a little stress writing book

Shine Like Gold In My Memories. [zhongli x oc!jianyu]

Many of Liyue believed that the oldest was Rex Lapis, The God of Contracts.
But the legends say an Adeptus, called The Jade Emperor was the one who stood by the side of Rex Lapis throughout all of his battles, triumphs and sadly,
his death.

Liyue was growing in culture, becoming less dependant of the Adepti and learning to be a community. Regardless of this, a new Geo Archon has to take the place of Rex Lapis.

And of course, The Jade Emperor was chosen.

He's the God of Cognition, commonly known as Yuhuang by those residing in Liyue Harbour.

But let's skip this slow introduction, and take a look at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlours consultant, the curious man who was relaxing with a warm cup of herbal tea that was carefully brewed, breathing in its aroma.

"Mr.Zhongli!" A teasing voice came behind the relaxed man, who was only quietly sipping from his cup before his thoughts were rudely interrupted by the Eleventh of the Fatui Harbingers, Childe.

"..." The man only remained silent, almost lost in a dark memory that plagued his golden eyes.

"Mr.Zhongli? Hey, you alright?" You would've thought that the Harbinger wouldn't really care about the archon, but although Zhongli is often lost in thought, the drop of a singular tear from his eyes scared him.

Zhongli's gloved hand reached his eye, almost staring in confusion before putting the cup down to greet Childe, a sad smile gracing his features.

"We must go, shouldn't we? I trust that you gave the traveller enough Mora for the Rite."

Childe groaned and laughed as the two walked out of the establishment, complaining about Zhongli's constant loss of not having mora and bribing the poor traveller.

"Hey! Traveller, over here!" Childe's boisterous voice spooked Aether, who apologised to the person they were speaking to and greeted Zhongli, promptly ignoring the Harbinger that immediately started whining.

"I've gotten everything we need except for the Adeptus' Ascension dish."

Zhongli remained silent at the mention of the food, fiddling with the ring on his thumb behind his back as Childe asked about it.

"The legends say you can only make it at the top of Mt.Aozang. Apparently it was a dish that the Yuhuang made for Rex Lapis each time they returned to each other... How sweet!" Paimon gushed, recalling the legend that Madame Ping told them after asking her to help with their teapot.

"Well, let's make haste!"

It was a long walk, the traveller stopping to pick flowers or mess around with hillichurls. And of course, the retired Geo Archon remained quiet as he led the way, brows furrowed as the sun started to set. The group had made it to the top once it was a beautiful gold and pink sunset, stopping to observe the birds flying by and the occasional chirps of deer prancing by.

They finally reached the top, and as soon as the traveller was getting ready to start making the dish, Zhongli suddenly took over.

"Traveller, let me." He kindly took the ingredients out of Aether's arms, and started delicately chopping up the ham and matsutake mushrooms into the pot, and adding qingxin flowers as if it was second nature.

"Wait, but the recipe-"

Childe covered the travellers mouth and just watched. It was as if the ex-archon was mourning, a careful and precise hand stirring the soup stock before moving the beautifully decorated pot onto the carved table in the middle of the clear blue pool.

The group sat in silence, before the sound of delicate footsteps approached them and startled Aether who only looked in shock. Childe opened his eyes and almost looked entertained, but something inside him told him that it was time to not be a Harbinger at this moment, and instead decided it would be better to leave, as this was to be a precious moment and slinked away before he could be seen, dragging the confused Aether along with him.

"Morax... Is that you?"

He bolted up, the calm demeanour down in just moments just from hearing the gentle voice he hasn't heard in centuries.

Zhongli turned around to see him. The one he cared about so much that he'd sacrifice everything for, just to hold him in his arms again.

A man with knee-length white hair flowed gently in the wind, a golden gradient glowing momentarily in astonishment. An intricate hanfu graced with gold and turquoise accentuated his tall, lean figure as a leg split showed the markings of a tiger rose up his legs as thigh high heels only teased it.

But what confirmed all of Zhongli's emotions was the very same jewelled tassel earring he wore on his left ear, only to be on this mans right.

"Yuhuang?"

The man let out a sob from shock and ran to Zhongli, instantly enveloping him in his arms, the latter not hesitating for a second to return the hug, dropping to the ground as the two marvelled in each other's embrace, the former crying tears of joy. Zhongli pressed his head against Yuhuang's, breathing in the scent of osmanthus that lingered forever on his figure.

"I...when your Exuvia was found, I-" Yuhuang pulled back, holding Zhongli's face so delicately, thumbs stroking over his eyes to wipe the tears falling from the once collected man.

"I thought you died, my love!"

Zhongli only held his face, before bringing him in for a long-awaited kiss.

"I'm so glad you're safe. You're really here."