vision • diluc

xxvi

• third person •

A soft chuckle escaped the young man when he finally found his friend, simply laying down in the soft snow, staring blankly at the grey skies above, as if they were an empty canvas, a reflection of her eyes that stared.

"You must be getting a little bored now, huh?" he questioned, sitting down next to her.

It had been three days now. Since she got here after their separation. (Y/N) found that when she wasn't being traumatised every other second, Snezhnaya soon wasn't as interesting as she thought it would be.

She had gone through her old house a few times, cried a bit, well, cried a lot, played with Ajax's siblings, messed around with a few of her father's inventions, continued to read her mother's diary... It was all everything that it took for (Y/N) to realise how lonely she really was in Snezhnaya.

And how much she really, really missed... home.

(Y/N) glanced over at Childe, noticing his slender fingers playing with the fur of her hood.

"Also, I've been meaning to ask, why do you have a Cicin Mage coat–?"

"Don't ask."

Childe blinked, before his lips quickly cracked into a smile. "Okay."

A strangely peaceful silence fell between them, only the sound of children playing to be heard.

"You really wanna go back to Mondstadt now, don't you?" Ajax questioned out of the blue.

(Y/N) stared at him for a moment, noticing the small smile that curved his lips, yet it never reached his eyes.

"It's..." (Y/N) turned back, her gaze narrowing upon the clouds above, "not as if we won't see each other again. You ought to be getting back to work anyway..."

Gradually, she sat up, staring at the blankets of snow beneath them.

"Yeah..." Ajax murmured, averting his gaze. "Do you know what you wanna do once you get back?"

A soft laugh left (Y/N)'s chest. "Wear my normal clothes, for sure. No idea how I used to be walking around like this all the time."

Childe immediately returned the hearty laugh, noticing her shuffle over towards him. His pupils dilated when he was suddenly met with a long lost warmth, the entire world sinking into his arms.

(Y/N)'s eyes clamped shut in his shoulder, her breath shaking as she held onto him so tight.

"Thank you, Ajax," she whispered. "You'll always be my best friend."

Ajax couldn't help but let his gaze soften, his strong arms holding her so delicately, as if she could break with even the slightest touch. "Your day one?"

(Y/N) burst into giggles. "My day one."

Before he could even process it, (Y/N) had pressed the softest kiss upon his forehead, before ruffling his ginger hair. His freckled cheeks reddened as the brightest beam plastered upon her face.

"Love you, Ajax."

His sapphire irises flickered.

A soft sigh escaped him, shaking his head.

"I love you too."

"Now look," he whispered unexpectedly, carefully turning her around. (Y/N) blinked in bewilderment. "It's your replacement best friend."

"Huh?"

(Y/N)'s shoulders raised.

All of a sudden, she leapt onto her feet.