, as even as it can be, all things considered.” Zhongli replied.
Childe smiled warmly at that and pulled the other man closer, until their hips were pressed firmly against each other. “Then, Morax, can I undress you? I wanna make love to you in my childhood room.”
“That’s a strange way of wording it, but yes.” Zhongli smiled softly in reply before gasping as Childe’s mouth found a particularly sensitive spot right behind where his ear met his neck.