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The first thing that Kaeya noticed as he walked into the tavern, was that no one actually seemed to be drinking. Even the usual drunkards were busy twirling their long empty glasses in their fingers, their eyes sleeping and unfocused. Just as he decided to stop and ponder this weird change, his eye landed on a bundle near the counter.
Much to his surprise, the bundle turned out to be his ex-brother, Diluc. He seemed to be asleep, with his face buried in his arms, and his long red hair splayed across the dark wooden countertop. That explains the lack of drinks in the tavern at this time.
Kaeya chuckles to himself. The knights are inefficient? At least we never fall sleep on the job. A sudden urge to grab a kamera and use a picture of this moment as blackmail also came up, until he noticed that Diluc had started shaking.
The sly smile slid off his face like sap as he quickly made his way over to Diluc’s side. Diluc was in fact trembling, and ragged breaths could be heard beneath his arms. Kaeya placed a gentle hand over his shoulder, and leaned in close to the redhead’s face.
“Diluc? Can you hear me?”
Diluc stirred, then groaned and muttered “gowwayy..!”
Resisting the urge to laugh, Kaeya tried again. “Are you sleeping?”
The redhead took a while to answer. “Mmmsleepyy..”
The bluenette rolled his eyes. “You shouldn’t be sleeping on the job, you know. Why haven’t you been sleeping at home?”
“Izzcary..”
Ah. Being kept awake at night by nightmares was something Kaeya knew too well about. The thought never crossed his mind that Diluc might be experiencing the same. Giving the redhead a gingerly pat on the back, he turned and left the tavern through the back door.
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It was a few days later in the winery, when Adelinde dropped off a mysterious package on Diluc’s study desk. When Diluc questioned the maid about it’s contents, Adelinde merely shrugged and said she found this on the front door, addressed to him.
The package sat on Diluc’s desk for a good 5 hours before curiosity got the best of him, and he reached towards the lid.
Instantly, upon removing said lid, the redhead’s face shifted into a look of bewildered and unbelief. Inside the already hideous box, was an even more hideous Diluc shaped plushy. Complete with a bunch of fluffy red yarn for the hair, and dressed in a bland piece of black fabric. An attempted angry expression was scribbled on with a black permanent marker. It was huge, too, probably half a metre big. Underneath the plush, was a hastily written letter.
Dear my sweet old brother!
I noticed lately that you seem to be more prone to falling asleep on the job, then any of our knights are. I hope this shows that we aren’t as inefficient as you think.
But that aside, I also found out that you have trouble sleeping at night. So, as always, your sweet little brother is here to help.
As you probably noticed in the box, I made you a huggable Diluc plushy! Please feel free to hug it and sleep MUCH BETTER at night. Better yet, send me a pic of you HUGGING IT, as I want to stick it on my wall.
Good luck! (And don’t forget the pic), Kaeya
Diluc’s face had shifted into one of pure disgust as he imagined himself ever using this as so called comfort. So he sloppily tossed both the packaging and the actual plush to the side, and roughly ripped up Kaeya’s letter. He wasn’t a child, anymore.
____________________
That night, Diluc once again woke up from a horrible nightmare about his long deceased father. So once again, he woke up trembling and struggling to breathe properly.
Even his hand shook badly when he attempted to grab at the cup of water on his bedside table. After taking a gentle sip and placing the cup back, he realized he was in for another sleepless night.
Until he noticed the hideous package he received earlier today, on the table where he left it.
He blinked, then turned away again. No way in Barbatos is he actually going to sleep with a huggable Diluc. But he takes the plushy out of the box nevertheless, and sets it beside his pillow. To keep away the nightmares.
____________________
“Kaeya-..Kaeya what the hell? Where the f*** did you get that?”
Diluc’s neck and ears flushed almost as red has his hair, as he made a weak attempt to grab for the photo in Kaeya’s hands.
The captain smirked, and tucked the photograph in his coat, out of the redhead’s reach.
“Kaeya, who gave you that photo?”
Kaeya’s sh** eating grin taunts at Diluc. “You thought Adelinde would let this adorable moment slide? She gave me this. Took it last night after you fell asleep. Not to be a stalker or anything, don’t worry,” he laughs, “she went to check in you last night and thought you were adorable. You know how Adelinde is, she loves you like her own.”
Coughing into his arm, Diluc makes a mental note to lock his door from now on. Chuckling, Kaeya reaches back into his coat and pulls the photo out. “Calm down, brother. I wasn’t actually going to blackmail you. Take it if you want, or give it back to Adelinde. Just be careful or she’ll put it in the family album!”
Diluc scoffs, and snatches the photo from Kaeya’s hand. He glares at it for a few moments before stuffing it into the deepest pocket he has.
No one has to know he ever slept with that Diluc plushy.