Work Text:
It’s not until the sound of the keyboard’s keys being pressed on stops, that Lumine realizes that at the other side of the room, where Ajax is sleeping on the bed, the sound of mouth breathing has started once again.
Saving the changes on the document she’s currently writing on, she stands up and walks away from the desk.
“Ajax.”
One of her hands goes to shake that man awake, while the other grabs the tissues box over the nightstand.
“Wake up.” Slowly he opens his eyes, and she can see the confusion and exhaustion that he’s currently feeling reflecting in them, but as he awakens more, and he realizes that he can’t breathe through his nose, it changes to desperation.
“Here.” As quickly as she passes him the box he grabs a tissue and blows his nose, but considering that his nose is all full of nothing but mucus just one tissue isn’t enough and then he grabs another, and another, and another, and another…
The newly opened box soon finds itself almost empty and Lumine just leaves the box beside Ajax on the bed, and she leaves the room to go and grab a new one.
By the time she comes back the box is empty and Ajax is once again sleeping, the trash can is at half of its capacity filled with nothing more than used tissues.
Lumine leaves the new, still closed box on the nightstand and grabs the empty one, and throws it into the trashcan, she will have to empty it soon.
In a deep slumber, Ajax sleeps unbothered once again, now with his nose no longer blocked his breathing is once again normal, but Lumine knows that is just a matter of time before it becomes blocked once again and he’ll need to awake to blow out all of the snot on it.
Leaving him to rest Lumine returns to her desk and starts with her work once again.
***
At least 40 minutes pass before Ajax is waking up once again after being unable to properly breathe, at this point the action is almost mechanized, grab the tissue, blow his nose, throw the tissue, repeat…
The next ten minutes or so the room is filled with the sound of Ajax cleaning his nose, and then the crumpled tissue being thrown into the trash can.
Just like before once he’s able to breathe again, Ajax simply lays down and immediately falls asleep.
Once he’s a deep slumber Lumine stands and goes to empty the trash can, when she reaches it, it is already overflowing and some of the tissues have already fallen down and are lying over the floor.
She also goes to check on the tissue box, less than half remain, she’ll have to bring a new one.
Putting all of the tissues inside the trash can once again she closes the bag and takes it out of it, and now with bag in hand she leaves the room. She mindlessly does the task of taking the bag to the rest of the trash that has already been taken out, and is already prepared to be collected.
Throwing the bag with the rest of the trash she completes her task and return to the inside the house, on the kitchen she washes her hands, and grabs a new plastic bag and another box of tissues and goes back to the room.
Once inside she puts the bag on the trash can, and leaves the tissue box on the nightstand next to the other one.
She returns to the desk and begins to work once again.
***
It takes Ajax 30 minutes next time to awaken once again, and the same process is repeated, he starts blowing his nose, tissue after tissue is taken out of the box, one box gets emptied the next one opened, Ajax is able to breathe once again and he falls asleep.
***
Ajax then wakes up 20 minutes later, then in 15, 10, 9, 6, and then he is altogether unable to fall asleep once again because the moment he finishes blowing his nose and air is able to pass through it, once again it becomes blocked and the whole process is to be repeated.
Lumine is doing her trip for a new box of tissues for the umpth time and is about to return to the room when at the moment she passes the kitchen she gets an idea, searching for it on the cabinets she takes some minutes before she finds it.
Sitting almost at the back she takes out a wood box, opening it reveals several bags and packets of nothing but different blends of teas, all of them gifts given by Zhongli, but neither she nor Ajax are big on drinking tea so they usually go unused.
But today one of them finally has reached the point in which it will have utility, taking out the desired blend she goes to take out the rest of the things she will need.
The blend is mint with other things that she doesn’t remember, but what she does know is that mint is supposed to help with nasal congestion, and even if it doesn’t help Ajax at least drinking some liquids will make him good.
She finishes preparing the tea, and now with mug also in hand she returns to the bedroom.
Ajax is still looking miserable and the mountain of tissues coming out of the trash can is quite impressive, she’s barely reaching the new box out to him when he has already taken it in his hands, and once again begins the task of blowing his nose.
“Drink this.” She leaves the mug on the nightstand and leaves Ajax’s side, she returns to her desk, and for the next minutes, the only sound is that of Ajax blowing his nose and then drinking the tea.
Occasionally there’s sound of him suffering over the taste of the tea, but at least he finishes it, putting the mug aside Ajax lays down once again, he does have to clean his nose on two or more occasions but after a while his breathing is normal, and he goes back to sleep.