As The Heavens Move - ENDING
Chapters: 9 - COMPLETE - (full fic available on Ao3)
Relationship: Zhongli (Genshin Impact) / AFAB Reader Word Count: 3850/36,646 Summary: The Archon war rages across Teyvat, leaving untold chaos and destruction in its wake - as you earn the ire of a Chi that has stolen your home and all you hold dear, you take solace in a contract that the Lord of Geo offers. Warnings: Smut, NSFW, 18+ themes
On shaky legs you make your way down the mountain again, unable to resist the urge to find him and thank him for everything that he’s done - leftover rain dripping from your muddied and soaked clothes with each uneasy step.
Your breath catches in your throat when you make it back to the village, when you find him in his human form with the rest of the Adepti standing in what used to be the town square surrounded by overturned carts and debris from the receding river.
“You did it,” You laugh in disbelief. “We’re actually free…”
Your throat tightens as it hits you - the weight of it all. The sobs won’t stop as he meets you halfway, you see the bloodied scratches on his face and hands as he reaches up to wipe your tears away and feel a mixture of relief and heartbreak wash over you that he hadn’t walked away completely unscathed.
“You’re hurt…” Morax whispers, his eyes fixed on the way you hold your wrist in a position that pains you the least.
“It’s nothing,” you downplay. “Just a sprain, what about your injuries?”
“They will heal on their own - let me look at you.”
You try not to wince as he reaches for your arm, carefully holding it up to the light and slowly moving the joint as far as it will go before you show signs of pain. He raises a brow at you, passing a silent judgement before he strokes his fingers across the injury and allows a small amount of his power to flow into you.
You feel your blood rush to your wrist, chasing the warmth he offers as it quickly heals as good as new.
“If only I could’ve done that for you,” You laugh a little. “We could’ve left that cave much sooner.”
“You have done more than enough for me you lovely fool,” He smiles so warmly as he strokes his thumb across the curve of your cheek. “Had duty not called us away, I would have gladly remained in that cave with you if it meant that you would be at my side.”
You pay no attention to the rest of the Adepti as you wrap your arms around his shoulders and pull him closer, needing to touch and feel his body against your embrace, breathing in his scent as you bury your face in the crook of his neck and start crying again.
“We shall head up the mountain to help the humans,” Madam Ping approached, but you did not raise your head as Morax gently stroked your hair. “Give the two of you some time to…”
Her voice trailed off, leaving the rest of the words unspoken - although Morax knew what she meant. Still holding you close, you felt him move only slightly as he replied with a silent nod and bid the Adepti farewell.
“I’m so tired,” You say. “Let’s stay here, please?”
“Of course.” He presses a kiss to the crown of your head. “I’ll stay a little while,” You pull your head back and look at him confused for a moment, until you understand what’s happening. His voice cracks ever so slightly. “It’s for the best.”
He’s leaving, you realise. His debt to you was repaid. The time that Madam Ping had offered was for saying goodbye…
“No, I told you I want to help you,” you argue. “I’m coming with you, just let me see my parents first then we can -”
“My answer is unchanged since we spoke about this on Aocang, I must leave you now before you wear me down again,” He offered you a resigned smile. “You will be welcome amongst my people, once I have dealt with Osial and it is safe, I will come back for you and ask for your forgiveness then.”
You release a shaky breath, throat tightening as you begin to feel so small and afraid at the thought of not being at his side. “But I love you…”
“I know, my heart.” He withdraws slightly, lifting your face so that he can meet your gaze again, tears welling in his own amber eyes now as he smiles. “I know.”
He tilts your head back to kiss you finally and you give yourself over to it - fooling yourself into believing that it would be enough to convince him, and that the taste of the salt from both your tears couldn’t spoil the sweetness of this parting embrace.
You stagger back as the kiss deepens, a wave of vertigo knocking you off balance as you pull him with you until you meet a cold stone wall. You break away breathless, taking a moment to reorient yourself as you feel his body heat pressing into you - his knee slipping between your legs, his hands unfastening your clothes, and the sudden sound of rushing water where there ought to be none.
You open your eyes and find yourselves back in the cave, transported there in a blink of an eye, sheltered and secluded from the world behind the waterfall, a space just for the two of you.
“How did you -”
“With great difficulty,” He laughs and loses his balance a little, resting his head against yours as he steadies his breathing and closes his eyes with a pained expression.
“Could you always do that?” You cup his cheek in concern.
“Yes,” He admits. “But I was injured, and also wanted you to ride me.”
Your annoyed groan gets cut short when you feel his mouth on yours again, teasing strokes from his tongue lulling you into desire as you move in time together. You gasp at the feeling of cold air against your skin, Morax’s hands taking barely any time to remove your clothes before he reaches for the bundle of nerves between your legs, rubbing so torturously slowly with one as he slips a finger in with the other.
You feel your legs almost buckle at the sensation, your core tightening as he thrusts up inside you, arousal coating his fingers as he pulls out and drags them across your clit, the cave wall digs into your back while you rock your hips along to the rhythm of his movements.
You’re not even thinking when you reach for the sash at his waist, opening his clothes to reveal his hardening cock, your hand wrapping around him as he kisses you again and again until your head spins. It’s all instinct now, muscle memory from exploring every inch of each other - you remember the way he taught you to touch, the way that he tasted you… you wonder what it would be like to taste him.
“Stop.” You whisper, “Morax, stop.”
He steals a few more kisses before forcing himself to still, hands reluctantly dropping to his side as he uses his forearm to lean against the wall by your head, sucking in a desperate breath as your thumb traces across the sensitive tip of his cock.
He says nothing as you trail kisses along his neck, letting out a satisfied moan as your lips brush his collar and your hands slowly stroke as you make your way down to your knees. The floor is cold and uneven as you settle on the stone, wetting your lips before glancing up at his stunned face one last time.
You don’t break eye contact as you press an experimental kiss against the length of him, holding it in place with one hand as you drag your tongue along the shaft until you taste the pre cum gathering at his flushed tip.
You pause when his hand weaves its way through your hair, his fingers gently gripping your scalp as he parts his lips and watches you with that inhuman golden light in his eyes, as if the anticipation from stopping might keep him here forever… But the desperate look in his eye sends chills down your spine, the thought of him filling your mouth and watching him come undone, it’s enough to break your resolve.
Morax lets out a restrained groan as your lips finally wrap around him, his eyes slamming shut as you suck the head of his cock and moan when you slowly swirl your tongue around it. You have never done this before, but hope that emulating what he had once done to you might work well enough.
Your clit throbs at the memory of his tongue against it, the way he lapped you up and buried his face in you, so unbearably starved of stimulation while you slowly bob your head and adjust your jaw to the size of him in your mouth. You reach down to touch yourself only to find how wet you already were, so hungry for him to fill that hole too.
“More…” It takes everything Morax has not to buck into your mouth, to let you have control as you coax low moans from his throat “Keep going.”
You hum against him as you dare to swallow more of his length, trying not to gag when the size of him hits the back of your throat, and break only when he tugs your hair back to force you to catch your breath. Your heart skips at the way he lovingly strokes your face, the way his fingers skate across your forehead before weaving their way back into your hair, the way he twitches in anticipation as you bring your lips back around him.
You feel your own pleasure quickening beneath your fingers as you bob your head faster now, rocking your hips in time with every stroke until he stops you again.
“I need you against the wall.” He says, something dark and hungry in his tone, so you move without a second thought.
Your breath catches in your throat when he presses your warm body up against the cold stone, the change in temperature so pleasant despite how craggy and uncomfortable the rock ought to be. It feels grounded, safe even, as he brings his hands to rest against your hips and positions himself between your legs from behind, his erection resting against your buttock as he leans in and presses a kiss to the crook of your neck.
“Morax…” You plead with him, desperate to find your release.
One of his hands slides across your belly, carefully caressing up toward your breast while he uses the other to guide himself toward your entrance.
“I love you…” His words ghost across your skin as he finally pushes in. “I’ve loved you since the moment you told me your name.” He brings his lips right up to your ear and whispers your name so sweetly, with all the warmth and affection in the world. “My heart, my perfect ____.”
There’s no resistance from your body this time, so used to the shape of him fitting so wonderfully inside you by now, stretching so readily as his cock thrusts into you with ease. The rest of your sweet nothings blur together amidst the gasps and groans of pleasure, skin against skin, he fucks you hard and fast against the wall as if he can no longer contain the hunger that drives him.
You feel his cock hit the spot that makes you tighten, crying out as he slams into you and grips your flesh until it feels flush and tender, his pace quickening as he desperately pours into you. He nips at your neck, biting and marking between ragged breaths and soothing kisses, his hips snapping against you until that relentless urge to come begins to pool in the pit of your stomach.
“Wait for me.” He begs.
“I can’t” You throw your head back and wince, so wrecked with pleasure that nothing could stop you from tumbling over the edge. “Morax please…”
“Promise me?” He kisses your cheek, holding your sweat slick bodies as close as possible as his pace falters and achingly slows. “Promise me that you’ll wait for me. That you’ll still be here when I get back.”
Something breaks in you when you realise what he means, you bring your hand to rest over his as it slides off your breast to hover over your heart, tears burning your eyes as you turn your head to meet his gaze over your shoulder.
He looks so afraid, the golden light in his eyes dimming so much that he looks practically human, scared that you might say no - that he might lose you after this if he lets you come with him, that he might still lose you even if he doesn’t …
But after all that you have been through together, how could you walk away? Even if your debts to one another were paid, even if he was a god and you were a mortal, how could you turn from the man you had grown to love so much?
You smile sadly as you crane your neck to kiss him - longing, deep, and slow. Sighing as he stops, still buried to the hilt inside you, to return your affection with all that he has.
“I promise.” You say, quiet and resigned against his lips.
You shiver at the relieved sigh he lets out, the breathy laugh and reassurance of his presence against yours.
“I love you ____.” He tells you again, his fingers intertwined with yours.
“I love you too,” You reply. “Always.”
Those five simple words are all it takes to spark something in Morax, his eyes widening as he pulls out and lifts you into his arms as you turn around. You barely have the chance to wrap your legs around him before he’s buried himself inside you again, kissing you and fucking you up against the wall with the same fervour as before - hitting you at a steeper, more deliberate angle as you let out a strangled moan.
A few moments more and you're both coming together, pleasure burning through your core as you feel him continue to empty himself inside - his cum hot and slick as it spills out between endless thrusts that you wish would never stop. You throw your head back with a wracked moan as your orgasm peaks, waves of pleasure washing over you until you forget the sorrow that morning would bring.
He is yours and you are his. Right now, tomorrow, and always.
His breaths are ragged and uneven as he calms, the strength in his legs sapped as he carefully unsheathes and lets you down, joining you in lying atop the pile of clothes on the ground - exhausted and finally sated.
You spend a few hours there in each other's arms not speaking, his arm tucked under your neck as a makeshift pillow while he kisses you until you fall asleep. He holds you in his arms for longer than he ought to, committing every inch of you to memory, before he quietly slips away without another word.
EPILOGUE
Sunlight filters its way through the bamboo as Morax heads along the path, the morning air crisp and clean after so many years away. The last time he was here he had caused so much destruction, but as he looks out across the river he can hardly see the scars of battle that the earth had worked so hard to forget.
Small dragon statues are dotted throughout the landscape to honour him and keep the corruption at bay. The grass and reeds grew long and green again, with the water finally unsullied, and a bustling village had been rebuilt up ahead. The land had finally healed under five years of the Adepti’s care.
He ought to be tired after so many battles, after the victories and losses it took to secure this peace, but the newly crowned Archon of Liyue thinks little of rest when there is still so much that remains to be done - all the contracts and promises to be kept.
Disguised as a member of the Millelith Brigade, Morax makes his way across the bridge, the clink of his armour turning a few heads as he walks up the hill past the few rougher looking houses that remain. When he last saw this place it had been mostly washed away, and it seems as if most of the humans had rebuilt on higher ground and repurposed this space as farm land.
“What business does a lone soldier have so far north?” A pretty young woman approaches.
Not you, he worries but hides his nerves and disappointment well.
“I’m here to see an old friend,” He smiles and bows to the lady. “Could you direct me towards the residence of ____?”
“They’re not home,” She says. “They left with some merchants about a month ago, not sure if they plan to come back this time.”
“I see.” Is all he can manage to reply.
He hadn’t anticipated that.
There had been so many nights these past five years where he replayed that promise in his mind, days where the only thing that got him through each and every battle was the knowledge that he would come home to you.
You hadn’t lied to him when you said it, he felt the truth of it in your heart, saw it in the love that you gave, but perhaps it was as you had once told him - even the toughest of rocks can be worn down with time and the gnawing ache of affection’s absence.
“Thank you.” He said, and turned to walk away.
“You’re not going to ask where they went?” She asked.
“It doesn’t matter, but thank you.”
He bowed again with the greatest of respect, and departed before she could ask anymore questions, sighing at how heavy the divinely crafted gold ring in his pocket suddenly felt.
It would be so easy to find you but he wouldn’t. If you were not here, then that was an answer in itself, and he would respect that despite the hurt and anger it caused him. Your contract has been broken, yes. But had it been fair for him to ask that of you in the first place?
Time is the most valuable currency that a human has, so scarce and gone in an instant no matter the manner in which it is spent. Five years had passed. Enough time for fickle love to fade in favour of apathy, the potential for distractions - a new purpose, a new love, a new family, a future… He had selfishly hoped for you to put all of that on hold so that he would return and find you unchanged from the day that he left you.
But that was not the way of humans, and he had changed in that time too.
Morax stops his retreat when he reaches the stretch of shoreline where he had first met you, kneeling down to touch the silt where he had lay bleeding. For a moment he foolishly regrets it, wonders if he would be spared this heartbreak if you had just left him there to die, before logic resumes and he realises that he could never be sorry for loving you. The earth also remembers it faintly, a shadow of your past selves playing so prevalent in his mind that he doesn’t notice the way the sand crunches beneath the approaching footsteps.
“You came…”
He freezes.
He slowly lifts his gaze to see you, not believing the sound of your small voice after so long apart.
“____.” Your name catches around the lump in his throat. He had planned this moment so many times in his mind - what he would say, what he would do - but now that you were finally in front of him he couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe.
“I knew you would.” You can’t stop yourself from sobbing as you drop to your knees and wrap your arms around him. “I knew that one day, you would come back to me.”
“I thought that you had left!” He chokes out. The relief consumes him so suddenly, so intimately, when he pulls you in as close as possible.
“I did.” You laugh and squeeze him tighter, “I left lots of times, but I always came back Morax. Always.”
“This isn’t what we agreed.” He pulls back a little and brings his hand up to stroke your face, to trace every line and curve, to see how your beauty has matured and grown since he last laid eyes upon you, falling in love with your smile all over again in an instant. “I was so scared that you… that I would never see you again.”
“You asked me to wait for you and I kept my word. You never said that I had to wait here the whole time.”
“Trust you to try to find a loophole.” He would roll his eyes if he didn’t worry it might hurt you. “I asked you to be here when I came back.”
“I am here, aren’t I?” You whisper, wiping away his tears. “There was a time a few years ago where I would walk up this path every night and wait for you until the sun rose… But the village needed rebuilding, staying busy and travelling was the only thing that kept me sane. I only went to check on Cloud Retainer. I came back just in time.”
“You did?” He laughs, remembering how prickly your relationship had used to be.
“I can’t fly like you.” You tease a little. “She has helped my village a great deal with reconstruction since you defeated Qingce, once a year I take our offerings to her domain to thank her.”
“How are you still so lovely even after all this time?” He smiles, with so much warmth and joy in his longing eyes, then finally leans forward.
Your heart sings for him as your lips touch, kissing thoroughly and unhurried as your fingers tangle amidst his thick black hair. You had almost forgotten the taste, the feeling, of him - but he slips so easily back into the space his departure had left, as if the void had never been.
You may have lost so much time together until this point, but you had the rest of your human life to catch up, and Morax knew that - trusted that now. He would never leave your side again.
“Have you come to take me back with you now that everything is settled?” You murmur against his mouth, curling his hair around your fingers.
He shakes his head a little and takes a deep breath to steel himself.
Then Morax slowly withdraws from your embrace, as if he didn’t wish to part so soon. But this was important. This was everything.
He looks down at the dirt where you first found him, where all of this began because of a chance encounter so long ago, and reaches into the innermost pocket beneath his armour.
“No, my heart…” You feel faint when he holds his hand out to you, a small golden ring gleaming in the centre of his palm and another promise at the heart of it. “Just for a while, I wondered if you might let me stay?”
