Chapter Text
Waking up the following morning was possibly the most bewildering thing that Diluc had ever experienced. As the warm early-morning sunlight sifted through his windows, he squinted his eyes open. Instinctively, he made a feeble attempt at sitting up, only to quickly notice the presence of an arm slung firmly around his waist. Turning his head, he was greeted by a mass of sky-blue hair sleeping peacefully beside him.
A pang of confusion twisted through his consciousness, silently screaming “ What the FUCK? What is he doing in my bed?” But most of all, “ What the hell happened last night?”
A sharp wave of pain coursed through his head.
Oh, right. I got drunk.
He quickly gave up on trying to get out of bed, slumping back down onto his pillow with a sigh. Glancing back over at the man beside him, he subconsciously shifted himself closer. Before he even realized what he was doing, he had nestled himself under Dottore’s chin, pressing their bodies together with his arm wrapped snugly around the other’s waist. It felt oddly domestic, exactly why it felt so wrong to him. When was the last time he was so close to another person in this way? Hah, right, never. Diluc had always been so isolated and reclusive that everyone simply assumed he wasn’t interested in pursuing relationships in the first place. This, for the most part, was true. Even during his youth he had no interest in girls, and his crushes on other men were short-lived and scarce. But this, this was different. This was bizarre. If you were to tell him a month ago that he would be losing sleep at night over a Fatui Harbinger, he would probably scoff and demand you to leave his tavern. But here he was, cuddling with one of Sneznhaya’s very own Harbingers.
"You think awfully loud, y’know that?” a drowsy voice snapped the redhead out of his daze. “Heheh, did I startle you? Sor-”
“Oh thank fuck you’re awake!” Diluc sprang up, practically slamming Dottore’s shoulders into the headboard. “What happened last night? Did I do anything weird? Did you do anything weird? What the hell are you doing in my bed? What-”
Dottore gently slapped his hand over Diluc’s mouth, holding back a chuckle.
“Don’t worry about a thing, mon amour.”
“What do you mean don’t-” Diluc began before groaning in pain, bringing his hand to his head.
“I mean calm the fuck down, Diluc.” The harbinger said bluntly, sitting up. “Your head must be killing you, I’ll get you some water.”
Before the redhead could protest, the door had already clicked shut behind the taller man, leaving him alone with his thoughts. He desperately tried to make sense of the situation in his head, but to no avail. Not long afterwards, Dottore returned with a glass of water, handing it to Diluc before sitting back down next to him. After a few slow sips of the cool liquid, he managed to gather his thoughts enough to form a coherent sentence.
“What did I do last night?”
The harbinger looked over at him and smiled his peculiar, toothy smile.
“Well, for one, you got so drunk that you couldn’t walk-”
Diluc sank back into his pillow.
“So I decided I’d might as well take you home, seeing as a tavern is no place to leave a man passed out drunk, speaking from experience.”
“What then?”
“After carrying you for a while, I stopped at the statue closest to Dawn Winery, and that’s when-”
He paused for a moment.
“You said… you said that you loved me.”
Diluc groaned, burying his face in his hands.
“Dottore, I’m… I’m sorry-”
“No.”
Diluc looked up from his hands.
“Did you mean it?” Something glinted in the harbinger’s eyes that he couldn’t hope to process. “Answer honestly.” He almost sounded angry- no, he sounded desperate. After a prolonged moment of silence, anxiety twisting knots in Diluc’s chest, he looked into Dottore’s eyes. Briefly flicking his eyes away from the other man’s face, he answered:
“I did.” After a few seconds, he added: “I’m so strange, aren’t I?”
The harbinger breathed a small sigh. “I suppose both of us are clueless, then.” Almost timidly, he leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Diluc’s cheek.
“I…” Dottore muttered, trembling, before he shook himself and more confidently proclaimed: “I love you too.” before grimacing.
All Diluc could do was stare. This can’t be real. I’m dreaming this up. I’ll wake up any moment now.
But… how would someone in my dreams know what happened last night? Why would their presence feel so tangible? How can my head hurt this badly?
“Stop staring, would you?” The harbinger weakly snapped, trying his best to sound annoyed.
“I’m sorry, just-” the red-haired man stammered, “I don’t know where to go from here. I don’t even know if this is real.”
The stiff scowl on Dottore’s face melted into a warmer expression.
“Me neither. But…” he leaned forward to press a brief kiss to Diluc’s cheek. “Might as well make the most of it, shouldn’t we?”
There were so many questions Diluc had yet to ask. Where did those scars come from? What’s your favorite kind of flower? Will you ever have to go back to Snezhnaya?
It would be a long while before he’d find the time to ask such questions. But what he had now, the gift thrown at him by random fate, was enough to him.