Chapter Text
Angel’s Share was packed with customers again tonight. Mondstadt’s summers were hot and humid, and people flocked to the tavern after work for an ice cold glass. Kaeya was here every single night, whining about the heat and downing drink after drink. Diluc would normally mentally prepare himself for another bout of verbal sparring with his brother. Except for tonight.
It had taken Diluc two summers to notice the pattern. His brother was always conspicuously missing on the first Saturday of the summer months. Sure, Kaeya frequented other bars as well, but his bar-hopping behavior was never on schedule like this.
The next night, after Kaeya had gotten on Diluc’s nerves once again, he mentioned it in passing. “Your capriciousness was always your strength,” Diluc said in a huff, “it’s uncharacteristic of you.”
Kaeya cackled with laughter, breaking whatever petty argument they had been locked in. “What, did you miss me while I was gone? Did you count the days for my return like a girl waiting for her lover to return from sea?”
Diluc shot him a sharp glare and Kaeya quieted, though he could still see the teasing mirth in Kaeya's eye. “Alright, alright. I guess this piece of info slipped past you, what with you up and disappearing for four years,” he didn’t miss the jab that slipped in as he spoke, “but I’m not the only one that skips the taverns on Saturdays.”
“Get to the point.”
“Ugh, you’re terrible at building suspense.” Kaeya gulped down the last of his drink. “You know of the farmer’s market held each Saturday? One of its best kept secrets is that there’s a vendor you can find sometimes at night using the space after another merchant has left for the day. They only sell one thing, and it sells out fast, that’s how good it is. It’s liquid gold, worth every drop.”
Diluc furrowed his brow. Kaeya that charlatan, he must be overexaggerating again.
“You may want to watch out, Mr. Ragnvindr,” Kaeya taunted, “the dandelion wine they make may give you a run for your money.”
.
It was twilight when the last guests had left and Diluc locked up. There was a meeting with the Wine Guild scheduled tomorrow afternoon, which meant he had a lengthy three hour walk back to his bedroom at the Winery. He didn’t mind, it was an opportunity to mull his thoughts.
There wasn’t much to ponder. While he didn’t let his guard down as he walked through Mondstadt’s gates, he knew the Fatui had been laying low. Perhaps they were avoiding trouble after that fiasco in Liyue he had heard so much about at the tavern. The Abyss too had no recent movements, so Diluc could observe the scenery a bit more leisurely as he walked. Dandelion puffs danced softly in the wind, and fireflies flitted across the grass as he exited Mondstadt’s gates.
While there were always a few dandelions that bloomed year round in Mondstadt, peak season was always spring. This was when all the Winery’s servants and children went out foraging to pluck the bright yellow petals, eager to mix them with wine. Sometimes the Winery would even commission adventurers to go out and harvest flowers, and the few that enjoyed the work were clearly identifiable by their pollen-stained hands.
Once the summer rolled around the flowers gave way to seed, and Mondstadt’s nights were dotted cool green with anemo energy iconic to the region. Diluc felt comfortable in the summer warmth, but if he had to choose, he preferred the merry energy of workers buzzing about like bees, and the golden glow that only flowering dandelions produced.
Dandelions. That was another headache to deal with tomorrow. Kaeya must have some ulterior motive, to have brought it to his attention. Whatever he was playing at, Diluc had to go along in this case. A merchant trying to compete in Mondstadt’s wine market? While Diluc personally wouldn’t have minded, the winery and its shareholders would never let this go under the radar. He made a mental note to mention it at the meeting tomorrow.
Thoughts about business and guild meetings and manipulative men with eyepatches churned in his head and made it throb. He half-heartedly massaged his temples to relieve some tension. The sun had yet to rise, but cicadas were already filling the air with loud buzzing. The winery was almost in sight, Diluc just had to walk a little further. Once he got past the trees and into the clearing, it would be quiet again. He’d be in bed soon, no thoughts, no throbbing headaches, no humming and no cicadas.
Diluc jolted at that. What humming? Closing his eyes and ignoring the pounding in his head, he focused on the ambient noises.
It was very faint. It wasn’t the trill of a bird song, or the monotonous cicada call. It was low. Melodious. Like one of those old hymns that only church choirs sung, in a language long dead.
“Who’s there?” Diluc spoke into the forest, cautiously moving to draw his sword.
The humming stopped.
Something scampered across the forest floor just out of the corner of his eye, rustling the bushes and vines and obscured by leaves and heading deeper into the thicket. It huffed and snorted as it barreled away, spooked by the sound of a human voice.
It was far too fast and the sky still far too dark to see what creature it could have been.
Diluc was too tired by this time to bother giving chase. It was the forest after all, going by the sound it made it was likely just a wild boar.
He trudged back home and fell dead asleep.
You, on the other hand, wouldn’t rest until mid-day, heart racing and eyes wide open long after you rushed back to your cottage and under the sheets. Whatever that noise was, it spooked you so thoroughly that you had tripped when you made your hasty escape and dropped your bundle.