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His skin was on fire, blood lighting up his veins as he stumbled to his knees. He used his sword to keep himself propped up, using his other hand to grasp uselessly at his breastplate.
He wasn’t even breathing properly, with his breaths coming in shallow and going out heavy. He almost wanted to laugh. Who knew getting affected with Pyro could ail him like this. Maybe getting that new ingredient for Xiangling wasn't such a good idea after all. Paimon wasn’t even here to give him any moral support, seeing as it was the middle of the night. She was probably still asleep in their inn room.
But that plant was still waving its tentacles around, and he only needed a few more of them. He’s already come this far, with nearly getting his head smashed into the ground in trying to gather some leftover stone from the Stonehide Lavachurls, coupled with a few other ingredients stored away in his inventory.
Might as well finish the job. The ailment can wait.
“Here you go.” He threw the bag of ingredients down onto the stove countertop.
“Ah! Thanks!” Xiangling immediately dove for the bag, rifling through its ingredients and pulling out some of the smaller ones. “How did it-,” she turned towards him with a wide smile on her face, before it fell when she saw his face. “Are you okay?”
No, Aether felt like his blood was trying to boil him alive. His entire face and body felt flushed, and he didn’t think he was doing a good job of hiding it. He could only imagine what he looked like. “I’m fine.”
She frowned at him. “Are you sure? I could whip you up a quick meal.” She reached her hand out to touch his forehead. As soon as her finger made contact with his skin, he felt a small tingle shoot down his spine. Oh. Oh no. “It doesn’t look-“
Aether immediately snatched her hand away, trying not to grip her wrist too hard as he took a step back. Even feeling her through his gloves, was enough to send a good amount of heat to the pit of his stomach. He immediately let go. “I’m-I’m fine. I think sleep w-would be best.”
Her frown only deepened. “Are you sure? The stove is already on.” A big grin overtook her face as she held up the bag of ingredients. “Besides, we have all these new ingredients! I’m curious about how the roots will pair with the Jueyun Chili Slime. I think-“
But Aether wasn’t even listening. He could only back out of the kitchen as she kept on talking, eyes not even following him as she gazed excitedly down at the bag. He could already see her mouth watering, and felt a brief sense of shame when his hard-on shifted uncomfortably in his pants.
He-he needs to go.
“I’ll try your dish tomorrow,” he said frantically as he dashed out of the kitchen, “I’ll see you!”
“Huh? Bu-wait!” She cried out after him, but he ignored her as he tore himself down the street.
He needed to get somewhere secluded. There were too many people around. Everywhere he went, he was subject to brief touches of skin. Against his arms, against his shoulders, against his midriff. His skin burned enough as it is, but those stray touches only made it hotter.
Everyone was also too loud, their voices mixing and echoing around his head. He couldn’t even concentrate on where he was going.
Upstairs. He needed to find stairs. There should be less people there.
But before he could even stop and try to locate a set of stairs, a hand reached out and grabbed him by the bicep. The warm palm slid down his bare skin for the briefest second before tightening, and he shivered.
“Ah, Traveler! I’m so glad I caught you!” Aether turned his head to face the man who had caught him, struggling to get his breathing under control. Who was this man again? Maybe he’d seen him walking around. “I actually have a favor to ask but uh,” the man blinked at him. “You-“
Aether turned his entire body towards him. He cocked his head to the side, feeling a droplet of sweat run down the side of his neck. “What do you need?” The man’s hand was still searing an imprint into his skin. Aether could only hope that he wouldn’t notice how stimulated he was.
The man’s face flushed, and his hand tightened around Aether’s arm. “You-would you-“
Another hand suddenly grabbed at his other bicep and tugged him backwards. He stumbled back a few steps before landing against a solid body, his eyes widening in alarm as the man’s hand slipped off his skin. Aether nearly whimpered at the loss.
Another hand wound it’s way into his bangs and covered his eyes. The hand on his bicep tightened. Both of them gloved. Not enough.
“I think he seems a little out of it today, maybe another time.” A voice sounded above him. Perfectly amicable in tone, but there was a cutting edge underneath that easiness. Dangerous. Aether took a small step back, subtly pressing into the other’s chest. He hoped they wouldn’t notice.
“You-you’re-“ the man started, a hint of fear and disdain lacing his voice.
“The villain of Liyue Harbor?” Childe asked, amusement coating his words as he tilted Aether’s head back against his chest. “That’s right. And the hero isn’t accepting any more requests today.”
There was a brief pause, one where Childe forcibly turned him around and wrapped his arms around his waist, pressing their bodies together. The thin strip of skin between Childe’s gloves and sleeve dragged across the small of Aether’s back, and he had to muffle a soft whine into Childe’s chest.
“R-right.”
If Aether hadn’t been on fire before, he was certainly burnt to a crisp by now. He should be embarrassed, mortified as he rolled his hips against Childe’s thigh, but he couldn’t feel anything beyond the haze of pleasure the friction brought.
“Geez, what troubles did you get yourself into this time?” Childe asked from above him, and Aether brought his hands up to clutch at Childe’s shoulders from behind.
“Py-ro,” he managed to get out. He breathed a deep breath in, his breath stuttering when Childe’s scent was the only thing he could inhale. It was clogging his senses, blocking out every other scent, every other sound, everything.
Childe chuckled, a little bit dark and warped around the edges, and it went straight to Aether’s arousal. “Shall I help you out?”
“You’re leaking.”
There was another sharp tug at the base of cock, and his back arched with a sharp cry. A bare hand pressed against his stomach, pressing him further into the hard chest behind him as another hand, also bare, continued to lazily stroke him.
“S-stop te-easing,” Aether gasped out, feeling a tongue run up the side of his neck. Sitting in Childe’s lap and having him jerk him off was doing nothing to abate the heat flooding his system.
It was probably getting even worse.
“But your reactions are so fun,” Childe purred into his ear, and Aether felt his face heating up. He felt another long stroke up his length, before Childe pressed down on Aether’s leaking slit with his thumb, making him gasp out at the sudden jolt of pleasure. “But okay, since you’re so earnest.”
Aether threw his arm up over his eyes, feeling his toes curl as Childe finally, finally quickened his pace. His moans came out unbidden and breathless then, and he felt like he could choke on any one of them at any given moment. It felt so good.
The hand that was on his stomach trailed down to his thigh, and Aether looked down as Childe leaned Aether’s body even further back against his chest. Childe moved his hand to caress his inner thigh, before slipping his fingers down to Aether’s hole.
Aether tensed, feeling the fingers rim his entrance once, before his entire body was seizing up and he was cumming with a shout. He felt a brief sense of relief after his release, the sea of heat parting for a few good seconds, before it came crashing back.
His vision was blurry when he came back to his senses, or as much of his senses as he could come back to, with the aphrodisiac running through his system. He was met with the feeling of Childe wiping his cum off on his inner thigh, smearing a couple of streaks over his hole.
“You’re still up,” Childe chuckled. “Must be some aphrodisiac.”
But he wasn’t hearing any of it. He wanted more. He wanted more from Childe, or rather, from the man behind the codename. But that was probably asking too much. So he would just settle for whatever he could get.
He wriggled out of Childe’s grasp, and the other let him as he finally let go of Aether’s waist. “What are you-“
Aether turned around and pushed Childe down, straddling his waist as Childe struggled to keep himself upright on his elbows. Aether tightened his grasp on Childe’s shoulders, feeling the swell of his erection press against his ass as he stared down at the other’s bewildered eyes. He ground his hips down, and the both of them hissed at the pressure.
A favor for a favor then. And then they’ll be even.
He let go of Childe’s shoulders and slid down his body, rolling his hips occasionally against the other’s legs to chase after a few jolts of pleasure, before reaching the other’s bulge.
Aether looked up at Childe, finding his dark gaze trained on Aether’s face as he hovered over him on his hands and knees. He smirked, hoping that he looked seductive enough, before moving to unzip Childe’s pants.
He watched in fascination as he pulled Childe’s arousal out, feeling his own erection, now slick with his own cum, throb painfully between his legs. He wrapped his hand around the base of Childe’s cock to steady it, before licking a long stripe up the underside from base to tip.
A sharp breath met his ears, and he flicked his eyes up to see Childe pushing himself up. Aether ran his tongue over the tip, digging his tongue into the slit before swirling his tongue around. Childe hissed, and curled his upper body over Aether’s head.
Aether gave a light squeeze at the base, dragging his lips down the side to place a kiss right above where his hand was wrapped. Fingers dug into his hair, tugging at it as Aether licked another stripe back up to the tip.
He felt so hot. He rubbed his thighs together, hoping that it would do something for his arousal, before taking Childe’s tip into his mouth. A loud curse sounded above him, and the grip on his hair tightened as he suckled and prodded his tongue around. He took as much as he could into his mouth, sucking and bobbing his head while stroking and squeezing the parts he couldn’t reach. Saliva dribbled down his chin and onto Childe’s cock the longer he sucked, but the extra lubrication made it easier to stroke the base.
Loud moans poured out of Childe’s mouth, melting into Aether’s ears as his own length ached against his stomach. He wanted to touch himself so bad, but then he wouldn’t have any hands to support himself.
“C-close-,” Childe groaned from above him, and Aether swallowed around the length, nodding as much as he could with a dick in his mouth.
He felt Childe’s dick twitch, and he was content to keep the tip at the base of his throat, when Childe suddenly grabbed the back of his head and bucked his hips up, thrusting his length down Aether’s throat.
Aether widened his eyes, feeling his eyes water and breath cut off as he scrabbled his fingers against Childe’s thighs. He was going to choke. He barely heard the cry of his name tearing itself from Childe’s throat as hot liquid poured down his throat.
When Childe finally let go of his hair and pulled out, Aether brought a hand up to his mouth, covering it as he tried to regain his bearings. A few stray tears clung to his eyelashes as Childe maneuvered him back onto his lap, running his hands up and down his thighs in a soothing manner as Aether tried to contain up his coughs.
“You did so good,” Childe cooed, and Aether finally steadied himself enough to look down at Childe, who had half propped himself up against the wall to stare up at him. His half hard length was still poking at Aether’s ass, and Aether himself was still achingly hard, his length curled up against his stomach, a mess of precum trailing down his stomach and over his thighs.
Aether’s eyes narrowed, and he pulled his hand away from his mouth with a sly smile, parting his lips to run his tongue across the tips of his fingers. The cum he hadn’t swallowed dribbled down his tongue and onto his hand, running down his skin slowly in thick rivulets.
The sharpened eyes that stared up at him twitched, and he felt the fingers clutching at his thighs tighten. Childe grinned up at him, the shine in his eyes bordering on the edge of madness as he surged up and pushed Aether down onto his back.
“You really are,” Childe trailed off, his eyes darkening as he pinned Aether’s wrists above his head. He licked his lips, and dipped his head to connect their lips.
Aether’s eyes fluttered shut, feeling the other lick and nip at his lips. Without the use of his arms, Aether's legs bracketed Childe's hips, trying to bring him closer. He felt a hand trailing down his stomach, and tightened his legs in anticipation. At the sudden tug at his throbbing cock, Aether gasped, and Childe slid his tongue into his mouth. There was a single slow, wet slide of Childe’s tongue against his own, before the other was pulling away, leaving Aether heaving and breathless.
“Keep your hands there,” Childe commanded as he let go of Aether’s wrists, and Aether could only nod and gasp as Childe continued to stroke his aching length.
Aether hands clenched and unclenched, and he scrunched his eyes shut when he felt another particularly rough stroke. It wasn’t until he felt something cold and wet pressing against his entrance, that he blearily blinked open his eyes.
“H-huh?” Aether tilted his head down, his vision blurry. He could spot Childe looking up at him. Even with his vision fuzzy at the edges, he could make out those dark eyes, the wild smirk that pulled at his lips.
Childe took his hand off Aether’s erection, and Aether whined at the loss, all the while still feeling the cold smear of something smooth at his entrance.
Childe crawled up to hover over his face, using his now free hand to keep himself propped up. Aether felt a finger rubbing at his hole, and he gasped, arching his back when he felt Childe slide his finger into the first knuckle.
“Slime secretions,” Childe said, and Aether stared blearily up at him, gritting his teeth when the finger slid the rest of the way in.
Childe chuckled, a little bit manic as he slid his finger out and thrust it back in. Aether arched his back, a sharp moan tearing itself out of his throat as the finger rubbed at his walls.
“You’re so expressive,” Childe cooed, leaning down to nibble at Aether’s collarbone. Aether groaned, feeling a second finger ease into his hole alongside the first one, stretching him. Childe bit down on his collarbone, and Aether cried out, feeling a tongue run over the stinging mark.
Aether threw his arm over his eyes, jerking his hips down to meet the thrusts of the two fingers. He felt another sharp bite higher up his neck, and he cried out again, another string of precum leaking down the side of his cock.
Childe pulled his fingers out to the first knuckle, and prodded a third against the rim, slowly working it in as his thumb rubbed along the seam. “You’re gushing,” Childe laughed, “so cute.”
With a sudden thrust, Childe buried all three of fingers into Aether’s hole, stretching his ring of muscle even further. He didn’t pull out for another thrust, and instead rubbed around his walls. Aether mewled, bucking down against the prodding fingers until he felt a shock run up his spine. He gasped, and the fingers dug themselves into that same spot. Hazily, he could hear another chuckle, but that quickly left his mind as Aether came with a loud of Childe’s name, spurting out several ropes of cum across his stomach.
Aether’s breath was stuttered as he moved his arm away from his eyes, skin flushed with drool running down his chin in an attempt to keep his lips moist. He watched as Childe trailed little nips and kisses down his heaving chest, running his tongue over his nipple before skipping down to his navel.
Childe met his eyes as he lapped up a strip of cum, and he smirked when Aether’s face flushed even further. He was still hard, and it still felt like his entire body was burning up, even after his second release. Aether didn’t know how much more he could take.
“H-hurry,” Aether moaned, gasping out when Childe bit at his stomach, before running his tongue over the mark to soothe the reddening skin.
“Eager,” Childe smirked, pulling his fingers out. Aether whimpered at the loss, feeling his hole flutter and clench around nothing but air. Okay maybe hurrying wasn’t good. Having fingers inside him was better than nothing at all.
“Wa-ai-!” Childe flipped Aether over, dragging his hips back until Aether was on his elbows and knees. Aether turned his head, shivering when Childe grabbed his cheeks and spread them.
He stroked the length of his cock down Aether’s hole, and Aether groaned, folding his arms and burying his face into them. When he felt the cockhead catch on his rim, he rutted back against the length, feeling the tip slip out before catching again.
Childe grunted, and slid his cock the rest of the way in. They both groaned when Childe’s hips pressed flush against Aether’s ass, burying himself inside to the hilt. There was a small sting of pain, but the shiver of pleasure running down his spine from how full he felt was enough for him to ignore it. And because of the aphrodisiac. The heat was driving Aether insane.
“Do you need-“ Childe started, but Aether shook his head and shallowly rocked his hips back.
He felt Childe’s hand press down on the small of his back, digging his fingers into the soft skin, before sliding out and thrusting back in. Aether cried out, and Childe repeated the motion.
The first few rounds of thrusts were slow, and Aether guessed it was a courtesy to let him adjust. But the slow pace just kept on edging him, the heat of where they were connected burning his senses. Not enough. It wasn’t until Aether whimpered at another slow thrust, the slow drag of the cock against his walls making him clench down on the hard length, that Childe finally increased his pace.
Childe’s hands dug into his hips as he set a brutal pace, ramming his cock into him as Aether arched his back and cried out. Tears gathered in his eyes, wetting his eyelashes as he tried to blink them away. Long thrusts became shallow as a hand ran up his stomach, ghosting over his nipple and causing a small jolt, before the hand slid all the way up to his neck.
He felt Childe’s chest pressing into his back, and he momentarily clenched his hole. A low groan sounded into his ear, and Aether repeated the motion. Anything to keep that voice echoing around his head. He was about to clench down again when a sudden sharp thrust forced a sharp jolt of electricity to race up his spine, and he cried out as his arms twitched, struggling to keep himself upright.
“Found it,” Childe teased into his ear, and he changed his angle to aim for that same spot over and over, leaving Aether a blubbering mess on his knees. The quick drags of the hot cockhead against his prostate was too much.
“Deep,” he groaned, feeling his eyes roll to the back of his head. If he wasn’t so delirious, he might’ve said that he could feel the head push against the base of his stomach, but he was already 100 paces past coherent, so he could say that he definitely felt the heavy cock tip press against him.
Dark chuckles sounded above him, echoing around his brain as a tongue ran itself over the shell of his ear. Aether curled his toes, and another harsh thrust had him choking on his moans. “Isn’t that good? Can’t you feel me better like this?”
He gurgled out a response, not really sure if what came out of his mouth were even words. A hand on his chin forced him to turn around, and he blinked hazily at the blurry outline of Childe’s face. Childe leaned in, and Aether felt his tongue run across Aether’s lips. Aether didn’t think he had the concentration to keep up, so he settled for keeping his mouth open, his tongue lolling out as Childe licked into his mouth, the thrusts coming in harder and faster.
He didn’t even know when he came, just that one moment, Childe was teasing his tongue and abusing his hole, and the next he was crying out and seeing stars. He slumped down onto the bed, barely feeling the sticky mess coating his thighs and bedsheets. His chest heaved against the mattress, his cheek pressed against the cool fabric as Childe kept thrusting into him from behind, low groans pouring out of his mouth.
He let out small whimpers, bordering on the edge of overstimulation when Childe’s hips stuttered. Aether felt him burying himself into Aether’s ass, and he gasped when he felt hot liquid pouring into him, almost as if Childe was emptying himself into his stomach.
With his third release, and the feel of release inside him, he finally felt the heat of the aphrodisiac simmer down. All that was left was the flush of embarrassment as Childe pulled out. He could feel the cum dribbling out of his hole, his rim too slow to clench around it to keep it inside him. He felt a single drop slide down his thigh, and he shivered.
“Wow,” Childe said breathlessly, but Aether was no longer in a state to comprehend words. His consciousness was fading away too fast. “You’re so-hey!”
His lower back was sore when he finally opened his eyes. He was lying on his front, his face buried into the pillow. A pillow that wasn’t his own. And he only knew that because Paimon wasn’t here to snatch away half of it.
He shot up, before the sting in his lower back amplified, and he was forced to lie back down with a low groan. He was in so much pain. He thought back to the events of last night, still perfectly vivid in his mind, and groaned even louder.
“It wasn’t that bad,” a voice said, and the bed dipped beside him as Aether turned his head, eyeing the fully-dressed intruder. Or, well, maybe he was the intruder. Since this was Childe's room. Childe held out a cup of water for him, a close-eyed smile overtaking his face. “Water?”
Aether furrowed his brows, running his tongue over his chapped lips, but he shook his head as he attempted to push himself back up again. He didn't want to owe him anything else.
“Don’t push yourself,” Childe said, putting the cup of water on the bedside table before moving to help Aether sit up.
The furthest he got was sitting back on his calves, a little hunched over as he wrapped the blanket around himself. He ran a hand down his face, already hearing Paimon scolding him for not waiting for her before he left. Even though in actuality, he had never returned to their room in the first place.
“Thanks,” Aether said, letting the blanket fall around his hips as he roved his eyes across the floor, trying to locate his armor and clothes. And also conveniently avoiding eye contact. “I’ll owe you back the favor later.”
He perked up when he saw his pile of clothes near the foot of the bed, and he was about to get up and reach for it when Childe spoke up.
“Favor?”
Aether tensed, feeling the sudden tension roll off the other in waves. He turned towards him with a raised eyebrow, not exactly knowing where the sudden animosity came from.
“This was a favor to you?” Childe asked, his eyes darkening, reminiscent of the time they had mentioned Signora. His mood was souring quickly, and Aether wrapped the blanket back around himself for protection.
“Wasn't it?” Maybe deflecting would be best for now. Aether was unarmed, and undressed, and not in his own territory. “Doesn’t this mean nothing to you?”
Childe eyed him for a few more moments, before he broke out into a smile. Nothing friendly, still like the cutting edge of a knife. Aether instinctually backed away. “Did this mean nothing to you?”
Aether’s eyes twitched. He was good at bluffing, sure, but he felt unbalanced at the moment. Putting up a good bluff would take a lot of work, and he felt wrecked.
Of course this meant something to him. He wouldn’t have agreed to follow Childe back to his own room if it hadn’t. He’s not the type of guy to do things like this on a whim, even with aphrodisiac running through his system. Of course this meant something to him.
But it seemed he wouldn’t even need to come up with a bluff, because that brief second of pause was enough for Childe to see through him.
“I think we’re not exactly seeing eye to eye at the moment,” Childe said, easy smile still plastered on his lips. A little less hostile.
He suddenly surged forward, grasping Aether’s wrists and pulling him forward until they were nose to nose.
Aether didn’t even have time to react, not when those maddening eyes bore into his own. He swallowed, curling his fingers into his palm.
Childe smirked. “I told you, didn’t I? I want you to be the only one watching me when I bring this world down onto its knees.”
He leaned forward, softly brushing his lips against Aether’s, a harsh dichotomy to how he is on the battlefield. Aether’s eyes fluttered shut, pressing against the other’s lips a little harder, before Childe pulled away. Aether blinked his eyes open, coming face to face with the same smirk from before.
“And then we’ll have ourselves our final battle, where the victor is granted the gift of life.” Childe let go of Aether’s wrists and grabbed at Aether’s naked waist, maneuvering him until Aether was straddling his hips. Childe looked up at him with a smile, rubbing circles into Aether’s hips with his thumbs. “Until death do us part.”
Aether looked down at him, a soft smile pulling at his lips as he placed his hands gently onto Childe’s shoulders.
Childe grinned up at him. “Sort of like a proposal, isn’t it?”
Aether chuckled. “More or less.”
“Great.” Childe moved to run a hand up Aether's back, before stopping at the base of his neck to smirk seductively up at him. “Let’s go another round.”
“Wah! Which animal attacked you in the middle of the night?!” Paimon shouted, and Aether chuckled nervously.
He ran his hand over the bite marks littering his stomach, and another over the ones across his neck. There were more hidden underneath his breastplate and pants, but he was glad that Paimon couldn’t see those.
“Ah haha, you know.”
Childe.