- AETHEREUS ;; wednesday

AJAX

THE SNAKES !
ajax petropolus x fem!reader

— The first time you encountered Ajax's snakes acting oddly around you was when the both of you were studying for your upcoming exam. When this happened, neither of you were aware of each other's feelings towards one another and didn't think too much of it:

Usually, Nevermore's library is rather quiet with no signs of life but not today. Today, the library had been filled with dozens of students trying to cram the entire biology syllabus in less than an hour.

Exam season was upon the students of Nevermore and they were all rest-less, including you and Ajax.

You both were near the end of the library, sitting across from one another as you both were helping each other revise for your upcoming exam. Yet, none of you could get anything done since there were far too many distractions for the both of you.

'Right so, what are the adaptations of a Dionaea muscipula plant?' you asked Ajax looking up from your deck of flashcards that were strewn all over your textbook.

Ajax remained quiet as he tried to think of his answer to your question while you began to scan your textbook again, re-reading all the material in it.

After a while, you turned to Ajax, again, wanting to ask him the question again but were immediately stopped by Ajax, who cursed and shouted: 'Y/N, close your eyes!'

You quickly shut your eyes tight and for good measure, covered them both with your hands. You really didn't want to turn into stone merely hours before your final exam.

Once the gorgon informed you that it was safe to open to your eyes, you slowly obliged. You saw that he looked rather embarrassed as he had his face covered with both of his hands. 'Sorry. I'm really sorry about that, I don't know what's happening to my snakes right now. Usually, they behave quite well,' he apologised.

You shook your head and reassured him that it wasn't his fault that his snakes attempted to stone you. You didn't think too much of this interaction but little did you know that the reason for this was due to the gorgon's major crush on you.

— The second time Ajax's snakes attempted to touch you was during Outreach Day at Uriah's Heep. You both had gotten that shop for volunteering and you were very glad to have been there with a friend:

Outreach Day was probably one of your least favourite days of the school year. Yes, you were going out to Jericho and finally having a change of scenery but the entire concept of volunteering was tedious to you — why were you working at a place when you weren't going to be paid?

However, it wasn't all doom and gloom since your best friend Ajax was volunteering there too!

Most of your time spent at that creepy shack involved you both just quizzically staring at the rows of shelves that were filled with the ( nicely dressed ) roadkill or with cleaning out all the dusty old shelves.

Every now and then, you both would crack jokes but would get immediately shushed by the only clerk present in the store.

While you cleaned out a shelf that was right at the back of the store, you were interrupted Ajax standing a little too close to you as he watched you clean out the shelf.

'Want some help here? I'm done with my side so—' Ajax stopped talking when he noticed that a few of snakes were roaming near your small figure.

All your movements stopped when you felt the weird feeling of scales on your head and neck. Your breath hitched. You were unsure of how to proceed; any wrong movement and you'd be a stone.

'Ajax?' You called out. 'Yeah? Sorry, give me a minute...' he said as he began to shove the snakes back into his beanie.

The rest of your day spent with him involved you countlessly reassuring him that the snakes were no big deal while he apologised to you endlessly.

Ajax was terrified of the idea of his snakes ever turning you to stone.

— The third ( and last ) time his snakes escaped his beanie to affectionately touch you was during the Rave'N - it was a night you both won't ever forget:

The Rave'N was a rather lively and remarkable evening. It started out rather wonderful as well.

Ajax had come to pick you up at your dorm at around 7. He was already dressed in a white suit - he even had a beanie to match. You'd be lying if you said he didn't look attractive.

The entirety of your evening was spent with the both of you dancing to all the songs, drinking and eating.

As it started to near midnight, the songs started to get slower - perfect for ballroom dancing.

Even though your legs were sore and you felt like you could hardly stand but when Ajax asked you to dance with him one last time, how could you say no?

You both spent the last hours of the night in each other's arms. The entire world around you both was a blur and the only thing you could focus on was Ajax's arms around your body.

When the night ended and everyone was leaving; there were barely any people present except for a few other students and you both.

Ajax and you sat at one of the round tables, doing absolutely nothing - just sitting with one another, enjoying each other's company. It was a comfortable silence, to say the least.

The raspy yet comforting voice of Ajax calling out your name, snapped you out of your thoughts as you turned all your attention to him. You hummed in response, urging him to speak - you were too tired to say a single word.

'I...' he began, 'I had a great time here, with you.' You smiled upon hearing his words, 'me too.'

You both sat in silence again until Ajax began another conversation: 'hey, listen... I don't know how to properly say this but...' he trailed off, it was as if he was trying to form the right words in his mind. 'I really like you - I like you a lot, in fact,' he bluntly said.

Your eyes widened in shock; you couldn't believe your ears - your best friend and crush, Ajax had confessed to you. It was too surreal.

You were unaware of how to properly tell him that you harbored feelings for him as well. So, on impulse, you crashed your lips onto his.

Ajax was taken a back by your action but he kissed you back nonetheless. He'd been wanting to do that for so long.

His hands cupped one of your cheeks while the other travelled down to your waist whereas both of your arms were wrapped around his neck.

Unfortunately, you both pulled apart once Ajax realised that his snakes had escaped, again. He frantically apologised to you on behalf of his snakes while you chuckled.

Atleast now the snakes would attempt to escape a little less.