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Diluc feels a surge of annoyance whenever one of the higher-ranking Knights of Favonius enters Angel’s Share. Tonight, however, it’s more of a torrent of annoyance, because they just keep on coming.
It starts with Klee, the Spark Knight, who is actually one of the few allogenes in the Ordo that he’s okay with. She’s just a kid and doesn’t even have any knightly duties. It’s more like they’re her babysitters than that she’s an actual knight, and aside from that . . . her mother has long been a family friend of the Ragnvindrs.
Accompanying Klee, however, is Albedo. Diluc doesn’t know as much about him, personally. He is aware that the youth was more or less adopted by Alice as her nephew, and that he single-handedly revolutionized how alchemy is practiced and applied in Mondstadt, but other than that, Albedo is known for being soft spoken and keeping to himself. He’s of age, but not a big drinker, and if he’s ever been to Angel’s Share before, Diluc hasn’t heard about it. Still . . . he’s old enough that Diluc feels fine disliking him on principal.
They order drinks. Nonalcoholic ones for both of them. Before Diluc can finish mixing their mint berry bursts, two more allogenes from the Ordo enter. Amber and Eula . . . and unlike the first two arrivals, these two he does have a few problems with. Eula more than Amber.
Growing up, he and Eula were not friends to put it mildly. She was a young lady of the Lawrence Clan. Diluc, a descendant of the Ragnvindr Knight who betrayed the old nobility. That alone was enough to make them childhood enemies, never mind Diluc’s dreams of knighthood and Eula’s many proclamations of revenge. Funnily enough, they have more or less switched places. Eula still declares her intentions to claim vengeance, but is a knight now, while Diluc left the Ordo, and doesn’t so much announce his vendettas as eliminate them, but still . . .
Also funnily enough, they get along no better now than when they were children. Not that Diluc’s ever tried befriending Eula or burying the hatchet. There’s no point as long as she’s in the Ordo.
Sucrose shows up next, then Noelle, a maid who works for the Ordo, and is in their training program, but keeps failing to meet the qualifications to become a full-fledged knight. Finally, they’re joined by Lisa, who looks like she just woke up from a nap, all yawns and droopy eyes. She brings in her own tea, which brings a scowl to Diluc’s face, but he lets it go . . . for now. Because with all these allogenes from the Ordo coming in, Diluc is fairly certain he knows who’s going to arrive next. Best to pick and choose his battles, he decides.
“Yay! We’re all here!” Klee proclaims, however, once Lisa takes a seat at their now rather crowded table. “Now we can get started!”
“What exactly are we starting?” Eula asks, looking mildly suspicious.
“And why are we meeting here of all places?” Amber wants to know.
“We’re meeting to plan Kaeya’s super-secret birthday party,” Klee declares, “and we’re meeting here because Kaeya never goes to taverns from a week or two before his birthday until after it’s over! Miss Vile told me, when I asked her how to out-sneak Kaeya and plan this!”
Over a dozen feet away, behind the bar, Diluc freezes momentarily. Then, he resumes his tasks as casually as he can, mixing the drinks that the knights’ table ordered. He very pointedly does not look in their direction . . . but he can’t help but hear what their reactions are.
“A surprise party for Kaeya? That sounds like a great idea!” Amber says enthusiastically.
“I’m not so sure about that,” Eula tells her.
“Oh, come on, it’ll be fun.”
“I don’t doubt it would be fun for us,” Eula says, “and under normal circumstances, for Kaeya as well. If it’s true that he stops going out to drink this time of year, however . . .”
“When Klee brought up the idea to me,” Albedo cuts in, “I thought that the possibility was worth exploring. Though he would obviously deny it, Kaeya does work extremely hard . . . and it’s true that he always gets a bit down this time of year. I was hoping that with our intervention, we might be able to break the pattern.”
“Kaeya should have fun on his birthday for a change,” Klee says stubbornly.
“It’s a bad idea,” says a new voice, from the table behind them . . . and the knights (as well as Diluc) turn, as one, to see Sister Rosaria, unnoticed until now, drinking at the table next to theirs. “Trust me on that and leave it alone.”
“But . . . why?” Amber asks.
“Amber,” Eula says, and when Diluc glances at her, she’s shaking her head, giving her a warning look.
“But I want to do something nice for Kaeya’s birthday!” Klee says stubbornly. “Why can’t we? Kaeya is so nice. Why can’t we do something to make him happy for his birthday?”
Rosaria’s expression softens as she looks at Klee, and when she answers, her voice is a bit more gentle. “Because his birthday is a very sad time for him . . . and the fastest way for him to be happy again, is for him to spend some time alone and sleep a lot until it passes.”
“But –”
“Perhaps,” Albedo interjects, before Klee can voice more dissent, “we could do something for him shortly after his birthday, when he’s feeling better and can appreciate it. A picnic, perhaps?”
“Oh, I can prepare food for it,” Noelle says. “What shall we have? Something light? Or maybe, because of the cold weather, it should be hearty and warm? I’ll start making a menu for you to approve. Then I’ll take care of all provisions, including extra blankets to bundle up in, if we need them, and firewood so we can have a bonfire. Then . . .”
The maid rattles on for a bit, and Diluc would be impressed by her event planning foresight were he not distracted by his own thoughts.
He did not know that Kaeya had a reason to feel down around this time of year. It vaguely bothers Diluc, both that he didn’t know and that . . . that whatever it was happened around Kaeya’s birthday. He remembers when they were younger, Kaeya always loved birthdays. Not just his own, though he obviously loved his too, but Diluc’s, and Crepus’s, Adelinde’s and Elzer’s. The amount of effort he put into little things to make them happy . . . like making bouquets and hiking all the way to the Statue of the Seven for Windwheel Asters to include in them, or tea break pancakes for breakfast, with Sunsettia juice and freshly picked Valberries (that he’d walked all night to get) mixed into the batter. Kaeya really was adorable as a child. Just the sheer joy that he took in doing things for the people he cared about . . . Thinking about it objectively now, Diluc doesn’t think that was all fake.
No. He doesn’t actually believe any of that was fake, no matter what Kaeya’s original purpose for coming to Mondstadt was. Then, on Kaeya’s own birthdays . . . the way he always seemed so surprised and genuinely happy about whatever they did for him. Like he didn’t truly believe he deserved it . . .
Diluc scowls, as he feels a familiar tugging on his heartstrings, because damn it. Even now, after everything, Diluc just can’t stand the thought of his little brother being in any sort of trouble.
He covertly eavesdrops on the knights and their plans for Kaeya’s post-birthday picnic, and is grudgingly impressed by the ideas they pull together, but is careful to give no indication that he hears what they’re saying. It’s not too hard. Business is steady that evening, but not so busy that he can’t pay attention to their conversation. All his regulars come in, whose orders he knows by heart . . . except for Kaeya who, now that he thinks about it, hasn’t been in for a few days. At least not that Diluc knows of. He’s not at Angel’s Share every night, and doesn’t normally ask his employees about his brother’s activities, but he knows for a fact that Kaeya wasn’t in the previous two times this week Diluc bartended. He can’t remember if this has been a pattern over the few years since he returned to Mondstadt, but he’s ready to believe it because . . . because as much as he loathes the knights in general, he knows they do care about his brother too. Moreover, they operate in closer proximity to him, on a regular basis. It’s only natural they know his patterns better than Diluc does these days.
When they leave, he remains stone faced and casual. It’s not terribly difficult, since that’s his default expression. When Rosaria gets up to go, however . . . she doesn’t make her usual, unremarkable exit. Or maybe it’s just that Diluc is paying more attention to her than normal after overhearing her warning off the knights. Whatever the reason, this time, when she gets up and passes the bar, she makes eye contact with Diluc.
The anger in her pale rose eyes surprises Diluc, but she’s gone before he can decide whether or not to ask what it’s about.
“Adelinde? Did something happen to Kaeya around his birthday while I was gone?”
Adelinde, of course, immediately puts aside her current tasks the moment Diluc says her name. “I am not aware of anything outstanding that happened on or around Mas- Sir Kaeya’s birthday, Master Diluc,” she answers. “Are you inquiring about something in particular?”
“Something that might have upset him, I suppose. Something that ruined the week enough for him that it even puts him off from drinking. Getting captured by Treasure Hoarders maybe, or a comrade of his getting killed?”
“There . . . is no incident or reason for Sir Kaeya having a difficult time this week that is common knowledge. At least not that I’m aware of,” Adelinde tells him. “If you’d like, I can make some inquiries.”
“Please,” Diluc requests, “but be discreet.”
That last part wasn’t strictly necessary to add. Adelinde is always both thorough and discreet, and Diluc trusts her implicitly. Even so, Adelinde fails to turn up any relevant intel on why Kaeya no longer enjoys his birthday, or the week leading up to it. A few further subtle inquiries do, however, reveal that Kaeya has a tendency to take time off before and around his birthday, that he has for the past three years at least. So, Diluc decides to do a bit of investigating himself.
That turns out to be a mistake.
Kaeya rents the top floor of a multi-family house above the markets. Diluc’s never actually been inside, but during his nightly escapades, he has made it a point to do a bit of reconnaissance around his brother’s home. So, he knows that on nights when Kaeya is off work and not at a tavern, it is extremely common to see candlelight spilling out from the cracks between his security shutters, which he never fails to close.
The night before Kaeya’s birthday, however, it’s dark. More than that, one of the windows isn’t just unshuttered. It’s wide open.
Diluc notices this from two rooftops away. He immediately closes the distance to one rooftop, for a better look. Then, he makes his decision.
It could be nothing. He knows this damn well. People forget to close their windows all the time . . . but Kaeya doesn’t. Never once has Diluc passed by his brother’s place and seen the windows open at night. That, combined with the fact that this is a bad week for Kaeya, and his guard might be down, and the fact that Kaeya has pissed off a great many criminals around Mondstadt, makes up Diluc’s mind for him. If he’s wrong, so be it. He’ll make his excuses and promptly clear out . . . but if he’s not wrong . . .
Diluc leaps. It’s hardly a challenging angle or point of entry for someone who’s spent as much time running across roofs as Diluc has, and infiltrating much more unwelcoming places than this. It’s a piece of cake . . . or it should have been.
Something crashes into him in midair – another dark shape, like a rush of cold wind. It, no she, strikes him hard, knocking him off course, and Diluc has to flip to adjust so he doesn’t crash, then rolls when he hits the ground.
“Hyah!” his assailant cries out, and Diluc narrowly manages to dodge her spear, because she follows up her first attack with another.
He draws his own weapon, but has to dodge rather than parry as she charges, spear first, spinning like a drill.
“What are you doing?” Diluc demands, because he recognizes Rosaria. He realized who she was only a moment after she first crashed into him, and he knows damn well there’s no way she doesn’t recognize him.
“Defending Mondstadt. Funny that I should have to defend it from you, but we both know damn well that’s not your house you were breaking into,” Rosaria huffs. “Is business so bad that you’re resorting to petty burglary now? From a captain of the knights no less?”
Diluc catches her next attack on his claymore . . . and he could follow it up, or add some flames to it to make her wince, but instead he disengages. He’s not in the mood for anymore nonsense.
“Enough,” he tells her. “You know damn well that’s not what I was doing.”
Rosaria, seeing that he’s not going to oblige her with anymore sparring, spins her spear, vanishes it, and gives him a lazy smirk. “True . . . Still, doesn’t mean I approve of what you were doing though.”
Diluc returns her smirk with an unimpressed look and vanishes his own sword. “Then save me the trouble of doing it. Tell me what’s going on with Kaeya.”
Rosaria studied him intently. Diluc meets her gaze steadily, unwavering.
“Alright,” she finally relents, “but not here.”
They end up back at Angel’s Share, of all places, and it’s late enough that Diluc can get away with throwing out the last few drunkards and locking up. He offers Rosaria a drink, which she accepts, then he takes a seat beside her and waits.
Thankfully, Rosaria doesn’t keep him in suspense for too long. She starts speaking after only a sip.
“I arrived in Mondstadt the year you left, or so I’m told. Perhaps you’ve heard of my illicit past?”
“A few rumors,” Diluc admits.
Rosaria snorts. “They’re probably all true. I was running with a group of roving bandits at the time. We made the mistake of crossing into Mond’s borders. Those oh-so-inefficient knights you’re always griping about? They caught up to us in less than a fortnight and put all my comrades to the sword.”
“I’m . . . sorry.”
“I’m not. They stole me from my home after burning my village when I was still a child. They can rot in the Abyss for all I care,” Rosaria huffs and takes another drink. “Living with them was the only way I could continue to live. So, I did what I had to do to survive. A certain drinking companion of mine can relate.”
Diluc frowns.
“Kaeya . . . was the one I crossed blades with. Varka dealt with the worst of the others, but Kaeya targeted me because we both had Visions. From the beginning, it was clear that he was fighting to disarm me, the damn fool.” Rosaria scowls at the memory. “I could see clear as day something was wrong with him, even then. It was a cool morning, in late spring and he was sweating like a pig. I still don’t know how he managed to hide his condition from his comrades . . . or how he managed to beat me like that, but he did, the bastard.”
“What was wrong with him?”
Rosaria gives him a look, then resumes her story as though he hadn’t spoken. “He sent my Vision flying first. Cut it free with his sword then flicked it far enough away that it was useless to me. I tried to return the favor, but he was waiting for that. He disarmed me then and knocked me to the ground. I thought that was it for me, but Kaeya stayed his hand. He told me to ask Varka for clemency, and to behave. That I was young enough to get off easy, and get another chance . . . then his eye rolled up into the back of his head and he passed out. Fell to the ground like a brick, the little idiot.”
Diluc doesn’t think it’s his imagination that a bit of affection creeps into Rosaria’s tone as she insults Kaeya. He doesn’t call her out on it though, or ask what happened to Kaeya again, realizing that she won’t be rushed.
“I won’t lie. I thought about gutting him right then and there,” Rosaria admits. “It would have been so very easy. He was helpless. Unconscious. His sword was right there, and even if it wasn’t I had my knives . . . but I could see which way the battle had gone . . . and if I had killed him, there would have been no way out after that for me. Kaeya was right about making a plea for clemency. Varka accepted my surrender and seemed quite appreciative of the fact that I hadn’t carved open his injured charge. They took me back to Mondstadt and gave me a second chance, and a new life. As for Kaeya . . . he had a bit of a rough time of it.”
“How rough? What was wrong with him?” Diluc can’t hold back anymore, and besides, Rosaria just gave him an opening.
“Turns out,” Rosaria tells him, “that not even a month before, Kaeya was in a bit of a nasty fight with a pyro allogene. He took some nasty burns and a few cuts. One to his leg that actually nicked the bone. The allogene was a claymore wielder, and those cuts were more or less self-cauterized. Too bad Kaeya didn’t know that claymore left taint behind in its wake, sealed up nice and neat beneath his burn scars when the healers used their magic on his burnt flesh. The taint stuck to his bone and slowly made its way into his blood stream. By the time he succumbed to it, it was almost too late to save him.
“The sisters at Mondstadt cathedral put him into an alchemically induced sleep. It was the only way to save both his life and his leg, or so they said. I’m not a healer, so I wouldn’t know, but they kept him in that sleep for months . . . for half a year, actually. I was there when he woke up. Funnily enough, he just missed Jean. She’d stopped by to visit since he was due to wake up any day . . . and since it was his birthday.”
Diluc feels sick. A chill grips him, but his face feels flushed like it used to when he was extremely embarrassed, or when he had a fever.
“I’m sure he would have liked to have seen her, but I think he actually was better off with me being there to tend him then,” Rosaria says, a bit cattily. “There’s no way Jean would have let him have a drink right after waking up from a coma.”
“But you did?” Diluc asks, still managing to feel a bit of outrage over his self-loathing.
“Of course, I did. Anyone who wakes up and realizes they lost half a year of their life sleeping both needs and deserves a drink. Besides . . . he saved my life just as much as Varka did, and I’m far from ungrateful for it.”
Diluc wants to be angrier than he is, because giving alcohol to someone who just woke up from an alchemically induced sleep is definitely dangerous, but considering that it was his claymore that left taint in Kaeya’s wound in the first place, and caused that infection, he hardly has room to talk. Rosaria knows it too. Her gaze is daring him to try calling her out. He doesn’t take that challenge and looks away.
“His recovery . . . it went okay?” he asks after a few long moments. “He didn’t . . .” Diluc’s not even sure what he wants to ask. Kaeya is clearly fully recovered now, so it obviously worked out in the end, but . . . he just . . . needs to know. Needs to hear someone say that in the end, he turned out okay.
“Well, he obviously didn’t lose the leg,” Rosaria snipes, “and he had a long road back to normal. Sleeping for half a year did a number on his muscles, but as you can see, he made a full recovery. He doesn’t like talking about it though, so I’d advise against asking him for details. He doesn’t even seem to like remembering it, but it doesn’t seem like he can help it around this time of year. It’s a shame it happened around his birthday. It would have been much easier for him if he’d woken up on a random day, a month earlier or later.”
“Yeah,” Diluc agrees, and in his mind, he sees his birthday loving little brother as he used to be . . . and as he’ll never be again. At least not on his own birthday, thanks to Diluc.
Rosaria graciously leaves shortly after that, having spilled all that she intends to for the night. Diluc appreciates her candor. He doubts that his investigation into why Kaeya gets depressed this time of year would have gone anywhere without her. He doesn’t doubt that Kaeya’s taken pains to keep the details of the incident under wraps as much as possible. Most likely there are precious few who know that Kaeya awoke from his alchemically induced coma on his birthday, and spent it with a stranger, in the cathedral’s hospital ward, and most of them probably wouldn’t have revealed what they knew to Diluc even if they knew he was looking into it.
Diluc stays seated several minutes after Rosaria makes her exit. The weight of what he learned settles heavily on his shoulders, and he knows it’s ridiculous that this of all things is what nearly paralyzes him with regret, when he’s spilled rivers of blood on his quest for vengeance but . . . well, he didn’t actually give a damn about any of those people he slaughtered. Them or their families, who sometimes ended up as collateral damage. Kaeya though . . . barring that night when they dueled in the rain, he’s never not cared about his brother. No . . . even then . . . even then, he still cared about Kaeya. That’s why it hurt so much – the thought that Kaeya had betrayed him.
Diluc allows himself five minutes to wallow in guilt, then he stands and checks his pocket watch. It’s late, of course, but not too late. Not for the plan that’s taken shape in Diluc’s mind. So, with his decision made, Diluc breezes out the door, locking it behind him. He’ll need to move quickly, but if he does, he should have just enough time . . .
Kaeya awakens slowly. Then he tries to cling to sleep once he’s awake enough to remember what today is. He manages to drift back to sleep with little trouble the first time he nears consciousness. The second time, however, not so much, but he does his best to fake it. He rolls onto his side, pulling his blankets around him tight, as though cocooning himself in them might also cocoon him in slumber, and he closes his eye. He does his best to clear his mind and not think about anything in particular. It’s a trick that usually works for him, when he wants to fall back to sleep.
Unfortunately, he’s overused it for the past week or so, and gotten all the sleep he needs and then some, in his attempt to block out the memories. So, now that his birthday is finally here, Kaeya is so physically well rested that even though he’s mentally and emotionally exhausted he can’t just sleep until it’s over, no matter how much he wants to.
He does know that it’s ironic, as well as vaguely ridiculous that he wants to sleep his birthday and the whole week leading up to it away, especially considering why his birthday makes him miserable now, but he can’t help it. Just the idea of his birthday is so draining. The memory of waking up exhausted after half a year in a coma, and the realization of just how alone he really was . . . It’s probably psychological, his desire to skip it by sleeping through it, but once it’s over, things always seem to feel better, so Kaeya just tries to do what’s easiest.
So, he lies in bed for a long while, wrapped up tight, not asleep, but doing his utmost to become asleep – at least until the clang of a pan from the kitchen makes his eye snap wide open.
He rolls out of his blankets, and out of bed, grabbing an eyepatch off his nightstand as he gains his footing, then stalks toward his bedroom door, summoning his sword to his hand as he goes.
“It’s me,” a familiar voice calls from the living room and kitchen area. A familiar voice that has absolutely no business being in his apartment, today or any other day. “In case you’re about to come storming through that door, Vision blazing.”
Kaeya vanishes his sword with a sigh that’s not actually one of relief, and braces himself before exiting his bedroom. His brother, he sees immediately, is in his kitchen.
“What’s wrong?” he asks, because something being horribly wrong is the only reason Diluc would show up at his place. “Has something happened?”
Whatever it is, it’s got to be big, and harder to deal with than Stormterror, if Diluc’s coming to him for help. Subterfuge is probably involved in some way or form – Diluc’s clearly managed to keep his problem under wraps, since Kaeya doesn’t even have a clue what it is, and the knights clearly don’t know, or someone would have come to drag him out of his funk and get him back to work, if Mondstadt needed him. Kaeya forces himself to shove aside his exhaustion and focus on Diluc, trying to glean any clues or bit of context that he can, but . . . is that a bouquet of Calla Lilies and Cecilias on his counter? And . . . pancakes on his table?
“It’s your birthday,” Diluc says, as though he perhaps thinks that Kaeya doesn’t know this, and now that he’s looking closer, Kaeya sees Sunsettia peels and pits, placed in a bowl for disposal, along with Valberry stems.
The flowers and the pancakes bring back memories of a much better time . . . memories of birthdays when Kaeya had people to celebrate with, and people who cared about him, and Kaeya feels his throat closing even before Diluc speaks again.
“Happy birthday, Kaeya.”
Kaeya stares at him, and even if his throat wasn’t so tight, he’s fairly certain that he would still be dumbstruck by the sheer shock of this.
Diluc stares back at him for a moment, then shifts a bit awkwardly.
“Thank you,” Kaeya finally manages to choke out. “I – can I offer you . . .”
He suddenly realizes that he doesn’t have much to offer, as a proper host should. He did go grocery shopping last week, before his yearly exhaustion set in, but he’s gone through most everything he bought. Diluc actually had to have brought all his own ingredients for the pancakes.
“I made breakfast,” Diluc says, still awkward, as he motions toward the table.
Made breakfast, set the table, and even cleaned up, Kaeya sees, from the immaculate state his kitchen is in. The clanging he heard must have been the frying pan that’s been set in his wire dishrack to dry. It’s never fit quite right and must have slid to the side and resettled after Diluc set it down.
Breakfast and cleanup by themselves would have taken a decent chunk of time, even without the grocery shopping trip he took beforehand, but Diluc didn’t just go grocery shopping. His efforts weren’t even just confined to squeezing out the Sunsettia juice by hand. The Valberry leaves and stems in the bowl of fruit peelings haven’t even begun to wither yet. Diluc had to have gone and retrieved them last night, because they’re still at the peak of freshness. Further evidence of his trek is the flowers in the bouquet he brought with him. Cecilias can only be found on Starsnatch Cliff this time of year, growing wild.
“Why?” The question at the forefront of Kaeya’s mind slips out unbidden. He immediately slaps a hand over his mouth. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean . . .”
“The more effort you put into something, the more it means,” Diluc says. Parroting the answer Kaeya himself had given Diluc long ago, when Kaeya insisted on going the extra mile for birthday treats and surprises for others. Flowers that they had to hike to get, and couldn’t just pick around the winery. Hard to source ingredients, used fresh for the best flavor. “Isn’t that what you always said?”
“It was. I . . . Thank you, Diluc.”
Diluc nods, and Kaeya is fairly certain that he sees the ghost of a smile cross his brother’s face as they sit down to eat.
There’s a lot still left between the brothers. Problems, complications, regrets, and things left unsaid. Too much to be solved by something as simple as breakfast, even if Diluc did go through great pains to put this one together, but . . . well, it’s a start. Kaeya doesn’t think he’s wrong in interpreting Diluc’s actions to mean that his brother is ready to start putting the past behind them. Ready to start working through all they’ve been through and, hopefully, to be a family again. Kaeya really couldn’t ask for a better birthday present than that.
“Coffee?” Diluc offers. Yet another thing that he went to the trouble of bringing with him, beings that Kaeya doesn’t keep coffee in his house.
“Please,” Kaeya says, more to be polite, since Diluc is offering, than because he actually wants coffee. He’s not a huge fan of the taste, nor does he actually need it to help him perk up right now.
For the first time in years, on his birthday, Kaeya is wide awake.