It felt like almost a thousand years ago since Zhongli has had a real enjoyable birthday. It seemed as if only the first 50 years of his life were utmost important. As years went by with his immortality he had almost forgotten about it. Though, the past year had been more exciting and strange compared to the rest.

He had given up Liyue to the Qixing and retired as an Archon, giving his no longer needed gnosis to the Fatui; a diplomatic party from Snezhnaya. He had started working at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor and met the man of his dreams which he thought would never come.

He would often find himself daydreaming about him during work but Hu Tao would always snap him out of these. Every feature of this boy was perfect to Zhongli. His soft smiles and his daring personality. It was all perfect.

It was early morning, waking up to the sun barely over the horizon. The vendors of Liyue were going back to their daily lives of selling products on the streets. Smells of restaurants picked up again setting the ideal smell of street food.

Zhongli sat up in his king-size bed with his long brown and gold hair draped over his shoulders. He looked out the big window that shone golden rays into the bedroom. Seeing Liyue busy as always was a comforting sight to him. The Qixing have always done a good job since he retired.

There was a shuffling beside him and a yawn that was over exaggerating. "Good morning my love~" the figure spoke and gave Zhongli a hug from behind then nuzzled his face in the crook of Zhongli's neck. "Ah, Childe. How did you sleep?" The brunette said, reaching his hand up to play with the ginger's hair. "Hm, it was pretty good other than the fact you knocked me off the bed at about 4 am." Childe laughed to himself while Zhongli covered his face with embarrassment.

"What would you like to do today? I told Hu Tao that you aren't going to work for certain reasons~" Childe shuffled out of bed and went to find a towel. "We didn't even do that last night? Plus you didn't tell me that I wasn't going to work tomorrow so I didn't plan anything." Zhongli sat there with a confused look on his face. "Woah there calm down, no need to be so schedule driven did you want to do it last night?" Childe snorted and put his hand on Zhonglis head. "Relax today I thought we should do some things together. Just the two of us." He gave one of his soft smiles. "Anyways I'm getting in the shower. Think of some things you want to do today!"

Zhongli was confused but he decided to go with it.

About an hour later they were finally out of the house and walking along the streets of Liyue. "I was thinking breakfast?" Zhongli asked and Childe gave him an enthusiastic nod and a thumbs up. They walked to the Wanmin Restaurant which was currently serving Breakfast. They picked a table and sat down at it, looking at the organized menu. "Nice to see you two back!" an enthusiastic voice said. It was Xiangling, The daughter of Chef Mao who was the owner of the Wanmin Restaurant.

Childe and Zhongli were regulars when they were both available just because Xiangling's cooking was so exceptional. They both dug into their rice and egg. The egg yolk spilt over the rice evenly making it a smooth texture. Though it was a traditional breakfast, it was still seasoned to restaurant perfection.

Childe paid as usual and the both thanked Xiangling for the good meal and headed out. "Where to next?" Childe said smiling with both of his hands on his hips while Zhongli thought. "Could we go take a walk in Yaoguang Shoal?" "Of course!"

The two made their way down to Yaoguang shoal and started to take a nice relaxing walk. The ocean waves crashed into the sandy beaches and the salty air was not faint. "this smells like the actual ocean" Childe led on. "It doesn't have that hint of dead fish like the harbor" he laughed. "You're right" Zhongli found Childe's hand and held it tightly.

"Ah! Look Childe!" Zhongli reached down and picked up a starconch and admired it in his hands. "I love those, they're my favorite shell." Zhongli gave Childe a smile and pointed even further across the beach's shores. "Wow, look at how many there are, I suppose people haven't come to take them all yet." They made their way down the beach picking up only the finest starconches.

They found a flat rock to sit on and laid all their shells down on it. "Hmm, which is your favorite?" Zhongli said while spreading out the shells a little bit more. "Hmmm, these two." Childe pointed to two similar looking shells that were quite small compared to the rest. Zhongli nodded and picked up the two doing something with them. Before he knew it Childe was being handed something. Childe lifted the object up and it was a necklace. Made out of one of the starconches he said was his favorite while Zhongli held up the other one. They were matching. "Here let me put that on you." Childe nodded and lowered his head and Zhongli put the necklace around Childe's neck. "I love it thank you" Childe gave Zhongli a quick kiss on the lips and checked his watch.

It was almost 6:00 pm. He had lost track of time and forgot about something. "Hey Zhongli, I just realized I forgot to do something.. Can you meet me at the harbor in nice attire at 9:00?" Zhongli nodded with a confused look on his face while Childe sprinted away. Confused at what happened, Zhongli stood up and carried their collected starconches home.

"I'm sorry! I lost track of time." Childe leaned down and put his hands on his knees then caught his breath. There stood Lumine, Aether, Venti, Xiao, Ganyu, Keqing, Hu Tao, Yanfei, Xiangling, Qiqi, Xinyan, Ninggang, Beidou, Xingqiu, Yun Jin and Chongyun. (if I missed any other Liyue people oops) "It's not unusual for you to be late anyways" Lumine said, rubbing her eyes. "Let's go set up before you all die and I get more business!" Hu Tao said with an evil grin. Everyone sighed and Yanfei raised an eyebrow at Hu Tao. "Okay fine, soRRy"

It was almost 9:00 pm and Zhongli was dressed up in a dark brown suit with gold accessories. He was still wearing the starconch necklace that matched with Childe's. It was time to leave for the harbor. Closing the door to their humble abode, Zhongli left with a confused mind.

"It's all ready!!!!" Ganyu announced trying to control Qiqi. "Keqing can you please hold her-"fine". "Thank you all so much for this, I know it was sort of sudden." Childe smiled and went to pick up Zhongli.

Zhongli waited at the harbor only for about 5 minutes until a recognizable figure showed up. It was Childe. He was wearing a grey suit with a white undershirt. His hair was neater than usual and he looked way more cleaned up than when Zhongli last saw him. He was still wearing the starconch necklace. "erm- Childe what is this?" Zhongli was immediately shushed by a kiss. "Just you wait." Childe took the brunette's hand and led him farther down the harbor onto a transport boat that was quite small and it was only them. None of them said a single word until they got onto a larger boat that Zhongli clearly knew.

"The Pearl Galley?" Childe nodded and took his hand helping him off the boat onto the Pearl Galley boat. It was quiet. Only the sound of waves hitting the side of the boat and the occasional bird could be heard. Childe led Zhongli to a table and let the brunette take a seat. a faint '3,2,1' could be heard. Before Zhongli could speak he was greeted very warmly. "SURPRISE AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Everyone said popping out of their hiding places. Even Xiao did it.

Zhongli covered his mouth and he felt liquid running down his cheeks. He was crying and he didn't even know it. Everyone ran in to give the man a hug including XIAO????. Childe cupped Zhongli's cheeks with his hands and wiped away some of his tears and then they shared quite the passionate kiss. Hu Tao was able to get a picture.

It wasn't long before everyone went back to being their regular selves. Venti and Beidou were already going for the alcohol, Xingqiu and Xiangling were pranking Chongyun to eat spicy food, and Xinyan was setting up the stage to perform for herself and Yun Jin.

"For Zhongli! the old man that is somehow still attractive when he's over six thousand years old!" Zhongli face palmed and Venti popped a bottle of Osmanthus wine instead of champagne. Pouring everyone some (minus the children) they made a toast and started to eat a 3 meal course that Xiangling has been preparing for at least 3 days.

Childe and Zhongli sat at a table by themselves and it was just a wonderful moment. "Thank you Childe." Zhongli took the ginger's hands and kissed one of them. "Anything for you. I'm glad you even told me your birthday." Childe laughed to himself and brought one of Zhongli's hands to his face. "I love you, you know that right?" Childe said. "Always." Zhongli smiled.

(1603 words )

I wrote this in under 3 hours go me anyways i'm really happy in how this turned out so yay happy new years eve to those reading right now and that celebrate that <3

Also happy birthday old man john lee literally old man