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It was an innocent accusation at first.
The question had caught Diluc off guard, so unwarranted that the juice he was drinking almost came spewing out of his mouth just because of the sheer absurdity of it.
“Master Diluc? Is Adelinde… Um, does one of your maids eat your guests?”
He knew exactly where the rumor came from — two of the other maids, Hillie and Moco — but to hear it from Aether’s modest mouth was something else entirely. “Pardon me?” Diluc managed to ask after he composed himself.
Aether had come to him that day to ask for help with a claymore. I want to get stronger but I’m only skilled with a sword. But I think you can teach me how to use a stronger weapon, and I’ll work hard!
How could he say no to those puppy-dog eyes and fiery spirit? Diluc may have been a lot of things, but a dream crusher wasn’t one of them.
The traveler wasn’t built for heavy weapons. It was evident in the way his shoulders struggled to stay squared while holding Diluc’s sword, and even when Diluc commissioned a lighter claymore from the local blacksmith, Aether could barely swing the sword without stumbling or letting it fly out of his grip. (In that day alone, Diluc’s life was at more risk than it had ever been in his years of vigilantism).
After an hour or two of training in the back of the Dawn Winery in the red heat of the afternoon, Aether had grown too tired to keep practicing. The poor boy's braid had nearly come undone and he was dry heaving and dripping with sweat as if he had dived head-first into Cider lake, so Diluc took pity on him and left to get something that both of them could drink. Alcohol was off the list for several reasons, one being that Diluc hated the cottony residue, and two being that he wasn’t quite sure just how old Aether was — he was Venti's drinking buddy, but getting drunk with a claymore in hand could only spell disaster. Diluc preferred grape juice, enjoyed the mahogany color and its rich taste, and opted to give Aether sparkling apple cider since he expressed interest in it during his first visit to the bar.
They had been sipping their drinks in silence until Aether broke it with his odd question.
“I-...! I-It’s just that when you left, I overheard a conversation between your maids and…” Aether’s face pinked as he averted his gaze from Diluc’s scrunched nose. He must’ve thought that Diluc was angry, but in truth he was trying his best not to laugh and make Aether feel silly. “Ah! Forget it!”
Aether was holding his glass with both of his hands even as he tried to bury his face in his wrists. Diluc delicately pulled them away (either Aether’s wrists were impossibly small, or Diluc’s hand was particularly large, as his fingers easily wrapped around both), unable to stop a huff of laughter upon seeing Aether’s embarrassed expression. A quick pulse fluttered beneath his fingers.
“Pray-tell,” Diluc urged despite knowing the rumors so well.
D’you know what?
No, what?
We have one less key than Adelinde, uh-huh…
Does that mean… There’s a secret room?
Right! You got it! And so this one time, when I was waxing the floors, I noticed that right down the far end of the corridor on the second floor… there’s a hidden room!
Really?! So that’s really the room that…?
Well. I crept up to the door and as soon as I got close, I heard this “thud… thud… thud” sound getting closer and closer! I was like, sooo scared… and then just as I was about to run away, Adelinde was behind me!
The weirdest thing is that she didn’t even tell me off; instead, she was all polite and asked me nicely to go back to my room… But when I got back to my room, that’s when I realized — That thudding sound… it was exactly like how Adelinde’s boots sound when she walks!
Aether recounted the conversation as well as he could, even pitching his voice slightly when he would try to speak word-for-word as if he were mimicking the maids. A couple “then she said ”s were thrown in between sentences with exaggerated hand gestures, and in a way Diluc found it endearing.
No way… So that guest really?
Totally! Shh… Not so loud!
I was on duty that morning, and it seemed like no-one had left. But I cleaned all the guest rooms on the second floor, and guess what I noticed? All the rooms were empty…
No. Friggin’. Way! That’s sooo creepy… So what happened then?
Then I asked Adelinde… Like hey, what happened to the guest who arrived last night!? And she totally ignored me! She was just like, watering the flowers in the garden and talking to herself…
What was she saying?
She was all like, “Next year when these flowers are in season they will look gorgeous.”
By the end of his retelling, Aether’s face was pale. Who knew the traveler was so susceptible to horror stories?
“I see… That does sound awfully suspicious, doesn’t it?” Diluc decided to indulge in Aether’s speculations. Obviously, they were not true. “So you think that she’s a cannibal, working for me just to eat my guests and use them for fertilizer?”
Aether’s eyes widened comically. “Yes! I mean, wait- no! Agh, does that mean you don’t know about it either?” His grip around the glass was so tight that Diluc was a little worried that it would shatter. "Obviousy if it were true, she wouldn't want anyone to know... But you don't sound too surprised by what I heard..." His eyes slid to Diluc with doubt.
This time, Diluc couldn't hide his smile of amusement. "You think I'm in on it, Aether?"
He nearly jumped out of his skin, and a little bit of juice came spilling out of his glass. "N-NO! Of course not, Master Diluc! I just thought you would know something, especially since she's your head housemaid."
Aether's ears are turning red. They do that when he's lying.
"I'm just teasing." He drained the rest of his glass, watching Aether trace the condensation on his own. The latter meticulously watched as the red drink went down. "Now, do you want to keep practicing? The sun will be gone soon and it'll be far too cold to train during the night."
Aether's lips pursed, but in the end he agreed and got back to work. Still, if Aether thought he was disguising his wary glances towards Diluc well, he was awfully mistaken.
The night grew cold as the two cleaned up the broken training dummies, and even colder when Diluc noticed the distance Aether was keeping as they were putting their claymores away. "You are welcome to stay the night," Diluc offered. "We have plenty of open rooms."
He seemed like he was about to happily accept, but then Aether stopped. "No! It's okay..."
How strange. Aether was the kind of person to accept anything offered to him, like food or shelter; especially since he lived a frugal life as a traveler. "I insist," Diluc pressed, "and I think a bath would do you well after all of your hard work."
A peculiar noise came out of Aether's mouth, something like an eep! "Um...! I-I don't..." He fumbled on his words as if his tongue got in the way. "I appreciate it, but..."
Ah. Aether was scared to stay overnight on his own after hearing all of the rumors. Paimon was currently staying in the city since she was more interested in the new Good Hunter deals than she was with watching Aether struggle to swing a claymore, so he must be even more on edge without her. He really needed to have a talk with Hillie and Moco, and had to tell Adelinde to be more quiet with her work. "You're more than welcome to share a room with me if you're scared of sleeping alone. We can set up a futon."
Aether's body seemed to grow less tense. His eyebrows furrowed at the mention of being scared, but he caved regardless. "If it's alright with you..."
"I wouldn't have offered if I wasn't."
At that, Aether smiled slightly and followed Diluc inside.
...
His smile immediately died when Adelinde greeted them at the door. "Good work today," she said gently as she took Diluc's coat and put it on a hanger. They both noticed the way that Aether slightly hid himself behind Diluc's much taller figure. She looked at Aether expectantly. "Please change out of your clothes. I will wash them."
He flushed under her intense stare. "I don't have extra clothes on hand." His voice was extremely timid.
"I'll lend you mine. It would be rude of me to let you sleep in dirty clothes," Diluc quickly offered. "Also, Adelinde, he's staying in my room. I'll leave his clothes outside the door."
There was a twinkle of amusement in her eyes and a spark of fear in Aether's in turn.
"I understand. I'll be back with dinner soon, Master Diluc." She simply bowed, then returned to one of the empty rooms to presumably clean.
"Scared, Aether?" Diluc started to tease as Aether followed him to his room, grinning at the way Aether bashfully looked away while shaking his head petulantly. "Don't worry. She's just a normal maid."
"I know that!"
Diluc only hummed at that, choosing to not embarrass Aether further. He let Aether into his room and pointed at his wardrobe. "You can choose anything you want from there. Some of my older clothes are to the left; hopefully something will fit."
Aether looked around the area thoughtfully. "There's barely anything in here," he noted aloud. There truly wasn't much. Only a bed, a wardrobe, a bookshelf, and a table with a matching chair. His lithe fingers traced some of the gold etchings in the wall carefully as if they would crumble under his touch. His eyes then landed on a rather large painting, which detailed the snowy hills of a land he'd never set foot in before. He reached out to touch it mindlessly before yanking his hand back, realizing that maybe he shouldn't rub at a painting that looked so expensive.
"I don't live in this manor. Most of my employees do, however. I only stay here occasionally so I don't keep much in here." Diluc made his way to the built-in closet, searching for an extra bedspread. "Please help yourself to anything you see fit. I'll set up a futon while you're in the bathroom."
At that, Aether quickly rummaged through the wardrobe. He grabbed the first things his hands landed on, then quickly scampered into the conjoined bathroom. Thankfully, Diluc had asked one of the maids to draw a bath beforehand to save Aether a little bit of time.
While he waited for Aether's return, he busied himself by setting the duvets and pillows on the floor. Perhaps he should offer Aether the bed; it seemed rude to let his guest sleep on the floor. There was something pleasant about the fact that it fit perfectly between the bed and the table. When he arranged everything neatly, he sat himself at the desk and busied himself with a book that he never got around to finishing before.
Half an hour passed before Aether stepped out in clothes that were far too big for him. It was a large black button-up that Diluc recognized from his early youth, and loose pants that pooled around his ankles. They sufficed however, and in his hands were the dark clothes that he always seemed to wear. "Just in time," Diluc said, closing the book. He made little to no progress in it, so he didn't bother with a bookmark. "You can leave those outside by the door. Adelinde will come pick them up when she brings food."
"She cooks?" Aether asked, looking a bit shaken by the sound of her name. "What is she making?"
"Honey roast, I believe. She usually makes those when we have guests."
"...On second thought, I'm not hungry."
Diluc had been so distracted with his mundane tasks that the realization hit him slowly. "Aether, I've told you before that my maid doesn't murder our guests and eat them. Please do not be so wary."
Aether huffed, stalking to the door with a broody face. "I know! I've just eaten so many honey roasts because of Paimon that I can barely stand the taste." His ears were rosy. He was lying again. When he pulled the large door towards him, he squeaked when he saw who was standing behind it.
"Was it Moco and Hillie you heard that from?" Adelinde let out a sigh, but didn't show any other perturbance. "It sounds like they've been telling tall tales to the guests again... Don't take them too seriously."
Aether blanched, shimmying away slightly.
"I am only here to pick up your clothes." When Aether looked down, he saw an empty basket in her arms. "Nothing they tell you is worth paying too much attention to, anyways. Did you really think there could be quite so much drama?" She giggled, to which Diluc rubbed his temples.
Even I would think you were up to something if you phrased it like that.
Aether gently placed his clothes into the basket. "Is that how it is...?" he asked, somewhat accusingly. At first, Adelinde looked taken aback as if she were surprised he ever believed the rumors in the first place. Then her mouth eased into a calm smile.
"Haha, you're overthinking things, that's just nonsense. Ah... How has your appetite been recently? I heard you say you weren't hungry, but I've made extra steaks today. If you're not picky, please take them."
Peeking behind her, he finally noticed the silver trolley that carried three platters and a glass jug of... something very red. He eyed them suspiciously, unable to look away as she placed the basket down and wheeled the meal in.
She came to a stop and tucked a strand of her chestnut hair behind her ear. Aether was still standing in place, transfixed on the cloches. "Like I said, don't overthink it. These are perfectly normal animal steaks. There's nothing wrong with them at all..." With a gentle chime of laughter, Adelinde was on her way with Aether's dirty laundry in tow.
Aether looked like he was about to puke. "Master Diluc. There is no way you can listen to that and tell me that people aren't under those trays."
He hid a smirk behind his hand. Honestly, Aether's child-like panic was a breath of fresh air for him. "I can assure you that people aren't under those trays, as you phrased it."
"Then what happens to the guests that Hillie and Moco were talking about?!"
"Adelinde typically escorts them early in the morning, then resumes cleaning. She's up before the other maids."
"A-And the secret room! Why do the other maids not have a key?!"
"She requested to have the room for her activities."
"Master Diluc!" Aether cried out, exasperated. "Surely you can see just how weird this is!"
Yes, it was weird. It was weird how Aether was dead-set on believing the gossiping maids with no proof or evidence, and even weirder how Diluc enjoyed seeing Aether scramble for answers to the question that didn't exist. "I believe you're just too exhausted and famished to realize how ridiculous these assumptions are. Come, let's eat."
When Diluc lifted the cloche, Aether immediately scrambled back-first into the closest wall like a bat out of hell. "I'm not eating that."
"Aether-"
"I'm not eating that." His voice became more fierce as did his scowl. It was as if he physically couldn't get closer.
Diluc may or may not have let this go on for too long. Still, he'd be lying if he said that the whole situation wasn't funny despite Aether's distress. "...I will eat first, if that makes you feel better." He lifted the utensils and they felt heavy under Aether's burning and vehement stare. "You're acting an awful lot like Klee when she tries to convince Jean that the vegetables are poisonous."
Aether's cheeks puffed out and he pointed towards the tray. "As far as I'm concerned, Jean isn't a serial cannibal."
"I'm not either. Do you not trust me, Aether?" He tried to seep as much hurt into his voice as possible. Still, even after the first few bites of perfectly normal boar, Aether wasn't budging. He remained plastered against the wall, arms tightly drawn over his chest. When Diluc decided that eating alone under watchful eyes was too awkward, he stabbed a sliced carrot onto a clean fork and cornered Aether, who was desperately scrambling to get away.
He held it up to Aether's face. "You know what a carrot is, yes? And you can smell the food; it smells exactly like boar meat. So why are you still apprehensive?"
"Because!"
...Seriously? Aether sounded exactly like Kaeya when he was younger — purely stubborn. At least he wasn't annoying like Kaeya was. "Aether. This," Diluc said more forcefully, "is just a carrot. You will at least eat this, right?"
Aether shook his head and turned his face away. His cheek squished against the wall.
Diluc sighed, then took a small bite from one side of the carrot. He chewed, swallowed gaudily, then put the unbit side back up to Aether's mouth. "See? Not a person."
"I'm not eating it!" He scrunched his nose like he smelled something awful. Then, his stomach growled angrily, causing both of them to fall silent.
"You need to eat something. You need to stay healthy, and I'm not going to let you starve after working you to the bone." He tried holding the carrot up again, but Aether still kept his mouth shut tight. "...Would you feel better if I made something for you? Something without meat?"
At that, Aether finally showed signs of budging. He looked at Diluc, almost hopefully.
With a sigh, Diluc popped the rest of the carrot into his mouth, grabbed the trolley, and placed the full pitcher of juice onto the table. He felt a little bad — Adelinde knew that the traveler ate a lot, and even made more than she typically would. Hopefully she wouldn't be offended when he explained the situation to her. "I'll be back," Diluc said gently, wheeling the mostly untouched food with him.
He entered the kitchen and began sealing the leftovers. Perhaps the other employees would share it later. He just hoped the food wouldn't go to waste; he would have finished his serving, but the look of disgust on Aether's face made his stomach turn sour to the taste of meat. "Master Diluc?" he heard Adelinde from behind him ask. "Was something wrong with the food?"
"Yes," Diluc mumbled, "the backstory of it."
She giggled, moving to stand by his side. "Oops... I didn't mean to scare him. I thought he knew I was jesting."
"It's not your fault. He is very impressionable, and Moco and Hillie have very active imaginations..." He quickly flipped through the pages in his brain, trying to think of something that Aether would eat that didn't have meat. "I still don't understand why you wish to keep it a secret. It's causing a lot more trouble than it's worth."
Adelinde busied herself with cleaning the now-empty platters. "It's just a little embarrassing."
Diluc decided to throw together a satisfying salad, a recipe that he'd picked up from one of the cooks a long time ago. He filled a pot with water and salt to boil some potatoes, and while he waited for the water to heat up he began slicing apples. Aether doesn't like eggs, does he? I'll just give him extra potatoes...
"Does he really think...?" Adelinde's question drawled off. Diluc looked over to her, dutifully scrubbing at the plates, and noticed the amusement in her smug expression. "How cute. Now I feel bad for giving him such a scare."
"He is full of surprises," Diluc settled with saying. Adelinde hummed happily at that response, then they resumed their respective tasks.
Finally, Diluc finished assembling the salad and carried it back to his room. He found Aether sitting on the futon, knees curled up to his chest, patiently thumbing through the book that Diluc left. Upon his arrival, the former looked up and put the novel off to the side. "Here," Diluc said as he extended the plate to the smaller of the two. He sunk down next to Aether.
Aether still eyed the plate suspiciously, but when he deemed it clean of humans, he chewed at the lettuce timidly like a rabbit. "Thank you," he said after his first bite went down, smiling. When he assured himself that the food was safe, he began scarfing it down like it was his first time eating. Mouth full, he said, "I'm sorry for being so uptight. I know I should've believed you from the start, but I have trouble trusting the things people say sometimes..."
Diluc poured himself a glass of juice from the pitcher, finishing it quickly. "You were quick to believe the two maids, it seems." It was a docile tease that made Aether's cheeks go crimson.
"Being skeptical has kept me alive for this long. I believe in the bad before the good."
"Well, I accept your apology. As for mine, you can take the bed. I'll sleep on the futon." Diluc then stood up, walking to his wardrobe. "When you're done with the plate, just leave it on the table; I'll take care of it tomorrow." He pulled out clothes he deemed worthy of sleeping in, then headed to the bathroom.
It didn't take much time for him to change and rinse his mouth, so it surprised him when he stepped out of the bathroom to find Aether already nuzzled in the bed, clinging to a pillow with a dreamy look on his face. What a quick eater and sleeper...
On any other night, Diluc would roam through the outskirts of Mondstadt in his peculiar getup, hunting whatever hid in the shadows. However, he supposed it was nice to finally rest within the company of a good friend. He took a final glance at the dozed-out Aether before he blew out the flame in that lantern that provided light in the room. Black flooded his vision, and Diluc slipped into the futon for another dreamless night.
Thud... Thud... Thud...
Diluc was dragged out of sleep from the sound of footsteps. From the bed at his side, he heard Aether jolt upwards with a gasp. "Master Diluc? Did you hear that?" Aether whispered, panic laced in his tone. Although it was dark, the scarce moonlight outlined Aether's murky silhouette and caused his golden hair to shine slightly — he was leaning close to the side of the bed.
Thud... Thud... Thud...
"Someone's walking around." Diluc's voice was raspy and heavy with sleep. "We're underneath a walkway. It must be one of the servants."
Aether hummed, whether in agreement or hesitance remained unknown, but eventually lowered himself back down on the bed.
Quiet eventually came despite the clunking steps.
Then, chaos.
The steps above stumbled enough to become alarming, then the sound of heavy metal hitting the floor overhead caused both of them to flinch violently. "What was that?!" Aether shouted. He let out an alarmed squeak a second later. "S-Something's dripping on me!"
Diluc stiffened when the moonlight managed to illuminate the color of the liquid that seeped between the floorboards above.
A dark, crimson red.
He heard Aether's breath hitch. Then, Aether was screaming bloody murder and throwing himself off the bed. Precisely, off the edge that was next to Diluc. He barely had time to push himself away from Aether's landing space and ended up colliding with the table next to them. Something hard landed on his head, spilling something freezing cold and sticky on him, before shattering on the floor next to them. "Ow, shit!"
His pain died, however, when he realized that Aether was clinging desperately to him, shivering and whimpering. "Aether! Are you okay?!"
"BLOOD IS DRIPPING THROUGH YOUR FUCKING FLOORS!" Aether yelled hysterically, clinging tighter. Diluc tried to comfort him, but even he wasn't sure what was going on. His head was spinning from the impact of whatever the hell landed on him, and the dark made it impossible to see clearly.
Sticking his hand a safe distance away from their bodies, he called upon his pyro abilities to create a small flame in the palm of his hand. A strange, red substance was on Aether's hands and face, smeared. Next to them was the pitcher of juice that he forgot about, now shattered and currently soaking him. From the ceiling, there was indeed a liquid that looked an awful lot like blood dripping onto the nice white sheets of his bed.
Through all the panic, the two didn't hear the footsteps rushing down the stairs. Aether let out another scream when the door to the bedroom was flung open without warning. He pulled himself closer to Diluc. "Master Diluc!" Adelinde called, a lantern in her hand. She froze when she saw the two pressed close together on the floor, the glass shards scattered across the ground, and the red streaming from above.
"Oh, archons... What a mess."
"She has a secret room for painting?!"
Aether finally finished scrubbing the red, which happened to be paint, off of his fair skin. "Why on Teyvat would you have to keep painting a secret?! And why were you carrying a tub of paint in the dark?!" His eyes were puffy from the panicked tears that escaped him earlier, but he calmed down significantly when the rest of the candles in the room were lit.
"I'm truly sorry for causing such a commotion," Adelinde sighed, a dainty hand covering her forehead as if it could repress a headache. "Painting is a passion of mine that I prefer to keep secret. I like to paint the flowers that bloom in the garden and portraits of some of the guests, and I have a room to keep all of the paintings in just so curious visitors don't pressure me into selling them... I'm sure they wouldn't take too kindly if they knew I painted them without permission, too." She fondly glanced at the painting of the snowy landscape that Aether was admiring before. "This is a painting of mine. I gave it to Master Diluc when he allowed me to have the key to the room."
A heavy silence filled the air as Aether digested the new information. "She paints," he huffed in disbelief, "and likes to trick people into thinking she's a cannibal."
"You know that's not true, Aether," Diluc replied with an honest laugh. "It was just a rumor that spiraled out of control. I would have told you the truth, but I respected Adelinde's wish to keep her hobby a secret..." After a pause, he added, "I also thought it was quite charming to see you accuse us of cannibalism."
Aether flushed in embarrassment. "I-I'm sorry!" He then turned to Adelinde, gesturing at the specks of red paint that spilled onto her pristine apron when she tripped in the dark. "But still, why were you carrying paint around at night?"
Adeline paused thoughtfully. "...Because I wished to paint you and Master Diluc. I usually paint at night to avoid suspicion, but I needed red paint for Master Diluc's hair. I knew the boards have gaps, so I didn't want to wake either of you with candlelight while I brough it to the room."
The two froze. "I wasn't aware you planned to paint us, Adelinde," Diluc said.
She gave a genuine smile, one that seemed more homey than it did from her typical 'Housemaid' ones. "It has been a while since I've seen you this happy. I thought it would be nice to capture the moment of you and the person who managed to do so. It is your birthday soon, after all."
It was Diluc's turn to go pink in the face. Adelinde noticed the shift in Diluc's composure and chuckled softly. Knowingly. "Sorry, Master Diluc. I really was hoping to keep it a surprise. Anyways, I'll take care of this mess right away." She quickly scurried to the bed and yanked the stained sheets off. She closed the door behind her when she left, leaving the two alone in Diluc's now-trashed room.
A couple of minutes passed of the two sitting in stunned silence, but Diluc noticed that Aether hadn't moved much from Diluc's side. "I make you happy, Diluc?" Aether asked innocently, and Diluc would have assumed it was teasing if it came from anyone else's mouth. That's the first time he dropped the annoying 'Master' title.
"...You have that kind of affect on people," he opted to respond with. Aether smiled happily at him, beaming and bright enough to make Diluc's heart stutter in his chest. "It's quite late, and if you haven't been scared off we can continue the claymore training tomorrow. The futon and the bed are ruined, so if you want to sleep, you can..." He faltered. "I don't know, lean against me?"
That was the moment Diluc heard the sweetest laugh in the world, a sound so warm and lovely that he'd gladly relive getting hit on the head with a pitcher to hear again. That was the first time Diluc heard Aether laugh with his whole heart.
Distracted by the sound, Diluc nearly choked when Aether swung his legs over his lap and nuzzled his face into the crook of Diluc's neck. Diluc instinctually wrapped his arms around the small frame resting against him. If he grew warmer, he blamed his pyro vision.
"Promise you're not gonna eat me in my sleep?" Aether joked, closing his eyes.
Diluc didn't respond. Only laughed, and thanked his lucky stars that Hillie and Moco gossiped so close to the back of the winery.