#kaeya's so genuinely happy to see him that he completely forgot the fucker how an expansive existence that does not revolve arnd him FD;LKAJ

[bitbrumal]

                                                                   QUESTION @galactia​    ↤    always accepting    ::     RANDOM     ↩

The former Archon of Liyue was no particular stranger to the lands of freedom, but his appearance there was infrequent, at best. At least, until a certain Cavalry Captain returned to his position at the Ordo and some two weeks later, an amber eyed stranger roamed the streets. He created a murmur of attention where he stepped - a well-spoken foreigner who stopped to take tea at the Angel's Share, and by evening was at the step of the Ordo, to meet a certain Captain. "My Captain." He breathed in a low kind of murmur, and reached for Kaeya's hand to bring it to his lips and kiss his knuckles. His smile - slight, private, below eyes that never seemed to cease the simmer of their glow - was all affection and ancient attention. "Are you well?"

KAEYA  contrary to popular belief, the third in command to the ordo favonius does not know everything. especially on those few days that keep him locked indoors nursing a faint headache - tending to paperwork instead of people to recharge an already limited social battery.       frankly, if mondt should fall just because he breathed for once then it can damn well fall.

        & so he’s heard none of the well-earned gossip... the day ends as any would: with a headache successfully eased into the background of thought & he exhausted instead by boredom.

through the ordo’s front doors & down its few stairs with mostly paperwork’s drudgery on the mind: one step, two / weight drops comfortably into each brief instance of being carried by gravity.       the complete lack of discomfort that fails to alert him to another’s company - is only the second of tells. the first is what drew kaeya close enough for that to startle.

                   his eye widens / the black of a pupil contracts                    & all his being blooms open                    into the warm darkness of this particular presence.

“zhongli...” the world’s weight falls with selfish greed from his shoulders. it imagines itself carried elsewhere. ( it doesn’t work like that & yet it is the way it clicks into thoughts to unlock them- let their stress bleed out. ) no stronger shoulders than a mountainous god. selfish, selfish...              embarrassing as fuck to be smiling already.      —for rose to dust faintly across the bridge of his nose when zhongli kisses his knuckles like they are his to kiss if kaeya wills it; & he does, of course. —to be speechless. ( my captain?? oh. ohh... agh, fuck. will have to have a chat with him about giving kaeya random hard-ons in front of his subordinates. )

when he does recall how to speak without spluttering out some hysterical bit of hunger, kaeya easily sidesteps the... unfortunately personal question.      “what a wonderful surprise.” the knights guarding the entrance become an acute invasion.      “and so timely,” purred. he’s half frozen between giving in & showing everyone alongside zhongli how pleased he is - or keeping this delectable thing private from a world that could taint it. too late too late too late. why right at the entrance? for fuck’s sake, you old lizard. “i was just thinking i should show you around.” my place, that is. kaeya is just as guilty.            surely he’s accustomed with mondt itself... mmm, well- then there’s no reason, none at all, to let the god stray another pace from kaeya’s most personal territory. if preventable.

the thought of him in there is abruptly good. despite huffman & visser having grown ears the size of cauliflowers, a smile blooms across his face bright & eager. how unlikely! & how impossible for his presence to be as all-encompassing as it had been within the borders of liyue... still it dismantles the sense of threat that would dampen sincerity.

         “come.” & though he links his elbow with the archon’s it is he who starts off, eager in his haste not just to get away from their impromptu audience but to— “i hope the journey here was alright. i know a spot where you can rest up with a... passable? cup of tea,-” my place my place my place—curled up together on the floor around a hot tea pot hand in hand like the whores they are. “good food, too.”                 i’ll cook for you. the scent of spices already coats the back of his mouth, more real than the cobblestone underfoot ( less so than the weight of a god at his elbow ). dry heat & citrus’ cool tang - the way they will get to cram together inside his 1 by 2 square meter kitchenette- hehe. a dimpled, cheeky grin accentuates the mental & external babble: “cosy bed.” it’s kind of shit, really, but the blankets make up for it & there’d be nothing better than getting to cosy up to zhongli’s steady hands for the night or even just the evening.           fuck, a catnap together sounds-

          —his shitty, draughty, mildly disgusting apartment that would likely be too chilly for one based out of liyue & is certainly too small for someone visiting mondtstad for who knows what.

kaeya’s gait falters.

ooookay. change of plans. ( what the fuck. how had this tidbit failed to rattle around his- truth be told, it isn’t discomfort at the state of it that keeps him from letting friends people into the apartment. it’s the discomfort with anyone in there- but, uhh. yeah, not walking zhongli into-           uhm. okay.     well—                       ...alright then. )

———thankfully the quarters reserved for foreign dignitaries are off in the same initial direction. “it’s comfortable.” he concedes & tucks a little closer. the pace is tempered. it no longer attempts to drag one of them along- he’ll pretend not to know that the hunger always keeping him lean is being fed with every moment of closeness.       at least this way zhongli will have privacy of his own, should he want it. yes. this is better. possibly exactly what he’d shown up at headquarters for anyway, uhh. is he here in any official capacity?? was he there to meet someone else? the faint burn of shame creeps up his throat. the oopsies just keep coming... it’s what he gets for being hasty.

once they’ve rounded a corner a set of internal rules allows for this: a little lean & nuzzle, feeling the strong ridge of zhongli’s jaw with the brittler one of his nose. his eye has slipped shut. he’s willing to test whether he’ll be lead away from any mysterious potholes &, well, fuck he’s missed the way he smells.             “i’m glad you came to see me.” a murmur that drops low enough to stay private. with a last savouring breath, kaeya leans back into his own feet & smiles something wan that checks the street corners more than zhongli’s eyes. “what brings you here?        “apologies if you’ve already acquired accommodations. i got a little...” aww... booh. “excited.”