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The first time Rex Lapis met his husband was thousands of years ago. It was in a ball held by one of his many subjects, where the host provided plenty of humans to feast upon. Zhongli had only attended out of sheer bloody boredom, the many years that had passed by brought none of something to amuse himself with, not even the struggles of the Fatui – the Hunters – hellbent on the destruction of his race, nor the coquetry of his subjects, both men and women vying for his attention. He had not even planned to drink, the taste of blood that used to excite him a long time ago now gone stale and mediocre to his tongue. He indeed still needed the scarlet liquid, for life is blood and blood is life, but he no longer found pleasure in it.
Amongst the handful of humans, some chained and crying uncontrollably, others too glazed to even realize their fates, stood one who caught his attention. He was chained, like some of those who had a will too strong to be glazed, but unlike those that cried and begged, he neither shed tears nor did he utter any words in hopes of pity. He stood tall amongst his group, chin up in stubborn pride.
And as Cor Lapis eyes, yet to shift into red from bloodlust, met Noctilucous Jade, the King of Vampires felt obsessive want course through every part of his undead body.
There was no fear found in those eyes.
Intelligence.
Determination
Challenge.
Violence.
Trapped in a room filled with the ravenous undead, a faith worse than death. But in the face of it, those eyes showed not an ounce of fear. The boy looked like he’d grab the nearest champagne bottle, break its bottom part, then shove it down the nearest throat within reach. If only his hands weren’t chained together.
For the first time in as long as he could remember, he felt his fangs lengthen unconsciously, unknowingly, like a fledgling vampire on its first feeding, as he stood rooted at the other side of the decorated room. He took a deep breath, the scent of the ocean mixed with berries, what used to turn his stomach now causing saliva to pool in his mouth. He felt alert, aware of every movement around him, around the owner of those eyes, of every competition in the room.
A deep growl pulled from his throat caused almost every vampire in the room to freeze, the ones nearest him pulling back and lowering their heads in submission. Only the ones near his, yes, his human, did not notice, most definitely too preoccupied with his human’s unique eyes.
And when one actually dared to approach his human, dare to touch his human’s cheeks…
Zhongli did not even realize he had flown across the room in blind rage, grabbing the impudent vermin by the back of its neck and tossing it to the other side of the room, farthest away. He felt pleasure at the sight of the vermin going through the wall caused by the amount of force he had used.
He will not have filth touching what is his.
His name was Ajax Tartaglia and he was everything Zhongli never knew he wanted.
The human was unnaturally beautiful, passionate, and brilliant, utterly brilliant.
His hands knew violence and blood, and yet knew nothing but gentleness as he played with the Guizhong and Ping’s turned children.
Zhongli didn’t turn him immediately, he respected Ajax enough to earn his love and consent. He had courted the ginger, providing food, shelter, gifts, and riches. Ajax did not even ask for anything and Zhongli gave him everything.
And when Ajax finally said yes Zhongli felt like the hundred of years spent in solitude, waiting for this existence worth it.
Ajax had never asked him for anything until that night.
In the middle of their garden, under the full moon, amongst the cooling corpses of the men they’d dined on, Rex Lapis – Morax – Zhongli sat naked on the blood-soaked grass, his beloved husband riding him hard, taking in his cock so well.
Zhongli could only hold his husband’s hips, as the ginger, half covered in blood, bounced on his lap with wild abandon and clawed at his back until even his advance vampire healing struggled to keep up with the lacerations.
And as Zhongli neared completion, his Ajax pulled back, staring him straight in the eyes as the ginger continued bouncing on his cock, and with deep longing begged, “I want babies. Please, I want your babies. Won’t you put your babies inside me, husband?”
And who was Zhongli to deny his Baobei’s desire?
And so, he came inside his Ajax, and came inside him many more times throughout the entire night. They mated, again and again, every night and sometimes even during the day, whenever and wherever they can.
And eventual his beloved conceived.
Ajax had been so ecstatic at the discovery of his pregnancy, the ginger smiling so much Zhongli remembered what the sun looked like.
The ginger began taking great care of himself, abandoning his earlier recklessness when it came to enemies both hunters and other creatures alike, abandoning searching for fights altogether, and drinking more blood than he usually would. And with the pregnancy came the need to touch, the need to feel, the need to feed on each other. And Zhongli was nothing if not a doting mate.
Ajax had been inconsolable.
Vampire were the undead, and so their children, in their protective cocoon, were born dead.
The Undead cannot give life.
It was the first time in his eternally damned existence that Zhongli hated what he was.
He had failed to give his mate the only thing he wanted, and that cut deep.
If God would not give them this, then Zhongli will find a way. As he had before in the beginning of his existence, his rebirth.
He searched for a solution, across his land and beyond, he never stopped, refusing to give up.
And then, he found him.
A man spurned by those around him for his curiosity and intellect.
Il Dottore.
He was a visionary.
Il Dottore had previously been a member of the Hunters Guild – The Fatui – until his less than humane experiments got him banned and kicked out. He had struggled to find fundings for his research, the Fatui making sure to cut all of his connections. The doctor was almost at the end of his rope. Until Zhongli came, clawed hand beckoning, offering a Contract he could not refuse.
The good doctor needed a test subject and Zhongli was all too willing to provide. He’d found one, a wolf, one that belonged to a pack that settled at the outer parts of his territory. They never bothered to ask for permission to live off of the bounty in his land like parasites, Zhongli hadn’t bother teaching them the absolute error of their ways, he’d been much too preoccupied with courting his would-be husband back then.
But now.
Well.
He’d descended into their camp like a shadow of death.
He’d dragged a bloodied and battered crimson furred wolf through his castle and into the good doctor’s laboratory, breaking a few limbs here and there whenever the pest struggled, and deposited it in Il Dottore’s all too eager hands.
Thought the wolf did not survive, the first round of experiments showed promise.
Ajax was beyond ecstatic and that is all Zhongli really cared about.
And so, the long procession of test subjects that led to the deep bowels of the castle laboratory began.
A Witch of the Flames, a Doll maker, a Tengu, and – Zhongli chuckles at this – even a Monster Hunter that one time.
Of course, his darling Ajax wasn’t without contribution, his precious mate had come home once, dragging a limp black wolf – an empty socket where its right eye should’ve been – that cried in anguish at the sight of the charred remains of the crimson wolf.
Variety was key, yes.
It took time, yes. Zhongli’s endless gold and resources at the good doctor’s disposal. Hundreds of lives sacrificed and destroyed for a truly worthy cause.
They had a few hiccups here and there. Those pesky Fatui hellbent on stopping them for some odd, foolish reason Zhongli never bothered to know. They caused a lot of problems though. Never enough to endanger Zhongli’s mate or the project, but still, problems.
Zhongli enjoyed crushing them.
All worth it to see the hopeful look in his beloved’s eyes the moment the good doctor announced his success.
“Go, my love,” Zhongli breathes as he holds onto his beloved’s slim waist, hoisting him up into the air, “Teach them how to hunt, teach them how to feed.”
As their children broke through their protective cocoons, Ajax’s gleeful laughter guided them up, beckoning them to take flight.
Rex Lapis – Morax - Zhongli, father of all vampires, smiles up at the pale moon as somewhere in the distance the tortured cries of a dying village echoes into the night.