Chapter Text
Diluc stared at the door to the tavern, trying to puzzle out what exactly had just happened.
Kaeya had come in, as usual. He spent his fair share of time here, really, and that was nothing unexpected. Him waltzing straight up to the bar and asking for enough booze to gleefully pickle his liver, however, was. Windblume or no Windblume, Kaeya didn’t drink like that. Hearing that it was for Venti was all well and fine—and Diluc knew he had absolutely no reason to worry about Venti, considering who he really was—but it was all still sort of a mystery.
Kaeya. Taking a class on how to write love poetry. Who might he even be writing love poetry for? Once upon a time, Diluc expected, he would have known, but he probably gave up any right to even ask years ago. Drawing your sword on someone with intent to kill generally locked you out of any sort of personal disclosures, and honestly, Diluc supposed he was lucky that Kaeya was still in Monstadt at all, and that he ever got to see him.
All of that, though, was quite aside to…everything that had happened, directly, between him and Kaeya. Entirely aside, in fact, to how he’d felt, watching Kaeya lean over and draw his fingers up the neck of the cider bottle, with a terribly smug smirk on his face. It had been like a jolt of electricity, when Kaeya’s fingers brushed his, and Diluc absolutely could not believe that he was still blushing like an idiot, when Kaeya was long gone and Diluc really ought to get back to doing his job. Especially since the entire prospect that Kaeya had been—what, flirting with him? Was absolute nonsense. Obviously.
Whoever Kaeya was writing poems for, it wasn’t Diluc, and that meant that Diluc needed to stop thinking about how much he wished that the touch had been more than fingertips to fingertips. He needed to stop thinking about how for all his playfulness and lightness, Kaeya hadn’t really smiled the entire time they were talking. He needed to stop thinking about how much he wanted to see Kaeya smile again, like he had when they were younger.
…He needed to stop thinking about Kaeya’s smile in general, because that was dangerous territory. Certainly, things had changed between them since that terrible night four years ago, but they hadn’t changed enough for Diluc to be thinking the way he was.
Better that he just…bury all of that nonsense, and forget about any prospect of anything happening between them.
His hand drifted downward, to brush over the Vision on his hip. He had spent every moment since finding it in the horrendous pot Kaeya gave him trying to determine what, exactly, it meant that Kaeya had not only returned it, but returned it in such a roundabout way—and he couldn’t come up with anything at all. Some lingering affection, perhaps, from when things had been better between them, but it didn’t— couldn’t —mean anything else.
Diluc let out a quiet sigh, and turned his attention back to the bar. It was Windblume, after all, and he was far, far too busy to worry about “what if”s or “maybe”s with a man who was never going to love him back.
He had worked so hard to carve out that part of his heart, to maintain the distance between them that Kaeya seemed to want, with the way he snarked and sniped at every opportunity. He’d tried to kill the burgeoning feelings before they could bloom, but he had never quite managed to, and every time he thought he might be getting close, Kaeya waltzed into the Angel’s Share and made his heart flip in his chest.
Stupid. He was so stupid.
The rest of Windblume passed with little incident. Or, more specifically, the rest of Windblume passed without Kaeya coming back to Diluc to send his heart in tumult all over again. No more mention of poetry classes or cider, just him dropping by the bar with Rosaria to drink in the festive spirit, as could be expected.
Well, no more mention until Kaeya showed up on the last day of the festival, cider in hand, and passed it back to Diluc.
“Hold onto this for the bard, will you? He’ll be in here sooner or later,” Kaeya had said, before taking his seat.
As predicted, Venti showed up, with Aether in tow. Lucky, since Jean had decided their Honorary Knight was to be the Windblume Star—which was a more than appropriate choice, especially considering his relationship with Monstadt’s Archon; just looking at the two of them, it was blindingly obvious they adored each other.
How lucky for them. Diluc hoped they weren’t being fools about the whole thing. Not like him.
He gladly produced the cider when Venti requested it, though not without doing one last sniping dance with Kaeya, because of course they simply had to.
And of course, even after Aether and Venti left for the ceremony, Kaeya and Rosaria stayed, and Diluc swore that the bar felt smaller than ever. Usually, when Kaeya was here, he sat at a table in the corner, far from the bar, whether he was aware Diluc was in the building or not. This time, though, he sat right there, needling Diluc and Rosaria in turn, and Diluc found that it was easy to roll his eyes and sink into something that felt less like biting and more like play.
It was nice, and for the first time since his father’s death, since Kaeya dropped the terrible weight of the truth of his identity at Diluc’s feet, it almost felt like how things used to be.
Finally, though, it was time to shut down, and Diluc shooed Kaeya and Rosaria into the night, and Kaeya went with a laugh and a smile.
With the bar empty, he could take a long moment to take in the destruction. There were glasses scattered all over the tables, napkins strewn across the floor, drinks spilled on every surface…an absolute disaster. For all Rosaria and Kaeya ribbed him about bar food—for all he had to admit it wasn’t a terrible suggestion—he couldn’t imagine how much more of a disaster it would be if there were plates to clean up as well.
He let out a long sigh, and looked for the few members of wait staff still left, who were also regarding the mess with dismay.
“All of you,” he said, “go home. It’s Windblume. Spend time with the people you love.”
“What about the mess?” one of the young waitresses asked, and Diluc shook his head.
“I’ll ensure it’s taken care of,” he said. “Go. Get out.”
There were some other protests; no one, it seemed, wanted to leave Diluc to clean the place alone, which was heartwarming in its way. Still, Diluc stood firm, and eventually, they did in fact clear out.
Cleaning up the bar was relatively peaceful; there was no one and nothing to interrupt him, and he could busy himself with a simple, straightforward task. There was much to do, and doing it alone took a long time, but that was the benefit, of sorts. He could work until he was too tired to think about Kaeya, and then go home and come back tomorrow to finish whatever he left behind.
He wasn’t sure how long he worked—it must have been quite some time, in silence, until the door opened and he startled, nearly dropping the glass in his hand. He whirled to face it, and was even more stunned to see who was there.
“Master Diluc,” Kaeya said, leaning in the doorframe, “you’re working late.”
“It’s Windblume,” Diluc said, voice practically on autopilot while he tired to mentally catch up with what was going on, “and I didn’t want to make anyone stay late.”
“So here you are, working so diligently.” Kaeya stepped through the door, and let it shut behind him. “Let me help you,” he offered, and Diluc gaped. Before he could answer, Kaeya started working, moving to pick up glasses. “Ugh, what a disaster.”
Diluc was entirely unsure of what to make of the situation. As well as he’d done at answering at first, all he could do now was watch in abject confusion as Kaeya busied himself cleaning up the bar.
“Why are you doing this,” Diluc asked, finally, though he knew his intonation didn’t really make it sound like a question. In many ways, it wasn’t, not least because he wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer.
“I wanted to talk to you,” Kaeya said, “alone. Privately. Apparently, the only way to do that tonight was helping you clean up the bar.”
“Talk to me about what? ” Diluc asked, frowning slightly. He couldn’t imagine what Kaeya might have to say to him that wasn’t fit for other people’s ears.
“It’s….personal,” Kaeya said, and that did not clear up any of Diluc’s questions. He waited, silent, prompting—hoping that Kaeys would just explain himself already, and stop leaving Diluc in suspense, holding a bin of dirty glasses and waiting for Kaeya to explain himself or go.
“Personal?” He asked, after a few too-long moments of silence.
“...I…” Kaeya started, and then he sighed, shaking his head. “I’m not used to being at a loss for words,” he admitted.
“I didn’t know that it was possible to make you stop talking,” Diluc said dryly. Kaeya snorted.
“Always so clever, Master Diluc,” he teased, and Diluc felt his cheeks pink slightly at the way he said it. Certainly Kaeya often sounded like he was flirting with everyone around him, but this seemed particularly pointed, and it made Diluc turn his attention to the bin of glasses in order to hide how flustered he felt.
“Put those in here,” he held up the bin, nodding at the glasses Kaeya had picked up. “And answer me, honestly, no games.”
“Honestly, no games, hm?” Kaeya asked. He set the glasses he was carrying into the bin, and then made a thoughtful noise—and all in one motion, he took the bin out of Diluc’s hands and set it on a table. Then, he turned. “No words then, I think. Actions will make things much clearer.”
He grabbed the front of Diluc’s jacket and yanked him into a kiss.
This was no gentle, brotherly peck, no teasing, playful thing. This was heat and passion and enough that Diluc’s knees felt a little weak, and he reached out to grab Kaeya’s upper arms to steady himself. Kaeya groaned into the kiss, tongue teasing at Diluc’s lips, and Diluc let them part, welcoming Kaeya in—
And then he tasted the lingering brush of alcohol on Kaeya’s tongue, and it was like a cold bucket of water dumped on his head.
It was Windblume. Diluc knew how much Kaeya had been drinking. He couldn’t let this happen, no matter how much he wanted to. So, he used his grip on Kaeya’s arms to gently push him back, and forced himself to ignore the distressed whine that passed Kaeya’s lips.
“We can’t do this,” Diluc said, voice soft.
“Why not?” Kaeya asked, and there was a tremor in his voice.
“You’re drunk, Kaeya,” Diluc said, and he reached up to brush loose hair away from Kaeya’s face, to more easily look him in the eyes. “I’m not doing this when you’re drunk.”
“I know what I’m doing,” Kaeya protested. “This isn’t some fool’s impulse, or a passing thing, I…” Diluc shook his head.
“Whatever you think you want to say, come back tomorrow, when you’re sober, and say it then. I’ll hear you out, but I’m not doing this when you might just regret it tomorrow.” Diluc kept his voice firm, a bulwark even against his own doubts. He couldn’t do this. He wouldn’t. Not with Kaeya Windblume drunk and clearly not thinking. Kaeya made a frustrated sound.
“If you’re going to reject me, just get it over with,” he said, voice flat, and he let go of the front of Diluc’s jacket, taking a step back. “There’s no need to drag this out.”
“I didn’t say that,” Diluc said, and he had to force himself not to inject his voice with all the desperation he felt. He wanted this to be real. He wanted to go right back to kissing Kaeya, to let Kaeya do whatever he wanted with him, but that was exactly the problem. He wouldn’t be able to handle it, if tomorrow morning, Kaeya decided this was all some drunken lark. “I just want to know you’re serious.”
“I’m always serious about you,” Kaeya said. “You know, I did that stupid love poetry class because I thought if I wrote it down, I might be able to tell you how I felt? Without being an idiot about it?”
Diluc felt his heart stop for a moment.
“You...the class...for me?” Tripping over his words like that, Diluc felt like he might be the drunk one.
“Yes,” Kaeya said. “Is that really so surprising? Who else would it be?”
“Rosaria?” Diluc suggested, though he knew it was stupid as he said it.
“Idiot,” Kaeya scoffed. “Ugh. Let’s finish cleaning up. If you want me sober for this conversation, fine, we’ll talk tomorrow, but I’m not leaving you to clean this place up alone.”
“...Alright,” Diluc said, finally.
Tomorrow. Tomorrow he would have his answer, even if he had to track Kaeya down to get it.