Chapter Text
All too soon he has left the comfort of his apartment in Liyue and headed back to Mondstadt. He has a job to do and bills to pay, after all. The investigation isn’t going to solve itself no matter how much Ajax wished it would. The world is a blur as he sits on the train’s comfortable chairs, listening to one of his playlists. His fingers tap rhythmically on the windowsill, annoying some of the other commuters, but he couldn’t care less. The song was catchy, and the investigator knew he’d be humming it to himself long after the train doors opened and arrived at the final stop. He had been able to take his time today, stopping at Wanmin Restaurant to chat with Xiangling and takeaway some breakfast to eat on the train. He’d already eaten, so he was satisfied with just watching the beautiful oranges and yellows of Liyue scenery pass him by.
“We will now be arriving at: Springvale. Please mind the gap when getting on or off the train.”
Ajax starts packing his things. An unsaid rule about the trains was to always pack your things one stop before your station. Or maybe that was just a Liyue thing as he watched someone hurriedly shove things into their bag before bolting off the train. To that, he has nothing to say except they need to plan.
As soon as he steps onto the platform, a blur of blue jumps onto him, hugging him tight. Ajax stumbles, just barely catching himself as he instinctively hugs back. He smiles after a moment and hugs them tighter. “Kaeya,” he says fondly.
“Tartajax,” Kaeya mumbles into his shoulder. They get a few weird looks from passersby, but they’re otherwise left alone. The Mondstadter is the first one to pull back, though he still holds Ajax close in his embrace. “I missed you,” he mutters quietly, ashamed almost.
“I was only gone for a day,” Ajax laughs. The Mondstadter doesn’t say anything, dragging him towards the ticket booth. Ajax fumbles with his train ticket before sliding it into the hole and walking through with Kaeya. He barely registers the fact they’re holding hands, only aware of the comfortable warmth.
They arrive at the familiar café. Ajax orders for the both of them, despite Kaeya’s insistence that he at least pay his half. The paranormal investigator, of course, ignores him. They sit at their usual spot with Ajax taking note of any changes in the café (there are none), and Kaeya casually ranting about the severe storm that had occurred while the ginger was gone (thank Barbatos for that). He tells Kaeya about his friends, what they had caught up about, the mundane things. Kaeya would listen with interest, as if he had all the time in the world and would rather spend it here, listening to his ramblings. It’s strange, in a way. Zhongli was the same, but for the consultant, it was more as if he was entertaining his thoughts. Or maybe for Kaeya, it was the same, and he just hasn’t gotten to know the Mondstadter long enough to differentiate his different expressions.
“Are you free today?” Kaeya asks, legs swinging beneath the table. Ajax had noticed the Mondstadter often did so when excited; a burst of energy that needed to be expended subtly. It takes a moment for the paranormal investigator to register the question. Kaeya always seems to capture his attention in the wrong way. Stupid pretty boys. Well, Ajax supposed he didn’t have anything better to do with his life.
“I- Yeah, I’m free,” the ginger confirms. It’s worth it, the way Kaeya’s eye seems to sparkle in delight, that is. He looks like a kid on Christmas as soon as the words have stumbled out of his mouth. Abruptly, the Mondstadter stands up and takes him by the hand. Ajax opens his mouth to argue but Kaeya smiles at him, brimming with almost childish energy. As if he had never experienced such a thing before. Whatever complaints Ajax had got stuck on his tongue.
Ajax smiles back.
Kaeya takes him to a park where a picnic blanket is already spread out and a picnic basket on top to ensure the cloth stays in place. The Snezhnayan swallows, wondering when Kaeya had set this up. Surely, not when Ajax was still on the train, right? What would’ve happened if Ajax came back at night? He decides to not dwell on such a thing and instead sits beside Kaeya. They’re still holding hands together, fingers intertwined with one another. At that moment, no one would blame you for mistaking the two as a couple.
“I made them for you.” Kaeya takes out a few skewers kept in a thermos to keep them warm. He sees little fancy cucumber sandwiches at the bottom of the basket as well. There’s a few blueberries and a mandarin and Ajax can’t help but roll his eyes playfully.
“Mandarin and blueberries? Really?”
“Can’t a man try and be romantic?” Kaeya chuckles. Ajax gives an exaggerated sigh, ignoring the Mondstadter’s obvious teasing. Instead, he favours the delicious aroma wafting from the skewers and takes a bite. The Snezhnayan’s eyes widened at the taste. Fruity, nostalgic, and a perfect balance of texture and flavour.
“This is good,” he mutters, swallowing his mouthful. He doesn’t miss the way the Mondstadter’s cheeks flush slightly. Kaeya smiles broadly, telling the paranormal investigator how he used to eat this every day in high school. Ajax listens closely, smiling at the thought of a younger Kaeya sitting in front of a small barbecue trying not to burn his skewers. Though, if he was being honest, it was hard to imagine what a younger Kaeya would look like when the Mondstadter already looked young. He makes a note to himself to ask the man about his skincare routine later on in the conversation.
The picnic wasn’t much, but to Ajax, it was everything. The sweet moments they shared beneath the shade of the trees in the park, the warmth of each other’s hands (although Kaeya’s hands were fucking freezing). They had gone flower picking after Ajax had finished eating, making flower crowns for one another.
Ajax is an investigator. He observes and takes note of things. They were essential to picking out evidence when investigating a case. Ajax is an investigator, so he notes how Kaeya would stick his tongue out in conversation. He is an investigator, so he will take note of the meticulous movements of the Mondstadter’s hands. He concludes that Kaeya is an expert at making flower crowns, as he finishes much faster than Ajax and looks much neater.
“Bend your head down,” Kaeya orders. The Snezhnayan obeys, bending his head down slightly. The flower crown is gently placed on top of his head. Tentatively, Ajax reaches up to touch the intricate design. He smiles to himself before attempting to finish off his flower crown.
It came out a little wonky, a little messy, but Kaeya’s eye teared up slightly at the kind gesture and lowered his head to be crowned. Ajax smiles and instead takes this opportunity to run his hand through Kaeya’s hair under the pretence of it being ‘messy’. It’s soft and silky, clearly a great routine. “What are you doing, Ajax?” Kaeya mutters. The paranormal investigator doesn’t have to glance down to know that the Mondstadter was blushing.
“Your hair’s messy,” he lies easily. Once he’s ‘satisfied’ with Kaeya’s hair, the ginger gently places the flower crown atop the Mondstadter’s head as well. He leans back a bit, admiring his handiwork. Kaeya is beautiful like this, he thinks. He’s beautiful all the time, but especially now. He could have easily mistaken him as a prince from a lost fairy kingdom.
“Thank you,” Kaeya says, fixing the placement of the flower crown. His smile easily brightens his day, and he can feel the quickening of his heartbeat. Ajax swallows and returns the smile, trying to match the Mondstadter’s energy.
“You’re welcome,” Childe says softly.
It has become almost a daily occurrence. No matter what, Kaeya would find some sort of shenanigans to do with Ajax. Like the time Kaeya had taken him to a dog park (neither of them owned dogs) just to watch him get chased by dogs for half an hour. The bastard didn’t even try to help! Just sat on a bench cackling as the Snezhnayan ran for his dear life!
Or the time they went grocery shopping and Kaeya had meticulously built a pyramid of apples and purposefully removed one, causing the whole thing to collapse and let Ajax clean up after him (Ajax never returned to that grocer ever again).
And yet, no matter how much trouble the little shit got him into, it was always followed by the odd quickening of his heartbeat. Now, contrary to popular opinion, Ajax isn’t an idiot. He knows the symptoms, he doesn’t need to go to some heart doctor to know what he feels is probably more than an infatuation, more than just a small crush. Is Ajax going to do anything about it though? Hell fucking no. He already knows how this story is going to go.
They fall in love, they date, they have fun. Then, Ajax wraps up his investigation, heads back to Liyue and now they’re in a long-distance relationship. Fun. Then, the next thing he knows, Kaeya breaks up with him because he can’t stop the lack of communication, the lack of commitment. And then reluctantly, Ajax will let Kaeya go.
It’s much easier to keep long-distance relationships with friends than with lovers.
“Did you ever graduate high school?” Kaeya asks. They’re sitting on a random bench somewhere at the park they often frequent. Ajax blinks in confusion, wondering where the sudden question came from.
“No, I dropped out in ninth grade and got a job,” he answers truthfully. He was fifteen, running away from Snezhnaya for a new life. He remembers how despite his insistence; he was met with insane looks from throughout his family and the streets of Snezhnaya. He remembers.
He remembers sitting in the pouring rain as he finally got off the boat he had stowed away on. He remembers being so lost in a new city. He remembers their reassuring smiles, their outstretched hands. He remembers how they were just like him. He remembers.
That was six years ago.
“I never graduated either,” Kaeya hums. “I wanted to know what it was like. To live a normal life,” he says. Ajax doesn’t quite know what to say to that. It’s deep and yet so vague. Kaeya has only scratched the surface of what he has wanted to say, letting the Snezhnayan figure out the rest for himself. It’s frustrating, all these vague answers that only gave more questions. But that was the fun of being an investigator, wasn’t it? To piece together bit by bit the clues that are left behind. To find the bigger picture through all of the finer details that don’t seem to connect but do.
“Did you drop out as well?” Ajax asks.
“You could say that.” Once more, a vague answer. Perhaps Kaeya had some medical condition that didn’t allow him to complete his education? It happened to quite a few people, but Kaeya seemed quite healthy. Ajax decides not to pry this time. Some questions are better left unanswered.
“Was the job you got at fifteen the same job you have today?” Kaeya asks. Ajax nods. “That’s some dedication to your job. Are you, like, the head of the investigators or something?”
“Something like that,” Ajax answers. More like the only investigator. Details. Besides, the impressed look from the Mondstadter was worth it.
“Wow, impressive,” he comments. The ginger smiles bashfully, cheeks tinted red. “You’ve got sunburn,” Kaeya teases.
“Hey, I’m from Liyue and I don’t get sunburnt, how do you expect me to get sunburnt when Mondstadt is always cloudy?” Ajax huffs, knowing that he was just teasing the Snezhnayan about his blush. Kaeya chuckles softly, putting his hands up in surrender.
“I jest!” he says like it suddenly makes things better. “Please, will the O’ Might Ajax please forgive this lowly peasant’s misdeeds?” Kaeya gives a childish pout that he knows will win Ajax over. The Snezhnayan sighs and messes up Kaeya’s hair with his hands. “Hey!”
“Yes, I suppose Sir Ajax will just have to forgive you,” Ajax mumbles, huffing. He can hear Kaeya chuckling beside him and, no doubt making fun of him in his head.
“Cute~” Oh, great, he decided to voice out his thoughts. If anything, it makes the paranormal investigator blush even more. There’s a weird feeling on his cheek and everything stops. Ajax’s neck almost gets whiplash from how fast he turns to face Kaeya. Kaeya’s face is red, the star pupil blown wide in realisation.
“I-. I should go.” Kaeya gets up and runs before Ajax can properly stop him.
“Wait! Kaeya!” the Snezhnayan desperately calls out. The Mondstadter is already running, leaving the ginger behind. The paranormal investigator reluctantly stops, his mind still processing what the hell had just happened to him. His heart beats sickly fast. That’s abnormal, right? That shouldn’t be normal… He feels sick.
Kaeya had just kissed him.
Kaeya had just kissed his cheek.
What the hell was he supposed to do with his feelings now?