Work Text:
I'm just a lone fish, swimming in the deep ocean.
Childe hummed gently under his breath.
Zhongli chuckled, continuing to carve the shell in his hand.
Childe paused from hand-sewing his coat. "What's so funny?"
Zhongli looked up, "You're not a fish, Childe. You're a mammal."
"A what? Mamale? What's that?"
Childe put down his needle, moving over to Zhongli's side of the room.
Zhongli shifted slightly, letting Childe sit on his bed.
"You know, those that live above the surface. The angels?"
Childe raised an eyebrow.
"They categorise Narwhals as mammals."
Childe smirked. " And you?"
"I'm a crustacean."
"Those above the surface sure have time to try and name all of us." Childe spoke, seeming to think for a while. He turned around, facing Zhongli directly. "Have you been reading the forbidden texts again?"
Zhongli flushed and looked away. He nearly pouted, folding his arms in front of his chest. "Knowledge is not meant to be controlled."
"So you have." Childe gave him a knowing look and an eye roll.
I'll give you everything, my oxygen and my light, just so you can live on. I will bless you with fortune.
Childe dipped his head and felt Zhongli place a weight on his head.
Without much hesitation, he plucked it off his head gingerly.
He gasped at the string of pearls in his hand.
Each pearl is sharp and jagged like knives. Zhongli made these pearls.
"Zhongli!" Childe got up quickly, straightening to his full height with a flick of his tail.
"How long did it take you to make this? You can't give this to me!"
I will reach up onto the ground and pick starconches for you.
Walking along the oceans of the Guyun Stone Forest, he could see glimpses of a past long gone.
He glanced at a distant cliff and for a brief moment, he saw Streetward Rambler and Guizhong sitting at the cliff’s edge, smiling ever so brightly.
Zhongli walked along the beach, almost leisurely, until he found the right starconch. It shimmered ever so slightly and yet, was the most vibrant blue that Zhongli had ever seen.
He crouched, hand dipping gently into the sand. “This will do. I hope Ajax will be pleased.”
Old habits die hard. Zhongli did as Ajax had always asked him to. He closed his eyes and pressed his ear against the conch to hear the whispers of the sea.
Even though he didn’t hear much over the crashing waves, he still smiled. It was a small sweet smile that Zhongli would reserve only for his Ajax.
Life may be short but don't resent the times we spent together. As you brew the tea in your hands, I await the rising and ebbing tide.
Beside him, Zhongli is brewing tea on his rickety self-made table.
Childe has his knees propped up, eyes set on following the rise and ebb of the tide.
"Funny how water can be in so many metaphors."
Zhongli snaps his head up to look at him, hands moving with mechanical accuracy even as he looks away from the teapot.
"You're thinking very loudly. Would you like to share?"
Childe meets his gaze momentarily before looking down to draw circles in the sand.
"I'm… Do you believe in reincarnation?"
Zhongli pours tea into a single cup, golden eyes flicking over to meet Childe’s own. "It is my clan's belief."
He places the teapot down and pulls up the long sleeve of his left hand.
"Woah! Isn't that sacred or something? You never tie your left sleeve up." Childe's eyes widen, shifting backwards slightly.
"As you are my lover, I find it appropriate."
Childe flushes but leans forward curiously anyway.
Zhongli's sleeve is pulled up to reveal a bracelet with gold thread running past bloody red beads.
"Every bead stands for every lifetime I live, whether in the past or the future."
Childe reaches forward hesitantly, "May I?"
Zhongli obliges with a nod of his head.
Childe presses the pad of his thumb along the crimson beads.
"Every bead is different." He mused, blue eyes seeming to glow.
Zhongli watched him for a while, a small smile slipping onto his face. "Not many people notice that."
Childe blinked before narrowing his eyes, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Who else has seen your bracelet?"
Zhongli flushed. "Not in the same way as you. Archons, no."
He takes a moment to compose himself, handing a cup of quickly cooling tea to Childe.
"My sister, Hu Tao, has. My mother and father have. In general, my directly related bloodline."
"How about Guizhong?"
Zhongli leans back, a smug smile drawing across his face. "Are you jealous?"
"So she has? And before me too." Childe whined, pouting at Zhongli.
“She is my clan’s healer.” Zhongli paused, “And also my best friend.”
“Anyone who heard that would think you’re a jerk.” Childe huffed, passing a half-filled tea cup over.
“Then I should consider my words more carefully?” Zhongli raised an eyebrow, a smirk tugging his lips.
“Then I’d have to wait till next year to hear your words. Old man, you already speak too slowly!” Childe laughed, throwing his head back.
Zhongli took a sip of tea, watching Childe’s eyes twinkle and glow.
Every lifetime is a bloody, red bead on your bracelet. Fate is a bridge that binds everyone together. One day, even if you leave now, we will be reunited. If our fates are entangled, we will meet in your dreams.
Childe peels Zhongli's bracelet off his wrist without much hesitation. He smooths his fingers over every bead. Some beads are scratched up while others are smooth. Each bead is a deep red but like how blood darkens over time, some beads darken at the edges to form a misty outline.
He pushes the beads of the bracelet into one pile and turns each bead one by one.
Childe rests the side of his head on Zhongli's shoulder, "I missed this."
Beside him, Zhongli smiles softly. "I do as well."
They lean on each other, letting the warmth envelop them.
They don't have choices.
"Our time is up."
"Let's smile so that's all we remember."
Zhongli laughs and it's been years since Childe has seen him so carefree. He laughs along too, if only to quash down the melancholy threatening to carve itself into his very bones.
I look up towards the surface and I know our story won't end.
Zhongli looked up towards the surface, its shimmery allure betraying the sharp and harsh grip of death beyond.
He could still remember the day Ajax was ripped out of his hands. He remembers when he was pulled beyond the surface. Ajax had thrashed and even his powerful tail flicks hadn’t stopped whatever it was pulling him above.
Zhongli never saw him again after that.
I may be a lone fish but I will fight fate till the bitter end. I will claw my way through mountains and find my way to you.
Not Tartaglia, the monstrous general of the north.
Not Childe, the best negotiator and messenger of the north.
It is Ajax that is screaming.
A raw, ugly sound rips out of his throat.
Zhongli is dead. He is gone and Ajax still breathes.
There is no "if fate permits". I will carve our fates in stone and place them so high that even the waves can't erode them away.
Childe is sitting by his grave, one cup of tea in his hand.
He drinks half the cup before pouring the other half over his grave.
"I will live the best life that I can. You just wait. I will meet you up there."
Childe clutches a bloody red bracelet close to his heart and leaves without looking back.
Like the bubbles on the water's surface. One day, we will rise to the top and meet again.
Zhongli, the consultant, and Ajax, the Fatui diplomat, meet again.
Ajax laughs but Zhongli can tell that he hasn’t had the easiest life. "We finally know what's beyond the surface, dusty old clam."
"I'm an abalone, not a clam." Zhongli chides, his face is serious but there is a playful twinkle in his eye.
Childe nudges him with his elbow, "Yeah yeah. They all taste the same anyway."
Zhongli's eyes narrow and he exclaims in exasperation, the only kind that Childe could draw out of him. "Childe!"
Childe sticks his tongue out playfully. "Nobody on Teyvat eats Narwhals anyway. I can't say much about abalones though, especially in Liyue."
I will hang our fates so high that our fates will always be nestled in the starry sky. Even if we cease to exist, our story will exist in other's memories and we will leave a legend in our wake.
"To our future." Zhongli speaks knowing that only Childe can hear him amidst the huge hall of people.
Childe beams.
They exchange cups. It isn’t tea this time.
Childe nearly lets Osmanthus Wine spill onto the floor as Zhongli’s eyes widen like saucers at the Firewater Childe had snuck into his own cup.
When they finish each other’s cups, Zhongli straightens up, eyebrows creasing. “Ajax, what-”
Childe just laughs and presses a kiss on Zhongli’s lips. Zhongli flushes, ears tips turning red.
“We’re married!” Childe yells gleefully, turning to face everyone present. He can even see the Adepti seated quietly in the corner, not hidden but not spotted at one glance.
Before Childe can think of anything else, Zhongli dips him downward for another kiss.