Work Text:
Owning, and working at, Mondstadt's most popular bakery was no easy job to do. Especially not when you realized that, if you wanted to make this new creation to work, you ahd to travel all the way to the Liyue region. At least not all the way to the city, but maybe that would've been more convenient? You'd have a place to stay at night and wouldn't have to travel all the way back to Mondstadt. Oh well, no use complaining about such things; it had to be done either way.
Your little trip commenced around five in the evening on a saturday, right after you closed up shop and cleaned up somewhat. You made sure to bring some essentials in case, Archons forbid, something would happen; this included some simple medical supplies, water of course, a small torch, and a simple blade to fight off easy enemies. You couldn't allow yourself to fight the bigger, and more powerful ones, since Diluc told you to 'just run away as fast an far as you can if I'm not there'. It felt stupid to run away, but you guessed he knew better than you did in that area of expertise.
Speaking of him, you hoped he was resting well. He had a busy few days behind his back and it was incredibly obvious how exhausting it was for him, even if he kept telling you he was 'only a bit tired'. He was kind of a terrible liar when it came to you. It was cute.
While lost in thought, you realized you were halfway through your chosen route, and the light from the sun was decreasing noticeably. Since it was the season of autumn, dark fell earlier day by day, just until winter would arrive. You cursed yourself for not bringing a warmer jacket, anticipating the trip to become a little more of an annoyance than you expected it to be. You assumed it had been around thirty minutes since you left for the little quest, and you hoped to not take too long to get back home.
Just a small ten minutes later, you arrived at your chosen destination. You were glad you had brought matches with your torch, because the sky was darkening even more and your needed flowers weren't so visible anymore. You lit the torch after taking it out of your bag, and held it close, but not too close that it would set things on fire, to the grass so you could see them. They were considerably small, and sometimes even hard to find, but you had faith in yourself. You had been finding your ingredients yourself since you could remember starting up shop. Finding things yourself was something you enjoyed; you didn't need anybody's help and you could have peace of mind while doing so.
You needed about thirty of the little flowers. Your plan was to crush and extract its essences to create an entirely new flavor to add to your pastries, and you firmly believed it would work. You believed your customers would take a liking to the new creation.
After collecting enough of the flowers, and some extra for good measure, you started making your way back with your torch still in hand. With basket-slash-bag slung around your shoulder, you held the sword ready in your dominant hand, ready for any attacks ahead of you. At the twenty-minute mark of your trip back, you were so focused on the path right ahead of you that you failed to notice the hilichurl camp a few feet away from the side; you only had a few seconds to react when the hilichurlian yelling caught your attention. They attacked you from the front, sides and behind. The one in the back needed to be taken care of first, but... if you fight that one off first, wouldn't the one at the front be at the back..?
You had trouble fighting them off, the attacks from multiple directions almost getting the better of you, but you persisted and managed to take down the one in front of you. You almost wanted to shout in victory but got caught off guard by a stinging pain in your back. Gasping in pain, you quickly turned around and took down the hilichurl behind you as well. There wasn't any time to be wasted checking the wound on your back, as you had two more of those guys to fight off. It took you some time and lots of effort to not pass out or drop down on the ground, but you successfully defended yourself. You groaned in displeasure when you realized that the way back was going to take longer than you wanted it to, but told yourself to suck it up and started making your way back after straightening out your clothing. Your 'sucking it up' was short-lived when you winced from a pain in your leg; did they get you there too? Looking down, you noticed a gash just above your knee. You needed to make your way back fast or both wounds would get infected and you simply couldn't have that happen.
After ten more extremely difficult and painful walking, the Dawn Winer came into your sight. Finally, you thought, this meant you were just outside of the main city. Hopefully Diluc wouldn't be outside so he wouldn't see you in this state. You couldn't bear to worry him.
Your hope was very short-lived when you saw his bright red hair in the distance; he was crouched near the grapevines. He checked on them almost every day , wanting to make sure they were doing fine. You wanted to go hide, but that would prove to be useless since almost nothing escapes Diluc. Plus, you were feeling much too tired to put in such an effort, so you just braced yourself to be seen.
While walking oh-so-awkwardly past the mansion, pretending to not notice it being there at all but of course, it was useless. He called your name when he noticed you limping slightly and quickly made his way to you.
His hand immediately going on your shoulder, "Hey, hey- what happened? You're limping?" He worriedly asked you, careful not to touch you too firmly in case there were any wounds he could not see. You looked up at him and dismissively shook your head, finding it hard to speak through the pain but still managing to tell him 'I'm fine, it's okay'; but you knew that if you had to be on your feet for five more minutes, you'd pass out.
Diluc furrowed his brows at your dismissive behavior; you looked incredibly disheveled and tired, and he couldn't have you outside a minute longer. He placed his hand on your back as if to guide you inside, which made you hiss in pain. "Ah, shit-" He panicked a little and moved his hand up to your shoulders, his touch much lighter than before. "Let's go inside, yeah? You need to be treated, I'll take care of you until we can go to Barbara tomorrow. Okay?"
"Hah, alright. Only because it's you." You tried to be lighthearted about the situation.
You slowly walked inside with Diluc's help, after which he took you to the bathroom. He let you sit on the edge of the bath tub as he got out his basic medical supplies. He sits down next to you after he's got the needed supplies within hand's reach. Your attempt in taking your shirt off was futile, as you didn't keep in mind that it would, again, hurt too much.
"I'm gonna need some help taking these off.." You spoke quietly and looked at him with a slight smile. Diluc nodded and carefully took of your light jacket for you first, then slowly started lifting up your shirt, grimacing at how it was a little stuck to your skin with the help of dried blood before throwing both clothing items in the tub so he could throw them away later. Diluc sighed in relief when he noticed the bleeding had, in fact, stopped
"I'll give you one of my shirts later." He spoke quietly, as if he'd hurt you if he spoke too loudly.
"How romantic~" You smiled at him again and he let out a breathy chuckle. He seemed to be stressed about this, which is ironic since you're the one who's hurt, but let's say it's endearing too.
After picking a wet cloth, he paused; "tell me if it hurts too much, okay?" You nodded at this, silently reveling in how gentle he is. You sit as still as you can whilst he cleans up the wound on your back, while leaning up and placing a light kiss on your shoulder every so often. You wished you could see his face because he looks so cute when he's focused; you get to see him like that often when you're sitting with him at his office, doing paperwork together and quietly spending time together. Every so often you'd glance at each other and ask about the other's thoughts on things. You smile in remembrance of moments like these. You nearly shuddered at the coolness of the salve he was smearing over and around the wound.
"Okay, that's done... was it just your back?" Diluc looked back up into your eyes.
You shook your head no, "there's one on my leg, too. Just above my knee." You stood up, hand on the sink close to you for leverage, and carefully slid off your pants before sitting back down. When you looked back up at him, that look of worry was back on his face.
"How did this happen?" Diluc freshened up the wet cloth before leaning down and repeating the same process as earlier.
"Oh, well, I.. went on a little trip to Liyue this afternoon, and-"
"Liyue? Why didn't you ask for me to come along? You would've been safer."
"I know, I know, I'm an idiot-" You sighed.
"That's not what I'm saying. You know I don't think of you like that. You just shouldn't... feel bad when you ask for help. I would be more than happy to help you, with anything. It.. means that I can spend time with you, and with how busy we both can get, I feel like I don't see you enough." Diluc speaks honestly with you, "I miss you sometimes. And... I get worried."
You fell silent, and so did Diluc; it's like the both of you were surprised at how casually he expressed his feelings like that. Truth be told, he just really dislikes it when you talk yourself down, even if it's in a more casual, lighthearted way. But even then, you're more playful than he is.
"You only miss me sometimes?" You tease with a pout.
He sighed with a withheld smile. "You know what I meant. Now, you wanna continue telling me how this happened?"
You let out a small laugh. "Okay, fine; so the trip to Liyue was to pick up some different ingredients for a new recipe, but I got attacked on the way back." You noticed his arms tense a little bit. "It was just four hilichurls! I thought I could take them, really. But there was one behind me, and I didn't pay enough attention, and next thing I know this... this fucker got me on the back!" Diluc turned his head to look up at you with a raised eyebrow. "But I did take all of them down at the end! Watched 'em disintegrate before my very eyes." You stated proudly, as if to convince him that you weren't careless. Meanwhile, he seemed to be done with treating the wound on your leg.
"Well, my darling, I'm very proud of you; but I should teach you how to pick your battles sometime soon, shouldn't I?" Diluc shot you a small smile and gently placed a hand on your cheek; you playfully rolled your eyes at him.
"I'll bandage you up and then I'll get some clothes for you, okay?" He took the bandages and wrapped them around your torso, and in turn your leg as well. His movements were firm, but gentle. At that point the pain had subsided a little and you could move somewhat more freely. He placed the medical supplies away and excused himself to get you a change of clothing. While waiting for him, you decided to stand up and freshen up a little.
Diluc came back after a few minutes with a white shirt and black pants in hand, and asked if these were okay for you.
"Of course. It's not the first time I've worn your clothes, is it?"
"Right." He smiled. "Now put these on quickly and come let me hold you for a while. Are you hungry?"
You shook your head no in response as you took the clothes from him and got dressed. "Not hungry... just really, really tired. I could definitely use some rest."
"Lucky enough, I'm done with my work for this week. You can rest here all you need to, and I'll be right there with you." Diluc took your hand into his when you were done getting dreased and lead you to his bedroom, in which you found yourself staying more often lately, and pushed the sheets aside to make place for the both of you. He lied down and had his arms spread out for you to join him, so you let yourself lie down next to, and slightly on top of, him and nuzzle your face in his neck. He was always so, so warm and it was the most comforting thing ever, especially right now.
You allowed your body to finally relax as his warmth enveloped you.
"Next time, please... ask me to come with you. I'm never too busy for that, okay? I don't want you to get hurt even more, or even worse, for that matter." He sounded scared; scared to see you in the state you were in today again. He continues, "I just don't want to lose you. I can't."
You felt your heart beat against your chest, suddenly feeling really bad now that you knew how much this had really scared him; it was hard to imagine before because of how well he hid it.
"I'm sorry. I really was careless, wasn't I..."
"Oh no, don't feel bad-" Diluc made you look up at him with his forefinger under your chin, with worry once again written all over his features. It was completely dark already, but the small lamp next to the bed allowed you to see his face.
"Please, don't feel bad. This wasn't your fault. Don't blame yourself. I just.. I just get scared, that's all. You're the single most important person in my life right now, and I plan on keeping it that way."
"I won't forget to ask you next time. I promise. You won't have to worry anymore." While propping yourself up on your elbow, your hand rested on his cheek and your thumb brushed across his skin. "I love you, Diluc, you won't lose me. Ever." You warmly smiled at him and hoped your words would ease his worries, and they did. You felt his body relax under yours and he smiled back at you.
"That's what I like to hear. I love you too, more than you could imagine."
You leaned down and pressed a soft kiss on his lips. Diluc kissed you back before you pulled away and rested your head on his shoulder again. After he wrapped his arms around you, he held you closer and shut his eyes; his worries were washed away and he could feel himself succumbing to the tiredness from getting so stressed. Meanwhile, you were drifting off to sleep as well. You tried to fight it for a while by, every so often, lightly kissing his neck; but after a while you too, succumbed to your exhaustion.