Work Text:
Diluc wonders if greed has always been a part of who he is.
The city of Mondstadt is always the quietest during late afternoons. From high above, he can faintly make out the outline of Barbatos’ statue in front of the cathedral. He continues to walk forward, quietly counting his steps in his head in an attempt to clear his mind. In the end, he still finds himself approaching the Knights of Favonius Headquarters once he reaches the fiftieth mark.
He finds her there just in time.
“Master Diluc,” Jean greets him in surprise, her eyes widening slightly at the sight of her senior approaching the headquarters. “What brings you here?”
Diluc clenches his jaw. “I’m looking for my brother,” he lies. He wonders if Jean could sense the edge in his voice and the way his fingers lightly gripped the fabric of his coat.
“Ah, Kaeya is still on patrol. He wouldn’t be out until later this evening I suppose.”
“Oh,” a pause. “Thank you.”
Jean tilts her head to the side. “Do you need anything else?”
Diluc inhales. Suddenly, there are too much words sitting at the tip of his tongue for him to even handle. He throws himself back into his childhood, right when he first met Jean during a formal party held by both of their families, and grasps at the feeling of wanting to see the young lady smile.
He finds himself sprinting past countless of memories and diving head first into the sudden realization that maybe his young heart is indeed in love. At fourteen, he finds himself with the need to confess his feelings. At sixteen, he is a lovesick fool. At eighteen, a few months before the tragedy, he finds himself craving for Jean’s touch and for her lips that would seal him with nothing but the existence of greed and pride.
Today, he stands in front of her again, feeling the same emotions from when he was still a young boy now laced with something greater than what his old self could not bear to handle. Diluc longs for Jean the same way the sun misses the moon. He craves for her touches, still, and he finds himself rooted on the same spot as before. Today, he is greedier but never wiser.
Jean waits for him. He shakes his head.
“No, that was all.”