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[For @/Xiney - domestic fluff]
Zhongli wakes up at the bright and lovely hour of… 5am.
Lumine can understand it. He doesn’t need to rest the same as a mortal, though he tries his best to emulate as much of human life as he can. Maybe he doesn’t enjoy it, maybe he just doesn’t sleep for long - old ass man - Lumine isn’t sure. Sometimes she worries he has nightmares. He has a lot of years behind him, after all. He never mentions any, but, then again, neither does she.
But, yes, he wakes early.
Which is why Lumine is surprised to find she is still wrapped up in his arms when she wakes. Sure sometimes they stay in and cuddle, but usually that can’t be much later than…7? 8? And Lumine can see the sun is far past 7 by the way it shines through their curtains.
“Li..?”Her voice crackles, Archons, she feels like she’s been sleeping for years.
“Mrr…” she feels it rumble all the way through her like an earthquake.
“Li, it’s,” she yawns, “late…”
“Just… a moment more,” he eventually answers.
Lumine wants to argue, to say that it’s nearly lunch, to say they’re wasting the day. Instead she snuggles back into his chest, relishing in the happy rumble that escapes him. A moment more.
It’s an hour later before Lumine re-opens her eyes, not having realized she even fell back asleep. 11am… She kicks a leg out from the sheets because she needs to start wiggling out or she WILL pee the bed and wither away from starvation. It’s when she does that she realizes just why Zhongli has evaded leaving the bed.
it… it’s fucking cold!!!
Quicker than she kicked it out, her leg shot back under the covers. And the moment her toes touched Zhongli’s leg he jolted. With the way he reacted one might even think she dropped ice directly down his pants.
“Beloved-!” he all but growls the pet-name. It doesn’t scare her, nor did it even come out particularly aggressive, but she still feels it run through her. She shudders, not in fear, but in something akin to excitement.
“Sorry,” she can’t help but laugh at his grumbling, “I didn’t mean to.”
His face digs into the back of her neck, a heavy weight winding around her leg - ah his tail - to keep her still. Seems he was quite comfortable, since those less human traits only slipped out when he was feeling particularly relaxed. Lumine liked to think it meant he loved and felt safe with her. Even if it meant a few pinpricks from claws or bumps from horns.
“We do need to get up, you know.”
“It is far too cold to do so.”
Lumine rolls her eyes. “Well I need to get up because the day will be over and I will explode if you don’t let me use the bathroom.”
His grip tightens on her, and she can feel the frown against the back of her neck. Zhongli does not seem too fond of the idea. Oh, she is going to lord this over him every single time he tries to coax her out of bed far earlier than she would like. With one last squeeze he unwinds from her, but not without a huff like a child. The moment she’s out he hisses at the cold, and then wiggles into her warm spot, nose burying into her pillow.
“You’re like a kid.”
“It’s too cold, my star.”
“Yeah yeah…”
–
Breakfast- err… lunch is…nice to make.
It’s not often that they have lazy days. Not in this sense. Lazy days for them are curled on the couch - after waking at the usual time - reading and cuddling with some hot tea. It’s different, but it’s nice.
She could do without the cold though.
Though, if putting up with the cold was how she got to see this other side of Zhongli… then maybe it wasn’t that bad. It was cute to see him so sleepy and, dare she say, whiny. Cute was probably not something a ‘god of war’ was used to being called, but Lumine would argue it was the correct term.
She’s learned a lot more about Zhongli since their relationship changed all that time ago. Sure, as friends she knew the same as any other friend might. He spoke about his hobbies, showed her places he liked, told her stories she never would have heard without him, she knew Zhongli. But never any more than he was willing to put out to the public.
So it was nice, wonderful even, to wake up to a side of him that most people would never see.
A Zhongli who hid in her back, who leeched off her warmth, who whined for her to stay.
It was adorable, really.
“Now what has you laughing, my treasure?”
Ah, speak of the devil. Zhongli drapes himself over her like a blanket, shuffled as close as he can to, assumedly, continue that warmth leeching she mentioned earlier. She turns her head to plant a kiss on his cheek. She had forgotten to give him one when she’d departed from bed, a good thing he didn’t seem to notice with how tired he was.
“Mm, just thinking about a funny lizard I saw.”
He huffs into her shoulder, grumbling something about how undignified he felt about being compared to such a thing. As the food simmers Lumine’s hand comes to run through his loose locks. Ah, he hadn’t even really gotten dressed. Before they shared a living space, Lumine may have been part of the club that thought Zhongli was… lacking in clothes made for lazing and comfort. Oh she was glad to be wrong.
“Is the cold really that bad?”
“I am not as well equipped for the cold as many mortals are.”
“Because you’re a dragon?”
He tries to tuck himself under her jaw, forcing her head to tilt.
“Mm… it makes movement less than convenient. You would feel something similar, such as in your joints, for me, however, my body struggles to maintain its heat without external assistance.”
“Ohhh, so like a li-”
“Like a noble and mighty dragon, yes, my treasure, you are so very correct.”
Lumine bites her lip to stop from giggling at just how huffy he was about it.
They watch the food together, Zhongli’s arms locked around her as her fingers traced the pulsing geo lines that decorated them. The content purr(?) her lover graces her with as she did so almost made her doze herself.
She almost jumps from his stone-steady grip when the food smokes.
She saves it, thankfully, but not without scolding him for his sinister plan to lull them back to sleep.
Sneaky lizard.
–
It’s Zhongli’s turn to pick the book. They like to read together to discuss the plot, or for Zhongli to share anecdotes if it’s a more history oriented tale. Lumine knows they aren’t finishing it in a timely manner when Zhongli gets this specific look in his eye. Something almost whimsical, she thinks, or perhaps nostalgic.
She likes them all anyway, even if the book gets abandoned as another tangent leads to a third or fifth story. He’s a better teller than any book, and she’d choose him over one any day. She’d choose him over many things.
He still seems a little… almost lost as he sets the tea on the low table. Hmm, maybe dozy is a better word? Nevermind. He’s cleaned himself up at least, hair pulled back - he’s using the cute dragon clip Lumine got him as a joke - and looking neatly washed up. Still, she is gracious enough to have brought a blanket to aid with the warming.
She burrows into his side - warm… it’s safe here, like…home. - and his arm curls around her like it always does. It’s always in sync, always consistent.
Just like him, she muses.
He, rudely, pinches her side when he notices her lack of attention, pulling a yelp and a smack from her. Zhongli’s chuckle is deep and comforting as she jabs him in the side as revenge.
“Forgive me,” he doesn’t sound apologetic at all!
Now, anyone who has met Lumine knows those guns aren’t for show! So with a glare she tumbles the two of them over, wrestling her darling lover’s arms from his sides to start her own assault. It seems to make him laugh more than squirm, which only riles her up more.
Her heart feels warm when he plays along, playfully trying to poke at her sides and wrestle her over.
The cold and the book are forgotten until they stop and Lumine snatches the blanket from the ground.
At least they got some form of exercise in.
–
They nearly fall asleep in the bath after dinner.
It’s so warm, and they’re so close. There’s hardly anything more intimate than the trust to let another wash you. To trace the scars and imperfections you may not love about yourself, but that they love because it is you, because it’s what has brought you to them.
The jagged scars where Lumine’s wings once sat are sprinkled with kisses as Zhongli washes her back.
And the shift from black scales to skin and traced and smooched each time Lumine manages to connect them into a constellation.
He lets himself out around her. Horns, a tail, talons and rumbles and growls. All of it. He can be himself without the spectacle or awe. Can be an Adeptus but also her lover. Can be a beast that has fangs that could rip her throat out, but also a creature that purrs when she scrubs the daily grime from his tail.
(said tail slaps wetly against the side of the tub when she kisses under his jaw)
Yes, bathing together like this was comforting.
Perfect even.
Warm… enough to make them doze…
Though, really it was maybe sorta also because getting out meant venturing into the wretched cold.
–
They triumph from the warm clutches of the bath and the cold claws of drying. There’s no dally as they all but leap into bed - unmade and with pillows outlining a distinctly Zhongli shape - and snuggle back into each other.
The blanket is almost pulled over Lumine’s head when Zhongli tucks her under his chin, chuffing and squirming to get her into the ideal position. Maybe it wouldn’t take so long if he wasn’t constantly pressing kisses into her hair.
“You’re sappy tonight,” she notes when a kiss is dropped to her ear.
“I wish to keep you with me,” he answers.
“Well it’s my bed too-”
“Forever, Lumine, not just tonight.”
She pauses, suddenly a bit more awake, though not by much. “Did you think you had the choice of getting rid of me?”
She feels more than hears his laugh.
“Mm, knowing you, anything is possible, it is one of your greatest qualities.”
“Such a charmer~”
Zhongli leans back to give her space to squirm higher, to let her hand rest on his cheek. He has to stop himself from closing his eyes and sinking into her, to let himself be engulfed by the star that is Lumine.
“I love you, Zhongli, Rex Lapis, Morax, and I want to stay by your side… even through the cold.”
A stone heart is still a heart, and Zhongli’s warms enough to chase any chill that may have clung to them. His throat is thick and he can’t bring himself to not bring her into a kiss. He loves this outlander. He loves this star.
He loves Lumine.
“I want to make many memories with you, Lumine, I-” the emotional monologue is cut off by a yawn. One that Lumine catches and mimics against her will, as yawns are known to do. They both laugh a little, eyes more than a little lidded.
“Maybe we should save it for tea tomorrow?”
“Mm, that sounds like a plan, you’re always so brilliant.”
“I learned from the best.”
As their whispers trail off, and lazy, slow kisses are exchanged, Zhongli wonders if she’d accept to wear matching cor lapis upon their fingers.
Yes, that would be nice.
Perhaps he would be okay with one more important contract within his life.
Though…with Lumine? He’d do anything for one more moment with her.
For now the best he can offer is a tail wrapping around to keep her safe. He is a dragon after all, and they are known for keeping their favored items safe and polished.
“I love you too, my treasured star.”