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Childe has never been overly fond of pretty things.
When she was small her mother would hold her earrings up to Ajax’s ears, telling her how lovely she’d look with them pierced. On birthdays she was squeezed into pretty gowns that dragged along the floor, and on her fifteenth her mother presented her with a tiny pair of kitten heels, glossy black.
“You look so grown up!” She had said, watching Ajax conduct a wobbly walk through the living room. Her hands clapped together, gaunt with age. “Your posture has improved too- you usually slouch.”
Ajax had hummed, focused on not catching her heel in the cracks of the floorboards. Her reflection in the gloss of her heels looked up at her, young and pimpled. “Thanks, mama. They’re pretty.”
The heels had found their home underneath a blanket of dust in the loft where they rested until her feet grew too large for them and she finally had an excuse to pawn them off to Tonya, who looked like the princess she never could be. Pretty things just weren’t made for someone like her. Pretty people weren’t either; all jewellery and finely pressed suits and perfect makeup told her was that the person had far too much peace of mind, something that, as a weapon, she could not afford.
But right there at a market stall under the unbearable hot sun of Liyue, staring at a woman frowning at her purse, she realises that maybe she just hadn’t found the right kind of pretty until now.
The first thing she notices is the hairpin. It’s laughably ostentatious, made of either plated or solid gold and inlaid with cor lapis. Hanging gemstones brush against the woman’s dark brown hair as she moves her head, speaking to the stall owner. A portion is gathered up in a complex bun and the rest hangs straight down her back, pushed so it doesn’t lean over her shoulders. Her carefully messy bangs are so long that they brush her eyelashes, though Childe isn’t one to talk in that department, either. She hasn’t had a professional haircut since she was ten years old, and the only way she tries to keep anything tidy is to sit herself on the toilet seat in her bathroom and hack at the strands with her hydro blades.
She’s wearing a long sleeved dress with a high neck, made of a beautiful brown silk that shimmers in the sunlight. It’s a slight bit more modern, ergo tight, but with some clear traditional Liyuen elements sprinkled in for what looks like pure flavour. The dress goes down to her ankles, but a long slit up the side allows her freedom of movement. A lengthy pibo is hooked around her arms and across her back, and her black heels clop like the shoes of a horse as she shifts nervously from foot to foot on the stone streets. Her eyes and lips are painted a striking red and she sports a single earring on the opposite side to where the decorations of her hairpin are most large.
Her eyes are like cor lapis in and of themselves, like she’d been carved straight from the mountainside. She’s extremely tall, taller than the male merchant, and her high heels only elevate her more. Her figure is all long legs, slim waist, full hips and ample bust; the kind you’d see only on the front pages of porn magazines. Her face is dignified, a straight nose and high cheekbones, showing slight aspects of her age in the laughter lines at her eyes. It only serves to make her even more interesting to look at. It’s actually unnerving how… unusual she looks, like an overly fantastical painting. Childe can’t take her eyes off her. She imagines most people can’t.
“Miss Zhongli, are you at all present?” The merchant asks, waving his hand insultingly in front of her face.
Zhongli. Of course her name is pretty too.
“I do apologise.” Miss Zhongli says, and her voice isn’t at all like she expected. It’s rather deep for a woman, smooth and aged. It seems to resonate within the square like she’s standing in the centre of a church, letting the acoustics carry her voice all around. “I am not usually forgetful, but carrying mora seems to be a blind spot of mine.”
An opportunity to finally talk to someone interesting has presented itself on a golden platter to Childe, and she snatches it up eagerly.
“Allow me!” She says, sliding up next to Miss Zhongli, bag of mora jingling in her hand.
The merchant just sighs and takes the payment, clearly used to people falling over themselves to pay for a woman like her.
She turns to Childe, a smile already curling her lips, and it’s really something else to be subjected to the full force of that gaze.
“Ah, thank you.” She says, dipping her head. “You have saved me from quite an embarrassing situation.”
Childe puts a hand on her hip confidently, smiling with all her teeth. Next to Miss Zhongli, she can’t help but feel nervous about her state of dress. Fatui issue uniform is drab and grey, and these shorts aren’t doing much for her pale, mottled legs. She feels like she’s in rags, when really, Miss Zhongli is absolutely insane for going shopping in that kind of getup.
“It’s no problem! That mora was burning a hole in my pocket, anyway. Liyuen markets really are something else.”
Zhongli’s eyes brighten. “Are they not? Liyue is founded on craftsmen and the trade they created; we’re very lucky to have so much talent lining our market stalls. Is that, perhaps, why you are in Liyue?”
They move out of the way of the other customers at the stall, finding themselves falling in step with each other as Zhongli browses the others.
“I’m actually here for business.” Childe says, jogging a little to keep up with Zhongli’s long strides. “I’ve been stationed at the Northland Bank.”
“Liyue is the best place to do business, but I hope you are able to have pleasure here too.” She smiles. “Can I ask your name?”
“Childe.” The alias rolls off her tongue easily. “I heard the merchant call you Miss Zhongli.”
“Ah, please. Just Zhongli. It’s wonderful to meet you, Childe.”
“I should be saying that.” Childe smiles. “You’ve given me an excuse to bunk off work and look at trinkets.”
Zhongli’s eyes do that little twinkle again, and she offers her arm to Childe. Childe smiles crookedly, sliding her scarred arm through Zhongli’s own.
“I happen to be quite knowledgeable in trinkets. As repayment for your mora, please allow me to assist you in browsing. I’m certain I’ll be of use.”
Not pretty, Childe decides. She’s beautiful.
*
Walking arm in arm with Zhongli in the harbour is giving Childe a glimpse of what it feels like to have a trophy wife. The harbour must all know of her, she gets plenty of greetings as she walks, and some watch with distinct envy in their gazes. But more than that, she feels like a dirty knapsack that the beautiful Zhongli is lugging around. A slightly smug knapsack, at that.
Childe doesn’t often make friends, but with Zhongli, it’s very easy to fall into it.
They browse the market stalls for hours, and Zhongli’s knowledge is as bountiful as she claims.
“I’ve never been one for jewellery.” Childe admits as they study earrings in a glass display case.
“No?” Zhongli prompts.
Childe shakes her head. “I suppose I value practicality over fashion.” She looks up at Zhongli then, laughing. “Not that fashion is a bad thing.”
“I understand.” Zhongli says. “I imagine in your line of work it’s rather necessary to be mobile.”
She does not question how Zhongli immediately understood that working at the Northland was code for ‘active Fatui soldier’ but she’s glad that she won’t have to explain it later, and that Miss Zhongli isn’t chasing her out of the door. Instead, Childe agrees silently with her observation, glancing over at a dangly red earring over at the side. Ruby, maybe. It’s blood red and simple. Zhongli hums, watching closely. “A single earring would not impede you, however.”
“It wouldn’t.” She admits. “I like the colour.”
“Red will suit you.” Zhongli says with finality, lifting her head to address the craftsman. “May we please purchase this pair of ruby earrings?”
Childe almost laughs out loud at the way Zhongli so flagrantly spends her money, but allows it. A small box is pressed into Zhongli’s hands and they back away from the stall, moving out of the crowd a little.
“Here.” Zhongli holds the earring out of Childe’s reach. “Allow me to put it in.”
“Sure.” Childe’s reply is easy, but her throat goes dry when Zhongli steps into her space; a towering figure. Zhongli holds Childe’s jaw as she turns her head to expose her ear, clawed painted nails very slightly digging into her skin. Childe swallows as she leans in. Her breath fans over her ear as she pulls at her lobe, carefully inserting the hook.
Childe’s space is cold when Zhongli pulls back, and the weight at her ear is unusual but so achingly familiar at the same time; adorned in her mother’s heavy pearl earrings in front of the mirror.
Zhongli smiles, closing the box again. “Keep this as a spare in case you misplace it, or choose to wear both.”
Childe can only nod, cold gemstone brushing against the tender skin of her neck.
Her dismissal of pretty things for almost all of her life has perhaps left her deprived of beauty, and now that she is in the presence of someone so beautiful she can’t help but lap it up like a woman starved. Is this what it’s like to be enchanted?
“Oh my.” Zhongli interrupts herself mid-explanation about a vase she was admiring. “I believe it is about to rain.”
“Huh?” Childe looks up, and in a couple moments, she starts to feel droplets on her face. Then more, then more, and more.
“Ah, Zhongli.” Childe quickly whips off her jacket, leaving her only in a loosely buttoned shirt. She throws it over Zhongli’s head to keep her as dry as possible. Zhongli laughs gently from underneath the heavy fabric as people quickly flee the streets, ducking under cover.
“Thank you, Childe, but you are getting soaked.”
She shrugs. “It’s okay, I just don’t want the rain to ruin your hair or makeup.”
“No, Childe, I mean that your shirt is sticking to you. We had better go inside before the Millileth apprehend you for public indecency.”
Childe looks down and coughs, trying to cover a bit more of her skin with the sodden shirt. “Ah, yeah. My place isn’t too near.”
“Mine is.” Zhongli grabs her hand and Childe allows it, cold and wet from the weather. “We are progressing rather fast in our friendship.”
Childe laughs brightly at that, allowing herself to be guided down the streets. “If the rain keeps up this way then we might have to have a sleepover.”
“I like sleepovers.” Zhongli says with laughter in her voice. “It is hardly an inconvenience.”
Zhongli hurries as she tugs Childe along, clip-clopping them both all the way to her apartment. She walks with confidence up the outdoor stairs despite those terrifying heels having a genuine chance of catching in the gaps between the steps.
Zhongli quickly ushers Childe in, immediately stripping herself of her pibo and shoes. Childe follows suit, eyes catching on Zhongli’s black painted toenails through the nude of her stockings. Zhongli hangs Childe’s jacket up and takes the pin from her hair, letting it fall across her shoulders. It’s slightly waving at the ends from the rain.
“Please, make yourself comfortable.” Zhongli invites, walking through to the living room. “I will fetch you one of my shirts.”
Childe nods and hums, busying herself with picking up random objects around her house. It shouldn’t surprise her that Zhongli is such a collector, but it’s definitely surprising that such a refined woman can be so messy. Perhaps that’s Childe’s military efficiency talking. She’s been rolling up identical white socks and bras and underwear neatly in her dresser since she was thirteen, polishing the same pair of leather boots every morning. Zhongli is a lot more relaxed than that. She strikes her as the type who lounges around in bed until the afternoon, dressed in lace and smoking out of the window. She probably leaves her underwear right on the floor where she drops it.
It’s hard to pinpoint why that leaves her gut swirling.
Zhongli returns, carrying a black shirt and a fluffy towel.
“I believe that this should fit you, if a little loose.” Right. Because Zhongli could probably suffocate a Geovishap with her chest.
Zhongli’s fingers come to the buttons on Childe’s sodden shirt, undoing it for her. Childe flushes lightly. “Ah, I can do that myself.”
“No need.” Zhongli’s lips curve into a smile as she drags the sodden shirt down Childe’s arms, leaving her shivering.
Zhongli quietly observes her scarring for a moment before moving in, wrapping her arms around her back. Childe feels herself pulled into her chest and Zhongli’s fingers start to fiddle with the clasp at the back of her bra. Childe’s hands come to smack at her own chest when she feels it unhook, stopping it from coming off.
“There’s no need to be embarrassed.” Zhongli tuts, gently encouraging Childe to remove it by pinching one of the straps between her fingers. “We’re both women here. It’s too wet to stay on.”
Childe grumbles, still flushed pink, but let’s her pull it off, exposing her chest to the cold air. Her nipples harden with the temperature and her hands come to fiddle with her earring, determined not to shy away from her this time. She isn’t embarrassed by her body, she’s been naked in front of many other women in her life in similar, non sexual situations. Zhongli glances, it would be hard not to, but quickly picks up the towel instead to begin drying Childe’s hair.
Childe can’t see her face like this, head ducked to allow her to dry her properly, but she stares at her lap instead, at the way the material of her dress stretches over the thick of her thighs. She swallows, nails digging into her palms.
“Your hair is a beautiful colour.” Zhongli says in the soothing quiet. “There are not many people in Liyue who share it. Our biology tends to favour darker shades.”
“I’ve heard that people in hotter countries tend to have darker hair, and those in colder ones have lighter.” She’s slightly muffled through the towel.
“You would be correct. The same goes for skin colour; it is due to the way our body adapts to best absorb vitamin D based on our climate.”
“I like your hair.” Childe says quietly. “You’re… striking.”
Zhongli chuckles at that, fingernails scratching at Childe’s scalp through the towel. She breathes out a hitched sigh at the feeling.
The towel is lifted and Zhongli works downwards, rubbing at her face gently before moving down to her neck, her chest.
Childe grabs her own forearm when Zhongli’s hands move over her breasts through the towel, gently drying them. The touch is respectful, but the texture of the towel dragging over her nipples is enough to make red rise to her cheeks. She swallows thickly.
Zhongli eventually settles the towel across her shoulders, deeming her dry. This allows Childe some sense of modesty for the time being.
“There, all done.” Zhongli says gently, then with a chuckle. “You are easy to mother.”
Childe scoffs. “You can’t be much older than me. I’m twenty four.”
Zhongli’s smile pulls at the lines around her eyes. “You’d be surprised.”
“Go on then.”
Zhongli just laughs. “Didn't anyone ever tell you to never ask a lady her age?”
“Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to dodge questions?” Childe fires back, grinning all the while.
Zhongli’s laugh is like low wind chimes. “I’m forty six.”
Childe’s jaw drops to the floor. “You are not.”
Zhongli hums in lieu of an answer, tipping Childe’s chin up with a single finger. Childe meets her gaze unwaveringly.
“Would you like some hot dinner?”
“You don’t have to.”
“Nonsense. I am your host after all.”
Childe feels the soft black shirt pressed into her hands before Zhongli stands, straightening her dress. She smiles down at her. “Any preferences?”
“I’m not fussy.” Childe says, removing the towel and shrugging the shirt over her shoulders, just doing up a couple buttons in the centre to stop it sliding off.
“Then I will pick for you; I have a repertoire of ingredients at my disposal.”
“Is cooking a hobby of yours?”
“As much as anything else.” She says, gesturing for Childe to follow her into the kitchen. Even without her heels, Zhongli is still so tall. Childe’s eyeline only meets her upper back. Her hips sway slightly when she walks, like a swinging pendulum. “I like to dabble in lots of different activities. Painting, sculpting, engineering, combat.”
Childe perks up. “Combat? You fight?”
Zhongli nods, pulling out ingredients and utensils. The clatter of pots is an achingly warming sound. Idly, she gestures to a tiny chain decorating the lower back of her dress. Just above her behind lies a Geo vision, glowing faintly. Childe sucks in a breath. Of course she’s beautiful here too; the width of her hips should’ve given it away. Her behind is thick and perky with a round shape that would make anyone green with envy.
“My life was not always as quiet as it is now. My skills were borne out of necessity, but now it serves as a form of exercise and art.” Zhongli elaborates.
Childe’s hand comes to idly touch the vision while she speaks, the back of her hand resting on the beginning of Zhongli’s backside. She turns it over in her palm, fighting down a flush. How many men of Liyue wish to do this, she wonders. “It must be an honour to be chosen to have a Geo vision, given your lady. Perhaps she favours you.”
“Perhaps.” Zhongli smiles. “The stories do say that Regina Lapis is quite the craftswoman.”
“If so, then I can’t wait to try your food. The Geo Archon must have good taste.” Childe says softly, letting go of her vision. Zhongli watches her carefully as her hand retreats, scraping against her lower back.
“You know,” Zhongli says carefully. “Your shirt is not correctly buttoned.”
“Ugh.” Childe flops her head forward onto Zhongli’s back, bobbing as Zhongli shakes with laughter. “Liyue is too hot, okay?”
“Sure.” Zhongli teases, still managing to sound refined despite the shit-eating smirk twitching at the corner of her lips. “And here I thought you were one for practicality, and not attractiveness.”
“It’s the truth.” She mumbles.
“Of course, of course. After all, this rainy weather is practically scorching.”
“It’s humid.” She protests weakly, and Zhongli’s hand reaches around to pat her on the head. Childe’s own hands sneak around Zhongli middle, resting them lightly on her stomach, soft to the touch. Childe can’t find it in herself to be embarrassed about being so touchy with a woman she just met, because Zhongli isn’t just a woman. She’s beautiful, tall, strong, interesting. She is accommodating where most are not, and despite herself, Childe just wants to plop her bags down on the ground and declare that she’s living here for her entire stay in Liyue.
“Why do you dress so fancy?” Childe asks into the quiet of the kitchen, fingers digging into the fat of Zhongli’s stomach. “You were only shopping, right?”
Zhongli considers this for a moment, humming. “I don’t see a reason not to. I enjoy looking put together.”
The opposite of what Childe is, she realises. Here she is with bare legs, mismatched socks, Fatui-issue grey shorts that stop mid thigh, a borrowed shirt, barely combed hair and only moisturiser to cover her skin. She nervously scratches her leg with her foot. Zhongli, immediately sensing Childe’s feelings, amends her words. “That is not to say that elaborate dress is the only way to be put-together. You have quite the presence, Childe.”
Childe barks out a disbelieving laugh. “Have you spent time with yourself recently? You’re like…” She struggles to find the words. “A higher being.”
A smile pulls at Zhongli’s lips. “I do not deny that I have an effect on people.”
“God help the men who want you.” Childe grumbles. Zhongli’s smile grows at that, and Childe startles as she feels Zhongli’s hand rest over her own, linked at her stomach.
“Women have a better chance.”
“Oh.” Her throat is suddenly dry.
“Is that okay with you?”
“Of course.” Childe says quickly. “Of course, yeah.”
“Are you not-?” Zhongli tilts her head.
“Uh, no. I’m not.”
“No?”
Childe’s hands grip tighter around Zhongli’s stomach, her head feeling lighter than air. Like this, her fingers brush the seam at the top of her underwear, just barely there. She runs the pad of her finger across it, pinkie resting in between the crease of thigh and crotch. Zhongli absorbs her silence and her touch.
Zhongli begins to move Childe’s hand lower, watching with calculating eyes. Her breath is stolen from her as her fingers brush the dress fabric covering Zhongli’s crotch. Zhongli pushes her middle finger firm against her and Childe trembles when she feels the pad of her finger running along her slit, pushing slightly apart with her touch. The dress goes tacky.
Childe breathes hard in the space between Zhongli’s shoulders, allowing her finger to be used. Zhongli dips her in between her lips, the tip of her finger kissing her entrance, then back up to press against the nub of her clit, separated by a barrier of dampening cloth.
“Are you quite certain?” Zhongli asks huskily.
Childe heaves a shaky breath, thighs rubbing together. “This- is a lot.”
“We can stop, it’s okay.”
“No, I don’t want to stop.” The admission tumbles out of her lips. “I don’t want to stop, I want to touch you. I-“ She squeezes her eyes tight shut and thumps her forehead against Zhongli’s back. “I want to touch your tits.” She mumbles, muffled. Zhongli shakes with gentle laughter.
“Of course, but just a moment.”
Zhongli peels Childe off her back, getting a proper look at her flushed face. She turns off the stove, moving the empty pan off the heat. It’s a good thing she had barely started cooking. “I assume you would like to skip the meal for now?”
“Yeah.” Childe runs her fingers through her hair, trying to push it into order. “I’m just- there’s a lot I need to sort out in my brain. Through practical experience.”
Zhongli laughs. “I’m ready to assist. Consider it an apology for confusing you.”
“Zhongli,” Childe fiddles with her shirt. “What if I don’t like it?”
“Then we stop. If you’re not having fun then I’m not having fun.”
Childe breathes out. “Okay. Okay.”
Zhongli takes her hands then, fiddling with the knobbly joints of her fingers. “These scars,” she asks. “What are they from?”
“Whittling.” She says, voice breathy. Zhongli’s nails scratch against her raised, scarred skin. “I taught myself as a teenager to occupy my hands.” To give her something to do with a knife other than plunge it into someone’s face. “I’m not good with safety.”
Zhongli brings her hands up to her face and presses a sticky kiss against one of the scars on her fingers, leaving a smear of red lipstick behind like blood. Childe lets her finger tip move to her bottom lip, pushing the plush skin, a facsimile of a kiss. Zhongli parts them, blunt and bitten fingernails scratching against her front teeth. Slipping past them, pressing the pad of her finger against the slick, writing muscle of Zhongli’s tongue, soft lips wrapped around her first knuckle.
“Zhongli.” She whispers, entranced by the image Zhongli makes; eyes half lidded, heavy with eye makeup, lips glistening with lipstick and saliva, chest heaving as she breathes heavily, the fat of her breasts spilling out of the cups of her bra- the line visible through her form fitting dress. She sucks on her finger, the pressure tight around Childe’s finger, nerve ends tingling.
She lets it go with a pop, a coating of saliva at the tip of Childe’s finger. Childe immediately brings it to her own mouth, letting Zhongli’s saliva intertwine with hers. Zhongli smiles, cheeks flush, and pulls for her hands again.
“Here. Touch them.”
Zhongli guides Childe’s trembling hands to the fat of her chest, firm and structured underneath her bra. She cups them, feeling the heavy weight in her palm- familiar and different all at the same time. She flexes her fingers, jiggling one breast a little. Her face heats like a wildfire as Zhongli laughs.
“There you go, Childe.” She encourages. “There you go.”
Childe swallows the spit gathering in her mouth and begins to massage her tits, just squishing them around with her palms and fingers. She can’t feel her nipples through the thick bra, padded for some unholy reason. (Why would Zhongli ever need more on her chest?)
She asks her just as much and Zhongli smiles. “I need the structural support or my back will hurt. I… cannot be like you.” Childe feels the back of Zhongli’s hand graze her sternum, hard knuckles drawing lines down the soft skin. She reaches the swell of her breasts, visible through the shirts wide parting. “Do you ever wear anything wired?”
“No.” She says a little breathlessly. “I like soft and thin things, bralettes and… lace. White lace.”
“White lace.” Zhongli repeats softly. “I will keep that in mind.”
“What about you?”
“Mhm…” Zhongli hums, considering. One hand sneaks inside Childe’s open shirt and cups her bare breast. She gasps, curling her toes as heat piles in her gut. Her back is stiff and straight as Zhongli rolls her nipple in between her clawed fingers. “At home, when I am alone and relaxed…” Her tone is sultry, long and drawn out. “I wear black lace and beautiful open nightgowns.”
That damned image pops up again, of beautiful Zhongli lounging in bed decked out in black lace. This time, an open nightgown is spread under her like the wings of a raven. One hand is holding her cigarette, the smoke spilling out of her mouth unevenly as she breathes in little gasps. Her other hand is down the front of her underwear, or maybe it’s wrapped around something made of glass, moving in and out. Maybe Childe is bent over Zhongli. Maybe her hand is holding the glass and Zhongli is holding her, breathing smoke into her mouth.
She squeezes Zhongli’s tits again, urgent and wanting. “Can we go to your bedroom?”
Zhongli answers her with a hum and a kiss.
Kissing a woman is different. Childe’s lips stick to Zhongli’s own, leaving her own mouth smeared with red. Zhongli holds her gently, cups her jaw and smoothes over the bone. She smells like a woman, of top shelf flowery perfume. Zhongli’s peach fuzz makes her skin feel so unbearably soft and when they part, for once in her entire life, Childe chases it. She captures Zhongli’s lips again almost ferociously, driven crazy by the delighted little hum she gets in response. She holds Zhongli close by the waist, so small in her scarred hands, feels the cushion of her chest against her own.
“You’re gorgeous.” Childe gasps out in between kisses. “I never thought- I could be this. I want you.”
“Childe.” Zhongli purrs. She looks elegant even with her lipstick smeared to Celestia. “I want you too. I want to show you how to want me, I want to show you how to fuck me.”
“Fuck.” She says, with feeling. “Show me.”
Zhongli removes herself from Childe’s shirt and takes her hand, thumb rubbing over the back of her knuckles as she pulls Childe to her bedroom. Childe drinks up the view of her backside like a woman starved.
Everything is starting to make sense. Everything. She feels a little stupid, to be honest. She hoarded fashion magazines as a teenager, stuffed under her bunk like a dirty little secret. She got caught reading one once and another recruit had said, ‘Hey, I didn’t know you were into fashion. So am I!’
She’d watch her wriggle into new fancy dresses, slide tights over her long legs, tighten up her corsets for her and wonder why her stomach would practically tumble out of her mouth when she gasped and said, ‘Not so hard, Childe!’
Wondered why her heart had thundered when she’d crawled into her bunk, nightgown hanging off her body and said, ‘I’m having nightmares again. Can I sleep with you tonight?’
Why she’d pulled her arm over her waist to spoon her, and why when she melted against her she’d wanted to wail like she was a child.
“Zhongli.” She says, back in the moment. “How did you know you were a lesbian?”
Zhongli smiles, old and sombre. “I met a wonderful woman.”
“I did too.” Childe says without thinking. She’s met with an incredibly soft look from Zhongli and she squeezes her hand. “Are you, uh, still with this woman? If you were ever together?”
“We were together, but not anymore. She died some time ago and my heart has moved on.” She smiles. “The future is bright; she would not want me to remain in the dark and neither do I.”
“Zhongli, I… I’m sorry for your loss.”
She dips her head politely. “Thank you, but I’m perfectly okay. More than okay.”
Childe smiles. “That’s good. That’s really good.”
Childe is pulled into the bedroom. She’s not looking at the room, just the bed. It suddenly feels like an arena.
“I want you to have fun.” Zhongli says, brushing a hand over her cheek. “Please don’t worry about underperforming.”
“What if I can’t make you cum?” Her voice, as embarrassing as it is, comes out a little choked. “I can’t even make myself cum half the time, I just cramp up or get bored.”
“That’s normal.” She assures. “You just have to learn what you like and how to do it comfortably. And as for me, I’m not concerned. I don’t need to orgasm to enjoy myself, but if it comes down to it then I can assure you I know my body very well. It will not be an issue.”
“Oh.” Childe flushes. “I guess with you being, er, older, you have more experience.”
“I am not embarrassed about my age.” She reassures. “It’s another one of life’s adventures. To hate the inevitable is a sure-fire way to torture yourself.”
“Sorry.” Childe says. “I just wasn’t sure how to handle it. You’re not even old, really.”
For some reason, Zhongli grins at that. Did she say something funny?
“Here.” Zhongli gently pushes her towards the bed and Childe goes down, swallowing the spit in her mouth when Zhongli remains standing. She looks like a goddess from this angle; impossibly imposing. Childe’s legs fall open naturally and Zhongli sees how she’s wet through her shorts.
“Sorry.” She rushes. “You’re just…”
Zhongli shushes her, moving to kneel on the bed. The motion draws the slit up her dress further open. She can see the band of her tights drawn tight across the very top of her thigh. “I’m certain I look much worse.”
“Worse is not the word I’d use.”
Zhongli chuckles, placing her clawed hand flat on Childe’s stomach. The warm hand against her cold stomach makes her sigh, like the sound one makes when sinking into a hot bath. “I can see why you choose to expose your stomach.”
“Wouldn’t be caught dead wearing this in Snezhnaya.” Childe flushes. “Well, you would be caught dead. They’d find your frozen corpse in a crop top.”
“Lovely.” Zhongli says. “Well, thankfully for me the weather is temperate. I enjoy seeing you in this.”
“Yeah?”
“Mhm.” Zhongli drags a nail up her belly, smiling slyly at the way Childe’s stomach jolts and twitches. “I am surprised you did not notice me looking. You make a holy woman sin, Childe.” She sighs. “Thankfully Regina Lapis is not the puritan sort. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind a little self indulgence, just this once.”
“I don’t need her permission.” Childe says, lifting her chin. “I’m not a child of this land.”
“You are certainly not. Right now, in this room-“ she meets Zhongli’s gaze, eyes burning like firelight, as unfathomable as a reptiles. “You are mine.”
Childe chokes on a breath, nodding. “Yeah, yours. I’m yours.”
Zhongli chuckles, sweet and dark like chocolate. She moves to her hands and knees, crawling over the bed. She looks like a lion like this, intent on devouring Childe. She settles back on her thighs once she reaches Childe, sat between her legs. She reaches a hand out to tug at Childe’s shirt. “I want this to come off again.” She purrs. “You were so lovely the first time.”
Childe swallows and nods, shaky fingers reaching up to unbutton it. She shrugs it off her shoulders and lets it slide in a puddle on the bed.
Zhongli’s hand returns to her sternum and down between her breasts, brushing it with the back of her knuckles. The pale skin rises in goosebumps where she touches. Childe knows her tits aren’t close to Zhongli’s size, but she always liked them. Liked how they looked in the mirror and in photos, only viewable for herself. Well, mostly.
The one friend she had in the Fatui had seen them and asked which boy she was going to post them to, admiring the photo and telling her, ‘You’re so pretty, Childe. Your boobs are so nice.’ She’d smiled and asked. ‘Should I help you take more? I’ll show you some angles I use for my boyfriend, he goes crazy for it.’ The outcome of the pictures didn’t matter, all that mattered was when she’d snuck her hands up Childe’s open shirt, cupped her breasts and said, ‘I’ll push them up while you take the photo! It’ll look super hot.’
That night she’d fingered herself without knowing why she’d gotten so hot and bothered. Maybe just the act of taking nude pictures was stimulating enough, even though they weren’t for anyone else.
She floats back to the present and arches into Zhongli’s touch, a sudden craving running through her like an electric shock. She wants to get fucked by a woman. She wants Zhongli to finally give her all she’s ever wanted; to suck her nipples and lick her cunt and jam her fingers so hard into her that she sees stars. She’s so sick of her family asking about a husband, so sick of other girls asking about a boyfriend. So sick of men who don’t know who she is whistling at her, and the ones who do know who she is staring at her like she’s some sort of forbidden fruit.
When she comes home, she wants a woman in her bed. She wants Zhongli in her bed. She wants to be greeted by a kiss from painted lips, she wants to watch her beautiful form moving around her house every day. She wants her nights to be filled with high, feminine moans and soft, delicate skin. Wants to spend hours with Zhongli’s thighs cupping her ears, lapping at her core and making up for all the years she didn’t have this.
She wants Zhongli to meet her parents; call her her girlfriend. She wants everyone to know just who they’re trying to compete against; this goddess of a woman who would send them all begging for forgiveness with a single look.
“Zhongli,” She pants. “I want this so fucking bad. I don’t just mean this, I mean everything.”
Zhongli smiles, one hand moving to hold a breast. The warm weight covering her brings heat to her cheeks. “What exactly do you want, Childe?”
“I want to be your girlfriend.” She blurts. “I know we only just met but I want to go on a date and get to know you.”
Zhongli leans over her to kiss her. “I’d like that.” She says between kisses. “Dating sounds excellent. I know many good places in the harbour to eat and to relax in. I’ll take you all around Liyue, if you wish.”
Childe’s shoulders sag with relief and she smiles brightly against Zhongli’s lips. “Yeah, take me anywhere. We can do proper uh, courting.”
Zhongli laughs. “Yes, proper courting.” Her cor lapis eyes twinkle when they meet hers. “After we are improper.”
“After.” Childe sighs happily as she agrees. “If you blueball me now out of etiquette I’m going to be very upset.”
She laughs again, leaning down to press a sticky kiss against her neck. Childe shivers as her hair drags across her chest. “Don’t worry, I intend to follow through.” Zhongli opens her mouth against her neck, moisture collecting on the skin. “It would be difficult to let go of you now.”
Childe cards her fingers through Zhongli’s hair, feeling how soft and silky it is. Zhongli’s mouth traces a path down her neck, her lipstick mostly completely transferred onto Childe now. Her lips are instead smudged and pink, raw and beautiful. She feels Zhongli’s tongue lay flat against the tendon of muscle running up the side of her neck, licking up it like she’s licking the length of a cock. Childe lets out a small, needy noise and goes boneless.
She feels the wetness between her legs now more than ever. She wriggles, rubbing her thighs together and feeling the way her folds slip and rub. She clenches around nothing, entrance fluttering.
“Zhongli,” She pleads. “I want something inside me.”
She feels Zhongli smile against her neck and she murmurs against her pale skin. “What would you like?”
“Your fingers.” Childe amends it quickly. “For now, at least.”
Zhongli’s clawed hand moves obediently down, tracing angry red lines with her nails as she goes. She thumbs the waistband of Childe’s shorts in a silent request, so Childe shifts her weight onto her back so she can lift her hips, allowing Zhongli to pull them down her legs but leaving her in her white socks and underwear, matching and plain. Zhongli hooks Childe’s leg over her shoulder so she can get a good look at the way the white fabric is damp at its centre, drawn tight over her. She hums, clearly pleased, and presses her thumb to her clothed centre. Childe gasps and covers her mouth quickly, embarrassed at her receptiveness.
“You feel so warm here.” Zhongli kisses the inside of her knee, looking downright pious as she observes her. Her voice so clearly drips with want, oozing honey. “I’m amazed that no other woman has had the privilege.”
“Or man.” Childe breathes out. “Just, uh, me. And uh, any phallic object I had on hand.”
Zhongli’s laughter is musical. “Mhm, what did you use?” The kiss against her knee turns open mouthed and Zhongli’s thumb hooks in a little, pressing on the outside of her hole. Childe moans quietly. “I want to know. I want to picture it.”
“A few things.” She admits. “But usually, um, the end of my hairbrush. One time,” Her entrance clenches as she remembers it, delighting in the arousal that pulses through her when she feels Zhongli’s thumb so well. “With a zucchini. That was so-“ She moans. “So good. It felt so fucking good. It was big, couldn’t get enough.”
“Do you like big?” Zhongli asks, something flashing in her gaze. Like if Childe asked for the world she’d give it to her.
Childe bites her lip and nods when Zhongli pushes her thumb in just a little. The fabric of her underwear kisses at the start of her entrance, so so close to dipping in. “Was nice.”
Zhongli hums thoughtfully, then takes three fingers to completely press against Childe’s pussy, keeping an even pressure all down that has Childe bucking up into the touch with a small, wet moan. “How about this? Rubbing?”
“I could get off on whatever you do to me.” Childe says, the flush dominating her face backing up her claim. “I could cum just from you talking. Your voice is amazing, I love how low it is.”
Zhongli smiles. “I’m glad. Some find a low voice unattractive in a woman.”
Childe shakes her head side to side, ruffling up her hair even more than it already was. “It’s beautiful. You sound like whiskey.”
“I taste of it too.” Zhongli says breathily and dips down, drawing Childe into another kiss. She must have had a shot sneakily in the bedroom while grabbing Childe’s shirt because she really does; Childe can’t believe she’s only noticing it now. She laps it up with a moan, then mumbles, “You had a drink?”
“A cap.” Zhongli mumbles back. “For my nerves.”
“Nerves.” She teases lowly. “I’m a twenty four year old virgin, why would you ever be nervous?”
“Because I wanted you to be mine.” Zhongli says, then emphasises, “I want. I want you to be mine.”
“You can have me.” Childe almost moans the words against Zhongli’s lips. “All of me, right now.”
“I feel like a million mora.” Zhongli admits. “I’m extraordinarily lucky that your tastes align with mine. I can barely believe it.”
Childe laughs, lips sticky and wet. “I didn’t believe it either. Here I am, though.” She pulls away a little. “So excited to explore this with you.”
“Truly.” Zhongli says and drops her leg, crawling forward to kiss her again, wasting no time in delving into her mouth with her tongue. Childe moans around it and her hands come to grab at Zhongli’s dress. “Are you going to- ah- take that off?”
“Mhm, help me untie it.”
Childe nods and they stop kissing, but Zhongli’s hand lingers on hers before she stands up and turns around, Childe following while only in her underwear. She braces her hands against Zhongli’s back, feeling her shoulder blades. “How is your back cute?” She asks breathlessly, earning a laugh. “And the nape of your neck…” Childe stands on her tiptoes to press a kiss to it, feeling how warm the skin is. Zhongli sighs, leaning into it.
Childe reaches up to her neck and finds the tie holding the front of her dress up while watching Zhongli’s arms move around her front, dealing with any concealed clasps. She hooks a finger under the silk and pulls it like a ribbon, unwrapping her present. The top half falls down, revealing an open expanse of skin to Childe. Zhongli’s shoulder blades are well defined and as she looks down the inciting curve of her spine, the rest of the tight dress still covering her behind, she’s greeted with the sight of back dimples. She sighs and presses a kiss just under the hook of her bra. “I wanna’ take this off.”
“Go ahead.” Zhongli whispers, opening the bottom of her dress and letting it fall to the ground. “Undress me.”
Childe moans softly when she watches the fabric fall, revealing the beautiful curve of Zhongli’s behind. She was on the money about the black lace; it contrasts so beautifully against her pale skin. Childe lets her hand fall to her ass, sighing at the way her palm feels almost small against it. Zhongli hums, enjoying the attention. Her other hand goes to fumble with Zhongli’s bra clasp, unhooking it. Zhongli pushes the straps off her own shoulders and takes the initiative to take off her panties, leaving them on the floor. Childe presses herself solidly against Zhongli’s back. “If you turn around I might die.” She warns and Zhongli laughs.
“Am I truly that attractive to you?”
“You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” Childe presses a worshipping, open mouthed kiss to her upper back. “I’m worried I’m never gonna’ be able to look at you without getting wet.”
Zhongli looks genuinely flattered at that, then says, “Take your panties off too.”
“Archons, you can’t just say things like that to me in that voice.” She complains, giggling when Zhongli laughs. She hooks her fingers into the sides of her underwear and pulls them down her legs, stepping out of them and kicking them away.
“Do you want to feel how wet I am?” Zhongli asks huskily, and Childe swallows as she nods. She’s pulled firmer against Zhongli, her nipples against Zhongli’s naked back. She takes her hands and moves them around her waist, imitating the position they took in the kitchen. Childe’s hips bump against her ass. She feels Zhongli’s hands cover her own, leading them between her legs. She can’t help but moan when she feels the skin there, smooth and free from pubic hair unlike her own. Zhongli’s pussy is also… fat. It’s the only way she can describe it. The skin under her fingers is more plush than her own, depressing like a soft pillow. Her fingers move lower, touching Zhongli’s outer lips. They’re slick and wet already, and when Childe puts her two fingers on either side of her slit and presses down, exposing her inner labia, she can hear how wet Zhongli is. The motion also causes Zhongli’s clit to pop out and she lets out a low, silky moan. Childe slips her fingers in between, then, caressing the softness around her entrance. Her labia slip between her fingers like holding the pages of a book. She tugs on them a little, revelling in the twitch of Zhongli’s thighs and the little hitched gasp she lets out. They’re a little stretchy and all too fun to play with. Zhongli just keeps getting more slippery and warm.
“Can I put my fingers inside you?” She asks against the nape of Zhongli’s neck and she nods enthusiastically.
“Please, Childe.”
She moves her fingers down to Zhongli’s entrance, moaning at the slick she finds there. She’s bumpy around the inside of her entrance, Childe feels as she moves in a tiny bit. She hooks her fingers and rubs against her walls, just the tips of them inside. “Oh fuck.” Zhongli moans and Childe rubs firmer, faster. “Oh fuck, oh fuck. Give me more, deeper.”
“Okay.” She gasps a little, her own entrance clenching around nothing. She presses her two fingers all the way up to the second knuckle, hooking them. Her fingers are far down enough that her palm presses against her fully, allowing her to grind the heel into Zhongli’s clit. Zhongli’s hand shoots up to grab Childe by the back of her head, pressing her face into Zhongli’s neck. “That’s it, that’s it, right there- Childe.”
“Archons.” Childe pants. “You’re so fucking wet.”
Zhongli nods. “I’m- hah- finding it hard to stand up properly.”
“I’m super flattered.” Childe grins and Zhongli smiles back. “Should we move to the bed?”
“Mhm.” Zhongli turns her head to kiss her jaw. “Will you eat me out?”
“Gods,” Childe pants. “You can’t just say things like that.”
Zhongli grins against her jaw, trailing her hand up to Childe’s hair to stroke it. “You want to though, yes?”
“Of course.” Childe presses a sloppy kiss to her lips. “I want to taste you.”
Zhongli turns around then and all the breath leaves Childe with a whoosh. Her tits are huge - they rest heavy against her chest and her areolas are large against the nub of her nipples. She has stretch marks like Rishboland tiger stripes along the skin between collarbone and nipple, plus some on her stomach and upper thighs. Childe doesn’t even think before she’s ducking to suck one of Zhongli’s nipples into her mouth, her nose digging into the fat of her breast. Zhongli gasps and grips her head, claws scraping her scalp. Childe’s hand returns between Zhongli’s legs, slipping her middle finger inside and fucking it in. Her palm slaps against Zhongli’s pussy with each ram of her finger, drawing out more moans and trembles.
The taste of Zhongli’s skin in her mouth is heavenly. Her nipple is so soft and delicate, like the skin is thinner there. It slips easily around her tongue, shining with saliva. She nips experimentally and feels Zhongli buck into her, spasming like an electric shock around her finger. She gets impossibly wetter, Childe can feel absolutely no resistance anymore. Her finger slips in and out so easily, and Zhongli’s slick dribbles down her hand, pooling in the crease between palm and wrist.
She pulls off her breast with a gasp, pressing her lips against the skin. “Did you just cum?”
“Yes.” Even Zhongli’s words sound wet and thick. “Childe, by Celestia. You’re so good, darling.”
Childe’s entrance clenches, her thigh muscles spasming as the compliment burns her to her core. “On the bed, Zhongli, fuck. Get on the bed, baby.”
Zhongli practically falls onto it on her hands and knees, crawling towards the pillows. Childe moans and bites her lip; she looks incredible bent over. Her pussy is red and puffy between her legs, and above that is the tight furl of her asshole, slick with the cum that dribbled down. Zhongli’s legs shake as she collapses and rolls over onto her back, her legs automatically spreading like it’s second nature. Her chest heaves and her breasts spill over the expanse.
Childe joins her, sliding onto her stomach and settling herself between her legs. “Fuck, I can smell you.”
Zhongli moans at the hot breath that ghosts over her. “This room-“ She pants, smiling. “Is going to reek of sex.”
Childe presses a wet kiss to the delicate skin of her inner thigh, then laves her tongue over the area. It’s slick with sweat and cum. “Next time, we do this in my place. I want to smell you on those sheets for weeks.”
“Unsanitary.” She reminds her, lifting her leg to place her bare foot on Childe’s lower back. Childe shivers in delight at the cold of her toes pressing against her own scorching skin.
“Don’t care.” She murmurs. “Can I lick you?”
Zhongli whines, curling her toes so her nails dig into Childe’s skin. “Now.”
Childe wastes no time in pressing her tongue flat against the length of her, pushing in to lap at her folds. There’s nothing like this taste on her tongue, nothing in the world. It’s addictive, the slick feel of it in her mouth, the smell of Zhongli’s wetness so close to her nose, the slip of her folds. Zhongli moans and pushes her hips forward, taking up every single one of Childe’s senses. She drags a lick up to her clit, wrapping her lips around the nub and sucking.
“Ngh-ah! Fuck!” Zhongli’s foot thumps at her back, her leg spasming like a course of electro is running down it. “Oh Childe, please. Please, darling.”
Darling. Childe pulls away with a gasp, mouth and chin shiny and red. “Fuck, Zhongli. ‘Wanna be your darling, your baby.”
“You are.” Zhongli nods frantically, panting. “You’re my darling Childe, so good for me.”
Childe dips back between Zhongli’s legs, tensing her tongue to push into her entrance, licking at her walls. Zhongli’s hands fly to her hair, grasping short ginger strands in her fists and moaning. Childe rubs her palms down her thighs and hoists them up, dragging Zhongli down a little with her strength. Her thighs are so heavy in her hands, complete dead weight by now with how boneless Zhongli is. She pulls them so Zhongli’s thighs cup her head, her calves crossed over her neck to link the two of them together. The soft flesh of Zhongli’s thighs press against her cheeks and with them against her like this, it’s easy to feel the strong muscles quivering underneath. They cup her ears like earmuffs, making Zhongli’s moans sound garbled and faraway, like a memory of a dream. Her own pulse thrums loudly.
She tastes incredible; of something that is purely sex. It’s unmistakable in her mouth, new, exciting and forbidden. She moans lowly against Zhongli, feeling her answering gasp all the way in the pit of her stomach, burning like a bonfire.
“Childe.” She babbles. “Childe, please, I want to pleasure you too. Please, baby.”
Childe comes up gasping for air, dizzy and warm. She licks her lips of excess slick and Zhongli’s breaths come quicker at the sight. “What- what do you want to do?”
“Come up here.” Zhongli says, looping her hands around her wrist and tugging her up. “With me, then turn around.”
Childe crawls up hesitantly, bracing her knees on either side of Zhongli’s hips. Zhongli grasps her and pulls more.
“Further up, further.”
She shuffles awkwardly, encouraged by a needy Zhongli until she’s up to her chest.
“Okay, darling, turn around now and lay on your stomach.”
Heat rushes to her face as she remembers something like this being discussed by the women in the barracks. She complies, carefully manoeuvring herself so as not to hit Zhongli in the face with her knee. When she’s done, Zhongli wraps an arm around her waist to lay them both on their sides, comfortable against the sheets. She’s face to face with Zhongli’s pussy again, and she shuffles down to take the initiative to lick her. Zhongli moans quietly and shuffles around a bit, curling her back to lower herself to Childe. Childe pulls off quickly. “Wait, baby, do you want- I don’t shave.”
“And it looks so good on you.” Zhongli’s words are heavy with arousal as she reaches a hand to card through the wiry ginger pubic hair. “I can see how wet you are.” Then she presses her mouth against her and Childe yelps, toes curling and stomach clenching. She buries her tongue back in Zhongli’s cunt, mouth movements growing sloppy as Zhongli works against her. Her tongue feels amazing, firm and malleable at the same time. Even though it can’t offer much in length, the versatility and speed more than makes up for it. A tear slips out when Zhongli flicks her tongue against her clit and she cries out louder than ever before, sounding closer to misery than the elation she feels. The sound is completely ripped out of her as she trembles, jerking against Zhongli’s tongue and losing control of her eyelids, fluttering open and closed. She’s cumming, she realises; wasn’t able to truly pinpoint the feeling of orgasm until now. It seems to last forever, and finally the tension in her body snaps like a rubber band. Her head drops abruptly like it’s the heaviest thing in the world, collapsing against Zhongli. She pants into her skin, trying to stave off the dizziness.
“Childe, are you okay?” Zhongli asks, pressing kisses to her thighs. “Darling, you were wonderful.”
Childe gives her a shaky thumbs up and Zhongli laughs, tugging her up. “Come on, join me face to face.”
Childe allows herself to be manoeuvred the correct away again, flopping down onto the pillow right next to Zhongli. Their hands interlink easily and Zhongli gives her a smile, pink all the way from her breasts to her ears. “You’re incredible.”
Childe returns her smile easily. Zhongli’s bangs are sticking to her forehead with sweat. “I want to make you cum again.”
“Here.” She whispers and trails their hands down between her legs. “Let’s put our fingers inside me.”
She’s soaked when Childe touches her. “What about your nails?”
“I’m loose enough where it won’t hurt.” She assures breathlessly, and the pads of her fingers push against Childe’s first knuckle. “Come on.”
Childe presses in two fingers while Zhongli just uses one, immediately moaning as they enter. She presses her forehead against Zhongli’s chest, breathing hotly against her skin. “You’re so soft inside.” She moans quietly. “I want to keep my fingers in you forever.”
“Darling.” Zhongli gasps. “Yes.”
Childe pushes her fingers in further, all the way up to when her knuckles press against Zhongli’s sensitive folds. The two of them pump their fingers at different paces, uncoordinated and spontaneous. She can feel the way Zhongli flutters around them, sucking them in and moulding around the shape of their fingers.
“Close.” She whines, her hand slapping against her entrance loudly as she fucks herself fast. “So, so close. Cumming for you, Childe. Cumming-“ She seizes around their fingers, back arching and mouth opening in a silent scream. Her eyes scrunch shut and she tenses all over. Childe watches the whole scene with wide eyes, drinking in the sight of Zhongli reaching orgasm.
The moan finally leaves Zhongli when she breathes out, piercing and high, forced out of her lungs. “Fuck!” She shouts, then collapses heavily, still clenching around her fingers. Her chest heaves as she drinks in gulps of air, a hand moving to her face to brush the sweaty hair away. “Fuck.” She laughs giddily, turning her head to the side to meet Childe’s eyes. “It hasn’t been like that… In a long time.”
Childe slips her fingers out and soothes her fingers over her folds idly, just enjoying the feeling of her. She rests her head on Zhongli’s chest, smiling. “Good?”
“Amazing.” She feels her kiss the top of her head. “I had so much fun with you.”
Childe grins then, feeling giddy. Not a bad review for her first time. “Me too.”
“Next time,” Zhongli murmurs against her hair. “I want to show you my toys. You’d look incredible with a strap-on.”
Childe doesn’t have much of a clue about what that is, but her agreement comes easily. Anything is worth exploring with Zhongli. “I want to do that too.” She moves her hand up to Zhongli’s chest, cupping one of her tits in her palm just to enjoy the weight of it. “Are you okay with me sleeping here tonight?”
“Of course.” Zhongli smiles, then averts her gaze to the opposite window. Childe glances up but there’s nothing there, just the sight of the rain soaked street. “I’m afraid that in the morning I’m going to be busy, however. I have business to conduct away from the harbour.”
So no breakfast in bed with Zhongli. “Aw. Not sticking around for the rite?”
“Unfortunately not.” She turns her gaze back to Childe and tucks a lock of ginger hair behind her ear, nails dragging over the shell of it. “But I’d be happy to meet in the evening.”
“I have a meeting with a contact of mine at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlour.” She frowns and Zhongli laughs, cupping her cheek. Her eyes crinkle in the corners and Childe is yet again reminded of her age. It only makes her feel warmer, tracing those lines with her eyes.
“Then we’ll just have to make arrangements after the fact, no? You can tell me more about the rite.”
A grin spreads across Zhongli’s face then, both gentle and mysterious at once.
“I heard that it’s going to be an interesting one this year.”