Chapter Text
The first time Ajax sees him is purely by accident.
Having been unceremoniously kicked out of the university library for “disturbing the other students” (come on, it wasn’t his fault he got a little too into the game on his phone! He’d been about to defeat a boss before his game glitched, causing him to get one-shotted and subsequently lose…stupid, cheap phone), Ajax instead decided to wander around campus until he could catch the bus home. They only came every hour, on the hour, and since he’d been planning on finishing an assignment before he travelled to work, the next bus wouldn’t arrive for another thirty minutes.
Ah well, no matter, at least he’d get to explore a bit more of the university. There weren’t too many other students around; most of the day’s classes were finished by this point in the afternoon.
Ajax meanders around the corner of the library and continues past the- he squints up at the sign on top of the doors as he walks past- Education Building. He hadn’t really had the chance to look around much of campus, at least outside of the Business School and the library. He’d had to fight tooth and nail to convince his parents to let him come abroad to Liyue, they had only agreed once he told them he’d major in Business (their choice, not his), and would cover his own living expenses. He wasn’t too irritated about majoring in Business; he had no idea what he wanted to do with his life anyway, apart from getting the hell out of the miniscule town they lived in in Snezhnaya. The living expenses though? Big mistake. He probably should’ve realised finding a cheap place to live in such a large, modern city would be near impossible. In order to pay for the tiny apartment on the outskirts of town he’d eventually found, he had to spend most of his free time outside of classes working two jobs to scrape together enough money to live. And the time outside of work, he had to spend scrambling through completing his many assignments.
Ajax sighs. He can’t really complain if this situation is all his own doing. At least he had his freedom here.
He continues to meander down the main paveway, looking curiously through the windows of the Law Building as he passes. He’d thought about studying Law, but seeing Lumine’s friend Yanfei suffer through the excessive amount of work she had to do as part of just the entry-level subjects (and she was only a first year??) made him very glad he hadn’t decided to pursue that area of study. Business was interesting, although it wasn’t much fun being cooped up inside all the time struggling to keep up with all his subjects. As a second-year student, Ajax is starting to feel like he’s dangerously on the edge of being overwhelmed by everything.
Eh, well. He’ll deal with that when- no, if- he gets to that point.
Ajax walks down some stone steps, walks around the sports oval, and turns down a side street.
Just how big is this campus anyway? Surely there aren’t that many students? Do they really need this much space?
He reaches the end of the street and turns right. Then left. Then right again, down a small alleyway. Ajax is examining the paved pathway beneath his feet as he walks before stopping and thinking he should probably not go too far, lest he get lost. Except he realises, as he looks up, he already is lost.
Ajax sighs and turns around, trying to get his bearings. Well, he may as well try and back-track his steps. He pulls out his phone from his pocket and opens up the maps app to at least get the general direction. He spins around a few times, matching up the phone GPS to face the vague direction of the bus stop, then starts walking again. If he walks pretty much straight towards the library building, he should be just fine to make the next bus.
Okay. This wasn’t quite the way he came from, but phones never lie, right?
He adds a bit of speed to his steps as he slings his bag back over his shoulder. He really should buy a new bag one of these days. He glances down at the strap. Yep, still screaming for help, hanging by a single thread. Okay, maybe that is a slight exaggeration, but it’s definitely overdue for a replacement. When is his next paycheck from the café again?
Doing mental calculations in his head to try and justify spending the money, Ajax turns the corner. And stops. In front of him is a small square-shaped flower garden, on the opposite side of the road. It’s lined with a low fence, and has little pink flowers lining the edge all around. There’s a small gate on the side closest to the road, with a gravel path leading up to a red pavilion in the centre of the garden. But that isn’t what catches his attention. No, what catches Ajax’s attention is the man sitting in the pavilion.
Now, Ajax isn’t usually one to ogle others. He’s had crushes on guys, but it typically wasn’t their looks that drew him to them (at least, not at first). But. Objectively speaking, this man in front of him is the most beautiful person Ajax has ever seen. He is sitting - with perfect posture - at the small table set up in the middle of the pavilion, faced slightly away, but not quite far enough to cover his features. Although, all Ajax can see from his vantage point is a sharp nose and the corner of his lips. The man is wearing a dark brown suit, so perfectly fit to his body it seems as if it is an extension of himself, and his long dark hair is tied up into an elegant ponytail. In his right hand, balanced between slender fingers, he’s holding a long brush of sorts…what is he doing with it?
Ajax rises up onto his toes to try and see over the man’s shoulder, and catches a glimpse of some paper on the table and what looks like some Liyuen characters written on it. Hm.
He wonders what the man is doing there - and whether he has something to do with the university? From what he can see, Ajax is guessing the man is older than him. And also, who at Ajax’s age of twenty-one would own a suit as nice as that? But then again, maybe Ajax is just poor with terrible fashion sense. He looks down at his scruffy grey hoodie and even scruffier jeans and mentally shakes his head at himself.
His gaze is drawn back up as he sees movement out of the corner of his eye. The man lifts up an arm to check a now revealed silver watch on his wrist, and doing so seems to cause him to panic somewhat as he jumps slightly and rises suddenly out of his chair.
Wow, the guy is tall. Ajax is not by any means short, he towers over Lumine when they’re standing next to each other (something she hates, and also something he loves teasing her about). But even from where he’s standing across the road, Ajax can tell he’d have to tilt his head up slightly to make eye contact with the guy.
The man gently folds the paper in front of him and places it into a small brown satchel along with the brush. He steps out next to the table, pushes the chair in, and turns to walk swiftly down the steps to the path leading out of the garden. Ajax catches a flash of gold in the man’s eyes before he darts back behind the corner he came from.
Wait, why is he hiding? This is a public street! There’s nothing wrong with him being there. But…he looks down at his messy clothes again. He doesn’t really want this - ethereal - man to see him looking like he crawled out of the drain on the ground. But still…what if he never sees him again?
Ajax nudges closer to the corner and pokes his head just far enough around the corner to see the garden again.
Ah, well. No worries about being seen now. The man is gone. He wonders why he’d run off so suddenly - maybe he’d realised he was running late for something after checking his watch.
Wait. Speaking of the time.
Ajax grabs his phone out of his pocket and taps it frantically to light up the lockscreen. 4:08pm. Shit, he’d missed the bus. He sighs to himself. Well, maybe the librarians would have forgotten him by now. His shift at the convenience store (thankfully, one close to his flat at least) doesn’t start until 6pm, so he still has a bit of time.
Ajax slides his phone back into the jeans pocket and heads back towards the library, with the memory of golden eyes and dark hair following him as he goes.
-----
Ajax wonders if the man was a student. He looked too young to be a teacher…although you never know. He definitely seemed older than Ajax, but by how much?
“-jax?”
And then his hair…Ajax had never seen such long hair on a man. He was curious as to what his hair care routine was. And did he always have it tied up? What would it look like if it was down?
“Ajax? Are you even listening to me?”
He wishes he’d said something to him, just to hear what his voice sounded like. He wonders what his name was. It’d have to be something elegant, like maybe-
Ajax is rudely kicked out of his daydreaming as Lumine whacks the back of her phone into his forehead from across the table.
“Ow! What was that for?”
“I can’t believe you’re asking me that. I’ve been trying to get your attention for five minutes!” Lumine huffs. “Why did you even want to meet up to study if you were just going to stare off into the distance the whole time?”
“Ah, my bad, my bad. I got distracted.” Ajax says meekly.
“Yeah, no shit. What were you even thinking about anyway?” Lumine bends her head down to take a sip of her drink.
Ajax debates if he should tell her. On the one hand, she’ll probably bully him non-stop for daydreaming about some random man he doesn’t even know the name of. But on the other hand, maybe getting all the thoughts out of his brain would help him focus on studying.
“Okay. So…there’s this guy.”
Lumine raises one perfectly manicured eyebrow. “Wow, a guy. Never seen one of those before.”
“Can you let me finish?” Ajax frowns.
“Yeah, yeah, continue. We’ll never get any work done otherwise.” Lumine waves her hand towards him in a ‘go on’ motion.
“Well, I was exploring campus last week and came across this small fenced garden. Not sure what it was used for, but inside the garden was a pavilion. And sitting at a table in that pavilion was the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen in my life.” Ajax rambles. “He was holding a paintbrush of sorts, and was writing something in…I think it was traditional Liyuen? But I couldn’t see from where I was-”
“They’re not called paintbrushes, they’re calligraphy brushes, moron.” Lumine butts in.
“Did I or did I not say not to interrupt?” Ajax scowls. “Anyway- wait, how do you know that?”
“Xiangling’s parents are always trying to get her to learn calligraphy properly. But she hasn’t got the patience for it, she’d much rather run around the kitchen trying to cook ten dishes at once.” Lumine explains.
“Ah, right, that sounds like her.” Ajax nods, thinking of Lumine’s energetic roommate. “As I was saying, this man was sitting at the table with the most perfect posture I’d ever seen. I’m guessing he’s older than me, from how he looked. And his hands, Lumine, they were long and elegant-”
“So you were spying on this random man?”
Ajax ignores her and continues, “-and he had the most beautiful shining brown hair tied up elegantly in a ponytail! I mean, how many guys do you see with that? The answer is zero! Guys my age are all rank and disgusting, with no hygiene.”
“You know you count as part of that group, right?” Lumine smirks as she rests her chin on her hand, tilting her head slightly to the side. “So? Did you go and speak to him?”
“Of course not!” Ajax snorts. “I couldn’t disturb him! He looked so…perfect, sitting there, how could I barge in on that? And what would I even say? ‘Hi, I’m Ajax, you’re beautiful, can I have your number?’”
“You’re an idiot.” Lumine says flatly. “You could have just introduced yourself and asked for his name. Or even asked what he was doing. You’re obviously not from Liyue originally, what with your ginger hair, so you could have played the curious foreigner card. There’s plenty of ways to initiate conversation without being an absolute weirdo.”
“Okay, well…I didn’t think that far.” Ajax mumbles. “But also, he ran off before I could really find the opportunity anyway.”
“Sounds like an excuse to me.”
“Hm.” Ajax looks down at his forgotten laptop, moving the mouse around to wake it back up, before glancing back at Lumine as she taps her pen on the top of his screen.
“So?” She questions.
“So, what?”
“So, what are you going to do about it?”
“Uh…what do you mean?”
“Are you going to go and see him again?”
“Um…maybe?”
Lumine sighs and puts her head in her hands. “Why do I even bother? Let’s just finish our work. You can pine after you finish that assignment I know you’ve been putting off.”
“...Okay.”
-----
Later that afternoon, as Ajax sits in his Accounting and Financial Management class failing to pay attention to the lecturer at the front, he ponders what Lumine said.
Should he try and see the man again? It has been nearly a week since he had stumbled across the garden…maybe the guy would be there again tomorrow? But then, what would he say? ‘Oh, hi, I just happened to be walking around here for no reason at all! What a coincidence? Shall we get to know each other?’ Yeah, right. That sounded far-fetched even to Ajax.
Still, he can’t shake off the feeling that he had to hear the man’s voice at least once. To make eye contact with him, to have his existence acknowledged even if for a moment.
Hm. It couldn’t hurt to at least try and find the garden again, right? If the man wasn’t there, no harm done, and if he was…well. He’d get to hear his voice, at least.
Ajax pumped his fist.
Alright! Tomorrow, he’ll head to the garden again.
“Ajax? Are you paying attention?”
“Ack-yes, Prof!”
-----
“Ohhhh I…don’t want a lot for Christmas…there is just one thing I neeeeeeed…”
Ajax opens his eyes and squints at the bright light streaming through his window.
“Ugh…for fuck’s sake, that stupid alarm.”
He’d lost a bet with Lumine two weeks before, the punishment being letting the other person choose their morning alarm for the next month. Lumine, the hilarious person that she was, decided on All I Want for Christmas is You, knowing he hated it. Ajax hates most Christmas songs, actually. Not surprising when he works in a café and is forced to listen to the same roster of songs for hours on end the entirety of December. He hates them even more when it isn’t even the Christmas season. Like now. In May.
Ajax pulls his arm out from the bedcovers, grabs his phone off the nightstand, and turns off the alarm. Rubbing his eyes, he sits up.
Six a.m. What did he have to do today, again?
…Oh, right! Today, he was going to find that beautiful man again! Well, that was the plan. He’d have to see. But first, he has an opening shift at the café to get through.
Ajax shoves the bedcovers away and stands up, stretching his arms in the air, before walking into the bathroom. He stifles a yawn as he looks at himself in the mirror. Yeesh. Has his hair always looked that gross? And why are his eye bags so dark? Paired with his blue eyes, it looks like some obscure sea creature has appeared on his face or something.
He grimaces once more at his reflection before turning towards the shower. Maybe that’ll help.
-----
After haphazardly blow drying his hair for a couple minutes (not completely dry, but his hair, although uncontrollable, is short enough that it’ll dry fully by the time he gets off the bus), Ajax opens his wardrobe and makes a face. Honestly, maybe he should invest in some new clothes. But even if he didn’t have to be careful with his money, shopping bores him to tears. His younger sister Tonia had tried to buy him some new clothes as a gift last time she’d visited Liyue, but gave up after Ajax wouldn’t stop complaining about being bored. (He’d only tried on one pair of pants at that point).
He rifles through his shirts and pauses on a button-up that’s dark red.
Hm. This doesn’t look terrible, at least.
He pulls on the shirt along with his least scruffy pair of black jeans, slips on his shoes and socks, grabs his bag, keys and phone, and walks out the door.
-----
His boss is already sitting on top of the bench next to the coffee machine when he pushes open the café door at seven a.m.
“Why, good morning, Ajax! Sleep well?” Venti winks at him. “I know I did, dreaming of you, ehe.”
Ajax walks behind the bar to dump his bag in one of the shelves beneath and replies, “I don’t know how you even have the energy to say such irritating things so early in the morning.”
Venti slaps both his hands against his heart, as if he’s been shot with Cupid’s arrow. “How you wound me, Ajax! And here I thought we had something special!”
Ajax rolls his eyes. Venti flirts with everyone and everything. He wonders if he’ll ever get serious with somebody.
“How old are you again? And have you turned on the coffee machine yet?”
“That’s a secret! And nope!” Venti swings his feet back and forth under the table, watching Ajax as he opens the fridge, checking they have enough milk stocked for the day.
“I figured. Why you turn up for opening shifts when you don’t even know how to start up the machine is beyond me.” Ajax shakes his head and turns towards the coffee machine, switching on the power.
“Now, why would I do that when I have you to do that for me?” Venti singsongs.
“You don’t pay me enough. Now get off the bench, our regulars will arrive soon and I don’t think they’d appreciate you sitting on where their drinks are made.”
“Mean.” Venti pouts but jumps off the bench and starts setting up the tables and chairs.
Ajax looks up as the bell above the door rings.
“Good morning! What can I get for you?”
-----
After waving goodbye to Venti at midday and handing over the figurative reins for the rest of the lunchtime rush to his coworker Thoma, Ajax walks back towards the university. The café is only a ten minute walk away, so he usually lines his shifts up with classes for convenience’s sake. Generally, he works mornings at the café before heading to class, then evenings back at the convenience store near his flat.
As he waits to cross the road over to university, he wonders if the man in the garden will be there again today. Ajax hopes he will be, but that would rely on it being a regular occurrence for him.
Well, only time will tell.
-----
Ajax is nearly vibrating with manic energy as his class is dismissed. He pulls his bag over his shoulder and immediately starts retracing his steps from the previous week, turning to walk past the Education Building.
He is heading to the garden a bit earlier than he was last week, but he hopes that that won’t be a problem. If the man isn’t there, he can always wait for a bit, or work on an assignment (he says that, but he’ll probably just play on his phone again).
Ajax soon finds himself in the same area of small side streets he was before. Now, he can’t quite remember where the garden was, but surely he’ll stumble upon it if he walks around for a bit?
Famous last words. Ajax does finally find the garden after turning a corner, but only after twenty minutes of wandering around. Honestly, next time he ought to film where he’s going or something.
Ajax walks closer to the gate and peers up at the pavilion.
Hm. Nobody there.
Ajax sighs and resigns himself to sitting down and waiting. He looks down at the sign next to the gate. There’s some words alongside some traditional Liyuen characters written on it. Yuheng Garden, the text reads. Ajax squints at the characters next to it, wondering what they say, before hearing someone clear their throat behind him.
“Hello.” A soft voice says behind him.
Ajax whips around so fast his bag swings around and whacks him in the stomach. Standing in front of him, in all his beautiful glory, is none other than the man. He’s wearing the same suit as the previous week, although his hair is in a bun today, and is gazing at Ajax with an inquisitive look on his face. Ajax couldn't really see his eyes the previous week, but boy, he can now. They’re the brightest shade of gold and are locked onto his.
“Ack- hi.” Real graceful, Ajax. Great first impression.
“Will you be entering the garden?” The man says.
Ajax realises he’s been standing blocking the entrance for a solid minute and reaches behind him to push open the gate, unable to look away from the man’s gaze. “Uh, yes! I was just wondering what was written on the sign.”
“Ah, are you referring to the characters? They simply state the name of the garden, Yuheng Garden, in traditional Liyuen.”
Ajax internally facepalms. Of course. Well, now the guy thinks he’s an idiot.
“Ah, I see!” He scratches the back of his head. “I probably should have guessed that, huh.”
The man tilts his head and simply looks at him.
“A-anyway! Are you also visiting the garden?” Ajax blurts out.
The man raises an eyebrow. “Yes, I am.”
“Right, okay, well, uh.” Ajax reaches behind him again to grab the gate before realising he already pushed it open. “In we go, then!”
He finally breaks eye contact before turning and walking up the path to the pavilion, internally screaming at himself. Could he be more incoherent? How hard is it to not stumble over his words a million times?
Ajax sits down at the table and pulls out his readings for class along with his notebook, for lack of a better thing to do. He isn’t really expecting the man to follow him up to the pavilion, which is why it’s a shock when he looks up to see the man looking down at him.
“Would you mind terribly if I joined you at the table? I will endeavour not to disturb your work.” The man says softly.
“O-of course not! Please.” Ajax gestures next to him. “Go ahead!”
“Thank you.” The man places his bag at the edge of the other end of the table, pulling out the same items Ajax remembers from the previous week, and starts to set them up neatly.
Ajax glances out of the side of his eye as the man pulls out the- what did Lumine call it again? Calligraphy brush! And watches as he opens a small pot of black ink. The man dips the brush into the pot before pausing.
Ajax looks up to see him watching Ajax with a slightly concerned look on his face.
“Is everything alright?” The man asks, golden eyes gazing into blue.
“Oh, yes, sorry!” Ajax turns back to look at his work, although the words seem to just swim under his eyes as he tries to focus on them.
He struggles through reading a few pages before giving up and peeking back at what the man is doing.
He’s writing on the paper, his wrist and fingers making small motions to control the brush. It’s mesmerising to watch, the graceful movements almost like a dance of sorts as he lifts and moves the brush across the page.
Ajax glances up at his face and- wow. He really is beautiful. His eyes are focused entirely on the paper in front of him, following the brush’s movements as he writes. He seems so absorbed that Ajax is surprised when he pauses once more and his eyes flick up to Ajax’s.
As the man looks at him questioningly once more, Ajax realises he should probably give some reason as to why he’s been staring like an idiot.
“Um, would you mind explaining to me what it is you are doing? I’ve never seen anything like it before.” Ajax asks.
The man sets down the brush and rests his elbows on the table, clasping his hands together.
“This is called shūfǎ or fǎshū, but you may know it as calligraphy. It is the art of writing traditional Liyuen characters, and is a hobby of mine.”
“I see!” Ajax responds. “Is it a common activity people do here in Liyue?”
“Well, traditionally, it is considered a form of decorative art, a way in which one expresses themselves. It is not only simply writing, but a way to cultivate one’s character.”
The man looks down at the paper underneath his hands and continues.
“Written Liyuen script consists of a group of strokes executed in a set order. Uniquely, because of this restriction in how it is written, by looking at calligraphy one can mentally retrace the exact strokes, or steps if you will, taken to create the work. One can tell the speed the stroke was made, the weight of the brush on the page, among other factors. In this way, it is almost as if the viewer is right alongside the writer, watching them write onto the page.
“There were five main scripts in ancient Liyuen calligraphy, but it is kǎishū or zhēnshū, or regular script, that is the most commonly used today. I am quite fond of the activity, I find it…calms me.”
The man gazes thoughtfully at the brush in his hand, before he seemingly becomes aware of something and blinks a few times, looking back up at Ajax.
“Please excuse me, I did not mean to go on for quite so long.” He coughs softly. “To answer your initial question, though nowadays the practice of calligraphy is viewed as a more traditional pursuit, it is still present and appreciated in modern Liyuen society.”
“No, that’s quite alright! I think it’s very interesting.” Ajax says enthusiastically. “I don’t have any nearly so elegant hobbies. All I do is work and study. And occasionally get distracted from those two things by mobile games.”
The man faces him with a sceptical look in his eyes. “Forgive me, but while stimulating, I am not sure those activities would provide you much time to rest.”
“Eh, who needs rest? I got things to do!” Ajax grins, places his elbow onto the table and rests his chin on his hand. “Live while we’re young, right?”
The man looks back down at the paper on the table with a soft expression and takes a few moments to respond. “That’s right.”
Ajax frowns. The man may not look down, but why does he seem so melancholic all of a sudden? His eyes are focused on the writing in front of him, but the light in them seems to have dulled somewhat.
Ajax finds he wants to say something, anything, to break the silence and take that look out of the man’s eyes.
“Ajax.”
The man looks up at him inquisitively.
“That’s my name. You didn’t ask, but…anyway, that’s it!” Ajax breaks eye contact and stares at the flowers lining the edge of the garden, not knowing what else to say.
After a few more moments, the man answers.
“Zhongli.”
“Hm?” Ajax looks back up.
“That is my name.”
“Oh!” Ajax repeats the man’s name under his breath. “Zhong…li.”
He smiles brightly at him. “That is a lovely name! It is nice to meet you, Zhongli.”
Zhongli lets out a chuckle, and his lips raise into a soft smile. And this time, his eyes sparkle as they meet Ajax’s.
“Likewise.”
Ajax quickly turns his head away to face the opposite direction. He feels the tips of his ears warm.
What’s with that smile?? Why does he look so content all of a sudden? Ajax didn’t do anything funny…right? Surely Zhongli isn’t smiling because he’s laughing at him?
“A-anyway,” Ajax coughs and looks down at his notebook, “I think your calligraphy is very cool. And admirable.”
Zhongli picks up the calligraphy brush once more and comments, “Perhaps, you can find something that helps you find a similar form of peace, as calligraphy does for me. It does not have to be a complex activity. I, myself, find enjoying a warm cup of perfectly brewed tea also brings me at ease.”
Ajax looks up at that. “Oh, tea? I serve tea at my café!” He mentally slaps himself. “Well, uh, it’s not my café, per se, but I work there! Although to be honest, I’ve never actually tried it myself, I’m more of a coffee guy. You know how it is, gotta keep energy up with all my classes!” Ajax cringes so hard internally at his own words he almost gets up and runs away.
The corner of Zhongli’s mouth quirks up. “I see.”
“I am sure we have some wonderful flavours, I think you’d like them! Well, I don’t know what your preferences are, of course, but you might like them. Anyway, can’t hurt to try, right?” Ajax can feel his ears growing more and more red the longer he talks. “It’s right near the university, if you’d like to drop by sometime? The name of the café is Angel’s Snare.”
Before Zhongli can respond, Ajax looks away and continues, “But- no pressure! Only if you have time! I’m sure you’re very busy. ”
He stands up and decides to start packing up his completely ignored classwork so he can remove himself from this situation before he embarasses himself even further. “Uh, anyway, I’d better head off! Don’t wanna be late for work!”
He shoves all of his things into his bag and is about to sling it over his shoulder before Zhongli speaks.
“Ajax.”
Ajax freezes and slowly glances back up into Zhongli’s bright eyes.
“Ye-yes?”
“I would like that.”
Ajax nods frantically, unable to find the words to respond, and turns to walk down the steps. He places his hands onto his warmed cheeks as he goes. His ears are on fire and he’s sure his face doesn’t look too much better. Damn his fair skin for blushing easily.
Ajax continues down the path and pauses after pushing open the gate, looking back up at the pavilion. Zhongli is watching him with a pensive look in his eyes, still holding the calligraphy brush gently in his right hand.
Ajax raises his hand in a small wave before he can think better of it, then quickly turns back to the road.
He didn’t make too much of a fool of himself, right?
He shakes his head and walks up the street back to the university, thinking of inky brushes and soft smiles.