Look Me in the Eyes (and tell me that it's me) [Zhongchili]

Chapter 5 - The Great Mujina Youkai

"So, how was it?" asks Yoimiya, nudging Ajax with her elbow as she threads a piece of elastic through a paper mask. "How was mister dreamy Liyuen guy?"

The two of them are sitting on the theatre stage, finishing adding the elastic to the piles of animal masks the kids made that evening, preparing them for the next week's session.

"He was nice," replies Ajax noncommittally, although he can feel the heat rising in his face. "He was really nice, actually."

"Just nice?" She pokes his cheek. "Looks like you found him a bit more than 'nice'."

"Hey!" His hand slips as he attempts to thread the elastic and he laughs, waving her off. "And so what if I did?"

Yoimiya giggles and sets her mask down. "Ooh, that sounds promising. Did you hold hands? Maybe kiss? Oops, sorry, should I be asking you that? But I really, really want to know!"

For all his time at uni, Yoimiya has provided staunch encouragement of even his most tragic dating affairs, drawing out stories of every terrible first date, and every time they inevitably didn't turn into second dates, she would drag him out to the student bar to "take his mind off of it". Even if the lack of continuation is always initiated by him, he can't escape her aggressive acts of friendship, buying rounds of drinks she knows he can't afford and paying for them before he can stop her.

She's done a lot. She deserves a few details.

"It was good," he says. "To answer everything, yes it was, yes we did, and no we didn't. But we talked a lot—he's really good at that—and it wasn't boring. He knows loads of stuff about loads of things and..." Ajax pauses, feeling over the smooth stone clipped at his belt.

Since Zhongli gifted him the Vision, he's kept it on his person at all times, attached to his belt during the day, and beside his pillow at night. A strange compulsion urges him to hold it close, to protect it, as though a part of him will be lost should they part ways.

"Ooh, there's something you're not telling me!" Yoimiya shuffles onto her knees, looming toward him. "Quick, whisper it to me! No-one's looking!"

Ajax glances toward the door. There shouldn't be anyone there, but he can never be too careful. "Okay, but keep this a secret. It's kinda valuable; I don't want anyone trying to steal it." He unclips his Vision from his belt and holds it out on his palm. It must have been stunning, back when the technology existed to make it glow a deep ocean blue, but now it remains cloudy and pale, the barest hint of colour at the point where the Hydro symbol lies within.

Yoimiya's eyes widen and she reaches toward it. "A Vision? Wow, this is so awesome! Can I touch it?"

"Sure, go ahead."

Her fingers ghost across the surface and she inhales sharply. "These are super rare, aren't they? And expensive! He must really like you if he gave you this on a first date."

Ajax shrugs. "I think he must be a collector of some kind. He's here doing research at the university, and he was telling me about Liyue's history all afternoon, so he probably has a few he's picked up over the years."

"Still..." Yoimiya curves her thumb across the Vision's silver base. "Should you really bring this with you here? I'd be way too scared of losing it, or someone might see how valuable it is and try to take it!"

A chill sweeps through the room, gooseflesh rising on Ajax's arms. He can't lose it. He won't. This is his Vision, no one else's. He closes his fingers around it and snatches it away, clipping it back onto his belt.

No one will take this from him.

"I'm sure it'll be fine," he says. "And who opened the window in here? Getting a bit chilly, isn't it?"