Etched In Stone

Ajax + Zhongli

Childe talks Zhongli into carving their names together into a tree trunk.

--

It is a silly tradition, but the moment Childe sees the tree, he knows he has to do it.

"Ajax, I fail to see what is special about a Sunsettia tree—"

"It's not the tree," says Childe with a laugh. "It's just the nicest-looking tree in your pot. The others are all..." Childe wrinkles his nose but doesn't insult them. Besides, the tree is at the edge of Guizhong's garden, so it's more than fitting.

Zhongli gives him a cool glance in return. "It's not as if I used this pot until very recently."

"Trees thrive on their own, Zhongli. I just hear an excuse."

"Yes, well—" Childe gives him a pointed look. "Ah. You're teasing."

"It's a tree, Zhongli. I know that you don't water it but I'm still going to poke fun at the fact that you're terrible with plants."

"I'm one with the earth, not flora. Now, why have you brought me out here? I was brewing tea."

"The tea can wait."

Judging by Zhongli's expression that the tea cannot. Childe rolls his eyes and tugs at his sleeve, and they cross the rest of the lawn until they're in the shade of the Sunsettia tree.

Childe presses a hand to its thick trunk, palm flat to the bark. "So, in Snezhnaya we do this thing when you start dating—"

"We are not dating."

"Would you let me finish?"

Zhongli sniffs as if offended. "Dating," he mutters.

"Okay, fine, when you're in love. Better?"

Zhongli nods minutely but his entire body relaxes. Childe chuckles, shaking his head. The old man is so easy to please. Just a mention of what they share and Zhongli is crumbling. Perfect, really, for what he's about to do.

"You take a knife and you carve your initials into the tree trunk together. You know, a little C + Z so that everyone can see. And like... it's there forever—or until you carve it away or something. Point is, this Sunsettia tree has like... the perfect bark to cut into."

"And so... you want to cut our initials into the tree?"

"Yeah?" Childe rubs the back of his neck. "I mean—okay, it's dumb. A little childish. But I never got to do this sort of stuff when I was younger 'cause I never really..." He trails off. "The point is we're here and this is our home. And I think that we should carve our names into this tree trunk."

When he looks at Zhongli, Zhongli watches him back with the fondest expression. Childe's heart lurches as he just thinks, Gods, I love this man.

"No one will see it, you know. Just the two of us."

"Yeah, just the two of us. We can sit here under this tree and stare at it years from now, and think, 'Wow, we were dumb'."

Zhongli laughs and then holds out his hand. "Alright then. Give me the knife."

"What? Why you?"

"Ajax, you can barely read your own handwriting."

Point taken. Childe sulks but presses the knife into Zhongli's hand. As he passes by, Zhongli pauses. "Hey," he says right before he dips close and kisses him sweetly. "In those years from now, I won't think of this as dumb. I will think of how it's so utterly you."

Another peck on his lips before Zhongli pulls away. Childe follows him to the tree and drops to the ground. "Here," he says. "I want to see it if we're sitting down, or something."

Zhongli hums softly and sets to work, carving their names into the trunk in that pristine, practiced penmanship of his. He drags his fingers across the letters, brushing away dust and wood shavings. His hand lingers there as he thinks, and not for the first time, Childe wonders what exactly floats through Zhongli's mind.

"There we go," he says when he's finished.

Ajax + Zhongli.

Simple and elegant, but absolutely perfect.