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Diluc has an uncanny knack for knowing when Kaeya is about to show up before he sees him.
It could be due to the windy air of Mondstadt. As the city of the Anemo Archon, perhaps the tales of hearing whispers in the wind aren’t a fluke.
Or, it could be due to Kaeya's habit of carrying one or two calla lilies on him at all times, one he's had ever since they were kids.
Or both.
In any case, it doesn’t come as a surprise to Diluc that he smells calla lilies right before Kaeya strides in front of him.
“Evening, Master Diluc,” Kaeya says in that falsely breathy voice of his. Diluc tames his expression into what he hopes looks like an unimpressed glare. A few people pass them as they head to the market, and most turn their heads with knowing smiles. Diluc does his best to ignore them, but also can’t quite make eye contact with the man in front of him.
“Sir Kaeya,” he says with a stiff nod.
“The weather has certainly been nice. Nice and breezy.”
“I’m not here for idle chatter,” Diluc drawls. Seeing Kaeya fake pleasantries like this in public makes him antsy. “I have places to be.”
“I don’t,” Kaeya says, smiling. Diluc hates that it’s getting harder and harder to tell which of his smiles are genuine or fake, and he doesn’t know if it says more about him or Kaeya. “Have places to be, that is.”
“None of my concern.”
Diluc turns to leave, but Kaeya slides in front of him with a hand held out in a stopping gesture.
“Now, now," Kaeya looks up at him with a raised brow. “Why so hasty? Unless you’re involved in, say, unspeakable nightly activities? How scandalous, Master Diluc.” He presses a hand to his mouth in mock surprise.
He feels his face heating up. It’s so like Kaeya to refer to his protecting Mondstadt as… that.
“That’s enough.” He pushes Kaeya aside, much more gently than he intended. Still, Kaeya moves with his arm without comment.
He feels Kaeya’s gaze on his back as he walks away.
The next time he smells calla lilies, it's at Dawn Winery.
Initially, Diluc thinks the wind must’ve carried the smell all the way up from the lake. Kaeya hasn’t been around the Winery much, or at all. Thinking about it hurts, but still he can’t help the bubbling sense of hope as he looks around for any sign of blue.
To his pleasant surprise, Kaeya actually arrives.
“And what might the young Master Diluc be up to on this fine day?”
Keeping an eye out for you, he thinks.
“Doing my job,” he flatly says instead.
“Picking grapes for the Winery sale, I see,” Kaeya ignores him. “The great young Master, selflessly using the best of the yard to promote less drinking behavior.”
Diluc knows he’s mocking him, but bites his tongue.
Kaeya reaches past him, brushing their arms together. Diluc’s too distracted by the both familiar and strange contact to see the other pick a few grapes next to him. He remembers a time they would’ve held hands, bumped shoulders, patted each other on the backs, or wrestled on the ground with laughter echoing past the walls. Now he can hardly believe they just happened to touch.
“These look good,” Kayea remarks without a change in expression, holding out the fruit in a hand.
Diluc is a fool for thinking anything of it. Fighting the urge to interrogate him and figure out what he's doing here, Diluc holds out his basket of grapes for Kaeya to drop them into.
“...Thanks.”
“It’s my pleasure.”
Kaeya abruptly leaves on his own, swiveling around to walk away.
The word “stay” catches in his throat, and Diluc feels like a useless idiot as he watches him leave.
The Dawn Winery workers find him later that day staring down into his grape basket, as though the fruit within held all the answers in the world.
-
Kaeya is practical. Pragmatic, Diluc used to call him once Crepus taught them the word.
In other words, if it works, it works.
What does not seem to be working, however, are his advances on Diluc.
No matter how many times he breaks into the other’s personal space, or the amount of times he’s made an out-of-pocket comment, Diluc refuses to garner a proper reaction.
“Very funny,” Diluc deadpans across the bar counter. The tavern is full of whiskey and ale tonight, and the air feels suggestively heavy.
“Ask just about anyone, and I can guarantee they’d agree that our young Master is the most eligible, most handsome bachelor you could find.”
Diluc rolls his eyes, and Kaeya tracks the movement with his own eager eye. “Absolutely no one would say that. Not a single person in all of Mondstadt.”
“Am I not someone of Mondstadt?” He pouts, pressing the tips of his fingers to his collarbone and leaning back in offense. “Why, Diluc, I thought I was welcome here?”
He knows he’s pressing something deeper than what a casual patron of the tavern would hear. Perhaps it’s in bad taste to bring up the secrets he’d spilled that night, when Diluc had turned on him in grief-fueled fury. Usually when he wants to push his buttons, he brings up the way Diluc handled his father’s legacy. This isn’t so much of a stretch, is it?
And maybe he can’t deal with the way Diluc avoids him, the way Diluc brushes him off like he doesn’t mean anything to him anymore, or the fact that they hadn’t had a proper conversation since then.
Diluc’s cringe is only barely visible, perhaps only to Kaeya, who knows his every expression. “You are just as welcome as anyone else.”
You are the same to me as everyone else, Kayea hears, You mean nothing more to me than the average stranger. There is no Get out, I only tolerate you to monitor the threat you pose, or I accepted you long ago and I’m happy you’re still here. No acknowledgement of that night, of who Kaeya really is. No progress whatsoever.
Frozen in limbo, and yet freezing is all he knows to do.
His stomach churns, and Kaeya schools his expression to lean forward, resting his elbow on the counter and putting his chin on his palm. He tries to make his other hand look as though it is lazily swirling his drink, the epitome of nonchalance, and not a reflection of his inner turmoil.
Fluttering his eyelashes to look up at Diluc’s slight frown, he amps up his flowery voice that he knows Diluc hates to change the tone. “I bet you say that to all the girls.”
He can’t very well speak normally, anyway, because that would mean he’s serious and wants a real conversation with real feelings, and he knows it’ll only push Diluc even farther away.
“Whatever,” Diluc snaps, quickly turning around. Kaeya watches as Diluc motions for Charles to take his place at the bar, and watches still as Diluc’s tailcoat disappears around the back door.
Some time later, Kaeya finds himself walking into the Whispering Woods. He takes in the dark night sky, the twinkling stars, and Celestia hiding behind the clouds with a knowing eye.
The wind picks up as he slows his pace. Lamp grass blinks at him from between blades of flora. They don’t smell so much as they glow, if sniffing them with Diluc as kids is anything to go by.
He considers walking the rest of the way to Starfell Lake to pick some fresh calla lilies to replace the dried ones in his coat pocket, before a large gust of wind hits him from behind.
“Having some trouble?” A young man’s voice piques up, and Kaeya turns to see Venti striding up to him. “Finding solitude in the rubble?”
“Oh?” He raises a brow, quickly masking whatever expression he had on before with a pleasant smile. “And what might the greatest bard in town be doing here?”
“Answering a question with a question,” Venti shakes his head and tuts. “A sure sign of suppression.”
“Lovely poetry as always,” Kaeya dryly remarks.
“Many thanks, good knight. May I ask what you’re doing on this lovely night?”
“Knight with night? A weak rhyme, if I had to say. Weren’t you playing the poetry teacher at the last Windblume festival?”
“Avoidance again,” Venti shakes his head, but throws his hands up in defeat. “I’ll stop. But honestly, how many times do I need to call you out for you to answer?”
“That’s a trick question,” Kaeya smirks. “Don’t you know the answer already, teach? I don’t answer until I feel like it.”
“It does appear to be the problem you’re having.”
“And what troubles could you possibly speak of? This Cavalry Captain makes a living solving them.”
“The one I alluded to before,” Venti says, skipping past him to get a better look at the small lamp grass. “Let’s just call it… a lack of communication.”
Kaeya huffs, chest constricting a bit at the implication of his line of sight. “All that praise for being a smooth talker was for naught?”
“Come on, now,” Venti sighs, facing him. “You’re not just avoiding this conversation, you’re avoiding your problems. In fact, it’s written all over your face when you’re alone.”
“But if I’m alone, how would you see it?”
“Do you know what this place is called?” Venti asks, and Kaeya looks at him incredulously. “The Whispering Woods. It’s no coincidence that the wind can pick up a few things and drop them off in another’s ear.”
“Uh huh,” Kaeya hums. “How interesting that a mere bard would know.”
“Don’t be like that! Of course a bard should know how to listen to the tune of the breeze.” Venti turns to cock his head and smiles, his eyes turning up into crescents. “But forget about me. I’m here for you. Think of this as my continued class for romantic advice.”
“For my so-called troubles?”
“Indeed, indeed!” Venti exclaims, and Kaeya briefly considers kicking him if he continues to fake his enthusiasm. Still, Venti continues proudly with a hand on his heart and the other reaching up as if he’s reciting a play. “The wind carries songs, of misfortunate wrongs. Of childhood friends, who have yet to make amends. Of betrayal and grief, with aftermath meetings, however brief.”
“As much as I enjoy listening to this,” Kaeya interjects, not bothering to analyze the bard's ballad, “Can you get to your point?”
“A sore loser, I see,” Venti crosses his arms and sniffs. “All I want to say is that you and a certain somebody are driving me completely insane.”
“Excuse me?”
“That’s right,” Venti goes on. “It’s all I ever hear. The tension between the two of you is so high that all of Mondstadt knows about your so-called ‘brotherly rivalry.’ In fact, people talk more about the both of you that I hardly hear anything about my performance at the Cat’s Tail!”
Kaeya nearly snorts. Was that what this was about?
Venti continues, “I’ve tried a thing or two, but I can only do so much.”
Kaeya already knew about the gossip of him and Diluc going on in the city. The glances of passers-by were far too obvious for someone who specializes in reading people. Still, regardless of Venti’s reason, real or made-up, he hardly thought he’d care.
“So?” Kaeya asks after a moment. “If you’re really offering advice, what do you think I should do?”
“Just talk to him!” Venti cries out, throwing his hands up. “Don’t you already do a bunch of communication as a Knight Captain? For Celestia’s sake, talk to the man.”
Kaeya’s face scrunches up, “That’s a bit harder than-”
“I know,” Venti says, exasperated. “It’s hard. You’re afraid of driving him away and losing him forever, aren’t you? But if you still love him-” Kaeya pointily glares at him for that, “-like I know you still do, and if I know Diluc as well as I know you, then there won’t be any problems.”
“And I just take your word for it?”
“Yes!”
And, to his own surprise, he does.
Kaeya's feet take him out of the woods, past the city, past Springvale, and onto the grounds of Dawn Winery.
“May the wind be with you,” Venti had told him as he left. If the lack of a breeze was anything to go by, don’t blame Kaeya for his lack of faith.
It’s nearing midnight, if not already past it, and Kaeya’s on the brink of saving it for a later time before the doors of the mansion swing open.
“Kaeya?” Diluc calls from inside. He pushes the doors further open to reveal he’s still in his day clothes. Kaeya wonders if he already went out on his nightly vigilante patrol.
“Oh,” is all Kaeya can make out, clearing his throat. “What luck, meeting Master Diluc here.”
“...I live here.”
“Of course, of course!” He plasters on a smile, then remembers what he came here for. Kaeya attempts to pull the smile down into a serious press of lips, but his muscles twitch at the unfamiliar sensation of taking off his mask right in front of someone.
It’s been much too long since he’d done that.
“Kaeya?” Diluc calls out again. More hesitantly, he adds, “You alright?”
It punches a nervous laugh out of him before he can stop himself. He settles with a small smile.
“Can we… talk?”
“Now?” Diluc says, looking up at the dark sky, as if confirming the late hour. He brings his gaze back down to level with Kaeya’s. “Are you drunk?”
“Oh, not at all,” he waves his hands. “Look, I can walk in a straight line.”
So he takes his chances and approaches Diluc, looking down just to make sure he’s actually walking straight. Too soon his thoughts derail into I’m really doing this, finally after so many years, this may change everything forever-
Before he realizes what’s happening, Kaeya bumps into him head-first.
“Sorry!” He jumps back to catch a look of surprise on Diluc’s face. Great, he’s probably already screwed it up. “I really didn’t mean-”
“Come in,” Diluc interrupts, quickly turning around and facing away. “We can talk inside.”
Kaeya follows him closely until he’s in. He glances back at the threshold of the Winery mansion. How long has it been since he’d last been here?
They settle on the two seats by the fireplace, a fire already roaring. Kaeya can’t help the flood of memories at the sight. A younger Diluc, testing his vision out with a smile, Crepus laughing good heartedly with a proud smile, and Kaeya at his side with a cheer.
“You’re sure you’re sober?” Diluc breaks the silence, pointedly looking into the fire, and not at him. Maybe Venti didn’t know what he was talking about, after all.
“Yes, I’m sure,” Kaeya says. “I just…”
When the silence drags for too long, Diluc turns to study him with furrowed brows.
“You just what? Why are you here?”
“You invited me in!”
“That’s not what I was referring to.”
Sighing, because he had to be better at communicating, he relents, “I wanted to talk to you.”
“About what?”
Kaeya swallows. It’s hard to get the words out, now. Now that they’re trying to talk civilly for the first time, now that he’s back in what used to feel like home. “I want to know what you think…”
He can feel Diluc watching him closely, waiting for him to finish. So he takes a breath and says, “What you think about me.”
“What I think about you,” Diluc repeats in a monotone, and Kaeya wants to bolt out of the mansion and never be seen again.
Kaeya can’t force the words out, so he simply nods, looking intently at the floor by his feet. The pounding in his chest feels so loud in his ears, and if not for the noise of the fire, he thinks Diluc would be able to hear it, too.
There’s a pause. The fire crackles ominously, and clothes shift as Diluc moves in his chair. Then, a long exhale.
“...not bad,” Diluc mutters. It’s a tone that brings Kaeya back to the days Diluc was younger and softer and more prone to crying, as hard as it is to imagine it now.
His heart flutters, and he plows onward when it doesn’t seem like Diluc will.
“We don’t talk about-” and here Kaeya’s voice hitches, but he forces himself to speak. “About that night.”
“What about it?” Surprisingly, Diluc’s voice is still gentle.
“Do you still hate me?” Kaeya says, and he can’t help the way he sounds so weak and vulnerable.
WIthout a word, he hears before he sees Diluc get out of his chair to walk over to him. Kaeya has to lift his head to look at him before he lowers himself, crouching at his side.
“You think I hate you?” Diluc asks, and his eyes are wide and Kaeya wants to kiss him.
The thought throws him off kilter, and he just stares back, mouth agape.
Quickly shutting it, he responds in a squeak, “You don’t?”
It’s Diluc’s turn to part his lips, staring at him. His expression contorts, as though he can’t decide whether to laugh or cry.
“Do you hate me?” Diluc asks, and it’s the last thing Kaeya expects him to say.
He’s the one to break first, laughing like a madman. He calms himself to see Diluc looking a bit pained.
“Of course not,” Kaeya says. “What reason could I have? I…”
And this is the moment he fears the most.
Steeling himself, he speaks quietly, like he almost hopes Diluc won’t hear him, “I love you.”
A pause.
As Kaeya’s stomach twists and turns, Diluc finally says in a firm voice, “I do too.”
Before his mind can catch up with reality, Diluc is already leaning up for a chaste kiss.
He startles to look at him when the moment’s over. Diluc is bright red, and not from the fire. Kaeya’s heart melts. He would’ve made fun of him for it, if not for how hot his own face felt.
Diluc chuckles under his breath after a beat. “You thought I hated you.”
“A bit,” Kaeya admits, feeling like a kid from the butterflies in his stomach. “You weren’t very easy to talk to, in any case.”
A thought comes to mind, and he says, “Is that why you avoided me like the plague?”
Diluc flushes even further. To Kaeya’s delight, he reaches a hand out to twine their fingers together. “You tend to make underhanded comments.”
“Only so I could tell how much you hated my guts!” Kaeya exclaims, nearly jumping up to defend himself. He makes do by squeezing Diluc’s hand. “Anyways, why’d it have to be me to start this conversation, hmm? Aren’t you the one with the least blame?”
Diluc looks a little stunned. “But you were…” He clears his throat. “I had thought about it.”
Kaeya sighs. “Well, I’ve always been the bigger man between the two of us.”
“Absolutely not true,” Diluc frowns, but now it has a playful edge, the same way as when they’d banter as teens. “Father always made sure I apologized first.”
“He made you Diluc, because you wouldn’t have otherwise.”
“Ugh,” Diluc rolls his eyes, smiling genuinely now, and Kaeya mirrors it. “I nearly forgot how insufferable you are.”
“Likewise,” Kaeya laughs.
It’s only later, sprawled across Diluc’s bed, that Kaeya asks him how he knew to open the door for him before he knocked.
“Oh, that?” Diluc looks a bit concerned. “I thought it was you.”
“Me? What’d I do?”
“A window opened,” Diluc says slowly, thinking it through. “I thought you opened it.”
Kaeya processes this, then groans. “Was there a gust of wind?”
“Actually, yeah. I smelled the flowers you always carry,” and here Diluc blushes in a way that makes Kaeya’s heart really beat.
“That little…” Kaeya narrows his eyes towards the window, staring down at the general sky. “Do you remember the Anemo Archon?”