Work Text:
A Seelie's Treasure: Noctua
Then and Now
Diluc grew accustomed to waking up to an empty space at his side, sheets smoothed and blankets tucked neatly as if the person who’d once been lying there hadn’t even climbed in bed at all. It was all a habit, thankfully. His heart stuttered into a dive whenever he laid eyes on such meticulous maintenance. Seedlings of doubt, still persisting over the years, whispering that the time between then and now was only a lie. A beautiful lie he’d been happy to dream of ceaselessly only for such undeserved happiness to be cruelly torn away from by one rude awakening past dawn. Old wounds ached, oxygen fueling the burn in his lungs and the back of his eyes as he reached out to press a hand against the silken pillow case —
Only to find it cold.
Much colder than it should have been with his presence.
Then, the world came into view. Little effects which weren’t his own scattered about a bedroom that looked more lived-in than it had in the years after he returned to Mondstadt. A photograph propped up on his bedside table, barely illuminated in the fine ruby glow of his Vision’s foci. His own face hardly drew his attention - no, he was focused on the handsome man smirking at the camera lens. His only visible eye glimmered with mischief, full lips curled into a sultry almost smug smirk as one arm draped around Diluc’s shoulders while his other hand rested upon the squared shoulders of a boy barely six years of age.
His son.
Their son.
Proudly standing at the forefront, hands settled on his hips and lips split into a wide grin revealing a gap from a tooth he’d lost only a few moons ago. Freckles stood out prominently against brown skin tanned further from hours in the sun. Diluc smiled fondly as he traced the curves of his face with his eyes, noting how he was already beginning to lose his baby fat but those eyes — half-moons entrapping stars at their centre in a twilight sky. Red and blue joining together to make a wondrous ombre photographed beautifully despite the silly face he made. Then there was his hair, an auburn hue with the flame-red of a Ragnvindr tempered by the night of Kaeya’s own. Thicky, glossy strands not far removed from the hue of Valberry wines.
The photograph, taken during the height of the day, allowed flecks of copper to twine within the brilliant hue. Tousled by wind, those locks unable to be tamed by a hair tie which always miraculously vanished — his little lion cub, his small sun, his son.
He was perfect.
“Caelus,” Diluc winced at the hoarseness of his voice.
Not quite expecting the soft answering, “Yeah, papa?”
Bolting upright, propriety and dignity forgotten, Diluc blinked at the little boy peeking around the open doorway. Both hands grasping the door knob and head tipped to one side to where his hair practically obscured his face. With a huff, he blew a few strands up but they tumbled back down much to his visible displeasure. He pushed them back with one hand, and Diluc noticed a purple smear across his nose.
“.. What is that on your face?”
Caelus’ nose scrunched and he dropped his hand to rub at his nose vigorously, the tip of it red once he pulled his hand away. His eyes narrowed with acute focus almost drawing an amused snort from Diluc until Caelus licked his fingers experimentally. Diluc’s nose wrinkled and he recoiled slightly, sighing when his son chirped, “Grape jam!”
Shaking his head, he pushed the blankets back then swung his legs to the floor with a slight ache in his thigh. Faintly recalling a stab wound and pressing his hand over it discreetly to check the bandage in place. Keeping the blanket close as Caelus stamped over.
“Come on, papa,” he seized Diluc’s hand then tugged with an exaggerated groan. His bare feet bunching up on the carpet as he tried to pull him back, only succeeding in extending his arm to Diluc’s amusement. “You never sleep in this late. Daddy’s almost done cooking.”
That sobered Diluc up immediately and he stood so quickly, Caelus almost tumbled backward til he caught him in one swoop. Not needing to apologize as the boy laughed as if they were playing a game. His smile lazy and oh so familiar. Worth the pain in his thigh from bending down so quickly and the strain in his shoulders as he held his son on his hip, listening to him tell all of the morning’s exploits while he made his bed.
“... And then Daddy said we should get grape jam instead of sunsettia jam, but I didn’t think so because you always drink grape juice for breakfast.”
“There is nothing wrong with grape juice,” Diluc protested, ruffling a hand through his hair when it stuck to the back of his neck with a thin sheen of sweet. Peeking up, he noticed Caelus’ flat stare.
“Grape juice is the worst, Papa.”
“But grape jam is alright…?”
“Yep!”
Not one to argue with the logic of a young child, Diluc decided to win in the only way he knew how. Flipping his son upside down and carrying his squealing and wiggling body down the hall. Eventually, Caelus wrested out of his hold and made a game out of swinging from his arm. Feet kicking in the open air as Diluc descended the stairs carefully.
“Hey Papa?”
“Mm..?”
“What’d you call me for earlier?”
Reaching the bottom landing, Diluc hoped he would have had an answer but his mouth ran dry as he turned the corner to the kitchen. Their home within Mondstadt’s walls was smaller than he was used to but he would have traded a mansion or villa for this sight. Caelus seemed to care little for his answer now. Swinging off his arm and sticking the dismount with a wobbling finish before breaking into a run around the dining table to the waiting arms of —
Kaeya.
Kaeya, embracing their son with an affectionate ruffle to his hair and a quiet reprimand because the floors could be slippery and Caelus could have fallen. Then swinging him up into a tight hug, strong arms cradling beneath their son and put on display wonderously against a high-collared sleeveless black shirt Diluc knew very well as his own.
Kaeya, flashing him a smile, sincere and unguarded with an unbridled amount of affection that gave him pause and the desire to leave as many of his clothes around as possible. Nevermind that Kaeya’s shoulders were a bit broader than his own and he would undoubtedly stretch them with too many adornments.
Kaeya, worth sacrificing for. Who stares at him with a softening expression bordering upon worry and archons, why was his vision blurring? He wanted to see this as clearly as possible. Burn the image to mind - let it overshadow that night and all those listless hours where he wasn’t by his side and Caelus — his beautiful, boisterous son — was merely a dream.
Someone who wouldn’t exist because of the guilt he couldn’t relinquish — someone who couldn’t — because the heavens might have been cruel enough to place him and Kaeya on differing paths but to doom a child to an ill-fated love, how…
“Diluc?”
Resurfacing to the present, Diluc startled and took a step back when he noticed Kaeya standing in front of him now. Caelus having alternated to clinging to his father’s back peeked over his shoulder worriedly. One and a half pair of stars that shined for him and Diluc could do little but bring his hand to his mouth to hold off saying something ridiculous.
Warm wet trickled over his fingers and he blinked. Was he…
“Are you crying?” Kaeya asked, concerned. “Diluc…”
“Papa?” Caelus chorused, sounding close to tears himself.
Diluc sucked in a breath and tugged himself together enough to pull them both close to him. Caelus yelped and he heard the sharp inhale from Kaeya as Diluc held them in a tight embrace and squeezed. A beat passed. One hand settled on the back of his head, cool fingers curling against his scalp worked in slow soothing circles. A smaller hand resting against the heated tip of his ears, combing his hair back from the side of his face.
“It’s okay,” Caelus comforted, patting Diluc’s cheek. “It’s okay, Papa. We can have grape juice if you want. Papa?”
Kaeya said nothing and perhaps it was because they’d gone through this more than once that he knew not to. Allowing their son to verbalize while he simply held and stayed quiet, pressing a kiss to Diluc’s temple then resting his chin atop his head.
When Diluc drew back, he inhaled raggedly then sighed. “.. Grape juice with sunsettia jam,” he cupped Caelus’ jaw, rolling his thumb over the apple of his cheek when he smiled wide at Kaeya. Then carefully, Diluc averted his focus and lifted his chin to meet Kaeya’s eye. “... Okay?”
Kaeya eyed him then nodded, tucking a kiss along the bridge of his nose then whispering against his forehead. “Anything you want.” He drew back with a light poke to Caelus’ stomach, thumbing away the unshed tears at the boy’s eyes. “And you, what did you tell him about the jam?”
“Nothing!”
Diluc smiled, listening to their bickering. That was then and this was now, and he would enjoy every second of it.