insurmountable | how could i ever forget // outside the morning was cool and wet

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how could i ever forget // outside the morning was cool and wet

[It's not often Ajax finds himself getting his head slammed down onto the hood of a car, least of all a cop car. Usually it's him doing the slamming.

But today the young man finds himself denting the hood, the sound of metal caving in under his head ringing in his ears. Not exactly the ideal situation he was hoping for, but he figured sooner or later he'd have a run in with the cops due to the sensitive nature of his profession, but that doesn't mean he has to like how inconsiderate they are with him as they cuff him and throw him in the back of the paddy wagon. Not that he was considerate to them when he was discovered, as evidenced by the blood all over his clothing and knuckles from the fight he'd gotten into with them. How he managed to avoid getting shot is beyond him- plenty of shots were fired, but that hadn't stopped him from knocking a few of them out.

It's just too bad he'd been instructed that he couldn't kill anyone, or else he'd of gotten out of there without being caught.

The lights of the police station are bright, almost too bright from the contrast of how dark it was outside. Ajax squints as he's dragged inside, held tightly by two cops who hurry him through the station, but not fast enough that he doesn't catch a glimpse of the secretary behind the desk as they come in. Pretty, blonde, looking like she'd rather be anywhere else. Gorgeous eyes, ones that catch his attention almost immediately as he's being shoved towards the back, shining with a radiance that captures him instantly. His eyes lock with hers, feeling something silent yet powerful surge through him from this tiny, insignificant interaction. He doesn't even have a moment to think further on it, before he's so rudely interrupted.

Get moving.

The curt voice of the bigger cop on his right cuts through the moment, anger welling up in Ajax's chest and something dark stirs in his core. If he wasn't cuffed and being restrained, he'd turn that guy's face into a new work of art, something so abstract some insane art collector would gladly pay millions for it.

No sooner had Ajax been ushered in, he disappears from sight as he's taken back into an interrogation room, the mysterious blonde no longer in his sights, now getting shoved into a corner of a room.]

What's with this? Don't you even have the courtesy of giving me a chair to sit in, at least?

[From outside of the room, muffled noises of a scuffle as the cops lay into Ajax can be heard, the loudest of which is a thud of a body slamming into a wall, accompanied by a groan from the ginger kid. Though little do any of them know, their real problems haven't arrived just yet, waking from their slumber right outside of the city...]

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[Thankfully, Ajax didn't have to get his hands dirty today. He did have to sit through a bunch of boring briefings and had to give a full report on the incident that happened to both himself and the girl from the police station. That, and he had to be reprimanded by getting caught by the cops in the first place to get into that situation. It wasn't a great day, but it was manageable...not to mention he got the opportunity to do a little bit of snooping on his own. It's wild to him that he managed to avoid getting caught, but the information he got was definitely worth the risk.

So he's home before Yoimiya gets home, lying down on the bed just to get a little rest before he thinks about starting dinner. Groceries were already picked up, so there was no need to text her for anything. The second he hears her come in, he turns off his phone, throws on a shirt and saunters into the living room. She's standing at Hanabi's tank, but he can instantly tell there's something off. The usual energy that she has isn't there, she's not talking to her fish like a crazy person, and she seems a little somber in a sense to him.]

Hey, [he says, a bit gingerly,] how'd it go at work? You certainly got a lot of welcome back gifts, I see.

[He glances over to the table where all her gifts are sitting, but her energy definitely doesn't match.]

[ ~~wdym talking to her fish like a crazy person??? he's the crazy one for failing to understand the great and all-powerful Hanabi >:l~~

Yoimiya was so exhausted that she hadn't realized Ajax already beat her home. She jumps a little, startled by his sudden appearance but quickly calms down the moment she realizes it's him. The last of Hanabi's favorite flakes get sprinkled on the water's edge, the little fish quickly comes up to nom away. Normally, she'd be cooing over how cute her beloved fish is but right now, she's got a lot on her plate that needs to be shared with Ajax. ]

It started off okay. I was surprised to be welcomed back with so many gifts... [ She trails off, glancing over at a particular bouquet that houses a bundle of red spider lilies. ] I was so touched and excited to receive everything at first but... um, well, you just have to see this note with your own two eyes.

[ Slowly, she makes her way back to the table to pluck out a card that was stashed away inside the bouquet. She takes a deep breath to calm her nerves and with a shaking hand, she hands the card over to him. What's inside is a disturbing letter that isn't even written by hand, all of it has been stitched together with words cut out from magazines. It's obvious the sender does not want to be traced. ]

How do you sleep at night knowing you are cozying up to a monster from the Nizhnii company? Reprehensible people like you and him deserve to burn in the pits of hell.

It doesn't matter if you watch your back. It doesn't matter if you sleep with one eye open. It doesn't matter if you report this letter to the pigs at your job. No matter where you run or hide, you will not escape our wrath.

All you can do is hope that these spider lilies guide you in the hell that you belong.

You are next.

[Ajax doesn't really understand the meaning of flowers aside from some of the ones native to his homeland, so he doesn't pick up right away on her glance to the spider lilies nor does he get the reference in the letter, either. The anxiety he feels when she explains herself and then mentions a note spikes like crazy, and he feels his heart pound a little harder when she goes back to the table to pick up the envelope.

Her shaking hand makes his temper fly into the sky, already understanding from that alone that whatever is in that note terrified her to no end. His cheeks are getting hot with anger as he takes the note from her, and that only becomes worse as he reads it.

He takes his time, reading it slowly, then reading it again. Ajax is deathly quiet, and with no one to explode at, his temper boils beneath the surface.]

Did you report this?

[His eyes are boring holes into the letter, voice even but dripping with a venom that could kill with a single drop, not looking up as he looks it over again as he asks.]

[ Oh, Ajax... she can practically feel his rage boiling over and heating up the whole room. Not that she blames him, if the positions were reversed, she'd be beside herself if she found out he received an awful letter like this. His silence is terrifying in of itself, he's not normally this quiet, and if this was directed at her, she'd be shaking in her boots right about now.

It's a good thing Ajax is on her side. Having him as an enemy would be brutal. ]

No. I thought about it but since the note mentioned the Nizhnii company by name, I didn't want you to potentially get found out.

[ She came very close to saying something to the cops... but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. Not when Ajax's life is at stake. The note may not have said his name directly, but there's always a chance of someone with some brains putting two and two together.

And for that, there's no way she could risk Ajax's safety for her own. ]

[Ajax nods in response. That was probably good thinking on Yoimiya's part, who knows what kind of investigation might of happened if she would've mentioned Nizhnii being the reason why she got a threatening letter. Pissed off people do things because of a reason, and the last thing they need is having his job investigated too, and having his name on their books for any reason at all. When he cools down, he'll be more glad for her rational thinking on this.]

Rest assured, when I find the one who sent you this letter, I will deal with them accordingly.

[The note is crushed in his hand, letting his rage seethe out through the contracted muscles around it rather than taking it out by leaving and hunting down whoever threatened Yoimiya. He has no leads, no where to go...and that makes him the most irritated over it.]

We need to take this seriously, Yoimiya. This is too specific and targeted to be a prank, so you'll need to be wary of where you go. Don't go anywhere alone. I'll be taking you to work from now on, and if I can I'll pick you up. Okay?

[ His threat is all the reassurance she needs. She's seen him in action, Ajax is undoubtedly strong even without his powers. She has no doubt he'll stay true to his promise and crush whoever threatened her like the crumpled-up note in his hand. The whole ordeal is scary but she feels a bit better knowing Ajax will be stuck to her like glue.

Although the letter resulted from her dealings with Ajax, she's still thankful for their chance encounter. There's no way she'd be able to deal with the stress and trauma all on her own. ]

Okay, I promise I'll stay by your side every second of every day now. Thank you Ajax... I'm still scared but feel much better knowing you're on the case.

[ Besides, she has a feeling Ajax has better deduction skills than half the people at her job. Wouldn't surprise her if they were running around like chickens with their heads cut off scrambling to find the perpetrator while Ajax is miles ahead of them. ]

I really hate to say this but judging from the contents of this letter, sounds like the person who sent it has been watching us for a good while.

[ Just like that, the lump that's been lodged inside Yoimiya's throat drops to her stomach in a sickening, twisting feeling. ]

[It's nice to hear that his convictions are enough to give her some semblance of security, but it's not enough for Ajax. He already had enough to worry about with his own job possibly discovering their secret and coming after them themselves. But now, someone else is threatening Yoimiya's life...and he can't even begin to fathom who. He can't deny that they probably were being watched by someone, probably from the start.]

No. They haven't been watching us for a good while, they've been watching us the entire time and have kept tabs on me even before we met. We've only known each other for a few weeks, and been together here for a few days. We have to assume they know everything about us until proven otherwise.

[And that's bad. Real bad.]

The only good part about it is that they don't sound like they want us to be subject to Nizhnii...they'd rather do it themselves, which means it's likely they won't tell anyone about us if they know we've suddenly sprouted special marks. But we don't know exactly what they want.

[His eyes are still raging with a fire behind them, even as he works out the details in his head. Going through every possibility, arriving at the worst solutions...that's Ajax.]

I don't like this...

[ They've been under watch this entire time... the anger in his voice is palpable, just hearing that is enough for a cold beat of sweat to drip down the back of her neck and cause the hairs on her arm to stand. If the perpetrator knows everything about their lives, then it's likely they know all about their special powers.

Ajax's inference is correct, sounds like the mysterious person wishes to deal their own hand rather than report them to the Nizhnii company. Because if that were the case, they certainly would have been turned into lab rats a long time ago.

Ajax is also right about something else, she also doesn't like this, Yoimiya couldn't have said it any better herself. Just when she thought things were looking up, they have yet another enemy to deal with on top of monsters, and the Nizhnii.

Yeah, she really does not like this. ]

This might be impossible to answer given what Nizhnii has done but is there anyone in particular who might hold a serious grudge against you?

[ Of course it could be anyone, someone working in the company, someone whose loved one was taken away, someone who just feels like they were wronged by Ajax, the possibilities are endless. ]

We gotta start somewhere if we want to get to the bottom of this.

[Yoimiya's asking the right questions and it reminds him that he has to try to cool down a little bit and think. Who would try to hurt him through a woman he's having relations with? Why would they be mad at him, and how would they even know who to be mad at?]

I'm pretty thorough when it comes to my job, [he begins slowly, fighting down his rage and trying to see it from more of an analytical state of mind.]

So I find it hard to believe that any singular person that I've wronged would be specifically angry at me. They shouldn't even know who I am. But, I'm also the one who gets sent out to do the dirty work, so one could single it all down to me. That letter mentioned Nizhnii by name, so that means that they have some kind of inkling behind the real purpose of the company.

[He sighs as he lands on what he thinks is the answer here, and he doesn't like it.]

This is most likely bigger than it seems. They can't get to my family, so they've just found the next best thing to get to me and my employer...you. "They" being a rival of ours.

[ Ajax's reasoning makes sense, it's hard to fathom that a single person would specifically target him when he's been pretty off the radar. They would have to be in close contact with him to know who he is and his relationship with her. This is so much on their plate with no clear answer in sight, it's making her head hurt...

But before she ponders any further, Ajax makes a startling revelation that turns her whole world upside down and causes her eyes to grow as wide as saucers. She sputters, unable to process what he's saying for a solid minute. ]

Wait... did you say... rival company?!

[ Oh goodness. Out of everything, the last thing Yoimiya expected was a rival company to be thrown into the mix. Sure, she could have seen a disgruntled employee or wronged victim taking their anger out on her but a company in competition with Nizhnii was the last thing on her bingo card. ]

Oh my gosh, hold on, so you're telling me y'all have rivals? Do they partake in the same... [ a beat ] partake in the same questionable methods?

[Oh. Looks like she definitely wasn't ready for that.

Now, Ajax knows what their rival companies do. But Yoimiya doesn't, and it earns a small laugh out of him when she asks what is honestly a very logical question given he knowledge of Nizhnii. But he shakes his head.]

Nizhnii has always had a strong rivalry with a Fontainian company called Pouce. As far as I know, Pouce doesn't involve themselves with experimentation, let alone knows exactly what's going on involving that. But they do know Nizhnii's up to something, and they know I'm their man behind it. They'd do anything to make problems for Nizhnii.

[He scratches his head, sighing when he thinks about it.]

Remember the night we met? Who do you think tipped the cops off to get me arrested?

[ Oh. Oh. Ooooooooooooooh.

Suddenly, everything makes so much sense even though it's the shock of the century.

As if she weren't already stunned, Yoimiya's eyes looked like they were about ready to pop out of her skull from that revelation. She's shaken to her core, needing a moment to process the whole scenario because she did not see this coming. Now if Pouncé opposes Nizhnii and they don't dabble in experiments, does that mean... they are actually the good guys in this scenario?

She shakes her head, refusing to go down that line of logic. Even if they have better morals than Nizhnii, it still doesn't excuse them for sending her an awful note. ]

I'm speechless. Honestly, after getting to know you, I was wondering how you got caught because you seem like you're very meticulous and careful.

[ There's no way he would stupidly let himself get caught, not without someone tipping the police off. ]

Now it all makes sense. But Ajax, your job is even more dangerous than I thought.

When you're in the line of work I'm in, it comes with the territory.

[He won't get into the details on it, she's already worried enough as it is plus her own life may really be in danger. No need to frighten her with any more details...]

Anyway, I'm used to it. I've made it through so far, so don't worry too much about me. I've taken every precaution to make sure I'm safe.

[That clearly doesn't work all the time, but details.]

Unfortunately, there's no much we can do other than to take the same precautions for you- I don't know who sent that letter so I'll be unable to go to them directly to take care of it. Nizhnii, Poucé...along with what I learned today, things are really starting to heat up. We have more to discuss as well, Yoimiya. But if you need tonight to deal with that threatening letter, I can wait.

[ He says he's used to it but the notion does little to ease her concerns. How can she go on knowing his life is in constant danger? But she supposed all she can do is support him from behind.

Nizhii, and now Pounce... there's so much to take in that it's all sounding like white noise in her stressed out heart. She just sighs and shakes her head, unsure of how to even go about dealing with the letter. ]

I... don't know. Sorry, I've never experience this level of panic my whole life.

[ The stress of this whole ordeal finally gets the better of her as she crumples onto the couch with her face buried in her hands. ]

[Yep, there will be no discussion of anything he learned from his own company tonight. It breaks his heart to watch her shake her head and sit down on the couch, looking broken in ways that she should never have to experience in her life. It helps to temper his rising anger, setting that to the side to walk over and sit next to her on the couch, wrapping one arm around her middle so he can bring her close into his side.]

Come're.

[Ajax presses his head against her own, closing his eyes as he sits and holds her in his arms. Though he wishes he could tear apart the people who've made her feel this terrified, he can't, and the only thing keeping him from going out right now to find them is her and wanting to give her any and all comfort she may need to get through this.]

I promise everything's going to be okay. No matter what happens, I'm going to be there for you and protect you from harm.

[He presses a small kiss to the side of her head before pressing in close again, willing to sit with her as long as she needs.]

[ For the first time in her life, Yoimiya is at a complete and total loss at what to do. She's experienced fear but nothing like this, she's never had her life threatened in such a cruel manner. But thankfully, Ajax's arm gives her the solace she so desperately needs. Yoimiya needs out a sigh of relief, leaning into his side to soak in his comforting presence.

Maybe her meeting with Ajax sealed her fate but she doesn't care, she wouldn't trade him for the world. ]

Thank you, Ajax. I'm scared, really really scared but I feel a bit better with you at my side.

[Ajax doesn't respond right away, letting silence fill the room so they can focus on each other rather than letting despair get the better of either of them. He rubs her arm, taking a few minutes to just be with her in solidarity, before finally breaking the silence to try to cheer her up a little.]

Let's not dwell too much on it tonight. Worrying will do you no good, and you mustn't let these petty threats get to you. That's what they want, so we should do everything in our power to fight back.

[He'll do the worrying, and he's already formulating plans to get back at those assholes. Yoimiya might not realize, but Ajax has resources he can access to take care of messes like these.]

Do you want to come make some dinner with me in the kitchen? I can teach you a simple Snezhnayan recipe to make a tasty meal anytime you want. We'll do it together, it'll be nice and relaxing.

[ Yoimiya doesn't say anything for a solid minute. Maybe she's letting stress get the better of her but how could she not worry about an awful letter being sent her way? These threats don't feel petty at all, they come across as dangerous. She gets that Ajax is trying to cheer her up but unfortunately, it will be practically next to impossible to not dwell on this. With her eyes darted to the ground, she was too shaken to react to the gentle rub on her arm, which was as sweet as it was. ]

... Okay.

[ It's rare for her not to say much but she truly is just that scared. Without another word, she slowly removes herself from the couch and goes to the kitchen while trying to steady her shaky legs. ]

[He knows some flowery words isn't going to instantly make her feel better. In fact, he doubts she's going to feel better at all the rest of the night, but he's determined to at least alleviate some of it. Ajax follows her into the kitchen, taking out a mixing bowl, some ingredients, and the proper utensils.

Gently, he directs her over to it, so she's standing in front of the bowl as he presses his chest to her back, arms wrapped around her middle to comfort and also be ready to help and show her how to make it.]

Here, we're going to make something called blini. It's a favorite of mine, too.

[He keeps his tone even and soothing, craning his head forward so he can press the side of it to her own.]

We're just going to mix all of this into this bowl, and stir it until it a nice batter.

[ Although it's hard to go back to her usual chipper self for the rest of the evening, she's determined to at least try to maintain her composure for Ajax's sake. Learning how to cook one of his favorite foods certainly helps, and even though she's pretty down in the dumps, she memorizes each and every ingredient he brings out. The amount of joy she'll feel knowing her cooking made him full and happy will be immeasurable.

But for now, she'll take solace in Ajax's warm body pressed against her back. His strong arms are like an anchor and with him around, she feels safe from the evil forces that keep coming after them. It's easy for her to relish in his hold as she carefully listens to his instructions. ]

Like this...?

[ Stirring should be simple enough, even if she's not in the right state of mind at the moment. Her small hand carefully mixes the ingredients together, stirring until the mixture combines and melts into a white batter. ]

By the way, what's a blini?

Just like that.

[He lets her stir it, hoping that just the action alone gets her mind to shift in a different direction than one of gloom. If it takes her mind off of worrying and feeling unsafe, that's all that matters to him, as he keeps his voice in that soothing tone.]

A blini is a sort of pancake from my homeland. It's much thinner than what you might be used to, and it can be big or small, depending on how you'd like to make it. We'll make small ones today, and I can show you all the different kinds of toppings you can put on it.

[He gives her a nice kiss to the side of her head as he breaks away from her momentarily, to get a skillet out. Turning on the stovetop to heat it, he comes back to wrap his arms around her again, nuzzling the side of her head before he plants another kiss to it.]

While that heats up, why don't you let me take care of the batter from here. It takes a real pro to get it just right.

[Of course, it doesn't take a pro at all- but he winks at her anyway ;)]

[ A real pro, huh? What a dork but it's working. For the first time since she's come home, Yoimiya manages to crack the faintest hint of a smile. The wink only adds to this man being silly. She lets out a loving sigh at the kiss to her cheek and even tilts her head to the side to give him more access. A telltale sign that his distraction is doing wonders to soothe her nerves. ]

Alright, show me your pro skills. After all, I'm a newbie to preparing blini so I gotta learn only from the best.

[ She lets go at his request, allowing him to take over the stirring while she watches with intrigue. ]

Is there anything else I can do to help? I feel bad if I just stood here looking pretty.

[He'll be more than happy to take advantage of Yoimiya tilting her head just so, just so he can plant more slow, loving kisses from her head and down her neck. Get her to focus on him, and not the terrible threat she received at the office.]

I'll let you pour a couple, but just watch me first.

[With one last kiss administered to her skin, he breaks to take the bowl with the batter and pour small, thin circles into the skillet. Ajax pours about six or seven before he quickly gets a spatula so he can flip them, the batter cooking quickly due to how thin it was.]

See? Don't pour too much or they'll get too thick. Then it'll be closer to synriki than anything else.

[ Ooh ♥︎ The kisses to her neck feel like a little slice of heaven and just what she needs to forgo her worries. Happy purrs slip from her lips as she keeps her stare glued to Ajax's hand to memorize his blini technique. There are about six or seven but they sure cook fast! Having been more used to jiggly, fluffy pancakes, her eyes widen in amazement. They already look so good... she swears her mouth is watering just staring at them. ]

I see! Don't pour too much... okay! That's easy to remember.

[ Since it's a dish from Ajax's home country, she's determined to perfect it to impress him. Once the pancakes finish cooking, Yoimiya quickly mimics him as she pours about 5 small circles onto the skillet. A few seconds later they're ready to flip! With her spatula in hand, she carefully starts to flip the lil golden brown delicacies. ]

Blini was it? Is this a favorite of your siblings too?

[He hums happily as Yoimiya starts her own batch, moving to the fridge to take out some creme fraiche and some smoked salmon he'd picked up from the grocery store the other day. He also grabs some sour cream and some jam...can't go wrong with that, either.]

It sure is. Teucer gets very excited when I make him blini at home on my return trips. Sometimes I'll make him tiny ones like this, and sometimes I'll make giant ones, depending on the meal.

[Everything is set out, and he walks over to see how she's doing.]

Not bad. You're catching on quickly. I burnt the first blini I ever made pretty badly, haha.

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