120 » all of my friends know that you left me hollow

[ironwind]

[Aether tells himself that he's supposed to be better than this.

It was supposed to be a — well, a fun day out with Childe. Paimon would be safe with Xiangling over at the Wanmin Restaurant, Aether and Childe would go out to do some dangerous commissions together, and everybody would be happy at the end of the day. Half of Liyue still looks at them oddly when they're together; the local populace must find it improbable that the harbor's savior just casually spends time with the local Fatui Harbinger as if they're fast friends, but Aether doesn't pay attention to the rabble. Childe is many things, but he isn't a bad person, most of the time. Besides, there's no better person to fight with side-by-side.

So a few missions from the Adventurer's Guild took them farther afield, where they fought hilichurls and mitachurls, Abyss Mages and Ruin Hunters, and — earlier in the day, Aether lured an odd pink Whopperflower away from Childe and took the full brunt of its spray of pollen, but he hadn't thought much of it at the time, save that it was odd that it didn't hurt, and it wasn't a Cryo or Pyro type. Elemental Sight hadn't revealed much about the plant, and even after it was slain, it didn't resemble anything but an ordinary Whopperflower with clear, sweet nectar. He'd shrugged it off. Probably nothing. Not worth thinking about.

Aether can't be sure when the effects started settling in.

The reaction — he's been wrestling with it for a good thirty minutes already, but he can't remember when it started, and it's begun to show in the redness of his cheeks, the slightly glassy distraction in his eyes. The two of them are almost done now, and night has fallen; they've settled in to make camp in the wreckage of what looks like an abandoned inn. There are too many beds in the cabin for it to be a regular home, but despite the fact that one wall has caved in from what looks like a passing hurricane, the house is relatively clean, and there's space to build a campfire. Childe is chopping vegetables. Aether has been watching him, something not quite there to his gaze, and he hasn't been thinking about the vegetables.]

Hey, Childe...

[His thoughts don't feel like his own, though they have to be. He's fantasized about this before, hasn't he? He thought Childe was attractive when they first met — just didn't think that it was worth pursuing him at the time, not when he was a Fatui Harbinger and Aether had sworn to bring down the gods if need be. Not when Aether can't promise anyone anything like tomorrow, anything past today. But his mind keeps going in circles, promising him things he'd normally never think about. Just do it. Push him down. Just take what you want from him. And he'd like that, wouldn't he? He'd like it —

Aether stays seated at the edge of one of the beds, staring at Childe with an odd lack of focus, tongue flicking out over his lips.]

...You like me, right?

Comments

[acutabove]

[ If Childe had expected any attention other than bad attention in Liyue, it was probably wishful thinking. He's been in the Fatui long enough to know that most nations didn't see the Snezhnayan consulate as very welcome, even going so far as to say they weren't really needed or required, but usually behind flowery words and backhanded compliments for the sake of diplomacy. Although Childe largely distanced himself from the underhanded schemes and plots made in the shadows, he was still considered the worst of them all due to his rank and tended to get more snide looks and discontent murmurs more than anything.

But that hardly bothered him, and he'd quickly learned that his blunt method of dealing with them when the shopkeepers openly snubbed him - inviting them out past the gates for a chance to fight out their conflicts - usually tended to be met with fear and submission, and a thinly veiled threat to get the Millelith. Which, honestly, he would have welcomed the exercise so freely offered, but even he knew better than to stir up trouble on Zhongli's home turf despite how the prospect of finding himself at the sharp end of the former Archon's spear was more appealing than anything.

Still, that didn't keep him from jumping in without a moment's thought the second a fight broke out at the gates or in one of the bars from a foreigner that had gotten a little too intoxicated on wine and thrashing all parties involved gleefully. One would think that would be enough to earn him at least a modicum of respect in the harbor, but it didn't, and Childe didn't much care in the long run.

After all, Aether's invitations out to fulfill commissions from the Adventurer's Guild is a welcome enough distraction, and it's easy enough to fall into the familiarity of cutting down monsters and beasts without remorse, whatever thoughts dancing around in his head easily muted with the onset of bloodlust and carnage. With Aether, he knows he doesn't have to watch his back or the blond's, and that's a nice feeling; the fact that the Traveler had bested him in the Golden House so very long ago more than cemented his status of "friend" in his mind, and it was easy enough to lose sight of the blond when he ended up tussling with the Whopperflower and getting hit with the spray of pollen as a result.

He didn't even notice anything was amiss until they'd set up camp for the night and he was seeing to dinner, because, he'd insisted, there were some Snezhnayan dishes that were quite good Aether hadn't quite heard of, and without proper experience he doubted the Traveler would know how to make them with the distinctly non-Snezhnayan ingredients they had on hand. It would be a little different, but not too much so; still, it would have been better if he had native herbs and spices on hand, but that just meant he would have to cook again for Aether whenever he saw fit to visit.

The Harbinger handles the knife like he's handling a weapon. The place they'd set up camp is private enough he doesn't have to be too alert for any unforeseen attacks, but he finds his ears picking up every rustle of grass, every brush and sigh of the wind and every creak and groan of the abandoned building they've found themselves in. Even the fire is built in such a way that the light of it wouldn't be seen to anyone except those that were looking for it, and as Childe expertly sweeps the vegetables into a pot and cleans the knife on his sleeve all in one movement, he pauses and turns as Aether speaks.

The first thing he notices is his eyes, but that's easy enough to write off as an after-effect of the fire - except it isn't, not when he coupled with the flush dusting across pale cheeks, making Aether a pretty enough sight that Childe finds himself taking a moment to recall what the blond had said. Did he... like him? ]

Of course, Comrade. [ The reply comes easily, with a smile and a little laugh. ] Is this because I haven't asked you to spar yet today? Rest assured, it hasn't left my mind yet. I'd be more than happy to go a round or two with you after supper - or even before then. [ He prompts, and tucks the knife away into its leather holder. ]

After all, a spot of exercise is an excellent way to get your appetite going.

[ironwind]

[Of course, Childe says, easy and happy and willing, and that's all that Aether needs to break through the last remnants of his self-restraint even though the part of him that is still rational knows that he hasn't properly explained, that Childe doesn't know what's going on, that this is wrong, this isn't right, it's not supposed to be like this. But if it's wrong, if it's so wrong, then why is every impulse in his body screaming at him to get this over with already, press his face into Childe's lap and latch onto his cock until he gives up the prize that Aether's craving so badly right now?

The vegetables are bright and colorful and delicious; Childe wields his cooking knife with grace and skill. No doubt he's planning to make the both of them a fine meal. And yet, dinner is the farthest thing from Aether's mind right now — instead, he wants to know what Childe's cum tastes like.]

Mmhmm... exercise is good for you.

[The traveler licks his lips again, slow and distracted, and there's definitely something wrong with the way he stands up from where he's sitting. All his usual spry catlike grace has left him; instead, he seems to sway on his feet, a little bit dizzy perhaps, even though his eyes are fixed only on Childe's face.]

So you're okay with it... before dinner, then?

[Okay with what?

Maybe Childe will catch on when Aether abruptly slides into his lap, hips already cocked at a coquettish angle that leaves little to the imagination about what it is he wants right now. Abruptly and without preamble, he presses a kiss to the Harbinger's jugular, relishing the warmth of the man's pulse beneath his lips, the scent of his body captured at his neck. It's so exquisite that Aether actually swallows, the gulp in his throat cleanly audible when he's pressed this close.]

It's not fair... you smell so good...

[acutabove]

[ This... wasn't really what he'd expected. Not from anyone, and especially not from Aether.

It wasn't as though Childe didn't have experience with these sorts of things, but seldom did he find himself in an intimate enough situation to warrant a pretty little thing sliding into his lap, oozing the sort of sensuality and desire that Aether was exhibiting right now. After all, Fatui were seldom welcome in the beds of a foreign land, Harbingers less so.

It was safe to say that Childe's reputation often preceded him, if not his own than the reputation of the Tsaritsa's Harbingers, leaving little in the way of prospects for the times when his own hand would hardly be enough. And he'd be lying if he said he hadn't thought about propositioning Aether once or twice, when the blond had rolled his eyes or sighed out exasperatingly at the prospect of a spar, the follow-up compromise ready on Childe's tongue before he thought better of it and laughed it off.

It shouldn't have come as much of a surprise, really. Aether's certainly attractive enough, his physical beauty working to emphasize his physical one. Childe had seen him in battles, watched him cut a clean figure through the air as he parried and swung, as he lunged and cast his elemental magic all in the same breath. Watching Aether fight was always a treat even if he was on the other end of the Traveler's blade - perhaps even more so, really - and Childe indulged at every opportunity.

His fingers itched with want to touch when he caught the heavy lidded look in Aether's eyes, the way the Traveler's hips jut in invitation with as much weight as a curled finger. The blond's words come back to haunt him and it's not hard to guess at what he wants, what he's hinting at. ]

What's gotten into you? [ Childe says, with no real disdain behind the words. If anything, he sounds breathless, almost as though he's a step away from laughing it away with Aether, like the blond is simply going to claim everything was a jest and he wasn't out to seduce Childe into forgoing his dinner preparations and fucking him open by way of exercise. ]

If I'd have known you were this desperate for a meal, I would have opted for something that didn't take long to cook. [ Childe's fingers rest, lightly, against the small of Aether's back. His thumb rubs against his lower spine before he encircles his entire arm around the blond and exhales a deep, even breath.

He's still a man, after all. And Aether's warm, and soft, and a pleasant weight over his lap. ]

... But I'm sure that's not what you're after, is it?

[ironwind]

[There's a part of Aether that's still lucid enough to realize that this, too, seems wrong. That this easy acquiescence coming from Childe ought to be further proof that the Harbinger's just not quite right in the head. Most people would have more questions to ask.

But instinct is what's driving Aether's body now, so he pushes all of his misgivings to the corner of his mind that doesn't have to think. Why linger on all those pesky questions like how and why and is this right when the body beneath his is warm and willing and devastatingly attractive? Aether pauses for a second, almost delirious with desire, as he lets his eyes slowly trail over Childe's handsome face, his blue eyes ringed by gentle lashes, his soft lips. That broad thumb pressing into the small of his back feels like a promise.]

I don't want food... [Already, he sounds lewd, like a bad actress playing the part of some cheap prostitute in one of Liyue's theater-houses; there's definitely something wrong, but why question it when the proof of Aether's very real desire is already stiff and pleading for attention between his legs?] I want your cock...

[That's a thing that Aether would never say, too. But here he is saying it, dazed and dreamy, heavy in Childe's lap. Childe's arms feel so good around his waist that the traveler actually lets out a soft, pleased moan.]

Always goading me like you want to fuck when we fight... I've thought about taking you so many times when you're down and at my mercy...

[...Oh dear. There might be a bit of truth to that.]

[acutabove]

[ Well if he had any lingering doubts about what it was Aether truly wanted, there was no use in being tactful about it. Which was fine; it never really suited Childe, and while he could play at subterfuge when the need called for it, it wasn't really one of his preferred methods of dealing with things.

Especially when it came to Aether, who he imagined had seen more of him than anyone else alive.

... and if those words aren't like a direct line to his cock. Jesus, Aether. It's not hard to see he's... well, hard, and Childe doesn't think he could hide it even if he tried.

Perhaps it's also the fact that it's just the two of them, alone, in an abandoned building with nobody around for miles. The only ones that would dare interrupt them would be the highwaymen and bandits around these parts, treasure hoarders looking for something precious and valuable. He almost wants them to try, see how much damage he could inflict without pulling out of the pretty blond in his lap.

If it even got that far, of course. What's to stop Aether from suddenly coming to his senses and saying he didn't want to do what this might undoubtedly lead into?

Childe tries to let the rational part of his brain take the lead and scrutinizes the Traveler sitting so nicely in his lap. He looks flushed, almost dazed, even... almost like a sickness, but there wasn't anything that Childe knew of that would make someone say that. ]

You really want this, Aether? [ Is what he says instead, his warm hand sliding up the Traveler's spin to press somewhere between his shoulders. Doing so presses Aether firmly down against him, and if there was any doubt to the phrase "they make 'em big in Snezhnaya", well. The blond was about to get a firsthand demonstration. ]

Because if you do, I hope you know you're not going to be taking anything except my dick.

[ironwind]

[There's a kind of — there's no other way to describe it — mad ecstasy that lights up in Aether's eyes when he's pulled and pressed firmly down against Childe's cock. His addled mind really has to take it in, really has to feel the full width and girth of what the Harbinger is going to put in him — and apparently it comes to the conclusion that he's going to be able to manage. Aether gasps a little in surprise — then he starts rutting and rocking, rubbing their cocks together through their clothes because he's so hungry that he can't wait, and Childe's cock feels like it's going to be amazing. So thick, so filling, so much bigger than Aether's own...]

A-Ah — [his breath escapes him like the flutter of a bird's wing, and there's just the barest bit of a slurring sound in his voice, as if he's already drooling over the thought of being wrecked by the man he's currently frotting himself against] — Childe, you're so big...

[He definitely wants this. Whether or not he's going to want this later is an entirely different question, but... surely nothing in the world, no substance or spell or alchemical concoction, could manufacture that look of desperate tenderness in Aether's eyes?]

Mmhmm... that's fine. I want you to ruin me... make me your whore.

[Childe hardly needs convincing, if his raging erection is any indication, but even so, the traveler leans close and licks the shell of his ear, slow and sensual and eager. His breathy voice tickles the Harbinger's eardrum, lingering like the edge of a dream.]

Come on... it'll be fun. Please?

[acutabove]

[ Archons, Aether is absolutely filthy. The praise the blond whines out is like a direct line to his cock, making it throb in the confines of his pants and where it's pressing up against Aether's rutting hips.

Childe knows this is a battle he's quickly losing - count on the Traveler to claim more than one kind of victory over him - and he knows that if he doesn't put a stop to it, there's a chance the blond might actually resent him in the morning and refuse to talk to him again.

Or Aether might beg for a round two. Perhaps a third and a forth, and fuck if the mental image of having each other until they both collapsed from exhaustion wasn't appealing in some primal, raw way.

He's pretty sure Aether doesn't know what he's asking. By all rights, Childe should be the bigger person here, should hold him away, push him back until he was able to get his wits about him again.

But of course he doesn't do that. Instead - instead, Childe turns, immediately shifting to shove Aether up against the nearest hard surface - wall, table, bed, chair, anything - his hands firmly curving around the swell of the blond's ass and holding him taut as he rolls his hips forward in rough, short bursts, his mouth immediately crushing to the Traveler's own in a searing kiss. ]

[ironwind]

[It happens in the blink of an eye, just as rough and bestial as Aether always thought Childe would be: all of a sudden the weight of his body is off Childe's lap and pressed against the nearest wall, even though there's the wreckage of a bed not far from where the Harbinger was cooking, but Aether hardly minds. He's thinking only about how Childe could rail him, how Childe could hoist him up so that his legs are folded up against his chest, or maybe the Harbinger will turn him around and bend him over again, shove his massive cock in deep... That's genuinely the only thing echoing through the traveler's head at the moment: he'll fuck so deep, so good, better than anyone else, so feral and untamed.]

Nngh — yes... ♥

[The pollen has made him wanton and slutty in a way that he never is, and the more that Childe kisses him, the more that Aether opens his body to accept. Childe is so hungry, so needy, which makes him just the right partner for this sort of thing — all tongue and teeth and hips that are giving Aether friction in just the right way. The traveler bucks his hips up against Childe's, too, genuinely just as needy as Childe if not even more so, and when he looks into the man's eyes it's as if there are milky galaxies in his golden irises where there are normally stars: there's something not quite right, not all there about Aether's gaze, but what does that matter when his body is so willing, so compliant?

His hands fumble clumsily with Childe's clothes, trying to get them off; he gets as far as unclasping the Harbinger's scarf from his shoulders before the man's impossibly pleasant scent (that isn't normal, is it? he doesn't always smell this good?) takes him again and he's pressing his nose up against the man's neck, breathing deep.]

I need it... need you, not anyone else...

[Isn't that sweet? But then again: is that something real, or manufactured?]

Come on, Childe, fuck me senseless...

[acutabove]

[ Perhaps if Childe were a better man he might have been able to pick out the shift in Aether's expression, how his eyes reflect the stars instead of the sun, how every movement he makes is edged in the sort of hungry desperation better befitting a whore off the streets. Certainly not the polite, reserved Traveler, the one that had scarcely put his hands on him unless the situation absolutely called for it (and even then that was never, because Aether was one who walked among the stars and was so out of reach for him it was a wonder Childe could catch his coattails at all to bring him down to his level).

But Childe isn't a better man, so doubtless they're going to have a very awkward morning after when all this is over.

Aether's begging and his demands has him groaning, heat suffusing under his skin and spreading throughout his body in an intoxicating, desirous wave that translates to a slightly rougher drag of his teeth over the blond's lower lip, his hands fighting a war with the other's clothing to get them off his body in as short a time as possible. He's vaguely away of his scarf fluttering loosely behind him before Aether buries his nose against his neck, the action inciting prickles of goosebumps along his skin, and Childe finds himself swearing in a mixture of Snezhnayan and the common tongue as he all but rips his own scarf off and throws it haphazardly over his shoulder.

It's easy to brace Aether's weight in both hands, to grip at his pert backside and mold him against Childe's body as he ruts against him, as though if he rocked hard enough he might be able to get his dick through their clothes faster. It's wishful thinking and it doesn't do much to stop him - not when he manages to catch the swell of his cock over juncture of Aether's thigh and he grinds, letting the blond feel the weight, the shape of what he's about to put into him. ]

Tell me how bad you need it. [ It's a miracle he's able to find room enough to tease, when he's about two seconds away from fucking Aether through their clothes. There's more fumbling than there should be when he readjusts the grip he has on the Traveler, searching for a hem to catch his fingers on so he can start finagling the other's pants down around slim hips. ] Tell me how you want me to fuck you.

[ironwind]

[A rush of arousal seizes Aether once Childe starts rutting against him. It wipes his mind clean, makes everything go wonderfully blank, to the point that all he can think of is the way Childe's big, impossibly thick cock feels between his legs, how much he wants to feel that hot, thick length stretch him wide and hit his prostate — but is that because of how good it feels, or because of the whopperflower pollen coursing through his airways?

Doesn't matter. Aether might be dimly aware that he's poisoned, or drugged, or something like that, but it doesn't matter. A long, sweet moan escapes him as his cock twitches, eager for attention, and that pretty little hole of his clenches around nothing. He's desperate for something, anything, but his brain isn't quite capable of anything more than a primordially rhythmic chant: fuck me, fuck me, fuck me...]

Need it — so bad —

[He'll try his best, at least. If he thinks Childe wants to hear it, he'll try his best. He wants to be fucked so bad it hurts, but Childe's cock feels so good against his skin that it almost doesn't matter that it isn't pressed up against his sweet spot. He'll rub his legs together a little, rocking instinctively against the Harbinger's length, whimpering softly over the way those throbbing veins feel between his smooth thighs.]

Want you to — to fuck me 'til I'm loose and dripping —

[His sweet little pucker hasn't even been touched yet, much less made loose, though there's a faint gloss to his rim, as if he's already prepared. Whopperflower nectar, maybe. If Childe has connected the dots between their earlier skirmish and Aether's odd behavior now, he might consider that testing this particular substance might not be a good idea... or he might decide, you know, to hell with it; he might as well get some aphrodisiac all over his own cock what with the way the traveler's acting.

Then again, it's hard to think straight when Aether's begging like this.]

Make me come over and over and over...

[acutabove]

[ The blunt edges of his nails drag possessive, angry lines of red down Aether's fair skin as he fights with his trousers to get them off only enough to be able to work with. Childe neither has the patience nor the presence of mind to undress him all the way - that will come later, when they've had each other a handful of times. Right now Aether is still wearing too many clothes for his liking, and he only trusts himself to tackle one obstacle at a time.

Mercifully it does not take much and the Traveler's soon stripped of his pants and whatever else might get in the way, leaving Childe to lean back and take the time to appreciate the sight laid out in front of him. Aether's slim little thighs pressed together, his cute cock flushed with arousal, standing at attention as though it were begging to be touched. Aether's entire everything is practically begging to be touched, and Childe is not enough of a good person to be able to resist for very long.

He starts out slow, exploratory, even if the blond's body demands the very opposite. Callused palms slide up along the other's calves to his knees, and he takes one in each hand to gently spread his legs open so he can drink in the image of the Traveler debauched before him. It's an image he thinks he'll take with him to his grave, the sort of thing he'll remember on those cold, lonely nights in Snezhnaya when he has only his hand to keep him company.

Lips press against the side of Aether's leg, steadily trailing a path of warmth and affection down. It's hard to think beyond the erection straining between his own legs, hard to gather his wits together for coordination enough to tease him like this, but there's a part of him that is genuinely enjoying the way the Traveler is begging for him and wants to indulge just a little bit more. ]

Loose and dripping, huh...? Gods, I can't even imagine how tight you'll be around my cock, Traveler. [ Difference in sizes aside, Aether hadn't seemed to have very much experience, and he does look pretty tight down there... but then again he might be wrong. ]

But you sound desperate enough that you probably wouldn't mind if I fucked you open on my cock instead of my fingers, huh?

[ironwind]

[It's incredible, the way that Childe's playing along: zero resistance, not even questioning it. Aether's addled brain comes to the conclusion that he definitely picked the right stud to breed him silly. Someone like Zhongli would definitely ask questions; Diluc would be a buttoned-up prude; even Kaeya might be a little cautious, but Childe? Zero brain cells, all cock. Pretty face and sexy body, too. The whole package.

All drugged up and impossibly eager, Aether spreads his legs as much as he can, even reaches down to spread his tight, glossy pucker just a tiny bit wider so that Childe can get in. It doesn't work by much, though: Aether looks like he's all lubed up thanks to the pollen that's coursing through his system and making him stupid, but it might very well be true that he doesn't just carelessly sleep around in every new city that he goes to. Then again, maybe that just makes the prize all the more appealing...]

Y-Yeah, just — just shove it in. Just slip inside and go crazy, come on...

[Well, who can resist a siren song like that? The light in Aether's eyes is absolutely mad with lust; he genuinely can't think of anything but how badly he wants Childe's cock on repeat, and then maybe the pollen can infect them both so that they're both stuck fucking like rabbits.]

I want you so bad... I want you to fill me up and make me leak...

[acutabove]

[ With an invitation like that, how can Childe refuse? Aether's practically painting a picture for him with just his words, every one of them hitting just the right level of filthy that appeals to him viscerally. His knee-jerk reaction is to just give him what he wants, to fuck Aether until he can't speak, until he can't torment him with all the nasty, dirty words that he can possibly think of.

Begging's a very good look on him. He'll have to remind him of that once they're done here.

He doesn't quite give it to him, not yet; but he comes extremely close to. It's an easy thing to take his cock in one hand and line it up with where Aether's guiding him to, to press until the blond can feel the unyielding, blunt tip of his erection nestling against his hole, already hard and throbbing and beading pre-cum at the tip. If he were of a more sounder mind he might question why Aether himself is all lubed up, but really he's only thanking the gods that he is. That saves him the trouble of doing it himself. ]

Think you can take me? [ It's a soft, almost affectionate murmur; even if Aether can't, Childe wants him to, wants to feel the way he breaks apart on his cock. He wants to know how the Traveler looks when deep in the throes of pleasure, when he's given himself over to carnal desires and forsaken all his duties and his responsibilities in the face of a good fuck. ]

I don't know, Aether... you look a little too small... [ Even as he says this he sets both hands on Aether's hips, rolling his own steadily to increase the pressure against his wanton little hole. It's not enough to penetrate him, but it is enough the Traveler wouldn't be able to ignore it. ]