Chapter Text
Lumine couldn't find herself to feel angry at him. It had been partly her fault anyway and it's not as if she hadn't consented to his coming inside her. She just wished they could have taken more precautions. What with the man being part dragon and her being an outlander — they were incompatible. As a child of the stars, her species never approved of hybrids. She experienced their distaste and xenophobia first hand as she and Aether were halflings themselves. She was simply remorseful of the circumstances.
Her relationship with the funeral consultant was not ... romantic in nature. They were lovers, yes but there was nothing in their relationship that entailed promises — no commitment, no nothing. He understood her enough that she didn't need something from him. And she didn't, really. He respected her. Both as a friend a woman. And she lusted over him because he was an attractive man. He was the most stern man she knew. Dominant even when they slept together.
Lumine wasn't at all angry when he admitted that she reminded him of a woman he used to know — Guizhong, the goddess of dust whose life had been lost during the Archon war. She was very dear to Zhongli and it was clear he loved her. The fact that he faked his death as Rex Lapis and now lived as a mortal man showed how important she was to him. A goddess who was human, he told her then.
Keeping her condition a secret proved to be hard. She was carrying an adepti's offspring. Not just an adepti, he was their prime. Lumine didn't know how her pregnancy would progress but she was certain it would probably a difficult one. Especially when she's planning to keep it. Thousands of years of existence and she wasn't prepared for this.
She was commissioned in Wangshu inn when she stumbled across the yaksha, Xiao. She had forgotten that he spent some of his time on the rooftop. She was only finding a good spot to glide. Xiao was quiet as he eyed her suspiciously.
"Does he know?" The yaksha asked.
It was a mistake to have seen him. She had been avoiding Ganyu purposely and now she was to face the closest adepti to Zhongli. "He will."
Xiao sneered before disappearing. Lumine sighed apprehensively. If he had gone to tell his lord Morax the news then she had no power to stop him.
Zhongli was a sensible man. Cultured and elegant. And a god to boot. He was still learning how mortality worked. Surely, he'd politely refused the child? Lumine would be fine. She was not as ancient as Zhongli but she was emotionally intelligent and sharp than any of his rocks.
So when he summoned her to his home, it was quite a bit of surprise when he told her he was looking forward to her pregnancy. She stared at him, a bit bemused before smiling faintly. He looked at her stomach thoughtfully later that night as they laid naked that she will not be going through a regular pregnancy. A human one, that is. As he was half dragon, she should have known. A part of her was anxious.
How the hell would she give birth to eggs???
"I can't say I am surprised..." Lumine said as Zhongli laid his palms flat on her stomach.
"Do you find it strange?" He muttered.
She kissed his jaw. "Is this how you were birthed?"
His chest rumbled. "No, I'm afraid not." He paused, seeming to recall a distant memory. "I can't remember exactly the details how. But I was sure I was a mere ball of elemental energy."
"Ah, like Venti?" She smiled humorously.
He nodded. Lumine was no god. And as far as she knew, humans were the closest thing she related to herself. An immortal, yes. But a human nonetheless. Zhongli, on the other hand, was the biggest conundrum and a walking paradox. She didn't expect much from an archon who sprouted from the earth as a pulsating geo energy.
She was too wary to overestimate him.
And slightly haunted that she would pop out eggs.
Aether would be horrified.
"Are you still set on going to Inazuma, my dear?"
Lumine took a long pause. She had already talked to Beidou about the arrangements. She wanted to go to Inazuma to seek more answers about her brother. Surely the Raiden Shogun had answers. It would be a wasted opportunity to cancel her plans as the pirate captain was leaving next week. But with her ... condition, it would be difficult.
In a small but determined voice, Lumine replied, "Yes. My ... brother is there somewhere. I have to keep looking for him."
Zhongli looked at her. "And I cannot persuade you out of it?"
She nervously looked away. "I-I'm already having second thoughts. But I'm only here in the first place because of my search for him. I cannot stop. Not now."
She cursed herself. She had lived a thousand years. Had taken a few lovers in her time traveling. Very few that she couldn't even remember their names. Never did she once thought of conceiving. Her kind wasn't compatible with beings not their kind. Why did Zhongli have to be an exception?
Perhaps because of his divinity.
"Traveler, I respect your strength and determination. I want to help you find your kin, believe me." Zhongli said, with hardness in his eyes. "But I simply cannot allow you to endanger our children."
The realization of her situation hit her full force and she sucked in a breath. She understood where he was coming from but what exactly would come afterwards? She couldn't stay in Liyue forever to raise a child with him. It broke all the laws of her kind. They were travelers that traversed worlds. Staying put meant something indefinite. No progres — something that made her anxious.
Zhongli's case was different. He was created here and died here. He had never thought moving from one place to another as his dominion in Liyue was stagnant. He looked after Liyue and its citizens like his children.
Lumine gnawed at her lip. Would she really risk her children? Inazuma was a dangerous nation. If, somehow. word got out that the famed traveler was in some kind of a minor skirmish, not even the shogun would escape the Lord Morax.
"Perhaps, ... Inazuma can wait." She said softly. She remembered Aether. He was fine. He was more than fine when she saw him.
Abyss Prince, he was called.
Inazuma can wait.
Zhongli's eyes softened and he dropped a kiss on her harline. "Thank you."
Lumine stretched her cunt with her fingers, panting as she waited for Zhongli to position himself behind her. She could feel the wetness seep down her thighs. She felt light-headed as she felt her lover's head prod into her soaking entrance.
"Look at you, my little starlight." He groaned. "All whored up to take a god's cock. You must have been euphoric to learn I've successfully bred you." His tone was heavy with lust. Zhongli cupped her breasts and played with them. His unoccupied hand was splayed on her flat stomach, feeling the life beneath hi fingertips. He hummed in her neck.
"P-please, Zhongli." Lumine clutched the silk sheets. "Just fuck me already."
He tutted. "Don't be impatient, my dear. We have an eternity to do that." Her walls squeezed his rod as he entered her. Lumine bit her lips hard til it bled to stop herself coming. Zhongli took his time caressing her stomach, whispering something that made her back arch to push him deeper inside.
It was so erotic. To know his children was growing inside her right this moment. He's never bred someone before. Never successfully, that is. He had tried with Guizhong and always failed. And she died without having him give her a child. Thousands years later, a woman who resembled his lover appeared — a child of the stars who took his seed wonderfully.
He thrusted inside her body vigorously, fingering the nub between her legs. Lumine whimpered as her end was starting to come close. The tightening of her cunt made him see stars and he groaned as he spilled inside her once more.
"You feel so good, starlight. You take me so good." He rambled, hips shaking to savor the spasms inside her.
Lumine's soft curves pressed against him as she leaned bonelessly. She sighed in contentment. Zhongli wrapped his arms around her and dragged her to bed with him.
"I can't stay very long." She said, eyes hooded. "I still have commissions to finish."
"I proposed to accompany you." He said, kneeling between her to scoop their fluids back inside her cunt. Lumine closed her legs and allowed Zhongli to bend down to capture her lips with a heated kiss.
"Hm, are you still trying to put a baby in me, Mr. Zhongli?" She laughed breathlessly.
"It would be a shame to leave you empty." Zhongli said, lips lifting into a smirk.
Lumine was sure that when Aether said she had plenty of time to explore the true nature of this world, it didn't mean this.
Zhongli's home shouldn't rightfully be called home. It was a comfortable small estate that spoke of wealth. As a man who was Mora personified, it spoke volumes of his identity. It's really no wonder why his tastes were expensive. Lumine entered his home with a pouch of mora, humming to herself as she slipped off her muddied gloves. Her muscles ached from exhaustion.
The taller man closed the door behind her.
"You like engaging into fights too much." He said exasperatedly.
Sheepishly, she tapped his cheeks. "To get the job done faster, master dragon."
He frowned at hearing her endearment. "I hope the children don't take after their mother's recklessness." He muttered and headed to the kitchen to brew tea. Lumine laughed, eyes twinkling in amusement.
Roving her eyes around the room, she saw lavish furniture in every corners. A variety of jade and gold. How this man be wealthy and broke at the same time was beyond her. In her travels, she met dragons who loved to hoard treasures. Zhongli was, most likely, no exception.
"I hope you've removed yourself from living in a tent uphill." Zhongli said from the kitchen.
"Yes." She replied, sitting in the soft duvet. "I've rented a room in the city near the Commissioner's guild."
"I see." He said pensively. "What did Tartaglia tell you earlier?"
Lumine yawned. "Oh we spar weekly. Ever since I defeated him one on one, he keeps asking me for rematches." She giggled. "He's only won twice."
"Are you still continuing this arrangement?" Zhongli emerged from the kitchen, carrying hot tea and some biscuits to nibble on. Settling down the tea, he pulled the blonde woman on his lap. Lumine squeaked.
"Zhongli." She chastised.
"I apologize, my dear. But I've refrained myself from touching you all day. Will you allow me to embrace you?"
She smiled at him teasingly. "Always so formal. Of course, you may." She buried her hands in his hair. "Although I'm not sure if you like the smell of sweat."
"Nonsense. You always smell divine, my dear."
Perhaps, it was in his nature to be so amorous. She doubted she smelled good after a day's worth of commissions but it was a good thing Zhongli didn't seem to mind. Lumine hummed softly under her breath as she relaxed in his arms, tucking her head under his chin.
"I stink and you know it."
His chest rumbled and he kissed her jaw and neck as if to prove a point. "I shall prepare a bath, if you want."
"Yes please." Lumine murmured sleepily.
"Will you stay for the night? And every night thereafter?"
She fixed him with a gentle stare. "I've already paid the innkeeper a fortnight worth of mora."
"I'll reimburse you." He offered, molten amber piercing her golden ones expectantly.
She laughed. "Remember to bring your wallet this time, hm?"