Of Calm Calamities

Of Calm Calamities (16)

It was late that night, long after Xiao had already left, that Ajax brought the topic up again. He gently prodded at Zhongli's side, forcing him to look up from his book. That was one of the many things that fascinated Ajax about Zhongli - he'd spent the better part of the day reading about boring things that Ajax probably should've paid attention to, and he was right back to reading again. The amount of attention that Zhongli dedicated to his books almost made him jealous. Almost.

Zhongli looked up from where he was sitting in a reclining chair to meet Ajax's eyes, giving him a small nod to show that his attention was now focused on Ajax rather than the book. Grinning, he bounced off the bed, earning a disapproving stare from Zhongli, but he chose to ignore it - the cut was already halfway healed and he didn't notice it unless he had to stretch an absurd amount. By now, Zhongli was just being irrational with his overly-cautious behavior. Ajax leaned over Zhongli, bracing himself against Zhongli's thigh with one hand and taking the book out of Zhongli's reach with the other.

"I want to help Xiao," he stated.

Zhongli raised an eyebrow. "You promised to look out for Aether, did you not? I'm pretty sure that's considered 'help'." He made an attempt to get the book back, but with Ajax holding it out above him with one hand and keeping Zhongli down with the other, the book remained in Ajax's grasp.

"Come on, Professor," he complained, "you know that won't do anything. I want to go outside and actually help search for Aether."

"No."

"Seriously? Professor, I'm all good!" Ajax's protests were useless against Zhongli.

"I said no, and that's final." Zhongli surged upwards, almost making Ajax stumble back as he successfully reclaimed the book. "You are still recovering from your wounds, and you will be staying here, where it's safe, until you are back into perfect condition."

Ajax lifted the hem of his shirt up to expose the wound - it was good enough that they'd decided to forgo the bandage by now, letting it get accustomed to normal circumstances again. The cut was healed over with a pale pink layer of skin that definitely wasn't healthy yet, but it was better than Ajax could have ever hoped for. Except for his still-reduced stamina and the occasional twinge of pain, he felt completely fine - at least, on a physical level.

"See? It's all good. Even Baizhu said that I can move around now!" Zhongli rolled his eyes slightly as Ajax brought up the 'doctor's orders' card once more. "It's pointless for me to just sit around here all day when Aether's missing and I could be helping Xiao find them."

With a sigh, Zhongli set aside his book and pulled Ajax down into a soft kiss. Their lips moved in perfect sync for a few seconds until Ajax parted for a small break, trying to recover as his head spun a little. Together for weeks now, and he still wasn't used to the kisses.

"I'm worried for you, alright?" Zhongli whispered, tucking a lock of ginger hair behind Ajax's ear. "I don't want you to get hurt ever again."

Ajax could feel himself melt at Zhongli's words. It was only pure determination that helped him push through. "Fine. How about a deal, then? Right now, I have way too much energy to just sit here and do nothing for who knows how much longer. If you can get me to spend that energy somehow, in a way that you deem safe for me, then I'll stay put for an entire week without complaint."

"Deal."

"Now I know you probably won't ag-" Ajax's head snapped to meet Zhongli's eyes. "Wait, really?"

"Yes, really. Except make it a month. If I don't satisfy you, then I'll accompany you in helping Xiao search for Aether." Zhongli spoke with confidence, as if he already had some kind of plan. It almost made Ajax nervous - he'd expected the deal to work in his favor, though now he wasn't sure it would.