Tags and trigger warnings: Emetophilia, vomiting, seasickness, light dom/sub, Childe being slightly sadistic, Aftercare

Summary: While on the way to see Childe's family in Snezhnaya both Zhongli and Childe decide to have a little fun by playing their usual game.

Posted to Ao3: June 13th 2021

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Zhongli had only traveled anywhere by boat once in his six thousand years of life, usually in the past and even now it was easier to just use Adepti arts or his dragon form to travel to a far-off location.

He trusted his own magical and flying abilities much more than he trusted a ship that he had no control over. And if he were traveling alone he would've traveled as he usually did, but he wasn't alone he was with Childe who was the entire reason he was getting on this ship in the first place.

"Do you think you'll need a thicker jacket? Snezhnaya is really cold," Childe asked as he looked over at Zhongli.

Zhongli turned his gaze from the enormous three-tiered behemoth of a ship sitting in the harbor to look at Childe. "I am aware. I made sure to bring a jacket that's more suitable for Snezhnaya's weather."

Childe nodded, giving a soft chuckle. "Have you really only traveled by boat one time before?" When Zhongli had told him that he could barely believe it, especially considering the sheer number of ships that came and departed from Liyue harbor on a day-to-day basis. It just hadn't made sense.

But now that he'd seen Zhongli's eyes practically light up as he examined the ship, he knew it was true.

Zhongli shook his head. "I've never had any need to travel by boat besides that one moment. Any time my presence was needed urgently I traveled in my natural state or using Adepti magic. Traveling by ship would have taken too long," he explained.

Childe gave a soft huff at his words as he crossed his arms. "You're telling me if we weren't going by boat I would've gotten the chance to see your dragon form? Wish I'd known that earlier."

They were traveling to Snezhnaya, with Childe having finally gotten a chance to fulfill his promise of taking Zhongli to visit his family. The quickest way that Childe had known of to get there was by one of the Fatui passenger ships, but Zhongli had just proved him wrong.

The consultant chuckled, giving Childe a small smile. "Perhaps another day."

Zhongli knew that Childe desperately wanted to see his dragon form up close, considering along with the equally frequent sparring request he practically asked him every day.

"Fine, fine, but I'll hold you to that," Childe sighed, already knowing Zhongli wouldn't budge on the matter any time soon. Still, it was worth a shot at least. "We should probably get on board and everything."

Zhongli simply smiled as Childe grabbed one of his hands before they walked towards the ship.

"Let's see, this should be our room," Childe muttered, stopping in front of one of the doors lining the ship's corridors. "By the way, have you ever been to Snezhnaya before?" Childe asked as he walked inside their room.

Their luggage was already inside laying on the bed, having been placed there by one of the staff, ahead of time.

Childe sighed practically flopping down on the bed, it was just as soft as he expected.

"Yes, I have been there quite a few times in the past although my most recent trip was six hundred or so years ago," Zhongli said, nodding as he gave Childe a small smile.

He jumped however when the ship suddenly lurched the floor shifting beneath his feet, his eyes instantly going wide as he looked down. Childe chuckled at his reaction as he climbed to his feet and walked over to one of the port windows.

"Welp looks like we're leaving the harbor, see," he told Zhongli, his voice full of excitement as he gestured for the other man to come over.

Zhongli frowned as he carefully made his way over to Childe, his steps a bit more clumsy than usual. "Is the floor supposed to be doing this?" He asked unused to having the floor beneath his feet outside of his control.

He stumbled barely catching himself as the floor seemed to pitch and sway beneath his feet making him slightly dizzy. Taking a deep breath he peered out of the window Childe was looking out of, he could see the gentle, blue ocean waves as Liyue Harbor slowly got further and further in the distance.

Childe grinned as he glanced up at Zhongli seeing the look of near wide-eyed fascination on his face. "Yeah, don't worry you'll get used to it in a little bit. Still can't believe you've barely ever been on a ship before."

Zhongli merely gave a soft hum, his gaze still on the silhouette of Liyue Harbor in the distance. While it was always a beautiful sight to see in all of its glory he couldn't but feel the slight amount of melancholy he did whenever he typically left Liyue Harbor, it always felt as though he were leaving a piece of himself behind. And in a way he was.

"Are you sure that your family will like me?" Zhongli asked suddenly as he finally took his eyes off of the window.

By now Liyue Harbor had long faded into the distance, and he had just been watching the gentle ocean waves. While he was very excited to meet the rest of Childe's family, having already met Tecuer during the boy's surprise visit to the harbor, he knew just how much Childe's family meant to him, and the fact that he trusted Zhongli enough to let him meet them was not something Zhongli would take lightly.

"Of course, I mean you already won Tecuer over, and out of my siblings, he's usually the pickiest about meeting new people. Anthon and Tonia will be easy," Childe told him as he looked up from where he was digging around in one of his pieces of luggage.

He was double-checking to make sure he had brought a souvenir for each of his family members as he usually did when he returned home.

Zhongli nodded as he returned to Childe's side, the other man having to reach out and grab his arm to steady him when he stumbled. Childe grinned as Zhongli stared down at the floor, as though it had insulted him, while Zhongli probably felt a bit disoriented by the new experience Childe had to hold back laughter.

After all, Zhongli tended to move with grace and precision no matter the occasion, so seeing him stumbling around like a drunk did fill Childe with a little bit of smug satisfaction.

"And what of your parents," Zhongli asked after a moment, still feeling slightly dizzy and now a bit queasy from the ship's movement. But Childe had said that he'd get used to it eventually, so he would be patient and wait for it to stop being so disorienting.

"They'll just be happy I'm bringing someone home in the first place. Although my dad might just drag you off to go ice fishing, so be careful of that," Childe told him, chuckling when he saw Zhongli's face briefly twist with disgust at the words ice fishing.

From what Childe could gather Zhongli didn't like seafood, not one bit, having told Childe in passing that he'd only attempt to eat it if it were sliced and diced to pieces. And even then he would never touch or look at something like octopus or squid for the rest of his immortal lifetime.

"Don't worry, chances are I'll be going with you so you won't have to clean or even touch the fish okay? Although if you prefer you could always help my mom and Tonia out in the kitchen instead, but then you'll definitely have to touch shrimp or something," Childe tried to reassure him as he reached up, looping his arms around Zhongli's neck.

Zhongli closed his eyes for a moment and shuddered which made Childe laugh. "Ice fishing it is then."

Childe gave him a brief kiss before stepping back and grabbing his bow. "I'm going to the training hall for a bit, wanna come?" He asked despite already knowing the answer. Zhongli always shot down his request for a sparring match no matter how much Childe begged and pleaded. That didn't mean he wouldn't keep asking every chance he got.

Unsurprisingly Zhongli shook his head. "No thank you, I wish to look around for a bit and take in the sights."

"There's a library on board, close to the kitchen. If you get bored with that, come find me and we can have some fun before dinner," Childe told him as he walked toward the door, with a grin.

Zhongli gave a small smile and nodded although he stopped when doing so made a wave of dizziness and nausea wash over him. "I'll keep that in mind," he said walking through the door as Childe held it open for him.

He had to walk carefully on his way to the library, stopping to glare at the floor every so often when it caused him to stumble.

But it was okay, Childe had said he'd get used to it. Despite the fact that his nausea and dizziness were getting progressively worse with every passing second, Childe's words helped reassure him, if even a little.

~~~

Zhongli groaned softly as he closed the book in his hand and ran a hand over his face. He'd been trying to read, and while he had managed to make his way through a few of the books the library had to offer his nausea and dizziness seemed to get progressively worse the longer he read.

The way the floor of the ship seemed to pitch and sway beneath his feet had his stomach churning, the nausea nagging him not leaving him alone no matter what he did.

He closed his eyes for a moment taking deep breaths in an attempt to focus, but it did nothing to help his nausea if anything it just made things worse since he could still feel the ship shifting beneath his feet.

Zhongli's eyes snapped open a second later, a hand going to his stomach when it made a soft gurgling noise and seemed to flip inside of him, making his body jolt with a soft hiccup. He froze his eyes wide as he slowly blinked.

"Found you, I figured you'd still be here," Childe said as he appeared around the corner of one of the large bookshelves.

Zhongli's hand dropped from his stomach as he turned to look at Childe, a small smile on his face. "They have quite the nice selection of novels here."

Childe gave a soft hum as he looked at Zhongli through half-lidded eyes, a slight smile on his face. The consultant looked a bit pale, his eyes a bit glassy and while one part of Childe was a bit worried, the other part of him found it a bit cute. "I finished training so I came to get you for dinner," Childe told him, his smile growing slightly when Zhongli closed his eyes and swallowed hard at the mention of food.

"I see, of course. Shall we go?" Zhongli said gesturing for Childe to lead the way.

Childe nodded and began walking, only to stop and briefly look over his shoulder at Zhongli. "By the way how do you feel, is everything still okay?" He asked with a grin, watching Zhongli carefully.

Seeing the look on Childe's face Zhongli paused for a moment, before he spoke, "I feel fine."

Childe gave a soft hum as he chose to ignore the soft growling noise Zhongli's stomach made. "That's good, let's go eat dinner then. I'm hungry and I'm sure you are too," he said. The unspoken challenge left hanging in the air, how long could Zhongli hold out for.

Childe didn't think it would be too long before his body eventually caved in. After all, it was only his second time on a boat, and that coupled with the fact the Zhongli did one of the worst possible things someone could do when motion sick, reading, and well Childe knew it wouldn't be long until he saw Zhongli finally break down.

So when Zhongli merely gives a soft hum in response following after him, Childe can't help the small shock of excitement that ran through him. Oh yes, this was going to be a lot of fun.

Childe holds one of Zhongli's hands as they walk to the dining room, with this being a passenger ship and a luxurious one at that every table is piled high with all kinds of food. The room is alive with chatter as the large number of people already inside mill around, talking and enjoying their dinner.

Zhongli's eyes widened slightly as he took a step back swallowing hard as he felt bile burning in the back of his throat. The scent of food is nearly overpowering, any other time it would've been fine but right now it only turned his stomach.

Giving a soft hum Childe turns to look at him. "If you want I can grab our food while you go back to the room," Childe suggested. It's a lifeline, a last-ditch attempt to give Zhongli an escape rope.

Zhongli doesn't take it, merely looking Childe in the eyes as he speaks his words firm and his resolve clear, "I'm fine, Tartaglia."

Childe gives another soft hum, a grin spreading across his face. "Okay, okay, if you say so. If you need me though I'm right here," he told him, giving a small shrug. He barely hides his excitement at the defiant glint in Zhongli's eyes.

It's something he loves to see, unlike him Zhongli tended to be quieter in his moments of defiance, more passive aggressive almost bordering on petty. The fact that he really thought he'd make it through the rest of the night just fine, well, it was adorable to Childe at least.

Zhongli looks up from practically glaring at the floor swaying beneath his feet, when Childe begins to lead him into the dining room. He takes a deep breath, ignoring the way the scent of food made his stomach flip and dizziness wash over him making him slightly unsteady on his feet.

Childe steadies him, letting go of his hand to wrap an arm around Zhongli's waist. "Careful now, wouldn't want you tripping or something now would we," Childe said with a slight smile.

"Thank you," Zhongli muttered and Childe grinned as the man practically pouted.

That's when Childe spies something among one of the nearby tables lined with food, and he chuckled a slightly devious idea forming in his head.

"Childe?" Zhongli said, glancing over at the harbinger who had let go of him.

"Look at what I found," Childe told him cheerfully as he gestured to the nearby table.

Following his gaze Zhongli's eyes went wide, the color practically draining from his face. There was a pot of stew, filled with vegetables and what looked like either octopus or squid tentacles.

He shuddered, not bothering to hide his disgust. "Why is this here?" He asked quickly, looking away when his stomach lurched at the sight, nearly making him gag.

"It looks good don't you think? It reminds me of the food back home," Childe said, making sure to savor the absolute panic he saw springing to life in Zhongli's eyes. Although he did feel slightly bad about doing this like he usually did whenever they played this type of game with each other.

"I'm gonna go get some, wait here real quick," Childe told him cheerfully, ignoring the pleading look Zhongli gave him.

He begins to walk away but is unsurprisingly pulled to a stop when Zhongli grabbed his wrist. "Childe, perhaps we shouldn't-"

Childe slowly turned to him looking at him with half-lidded eyes, a mischievous grin on his. "We shouldn't what? I'm just getting food," he said feigning innocence. Childe knew exactly what he was doing, but he just wanted to see.

Zhongli glances away, biting his lip before meeting Childe's gaze once more knowing exactly what Childe wants. "Ajax please," he practically begged.

"There we go, there's the magic words. See not too hard is it," Childe said, giving Zhongli a hug, before grabbing his hand again. He does not miss the utter look of relief that washes across his face the further they get away from the table containing the squid.

"Are you still holding up okay?" Childe asked as he reached out to steady Zhongli when he swayed slightly. While a part of Childe was enjoying this, that didn't mean that he wasn't worried about him.

The man groaned softly closing his eyes as he swallowed hard, the dizziness and nausea was making it hard to think. His stomach was churning and gurgling at the brief sight of food. He opened them after a moment, and looked at Childe, a small tired smile spreading across his face. "I'm fine."

Zhongli much like Childe is stubborn, and while yes he did feel a bit miserable and was cursing his decision to even get on this ship, he truly enjoyed these types of games he and Childe played from time to time. It was much like an endurance test, how long would it take for Zhongli to break.

"Come on, let's go eat in our room," Childe said, handing Zhongli his plate of food. "At least I don't have to worry about using chopsticks," he huffed.

Zhongli simply smiled at him. "Have you been practicing," he asked, trying to distract himself from the plate of food in his hand. Since the room was filled with the scent of food he couldn't exactly ignore the nausea practically nagging at him.

"It's not like I haven't been practicing, I use the ones you gave me. It's just really hard," Childe grumbled as they began their walk back to their room.

Childe did have to reach out to steady Zhongli every so often, surprisingly though neither of them spilled their plate of food on the table.

Zhongli sat down at one of the chairs sitting in front of the small table in their room, setting his plate on the table. Childe watched him with a grin as he took the other chair across from him.

"You know, you don't have to eat it if you don't think you can, right?" Childe reminded him, amusement clear in his voice.

While watching Zhongli push his limits was always a good sight, he didn't want the man to force himself to do anything just for his pleasure or amusement.

Zhongli merely groaned softly, his head in his hands, this was just making him feel worse though considering he was still moving but now he just couldn't see the floor swaying beneath his feet. Swallowing hard, when he felt bile burn at the back of his throat he looked up at Childe, one hand going down to rub his stomach no longer concerned with trying to hold himself together now that they were alone.

"It's not going to stop is it?" He asked scowling.

Childe grinned at him before slowly shaking his head. "For you? No."

Zhongli is quiet for a few moments merely staring at the table, he looks absolutely miserable and Childe can't help but admire him for a bit. Then Zhongli closes his for a second or two, takes a deep breath, and begins eating.

Childe watches him staring at his face with every bite he takes, Zhongli is acting like he's eating seafood with the way he has to stop and force himself to swallow forcing back gags.

And Childe merely watches him, barely tasting his own food, his attention entirely on Zhongli, jolts of excitement humming in his veins. Reaching out he cards his fingers through Zhongli's hair, "Good boy, you're doing great."

Zhongli glances at him and Childe sees that defiant glint spring to life. Zhongli says nothing, merely returning to eating and Childe grinned.

When he's done he just sits there for a few moments, eyes closed as he tries to breathe around the overwhelming nausea and dizziness crashing over him. He feels absolutely drained right now, and with every sway of the ship, he can feel his dinner slosh against the walls over his stomach.

He opens his eyes when he feels a hand on his shoulder, Childe is standing there smiling down at him. "Ready for bed?" He asked, his eyes roving over Zhongli.

His face is pale, nearly ashen with a slight green tinge. He seems almost delirious from a combination of nausea and exhaustion not even bothering to stop the small hiccups leaving his mouth as he rubbed at his gurgling, aching stomach.

Childe reaches out cupping Zhongli cheek in one hand, running a thumb beneath his eyes wiping the slight amount of tears that had fallen there smearing his red eyeliner.

He grinned when Zhongli practically nuzzled his hand. "Come on, let's get you in bed," Childe said, carefully helping Zhongli to his feet.

~~~

Zhongli thought he'd be fine when he'd finally gotten to sleep, that he'd get a brief, but well-deserved respite from the hell that was this stupid ship.

But no matter how much he lies in bed with his eyes closed he can't sleep, Adepti didn't need sleep but could choose to sleep if they truly wished. Although the reason Zhongli couldn't sleep might've been the fact that he can feel his dinner sitting in his stomach like a rock, the mass of food brushing against the walls of his stomach as the ship pitched and swayed.

Groaning he carefully got up, leaving the warmth of Childe's arms, the other man had laid sleeping beside him, he put on his shoes and silently left their room heading for the deck of the ship. Maybe, just maybe if he could see the actual ocean instead of the stationary walls of the ship it would do him some good, and calm his stomach a bit at least enough to let him finally sleep.

It's late at night, meaning that the deck of the ship is virtually empty which also means no one sees Zhongli nearly stumble over to the edge of the ship. The moment the salty almost fishy smell of the ocean waves entered his nose, he groaned gaging emptily over the railing, drool dripping from his mouth as he panted.

He doesn't look up when he hears familiar footsteps and soft humming, far too busy dry heaving and coughing as well as too nauseous and miserable to care at this point. But he is aware of Childe's eyes on him.

"So this is where you went," Childe said softly as he looked at Zhongli through half-lidded eyes. He just admires Zhongli for a moment, a near morbid fascination in his eyes, a grin spreading across his face when Zhongli lurched forward with a strangled retch.

The man always looked good, Childe knew that better than anyone else. But there was something just so intimate, and beautiful about seeing him so vulnerable like this. This was not the first time he'd seen Zhongli like this, although that moment had been a bit more planned by the two of them than this, and it surely wouldn't be the last.

He walks over until he's standing beside Zhongli laying a hand gently on his back as he retches again, this time a small trickle of bile leaving his mouth.

"I'm right here," Childe told him with a grin as he reached down, giving Zhongli's ass a slight squeeze.

Zhongli practically moans, his glassy tear-filled eyes slowly glancing up at Childe. He doesn't say anything though, trying to focus on breathing around the nausea and dizziness that was making him nearly delirious.

"How do you feel?" Childe asked cheerfully, he can see that Zhongli feels miserable especially considering the green tinge to his pale skin. But he wants to hear it from Zhongli himself.

"Awful, the ship won't stop moving. I can barely breathe," he forced out before he's retching again bringing up more bile.

Childe gives a soft hum as he reaches out with one hand gently laying it on Zhongli's stomach. The usually taunt flesh is slightly bloated and churning beneath his hand, his fingers slightly sinking into the skin there. "Is it your stomach or are you just dizzy?" He asked as he gently rubbed his stomach.

When Zhongli nodded almost frantically, Childe chuckled, quickly removing his hand, savoring the slight whimper Zhongli gave at the loss of contact. "You have to use your words, I can't understand what you want if you don't tell me."

Zhongli looks up at him, giving him a pleading look, his eyes filled with tears. He's absolutely miserable and just wants the quickest relief possible. He grimaces wincing when a sharp cramp sends pain streaking across his stomach. "Ajax...please, help me," he whimpered.

As if a switch had been flipped that mischievous glint disappeared from Childe's eyes. "Okay, don't worry. I'm right here," he said gently, running a hand through Zhongli's hair, gathering it back from his face as his other hand goes to Zhongli's stomach.

This time he presses on it gently, applying the slightest amount of pressure, and in the next second Zhongli's body jolts a loud gurgling burp has him bringing up a thick wave of vomit.

He pauses panting, his eyes wide before he's lurching forward with a loud guttural retch. Childe removes his hand from Zhongli's stomach now that his body's natural instinct is taking over, instead, he gently rubs Zhongli back muttering soothing words as he retches and gags bringing up even more remnants of his undigested dinner that had been churning in his stomach.

Even when he's bringing up nothing but drool and bile, Zhongli still feels god awful. The dizziness and nausea did not go away despite him throwing up, and for a few moments, all he could do was stand there hiccuping softly, his stomach hitching slightly still trying to turn itself inside out.

"Ajax, why isn't it stopping," he groaned as Childe grabbed his hand.

"Because it'll only stop once you leave the ship. Not to mention we need to take a return trip back to Liyue as well," Childe told him, giving him a sympathetic smile as he began leading Zhongli back to their room.

Zhongli shook his head, one hand coming up to cover his mouth as he gagged. "No, we will fly back. I have no desire to experience this again," he said, only speaking once the gaging fit had passed.

"A little too much this time?" Childe asked him as he opened the door to their room. He guides Zhongli over to the bed, letting the man sit on the edge of it.

"Yes, compared to the other times we engaged in this activity, this one is incredibly unpleasant," Zhongli told him after a moment, doing his absolute best to swallow back the bile still trying to climb up the back of his throat.

"No more ships then," Childe said as he left Zhongli for a moment, returning with a wet washcloth, a cup of water, and a small trash can.

Zhongli takes the trash can from him, his hand dropping from his mouth as he gags again, bringing up a mouthful of bile. Panting he allows Childe to take the trash can from him, setting it off to the side in case he needed it again, which considering how nauseous he still looked Childe was sure he would.

Cupping Zhongli's face with one hand Childe brings the washcloth to his face and begins cleaning it. Zhongli closes his eyes giving a soft hum, practically nuzzling Childe's hand, the cold rag feels like heaven to his fried nerves. "Don't worry okay, you did a good job," Childe reassured him and Zhongli opened his eyes a bit, seeing Childe's warm smile, his eyes full of nothing but fondness.

And Zhongli returns the smile, his hand coming up to touch Childe's hand. While he definitely was not willing to try riding another ship anytime soon, he's just happy that Childe is happy at least.