[ Ajax places a finger atop his knight (his favored piece) stroking the resin mane as if it were an actual pet as he surveys the trap which he has so recklessly and willingly wandered into.
Zhongli has many key pieces at his disposal waiting to be deployed: a bishop (forgettable) and a knight (a worthy adversary) and the rook (his ultimate goal) and the queen (the impossible god to tear down from her throne). His king is not safe and his army divided — how just like the Fatui in their scheming and squabbling. It was the true reason they could not overcome the might of Morax, after all. Morax's whose coordination was so perfect, it was almost nauseating. Morax who inspired leadership instead of paid for it strength, fear, and lofty promises. Tartaglia is a Vanguard, a blade to an organization where such pieces prided themselves on strength and undying loyalty. Long-term strategy has never been his forte nor does he care to make it one.
And so— Ajax picks up the knight even when he knows that beyond his own delusions of grandeur, he is a pawn. And pawns either fight tool or nail to be queened or are felled on the battlefield forgotten in a sea of similar shaped corpses. ]
Never.
[ The knight ignores the other knight. It ignores the rook and the bishop. It hops over two pawns deep into enemy territory to challenge the queen. He cannot defeat her from this position, but now he stands between her and his king, a bishop ready to sweep across the board and end her if she were to take the knight. It's a taunt and a threat all wrapped with a little bow. Perhaps he's worked himself into an unwinnable situation, but even so Ajax will take down Zhongli's best if he has to go down fighting. ]
Half-measures rarely give me what I want.
[ And now to turn to the other "battle". The one that Ajax has been sorely (and pleasurably) losing this entire encounter.
Ajax glances once to the left and to the right, clocking everyone else within the room but this part of the museum is quiet and empty save for the staff and the odd couple and family engrossed in their own little outings. His free hand dips below the table to catch Zhongli's wandering foot by the ankle and hoist it further up until it's halfway up Ajax's calf. Two fingers dip underneath the leather lip of the shoe stroking just under the jut of Zhongli's anklebone with that some bold gentleness that Zhongli had displayed earlier before.
His eyes never leave Zhongli's as unlike the polite consultant, Ajax doesn't let go. Perhaps it is a cruelty — the desire he has to whittle away at Zhongli's composure. To try and keep his attention on him and him alone. ]
But I'm glad you find my boldness appealing even if you shouldn't say such things aloud. It just makes me want to test my limits all~ the~ more~
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Zhongli has many key pieces at his disposal waiting to be deployed: a bishop (forgettable) and a knight (a worthy adversary) and the rook (his ultimate goal) and the queen (the impossible god to tear down from her throne). His king is not safe and his army divided — how just like the Fatui in their scheming and squabbling. It was the true reason they could not overcome the might of Morax, after all. Morax's whose coordination was so perfect, it was almost nauseating. Morax who inspired leadership instead of paid for it strength, fear, and lofty promises. Tartaglia is a Vanguard, a blade to an organization where such pieces prided themselves on strength and undying loyalty. Long-term strategy has never been his forte nor does he care to make it one.
And so— Ajax picks up the knight even when he knows that beyond his own delusions of grandeur, he is a pawn. And pawns either fight tool or nail to be queened or are felled on the battlefield forgotten in a sea of similar shaped corpses. ]
Never.
[ The knight ignores the other knight. It ignores the rook and the bishop. It hops over two pawns deep into enemy territory to challenge the queen. He cannot defeat her from this position, but now he stands between her and his king, a bishop ready to sweep across the board and end her if she were to take the knight. It's a taunt and a threat all wrapped with a little bow. Perhaps he's worked himself into an unwinnable situation, but even so Ajax will take down Zhongli's best if he has to go down fighting. ]
Half-measures rarely give me what I want.
[ And now to turn to the other "battle". The one that Ajax has been sorely (and pleasurably) losing this entire encounter.
Ajax glances once to the left and to the right, clocking everyone else within the room but this part of the museum is quiet and empty save for the staff and the odd couple and family engrossed in their own little outings. His free hand dips below the table to catch Zhongli's wandering foot by the ankle and hoist it further up until it's halfway up Ajax's calf. Two fingers dip underneath the leather lip of the shoe stroking just under the jut of Zhongli's anklebone with that some bold gentleness that Zhongli had displayed earlier before.
His eyes never leave Zhongli's as unlike the polite consultant, Ajax doesn't let go. Perhaps it is a cruelty — the desire he has to whittle away at Zhongli's composure. To try and keep his attention on him and him alone. ]
But I'm glad you find my boldness appealing even if you shouldn't say such things aloud. It just makes me want to test my limits all~ the~ more~