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This time, the next letter arrived two months later. Diluc’s anxiety couldn’t be worse during the wait for that letter. He constantly worried that something had happened and had considered running to Fontaine to try and track Ajax down and make sure he was okay himself. Still, he held himself back. It was only two months. Ajax was probably busy.
This letter brought about the news that Ajax was no longer in Fontaine. Instead, he had gone to Sumeru for another mission taking place out there.
~
Diluc,
The forest in Sumeru is beautiful, but the humidity is such a terrible thing. The climate is nothing like the cold of Snezhnaya or the peaceful feel of windy Mondstadt. How I wish I were there instead of suffering here.
There are fireflies in this forest. If I remember right, there were fireflies in Mondstadt, too, right? A shame they don’t actually light on fire. You make a much better firefly than them. My lovely firefly.
On the other hand, the desert here is a brutal and terrible place. Still, I’d love to bring you here. You should see the stars at night while standing on the tallest dune you can find in the desert. It’s a beautiful sight. The kind of sight that would make anyone stand there in awe for a few seconds, even the most experienced of people that have traveled to the most beautiful places before.
I think you’d love Sumeru. The Nation of Wisdom is an incredible place to explore. I would love to come here with you for a while. Maybe… 2 months? That would give us a month in the forest and a month in the desert. What do you think?
There will be a package following this letter as well. I sent you two outfits this time. One is an outfit more suited for the forest side of this place. The other is better suited for the desert. I hope you like them.
Once again, I’ve also sent some desserts from Sumeru and the recipes along with them. I hope you like them. Let me know what you think.
And once again, sadly, I can’t receive a letter. I hope I can return to Snezhnaya soon so that you can send letters to me again. I hate that I only have the one, but I do read it every night.
Stay safe and get some rest, Diluc. I’ll see you again when I finally get the chance. I hope you’re doing well, my lovely firefly.
Love,
Ajax
~
‘Firefly? Of all the pet names…’ Diluc chuckled and shook his head, sighing. In truth, he found the name cute, but he’d never admit that out loud. He’d also not be telling anyone that Ajax had started calling him that at all.
Diluc himself was never one for pet names. It wasn’t that he didn’t like them or anything. He just preferred calling his boyfriend by his name. It was easier than trying to come up with some endearing term to fit Ajax.
Diluc went and retrieved his box of letters, setting the letter into the box. He was a little worried that this letter hadn’t said whether or not there would be a letter in the package that would arrive later. He wondered if there would be no letter in the package at all. He shouldn’t have really felt disappointed. There was no reason to be upset over something as silly as that, but… well, he really liked the letters he got from Ajax. Maybe he just couldn’t help wanting more.
Diluc shook his head, clearing away those thoughts and setting the new letter with the older ones before returning the box to its place on the bookshelf. Then, he turned and started getting ready to go to the tavern. He wasn’t sure if he was looking forward to this shift or not. After all, Kaeya would inevitably be there and he always seemed to know when Diluc was thinking about Ajax. It was rather annoying.
~~~
Sure enough, the second he set foot in the tavern, Kaeya was already sitting at the bar. Diluc just sighed and headed over, stepping behind the counter and relieving Charles to go take a break for a bit. Right now, business was slow. It would pick up later tonight, which is when he’d need Charles’ help again.
“Master Diluc. I haven’t seen you in a minute. Is the winery really that swamped with paperwork?” Kaeya asked, tilting his head curiously.
“We’ve got a lot of shipments going out, so I’ve been busy making sure all of that is in order.” Diluc muttered. This was probably the most they’d get along tonight before Diluc argued with Kaeya that he needed to stop drinking so much while his brother essentially flopped drunkenly on the counter and complained that he was no fun.
Diluc had wondered originally if Kaeya’s drinking habit only had to do with what happened between them before he left for Snezhnaya, but the last time Kaeya had gotten drunk, before the point of flopping over the counter and whining at Diluc, he started chattering on and on about the Chief Alchemist of the Knights. Said alchemist apparently spent most of his time on Dragonspine, and Kaeya didn’t like that. So now he assumed that Kaeya’s drinking problem didn’t only have to do with the fact that his only family left tried to kill him, but also had to do with his raging crush on a certain short, blond alchemist with a weird gold star symbol on his neck.
“I see.” Kaeya nodded. “I’m glad to hear that business is going well. Ah, as a heads up, The Cat’s Tail is trying to outdo you with a new drink again. You might want to watch out, Master Diluc. They might be onto something this time.”
“Thank you for your warning, but I highly doubt I’ll lose any business. That woman has tried every new type of drink and still has yet to outdo my sales.” Diluc answered, scoffing. It was true, the owner of The Cat’s Tail had never once outdone him. He really wasn’t worried about that streak changing this time. The only time she’d ever come close to outdoing him in sales was when she ran discounts, which happened during every festival. Diluc still had enough loyal patrons, though. He didn’t lose any business during festival time, despite the fact that he didn’t lower prices at all.
“I’d still keep an eye out. You never know, maybe one day she’ll really get lucky and overthrow you as the wine tycoon of Mondstadt.” Kaeya chuckled.
Diluc rolled his eyes in response and turned to deal with a customer. He knew Kaeya was just trying to get a reaction out of him and it wasn’t going to work. He wouldn’t be overthrown as the wine tycoon of Mondstadt anytime soon. He also probably wouldn’t be overthrown from his other embarrassing title anytime soon, either. It was weird to sometimes be called the ‘Uncrowned King of Mondstadt,’ especially considering the last family that tried to take over the City of Freedom as an aristocracy was promptly put back in their place.
Diluc shook those thoughts out of his head. He didn’t care to think of what titles he had and what titles could be lost. It wasn’t like he was going to lose any of his titles anytime soon anyway. With the way everyone seemed stuck on calling him those names, he figured he’d be called that for the rest of his life. Instead of continuing that train of thought, though, he decided to let his mind wander back to the letter he’d received recently from Ajax and a small smile tugged at his lips.
“Not another one.” Kaeya immediately griped, a scowl on his face. Diluc rolled his eyes.
“I don’t know what you’re so worried about.” Diluc muttered, huffing as he poured another drink for a patron.
“Diluc, you realize that his line of work is dangerous. One of these days, those letters could just stop coming.” Kaeya pointed out. It was only during conversations like this that Kaeya dropped the official title of ‘Master Diluc’ when referring to his older brother.
‘Don’t remind me.’ He thought, a scowl appearing on his face. “It really doesn’t matter. I can enjoy the letters now, can’t I?” He grumbled, glaring at Kaeya.
“I worry about you.” Kaeya said. He sounded genuine, but Diluc wanted to scoff at him. He really wasn’t sure he actually believed that.
“I’ll be fine.” Diluc answered, rolling his eyes. It was then that he decided it would be better if he threw himself into his work instead of continuing to humor his brother in what would most likely turn into an argument that he didn’t want to have… again.
~~~
The package arrived a week later. Apparently the people delivering it had gotten held up with some monsters. Thankfully, when Diluc opened the package and inspected everything, nothing had been damaged and the food still looked good. Diluc tried on both outfits, and while he decided that they looked good, the one meant for desert travel was a little too showy for his liking. He may as well have been shirtless.
After trying on the outfits and changing back into more comfortable clothes, Diluc starts in on trying the different desserts Ajax had sent. Every single one was incredible and he was happy to have the recipes for all of them. Toward the end, he was starting to realize that he hadn’t seen a letter, though.
That was, until he picked up the last recipe out of the box and spotted the signature blue envelope at the bottom of the package. He immediately plucked it out of the box with a level of excitement he would never dare show in front of anyone except Ajax and opened the letter.
~
Diluc, my lovely firefly,
I hope you like the outfits I sent you. I know you’ll probably complain that the desert travel one is a bit too showy, but most eremites and mercenaries actually wear those here. They wear those to stay cool. The desert heat is truly brutal. The forest outfit is probably something more your style. I hope you like them, though. I think you’d look lovely in either, though I wouldn’t be lying if I said I’d be particularly eager to see you in that desert travel outfit.
As for the desserts, once again I’ve sent you a recipe for all of them. I hope you like them. And if you do, I hope you have fun trying to recreate them. Now that I think about it, I feel I should have sent some spices to you as well. This place has so many spices that it’s strange, but I think you’d love quite a few of them.
Once again, I hope you’re doing well, firefly. I worry about you. Please make sure to get some rest and stay safe for me, okay? I’ll let you know when I’ve returned to Snezhnaya. In the meantime, it’s best if you don’t send any letters. I can’t really disclose my location right now. I hope you understand.
Love,
Ajax
~
Diluc pulled out a piece of paper and a pen as he got started on writing a response letter for the last two letters he’d received. He knew he wouldn’t be able to send it. It would sit in the box with the other response letter he’d been unable to send the last time Ajax had sent him a letter he couldn’t respond to. He figured he’d collect these response letters over time and either let Ajax read them when they finally saw each other again or he’d just send them all together in the box they had been stored in.
For now, Diluc turned and changed into the clothes he normally wore while he was out hunting down monsters. He had other things to focus on. The new letter had been stored in the box with the other letters and his response had been stored in the box with his last response. Once he was sure both boxes were secured back in their places on the bookshelf in his room, he left the house. He had work to do. He couldn’t sit in his room all night thinking about Ajax, even if that’s really all he wanted right now.