Thread by @xii31vii20

🔶💧 #ZhongChi
soulmate au

On the day you are born, a mark imprints itself on your skin.

The mark is an indicator of where your soulmate touches you for the first time. Only you can see it.

It is a foolproof way to avoid others from exploiting other people, especially those whose marks can't be hidden. It only becomes visible to everyone else when your soulmate touches you there, proving that they owned that mark on your skin.

---

A 14 year old Ajax was looking at the bathroom mirror, craning his neck and twisting his body to get a better view of his soulmate mark.

There were two handprints on him colored in gold. One on the back of his head, and one on his upper back.

The boy crossed his arms as he frowned, displeased.

He could imagine his face being planted on the snow, suffocating him. One hand pushing his head down, and the other on his upper back to keep him from moving.

His soulmate must be a bully.

He couldn't accept that!

But since it was already imprinted on his scalp and skin, he couldn't stop that from happening when they meet. He should at least make his revenge to his bully soulmate to serve them right.

He hoped their soulmate mark was a punch on their face.

At least when it becomes visible they couldn't hide it, unlike him.

In order to do that, he needs to get stronger first. And so he went to the woods, only bringing some bread and a shortsword, trying to hunt for a rabbit.

...

The wolves and the bears hunted him instead, and just before they could bite off his arms, he fell into the voids of the abyss.

---

Three months later and he returned to the surface.

He looked at them weirdly when they said it had only been three days.

When he insisted that they were wrong, they looked at him with worry, saying something about getting him checked with a doctor because he might have hit his head.

The results showed nothing wrong with him. At least, physically there wasn't any.

His family noticed the changes in his behavior.

How from being a meek child, their third son became violent ever since he he came back.

They noticed the lack of light on his eyes, and the way he seemed enthusiastic in beating up people twice or thrice his own size.

His family has had enough when he almost killed someone, having the person ending up comatosed and was looked after by at least five healers.

The day after, his father took him to a "fishing trip".

Ajax knew better.

He knew the way to the frozen lake by heart, and yet they were taking a different route.

Upon reaching a large camp, Ajax was handed off to the Skirmishers guarding the entrance.

His father told them to "Please, fix him. Your methods are our last hope."

His father left him without looking him in the eye nor a single goodbye.

---

On that day, Ajax lost his rights to receive any loving touches from his parents and older siblings.

---

Ajax only grew stronger over time since then.

Instead of being "fixed", the Fatui only saw the opportunity to raise a weapon of war from the bloodthirsty child that was handed to them.

It was Pulcinella who recognized his potential and raised the idea of making him a candidate to be one of the Harbingers.

After years of rigorous missions he was sent to prove his worth, at the age of 18, he was given a new name by the Cryo Archon herself.

Tartaglia, the Eleventh Harbinger.

His name was highly feared on the battlefield, for he was the Harbingers' Vanguard.

---

Tartaglia was untouchable.

Everyone that knew him learned to steer clear of his way, afraid that they might end in an unfortunate fate if they even so much as irk the Vanguard.

Tartaglia didn't mind it, adapting to continue living as a lone wolf for the rest of his life.

But deep down, Ajax couldn't help but wonder.

If he was untouchable, will he even be able to meet his soulmate?

---

Five years later, Tartaglia found himself docking at Liyue's wharf. The Tsaritsa had given him the important mission of stealing the Geo Archon's gnosis.

It was a crucial step to overthrow Celestia, and so he shall not fail Her Majesty. First, he needed to know more about Liyue and their Geo Archon.

The Fatui's network lead him to Zhongli, a consultant from the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.

There was something he couldn't name about this man.

Striking amber eyes with sharp features on his face. A posture befitting of a prince paired with a scholarly intellect. Respected by the locals in a high regard.

This man... he was too perfect.

It was the first time that Tartaglia looked at anyone with plain curiosity without sizing them up to be a worthy opponent.

He introduced himself to him as Childe, a diplomat from Snezhnaya to stay for an indefinite amount of time in Liyue.

Their greetings had been a nod of their heads with a polite smile on their faces.

---

On the pretense of business lunches and dinners, the two would meet often. Childe would gather information about Liyue and its archon through Zhongli's stories.

The low timbre of the consultant's voice was soothing to his ears, and he found himself listening eagerly to his stories and the occasional trivias about everything.

---

With more time that passed, his curiosity turned into love.

Childe had spent most of his life after falling in the abyss chasing for power and satiating his bloodlust, so having this soft feeling that made his heart warm was completely foreign to him.

It made Ajax resurface, asking if it was possible that this man might be his soulmate.

On the many times they spent together, they had not been closer than with a foot's length in between them.

He couldn't even check if Zhongli had already found his soulmate yet because the consultant was fully covered from his neck down to his toes.

How he could bear Liyue's heat in that attire, he had no idea. There wasn't any visible marks on Zhongli's head too, so he could only hope.

Ajax promised himself to confess his feelings to him once his mission was over.

---

Childe watched as Zhongli gave the geo gnosis to Signora.

Zhongli was Morax all along.

Too lost in daydreaming about the idea of the man being his soulmate, Ajax must have subconsciously ruled out the obvious.

A wielder of geo.

A man with an endless sea of knowledge about everything in Liyue as if he witnessed the history himself. Amber eyes that never changed even when Rex Lapis was incognito.

Childe was fucking blind.

He left the bank just as he felt his heart breaking.

---

It was Zhongli who sought him after weeks of avoidance.

Childe would have sailed back to Snezhnaya after Signora's ship left the wharf, but a letter from Her Majesty the Tsaritsa ordered him to standby on Liyue until further notice.

Zhongli apologized to him, which he actually found strange.

He had come to terms with the fact that he was only a pawn in two Gods' contract, and as the Tsaritsa's weapon of war, he shouldn't complain about the means used to achieve her goal.

Zhongli insisted on apologizing to him, saying that while Rex Lapis did not regret his actions, the consultant was sorry for having to lie to him.

That their friendship had been true, and if there was anything he could do to earn his forgiveness, then he would do it for him.

Childe—or perhaps it was Ajax, curse his soft heart—only asked for a spar.

---

It didn't take long for the two to go back to the way they were, without any pretentions this time.

Despite fighting back his feelings, Ajax found himself falling even deeper for Zhongli.

However, he became scared at the sudden haunting whisper at the back of his mind.

'You love him, but what if you are not destined for each other?'

He couldn't find it in himself to confess unlike what he promised before.

---

It was a normal evening when it happened.

Zhongli walked him back to his living quarters after eating dinner at Wanmin.

Childe was perfectly capable of defending himself from harm, but the gentleman that the god was, insisted on walking him home.

Upon reaching his door, he raised an eyebrow at the consultant.

Usually they would part after a wave of their hands goodbye, but this time Zhongli remained unmoving and silent for a while.

After what seemed like eternity, the consultant gazed back into his eyes.

"Childe, may I... touch you?" Zhongli asked, uncertain but serious and hopeful.

Ajax felt his breath hitch.

That question may as well weigh as heavy as 'I love you' because asking that meant you were considering the person to be the other half of your soul.

Ajax was speechless for a bit.

This was it. This was the moment of truth.

He would know if Zhongli was his soulmate based on where he would touch him.

...

Ajax was scared. The haunting whisper was back.

What if Zhongli wasn't really his soulmate? Was he ready for another heartbreak?

But there was also this tiny voice in his head that gave him hope.

'You wouldn't know the truth if you don't try.'

...

He had been a coward to his own feelings for too long. It was time to face it once and for all.

Having finally decided, he nodded his head back slowly at Zhongli.

"Okay."

He could only whisper, as he couldn't find his voice with how nervous he was feeling.

He saw the consultant taking a deep breath before stepping closer to him. He stopped when there was only a foot distance between them.

The closest and the farthest they had always been ever since they made up.

"You may close your eyes if it would help." Zhongli said softly.

Ajax didn't need to be told twice and immediately shut his eyes.

At least this way, he could hide the disappointment if things weren't as he hoped it would be.

There was another moment of silence, and then he felt it.

He couldn't help the tears that streamed down on his cheeks.

It was the first time that Zhongli touched him, and yet it felt achingly familiar.

Never had he thought that the hand mark on the back of his head would be because of being gently craddled instead of his face being smashed on the snow.

He didn't think that the mark on his upper back would be because he will be pulled closer in a hug, unlike what he thought when he was 14 that his soulmate will push him down on his back to keep him immobile.

Zhongli was embracing him gently, and his marks tingled with pleasant warmth along with it.

Ajax couldn't help but to hug the consultant as well, his hands placed on his lower back and his face nuzzled on the god's neck as he cried in relief.

He felt Zhongli stiffening for a bit, before he was pulled in closer to his embrace.

"For centuries, I have been waiting. I am relieved and overjoyed to know that it is you all along. The one who completes my soul." Zhongli said softly.

His voice right now was the most emotional that Ajax ever heard from him.

"You know, ever since I realized the depth of my feelings for you, I wished for you to be my soulmate. I'm glad that you're mine, just as I'm yours." Ajax whispered.

Zhongli pulled away for a bit to stare into his eyes as he brushed his tears away, smiling gently at him.

"I believe I shall tell you how I feel then. That is to say, I love you, Childe."

Ajax shook his head at him fondly, mirroring the smile on his face.

"Please, call me Ajax. And I love you too, Zhongli."

"Then, I shall repeat myself. I love you, Ajax."

Their next touch had been their lips meeting in a kiss full of yearning.

---

As they explored each other's body that night, Ajax was delighted to see the blue handprints on Zhongli's backside.

Come to think of it, the marks on his own skin weren't really gold, but the same shade as Zhongli's eyes that was amber.

He could only laugh in his mind.

He must have been the most oblivious man in Teyvat.

[end]

note:
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