eternal flame | tartaglia x reader

Chapter One

You have always been able to call the seaside village of Morepesok home. Being greeted with snow and salty air outside has always brought comfort to you, even in your earliest memories. Your parents had moved to Morepesok before you were born, as your father was looking for good, honest work and found a job on one of the many fishing boats that would set out in the Snezhnayan sea every day. Long story short, they had been charmed by the small village and decided to start a family there. They moved into a small home close to the Morepesok school, being delightfully surprised when they found out that their next-door neighbors were a nice couple with a family of their own, who, like your parents, were expecting a child. That July, Ajax was born, and two months later, you were born as well.

Just like the large oak tree outside your bedroom window, Ajax has always been there, unwavering.

One of your earliest memories together takes place during snowfall, a few weeks after your fourth birthday. Waking up and seeing the tree outside your window covered in white sent a jolt of excitement through your body. It snowed in Snezhnaya almost every day, but there was a lot of snow outside this morning! You jumped out of bed quickly, rushing downstairs to see that your mother was in the middle of making breakfast.

"Mama! Do you see the snow?" You asked excitedly. "Can we go ask if Ajax can play?"

Your mother smiled and nodded her head. "We can ask, but you must eat breakfast first."

You eat quickly and messily, much too excited about the weather outside to focus on holding utensils with your pudgy fingers.

Before your mother even had the chance to finish buttoning up your coat, there's a knock on your door. She opened it to reveal Ajax and his mother, both dressed in full winter attire.

"Ajax was wondering if y/n wanted to come play outside for a little while with the kids," Ajax's mother said.

Ajax shuffled to further hide behind his mother's legs, timid as ever.

Your mother agreed and finished buttoning up your coat before sending you out.

"Hi," Ajax said, you could see his cheeks rise as he smiles, even from behind the scarf that covered half of his face.

You spent the morning making as many snow creations as you could with Ajax and his older siblings, building snowmen and forts to hide in. After a few hours, the cold that was biting your face became unbearable. You rubbed your reddened cheeks to try and warm them up.

"Here, you're cold," Ajax said, taking off his scarf and clumsily wrapping it around your neck.

You couldn't help but beam at his act of kindness, grabbing his hand in yours and running back to your house.

"We can't both be cold, let's go back inside!"

You were lucky in the aspect that your school only had one class for each grade, so you could continue to be all but attached at the hip with Ajax. Now that you're ten years old, you've realized something big: kids are mean. You always heard adults telling you that you're a smart kid, that you're confident and independent. You're glad that you can be dependable, that you can help Ajax, who is quiet and gentle and a little bit scared of everything. Ajax is taller (and much more handsome, in your opinion) than most other kids in your class, but that doesn't mean that your classmates don't find things to tease him about.
You were eating lunch with Ajax at school once day when a boy in your class, Maksim, came up you.

"Does Ajax even know how to talk?"

Ajax stares at the ground in front of him, lips sealed shut. This wasn't the first time that Maksim made comments about how timid Ajax could be.
"Leave him alone, Maksim," you said.

"Why are you friends with him? He doesn't even know how to talk."

"Shut up, Maksim, you don't know anything," you felt yourself get angrier.

Glancing over to Ajax, you saw his eyes well with tears.

"Let's go, Ajax," you said quietly, grabbing his hand and leaving the room.

"I'm sorry," Ajax sniffled and wiped at his eyes.

You frown and let go of his hand. "Hey, it's okay. Maksim is stupid. Don't listen to him."

Ajax shook his head and looked away. "It's true. I'm a freak just like everyone says."

You feel something sink in the pit of your stomach. How could Maksim be so mean to someone so nice? Ajax never did anything to deserve this.

"I hate him," you growled, stomping back towards the classroom.

"Y/n, stop," Ajax said, grabbing your arm to hold you back. "If you hit him he's just gonna tell a teacher. Then they're gonna call my parents and tell them what he's been saying."

"I don't care. He's a bully," you said, grabbing your arm back and bawling your hand into a fist.

Needless to say, once your parents found out that you hit another kid in your class, you were grounded. Indefinitely.

"Papa! Mama! This isn't fair! He made Ajax cry!" you cried.

"That isn't okay, but using violence to solve the problem doesn't make you any better," your mother said.

"You're still grounded," your father added on.

You let out a sound of exasperation and stomped up stairs into your bedroom, slamming the door behind you.

Your parents don't understand, Ajax was hurt and he was crying and you wanted to fix it. You did the right thing. Now as punishment, you won't be able to leave the house for anything besides school. You flop onto your bed and let a scream of frustration out into your pillow. You finally sit up a few minutes later, when you hear a faint tapping at your window.

Pulling back your curtains to reveal Ajax sitting in the big oak tree was the last thing that you expected to see.

"Ajax? What are you doing?" you asked as you slid open the glass to let him inside.

"Your parents said that you were grounded. I wanted to talk to you," he admitted, stepping a leg into your bedroom.

You shrugged, "Yeah, I'm okay. It's not fair though."

"Yeah," Ajax said.

There was only a second of silence before Ajax wrapped his arms around you in a tight hug.

"Thank you, y/n. I know I'm not a freak."

"Yeah," you managed to say, a little bit surprised at the sudden hug. You hug him back, squeezing him a little bit so he doesn't try and let go so soon. "I like you the way you are. Anyone who doesn't is stupid."

"Okay," Ajax whispered. "I like you the way you are, too."