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the dripping of hot tears poured onto kaeya’s icy exterior, melting away the frozen pool that slowly began to seep through his glacier of a pupil.
how long has it been?
too long, he thought.
warmth blanketed his entire body within the redhead’s tight embrace, something he’d never even dreamed he’d get to feel once more.
it’s ironic, a cryo user thawing from a pyro user, without the need for a vision. it stung, yet felt ever so pleasant.
the sound of diluc’s strained weeps and sobs were nearly silent within kaeya’s shoulder, as if to keep the entire world from hearing his vulnerability.
it filled the man with grave shame, to be showing weakness in front of someone he dreaded since that day. and yet, his gloved hands gripped at his sleeves, desperately like his life depended on it.
“i’m sorry.” kaeya whispered, hardly loud enough for a soul to hear.
but diluc did. his fingers sinking further into the cryo’s arms.
“you bastard…” he croaked.
bittersweet, the moment was. slowly, his nose pressed into the top of the latter’s head. cold hands reached up around his curled back, caressing the strains of scarlet that draped along it. kaeya held him with foreign caution — like the man underneath him were frail enough to break.
he knew full and well that this would be brushed under the rug afterward, just like all the other memories that were once shared.
and so, he indulged in it, allowing his tears to flow more freely along his cheek. a pain within his throat felt like acid, yet he embraced the feeling. he embraced the agony he had hidden away for so long.
for it is a moment he’ll shut away for the rest of the world to never discover.
who knows if they’ll get to call the other his brother again.