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“You’re kidding.”
Diluc smiled at the words, gazing at the Dawn Winery from afar, arms crossed as he stood next to his brother. The two of them were currently standing near the stone steps a little ways from the Winery, where Diluc had rushed over to meet the Cavalry Captain.
Kaeya had stopped where he was, eye wide as he caught sight of just how many people were around the Winery, preparing for renovations. Already, some of the furniture was being carried out, Adelinde somehow carrying the bulkiest objects out herself.
Elzer was overlooking the activities taking place outside, namely the swift harvesting of the vines so they could make room for an expanded building.
“That’s… going to cost a lot of money, Diluc.” Kaeya said, uncertainly, still unable to tear his gaze away from the hustle and bustle.
“Money that I most definitely have.” Diluc said with a grin.
“Right.” Kaeya huffed at the comment. “Forgot you’re the uncrowned king for a second.”
Then he finally turned to Diluc, a slight frown on his face as he crossed his arms.
“So… Your idea?”
“Well…” Diluc sighed as he began to lead the way up the path. “Adelinde suggested we expand the building. And I agreed. I think it’s a good idea! Wine is only going to get more popular and we need room for the new staff. Besides that, I think Elzer deserves a proper office. Not to mention Adelinde and the other maids practically live here at this point. We’re going to expand the cellars as well, though we might not get to that until next year. Ah and…”
He turned to Kaeya with a grin.
“I was thinking… Maybe in the near future, we could repurpose this place as a sort of inn. Wanderers tend to end up here often and we only have a few guest rooms. It could be like that place we came across on our travels with Lumine. In Liyue.”
“Wangshu Inn?” Kaeya asked, somewhat absentmindedly.
“Yes, that.” Diluc said, nodding. “It’s an ambitious goal, I know but… I think it’s possible! Elzer really seemed to like the idea.”
“If that’s what you want, I have no doubt you have the willpower to make it happen.” Kaeya said, finally cracking a smile. “I think it’s a good idea too. It’s going to hurt a little, but it’ll be ok.”
“Hurt a little?” Diluc asked, frowning. “Why?”
“Well, we’ve made so many memories in this Winery. It’s just going to be a little hard to accept the changes at first.” Kaeya shrugged, with an easy grin, as if he’d already come to terms with all this. “When you first told me about the renovations, I didn’t realize you had something this grand in mind. But honestly, the grander, the better! I think I’ll get used to it soon enough.”
But as Kaeya walked ahead to help with the furniture, a frown settled onto Diluc’s face and doubt crept into his heart.
Kaeya was right. A lot of things were going to change. Diluc hadn’t really thought much about it in the beginning but now he wondered if he’d be able to part with the familiar. He’d never been one to get attached to material things, so that really shouldn’t be a problem. But anyone who knew him, knew how he clung to familiar memories.
With a heavy sigh, Diluc shook his head. It wasn’t like sulking about it was going to change anything. It was too late to go back now, anyway. Like Kaeya said, it would be hard but it wouldn’t be impossible. Like Kaeya, Diluc would get used to the new Winery in no time.
Face still set in a frown, Diluc followed after his brother.
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“We may bring the back wall down sometime next year.” Diluc said, explaining the rough plan of how they were going to expand the building. “But the right and left walls will have to go soon.”
“The right wall, huh?” Kaeya hummed. “My old room was on the right side, wasn’t it?”
“Yes.” Diluc said, heart sinking even as Kaeya bounded up the steps with a smile.
“Well, let’s go take a look, shall we?”
He followed his brother up to his room, taking care not to bump into the workers removing furniture from the rooms. They quietly slipped inside and Diluc let his gaze travel around the dusty room. His steps echoed as the last piece of furniture, an old bookshelf, was carried out.
Even in the empty room, Kaeya found things to point out excitedly to his brother. Striding over to the right wall, he pointed at a spot in the middle of it, laughing as he did so.
“You wrote this, didn’t you?” He asked, glancing over at Diluc.
Arms crossed, Diluc walked over to Kaeya, squinting to make out the scrawled words on the wall. It wasn’t much that was written out on the wall. Just a name. Kaeya.
Instantly, Diluc felt a grin stretch his face as he remembered the night Crepus had officially adopted Kaeya. The first real mark of Kaeya’s presence was done by him, as he dragged a crayon across the wall in the then guest room.
“This is your room now, Kaeya! It’ll be yours forever!”
Kaeya only smiled hesitantly as he climbed onto the bed, though his eye shone in awe and curiosity as he stared at his name written on the wall.
“Mine forever?”
“Yes! You’re part of the family now!”
“Heh.” Kaeya laughed, bringing Diluc back to the present. “Father scolded you for that, remember? Secretly, he’d wanted to do something like that for me. Get me a wooden plaque or frame or something. You two were always trying to do the most for me.”
Diluc huffed out a laugh despite himself, eyes still locked on his brother’s name.
“We were trying to make sure you knew you had a place here.”
“I never doubted it.” Kaeya sighed, smiling. “Oh, and!”
Like a child, Kaeya’s attention was immediately directed elsewhere as ran over to his old closet. Grabbing the dusty knob, he twisted the door open with a grin.
“Remember?” He said, simply.
“Mhm.” Diluc said, grinning. “Our favorite hiding spot.”
“Quick, Father will never find us in here!”
Diluc loved to hide in his own closet, and while it was his favorite place to hide in, he’d always be discovered by his father. Now that he had a brother, the two of them wouldn’t fit anyway.
Kaeya’s closet barely had anything in it the first few years and so they’d taken to hiding there. Crepus always lost the game when they hid there, loudly claiming that he gave up.
Though, strangely enough the boys never realized how near their father’s voice was when he gave up. They only giggled and huddled closer, letting their father call out a few more times before revealing themselves.
“Now that I think of it.” Kaeya grinned. “I bet Father always knew exactly where we were hiding.”
“He should have just let himself win at least once.” Diluc sighed. “He was always letting us run ahead.”
Except the one time it really mattered. Then Crepus had dashed forward, taking the heat off his little ones and paying the ultimate sacrifice for it.
“Then let’s keep winning.” Kaeya said, with a sad smile. “He wanted us to run ahead, right? Maybe this grand plan you have is what’s gonna make him proud.”
His brother’s voice had a teasing lilt to it towards the end, though Diluc knew he was just trying to comfort him, no doubt realizing what he was thinking about. Diluc allowed himself to be comforted and smiled.
“He’s always been proud of us.” Diluc stated.
“Well then, let’s live up to that pride.” Kaeya said, putting an arm around Diluc’s shoulder.
With a questioning smile, Kaeya glanced at him and once Diluc nodded, he led his brother out of the room, leaving behind the memories.
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While Kaeya didn’t seem to mind too much about his room being done away with, he definitely had a more adverse reaction when he realized the fireplace would have to go as well.
He was definitely more dramatic about it than expected, falling to his knees and fake crying when he came across the place. He could tell Kaeya was playing it up on purpose, to take away the hurt he knew Diluc must also be feeling.
But Diluc simply grinned, immediately catching the sad glint in Kaeya’s eye when he accepted the hand Diluc offered. Rising to his feet and sobering up quickly, he stood beside his brother as the two gazed into the flames, remembering all the things that had come to pass there.
It was perhaps this fireplace where they’d spent most of their time together.
In the mornings, Diluc would often sit with Kaeya in front of the fireplace as he struggled with his reading lessons, comforting him along with their ever patient father. Kaeya had always been one for self doubt, but his brother and father were always there to remind him just how well he was doing.
As they grew older, their father would teach them both how to play chess. The three of them would huddle together near the flames, eyes wide and intent, the tense silence only breaking when someone managed to check another’s king.
In the winters, after a long day out in the cold, both brothers would curl up by the fire, warming their hands on mugs of hot cocoa and reading together late into the night.
Sometimes, they’d simply sit together and talk. At times, dragging Adelinde and Elzer over to join them. They were only a little older than them and both brothers could tell they liked the time they spent together.
Kaeya sighed heavily and turned away, gesturing to his brother to follow him.
“Sure we can’t keep the fireplace?” Kaeya asked, the sad smile clear in his voice.
“Well…” Diluc laughed. “Why have a fireplace when you have me as a brother?”
“True.” Kaeya grinned. “Though I much prefer the warmth of the flames.”
Diluc frowned at his good natured teasing, shoving him aside. Kaeya laughed at that and Diluc smiled to see the sadness bleed away slightly. Kaeya caught himself against a side table and his smile widened even more when he saw what was perched on it.
“Hey! I almost forgot about this old thing.” Kaeya exclaimed, tracing a finger along the extravagant designs of the ridiculous vase he’d gifted Diluc so long ago. “It’s been quite some time since I last visited.”
Never mind the way he still remembered every single detail like the back of his hand. Diluc simply grinned and rested a hand on his shoulder.
“Well, you should come by more often.”
“Hmm.” Kaeya hummed. “I think I will! I do need a change of scenery. Say, you’re going to redo the decor in this place too, aren’t you?”
“We are.” A familiar voice sounded from just beside them.
Kaeya turned to see Adelinde, grinning when he saw both her and Elzer dragging the latter’s old desk out of the Winery.
“Against Master Diluc’s wishes.” Elzer grinned. “He really seems to like this old fashioned design.”
Kaeya laughed out loud at that, glancing at Diluc when he frowned and moved his hand away from his shoulder.
“Sounds like Diluc.” Kaeya mused. “But anyway, this vase is always going to clash with every design so it’s here to stay!”
And at those words, something in Diluc’s expression changed. He grinned, putting his hand back on Kaeya’s shoulder as Adelinde and Elzer left, taking their laughter with them.
“That’s right.” Diluc said. “It’s here to stay.”
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The hours flew by faster than either brother had expected. In between emptying the manor, helping with the harvest, and planning out the expansion and redesigning, they barely had time to reminisce any longer.
That didn’t stop them from squeezing in a bit of laughter and nostalgia along the way. Though the moments were fleeting, just like the memories that brought them on, both brothers had a chance to look upon their past with fondness.
They flipped through old albums together, sorted through cherished treasures from their youth, and lived through old memories throughout the day.
Finally, as the sun set and the helping hands wrapped up the last of their tasks, the two brothers climbed onto the roof of the Winery, gazing out at the crystalflies fluttering through the vines and illuminating their home.
A glass of dandelion wine in the Cavalry Captain’s hand, and a grape juice for the Darknight Hero, neither of the two could claim not to be at peace, at least for the moment.
“We used to sit up here all the time.” Diluc mused.
“Sometimes, we’d refuse to come down.” Kaeya chuckled.
“Father would get so angry with us. He was always worried we’d fall and hurt ourselves.”
Kaeya hummed in response, his visible eye glinting as a crystalfly came to hover near them. His grin widened as the creature settled on the ground between them.
“But we’d never listen to him.” Kaeya continued.
“And… remember on my 17th birthday?” Diluc said softly. “He finally joined us up here. You remember what he said?”
Kaeya hummed in response and nodded.
“I see why you two like the roof so much.” Crepus grinned, arms around both his sons. “It gives you a sense of… peace, almost. Like you’re floating above everything. And… seeing the place like this makes me realize… how little it’s changed.”
“Really? It hasn’t changed at all since you were a kid, Father?” Diluc asked.
“Well, it has.” Crepus admitted. “But some things remain the same for years to come. And looking at everything from above like this… makes it easier to see.”
“And…” Kaeya spoke, hesitating.
Both Diluc and Crepus looked at him encouragingly when he stopped short. Kaeya grinned and continued.
“For me, being up here makes it feel like time slows down for just a second. And I can step back and take a long hard look at everything that belongs to me. My home. Even if it doesn’t last forever, if I look at it from above often enough, I’ll never forget what it looks like.”
“And what about what I said right after Father?” Kaeya asked, eye twinkling teasingly. “That didn’t stick with you?”
Diluc gave him a hard stare, playfully punching him in the shoulder. He cracked a grin when Kaeya dramatically doubled over, clutching his shoulder in mock agony. When he straightened, Diluc sighed and spoke.
“I was actually going to talk about that next.” Diluc stated. “I guess… It was a good thing we came up here tonight. It made me remember those words and I get what you meant this morning. When you said ‘it’s going to hurt, but it’ll be ok’.”
“Admittedly, not one of my more eloquent quotes.” Kaeya laughed.
“Right.” Diluc grinned. “But it makes a lot of sense now. It’s sad that a lot of the things we know and love are going to be gone soon but… some things never change.”
“Like my vase.” Kaeya chirped, grinning happily as he took a sip from his wine.
Diluc chuckled softly and rolled his eyes.
“Yes, like your vase.” He agreed. “But also… the memories we’ve shared, the events that have come to pass… and the people. The people never change.”
Kaeya frowned at that because people change every day, don’t they? He knew what Diluc really meant but he would never pass up an opportunity to tease the man. Turning to him with a grin, mouth open to ask the trick question, he stopped short when he found that Diluc was already looking at him.
There was pride in his eyes, illuminated by the glow of the crystalflies, an uncharacteristically carefree smile on his face.
“Even if the place is entirely different…” Diluc said, smiling at his brother. “Everyone inside these walls is my family.”
Kaeya shut his mouth to smile along with Diluc. It appeared the man was getting sentimental. Well, Kaeya decided he’d let up on the teasing for just this moment.
“And that…” Diluc sighed, an arm around Kaeya’s shoulder. “Is something that will never change.”
Even when Dawn Winery was but a name whispered on the winds, the Ragnvindr brothers' bond would live on in memories.
And that was something that would never change.