Some Kinich flashback and Ororon's debut.
〘〙
Everything had a price for those willing to pay.
"What did you say?"
Anything could be prescribed a value if one desired it enough.
"I asked how much."
Certain things were more valuable than others.
"I... I don't know. Does that even have a price?"
Priceless things were the ones most coveted.
"10,000 mora and a bag of potatoes. How about that? Do we have a deal?"
And a poor boy like him was the most priceless of them all.
"...make that two bags."
Kinich was eight when he had his first customer.
〘〙
12-month-old Ajaw was in a predicament. He couldn't choose between the yumkasaur cracker or the tepetlisaur cracker.
Logically, he knew there was no difference in taste and texture. Lirio made them the same babyproof sugarless way — What was sugar anyway? Some kinda spice? — with the saurians' faces plastered on them all. But the tepetlisaur brown looked tasty. But the yumkasaur green was too pretty for his infant eyes to ignore.
He cursed Lirio for making him only eat one every week. And he had to share with the sadist's four-year-old niece Aclla the glutton. The brat however knew her place and always let him choose first.
But that was it. He couldn't!
The glutton giggled at his misery. "You don't know which one you want?"
The old Ajaw would have thrown colorful insults her way, but the past year living as a human taught him a new wisdom. That sulking and puffing his cheeks increased his chance of people doing things for him.
"Aw, sorry, Ajaw. Let's split the crackers. That way we can eat both!" the glutton suggested and broke the crackers into two each. "Here!"
Ajaw took the ruined pieces of their saurian crackers. They weren't pretty anymore, but none of that mattered when they hit his tastebuds. Ah, by the sovereigns. He could taste the fruits Lirio stuffed into these. He munched in bliss, the soft crackers melting in his mouth.
Eating was one of the few joys Ajaw had taken to after acquiring his — Limited — freedom. With his power still in the bastard Kinich's hands, the only thing he had going for himself was entertainment.
So what if Ajaw enjoyed the tribespeople dancing and singing? Their — Baby — food was delicious, and their stories were entertaining. Human culture was ultimately lame for a dragonlord such as he, but they provided sufficient reprieve from the monotony of his new life.
On most days, Ajaw killed time observing his servants; Lirio who served as his maid; Kinich who came by every other day battered with mora in hand, only to get scolded; Leik who told him bedtime stories; Aclla who treated him like a doll.
All in all, living as a human infant... surprisingly wasn't bad. Could it be better had he been in his original form? Heck yes! But Ajaw knew patience. Once this body grew, oh ho ho ho, he'd reclaim his place as the great dragonlord K'uhul Ajaw—
He choked in his attempt to laugh.
"Ajaw! Auntie, Ajaw's choking!"
Ajaw panted in agony after Lirio came over and pumped his chest, freeing his airpipe from the offending sludge that used to be his favorite food. Tears pricked his eyes as his emotions went haywire.
"Thank the archons!" Lirio held him close to her chest, joined by Aclla. While they thanked their usurpers, Ajaw only gritted his teeth in frustration, yet again realizing his mortality in this body. How humiliatingly weak.
Kinich came home that night—he often argued with Lirio that his home was up in the mountains—and fussed over Ajaw. As much as Ajaw loved the attention, it was getting overbearing. Neither Lirio nor Leik ever watched him like ququsaurs wanting to prey on their lunch.
"Yaya!" Ajaw made his nonexistent hilichurl friends proud. The bastard got it into his head that Ajaw would get hurt if he let Ajaw out of his sight for just one second. In response to that paranoia, he leashed Ajaw's wrist to his own with a thin strip of fabric...
"I think you're overdoing this, Kinich." Lirio, the sadist she was and would always be, laughed at Ajaw's misfortune.
"You wanted me to babysit," Kinich replied. As if babysitting and treating a baby like a prisoner was the same thing.
"Yes, but," Lirio, the savior whose feet Ajaw could kiss irregardless of his dignity, untied the leash and freed him from his captor, taking him into— No, no, not Kinich! "This is how you babysit," the sadist extraordinaire, Lirio of Huitz-hecking-tlan said after putting him in the bastard's arms.
Kinich looked at him with those detestable big eyes he'd gained over the past year, a paternal affection that overrode all logic from the usually rational hunter.
Ugh. Ajaw preferred being sealed over this mushiness. It'd started mild at first. He genuinely believed Kinich would outgrow their closeness. But the last twelve months somehow only intensified Kinich's — Ajaw shuddered — love towards him.
"Miss Lirio, I'm a bit worried," Kinich said, setting Ajaw on his lap and playing with his hair.
With other people, they'd just be admiring his infantile adorability. But from Kinich himself, the gesture felt almost narcissistic. That was the thing with humans and their spawns. Having similar features made them more loveable by adult humans.
"About what?" Lirio, again, successfully debunked Ajaw's theory and looked at Kinich like she'd let the world burn for his sake. Humans befuddled him.
"Ajaw's supposed to have said his first word, but he's only been babbling since last year. Should we check with the healers?"
Ajaw bristled. That was because his mouth could only pronounce "dada" correctly, idiot! And there was no way he, the almighty dragonlord K'uhul Ahaw, would give his self-proclaimed underage "father" the satisfaction of being called one!
Lirio patted Kinich's hand in reassurance. "He'll speak before you know it."
"If you say so." He didn't sound convinced. Ajaw rolled his eyes.
〘〙
"Kinich, how much longer? We're going to be late to the wedding!" Lirio shouted loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear. She sighed at his faint reply of "Just a little longer". Ajaw sat inside her arms, not hiding his excitement at being able to finally go beyond the tribe's border.
Being an infant was, for all its joy, boring. Life wasn't exciting at all on most days. Monotonous, lazy, nothing-good-to-do every day. Exploring the house after discovering how to crawl had been fun at first, but the novelty wore off pretty quick when he had — Ugh — babysitters watching his every move.
He was still going to be stuck with his human servants, but visiting another tribe should make up for his second, less restrictive confinement. Aclla's aunt from his father's side was to be wedded today, their ceremony held at the Mictlan tribe. The people there, Masters of the Night-Wind, supposedly were knowledgeable on matters concerning souls... At least that was how Aclla described it. Not in that exact word. More like "They can talk to ghosts, wooooo".
Ajaw doubted they could manipulate souls to begin with. Aclla's father was one of them, yet even he couldn't sense the presence of the almighty dragonlord K'uhul Aja—
"I'm done." Kinich walked into the living room, looking like he wanted to drown in his sweat. Up to bottom, he was covered in clothes. Heck, the only parts that weren't covered were his eyes. Lirio's bedtime stories often included tales of Shnezhnaya's cold climate and Monstadt's lone snowy mountain. Natlan, however, was not a place where snow or rain commonly fell.
Lirio didn't comment on Kinich's choice of attire. She led them outside to group with Aclla, her parents, and Leik.
"Why are you wearing that?" Ajaw loved the girl's no-filter mouth and enjoyed seeing Kinich flustered. Lirio answering for him wouldn't be so suspicious if not for the adults exchanging subtle glances with each other.
"It's his hunting gear. He's busy these days." Her smile towards the girl contrasted with her grimace at her sister and brother-in-law.
Kinich didn't say anything and only shrunk into himself.
The journey inside the hot air balloon was quite the experience. It was a downgrade back from when he could soar free in the sky. But it was nostalgic nonetheless. He and Aclla watched the view beneath them, the child pointing out things they noticed along the way. Trees, tiny people, more trees, a yumkasaur pack, another tree...
Ajaw appreciated the change of scenery, if spoiled by the fact he was unable to leave the confine of his "family". Ajaw's adult servants — plus Kinich — took turns holding him, putting him through all manners of torture; tickling his nose, pinching his cheeks, flailing his arms like a doll. Kinich, his oh-so-observant servant, saved him from most of the torture, reminding them of his regrettably fragile being and that they were high up in the air. This didn't make up for all the mushy stuff he was forced to endure. Heck no. But Ajaw bestowed credit where it was due.
Their hired pilot tilted the flame to change their direction, heading for the sunset. They passed by the stadium, a place where the humans picked their best warriors so they would later die warring against this Abyss enemy. Aclla explained the Ode of Resurrection in too few words to be understandable, but he surmised it had something to do with cheating death.
Beyond the stadium lay the cliffs and mountains that housed the Michtlan tribe, their tamed Iktomisaurs scattered about the land. The sun slowly made way for the blanket of night to cover the sky. Stars illuminating the darkness were only made gloomier by the Iktomisaurs' hoots. If it sounded poetic, he stole it from Lirio's bedtime stories.
"And we've arrived! Enjoy the wedding!" The pilot said and carefully helped them off the air balloon once they landed.
Ajaw took note of the people they passed. The green Ajaw associated with his "home" Huitztlan tribe was few and far between among the sea of purple, denoting the Masters of the Night-Wind.
Aclla's father walked at the forefront and halted every hecking step to greet his acquaintances. Each conversation would've lasted barely a minute had he not also made it his mission to introduce his family. Though, Ajaw stifled a laugh every time the man introduced Kinich.
"This is Kinich, my nephew," he gestured to the flustered Kinich, the boy's surprise evident even from the mask covering his face. If he was happy having people assume Ajaw was his son, then the bastard had no excuse to not be treated the same way. Karma, hah!
Still.
Ajaw noticed the family was rather careful about mentioning his almighty relation to them. To Kinich especially. Some people still side-eyed the boy and Lirio back at the canopy, so he supposed they just wanted to avoid drama. Shame. His life could use some spice.
The world had its way of answering his wishes, however. As soon as he thought of his mundane life, someone to the side, a boy Kinich's age, pointed at the bastard like some kind of attraction. Ajaw wanted to quip about Kinich's bizarre attire, but he realized quickly that the stranger was actually pointing at Ajaw.
"Ororon! What did I tell you about pointing at strangers?"
"But granny, the baby! He's weird!"
Oho? Could this tribe sense souls after all? Ajaw thought with glee and a touch bit of pride... Okay, scratch that. A lot of pride. He watched the grandson and grandmother (?) pair hissing at each other. The not-so-old-looking woman dragged the boy away and made themselves scarce, leaving Ajaw's servants perplexed.
Their destination was a collection of small houses, the yards of which were crowded with people. The ceremony had begun. Ajaw cared less and less about the vows these people put so much heart into, wanting this to be over to try the food they had laid out. He'd only be able to taste the crumbles of soft food, but a variety in palate was better than none.
"Give me that one!" Ajaw pointed at a tray of fruits. Though with his underdeveloped tongue, what came out was more like "Ayaya!" than an actual sentence.
While the adults took Aclla and talked with other guests and relatives, Kinich stayed as far away as possible from the people, subtly eyeing them as he took Ajaw on a tour around the place.
"You want the grapes?" Kinich asked, grabbing one. Ajaw nodded eagerly, ignoring the boy's laugh at his behavior while he tried to reach for the piece of fruit.
After trying out several kinds of food, savory and sweet alike all neatly smooshed by an overcautious Kinich, he could say that tonight had been productive.
〘〙
The social not-butterfly that he was, Kinich brought the both of them to the quietest corner he could find. Ajaw tolerated the boy rocking him back and forth, but yeesh. He looked at anyone passing by too close like they'd jump on him. What was wrong with this kid?
"If you have nothing to say, leave," Kinich said out of nowhere. Following his question, out came the footsteps that scared Ajaw out of his wit. He hugged Kinich out of instinct, watching the rude boy from earlier emerge from the shadow.
He and Kinich had a stare-down. Upon further cautious looks, Ajaw noticed his eyes were of different colors.
"...I'm sorry. I was rude earlier. Your brother is very cute. Weird, but still cute," the other boy spoke.
Apology not accepted because what the heck was that backhanded compliment?!
He deadpanned but Kinich took it as a cue to relax his stiff shoulders. The bastard looked away, avoiding the other boy's gaze.
"...he's not my brother."
Oi, Kinich. What was with that mutter? No servant of his should speak with such inferiority in a stranger's presence! He could excuse it with Lirio and the rest, but this was just pathetic. Boo, Kinich, booooo.
But Ajaw's private thoughts bothered Kinich none, the boy focusing instead on the stranger's reply.
"Oh, your nephew then."
Kinich shook his head, still keeping his eyes on the chattering Iktomisaurs. "Not that either. He's... my son."
"Oh, okay." The speed at which the other boy accepted the answer was bizarre, enough for Kinich to finally look up and stare. Weirdo. The other boy didn't care. "I'm Ororon."
"...Kinich."
As if the previous topic wasn't important in the first place, the weirdo changed it to another one and pointed at Kinich's all-covering garments.
"Why are you dressed like that? I know it's cold, but it's not that cold."
Kinich tensed again. He took a deep breath to calm himself before responding. The weirdo was patient waiting for his answer.
"I came here before. Long ago. I met a... customer who hurt me. I don't know if he's still around, but I'm not taking chances." Then, as an afterthought, he finished, "Please don't tell anyone. I don't want to cause trouble."
As if the sun itself rose atop the weirdo's head, his eyes frowned in realization — Ajaw had no idea what it was, nor did he care enough — and studied Kinich again from head to toe.
"Nobody knows?"
"My... family kinda just assumed, but they don't know the specifics. I never spoke about it." Kinich paused at the word "family", his voice getting smaller towards the end of his sentence.
There was some sort of silent understanding between the two boys that Ajaw just couldn't catch. Bah! Humans and their weird ways of communicating.
"Say, do you want to look around? I know... uh... places with no people if you'd like." The weirdo scratched his nose and looked down, his feet curling and uncurling over his sandals. "Granny always says I need to be a gentleman and help girls out if they need it. Never put it into practice before, but I guess you can be my first girl?"
If the boy wasn't so much an airhead, Ajaw would've assumed it was a love confession. Kinich took no mind to it, pulling down the mask covering his mouth to draw a smile... which was so small it was pointless. "Sure."
The weirdo studied Kinich carefully again, this time focusing on his face. "You're pretty," he said like he was talking about the weather and nonchalantly led the way.
What. The. Heck.
No, this boy wasn't an airhead. He was a whole air balloon that Ajaw was surprised he hadn't gotten sucked up into the sky yet.
"Thanks." Kinich, again, only kept his thin smile and walked next to the weirdo, his hands absentmindedly rocking Ajaw. Seriously? No reaction at all??
Tonight's biggest revelation: Kinich was denser than a mountain and he just made a friend worse than him. What a match made in Teyvat.
〘〙
It felt redundant to say this, but the weirdo really was weird. There was little doubt he had a gift. In return for his deficit in intellect, his gods gave him a heightened sense, allowing him to turn his head and stare back every time Ajaw glanced at him. Talk about creepy...
"Here we are," the weirdo announced after bringing them to an Iktomisaur pen void of any human being. "Nobody can bother you here. Got a nice view too."
True to his words, the starry night made for a spectacle with no light to pollute the sky. All was quiet, barring the Iktomisaurs gossiping among themselves.
"Did you know? She ate from her master's secret cabinet and acted innocent!"
"No way. How did her master not suspect anything."
"She said being cute helps."
Ajaw ignored the saurians' domestic drama when he heard the mention of his name.
"Why did you say Ajaw was weird?" Kinich found a boulder to sit on and made himself comfortable. He pulled out a bottle of milk from the void that was his overkill garments.
The weirdo shrugged, taking a seat right on the ground. "He just felt strange."
Why thank you. Too bad bastard was already somebody else's nickname. Kinich didn't defend him either.
"How so?"
Hmph! Ajaw swore vengeance one day. For now, he ignored it, putting aside his revenge plan to listen to the weirdo's explanation. In the meantime, he guided the bottle to his lips to stave off his hanger — Get it? Anger? Hunger? ...okay yeah, it was stupid.
The weirdo pursed his lips.
"His soul feels very old. Like, ancient kinda old." At this, the boy looked at Ajaw with a thousand-yard stare. He spaced out, light coming back to his eyes only after Kinich addressed him.
"Ororon?"
"W-what? Oh, right." The weirdo blinked, his crossed legs coming undone so he could hug his knees and lie his head on them. He looked up at Kinich. "Ajaw's soul feels old, but it's nothing to be worried about. Some people are just born weird. Like me with an incomplete soul." A wistful look took over his features as he spaced off again, eyes gazing up to the sky.
Seriously, what was wrong with this kid? Ajaw rolled his eyes. He tugged his bottle so Kinich could raise it a little. Bit more, bit more— There. He suckled easier than before. Good servant.
"Kinich!" A familiar voice called out. Aclla appeared from the corner, followed by a panting Leik. Letting the old man collapse on the ground, the girl bounded forward to the boy. She dramatically halted in her steps when she noticed the weirdo, however, gasping. "Kinich! Your friend has two eye colors!" she pointed.
Kinich nodded, looking at said friend. "Ororon, this is—"
"Your daughter?"
Ajaw choked. Kinich immediately turned him around and thumped his back, shaking him until he got all the milk out of his airpipe. Ajaw could hear the deadpan in Kinich's voice when the boy hugged him close.
"...I meant to say cousin." He turned away from the weirdo to focus on Ajaw. "You okay, Ajaw? Does that feel better?" Kinich rocked him.
"Mwawa..." Yeah, that did feel better. He buried his head in the boy's chest, heaving.
"Kinich, there you are." Leik walked forward after he recovered. He gently knocked on Aclla's head, chiding her for running so fast, before introducing himself to the weirdo. "You must be Ororon. Your granny said you three went this way."
Ororon nodded. "Yeah, she's a stalker."
Ajaw had nothing to say to that and just let Kinich and Leik deal with the kid. Ugh, his throat still stung.
Leik laughed, picking Aclla up before she could start running again despite her protest. "Well, stalker or not, she wants you back. Something about running loose aphids."
"Oh, that is bad." The weirdo turned to Kinich. "Sorry, Kinich. I gotta go. Need to catch Extra Sour and Not Enough Sour before they wander off."
Aaaand the weirdo was gone.
Kinich was smiling when he repositioned Ajaw. He looked up at Leik. "I think I made a friend."
"That you did." The decrepit held Aclla tight to not let her wiggle free.
〘〙
The rest of the night was uneventful. They rejoined with the other adults who were spending whatever time left they had to say goodbyes. Gifts were given and business cards were taken. Slowly, they retraced their step back to the air balloon that was waiting for them.
"All aboard?" The pilot asked. Having everyone's go, he locked the door and started up the flame. Heat rose into the balloon, gradually filling it up until they rose from the ground. The rope tethering them pulled tout, but soon it too was untied and let go, falling to the dirt as they flew up into the sky.
"Elder Leik told me you made a friend." Lirio looked at Kinich, the boy himself looking below them as if watching out for something.
Kinich nodded. "Do you think he could see us from up here?"
Ajaw, who was sitting with Leik and Aclla on the floor, raised a brow at him. That didn't sound like the usual anti-social Kinich. Did meeting the weirdo change something in him?
Aclla's dad joined Kinich, eyeing around as well. "If he's somewhere high enough, we should be able to see each other."
"Say, what does your friend look like again?" Aclla's mom chimed in from the opposite side of the air balloon, also looking down.
"Bit taller than Kinich, wears black and purple," Leik answered.
"Oh good. Cause I think that's him there."
At her word, everyone rushed to her side. Even the driver left the burner to look. Ajaw didn't consent to being taken up into Kinich's arms, but his anger was quickly replaced with befuddlement. There, hovering in the sky waving at them was the weirdo, his young-looking granny floating alongside him.
"Goodbye, Kinich!" The weirdo cupped his mouth and shouted. "If you visit again, I'll show you my farm! Take care!"
Kinich didn't shout, but he did smile while he waved back. Ajaw just felt insulted the boy used his toddler hand to wave as well.
〘〙
A friend who plays Genshin say they dislike Ajaw because of how much of a jerk he can be in-game, so I wonder how you all feel with him being the main POV. I personally love him (otherwise I wouldn't be writing this), but his personality could be off-putting
Also yes, I'll be slowly touching on Kinich's backstory as we go along. Last chapter someone asked why Ajaw is mistaken as his son instead of brother (and why Kinich goes along with it). There's a big reason for it that the story will explore later.