Work Text:
Ajax sat on his bed, his bright, neon pink laptop in his lap. He was finishing editing his final gacha video.
His goodbye.
Ajax had been up to these gacha activities for quite some time now. He had been doing it since he started middle school and he had managed to gain quite the following. He was ending his gacha career with a total of 17.3k subscribers and 13 gacha life mini-movies plus a series or two.
But now, it was time for him to move on and let go. He needed to open a new chapter of his life and leave this one behind.
So, that’s exactly what he did.
‘gacha cupcake childe’ was no longer.
#
It had been many years and now, Ajax doesn’t sit on his bed with a bright, neon pink laptop in his lap, but instead, he uses a normal color, a grey one. Ajax has buried the memories relating to his gacha era and everything that has to do with it, not wanting to remember the embarrassing memories.
Instead of ‘gacha cupcake childe,’ he was now teaching finance using the name Ajax. While close friends occasionally called him Childe, it wasn’t common. After all, the name had quite a past and not necessarily one Ajax wanted to remember.
#
Zhongli was up to no good, to be quite frank with you.
Zhongli, being the wonderful and totally fantastic guy he was, plus being a history professor, a world-renowned one at that, he decided and had the brilliant idea to do a little bit of digging on Ajax’s past internet activities.
The two had met because they worked at the same university and their classrooms were quite close to each other. Basic teacher ways of meeting, nothing too special, aside from the couple of dates they had outside of work. They even had plans to meet up today within the next hour or so.
While it was rather informal for Zhongli to research someone he was quite close with, he was still curious because of the nickname Ajax had and how he sometimes seemed slightly embarrassed when it was said, though it wasn’t often. Ajax would also never mention anything about it, playing it off like he had to sneeze or something of the sort. Ajax never spoke about his middle school years even though he had stated multiple times that he remembered them quite clearly, which only raised the suspicion Zhongli had.
It was an odd situation and Zhongli was curious and wanted to find out more about Ajax and there was only one way to do it.
Hacking.
Well, maybe not hacking, but a few searches with his name and nickname and perhaps Zhongli would land right on the money and have access to some answers he was searching for.
He opened his laptop, quickly entering his password and going to google. There were many different things he could search and he had to find a way to search for things that happened within the years Ajax was in middle school.
Zhongli tapped his finger on the table in thought, thinking of the possibilities and what possible websites Ajax could’ve used.
One eventually popped into mind and he did a few commands, a few reverse image searches, a few clicks and scrolls, and sure enough… he landed right on the fucking money.
–
Zhongli 45 mins ago
@mrh0ttie [childe thought of it]
You do know digital footprint exists, correct?
[attachment - gacha cupcake childe channel]
568K Retweets 397k Quote Retweet 1M likes
#
Childe 43 mins ago
@ajaxsoap [zhongli thought of it]
HWO DID YOU FUCKING FIND TH4T SHIT?!?<}!!?!?2@(#^*%{|938\
Zhongli
@mrh0ttie
You do know digital footprint exists, correct?
[attachment - gacha cupcake childe channel]
324K Retweets 127K Quote Retweets 458K Likes
Zhongli @mrh0ttie 40 mins ago
Replying to @ajaxsoap
I didn’t know you used to be a gacha kid. 17.3k subs too?
Fucking shameful. /lh
247K Retweets 153K Quote Retweets 379K Likes
Childe @ajaxsoap 40 mins ago
Replying to @mrh0ttie
WJWNEON WHO SAID IT WASN ME ?????
149K Retweets 201K Quote Retweets 364K Likes
Zhongli @mrh0ttie 38 mins ago
Replying to @ajaxsoap
Your reaction did, Childe. :( Disappointed. /hj
143K Retweets 97K Quote Retweets 287K Likes
Childe @ajaxsoap 37 mins ago
Replying to @mrh0ttie
FOR FUCKS SAJES GOD FUCKING DAMN IT
98K Retweets 75K Quote Retweets 167K Likes
Quote Retweets
Scaramouche 34 mins ago
@duckfuckgoose
I FUCKING KNEW YOU COULDNT HIDE IT FOREVER.
THATS FUCKING KARMA FOR MAKING ME THIRD WHEEL,
YOU ABSOLUTE FUCKING LOSER
Zhongli
@mrh0ttie
You do know digital footprint exists, correct?
[attachment - gacha cupcake childe channel]
156K Retweets 53K Quote Retweets 365K Likes
Ningguang liked..
Beidou 25 mins ago
@UncrownedLordoftheSea
WHAT THE FUCK LMFAOOOO NOT THE FATUI COMPANY
HAVING PEOPLE WHO USED GACHA IN MIDDLE SCHOOL
WORKING IN THEIR COMPANY
Zhongli
@mrh0ttie
You do know digital footprint exists, correct?
[attachment - gacha cupcake childe channel]
547K Retweets 387K Quote Retweets 672K Likes
Lumine 17 mins ago
@Luminescent_Twin
NO WONDER YOU HID YR MIDDLE SCHOOL LIFE FROM US
Zhongli
@mrh0ttie
You do know digital footprint exists, correct?
[attachment - gacha cupcake childe channel]
14K Retweets 69K Quote Retweets 148K Likes
Trending
#gachacupcakechilde
–
Ajax threw his phone down on his bed, turning over on his stomach to scream into his pillow for the next five minutes.
How the actual fuck did Zhongli find his old gacha account, and why did he have to post it on Twitter.com? Now Ajax was filled with a horrendous amount of embarrassment and the fact he had to go see Zhongli in around thirty minutes? His life was ending and flashing right before his eyes.
Now practically everyone knew about his middle school years and he had no idea what to do anymore. He probably couldn’t even show up to work without having millions of questions asked and thousands of jokes made. Zhongli just single-handedly ended Ajax’s life and career and existence.
Ajax then quite literally rolled out of bed, hitting the floor with a super loud thud. Though Ajax didn’t care, he just wanted a nice little conversation with Zhongli. Plus, the two of them already had plans so it wouldn’t be completely weird for Ajax to go over there.
#
Ajax arrived at Zhongli’s place, not even knocking on the door before entering, using the spare key he had to unlock the door.
Ajax knew that he would have to comment on what Zhongli did, he knew he would. It was bound to happen anyway because the whole ordeal happened extremely recently. Or, perhaps, Zhongli would end up bringing it up first. But whatever the case was, he knew it was going to be a topic of conversation.
“Well, you’re here quite early,” Zhongli said as Ajax walked into the living room.
Ajax slightly frowned as he walked over to the couch and sat down next to Zhongli, mumbling something along the lines of, “Well, due to the whole…Twitter ordeal, I figured I might as well come over.”
“Oh, right, about that…”
“Yeah so like, how did you even find that and why would you post it to your Twitter where millions can see it? My life is literally ruined now because of it. I probably won’t even be able to go to work because of it. I know I’ll get many questions and lots of comments. It’s not even funny, Zhongli, “ Ajax said all at once, not pausing whatsoever, dumping all this information on Zhongli
“I’ve tried keeping it hidden for so long it’s not even funny. It’s one of my biggest regrets and I wish middle-school-me never even existed. Do you know how insane that is? Like, there are a lot of things I hate, and for middle school to be so high up there? Super shocking. I wish you never brought that memory up and I wish you didn’t share it with millions.” Ajax finished saying with a sigh.
“Ajax? You’re not really upset, are you? If so I-”
“Like seriously, it’s super crazy. You could’ve tried finding something else about my middle school years.” Ajax said, fidgeting with his hands, “But, you know, what’s done is done and I guess like, everyone knows about it now. Just please don’t tell me you watched any of the videos.”
Zhongli looked at Ajax concerned, “I didn’t watch any videos, Ajax. Though, you do know that if you’re so upset about it, I can remove the post. I know a lot of people have already seen it but–”
“I’m not upset about it?”
“You’re crying,” Zhongli stated.
“No, I’m not. You’re probably just seeing things,” Ajax said, moving a hand up to his face just to make sure he was in fact, not crying, “Oh.”
He was crying.
Now he just felt quite silly. He was seriously crying over Zhongli finding his gacha account and posting it on Twitter. Could he get any more dramatic?
“Anyway, how are you, Zhongli?” He quickly asked, changing the topic off of him and trying to ignore the fact he was obviously not okay and crying.
“We aren’t just going to ignore the fact that you’re crying, are we?”
He should’ve known that wasn’t going to work.
“It must be the cold air, but let’s not worry about that right now…” Ajax sighed, hoping to convince Zhongli enough, “Anyways! Can— can we talk about the Twitter thing? Please? I feel like we should discuss it.”
He, in fact, did not convince Zhongli but he figured it’d be best not to bring it up again and let it slide, “Of course we can, love.” Zhongli replied as he grabbed Ajax’s hand, bringing it closer to his face, leaving light kisses along Ajax’s knuckles, “But, I feel you should know that I never intended to make you feel this way.” Zhongli said, a small frown on his face as he held Ajax’s hand close.
“I know, I know. But I just can’t help but wonder why, y’know? And it just seems so silly to me. It’s over something that was going to be found eventually and people were going to know, it was something completely unavoidable. I think it was just… how quickly it all happened. I guess I never expected you, of all people, to find it. Yet you did and it’s just- I don’t know.” Ajax tried explaining, but he couldn’t find the right words. It felt as if they all had left him. The tears he tried so hard to hide didn’t help either, not at all.
Though Zhongli listened as Ajax talked and ranted, he listened as he talked about the situation and how he feared certain things. He listened to every last word Ajax said and gave him his undivided attention and more.
He comforted Ajax with silent and careful gestures; soft touches, hand holding, occasionally squeezing Ajax’s hand whenever he seemed slightly stressed over the situation, he even reassuringly placed his hand on Ajax’s thigh when he was shaking his leg an awful lot, which only made the action stop. Any and everything Zhongli could think to do, he did.
Zhongli didn’t speak once while Ajax went on and on. Of course, there were instances where he wanted to, but he figured that just letting Ajax rant without any stops would be the better option. Though that’s something he would never have the answer to, so he only hoped it was the right thing to do.
After at least 45 minutes, Ajax finally calmed down and was done ranting. He took very few pauses between his talks, so his throat hurt slightly and his mouth was dry. His face was still pink and tear-stained from the unexpected breakdown.
(unexpected for Zhongli but not for Ajax. He just failed at keeping the tears away.)
(and perhaps the only reason why the tears stopped is ‘cause Zhongli kissed them away.)
Ajax sighed and looked at Zhongli, feeling slightly guilty about ranting for so long, shoving all his thoughts and feelings at him all at once, “I’m sorry about all that,” Ajax apologized, his voice awfully quiet.
“Why’re you sorry? I don’t think you have done anything wrong, Ajax.” Zhongli replied, frowning slightly.
“I just ranted to you for almost an hour, Zhongli. I didn’t even ask to I just-”
“I let you,” Zhongli stated, cutting Ajax off, “If I were not okay with it I would’ve said something. Now please, Ajax, do not apologize any more than you already have.”
Ajax nodded, not knowing what to say in response to Zhongli, who he felt was being all too kind. Surely Ajax didn’t deserve such acts of consideration and kindness, right? And especially from someone like Zhongli?
Zhongli stood up after the two of them sat in silence for a few minutes. He reached his hand out and smiled at Ajax, “Now come on love, we’re getting you something to drink.”
Ajax took Zhongli’s hand, who then proceeded to help him stand.
The two of them walked to the kitchen, Ajax sitting at the kitchen bar, Zhongli going to make some tea.
As Zhongli did that, he and Ajax had small conversations about random things, the two of them both doing their best to avoid what just happened. Perhaps it was for the better though, letting the whole situation slip away, that is.
When silence finally fell between the two of them, Ajax let out a small sigh, thinking about all of the events from the day and how he reacted to it all, how he let his emotions get the best of him instead of being somewhat reasonable about it. Like, seriously, he had a full-on mental breakdown over his gacha channel getting exposed.
Ajax thinks about that time. How he enjoyed making the videos for a bit, how he made a small series, multiple gacha mini-movies. It was the peak of his middle school career, though he never wanted it back.
He quit thinking about it when Zhongli set a cup of tea in front of him, Zhongli holding one of his own.
“Oh, thank you,” Ajax muttered, grabbing the cup carefully, and taking a sip. But as soon as he did, he began choking on the tea because he started laughing.
He immediately spit the tea back out into the cup and continued laughing while still attempting to recover from choking on the tea.
His laughs only continued as he kept thinking of the whole situation, finding how he had a whole mental breakdown over his gacha channel, absolutely hilarious. He knew he was being dramatic and all, crying over it, but wow, surely it wasn’t this funny.
Zhongli only stood there, looking at Ajax with not only concern but bewilderment. He had no idea why Ajax was laughing, and he almost didn’t want to ask. Though, he couldn’t help the smile that formed on his face. While, yes, he was confused, he was more than glad to see that Ajax wasn’t sobbing, but laughing instead.
He watched him ever so fondly. How Ajax just laughed, perhaps even giggled over something he found funny, something Zhongli wouldn’t ask to know about for another few days until he felt it was necessary and okay to. Average Zhongli, taking so many precautions, Ajax had said to him once, and Zhongli couldn’t help but notice how true it always seemed to be.
#
Hours had passed since everything happened, Ajax eventually stopped laughing, apologizing for it and how random it was, and Zhongli forgiving him, stating that he was just glad to see Ajax happy and smiling, rather than sad and sobbing.
“Wait a minute,” Ajax randomly said, “did you fucking call me love earlier?”
Zhongli looked at him and nodded, “I did. Twice.”
“Twice?”
“Yes, twice. Why do you ask?”
“Don’t worry about it,” Ajax replied, mumbling into his hands.
Zhongli gave him an odd look, but Ajax wouldn’t know, he was too focused on not losing his mind.
(Ajax also just sat there, his hands covering his face as he did his absolute best not to scream over the fact that Zhongli really, truly did call him ‘love’ and it wasn’t just his imagination.)
Perhaps being a gacha boy (and getting exposed for it) wasn’t too bad, especially if it meant Ajax could deal with this (Zhongli’s affection) again and again.
#
( “Ajax, I have a question.”
“And that is?”
“I’m sure you remember the day the whole gacha situation happened? Well, after you had your breakdown you randomly started laughing. What was that all about?” Zhongli asked, deciding it was okay to finally ask the question he wanted the answer to.
Ajax giggled a little bit again, “Do you really want to know?”
“If you do not wish to tell me, then don’t, but to say I am not intrigued over what was so funny to you would be a lie,” Zhongli replied.
“Well, since you wish to know, I don’t mind telling you. I was just laughing over the fact that I had a 45-minute breakdown of my fucking gacha channel.”
Zhongli nodded and smiled a little, “It’s definitely a little funny but I’m still quite sorry for that.”
“Don’t worry about it. Like, seriously. It’s fucking hilarious.” )