Work Text:
The aged, wooden door creaked open loudly, a familiar gloved hand holding the handle of it, along with a clothed bag in his other hand. Letting the cold air creep through, slowly, but surely, within the Dawn Winery. The temperature’s starting to feel frigid again, it usually is these days
Diluc, scowling noticeably, turned his head towards the figure against the door, turning to close it — Kaeya had just barely finished making it on time for dinner, the candles he had made an effort to light up earlier were almost losing their light, he had even gone through the trouble of almost setting the table runner on literal fire by lighting them.
Glancing at Kaeya’s tousled hair, along with that stupid, giddy smile plastered all over his face, his nose scrunching up in annoyance
“You’re late” he spoke, “and you reek of alcohol.”
“When do I not?” Kaeya retorted, “Besides.. why are you still up? Shouldn’t you be catching up on your work dear brother, or should I say, Darknight Hero?”
“That’s besides the point” he responded, visibly frowning “.. don’t refer to me as that.”
Kaeya raised his hands in mock defeat, sighing
“Mmh.. alright, alright, whatever you say”
Kaeya sat down as he set down the coarse, clothed bag.. sack? God knows, Diluc thought, that he had been carrying on his way here, containing all the wrapped gifts he had received earlier that day, he probably should’ve gotten something better to gift him
He huffed turning around, coat swaying lightly as he made his way towards the freezer, picking out the chilled confectionery
“Ahem.. I had Adelinde pick up the cake I had requested from Good Hunter earlier today” he muttered, setting it down gently onto the center of the table “I hope it’s at least to your liking”
Kaeya eyed the cake, skeptical
“Is this.. going to explode on me or something?”
“What..?” Diluc looked at him, stunned, appalled even, by that sentence
Chuckling he continued “No, I mean like last time.. you almost singed my front bangs off duri-“ he stopped his sentence, now seeing the way Diluc’s face was quite, obviously, burning up slowly
“No, I. had this.. specially prepared by Sara earlier” Diluc muttered, confused at why he would think of such a thing
Oh.
The grin he had earlier on his face slowly dropped, feeling a bit guilty now
“Im sorry.. I, didn’t.. expect you to actually take the time out of your day to do something for me”
That’s just great, that sounds even more condescending and worse now!
“Do I really seem that way to you?” Diluc questioned him, disbelief on his face
“Sorry… I.. just. Thank you..” Kaeya mumbled quickly, looking down, gulping down that feeling of dread down his throat silently
“You know what, it’s fine” he assured “Happy Birthday, Kaeya.” Diluc sighed as he pushed the chair back into its place, creaking painfully, just like the door had earlier, and walked away from the table.
Kaeya glanced at the cake, and the now empty seat across him.