Chapter Text
Envy is a game everyone plays.
It’s a conscious obsession, where you can’t stop.
An insatiable need to have what they do..and more.
And people at the bottom. People like Ajax. Bodies filled to the top with boiling envy. People just barely sitting on the poverty line still were people he couldn’t stand. He had a roof over his head, but not one he owned. He had food served, but small rations to keep him skinny. His room was decorated, but not by himself. By his manager. That chose what role he would play in this game.
This game kept him alive.
Kept his family alive.
That’s the only reason he’s still in it.
To win.
It was an unsavory job to be a hooker. Especially in this world. Where your only customers were wealthy people trying to have some fun with the poor ones. Or the rules he had to follow, strictly.
The company Ajax belonged to was popular, he climbed his way up from small dingy companies to the luxury he was in now. However, the reputation of Venom Club wasn’t maintained so easily. Their employees had to follow the strict rule guide. The most prominent being that you had to keep your body pure, no relationships were allowed to be made, that included sexual or romantic. Kissing, dating, and touching outside of the club would result in an immediate expulsion. Ajax knew all of this when he signed his contract, and it would be easy enough to follow. He never really was in a relationship, he’s always just been working, and he was deep in debt. His family was deep in debt. And he refused to fuck up his chance to help them.
So here he was, a couple of hours before closing. Standing in the hall listening in to the front desk receptionist. A group game in, the worst, a group of five young uni guys. Probably here to help a friend lose his virginity, and have their own fun with it. This was common, those who were wealthy spent plenty of their time indulging in the misery of those who weren’t.
“Good evening, how can I help you?”
“Haha hi. We are here to help our friend here get a little courage before his midterms.” Oh, so they were here to help a friend. Ajax strained his neck to get a better look, yet still went unnoticed. His eye got caught up on a long-haired man, standing tall, quiet, and like he was too nervous to be there.
“Of course. How many of you?” She fingered through the papers on her desk. Each one with each employee’s picture and skills listed. “Just pick your top three!”
“Thank you. Aha, let Zhongli pick his guy first c’mon! It’s his big day.” Ajax pressed his back against the wall. Listening to the boys laughing and joking around. Curious to tell who the special man had chosen to spend his night with.
“Thank you! Ajax? Perfect, he is available right now. He will ring when he’s ready.” Oh shit. Ajax began his sprint back to his room, a little annoyed. He was tired, that was the problem, and university students usually didn’t pay well. The standard fee but nothing exceeding.
And if he kept getting customers like that he would never repay his debts.
Ajax reread the paper for the fourth time, sitting back in his, glancing up at the man who was sitting on the bed. A couple of noticeable things, Zhongli was beyond awkward. It was obvious he wasn’t as excited as his friends were and was a little nervous. Ajax could tell by the way his hands twitched and his eyes were directed toward the ground. Second, he had written nothing on his paper that was supposed to be filled with things he was into doing in this session. Instead, the only word written on the spaces was simply “anything”. Unhelpful.
Ajax knew that if he didn’t start now the rest of the guy's friends would be done before he was even started. But he was at…a loss. He sighed and sat down on the paper. “I’m sorry for not writing much.” Much? Much! You wrote nothing. But Ajax was a professional, and making a client feel bad could be devastating to his career. So he calmed himself.
“Well, you obviously chose me for a reason. What was appealing about my description.” Ajax rested his back against the chair, hoping to get some valuable information out of the man.
“Oh uhm.” Zhongli was still staring down. “I liked…your picture.” He mumbled. Again, unhelpful.
“Okay well-”
“And. You’re a..dom.”
Now that was helpful. Ajax could work with that. “So you’re a sub?” A small nod. “What have you done in the past?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“I’m a..virgin.” Ajax sat up a bit with that. A virgin? And he wanted a poor, debt-ridden, hooker to be his first time? He wasn’t unpleasant to look at, quite the opposite actually, he could get some pretty wealthy person to hold his hand through it. “I want.” He shut his mouth.
“Hm?”
“Nothing. Can we please start?” Despite the fact that he had little information, he had enough to do his job. Now he just needed to make his plan.
The boy was shy, he could use that. The boy was also obviously able to overpower him, so he had to make sure that he wouldn’t. And the boy was a virgin, so he couldn’t be awfully rough. He calculated all of this within the last seven minutes he had known the guy, which is why he was at this company.
His hands were quick when they grabbed the rope from his drawer and thrown onto the mattress. Right next to Zhongli. Now his room may be a place he slept in, but in reality, it was only for clients. There were hooks everywhere. The bed was made with the customer in mind. He had drawers to hide lube, condoms, toys, and of course pills for when he was tired out. The walls here are matte black with some red finishes to make them look appealing. And of course, to distract from any stains that Ajax was positive wasn’t there. He cleaned thoroughly.
“Look up.” He conducted his voice to be strict, demanding, yet not cold. Zhongli was losing his virginity after all. The pretty boy's head shot up immediately, and Ajax finally got a look at his pretty eyes. Golden. He wondered for a second if it were a body modification. The rich got those. But that thought didn’t matter the longer he looked at those eyes, innocent and soft, like they were trusting him without knowing him. For a second he almost lost himself, but he regained his composure in just a second. “I’m going to tie you down to the bed. Do you understand?”
Zhongli nodded. Ajax wondered how far he could push him before it became too much. He decided to test. “Answer me with your words.” Zhongli’s eyes grew wide as he immediately faced his head back to the ground. Shit. Did he fuck up? Overestimating this boy’s submissiveness?
Just a second later though the soft voice came out. “I understand.” If Ajax wanted to he would chastise the boy for not looking at him while answering. But he decided against it. His hands found the rope.
“Wrists.” The boy immediately put his wrists out. His order-taking abilities were amazing. Despite the fact, he couldn’t look at Ajax for more than a couple of seconds at a time. Ajax began to tie the ropes around his wrists tugging at them to make sure they were tight enough. “That good?”
Zhongli began to nod but paused. “Yes.” Fast learner too. He let his hands slide up the extra rope, making somewhat of a leash that was attached to his wrists instead of his neck. Pulling it up he tied it around the bedframe, securing it so Zhongli wouldn’t be able to escape.
Unfortunately, the position Zhongli was in on his back meant he could no longer look down. And Ajax watched in amusement as this realization dawned on the man. He began to turn his neck, hoping to shield his face in his arms, but to no avail. Ajax decided to stop teasing the man and finally get in some pleasure.
He traveled his hand up and down the man's sides, straddling him between his thighs. Zhongli shivered at the touch like his body was both craving for more and praying for less. He began to suck at Zhongli’s neck, hoping to hear some soft whimpers, but getting nothing. Okay. Not sensitive there. He began to unbutton the man's shirt and rubbed his hands over his abs and nipples. Still nothing. He traveled down and dipped a hand under the pants, but again, nothing. Well, now he was confused.
Sounds were what he went off of, it’s what made him understand what was good and what was bad. And no sounds usually meant no reaction. But as he looked up at Zhongli his face was flushed red and his eyes were closed shut. “Zhongli.” He lowered his voice. “Are you not enjoying yourself?”
The man's eyes flew open and in a confused panic he shook his head. “No. I like…what you’re doing.” Ajax raised an eyebrow.
“You’re silent.”
Zhongli’s eyes went soft and the flush returned to his face. “I’m sorry.” He mumbled. “I’m…embarrassed too.”
Ah. The problem with this is that Ajax had never met someone genuinely embarrassed to do anything. In every way it’s said, everything in this room was play. The second we left it the real world came back, Ajax was under his clients financially and socially. And in the back of all of their heads, they knew that when they were on his bed. Meaning they could allow themselves to feel slightly humiliated, and enjoy themselves submitting to him, but in the end, there was nothing real behind it. Zhongli was real. He cared about his humility, he cared about Ajax’s opinion of him, and he didn’t seem to remember his social standing to Ajax’s. And in a way, that scared Ajax.
But his fear did not have a place in this room, he had to appear steady. So he rubbed his hand over Zhongli’s clothed erection, watching his mouth slightly part but no noise come out. “Don’t hold them in sweetheart. Show me how much you want it.”
Zhongli tipped his head back, somehow getting off to this minimal touch. But his voice still remained silent. Ajax frowned. This wasn’t what he wanted. He stood up and pulled his hand back, reaching over to his desk. Zhongli began to shift around. “Shh, I’m here. Just a second.” He pulled out a condom and the lube. Pulling off his shirt and down with his pants. He slipped the condom on and got back on the bed.
With a couple of moves, he was able to take the man's pants off, quickly. Then Ajax lined himself up with Zhongli’s hole. “Wait.” He looked up. “I’m uh. I’m scared.”
“That’s okay. Would you rather we-”
“No. I want to do this just.” He bit down. “My friend said that you were…rough.”
“Your friend?”
“Yeah, you uhm. Served him. A year ago sort of. And I like the idea of rough but I’m just. I haven’t even…done this to myself before so.” Ajax couldn’t help but smile just a little at the rambling. “But I didn’t choose you because of my friend. I chose you because…I thought you were really pretty.”
Ajax never got flustered, ever. But holy fuck, he hadn’t ever been called pretty like that. Especially not by a pretty boy in his bed. He pressed his lips to Zhongli’s stomach. “Don’t worry beautiful. I can be gentle.”
He lubed up and pushed in ever so slightly. The first little whimper escaped Zhongli’s mouth. As Ajax pushed in more and more, Zhongli’s hands scrambled to hold onto something. Just finding blankets. He whimpered in disappointment. For the first time, Ajax broke. He grabbed Zhongli’s hand, savoring in the feeling of Zhongli clenching it tightly. Like he couldn’t help himself. “Almost in. There.” Ajax groaned, soaking in the warmth. The tightness of someone who had never been fucked open before was too good, and he wanted to feel more. But against the selfish wish he stayed put, letting Zhongli relax into the feeling.
“Aren’t you going to start moving?”
“I thought you would want to adjust first.”
“Oh.” Zhongli huffed. “Yeah I would.” The time they spent there, Ajax kissing his stomach and rubbing his thumb against his palm, felt like forever. Like torture. But he stuck through. “Okay, I’m ready.”
Ajax began to thrust his hips, in and out. The warmth coiling in his stomach. Zhongli’s shy whimpers were too cute to ignore, and they went straight to his dick. But Ajax was searching for something, and right as he hit it Zhongli moaned out. Quickly shutting his mouth in embarrassment. “Could you-”
“Do that again?” Ajax finished for him. Zhongli nodded. So he did. And the shy whimpers turned into uncontrollable moans.
Here was the problem. Ajax’s eye caught the clock, five more minutes of the paid for session. Zhongli, in his current state, could easily finish in five minutes. But management didn’t like when customers paid for just the basic hour long session. And Ajax didn’t necessarily like it either, as most of his pay was given back to the company. The trick, any of the overtime fees would go directly into Ajax’s pocket. So as he eyed the clock, clicking down to just two minutes left, he felt conflicted.
“Mmnh- fuck.” Zhongli moaned out. “I’m gonna cum.” Ajax’s eyes blinked to the clock. No. He needed the money. “Can I?”
“No. I’m not close yet.” Ajax whimpered out, despite being very very close to the edge. He glanced over again. A minute left.
“Please!” The desperation caught him off guard. The clock. Zhongli. Back to the clock. “Huh?”
“Not-”
“Oh, I see.” Zhongli’s voice cut through. Ajax gritted his teeth. “My time is almost up, isn’t it? And you’re trying to make me have to pay overtime fees.”
“Uh-ah.” Ajax felt caught, but he couldn’t stop going.
“And since you’re domming it’s a lot easier to catch people in this trap.”
“No-wait-” Ajax couldn’t handle the slight sound of betrayal lining Zhongli’s voice. And he couldn’t handle the guilt that was building up in him. “I’m sorry just-”
“Don’t be sorry. How much are the fees?”
“Uh-fuck-uh like another fifteen dollars for each quarter of an hour.” Ajax stumbled to remember the company's rules.
“How do I pay them?”
“You would just hand me the cash but-”
“Checks work?”
“Obviously but hey-”
“Okay good with me. Keep going.” Zhongli relaxed back into his restraints. Ajax felt every bone in his body willing him to stop, apologize, and finish the man of another time. But his brain told him to not even try stopping.
The solution? Make this worth it. He angled up more, pushing right into Zhongli’s prostate. And in return, he got the beautiful spilling moans that Zhongli seemed to have given up keeping a secret. “You’re doing so good for me beautiful. So good, just like that. Feels good?”
Zhongli didn’t even make words, he just whimpered out to the praise. And after a couple more thrusts he was gripping Ajax’s hand so tightly the blood was slowly draining from it. “Fuck. Fuck, please. Can I cum?”
“Just..one second.” Ajax felt his orgasm coming on.
“Please.” Zhongli’s voice was short and breathless. “Ajax..” Fuck. That’s all it took. Pretty words coming from his pretty mouth.
“Cum beautiful.” He said as he finished into the condom, trying to ride it out for Zhongli before the overstimulation set in too heavily. And just a second later the boy finished. They panted, just for a second, before Ajax slowly pulled out.
The pang of sadness felt weird in his chest, but he ignored it. Maybe if he was lucky the sub would become a regular, but it was unlikely. The boy would probably do just fine finding himself some quality sex instead of Ajax and the company. He sat up, tied off the condom, and tossed it into the trash. Then retreated to the bathroom to grab a towel and water. Returning he began to wipe himself down. “You good?” He asked while undoing the restraints.
“Yeah.” He whispered. Ajax wiped him down as well, savoring his last good look at the man. “Was it good for you?”
Ajax almost laughed, until he remembered that this guy actually seemed to give a fuck. So he told him honestly, “Yes.” That seemed to satisfy him.
“So..this is your bed?” Now Ajax did laugh. For a second he was worried Zhongli would get upset, instead, he just cracked a smile and his cheeks flushed pink.
“Yes. You like it?”
“Uh.” Zhongli rubbed his hand against it. “It doesn’t feel very good to sleep in.” Ajax hummed in agreement.
“It’s more sturdy, you know, for sex.”
Zhongli looked confused. “You bought a bed for just sex?”
“What? No. The company gave me this room, that’s why it’s…filled with sexual things.” Zhongli looked around like he was just seeing how many hooks, displays, and things there were. Every surface was made to have sex, and Ajax knew that.
“Wait so. You didn’t decorate this?” Ajax shrugged.
“I decided the color.” He said plainly.
“Don’t you want to…make it your own.”
“Against the rules.”
“Right.”
“You don’t know much about prostitution laws huh?” Ajax smiled and began to fold up his clothes.
“I know a couple. Don’t get handsy or kiss one outside of the company, and the relationship thing. Uh…don’t you have like curfews?”
“Yep. Kind of boring too.” Ajax sat down on the bed. “Also, I should warn you. Even just sitting here talking means you need to pay fees so you may want to leave-”
“That’s okay!” Zhongli smiled. “Lay down with me.” Ajax really wanted to protest, but this looked important to the man. And he was unsure why. So he laid down and after a little struggle had Zhongli resting his head against his chest. He ran his fingers through his hair.
“Are you sure you can afford this?”
“I can.”
“Are you sure you-” Want this? That’s what he was going to say. But he didn’t.
“Why prostitution?” He asked.
“Debts,” Ajax replied, curious about how the boy was burying his face into his chest. “Have to repay them.”
“The lower class neighborhoods have plenty of jobs though?” Zhongli pressed his lips against his stomach.
“This one is easiest. I’m provided housing, food, and pleasure.” Ajax whispered. Zhongli hummed as if he got it, but obviously, he didn’t. “And what do you do?”
“I go to the university around here.” He replied.
“No debts to pay then huh?”
“No.”
Must be nice.
This was nice.
And just as Ajax let himself feel how nice it was…it was gone.
Zhongli had to leave, of course.
And despite having said hello and goodbye to plenty of customers before, he had never felt the craving need for their skin to just gently touch his.
But it’s better to ignore it.
After all, this was all just a game, and he had to win.