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The first time it happens, isn’t the first time it happens at all. But it’s the first time that Diluc knows about it, and that counts for something. The walls of Dawn Winery must be pretty thick, because Diluc has never heard a peep from Kaeya in the night before. Tonight though, as soon as the young Ragnvindr tiptoes out into the hallway, he can hear Kaeya’s muffled sobs.
He startles, at first, fears rushing into his mind that Kaeya’s been injured, or attacked, or- but after whirling around on the spot for a few moments, thinking of the best place to procure a sword, he calms himself. Surely, there’s another explanation. Surely someone else would have noticed if there was an intruder. He still feels uneasy, though.
Little Kaeya has never been one to show much emotion, despite only having been here for maybe six months. He’s quiet and subdued, and despite following every one of Diluc’s whims for mischief the two can get themselves into, it’s all following, and never asserting.
Still a little wary, and wondering if he should run for a sword, he edges closer to Kaeya’s bedroom door. If Kaeya’s hurt… then Diluc needs to help him immediately. He raps on the door gently, then at once wonders if that was a good idea; if there is an intruder inside-
He pushes it open quickly, and does a scan of the room, letting out a sigh of relief. Nothing. No nothing, no- no Kaeya?
“Kaeya?” he whispers.
The muffled sobbing doesn’t stop, and Diluc follows the sound. He pulls back the closet door, and Kaeya flinches hard, looking up at Diluc with a wide and frightened eye.
“It’s only me,” Diluc says quickly, but this does little to comfort him. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
Kaeya is quite obviously not okay, but Diluc isn’t too sure of what else to say. He’s still a little shocked to be honest, to find emotionless little Kaeya like this, curled up with fat tears rolling down his cheeks.
“Fine,” Kaeya chokes out, scrubbing his hands over his face.
He flinches hard, and it takes Diluc a moment to register the sound of thunder outside. He’d always loved storms, but the lightning that illuminates the room only highlights Kaeya’s scared little frame.
“Oh,” Diluc says understandingly, sitting down with him inside of the closet and pulling the door back closed. “It’s the storm, huh? I didn’t know you were afraid of storms.”
Kaeya hiccups with a small shrug, looking for a moment like he wants to argue, but knows he can’t.
“That’s okay,” Diluc says quickly. “Storms are scary, and loud, and- it’s okay, Kaeya. We’re all afraid of something.”
“W-what are you afraid of?” Kaeya asks shakily.
Diluc lets out a breath and rakes a hand through his hair, looking a little embarrassed. “Uh… Well, I guess I’m kinda afraid of the water, and ice. More than kinda,” he admits. “When I was younger, father took me out ice skating on the lake. The ice broke and I went under, and then there was ice over me and I couldn’t find the opening again, and I was drowning, and- it was really scary.”
“That does sound scary,” Kaeya agrees, sniffing and rubbing at his nose, jumping again as thunder rumbles.
“I’ll stay here with you,” Diluc says, and Kaeya bit his lip. “It’ll be fun. Like… like a sleepover. I’ve never had one of those.”
“What’s that?” Kaeya asks.
“Um… It’s like… Well, I’m not too sure. I think it’s where you stay over with your friend’s all night, and I think you’re supposed to do stuff other than sleep? But then I don’t really know why it’s called a sleepover? I’ve only really heard some of the maids talking about it. Maybe it isn’t a real thing.”
Kaeya takes this in, and nods. “Aren’t you tired, though?”
“No,” Diluc says, shaking his head. “I was only up because I couldn’t sleep. I’ll go if you want me to, but… I’d like to stay. If you want me to.”
“Okay,” Kaeya agrees gently.
“If you wanna stay in the closet, we can get your other blankets and things, and get comfy,” Diluc suggests, and Kaeya nods.
Diluc crawls back out for a moment, piling in the bedding from Kaeya’s bed, and then retrieving a few more pillows from one of the cupboards. Once they’ve made a comfy enough fort, Diluc shuts them back in, and they settle into it. It’s cramped, but Diluc has a feeling that that makes Kaeya feel safer, so he doesn’t say anything about it.
It’s too dark to read, so Diluc makes up stories for him. Kaeya listens intently for the most part, but as the night draws on, starts to droop, head falling eventually onto Diluc’s shoulder. Diluc smiles a little, and settles Kaeya against him more comfortably, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. Diluc has always been a touchy person, but Kaeya always flinches anytime someone tries to touch him, so Diluc feels happy and a little proud of the way that Kaeya is leaning on him now.
Diluc holds him close, but gently, still a little afraid of spooking him. He speaks softly to him, continuing the story, and eventually, Kaeya’s breathing evens out as he falls asleep. Diluc carries on for a few minutes, before trailing off, feeling a little drowsy himself. He pulls the blankets up tighter around them, almost tucking Kaeya in against him, and falls into a peaceful slumber a few minutes later.
***
The next time it happens, it’s a scream that pierces the night air. Diluc jolts up in bed, heart pounding in his chest as he looks wildly around. He’s managed to hide a knife in his room since last time, just in case, and grabs it up from where it’s stowed under his bed, before tiptoeing out into the hall.
It was Kaeya that screamed, he’s sure of it, but their bedrooms aren’t near anyone else's, so Diluc may have been the only one to hear him scream. He steadies his grip on the knife, ready to defend Kaeya as he pushes open the door. He looks around Kaeya’s room, holding the knife up, but nothing seems amiss. Kaeya is in bed.
He lets out a whimper, though, and Diluc rushes over to the bed, door closing softly behind him. He quickly checks Kaeya over, but he seems okay. He carefully lays the knife down on Kaeya’s nightstand. He’s just having a nightmare.
“Kaeya,” Diluc whispers, brushing Kaeya’s damp hair off of his face. “Kae. Wake up.”
At the contact, Kaeya wakes with a start, panting and shaking, and scrambling to get away from him.
“It’s just me!” Diluc says quickly, holding both of his hands up.
Kaeya looks at him for a few moments, chest heaving, and then relaxes slightly, looking away.
“You were having a nightmare,” Diluc says gently. “Are you okay?”
Kaeya looks at him like he has two heads.
It becomes clear after a moment that Kaeya isn’t going to say anything.
“You screamed,” Diluc elaborates.
“Sorry,” Kaeya says.
“I- no?” Diluc says, confused. “Why are you saying that?”
Kaeya blinks at him a couple of times.
“Are you okay?” Diluc says again, feeling a little frustrated.
Kaeya nods a little. Diluc notices that he’s trembling.
“Can I stay with you a bit?” Diluc asks, sure that Kaeya is going to refuse.
But Kaeya nods and scoots over, curling up in a ball in the bed. Diluc clambers in next to him and lays down on his side, facing Kaeya.
“Kaeya,” Diluc whispers after a few moments. “Are you scared of me?”
Kaeya glances at him, a strange look on his face, and shakes his head. “No.”
“Sometimes I worry that you are. You look at me sometimes like you are.”
A beat passes. “I’m not,” Kaeya says, and Diluc doesn’t want to push it. He hasn’t learned yet how far he can push Kaeya. He doesn’t want to scare him away.
“Okay,” Diluc whispers back. “I don’t want you to be. I’m really glad that you’re here, Kaeya. I know it can’t be easy for you… With your dad and everything… And I know you must miss him a lot, but… I’m really glad you’re here.”
“You are?” Kaeya asks softly, uncurling himself slightly and rolling onto his side too.
Diluc nods. “Of course. You’re my best friend in the whole world.”
He thinks he sees Kaeya flush at that. “I… am?”
“Of course you are!” Diluc nods quickly.
“Oh,” Kaeya says, worrying his lip between his teeth.
Diluc tries not to deflate slightly at the silence that stretches between them. Then, after a couple of moments pass, Kaeya whispers back, “You’re mine too.”
Diluc beams at him, and Kaeya offers him a shy smile in response.
Minutes pass by, and Kaeya looks a little uncomfortable, like he’s waiting for Diluc to leave. Or rather… Waiting for him to want to leave. So Diluc beats him to it, before he can say anything.
“Can I stay here?” he asks through a yawn.
“What?” Kaeya asks almost warily.
“For the rest of the night,” Diluc clarifies, and then wonders if he had misjudged the situation. Maybe Kaeya did want him to leave after all.
“If you want,” Kaeya says nonchalantly, pulling the blankets up around himself.
Diluc hums in response, closing his eyes.
“Why did you bring a knife in here?” Kaeya asks sleepily after a few minutes.
“You screamed,” Diluc says. “I didn’t know if I needed it.”
Kaeya hums softly, accepting his response. “Can I have a knife?” he asks after a moment.
“Yes,” Diluc nods, without questioning him further. It’s not a secret how flighty Kaeya is. If a knife will make him feel safer here, then Diluc will get him one.
Kaeya relaxes a little. “Thank you.”
Neither of them speak after that, and it takes Kaeya a long time to fall back asleep, Diluc only just managing to stay awake himself until he does, not wanting to leave Kaeya awake on his own after his nightmare.
***
The first time Kaeya comes to him, isn’t for a while. It takes another long few months, and Diluc’s been a lot more attentive, trying to keep an eye (or ear) out for any signs that Kaeya may need him. He isn’t sure, but he thinks that Kaeya’s appreciated his company, at least. His guard has come down, but only slightly.
It takes him by surprise though, when there’s a small timid knock at his door. Diluc opens his eyes sleepily, rolling over in time to see Kaeya poking his head around the door, looking small and sheepish and afraid.
“Kae?” Diluc asks softly. “C’mere, what’s wrong?”
Kaeya shuffles in, closing the door behind him. He’s wrapped in a blanket, making him look even smaller than he usually does. “Can I… Can I… sleep with you?” he asks in a small voice, and Diluc is immediately shuffling up in bed and pulling the covers back.
Kaeya clambers in, keeping his blanket wrapped around himself as he curls up. It’s not one of the blankets from Kaeya’s bed, Diluc recognises, the rooms are kitted out with only the finest, and this one’s a little scraggly and old.
Belatedly, as Kaeya tugs it tighter around himself, Diluc realises that it’s one of the old blankets from the cupboard by the backdoor downstairs, the one that his father had bundled Kaeya up in when they’d found him out in the rain. Kaeya still has that? Uses it, over the plush soft ones provided for his bed?
“Sorry for waking you,” Kaeya mumbled after a few moments.
“You don’t need to worry about that,” Diluc says, stifling a yawn. “You never need to worry about that, Kae. ‘M always happy to have you. Especially if you had a nightmare or something. Nightmares can be really scary, I wouldn’t want you to be alone.”
Kaeya bit his lip and nodded a little, looking down.
“I mean it,” Diluc says, reaching out for him, but stopping before he can touch him, letting his hand lay on the sheets between them. “I like it when we have sleepovers. And I like being close to you.”
Kaeya doesn’t say anything, but after a few minutes, he does peek his hand out from his blanket bundle, and take Diluc’s fingers in his own. Kaeya’s fingers are cold, and smaller than his own, but they slot together perfectly. Diluc smiles a little as he holds Kaeya’s hand, hoping that Kaeya’s eye is closed, and he isn’t watching him. Knowing Kaeya though, he probably is.
Diluc is too tired to check, and so falls asleep like that, Kaeya’s hand held tightly in his own, making sure that he’d know immediately if anything is wrong, or if he tries to leave. That comforts him, and he falls asleep quickly, hoping that Kaeya does the same.
***
What started as tentative and circumstantial, turns into a habit. At least a couple nights a week, Kaeya crawls into bed with Diluc, and on the nights that he doesn’t, Diluc makes a point to poke his head into Kaeya’s room to check that he’s alright at least once a night, and more if he wakes up. He thinks that Kaeya doesn’t know about that part, but he can never be sure with Kaeya.
Kaeya’s nightmares are worse than Diluc first thought. They’re incredibly frequent, and sometimes even when Kaeya’s in his bed he’ll have more, whimpering and squirming beside him until Diluc has to shake him to rouse him out of it. After he wakes up he’s always quiet and subdued, looking a little hollow inside, and Diluc wishes he knew how to help. But he doesn’t. So he does what he can, and let’s Kaeya sleep beside him, and wakes him if he has more nightmares. He tells Kaeya as they fall asleep that he’ll protect him, and he thinks that Kaeya believes him.
Tonight Kaeya is next to him. He sleeps soundly at first, as he always does, but then the telltale signs start. He starts to writhe, face screwing up as he whimpers. Diluc rolls over, reaching out to gently nudge him.
“Kaeya,” he whispers.
Kaeya whimpers louder, and again, Diluc unsuccessfully tries to rouse him. Kaeya starts to thrash, then.
“N-no, p-please,” he whimpers, and Diluc has never heard his voice sound like that. He sounds… Diluc doesn’t even know- something beyond terror. He can’t imagine what Kaeya must have been through to get night terrors this bad.
Diluc shakes him again, but Kaeya’s face only contorts further.
“Stop!” he cries. “No- no, no, please.”
“Kaeya,” Diluc says a little more firmly, sitting up now as he tries to wake him. “Kaeya, wake up. It’s me, it’s Diluc. You’re okay- Kaeya-”
Kaeya wakes with a start, gasping desperately to get a breath through his panic, and then once he sees Diluc, he promptly bursts into tears.
“Hey…” Diluc says, a little overwhelmed with the situation. Despite everything, Kaeya is usually okay when he wakes up, he doesn’t usually cry. And certainly not like this, certainly not these pained, heavy sobs riddled with heaving desperate breaths between.
Unsure of what else to do, and sincerely hoping this isn’t only going to trigger him further, Diluc carefully bundles Kaeya into his arms, wrapping them firmly around him. Kaeya jolts slightly, and sobs louder. Diluc shushes him gently, resting his cheek against Kaeya’s hair as he holds him close. He holds him as close as he possibly can, rocking them gently back and forth.
“I’ve got you, Kae,” he mumbles gently. “I’ve got you, I promise. It’s okay now. You’re safe,” he soothes.
Eventually, and it takes a while, Kaeya’s sobs taper into sniffles. His arm is looped around Diluc’s neck as he clings to him. Diluc’s nightshirt is soaked with Kaeya’s tears, but he doesn’t care. He just keeps murmuring softly to him, holding him and rocking them, just stopping shy of kissing his head with how he’s resting his face against Kaeya’s hair.
“I’ll never let anything hurt you again,” Diluc promises in a fierce whisper, feeling tears prick his own eyes.
Kaeya whimpers softly in response, and Diluc feels him practically melt into his arms. Diluc rubs Kaeya’s back gently, and Kaeya relaxes further. Diluc feels slightly surprised that Kaeya is comforted by such a touch with how he usually reacts to physical contact, but he’s certainly glad. Being able to hold Kaeya like this at least makes him feel a little less helpless, like he’s actually able to do something to help him feel better, other than just offering his company.
Eventually, when Kaeya’s settled enough, he shifts them down to lay down in the bed, pulling the covers up around them and resting Kaeya against his chest. He half expects Kaeya to roll onto his side of the bed, but instead, he simply curls on Diluc’s chest, resting his head right over his heart. Diluc keeps his arms around him as he gets them comfy, closing his eyes.
It’s a comfort to feel Kaeya against him like this, breathing soundly, with the knowledge that even once he falls asleep, he’ll be able to tell even Kaeya’s slightest movement, and wake if he needs him. He’s never seen Kaeya like that before, and sincerely hopes that he never will again. But with the way that Kaeya suffers, something tells Diluc that it will be far from the last time.
He holds Kaeya a little tighter, stroking his back gently.
“Do you need anything?” he murmurs, needing to check before they settle into sleep.
Kaeya shakes his head, and Diluc relaxes.
“Have sweet dreams now, okay?” he whispers. “I’ve got you. Always. And I’ll never let anything bad happen to you again.”
Kaeya makes a small sound in the back of his throat, and Diluc feels him nod slightly. He doesn’t speak, and so neither does Diluc. Despite feeling tiredness creeping in on him, he makes sure to stay awake until he can feel Kaeya sleeping peacefully against him. Only then does he allow himself to sleep, knowing that Kaeya is safe on top of him.
***
After that, Diluc doesn’t stop reaching out for him, and Kaeya doesn’t stop sleeping in his arms after nearly every nightmare. Over time, the touching becomes more normal for them, and Diluc becomes one of the only people Kaeya allowed to touch him, and sometimes even reaches out for himself. Kaeya barely flinches anymore at the passing touches or hair ruffles or high fives, and sometimes jabs or flicks Diluc of his own accord in response to his teasing. Sometimes, out of sight from anyone else, Kaeya takes Diluc’s hand and laces their fingers together, and they both pretend that they can’t see the other’s blush.
As Kaeya grows old enough, they begin to spar together. Diluc had been afraid that pulling weapons on each other would make Kaeya afraid of him again, but Kaeya seems to revel in the play fighting. He gives Diluc a run for his money, who has been training for a few years longer than him, but can never quite get the better of him.
Diluc had hoped that over time Kaeya’s nightmares would improve. And he supposes, they have a little, from the small frail boy that they had once taken in, too scared to ask Diluc for comfort when he needed it. To be honest, they probably sleep in one another’s beds more than is strictly necessary for Kaeya’s night troubles, but neither of them mind. Diluc likes sleeping with Kaeya plastered against him, it makes him feel safe. It makes him feel safe knowing that he can keep Kaeya safe. That Kaeya feels safe with him. Trusts him.
Kaeya is Diluc’s best friend in the world. The brother he never had. And having this sort of trust between them, that Kaeya, who had once been so untrusting and afraid, feels like the best thing in the world. Kaeya feels like the best thing in the world.
They’d fallen into such patterns so easily and contentedly. Sometimes Diluc wakes to Kaeya in bed with him. Despite being a light sleeper, Kaeya has always been swift and light on his feet, and sometimes slips in unannounced. Sometimes, they wake up in separate beds, and Diluc is content with the knowledge that Kaeya is alright, and had a good night's sleep, even, and he’s satisfied with that. As much as he likes having Kaeya close at night, what he truly wants is for Kaeya to stop having night terrors.
However, that doesn’t seem like it is going to be the case any time soon.
Tonight, it’s pouring with rain. The sky has been threatening all day, and finally, the heavens have opened. A storm has been brewing, and Diluc knows that Kaeya knows it. They luckily don’t get too many storms around here, but they get enough. Kaeya’s been on edge all afternoon, and so when the time comes for bed, Diluc takes Kaeya’s hand and leads him into his own room with him. He’s not going to give Kaeya the chance to sit this one out.
He’s never asked Kaeya about the storm thing, though he’s stayed with him through many, and Kaeya has never offered anything up. He’s never offered anything up about any of his nightmares, and Diluc has never asked for details.
They change wordlessly and get into bed, Diluc holding his arm out for Kaeya to curl under. He does so, settling against Diluc’s chest with a soft sigh. He’s tense, and Diluc rubs his back slightly to try and get him to settle. He doesn’t, and only works himself up further as the rain grows more and more intense.
Finally, after a flash of lightning, thunder cracks in the sky, and Kaeya flinches. Diluc holds him tighter. Kaeya had used to be embarrassed, trying to suppress his reactions as much as he could, but now, he knows that Diluc won’t judge him. Diluc is glad that he feels at ease enough to react instinctively around him, and simply offers him what he can in terms of comfort.
Kaeya always falls asleep faster in Diluc’s arms. Diluc likes to think that it’s the feeling of safety that does it, that he makes Kaeya feel safe enough to let his guard down like that. Eventually, still trembling slightly, Kaeya slips to sleep. Diluc relaxes as he does so, glad that the storm hasn’t proved to be too traumatic for him tonight.
Diluc wakes with a start a little while later, to Kaeya whimpering and writhing against him. He’s damp with sweat, and his face is screwed up.
“No- no, no,” he’s whispering desperately. “Don’t leave me, don’t leave me, please, I promise- you promised- don’t leave me- no!”
Diluc shakes him gently, trying to rouse him.
“Kae- Kaeya, c’mon, wake up,” he whispers to him. “It’s just a dream- you’re okay. It’s okay.”
“Don’t leave me,” Kaeya whimpers again, sounding broken.
“Never,” Diluc swears. “Please, Kae, come on. Wake up.”
Eventually, Kaeya stirs out of the nightmare, panting slightly as he melts into Diluc’s chest.
“Oh, I’ve got you,” Diluc murmurs. Kaeya trembles. “I’ve got you. It’s okay. It’s okay now, Kae. I’ll keep you safe. I’ll never leave you, I promise. You’re safe with me, I’ve got you.”
It takes a while, but Kaeya relaxes at his words, and slumps into him. He makes a small frustrated sound, and Diluc can tell that he’s just so damn sick of this. He is too. He wishes that Kaeya didn’t have to suffer like this. The nightmares just never seem to get any better.
Kaeya jerks as thunder rumbles once more, and Diluc shushes him, holding him tighter. “It’s okay,” he whispers into Kaeya’s hair. “I promise.”
Kaeya has never doubted one of his promises yet.
He slips back to sleep after a little, and Diluc stays up the whole night, just to make sure that he’s alright, just to make sure that he doesn’t fall back into another nightmare, just to make sure that he doesn’t sleep through Kaeya waking up and needing him again.
***
Over the years, Kaeya and Diluc’s night time encounters have been full of warm touches and soft words. Tonight, however, is different.
Tonight, it is storming. And tonight, they are not in bed, and Diluc is not holding Kaeya. He’s shouting. He can’t quite make out the words amongst the thunder and the rain, but he knows that words like “traitor” and “liar” are heavily amongst them.
He knows that Kaeya’s begging him to let him explain, but Diluc can’t see anything past his own rage.
Their father is dead.
His father.
And Kaeya- Kaeya, his best friend, his brother, his life. Diluc snarls at him, throwing him out into the rain. Kaeya stumbles backwards, genuine fear in his eye. He seethes, drawing his sword on Kaeya. Kaeya doesn’t make to draw his own, just stumbling away from him and begging.
“Draw your weapon!” Diluc seethes, slashing at Kaeya with his sword.
Finally, Kaeya draws his sword, blocking each of Diluc’s attempts to hit him. He’s gotten better at fighting back, Diluc notes as he slashes at him over and over and over. Kaeya’s faster than him, more nimble, he always has been, but Diluc doesn’t care about that right now. His claymore has weight over Kaeya’s sword, and sooner or later, Kaeya’s going to have to stop dodging.
He doesn’t make to fight back, no matter how much Diluc goads him into it, just blocking each of his hits. Diluc grows angrier, wishing at least that they could just battle. But no matter, if Kaeya won’t fight, Diluc won’t give him the chance to.
With a roar, he infuses his blade with pyro, cutting through the air at him. He swipes Kaeya’s sword out of his hand, and Kaeya watches it, terrified, as it lands far out of his reach. Diluc sends him flying back then, and Kaeya screams, clutching his stomach. A hit, at last.
Diluc approaches him, glowering down at him. He slices at Kaeya a few more times, listening to the pained cries his brother gives, begging him to stop. But Diluc can barely hear his words over the rush of blood in his ears. He reinfuses his blade, and slashes Kaeya again, listening to his scream as his flames scorch his skin.
There’s a pool of blood seeping around Kaeya on the ground now, and Kaeya’s screams are agonising. Diluc knows he needs to stop now if he doesn’t want to kill Kaeya, but he doesn’t. He can’t stop. He just keeps lashing out over and over and over.
This is the part where Kaeya is supposed to get his vision. Diluc knows it well. He’s supposed to get his vision before the pool of blood gets too big, and before he loses consciousness. He’s supposed to blast Diluc with ice, and Diluc is supposed to come to his senses and back off.
But he doesn’t. Kaeya doesn’t get his vision. He lays crumpled on the ground, motionless, bleeding.
Diluc falters.
“Kaeya,” he says. Kaeya doesn’t move. “Kaeya.”
***
Diluc wakes up shouting Kaeya’s name. He sobs his name out over and over into his pillow until he feels like he’s going to throw up. He’s cold and wet with sweat, shivering or trembling, he can’t tell which.
“Luc,” comes a gentle voice, accompanied by a gentle hand on his back.
Diluc tenses, and then shifts slightly, glancing across to where he knows Kaeya is laying, looking at him in deep concern.
“Luc, it’s okay,” he says gently again.
Diluc sits up, grabbing ahold of Kaeya and looking him over, checking every inch of his body for injury, but he comes up clean.
When he finally meets Kaeya’s eye again, he’s shaking. He heaves out another sob, and Kaeya is quick to gather him into his arms.
“I’m alright,” he promises, giving Diluc a squeeze. “I’m right here, I’m alright. I’m just fine, ‘Luc. I’m perfect.”
Diluc nods shakily, and collapses on top of Kaeya into the bed. If he lays on him like this, then Kaeya can’t move- or go anywhere. No one can get to him, or hurt him- nothing can happen without Diluc knowing about it first.
“Kae,” Diluc chokes out into his skin.
Kaeya’s fingers lace into his hair, stroking gently as he holds him. “It’s okay,” he soothes. “It’s all over now. I’m okay, and I love you.”
Diluc makes a weak sound at that, starting to relax a little. “I love you too,” he whispers shakily. “Kaeya-”
“Shh,” Kaeya stops him, kissing his head. “You don’t need to say anything. It’s okay. Everything is alright now. I promise.”
Diluc gives in at those words, slumping into him. He lets himself calm, reality washing back over him. Kaeya is alright. They’re both alright. And Kaeya loves him, and he’s safe. Finally.