eggbowl | In my blood...

In my blood...

[everything happened so quickly and so slowly, everything that happened is nothing but a haze in Dohalim’s mind. he isn’t sure what had transpired, all he can think about are the dredged up memories he’d spent so long suppressing, tamped down and never to be brought to light ever again. the despair had overtaken him, distant screams and thoughts of death clouding his thoughts as gleaming, liquid silver splashed into view. all he knew after that was unadulterated rage, wanting nothing more than to banish those with him, and to punish those who were responsible.

trails of blood and carnage followed Dohalim to the palace as he tore through any Renan in his path. they could no longer be trusted. the ideals of coexistence is now nothing but a burned up dream; he now sees their true colours. the Dahnans were not the ones at fault here, he could not blame them. but those who got in his way are pulled away by summoned vines as he continues his warpath.

blood splatters the pristine walls of Autelina Palace, an angry contrast to the calming whites, golds, blues and greens, crimson liquid staining the fresh plants and flowers lined up along the walls. countless times had he been met with Renan resistance, clearly those who are dissidents of his rule. they did not stand for very long. the audacity they had to stand up against a lord like him…

vines rip the doors open to his chambers where Kelzelik and his supporters huddle together, eyes widened to see Dohalim stand before them, rod in hand. words are not exchanged as those same vines wrap themselves around those who’d dare to oppose him, their pleas falling on deaf ears as they slowly squeeze the lives out of them. all, except Kelzelik, one of those who Dohalim had trusted the most. one who seemed to follow his every order, his every suggestion, his every dream for this realm. the blood on Dohalim’s hands are also on his former advisor’s, as he gestures to the men struggling around them]

You did this.

[Dohalim’s voice sounds strange even to him, hoarse and pained. maddened eyes stay on the man, standing unflinching as thorns burst from the vines and through those it’s ensnared. crimson blooms of roses blend with the blood as it drips from the petals as he puts to rest those who had tried to seize his realm.

when Dohalim is finally found, he’s still in his chambers, on his knees, arms wrapped tightly around himself as hands grasp onto his shoulders, his breathing is ragged and erratic]

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That long ago...

[there's an almost bittersweetness to it, thinking that if Dohalim had let Zhongli closer to him, then so much could have been avoided, perhaps. but maybe that was Kelzalik's plan all along, to avoid anyone getting close to the lord and ruining his plans of insurrection. Dohalim has to sigh softly as he curls up into Zhongli a little, admonishing himself for his own stupidity. Zhongli had shown kindness to him as he entered into his court, but because Dohalim had put his trust in the wrong person, he kept the deity at a distance.

he can feel the corruption pluck away at that thought, threatening to burrow itself into that seed and plant itself into him, but he resists, for once. he doesn't want it to mar this moment between himself and Zhongli, not when there's a comforting warmth between them]

So... What now? What does this mean for the both of us now?

That... is ultimately up to you, I would say.

[Zhongli doesn't think that Dohalim feels differently now, not after all that just happened. even so, it's not his decision to make as to how they move forward - he isn't the one with anything to really lose.]

If you want to return to the way things were, then I will be content with that. What I do won't change, after all. I will be content with only watching over you, if I must be. [finally he shifts, nuzzling in against Dohalim's jaw. he should pull away, he thinks, but... soon. for now, he just wants this connection. just for a little while.] Nothing you could possibly do could change that, for me. I will accept every part of you.

I don't--!

[Dohalim's words come out rushed as he burrows into Zhongli more, hiding his face in the crook of his neck. the fact that the deity can say that after what had just transpired between them... an arm flings out across Zhongli's waist to pull him closer, to show him just how close he wants him to be]

...I don't want things to be as they were before. I... I like this.

[whatever "this" is called. is it a romance, or is it something more? what would he consider Zhongli? a companion? or something else? there's no doubt just how close he wants to keep the other, but he's never felt this way about someone else before. the thought is almost terrifying, letting someone else in like this, opening himself up emotionally for another person. Dohalim supposes he already has, but this just goes deeper than trust at this point. it even goes deeper than the feelings he had for his friends. there's a certain word for it, but is it really that?]

Ah-

[it's a soft noise he makes, somehow sweet in the moment, as Dohalim pulls him closer, face buried in the crook of his neck. a sudden show of gentle force, enough to bring a touch of heat to his face if he's not careful.

his own arms slide around Dohalim then, eyes closing as he takes in the warmth of him - natural now, thanks to Rukkhadevata.]

Then... we shall take it one day at a time. [his breath shifts the redhead's hair a little, a little thread of amusement in his voice.] Admittedly, I am not... much more experienced in this than you are. Forgive me.

We can navigate through this together. I just want...

[what does he want? there are so many things, but Dohalim isn't sure he has the words to express what he wants from Zhongli. but it seems that, whatever it is, the deity is willing to give it to him. maybe a bit too willing, but Dohalim will accept it, as selfish as the thought is.

he pulls his head back a bit to look up at Zhongli again, silent for a moment as he just watches him. he hadn't noticed just how... soft he looks, in his contentedness. Dohalim's free hand sneaks up between them, brushing his fingers along Zhongli's lip gently, before leaning in for a chaste kiss]

I just want you by my side... Don't leave me.

[The deity watches quietly as Dohalim works through his wishes, his thoughts. Silently he waits for the answer, whatever it will be to see them boxing forward.

He certainly looks soft in that moment, watching past his lashes until fingers draw over his skin, his lips, and molten gold is covered for a moment in response to the chaste kiss.]

... not for anything. [His voice remains soft, fingers cradling his face.] You will never be rid of me unless you demand it.

[He seals this thought with a chaste kiss in turn, thumb brushing the side of the Renan's face.]

We should rest for now, if you can...

I don't want to.

[while it's childish of him to say so, and in those words, Dohalim feels like he's rested enough. he already missed out on a full conversation between Rukkhadevata and Zhongli, and he feels heaps better than he did before. the logical part of him does tell him that he's still sick (he can feel a little bit of that sickness still lingering), but he doesn't feel like he's going to pass out if he so much as moves around in bed.

no, he wants to spend his waking moments with the deity, now that there's this unspoken, mutual thing between them. perhaps he's getting a little too attached to Zhongli, but still. he can't expect to accept such a confession, only to be told to go sleep]

If I sleep, I'm not sure I will see you in my dreams.

[Zhongli murmurs something at the responses, unable to keep the faint dusting of pink from his cheeks at the absolutely cheesy, sweet line. really, how dare he be like this? the deity doesn't have the excuse of ignoring his own feelings, after all...]

I did tell you to rest, not to sleep. [drawing a thumb across Dohalim's lower lip, he leans in to give him another kiss.] Provided it isn't too rigorous, I'm not unwilling to consider doing something else, if you've an idea.

But... I also like to think you will see me in your dreams.

[he can't promise it, of course, but there's also a world where, if they fall asleep together, they might share the dreamscape again even without the incense.]

I've rested enough, I think.

[Dohalim mirrors Zhongli's blush as he lets his mind wander to what they could do instead of laying there, curled up into each other. again, no stranger to physical touch (though, he's still so painfully aware of how touch starved he is for anything else other than sinuous hands gliding along warm bodies), and he... has put his hands on Zhongli, but not in the way that elicits an emotional as well as physical response at the same time. and it's that thought the reason why his cheeks deepen into that red tinge.

it also doesn't help that Zhongli's words sound just as cheesy as his were]

Ah... Well, I don't... What would you like to do?

[maybe that could be a jumping point, just to see what Zhongli is willing to do at the moment]

What would I like to do?

[his voice is a little breathy with amusement, thumb brushing the Renan's lip again.]

What I would like to do would be far too rigorous for you, right now. Perhaps when you've fully recovered, I can properly devour you.

[maybe he really has been holding himself back for too long. there's a dangerous note of promise to the words, even as he shifts to nuzzle in against Dohalim's neck again.]

For now... I suppose I could just be content with touching you a while.

[ah, Dohalim hadn't realised he could turn a deeper shade of red, but Zhongli proved him wrong. if it weren't for the fact that Rukkhadevata had cured him of the worst of his fever, Dohalim would have thought that it had flared up again.

his thumb brushes along his lip again; Dohalim is a bit bolder as he parts them to slip the tip of it in for a moment, before Zhongli leans in to press against his neck. he lets out a soft sound as he himself pulls the deity closer still, tilting his head back to give Zhongli a little more room to work with]

Do what you will... I would not say no.

[he hadn't realised just how much of that touch he wanted until Zhongli said so; now he wants it. he wants to feel those strong but gentle hands roam along his body, pressing into every dip, tracing over every muscle]

[huffing a soft laugh against the other's neck, Zhongli presses kisses there.]

We should at least ensure we're not interrupted, I imagine. Though... I suppose we likely have a fair bit of time, given how recently we returned.

[fingers trail over the form hidden beneath his regalia, reverently feeling over the curves of his body. honestly, if it wasn't so likely to cause panic to see it so soon after Kelzalik, he wouldn't care who saw.]

What do you think, Dohalim?

Mm... But those in the palace are rather attentive when it comes to me and my health.

[a little too attentive, on Dohalim's opinion. he still thinks he doesn't deserve the praise and attention he does get from both the Renans and Dahnans (especially the Dahnans; what would they think of him if they ever learned the truth?), but it's a distant thought at the moment. gentle fingers brush up against him and he lets out a soft breath, as he mirrors Zhongli and ghosts his own fingers along his side]

As much as I don't want to part with you, perhaps we should lock the door.

[there's a hint of excitement in his voice, so different from his usual reservations or melancholy]

[it's a beautiful sound on his lips, alive and warm and so different from the norm. a smile crosses his lips and after another moment he sits up, fingers lingering on Dohalim's chest.]

Well then. Give me a moment to do that... and I believe you had another request before. I may be able to give you that at this time, as well.

[if they're going to lock the door, he should have more than enough time to trade back between both humanoid forms, he thinks.]

[a hand comes up to brush against the back of Zhongli's against his chest, letting his fingers trail up to his wrist, before pulling it away. the neediness for the deity's touch isn't because of a need to soothe the raging corruption in him, for once, but just to want it. perhaps he's grown a little too addicted to it, to having Zhongli so close to him. the last few days of being bedridden with him by his side hadn't really calmed those feelings down.

but, Dohalim supposes, he should let Zhongli get up to lock the door. if they were to get more into this... heavy petting, of sorts, he would rather not have someone walk in on them. and Zhongli's own thoughts on that are mirrored by his own; the fact that some of his people were already wary enough about the deity being so close to him that they've decided to kidnap him (Dohalim still has to figure out what to do with that, even if their intentions were goodwilled), he's pretty sure the entire palace would be up in arms about it. not to mention his own anxieties about letting himself have this moment, and thinking that the people of Menancia would say that he's skirting duties in favour of his own pleasure when the realm has so much work to be done still.

but he won't think on that for the moment, attention on Zhongli's words. as the man stands and heads tot he door, Dohalim can't hide the building anticipation on his face. if what he's promising is true... he can almost imagine that tail in his dreams, with those beautiful umber and obsidian scales, and the bright, soft tufts trailing down to the end of it]

If you promise, and cannot deliver, I will be rather disappointed.

[the laugh Zhongli gives in time to Dohalim's words is light and warm, his head tilting to glance back at the Renan.]

Well, I haven't promised, but the last thing I would like is to disappoint you now.

[being outside has truly done him good. traveling Traslida, with its overabundance of Earth astral energy, more than offered a bolster to his own stores of it - a fact he isn't entirely sure how to process. for now, it doesn't matter.

he's swift in clicking the lock shut, and before he moves to turn there's a flicker of that selfsame energy. it's very much like him, that sensation of cool stone that ripples through the room. normally, he wouldn't show so much - there's a natural danger to someone seeing your body change - but he trusts the redhead this much. he'll be able to watch as energy coalesces and draws over his skin, forming the now-familiar golden markings on pale skin and twisting into the tapered, scaled muscle that is his tail. the tufts appear last, as he makes the last steps toward the bed, tail shaking as if to shake off any excess sensation.]

Now, then. If this is acceptable for my Lord, [he's quick to lean over Dohalim again, hair falling over one shoulder as one hand perches over a shoulder, the other at his side. as he speaks there is the briefest flicker of a tongue much more slender than it once had been, alongside the glimmering, slit-pupiled amber of his eyes.] shall we continue as we were?

[there's a shiver that runs up Dohalim's spine when he feels the ambient astral energy swirl in the space, feeling rather familiar, even from before he'd met Zhongli. it connects him to the earth itself, to the foundations of the planet, and now, to the very energy within the deity himself. a separate bond, it seems, outside of their bound contract. it's... strange. as soon as he set foot on Dahna, he'd felt something, but brushed it off as an affinity for Earth astral artes. this other bond, he thinks, sort of feels the same way. he has to wonder if Zhongli feels it, too.

but, as the other leans over him, slitted eyes peering down at him, Dohalim can't help but be drawn in as he usually is. this time, he can see those different features clearly, and not through a dream, though he can't help but let his attention wander over to the tail. a curious thing, and something that, while his face doesn't show it much, does surprise him. maybe a bigger part of him wasn't expecting it, even though he's seen his much smaller form. but to see him in this form, between human and dragon... Dohalim also hadn't realised that he... really likes him like this.

there's a small smile on the Renan's face as he locks eyes with Zhongli, a hand coming up to gently brush through the hair cascading down his shoulder]

I suppose we shall. I'm yours to do as you please.

You are far too tempting, you know.

[Zhongli exhales a pleasant huff of breath as Dohalim's hand brushes through his hair, eyes falling half closed. ah, it's really been so long since he could be like this...

his head tilts into the touch until he can press lips to that hand, deft fingers moving to loosen the remaining bits and baubles that remain in his way. the actual cloth he can deal with as he goes - it's hardly in his way for now.]

Not a single idea what you're hoping for, even?

[his tail drags up over Dohalim's side, and there's no rush to his movements at all. if he's honest, all Zhongli wants to do right now is memorise the man's body for a while, to sear the feeling of it in his fingertips.]

Not particularly... Though, I usually leave things to the hands of those who wish to take the lead, so to speak.

[maybe it's because he still finds himself unworthy to lead his people that it also finds its way into the bedroom. that isn't to say he doesn't enjoy being on the receiving end of things, but... he also doesn't want it to come off as though he's using his position of power in such a vulnerable moment.

as Zhongli's tail trails up slowly, his eyes move over to it, his other hand threading fingers into the tuft at the end of it. it's even softer in real life than in his dream, and just as warm. he lets his hand linger there for a moment, before letting fingers trace over the scales, surprised by how smooth they are; he'd almost expected them to be rough like stone]

Though, I would like to feel your touch.

Well, you are tasked with it often, after all.

[there might be more to it, of course, but Zhongli chooses to focus on that. a tiny ripple of a shiver flickers through his tail as Dohalim trails fingers over it, smile broadening as the deity shifts to push fabric out of the way and let his own hands trace over dark skin.]

I can offer that, certainly... though I think I'll remain unsatisfied with my actions until you're thoroughly satisfied in turn.

[which does not mean he's going to stop taking his time, granted. they have time, and Zhongli would love to taste every inch of skin before he really begins the work of wearing him out.]

[Dohalim's breath hitches at the feeling of gentle fingers brushing against his skin; for some reason, it feels different when it's coming from Zhongli. for the god of the Earth, his hands are surprisingly soft, yet strong like his element. there's an almost resonance he can feel, under those fingertips, and along the path drawn along his body. he lets out a shiver in turn, eyes dipping half closed as he lets himself feel]

Hm... Maybe so, but are you really going to make me wait in anticipation? Do not think I don't know what you are doing.

[not that he minds, of course. he can be patient]

You misunderstand me. When have I gotten a chance to truly feel you like this, hm?

[there's a soft laugh there, warm and easy. the temptation to show him true resonance is there, but... better he wait for another time, with that. he has plenty with which to overwhelm the Renan, if he so chooses.]

You were the one who said you wished me to touch you, weren't you? Perhaps you misspoke somewhat?

[but it's clear he isn't trying to drag things out or overwhelm him, honestly. soft lips press to dark skin in reverent attention, and it feels like it's been so long since they spoke with Rukkhadevata. to have this only hours later, in mutual relief and devotion... there is a part of him that worries it will all fall apart, still. that fear, the thought that this might be the only time he gets to memorise this man's body, keeps him at this same pace, unless Dohalim gives a reason to hurry.]

Had I known you would take your time like this...

[not that Dohalim really minds, in the end. arms come up to wrap around the back of Zhongli's neck to pull him in even closer, wanting more of that contact, wanting more of him. the lips and touches aren't enough, but he'll acquiesce for the time being. eyes slip closed as he just lets himself feel the deity's presence, a small smile on his face at the energy between them.

like Zhongli, Dohalim also has that same worry, the worry that this will all be taken away from him. if not by his own people (who, at this point, are probably starting to realise that Zhongli's imperative to Dohalim's sanity), but by the corruption. he... doesn't want to push the deity away, he doesn't want to be left alone again. but the fear is there, and it's a terrifying thought and possible reality if he slips.

the thought alone is enough for his arms to tighten ever so slightly, suddenly worried that Zhongli will slip from his grasp, that he'll open his eyes and the man will be gone. that this is just another dream, and that he'll wake up from it]

You have full approval to punish me if I don't provide well enough, baobei.

[there's a little laugh to the words as he speaks them, peppering kisses and touches as he works to free the other man from the confines of his clothes. once there's more space to share contact, he's quick to pull Dohalim closer, to let him feel the transitions where bare skin and scale meet. truthfully, he'd like to strip himself too, but for now it's better this way. probably.

one hand comes to rest over the redhead's heart, and his weight shifts so that he can press their mouths together.]

I truly will never get tired of the way you taste.

[his voice is a huff of laughter, hands cradling the Renan's face for more kisses before he moves downward again.]

[a hand is pressed against his chest, over his heart, and Dohalim can't help but move his own to rest on top of it, thumb rubbing along warm skin. his other, as he loosens his arm around Zhongli's neck, gently slide along his shoulder, down his arm, and back up his spine. those scales are still so unbelievably smooth that he almost misses where scales and skin meet. it feels so far from being draconic, or so he would think, and he half expected them to feel cool to the touch.

at the kiss, and Zhongli's words, Dohalim smiles softly, truly feeling content. his worries are whisked away for the moment, that empty space being filled with the deity's warmth and affection]

The feeling is mutual. You taste like the rarest and sweetest tea any man has ever cultivated.

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