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“How the hell did you even get sick? You were fine yesterday.” Diluc let out a huff as he placed his hand over Ajax’s forehead. The younger boy leaned into the touch, and a shiver wracked through his body.
“Mmm, I dunno!” Another shiver. “I woke up feeling awful. Guess I can’t go to that New Year’s banquet tonight, huh?” The smirk that crossed Ajax’s face was pitiful. Diluc rolled his eyes, but a pang of guilt filled his chest.
Every winter, to celebrate the arrival of the New Year, the Fatui held a banquet. It was one of the few events that recruits like Diluc and Ajax were allowed to attend. While the two of them had met for the first time at a political banquet held in December (during which they had a very awkward conversation about how Diluc was in fact not a girl), it was at the New Year’s Banquet when the two of them actually spoke to each other at length. They were outside watching a troop prepare the fireworks. Diluc sat alone with a glass of very watered down firewater a friend had given him. “Their rebellion against those stuck-up adults” or whatever. He hadn’t touched a single drop.
Saviors often came from the strangest places, though. Ajax had plopped down next to him with a tall glass of apple cider, and the two swapped drinks. Diluc couldn’t remember how long they’d stayed on that bench, but the fireworks show came and went within that timespan. They laughed together when one of the men from the troops tripped and fell face first into the snow while cleaning up. That little bench had been the perfect place to escape the chaos of the night. He’d told Ajax that he planned to bring his other friend along this year.
“Definitely not.” Diluc shook his head. He moved his hand down to his friend’s shoulder, letting the pyro flow through his body in soft waves. “If you’re shivering while you’re inside, you’d freeze on the way to the banquet even if you were glued to me the whole time. I can only let off so much heat from my vision.”
“Hm.” Ajax turned to the window. He had the best spot in the bunker, right next to the window. Beautiful sunrises every morning, and sunsets in the evening. A view of clouds on summer days. Diluc heard Ajax had won the bed from another soldier in the troops during a spar. He was sure that a nicer bed wasn’t the reason he’d chosen to fight. Ajax never needed an extra reason to do so.
“What?” Diluc tilted his head.
“I’m just thinking…” Ajax drew out his words, slowly, “You’ll be alone at the banquet.” Diluc could see the frown on his face, reflected in the window.
“I won’t, remember?” Diluc shook his head and pulled his hand away. “Yelena was going to be with us. I’m sure she’ll keep me company.”
“Ugh.”
Diluc chuckled, “Come on, you can’t hate her that much. She’s only been with us for a month.”
“Yeah. She shouldn’t be allowed to go to the banquet.” Ajax turned his head back to Diluc, a pout now resting on his face. “They should put a limit on how long you need to have been in the troop to be able to go.” Diluc rolled his eyes in response. He opened his mouth to talk, but Ajax coughed loudly, and visibly shivered.
A miserable little lamb, shaking so much it was visible beneath those thick layers of wool.
“Are you alright?”
Ajax nodded and pulled the blankets tighter around himself. “Cold.”
“Right.” Diluc placed a hand back onto Ajax’s shoulder. He seemed to calm slightly with the pyro coursing through him again. “Are you sure you’ll be okay?”
Another nod. “Yeah. Go have fun with Yelena.” Ajax’s sickly and scratchy voice made it sound so strange. “Get me a few more blankets before you leave, though..? The heater in here is broken and I don’t want to freeze.” He ended the statement with a laugh, but Diluc knew far too well that it wasn’t very safe to just leave Ajax unattended.
They’d been friends for a year. And in that timespan, they’d grown so close. So inseparable. So much so that Diluc’s father had to constantly remind him of the dangers of getting so attached in a place that treasured violence and rewarded death. But how was Diluc to survive if he didn’t find something- someone to ground himself?
Slowly, Diluc stood from the seat next to the bed and sat down onto the mattress. It squeaked beneath his weight whenever he moved and kicked off his boots. Ajax blinked a few times, seeming to watch Diluc’s every move. He really looked like a tiny lost puppy.
There was always next year’s banquet. He could ask Yelena for a dance then.
“You’ll be warmer if you get as close as you can to me.”
“You can’t make me go, Diluc. I’ll get everyone sick.” Ajax sat up. His head rested on Diluc’s shoulder. A comforting weight.
“We’re not going.”
Ajax’s eyes sparkled. “You’re staying here? For me?”
Diluc let out an exasperated sigh and nodded. “Just this once. Don’t make a habit of getting sick, okay? I want to actually go out and dance next year.”
A toothy smile settled on Ajax’s face, and Diluc couldn’t help but shake his head and smile back. He didn’t need to open them to know that the smile on his friend’s face had warped into an angry pout.
“What? Why are you smiling like that?” Diluc opened his eyes again to Ajax poking a finger around his teeth. “Do I have something stuck in my teeth? Man, it better not have been something from that soup I ate earlier. It was already cold when I got it too-”
Diluc wrinkled his nose, “Barbatos, no.” He gently pulled Ajax’s hand away by the wrist, letting it flop down onto the sheets. “You’ll get yourself even more sick by shoving your fingers around in your mouth.” His body relaxed as he leaned up against the window behind the two of them. “I’m just smiling because this is the third time in the past few weeks that I’ve had to come up with an excuse as to why the tenth harbinger’s son isn’t coming to an event.”
The blanket shifted as Ajax fell back to lean against Diluc once more. A greedy little bug, sucking up all his warmth.
“Hm.” The boy hardly gave it any thought. He just leaned in closer, nose pressed into the crook of his neck. “Just blame it on me again.”
“As if my father would take that excuse again. He says you’re purposefully keeping me from work.” Diluc pulled the blanket a bit tighter around them, trapping the warmth with their bodies. Ajax groaned.
“That’s all you talk about. Father this, Father that…” Ajax turned his head and glanced up at Diluc through ginger curls. “Forget about all the Harbinger bullshit for a second! They might not even pick you anyways.”
A little exhale of laughter left Diluc’s nose. “That’s the first time I think I’ve heard you say something like that. Usually you’re all over the whole Harbinger thing.”
Ajax narrowed his eyes. “I’m sick. I’m not all myself.”
“You’re talking a lot for someone who’s so sick.”
On cue, Ajax coughed. Diluc couldn’t hide his smile.
“You’re talking more than usual. I’m compensating. Maybe you’re the one who should try being quiet more often.” The younger boy’s head fell slightly, in line with Diluc’s chest.
Diluc inhaled deeply, then exhaled and laid his body down onto the bed. “Point taken.” He reached a hand up and combed his fingers through Ajax’s hair.
“Sleep well, Ajax.”