Tartaglia, The Eleventh Harbinger of the Fatui.
A highly feared warrior who abides by his Archon's — The Tsaritsa's — will. Her vanguard, her weapon of war, her 11th lieutenant. He carries the face of a youthful and beautiful young man, but do not be fooled.
Under that appearance lies a finely honed weapon of war.
—
“ With this description, I do not understand why you would choose him over any fair maidens as your lover. ”
A teacup was put down with a little bit of force on the high quality wood of Zhongli's desk. Amber eyes observed the action with a calm demeanor.
“ He is a Harbinger of a well known organisation that has a bad reputation across all of Teyvat! ”
The man huffed.
“ Please reconsider. He is nothing but a trouble for you. ”
He rubbed his forehead and sighed forlornly for the famous "bachelor" of Liyue. He then continued his words with a prideful look on his face.
“ There are plenty of women who have reputable names in the social world. Like my daughter, for example— ”
“ Mr. Ling. ”
Upon hearing his surname — and getting cut off midsentence — he glanced at Zhongli.
“ I will remind you that you are here for consultation business, and not my personal life, preferences, nor my relationship with Tartaglia. ”
“ But—!”
There was a sudden unsettling aura surrounding the consultant, making the middle aged man freeze. A shiver going down his spine.
“ But what? ”
There was a brief pause before Mr. Ling stood up from his chair and bowed.
“ F—Forgive me for wasting your precious time, Mr. Zhongli. ”
He then bolted out of the room.
...
Zhongli sighed. He knows his people mean well for him, yet he cannot help his emotions whenever they "warn" him for his choice of lover then speak ill of him in front of his face.
Calm yourself, they were worried. He reasons himself.
They had the right to be, in all honesty. His beloved is a part of a known organisation, through a bad reputation, the Fatui. And a higher ranking lieutenant.
Even so, there's only so little words he can tolerate when it comes to his lover, Childe Tartaglia. His dear Ajax.
What Zhongli would do just to make sure his lover is protected from harmful words. He wishes for Liyue to feel at home for Childe. He wants him to feel protected in the land he raised.
Even if Zhongli has to go against his people.
·
·
·
“ Why is he still here? ”
“ He is Mr. Zhongli's... lover, is he not? What does a respectable man even sees in him? ”
“ Right? Mr. Zhongli is way out of his league! ”
“ Hush! What if he hears you? ”
Disdainful looks, gossips, bad mouthing. He is used to it and is just hilarious at this point.
They don't hide their hatred and envy towards him and Childe relishes in the way their expressions change whenever he's with the man of their dreams.
A famous consultant who's knowledge is beyond their expectations, famous "bachelor" of Liyue, the man that everyone in Liyue wanted. His voice and face alone causes maidens to blush madly, his knowledge and reputation earns him respect and admiration from men.
The Wangsheng Funeral Parlour consultant, Zhongli.
And his lover.
He must admit that he is pretty lucky and honestly underserving of Zhongli. He's nice and honest with him, moreso after the incident he created in the Harbor.
He was relieved to know that Zhongli is upholding his promise of being truthful to him.
At first, he was skeptical and hesitant to reconcile with Zhongli. He used Childe and played with his emotions (it was what he believed back then). But seeing as how genuine the man still was after The Contract — and agreed with the fight for his forgiveness, another chance, and promises from the man — he let Zhongli back in his life, deciding to fix their friendship and flourish it further now that the truth was out.
After a few months, they developed feelings for each other and confessed.
Well, it was Zhongli who confessed first. Childe didn't believed anyone would love him romantically, much less a God like Zhongli so he stayed silent. It was an unexpected turn of events when his feelings were reciprocated to the point he was overwhelmed with emotions and cried.
It was an embarrassing memory, but also one of the most memorable in his entire life.
“ A mora for your thought? ”
Childe turned his head around, towards the location of the voice. And standing there is none other than the love of his life.
Childe smiled and went closer to the man, hugging him and giving a shy kiss on the cheek. Zhongli chuckled and reciprocated the embrace.
Being bolder of the two when it comes to PDA, Zhongli gave a small kiss on his lips, slightly licking the younger man's bottom lip.
Childe's face bursts into red, looking like a ripe tomato.
“ You... You pervert. ” Childe murmured after burying his face on Zhongli's shoulder.
So adorable. I want to squeeze him so tight. Zhongli thought.
And he indeed squeezed him tight. The poor man in his arms yelped from the sudden tightness of the embrace.
Zhongli nuzzled his cheek on his beloved's hair. He can't help but give so much love to his dear treasure, and give so much affection that he didn't know he can give.
Childe's face further became red before passing out from the consultant's affections.
Oh.
Zhongli blinked.
He passed out.
No matter, Zhongli is happy to hold and carry his beloved in his arms. But Childe should expect more cuddling and nuzzles from the consultant.
———
FIN
———
Just wanted to write some fluff for these two hehehehehehehe.
Didn't really know where I was going with it since I just kept writing.
And yes, they were in public when doing that. Yes, Liyue is now more jealous of Childe when they saw how Zhongli showed his love.
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ZHONGCHI STORIES
FanfictionStories I've thought of thanks to twitter feeding me on a daily basis for inspo. Some of these are from my twitter threads that I decided to revise for a better story. This is basically self indulgent stories. Majority are angst, do keep that in min...
