Chapter Text
Ajax was busy putting away the freshly dried clothes, food already finished on the kitchen stove. It was a warm summer afternoon although a bit cloudy. He smiled, enjoying the warm breeze on his face, looking forward to dinner. Today he had cooked Plow, something his younger brother always enjoyed. Ajax liked the slightly salty taste of the meal, but that was the only part. He had never been one to enjoy vegetable-heavy foods and the flesh used in Plow always ended up stuck between his teeth. Personally, he much preferred the soft texture of fish. Ajax hummed when he heard the front door of their flat open, and shut within a few seconds.
"Big bro!" Teucer's cheerful voice sounded through their apartment- "I got a B+!" Ajax poked his head into the flat, watching as his brother approached him- almost running. He chuckled, stepping inside with a pile of neatly folded laundry balancing on his palm. Teucer fell around his hip, wrapping his arms tightly around Ajax's waist. The older man hummed, patting his brother's soft hair. He'd have to cut it soon, it was getting long.
"Here-" He pulled the child off his waist. As much as he loved his clingy little brother, he couldn't just stand here the whole day. "Put these away and come eat, Malinky"
Teucer grinned at him, face beaming "I want to show you the test! I did a lot better than last time!"
"You already said so- Good Job, Teucer!" Ajax ruffled the boy's hair again "I'll let you play your games an extra hour then."
"You're the best!" He rushed off, probably to wash his hands and put his things away.
Ajax got to setting the table, which only included putting out their plates, glasses and cutlery. He smiled when Ajax returned, holding the test out to him in excitement. Indeed, the test was graded a solid B+, a little smiley and a 'good job' written next to the letter. In German nonetheless- He knew Teucer had trouble with the language. He smiled, singing the test and giving it back to Teucer together with a pinch of his cheeks and a kiss on the forehead of the eating boy.
"I'm so proud of you, Teuce! My smart little boy- you did such a good job!" He littered the child's face with kisses, never one to hold back on praise. He wanted Teucer to know how good he was being, even if it was just a tiny bit of self-fulfillment too. Ajax would make sure to give his brother all the love he deserved, something his younger self didn't have the pleasure of experiencing.
Teucer stuffed another spoon full of rice into his mouth. "Aj, Aj! Something great happened in school today!" Ajax rounded the table, sitting down in front of his own plate.
"Yes, tell me all about it!" He grinned when his little brother waved his arms, never mind the few rice grains he'd have to peel out of the carpet later. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered as long as Teucer stayed happy.
"Yes! Aj- Do you remember the mean girl who used to pick on me? The one with the short blonde hair?" No, he had no idea who Teucer was talking about.
"Yes, of course! Did she do something mean again? Should I talk to the teacher?" This was the first time he heard about it. It wasn't uncommon for Teucer to 'forget' telling him about his problems but not to this extent... Luckily, the boy shook his head.
"Her big brothers were waiting with her at the gate today and I thought they would be mean to me too-" He inhaled. "-BUT they alllll said sorry! In Russian! I was sooooo happy and her big bros talked to me lots and lots and explained that Klee was just trying to be my friend!"
Ajax hummed. "How did you mistake someone wanting to be your friend with bullying?"
Teucer blinked. "Well, she always gave me gross stuff like bugs and lizards and reeeeeealy sour candy! It made my brain explode that one time I ate them! She also threw cracker peas at my feet and scared me! AND SHE BROUGHT A LIGHTER TO SCHOOL!"
Little crazy pyromaniac that Klee seemed to be... "Now she's nice to you?"
"YES! Can she come over to play next weekend? Oh, please- I promise I'll be super good-behaved!" Ajax groaned. He didn't like the idea of people visiting but on the other hand... Children needed friends and if Teucer was finally making one...
"As long as she doesn't set the house on fire. Ask her what she wants to eat when you see her next time. Oh, and..." He thought for a moment before finishing the sentence. "Ask her for her brother's or mom's phone number. I need to contact them first."
Teucer gave an energetic nod, bouncing up and down on his chair.
The rest of the afternoon went by without a hitch, Teucer playing happily on his Xbox and Ajax busying himself with house chores. He had been in the process of dragging the child to bed when heard a knock on the door. He quickly sent Teucer to brush his teeth and went to open.
"Hello?" Ajax looked through the peephole, only to see whoever had knocked disappear down the stairs. He reluctantly opened the door, wondering if he should follow the person or just call after them. His foot bumped into a package when he stepped outside, surprising him.
Ajax didn't exactly order things online so this was definitely not his... He threw a glance at the receiver.
'Kaeya Alberich'
The name was unfamiliar. Ajax pondered whether he should look for the real owner or just wait for them to come looking for their package instead. Although... He knew that there were quite a few elderly people in their house and he didn't want to be the reason for one of them to miss their medication. Or something else important. He shrugged, deciding to go upstairs first.
Ajax knocked on the door, slow steps sounding from inside after a moment of silence. "Coming, Coming~"
The door opened to reveal an old woman, wearing something that looked more like a nightgown than a dress. "Oh... Who are you?"
Ajax smiled awkwardly, showing the package to her. "Ah- I'm so sorry to disturb you, are you Kaeya Alberich?"
She chuckled but it sounded more like a 'ho ho ho'. Ajax furrowed his brows, so that was a no?
"Kaeya lives two floors down, sweetheart!" Then with a twinkle in her eyes. "Oh, you must be the nice young man who moved in below! So polite, haven't heard a peep from you or your son since you started to live here!"
Ajax felt a shudder crawl up his spine. "I rarely see you around, where's your wife? So young and already has a little boy, must be hard~"
Ajax bit his lip. This was ridiculous, if Teucer was his son he would've made him at 12. Still, he would keep the woman in the dark. The fewer people knew about their situation the better. He laughed it off, quickly changing the topic.
"It was nice chatting, but I should get going now."
He gave the woman the warmest smile he could muster.
"I'm sure mister Alberich is waiting for his package."
"You young people are always in such a hurry... Goodnight then~ Say hello to your cute son from me."
Ajax flinched at the words, 'cute'? She didn't even know Teucer- ah, he was reading too much into this wasn't he- Just an old lady, no harm would come to Teucer. It was ok.
He exhaled, careful to keep his smile. Don't worry, Ajax. Teucer is cute. Nothing weird about her calling him that. Don't think dirty.
He was already halfway down the stairs when the lady's door fell shut.
Kaeya. Kaeya Alberich two floors down.
He stopped in front of the door and knocked.
"What?"
The response was immediate. Seems like this guy had been waiting for his mail.
"I think I have a package for you. Mister Alberich?"
The door didn't open, but Ajax noticed the way the depth of the peephole seemed to change. "Why do you have it?"
"Someone left it in front of my door, the lady upstairs told me you live here."
"Are you the guy with the noisy kid?"
"Excuse me?! My brother is rarely home and he's definitely not noisy."
A groan filled the following silence and the door swung open just far enough to let Ajax peak into Kaeya's flat. And smell it- him. The smell of layers of cheap deodorant mixed with old sweat and greasy hair. God, if Ajax didn't have the amount of politeness under his skin that he did he would've recoiled. Instead, he just crunched his nose. He glanced at Kaeya, who was wearing nothing but boxer shorts and a stained 'I don't die, I respawn' T-shirt. The inside of the apartment didn't look any better than the man, the floor littered with cables and stacks of trash.
He must've been staring a little too hard because the man stuck his hand out and grabbed the package from him.
"Thanks."
And with a deafening *wham* he closed the door in Ajax's face.
"You're welcome."
Ajax hissed at the closed door. Maybe he should play some pot-hitting game with Teucer from now on... No, he wasn't that petty. He would be a good big brother and show Teucer that even 30-year-old basement dwellers deserved some politeness.
A few weeks had passed and the interaction with Kaeya was fully forgotten. Klee made a habit of coming over every weekend, her mother deciding that Ajax was the perfect babysitter for her brat. Well, calling her a brat wasn't exactly fair, she was very well-behaved most of the time after all. Still, after the 4th week in a row, Ajax did feel exhausted from her constant giggling and her tendency to bring candles or small fireworks into his flat.
Additionally, he took on a few day jobs, to finance their situation better. He was lucky, managing to come home a good hour before Teucer most of the time, but today was no such day.
Childe was rushing home, jogging from bus to train to bus, two of them having been cancelled - screw MondstadtBahn for their tendency to leave passengers without their next train... He had already gotten off work later than usual, now he had been running around Mond's train stations for at least an hour. He could only hope that Teucer wasn't too worried and just playing his games or something.
Ajax ran up the stairs, breathless and annoyed. He just wanted to eat something small and fall into his bed. He unlocked the door to their apartment, surprised when he didn't spot Teucer in front of the TV.
"Teuce?"
No response-
"Teucer?!"
Ah, oh god- No, this couldn't be happening. Should he call the school-? He twirled around, finding the space where Teucer usually left his shoes empty- Oh gods, where- Did he visit Klee?
Ajax rushed out of the flat once again, uncaring about the way the door slammed behind him. His shaking fingers punched the numbers into his phone, dialling Alice's - Klee's mother - number. Did they take him back- No, that wasn't possible- his parents couldn't possibly afford the tickets-
He almost ran past Kaeya's door when it opened. There- Teucer.
He stopped, arms immediately wrapping around his little brother. He let out a sigh, his heart rate slowing immediately. Everything was fine. All was well. Teucer was here. Teucer was safe.
"What's wrong, Aj ?"
The man - Kaeya - mockingly copied Teucer's nickname for him. Now that he was actually standing in his doorframe, Ajax was able to get a better look at him. Kaeya's hair was greasy, draping in messy, loose strands over his shoulders and back. Even though he had dark skin, his eyebags stood out so much that he might've as well smeared a piece of coal under his eyes. He was wearing a medical eyepatch, adding to his ridiculous look. At least he seemed to have changed his T-shirt in the past weeks, the front reading 'I'm a gamer, not a player, players get B*tches I got bullied in school'. Additionally, he was wearing nothing but loose boxers and Ajax boiled at the thought of having him hang around his baby brother like that.
"Why was he with you?"
"Gosh, I was just trying to help. He was the one sitting around the stairs like a lost puppy..."
Ajax turned to Teucer, the boy having been relatively quiet the whole time. "Why didn't you go inside? Come on Teuce, did you leave your keys at home?"
Teucer nodded, eyes big as they kept drifting to Kaeya. Something was horribly wrong- Did the man do something to his brother- No, don't overthink.
"Thank you for taking care of Teucer."
Ajax turned to Kaeya, who gave him a dismissive wave and a tired smirk.
"Don't mention it. He's a good kid, so no trouble at all." The man grinned, showing his surprisingly clean teeth. "I also gave him some dinner, so no need to worry 'bout that either."
He winked at Teucer, who quickly turned his head, avoiding looking at Childe.
"Wha- What did he give you?" Childe's hands clenched around Teucer's thin arms, who cried out at the sudden pressure. " Teucer !" He didn't mean to hiss at his brother but-
Teucer didn't respond, tears filling his eyes. Oh- Oh this man he must've done something horrible-
"I think you're hurting him-"
Ajax snapped a "You stay out of this." at Kaeya and the man froze where he had taken a step towards them.
He dragged Teucer up the stairs, quickly leading both of them back into the safety of their flat. Inside, Teucer teared up, ugly sobbing filling the room. "I'm sorry- So-rry, I ate so-something unheal-thy and n-now you'Re angry!" He wailed, crocodile tears dripping down his face and onto the floor.
"No- No, no, no! Teucer, come here-" He hugged his brother, switching to their mother language. "You did nothing wrong at all! I'm sorry, did I scare you?"
"It's ok, It's ok- don't cry! I'm not angry, I promise!" Ajax held the sobbing child close, hands travelling up and down his back.
"Rea-lly?" Teucer sniffled, wiping his snot with his sleeve. Slowly his tears were subsiding. "Not at all?"
"No- No, Teucer I won't ever be angry at you! Only if you do something super-duper bad!" Teucer nodded, wiping his face on Ajax's shoulder. "I'm so sorry for coming home late."
"It's ok. I played with Mister Alberich. He was very nice to me." Teucer regained part of his happy mood.
"That's great, Teuce! What did you play?" Ajax gave his best to smile at his brother. He felt an anxious tingle run up his spine when the child glanced away.
"It's a secret game..."
"Did he touch you weirdly? Did he make you do strange things?" Ajax knew he was overreacting, but his mind suddenly filled with pictures of Teucer in situations he shouldn't be in. Sexual situations. Disgusting, revolting situations.
"N-No!" Teucer's eyes were big and round, staring up at Ajax in fear. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Ajax forced himself to relax, pressing a kiss on the bridge of Teucer's nose. "Sorry, forget it. As long as you had fun all is good."
Don't kiss him.
You disgusting pig.
Why do you have these thoughts?
Do you want to fuck your brother?
Pig.
Dirty.
Gross.
Filthy.
Faggot.
Impure.
Sinner.
Tainted-
Ajax smiled at his sweet brother. No, no, he didn't want these things. He just wanted to keep his Teucer safe. He was worried, that was all.
He sighed, sending the boy off to bed.
He'd have to talk to this Kaeya guy.
After tugging Teucer in and kissing him goodnight, Ajax left the flat. He went downstairs, reluctantly knocking on the door of his neighbour. After a few seconds of clattering, it opened. "What do you want? I didn't call cps, so you can kindly screw off."
Ajax huffed, sliding his foot into the gap between door and frame and yanking it open. He didn't care, that he was being rude to a stranger who'd just wanted to help. Probably.
"Thank you for taking care of my brother."
"You're welcome?" Kaeya let out a nervous chuckle. He slipped away from Ajax, trying to close the door at the same time. "What do you want? Can you... get out?"
Ajax huffed, crossing his arms. He was towering over the other man, even though they were the same height. "If I find out you touched him or did something to him, I'm-"
"Excuse me?"
Kaeya gave him a baffled look, mouth dropping open.
"Did you just call me a pedo? Are you crazy? Get out of my flat! NOW!"
Ajax backed off. No, it was true he was being crazy. He should just thank the man and leave it at that.
"...I apologize."
He fidgeted, suddenly not feeling so superior anymore. "I- I'm not abusing my brother..."
He stopped when he noticed the man staring at his arm. Shit, right he forgot to cover his scars. Oh god- Oh god what if he called cps? They would find out about Teucer, take him...-
He quickly shoved his hands into his pockets.
"Mister Alberich-"
"Kaeya is fine."
"Kaeya- Ah, I think we started on the wrong foot."
The man gave him a puzzled glance before his expression shifted into something amused. "I guess~" He grinned, leaning against the wall.
Kaeya seemed to be leaning against things a lot.
"By the way, are you alone with your brother?"
"Why?" Ajax cleared his throat, trying his best not to get defensive again. "Yes, I am."
"You're not from Mondstadt? You both have a Russian accent, yet your sentence constructions are perfect."
"It's complicated..."
"Oh! I don't care, you're the one cooking, right?" Kaeya leaned forward, excitment making his tired eye beam. "It always smells so good after you moved in!"
He chuckled, complete with a dismissive wave towards the trash on the floor.
"I haven't eaten anything homemade in years, you're really just doing this to bully me, aren't you."
Kaeya sighed dramatically.
Ajax grinned, a bit of the tension falling from his shoulders. "No, I simply enjoy cooking... We have leftovers from time to time, I can bring them by if you want. I usually just eat them at work since I cook fresh for Teucer almost every day."
"Really?!" Kaeya was beaming now, something that looked strangely unnatural on his battered and exhausted face. "You must be super creative, Ajax! I couldn't think of more than five dishes to save my life!"
"You can come over sometime."
The words were out before his brain caught one and he immediately cursed himself for them. What was he thinking? God, this was stupid! Seems like Teucer wasn't the only one who longed for friends...
"...I would love to-"
"Really?"
Ajax met Kaeya's gaze long lashes framing his single lilac eye.
"What sane person would say 'no' to a free meal?"
Ajax felt a smile stretch his lips, the same smile - even if it looked a little awkward - on his neighbour's face.
"See you around then."
"Yeah... See you around."