Childe tries on Zhongli's shirt which activates the corners of Zhongli's old lizard brain.

CW: Smut

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It starts innocently enough.

Zhongli is folding laundry, fingers pressing the edges of his shirts into crisp lines.

Childe watches him from the bed, rumpled in the sheets, still half-asleep despite it being mid-morning. "You know," he says, rubbing his eyes and yawning, "that color would look nice on you." A pause. "Try it on?"

Zhongli gives in to the quiet request because who is he to deny Childe? Soft, high-quality cotton of rich wine against pale skin. The cut, however, is...

He stares at himself in the mirror with a pinched expression. "Tight," he murmurs, Childe's shirt pulled taut around his chest. Drags against his nipples. Leaves nothing to the imagination, abs on display, as well as the sharp line of his waist on one side. Not exactly comfortable. "I see why you wear that damned harness now."

"That isn't why!" Childe shuffles around behind him, having climbed from the bed.

"It's too small." Zhongli hooks his finger underneath the high slit and plays with it, testing the give. Very little. No stretch. "I can't even close this properly—"

"Your shirt fits me pretty well."

What?

Zhongli turns to find Childe parading around in one of his shirts, plucked from the fresh pile of laundry. He pats at the collar, the top button undone.

Childe grins, smoothing out the wrinkles down the front. "What do you think?"

Zhongli thinks many things. It's loose but the tailored cut pulls in Childe's waist. The hemline hits just past the swell of his ass and as Childe turns around to show off, Zhongli sees his trim backside peeking out from underneath the silk.

"I..."

There's a mischievous glint in Childe's eyes. "Zhongli, your hands."

He doesn't need to look to feel the way Geo curls about the room, lazy in his power but steady as it thrums. It takes so little for his attention to slip into those baser instincts, but Childe parading around in his clothing proves to be another notch added to the list.

"Ajax, are you not wearing any underwear?"

The answer is obvious. "Oh, I was going to go shower after this, but—Zhongli?"

Zhongli moves before he realizes it, boxing Childe in until his calves knock against the mattress.

Childe's face is already pink. "I have to—um—get ready for work—Ah."

Zhongli slips his hand underneath the shirt that Childe's thrown on, palm nestled against the curve of his waist. "Take the day off," says Zhongli.

He's never impulsive in such a way, but seeing Childe in his clothes has activated old instincts. His lizard brain roars to life and he has a need to just... ravish him. It burns in his gut, pleasure curling.

"I've got to work," replies Childe. But when Zhongli presses a hand to chest and pushes gently, he goes, falling into the bed with no resistance. "Katya," he murmurs half-heartedly.

They both know Katya will be annoyed but let Childe do as he wishes. She's got a soft spot for them and is known to turn a blind eye.

Zhongli laughs as he settles over him, grabbing his chin and tilting Childe's face up. He slots their mouths together and Childe melts, loose-limbed in the bed, legs falling open for Zhongli to slip between. "So good for me," he says, nipping at Childe's mouth, dragging his tongue across the seam of his lips, coaxing them open.

It's so easy. Takes so little. Zhongli's chest burns with the need to just enjoy this, enjoy him, bring him pleasure. He wants Childe in his bed, full of his cock, and screaming his name until his voice is scratchy. Then they'll laze about with wandering hands and teasing remarks until they fuck each again, over and over—

"Hey, are you okay?" Childe's fingers are gentle against his chin.

"I'm—" Zhongli wants to put it into perspective; these feelings that course through him, that drive his being. "I am the best that I've ever been," he says, and it's been eons since something so honest fell from his lips. He's a man of half-truths and carefully planned words.

Childe's breath catches in his throat. "I—Zhongli?"

Zhongli leans back to take a proper look. "You, in my shirt. What a dream. A vision. I want you to wear more of my things." He drags a hand down Childe's chest, tweaking a nipple through the fabric. Childe moans, biting his lip. His gaze turns embarrassed when Zhongli's eyes sweep down. He scrambles, trying to shut his legs, but Zhongli is quicker, hands holding his thighs open with inhuman strength.

It's cute. The way that Childe struggles. How his cock is already hard, dribbling at the tip, and how his face burns pink as he tries to hide it behind his palms. "Don't stare. Don't."

Zhongli takes pity on him. He swoops forward and kisses him again, sweetly. His hands though—they drag down his side, claws digging into his skin. Zhongli raises goosebumps on Childe's flesh. He delights in the way that Childe shudders underneath him, his breath spotty as he gasps.

The shirt stays on. Zhongli loves the way that it hangs loosely. How Childe's ass just barely peeks out from underneath. He nuzzles Childe's sternum, inhaling, taking in his scent and drowning in it. His instincts rage for him to lay claim.

Childe would let him, but—this isn't the time.

Zhongli trails kisses everywhere, quick, fevered motions that mimic taking his time. He isn't. He's impatient, prying Childe's legs apart for a better look at his cock. A kiss to the tip has Childe jerking. When Zhongli swirls his tongue around the head he cries out, arching from the bed.

"Oh, fuck. Zhongli."

Bites to Childe's inner thighs, teeth marks are left in his wake. Zhongli sucks at Childe's supple skin, dragging his tongue through every crease that he can find. Tastes him, nibbles at him, like a dragon toying with his meal. That serpentine tongue finds Childe's balls next and he sucks at one, rolling it in his mouth across his tongue.

"I'm—"

"Not yet." It comes out as a purr, a rumbling sound straight from Zhongli's gut. A kiss to Childe's ball sack before sucking at the other side.

Childe writhes. "Come on, then," he begs, thighs tense underneath Zhongli's tight grip. "The sooner you fuck me, the sooner I can get to work."

Zhongli pulls back and glances at him. His look is predatory, stalking him with those fierce, golden eyes. Childe has no idea of his plans and so he chuckles. Slides up the length of his body until his mouth finds Childe's ear and lingers close.

"Bold of you to assume you'll be going to work today."

"Zhongli—"

"I do believe that I requested for you to take the day off. You would be so cruel to deny me your pleasure?"

Childe's mouth clamps shut. Zhongli kisses his ear, the side of his temple, his forehead, and the tip of his nose. Their lips meet again in a languid, searching kiss. Childe sighs into his mouth, opening up easily, chasing after Zhongli's tongue with his own.

They are nothing but clumsy, uncoordinated movements. Shaking limbs and twitching fingers as Childe tries to pull his shirt off of Zhongli. A button pops loose. Cotton slides down his powerful shoulders, revealing charcoal skin and glittering, geometric patterns that mock Zhongli's mortal form.

Zhongli tosses the shirt aside just as Childe reaches up to smooth his hand over a pec.

"Next time," he says, squeezing the muscle, testing the give of his skin where the charcoal bleeds into pink flesh, "I'll make you try on the harness."

Zhongli would, for him. He'd embarrass himself if only to seduce Childe right into his bed. "Alright," he says, nipping at the soft skin of his nape.

Childe wraps a leg around Zhongli's waist and pulls him close. They fall together, chests and legs flush, cocks meeting in the middle. Zhongli reaches between the two of them, gathering their lengths into his hand, slotting them side by side. He groans at the friction, at how Childe's cock seems to pull at his. He tightens his grip and fucks into it, watching as Childe sinks into the sheets, head tipped back.

Zhongli's fingers come away wet with Hydro. Childe watches him back with a grin on his face before hooking an arm underneath his knee to hike his leg up.

What a sight. Zhongli drags his knuckles across the smooth expanse of his ass. He spreads Childe's asscheeks and looks, which earns him a snort from where Childe lays in the pillows. Still loose from the night before. Fluttering and waiting. Zhongli presses in with two fingers and they sink to the last knuckle with ease.

Childe moans. "Gods," he curses. He's already lifting his hips, already trying to move against his hand. Zhongli fucks in his fingers, spreading them, testing the give of his hole. Good enough. Childe whines when he pulls his fingers free. With a wave of his hand, Zhongli's cock is slick, Hydro dripping from the tip.

Zhongli presses the head to Childe's hole and pauses. He looks and looks, taking in his flush form. The debauched expression on Childe's face, that beloved, half-lidded gaze that begs for more. Zhongli's shirt, the silk pooling around him.

He's a vision in their bed, hips rising, desperate to take him deep. A heel digs into the small of Zhongil's back, forcing him forward.

It's both familiar and different. Zhongli watches as his cock slides in, Childe's rim stretched puffy and pink. It's obscene, the way that his dick is just swallowed up. How loose and pliant Childe is, so relaxed that Zhongli can just slip in right to the root.

And when they move, it's nothing but white-hot heat that's wrapped around his cock, and the sounds that tumble from Childe's mouth as he fucks him. One of Childe's hands curls into the sheets. The other settles against Zhongli, nails digging into his skin, refusing to let go.

Childe doesn't want to lose that grounding connection. His hand falls against the scar over Zhongli's chest where his gnosis once was, and there it stays, feeling the steady thud of Zhongli's heart.

Zhongli fucks him with long, heavy thrusts. Pulls out until only the tip of his cock is left before slamming back in hard enough that Childe slides across the mattress.

"There! Fuck, fuck." Childe hisses, his legs tightening around Zhongli's waist. Zhongli hikes them higher, one over his shoulder until the angle changes and his cock pounds into that bundle of nerves. "Oh, there. There, there, there—" Childe yelps when Zhongli slides in as deep as he can go. His toes curl when Zhongli's thrusts slow to a crawling drag, grinding right into his prostate.

Zhongli leans over, craving closeness. "I love you," he murmurs, focused on only Childe. Tight, hot heat. Slick, wet Hydro. The way that Childe's insides writhe around his cock, clenching. Childe is close, Zhongli can feel it in the way he tenses against him. "Come on, darling," he says, folding Childe in half, that leg still over his shoulder as Zhongli holds himself on an elbow near Childe's head.

He loses his pace and rhythm. He grunts, nearly slipping over the edge himself. "Baobei," he calls Childe, unable to stop himself. Zhongli buries his face against his neck, kissing it.

"Gods, I'm going to—" Childe groans. His breath hitches and he cries out, spilling all over his stomach. His ass clenches, walls squirming around Zhongli's cock, pulling it deeper. Zhongli slips in until he's flush, savoring the tightness. The sounds that Childe makes. The sight of his come all over his belly.

"Ajax," he says. "Baobei," he repeats, giving into those instincts that beg for him to claim Childe. His fangs drag along the length of his neck, teasing a bite. Too much. Zhongli jerks back—only for Childe's hand to fly up and hold his face there.

"Do it." They haven't—Zhongli hasn't—he won't. Childe knows Zhongli better than he knows himself. His voice is raspy with want. "Come on, Zhongli. Do it."

Zhongli's teeth sink into his skin and Childe cries out. Childe clings to him tightly as Zhongli laps at the blood that spills from his shoulder. A bite, but nothing that will do damage. Nothing that is permanent. This time. Childe's blood is salty on his tongue. Iron-like and hot, like sweltering steel. His tongue digs into the pricks to taste more.

All the while, he starts to fuck Childe again. Tears leak from Childe's eyes. "Gods," he slurs, drunk on his lust and the feral way that Zhongli ruts into him. "Archons, this is—" The sounds that tumble from Childe's mouth will haunt his dreams. Childe is so perfect for him, his equal in every way.

Mate, his lizard brain thinks, dragging up instincts that seem old and dusty.

"Ajax," he says aloud. "Ajax." Just his name, over and over as Zhongli chases his high. He comes abruptly, cock swelling as he spends himself, painting Childe's insides white with his need. The room is tense, thick with oppressive Geo energy. Zhongli tries and fails to rain himself back in, far too punch drunk on his orgasm.

He collapses against Childe, his cock still shoved into his ass, even as it softens. Childe groans, but accepts it, immediately settling Zhongli's cheek against his chest.

The aftermath is quiet, lacking their usual teasing and lighthearted banter. Childe lays in the sheets, limbless, except for the hand that strokes Zhongli's hair. And Zhongli dozes, inhaling Childe's smell, grounding himself in the softness of his skin, and the gentle way his fingers tug over his scalp.

"Baobei," says Childe after several moments. "What does that mean?"

Zhongli struggles to find words. "That you are precious to me. You are my treasure, my heart. My baobei."

The next thing that Childe says is, "You're purring. I can feel it."

Zhongli chuckles, turning to kiss his sternum. His shirt has soaked up most of Childe's sweat. "I love you. You comfort me. Of course, I'm purring."

"Damned, old lizard." Childe says it fondly. "You got horny because I was wearing your shirt."

"Yes." Zhongli adjusts himself until he's sprawled over Childe's half-naked form, face still firmly tucked into his chest.

A snort. More laughter, and then Childe shakes underneath him, his amusement getting the better of him. When he calms, everything seems mellow and soft.

"Bandage me up in a bit? And I mean, actually bandage me. I don't want you to pull out some weird nurse kink and bend me over the table."

Later, Zhongli does dote on him, much to Childe's annoyance. Sweeping motions as he cleans and disinfects the nasty bite mark he's left. He wraps the bandage with care and even kisses the spot, which makes Childe laugh.

Zhongli also bends Childe over the kitchen table shortly after because the two of them just can't resist.