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It’s been three months since Diluc and Kaeya returned from Snezhnaya. It’s March now.
He’s getting…Kaeya wants to say he’s getting better but he’s not sure how much of that is real and how much is Diluc actually pretending for everyone else’s sake. He knows that for the first three weeks back Diluc had horrific nightmares, often leading to not getting any sleep for nights on end.
When he did sleep, he slept in Kaeya’s bed, clutching his Vision so tightly Kaeya was worried he’d gouge himself on the ends. He never did, obviously, but it was always a worry of Kaeya’s.
And then after those three weeks, Kaeya came down to breakfast to find Diluc looking perfectly fine. Dressed with his hair done and no sign of the exhaustion and insomnia that had been plaguing him for days.
He was like a different person.
Over breakfast he’d told Kaeya that they both needed to return to normality, which also meant Kaeya needed to return to his apartment in the city. He knew Diluc wasn’t kicking him out to be mean , but his brother had just spent the last three weeks unable to even set foot into a dark room without Kaeya going in first.
And now he wants to be completely alone in the winery with no one around for an entire night, every night?
Kaeya knows, logically, what Diluc is doing. His brother has given himself three weeks to be, well, weak. Three weeks to actually let everything that happened affect him outwardly and has allowed himself only three weeks to let Kaeya in.
Those weeks are over and so too is Diluc’s vulnerability. Or at least, the vulnerability he’ll let other people see.
Kaeya does his very best not to push. To give Diluc time and space if that’s what his brother thinks he needs.
He assumes he’s been rewarded then when one sunny afternoon, two weeks after he’s gone back to his apartment and one full week since he’s seen Diluc last, Klee bangs into his office with all the grace of a Ruin Guard and runs up to his desk.
“Kaeya, Kaeya!” She shouts, waving a piece of parchment under his nose yet refusing to hold it still long enough for him to grab it or see. “I got a letter from Master Diluc!”
“Oh?” Kaeya asked, reaching for the letter only for Klee to pull it away yet again, gazing down at it with a giddy expression as she stomped her little feet in excitement. “And what did he say?”
“He’s inviting us to see his aviary!” Klee replied, beaming up at him before that smile turned into a frown. “Kaeya, what’s an aviary?”
“Ah, that’s a place people keep their pet birds,” Kaeya replied. “Master Diluc’s is a little different than normal though.”
“Really?”
“Mmhm. Master Diluc’s is huge –” Kaeya spread his arms wide and leaned back in his seat for dramatic effect, drawing a laugh from Klee. “And the top is open so his birds and any wild ones can come and go as they please. He has such a routine at this point that they always know just what time to show up to get love and attention.”
And food.
“Can we go Kaeya?” Klee begged. “Can we, can we, can we!? I wanna see Master Diluc’s birds, please !?”
“Of course we can go.”
“Can we go now !? He said we can come today, please can we go now Kaeya!?”
Klee was just one level below screaming at this point but for once Kaeya didn’t mind as he stood and replied,
“Sure Klee. Why don’t we grab something to eat on the way? I’m sure Master Diluc would appreciate that.”
Klee all but ran out of his office.
……………….
“Hello Master Kaeya,” Adelinde said sweetly when she answered the door. “And Miss Klee. I presume you’re here to see Master Diluc?”
“If he’s not too busy,” Kaeya replied.
“Not at all. He’s taking the day off, actually. He did inform me the two of you might be stopping by. He’s at the aviary. You remember where it is?”
“I do,” Kaeya replied. “Thanks Adelinde.”
“Of course, sir. I’ll be out with some grape juice for everyone soon.”
Waving goodbye, Kaeya took Klee’s hand and led her across Dawn Winery’s large property in the direction of the aviary.
“When did Master Diluc get his aviary?” Klee asked as they walked.
“That’s a good question, Klee,” Kaeya replied. “Well, I was adopted and he had it before I came, so maybe when he was five or six? It was a birthday present from our father.”
“That’s a big birthday present.”
Kaeya laughed. “Well, the Ragnvindr family is the richest in Mondstadt and Diluc is the second richest person in Teyvat so they have a lot of money.”
“Really?” Klee frowned. “Then how come Master Diluc wears the same thing all the time?”
Kaeya’s loud laughter rang through the fields, startling a few hilichurls lurking nearby who promptly scurried away.
……………….
Diluc was in the aviary when they arrived, Dawn on his shoulder as he ensured the water dishes were filled and there was available food.
“Hi Master Diluc!” Klee said as she and Kaeya entered the mental enclosure. Her eyes lit up at the sight of the bird and she waved eagerly. “Hi Dawn!”
Diluc straightened up and turned to smile at them. “Hello Klee,” he greeted pleasantly. “Hello Kaeya.”
Kaeya didn’t think it had been that long since he’d seen Diluc and yet his brother looked… different .
There was a light in his eyes that hadn’t been there since before he was taken to Snezhnaya and he no longer looked like a walking corpse. There was color in his cheeks and the dark circles that Kaeya was starting to worry were permanent were finally gone from under his eyes.
His body was loose and the only indication of any lingering paranoia was the fact that he now wore his Vision on his chest rather than his hip.
Today he’s wearing his usual trousers and boots, but he’s forgon the gloves and his coat and just has the vest and long black shirt underneath, sleeves rolled up to his elbows and hair pulled back in a high tail.
“Diluc,” Kaeya murmured. “You look…” he swallowed. “Good.”
Diluc raised an eyebrow. “Thanks?” He asked. “How have you been?”
“Fine,” Kaeya replied. “And you?”
“Busy,” Diluc replied. “We’ve opened trade routes with Snezhnaya so we’ve had a lot of orders to start filling.”
“...you’re kidding , right?” Kaeya actually can’t be hearing him currently. After everything that nation has done to him, he’s going to open trade routes !? “ Diluc –”
But his brother is still smiling and there’s a glint in his eyes that Kaeya hasn’t seen…
Hell , that Kaeya hasn’t seen since they were seventeen and he realizes that he’s being played and he’s actually almost pisssed. Or he would be, anyway, if seeing his brother smiling and happy after the nightmare of the last few months wasn’t something he thought was all in the past.
“You’re a jerk,” he remarked.
Diluc just shrugged—he had the audacity to shrug! Kaeya can’t believe this shit—before turning to Klee and asking,
“Would you like to pet one of my birds?”
Klee’s eyes go practically wide as saucers as she asks, “Can I pet Dawn?”
Diluc smiled and knelt down, offering the back of his forearm to Dawn where she sat perched on his shoulder, waiting until she shifted onto his arm to lower her to Klee’s level.
Klee was shockingly gentle as she stroked Dawn’s feathers, praising the bird almost nonstop about how pretty she was and how much Klee loved her.
She is, however, staring her beady little eyes straight into Kaeya’s soul the entire time. As if to warn him that if he dares to hurt her master, she’s gonna peck his eye out.
Kaeya, child that he is, sticks his tongue out at her.
One of Diluc’s other birds chooses that moment—perhaps in retaliation—to poop in his hair and Kaeya shrieks, Klee whirling around at the sound only to start laughing at his misfortune while Diluc covers his mouth with his hand to hide his own joining grin.
“YOu did that on purpose!” Kaeya declared, pointing a finger at Dawn who just turned to innocently nuzzle up against Diluc who was staring at Kaeya with a frown.
“Kaeya, Dawn’s not the one who–”
“She told him too.”
Diluc blinked, opening his mouth for a moment until they heard, “oh dear” and turned to find Adelinde entering the winery with a cloth and tray of grape juice.
“It’s a good thing I brought this,” she said, setting the tray down on a nearby table and picking up the cloth as she walked over to help Kaeya get the bird poop out of his hair while Klee was all but rolling on the ground laughing.
“You’re a terrible brother,” Kaeya said, glaring at Diluc over Adelinde’s shoulder.
“I didn’t do anything,” Diluc said sweetly, smiling as he and Klee walked over to pick their glass of grape juice while Dawn had returned to her master’s shoulder.
“He’s so mean, Adelinde,” Kaeya whined to her.
“Yes, he is.” But there was sarcasm in Adelinde’s tone, like how someone talks down to someone else they don’t agree with. Leaning in then, she said in a soft voice so that only Kaeya could hear, “And he is doing better today than he has done since you brought him home so don’t you dare screw that up.”
“I won’t,” Kaeya assured. “I promise. Trust me. I won’t do anything to risk his happiness.”
“Good.” Adelinde glanced over at Diluc before adding, “He got a full eight hours of sleep last night.”
“A full eight hours?” Kaeya repeated, stunned. “Addie, he wasn’t even getting five before he went to Snezhnaya!”
“I know,” Adelinde replied. “Let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth, shall we?”
Kaeya nods in eager agreement and Adelinde finishes helping him get as much of the bird crap out of his hair—he’s going to need a bath later—before he joins Klee and Diluc where they’re enjoying grape juice while Adelinde excused herself to return to the winery.
“So how come you decided to invite Klee over and not your favorite brother?” Kaeya asked.
Diluc just rolled his eyes. “It’s been awhile since I’ve seen her and she’s been writing me letters,” Diluc replied. “I figured it was high time I returned them with a gesture of goodwill.”
“You two have become quite good penpals, haven’t you?” Kaeya asked, glancing down at Klee who was happily sipping her juice. She nodded eagerly.
“Uh huh! Sometimes Master Diluc even sends Dawn with his letters!” She reached up, wanting to pet the falcon again, and Diluc carefully got down on his knees so she could reach while Dawn remained on his shoulder. “She’s so pretty, Master Diluc.” She turned to Kaeya. “Kaeya, I wanna raise birds too.”
Kaeya laughed. “Well, I think you’d have to talk to Albedo about that one,” he remarked. “But I’m sure that if he said yes, Master Diluc would be happy to help teach you how to take care of them.”
“I would,” Diluc agreed. “However, even if Chief Albedo says yes, perhaps you should wait a few years before you get into bird raising.”
Klee pouted. “Aw,” she whined. “How come?”
“Birds aren’t like toys or your treasures,” Diluc replied. “They need a lot of love and care and attention. The reason I’ve been able to take care of mine is because I’ve got people who work for me who are able to help out when I’m busy, or away.”
“Like when you went on your trip to the cold nation a few months ago?” Klee asked, before quickly pouting. “I wanted to go.”
“It wasn’t that exciting,” Diluc told her. “It was really cold.”
“I like snow.”
“You wouldn’t have liked it there,” Kaeya chimed in. “Remember how cold Dragonspine is?”
“That’s not that bad.”
“No, Snezhnaya is worse .”
“How come?”
“That’s the nation of the cryo archon and her presence is what makes it so cold there,” Diluc explained. “Sort of like how Mondstadt is the nation of Barbatos so we have a lot of breezy days.”
“That makes sense,” Klee murmured.
“Why don’t we go back to talk about birds now?” Kaeya asked, because Adelinde said Diluc was doing better than ever today and the last thing he wanted was to ruin it by talking about Snezhnaya.
His brother, of course, knew exactly what he was doing with his attempt to change the subject—made evident by the way Diluc very un-subtly rolled his eyes—but surprisingly, his brother didn’t argue and instead said to Klee.
“How about this? Until you’re old enough to have time to take care of your birds on your own, you’re welcome to stop by and see mine anytime you like.”
“ Really !?” Klee asked, amazed.
“ Really ?” Kaeya asked, surprised.
“Of course,” Diluc replied as he straightened up, bringing a hand up to pet Dawn before the falcon took off from his shoulder, deciding she’d had enough socialization for the day.
It was the longest Kaeya had ever seen her stay in one place and he figured that was mainly due to the part that she must have really missed Diluc.
Or missed how many treats he gave.
“Thank you Master Diluc!” Klee cheered, jumping up to throw her arms around his neck in a tight hug which Kaeya was very amazed that he not only allowed but also reciprocated. As soon as she let go, she turned to Kaeya and asked, “Kaeya, can we come by tomorrow, too?”
Kaeya laughs. “Maybe we should finish our visit today, first,” he offers and Klee looks vaguely disappointed at not being promised that she can come see Diluc’s birds the following day as well.
Kaeya’s sure that if she had her way—or were old enough to be trusted alone, without a babysitter—that she’d be in Diluc’s hair all day, every day.
So really, he’s just being a good little brother by not giving her an outright yes. Isn’t he nice? Diluc should thank him with free drinks on the house for at least a month.
Kaeya doesn’t say that and just leans back and watches Diluc teach Klee about the various birds visiting the aviary as well as explaining what they eat and what times of day they typically show up.
Every single one of them is named and of course Diluc remembers them all.
What really gets Kaeya’s attention, however, is when Diluc points to a tiny bird up near the top and says,
“You see that one?”
“Uh huh. He looks sad.”
“I think he is sad. He shows up with another one sometimes, but that one’s not here today.”
“Does he have a name too?”
“Yes,” Diluc replied. Kaeya frowns when his brother’s eyes jump to him for only a second before he looks back at Klee and says, “I named him ‘Kae’ after–”
“After Kaeya!” Klee said.
Diluc nodded. “That’s because he’s always with another bird and they're like family.” He glanced up at Kaeya then. “They take care of each other.”
Kaeya has to turn away then because he has something in his eye and he’d rather Diluc not see and assume it’s tears because that’s such a ridiculous notion.
Kaeya crying in Diluc’s aviary just because his brother named a bird after him. How stupid.
Kaeya cried later that night in the tub but that was more because the bird poop had dried in his hair and had become difficult to get out later.
They stay for a few hours until Klee starts getting tired and Kaeya can tell Diluc’s tolerance for others is coming to an end. Before they go, however, Kaeya grabs Diluc by the arm and pulls him away from Klee who is being entertained by Adelinde, the maid having already sensed that Kaeya wanted to speak with his brother on his own.
“I’m really glad you’re doing better, Luc,” he murmured. “Addie said you slept eight hours last night.”
Dilcu rolled his eyes. “I was in bed for eight hours,” he murmured. “That doesn’t equal sleeping.”
“It’s a start at least.”
“I suppose.” Diluc crossed his arms over his chest. “I am doing better,” he agreed. “Not everyday and there are some that are significantly harder than others, but…” he shrugged. “I’m doing better.”
“You have no idea how much that means to me to hear,” Kaeya murmured. He took a deep breath. “If there’s anything specifically that’s bothering you…”
Diluc avoided his gaze. “Dottore said some things about father,” he murmured. “And I guess it just made me realize that I…I never really got over it. Father’s death, I mean.”
“You didn’t ever really get a chance, did you?”
Diluc hummed in silent agreement. “Regardless,” he decided, placing his hands on his hips and looking back at Kaeya. “It’s over and Dottore’s dead.”
“Good riddance.”
“And I am very happy to be home.”
Kaeya smiled. “I’m happy to see you home,” he said. Then, holding out his arms, he asked, “I know we’ve pushed your tolerance of everything today but can I at least have one hug?”
Diluc rolled his eyes but agreed, allowing Kaeya to squeeze him tight for a moment before he wiggled out of the hug.
“Alright alright, that’s enough.”
Kaeya pouted. “Why can’t you be more affectionate?”
“Why can’t you go back to being the short one?” Diluc fired back. “You're the little brother, you’re supposed to be small.”
“What can I say?” Kaeya asked. “It’s in my genes. That and being the more attractive brother, of course.”
Diluc aimed to kick him in the shin like a child and, like a child, Kaeya shrieked and sprinted away from him. Dilcu didn’t bother running after him—especially when he heard Adelinde start giving Kaeya a lecture for running in the winery—and he just followed after with a small smile on his face.
“Have a safe walk back,” he said smugly as Klee and Kaeya headed towards the door.
“So mean, Master Diluc,” Kaeya drawled, but DIluc didn’t miss the twinkle in his eye, and his faux irritation faded almost instantly as he returned, “Have a good night, Luc.”
“Bye Klee.”
“Bye Master Diluc!”
Diluc leaned against the doorframe and watched them go until they were out of sight.