@dvouring: he has the marks of one of zhongli's past lovers upon him, and it was difficult to tell which part of the ex archon was looking at him when he saw pieces of osial. sprawled upon the bed, a gentler rain outside a darkened sky, it's raindrops a soft cacophony upon the rooftop, the room is dark save for the bare skin of morax's arms, the bioluminescence of childe's inherited scales that seemed to pulse with his heartbeat.
' zhongli. ' rasped sigh left him on a quiet exhale, the sound of his voice enraptured by the sight before him. glowing hand would move the part the red folds of childe's shirt, the way his hand touched the harbinger's sternum making osial's gills at his ribs flutter, making childe's eyes dark with want. he knew this, and yet, it continued to rain. who are you looking at ? me, or the god who possesses my body ? a hand came up to rest at zhongli's nape, gentle in how he pulled apart the ties, rich brown hair falling from it's binds.
in that moment, maybe it is the culmination of both their wants that he holds the silker umber strands in hand, kissing the hair at his fingertips like one would worship any part of a deity they could.
he stares at the creation below him with eyes of divinity, cor lapis gaze splintered with all the rawness of a god lost in the throes of the situation they'd found themselves in. in everything he does - zhongli is so assured, morax even more so, so confident in each step he took through this mortal life. but even for him - this was uncharted territory, dark and abyssal waters that he could navigate only based on feeling alone. and for a man who had spent over six thousand years avoiding such emotions? it was a monumental task, one that he would laud to be harder than anything else he's ever done in his long, long lived life. but childe... the knowledge of childe, on the other side of this, that makes it all worth it in the end he supposes.
gilded scales enshrouded in umber pulsate in the dim room, the gold tips of his claws so gentle in their caress. countless scars from the harbingers own battles mottle the skin beneath his touch, now alongside osial's luminous scales, and he is reverent in the descent of his fingertips - mapping the lines of sweet flesh with studious purpose, all while the hue of his gaze refuses to leave childe's own. tender, tender, tender - it's impossibly soft - the way zhongli looks at him, the way his stoney features have melted into something downright devastated - just by the sound of the harbinger muttering his name alone.
a rumble of thunder in the distance, the patter of rain.... it all falls to the wayside, long since distracted by the pull of zhongli's draconic intent. the hand not upon childe's chest curls tight into the sheets near his head, as the younger's coaxing fingertips find solace in his nape and he watches - bewitched - when a reverent kiss is placed to the silk of his dark tresses.
something shifts in him then, a piece of stone reconnecting to a jagged edge of his heart, and zhongli finds his chest full - so full, as he leans downwards. it is unsurprising for childe to wonder who zhongli pines for in these moments - when the vestiges of his prolific age old lover and the new object of his affections have become one. it doesn't stun him in the slightest that he might be confused or hurt by where zhongli's gaze or touch may linger. but...
the answer to childe's questions come, when zhongli lowers his head, their mouths mere centimeters apart.
" ajax. " he murmurs on a prayer, and seals their lips together in a desperate press.
