Chapter Text
She woke up to frantic knocking.
She grabs her nearby cloak and opens the door, too drowsy to ask who was knocking at such an hour.
She sees him drenched in bruises and blood. Whether dried or wet, she couldn't tell in the dark; But she saw a cyan glow and heard stuttered breathing. "Je... Jean..." Kaeya whispers.
Jean gasps and drags him inside. She grabs a nearby match and lights up her living room to see Kaeya with a puffy eye, his mouth agape and struggling to form words (or to breathe), and a scratch dragging down the eye no one sees. "Kaeya..." Jean asks with trepidation, "What happened?"
Cyrus is a father to Majorie, who has been married for twenty years. Needless to say, he knows when someone is hiding a relationship and whenever he sees it, he tries to pretend not to know for their sake. After all, Love is Freedom that of what Barbatos and his followers preach from the highest point of the mountains to the bottomless pits of the Abyss.
So, when he sees Kaeya (the newest Calvary Captain) blush when he and the Acting Grand Master brush hands while collecting a reward, he doesn't hesitate to chuckle and keep on drinking his wine.
Love is love. That is what Cyrus sees.
But oh boy, does he want to tease the lovebirds.
And he gets a chance to later on when he sees Kaeya drinking a hefty amount, the cryo vision glowing valiantly and Cyrus feels a bit proud of that despite not knowing the man closely. "Hey, Kaeya." Cryus greets him while getting a seat to sit next to him.
"Why hello," Kaeya responds and turns to face Cyrus with a smirk. He was reminiscent of a cat to Cyrus, it almost made him chuckle fondly, "To what I have the pleasure?"
"Advice," Cyrus asks the bartender for more Dandelion Wine, "When courting a woman, make sure to ask for her interests and listen."
That catches Kaeya off-guard, "Pardon me?"
"More advice?"
"Well, uh, No?"
Cyrus lets out a hefty laugh, "I hope you get her, Sir Kaeya!"
Kaeya is left confused but he raises a glass anyway.
He tells her one truth and one lie.
He is from Khaneriah and the Treasure Hoarders tried to get kill him for it. She ushers him in and tends to his wound. "You don't mean the people of Dahri?"
"I do."
She hums and his anxiety skyrockets before she gives him a simple reply that leaves him astounded, "Is that all?"
He nods.
"Great! Who are these Treasure Hoarders and how do I... tend to them?"
He tells her one truth and one lie. Hopefully, he'll be able to tell more truths to outweigh the one lie, but he doesn't know if that lie will tip the scales.
Felines aren't mean. At least, not most of them. Diona is one such person who is mean to the people who drink.
It makes sense, doesn't it? Alcohol is unhealthy in so many ways and it reeks! She doesn't understand the appeal. Not at all. Not when daddy comes home and pays her no mind.
That's why she does everything herself. She ties her own shoes, does her own homework and hunting, does the dishes, and cooks. Everything.
Doing everything stresses her out. Makes her shed a lot of hair and not eat optimally (Alice taught her that word. It means the best you can do. Diona tries her best.) and when that happens, Diona is more irritated than normal. Antsier and more gloomy.
She's doing a shift at the Cat's Tail and was about to settle down when her manager yells (and Archon's when she does, she scratches her ears and bites her tongue), "DIONA! THE KNIGHTS ARE COMING! MAKE WINE!"
And if it wasn't for that magical being, she'd make the nastiest concoction known to man-- No, Known to Humanity and Celestia!
But she's a part cat who can make anything delicious. Including wine. Yippie.
She gets to work. Lizard tail, Dandelion stem, Slime condensate, and red wine. With the help of Margaret, she makes it big enough for the current team of the... Calvary Captian and the... Acting Grand Master.
Margaret pets between her ears and tells her that she'll take care of the rest and promptly thanks her for her assistance. Diona only whimpers and curls in on herself on the bar table.
When they come in, she stares at them and notices something different. Something she hadn't seen in a while.
The Calvary Captain is holding the door open for her and the Acting Grand Master bows with a smile. He playfully pushes her and tells her, "Now, Now, Acting Grand Master," There is a genuine smile on his face. It looks pretty, "I'm only doing something that a man should do. No need to thank me for something so mundane."
She doesn't refute and instead grabs his hand and walks with him to the table they rented. "I just love the pizza here," The Acting Grand Master says, "After defeating those Abyss Mages, I think sharing pizza is good, don't you think?"
He agrees and when Margaret goes to help them with their order and comes back to deliver it to the chef, she goes over to Diona and while petting the little half-feline, says, "I hope you can grow up and experience such feelings yourself."
Diona only guides her hand to the place where it hurts and Margaret digs a bandaid out of her apron, "You need to stop hurting yourself, Di."
She doesn't respond. Margaret puts the bandaid on her ear and gives it a peck. She leaves Diona to her own devices.
While they were eating, The Calvary Captain finally notices the staring and turns to her, "Did you make the wine?"
"Was it gross?"
His smile is sideways before looking at Jean. She shrugs.
"Absolutely disgusting." He says while taking a sip, gagging, and swallowing it.
She smiles. One step closer.