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The late-afternoon sun shone brightly in the sky, illuminating the hard work of the vineyard staff as they toiled. Horses pulled wagons filled with barrels as the chatter of friends and co-workers filled the air.
And, crouched behind some empty barrels, a young Kaeya was up to no good.
He watched with a grin as his target slowly approached the trap he set, so focused that he jumped when Diluc spoke up behind him.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Shhh! Keep it down!” Kaeya hushed his sibling, coaxing him to crouch and hide beside him. “You know how Wilson’s been really mean to everyone?”
“Yeah, he’s bullying the new staff,” Diluc confirmed. “I told Father already.”
“Well I’m doing something, too! I got some firework poppers and sprinkled them on the road.” Kaeya couldn’t keep the mischievous grin off his face as he pointed towards the man in question, who approached the trapped spot on horseback.
“Uh-” Diluc went to speak, but his words were cut short by the sudden loud popping of loud, but harmless, firework toys, which served to not only startle everyone in earshot, but also spook the horse that Wilson rode.
Diluc covered his eyes while Kaeya watched in horror as the horse bucked and kicked in fear, throwing its rider before taking off to another side of the vineyards. Wilson hit the ground hard, and Kaeya was certain he heard a crack as the man landed.
Diluc peeked through his fingers and watched as well as many of the workers dropped what they were doing to check on Wilson, while a couple others took off to catch the wayward animal. He was visibly struggling to breathe as he writhed on the ground, and Kaeya’s mind raced on its own.
He hurt a man, he hurt one of the vineyard workers. This wasn’t supposed to happen! He only meant to scare him, not hurt him!
This was bad; he’d be punished, kicked out for being a bad kid!
Anxiety and insecurity kicked off violently, which spurred him to do the only thing he could think of.
Run.
He ignored Diluc’s calls for him to stop, barely able to see through the tears in his eyes, hiccuping as he ran away. The trees were difficult to make out, but he managed not to ram into any as he weaved through the houses and foliage, hiding from his consequences as his thoughts refused to take his side.
It was getting dark, and he forced his eyes clear enough to see and tried to think; he needed to hide. Where?
High up. Adults didn’t look up.
Where was high enough?
… The Winery itself.
Mustering his courage Kaeya began to make his way to the manor, ducking and weaving around people who looked for him until he managed to get to the stack of barrels that rested upon the side of the old building.
He climbed as quickly as he could, nimble and swift as he managed to avoid detection during his ascent. He made the climb often, so practiced ease came to him as he pulled himself onto the roof tiles and crawled up to the middle of it all; well out of sight.
Safe – for now – he allowed himself to curl up and finally wallow in it all.
He felt bad. Wilson was a jerk, but he didn’t deserve to get hurt so badly! That crack he heard echoed through his mind, like a gavel strike confirming his guilt to all in attendance.
He didn’t know how much time passed as he lingered up there, the cool wind slowly shifting into a painful slice of cold; he was sensitive to lower temperatures, and was already chilly when he first climbed up there. Now it was beginning to feel unbearable, but he remained in his hiding spot, suffering in silence. He deserved it, after all.
He could hear voices calling for his name as it grew darker, a mix of concern and irritation, which did nothing to incentivise him to show himself. He huddled in on himself more, both to make himself smaller and to hide from the cold.
The scratching of a less dexterous climb pulled him from his thoughts, and his head snapped to the side to look at who was coming up behind him. It wasn’t long before he saw a familiar mop of red hair pop over the side, followed by the rest of the child as he climbed up onto the roof.
Looking up, Diluc sighed in visible relief and crawled over to him.
“There you are! I was worried sick!”
Kaeya only made a noise and bundled back in on himself. Diluc didn’t let that discourage him and settled down right next to his sibling, pressing against Kaeya to allow his body warmth to radiate out. Unconsciously Kaeya found himself leaning back, seeking the warmth on instinct.
“Are you okay?” Diluc asked.
Kaeya didn’t want to talk, but found himself doing so anyway. “No. I’m going to get kicked out and disowned. I really hurt Wilson, and I feel really bad. I only wanted to scare him.”
Diluc sighed softly and shifted even closer, warding more of the oppressive chill.
“Wilson’s fine,” Diluc began, gently, “he has a nasty bruise on his shoulder and had the wind knocked from him, but he walked it off. Father’s even given him a week of paid vacation as an apology.”
Kaeya lifted his head slowly. “I heard a crack. I thought he broke a bone.”
“Nah, he had a clipboard that snapped in half.”
Kaeya felt some of the dread leave his shoulders. “Am… Am I in trouble?”
“Ehhhh…” Diluc let out a non-committal noise. “You’re not not in trouble, but you won’t get kicked out! I won’t let it happen!” Diluc’s tone turned determined, and Kaeya took some comfort in that.
“I don’t want to come down,” Kaeya muttered.
Diluc hummed in soft concern and thought for a moment. Then, with a small noise, he seemed to have an idea.
Slowly a small glow came from the corner of Kaeya’s vision, prompting him to look over. Immediately he was mesmerized, watching as Diluc molded a small flame between his hands.
“I’ve been practicing making shapes so I can control my flame better!” Diluc explained with a smile. “I can do simple shapes, mostly.”
To demonstrate, Diluc started small; with practiced movements he created a small ball, and after a few moments and a stuck out tongue, eyes began to form and blink at Kaeya.
He giggled, taking in his brother’s handiwork as a little ‘Pyro’ Slime looked at him. He then watched as Diluc changed its shape. A Lampgrass, then a Calla Lily, and then a really funky looking horse that made Kaeya snort louder than he meant to.
“Feeling better?” Diluc asked after a while, to which Kaeya nodded. “Good! Here, if I show you something really cool, will you come down?”
Kaeya hesitated. “It has to be really cool,” he said, eventually.
Diluc grinned as he accepted the challenge, and began to mold the flame again. First the basic shape; an oval, then protrusions from either side. Diluc worked intently, far more focused than before, as the shape slowly made itself known. The oval was the body, and the protrusions began to turn into wings, with each feather tip becoming more distinct. The head and tail feathers were last, until eventually it took the form of some sort of bird of prey; a falcon, perhaps?
Regardless, it was the most intricately molded of them all, and was really really cool.
Diluc smiled proudly and warmly, and Kaeya couldn’t resist the urge to reach out and try to pet its wings. He only managed it for a second before he had to whip his hand back, but it wasn’t as hot as it should have been.
“I’ve been getting better at making a ‘colder’ flame,” Diluc explained as he let his creation go out, “but maybe don’t try to grab fire?” He chuckled, and Kaeya smiled softly as well. “Ready?”
Kaeya nodded, and slowly the pair began to make their way down. The adults spotted them quickly; likely having seen the glow before and simply chose to wait until they came down on their own. They helped them get down safely, plucking them off the wall as soon as they could be reached, to gently deposit them onto the ground.
Still anxious, Kaeya hid behind his brother, who stood almost defiantly as he stared at the other adults.
At least until Crepus walked up, at which point that attitude cooled to mere protectiveness.
With a sigh, Crepus looked them both over and gestured them to follow him inside, leading them up the stairs and into his study, where he closed the door behind them. He then sat down at the desk, and looked at his sons with a neutral expression.
“Care to tell me what happened?” he asked.
Kaeya felt words die on his tongue, but a gentle and reassuring nudge from Diluc helped him find his voice.
“Wilson was bullying the rest of the staff, and I didn’t like that. I wanted to scare him so I put firework poppers on the road. I didn’t think the horse would throw him off. I didn’t mean to hurt him!” Kaeya’s tone became a little more desperate, with a tinge of fear under it all.
Crepus sighed again, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Diluc, the staff said they saw you; were you involved?”
Before Diluc could speak up – possibly to distribute the punishment – Kaeya almost shouted. “No! It was all me! He showed up at the last second. He didn’t know what I was doing until just before it happened.”
Diluc visibly hesitated, but nodded in confirmation.
Crepus sighed once more, and spoke firmly but gently. “Kaeya, you need to think through your actions. We have horses, none of which are trained like the Favonius Cavalry mounts. They spook. You know this. You’re very lucky Wilson wasn’t severely hurt; he could have been kicked by the horse, or broke something.”
“I’m sorry,” Kaeya said, his voice small. “I won’t do it again, please don’t kick me out.”
Crepus blinked, stunned, and immediately softened as he got up and knelt by the boy’s side. He bundled him in his arms as he spoke.
“I’m not going to kick you out, Kaeya. Never think that; you’re my son, and I’d never do that to you,” he assured. “Still, you have to do better, okay? You can be better.”
“I promise. I’ll be better.”
“That’s my boy.”