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It’s not a quiet night by any means. There’s a storm rolling in, an unkind one at that, bringing with it roaring skies.
Diluc had awakened to the sharp clapping of thunder and brightly flashing lightning. It’s something that doesn’t usually bother him, but tonight’s sleep had been light anyway… he was bound to awaken at some point.
Sweeping his sleep-messed bangs out of his eyes, Diluc sits upright and props himself against the headboard to look out the window. He likes when it storms, something about the booming thunder and the pouring rain has always felt mystical and somewhat comforting to him. He doesn’t appreciate being outside when it’s raining, but from in here, the sounds are peaceful.
Sometimes it can be bad, though.
Diluc’s eyes flicker between drops of rain, watching as they slip down the window pane and melt into little puddles along the sill. Rainy days often find he and his younger brother choosing their own raindrops and seeing which will fall from the window first. He smiles fondly at the thought — a sharp clap of lightning breaks him out of his peaceful state though, and he’s reminded that this isn’t a particularly friendly shower.
Diluc himself has never been afraid of storms. However…
“...‘Luc?”
The voice is small, so quiet Diluc can hardly hear it — but he knows exactly who it is.
There you are.
As expected, Diluc turns his head to see his little brother peeking in at him from behind the partially opened door. He steps in a bit further when Diluc acknowledges him, anxiously toying with his long bangs.
Kaeya always comes to Diluc when he’s afraid of something, and it makes him feel a little proud that he can provide comfort to the boy. Even at such a young age, he’s always had this protectiveness over Kaeya. He’s not sure what he’d do if anything happened to him.
Nothing will happen to him.
“Come here Kae,” Diluc says, shifting towards the window so Kaeya has room to join him. Kaeya hesitates in the doorway at first, likely rethinking his approach, but a flash of lightning solidifies his decision. He quickly shuts the door behind him and skitters over to climb up into Diluc’s bed.
“Did the thunder wake you up?” Diluc asks as he puts his arm around Kaeya and draws him in close. Kaeya nods quietly. He appears to find some semblance of ease in the warmth, melting into the hug immediately.
As the younger boy rests his cheek on Diluc’s shoulder, Diluc briefly takes note of the persistent little tremor in his body. It makes him frown and tighten his embrace around Kaeya like he can protect him from the storm with only his arms.
Kaeya grabs a handful of Diluc’s shirt, and any other time, Diluc might have told him off for stretching it out, but not tonight. Not when he’s teary-eyed and shaking like a leaf. Not when he needs his brother’s comfort over his teasing.
Rain continues to pour — sounds like it’s getting louder — and Diluc looks out the window, glaring as if his disapproval alone will halt the weather.
A silence falls over the two; somewhat tense, though not particularly uncomfortable. It’s so quiet that for a moment, he almost thinks Kaeya has fallen asleep. But then there’s a loud rumble from overhead, and he hears Kaeya’s breath hitch. Feels the smaller boy shift impossibly close.
The reaction draws his attention back from the storm, and Kaeya’s staring up at the window with his wide, starry eye. Gently, Diluc begins tracing odd lines along the expanse of Kaeya’s back in hopes of distracting him. An upward stroke, a circle between his shoulder blades…
“Stop looking, okay? Looking just makes it worse.” Diluc says, frowning down at the child. He wishes his windows had shutters or drapes on the inside so he could hide Kaeya from the pelting rain and flashing lightning… but unfortunately none of the Winery’s windows have either. It’s something he’ll have to ask their father about at some point, he supposes. Not being able to cover the windows has been troublesome in the past as well, when moonlit tree branches would make creepy shadows that would startle the both of them.
Kaeya turns to hide his face in Diluc’s shoulder, body shuddering as he tightens his grip on the other boy’s shirt. Diluc had never been this scared at Kaeya’s age, or even younger. Granted, they’re only two years apart, but two years feels like such a long time ago.
Briefly, Diluc wonders why Kaeya’s so afraid of thunderstorms. He wonders if something had happened to Kaeya, or if it’s simply a childish fear he’ll quickly overcome in the future.
Perhaps it’s something to do with the day they’d found him, curled up beneath a tree left with only the clothes on his back to keep him warm… but that day, he’d shown no fear aside from the initial shyness that he’d let go of rather quickly. This feels like more of a recent development, though Diluc can’t be sure of that either. Maybe he only considers it recent because Kaeya’s never been comfortable enough to come to him unprovoked up until a few months ago.
Looking down at the child in his arms, the child whose body has still not stopped trembling, he realizes he’s going to need a better distraction than tapping out random patterns on Kaeya’s back. Diluc glances up and spies his next best attempt.
He reaches across Kaeya for the oil lamp on his bedside table, sets it on his window sill, and turns it on. Warm light floods the room and casts long shadows along the floor, and in its wake, Kaeya lifts his head just a little.
“Look at the wall.” Diluc says with a kind smile, gesturing to the empty wall on the opposite side of his room. Kaeya studies his brother’s face and then does as he’s told, shifting so he’s facing away from the window.
Diluc brings his hands together to make shapes on the wall with his shadow as Kaeya watches with a curious eye. He works his fingers around until they’re in a vaguely recognizable shape, and he twitches them every so often to give his shadow the illusion of life.
Shadow puppets were something his father used to show him quite often. Late at night when neither of them could sleep, when Diluc would come crawling to his father just as Kaeya does to Diluc now.
“Well? What’s it look like?” Diluc prompts as he gently nudges his brother.
“Mmm… bunny,” Kaeya says quietly. Diluc glances down and sees the tiniest hint of a smile on Kaeya’s face. Good. Diluc smiles too, wider now.
He crafts his next shape a little more haphazardly. He’s only ever seen his father do these things, and he’d always been the one guessing — he hasn’t attempted them himself before. Kaeya manages to recognize it as a fox after a little deliberation though, so that’s good enough for him.
They sit like this well into the late hours of the night, Diluc creating odd little animalistic shapes until Kaeya’s giggling and telling him, “you’re doing it wrong, that doesn’t look like a deer at all!”. Diluc bites back with a challenge, and Kaeya fails his attempt at a shadow deer just as terribly as Diluc had. In the end, after several more tries each, neither of them are able to procure a recognizable deer.
Kaeya’s long since forgotten the storm, thank the Archons – and he’s beginning to fall asleep where he sits. Diluc douses the light and reaches across him once again to set the oil lamp back on the table. He pulls the sheets up over them both and returns to his position.
Kaeya lies with his back to his brother, sound asleep after a tiring night. Diluc wants to join him, but exhausted as he is, he promises himself he’ll stay awake. Only for a little longer, he’ll sleep eventually – but he needs to be certain that Kaeya is okay.
Thunder rolls softly outside, an ominous reminder of how they’d gotten here tonight.
Slowly, he thinks, I’m becoming less fond of the rain.