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It was a cold and cloudy night when Ajax finally found his target.
He lazily leaned back against the gargoyle he was perched on, eyeing the scene below with contempt. He’d been tracing the vampire for far too long. Every time he thought he got close enough to catch him, the creature would dip out of sight. Ajax was frankly getting very tired of the disappearing act. He wanted nothing more than to be rid of the annoying monster once and for all.
Vampires had been terrorizing Teyvat for as long as he could remember. A small group of elite hunters had formed to try and deter the creatures from taking victims in the night. It hadn’t stopped the attacks, though, only slowed them down. There was one vampire in particular that never left a victim.
His name was Zhongli. And he just so happened to be the vampire that Ajax was hunting down.
He didn’t kill his victims; nor did he turn them into vampires. Instead, he left them dazed and confused in alleyways, struggling to remember what had happened to them. He always took just enough blood that, had he taken any more, he might have actually killed them. Ajax was certain he’d killed many people in his lifetime. Just because he spared some, it didn’t make him a saint.
The thought of all the helpless victims infuriated Ajax to no end. He hated how vampires sauntered around the city as if they owned it, making everyone shrink away in fear. He clenched the wooden stake he held close to his chest, breathing out slowly through his nose.
Zhongli was pursuing a new target. He saw the vampire out of the corner of his eye. His long cloak billowed behind him as he quietly moved through the shadows. A young woman was wandering ahead, humming a soft tune to herself. A bushel of flowers was in her grasp, and she idly played with the petals of a pretty pink one.
Ajax watched as Zhongli approached her. The woman, as if feeling his presence, quickened her steps. She was almost running then, her long hair flowing in the night breeze. Ajax could hear her soft pants; could almost feel her terror. But he didn’t strike yet. It wasn’t the right moment.
Just as Zhongli grasped her delicate wrist, pulling her to him, Ajax made his move.
With a swiftness that only a hunter possessed, he leapt off the balcony and landed silently in the street. He produced a stake from under his cloak. With a flick of his wrist, the stake found its mark on Zhongli’s back. Or it would have, had the vampire not turned at just the right moment to avoid the blow. The woman watched with terror-filled eyes, too scared to even scream.
To his delight, Zhongli didn’t notice the woman successfully escaping. She slipped from his grasp, fleeing into the night without a cry for help. Ajax hoped that she had recognized the emblem on his cloak, one that identified the hunters.
Ajax kept the vampire occupied, twirling the crucifix he usually wore around his neck tauntingly in the air. He smirked from under his hood, convinced that he finally had the vampire where he wanted him.
“Still with the cape I see,” Ajax remarked.
Zhongli’s eyes trailed up Ajax’s frame, lingering too long on certain places for his comfort. He tried not to squirm under the scrutinizing stare, squaring his shoulders in an effort to look bigger. It didn’t work. Zhongli was nearly twice Ajax’s size.
“Little hunter,” Zhongli’s rumbling voice purred, “look what you’ve gotten yourself into.”
Up close, Zhongli was gorgeous.
His long, dark hair framed his striking face perfectly. Ajax momentarily got lost examining the sharp cheekbones and lips curled into a private smile. His eyes were red, like most vampires’ were when they were ready to feed.
It took Ajax a moment too long to process what Zhongli said. Before he could come up with a witty reply, Zhongli pounced.
Thankfully, Ajax was quick. He skidded out of the way, boots crunching on scattered leaves. He spun around to face the vampire again, raising the stake once more.
“This time, I won’t miss,” Ajax snarled.
Zhongli didn’t reply. He was calculating his next move in his head when suddenly, the vampire vanished into thin air.
“What the f—”
He found himself pressed against the wall of a nearby building, Zhongli looming over him menacingly.
Well fuck him. Not many vampires could pull the disappearing act, but Zhongli was different. More powerful. Ajax should have seen that coming. He tried to wriggle free, but Zhongli had him pinned with inhuman strength. He stared into the vampire’s eyes, agitated.
“Let go.”
Zhongli smirked, exposing the hint of a sharp canine. A pale hand reached up to caress his jaw, sliding lower. Sharp claws pressed into his cloak, tearing it aside to expose the tanned column of his throat.
“Says the one who just tried to kill me. For someone who claims to be such an articulate hunter, you should know by now that stakes and this—jewelry—are just tinker toys. None of these are harmful to elder vampires such as myself.”
It was absolutely sinful how beautiful Zhongli looked in the moonlight. Ajax scowled, struggling to wiggle free from the clawed hand resting on his vulnerable neck.
“If you’re so powerful, why don’t you kill your victims like everyone else?” Ajax snapped, because he couldn’t think of another retort.
Zhongli raised a stupidly perfect brow. “I simply don’t feel the need to. Once I get what I want, I let them go. Would you prefer that I killed them instead, young hunter?”
“No! Of course not. Don’t be stupid.” Ajax felt his face burn. “Now get off of me.”
One of Zhongli’s hands grasped his hair, yanking his head to the side. His neck was now fully exposed to the vampire’s antics.
“You interrupted me during a meal,” Zhongli murmured. “And yet, I have such a delicious one right under my nose.” He inhaled sharply, clearly relishing in the scent of Ajax’s blood. “So sweet,” he crooned. “How nice of you to offer to replace her.”
Ajax felt lips along his throat, and panic ensnared him.
“W-Wait! Wait!” Ajax begged. “Zhongli!”
A gentle nip to his throat; a warning. Ajax felt the sharp fang slide delicately across his neck. Warm breath made chills trickle down his spine. Zhongli was toying with him.
“Consider this your final warning. If you interrupt me during a meal again, you will replace them. Do you understand?”
Zhongli spoke into the expanse of Ajax’s neck, making him squirm. His tongue darted out, pressing onto a vein as if to taste the blood through his skin. Ajax let out a yelp, banging his head against the wall as he tried to move away from the touch.
“I said, do you understand?” Zhongli repeated after retracting his tongue.
“Y-Yes! Yes!” Ajax cried out.
His pride was wounded—no—completely destroyed. Tears stung at the corners of his eyes. He’d been tracking down Zhongli for months, completely unaware that he was also being hunted the entire time. What would the other hunters say if they found out? Would Zhongli gloat about how he had Ajax squirming under him, begging to be spared?
He would never live it down.
Zhongli retreated then, glancing over the hunter’s disheveled form. Ajax was panting, trembling all over, as if he’d witnessed a horror beyond human comprehension.
“Who knew the little hunter was so terrified of being bitten,” Zhongli mused thoughtfully.
Ajax couldn’t come up with a witty reply. He couldn’t come up with any reply. He was too shaken, too afraid of what had almost transpired. Zhongli examined him curiously, eyes now a unique shade of gold.
Ajax remained against the wall, pressing his back against it as he willed his legs to start working. With shaking hands, he grasped the vial that hung from his belt. He downed the contents in one go, tossing the empty glass to the side. He took a step forward, knees buckling. Zhongli looked alarmingly like he was going to reach out to help him.
Ajax felt darkness creep along the edges of his vision. The last thing he saw before disappearing from sight was the vampire’s piercing golden eyes. The world tilted on its axis and he drifted into blackness.
꧁꧂
The first time Ajax saw someone get bitten, he was only five years old.
He was a curious child, often too curious for his own good. He had wandered too far one night when going for a stroll with his nanny. He ended up near a shady tavern, one that was bursting with rowdy drunks.
He had heard a noise right outside the building, so curious young Ajax investigated. What he saw would haunt him for the rest of his life.
There was a young woman, his nanny’s age, collapsed against the wall of the tavern. Her eyes were unfocused, but brimming with tears. A creature of nightmares was leaning over her, horrible slurping sounds echoing from where its mouth was attached to her neck.
Ajax remembered being frozen in terror. Then he remembered screaming, so piercing and loud that the vampire abandoned his meal to let out a threatening hiss in his direction. Blood coated the creature’s mouth, spilling down its chin.
Ajax’s nanny found him before the creature could give chase. Until he was a teenager, he slept with a nightlight on and something heavy in front of his door.
The image never left him. It was one of the reasons he chose to become a hunter in the first place. So he could stop the horror he’d witnessed from happening to anyone else.
Of course, he’d seen people get bitten after that. It came with the job. It didn’t mean the sight got any easier. After each hunt, another vampire taken down, Ajax would retreat to vomit into the bushes. Sometimes, he’d have a panic attack so intense that he would retreat into his room and refuse to come out until the sun was high in the sky.
Ajax considered quitting for a time. But then the vampires could win. It was too much of a risk to have one less hunter out on the streets.
He’d never come close to being bitten before. But this time, he’d tasted death on his tongue. Too close to becoming part of the horrible nightmare that poisoned his dreams. Zhongli had let him go, but at what cost? He would never be able to hunt the vampire again for fear of getting killed.
Just because Zhongli hadn’t killed his victims, it didn’t mean he wouldn’t kill a hunter.
For once in his life, Ajax was thankful to have something that Scaramouche sold him on hand.
Shadow travel was largely banned in Teyvat. It was because of the toll it took on the human body. Hunters utilized it for decades before it became branded as too hazardous to use again. Ajax happened to know a dealer of the magical essence who didn’t care about rules and the consequences of disobeying them.
After downing the special essence, skilled hunters could disappear from sight. Or, it seemed that they could. In reality, they would step into the nearest shadow and be transported somewhere else. It was meant to give them an advantage against more powerful vampires who could move too fast for the human eye to comprehend.
Ajax had stepped into the shadow of a nearby building right before he went unconscious. The loss of consciousness was a side effect of using the essence, but he’d panicked and didn’t know what else to do.
He was distinctly aware of a weightless feeling. He was drifting in the abyss, unable to open his eyes. Was this what dying felt like? Would the shadow essence kill him like so many feared it would?
But he awoke a few minutes later. He was lying in an alleyway, propped up against the wall. A quick survey of his body reassured him that all his limbs were intact. Good. Scaramouche’s poison hadn’t killed him yet. He took a deep breath, using the wall for support as he stood on his shaky legs.
What a sad excuse of a hunter he was. At least he hadn’t gotten sick as well.
As he wandered home, he reassessed the situation. He had to stop hunting Zhongli, that much was for certain. But would he stop hunting all vampires? Zhongli was older and more powerful than the rest. He possessed abilities that Ajax hadn’t seen many other vampire use.
Pride be damned, Ajax didn’t want to become the vampire’s next meal. The thought of him prowling the streets praying on the innocent made Ajax hot with anger. There wasn’t anything he could do, though. Maybe he could tip off another hunter? No, they’d most likely ask why he stopped pursing the vampire. He’d have to be sneaky. Maybe he could act like he was still hunting him when in reality he was hunting someone else. Lesser vampires; ones that couldn’t trap him like a cat catching a mouse.
It was decided then. Zhongli would get his wish.
꧁꧂
The next time Ajax ran into Zhongli was purely accidental.
True to his word, he’d stopped trying to track down the vampire. In fact, he wanted nothing to do with him anymore. Ajax’s pride was so greatly wounded at Zhongli getting to taste and smell his fear that he never wanted to see his face again.
Instead, he focused his attention on a small ring of vampires who often fed together. His plan was to pick them off one by one, since he wouldn’t be able to take all of them at once. He traced their meeting place to a run down shack just on the outskirts of the city. The forest there grew dense with thorny shrubbery and towering trees.
Ajax had a plan carefully laid out. He knew exactly what his next move would be. As he headed in the direction of the woods, he heard a soft cry echo into the night. He paused for a moment, contemplating. It was likely a frisky couple coming home from a tavern. But just in case, he decided to briefly investigate.
What he found was not at all what he was expecting.
It was none other than Zhongli himself, pinning a young man to a wall. He seemed to be talking to him softly, putting him into a trance. Then he opened his mouth, sharp fangs gleaming in the moonlight, approaching the exposed skin on the man’s throat.
Ajax stared on in horror. He’d promised not to intervene. He swore to himself that he’d keep that promise, lest he end up in another compromising situation. He took a careful step back. Then another.
As Zhongli’s fangs pierced the young man’s throat, Ajax stumbled backwards. His boot caught on uneven cobblestone, and he fell on his backside with a quiet yelp.
Red eyes were suddenly transfixed on him. Ajax felt icy terror wash over him. Zhongli paused, fangs slick with dark blood. Ajax didn’t wait for him to react to his presence. He took off running, grasping desperately at his satchel. He remembered Zhongli calling his weapons toys, and the momentary relief he’d felt at having them in his bag dissipated.
But it was okay. It was alright. He would be fine. He hadn’t exactly interrupted Zhongli, and it was an accident anyway. He just needed to get to the woods, where he’d be lost among the trees.
He allowed himself to finally pause to catch his breath once he was sure he was far enough away. He leaned against a tree for purchase, staring up at the night sky as cold air filled his lungs.
There was something about Zhongli’s presence that terrified him like no other vampire had before. He’d come too close again. He wasn’t sure what god above was angry with him, but he wished to atone. How unlucky it was that he’d run into Zhongli right after promising not to do it again.
No, it was okay. It would all be okay. Zhongli could have his meal, and Ajax could carry on his merry way.
The soft rustle of clothing pulled him out of his thoughts. Gasping, Ajax withdrew his revolver from his bag and held it out with shaking hands.
“Who’s there?” he asked stupidly.
For a moment, there was no reply. Then, the tiny hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He could feel a presence behind him.
“I told you never to interrupt me again.”
Ajax froze at the low timbre of Zhongli’s voice. He couldn’t see the vampire among the dark trees, but he could feel the suffocating presence behind him.
He wanted to explain. He wanted to clarify that it truly was just an accident. ‘Oh sorry, I was actually plotting to kill some of your vampire buddies instead,’ didn’t exactly sound like a good enough excuse.
Words wouldn’t come to him. He stood there stupidly, a statue under the moonlight, staring into the darkness of the forest.
When he finally had the courage to move again, he spun around and pressed the end of his revolver to Zhongli’s chest. He tried to give off an aura of confidence, but his heart was in his throat, and he knew the vampire could hear it pounding. He could barely hear anything over the blood rushing in his ears.
The gun he had would be useless if he couldn’t land a single shot. Vampires were quick. Zhongli seemed to be especially so. He clicked off the safety of the gun, eyes finally flicking up to meet the vampire’s.
Only to see that Zhongli was smiling.
“Why are you so smug?”
He pulled the trigger.
A gust of wind; then empty space filled the spot in front of him. Ajax stared at the gun in shock. Smoke trickled out of the tip, the only proof that the gun had even fired. Whirling around, Ajax searched for the vampire.
“Show yourself!” he hissed.
“Gladly,” a voice whispered in his ear.
Ajax was barely able to utter a sound as Zhongli pounced.
He didn’t register his satchel falling to his feet as Zhongli grabbed him. One clawed hand snaked around his chest, gripping him so tightly that he was sure it would leave marks. A yelp finally escaped him. He fumbled for his gun, but there was no way he could get an angle. Not that it mattered, because Zhongli’s other hand knocked it away as if it were just a toy.
Clawed fingers brushed his chin, using it to tilt his head to the side. The column of Ajax’s throat became exposed to the no doubt very hungry creature. Zhongli was pressed tightly against his back, effectively trapping him.
“I’ll admit that I haven’t stopped thinking of you. Your blood sings to me. It smells more divine than anything I’ve ever tasted before.” Zhongli’s lips brushed the shell of his ear.
Ajax willed himself to move; to speak; to do something. Anything besides standing there, making himself freely available to the sharp fangs that were dying to pierce his flesh.
A gasp was forced out of him as Zhongli’s lips pressed against his neck. They trailed up the side of his throat, lightly tracing along his jaw.
“Stop,” Ajax whispered, the only word he was able to force out.
He wanted to put up a fight. He didn’t want to be a lamb up for slaughter. But with his weapons rendered useless, all he could manage to say was that one word. At the very least, it did make Zhongli pause.
“Little hunter,” Zhongli crooned, “so terrified to be bitten. Why is that, I wonder?”
A flash of anger struck him. How dare Zhongli try to act naive. He no doubt understood the pain he caused his victims. Clenching his fists, Ajax seethed.
“Maybe because it hurts like hell,” he finally snapped.
A pause. Ajax was certain he’d be punted into the moonlight for angering the vampire.
“Only when we want it to,” came Zhongli’s confusing reply instead.
“What in Teyvat is that supposed to mean?”
He could feel Zhongli smile against his throat. He fought back a whimper as the vampire inhaled, taking in the scent of his blood once more. When he spoke again, it was into the crook of Ajax’s neck. Each word made goosebumps appear, his skin prickling with sensitivity.
“Shouldn’t you know what I mean, oh mighty hunter?”
He was mocking him. Ajax scowled, wanting nothing more than to punch the cocky bastard’s stupidly handsome face.
“You’re lying to me. There’s no way a bite like that can feel anything but extraordinarily painful.” Ajax was fuming. “I have absolutely no reason to believe you.”
The second the words left his mouth, he regretted it. He could feel Zhongli’s smile widen against his skin.
“Then why don’t I show you?”
Ah. He supposed he’d walked into that one. Scowling, he tried once more to pull away.
“As if! Get off me!”
“Hm. No, I don’t think I will.”
Ajax let out a trembling breath. He swallowed thickly as one of Zhongli’s hands gripped the side of his waist. The other tangled in his hair, using it as leverage to expose more of his throat. The image of the man in the alleyway came to the forefront of his mind. The way the blood coated Zhongli’s mouth. The expression on the man’s face; how he was entranced.
“Wait,” he suddenly blurted out. “It was an accident, I swear! I didn’t mean to interrupt you. C-Can’t you just go back to what you were doing before?” Who he was eating was more like it, but Ajax refused to say that.
Zhongli retreated only slightly. “His blood was hardly enough to satisfy my craving.” He sighed softly. “I had no desire to continue the exchange after you rudely interrupted us. All I could smell was you.”
Ajax felt his panic building. He tried to move away, but Zhongli’s firm grip was unrelenting. Angry tears welled in his eyes. He was surely going to die there, in the middle of the woods. Would anyone even find his body? The townsfolk would no doubt whisper of the hunter who’d disappeared one day. He’d be remembered as a failure.
“Let me go, ” Ajax tried again, much weaker.
Deep down, he knew it was futile. But something in him still hoped he could appeal to the vampire’s softer side.
“Relax, little hunter. I’m not going to hurt you. You’ll feel just a pinch.”
It was the only warning he got before sharp fangs plunged into the side of his neck.
Ajax couldn’t even manage a scream, his mouth falling open with no sound coming out. There was a flash of pain, then a soothing numbness seemed to take effect. A soft gasp escaped as Zhongli retracted his fangs. He could still feel the vampire’s lips against his skin as he started to swallow up the blood that leaked from the wound.
Ajax’s mind went blank. Vaguely, he registered that he was suddenly warm. Too warm. The heat seemed to be spreading throughout his body, starting from where Zhongli had bit him.
Ajax tried to squirm away, a whimper escaping, but Zhongli held him firmly in place. The warmth only grew, until it started pooling in an entirely different place.
Oh. Oh no. He was not about to get hard from a vampire bite. (Except that he was, and there was nothing he could do about it.)
As Zhongli continued to suckle on the wound, Ajax realized that Zhongli wasn’t taking gulps of his blood, but small sips. Was he not trying to kill him? Ajax was immensely confused, and the current predicament in his pants wasn’t helping anything.
His entire body started to feel weightless. He sagged against the vampire, limbs suddenly jelly. A ragged moan forced its way out against his will. Fuck—Why did he suddenly feel so good? Zhongli’s lips were warm and soft against him. He couldn’t feel any pain anymore, just the tingling pleasure that was trickling through his veins.
He felt Zhongli’s smirk against his throat at the sound that escaped him. It was humiliating. It was something he’d never recover from, should he live past that night. Ajax, renowned vampire hunter, was getting hard from being bit by the same vampire he’d been tracking for months.
As if sensing his little issue, the hand gripping his waist started to trail down his stomach. Zhongli traced down the line of Ajax’s hard-earned abs, pausing just above his waistline. Ajax squirmed. Part of him wanted to shrink away, but another part of him wanted Zhongli's hand to go lower.
Zhongli’s lips suddenly left his neck. A warm tongue licked the wound clean, making sure to get every last drop of blood. Zhongli’s hand was creeping lower, until it was just above where Ajax desperately needed it to be.
“You seem to have enjoyed that,” Zhongli murmured smugly.
Much to his horror, a pathetic whine was all he managed to release. Zhongli’s soft laugh echoed in the quiet forest surrounding them. Ajax felt raw and exposed. He wanted to run. He should have run. But his limbs still felt like jelly and his weight was being supported by the vampire behind him.
“And to think, I didn’t even take much. I’m curious to see how you’d react if I’d really had my fill.” Zhongli hummed thoughtfully. “Should I take responsibility for my actions? Or would you rather me leave you here like this?”
Oh, he was so cruel. Ajax would have had plenty of retorts on the tip of his tongue had his brain not turned to mush.
“Shut up,” was the only thing he managed to say. To his dismay, he sounded just as overwhelmed as he felt.
“I’m not hearing a no.” He could hear the smirk in Zhongli’s voice. “Moan once for yes, twice for no.”
“What are you—”
Zhongli’s fangs were in his throat once more, causing Ajax to release the loudest, most embarrassing moan of his entire life. The bite was too close to the one from before, and it should have been painful. Except it wasn’t. The euphoria was immediate. Ajax began trembling, small gasps leaving his parted lips as Zhongli drank from him.
“Wait—Wait! Zhongli—ah,” Ajax whimpered.
The vampire’s hand had crept lower, pressing against the bulge in Ajax’s pants. It was wrong. He should push him away; beg to be released. Except he didn’t want to. He wanted more. He wanted the vampire to touch him so badly that he ached.
Zhongli paused his feast only for a moment. He licked the wound clean, pressing a kiss on the spot.
“Vampires can release a unique aphrodisiac with their bite if they so choose,” Zhongli murmured against his skin. “I never had any intention of killing you. No, I’d much rather devour you instead.”
“You’re so goddamn annoying,” Ajax whined. “Stop toying with me!”
“If you insist, my darling hunter.”
When Zhongli’s teeth entered the other side of his neck for the third time, he couldn’t bring himself to fight it any longer. All Zhongli had to do was lightly brush his fingers against him through the rough leather of his pants, and Ajax found his release like a horny virgin.
He was never going to live that down. The embarrassment made his cheeks burn as he rutted into the vampire’s hand. He covered his mouth to hide his whimpers, but he knew Zhongli heard them anyway. The pleasure crescendoed and never seemed to stop, washing over him in overwhelming waves. He continued pressing himself into Zhongli’s hand, even as overstimulation made tears prickle in his eyes and spill down his cheeks.
“And to think,” the vampire started with a hum, “you were so terrified to be bitten. Yet here you are, finding release so easily when I’ve barely touched you.” A soft laugh escaped him. “If you keep being this delectable, little hunter, I might just keep you all to myself.”
Oh. Ajax should hate that. He really should. Why did it make him feel pleasantly warm instead?
He must have let out a rather humiliating noise, because Zhongli’s soft laughter echoed in the forest around them once more.
“You truly are exquisite, my darling. Perhaps I won’t let you go after all.”