Etched In Stone

Temper, Temper

Zhongli sees Childe smile at Capitano, a look that is typically reserved for him, and him alone.

CW: Smut

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Zhongli finds himself in Snezhnaya because he misses Childe.

It is strange. He's unused to having such... attachments to things, but he waves it away as a quirk of retirement. It's been so long since he's had his Gnosis that being without it feels odd. Being just a god once more and not an Archon feels like a step back—but not necessarily in a negative way.

Life hasn't ever been simple for Zhongli but never before have his thoughts been so utterly ruled by another. Things, yes. Fear for his people, absolutely. War, Celestia, and everything that fell underneath his mantle as Morax, certainly.

With retirement, he was supposed to find peace. Instead, Childe arrived in Liyue like a wayward tide that pulled Zhongli undertow.

"I have to leave," he said to him, that night at the docks, warm fingers curled around Zhongli's hand gently. "This isn't goodbye, though, it's only a minor inconvenience." Childe laughed then, kissing Zhongli's knuckles, and then he sailed away on a boat that Zhongli watched until it dipped past the horizon.

A minor inconvenience, mildly put. Zhongli wasn't prepared for the way that his chest ached in the absence of Childe. He lays in the bed they once shared, nose pressed into the pillow that Childe used. His scent has faded. Even with Zhongli's sharp nose, he can barely smell it.

And so—

Zhongli finds himself in Snezhnaya after penning a nearly regretful letter to another Archon. He is honest, at least, to which the Tsaritsa sounds amused in her response back.

Oh, this is interesting. I never expected such a dumb rock to fall in love.

Biting words that make Zhongli frown. But then:

Of course, you can visit. At the very least, we can share some tea, and catch up for old times' sake.

Zhongli isn't stupid enough to think that the Tsaritsa won't watch him carefully but he also knows that she won't risk angering him either. She has his Gnosis, but there is a reason that she didn't outright try and steal it, bargaining for it instead. It would be no matter to take it right back.

It is freezing cold. Zhongli rubs at his nose, a shiver trickling down his spine. He blames the bitterness that sinks into his bones on his age, but it's more likely due to the fact that he's a cold-blooded lizard, meant for basking in the warmth of a more temperate climate. And really, the cold doesn't bother him much, it's more an instinctual dislike, the same way he prefers to keep his feet on solid ground instead of over water.

"Must be unbearable, eh?" asks the Fatui that leads him through the pristine palace halls. "Liyue is definitely warmer than this hell hole." He laughs good-naturedly, to which Zhongli returns a kind grin.

"Oh? Have you spent time there?"

The man shrugs a shoulder. "I was stationed there up until recently."

Ah, thinks Zhongli. He must be one of Childe's men, at least by extension. The officer then gives Zhongli a sly look. "You know, I'm not surprised that you've come here to visit. Everyone knows that you and our Lord Harbinger—"

"Zhongli!"

They both turn and look down the hall, finding Childe standing there with his arm aloft.

"You were saying?" asks Zhongli politely, turning back to the officer.