Chapter Text
Someone shouted behind him.
"Hey! Hey, red hair!"
Diluc turned with a sour expression on his face. Usually, that deterred people.
The guy approaching was close to him in height and ginger, and he looked annoying. He was dressed in grey, had a hydro vision on his hip, and part of his stomach was showing. In this weather? They were both making clouds with their breath, it was that cold tonight.
The guy smiled at him, his deterrent not working at all, and Diluc raised a judgemental eyebrow and crossed his arms.
"Yes? Can I help you?"
"Ah, a Mondstadt accent! What brings you to Snezhnaya, Red?"
Diluc huffed.
"No business of yours."
His usually off-putting attitude didn't affect this guy at all. He actually seemed to like it, raising his eyebrows and putting a hand on his hip.
"Mysterious. You look like a fighter. Do you fight?"
"When I have to."
That got this guy very interested. His eyes widened and his grin spread.
"You seem like a formidable opponent. I'd love to..." He leaned a little closer. "Test you out."
Diluc paused. Was this guy flirting? What a weird way of doing it...
But he was certainly intrigued, and he couldn't deny that the warm breath he could feel had some sort of effect on him. He huffed a bit, relaxing his arms.
"Test me out how?"
"Oh, you know, go a few rounds. Test your stamina."
Yeah, okay. He was either flirting (badly) or an idiot.
Luckily, Diluc liked idiots. He looked this guy up and down, and the ginger tilted his head a little, a smug smile adorning his face and the earring on his right ear dangling.
"I can't guarantee I won't hurt you. I'm pretty experienced." Diluc began to play along, and the ginger leaned in closer. He thought, then stepped away and leaned against a nearby wall. The ginger followed him, leaning against the same one with his hands in his pockets.
"It's okay, I'm not afraid."
"And if you end up afraid?"
"Maybe a bit of fear makes it more exciting." He shuffled closer.
"Hmm."
Diluc looked him up and down again. He wasn't ugly, and he was certainly physically fit, and his way of flirting was quite interesting. He was sort of curious... maybe this was the point of this method of flirting.
"I don't live here. I don't know any good places for a fight."
The guy laughed.
"I think we can drop the metaphor. I know my way around. I live here. I know some bars, and I also know some more private places. Your choice where we go, Red. I'll pay, you don't need to worry about that."
Diluc nodded.
"A bar first, then. And... not one where any Fatui operators will see me."
The guy huffed a laugh.
"A dislike of the Fatui? You picked a strange nation to visit if you don't like them."
He smiled, and there was a glint in his eye that told Diluc that he was hiding something.
Or maybe he was just a weird guy. That was what he'd gathered from this conversation: he was probably about to go to bed with a thoroughly strange man.
So he just nodded and this guy began walking, tilting his head to tell him to follow.
"I'm... Ajax, by the way."
"Mm."
There was a pause, but Diluc had decided not to share his name here, so he just huffed.
"Call me Red. You picked it."
"Okay. You drink much?"
"How about you find out by buying me a round?"
Ajax laughed, moving closer so that they were almost touching shoulders.
"How much will I learn about you tonight, Red?"
"Depends on which questions you ask."
"I never was a good detective."
"Then you won't find out much."
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Four full shot glasses of fire water were placed on the bar in front of Diluc, and four in front of Ajax.
Ajax smiled as he gave the bartender a few mora, and Diluc glanced at him.
He was, admittedly, a lightweight. An insane lightweight.
But whatever. He'd decided tonight was a night for him to finally unwind.
He sighed and picked up the first glass, squeezing his eyes shut and pouring it back into his throat.
He put the glass down, coughed once, and did another one quickly. It hit him quickly and he exhaled heavily, a shudder going down his back. It felt warm. He understood where it got its name.
Ajax laughed.
"Not much of a drinker, then! Detective Ajax wins again."
"Okay, yeah, yeah. Do you plan on also getting drunk?"
"Hm? Oh, yeah! It just costs me a bit more than four shots."
He grinned and did two in very quick succession, then glanced at Diluc, who was staring, and did the other two, to little more reaction than a cough and another sly grin.
He turned back to Diluc, leaning his elbow on the bar.
"Let's play a game."
"What game?"
"Truth or dare."
Diluc huffed, smiling.
"No way you're serious."
"I am! I want to get to know you, and I want an excuse to get more drunk."
"Fine. Truth or dare?"
"Dare."
"Five shots."
"You wanna kill me?"
"Fine. Two more."
Ajax grinned.
"Alright then. I'll order more in a second. In the meantime, Truth or dare?"
"Truth."
"What's your name?"
"Skip."
"Why are you here?"
"Skip."
"Do you plan on going home anytime soon, or do I have time?"
Diluc raised an eyebrow.
"I don't plan on staying too long. I was going to leave again tomorrow."
"Aww, so soon. Well, no matter. I'll just have to make an impression tonight."
He leaned his cheek on his hand, and Diluc huffed a smile and did the same.
"Maybe we should hurry, then. The dawn isn't too far away."
"Maybe. After the shots you insist on me having, and your remaining two."
"Okay, then we go. I assume your house is available."
"Yep. You gonna have those or not?"
Diluc hummed and picked up another shot glass, trying not to make it obvious how the taste was entirely unappealing. He wanted to get drunk, though, so he tipped it back and, after a second of pausing and blinking to process, he took the other one too.
Ajax seemed pleased, two more shots being brought over and his mora handed to the bartender.
"Alright, then."
He took them both, pausing between them a lot less than Diluc to let himself adjust, and Diluc watched. How did he do it? How was his throat not actually just combusting?
The Snezhnayan grinned, opening his mouth and sticking his tongue out to show he'd swallowed it all, and Diluc hummed.
"Wow. I hope you won't be stumbling everywhere."
"I can handle... six single shots. That's not that much."
He laughed, and then he slid off of his stool and wrapped his hand around Diluc's waist, coming closer to him so that they could feel each other's breath. His bright blue eyes were slightly lidded, a shine in them that Diluc felt himself being drawn towards.
His heart buzzed.
"Shall we leave, then? My house is empty."
He nodded and got down from his stool and immediately, he was pulled outside into the freezing cold air.
It almost made him feel fully sober again, the stark difference, but the hand that had moved to be around his waist and the feeling of the wall against his back as he was pushed to it and kissed mixed into a whole new kick of floating drunkenness as the full effect of the alcohol took its effect.
Ajax was kissing him hard, and while one hand was staying firmly on Diluc's waist, the other was freely roaming, up and down his side, up to his neck, down to his ass.
He held onto the grey shirt beneath his hands and, after a good few minutes, separated their lips.
"We're in public."
"Oh, yeah." Ajax breathed, already leaning in again.
He didn't seem to mind that much, but Diluc certainly did, so he shook his head and shoved him.
"Your place or I leave."
Ajax sighed. He was clearly not thinking straight, entirely focused on one thing and one thing only. But that thing did require Diluc to agree, so he listened and grabbed his wrist again.
"Fine. Come on."
-------------------------
Diluc woke up in Ajax's bed, with Ajax's duvet on him and Ajax's hair next to his on the pillow.
He rubbed his eyes and sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and gathering his hair over one shoulder. He had a headache.
He was naked. Their clothes were on the floor. Of course.
He sighed, stretching, and heard movement behind him.
"Morning."
Shit. He'd hoped to leave before he woke up.
"...Morning. I'm going soon, don't let me wake you."
"Oh."
He could feel eyes on his back. He knew why, he definitely had marks everywhere, never mind his scars (and maybe just the fact he was well-exercised and Ajax couldn't keep his eyes to himself).
He brought a hand up to his neck and turned. Ajax was smiling at him, his arms underneath his cheek as he lay on his front.
He was also sufficiently fucked up. He had teeth marks on his neck, and hickeys everywhere.
"Hi."
"Hi."
"Will you stay for breakfast?"
"No."
"Oh."
Diluc got up and managed to dig his clothes out from Ajax's, getting dressed rather hastily.
He was watched, and he could tell. When he was done and fully dressed, he went to the bedroom door and turned back. Ajax had rolled over, leaning back on his forearms.
"Goodbye, then."
"Bye, Red. If we ever see each other again, tell me what happens when you get home."
"...If we ever see each other again."
So never, hopefully. Last night was a hasty decision because he was intrigued by a stranger. Not something he hoped to repeat very often.
He left the house as hastily and awkwardly as he'd got dressed and, in the cold morning, kind of wished he'd asked for at least a cup of warm coffee.
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Diluc huffs as he finishes the dregs of his mug of coffee.
That night meant nothing. Ajax was pretty, sure, and Diluc had fun, but it wasn't a whirlwind romance. It was one night, a few hours (mostly ones he spent drunker than he thought he would get off of four shots). Some sex and a very awkward morning, that was all.
Which made it weirder that it wasn't the only time they met.
-------------------------
It was quiet in the Angel's Share. It was past one-thirty in the morning, and they closed at two, so most people had gone home, or to each other's homes.
Of course, Kaeya was still here.
Diluc didn't speak to him as he wiped the bar down and put everything away.
The door opened. Probably a poor sight come to drink their sorrows away.
"Hi!" Kaeya said, and Diluc frowned and turned around.
The stranger, who was now standing next to Kaeya's stool with an arm around his waist, stared at the bartender with wide blue eyes as if he'd been electrocuted.
"...Are you... Red? Holy shit."
Kaeya frowned and looked between them, putting his own hand over the guy's, and Diluc froze.
This guy was dressed in Snezhnayan clothing. He was ginger and had a dangly earring and a hydro vision, and oh shit.
"Ajax?"
"You know him?"
Ajax's jaw was open. He looked at Kaeya. He still had a hold of his waist. Diluc glanced at his gloved hand.
"Kaeya, why does this man have his hand on your waist?"
His brother raised an eyebrow.
"Is there something wrong? You two know each other?"
Ajax laughed, and under Diluc's glare, he removed his hand from Kaeya.
"Uh... me and Red here... um... yeah, I'd say we know each other."
"It was one night."
Kaeya's jaw dropped.
"Oh my god. Diluc! You had sex with my date?!"
"Your date starts at one AM? And you weren't dating him then! Wait, he's your date?!"
Ajax was staring at Diluc.
"Diluc? Is that your name?"
Kaeya laughed in shock.
"You didn't even tell him your name?"
"It was one night. I got drunk."
"You got drunk after we started talking. I paid."
"You made him pay?"
"I didn't make him pay! He offered!"
"You're rich, Luc!"
"I wasn't then! I was in Snezhnaya! You have Snezhnaya money?"
"No, but I know how to get foreign exchange!"
"I didn't have home money either! It was- it was five years ago, okay? I had no access to my money!"
"Woah, it's been five whole years?"
"He remembers you after five years?!"
Kaeya laughed, and Diluc turned red.
"That's not my fault. Ajax, what are you- why are you on a one AM date with my brother?"
Ajax gasped.
"You're brothers? Oh my god, how did I meet your brother and end up here?"
"That's what I'm asking!"
Kaeya started laughing again, tilting his head back.
"Oh my god, this is hilarious! Ok, so, I met Childe-"
"Childe? Who's Childe?"
Ajax cleared his throat and Kaeya frowned.
"Uh, him."
The ginger sat on the stool next to Kaeya.
"He only knows me as Ajax."
"Oh. Okay, well he's Childe. He has a bunch of codenames, I find this one funny. So, I met him because he's here with work and I thought he was fit, so I went over and spoke to him and he started asking me how good I am in a fight-"
Diluc gave Ajax a scathing look.
"Do you flirt with everyone the same way?"
"It's only flirting sometimes. This is just how I interact with anyone. It never hurts to be looking for new opportunities to hone my skills!"
Kaeya snickered and kept telling his story.
"I found that interesting, so I asked him out. That was, like, two months ago. Luc, how haven't you noticed the actual Fatui Harbinger on my arm?"
Diluc froze. His scowl dropped to an absolute deadpan stare. The air turned cold.
"Fatui Harbinger?"
"...You didn't know?"
He put the glass in his hand down hard, and Ajax frowned.
"Don't break it. You'll get hurt."
"Fatui have no place in this bar. Leave, or I will make you."
The ginger tilted his head, a smile pulling at his lips.
"A challenge?"
Kaeya lowered his eyes.
"Childe, now isn't the time."
"No, no. I think it is. I think Red here, our little hometown bartender, wants a fight with me!"
He stood up, and Diluc glared.
"Get out. Now."
Childe grinned, and it was chilling. It was staring into the eyes of someone who has seen so much he found joy in violence.
Kaeya stood up too, grabbing his shoulder.
"Ajax. We're going."
Diluc glared daggers, and Childe just smiled back, an awful emptiness in his eyes.
"You know, we had a meeting about you. The morning after, they brought a wanted poster to work and showed me it, and I just kicked myself knowing I'd missed the fight of a lifetime just by not telling you my job."
"Ajax." Kaeya raised his voice, and Childe turned and looked at him.
"What?"
"We're going. I won't let you fight him."
"Why? You scared I'll win?"
"No. Not one bit. Now go.” He shoved him towards the door, following and opening it for both of them to leave through.
“Luc, he won't be back."
"I know he won't."
Kaeya dragged Childe away. As he left, the ginger turned and grinned at Diluc.
He wanted to break his fucking face.
-------------------------
Kaeya and Childe kept dating for a couple of years after that. They never went into the Angel's Share, and Diluc barely spoke to Kaeya when he went in alone, even less than usual.
Diluc never got to punch Childe in the face. He regrets that.
They broke up a couple of months back. He could tell because Kaeya came into the bar and drank alone for a bit. He was quiet, but after 24 hours he seemed fine.
Diluc fixes his jacket, staring at himself in the floor-length mirror.
The people he met while he was away were strange. The worst relationships he’s been in all seemed to happen then.
He sighs and splashes some water on his face.
Hm. Childe was later on when he was already planning on coming home. He was less angsty then. 20, rather than 18. It doesn’t seem like much, but looking in the mirror… barely any time can change you a lot.
God, just thinking of how he acted when he was 18 makes him cringe now. He knows how awful it all felt, but… He shudders and leaves his bedroom.
How did anyone find that attractive?