Chapter Text
It was strange how time could pass so fast in a sequence of many lives that only ever seemed to pass unbearably slowly. However, by Ajax’s side, Zhongli found that the two years they had spent together settling in Mondstadt had almost seemed to flash before his eyes, going far too quickly as the happy moments seemed to escape his grasp faster than they had appeared.
Leaving the icy tundra and dense taiga forests of Snezhnaya was difficult, to say the least. To say the most, they had been forced to stay hidden in little caves and burrows in the snowy hills and mountains, as word had spread quickly of escapees to all the fatui soldiers stationed throughout villages and towns across the land. Most nights were spent huddled together for warmth, keeping the fires dim but enough to provide some warmth so as to not alert anyone nearby at night.
It was around three weeks, though no one was really counting by that point, until they managed to sneak out the heavily guarded borders. It took… Well, it wasn’t exactly a group effort. And a lot of Snezhnayan soldiers were left incapacitated. Possibly dead. However, it was indeed a spectacular performance to watch Ajax in action, sweeping through the soldiers that came towards him with nothing more than two watery blades in a chaotic dance of determination and skill. It probably should have been concerning, seeing his face glow with an excited smile, like a child who had been given a gift, as he tore through soldier after soldier - preferably rendering them just unconscious, but there were definitely a few that… never mind. Zhongli remembered that smile in his memories as clear as he had the day he had witnessed it, and he cherished the image regardless of how off putting some may have deemed it.
The issue was covering Yulia’s eyes throughout the entire display, and keeping them covered as they swiftly ran past. She was certainly far too young to witness such a horrifying display, but sadly there wasn’t much of a choice in the way of shelter or coverage to shield the girl’s eyes with. Marfa gave Ajax a slight look of concern afterwards, however she expressed her thanks nonetheless for paving them a path to run through.
Travelling into Fontaine's towns and villages had been a lot easier than expected, honestly. Regardless of how restrictive the Snezhnayan borders were for both people and information getting out, it was no doubt that people had picked up rumours of the first people in over one hundred years to successfully escape the ever-wintery country. While most may have been welcoming towards them, had they known they needed help, there would always be people who would report them to have them arrested and sent back to Snezhnaya. Who was to know how high the bounty loomed over their heads, and how much higher it could get in the time they spent travelling. As much as Ajax was adamant he would be able to fight them off, Zhongli remained logical and suggested shape shifting to their respective alternate forms. It honestly took more persuasion than it should have - in Zhongli’s opinion - but eventually the redhead agreed. From then on, until they reached Mondstadt after days of travelling both on foot and by carriage, they meandered along the outskirts of Fontaine. They travelled from village to town to village again, doing tasks and chores for a room to stay in for the night - which was usually one room for all six of them, but even just having walls around them was more than enough - occasionally camping when there was no other choice. It was good to have somewhere to stay, if only for the recovering states of Albedo, Ajax, and Zhongli himself, as well as keeping Yulia warm and healthy at her young age.
Mondstadt really was as freeing as Zhongli had once promised Ajax, and it was evident in the redhead’s attitude as Zhongli observed him that, while hesitant at first, he couldn’t have felt less burdened by himself than he ever had the chance to in Snezhnaya. It took months of subtly reminding Ajax that he was okay to feel comfortable here, and the poor man nearly cried when Zhongli had introduced him to his close friend, Lisa Minci, who arrived to meet them alongside her girlfriend, Jean Gunnhildr. Seeing the women holding hands in public, being able to give small kisses of affection to each other - well, mostly Lisa to Jean - as they sat in a public space, even just watching as Lisa summoned a floating book and flicked through the pages to find something to show Zhongli in the middle of the busy street - the freedom Ajax was allowed here, and that was accepted here, was evidently a lot for the man to accept. Zhongli felt at times that maybe it was all too much in one go, but Ajax assured him it was something he would get used to eventually, and that he was incredibly happy to have this opportunity in his life.
Still, the brunette could see the struggle in his partner’s eyes when he silently offered him his hand in the middle of the city, with Ajax nervously taking hold of it lightly, fidgeting nervously with Zhongli’s fingers, and letting go completely every time he saw someone glance his way. His confidence in himself, and them, did improve over months, but with the bustling nature of the marketplaces, it certainly took time and effort. Regardless of how long it took, though, Zhongli was incredibly proud of every step he took to get there, offering a supportive hand whenever he needed it.
When it came to settling into housing arrangements, it was easy for Albedo to simply go back to his home in Dragonspine, however where Zhongli had once lived in Mondstadt for a few years, his house had been sold a long time ago. The knights of Favonius were generous enough to offer them a place to stay in exchange for some of their services, and as such, the remaining group of four adults - Zhongli, Ajax, Ekaterina and Marfa - all ended up with rather secure jobs working within the knights’ headquarters. The rooms were rather small, but luxurious compared to what they had dealt with for months prior. There was heating, a soft bed, even a sofa in each room, and a small community bathroom for the five of them that remained ‘homeless’. If anything, it was more like they all lived in a small apartment complex together. It was difficult, in all honesty, for the first year or so. With each of them having full-time jobs in exchange for a roof over their heads, in order to afford a place to live of their own they had to work late into the night and early in the mornings to make enough scrapings of money to afford to start saving up, as well as food to eat and such.
Zhongli watched as Ajax worked tirelessly, much more than the rest of them. He had a daytime job of working in operations and informatics, with his own insights of Snezhnayan politics helping tremendously, as well as babysitting a little girl, Klee, and occasionally Yulia any days or hours he was not needed for. In the evenings, he helped transport stock of fresh produce for the general store owner, Blanche, and offered his services in delivering take out orders of food around the city for the restaurant Good Hunter. He woke up early in the mornings, too, possibly only managing to catch three hours of sleep or so, before he left the city walls to search for ores for the blacksmiths, which earned him by far the most out of all his side jobs, but took hours to fulfil and travel to and from. Zhongli always offered him some extra elemental energy to help keep Ajax, well, awake for the most part, but also comfortable enough to healthily keep his tireless lifestyle without having severe effects on him. As much as Ajax insisted he was fine and that he had to do all the multiple jobs, Zhongli always managed to convince him to take a portion of his own energy.
Of course, Zhongli had jobs of his own to manage, but they were far less strenuous than what his partner was putting himself through. During the day, he would assist the young deaconess Barbara with performing cleansing rituals and healing those in need, and in the evenings he would tutor younger witches and magic practitioners who were preparing for examinations led by the knights.
At one point, Zhongli managed to hassle Ajax into sitting with him to talk for a moment, the other insisting he had things to do despite Zhongli knowing full well his schedule didn’t require him to leave for Blanche’s shop for another hour. He made sure the redhead was lying down comfortably as he began talking, wanting the other to relax in the time he got to spare, not waste energy running back and forth and getting places earlier than necessary when he should be resting in between. Zhongli cradled Ajax in his arms on the small sofa in the redhead’s room, playing with his fiery locks as the other rested his head in the crook of his shoulder, an arm wrapped around him.
“Ajax, why are you so adamant you have to work so hard for money?” Zhongli began softly, concern lacing his voice as he continued to play with the other’s hair. “You have more than enough at this point to buy a rather large house for yourself - you’ve been over-exhausting yourself for nearly a year, my love.”
The redhead didn’t respond at first, merely nuzzling his head deeper against the brunette’s collarbone and into his neck, his warm breath lightly brushing past it as he exhaled. A sudden dark thought crossed the brunette's mind, worrying him enough to ask about it.
“I really hope this isn’t the case, but is someone blackmailing you? Are you in debt to someone?” Zhongli continued, confused and worried as to why his partner wasn’t comfortable sharing. “You don’t have to tell me any details, I just wish to know if you’re safe or not.”
To this, Ajax let out a sigh, before lifting his head to look Zhongli in the eyes. “Of course I’m not being blackmailed - you really think I would let someone bully me into giving them money? You’re really overthinking all this, silly,” he said with a genuine smile gracing his face, before pressing a soft kiss to Zhongli’s cheek. “I just… I haven’t really thought through enough how to ask you this, so please bear with me.”
Ajax was still for a moment, as though he was unsure of himself, however after a few brief moments, he took hold of Zhongli’s free hand with both of his own, clasping onto them with his attention fully focused on the soft hand in his, refusing to look up, as he began talking once more.
“Zhongli, would you… like to live with me? As in, share a house with me, somewhere near Springvale?” Ajax’s voice was incredibly soft, almost a loud whisper with how quiet his voice had dropped, before it became louder, and more of a stuttering ramble. “I mean, I heard you talking to Jean about setting up a, uh, a better healing department there because it’s further out from the city, and also it will save you the cost of buying a house if you are to just move in with me! Surely that’s got to be-”
Zhongli was swift to cut off his partner’s nervous rambles with a kiss to the back of his hand, before both the freckled hands unclasped his own and the pair finally made eye contact, as Zhongli brought his now free hand up to cradle the redhead’s cheek.
“You don’t need to try and sell this to me, Ajax,” Zhongli smiled, his heart racing at the other’s proposal. It was always a strange sensation; he thought previous to Ajax that his heart had hardened completely, solid as the boulders and stones he could create, but somehow his partner always seemed to be able to make it soft once more, freeing it from it's hardened confines. “It would be a dream to live with you, as long as you let me pay an appropriate sum towards the house - though I do earn a lot less than you, so I may struggle to keep up with a house for the two of us… But why would I ever disagree with this, my beloved?”
Ajax’s cheeks flushed a delightful red, which made Zhongli’s heart beat even faster with a warm feeling tingling through it. “I’m not letting you pay towards the house, любимая,” Ajax declared, turning his face to look away from the other’s adoring gaze, but was gently guided back by the soft hand placed on his cheek. “I saved up so much so you wouldn’t have to pay for anything - if you didn’t want to live with me, I was going to offer to buy you a home of your own, anyway. Let me treat you, please? I want to give something back to you.”
“You shouldn’t feel required to pay me back for anything - and this is hardly just a ‘treat’, dear.”
“I don’t feel required to, I want to!” Ajax insisted, wrapping his arms around the back of Zhongli’s neck. “Please let me buy us a house - you can pay for decorations if you so insist, but please let me do this much for you.”
It took a while of back and forth arguing, but eventually, Zhongli let out a sigh; it wasn’t an angry sigh, or a disappointed one, it was more a defeated sigh, with a small smile on the edges of his lips. “Alright, but you are not to buy a single item of décor with your own money, do you agree to this? And I will also pay for all the shopping, and any billings that come after you initially buy the house.”
“You sure are adamant, huh… anyone else would have taken my offer in a heartbeat, I’m sure,” Ajax sighed, the wide smile on his face betraying his words. “Fine, I agree to this. You’ve already lowered your demands, so I suppose it’s only fair to give you so much.”
It was only a few months later they officially moved in together on paperwork, and even nearly a year later, they were still slowly building on making the house more homely. It was a rather spacious two story cottage on the outskirts of Springvale, located in a clearing in open woodland. Some may have found it creepy, living in the woods 15 minutes away from the village. Others may have even considered it dangerous. But it was nothing of the sort, and the abandoned shell of a cottage that had gone unsold for so many years quickly became their home; a warm sanctuary to return to as to avoid the harsh winds of winter, or the tiring drain of energy from work. Even if it was never outright mentioned, the pair both knew they couldn’t have felt happier and more at peace finally than by each other's side. Sure, their relationship may have seemed doomed with it moving too quickly from an outside perspective - that they would get past the sweet first few years before everything went downhill - but that was merely jealous talk, really. It wasn’t like they had a lot of time to see each other, even with Ajax cutting his extra jobs as he no longer needed to save money and was now getting paid by the knights, but the evenings they spent in each other’s company kept them close, and motivated them both throughout the day.
Additionally, Ajax and Ekaterina kept close, of course. Even with their busy schedules and living an hour or so apart now due to the travel from their home on the outskirts of Springvale to the main city of Mondstadt, the pair often made time during their breaks to have lunch together around the city - sometimes with Zhongli too if their schedules allowed it. Or if Ekaterina has some free time, she would visit Ajax while he was taking care of Klee and Yulia. Zhongli was happy his partner still kept such strong relations with the girl - it was incredibly obvious they were like family to each other, and so he would do everything he could to allow Ajax the time to go visit her.
Alongside Ajax and Ekaterina remaining close, the girl had also gotten much closer to Marfa during their time together. One night, the group of them had visited Ajax and Zhongli in their home for dinner, and Marfa had explained in passing her past relationship with Yulia’s father, her husband at the time, and how he had died only a couple of years after Yulia had been born due to illness. She had explained how it had hurt to leave the place she had met her dead husband and grown up with him, but she was sure he would be happy to see her taking Yulia’s safety first, and that she had considered it being time to heal from the pain of his death after leaving the past behind. It was a few months later that Ekaterina came running up to Zhongli and Ajax and frantically shook the redhead, mumbling something far too fast for either of them to make out as real words as they looked at each other in confusion.
“Woahh, Katya calm down!” Ajax had blurted half way through the girl’s incoherent ramblings as he walked her over to a nearby bench, gesturing for Zhongli to follow. So, he did. “Okay, sit down and take a deep breath, then try to tell me in a language I can comprehend, okay?” he had teased, earning a smile from Ekaterina.
“Marfa asked me on a date this weekend, to see a bard performance in Angel’s Share!” she had beamed, a smile stretching across her face as she continued to ramble about it to Ajax. Zhongli had not known about the two women being so close, with little time to see both of them together at the same time unless in a group, but supposedly the redhead had been told, as he started gushing back to her about how he would offer to help out with any outfits she wanted, or supervision for Yulia.
They were stuck looking after the small girl that weekend, which neither of them minded in their time off, however it was clear that Yulia was less comfortable talking to Zhongli at first in comparison to Ajax. This was understandable though, and the brunette didn’t take any of it to heart. By the time Marfa came to pick up the little girl, with Ekaterina alongside her, Zhongli had made an extra effort to make Yulia happy and comfortable, and from his actions, he was graciously offered the title ‘big brother Zhongli’, which warmed his heart more than he expected it to.
With everyone settling in finally after a rough and turbulent two years of both adjusting to the new environment, new rules, new sense of freedom, as well as finding their footing once more, things finally began to smooth out, much to everyone’s relief. Zhongli was glad he still had his old friends he could rely on, as well as newer ones too that he had been introduced to. All news of Snezhnaya was allowed to be given to him, and with Ajax working in operations and informatics, it was usually him who would come home and tell him all there was to update on the country’s status, seeing as Zhongli had initially gone to Snezhnaya to stop the previous queen. There was never anything huge to report, which everyone was thankful for - the country was now under the control of the Harbingers, but with little experience of ruling and far too much laziness, they seemed too far behind in paperwork and politics to have really done very much, making it easier for the knights to sneak in spies across the country without anyone noticing. Zhongli almost pitied the Harbingers, in the most belittling way possible. They were so far gone into the luxurious lifestyle of not having to do anything that, when real responsibility came, they could hardly put two and two together. As such, no more witch hunts were decreed, and soon the citizens of Snezhnaya moved on past their mass hysterical witch-fearing phase.
Everything was finally at peace, and Zhongli felt as though he could finally breathe knowing most of what he tried to achieve so far in Snezhnaya had come true, and that Ajax especially was finally safe, after so long of being haunted by memories of his past and thinking life was hopeless.
— ✦ ✧ —
“Thank you so much for today, Mr Zhongli!” a young girl, Ellin, called out enthusiastically as she began to walk out the Favonius headquarters’ library. “I’ll try to practice the healing spell over the course of the week if I come across anyone!”
“Just be careful, and don’t go looking for trouble,” Zhongli replied calmly as he collected his own books into his arms, hearing the door click as it closed. He had been tutoring a group not long before, but one of his students requested extra time to catch up on a lesson she had missed, and with not much to do, he agreed with a smile. It was good to see younger pupils so enthusiastic to learn - usually it was only people in their adult years who decided to finally really push themselves to learn.
As he put his books into his bag, his friend, Lisa, came over to stand opposite him.
“You were here longer than usual today, did you get everything finished that you needed to?” she asked, her voice its usual bubbly yet smooth tone.
“Yes, thank you for allowing me to continue using your library for tutoring,” he looked up to her, seeing her smiling. “I hope it’s not too much trouble.”
“Not at all! It gives me a chance to go pester Jean,” she smugly smiled. “After all, I trust you to be able to watch over the library while I’m gone - you’re far too upholding of justice to let anything happen,” she teased, before she began to walk away back to her desk and flicked through a large file.
While Zhongli was at first a little confused over this statement, he shrugged it off. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then?”
“Mhm, same time as always!”
He picked up his bag from the tabletop and slung it over his shoulder, before walking towards the library’s door. It was a cold day outside, with very blustery winds, so he hoped he wouldn’t have to wait too long for a carriage. Usually he would take one with Ajax, but he had gone home early today after lunch due to ‘feeling under the weather’. That was how he had described it at least, complaining about how unnecessary it was that he was being sent home for such a thing when they had lunch, but the man looked white as a sheet, and that was saying something if it was able to stand out against his usual pale complexion. Besides, the knights of Favonius would hardly let him go home early unless it was something more serious than feeling off, but sadly, Zhongli didn’t have the time to push his concerns further.
“Take care, Lisa,” Zhongli called as he opened the door, looking back for a moment with a smile.
“You too! Be careful on the roads out there today.”
It seemed Lisa was right to warn Zhongli of the roads, and it was right for Zhongli to have been worried about a carriage taking too long to arrive back in Mondstadt to take him home. After around ten minutes of waiting just outside the city walls, along the side of a dirt track, the winds became heavier and it started showering lightly with rain. With nothing really around to shelter him, he decided perhaps the easiest thing to do would be to begin walking home, and when a carriage passes by him, he could ask them for a ride. In all honesty, it would have been easier to deal with a heavy downpour than light showers - the slow dampness that stuck to clothing, as well as the heavy winds that pushed the small droplets into one’s face rapidly made for quite an unpleasant, gradually freezing experience. At least with a downpour, it was all over in one go, and you weren’t slowly becoming more uncomfortable by the second.
Thankfully, it wasn’t after too much walking that a carriage came past, stopping next to the soaked brunette.
“Need a lift, sir?” a man called out, holding an umbrella out for Zhongli to take.
“Yes, please,” Zhongli responded, his teeth chattering as he gratefully took the umbrella, opening it to finally stop the rain from falling on him. There was more trees around now, so the winds were less of a bother, but the water droplets fell heavy from the leaves above still. “Just a little before Springvale, if that’s alright. I’ll let you know when.” He held out a pouch of mora for the man, who took it with a nod and counted through it. It was strange how every other nation used mora except for Snezhnaya, which was rather problematic when it came to leaving, because before, Ajax had a practically endless supply of money.
“Okay, jump on the back, sir!”
The carriages were nothing fancy really. They were the types used to transport crops and goods, but a group of people from Springvale decided to add bench seats along the sides to make it more of a cart for transporting people. It had no roof, and was nothing particularly fancy, but it worked and was effective at getting people too and from Springvale, and occasionally further, such as Wolvendom, though not many people lived there.
With Zhongli sitting on the bench, holding onto the umbrella above his head and the side of the carriage to keep his balance, the cart began to turn and make its way back to Springvale, with two horses pulling it along at a consistent speed.
The journey wasn’t too long - especially for the weather conditions - and only took around 45 minutes until Zhongli called out that he could get off here. Him and the carriage driver had engaged in conversation a few times over the course of the journey, but every time a conversation started, the driver would eventually begin to go off topic to talking about some kind of event that a few members of the village were hosting, supposedly. Some kind of celebration dinner? For what, Zhongli wasn’t quite sure. It wasn’t near any locally celebrated holidays, though, maybe this group of people had their own celebrations?
Who knows… Zhongli thought with a sigh as the man brought it up for the fifth time.
“Have a nice rest of the day, sir! And be sure to come to the windmill this evening!” the man called as Zhongli walked away. Strange, he hadn’t even gotten the man’s name, despite the amount of times he asked or implied it. And the man was still going on about this celebration dinner in the windmill.
“We’ll see,” was all Zhongli replied with a tight smile, before he quickly hurried down the path towards his home after giving back the umbrella.
What a strange man… I’ve never seen him around before, Zhongli thought, but quickly shook the thoughts away. People were just a little off sometimes - who could blame them? Unfortunately, it didn't explain how the exchange left him with a strange feeling in his stomach, like a nervous pit inside himself.
The path home was easy enough, minus the slippery mud that gathered in a few areas, but it was only five minutes or so before he was opening the front gate to their comfortably sized cottage - not too big for the two of them, but far from too small. Only seconds later, Ajax had already opened the front door and practically dragged him inside, out of the still drizzling rain, and started peeling his soaked coat off, the door still open.
“Gosh, Zhongli, you’re back later than usual! I was close to going out there to make sure you were alright…” Ajax fussed with a slightly furrowed brow as he continued to hang soaked items of outer clothing on a hook by the door with a bucket underneath to collect the water, kicking the front door closed with his foot. “Way to make a man worry,” he continued, though his tone was not angry in any way - his voice soft, even, despite how he clearly tried to appear.
Zhongli always found the way Ajax seemed to act somewhat like an overbearing househusband at times incredibly endearing, and so, though slightly unnecessary, he always gives in to the want to play along, if only to be blessed with the silly, wide smile he would receive at the end of it.
“I apologise, my dear, I was helping out a student who was behind. The weather turned while I was coming back,” Zhongli explained, taking off his shoes and placing them by the door before returning to stand before his partner. “I’ll make sure to come home as early as possible tomorrow, and I’m terribly sorry for causing you distress. Please forgive me, my love?”
As expected, it only took seconds before Ajax’s scolding expression cracked into the smile he loved so much, and he placed a kiss to the redhead’s cheek. His hair was still soaking wet, and his clothes still damp, even if the soaked items had been placed to the side.
“You’re still ill, whatever it may be. You go relax; I’ll have a bath quickly and then I’ll be in to see you properly, hm?” Zhongli proposed, tucking a strand of the other’s red locks behind his ear. “I don’t want you to become any sicker due to cold dampness, so no hugs until I’m clean.”
“Ugh, fine, if you insist,” Ajax sighed, before walking over to the sofa and plopping himself onto it with an exaggerated collapsing motion. “I know how insistent you are on these things so I won’t even argue at this point. I spent all day missing you only to have to wait even longer when you finally come home! Late, as well!” he sighed dramatically before curling up on the edge of the sofa like a cat, clearly comfortable and just fine sitting there by himself for a little longer.
“Thank you, dear,” he smiles tenderly.
He bathed as quickly as he could, not too eager to leave Ajax by himself for so long, knowing his recklessness. It wasn’t that Zhongli thought the other was childish, nor babied him at all, but merely that he knew how impatient and full of energy the other was. And on a day such as this where the man was clearly ill, he wouldn’t risk Ajax becoming tired and hurting himself over something silly like chopping vegetables just because his hands itched to do something.
Once he was finished with the bath, and had dried himself off, he scrunched the water out of his hair before clipping it in a bun with a hairpin and changing into some warm robes more appropriate for the rapidly approaching nightfall. After having done so, he finally returned to the redhead’s side, where he was not surprised to see the man hanging upside down off the side of the sofa, his face slowly going red from lack of proper blood flow.
“Ajax, you’re going to pass out if you keep doing that,” Zhongli sighed as he wandered over to sit next to the man, who merely gave him a glare for telling him off as he began to sit upright once more. “Come here, my love,” he offered, opening his arms for the other. And the other responded easily by slotting into his arms, resting his head on the brunette’s shoulder with a smile as he closed his eyes, and Zhongli wrapped his arms around him.
“Hi,” Ajax finally said, after a moment of relaxing.
“Hello, dear,” Zhongli responded with a smile, finding Ajax’s antics adorable. “Have you felt any better since being at home?”
“Not really, but it’s not a big deal, I promise,” Ajax insisted. “I just felt… fatigued, at work today. It seems that Kaeya picked up on that, and he shipped me off home.”
“If it’s impacting your work, enough for others to notice at least, is it not best if you take some time to recover? I know none of them are expecting you in tomorrow; I’ll let them know you’re taking a day off when I arrive. Okay?”
“Hey, I did not agree I was taking a day off!” he argued, poking Zhongli on the cheek before continuing. “I’m sure today was just an off day, and I’ll feel right as rain tomorrow!”
“You need to spend some time resting regardless. Your sleeping has been awfully turbulent recently, it would do you some good,” Zhongli pointed out. And indeed, Childe had been having sleepless nights and then sleeping through whole days recently, so it’s not like the other could really argue with his logic. “Why don’t you rest now for a bit, hm? Have you eaten much today?”
“Fine… you win this time, love,” Ajax sighed, admitting defeat. “I haven’t eaten dinner yet, if that’s what you’re asking. I would have made some for when you came home, but I felt weirdly tired, and even just walking seemed to drain the life out of me. Hm… maybe a day off would do me some good,” he shrugged, looking not too pleased with the realization. Zhongli smiled at the fact his lover was finally seeing some sense.
“I’ll make a soup with the vegetables we have, so that you can rest as it cooks without loud noises,” Zhongli murmured as he began to walk towards the kitchen. As he reached the doorway dividing the two rooms, he turned to the other once more. “Do you want to stay in here, or come sit in the kitchen?”
Wordlessly, but with a smile on his face, Ajax stood up with a tiny wobble - Zhongli didn’t point it out - and walked past the brunette, sitting on a stool that he moved to be nearer the chopping board. Their kitchen was reasonably big, and contained a dining table too, with four stools - now three - positioned around it, so Ajax sitting closer to him didn’t impact much at all. Other than give him a warm feeling in his heart, that is, as the man leaned his head onto his hands. It couldn’t have been good for his posture, but just this once, Zhongli wouldn’t nag him over it.
“So, the exams are coming up for the kids, then?” Ajax asked as the brunette went around gathering ingredients, before dumping them all in front of the chopping board and beginning to peel them. “Does that mean you’ll be more busy with tutoring for a few weeks?”
“Perhaps, though they all are doing incredibly well, and they’re confident in themselves, I’m sure,” Zhongli responded almost proudly, because of course he was proud of his students. Even if he was not their main teacher and was merely an additional tutor, he felt proud to be able to fill in any gaps in learning they may have come across, and helped shape them into the witches they were soon to officially become. Snapping out of his thoughts as he began to cut some potatoes, he teased with a smile, “Don’t worry, my dear. I’ll still have plenty of time to spend with you.”
“Hm, that’s good- Wait, that’s not what I meant!” Ajax flushed, his face going red as he staggered out his defensive response. “I just wanted to know if you’d be home later than usual, that’s all!”
Zhongli thought for a moment before he made his response. “Again, perhaps. Even if it is so, I won’t likely be back as late as I was today - that was just a poor mix of extra session time and horrendous weather.”
“Well, would you-”
A strong knock at the front door cut off whatever the redhead was about to say, and Zhongli put down the knife he was holding to go answer, before Ajax pulled him back.
“I’ll get it, you keep cooking!”
With how wobbly he seemed earlier even just standing, Zhongli wasn’t so sure, but he knew if Ajax were to sit still for too long he would only find trouble eventually - or 'trouble would find him', as he always claimed.
“Are you sure?” Zhongli asked, a look of concern across his face.
“Mhm, I’ll be right back,” the redhead nodded, before he began to walk towards the front door.
“Be careful,” Zhongli mumbled, though he was fairly certain it got lost in the sounds of keys jangling as Ajax unlocked the front door, muffled by the wall and the door to the kitchen that always closed by itself because of uneven ground.
He busied himself with filling a large pot with water and placing it on the stove before he began to chop vegetables again, and once those were finished and Ajax still hadn’t returned - though he could still hear his muffled voice - he put everything into the pot of water, along with a few herbs, before he himself made his way to the front door.
Upon arriving next to Ajax, he noticed a number of things that immediately felt off. First, was that the woman at the door talking to him was absolutely soaked to the bone from the now heavy rain that had been pouring down, and yet she couldn’t look happier to be standing in the downpour, even with the harsh early spring winds hitting her. Second, was the incredibly tense look of Ajax’s posture. He was practically leaning as much as he could across the span of the doorway, as though trying to not let her enter, even if she didn’t appear to be trying to. Usually, Ajax would have invited people inside out of the rain, or even just in general, so this struck Zhongli as odd.
“Is everything alright?” The brunette finally spoke, placing a hand gently on Ajax’s shoulder to try and reassure him - he saw that the man looked agitated, too.
“Everything is fine here. It seems we’re being invited to some kind of dinner celebration in the village, but it is a shame we cannot go, as we are busy, right Zhongli?” Ajax responded quickly, his voice emphasising on a few words, and it almost sounded like he was saying them through gritted teeth.
Strange, it’s the same invitation as earlier, Zhongli thought, filing the information for later as everything in him told him to get the pair of them inside and away from whoever this woman was. It was even stranger that they didn’t recognise her - Springvale wasn’t a big village, by far.
“Ah, we’re far too busy tonight, ma’am,” Zhongli bowed his head apologetically, though his expression had an underlying strain to it. “I apologise, but we really must go. Perhaps next time?”
“Oh, no! You simply must come tonight!” the woman continued to insist, still standing in the soaking rain and never once looking anything less than entirely excited for… well, presumably this celebration. “You won’t regret it, you won’t want to miss it!”
“Thank you for the offer, but not tonight, ma’am,” Zhongli finished the conversation before it could escalate further. There was very clearly something off about the woman at that point, and he could understand Ajax’s unease. As soon as she began her rambles once more - desperate this time, like someone pleading for their life - Zhongli pulled Ajax into the house once more and shut the door, locking it behind them and double checking. The woman could still be heard, though very muffled from the wind and rain hammering down on the doorstep.
As he turned to Ajax once more, the man looked like he’d seen a ghost. He stood completely still as he stared straight ahead to the closed door before them, and only seemed to relax a little when Zhongli walked over to him and offered him a hug.
“Ajax, are you alright dear?” the brunette asked softly, as he began to lead the man back into the kitchen.
“Ah, sorry,” Ajax finally responded, shaking his head a little as though trying to shake away whatever was troubling him. “That… woman, she just gave me a really bad feeling, and I just… I don’t really know, maybe I’m just ill and overthinking.” He swung his legs back around the stool near Zhongli, and watched as the man set the stove to boil the soup, sprinkling in salt.
“No, you’re quite right, don’t worry,” Zhongli agreed, as he washed his hands clean with soap, before reaching for a glass to fill with water. “I had a strange feeling about her, too. Something about her aura, or her expressiveness… It wasn’t pleasant, whatever it was. Here, drink some water and we can go sit on the sofa while we wait for the soup to boil.”
The redhead took the glass with a thankful smile, nodding in agreement, even if his eyes still had a worried hesitancy to them, darting around at anything moving.
“Earlier, on the carriage home,” Zhongli continued, “The man who owned the carriage, I’d never seen him before. Every time I tried to ask anything about him to make conversation; his name, where he lived, if he had any children, he seemed to drift to the same topic as that woman - a dinner celebration in the windmill. Is that where she said it would take place?”
“Mm, she didn’t say where it was, just that it was in the middle of Springvale, and that we had to come today or something,” Ajax responded as he finished his glass of water, standing to put it by the sink for later. “I must admit, after a few minutes of it, I started ignoring it as I started feeling more off put and sick by the second.”
“Hm…” was all Zhongli could come up with, before he decided to leave the topic behind for the night. It was odd, sure, but what did they know besides some people were having a party? Perhaps she was just already drunk. Instead of dwelling, though in the back of his mind he still felt off put, he beckoned Ajax to follow him to the living room, where they sat in each other’s arms after having checked the woman was gone. That much was obvious from the fact they couldn’t hear her desperate pleading anymore, but Zhongli looked outside the window to check, and the light shining from the living room revealed only an empty path, with open woodland surrounding the clearing.
As Ajax settled in a curled ball on Zhongli’s lap, leaning back against a large, soft armchair that the redhead seemed to adore sleeping in (or maybe just sleeping on top of Zhongli) the brunette finally had a chance to relax. Knowing Ajax was resting, running his fingertips gently through his bright hair and stroking him almost like you would a cat - though Ajax insisted it was just a nice feeling - brought him a sense of relief, and he found himself relaxing a lot more too. Only then did he notice how tense he was himself.
Ajax tossed quite a lot while he napped, though showed no signs of discomfort or fever, only a dry cough occasionally reminding Zhongli of his partner’s sickness. When it came time to wake the man up for some food, Ajax almost sprung awake, practically jumping to his feet had Zhongli not held onto him - which they were both glad he did, because only seconds later, Ajax clutched his head as a wave of dizziness came over him.
“Ajax? Is everything alright?” Zhongli asked with poorly hidden concern, holding the man in one arm on his lap while the other hand cupped the man’s jaw, their eyes meeting.
“Mmh… Just dizzy,” Ajax responded with a mumble, blinking his eyes quickly as though trying to focus them. “I had the strangest dream, but I don’t remember what it was now… I just feel very strange after, I suppose.”
Strange dreams? Maybe that could be plausible - fever dreams perhaps. Though, he didn’t have a fever… Maybe just a long day? The woman visiting earlier made him worried, perhaps it’s just that, Zhongli thought, trying to make sense of it all to put his mind at ease. He didn't know quite why he felt the need to try and explain it. Maybe he was having a long day himself, and just wanted to know everything was okay.
Perhaps it’s all a matter of poorly placed coincidences.