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Diluc shudders out of a deep sleep, wide-eyed and disoriented. His heart is thudding wildly against the wall of his chest and his vision is so blurred that he can't make out any solid images. He's not sure if a breeze hit him the wrong way or if he was having a nightmare, but he does not feel okay.
He tries to push off of the bed to sit up, but his palm slides against something grainy. The back of his opposite hand comes up to wipe at his eyes until they hurt, and then he blinks the fuzziness away. Now he can see that the grainy substance is sand.
His head lifts to survey his surroundings. He's lying on a towel on the beach in nothing but a pair of swim trunks. To his right is the ocean. His muscles relax at the sight of the half moon reflecting off of the water and the seafoam trying desperately to creep its way up to meet him, only to be pulled back before it can soak his towel. To his far left is the fire they made right before the sun went down. It's just enough light to see his friends' unconscious bodies scattered across the beach.
That's right. It's day one of spring break.
With a huff, he climbs to his feet, limbs feeling as though they weigh a thousand pounds each, and drags himself shin deep into the water. He cups some in his hands and splashes it onto his face, chest, and arms, trying to get as much sand off of his body as he can.
This past semester was so crazy that everyone partied a little harder than they needed to, Diluc included. He has the worst professor who is constantly on him about his performance. Not that Diluc is failing the class, but he's having a tough time with the material this semester and his professor is extremely unforgiving. And perhaps a lunatic.
He doesn't want to think about it. He came to the beach with his friends so that he didn't have to think about it. But with everyone asleep and nothing to draw his attention away from school, his blood starts to boil all over again.
Math is easy. The formulas stay the same. He can plug any number into any equation and let the math do itself. Science is easy. It's a lot like history in the sense that you have to go back in order to move forward. Evolution explains why we're here today, the same way the mistakes of the past show up in today's politics. And writing an essay was never difficult to do. Research is one of his favorite parts about school. Putting together a well-thought out argument and watching his professor's struggle not to agree with him fills him with such satisfaction.
It's his awful Sociology class that's going to make him pull his hair out by the roots. On the first day of the class, the professor wrote a question on the board: Ignoring what religion says, why do you sin? The class was tasked with writing a paper answering the question. It made absolutely no sense to Diluc, or any of his peers. Sin is a concept that was created by organized religion. How are you meant to ignore its origin? How is he supposed to answer a question like that?
The first time he wrote the paper, he took the logical approach. Sin isn't real, therefore, people don't sin. For the most part, people live their lives the best way they know how to.
He failed. He wasn't told why, only that he was wrong and had to rewrite the paper.
The second time, he tried to think of the definition of sin. However, having to ignore what religion says, he likened it to the most heinous things he can think of: murder, rape, harming children. He does none of those things, so he does not sin. The people who do obviously have something wrong with them.
He failed again. And again. And again. It didn't bother him so much when he wasn't the only one. But as the weeks passed, he watched the other students turn in their papers and pass one after another. And when he'd ask them for help, they'd tell him they weren't allowed to give him the answer. If they do, the professor will fail them.
It didn't make sense then and it still doesn't make sense now. He's about ready to drop the class entirely.
The night breeze quickly chills his damp skin. Diluc looks around for his shirt, but can't find it. He groans as he pulls himself back up to his feet. He might have an extra shirt in the back of his car, but he's dreading the small hike up the hill to the parking lot.
He does it anyway, his body screaming at him for sleeping in such an awkward position on the cold ground. Once he makes it uphill, he pulls his car door open and lets himself sit for a minute. His calves are on fire and his back aches terribly, but the cool leather against his skin feels like heaven. He sighs, sinking further against the material. He could just push everything onto the floor and sleep here in the back seat until the morning. No one would judge him for it.
"Diluc?"
His eyes open at the sound of his name. He's surprised to see Ajax standing a few feet away at his own car, waving at him.
He and Ajax have an interesting relationship. They're not exactly friends. They only see each other when their friends hang out and invite them to the same events. But when they do see each other, it's like they've been friends their whole lives. Ajax is an easy person to talk to and Diluc likes his company. He just never sees him outside of parties and get-togethers.
Diluc offers him a friendly smile as he turns to face him. "Hey. Did I wake you?"
Ajax snorts, pulling a towel out from his own back seat. Diluc only now notices that the man is sopping wet from head to toe. "Nah. I woke up in the middle of the night to pee, then couldn't get back to sleep." He shrugs. "So I went for a swim."
His eyes widen. "The water's like ice right now. How can you stand it?"
Ajax grins, leaning back against the car as he towels his hair dry. "Snezhnaya born and raised. You keep forgetting."
He does keep forgetting. It's hard to keep track of information about someone you only see twice a semester, and that's being generous. "The next time I see you, I won't forget," he teases.
Ajax laughs, moving the towel down to dry off his chest. Diluc glances. "Had to pee too?"
Diluc shakes his head. "No, I think I…made myself so angry that I woke myself up."
Ajax gives him an odd look, though it's accented with a cautious smile. "Okay. I want to ask what about but I'm mildly afraid."
"Class," he frowns, rolling his eyes. "Goddamn sociology prof is out of his mind."
He watches Ajax's brows move closer together. There's a brief moment of silence before his thoughtful expression melts into something much sillier. "Ohhh, you're taking Professor Yua's class."
"Yup," Diluc sighs.
To his surprise, Ajax bursts into laughter. "Oh, man! I had him last year and I was so mad when I figured it out."
Diluc sits up straighter, eyes widening. "You figured it out?"
"Mm-hm. It's the simplest answer in the world."
Diluc stares at the grinning man waiting for him to say more, but he doesn't. The smug look on his face makes him feel uneasy, though it shouldn't. Ajax is a nice guy. From what he's observed, he loves helping people. And since he already took the class, he won't get in trouble for telling him the answer.
"…So how do I—"
"I'm not telling."
Diluc scoffs, nearly leaning out of the car in desperation. "I am going to off myself in front of you if you do not help me."
This absolutely tickles Ajax. His wheezing laughter stretches across the three empty parking spaces between them, and he watches as Ajax struggles to support himself on weak knees. "Holy shit!"
Diluc glares. "I'm not kidding."
"You're funny!"
"I am not kidding."
His words only make Ajax laugh harder. It would annoy him if it were anyone else. Everyone in his life knows just how much this has been stressing him out. Ajax has no idea how many nights of sleep this has cost him.
And maybe his laugh is nice to listen to.
When he's all laughed out, he tosses the towel in his car and crosses the space between them. "I can't tell you. He's on some The Bird Scene from Victorious type shit. Annoying when you're going through it, but it makes sense once you pass. He'll explain why he did it once everyone in the class passes."
"How am I going to pass without help?"
"Everyone passes, Diluc, I promise you." He rests his left arm on top of the car, leaning down so he can see Diluc's face better. "Don't think so hard about it. The simplest answer is the correct one."
Diluc feels white hot rage flood through his veins. "If this is some Occam's razor bullshit—"
"No," Ajax chuckles, folding his arms on top of Diluc's car. "It's not. Like I said, just don't think too hard about it."
Diluc slumps forward. "You don't like me enough by now to help me cheat a little bit?"
A water droplet falls from the end of Ajax's flattened hair and trickles down the bridge of his nose. It draws attention to his eyes and the way they suddenly soften. "I like you plenty. But I won't help you cheat. You gotta figure it out. Like a big boy."
Diluc rolls his eyes, then hides them in the space between his thumb and index finger. Ajax snickers. "Fine. Whatever."
"Diluc."
He huffs, squeezing his eyes shut. "Yes?"
"Diluc~" Ajax sings this time. The sound dances up his spine, making him shudder.
"What?!" he complains, dragging his hand away from his eyes to look up at the taller man. Much taller man. He has to bend down so far just to see inside.
Ajax stares at him for a moment. Diluc wants to know what he's thinking, but there's a subtle tension to this moment that he's almost afraid to break.
Then, Ajax smiles. "Let's talk about something else. Let me ask you something."
He shrugs. "Okay."
"Why is it that when you're super stressed, you go out with your friends and party all night instead of doing some self care at home?"
Diluc blinks, confused. He didn't have anything against self care but this feels like a silly comparison. "I could if I wanted to, but…sometimes I just want to blow off some steam. I want to be in the company of people who love me. I want to know I'm safe enough to let loose. I want to lose my mind for a couple hours and know I can come back to it fully intact later. It's just…fun. Self care is good and all but I don't want that right now. I want nights like this."
"Why?"
"Because I do? I can't explain why I want what I want. I just want to." Diluc shakes his head, his smile finally returning when it clicks for him. "Is that the answer?"
"I didn't say that."
His smile widens. "That's the answer, isn't it? Because it's fun?"
"Close. Very close. But no," Ajax pretends to pout.
Diluc wraps both hands around the headrest of the passenger's seat and shakes until the little burst of adrenaline dissipates. When it does, he lets out a noise of distress and folds forward until his forehead is pressed against Ajax's bare abdomen. "I hate this class!"
Ajax laughs, smoothing his hand over Diluc's hair. "There, there."
"I don't want to think about this anymore. That's the whole reason I came out tonight. I'm not going to spend spring break being stressed out about this stupid question."
"You told me to help you."
"I don't want your help anymore."
He feels Ajax chuckle against him. "Sorry for stressing you out, Pretty. I was hoping to have the opposite effect."
Diluc huffs again, lifting his head so that he can see Ajax's face. Again with the soft eyes and the kind smile. "Don't call me pretty if you don't mean it."
Ajax gives him another cautious smile. "Who says I don't mean it? I've told you before that I think you're gorgeous."
"Yes, well, you were drunk when you said it."
"Yes, well, I'm sober now. And I'm telling you that you're pretty, Diluc."
For reasons that he can neither understand nor explain, this makes Diluc's heart flip. He always gets like this around Ajax despite barely knowing the guy. Maybe it's because he barely knows him. There's an air of mystery surrounding Ajax and he likes that he can know next to nothing about him and still feel so drawn to him. That he can relax and have casual, fun conversations with someone who is virtually a stranger to him.
A very handsome stranger, but a stranger nonetheless.
He exhales softly, shutting his eyes as he buries half of his face into Ajax's stomach. "This is disgusting," he mutters halfheartedly.
Ajax hand remains on top of his head, fingers glinding between the strands easily. "What is?"
"I haven't had butterflies like this since junior high."
"Aw," Ajax chuckles. He's silent for a while before speaking again. "I know what you mean. It's why I like talking to you."
Diluc's face begins to warm. It's one thing to passively acknowledge that Ajax is attractive, to talk and occasionally flirt. It's another thing to sit in this feeling with him; where the tension is rising from a simmer to a boil; where Diluc feels no shame about pressing his lips to the other man's abdomen.
Above him, Ajax hisses softly. He feels his skin quiver underneath his lips and smiles. "This is what you get for stressing me out."
"I deserve it." A harsh breath leaves Ajax's mouth. "Maybe I deserve a little more…?"
Diluc sinks into his warmth, pressing kiss after kiss against the muscles Ajax must have worked so hard to gain. He can hear Ajax's nails scrape against the top of the car and the way his breath starts to shake. It's exciting. It puts his mind so far away from whatever he was mad about and he chases the feeling.
He pauses to look up at a red-faced Ajax. "I'm not making you uncomfortable, am I?"
"Not at all. I can handle a little torture from someone this hot."
Diluc grins. "I went from pretty to hot?
Ajax nods confidently. "The same way I went from flaccid to half hard in these past few minutes."
This makes Diluc laugh. But when he looks down, he sees that Ajax isn't lying. There's a tent to the front of his swim shorts and Diluc is just curious enough to be enticed by it.
He lowers his head, pressing his lips against the bulge. Ajax makes a noise that sounds like he's choking. "How much torture, exactly?"
"Whatever your sadistic little mind can cook up. I'm pretty tough."
Diluc smirks up at him. "You think I'm sadistic?"
Ajax's tongue swipes across his bottom lip. "The way you're looking at me right now doesn't help your case."
He shrugs, hooking his fingers into the waistband of Ajax's trunks and dragging them down, exposing more of him. He presses his lips to his skin again, unwilling to leave a single inch of him unkissed. And he laughs at the way Ajax's trembling hand yanks the offending fabric the rest of the way down. He must be taking too long.
"Relax."
"Kind of hard to do that right now, Precious."
Diluc squints. "Don't like that one. Stick to pretty and gorgeous."
"Okay, Gorgeous, can you oprn your pretty mouth for me?"
He don't need to be asked twice. Diluc wets his lips as he takes hold of the base of Ajax's dick, then pushes the tip past them with a pleased hum.
Diluc doesn't particularly like or dislike the taste. He's never had an opinion of it. His focus is always on moving his tongue against the shaft in just the right way, making sure whatever man is in front of him doesn't cut off his air supply in desperation, and listening to all the lovely noises he gets when he hollows his cheeks. And Ajax makes such lovely noises.
His eyes fall shut as Ajax's fingers curl tight around his thick hair, pulling his head forward as he sinks into his mouth again and again. He moans softly around him, bobbing his head in hopes of hearing more of that soft, needy panting. Those breathless grunts. Those unsupported inhales.
"Fuck….fuck…" Ajax whines softly, increasing his pace slightly. Diluc takes Ajax's tip into the back of his throat and moans again, almost wanting to laugh at the way his hips stutter forward and try to push deeper. "Fuck…!"
Ajax's grip tightens. Diluc stops moving, allowing the taller man to hold him in place and fuck his face as he sees fit. When his grip starts to hurt, he reaches up to squeeze his wrist. Ajax, understanding, releases his hair. That's when both hands come up to hold the side of his head, much gentler than the hold he had on him before.
He loses track of how long Ajax has been thrusting into his drooling mouth but he's done this enough times to know the signs. When Ajax's grip gets tight again, when his thrusts become faster and deeper, when his moans come faster than before, Diluc knows he's about to cum. What he doesn't expect is for Ajax to try and pull away. So he reaches out to grab his hip, yanking him forward. Ajax lets out a shuddering gasp as he releases. Diluc does his best to breathe with him trapped in the back of his throat, lips pressed tight against the ginger curls on his pelvis.
Ajax gasps and pants, slumping against the top of the car. Diluc swallows what he can, letting the rest dribble down the sides of his mouth as he finally pulls away. Both men are struggling to catch their breath afterwards. Diluc watches the top of the car closely, waiting to see Ajax's face again appear again, waiting to hear anything from him. His fingers glide across the edges of his mouth, wiping away evidence of their encounter while he waits.
Slowly, Ajax pulls himself off of the car and leans down to look at him again. He's smiling. Diluc feels good about this. "I've never had anyone suck me off like that in my life."
He studies his face for a few moments. Ajax definitely looks happy, but he doesn't look sated. There's something more that he wants, that he's too polite to ask for.
And Diluc isn't one to leave unfinished business behind.
"Come here for a second…"
He bites down on his knuckle to muffle the whine that escapes his throat. His eyes threaten to roll back as the man's teasing thrusts rock him forward into the car.
"Do you like it?" Ajax whispers into his shoulder blade.
Diluc nods. "Yeah. Just….harder."
Ajax's next thrust is so sudden, so deep, that it forces a moan out of him. He clamps a hand over his mouth, the other hand reaching out to grab the front seat to steady himself. "Like that?"
"Mm-hm…" he nods, hair falling forward over his shoulders. He tries to measure his breathing as Ajax fucks him, but he's losing feeling in his fingers and his legs are starting to shake. "Mm-hmmm…"
Ajax's laugh trickles down his spine like water. "God, you're so cute." He kisses his neck slowly, thrusting faster as his mouth makes his way up to his ear. "And you feel so good, Diluc. I really needed this." He exhales shakily, his grip on Diluc's hips tightening. "I needed you so bad, fuck.
Diluc's hand comes down from his mouth to brace himself against the door in front of him. "S-Shit! Hah! I should've…let you fuck me last semester!"
"In the hotel?"
"Yes!"
"I would've," Ajax groans. "I wanted to, but everyone was around and awake and I couldn't see myself…making a move. But if I knew you'd feel like this? Holy shit, Diluc, I would have put you through that shitty mattress until you cried."
He believes him. He can already feel tears welling in his eyes as his pleasure mounts, and mounts, and mounts with seemingly no end in sight. He nods eagerly, pushing back against him as much as he can. "Hair! M-My hair…!"
He feels Ajax's warmth leave his back. The loss of sensation is replaced with Ajax's fingers pushing through his hair. His fist closes around the strands and he pulls until Diluc is staring at the roof of the car. A desperate whine rips from his throat as the pressure between his legs begins to pulse like a heartbeat. "Ajax!"
"Again," Ajax demands shakily. "Please say it again."
Diluc shouts his name again, fingernails digging deep into the leather as his tears finally spill over the lids. He chants it like a mantra, like doing so is going to absolve him of everything he's ever done in his life. And then he feels warmth pool inside of him. His eyes roll back as he trembles, his own throbbing need leaking freely onto the seat beneath him. And it feels so damn good.
He lets out a long sigh when Ajax finally stops thrusting inside of him. His muscles ache from exertion, but he's more than satisfied. He sniffs, bringing an unsteady hand to his cheeks to wipe away the moisture, then clears his throat. "Shit…"
"Yeah," Ajax breathes from somewhere behind him. "That was crazy."
Though he can't see him, he can imagine the goofy smile stretching his mouth, the blush on his pale cheeks, the dazed look in his eye. It makes him smile. "But good?"
"Hell yeah, it was good." Ajax crawls forward, kissing his way up his spine again. "You okay?"
Diluc nods, letting his head hang low for a moment. "I'm okay." He sniffs again. "Spent."
"Glad to hear it." He pulls out of Diluc slowly, but doesn't pull away from him just yet. He busies himself with his back, pressing kisses across it as he sees fit. Diluc lets him. "I really hope you enjoyed that."
Diluc nods. He takes a deep breath, then attempts to sit upright. Ajax adjusts behind him, then pulls him into his lap. "I did." He reaches back to wrap Ajax's arms around himself. "Enough to want to cuddle with you after."
Ajax laughs, pressing his lips to the space behind Diluc's right ear. "Can I ask you something?"
"Mm-hm." His eyes are sliding shut now. He's not sure how long he'll stay awake after this.
"What made you do this with me?"
Diluc snorts. "Because I wanted to."
Ajax kisses him again. "You pass."
Diluc's eyes pop open. "You're kidding me. That's the answer?!"
"Yup. Why do you sin? Because you want to."
"I'm suing for my tuition back…"
Ajax laughs hard at this. Diluc frowns, pushing back into his lap in order to feel more of his warmth. "Now you can stop stressing about it."
Diluc is about to argue against this, until he feels Ajax's hand slide between his legs. It's a welcomed distraction from that idiotic paper that he has to write, so he lets his calloused hand circle around his dick and stroke.
"Relax, Pretty," Ajax coos into his ear. "Enjoy your spring break."
Diluc isn't sure what's going to happen after the break is over. He doesn't want to know. He just wants this man to keep calling him pretty while he touches him.