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Diluc had made the long journey from the Dawn Winery to the Angel’s Share so many times he could probably navigate the thin and winding roads between them entirely asleep, but it still settled something within him to see the stone walls of Mondstadt rise up into view where the roads from Springvale and Windrise merged.
Or at least, it usually did. Right now, with his head aching like Klee had set off a bomb in it, he was mostly grateful that the tall walls of the city blocked the sun from view.
Making his way over the bridge and through the city gates felt like it took longer than usual. Maybe he was just less patient today, but someone had had the bright idea to give Guy duty at the front gate instead of the side and he tried to talk Diluc's ear off while Diluc kept an impassive face and got out of there as quickly as possible. The main streets of Mondstadt were already full of people selling their wares, running around finishing errands, and arguing with each other loudly. One of the sisters of the Church nearly ran into Diluc as he made his way through the street, and only Diluc's quick reflexes kept him from a close encounter with Flora's table full of flowers.
Finally getting to the Angel's Share was a relief, both because it was soothingly dim inside and because it was nearly empty. Diluc did a quick once-over of the building, as was his habit when entering, just to make sure there was no one suspicious lurking. But the only people present were Nelson and Payne, drinking alone on opposite sides of the bar, and Charles, who glanced up from the glass he was cleaning when Diluc tramped back down the stairs and did a doubletake when he caught sight of him.
“Master Diluc!” he said, putting the glass down next to a row of identical ones. “I didn’t realize you were coming. Should I prepare a stock report?”
Diluc shook his head, ignoring the way the motion made his head pound. “No need. I’ll check in the back myself. Keep up the good work.”
“Of course, Master Diluc!”
Diluc slipped into the back room, shutting the door behind him. Then he leaned against it, meaning to just close his eyes for a second and maybe soothe his headache. Instead he surprised himself with a hacking cough, just barely managing to muffle the loud, wet noise in the crook of his elbow.
“That doesn’t sound good,” Kaeya said.
Diluc startled, but he hadn’t hallucinated it - there was Kaeya, leaning against a crate of imported liquor from Sumeru, watching Diluc with his arms crossed and an eyebrow raised.
Diluc straightened up, looking Kaeya over surreptitiously. Of course he knew Kaeya had told his little cronies in the Knights of Favonius to keep an eye out and inform him when Diluc came into the city - but Diluc had been here for less than an hour. Had Kaeya dropped everything just to annoy him? Or was there something else going on that Kaeya needed his help with?
“This area is for staff only,” Diluc said. “Get out before I throw you out.”
“It doesn’t sound like you’re in any shape to do the throwing,” Kaeya said. He threw a coin in the air and caught it idly, as if their conversation wasn’t particularly interesting to him, which only made Diluc watch him more closely. “You’d probably be better off letting someone else cover for you today.”
Diluc scoffed, shoulders lowering a fraction. So Kaeya had dropped everything just to annoy him. If it was anything more serious, he’d be dangling it in front of Diluc like a practiced fisherman already.
He pushed past Kaeya to count the remaining wine as quickly as he could. Kaeya didn’t bother moving out of his way, too used to Diluc by far, and so Diluc ended up scanning the contents of the storeroom with Kaeya peering over his shoulder at him before he whirled around to leave again.
“Just a thought!” Kaeya shouted before Diluc shut the door and cut him off. He shut his eyes again for good measure, just for a moment, before sliding back out from behind the bar.
At Charles’ curious look, Diluc said, “I’ll order more liquor from Sumeru, but everything else should last until Magar’s next delivery. --And make Kaeya pay for whatever he drinks back there.”
Diluc had more important things to take care of, regardless of his cough.
Kaeya had probably already figured out that Diluc wasn’t really in town to check on the Angel’s Share, but he didn’t have the intelligence that Diluc had taken off of an Abyss Order spy a week ago about their new hideout in the Whispering Woods - or their increased surveillance presence in Mondstadt proper.
Diluc looked up towards the walls of Mondstadt as he left the Angel’s Share. He couldn’t be completely certain, but he thought he'd caught a flash of light up there. One that looked suspiciously like an Abyss Mage disappearing.
Diluc scowled, tightening his gloves.
The Abyss Order wouldn’t wait for Diluc to feel better. He had to cut them off now, before they gained the strength to mass another attack against the city.
Luckily, it was a short trip from Mondstadt’s northern gate to the Whispering Woods. Unwilling to pass through Mondstadt’s main entryway again, Diluc swam part of the way, the cold water clearing his head. When he stepped off the opposite shore, water streaming off his coat, he let a little flicker of warmth escape his Pyro vision, heating his clothes enough for the remaining water to steam off instead.
The fall wind whipping through the Whispering Woods would have dried him off quickly enough even without the help. This deep into autumn, the leaves crunching underfoot joined the chorus of those swirling in the air, making it especially difficult to hear approaching enemies.
Diluc kept a wary eye out, but the woods were quiet otherwise, at least until he reached the area where he knew the Abyss Order hideout would be. It was nestled in an unremarkable crack in the side of a cliff, just another spot of darkness the wind had carved out in the craggy side of the rock. It would have gone entirely unnoticed if Diluc hadn’t known where to look for it, and if the Abyss Order hadn’t been foolish enough to post guards outside.
The hilichurls keeping watch were easy enough to dispatch, falling almost noiselessly behind Diluc as he sheathed his sword again, stopping just for a moment to smell the air. The fresh, earthy smell of lamp grass mixed with the crisper smell of the constantly-swirling leaves that filled the dense forest leading towards the cliffs, but beneath that was the smell of rot, emanating from within the cave.
It was definitely Abyss magic. It was also enough to bring his headache back from where it had been lurking, never quite leaving him but occasionally fading into the background where it could be ignored. Diluc sighed before drawing his claymore and ducking his head as he made his way through the entryway.
The stone structure inside was hardly natural - a long, magic-carved hallway with stiflingly hot air leading inwards. Diluc heard the faint sound of chanting, not the rhythmic noise of samachurls but the high-pitched, sinister singing of Abyss Mages, but he couldn’t see them yet. Likely they were all the way inside.
He felt sweat bead on the back of his neck and gritted his teeth. Outside, the autumn winds kept the Whispering Woods cool even during midday. But the inside of this den of evil felt like a furnace, even to Diluc, whose Pyro vision insulated him from some of the effects of fire.
He’d have to deal with this quickly.
He rounded a corner, barely lit by flickering torchlight, and surprised a mitachurl who’d been sleeping on the job. The mitachurl reached for its axe, but Diluc was faster - he slashed once, twice, three times with his blade searing the air and the mitachurl roared and fell.
He heard high-pitched noises of surprise as he continued onwards, the passage widening just in time for him to encounter two hilichurl archers, who backed up in alarm as he neared them. But the close quarters favored him over them, even with the size of his weapon - he hit one between the eyes with the butt of his claymore, making it drop its crossbow before it could get the room it needed to fire. He kicked the bow away, keeping his attention on the disarmed hilichurl. Too much attention, he realized as a searing pain made itself known in his arm.
He hissed, but he didn’t drop his own weapon, instead letting it catch flame again as he swung it at the second archer, who yelled and dropped to the ground so hard it hit its head against the stone there, stunning itself.
Diluc kept his sword trained on the stunned archer but his eyes trained on the first one, who let out a panicked stream of sounds in hilichurlian and grabbed its companion by the arm to drag it away, staring at Diluc desperately the whole time.
Diluc stared right back, but he let them run. The hilichurls weren’t the real threat to Mondstadt - and a few terrified ones running back to their clan with stories of how thoroughly they’d been beaten by a single human might keep them from attacking Magar’s cart so often.
After he was sure they’d fled, he allowed himself a moment to lean on his claymore, looking down at his still-burning shoulder. He could only see the butt of the arrow's shaft, but the blue tint to it and the cold burn radiating outward from where it had found its way home confirmed that it was a Cryo bolt. He probed the area with his other hand, but it had gone through the skin pretty cleanly. Pulling it out would do more harm than good, and he couldn't get a good enough grip on the exposed part to cut it down. He’d have to deal with it later. Out in the woods, if he could get a good grasp on it one-handed once he had a little more light, or in the back room of the Angel's Share if he couldn't, assuming Kaeya had ever left.
He levered himself back upright and started walking again, ignoring the way the throbbing in his arm and the throbbing in his head seemed to loop back on each other. The passage kept widening out until it became a teardrop-shaped room filled with crates and dropped provisions. At the far end, three Abyss Mages, two in red and one in blue, had their backs to him, muttering to each other - until their ears darted up as one, and they whirled around, their shields coming to life even as the one in blue waved its wand at him.
Diluc rolled to avoid the Hydro bubble headed towards him, but that was the least of his problems. Two Pyro Abyss Mages, fully shielded, indoors - and Diluc had few options to shred those shields. His element gave him some protection against fire, but not a lot - and nowhere near enough for a battle of attrition when he was already injured. He'd have to rely on his wits instead.
His eyes darted around, but he kept his claymore steady, waiting for the inevitable.
It came in a series of pops - one Pyro Abyss Mage teleporting behind him, the other to his side. Diluc was already moving before the Hydro Abyss Mage finished popping back into existence in front of him, wheeling around it and ramming into its shield with his shoulder. The wet pop of Hydro against his injured arm made him hiss, but it was worth it for the way the mage shrieked and cartwheeled in its bubble, unable to teleport again so soon after the last time and helpless to stop itself from ramming into the shield of one of the Pyro Abyss Mages.
Both mages yelled in high-pitched alarm as their shields hissed and steamed, trying to extricate themselves, but it was too late - the Pyro Abyss Mage fell to the ground in an ungainly slump, its shield totally spent, while the Hydro Abyss Mage kept careening in its bubble, arms flapping in midair before it was able to right itself.
Diluc ignored it for the moment, throwing his full weight behind his claymore as he swung it on the downed Pyro mage, who screamed and rolled but was unable to avoid the full brunt of the strike, which sent the mage skidding across the ground. DIluc chased after it, slashing across his body with his claymore radiating intense flames even as his arm screamed and the heat made his vision spin. The mage flapped in the wind like a ragdoll, the strikes coming too fast for it to defend itself - and then Diluc flipped in the air, putting his whole body into the strike, and the mage fell one last time, down for the count.
Panting, Diluc whirled around again, barely managing to get his claymore up as an intense burst of flame sprouted in front of him like a geyser, the remaining Pyro Abyss Mage cackling somewhere behind it.
He rolled through the flames, claymore first, just as another geyser of fire erupted where he’d been standing. He heard the Hydro Abyss Mage pop back into the fight somewhere behind him, but he kept running in the direction of the Pyro mage’s laughter, brandishing his claymore.
The mage stopped laughing with a grunt as Diluc’s claymore hit its shield once with a quick sideways slash, then again from the other side, carefully keeping his blade unlit. A claymore could chip away at an elemental shield, given enough time - but it would help Diluc if the Hydro Abyss Mage would teleport in again.
Unfortunately, they’d wised up to the strategy. Diluc hit the Pyro mage’s shield a third time, then a fourth, then had to dodge to the side as he sensed something approaching him - a line of Hydro bubbles, rising in midair right where he’d been standing, and where the Pyro Abyss Mage had been moments ago. Rising from a crouch, Diluc rushed the Hydro mage instead, letting his sword catch fire again and hiss against the Hydro shield, only to have to dodge again as a line of fire bloomed where he’d been a moment before, giving the Hydro mage time to teleport as well.
Diluc gritted his teeth, adjusting his grip on his claymore.
And just in time for the Abyss Mages to pop back on either side of him.
Diluc swung his claymore in a wide arc, hitting them both, again and again - but the Pyro Abyss Mage started laughing even as the force of Diluc’s claymore against its shield shoved it backwards, a noise that was only cut off by a shout of surprise when Diluc kicked its shield, sending it skittering backwards.
With a bit of room to breathe, Diluc focused on the Hydro Abyss Mage, sending wave after wave of searing fire pouring off his blade as he forced its shield to vaporize into nothing. It screeched, but when it hit the floor, Diluc’s claymore followed soon after, Diluc himself dropping a knee as he cleaved through it.
Panting, Diluc forced himself back onto his feet, his legs trembling so much he only managed to stay upright through sheer force of will.
Behind him, the Pyro Abyss Mage laughed, right into his ear.
Diluc whirled around, forcing his grip to tighten on his blade as he slashed once, twice - the mage was laughing, but its shield was on its last legs, just like Diluc was. Diluc just had to finish this before it finished him.
Three slashes, four slashes, each one weaker than the last. His claymore felt so heavy that he knew if he stopped, he wouldn’t be able to start again.
Five slashes, six -
Diluc staggered at the same time that the Abyss Mage’s shield popped like a soap bubble, dropping to his knees at the same time the Abyss Mage began careening towards the ground, spindly arms waving wildly.
But he still had his claymore in his hands, and he hadn’t stopped.
One more, he thought, closing his eyes as he swung his blade one last time and unleashed the Dawn.
The phoenix screamed its defiance as it soared out of Diluc’s blade, carrying the Abyss Mage with it, also screaming. Diluc didn't see what happened after that. His claymore was already clattering to the ground, his fingers too numb to keep a grip on it. Only the fact that he was so close to the wall kept Diluc from following it all the way down - instead, his head hit the wall, adding another ache to the chorus jangling in his head, too loud for thought. He barely felt the stone against his cheek as his vision started graying out, but he heard the Abyss Mage’s scream cut off and its body hit the floor moments before the bright red of the phoenix extinguished, leaving Diluc in the silent dark.
Diluc breathed out shakily.
Then he tried to get a hand under himself, willing himself to move. The fact that he was propped up against the wall should've made it easier, but his limbs were fuzzy and unreal, like they were doll parts someone had left near him instead of anything connected to him. He felt his hand move when he told it to, but he couldn’t quite tell where he was placing it, and his body didn’t move at all when he tried to lever it upright. He couldn’t even get his eyes to open. It felt as if they were sealed shut.
He opened his mouth, meaning to get more air, but instead he started to cough, a horrible, hacking cough that shook his entire body. He felt something come loose in his raw throat, and a moment later his mouth flooded with the taste of blood, spilling out over his lips as he kept coughing and smearing on his chest and the stone under him.
Diluc tried to stop it, but it was like holding back the sea. He kept coughing, the blood coating his tongue, unable to stop or even to curl up in self-protection. His cheek and shoulder scraped roughly over the stone, and all Diluc could think was how Kaeya would never let him down if he got killed by a cold.
When it finally abated, he lay there, alternately panting and swallowing his own blood down. And then, over the sound of his own heartbeat and his own rasping breathing in his ears, he heard something approaching.
Footsteps.
Diluc could barely tense. He certainly couldn’t reach for his claymore in this state. All he could do was sit there, vulnerable and unarmed, as the echoing footsteps slowly got closer. And closer.
...this close, Diluc thought he was familiar with their rhythm.
“Wow,” Kaeya said. “Nearly taken out by some Abyss Mages? You really should have taken a sick day.”
Do you have some power to appear where you’re least wanted? Diluc wanted to snap. Or at least to say, typical of the Knights to have nothing better to do than follow me around. But it took all of his energy to gasp out, “leave.”
“Ah, was that a thank you?” Kaeya said. The back of Diluc's neck prickled - Kaeya must have leaned down over him, something that was confirmed a moment later when Diluc felt Kaeya’s hand on his shoulders, turning him around. “I thought it sounded like - ”
Being turned felt like agony. Diluc hardly noticed Kaeya falling silent; he still felt fuzzy and disconnected, as if he wasn’t really here. He only jolted back into his body when he felt Kaeya’s cold fingers against his neck.
Feeling his pulse? Diluc wondered. Surely he didn’t look that bad. It had been a rougher fight than it should have been, but the mages had hardly scratched him. The real damage was how tired he was. He’d even managed to swallow some of the blood back.
Finally, Kaeya’s fingers withdrew. “Well, no reason to hang around here,” Kaeya said, voice deceptively light. “How about you let the Cavalry Captain of the Knights of Favonius give you a ride?”
You don’t even own a horse, Diluc thought, but what came out was a wheezing noise as Kaeya carefully got a hand around his back and another under his knees, something that took a fair amount of jostling with the way Diluc was curled up.
“Sorry about this,” Kaeya said, before standing and punching the air right out of Diluc’s chest.
It set Diluc off again, one hacking cough after another exploding out of him, leaving him gasping in the short moments in between, unable to get enough air into his lungs.
Kaeya’s grip tightened on Diluc’s back, his thumb rubbing circles there as Diluc kept shaking. When it tapered off, Diluc resentfully found himself with his face pressed into Kaeya’s ridiculous wrap, the soft fluff rubbing against his temple, his cheek lying against Kaeya’s chest.
It was, unfortunately, very comfortable. Even with the pounding in Diluc’s head and the twin aches of his throat and his arm, he found himself starting to drift off into that gray zone between sleep and wakefulness, not quite unconscious but only barely aware. He thought at one point he felt Kaeya’s hand in his hair, carefully brushing it out of his face before sliding down to cup his cheek, but he could have imagined it, and he slid that last remaining distance into sleep before he could decide for certain.
When Diluc woke up, the world had frozen over.
He was on something soft in a room he didn’t recognize, shivering apart, colder than he’d ever been even in Snezhnaya. Someone had removed his shoes, coat, and suit jacket, leaving him in nothing but his thin shirt and pants. He reached for his Vision, hoping to coax a bit of flame into life, but found it missing.
Diluc cursed and forced enough strength into his body to lever himself up on his forearms. Shaking from both the exertion and the cold, he managed to turn, starting to roll himself off the bed -
And a pair of icy hands caught him.
He threw his head back on instinct, but instead of the ferocious headbutt he was hoping for, he barely managed a weak brush of his hair against his captor’s chin before those cold hands pushed him back down onto the bed.
He considered another attempt - where had his Vision gone? - before he heard a familiar chuckle just above his head. “You really never stop fighting,” Kaeya said, and all at once Diluc’s whole body gave in.
It was as if the sound of Kaeya’s voice had been all Diluc needed to surrender. He knew what Kaeya sounded like when they were in danger, and this wasn’t it. He didn’t need to fight for his Vision if Kaeya had it. Kaeya had kept it safe for him for years, even when Diluc didn't know if he wanted it or would ever see it again. Kaeya would keep it safe now.
A cold hand brushed Diluc’s hair out of his eyes as he sank down into the bed. “And now you’re giving up to win the argument?” Kaeya asked. “You really are dedicated, Master Diluc.”
“Cold,” Diluc slurred out. He meant to sound accusatory, but he was so dizzy and exhausted that it came out like a whine. His teeth chattering didn’t help, either.
“You’re not cold, Diluc, you have a fever,” Kaeya said. “So much for the Pyro vision protecting you from those, eh?” Diluc grunted at the reminder of their familiar teenaged argument, but he didn’t move away from Kaeya’s hand, even when it settled on his forehead. “You’re really burning up…”
Diluc didn’t know when his eyes had closed, but they were incredibly heavy. He couldn’t open them; instead, his little remaining strength was spent leaning into Kaeya’s hand.
He hadn’t meant to, but once it was there, he couldn’t stop himself. Maybe it was because, now that it was pressed against his skin, Kaeya’s hand felt warmer than the air surrounding him after all. Maybe it was because no one had touched him like this in a very long time. Or maybe it was just because it was Kaeya, and Diluc couldn’t help but lean in - to argue, to fight, to help - when it was Kaeya.
Luckily, Kaeya didn’t seem to notice; he was too busy shifting loudly, his weight making the bed dip as he got on it next to Diluc, his hand falling away from Diluc’s forehead a moment before his arm wrapped around his shoulders instead, a weight that was definitely colder than the air, which felt frigid against Diluc's apparently feverish skin.
Diluc stifled an involuntary noise at the jostling, but Kaeya must have noticed anyway because he said, “my Vision should keep you a little cooler, at least. Sorry, but you’ll have to put up with me a little longer.”
“Y’don’t sound sorry,” Diluc got out, letting his head fall towards Kaeya’s. This close, he could feel Kaeya’s breath against his cheek, and the way his hold relaxed near-imperceptibly in relief at the sound of Diluc’s voice.
“Guess not,” Kaeya murmured. “Consider it the price for my silence. You don’t hear me making fun of you for getting beaten up by a couple of Abyss Mages, do you?”
Diluc’s eyes shot open, narrowed in annoyance even as he kept shivering. “Not what happened,” he managed to say.
“No, you got beaten up by your own stubbornness.” Kaeya’s fingers tightened on Diluc’s arm even as his smile stayed easy. “I came pretty close to taking you to Barbara, you know. If your fever had gotten any worse on the way back, I would have. That would have been an awkward conversation with Jean, don’t you think? What with your activities being secret and all.”
Diluc almost said something about how good Kaeya was at keeping secrets, but that was the kind of thing he’d bite at Kaeya over a table at the Angel’s Share. Here, with Kaeya’s face just inches away from his own, it didn’t feel right.
As Diluc stayed silent, still staring at Kaeya, Kaeya’s smile slipped. His voice was quiet when he said, “You could take someone with you next time, if you can’t just let someone cover for you for once. Me, or someone you trust. Aether would come if you asked.”
Diluc kept staring. Me, or someone you trust.
If this had happened four years ago, in the immediate aftermath of Kaeya’s horrible confession and their fight, he would have gone for the door before letting Kaeya finish that sentence, even if he'd have to crawl to get there. Even now, he’d normally barely blink at the barely-hidden pain in those words, too used to it to do anything but fire back.
He’d been caught in a loop when it came to Kaeya for years. In those early days, when he’d first left Mondstadt and Kaeya far behind, he’d still found his thoughts coming back to Kaeya again and again, never able to make any progress past the same questions he couldn't answer. Was any of it real? The person Kaeya had been with him, the person Kaeya was now - were they all just characters Kaeya was playing? Could Diluc trust Kaeya with himself, or more importantly, with Mondstadt?
Could Diluc trust anyone more?
It was probably the fever messing with his senses. In his normal frame of mind, there was too much holding him back, too much distance between them. But right now, it felt like the most natural thing in the world to close that space between them, letting his fever-hot mouth slide over Kaeya’s like there was no better way to tell him what he meant.