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The relationship between Kaeya and Diluc after the return of the Ragnvindr was anything but close. They treated the other with as much politeness as they could, or at least Diluc did. Kaeya on the other hand was simply curious of how much his former brother would tolerate him when showing up at Angel's Share whenever its owner was there. That and his obvious liking for his favorite drink would make him a regular there.
With the passing of time, Diluc seemed less and less angry at the sight of Kaeya frequenting the spaces he, Diluc, would be whenever he had business in Mondstadt, until at one point he discovered himself expecting Kaeya's presence.
When that happened, Diluc could only stop himself from having a panic attack at the thought of desiring listening to Kaeya's contagious laugh and seductive voice by going upstairs the tavern to the storage room and sitting in the floor, with his legs between his arms. It wasn't until Kaeya's voice brought him back to the present that he noticed that quite the time had happened since he disappeared from the counter.
Consciously or not, he removed the safety of the door and let Kaeya enter as well. Looking at the floor and with his hand still on the knob he didn't know what to say or to do. Fortunately, Kaeya saved him from thinking too hard in making a choice.
"I'm not going to ask what's going on or what's wrong. Neither I'm going to pretend that my presence is welcomed, but I know that you need someone to talk to so you can lift that weight from your shoulders. I've been there and I know how it feels to have those feelings of anxiety and panic." Hesitating, he put his hand over Diluc's shoulder and gave a little squeeze. "You can talk to Jean or Lisa, they're good listeners."
After that, Kaeya left the storage room and left.
Diluc wanted to chase after him and explain... something. He wasn't sure what exactly, but it was something.
Or maybe just having his presence there was enough. But that was something Diluc wasn't prepared to accept yet.
After some time, Diluc just pretended that the episode didn't occur and he continued to live as he used to. If someone noticed his brief smiles towards any incoherent remarks said by Kaeya, no one made it obvious they knew it happened. Looking at how those two were tightening their bond to something like friendship made Mondstadt more lively.
The day Kaeya noticed that Diluc was finally opening up to him was one of the happiest ones since their fight occurred many years ago.
At the beginning, when Diluc returned, he was really wary of his once upon a time brother because their fight was pretty much the definition of betrayal and revenge in the same instant. Him being the traitor and Diluc getting revenge by cutting out every tie between them with his pyro vision and his claymore. But then, after some time, Diluc's behavior seemed more lenient to every joke Kaeya said when visiting Angel's Share and the remarks about the Knights of Favonius being useless were less and less.
That's why he decided to go after Diluc when the owner didn't reappear after an hour or so after going upstairs. He noticed something was off when the Ragnvindr made his way to the stairs and didn't even look back when one of the patrons greeted him.
Once he went inside the same storage room Diluc was hiding himself from the outside world, he had to keep himself from embracing him to avoid getting hurt, either from a punch or Diluc's pyro vision. Even if Kaeya was willing to have a closer relationship once again with the young Master of the Dawn Winery, there were some scars that even when healed, the memories remained. But the less he could do was to provide advice. One that helped him when dealing with his trauma with fire those first days after his fight with Diluc helped him overcome it.
Kaeya never knew if Diluc took his advice, but what he knew was the other seemed equally eager to give that strange relationship a chance. So they made a silent deal to try and see what the future would hold for the two of them.
And so, every weekend Diluc would come help at the Angel's Share to give Charles time off from his job. And if there was Diluc, nowadays you could also see Kaeya there.
The both of them tended to just talk about Mondstadt, the Knights of Favonius, Dawn Winery and so on. Sharing experiences from missions in Kaeya's case or some findings and/or interesting details from his network in Diluc's case. They just kept the talk going and never seemed to be lacking topics to talk to with the other. The only exceptions of them talking of random things were when someone else would join them just to enjoy a night out of duty. Like Rosaria, Venti or even occasionally Albedo, although this one just ordered non-alcoholic drinks like Diluc. On rare occasions, Lisa and Jean would join them just to pass the time with them.
The little smiles, almost imperceptible, made Kaeya desire being able to see Diluc more often. Waiting until the weekend started to feel like an eternity so one day he decided to pay him a visit at his Manor.
He wasn't aware of how much he wanted to listen to Diluc's voice and see his eyes shine with his jokes until he was greeted by a surprised Adeline.
He made an out of the blue excuse about something to talk about with Diluc so he could be let inside the Manor. Looking at Adeline's skeptical eyes and one of her eyebrows raised, he knew his excuse wasn't convincing at all. He was let go either way. And what was more, he was led to Diluc's study in the second plant.
After that, Kaeya would be found in Dawn Winery whenever he didn't have urgent matters to attend to in the headquarters from the Knights of Favonius, but even so, there were times when a knight would come for him when Jean asked him to assist her in some missions or paperwork reports.
When Kaeya least expected it, Diluc grabbed his hand and intertwined their fingers. His face was red as his hair. Kaeya smiled like there was no tomorrow and squeezed their fingers together even more.
Their relationship turned to something pure after that. Their voices went from being heard to being hushes only they could understand. The laughs were more timid smiles adorned with rosy cheeks and shiny eyes. And the weekends at Angel's Share were less a friends' rendezvous and more date nights.
It took Diluc quite the time to accept that the nature of his relationship with Kaeya was inclined more on the romantic side than a simple friendship, but once he fully accepted it he was prepared to try his best to make Kaeya feel like belonging once again. Either belonging to Mondstadt, or just in Diluc's life. It took time. But he was willing to accept and forgive. Forgive and try. Try to be happy.
So, when Valentine's day came, Diluc prepared dinner and Kaeya's favorite drink so they could enjoy themselves that night. He just intended to treat Kaeya to something else than the classic drinks and skewers at Angel's Share but he got a bigger reward one month later when Kaeya kissed him and asked him to be his boyfriend on White Day.
Their relationship developed a little slowly but neither of them complained about it. They even enjoyed the feeling of getting to know each other once again, this time both as adults and with more experiences in life and more freedom than before.
When their first year was approaching, Kaeya planned an activity for Diluc. A treasure hunt. At first Diluc was reluctant to do it but Kaeya's eyes and pouting mouth convinced him to go with the flow. And so, when the first clue was presented to him, he didn't know if he wanted to smile or to sigh.
"The wind grows in the wood of the gifted one whose wings never cease to run.
- The start of a journey."
It was obvious that it was something found in Mondstadt and it could be related to Barbatos or the anemo elemental energy. At first he thought that the next clue would be in the Anemo Archon statue, but after going there and looking throughout, he noticed that the clue mentioned wood, so either it was a tree or...
"Of course..." He grunted, going back to his tavern. "A philanemo mushroom."
After getting the exact mushroom he felt like a little victory for taking less than an hour to solve the riddle. But then he looked at the second riddle and this time let a heavy sigh out.
"Nothing is ever easy with you, right Kaeya?"
"The night approaches quickly when the birds go home. The salt can be seen glittering up in the sky when the moon is alone.
-With you by my side."
So the next clue seemed to be from somewhere outside Mondstadt. And if he knew Kaeya, it was something that could only be found in a place where he can see the moon without anything to obstruct his view.
Salt glittering. Night. Sky. Moon. Maybe a lake? No. The water there was sweet. That's it! He thought. The sea! And more specifically, somewhere high would be the Starsnatch Cliff! But, should he wait until night to go there? The clue mentioned the night and the moon, it'd be wise to follow his instinct regarding that detail.
Waiting until night became a very tiring task. Diluc just wanted to get over it and go to the next clue to see what surprise Kaeya prepared for him. From time to time he would look at the clock and then try to resume his task of cleaning glasses. It would be fair enough to say that he didn't really complete all the glasses he intended to because of how much he looked at the clock. But when the sunrise came, he promptly left the tavern and went on his path to Starsnatch Cliff.
Once there, he just waited until the sun was completely hidden and the moon started to rise. He didn't know what to look for so he just looked around for a while.
But there wasn't anything. Except for a couple cuddled almost at the end of the cliff, watching the stars and the sea.
Diluc sighed once again and took a seat in a log that seemed to be used for that purpose. He waited a bit more and was debating if he should leave and look at another place or wait a little more when the couple stood up and approached him.
"Master Diluc, good night." Said the hound man, the girl was hiding herself on his back, maybe she was shy or didn't want to get recognized. Whatever the reason it was only the young man who spoke to him. "I was told to give this to you."
"To me?" He asked while thinking: A letter. What an unoriginal thing, Kaeya. But he accepted it anyway.
"Well. I'm not really sure." Answered the other, making Diluc raise one eyebrow. "You see, I was instructed to deliver this to whoever showed up today, when the moon is full. And you're here, so..."
"Oh."
"W-well. Good night!" Said the young man and quickly grabbed the girl's hand to pull her to the path leading to Mondstadt.
"Instructed to deliver it when the moon is full... How much time did you take to prepare this, Kaeya?" Diluc asked no one. Smiling while caressing the letter without noticing an eye that was looking at him from afar, hidden by the trees and some bushes.
"The salt sometimes leads to small lights. Nothing is set in stone, but they grow strong with every passing day.
-Let us enjoy this together."
More salt? Certainly it had to be somewhere with the sea very near again and something related to lights in a stone. While thinking about it he started walking near the cliff, looking at anything that could glow in the night but the little fireflies he found weren't close to any stone. So he just kept waking. Until he arrived at the Thousand Winds Temple and remembered a time when he and Kaeya, as little boys, used to play near the Ruin Guardian. Kaeya would often end their play running to the ruins near the cliff to cut some small lamp grass so they can use them to go back to Dawn Winery when they...
Small lamp grass. Near a stone. I'll concede you this one, Kaeya.
Getting to those specific ruins wasn't difficult. The hard part was looking at every small lamp grass to find the clue. But he only saw flower after flower. No clue at all.
Diluc decided to rest for a bit so he sat down to think where the clue could be. He looked at the sky, the moon and the sea. Then back again to the flowers that were arranged in every corner. There were three of them in one corner, then one small lamp grass where he was sitting, and four on the other side as if...
As if they were a patron to follow.
He looked at the top of the pillars where the flowers were at and sure enough there was a pyro torch.
"How clever Kaeya. You made me think hard for this one. You just wait..." He said, smiling even more because this was funny and he was really enjoying it if he were to be honest.
So he ignited everyone in the correct order.
But nothing happened.
Did Kaeya trick him?
No. That wasn't it.
There was something he was missing.
Maybe another torch? They were usually grouped by threes, fours and fives. If with four nothing happened, then there was one missing.
Looking around he noticed that there was a bush that seemed to be frozen. He tried his luck there.
It was the missing torch!
He quickly activated his vision and melted the ice to then fire up the torch.
At that moment a small chest appeared at the center of the area.
"Sometimes, gifts don't have to necessarily be beautiful to have a deeper meaning. A Calla Lily that grows where the ice meets the water leads to a window where its owner rests.
-Where we both spend the rest of our lives."
"A gift that it's not beautiful... Is he referring to that ugly vase? And that Calla Lily... I know which one you are talking about. I see it every day from my window..." Another smile made its way into Diluc's mouth. This wasn't a clue at all. This was Kaeya straight telling him to go home.
So he went home using the teleport in the ruins to arrive faster to the Manor and where he knew Kaeya would be waiting for him.
When Diluc entered the Manor he was greatly surprised by the sight he saw. Kaeya was waiting for him at the dining table, wearing casual clothes that made him look even more beautiful than he already was. And more sexier as well.
There were various dishes so they could choose whatever they wanted to eat. They were a variety from Mondstadt, Liyue and Inazuma, and there was another one he couldn't quite recognize but he was sure that it was related to Kaeya's past. But he wouldn't inquire about it. He wanted to enjoy everything as much as possible. Maybe after some time he could ask Kaeya to tell him about his origins, when he felt like he could trust Diluc in that regard again.
Noticing that Diluc was spacing out, Kaeya took his hands and kissed them both. Diluc looked at him and smiled. It was tinted with a little bit of sadness but his sight was warm. Kaeya then placed a kiss on his lips. Tender and pure. He then led Diluc to the table and they started to eat dinner.
It was quite late, but everything was going according to Kaeya's agenda.
When they finished, Kaeya suggested Diluc take a bath so they could relax afterwards. But Diluc made an offer that left Kaeya speechless for a moment.
"Would you like to take a bath with me?"
Diluc's face was redder than his hair but he was serious in his offer.
"Sweetheart, you know that if we do that, we won't be able to relax after the bath... Neither to take a proper bath." Answered Kaeya, closing the space between them, putting his hand in Diluc's waist.
"I... I know. That's why..."
Sometimes, Diluc's shyness was the cutest thing Kaeya would see and be happy to witness it. And he knew that Diluc was shy whenever their sexual desires were brought in their conversations. But that was what made Diluc even more beautiful and lovable. He would be shy to talk about it but his passion was firm and he never hid his desire for Kaeya.
Kaeya's kisses would leave a trail in Diluc's skin. Every love bite would be a reminder of the passionate night they spent on their first year anniversary.
Diluc's neck would have more hickies than usual and the red hair would reprimand Kaeya for leaving them where everyone could see them but he would feel happy as well to let everyone know that Kaeya was so in love with him to even left those marks as if showing his possessiveness toward Diluc.
If Diluc's voice was hoarse from time to time, one would just need to look at his neck very discreetly to know why he sounded like that. And if you sum the funny way the young Master would walk... well, there was nothing else to guess than the obvious.
Days later after the mini treasure hunt, Diluc was reminiscing about the spots Kaeya chose for the activity. There were no bigger treasures than the few precious memories they both have of their childhood in those places. When they were happy and ignorant, but full of hope and dreams of always being together.
They may have taken another path to come to this point, but they at least kept their promise to each other to be together.
'The start of a journey, with you by my side.
Let us enjoy this together, where we both spend the rest of our lives.
Happy first of many years together, love.'