Chapter Text
Ajax didn’t think anyone could skate better than his coach. This was what Ajax believed for years. A five-time Grand Prix Final Champion, Zhongli was the figure skater that most -if not all- figure skaters looked up to. From all those years of admiring from the sidelines, up to finally gaining the opportunity to actually have Zhongli as his mentor, Zhongli was the only skater that Ajax has seen get even close to “dancing” on ice. Sure, ice skating was a graceful looking sport in general, but Zhongli made it look effortless.
Zhongli was perfect. He is perfect.
- - - - - - - - - -
When Ajax runs into the rink, late for practice, he freezes. Because there, on the ice, was a boy he’d never seen before.
Oh, a newbie. He thinks, walking up to his coach, who was leaning against a board.
“Sorry I’m late, Zhongli. I left my guards in a different bag and had to go back and grab them,” he says sheepishly.
Zhongli only hums, eyes focused on the rink. Ajax’s eyes narrow. Zhongli wasn’t paying attention to him at all. What’s so good about a newbie anywa- His thoughts are cut off when he turns to look (read: glare) at the new skater. The teal haired boy is…good. His step sequence is difficult; Ajax can tell just from watching, yet the boy executes it perfectly. No missteps at all. When the boy moves to set up a jump, he notices Zhongli tense.
A deep, loud yell echoes around the rink. Ajax jumps, startled.
“Don’t you dare!”
The boy either ignores Zhongli or pretends he doesn’t hear him. He jumps. Perfect rotation, perfect angle, perfect opening and landing. He lands the quad salchow perfectly. Yet Zhongli angrily skates onto the rink, pulling the boy out by the arm. The boy pulls his arm free, annoyance gracing his features. Zhongli forces the boy down onto a bench, an eyebrow raised.
Ajax’s eyes widened. Oh, he’s angry .
Zhongli’s arms are crossed as he looks down at the boy.
“You promised you wouldn’t.”
The boy turns his face to the side. “But I can.”
“Are you trying to end your career ?” Zhongli asks, incredulous.
The boy’s head snaps up, glaring at the taller man.
“You have no idea what it’s like for me right now,” he said, seething.
Ajax cuts in before Zhongli gets any more upset because an angry Zhongli is not a nice Zhongli.
“Hey kid, Zhongli’s right. You can’t do jumps you’re not ready for yet. You’ll injure yourself.”
The boy’s head whips over to him. Ajax can tell he’s still quite (read: very!!!) upset, but there’s a hint of amusement in his eyes. Along with…mockery? The boy opens his mouth to speak, but seemingly decides against it, so Zhongli speaks for him.
“Ajax…do you…know who you’re talking to right now?”
Ajax pauses, staring at Zhongli with a mix of confusion and horror. He thinks he fucked up. And fucked up he did.
He slowly glances at the boy, only to find the boy’s eyes pinned on him already. Bright golden irises hold his gaze before looking him up and down. Ajax tenses, feeling like vulnerable prey under the gaze of a predator. The firm but gentle voice that leaves the boy catches Ajax off guard.
“I’m older than you,” the boy (correction: man) says, rolling his eyes before standing back up from the bench.
The boy’s (man, Ajax. Man .) skating might’ve been graceful but his expressions moved even more fluidly, as if every action was effortless. There’s- there’s no way people can look that good just from rolling their eyes…right? (No, you’re just a simp.) He’s frozen in place as Zhongli follows the boy back to the rink, still scolding him for doing jumps, albeit softer than the yell from before.
“Xiao. Only step sequences.”
“I’m healed. I can do jumps.”
“You cannot. Unless you want to damage your ankle forever, then be my guest.”
‘Xiao’ frowned before skating away from Zhongli and back to the center. Zhongli restarts the music for him before walking back over to Ajax. He barely gets to take a breath before Ajax bombards him with questions. Who is that? How come I’ve never seen him before? Are you also coaching him, Zhongli xiangsheng?
Zhongli, ever so talented at avoiding questions (he’d been avoiding interview questions for YEARS Ajax, you should’ve known better), only steers Ajax toward a bench to stretch.
As he stretches, he finds himself distracted by the sounds of Xiao’s (can Ajax even call him that? They haven’t been formally introduced yet!) skates against the ice, eyes constantly flitting over to watch the petite male. Even if he’s only doing step sequences, Ajax notices that Xia- his senior - made the movements for jump openings only to spin over to the landing spot and continuing on with his routine. The ginger doesn’t realize he’s been watching in a daze until Zhongli comes over and sits next to him.
“Eye-catching, isn’t he?”
Ajax’s mouth opens. ‘Yes.’ on the tip of his tongue. He stops himself.
“I guess.”
Zhongli offers him a chuckle.
Ajax recognizes the song that’s playing. It’s one of the very first pieces that Zhongli skated to. The same piece with a routine that earned Zhongli one of his many gold medals. The same routine that Ajax himself practiced over and over again, only to give up after who knows how long. It was difficult, and he didn’t know why, but he just couldn’t get it right. It was always a turn too sharp, or a step too fast.
The more Ajax watches Xiao, the less he has to say. Because this boy (correction: man) might be one of the best skaters that he’s seen. Besides Zhongli . He wants to say. He really wants to say that. But he would be lying. Because if Zhongli got close to “dancing on ice”, then Xiao was literally dancing on ice. Everything Zhongli did, Xiao somehow seemed to do better. The subtle but sensual turn of the hips, the light tracing of his fingers in a teasing manner, his facial expressions. Everything was on point. He had watched Zhongli skate this program multiple times with his own eyes, but somehow, Xiao made it look like a completely different routine.
- - - - - - - - - -
Xiao knew exactly what to do to get people’s eyes on him. He hated attention, hated being under watchful eyes. Usually, he would keep himself away from public view as much as possible to avoid the media, but when he was on the ice, he was the focus. Eyes on him, cameras on him. Look at nothing else but him. Him. Him. Him.
Every flick of the wrist, every turn of his head, every expression he made, was on purpose. Every spin, every step he made, was all a plan to draw the audience in even more. Everyone always says the same thing. “Such a pretty face!” or “Oh, how good looking he is!” He knew he was pretty. But he could be more than that. He was more than that.
He leans forward, tilting his head back and tracing his hands down his sides. He could be sensual if he wanted to .
He spun back, a sharp turn as he widened his eyes and let a small smile grace his lips. He could be innocent if he wanted to .
But when it came to love . Xiao skated to a stop before dropping down and laying on the ice to cool off. Love was the one emotion that he couldn’t wrap his head around. It didn’t make sense to him.
Xiao knew he was good. But he also knew he wasn’t good enough. Surpassing Zhongli was his goal and he intended to make it reality.
- - - - - - - - - -
Ajax found it entertaining to watch Xiao’s expressions change. They switched around so quickly that it reminded him of light switches. If you pressed a light switch slowly, the lights would change before the switch was completely flipped. Xiao’s expressions seemed to work the same way, features morphing into an expression before the final expression was even created. Xiao was interesting, and Ajax wanted to make it his business. Xiao on the other hand..didn’t seem to agree at all.
It’s the beginning of the third week of having Xiao at the rink that Ajax realizes that Xiao has a talent for avoiding people and slipping out of sight. He had been trying to strike up a conversation with Xiao, only for the man to seemingly disappear into thin air every time Ajax approached him. He sighs in defeat as he does the warm ups that Zhongli marked out for him. He stumbles. Ah. He’s distracted. Warm ups are too easy to be stumbling on. He glances in Zhongli’s direction, praying that his coach hadn’t seen it.
His prayers seem to have been answered, because Zhongli’s full attention is on the shorter man next to him. They seem to be in a heated conversation, hushed whispers getting louder until Xiao pulls out a piece of paper and shoves it against Zhongli’s chest. Xiao’s arms are crossed and a scowl is on his face as he waits for Zhongli to finish reading it. The coach only sighs, offering a slight shake of his head before saying something along the lines of “Be careful”. Xiao only huffs, replying with a quiet “I know”. Zhongli relents, nodding before calling Ajax off the ice with an apology.
“Sorry Ajax, could you hop off the ice for a while? Xiao wants to run through his routine.”
Eyes wide, Ajax finds himself nodding, stepping off and slipping on his skate guards. A chance to see Xiao’s full routine?
Always.