It’s dark, late, and Childe can’t sleep.
He tosses and turns, restless, and sits up, head in his hands. Why can’t he sleep?
He shuffles over to the table to pour himself a glass of water, and from here he can see out the window. His heart skips a beat; in the distance, the little square of light from the consultant’s residence is visible.
Childe pulls on a shirt and steps into his shoes, and he’s very soon lingering at the steps of Zhongli’s home. He knocks, rocking back on his heels, suddenly nervous, pacing the seconds as he waits for a response. Maybe he should have thought this through a bit better-
The door cracks open, and Zhongli is standing in the doorway, confused, but Childe is busy drinking in the sight of him with his hair draped over his shoulders, silk lounge robes cascading to his ankles, ink-stained fingers pushing at his sleeves. “Ajax…?”
Childe blinks, greeting him with a bashful smile. “I hope I’m not disturbing,” he tucks his fidgeting hands away into his pockets. “I was wondering if you’d like some company? I saw that your light was on…”
Zhongli blinks, then the corner of his lips lifts with the slightest of smiles. “Couldn’t sleep?”
“I bought some new books today,” Zhongli says when they’re upstairs, returning to his desk as he lights another ring of incense. “Feel free to use the bed,” he gestures to the four-poster bed at the other end of the room. Zhongli apologises for the books taking up the window seat where Childe usually sits, and for every other chair in the room that was occupied by an artefact or another. “I…wasn’t expecting anyone,”
Childe reassures him, if only too eagerly. He’s been up here plenty of times before for meetings, friendly visits, that one night after the lantern rite festival where he kissed Zhongli by the window- but never this late, at such an intimate timing, where everyone in the world was asleep, except for the two of them. He’s never even been near his bed, until now.
Childe runs his hand over the sheer silk drapings tied to the bed post, the ornate teak frame and the white cotton sheets. The mattress is soft, nothing at all like the rock he sleeps on back at the inn. Childe leans back with his random book of choice, guided by some instinct to settle on the left side of the bed. He could see Zhongli working from where he was, delving back into his work with a determined focus. Childe chews his lip, opening his book nonetheless.
But Childe misses the glances straying his way, and more often than not, the quiet sighs from misspelling one too many words. It’s getting later in the night, and Zhongli can feel the fatigue begin to creep in on him. The brush grows heavy in his hand, and the allure of the bed is too great to resist (irregardless of his guest, he is certain…). Zhongli pushes through the last few pages, almost reaching the end when he can’t help another stolen glance, and his heart takes a little skip. The Snezhnayan delegate lies recumbent on his bed, eyes fluttering as the open book in his hand gradually comes to rest on his chest.
Childe is already dosing off, lulled by the warmth of the room and the drifting incense; the words from his antique catalog drift in his minds eye, slipping away from him as his eyelids grow heavy. His body seems to move of its own accord, his head finding the pillow as he sinks into it, unable to resist its softness. It smells of incense and violetgrass, just like Zhongli.
The space beside him begins to dip, and Childe isn’t thinking very much anymore except that he needs to be closer. He inches over until he can feel the warmth radiating off Zhongli. Childe sighs contentedly.
“Goodnight Ajax,” Zhongli’s voice sends pleasant vibrations across the bed, enticing Childe to snuggle ever closer. The consultant muses, then he wraps an arm around Childe, shifting nearer himself.
Childe smiles, and he presses his face into Zhongli’s chest. All at once, the noise in his head is swiftly silenced by the sudden serenity cascading through him. He wants very much to say something, but his tongue grows heavy and his limbs leaden. He’s finally delivered a repose so serene, it melts the world away around him, around them, all before he can say goodnight.
