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A knock reverberated through the cold halls of the palace.
“Capitano…? You alright in there?” Ajax whispered into the crack of a door.
No answer.
Ajax sighed. He whispered once more, “Hey, I’m coming in okay?”
The ginger turned the crystalline knob and gently pushed open the door, looking around for any trace of the Captain in the dim lit chambers.
Ah, there he was. Hunched over his desk, paperwork strewn all across the floor. No wonder he hadn’t come to see Ajax to share dinner as friends do. Reminds him of the days he’d spend in his office back at Liyue without a wink of sleep.
Just to get away from Zhongli.
Stupid Zhongli .
He frowned at that thought.
Ajax quietly laughed at the state of Capitano before closing the door behind him. He’s never seen the 2nd Harbinger in such a peaceful state, let alone sleeping. Capitano must’ve been at the papers the Tsaritsa assigned him all day, as most of them have already been filled out. Not like the bank notes Ajax himself had to approve, but still paperwork nonetheless.
He silently picked up all the papers trying not to disturb his friend.
Gods, his handwriting is so… Pretty. I wonder what he’d say if I told him to write on my body-
No, this was not the time for horny thoughts about his friend. The only one that showed they cared, besides old man Pulcinella.
Ajax hummed at the sight of his work, the cluttered floor now stacked and piled in his arms. Now where to put it… He found his eyes trailing down the span of Capitano’s back once more then snapping to the ceiling once he caught himself feeling that, warmth, again.
The ginger slowly removed the ink wells sitting at the edge of the larger man’s desk, replaced them with the papers, capped the lids, and stuck the 2 fountain pens in the side of his mouth. He didn’t dare grab the one resting in Capitano’s hand in fear he’d wake the man from his slumber.
Hm, they were Snezhnayan pens too, not the Fontaine ones everyone else had. They were white marble - much like the floor of the palace - with small gold snowflakes falling down the sides and congregating near the nib that was gold as well. Real gold, too.
Ajax walked into the first door on the right, which just so happened to be the bathroom he was looking for.
He flicked on the light and laughed at the sight of himself. He looked like a painter! His mother used to paint when he was little. She always made the most beautiful portraits of him and his other siblings, since they were too poor to afford a kamera. She always had a paintbrush in her mouth, and when she didn’t it was a fork. Papa made food unlike most families he knew as a kid. It taught him the importance of knowing how to cook for yourself as well, not having a housewife do it. His parents were very insistent on their kids learning all essential skills, not just the stereotypical ‘girls learn cooking and sewing’, while ‘boys hunt and whittle’. He was glad they showed him these things, as it put him 10 steps ahead of all the recruits when he was 14.
The Harbinger turned the faucet on cold, placing the unscrewed nibs under the water and watching the water turn from black to clear. He grabbed the hand towel and laid the first nib on there, then followed suit with the other. Before exiting the bathroom, Ajax replaced the hand towel and took a good look in the mirror.
He remembered when Capitano told him his eyes had their own twinkle to them after their first meeting when he was 17. Oh how that had turned something within his guts that day.
Ajax shook the thought out of his head and ignored how hot his cheeks were.
He flicked the lights off and made his way back to Capitano and his desk, placing the barrels and caps of the pens to the left of the papers.
The ginger inhaled through his nose, and exhaled through his mouth slowly, now able to truly relish in the sight of his belov- friend , long black hair splayed down his shoulders and all over the desk. He looked like an angel of darkness, as cliche as it sounds. The hollowness of his face didn’t help that fact either. Ajax reached out to hook a strand of the dark hair around his fingers and untangle it from the rest of the mass, and laid it softly back across Capitanos shoulders. He watched as the other Harbinger's chest rose and fell with shallow breaths for a few more seconds.
The glint of the moon is blinding when reflected by metal though.
Ajax turned to the balcony, eying up the way light of the moon and stars is reflected through the frosted glass scattering everywhere, and on the few things in Capitano's main room.
The ginger paced to the double doors, careful to not make a noise opening them and then closing them behind him. He pushed some snow off the deck while walking to the hand rail and resting against it.
Today was a particularly warm night. Just as much that snow cannot fall, and the condensation stays within the puffy and wispy clouds.
The cool air was refreshing to the senses.
He squeezed his eyes shut to enjoy the sound of the wind and lack of birds. Birds reminded him of Liyue.
While he got caught up in the senses of nature though, he failed to sense the presence behind him until it's arms caged him in.
"I see you've put away all my stuff like a good little wife," A gravelly voiced whispered into his hair from behind him.
Ajax had never flushed so hard before then.
He turned around to meet his friend's face with a raised eyebrow. "Who're you calling wife? I don't belong to anyone."
Capitano chuckled, letting up on the rails but grabbing Ajax's hips to set him up there instead. "Hmm… I suppose you don't yet, haha." Ajax could only assume the other man was smiling under there. "That, Zhongli, person. He didn't take you in?"
The ginger shrugged dismissively. "Mmn, no. He uh, broke my heart a couple months ago, so I decided to come back home for a bit…" My true home, he didn't say. "And maybe I just wanted to see you again."
"Oh? Little old me? This behemoth you beg to eat dinner with every night?"
Ajax scoffed at the audacity. "Hey now! Don't say that about yourself, you ass. I told you to stop it, after all we're both Abyssal freaks anyways."
Capitano pulled Ajax off the ledge, prompting the small man to cling to him like a little monkey with his arms nearly suffocating the older Harbinger and legs squeezing his tapered waist. Ajax was led back inside the quarters and to the Captain's bedroom, still sat in his lap when the other sat himself on the edge of the bed.
Their silence was comfortable.
Serene.
The black haired man nervously broke the streak though.
"Um, Ajax?"
The small Harbinger hummed in answer.
"I… I think I love you-"
Ajax froze up for Archon knows how long.
Capitano cleared his throat hesitantly before he spoke again, "Did, I uh, did I over step there…?"
Ajax's world went quiet. He didn't register Capitano peeling him off until the man started to actually remove him from his lap.
In which Ajax scrambled faster than a stray animal getting called for a meal back to the Captain's hold and gripped the sides of his helmet as hard as he could. Ajax's eyes as wide as can be darted back and forth trying to peer into the darkness of said helmet as if the eyes he was trying to look for actually existed.
Now this time it was Capitano's turn to be confused and shocked. "A… jax???" He whispered, then slowly cocked his head.
And the little ginger took it . He dove down onto Capitano, pushing him down onto the mattress, and gave him the biggest smooch a mortal could give, right in the middle of the metal jaw of the helmet.
The look in Ajax's eyes was feral , and his ragged breathing amplified the effect.
Capitano sputtered out multiple confused noises, but Ajax kept going. He hooked his thumb under the metal jaw and tipped the whole helmet up, letting a void spill out from under it. He stared in awe for a split second before attacking the noir black mass that was the 2nd Harbinger with his ferocious kisses.
Capitano squealed.
Squealed like a teenage girl. This guy! The Captain!!!
Ajax gave up his relentless smothering of affection to bury his face in the other's chest and whine because of his newfound shame.
But Capitano giggled at him instead.
"I suppose my feelings are welcome and returned as well then?
Ajax nodded profusely.
"I'm glad, my dear Ajax."