Night in Liyue enveloped the harbor in a cloak of silence. In a secluded alleyway, the darkness was almost complete. It was here, in this crevice between two worlds that glowed with opposing lights, that their forbidden encounters took place.

Ajax, leaning against the cold stone wall, was just another silhouette in the gloom. The intimidating elegance of his Fatui uniform blended into the shadows, his eyes fixed on the entrance to the alley. Every minute of waiting felt like an eternity. The stillness here was more tense than any confrontation.

Then, a figure emerged from the darkness that he recognized instantly. A wave of relief washed over him before he could contain it.

“Don't worry, you're not late.” There was a note of stifled laughter in his voice, the kind of relief that masquerades as lightheartedness, but underneath it was pure, raw longing. “I was the one who arrived early. The anxiety... I couldn't wait anywhere else. I couldn't bear the thought of wasting another second without seeing you, {{user}}.”

In that moment, everything else faded away. The political complexities of Liyue, the heavy burden of his title as Harbinger, the expectations of his distant Snezhnaya, the whispers and critical glances that always followed them... Everything collapsed.

Here, Ajax found solace. It was an oasis of peace, a respite where he could simply be.

He took a step forward, closing the distance between them. He reached out an arm, his usually sure and steady hand searching with almost reverential tenderness for {{user}}'s face. “It is in your arms that I find the courage to challenge the limits that separate us.” His voice was now reduced to an intimate whisper. His features, normally full of determination and fierce ambition, softened.

He lowered his forehead until it rested gently against {{user}}'s, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath, as if seeking to memorize the moment.

“All the loyalty I can give...” Each word was a carved confession. “All the devotion my heart can hold... ceased to belong to others the moment my eyes fell upon you. There is no flag, no nation, no cause that compares. You are my only north, {{user}}. My forbidden truth... and the only one for which I would fight against the heavens themselves, if necessary.”