Chapter Text
Kaeya woke up.
That was a shock.
Staring up at the pale ceiling with its gold trim was another.
The slight singe on the ceiling corner told him this was Diluc’s room.
If it wasn’t for the immense pain that rolled over Kaeya as his brain woke up more, he would say he had died.
Shelving that revelation and incoming breakdown, he took stock of the room.
Moving slowly, he saw Diluc lying half on the bed, sleeping. A blanket was thrown over his shoulders.
Aether curled up in the matching chair, curled in a similar blanket.
Bringing his hand up, which was exhausting, he touched his neck, feeling the bandages. Talking was out; he didn’t even test to know that he was asking for a world of pain.
Letting his hand drop, he grabbed a piece of Diluc’s hair and tugged it much lighter than he wanted it to be, as weak as he was.
Diluc sat up fast, causing the chair to squeak on the floor as it moved, waking Aether up, who nearly punched Diluc in the face as Aether unfolded rather quickly, looking ready for a fight. Kaeya watched as both of them had the same slow blink realization as he stared back at them.
“Kaeya, you are awake,” Aether announced.
“You weren’t supposed to be awake for another week,” Diluc finally said.
They must have been trying to keep him under to heal. He would have told them that most medication like that doesn’t work on him. Side effects of becoming immune to certain poisons.
Kaeya couldn’t say that, though. Instead, he exaggeratedly rolled his eyes to say, ‘well, I am awake now.’
“I am going to get Barbara,” Diluc said shortly in reply, and Kaeya was pretty sure the only thing stopping Diluc from stomping was the fear of Adelinde. Kaeya squinted; there was something off with Diluc.
As Diluc left, Aether moved to sit on the edge of the bed in Kaeya’s line of sight.
“You have been out for about five days. I had noticed you leaving the city. I had been out for a walk while Paimon was sleeping, and Diluc had been closing up Angel’s Share, so I grabbed him. We checked out your place first, and we found the threatening note from the Abyss Order telling you to come with no weapon, or the Knights would get hurt.”
Kaeya blinked. He knew that wasn’t what the note said. It clicked rather quickly. Aether was telling him the cover story; why there was a cover story was a question he would ask later, “Diluc and I took off to follow, and we thankfully ran into Rosaria. We told her to get Jean or Barbara and follow to the temple.”
Aether paused for a moment, then purposefully made eye contact with him, “Diluc and I arrived just moments before the leader cut your throat.” Kaeya winced because he could read between the lines; they saw him do that himself. Aether relaxed the eye contact, his gaze softening, “I distracted and engaged the enemies while Diluc stopped the bleeding by cauterizing the wound.”
That explained why Diluc was off. “The underlings went down, but the leader eluded us. Thankfully for everyone, Jean, Barbara, and a team of medics from the Church met us halfway, we discussed it, and we thought the Winery might be a better place to recover as then we could set up a watch without getting in the Sisters’ way.”
Kaeya was on suicide watch, and there was a cover story, so only Aether and Diluc knew what kind of watch it was.
Many questions were bouncing around Kaeya’s brain, mostly why, but before he could figure out how to ask them, the door opened, and Barbra walked in with a book and pen in hand. No sign of Diluc.
“Hello, Sir Kaeya, I hear you woke up; I am sure you are in a lot of pain,” Barbara said, offering a pen and paper.
“Do you think it is possible to write what medication works for you?”
Making a thumbs up, he took the paper and pen, and with a talent that probably spoke of his habits, he wrote a quick list of the medication that worked and left a note about why the others didn’t work.
Barbara picked it back up and scanned it over. She must have gotten to his note at the end because she looked up at him, “Oh, that makes sense, thank you. I will be back in just a moment with the one you listed. Now you can’t talk about the foreseeable future, so I’ll leave the book and pen here if you would like?” Barbra offered.
Kaeya gave a thumbs up in thanks. Taking the book and pen back.
Barbara disappeared out the door.
Why?
Kaeya wrote and pushed the paper towards Aether.
Aether glanced down, hummed as he read the single word, then looked back at Kaeya.
“You know I am the youngest twin. I was the spare to an imperialist regime.”
Kaeya blinked at the sudden information, and the concerning implications. Kaeya did the only thing he could, resting his hand on Aether’s, trying to comfort him.
Aether smiled, “What I am saying is I understand. I was also told and raised as if I was born to be a tool, but Kaeya, no one is born to be a tool,” Aether held Kaeya’s hand, keeping eye contact, “The Stars are kinder than that. You deserve a life beyond being a tool, just like I did.”
Kaeya was grateful he couldn’t talk because he didn’t know what to say to that, let alone believe it.
Aether must have seen that on his face, “It’s okay, you don’t believe me.”
Barbara bustled in, unaware of the conversation she had missed.
“Okay, we were able to find the correct pain medication, Sir Kaeya.”
Aether didn’t move or let go of Kaeya’s hand.
Barbara seemed unphased and began explaining what was going to happen.
“A large dose right now, and it will probably make you sleep a lot. Do not fight it. The burns saved your life, however, the skin is very fragile, better for you to be asleep, and we will start decreasing the dosage gradually as you heal more.” Barbra paused, waiting for some kind of reply from him.
As his dominant hand was being held, he used his other to write a mess okay on a fresh page.
Okay.
Nodding, Barbara then measures out a dosage.
Kaeya jotted another messy note, pushing the paper towards Aether.
Tell him he already getting wrinkles.
Aether snorted. “I will.”
“All right, Sir Kaeya. This will only hurt a moment,” Barbara stated.
Kaeya closed his eyes.
Exhaustion had been there since he woke up, and as the medication numbed the pain, it was easy to fall completely under.
Kaeya knew everything would still be there once he woke. It was a cold and warm thought, but it was his last before consciousness slipped through his fingers completely.