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Footsteps like thunder wake Kaeya as an 8 year old Diluc runs up the stairs with an excited flare. "Kaeyaaaa!!" He shouts, throwing open the bedroom door. Kaeya, buried in a mountain of blankets, squeals as he's tackled.
"Gege!!" Kaeya yells, as Diluc tries to untangle him from the fluffy confines of bedsheets and pillows. "Why are you awake? The sun's not up yet!" he whines, trying to tug the blankets back into place.
Diluc responds with a happier shout of: "It's your birthday!"
Kaeya, in his moment of confusion, is successfully pulled out of bed by his elder brother. "Birthday??" Kaeya questions, frantically grabbing his cotton eyepatch from the bedside table before Diluc drags him back down the stairs.
"Papa said your star is in the sky tonight!"
"My star?" Kaeya asks, eyebrows furrowing. Diluc, still holding his hand, turns his head around to grin. "Papa had a reading done for you! Pavo Oculus... Ocwe... Ocellus??" Diluc huffs. "It's hard to pronounce! Anyway! It's in the sky! That means it's your birthday!"
Kaeya doesn't get to process that, because he's pulled straight into the kitchen, where Adeline and Crepus are waiting for him. Kaeya freezes, holding Diluc's hand tighter as he hides behind his older brother, suddenly shy.
"But gege.. I don't have a birthday." Kaeya whispers.
Diluc frowns at him, turning around to face Kaeya. He swings their arms together, and uses his other hand to pinch Kaeya's nose.
"Owww!!!!" Kaeya whines, batting Diluc's hand away. Diluc huffs, crossing his arms. "Didn't you hear me! Your birthday is today!" he declares.
Crepus saves Kaeya by picking Kaeya up despite him being too old to carry. "That's right, little Kaeya." Crepus smiles, "It's your birthday today. Look, Diluc even baked you a cake."
It's only then that Kaeya spots the messy, whipped cream covered cake on the table.
He gasps, wonder in his eyes as Diluc proudly grins at them, arms on his hips like the cheeky 8 year old he is. "Adeline helped with the oven! But I did alll the mixing! I even put the candles on!"
Kaeya looks at the billion candles on his cake , and giggles. There has to be about 20 of them.
"Gege! There's so many!" he shouts, bouncing happily in Crepus' arms. Diluc nods, a serious look on his face. "Because you missed all your previous ones! We have to make up for it!"
Diluc climbs onto the stool as Crepus sets Kaeya down on another, so that both boys are standing side by side. Diluc grins. "I wanted to put more but papa says it's dangerous."
Crepus rolls his eyes, fond. "You little arsonist, we can't burn down Kaeya's cake, now can we?"
Diluc pouts. "What's an arsonist?" He asks innocently.
Adeline laughs into her hands.
Kaeya looks at the messy cake, decorated with flowers and so much frosting . Kaeya sniffles, his single eye tearing up as he reaches out for Diluc's hand.
"You made it for me?" Kaeya asks quietly. Diluc frantically nods, kissing Kaeya's cheek. "All for you!" he says.
He pauses for abit, eyebrows furrowing again. "Well, I don't think you can eat everything. You'll get a tummy ache! You'll have to share."
"With you, gege?" Kaeya asks, laughing. Diluc grins, "Of course! Papa can't eat too many sweets! He'll throw up!"
"Diluc," Crepus protests weakly. Diluc ignores his father, and turns to Adeline, "Adeline can eat it with us too! Right Adeline?!"
Kaeya looks at Adeline expectantly. She feels her heart absolutely melt. "Of course, young masters. I can also keep the mess contained." she teases.
Diluc cheers, while Kaeya's smile only grows bigger. "Do you want to light the candles?" Adeline asks, offering a match. Diluc pouts, stomping his little feet. "Kaeya is supposed to blow them out! Not light them! I got it!" He exclaims.
The pyro vision glows lightly by Diluc's hip. With a flick of his fingers, all 20+ of the candles are lit. Adeline flicks the lights off, so that every little glow of the candles makes Kaeya's head spin.
Diluc quiets, his smile still wide. "Make a wish, Kae."
Surrounded by the only family he's ever truly known, Kaeya feels his heart warm in ways that were once unimaginable for him. With a small smile on his face, he holds Diluc's hands, and closes his eyes.
Make a wish.
"I wish—"
Kaeya looks up at the tavern of Angel's share, the ceiling dusty. He thinks of Diluc, of the smile in his eyes and the birthday cake when he was 8, the fire they nearly set off when Kaeya took too long to make a wish, and smiles.
He wishes. Wishes.
".. I wish we could be together forever." Kaeya whispers to himself. His chest is tight, tears clinging to his eyelashes. Alone here, in the tavern, he thinks of Master Crepus, of Adeline waiting in the Dawn Winery.
Of Diluc.
"I want to be together, forever. Barbatos, grant me this wish." Kaeya says, his voice still as soft. No one answers him, but no one needs to.
A wine glass is set in front of him, the soft clink of glass on wood making him turn his head back down.
Diluc is back.
"I leave you alone for 5 minutes to get cake, and you're already crying in my tavern. Have you already had too much to drink?" Diluc grouches, his tone snippy but his eyes concerned. Kaeya smiles, "I may be drunk. On love, perhaps?"
Diluc blushes.
"Idiot." he coughs. He sets down two slices of cake, a bouquet of flowers, and a small box, tied tightly with a red ribbon. "I saved us two slices. Paimon ate the rest."
The tavern is a mess. The aftermath disaster of a birthday party, where almost everyone he knew was there.
Kaeya thinks of Crepus,his father in all sense that mattered. Adeline,who had taken care of him and wrapped his wounds and dried his tearful face.
Diluc, his sworn brother, his older brother, his gege, his firefly, his sun to the dark night of the abyss.
He thinks of them all.
He thinks of a forever together.
Diluc tilts his chin up, gloved finger wiping away the tears on his cheeks. "Hey." he whispers, his red eyes soft with affection.
"Hey." Kaeya croaks, his voice cracking wetly. He chuckles, leaning into Diluc's palm.
"Don't be sad." Diluc starts, "I baked us another cake. Adeline is waiting at home with it. It's still chilled. We can enjoy it together. Make another wish."
"I'm not sad about the cake , Diluc." Kaeya laughs. "In fact, I'm not sad at all. Not tonight, at least."
"You can still make another wish." Diluc prompts, turning away to crack open the bottle of wine. As Diluc pours them both a glass and lights the single candle on Kaeya's slice of cake, Kaeya feels waves of nostalgia hit him all at once.
Diluc's eyes are still as warm as he remembers. The flick of his fingers as he lights the candle is still the same. The affection in his eyes, although different from the worlds of pain they've been through, still holds in every way that mattered to Kaeya's heart.
Diluc doesn't see any of this, doesn't see the emotions swimming in Kaeya's soul. He pushes the cake towards Kaeya, and smiles, leaning on the counter, brushing their foreheads together.
"Blow it out and make a wish. Maybe it'll come true." Diluc whispers.
"Stupid." Kaeya breathes, but he blows the candle out anyway.
"It already did."