insurmountable | i'm dragging a heart that weighs a ton / holding out for not just anyone

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i'm dragging a heart that weighs a ton / holding out for not just anyone

[Fontaine: The technological hub of Teyvat.

For as long as anyone can remember, the country of Fontaine has always been the innovative center for the continent. High speed rail was originated here, and now spans across the entirety of Teyvat and beyond. High rises and skyscrapers pepper the skyline, modern Victorian buildings supporting a gear-like aesthetic from an era gone by. A thousand years ago, it was a much different place, but now it thrives with the bright lights and bustle of its people. One can hear the occasional street performer playing for cash, as businessmen and tourists alike walk down narrow cobblestone streets. People are buried in their phones, some take pictures as they gawk at the sights of the city, but one young man in particular walks languidly down the street, enjoying the life around him. He's in no hurry to get where he's going, as he has plenty of time to get there, noting a deli across the street from where he is now that he'll have to try.

Unfortunately, he is on business, so that'll have to wait.

Never being one to be dressed completely formal, he wears a comfortable pair of slacks and dress shoes, with a collared shirt that isn't buttoned up all the way under a grey vest. Various pieces of metal are woven into the vest, notably a crest on his right shoulder with a chain attached to it that hangs under his arm to the back. On his belt lies a Vision, glowing blue with hydro. The young man always seems friendly and easy going, but what lies underneath is something that not many are allowed to know- the heir to the family business of a company who develops tech for various products is also the right hand man of the mafia that runs the city.

And, their true business behind the scenes; creating Delusions to sell on the black market.

Today is a day where some investigating has to be done, and he's headed to see an old friend of his, from university. One that he's sure can help him with this problem he has. Entering the building, he swings in quietly to give a polite wave and a smile to the only person there.

Someone who looked exactly like their brother, whom he can only assume is the twin sister he'd yet to meet that he'd heard about.]

Hello, I was wondering if Aether was in today? I had a...business proposal for him, and I'm sure that he'd love to hear it. Unless of course, you might be of assistance instead.

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[Uh oh. When she goes and grabs the plate that has the remainder of her salad on it, he gets out of the chair immediately. There's only two things that happen here, and he's not letting her break that on his head. But thankfully the one that would actually hurt isn't the option she picks.]

Lumi-!

[The salad and the dressing go right into his face, his hands barely coming up in time to at least block some of it. He can feel the liquid dripping down his face onto his shirt, and some of the lettuce has stuck to the bare skin from leaving it unbuttoned.

But the only thing that serves to accomplish is make him laugh again, covered in dressing and various other vegetables that have stuck to him. Grinning, he comes right at her, using his long legs to close the distance quickly.]

Com'ere, you rascal!

[Grabbing her shoulders so she can't get away from him, he rubs his cheek all over hers- smearing the dressing on her face.]

Edited 2022-07-24 15:13 (UTC)

[ the shriek she lets out is almost unworldly as lumine tries to avoid his hand, circling the kitchen to sidestep him. but ajax quickly catches her, rooting her in place as he rubs his cheek on hers. she lets out another yell in an attempt to push him off of her, smearing the dressing further on her skin. ]

Ajax, stop—

[ she shoves him off of her, taking a few steps back and wiping the mess on her face with the back of her hand. a bit of it starts to drip from her cheek to her dress, staining the white fabric.

she'll have to change into something clean again. ]

You idiot.

Haha, sorry, [he says, genuinely apologetic but still amused that some of it has dripped down to her dress. He can probably get that out, and it'll be good as new.

Ajax grabs some paper towels from the counter, wiping his own face and chest off, his own shirt having become a casualty in this tiny food fight they've had. He rips off some and gives them to her, proudly gazing down at his work.]

Just throw it in the basket and I'll get it washed right away. You know, [he begins to think aloud,] you've got pretty good aim even with a plate of salad, comrade.

[ she reluctantly accepts the paper towel, wiping the rest of the dressing off of her. the kitchen is a complete mess, unsurprisingly, but she's letting ajax clean up that one. this is his fault in the first place, after all. ]

Stop calling me that.

[ comrade is what childe calls the traveler, after all, and it's frustrating as it is to see the changes happening in ajax. and while this isn't exactly the first time he's called her that, it somehow grates on her nerves more. ]

I have a name, you know.

[Ajax hadn't realized how easily it had slipped from his mouth, but at the same time he'll let it roll off his back for the moment. It's a process that cannot be stopped, only slowed down, is what he said- and he feels that reality even more in this moment.

But it doesn't come across as so terrible. That if this is what it's like to merge, small little things like calling her comrade or enjoying battle even more than he used to, then perhaps he'd been frightened of something that wasn't that scary to begin with.]

Sorry, [he apologizes again, grabbing a broom out of a nearby closet and sweeping the salad and scattered tomatoes back up, and using more paper towels to get the dressing off the floor.]

You wouldn't mind if I call you Lumi then instead, would you?

[A substitute instead of falling into comrade, or anything else. And, he finds it cute.]

[ that nickname again.

lumine pauses for a moment before she resumes her clean-up, grabbing another piece of paper towel to wipe the dressing from a lock of hair. she seems to chew on that request while she's silently washing her hair in the sink, sniffing it gingerly. once satisfied, she turns to ajax. ]

I do mind.

[ lumi is a nickname used by her brother and a handful of people who were intimate or close to her. despite having slept together, she doesn't think ajax qualifies as that just yet. ]

So just call me by name as you normally do.

Haha, alright. Lumine it is then.

[He'll have to come up with some cute Snezhnayan names for her instead, something uniquely his. But that will come a different day, because for right now he'll focus on making the kitchen look like they didn't just have a small food fight.

The broom is put away, satisfied for now with the kitchen. There wasn't enough to really warrant a mop, but he makes a note to get some kind of microfiber floor mop so they don't have to get a whole bucket out for a small job like this.]

Come, let's get your dress washed, so I can get the laundry started before Aether comes back.

[Ajax begins to stride out of the kitchen, heading to her bedroom, unbuttoning his own shirt that's covered in dressing. Eh, it was worth it.]

You should wash them in the apartment so it's less noticeable.

[ lumine's in the process of tugging her own clothes, wrinkling her nose at the permeating smell of vinegar and whatever else he's put in it, trailing after ajax to the bedroom. after all, they've left the laundry basket in there along with the bedsheets they've managed to ruin, thanks to ajax being unable to keep it in his pants. the moment she steps inside the room, she pulls the dress over her head and tosses it into the basket, padding over to the dresser in just her underwear.

what lumine doesn't realise, however, her attention occupied by annoyance and dismay and the fact that he's already stripping even before they get to the bedroom is zhongli and aether's presence in the doorway, the latter's golden eyes narrowed as he follows their trek to his shared bedroom with lumine. of course, the ex-archon says nothing, simply walks over to the living room to take a seat, while the older twin storm towards the bedroom.

aether slides open the door with a loud thud, looking in dismay at his shirtless friend and almost-naked sister. lumine immediately stands up with a shriek, covering herself with the first dress she grabs from the dresser. ]

Ae! Knock next time!

[ really? in my bedroom, the both of you? ]

[Ajax doesn't see Aether and Zhongli in the house, having been looking down as he unbuttoned his shirt as he walked right into the bedroom. The shirt is thrown into the basket, picking it up as Lumine tosses the dress into it. His head turns sharply at the thud of the door, eyes wide with surprise as Lumine shrieks and covers herself.

Well, this is bad.

The man decides, in that moment, to just be straightforward with Aether, blinking once at him before cautiously beginning what he'll say to cover for the both of them as best as possible.]

Hey, calm down. Lumine's salad took an unfortunate spill all over us. If you don't believe me, you can look in the trash in the kitchen. I swept it up a few minutes ago, and since it was my fault, I told her I'd take care of the laundry before both my shirt and her dress get stained.

[Ajax starts to walk towards the doorway, using a free hand to shoo Aether out of the room so his sister can put on a new dress in peace.]

C'mon, let her get changed.

[ wha—

aether has a lot of questions, starting with why is ajax in their bedroom and why is it his fault that lumine's salad spilled, followed by why is the laundry basket in their room in the first place. but he doesn't even get to ask them, ushered out of his own bedroom with the door shut in his face. how dare that ginger!

unable to do anything, aether storms back to the living room to join zhongli, huffing and folding his arms across his chest, his gaze burning a hole at the closed door to the bedroom.

they have to get out of there soon.

lumine, on the other hand, hastily puts on another dress, smoothing it over her body. this is what she's been worried about, aether getting back home. at the very least, they've managed to clean things up, but she still didn't think he'd be back so early. ]

Why aren't you heading to your room to get a shirt, Ajax? [ she asks with a groan, turning towards the mirror in the room to make herself presentable. ] Don't tell me you're planning to walk around shirtless in the house.

[He sighs with relief as Aether gets pushed out of the room, he'll have to think of something else to try to calm his friend down while avoiding the topic of sex in their bed. He's sure he can navigate it, but it'll be difficult.]

Honestly speaking, I was going to go straight to the washing machine to get the clothes in there asap. I'm serious that I don't want them to get stained.

[And wouldn't it be slightly more suspicious if he didn't at this point?]

Anyway, it's not against the rules for me to walk around without a shirt. If Aether's bothered by it, then that's his own problem. I'll happily tell him my workout routine.

[Ajax opens the sliding door to step out, to head right to the washing machine as promised, closing the door behind him. He looks into the living room to see the two men, nodding at Zhongli in acknowledgement before he makes his way to where the washing machine is.]

[ cue eyeroll from lumine. ]

Isn't it an unspoken rule to have some modicum of shame?

[ not that ajax has ever had some semblance of shame since she's met him. either it's not something he's born with, naturally shameless and all, or he just doesn't see the point in having it. lumine can't tell which is worse, truth be told.

she emerges from the bedroom minutes later after he does, her gaze flickering towards the place where the washing machine is and then towards aether, who's staring at her flatly. his folded arms tell her enough of his mood, and she's not about to aggravate him further. especially when he probably hasn't had any sleep yet. ]

Did you eat? Ajax made salad with chicken, [ she asks him as she takes a seat on one of the armchairs. ] You can then nap afterwards. I hear you haven't slept yet ...

[ lumi. aether gestures at her neck, his lips thinning. are you seriously thinking you can hide things from me?

ugh, ajax. he and his hickeys. ]

[Ajax throws everything in the wash, before heading upstairs to find a new button up to throw on. He's not gone long, before he pads back downstairs and into the living room, prepared for either a scolding or a lecture or whatever kind of stream of angry consciousness Aether has prepared for him. He hopes Lumine hasn't broken and just spilled the beans entirely- hopefully he'll have something to work with here to keep him as satiated as possible.

Ajax takes a seat in a chair near Zhongli, greeting him first so as to not be too terribly rude. He still needs to speak with him, and the two men exchange a few words about taking a walk later to speak about things and "catch up" as Zhongli puts it before Ajax turns towards Aether and Lumine, the former of which is still scolding his sister.]

Aether, c'mon, let up on her, [Ajax says with a bored look on his face, trying to spare Lumine any more pain than she has to go through. He'd caught snippets of their conversation, sounds like Aether figured out more than he's comfortable with.]

If you want to be mad at someone, come over here and be mad at me.

[ lumine can't say she's not expecting it from her brother; they did have a talk already about bringing someone in their shared home after the first incident. but then, to be fair, it doesn't exactly apply to this, does it? not when ajax lives in the same house as them at the moment. then again, she supposes that that conversation now applies to their shared bedroom, which she and ajax ... just defiled earlier ...

something that her twin brother very accurately deducted and concluded.

she winces inwardly when aether reminds her of the other residents in the house, unable to meet zhongli's eyes who seems currently disinterested in their current disagreement. and weren't she and ajax having a cold war just days ago? they just made up like that?

so it's a bit of a godsend when ajax finally shows up again—wearing a shirt, thank the archons—and joins them in the living room. aether shoots him a sharp look, narrowing his eyes.

the both of you can't even control yourselves when you're already adults. ]

[There is this small, tempting thought to remind Aether that he was effectively dead just the day prior, but he'll save that card for later if he has to. It depends on how badly this conversation goes.]

Hm? I don't understand what you're getting at. Did we do something that adults wouldn't normally do?

[As far as he's concerned, aside from having sex in the bed that Aether sleeps in, nothing they did was wrong. And he's not about to admit the real crime here, especially since he's sure she didn't admit to it either.]

Also, should we really be having this conversation in front of Mr. Zhongli? It seems a little...rude, wouldn't you say?

[He turns to Zhongli, looking apologetic.]

Sorry. Aether doesn't particularly care for our relationship. I apologize that you've had to sit through this.

[There is no need for an apology, responds the former archon, such matters have been remonstrated frequently in public; though it may not be the place for such matters, I have heard it from time to time.]

[ lumine throws ajax a pointed look before she slightly shakes her head. really, he's just making this all worse by aggravating her twin brother even more. roping zhongli into the conversation doesn't help either, and she finds that she has to grab aether's hand to turn his attention back to her.

you know what's rude? it's slee— ]

Ae! [ lumine squeezes her brother's hand, coaxing him to look at her. aether turns to her, a sullen expression on his face. ] I think you need to rest. You haven't slept yet since yesterday, right?

[ lumi— ]

You can sleep in Ajax's room. I'm sure he'll be willing to let you use it. [ she shoots another look at ajax, deliberately not looking at zhongli to see if the man is judging her (she doubts it) while pressing her lips together. ] Especially since he didn't use it all day ...

[Ah, ruining his fun. He was hoping that maybe he'd get Aether to throw a punch at him, but not today. Guess she wants to keep it peaceful.

So staying silent on the matter of whether he'd used his own bed or not today seems like the best idea, since he was trying to avoid talking about it in any capacity. He simply nods his head, wishing that she hadn't said that, but maybe in Aether's sleep deprived condition, he'll forget about it later...]

I'll change the sheets for you, buddy.

[Standing up, he crosses the room, to leave Aether to either fume at Lumine some more or do whatever he wants while he prepares the bed so his friend can at least rest. Ajax pads back upstairs to do so, and returns fifteen minutes later when it's finished, returning to the chair he'd sat in previously.]

There, it's all ready to go.

[ the only person who doesn't want this to be peaceful is ajax.

besides, not using the bed can mean a lot of things and not just sex. after all, he's been up all day, making lunch, waking her up, probably dealing with chores. and unless ajax can now cook in bed, then lumine's pretty sure it's been out of use since that morning. it's not her fault that he's the one jumping to conclusions immediately and not figuring out how the both of them can get out of this mess.

when ajax returns from making his bed, lumine tugs at her brother's arm, urging him to get up. aether looks as sullen as ever, and she has a feeling it's his lack of sleep that's piling onto his temper. ]

C'mon, Ae. I'll go with you upstairs.

[ he throws another dark look at ajax as he passes him by, lips thin and expression dismayed. lumine pushes him on, not wanting this to suddenly explode like it did in snezhnaya. ]

Let's go. Ajax is not joining us, don't worry. He's going to entertain Zhongli.

[A bright smile is thrown back at Aether, accompanied by a small wave as he stands up. So much for no funny business, he thinks, laughing inwardly to himself. A part of him feels bad, and yet another part of him enjoys this small amount of chaos he's caused. But what's done is done, and he turns to Zhongli, nodding to the other man.]

Well, there's no time like the present. Let's go on that walk, shall we?

[The former archon rises, giving a nod to the twins as both Ajax and himself head towards the front door. Probably best to...leave them alone, since the Snezhnayan has decided to forgo diplomacy.]

See you two later.

[And out the door they go, and won't return for at least a few hours. At least.]

[ that smile ... lumine narrows her eyes, annoyance lancing through her.

ajax is lucky she doesn't decide to turn and hit him as he's been trying to goad aether to do. instead, lumine simply ignores him and ushers her brother up the stairs and into the empty bed. aether's without a doubt exhausted beyond words, her twin working for hours without sleep, that he quickly conks out even before she could tuck him in.

it's an hour later that lumine finally goes down to the living room, fetching her laptop from her bedroom and heading out into the apartment to continue what aether's been working on. after all, she doesn't think he's managed to finish everything, not when he's clearly tired and sleepless.

she stays in the apartment for a few hours, finally putting the office that ajax has set up for them to good use. ]

[A lot of information is gleaned from Zhongli during their walk.

He's thankful for it, as it gives him a lot more insight to their situation, and finally answers most of his questions regarding why he and Lumine are the way they are. Ajax made sure to ask very specific questions, sometimes getting a little bored or frustrated when Zhongli went off track from time to time, but he gets what he needs. But even despite periods of rambling, he finds it comforting to be able to walk alongside him, a familiar presence which he can only attribute to Childe and Zhongli having been friends so long ago.

It seemed to make Zhongli happy to see him again too, and Ajax almost doesn't notice that several hours have past before they return to the house.

But work is still something he has to devote time and energy to, so brief goodbyes are said before Ajax heads back to the apartment to check emails, texts and voicemails. One of which is important, and something that he needs to speak with Lumine about. Thankfully she's already in the apartment, noticing she'd been working herself in the office, leaving her be to do so as he went through his own mess of messages.

It's now that he pops his head into the office, looking a little more serious than usual, but not worried.]

Hey. Got a second?

[ lumine doesn't notice ajax's presence in the apartment when he shows up, caught up in the work that aether's left pending: reimbursements, employee benefits, police reports. there's only so much her brother can do, after all, in his sleep-deprived state and it's even impressive that he's able to finish a decent amount of work.

she only realises that he's around when he checks up on her in the office, a look of expectation on his face. she cocks an eyebrow in question, before she turns back to the document opened on her laptop. ]

Go shoot.

[ a second is really all she can spare, unable to look away from the work she has at the moment. ] What is it?

[Walking inside, he leans up against the desk next to her, so he can show her a text message he'd gotten while still in the teapot for the last few days or so. It's from his father, labeled "old man" in Ajax's phone.]

The office of your friend is all over the news. I want to know what's going on, Ajax. I need to see you, bring your friends with.

[Breathing out a heavy sigh, he looks to Lumine apologetically. He knew this moment would come, but he's not sure if he or either of the twins are ready for this.]

I've been trying to explain things to him but I don't think he's buying the half truths anymore. He wants to see us. Ironically, this is the perfect time to do so, since I think it's pretty safe to move.

[Personally, he'd rather have a small vacation right about now, but it looks like one of those days are going to be spent seeing his dad.]

Knowing him, he wants to see us asap.

[ lumine pauses once more from her work to glance at the phone and read what the message says before she looks up at ajax. she supposes that they've probably put this off for a while now, and there's no doubt that his dad is getting suspicious about this. it doesn't help either that there's enough of his men who had died trying to protect her and her brother. it wouldn't surprise her if he's holding that against them.

for a moment, she looks back at her laptop, her expression thoughtful. a moment later, she's looking back up at ajax, her lips pressed together. ]

Can Aether go with you?

[ surely, her brother has met his dad? and is probably familiar with him? which means that there's a better chance for her twin to smooth things over with the volkov patriarch.

but also, mostly she doesn't want to have to answer any questions she can't answer. ]

Give me a second. Let me ask him what he wants exactly.

[It's a good question, so he'll text his dad back. Ajax quickly sends the text, asking if it's alright if just Aether comes, and his dad responds quickly. Not surprising, given how alert everyone must be. He reads it, to give her the bad news.]

If she isn't coming, then she'll just have to come on a different day. But she's not getting out of coming to speak to me, Ajax. Let her know that.

[Ajax grimaces, if that's what his dad wants, then that's what his dad is going to get.]

Sorry. Looks like the only thing you can do is put it off. Believe me, it's better to get it over with now.

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