eternal flame | tartaglia x reader

Chapter Thirteen

"Are you finding it hard?" Ajax asks on the walk back to his place. "Controlling your vision?"

You exhale deeply, blinking long and slow.

"Haven't really tried. Controlling it."
Ajax only hums in response. For some reason, the silence prompts you to elaborate further.

"It's like a curse. Showed up at my worst, and 's only acting up when I'm losin' it. When I don't have it, I hate my life, when I do have it, I hate my life and 'm destroying everything around me."

"Destroying," Ajax says the word like he's testing the way it feels in his mouth. "You've barely scratched the surface of destruction, y/n, I promise."

You'd usually take his words as dipped in sarcasm, as they so often are, but something about the hardened look on Ajax's face makes you believe him.

"Thanks," you mumble instead, "For cooling me down. 'S like I'm ten and punching at Maksim all over again."

Ajax laughs, a hearty noise that shakes the entire frame of his body, "Maybe you had the right idea back then."

You hadn't even realised that you'd arrived at Ajax's apartment until he's unlocking a door and gesturing you inside. You follow him down a hallway, ending up a spacious kitchen. Spacious might even be an understatement, it's probably the same size as the entire first floor of your previous home with Maksim. It's good to see with your own eyes that Ajax is, in fact, doing well for himself.

You watch Ajax piddle around the kitchen, sparking a fire to boil water before rummaging through a cupboard for several minutes to find some tea leaves. It's a familiar domesticity, something that you'd see so often in your early teenage years in the afternoons that Ajax would take care of his siblings. A warmth blossoms in your chest, but it's not bitter, it's not angry, it's just warm.

"Missed you, 'Jax," you say, unable to stop a smile from tugging at your lips. "Thought about 'cha every day once you left."

Ajax takes a seat beside you, carding his fingers through your hair once. When you look into his eyes, you can't decide whether to take comfort in the familiarity of his muted gaze, or indulge in the despair that consumes you when you recall the way that his eyes used to shine.

You reach out a hand to cup Ajax's face, leaning forward to press your forehead against his. His skin his warm under your touch. Not a bitter warmth, not an angry warmth, just warmth.

"Take my bed if you're tired, I'll crash on the couch," Ajax pulls away after a moment has passed. He turns his head to the side to hide it, but you still smile a bit wider when you notice pink blossoming at the height of his cheekbones.

"I don't mind," Ajax says with a shrug.

You can feel your eyes getting heavier with every blink. After all, it has been a long night.

"Okay," you agree, resigning to his offer and heading over to his bedroom. You're curious about what his bedroom might look like, how it's different from the one he shared with his brothers in Morepesok. However, you don't give yourself the chance to really take in your surroundings, as your exhaustion takes over the moment your head hits the pillow of his bed, and you fall asleep.

Of all things, it's the unfamiliar baritone of a man's voice that wakes you up. Oh god, does Ajax have a roommate? You must have overstepped by falling asleep here. You're not sure how auburnmuch time has passed, but you've probably sobered up enough to make the walk back to Wangshu Inn without being sludged to death by a hydro slime. You're planning to get out of bed and apologise before taking your leave. That is, until you actually hear the conversation outside is about.

"-just don't understand, Childe, you had no prior issues with Mister Maksim-", it's the same voice that woke you up moments ago, deep, smooth tones. The name Childe seems familiar, for some reason, though it is a strange nickname, even for Ajax, who definitely has his share of immature moments.
"It's true that before I had no issues with him, but now I do," a voice that you recognize as Ajax's replies. It's laced with a passive kind of annoyance that you haven't heard in years.

"Even so, you beat the man half to death. I can't begin to infer what could have warranted that."

Ajax did what to Maksim?

You almost feel guilty, listening in on this conversation, but it's about your ex-fiance, and it probably has something to do with you as well

"It was warranted," Ajax replies, his voice getting louder.

"Was it?" the other man challenges him. Though his voice doesn't raise much in volume, the confidence which he speaks with has skyrocketed.

There's a moment of silence, and you feel exhaustion seep into your bones again. Maybe you overestimated your sobriety, it probably wouldn't hurt to stay for the rest of the night. It might not be the best time to go into the hallway and interrupt this conversation, anyway. That and, the fact that you want to know exactly what happened since you fell asleep.

Ajax is the first one to break the silence with a sigh, "It was warranted, Zhongli. He was engaged."

"That can't be, I've seen him on the Pearl Galley countless times with-" the man's sentence dies on his tongue, probably because the implication clicked in his mind.

"I told Y/n, who Maksim was engaged to, that I'd take care of the both of us. I'm just doing what I promised. That man doesn't deserve to enjoy another peaceful night after what he's done."

"Childe, there are other ways-"

"Sorry, Zhongli, for ruining our plans tonight," it's Ajax who interrupts the man this time. "We can meet at the Pearl Galley tomorrow night again if you'd like. I know that you were looking forward to seeing the new opera."

"It's no problem, Childe. Let's meet tomorrow then."The sound of a door clicking shut echoes down the hallway. It must not have been Ajax's roommate after all. The apartment is engulfed in silence again, and it's not long before you fall back asleep again.