Work Text:
Tongue between his teeth, Zhongli carefully wrote the final answer on Ajax’s trigonometry homework, making sure it looked like Ajax’s handwriting. He glanced over the paper, double checking it for mistakes, before nodding to himself and took out a folder from his bag. He put the homework packet and the notes he had taken in the folder before replacing it in his bag. Methodically, he packed his bag for the next day of school before standing and stretching. He made himself a cup of tea before sitting down on his bed to text Ajax and tell him the homework was finished.
Zhongli made his way to the 11th grade wing of the school, Ajax had promised to meet him outside their homeroom so he could grab the homework from Zhongli. He wondered if this time he would actually talk to Zhongli, they had agreed to meet a good half an hour before school started so no one would catch Ajax taking the homework. Zhongli shook his head and looked up to see if Ajax was there yet. He wasn’t. Zhongli felt a flutter of disappointment in his stomach. It had been over half a month already of Zhongli doing Ajax’s homework every day in an effort to get him to notice him. So far it hadn’t worked, just a quick thank you and he was gone. Zhongli was honestly starting to lose hope that Ajax would ever notice him.
Zhongli sat down outside the homeroom door to wait. Ajax had been known to be late before, so he wasn’t too worried. He would come. Still, Zhongli fidgeted with his gloves, impatient to see his crush’s beautiful face again. He could go on forever about how beautiful and perfect Ajax was. He had before, much to Xiao’s chagrin. Zhongli gave a small huff of laughter at the memory. If only Xiao knew the extent of his infatuation with Ajax, how it gripped his entire life, and how Ajax held Zhongli dancing in his pretty palms. Xiao had never liked Ajax much anyway, and had made that clear to all of their friends. Ajax had never taken it personally, but then he wasn’t super close with Zhongli or his friend group anyway. Close enough to keep Zhongli’s heart in his vice grip, but far enough where if he caught Zhongli calling him Ajax out loud he would probably flay him alive. Not that Zhongli would have minded, he would gladly let Ajax kill him if it meant he gained his attention. Simp, he could hear Hu Tao’s voice in his head. The freshman had wasted no time teasing him to death as soon as she had found out about his crush.
Zhongli was snapped out of his thoughts at the sound of Ajax’s boots squeaking on the hallway floor. He looked up and offered Ajax his brightest smile. Ajax wasn’t really looking at him though, too focused on the phone call he was having. Not wanting to be impolite, Zhongli ducked his head and busied himself with getting the folder out of his bag, doing his best not to eavesdrop on the conversation.
“-sounds good, I’ll see you later. Love you,” Ajax said, hanging up the phone. “Ah, hello Zhongli, sorry to keep you waiting, I lost track of time.”
“Not to worry, Childe, I didn’t mind,” Zhongli assured, straightening up and handing Ajax the folder with his work. “In here is your homework and some notes I took for you.” Ajax gave Zhongli a smile, sliding his bag off his shoulder and putting the folder inside.
“Thank you for the trigonometry,” he said, sliding his bag back on his shoulder. “I’ve gotta go now, see you around!”
With that, he was gone, leaving Zhongli standing alone next to homeroom with 15 minutes to kill before school started. He carefully arranged his face to prevent showing how upset he was. He wanted to kick himself for thinking it would be this time, he was so disappointed in himself. He honestly didn’t even know why he thought this would work, he knew you couldn’t buy someone’s love. Besides, even if you could, he had no spare money to buy Ajax anything. Because he had to take care of himself, Xiao, Ganyu and Qiqi, the best he could do was offer to do his homework. Ajax was known to not do it anyway, so it seemed like a good offer, then his grades would be higher and he’d have less trouble getting to stay in the sparring team.
The bell rang, shaking Zhongli out of his thoughts and he turned and went into homeroom. Lumine hurried in shortly after him and dropped into the seat next to him, groaning.
“Aether ran off to go meet his boyfriend again,” Lumine complained as a way of explanation at Zhongli’s raised eyebrows. “I just wish he’d TELL me who it is, it’s not like him to hide anything from me.” Her shoulders slumped.
“It is no use to fret over it, Lumine. I’m sure he’ll tell you when he’s ready,” Zhongli tried to reassure her. “But what if he’s getting hurt! He knows I’m super protective over him, what if he didn’t want to bother me or something,” Lumine said, sounding panicked. Zhongli placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.
“Lumine you are his twin and you have sensed before when he’s in danger. I believe you would know if he was in trouble,” Zhongli reassured. Lumine’s eyes darkened at the memory of when her twinscence went off only to find Aether being bullied by the local transphobes. But after a moment she relaxed and nodded.
“I guess you’re right. Thanks, Zhongli. I’m just worried about him,” she said, pulling out her homework to finish. Zhongli nodded, pulling out his own.
As he began getting ahead on his work, his thoughts drifted back to Ajax and his attempts to get him to notice him. He wondered how disappointed Guizhong would be in him if she knew what he was doing. He assumed very. After all, she had been the one to teach him not to force love, to let it come naturally. But he couldn’t help it, Ajax barely knew he existed. He loved him so much, he’d do anything to see him smile, he just wanted to be able to hold him and call him his.
“By the way,” Lumine’s voice broke Zhongli out of his thoughts. “How’d it go with Childe today?” Zhongli sighed.
“Same as always. He just smiled and thanked me before leaving,” he replied sadly. Lumine nodded.
“Someday hopefully it’ll work out,” she said. Zhongli nodded, not fully believing her.
~~~~
“Hey Zhongli!” Ajax’s voice rings through the cafeteria. Zhongli looks up, smiling happily at the boy walking towards him with a tray. Maybe he was going to sit with him?
“Hello Childe, to what do I owe this pleasure?” Zhongli asked, ignoring Xiao glaring daggers at Ajax and Lumine making retching noises. Ajax didn’t seem to notice them though.
“I have another homework assignment, can you do it?” he asked, fishing the paper out of his open backpack on his shoulder. Zhongli’s heart dropped.
“Oh, sure,” he said. “When’s it due?”
“Day after tomorrow. It’s geography,” Ajax responded, handing the paper over to Zhongli. Zhongli took it, placing it neatly into a folder in his bag.
“I will let you know when I finish it,” Zhongli said, straightening back up. Ajax gave him a smile.
“Great! You’re the best, I really owe you one,” Ajax said. “Well, I’ll be off!” With that, he was gone, just as Xiao began growling at him.
“I don’t like him,” Xiao said as soon as he left.
“I know Xiao,” Zhongli replied wearily, staring at his tray of food, no longer very hungry.
“You should stop doing his homework,” Xiangling suggested. “What if you end up getting hurt? It might be better to just let it die.” Zhongli looked affronted.
“No! I’m going to keep trying, I love him,” he replied agitatedly.
“Simp,” Hu Tao said, dropping into the seat next to Xiangling. Zhongli sighed and shook his head.
~~~~
Zhongli’s head dropped onto the desk in front of him. Lumine, who was over studying with him, smacked the back of his head.
“Wake up, you still have Childe’s homework to do as well,” Lumine said. Zhongli groaned. “If you didn’t want to do it you should’ve just told him that.”
“But if I don’t do his homework then I have nothing for him to notice me with!”
“That’s not my problem,” Lumine went back to her essay. A knock on Zhongli’s door startled him out of his haze.
“Come in,” he called. Ganyu stepped into the room holding an envelope in her hand.
“Venti’s letter came,” Ganyu said, walking over and setting the letter in front of Zhongli. Zhongli picked up the envelope, tearing it open and pulling out the letter from his pen pal.
Zhongli,
Sorry it’s been so long since I last wrote! I’ve been really busy with school and convincing Amos and Vennessa to let me come visit you! Mondstadt is on break for a couple weeks because it’s supposed to be spring break soon, but also there were some issues with the building, so we got more time off! Anyway I hope you won’t be too upset that I didn’t give you more warning, but I’ll be there within a couple days of my letter arriving! I can’t wait to see you! Oh and I might bring Diluc with me, Kaeya’s getting on his nerves and apparently I’m just slightly more tolerable than Kaeya. Honestly I don’t see it but oh well! I think you and Diluc will get along well, he’s also super serious all the time and he really cares about school like you! Anyway I’ll see you soon!
Your friend,
Venti Barbatos
Zhongli looked up from the letter and heaved a deep sigh.
“Venti’s coming within the next couple days, and apparently also bringing a friend. Ganyu, can you and Xiao clean the spare room?” Zhongli announced. Ganyu nodded and hurried out, calling Xiao’s name. Lumine stared at Zhongli.
“Venti? As in the Venti that liked Aether?” Lumine asked. Oh right, Zhongli had forgotten that Lumine and Aether had met Venti when they traveled to Mondstadt a few years ago.
“Yes, that Venti. Relax Lumine, Aether doesn’t come around here and Venti won’t be going to school with us. He’s not even a bad guy, they went on one date and agreed that they wouldn’t work, you need to stop hating him.” Lumine humphed and turned back to her homework.
~~~~
The day before Zhongli had to give Ajax his homework back, he was in his room putting the final details into the essay. There was a commotion downstairs that drew his attention away from the essay. He stood up and moved to the door just as it flew open and a green and white blur practically flew toward him and tackled him.
“Oof,” Zhongli exhaled as the green missile barreled into his stomach.
“Hiya you old blockhead, I’m here now!” the green blob trilled in a sing-song voice. Zhongli sighed, realizing it was Venti.
“Next time try not to run into me at full speed please,” Zhongli grumbled. Venti only grinned before letting go of Zhongli to flop on the older’s bed.
“Whatcha up to?” he questioned innocently, glancing at the essay that bore Ajax’s name. Zhongli’s face turned red, prompting Venti to sit up in amusement. “Don’t tell me you’re still doing his homework!” Zhongli turned away as even his ears flushed. Venti cackled with glee, causing Zhongli to throw a paperweight at him. Venti dodged it easily.
~~~~
“You better tell me everything that happens when you get home,” Venti told Zhongli as he and the others were leaving. Zhongli nodded and closed the door. Venti had indeed brought his (adoptive) cousin with him, so he wasn’t too concerned about leaving him in their house. Diluc seemed like he was competent enough to keep Venti out of trouble, for the most part.
Zhongli met Ajax outside homeroom again to give him his essay. Zhongli watched Ajax as he walked down the hallway, on the phone again. He said goodbye to whoever it was and hung up as he reached Zhongli. He bent down to pull the folder out of his bag and handed it to Ajax. He smiled at Zhongli.
“Thank you for the geography,” he said, turning to go. Zhongli forced a smile as he walked away. He was beginning to get sick of this routine, he wanted progress, wanted to be able to tell Ajax how much he loved him and be able to hear it back.
The rest of the day went by in a blur. Lumine walked home with them, interested in meeting Zhongli’s pen pal again. Venti and Diluc greeted them halfway home.
“Relax, nothing is on fire or anything like that,” Venti giggled when he saw Zhongli’s anxious look. “We just wanted to see you sooner!” Diluc humphed and muttered something that sounded like ‘don’t lump me in with your insanity’. Zhongli sighed but watched with interest as Venti and Lumine began talking, catching up on what had happened in the years since they had last seen each other.
“Aether’s got a boyfriend now,” Lumine told him.
“Really? Who!” Venti exclaimed eagerly.
“No clue. But speaking of, Aether and I are having a get together at our house tomorrow if you all want to come. Apparently he’s agreed to invite his boyfriend, and from what I know, when they’re together it’s obvious they’re a couple,” Lumine said, making a face. Zhongli nodded along as the group all agreed to going, aside from Qiqi who was too young. They decided to leave her with her normal babysitter, Mona.
~~~~
Zhongli and their entourage arrived at the twin’s residence the following day, all eager to be able to spend some time together and also to finally find out who Aether’s mysterious boyfriend was. Lumine greeted them at the door and they all made their way to the backyard. Aether wasn’t there, and Lumine explained that he and his boyfriend had gone out to eat together before they came over. Everyone else got to share pizza Lumine had ordered. They had a great time while waiting for Aether and his boyfriend, rocking out to music while eating pizza and sharing stories. That all changed when Aether’s car pulled into the driveway.
Xiao was the first to notice the car, alerting Ganyu, who alerted everyone else. Aether came through the house first, greeting everyone. He was clearly nervous about everyone meeting his boyfriend, but he took a deep breath and asked if everyone was ready. They all voiced their agreement and Aether went back into the house to get the boyfriend. Venti took a seat next to Zhongli. Aether walked back out a moment later and cleared his throat nervously.
“Everyone, I’d like you to meet my boyfriend,” he paused as the person in the house walked out. Zhongli’s mind went blank and his heart seemed to stop as a familiar mop of ginger hair emerged from the house. His ears faintly registered Aether speaking before noise erupted around him, but it all sounded muffled over the rushing of blood in his ears. This can’t be happening, he thought. There’s no way that’s him. His vision went blurry, or well, more blurry than it had already been, and he realized he was crying. He felt someone drag him away, into the house, but he wasn’t sure who. He couldn’t make sense of anything around him, nothing felt real, all he could think about was the mop of ginger hair and ocean blue eyes emerging from the house.
He wasn’t sure how much longer it was when he opened his eyes (when had he closed them?) to Lumine’s bedroom, Xiao, Venti, and Lumine huddled around him.
“‘Li, are you okay?” Lumine’s voice echoed in his ears. He slowly sat up, he couldn’t remember anything that had happened after Childe had shown up.
“Was that real?” his voice sounded shakey to his own ears. Lumine’s eyes darkened, which was telling enough.
“I had no idea ‘Li, I’m so sorry,” she said, looking like she was ready to murder someone. Knowing Lumine she probably was.
“Do you want to go home?” Xiao asked, and Zhongli knew immediately that he was definitely ready to kill someone.
“No, it’s not often we all get to hang out. Let’s stay. I’ll be okay,” Zhongli pulled himself off of Lumine’s bed and began heading back downstairs, the others followed, watching him carefully. Zhongli appreciated their concern, but there was nothing anyone could do. It was what it was, he supposed. There was nothing he could do to change it. It was going to take a while to accept, though.
The rest of the day passed in a blur. It seemed to Zhongli that he always found himself hovering near Childe. Childe was so absorbed in Aether that Zhongli felt like he didn’t even know he was alive. But Zhongli was very much alive, no matter how much he was stuck in Childe’s atmosphere. He wanted Childe to notice him, or for Childe and Aether to stand up and laugh, announcing this was all a big prank to get Zhongli to like him. He hated it. He had spent almost an entire month doing Childe’s homework, trying to gain his favour, but all it meant to Childe was that he had gotten better grades. Zhongli wanted the ground to open up and swallow him whole.
Eventually Venti pulled him aside and asked him if writing a song might help, since it always helped him. Zhongli sighed. He didn’t think it would, but he supposed it wouldn’t hurt, maybe it would even distract him some. So the two got to work.
Days later, the song was finally done. Zhongli had to admit that while he hadn’t thought it would help, it was cathartic to turn his suffering into something beautiful for others to enjoy. Venti promised him that he would share the song with his band back home and that maybe someday it would be published for the whole of Teyvat to enjoy. Zhongli smiled sadly and nodded. It still hurt, seeing Childe and Aether at school every day, rarely ever being apart now that it had come out they were dating. He truly didn’t know if he’d ever be able to fall in love ever again. Maybe that would be okay. For now, he was learning to be content with just relying on his friends and living life to the fullest. He hoped one day he’d be able to be as happy as he used to be.