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Ajax dived into the water.
Gracefully, he glided underneath the surface, feeling the weight of his troubles wash away. When he emerged, halfway down the length of the pool, he gasped for breath and turned his head to the side, guiding his body forward with his arms. 1,2,3 and turn. Another breath, another stroke of his arm.
1,2,3... and breathe.
The other side of the pool within reach, he turned and flipped underwater, propelling himself back again. This time, drifting for a second, letting the momentum take him forward. For just a second he stayed there, suspended, the feeling of weightlessness engulfing him. Then he kicked his legs.
He slapped a palm on the other side, and the coach saved his time.
A new record.
When he was done swimming, he hopped out at the side of the pool and pulled off his goggles, flicking her hair about, panting. Rubbing his hands over his mouth he walked to the bench and dried his face and torso with a towel, trying to catch his breath before looking out over the pool. Swimming was hard work, but he loved it, and he wouldn't trade practice for anything else in the world. Watching the other swimmers, he could almost imagine himself standing on the beach. For Ajax, it was worth the early mornings- that small taste of freedom when he was in the water.
A hot shower later, he stood in front of the changing room mirror, adjusting the strap of his bag. He rarely bothered to dry his hair after swimming, he was always too exhausted, so he shoved his hands into his pockets and stepped outside into the lobby. It was decorated for the winter, with a sad looking Christmas tree in the corner, and he frowned at it. Everyday it reminded him that he still needed to buy gifts for his family, but he'd been putting it off for weeks. Truthfully, he hated spending money, but he loved giving gifts so he couldn't bring himself to part with his funds until he found the perfect presents. Also, he wanted to get Scara something, but he didn't know what...
The winter was particularly cold this year, and when he stepped outside his hair almost froze to his scalp. I should bring a hat, he thought to himself. He had one at home, he just hadn't thought to bring it- a stupid mistake. Oh well, he pulled his scarf over his face like a balaclava and continued to walk, quickly, towards his bus stop. One day he would learn to drive, and he'd never have to take a stupid bus again (wishful thinking). With a sigh he stared up at the schedule. It wouldn't come for another twelve minutes. Morose, he sat down and resigned himself to waiting for it.
It had been a few weeks since he'd talked properly with Scara at school, and he kept replaying the moment in his head. Standing in the closet with him, he'd done the very thing he'd promised himself he wouldn't do. He'd fucked up. Closing his eyes, he pictured the hurt look on Scara's face as he'd tried to leave. Could they ever be friends again like they were? Did he even want that? Not really. He wanted more than that.
He'd wanted to kiss him so bad. Scara had even basically asked him to. His words replayed around in his mind.
' You can kiss me as much as you want '. God.
He hoped that he hadn't made a mistake, and he sighed. Maybe he should try to meet up one on one with him again... that had been fun. Eventually, his bus arrived, and he hopped on, scanning his student pass before finding a seat. It was a bright winter morning which was nice, and he squinted at the world outside, trying to avoid the low sun. Today, he'd planned to meet Arlecchino and Columbina at a Mondstadt market, so he was looking forward to that. The food was always great, and he honestly didn't mind being a third wheel.
Maybe he could even get a small gift for Scara there.
Yeah, something tacky would be funny, and he was sure that Scara would find it amusing too. Smiling, he leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, trying not to fall asleep. It was so warm on the bus that he almost did, but luckily he heard the driver call out his stop. He walked for a bit, and paused to look out across the harbor, breathing in the ocean hair. Seagulls passed in the sky, and a large boat slowly came into view on the horizon. Sometimes he would come here to stand and think, but today wasn't one of those days, and he continued his way uphill to his house. It was a lot of work for his legs, already tired from swimming, and by the time he reached the top he felt like they might collapse from underneath him.
Finally, when he was inside, he tossed his bag onto the sofa and stepped into the kitchen to find something to eat. His mom was there, preparing tea, and she looked up briefly to smile. "Morning," she said, cheerfully.
"Mornin'!" He said, opening the fridge.
"How was practice?" She asked, blowing on her tea and leaning against the counter. She looked tired, but luckily she didn't have work today, it was her day off. Ajax sat down at the table with yogurt, fruit and a slice of bread, and he started to eat.
"It was good, I beat my personal best."
"That's great!" She said, "any other plans for today?"
He felt guilty that he was going out, usually he would watch his siblings for her whilst she took care of some errands, but he swallowed his food. "I'm actually going to this market with Arlecchino and Columbina..." He said.
"Good, have fun." She said and she smiled and squeezed his shoulder.
After devouring his food, he went upstairs to take a proper shower, with all his soaps and shampoo, and he washed his hair again. Despite loving swimming, he hated the smell of chlorine, but it always took two showers to wash it off completely. Once he was done with that, he passed out on his bed, and lay under the covers with his hoodie, browsing through his phone. Technically, he should have been studying, but he couldn't bring himself to even start on that... He really needed to find someone to help him with math.
To kill time, he played on his Playstation for a little while half-heartedly, just enjoying being in bed. Swimming was good and all, but bed was where he felt the best. A few hours later, Arlecchino called him and he lazily answered the phone.
"Jello!"
"Ajax... Are you ready soon? We're about to leave."
"Yeah, alright. Should I meet you guys there?" He asked, shooting a zombie, "or should I come to yours?"
"Erm, no. Meet us there. Bring cash too, I don't think they take card."
"Alright." She hung up, and he closed his game with a sigh. It had been really fun that time when Scara had come over. They'd played games for hours . Gradually, he convinced himself to get up, then he headed downstairs.
"See you later!" He called out into the house.
The market was in the town center, and they'd transformed the space into a type of Mondstadt winter village. It was very cute. Columbina waved cutely as he approached, and he grinned, "you guys good?" He asked, and Arlecchino nodded curtly.
They were dressed very differently as always.
Arlecchino in a black leather jacket, turtleneck and gloves, and Columbina in a fluffy pink jacket she always wore, and white jumper material dress underneath. She also had a fluffy hat on to match it.
"Why do you look so miserable?" He asked Arlecchino, and she scowled.
"Because I hate Christmas."
He frowned, "that's not very Christmassy of you..." She lashed out, and slapped him on the stomach and he laughed, trying to dodge her. Columbina linked her arm with hers, and pulled her along.
"Stop being a grinch." She teased.
Inside he was bombarded with the smell of food... So many different kinds, he wanted to try them all, and his mouth watered thinking about it. Sadly, it was only eleven, not even lunch time, but he did cave and buy himself a small bag of hot donuts in powdered sugar. "You're insatiable." Arlecchino said, shaking her head.
"So you don't want one?"
"I didn't say that." She said, and she reached out her hand.
He divided them amongst the group, and Columbina smiled thanks. Then, they went to browse the stalls. Together, they had a good look at everything. Candy canes, fudge, candles, even cheese. The market had everything you could think of, and he ended up seeing lots of things that he liked. At one stall, a Snezhnayan one, he saw a snow globe that was really cute, with a little nutcracker inside of it. Perfect .
"Hey, how much is this?" He asked and the guy behind the counter told him the price. Without hesitation he bought it, and the guy wrapped it in brown paper. He'd found the perfect gift for Scara, now he just needed the perfect moment to give it to him. Arlecchino had been watching him carefully.
"For Tuecer?" She asked, and he shook his head.
I won't elaborate , he thought. She didn't need to know about everything he did, also she would tease him about his crush.
Whilst walking he noticed a familiar face in the crowd.
Mona Megistus.
She was pretty distinguishable, with her long black hair in pigtails. She was dressed in a long sleeved black top and skirt, with a big wooly scarf, and beside her was Amy, leaning against a table and moving her hands about, telling a story. Next to them, was of course Scara, nose deep in his phone.
Ajax paused.
He looked so pretty, hair flipped forward in front of his face, his eyebrows furrowed. Scara was wearing his oversized motorcycle jacket, and some kind of fleece underneath that. He was flicking his thumb across his phonescreen pretty intently, wearing fingerless gloves. Feeling mischievous, Ajax opened his own phone and texted him.
'look up! 😏'
The idiot looked up, into the sky, and Ajax waited awkwardly for him to realize. When he did, his eyes opened wide in surprise, and he jogged over. Scara turned his head to say something to Mona, and then he looked back.
"Well, well, didn't expect to see you here!" Ajax said, grinning, 'how's it going?' He hoped they wouldn't mind him coming over. He noticed that the girls were drinking wine. Is that mulled wine? Whoa where'd you get that?" He asked, and Amy smiled shyly and pointed towards a stall. "Awesome, you want some too?" He turned to look at Arlecchino and Columbina, and Arlecchino shrugged.
"Sure."
He gave a thumbs up and avoided looking at Scara. Why was he so nervous all of a sudden? He felt like he was gonna puke. Quickly he stepped away to join the queue for the wine. Get a grip , he thought to himself, thinking of all the times he'd spent alone with Scara. Be cool, he thought. Realizing he'd forgotten to ask Scara if he wanted any, he frowned and bought some for him as well. A peace offering , he thought.
He talked to himself in an alien voice internally ' hello, my name is Ajax I come in peace!' and then he headed back to the group. Scara was sitting prettily, with his head to the side, listening to Amy and Columbina talk about the school play. "Cheers!" He said, to grab his attention, and he handed Scara a cup.
For a moment he hesitated, but then he grabbed it, and nodded appreciatively.
Please speak to me , Ajax thought, sadly. He'd really hurt Scara's feelings and he felt awful about it... Why was he such an idiot ? Arlecchino mentioned something about Winter term ending and Mona groaned.
"Don't say that! Now I'm worried about exams..."
Arleccchino laughed, "seriously? They're months away still, relax."
"I think she means the practice ones." Columbina said, giggling.
Arlecchino raised her eyebrow, "that's even worse."
Mona folded her arms, and then Scara laughed suddenly. His eyes lit up for a moment, and Ajax was relieved to see him smile. They locked eyes, and then Scara briefly smiled at him too, before turning back to hear Mona speak. "They're a good indicator of where you're at!" She grumbled.
Amy giggled too.
"Ah yeah... I have to study hard over the break." Ajax said, trying to help Mona fight her way out of the trenches.
"Why?" Scara asked, curiously.
"My attendance hasn't been so good." He admitted, sheepishly. And I'm failing math , he thought, but he wasn't about to tell Scara that. Scara's smile faded, and he frowned. "It's OK though, I'll be fine." Ajax said quickly, trying to reassure him.
"Really? But you're shit at every subject." Arlecchino said, cruelly.
"Hey! Not PE."
All of them stopped to stare at him, bemused, then Scara broke the silence with an actual laugh. The kind of laugh that you knew was genuine if you knew him. "OK, meathead." He said, smirking playfully and Ajax grinned back at him. Quickly, Scara averted his eye again, losing confidence, but he still had the hint of a smile on his lips. Ajax wanted the rest of them top fuck off so that he could talk with him alone.
"We should go ice skating!" Colombina said, suddenly, "I heard they had a small rink here at the market. Oh! Arlecchino, please skate with me, you're really good!"
Arlecchino sighed, "yeah OK. But only if Ajax skates too..."
Why was she singling him out, "My pleasure, you guys wanna come too?" He said, hesitantly, mainly hoping that Scara would say yes. He glanced towards him nervously.
He shrugged, "yeah alright."
At the rink, they all got into skates, and Ajax eagerly made his way over to the ice.
He loved ice skating, he'd practically been born in skates, and a part of him really wanted to show off his skill. Also, he hadn't been in awhile, and he really missed it. Carefully, he stepped out onto it and kicked his feet, gliding forward. To him, it was just as natural as walking. He went around for several laps, then tried going backwards. Admittedly it had been a long time since he'd done any fancy tricks, but he still remembered how to do them.
He noticed Scara, by the entrance, clinging to the barrier, and he smiled. Cute .
Ajax skated over to him, and laughed, "you alright? Holding that kinda tight." He said, teasing.
Scara glared fiercely at him over his shoulder, "That's it, I'm getting off." He declared, turning slowly to leave.
Panicking, Ajax grabbed his arm and laughed, "w-wait! I'm sorry!" He said, not wanting him to leave. "Here, I'll show you." He said, trying to reassure him. I need to not laugh but he's being so dorky , he thought.
Scara eyed him suspiciously, like a street cat, but relented.
Moving beside him, Ajax taught him how to position his feet, and then motioned how to move them to go forward, "and then you go like this to go back, see?" He said, peeling away from Scara to show off a little, going backwards. He hoped that Scara would think he was very sexy and cool for knowing how to ice skate. Instead, Scara rolled his eyes. "Try it!" He insisted, laughing at his moody expression.
Cautiously, Scara let go of the side.
Ajax slowed down, ready to catch him if he needed it. He got out pretty far until he slipped, and he swooped in to grab him, firmly. "Good attempt." He said, cheerfully, holding Scara until he reclaimed his balance. Even after he did, he didn't let go, and continued to cling to him. He looked so worried , it was making Ajax want to laugh at him so bad, but he knew that he shouldn't.
They paused for a moment, unmoving, and Scara stared at him for longer than was usual. "Can I go back to the side now?" He said, suddenly.
"Already!?" Ajax asked, surprised and worried that he'd done something wrong. "Come on, you only tried once . Give it a go!" He insisted, trying to make him feel better about not being able to skate. Sighing, Scara let go of his waist, and held out his arms to try and balance again, a look of pure concentration on his face. Glancing around, he seemed to be checking for other skaters, then he started to move again. Good , Ajax thought, watching him go. Maybe by the end of today he would get a hang of it. "There we go, that's it! Ajax said, calling out to him.
By now, Scara had gone further than he expected him to, but he was doing a good job. Unfortunately, he turned to scowl for some reason and crashed into Mona, and the two of them comically tumbled to the ground. Ajax watched in horror as Scara basically fell forwards over her, tripped as she slid to the ground.
She screamed.
He raced over quickly, "Scara!" Mona was saying, crossly, realizing who had assaulted her. Scara also tried to get up too, but his palms slid across the ice and he fell back down again. Ah , Ajax thought as he arrived, he'd gonna hate me now .
"You guys OK?" He asked, crouching down.
"I want to die." Scara said, and Mona scrambled away to get out from underneath him, Amy trying to help her to her feet.
Scara flipped onto his back and sat up, and Ajax noticed that his nose was bleeding, blood oozing down his face. He looked disheveled, and annoyed, so he reached out his hand to help him, wincing. "Here, I'll help you get back to the side. Your nose is kinda... busted." He said, apologetically, and Scara reached up to touch his face.
He stared at the blood, then grabbed Ajax's outstretched hand, and after that Ajax helped him to get off the rink. Some of the staff tried to help too, but Scara waved them away like a grumpy old man.
They did bring him a tissue though when they got back to the benches, and shakily he sat down. "Think you'll go ice skating again?" Ajax joked, but Scara shook his head.
"Never." He said.
"Aww, I'm sorry, I should have been watching you better." Ajax said, sitting down with a sigh next to him. He felt bad.
"Well... You can keep on going if you like. Don't stop because of me." Scara said, irritated, and he raised an eyebrow. Ajax grinned.
"Nah, it's alright, I'll keep you company. I wanted to speak with you actually." He said. This would be a good time to maybe invite him round again, they could hangout before Christmas maybe.
"Oh?"
"I was gonna ask what your plans were over Christmas break, was wondering if you wanted to come over and play video games again?"
Scara frowned, "Oh I see... Sorry, I forgot to say, I'm actually going away with my mom and her girlfriend..." Oh, he thought. He was disappointed.
"Ahh, that's a shame. Sounds fun though!"
"Yeah."
"Oh so I might not see you then until after the holidays?" He asked, realizing that it would probably be a month until they saw one another again.
"Probably not." Scara said, tilting his head back, the tissue still wedged up his nose. He looked pretty goofy like that.
"You're supposed to tilt your head forwards by the way." Ajax said, realizing that he was doing it wrong. Immediately, Scara went the complete opposite way, and hunched forwards. Slying, Ajax smiled at him, hoping he wouldn't notice.
After that, they finally got food.
He was relieved to eat something, it had been a few hours since his last meal and he was starving. He was tucking into his reindeer burger when he noticed Amy trying to take a picture of their trio, trying to balance a waffle.
"Hey, err, do you want me to?" He asked, and Amy nodded, concerned.
"Oh, could you? Sorry."
"Of course," he said, and he carefully took her phone and took a few paces back, "smile!" He said, and he saw Scara attempt one. Afterwards, he looked at the photo. Scara looked really sweet in it, his arm around Mona and a 'I hate photos' kind of smile on his face, kind of a grimace. The girls looked really good too, "cute!" He told them, handing the phone back to Amy.
Thanks Ajax!" She said, swiping through the photos, then she paused. "Hey why don't I get a picture of you two?" She asked, turning to look at Scara.
"Me?" Scara said, pointing at himself, horrified.
"Yeah, come on!" Amy said, and she shoved Scara towards him. He awkwardly walked closer to him, and they posed in front of the snowman cutout. Smiling, he placed an arm over Scara's shoulder, but he secretly lifted his hand to make bunny ears. Amy smiled knowingly, in on the joke, and then she snapped the photo. "Aww you guys look adorable." She said, running over, and Scara snatched her phone like he didn't believe her. Ajax waited, amused and Scara whipped his head up to glare at him.
"Hey!" He said.
Ajax winked, and he noticed Scara look a little flustered. God, he loved doing that to him, his expression was always priceless, like the first time he'd winked at him in the school hallway this year. Bemused, Scara smiled at him, then tucked some of his hair out of his eyes.
Openly flirting with him was so fun, but he needed to be careful not to hurt his feelings again.
They decided to explore the market a little more after that, and Ajax joined Scara to look at ornaments. He was holding up two ballerinas on a string, delicately between two fingers, and Ajax watched him watching them spin. He always wondered what Scara was thinking about, he was usually so quiet (when he wasn't being sarcastic).
"That's a nice one." Ajax said, absentmindedly spinning the rack around.
"I know right." Scara said, holding it up to admire it in the light, his eyes reflected the light too... beautiful. It had gotten darker and he looked really pretty in the dim lighting, his back to the colorful Christmas market. Ajax wanted to reach out and touch him on the face... kiss him maybe.
"Oh that reminds me!" He said, remembering suddenly the gift he'd got him. If he wasn't going to see him for a month, he might as well give it to him now. "I actually got you something." He said, rummaging through his bag. Where was the bloody thing? Of course it had fallen to the bottom of his bag.
"You got me... a gift?" Scara asked.
"Yeah, for Christmas!" Ajax said, standing and holding the present out to him.
"A-Ah wait! You shouldn't have, I didn't get you anyth-" Scara started to protest, but Ajax shoved it into his hands.
"I wanted to. Relax." He said, grinning and slinging his back back over his shoulder. "It's not anything big, so don't worry." Scara frowned, and looked down at the gift, but he looked kind of touched. "Go on, open it!"
"What? Now?" He asked, confused, and Ajax nodded.
Carefully, he unwrapped the gift to reveal the snow globe, and held it up in front of his face. With two hands he shook it gently, and the snow flurried. "Thanks, Ajax." He said, quietly, and warmly Scara smiled up at him.
Best five dollars he'd ever spent.