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“You should come get him,” Kaeya’s voice said in his ear.
Diluc pinched the bridge of his nose. “He can hold alcohol better than you can, Kaeya. I think he’ll be fine.”
“Oh, he definitely won’t be fine. The only other person I’ve seen put down this much alcohol is Venti, and he’s Venti .”
“Yeah, well, guess he’ll have to figure it out. Just call him an Uber.”
“Somehow I doubt—” there was some rustling on the other end of the line, and Diluc heard Kaeya say something like personal space, Tartaglia . “Ah, now he’s causing,” Kaeya cleared his throat, “problems for my fellow patrons.” The music playing in the background faded out; Diluc assumed Kaeya stepped somewhere quieter. “If not for him or I, consider it public service.”
“I’m not his keeper. If it matters to you, why don’t you escort him home?”
“You’re the one who’s always been a stickler for drunk driving laws.”
He made a noncommittal huff in response. They both knew Diluc had already lost the battle as soon as he picked up the phone.
Diluc was putting on his coat when Kaeya sighed over the phone. “You know you don’t need to pretend you don’t care, right?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“C’mon, ‘Luc. I know we aren’t on the . . . best terms right now, but even a complete outsider could see that he matters to you.”
Diluc didn’t answer, instead focusing very hard on fastening his boots.
“Hey.” Kaeya’s voice was quieter. “I really am glad you have someone close again. You look happier.”
Diluc was trying to think of a response when the line went dead. His phone pinged with the location from Kaeya.
***
He showed up, because of course he did. Diluc knew he wouldn’t be able to avoid Ajax forever, and even a week was stretching it.
Despite working at a winery on weekends, or maybe because of that fact, he did not get the appeal of bars. This was a dingy hole in the wall type of place, and it reeked of cheap booze. The lights were dim as he walked towards the counter, and he almost tripped on some steps he didn’t see.
Finally, he spotted the telltale mess of ginger hair he was looking for at a table in the corner. Ajax was sitting with Kaeya and Venti, the latter of which waved enthusiastically at him. He rolled his eyes. Of course Venti was going to act like he’d forgotten the wine he’d stolen a few days ago. Nevertheless, Diluc nodded at them anyway.
“Hey, you.” He tapped Ajax on the shoulder.
“Firefly!” Diluc expected the air to be more tense, or for Ajax to ask why he didn’t answer any of his texts. He’d even prepared an explanation while he was in the car, but instead, Ajax enthusiastically threw himself at him, burying his face into his shoulder. Diluc wrinkled his nose at the smell of vodka on his clothes but put an arm around his shoulders nonetheless.
Kaeya raised an eyebrow at him, and Diluc gave him his best you will not say a word look.
“I hear you’ve been causing some trouble,” Diluc said, unable to keep the smile off his face when he heard him gasp in offence.
“I would never .” Ajax glared at Kaeya. “I only punched one person!” Diluc blinked. He couldn’t say he was surprised, per se, it was Ajax after all. But he made a mental note to try and convince him to stop getting into bar fights.
Kaeya raised his hands in mock surrender. “To be fair, I talked you out of getting kicked out, so can you really be upset at me?”
“I am heart, I am betrayed,” Ajax said, sniffing.
“Don’t you mean you’re ‘hurt’?” Venti piped up.
“I hate you, ukulele boy.”
Diluc tugged his arm. “Come on, I’m taking you home.”
“What? I’ve barely had anything to drink!” Ajax whined, draping himself across Diluc dramatically in typical Tartaglia fashion. As though nothing had happened. “Don’t be so. . . cruel. . .”
“He had too much to drink,” Kaeya said. “Venti will corroborate!”
“I don’t know what that word means but I agree!”
Diluc resisted the urge to roll his eyes again. They were right, yes, but it wasn’t as though they were any better. “You both ought to head home as well. It’s getting late, and I doubt you’ve been watching how much you drink.”
Venti leaned back against his chair. “Is the great Diluc admitting to worrying about us? Even after my thieverish tendencies?”
“You’re still not getting unbanned for another two weeks.”
Venti’s expression was forlorn at that comment, but Diluc didn’t let him retort.
“Get an Uber,” he called back to the table, pulling Ajax along.
He wondered if Ajax had noticed his disappearance. It was shitty of him to ghost his closest friend, but he didn’t look very impacted.
“Stop messing with the radio.” Diluc pushed Ajax’s hand off the volume knobs. Ajax, like the bastard he was, went right back to playing with the radio. Diluc stifled a sigh, holding his hand to pacify his friend.
Having Ajax in his passenger seat again made it hard to forget everything he’d been putting on the backburner.
They were sitting right here when he realised why he always felt awful when Ajax talked about the dates he had fun with. Why his heart twisted when he saw him smiling and laughing with a new stranger Diluc didn’t bother to learn the name of.
How do people do it? Ajax had asked. I’m beginning to think romance was a lie invented by corporations to sell shit on Valentine’s Day.
There’s this concept called ‘a second date’. I know, it must be news to you.
His best friend laughed in a defeated sort of way. He’d reached out, playing with a piece of Diluc’s hair, oblivious to how his brain shut down. Maybe if I could find someone more like you . . .
And oh. Oh, Diluc wanted to be that person. Diluc wanted Ajax.
So he did what he did best and avoided the problem completely. Looking back, that probably made it worse. The saying distance makes the heart fonder existed for a reason.
Of course, Ajax decided that was the moment to lace their fingers together. Diluc wanted to scream.
“Hey, Diluc . . .” Ajax started.
“What’s up?” Diluc kept his eyes on the road, shoving his inner turmoil into the metaphorical mental pile he’d been throwing all his emotions in for the past few years.
“You’ve been avoiding me,” he said. Not like an accusation or a question, but as though he were stating a fact.
Of course he noticed. It wasn’t possible to not notice. “I’m sorry, it’s just, you know . . . school. Work.” Diluc turned the car onto an intersection, internally cursing at the red light and himself for that weak excuse.
“‘M not stupid, firefly.” Ajax took his hand away. “Look, if I fucked up, you can tell me that I fucked up, but I—I’m not good at figuring out why people are mad so please, just . . . please.”
When he got home, he was going to slam his head into a wall. For being an idiot and a bad friend.
“Ajax, it’s not your fault.” The light turned green. Diluc stepped back on the gas.
“Sure.”
“No, really. I just, I needed some time to work something out in my life. It had nothing to do with anything you did.” There. Not a lie, just not the full truth. He pulled into the parking lot of Ajax’s apartment building, turning the engine off.
Ajax leaned over the console, resting his head on Diluc’s shoulder. “I thought you didn’t want to be friends anymore,” he mumbled.
And god, that was something he’d never get used to about drunk Ajax; honesty. That kind of confession was something he wouldn’t say when he was sober. He’d dance around hard subjects with jokes and deflection and hide his feelings behind a grin.
But then again, that made them the same, didn’t it? Ajax hid behind a smile, Diluc hid with a scowl. Maybe that’s why they were friends.
And just friends, because that was what he needed. Diluc mentally berated himself for being an idiot. His feelings were probably just a fluke; they’d go away soon enough, and everything would be back to normal again. He’d take Ajax’s presence in his life in any form, ‘best friend’ was already better than he could ever hope for.
Diluc slipped his hand down to Ajax’s, rubbing circles into his wrist.
“I’ll always want to be your friend.”
He didn’t miss his smile in his peripheral vision.
***
Ajax noticed three things when he woke up. First, he felt like he’d been hit with a semi truck. Second, his mouth tasted awful.
And third, Diluc was asleep across from him.
His headache suddenly felt barely noticeable as he shifted closer to brush the hair out of Diluc’s face. He was sure he looked like an idiot with how wide his smile grew when Diluc grumbled in his sleep at the disturbance. It wasn’t the first time they’d slept together (in the literal sense), but it always felt like a novelty. Diluc was so unguarded when he slept, and he looked so, so soft wearing Ajax’s sweater. It made Ajax want to squish him.
Weirdo , he thought to himself.
Rolling onto his back, Ajax tried to remember the events of the previous night. He wanted to forget something, and Kaeya invited him to a bar with Venti, and . . . that was about it.
He tried to rub his eyes, and immediately pulled away after feeling sharp pain at the pressure. Ajax had a black eye.
Ah, it was coming back now. Some asshole, rude comments (was there a slur in there?), and the next thing he knew, Ajax was throwing punches.
Ajax’s only regret was not remembering if he won.
He sat up, grimacing as his vision swam. God, his head hurt so much. Whoever came up with the ‘drink away your problems’ idea either wanted humanity to crumble or was really going through it. Although, maybe they had the right idea, because Ajax couldn’t recall what he was trying to forget in the first place.
There was an empty glass on the nightstand; Diluc probably made him drink water before letting him go to bed. Because he had no self restraint, Ajax leaned over and ruffled Diluc’s hair, snickering to himself as Diluc made a noise of protest.
Ajax couldn’t help but think that dating would be easier if there were more people like Diluc. It was so easy letting himself relax around him. Diluc would listen to him talk for hours and he still understood when he didn’t have the energy to speak. He let Ajax teach him how to skateboard (although he swore to never step foot on one again after that), he’d keep him company when school was too stressful, and he forgave him when he misunderstood implications and jokes. Diluc was safe, and he was there and, and Ajax loved him so much .
And now he wasn’t avoiding him anymore! Which was a relief. It was hard to forget how afraid he’d been of Diluc leaving him, but having him half asleep at his side made that feel insignificant.
Diluc blinked up at him blearily. “. . . good morning.”
He flopped back onto the bed, burying his face into Diluc’s shoulder. “Hi.”
Ajax felt a hand card through his hair, and he was overcome with the urge to go back to sleep or just lay there, but Diluc had other plans and sat up.
“Sleep okay?”
“Yeah, I mean my head hurts like a bitch but, y’know.” He made vague gestures with his hands.
“Why were you drinking that much anyway? I know you don’t get wasted easily, so did something happen?” Diluc placed a hand on Ajax’s jaw, tilting his face up to inspect his injury.
Ajax’s breath caught in his throat when their eyes met.
Oh.
Oh, god.
Ajax remembered now.
He’d gone and fallen in love with Diluc.