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This was ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous that now he is standing beneath a roof of some lavish restaurant with foreign dishes on display with a woman who could pose as an adolescent wearing ornamental antlers and pull it off. The insane, brash part of himself laughed in glee which claimed victory over what other sense he had left. Ajax laughs, and it's much different than the one accompanied by a sneer laced with provocation he usually wore.
“Oh, how funny it is to be with the man who nearly robbed me of all potential clients and destroyed an entire nation altogether.” Yanfei retorts with a lazy grin, indicating that she doesn't really mean what she says.
“Quiet, you.” He huffs. “Besides, you agreed to it. It's not my fault that I'm so charming.”
“Hah!” The half-adeptus scoffs, though she fails to fight the signs planted on her cheeks that tell otherwise. “Good one, Snezhnayan fop.”
Ajax ended up succumbing to his unique humor, and laughed anyway despite himself. Moments passed and he was inside the crowded place. It was quite lively and the ambience it had lived up to that friendly atmosphere, what with the heavy scent of soba and a kind of beverage he can't quite put his finger on. Ornamental lights hung on the polished ceiling, a dull white they may be but they served as a good contrast to the dark-brimmed wood all over the walls.
What a nice place. It would be a shame if it reeked of overpricing.
That being said, the interior was quite huge so it wasn't too difficult to find a vacant seat for two. After all, it seemed like a place fit for a group of friends to forget about their responsibilities even for a minute and spend away and a pair seemed only rare (but not out of place) out here. Not that anyone cared enough to stare, and if they did, it was usually because of how much they stood out.
Ajax taps his fingers against the table, waiting for the waiter to entertain those who preferred to sit in a much less highkey place when he was pulled out of a trance of silence.
“Hey, I'm gonna call a friend.”
“What?” Ajax was obviously puzzled. “But there aren't any—”
“Nonsense.” Yanfei says with a coy smile. She balls her right hand into a fist, pinky and thumb raised in a silly imitation of those phones in Snezhnaya and puts it to her ear. She made rather peculiar noises which he could only assume to be the telephone ringing.
“Pick up.” She giggles, allegedly only now feeling the absurdity of her own idea. “Pick up the phone, Childe.”
“Ah, err,” He laughs, feeling it himself as he imitates her and 'picks up' the call. “你好?” (hello?)
“你好.” Albeit being shocked herself earlier, Yanfei collected herself and let her chin rest idly on her free hand. “I don't think I can receive that souvenir of yours today, Xingxi. I'm in Inazuma with some... narcissistic madman after he convinced me to stay here for a few days more.”
Ajax, offended, drops the act for a moment to sneer at her, muttering something along the lines of 'Childe is a good alias, you just can't acknowledge it' with a pout. He clears his throat, the thought of feigning a woman's voice crossing his mind only to be immediately disapproved because if he had done so, Yanfei would surely never live it down.
“I'm surprised you aren't running for the hills. They say men like that naturally have trouble coming for them.”
“They do.” Yanfei confirms, though she sounded much too nonchalant. “But he was just too cute, you see. Once he realized that I was an unusual conversation partner, his words sounded less theatrical and premeditated. When I brought up wanting to have a family of my own, he looked intrigued.”
Committed to his role, Ajax was silent as he listened but he raises an eyebrow when she pauses then offers an encouraging smile despite all his embarrassment bottling up inside.
“I think he wanted to volunteer.” She continues, hardly in possession of what embarrassment came over her a moment ago. ‘Well, good for you’ , Ajax thought as he glared at her, expressing deep-seated loathe at the cheeks that betrayed him of his collected facade.
“Oh, I’m sure he did. Who wouldn’t?”
Yanfei broke character for a moment, relishing that compliment before clicking her tongue and muttering ‘Flatterer,’ and nevertheless, she continues. “I’ll remember that. But you know, I feel scared to fall for someone like him. What if he only chose to sit next to me because there wasn’t any other girl? I’m not someone who profusely glosses over what people think of my personal life so the effect on my reputation is hardly a problem. What I’m concerned with is his sincerity, I don’t want someone who’s just playing around, you see.”
Her fingers trail the red fabric above her sleeve, bearing similar color to the scarf he wore though the light of vulnerability shone above her face for a moment. “I don’t… want to be led on.”
“I don’t,” the words nearly falter as they reach his tongue, “I don’t think he’s leading you on. If he did, he wouldn’t have dragged on such genuine conversations to the point where he’ll inconvenience you and himself by staying on foreign region. Ah, and are we forgetting about all that family thing? Who knows, maybe he’s just what you need to fulfill that work-life balance.”
“Oh? And what makes you think that?” She says, words coated around a toggle to unleash an insurmountable amount of self-flattery.
“Well,” Ajax starts with foreboding glee and is given a roll of the eyes which only opts him to continue. “Surely you must’ve thought he was attractive enough to entertain, no? Although I’m 99.9% sure you’ve never had a boyfriend, you must have some sense of taste. And I think he must’ve thought you were worth the effort too. Are you gonna see him again?”
Yanfei is taken aback for a moment, her eyes widened more than it ever has this past hour. The smile on her face shrinks a tad, and she ponders, before talking once more. “We haven’t talked about that yet.”
Ajax hung up the ‘call’ and raised his chin, a smile adorning his luminescent face. “Then don’t you think it’s time to start talking? The night doesn’t last forever even if we want it to, mind you.”
Yanfei returns the gesture, and she leans a bit closer as if to invite something a bit more than just talking.
“I suppose you have a point, gasser.”
“So I’ve graduated from Snezhnayan fop to gasser?”
“Hah, don’t flatter yourself, harbinger.”