The Slave Auction Meme (Continuation from Bakerstreet and Other Starters)

[chaneystarr]

SLAVES

1. The Newbie - This is your very first auction and you don't quite know what to expect. Hopefully you remember your training and don't disgrace yourself in front of your new master. Hopefully someone thinks you're worth buying at all.

2. The Oldtimer - You've been bought and sold and bought again so many times. You've seen it all before and don't think this time is going to be much different. In fact, the only real anxiety you've got is whether or not someone's going to pay for a more than slightly used slave.

3. The Pet - You're a pleasure slave. A bed warmer. A decorative piece of artwork. You're meant to look pretty and be pleasing and not much else.

4. The Guard - Your master hired you because of your ability to swing a sword or shoot a gun, not your looks.

5. The Escape Artist - Somehow you always manage to squirm out of your master's chains. Too bad you seem to get caught after a while. Maybe your next daring escape will be permanent. Then again, maybe your next master has special ways of keeping you locked up.

6. The Undercover - You aren't a slave at all, you're just pretending to be one. Why? Well that's up to you. Either way, your cover is blown if you don't act the part.

7. The Specialist - You have a skill that no one else has. Something rare and valuable. Something your master needs more than anything else.

MASTERS

1. The Customer - You've owned slaves before and this trip to the market is nothing new to you. Still, you're hoping to find something worth your while.

2. The Gift - Someone bought a pet for you, isn't that nice of them? Or maybe it isn't so nice. Did you even want a slave in the first place? Well you're stuck with one now.

3. The Giver - You're selecting a slave for someone else, and they need to be perfect. Perhaps you'd better test them out first to make sure you're getting your money's worth.

4. The Trainer - You specialize in taming unruly slaves and making them over into perfect, obedient, well-trained pets.

5. The Rebel - You hate the idea of slavery, but the system isn't going to go away any time soon, so the next best thing is to buy up any slave you can get your hands on and free them, right?

6. The Companion - You want someone to be with you always, someone you can talk to and depend on, someone who will never leave your side. It's a good thing that money can buy that these days.

7. The Undercover - You're not actually a Master. You're at the auction for an entirely different reason. Maybe it's special policework, maybe you're trying to hunt down a certain someone. Either way, your cover is blown unless you act the part.

( Meme ganked from Bakerstreet and copied here for more explicit content. Enter/Read at your own discretion. )

Comments

[battlebesties]

[ Zhongli leans over him and for a moment Childe wonders if he's pushed too far and actually upset the usually-impassive man. He tenses, unsure what to expect if he actually has made the archon angry.

Except then he's jerked forward and Zhongli's lips crash against his own. he lets out a startled sound that is muffled into the kiss - and probably far more embarrassing than he'd ever want to be caught at. His eyes are wide, almost going cross-eyed for a moment as his brain absorbs this sudden new change in their relationship.

But oh, fuck, he's lost track of how many of his fantasies have started like this by now, and he can't help but lean back into that kiss, lips parting against Zhongli as he kisses him back hungrily, that yelp melting into a low, breathless moan. ]

[moraxiom]

[ He - he didn't expect him to return it.

Zhongli relaxes. The tension from his shoulders finally ebb, and the hand that had been at Childe's shirt lets go to cup his face, his chin, tipping it up into the kiss.

He pulls back a few moments later, to exhale. ]

Did I... not make my intentions - my feelings clear to you before now?

[battlebesties]

[ You'll need to give him a minute here, Zhongli. You just broke his brain a little. And that had been a damned good kiss for someone who's been hiding away in the middle of nowhere for a few thousand years.

He's a little breathless, actually, eyes a little dazed. He'd be embarrassed about how much he'd been affected by that kiss if he weren't still revelling in the tingling heat he could feel lingering against his lips.

Lips he licks again, as if to see if he could still taste him, before glancing up at Zhongli. ]

Zhongli. I didn't know you had any intentions like that until you kissed me. You need to start using your words more.

[moraxiom]

[ He just looked befuddled. ]

I proposed months ago and you accepted the gift. I had thought...

[battlebesties]

....

[ Childe just stares at him, utterly baffled. ]

You... what?!

[moraxiom]

The dragon and phoenix chopsticks I picked out for you. [ When that fails to 'remind' Childe, he hums and covers his mouth with a hand in thought. ]

I had thought it odd that nothing changed between us, but I thought that perhaps you were not that sort of man...

That gift is one of the traditional ways to propose to Liyue - often from a bride-to-be to a groom-to-be.

[battlebesties]

[ Childe just.

Stares at him. Like he's lost his damn mind.

Which, he suspects, he absolutely has. ]

Zhongli. Did you ever stop to consider that might be a custom not known to people outside of Liyue? Especially ones who don't use chopsticks?!

[moraxiom]

Yes... I realize my error. You have been in Liyue for so long, I had assumed wrongly that you may have already understood this custom.

[battlebesties]

[ Childe just continues staring at him in disbelief.

And then buries his face in his hands with a trembling groan, his chest feeling tight. ]

[moraxiom]

[ ...

? He kneels down again, worry overtaking his features once more. Is he disgusted...? He couldn't blame him. ]

... should I leave you be?

[battlebesties]

... You idiot.

[ That's all he bothers to say before reaching in and dragging Zhongli in by his shirt this time, his lips seeking out his once more, his kiss a little desperate as he pushes closer. ]

[moraxiom]

[ Oh. Oh!

Zhongli wobbles somewhat, surprisingly unbalanced and ungrateful as he topples into the kiss, practically sitting on top of Childe with the way he was pulled in. He needs both hands to prop himself up and can't really move, but -

He doesn't want to. He kisses back hungrily, wanting this. Wanting Childe. ]

[battlebesties]

[ Childe would have been fine without him needing to prop himself up, but as it is, he just makes a small noise when Zhongli flails at him, leaning up into the kiss even more.

This is a far bit beyond what he'd ever imagined he'd have. Oh, he'd fantasized about it dozens of different ways in his months in Liyue, but Zhongli had always seemed so aloof and untouchable, even when they were what Childe considered friends. Even though he'd been sure his own machinations would have been the end of that.

Knowing what he knows now just... casts a strange and complicated light on everything that's come before. Just how much more had he missed along the way?

But he tries to push that aside for now, because the important thing is Zhongli is actually kissing him and that's it, he could probably die a happy man now. Only now he wants way more than just kisses from him. Yes, he's greedy, but Zhongli should already be aware of that part. ]

[moraxiom]

- ah.

[ He pulls away from the kiss with a sharp shudder and a flutter of his eyelids. His fair face pinkens - he cradles his forehead briefly, covering one eye while looking at Childe. ]

Greedy as always. Overwhelmingly so.

[battlebesties]

[ He freezes at that before pulling back - not quite flinching but definitely looking a little more hesitant. Chided, almost. Had that been too much?

He rubs a hand against the back of his neck, looking sheepishly away. ]

Sorry?

[moraxiom]

[ He cups Childe's cheek, bringing him back to look at him. ]

It is charming. No apology is necessary. [ He closes the distance again, kissing him, softer this time. ]

[battlebesties]

[ He lets him but he still doesn't push this time, taking it slower. He might say that now, but...

Childe has always been a little 'too much' for everyone. Too hard, too fast, too reckless, too selfish, too dangerous. He hadn't really cared, for the most part. He'd been confident, being one of the Tsaritsa's chosen. Cocky, even. But in the end, it seemed he'd been too much even for the Tsaritsa.

Now he had 'too greedy' to add to the list, but the last thing he wanted was to quickly push Zhongli in that direction with everyone else, too. Contract or not, he wasn't sure he could take having everything ripped away again if he changed his mind.

So he's more careful this time. Holding himself back, because 'overwhelming' still didn't sound like a thing he wanted to be just now. ]

[moraxiom]

[ Zhongli notices.

Or rather - he might not notice where it comes from, but he feels that pain radiate through him; the hesitance. Instead of interrupting this time, he draws his hand down to take Childe's and positions it at his trim waist, other hand still cupping his face as he deepens the kiss. He wants to be more intimate with him. To show and put to rest his feelings that he'd unfortunately not been clear with. ]

[battlebesties]

[ He feels his hand being guided and when his fingertips brush against the fabric of Zhongli's coat, they twitch against the sensation before settling there, a warm weight against his side.

He makes a small sound as he leans into that warm hand against his cheek, soaking up that contact with a deep craving for whatever Zhongli is willing to give him. ]

[moraxiom]

[ The backs of his fingertips brush against Childe's cheek, gentle and reverent even now. If Childe will not be greedy, Zhongli decides, then he'll be greedy for him.

Which means he's shifting to the side, meaning to pull Childe along with him on top of him. ]

[battlebesties]

[ There's absolutely no resistance in him, not when he'd wanted this so badly anyway. Letting Zhongli tug him over on him, he moans into that kiss, shifting to make sure the archon beneath him is still comfortable. But still ending up with his legs tangled with Zhongli's much longer ones.

He stretches out along the archon's body, pressed into him and shifting with anticipation. Hands resting against Zhongli's chest, he doesn't let himself explore just yet, waiting to see what he would do next, even if he responds to that kiss eagerly. ]

[moraxiom]

[ He does not stop Childe, but he focuses on their kiss, stroking along his cheek with his thumb and biting his lower lip. He's unrelenting in his attentions, his free hand pulling Childe's lower back closer, flush against him.

Childe may feel a soft resonating inside of his chest as it brushes against Zhongli's. ]

[battlebesties]

[ He feels it, a deep rumble that ripples through him, like a stone dropped in a pool of water. He's never felt anything like it before, but it has him arching up against Zhongli with a needy gasp. Shivering, he wraps his arms around him, trying to tug him closer, even as he enjoys being pressed flush against him. It's still not quite as fervent and forward as he'd been before, but it's clear that Zhongli is proving far more distracting and enticing than his own uncertainties here. ]

[moraxiom]

[ Good. That's what he wanted to see. He worried, for a moment, that Childe would, perhaps, be too repressed to be unabashed.

No, he just knew to school himself. It was a laudable trait, but one Zhongli didn't particularly find useful. Childe had chosen to serve a dragon, after all. He tried not to show it outwardly, but it was difficult not to when what he wanted the most was right in his arms. ]

Do you enjoy it? [ He murmurs it as he breaks for a brief breath, running still-gloved hands through Childe's hair. ]

[battlebesties]

[ He's assuming Zhongli is referring to that strange resonance that's all new, now that he's been claimed by the archon, now that he holds a hint of his power within him.

He shivers, both at the touch and the continued ripples he can feel from it. ]

Mmm. What is it?