Work Text:
The cool surface against her forehead was a brief relief the Acting Grandmaster allowed herself to for a few seconds, before diving right into another stack of documents. She had already finished most of it anyway, the remaining stack being relatively small compared to the amount of work she was accustomed to.
But, then again, she was working nonstop for about twelve hours, so there was a slight chance her fingers were almost completely numb as of now, and therefore her handwriting was becoming exponentially slower.
Jean ignored the tiredness settled deep within her bones and raised her head from the desk bound’s wooden surface, ready to tackle Mondstadt’s civil affairs. Just then, a resolute knock echoed through her office and, following her feeble ‘come in’, the doors swung open.
She recognized the distinct clicking of riding boots against the marble floor, and so knew who it was without the need to raise her gaze from the way her quill pen slid on the signature space.
“Captain Kaeya,” Jean echoed, subconsciously relieved that it was him who had come, instead of some of the other knights. She could be more at ease with him, breaking if ever so slightly the stance of Grandmaster. “Is there something you need?”
“Just handing the daily reports,” the man waved yet another stack of papers to be added to her pile – one more script she would have to evaluate before ending the day’s expedient.
His footsteps filled the office once again as Kaeya made his way to her desk. As she raised her eyes from some tax documents from Angel’s Share she had been requested to analyze and extended her hand to him, their gloved fingers brushed lightly as he passed her the papers.
“Thank you,” defying the fatigue, her lips curved upwards inwardly. “I see that your expedient ended quite a while ago. I appreciate your hard work, you’re dismissed for the night, Sir Kaeya.”
His lone eye travelled from her soft-blue eyes to the dark circles beneath them, and to the amount of scripts, documents, permits and all sorts of papers piling up on the table’s surface.
He knew how this went, had seen it unroll many times. Jean would push her limits and her health and, in the end, everyone would thank her for her hard work, but mere words wouldn’t keep her from passing out due to extreme overexertion. Her dedication stirred something akin to admiration inside him, but still, Kaeya wouldn’t simply sit and watch as she exerted herself like that.
“If I remember correctly, you're long overdue as well, so I take it that you’ll be leaving soon?” He clicked his tongue, already knowing that Jean would inevitably come up with a statement about her compromise with Mondstadt’s affairs, her responsibilities, and how she was perfectly fine despite it being evident that she hadn’t gotten enough sleep in a while.
His predictions were proven right.
“I really have to finish this stack by the end of the day. They are quite important, you see,” she sighed in resignation but kept her formal posture. “I’ll probably be done soon.”
The size of the pile above her desk made it hard for Jean to believe her own words, and she could tell by his looks that Kaeya didn’t buy it either.
Kaeya shrugged in apparent resignation, and hastily swirled around and made his way out.
Jean frowned slightly at his silent and sudden departure, but took no time in diving right back into her work.
Barely a few minutes later, the Grandmaster’s office doors opened swiftly but silently once again.
Jean arched an eyebrow at the incomer, but he spoke before she could question his presence.
“I have a proposal.” The mischievous grin, which Kaeya wore like no one else, made her wary.
He waited for some sort of signal from her before continuing, and amidst her poorly repressed curiosity, Jean nodded. “I’m all ears.”
“If you drop your quill pen for tonight, I’ll show you what’s under it.” Kaeya tapped his eyepatch lightly for emphasis, partially hidden beneath his loose bangs.
Her heart skipped a beat as realization slowly dawned on her. Was he being serious?
Jean had known Kaeya for more than a decade. He never talked about the eyepatch matter unless someone directly questioned him about it. If someone did ask, he usually deflected it with a joke or a blatant lie. No one dared to ask again, accepting it simply as another one of his hidden facades.
Her hesitation was becoming evident and, despite her aching curiosity, Jean didn’t feel like falling to one of his antics, so she straightened her posture and signaled at the document lead before her.
“I can’t leave this undone, Kaeya,” Jean tried to shake off the feeling that she was missing an once in a lifetime chance. “Charles asked me to check those for him, Angel’s Share–“
“Charles can wait,” he cut her off. “I know bartenders don’t have it easy but, even so, he doesn’t work half of what you do.”
Jean pursed her lips together, regarding her captain with a tired glare. The Cavalry Captain rolled his eyes in response, his nonchalant smile unwavering as he strode in the Acting Grandmaster’s direction.
“I know you never give in without a fight,” he blinked down at her from mere inches away, with the office’s desk being the only thing separating them. “But I would advise you to save the trouble of insisting, because I too have no intention to recoil.”
She pinched her nose bridge, too tired to argue and getting increasingly tempted by his offer.
Kaeya did have a point; she supposed the documents from Angel’s Share could be dispatched first thing tomorrow.
“Are you actually willing to?” she asked tentatively in a low tone.
His lips curved upwards and he gave her a quiet nod. Jean thought he seemed legitimately invested in it, and she was rather surprised to discover he would go to this extent just to get her to stop working.
She set her quill pen aside and considered her ever so unreadable captain. “I have to say, when you said you had a proposal this wasn’t what I had in mind.”
His lone blue eye glinted with interest as Kaeya tipped his head to the side, gaze never leaving hers. “And what did you have in mind?”
Any plausible response died in her throat.
“I don’t know,” all she offered him were her own obliviousness and a soft smile. “You always manage to defy my expectations.”
From the way his heart rate quivered, ever so slightly, it became evident he was eager for her answer – though he wasn’t sure what exactly he so longed to hear. Kaeya hummed nevertheless, seemingly content with her description of him.
If Jean regarded him indecipherable, he at least hoped she wouldn’t eventually give up on trying to decipher him.
There was a beat before Kaeya regained his reasoning.
“Now, back to the subject,” he eagerly brought up, “I take it that you accept my humble offer?”
Jean waited a few heartbeats, feigning pondering despite clearly already knowing her final decision.
“Yes, I will call it a day if you accomplish your part of the deal,” she declared, facing him defiantly.
“Marvelous,” he quipped, white teeth showing through his sharp smile.
“I suppose we both trust each other’s words, so let’s make it a verbal deal, shall we?” Kaeya prodded confidently, and continued after Jean’s nod of concordance. “You must swear to leave your office and the headquarters for the night. If you do, I’ll show you right here and now what’s under this very eyepatch.”
“I will accomplish my part,” she arranged the scripts spread along her desk, placing all of them in a neat stack. After putting her quill pen and its ink bottle away in their respective drawers, Jean rested her chin above laced fingers and waited for her reward.
“Now, whenever you’re ready, captain.” Jean did her best to sound casual, but her voice came out with a hint of wavering anticipation.
Kaeya stares at her, reveling in his small victory.
However small, a victory over the Grandmaster was something to be proud of, so he allowed himself to beam impishly as his hand went up and tugged the silver string upwards.
Jean’s clear blue eyes widened and she sucked in a breath.
Dark blue hair ruffled as Kaeya pushed the elastic string over his head with a swift motion. He swirled the piece around his index finger once it was freed from his locks.
Her jaw dropped in disbelief and, after two seconds of confusion, Jean bit back an angry snort as realization rapidly dawned on her.
“How ‘bout that?” Kaeya snickered victoriously, dropping the delicate black leather piece above her desk. “Like what you see? Is it what you expected?”
Turns out Kaeya wore another eyepatch right beneath the one he had just removed.
“I can’t believe you lied to me.” She did believe it, she should have seen it coming.
“Haha, don’t say such a thing,” he batted his eyelashes at her and Jean guessed this was his shot at a pity face. “I kept my promise, you see. I did show you what was underneath this very eyepatch.”
Jean had a bitter frown stamped on her features; she shook her head slowly, disapprovingly, since any attempt at argumentation from her would be easily countered by silver-tongued Kaeya.
“Aw, c’mon!” his faint laughter reverberated through the room, “Don’t give me that face. The ends do justify the means, and I had only the best intentions at heart.”
Jean sighed, accepting defeat – though she couldn’t say she was exactly abject to the current outcome.
“How do you feel about tricking your superior officer?” she raised a blonde thin eyebrow at him.
“I feel awesome.” She couldn’t tell if he was simply blinking or winking at her – that damn eyepatch –, though by his snickering smile it was probably the latter.
Jean dropped her head to hide an inevitable smile, and steadily closed the office’s curtains as she prepared for leaving. She went up to Kaeya as he held the doors open for her.
“It was great making deals with you, my Grandmaster,” Kaeya chirped as they walked side by side through the main hall.
Said Grandmaster dropped her head in defeat, silently cursing her naiveness as they made their ways out of the knight’s headquarters. She should have seen this coming, she should have known from the moment he entered her office with his shit-eating, sly and all the same elegant smile.
Still, a small part of her was glad to be done for the night.
“Do you always wear two eyepatches? Or do you have a spare piece reserved especially for occasions like this?”
“I have a few spares in my office,” Kaeya clicked his tongue. “Still, you’re the first one I’ve tried this with. And it worked surprisingly well.”
It was Jean’s turn to roll her eyes. Though, she knew his antic had only worked because Jean took her word way too seriously.
The two guards responsible for the night shift – it was Huffman and Aramis as of now – nodded as both the Grandmaster and Quartermaster exited the main entry doors.
They found themselves in the middle of the street, walking silently and unbothered, since there were no civilians in sight near the city’s walls this late.
“What a pleasant breeze,” Kaeya relished in the feel of the cool wind against the exposed skin of his neck, closing his eye as he spoke. “Do you wish for me to escort you home?”
“What a gentleman, you say that as if you didn’t just trick me,” she crossed her arms but her smile conveyed fondness.
He laughed heartily, not bothering to deny her fair accusation.
“Come on now, would you rather still be stuck inside there or,” he spun discreetly on one foot, and Jean awed slightly at his swift movement, “out here, in Mondstadt’s romantic empty streets?”
The edge of irony in his voice made her chuckle.
Jean waved her head in exasperation, and couldn’t help the single smile that was increasingly growing into a beam on her lips. Kaeya could read her well – a practice it took a few years for him to master –, so he took that as a yes.
“I accept your offer.” Jean rested her hands above her hips as she turned to face him head front and, as she added, her tone took a slightly more solemn edge, “Though I have my own terms this time. I take it that you’d join me for a nighttime tea?”
The proposal caught him by surprise; at least now he could be sure that Jean didn’t resent him.
“I was planning on going to Angel’s Share,” Kaeya waits a beat before adding the last part, not without a hint of eagerness, “But having tea with the Grandmaster sounds definitely more endearing.”
“It’s Acting Grandmaster, Kaeya,” she corrected, too aware that usage of titles wasn’t taken lightly on their field.
“Well, it’s clear that you take on every of an actual Grandmaster’s duties,” Kaeya countered and proceeded to tap his chin, as if in consideration. “Therefore, it seems fair to refer to you as such.”
“You must not, especially not in front of the other knights,” Jean folded her arms before adding in a smaller voice, “At least for now.”
“But then, when you at last are nominated Grandmaster, I won’t be the only one to call you that.”
She gaped ever so slightly at his statement, unexpectedly intimate.
The way it was phrased, Jean would bet that it was meant as a gag; still, Kaeya’s voice lacked the playful edge it usually had when he jested.
“I’m certain you can come up with something else,” Jean couldn’t bring herself to face him, resigning to watching the pale moon shining in the everlasting distance. “I don’t mind what you call me when we're off duty.”
He regarded her in silence, his expression unreadable, before raising the relaxed, pleased-with-himself look.
“Okay then, Jean,” Kaeya nodded the path ahead with a gesture of his head. “Shall we?”
She promptly followed with a quiet chuckle.