Chapter Text
Diluc hasn’t exactly had the stereotypical university experience thus far, and he is perfectly content with that. As much as Kaeya nags at him to let loose and join a club or come to a party, they can both agree that it would probably drive him insane. His weekly board game nights with his friends and their partners are more than enough social events for him.
His apartment is just off of campus, but enough students live in it anyway that it may as well be a dormitory—minus the closet-sized rooms. Kazuha, his roommate, is a nice enough guy, all things considered, though Diluc is fairly certain he eats edibles more than actual food. One morning, he’d offered Diluc a piece of a weed brownie, and it had knocked him on his ass for the rest of the day. Kudos to Kazuha for managing to function with multiple of those in his system.
Because Kazuha almost exclusively takes nighttime classes, and Diluc primarily morning and afternoon ones, they largely get to stay out of each other’s way. It’s a peaceful coexistence. And, it helps that their cats get along well.
Most of his days go the same: a quick breakfast, brief stretching, a morning walk, then a departure to either class or work. Today, he is on the morning walk part of his routine, on the only day of the week where he has neither class nor work. Small blessings. There’s some podcast for his anthropology elective playing through his headphones that he half-listens to, still not awake enough to process the ramblings about kinship structures across the world. It’s seven-thirty, in his own defence. Besides, knowing Zhongli, his professor, they’ll discuss the subject tenfold in their next lecture.
Interrupting the podcast’s hosts shifting to their next topic is an insistent pulling on Diluc’s jacket.
He looks down and meets very big, very blue eyes. A young kid, no older than maybe eight or ten, holds a piece of paper in one hand and the edge of Diluc’s jacket in another. His first thought is that this is a lost child, and he’s already pulling out his phone to prepare a call to the police station.
“Mister! Have you seen this guy around?” The child asks, flipping the paper to face Diluc. There’s a poorly-printed photo of what Diluc would guess is a lego figurine on it. Is he looking for a lost toy? Before Diluc can ask, he hears rapid footfall and a much older voice.
“Teucer,” the person approaching calls, fondly exasperated. “You can’t approach strangers like that, buddy. Let’s let him be, okay?”
Diluc’s attention shifts from the child, Teucer, to the man calling out for him.
His mouth feels dry all of the sudden. Oh, God. The guy is an unfair combination of hot and cute. Hot, with toned muscles, a sharp jaw, and striking eyes, but still cute, with scattered freckles, messy hair, and a crooked grin. Diluc can feel his cheeks heating up.
Cute-hot guy has on probably the most atrocious outfit Diluc has ever seen—a pink tank top with arm holes so low it may as well not even be a shirt and a print that reads ‘Hot Girl Summer? Nah, Hot Grill Summer’, and highlighter-yellow basketball shorts. It’s offensive to the eyes. Somehow, it works for him.
“Sorry about my brother,” cute-hot guy says, oblivious to Diluc’s terrible internal monologue. “He’s visiting me from out of town, so we’re doing a scavenger hunt.”
Diluc slides his headphones around his neck, nodding.
“It’s okay. I’m glad he isn’t lost.”
Cute-hot guy laughs. Diluc swears he feels his heart stutter.
“Nah, not lost! Just a kid who probably should be on a backpack leash,” the guy responds, still all-smiles. “At least he didn’t get far. I just live in this building here.” He jerks his head toward Diluc’s apartment building.
Is he going to die today?
“Me too,” he replies dumbly, not elaborating any further. What is he supposed to say?
“Oh, really? I’ve never seen you around! I think I’d remember a face like yours.”
Diluc has no idea what that’s supposed to mean. He hums, biting down on his bottom lip. Curse his awkwardness.
“So, anyway. What’s your name?” Thankfully, the guy is a natural at carrying on conversation. Sort-of.
“Uh. Diluc,” he responds, stiff enough that he wonders if he sounds dismissive. Clearly, cute-hot guy doesn’t take it as such.
“Hey, wait a sec! You’re Kaeya’s brother, aren’t you? I’m Ajax—I dunno if he’s ever mentioned me, but we’re pretty good friends!”
Diluc has, in fact, heard the name.
“You’re the one hosting that thing on the lake this weekend.”
Kaeya had been bothering him about it. Something about a party with beach volleyball and a campfire. Diluc had to very firmly remind him that sitting in the heat around drunk people, dodging volleyballs and getting splashed with water is not his idea of a fun Saturday night.
“That’s me,” Ajax confirms excitedly, finally pulling Teucer back from where he still clings to Diluc’s jacket. “So you’re coming to that?”
He is absolutely not going. Not even Jean, his closest friend, could drag him to that. He looks at Ajax again, at the boyish smile stretched wide across his face.
“Yep. With Kaeya.”
Fuck.
“Sweet,” Ajax replies incredibly quickly, his voice cracking faintly. He runs a hand through his unruly hair, almost as if shy. Surely there’s no way. “Want to, like, give me your number? You know, just in case any details change! I mean, I guess you’d hear from Kaeya, but—”
“Sure,” Diluc cuts off his rambling, feeling his own lips curling into a smile. It’s surprisingly endearing. The thought irritates him.
Ajax does a completely not-subtle fist pump, handing his phone over to Diluc.
He puts his number into Ajax’s contacts, the entire encounter feeling foreign. This is not what he does. He tells himself that it’s just because Ajax is Kaeya’s friend, and sure, maybe he really does need to branch out from his social circle being exclusively his best friend of ten years, her girlfriend, and people they introduced into the group. Even to him, it’s unconvincing.
Why is he branching out for this guy?
“There,” Diluc says, passing the phone back to Ajax, who ungracefully slams it back into his pocket. Smooth.
“Cool,” Ajax breathes out, brushing his hands on his hideous shorts. Anyone that can wear those and still look good must be a unique kind of blessed, Diluc thinks.
“Cool,” he replies, nodding once.
“Cool.”
They stare at each other until Ajax clears his throat, eyes flitting about to find anywhere to land on but Diluc. Diluc similarly looks away, hands folded in front of him. This is possibly the most awkward conversation he has ever had in his life.
“Well. I should get this guy home,” Ajax finally speaks again, breaking the silence. Thankfully. Diluc had zero plans to do it himself. “But I’ll see you Saturday, right?”
“Yeah. Saturday,” he half-mumbles, less confident about the idea now than he had been previously. What has he gotten himself into? Judging by his appearance and Kaeya’s brief description, Ajax is a completely different kind of person from Diluc himself. What is he doing?
“Good to finally meet you, by the way,” Ajax says in parting, waving back to him as he ushers Teucer along with him. Teucer loudly protests about wanting to find his lego figurine.
“You too.”
—
“No way,” Kaeya exclaims, his hands gripping uncomfortably tightly onto Diluc’s shoulders. He’s clearly passionate about this. “You’re serious? You’re gonna come?”
“I’m not working Sunday morning, and Jean and Lisa are going,” he fumbles to explain, swatting Kaeya’s hands off of him.
“That’s never made you want to come before. Do I need to be worried? Did someone threaten you?” Kaeya continues his questioning, leaning toward him as if examining him.
“No and no. It’s none of your business why—”
“So there is a reason!”
Diluc pauses, crosses his arms, then huffs. “Maybe.”
“Tell me right now. I’ve done so many things for you in our lives, come on. How many times did I lie to Dad for you when we were kids, huh?”
Kaeya’s even more in his face now, and once again has put a hand on Diluc’s shoulder, a teasing smirk clear despite his faux-offence at Diluc refusing to speak.
“You chose to do that, just like I’m choosing not to tell you,” he argues, still not budging.
“You owe me this,” Kaeya rebuts, shaking Diluc slightly.
“I owe you nothing.”
“Harsh, but come on.”
Kaeya shakes him again.
“Fine,” he relents, just to make Kaeya stop pestering him. “I ran into a friend of yours. They asked me to come, and I said yes. Happy?”
Diluc has never seen Kaeya’s jaw drop so low in his entire life, and they have been brothers for seventeen years.
“Which one? What does he look like? Did he say what his name is?” Kaeya immediately jumps into asking once he’s recovered from his very apparent shock, now even more insistent. Clearly, Diluc’s attempt to make him stop has backfired.
“His?” Diluc replies, raising an eyebrow. “How do you know it was a guy?”
Kaeya looks him up and down, raising both of his eyebrows in return, as if to say duh. Rude.
“It was Ajax.”
“Ajax? Like, the-guy-hosting-the-party-Ajax?” Kaeya asks, thick with disbelief. “You said yes to him? I mean, don’t get me wrong, he’s a nice guy, but I didn’t think you’d like him. How did he get you to agree?”
Diluc shrugs. There’s nothing else he can say without making a complete fool of himself in front of Kaeya.
“Diluc, I’ve been trying for two years! There has to be a reason you said yes. Don’t tell me all it took for you to agree was a guy you think is hot.”
The silence must speak for him. Within seconds, Kaeya has his phone in his hands.
“What are you doing?” Diluc asks quickly, trying to take the phone from his brother.
“Calling Lisa.”
“Why?”
“She needs to hear this.”
Lisa’s voice comes through the speakerphone, sounding as though she’s just woken up despite it being noon. Oh, the lucky life of a self-employed woman.
“Hello, Kaeya,” she greets with a yawn.
“Lisa. You’ll never guess who Diluc has the hots for.”
“I do not ‘have the hots’ for anyone,” Diluc objects, mortified.
“If you’re making me guess, can I get a hint?” Lisa, the traitor, asks Kaeya. Being Jean’s girlfriend isn’t enough to make her Diluc’s ally, clearly.
“One of my friends. You know him.”
“Again, I don’t—” Diluc tries, and is promptly cut off by Lisa.
“Is it Ajax?”
Diluc and Kaeya are both rendered speechless, looking to each other then back down to the phone.
“That’s a yes?” Lisa continues, giggling to herself. Terrifying.
“How did you figure it out? Even I wouldn’t have guessed,” Kaeya whispers, his eyes still unnaturally wide.
“What the hell?” Diluc adds intelligently. “Seriously, what?”
“Diluc seems like the type to like jocks. It’s so against his nature that it works, you know? Opposites attract, so they say…” Lisa trails off into another fit of giggles.
“How was I even supposed to know that he’s a jock?” Diluc mutters in argument, petulantly crossing his arms. Actually, though, the muscles and the horrid outfit had spoken for themselves. Of course he’s a jock. “Wait, what sport does he play?”
Lisa laughs again. Diluc is going to send a strongly-worded text to Jean about making her girlfriend be nicer to him.
“Sports,” Kaeya interjects, now right back to his teasing. “He plays volleyball and he’s a swimmer. Is that your thing, Diluc?”
“Shut up. Never ask me that again.”
If looks could kill, Kaeya would be withering away on the floor. His phone, too, when Lisa speaks again.
“You should come to his party this weekend, Diluc,” she suggests, and Diluc can see the way Kaeya’s face twists into a grin.
“He already is. Ajax asked him, and he said yes!”
The two of them laugh together. A vein on Diluc’s forehead pops.
“Do you even have summer clothes? It’s at a lake, you know, and it’s supposed to be very warm for April this weekend,” Lisa points out, then hums to herself. “Why don’t you come over? I can help you find something to wear. We can go shopping, if we really need to.”
“I would rather die,” Diluc groans, already knowing that he is not going to be able to object to this.
“Jean is cooking dinner tonight,” Lisa incentivizes him. It works.
“Fine.”
“What time should we come over?” Kaeya asks, inviting himself along, naturally.
“Maybe around two? That should give us plenty of time to find something and maybe even to shop before dinner time.”
“See you then. Love you,” Kaeya replies, drowning out Diluc’s sigh.
“Love both of you too,” Lisa dismisses, hanging up the call.
Diluc dreads his already-sealed fate.
—
“I am not wearing this.”
He’s pink-cheeked and stiff, feeling incredibly out of place in the outfit Lisa and Kaeya have chosen for him. A pair of swim trunks that he hasn’t touched for years covers not even half of his thighs, plus a cropped shirt that belongs to Jean, he thinks. His only saving grace is the short-sleeved button up they’ve let him throw over as an open cover-up.
It’s horrific. Objectively, the outfit isn’t terrible, but it is so unlike him to wear that he can only shift on his heels.
“You look good, Diluc.” Diluc’s tone had left no room for arguments, yet Lisa budges in with one anyway.
“Besides, it’s a beach,” Kaeya adds, like the little schemer that he is. “What if you want to go in the water? And you’ll be hot if you wear much more than that.”
“You’d also probably attract more attention wearing something else. At a party like this, everyone will be dressed in swimsuits and light clothes,” Jean points out. Traitor.
She makes a good point, though. Even he can acknowledge that this being something he doesn’t normally wear makes it no less fitting for the occasion.
“This doesn’t suit me,” he huffs, crossing his arms over his chest as though the action could make him disappear from sight.
“You look perfectly normal,” Kaeya argues, an equal mix of reassuring and challenging.
“And your ass looks great in those trunks. Best way to get a guy’s attention,” Lisa comments, producing matching scandalized looks from Kaeya and Diluc.
“Lisa,” Kaeya chirps, horrified. “Not in front of me, come on!”
“What? I don’t even like men.” Lisa raises her hands in mock-surrender.
“That isn’t the point!”
Jean hides her laugh behind a hand as Diluc sighs, irritatedly endeared.
“I’d kick his ass if he focused on yours,” Kaeya grumbles with faux-overprotectiveness, rolling his eyes.
“I’m not dressing up to get his attention anyway,” Diluc says. He shoots a very pointed glare at Lisa.
“You wouldn’t mind it, though,” she hums knowingly.
He pays no attention to the way his cheeks feel hotter at that.
“Be quiet, Lisa.”
“You’re only saying that because I’m right.”
“Lisa, love,” Jean cuts in, stopping their little back-and-forth. “Go easy on him.”
“Fine, fine,” Lisa relents.
“I doubt he’d pay much attention anyway,” Diluc adds, contemplative. “Isn’t he friends with, like, everyone?”
“He is pretty social.” Kaeya nods. “But he’s also a nice guy. He’ll definitely at least greet you when you show up, since he invited you.”
“Didn’t you say he got all flustered asking for your number?” Jean questions.
“I don’t know if he was flustered. He just seemed awkward.”
“It’s perfect—a popular jock and a nerdy emo kid. Like a match made in heaven,” Lisa says teasingly.
“Emo? Are we middle-schoolers?” Diluc shoots back.
“How dare you, Lisa,” Kaeya jumps in, waving his finger. “He’s goth, not emo. Very different.”
Diluc stares both of them down, but pointedly doesn’t object to Kaeya’s claim.
“Anyway. Are you going to wear that, or do we need to find something else?” Lisa asks after a pause, gesturing to Diluc’s outfit.
“I guess it‘s fine, only because I don’t want to spend money on clothing that I’ll wear just for this.”
“And you want him to stare at your ass.”
“Lisa!” Diluc and Kaeya shout in unison.
The oven beeps and Jean excuses herself, leaving the three of them to argue amongst themselves.
—
The next time Diluc sees Ajax is not, in fact, at Ajax’s party.
It’s at two in the afternoon on Thursday, two days before the party’s date, at their campus’ café. Ajax doesn’t notice him at first, looking above him at the menu board.
Diluc is mid-sentence speaking to a customer when he notices Ajax, and mortifyingly stumbles over his words. He wants a pit to open in the floor and swallow him whole.
He hadn’t even been scheduled to work today. Usually, on Thursdays, he’s busy with class. Today, his class had been cancelled, and his manager had happened to ask if he could come in.
All of which had led to this coincidence.
Ajax is wearing a jersey and shorts, his hair sitting even messier than when Diluc had first seen him. If his appearance is anything to go by, he’s likely just come from a game.
Diluc bites down on the inside of his cheek, cursing himself for the way his eyes linger. He’s seen attractive men before, but something about Ajax draws his attention in.
“Oh!” A surprised noise pulls him from his thoughts. “Diluc! I didn’t know you worked here.”
He definitely does not feel pleased that Ajax has not only recognized him, but also remembered his name.
“I do. Hello,” he greets, hating that his voice comes out softer than he’d intended. Dammit.
“Nice to see you again,” Ajax replies, to which Diluc nods. He has no idea how to behave, stuck between trying to be casual and professional while not exposing his internal conflict.
“So, what can I get for you?” Diluc finally asks, forcing himself to sound more confident than he feels.
“Uh,” Ajax falters, tapping his fingers on the countertop. “An americano. Medium. Please.”
“Right,” Diluc responds as he pushes the buttons to ring it through, then looks back up at Ajax. “Just black?”
Ajax blinks at him.
“Huh?”
“Your americano. Did you want anything in it, or just black?”
“Black’s good, yeah. Black.”
Diluc furrows his eyebrows a little. Staring at the menu for that long just to settle on a black americano? Has Ajax just never been in a café before?
“Sure. Four dollars even, then.”
Ajax hands him ten and firmly shakes his head when Diluc tries to return his change. It’s an awfully nice gesture. Maybe Ajax is just that kind of person—it would explain how he seems to have so many friends.
Diluc sets off to make the americano, then when it is finished, places it on the counter for Ajax, who takes one sip and does a very poor job of hiding the way his nose scrunches.
“You’re certain you don’t want any cream or sugar for it?” Diluc checks, looking Ajax up and down. He clearly doesn’t like the drink, even as he futilely tries to drink it unfazed.
“It’s great like this, thanks,” Ajax chokes out, forcing a smile then heading to sit at one of the tables tucked away in the back corner.
Diluc does his absolute best to not glance in that direction a single time while he works.
Ajax has the sort of loud, extroverted personality that Diluc normally can’t stand. In fact, he sort of can’t stand Ajax. He wants to be irritated by him.
When he’s off work thirty minutes later, he walks past the table as he makes his way out. To his surprise, Ajax is fast asleep, head resting on one of his arms and the other still loosely holding his mostly full cup.
Gently, he puts a hand on Ajax’s shoulder, shaking him awake.
Ajax jumps up, eyes wide and blinking rapidly. When they settle on Diluc, he seems to process where he is, his shoulders slumping slightly.
“I fell asleep?” He asks through a yawn. It’s cute. Dammit.
“If you were that tired, you should have gone home.”
Ajax rolls his neck out, instinctively going to take a sip of his drink. He makes yet another face at the bitter coffee, which has now also definitely gone cold.
“I didn’t realize,” he says with a shake of his head. “Usually games don’t tire me out that much, but this was an early one, so it was a six-o’clock wake up. Which, not that early, I know! But I was out late last night for my little sister’s birthday, so.”
“I wasn’t judging you,” Diluc hums, a little amused by Ajax’s sudden rambling. “But you should probably go home.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Ajax waves off, barely suppressing another yawn. “Are you headed home too?”
Diluc nods.
“Let’s walk back together! We live in the same building anyway.”
“Okay.”
He only agrees because it would be more awkward to give an explanation for rejecting the offer. That is the sole reason, he tells himself.
That seems to give Ajax the boost of energy he needs to stand up and swing his bag back over his shoulders. They’re quick to depart, neither wanting to stick around longer.
Diluc expects to walk in relative silence, given his inability to start conversations without a predetermined subject to discuss—especially given that he hardly knows Ajax— but Ajax seems undeterred by their lack of closeness.
“Man, I can’t believe I fell asleep like that! Seriously, I don’t usually go around passing out in public,” Ajax chuckles, fingers twisting in the short hair at the base of his head. It looks soft, even mussed up as it is.
“You said you were out late, it’s normal.” Diluc shrugs. “I’ve done it before, too. During finals week last year, I did it twice.” He has no idea what compels him to admit that fact about himself. Usually, he’s the last person to share things like that about himself so willingly.
“Twice? Must have been crazy,” Ajax whistles.
“Something like that.”
“I feel you, though. I didn’t get home until crazy late last night, so waking up early was rough.”
“You said something about your younger sister?”
Ajax perks up immediately, like a dog hearing the word ‘treat’.
“Yeah! She was turning thirteen, and you know how it is, I’m sure. That’s one of the most important ages,” he shares with a grin, so soft that it almost makes Diluc feel as though he shouldn’t be seeing it.
“And you were out so late because?”
“Well, I had to take her and my other little siblings out for dessert after dinner, of course. Then we saw an arcade and got distracted there for a few hours… and then we went and stargazed, and before I realized, it was almost midnight! And my hometown’s a few hours from here, so I probably got back around four in the morning?”
Even as they’re walking, his rambling is animated with excited gestures indicative of his joy.
“How many siblings do you have anyway?” Diluc asks, curious at the mention of other younger siblings. He’d already met Teucer, so he knew of at least two.
“Six—three older, three younger,” Ajax answers, holding up three fingers on each hand.
“Clearly you care about them a lot.”
“Oh, yeah, especially my younger siblings. They’re great kids.”
His fondness for them is sweet. Diluc feels himself crack a soft smile. Surely changing the conversation topic will help with the strange hint of warmth in his chest.
“Was it hard to play your game this morning, with such little sleep?”
“A little,” Ajax confesses with a hint of uncertainty. “We still won by a long shot, though.”
“Humble,” Diluc comments offhandedly.
“It wasn’t because of just me, okay? It’s a team effort. I’m praising my teammates as much as I’m praising myself,” Ajax defends with a finger pointed at Diluc, eyes narrowed with no real malicious intent.
“I’m sure.”
“I really am, I promise. My teammates are great. Have you ever seen us play?”
Diluc shakes his head.
“You should come sometime.”
“Maybe, if it lines up with my schedule.”
“Oh! I can text you the schedule for our next few games, if you really are interested.”
Diluc has never given a damn about volleyball. Sure, he has nothing against sports, but sitting and watching them has never been his thing. He should say no.
“That works.”
Stupid cute-hot guy and his excitable personality making him do stupid things. Kaeya would never let him live it down if he actually went to a game.
“Sweet,” Ajax half-cheers, smiling straight at him.
By now, they’re nearly back to their apartment building. He’d almost forgotten Ajax lived in the same one until they begin the trip up the stairs together.
“Which floor do you live on?” Ajax asks.
“Three.”
“Oh, I’m on four. I can walk you back to yours?”
“Sure.”
They approach the door to Diluc’s apartment building, seeming to slow in their steps as they do. He fiddles with his keys for a moment before unlocking the door and stepping in, then turns to say goodbye to Ajax.
Ajax half-leans on the doorframe, his forearm supporting his weight. Diluc can see the way his muscles flex to do so. It isn’t fair in the slightest.
“So,” Diluc says after his brain catches up again.
“Uh, it was nice seeing you again. I’ll see you Saturday, right?” Ajax replies with a hesitant yet toothy grin.
“Yeah,” he confirms, feeling incredibly stupid as he does. He hardly knows Ajax. It should not be this easy for the other man to fluster him.
“Right, I’ll get going then—”
As Ajax starts to say it, a loud and irritated meow cuts him off. They both look down at Ajax’s legs, where Phoenix has decided to start scaling him like a cat tree.
“Oh,” Diluc exclaims, starting to reach for his cat. “Sorry. She doesn’t usually do this, but she won’t hurt you.”
Before he can even grab the cat, Ajax has scooped her up, cradling her in his arms and giving her forehead a little kiss. It’s a cute image. Damn his soft heart, damn Ajax’s personality. Why can’t he just be the unlikable jock that Diluc wants him to be?
“She’s cute, don’t worry,” Ajax chuckles, having moved on to gently petting the cat. “What’s her name?”
“Phoenix.”
“Phoenix, huh,” he murmurs, looking from the cat back to Diluc. “I think she likes me.”
“She’s usually somewhat antisocial. I don’t know what’s gotten into her,” he admits almost bashfully, though Ajax is clearly enjoying being on the receiving end of Phoenix’s affection.
Looking as if he doesn’t want to part with her, Ajax carefully sets Phoenix back down.
“You’re a fan of cats?” He asks Diluc.
“I like animals in general, but cats are mostly low-maintenance, which is nice.”
“It suits you.”
Diluc raises an eyebrow. Ajax does not elaborate.
“Anyway. As much as I’d like to stay and pet her some more, I’m really in desperate need of a shower and a nap,” Ajax changes the subject with a laugh, taking a step back.
“Right. Goodbye, then.”
“See you Saturday!” He echoes their previous goodbye, then begins to walk away.
Diluc closes the door and knocks his forehead into it immediately after. He feels insane.