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TRAVAILS OF TEYVAT: Noctua
Credence
The Dawn Winery’s grounds were astir even as dusk fell over Starsnatch Cliff’s towering peak, the hillsides and fields tinted in deep blues and black. A pair of harvesters wandered around the benchland’s slopes with torches in hand, lighting lanterns hooked on poles curved around wooden fences shielding the vineyard.
Their conversation was kept to a low murmur but from the lax way in which they strolled and occasional peal of laughter interrupting the night’s stillness, they were both in good spirits. Diluc sat in the shade of an unused toolshed, watching as they passed by. A fistful of grapes cradled in his hand rolled about his palm as he two tossed in his mouth for something to work his teeth around.
Vivacity kept the grounds alight, the mansion’s warmly lit windows rattled by chatter and cheers. He caught the beginning notes of another song on a fiddle’s screeching strings, the corner of his lips twitched downward.
A rhythmic plink drew his attention to the water pump tucked by the toolshed’s back, water dripping from its spout broke at the bottom of a tin bucket half-sunken in the soil. His hand twisted in his lap and he counted the water droplets instead of watching the mansion’s doors. Another grape tossed in his mouth grazed the tip of his tongue when the pair put out their torches then tossed them in a cart near the vineyard’s gates.
Their volume accentuated to where Diluc could barely catch a murmur at this distance, but the faint sound diminished gradually when they ambled around the bend.
An amber glow emitted from bonfires lit by the partygoers unable to find a spot in the mansion’s foyer. He could imagine clinking mugs, wine-glossed smiles and viscous joy poured out of every soul joined together in their revelry.
Diluc sighed.
Happiness nestled heavily in his chest alongside indignation. While he was glad their staff could celebrate so earnestly, he couldn’t help but feel a bit of annoyance toward a select few. Namely those who whispered gossip about the star of the hour, but now crowded around him to bask in his brilliance.
Nervously, he watched the double-wide doors and waited for them to swing open with a familiar figure standing in their center. His gaze swept over the aged wood and waited unblinkingly for a crack … only to find nothing.
A familiar feeling of disappointment cinched his chest and hollowed out his lungs. The remaining grapes tossed in his mouth and deprived of their taille in a harsh grind of his teeth. He chided himself internally. What had he been honestly expecting?
The celebration wasn’t about him in the slightest and with all the doubt casted upon its intended recipient, a little moment of smugness was well-deserved. Still, Diluc had dared to hope that perhaps the celebration wasn’t where Kaeya wanted to be, and for that Diluc felt foolish.
Foolish, selfish, annoyingly clingy, and childish.
He cast one last look at the doors then ducked his head, the painful pound of his heart reverberated in each footfall carrying him further from the mansion. Solemnly, Diluc promised himself to get his thoughts in order then return with a better attitude.
Though the closer he’d gotten to the riverbank, the less he cared to gather himself. Memories were a troublesome encounter when treading familiar pathways.
Idly, Diluc kicked through the tall grass and listened to the constant, low hum of insects joined by the sleepy twittering of birds. When he heard burbles from the rushing waterfall flowing nearby, he knew to toe off his boots and tuck his socks inside.
A sandy ridge curled beside the crystalline waters where Diluc’s chosen path ended and as he peered across the river, he recalled two boys in competition to swim across its length. One called out to the other and hauled him to his feet, sputtering with laughter and coughing up water. They were soaked to the bone and due for a tongue lashing.
Basked in sunlight, arms thrown around slim shoulders, a cobalt blue eye met his own and Diluc couldn’t find it in himself to care. He’d returned to his father’s disapproving gaze with a silly grin arm in arm with his best friend. Then endured a sickening weekend, bedridden with said friend sneezing vehemently in the bed a few feet from his own.
Surf washed over Diluc’s toes, cold and slippery, and startled him to reality. What compelled him to dive into the water on that day was a mixture of his own hubris and unwillingness to lose but a strange need to also follow. Often times, he led. A young lord who threw around his orders with twice the power someone his size could hold. Yet, the one who followed him did so out of his own volition.
Cause we thought it would be fun.
He remembered that tongue-in-cheek response as his partner in crime responded to his father’s exasperation. Fun. The same explanation used when they were running for their lives, whooping and laughing against wind pelting against their faces. Bruised knuckles and harsh words led to gradual make-ups in light jibes and compliments for battles well-won. Diluc flexed his fingers apprehensively and glanced to his side, half-expecting someone there but there was no one.
The manor’s silhouette was still visible behind him and he thought of his promise to return in a better mood. It wasn’t time yet, he guessed, considering how ardently he thought of the past. With his fingers hooked in the collar of his shoes, Diluc turned his back on the manor and started off down the riverbank, kicking his toes through the slushy mud and water. The air was thick with humidity and his hair felt uncomfortable along the back of his neck but he couldn’t be bothered with tying it up.
Your hair looks nice like this.
A shiver creased his shoulder blades as he thought of nimble fingers, calloused from countless hours training — no, they’d been calloused since they first met — but were no less comforting. They curled in his hair and drew it closer for scrutiny. A sharp, scrutinizing gaze flicked over him then met his own with approval.
Diluc thought it odd how his heart fluttered when he realized just how close they were. It wasn’t like they weren’t always together. Though, he could admit that they weren’t. Kaeya had his own friends just as Diluc did but some of their circles overlapped and their time had often been together. Still, there was something different in the way Kaeya regarded him and Diluc averted his gaze in embarrassment.
A sigh parted his lips and he scrubbed a hand along his cheek in hopes of doing away with the heat, and the small beads of sweat running down his cheek. He tossed his boots behind one of the wet boulders near the riverbank, and climbed over it carefully.
Come on, Diluc.
He lifted his head to greet the ghostly voice calling out to him but only saw a faint memory. Midnight blue hair hung in a curtain around a young face, grinning behind an outstretched hand. Hanging upside from a tree bough by his legs, trousers likely catching on pieces of bark that would leave holes for Adelinde to fuss over later. A younger version of himself, skeptical that the branch would hold them both, clasped the hand given to him and let himself be hauled up.
Diluc peered up at the tree, noting slivers of moonlight streaking through its canopy, and a broken remnant of a branch where two boys thought their weight would hold. A small smile quirked at his mouth’s corner and he reached up to grab one of the branches, testing it with a light pull then hoisting himself up with his foot pressed to the tree trunk.
Dry, scratchy bark itched the soles of his feet as he climbed up with one hand over the other. Leaves brushed against his hair as he climbed inch by inch, careful of knotholes with squirrels and birds residing in them. When he reached a branch sturdy enough, he inched onto its spindly length, careful when it swayed.
Comfortable in his placement and viewing the world from higher ground, it was hard not to notice how much time had gone by. He’d once thought that there was nothing grander than the small valley outside of his home. That the lush rolling fields and distant peaks were all the world had to offer. But then, Kaeya had to come and show him that there was more than Mondstadt.
When we’re older, we’ll see everything.
He turned his head to one side and envisioned the boy standing on the tree branch, trousers rolled up to his knee, hands outstretched like a bird’s wings and hair caught on a breeze. He seemed so carefree and joy filled. Diluc wondered if it was then that he fell —
“Diluc?”
As if taken directly from his memories, that curious soft-spoken voice punctured his thoughts and drew his attention down to a young man standing at the base of the tree. He stared up at him with a single blue eye, and from this distance, Diluc could barely make out the four-points making a star out of his pupil. Dressed smartly in the coat marking him as a Lieutenant of the Knights of Favonius, and an eyepatch which fit his handsomely features, was Kaeya.
Diluc blinked slowly. His desire to see him conjured several memories to the forefront of his mind but he hadn’t once thought of what he’d do when Kaeya was there. For a moment, they said nothing and simply stared at one another, a cricket’s long chirp and the croak of a frog filled the silence.
“… I know you’re a good dancer,” Kaeya said, smiling faintly as he leant against the tree. “But you didn’t have to leave the party so soon, y’know.”
Diluc huffed. “If I hadn’t then I would’ve ruined your day by putting you to shame, wouldn’t I?”
“Ouch,” Kaeya tsked, a finger wagged as he shook his head. “Cold, Luc. You know I’m a better dancer than that.”
Diluc’s heart flittered as the awkwardness bled away. He leant forward, his folded arms rested on his knees. Thankful for the leaves’ shade as a smile crept on his face. “Do I know that?”
“Nn, good point…” Kaeya stroked his chin thoughtfully, then pushed away from the tree trunk, his hands brushing back the trim cut of the coat to rest on a slim waist drawing Diluc’s eye. “Why don’t you come down and we’ll see?”
Diluc’s eyes widened. “There’s no music, Kaeya.”
“Oh,” Kaeya’s mouth curved around the exhale then tipped up into a grin. “Is that fear I hear in your voice, Diluc?”
Diluc felt palpitations in his chest when Kaeya held out his hand to him and like every time a challenge was issued, he leapt to it. Without warning, he pulled himself up then vaulted off the branch. Horror stole Kaeya’s smile for a brief second and Diluc closed his eyes. He knew he’d angled himself well enough that he would land in the dirt. Possibly with a little pain but not much. Yet, a second stretched into two then he felt a light pressure at his side and opened his eyes. Kaeya stared down at him - the alarm that showed on his face completely gone but the edges of his mouth twitched downward, like he wanted to frown.
“Hey there,” he said dryly.
Diluc blinked at him, only noticing he’d been staring for a mite too long when Kaeya quirked a brow. “Hey yourself,” he grumbled, arm pressed against a broad chest as he scrambled out of Kaeya’s arms and thanked Barbatos he didn’t stumble over his feet.
He heard a snort behind him, and could feel the returning tension mounting at his back. “So why did you come out here?”
Diluc lifted his head and glanced over to Kaeya, catching him looking back to the mansion’s silhouette. He followed his gaze then winced. Had his father noticed him missing and sent Kaeya to bring him back? That also seemed like a likelier outcome than his friend choosing to leave his own party for Diluc’s sake. Nerves on end, Diluc shrugged.
“Needed air, I guess..”
Kaeya hummed in that soft, two-note way he did when he didn’t quite believe something. Diluc almost hated it as much as his inclination to lie or desire for Kaeya to simply say why he was here.
“You know, it feels like everyone’s congratulated me today but you,” Kaeya said, his smile devoid of its usual swagger, tight around its corners. Even his teasing almost seemed cold. “Don’t tell me you’re jealous, Diluc.”
Diluc wanted to balk. Absolutely, not. But then it hit him almost like an arrow soaring through the open air and sinking into the target’s bullseye. Jealousy. Anyone who knew Kaeya knew that he was the ward of Crepus Ragnvindr, and Diluc’s closest friend. While Diluc was no stranger to scrutiny, Kaeya was almost defined by it. His accomplishments measured closely to that of the Master of Dawn Winery and the youngest Calvary Captain in the history of Ordo Favonius. Even a promotion earned by his own merit would be viewed with doubt. Diluc clenched his fist tightly. He’d heard whispers of Kaeya’s name in an unflattering light, often paired beside his own and their mutual friend, Jean.
How could a boy who wasn’t a Mondstadtian rise so quickly? An orphan who’d simply gotten lucky in every way. Those thoughts slowed Diluc’s heartbeat, and Kaeya’s smile faltered as the silence lingered.
Diluc needed to know. “Why did you want to become a Knight?”
Kaeya blinked at him slowly, brow creased in confusion. “You’re asking me that now?” He huffed, rolling his eye and Diluc glared. “Well, you’re always complaining about how the Knights aren’t as good as you thought they’d be.” Diluc winced, making a mental note to dial back on his complaints especially in his father’s earshot. “So, figured you’d appreciate someone competent, other than Jean of course, watching your back.”
Diluc stared at him blankly, the reasoning pieced together in his mind and paired with every other moment throughout their lives. Kaeya didn’t have trouble saying ‘no’ to him. He simply went along with things that he thought was fun. Bearing the weight of punishment and trouble by Diluc’s side. When he’d entered the knights, Diluc believed that was where their paths would diverge when duty began to eat away at his time and Kaeya’s presence would only be limited to their home or moments between patrols. Diluc hadn’t expected to see Kaeya participating in the trials a year after he’d become a Knight, or for Jean to grab his arm and hush him before he could say a word when Kaeya was thrown to the ground by an opponent twice his size.
He’d watched with clenched fists and bated breath, knowing Kaeya would get back up but dreading if he didn’t. His belief in him carried to every mission they were apart and in every battle he recounted where Diluc wasn’t at his side. A pang of sympathy and guilt paired with a softer tone as he said, “I hadn’t doubted you, not even for a moment..”
Skepticism flashed in Kaeya’s eye, and Diluc added, “I’m glad I don’t have to do this without you.”
Kaeya’s expression shifted to one of surprise then consideration, his eye closing for a beat. Diluc’s heart caught in his throat and he wondered if he’d crossed a line. Then, without warning, Kaeya’s eye opened with a fonder look. One of Diluc’s favorite smiles, crooked and sweet, curled at his lips. “How do you always know exactly what I want to hear?”
When a bit of honesty slipped free, the rest seemed to flow, so Diluc asked, “How do you know when I want to see you most?”
Kaeya startled, uncharacteristically stunned to silence and Diluc smiled helplessly.