Mother Tongue

Ajax Petropolus was gay.

This was something he'd known about himself for a long time. Having grown up with two moms, he'd always been exposed to different sexualities, which he was incredibly grateful for, as it made him come to terms with who he was a lot earlier than most. Take Enid for example, she hadn't known she was a lesbian until she was 14, whereas Ajax knew he was gay when he was six, maybe seven? He knew when his best friend, Xavier, had told him about his crush on this girl Lois, and all Ajax could do was go and cry in his dorm for hours on end.

However, even though he'd known this about himself for so long, it was quite tightly sealed information, with only four people being aware; his moms, his big sister Iris, Enid and Wednesday. He never actually intended for Wednesday to find out, but after the language had sent her into a nervous breakdown, Wednesday soon became fluent in Greek and put two and two together (cursed those damned Addams genes.) He hadn't been mad, he was actually quite relieved, he felt bad making Enid keep that secret from her girlfriend. He'd offered her a hug and appreciated her telling him she'd keep it to herself, but Wednesday being Wednesday, she declined and eventually settled for a high five.

Ajax didn't actually know why he never shared this with anyone. It's not like he was ashamed, he knew he liked boys, and he was okay with that. It's not like he was afraid of judgement, everyone accepted Yoko and Divina, and Wednesday and Enid, and Kent and his little normie boyfriend Aaron.

So why couldn't Ajax bring himself to tell anyone? He couldn't tell you.

To be honest, he thought it was just better off that way. Gorgons were taught from infancy not to engage, so they could not bring harm amongst others, so why put himself through all the trouble to come out when he wasn't gonna get a boyfriend? It's not like he could if he wanted to anyways. He was too awkward and shy and weird, and half the student body was terrified of him and his snakes.

And so, he kept it to himself. Himself and Enid and their little conversations in Greek (which Wednesday had now kinda been included in.)

Xavier, on the other hand, did not seem to pleased with this arangement.

Originally, Ajax and Enid were only talking in a language no one else understood so Enid could word-vomit about Wednesday as much as she pleased, but they were together now, so why were they still doing it? At first, he thought it was instinct, but after hearing his name in one too many conversations, Xavier became 𝘥𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 to find out what his best friend was hiding from him.

And unfortunately for Ajax, Xavier Thorpe was a lot smarter than he seemed.

༆ ༆ ༆ ༆ ༆

It had been two weeks since Enid and Wednesday became an official couple. 𝘛𝘸𝘰 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴, and Ajax and Enid were still at it, ironically with Wednesday's name rarely being brought up. Xavier had asked the others if they knew what the hell the pair were playing it, but they all shook their heads and said they were confused too.

Except Wednesday.

Wednesday knew something.

So, naturally, Xavier dragged her into a storage closet (ironic, huh?) after second period to ask her what the actual hell was going on.

"Xavier, what in Lucifer's name - "

"What the hell are Ajax and Enid playing at?"

Wednesday felt a chill run down her spine, but her poker face remained. Wednesday had not a clue on whether or not she was a good liar, she'd never had anything to lie about before.

"I have not a clue what you are referring to, Thorpe." "

Oh?" he scoffed, nearly laughing. "Really?"

"...Yes." the goth responded, in her same montone voice. "Yes, really. Ajax and Enid are just being their regular selves? I hardly see why you had to drag me into a storage closet, though I must say, it's rather ironic."

The long-haired boy felt like he was gonna scream. It was kinda freaky how similar he was to Wednesday, he couldn't help but think. This whole fiasco was kinda giving him deja vu to when Wednesday interrogated him about Enid's crush on her, but that was 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵, Enid's excuse to keep a secret from her best friend was valid! It's not like Ajax had a crush on him, so why was he hiding something!?

"Hmm, let me think." he hummed, bringing his finger to his chin and tapping as though he were deep in thought. "Oh, Wens, I dunno! The fact I hear my name in nearly 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 conversation they have and they're back to being actively multilingual, which could only mean 𝘰𝘯𝘦 thing...Ajax is hiding something from me."

"And why do you assume I know about it?"

"Because you're Wednesday!" he exclaimed, hands up in the air. "You know everything! You're like a gothic Jesus or something!"

Wednesday felt herself grin at the phrase "Gothic Jesus." It was quite accurate, really. "I wasn't aware that Enid requited my affections, so clearly I do not know 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, Xavier."

Xavier rolled his eyes.

"That's different. When it comes to emotions, you're as dense as a brick, but when it comes to 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, you're like fucking James Bond. Plus, you're Enid's girlfriend so naturally she rambles to you about everything. I mean...it's Enid. She talks. A 𝘭𝘰𝘵."

Wednesday simply shrugged. "Enid does talk a lot, you're right. That's what Ajax is for. I am not involved with whatever nonsense they're discussing currently, I don't even speak Greek, Xavier." the dirty blond clenched his jaw, trying to detect even an inch of dishonesty on her face. It was hard, considering Wednesday didn't even blink half the time. "Now, can I please exit this closet? It's small and humid and smells like mold."

Not waiting for a response, Wednesday opened the door and waltzed out, and Xavier groaned in exasperation.

"I'm gonna find this out, with or without your help!" he yelled after her, and she just shot him a thumbs up, not even turning around.

He let out a heavy sigh and kicked a cardboard box, grumbling in annoyance.

"Stupid..."

༆ ༆ ༆ ༆ ༆

It took Xavier exactly a week to get overly annoyed by this whole situation and confront Ajax about his secret. He felt kinda dumb, getting so wound up over something that was probably nothing, but Ajax was even dumber, so it was okay. He arrived at Ajax's dorm at a time he knew specifically his roomate wouldn't be there, as he knew Eugene had his bee club with Wednesday at this time. He knocked twice before entering, only to see Ajax laying on his bed whilst scrolling on his phone.

His eyes were slightly squinted and his nose was scrunched, so Xavier knew he was on Twitter. It was kinda weird, he thought to himself, that he knew all these little quirks Ajax had, but he didn't dwell on it. They were bros, buddies, pals, he was bound to notice things about him.

"Xavier," the Gorgon said, placing his phone down and sitting up. "What's good?"

Xavier sniffed the room slightly, the smell of weed invading his nostrils. "Dude, it stinks of weed in here." he muttered, looking at Ajax once more, quickly noticing his eyes were slightly pink and hooded. "Jax- are you- are you 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘥 right now?"

Ajax lifted his fingers and pinched them together. "Lil' bit. Why? What's up?" "Oh," the psychic said. "Okay, then, we probably shouldn't have this conversation right now - "

As he was about to walk out the door, Ajax grabbed his arm and turned him around to face him. Ajax was shorter than Xavier, specifically by 4 inches, so he looked up at him ever so slightly. "No, no, no, it's okay. I'm like, practically sober, I can talk. Are you good? About your dad?"

Xavier felt his face soften at Ajax's concern. He was so...sweet. Caring. It made Xavier just wanna curl him up in a ball and protect him from everything bad in this world. He soon brought back his stoic face, crossing his arms over his chest and coughing. "Okay, okay, yeah, let's talk then." he said, looking Ajax in the eye. "What are you keeping from me?"

Ajax felt his heart drop. Partially from the eye contact, which he was really paranoid about, and partially from the accusation, which wasn't really an accusation since it was true. "What?" was all the Gorgon could manage to get out.

Xavier repeated himself. "What are you keeping from me, Ajax?"

The tension in the air made Ajax wanna spill his guts then and there. Maybe it was the weed, maybe it was the fact he didn't like lying to the boy he loved, he didn't really know. He sat back down his bed, placing his head in his hands. Maybe it was the weed, maybe it was the latter, he didn't know. He didn't know why it took him so long to finally just say...

"I'm gay." It was a whisper, barely loud enough for Xavier to hear, but he did. His face dropped, and his heart sunk. He felt bad now. Like he'd pressured Ajax into telling him or something.

"Oh..." he whispered back, taking a seat beside Ajax. The Gorgon's head was still in his hands, and he was rocking back and fourth ever so slightly. His leg was bouncing, he was clearly anxious, and that made Xavier feel terrible. "Okay. That-that's cool."

Ajax just nodded, remaining mute. The silence was awkward, so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Xavier scratched the back of his neck. "Sorry if I like, pressured you into telling me or something, that's not cool - "

"You didn't." Ajax cut him off, looking up. "It-it's okay, I've been wanting to tell you for a while now anyways."

Xavier just nodded, looking forward. He didn't really know what to say. "I mean, I get it." he shrugged, and Ajax shot him a look of confusion. "I'm bisexual. When I think about telling anyone, I get anxious too. When I think about if my friends will react badly, I...I get so sad, y'know? Cause it's like...I am who I am, and I should be accepted for that. So...it's cool you didn't tell me. It's cool, 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 cool, I mean. Sorry if I overstepped."

Ajax looked baffled, to say the least. Xavier had always been kinda a ladies man, so to say this was a shock to him was a huge understatement. "W-wha? What, wha-"

"You're the first person I've ever told." Xavier admitted. "In-in all honesty, I literally only just kinda fully accepted it right now. I've always been more into chicks, so I thought it didn't matter that I always kinda found guys attractive or thought about dating them, y'know? Plus, my dad and all, so I thought I'd just be better off getting with a girl like Bianca - "

"I really like you," Ajax breathed out.

His breath hitched. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘈𝘫𝘢𝘹? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭? He hadn't meant to say that. He hadn't meant to say that at all. It just kinda...slipped out. Enid and her word-vomit had really been rubbing off on him. Xavier looked even more shocked than Ajax did moments prior. His eyes were wide and his jaw dropped ever so slightly, making Ajax nervous. Did he just ruin their friendship? Did he really just fuck everything up? A friendship of 11 years, did he really just throw it down the drain with four words?

"...Xavier?" The long-haired boy held a hand up, his other hand running through his hair.

"Just-just give me a sec. I'm-I'm thinking."

Now that Xavier thought about it, the thought of Ajax liking him didn't...it didn't feel wrong. It didn't make him feel uncomfortable or disgusted, rather it made his chest feel warm and his insides feel giddy. Kinda like how he felt when Bianca first kissed him, and when Wednesday had asked him to the R'aven.

𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘵...

He had a crush on Ajax Petropolus.

And Ajax Petropolus had a crush on him back.

"Xavier..." the shorter boy laughed awkwardly. "You-you done thinking?"

Xavier breathed in slowly. "Yeah..." he breathed out.

And that's when he did it.

He leaned forward and pressed his lips against Ajax's.

it wasn't like how the movies described it. The world didn't stop on its axis and fireworks didn't go off out of nowhere, but it felt 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. And that's not something Xavier Thorpe felt very often.

Ajax kissed him back, his hands moving to Xavier's jaw, and Xavier's to the back of Ajax's neck. The kiss continued for what felt like years, until Ajax pulled away for a need of oxygen.

"So..." the Gorgon laughed.

"Who else knew?" the taller boy breathed out.

Ajax squinted, thinking. "About me being gay or me liking you? As for the first, my moms, my sister, Enid and Wednesday. And as for the second, only Enid and Wednesday again. Yeah, I didn't tell a lot of people - "

"Wednesday knew?" Xavier interupted, his eye twitching. Ajax nodded, confused, and Xavier looked towards the door. "𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩..."

The two boys errupted into a fit of laughter, falling onto Ajax's bed while holding their stomachs as they wheezed. Time didn't stop, and the sun didn't shine, but it felt 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. And Ajax and Xavier, well...they could work with right.