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Diluc started taking late night shifts two weeks ago.
It seemed as if the abyss had lost interest in Mondstadt recently because he found himself having very little to do during his vigilante hours. He even brought some of his paperwork with him when he was on lookout. Normally such a lull in activity meant something big was coming, but Diluc hadn’t heard anything from the organization, and they likely would have known if something was up.
He didn’t dare trick himself into believing that the abyss had lost interest in Mondstadt. He wasn’t that foolish.
But he needed something to do, so he worked. Thankfully, there was always a chance there could be some sort of valuable information hidden in the rowdy cacophony of tavern-goers.
The tavern was busier than usual. So much so that it was at times hard for Diluc to even hear his own thoughts. As soon as he had completed one order, two more would come in. He was constantly moving, making drink after drink. He didn’t notice when Kaeya or Rosaria came in, nor when Venti started telling some story in the back corner of the tavern. Diluc welcomed the distraction of concocting just the right drinks for his patrons, quickly falling into a pattern of mixing and pouring.
He was hardly fazed when one customer asked for a more expensive bottle of wine, breaking up his rhythm at the counter. After finishing up the drinks he was in the process of making, Diluc went back into the storage room to get a bottle. He had easily been able to tune out the yelling and singing coming from the main room hours ago, so he didn’t even bat an eye when he heard a chorus of boisterous laughter erupt from his drunk patrons.
Diluc quickly spotted the wine he was looking for and grabbed the neck of the bottle. He turned around and only took two steps before he heard a distinctive voice from behind him as if it were whispered in his ear.
“Found you.”
He dropped the bottle and spun around on his heel, instantly summoning his claymore. The storage room showed no signs of life. He was undoubtedly the only one in the room, but he checked every nook and cranny anyway. Diluc had heard him. He had heard “The Doctor’s” voice as plain as day, but it wasn’t possible. The room had been empty, and there was no way one of the fatui harbingers was hiding in his storage room.
Diluc looked at the broken bottle and spilled wine on the floor. He sighed and dismissed his claymore before grabbing another bottle and returning to the counter, leaving the mess for him to clean up later.
No one had been able to hear the glass shattering over the commotion in the tavern.
*****
A few days later, Diluc found himself slouched over his desk reading through some business letters he’d been putting off for a while. He was used to running on a few hours of sleep, but he found himself struggling to keep his eyes open. The coffee Adelinde brought just an hour ago was already gone, but the caffeine had no effect. Stifling a yawn, Diluc started to open an envelope when he heard it again.
“So this is where you’ve been hiding.”
La Signora’s voice sent a jolt down Diluc’s spine. He immediately jumped up and summoned his claymore. His eyes darted around, looking for the witch. When he didn’t see her in his study, he flew open his windows and stepped onto the windowsill, unbothered by the ongoing downpour. He looked everywhere, even climbing onto the roof, but there was nobody.
Soaked and now fully awake, Diluc returned to his study, uncaring of the water that pooled at his feet.
He had most definitely heard her voice.
*****
Everyone became too complacent.
Just because there was decreased activity didn’t mean the Knights of Favonius could just lighten its city defenses. It was disturbing just how easy it was to fool them into thinking that Mondstadt was safe from any harm since the abyss, treasure hoarders, and even hilichurls seemed to have lost interest in the area.
Diluc clutched his pen as he signed off on a business agreement between Liyue and Dawn Winery. It wasn’t very comfortable doing paperwork on a rooftop, but it kept him busy. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, lookout duty became boring. He stifled a yawn and stashed the paper away into one of his jacket’s inner pockets.
He spent another half hour roaming around, carefully stalking every drunkard and passerby that wandered around Mondstadt that evening. No suspicious characters caught Diluc’s attention until he spotted a lone fatuus walking through Mondstadt’s city arch. It was just a regular diplomat, but that didn’t matter to him. He immediately followed the fatuus until he turned into an alley. Diluc took his chance and immediately descended upon the man.
The frightened man let out a yell as the Darknight Hero roughly grabbed him by the front of his shirt.
“What’re you up to?” Diluc seethed. He used a deep falsetto to intimidate the diplomat, but it was almost unnecessary. The fatuus was shaking and kept opening his mouth as if to say something, but nothing came out. “Don’t make me ask again!”
“I-I-I’m jus-st g-going for a walk, I-I swear!” Diluc raised his hand as he growled a threat low enough for the diplomat to hear. “Agh! P-please don’t hit m-me!” The diplomat closed his eyes and turned his face away in trepidation.
It was disgusting. How could such vile people beg for their own mercy when they’ve never given it unto others? He deserves this.
“That’s enough!” Diluc flinched at the authoritative shout. Both he and the diplomat turned to its source. The redhead could just barely make out Kaeya’s features in the dim moonlight at the end of the alley. To say the cavalry captain was angry would be an understatement.
Kaeya summoned his sword and took a few steps closer.
“Let him go, now,” Kaeya demanded. Diluc did as commanded. The diplomat roughly fell to the ground. The cavalry captain turned to him and told him to beat it. Without any hesitation, the fatuus let out a pathetic “yes sir” before scrambling out of the alley and out of sight. Diluc only watched as Kaeya dismissed his sword and walked right up to his estranged brother’s face.
“I don’t have a problem with you wanting to play hero and protecting Mond, but going around and attacking random people for no reason crosses a line.”
“You were watching me?” Kaeya frowned. It had been a while since Diluc had seen the bluehead genuinely angry.
“Yeah, and it’s a good thing too. I honestly don’t know what you would have done to that man if I hadn’t stepped in.” Diluc rolled his eyes.
“A lone fatuus strolling around Mondstadt in the middle of the night isn’t suspicious to you?”
“No, especially one who happens to be courting a young woman in Springvale and most likely is returning from a date.” Kaeya’s expression softened, and in an incredibly rare event, he asked Diluc softly, as if there had never been a rift between them, “What’s going on, Diluc?” The redhead crossed his arms and looked away, as if such an action could relieve him of the uncomfortable situation.
“...you should never trust the fatui, Kaeya.”
“It’s one thing to not trust someone, it’s another to attack them for no reason.” Diluc began to walk away without responding before he felt a hand on his shoulder.
“You’re right handed,” said Kaeya. Diluc turned to face him.
“What?”
“You were holding him with your right hand but had your left hand out in front of his face as if you were going to punch him or something. You also didn’t summon your claymore.”
“Tck.” Diluc clicked his tongue and continued to walk away, mumbling something about old habits dying hard.
*****
He shouldn’t have taken a shift tonight.
It was slow, and without a lot of work to distract him, Diluc was forced to feel the effect of his recent lack of sleep. That’s how he described the phenomenon he was experiencing that night.
A voice he hadn’t heard in a long time whispered the tiniest thoughts into his head.
A Liyuen merchant asked him for wine.
Poison it.
A pesky intrusive thought probably brought on by the time he was poisoned in Liyue on his travels.
Two young knights asked for beers.
Weak.
They may be inexperienced knights, but surely they could surely hold their own.
Venti raised his hand and called for another wine.
Useless archon.
For some inexplicable reason, Diluc crushed the glass he was holding in his left hand. The tavern became quieter, looking at the bartender. No one could see his hand over the counter, so Diluc just nodded and brushed away the concern as if it were typical of him to drop glasses from time to time (it definitely wasn’t).
He discreetly poured a glass of wine with one hand for Venti before silently retreating to his storage room. Glass shards pierced his gloves and were embedded into his skin. Shakily, he pulled the bigger shards out as quickly as he could. The smaller ones would have to wait until the tavern was closed.
It only took about two hours until almost everyone had left. There was still one lurker upstairs, much to Diluc’s chagrin.
Kaeya descended the stairs looking unamused. Diluc avoided his intense look of scrutiny.
“Hand,” Kaeya demanded and held out his hand. As much as Diluc felt uncomfortable with it, he slowly brought his injured hand to Kaeya’s. The cavalry captain gingerly moved the redhead’s hand around, looking for the tiny shards of glass that Diluc ignored. He sighed and asked for tweezers. Diluc brought the item to him without saying anything.
“Sit,” Kaeya demanded once more, motioning to one of the bar stools. Diluc sat down and let Kaeya search for all of the mistakes in his bloody ungloved hand.
“I should have known you wouldn’t have properly taken care of this so quickly.”
“You were watching me.” This time it was a statement, not a question.
“Mhm.”
They sat there in silence for a few minutes, save for Diluc’s hisses of pain when Kaeya would search for microscopic shards. Diluc studied Kaeya and felt a tight pain in his chest. He didn’t deserve Kaeya’s patience with him, nor did he deserve Kaeya’s kindness. Why was he bothering to help him? He didn’t deserve it. He didn’t deserve any—
Kill him.
Diluc gasped, pulling his hand away and stumbling out of the chair and away from Kaeya, who looked confused and concerned.
Diluc didn’t deserve that look.
Kill him.
It was just as loud and daunting as the first time he heard it. Diluc instinctively looked around to make sure no one else was there, but he already knew that. He knew that voice like the back of his hand. He heard it almost every day for four years. He could never forget the delusion’s voice.
“Diluc,” Kaeya’s voice was drowned out by a loud crash of thunder. The redhead ignored him. Ever so slowly, he looked down at his left hand, terrified of what he might see.
The glove. The red orb. It was there.
He didn’t waste a second before pulling out one of his throwing knives from his jacket and laying his left hand with the delusion on the table. He raised his right arm with the knife, readying to plunge it through that cursed orb until two arms wrapped around his arm.
“Diluc, STOP!” Kaeya shouted. Diluc twisted to look at his once younger brother. Kaeya’s eyebrows were raised, and his wide eyes looked at him, seeming to be searching Diluc for something.
This was a type of fear. Not the kind that his victims had when they were about to die, nor the kind when treasure hoarders saw him coming in his vigilante outfit.
It was an expression of fear that Adelinde sometimes wore when he’d return to the manor with an injury.
Concern. Anxiety. Worry.
A type of fear that Diluc hadn’t seen Kaeya direct toward him since they were little kids, vulnerable to the world and its cruelty.
Ah.
No matter what Diluc had thought or done, Kaeya was still capable of wielding such an expression toward him.
His chest hurt, and he was too hot.
“Let me have the knife,” Kaeya said softly. He slowly reached for the knife. Diluc let him take it seamlessly. “Now, let’s just sit down and talk about this.” The bluehead gently nudged the redhead into a seat. “I’m going to get you a glass of water, and you are going to wait right here.” Diluc nodded numbly.
Kaeya quickly came back but didn’t need to ask twice for Diluc to drink the water. The once older brother drank the glass of water slowly, gradually feeling better by the minute.
“Are you feeling better?” Diluc nodded. Kaeya seemed to visibly relax a little. “Good, now you can tell me just what happened back there, and don’t tell me it was just a sliver of glass.” Diluc fidgeted uncomfortably.
“I just…heard a voice.” Kaeya stared at him, waiting for clarification. “It was the…delusion. I heard it.” Kaeya straightened up, but held his impeccable poker face. “It just shocked me. I haven’t heard it in a while.”
“...before tonight.” Diluc nodded once again. “That wasn’t the first time you heard it tonight, was it?” Diluc hid his hands under the table so he could look down without the possibility of seeing it. He shook his head. Kaeya closed his eyes and let out a deep breath.
“What else has been going on?” Another clap of thunder sounded from outside.
“I’ve been hearing the harbingers. La Signora…Il Dottore. I thought the fatui were probably planning something in Mondstadt. They—”
“La Signora is dead.”
“...I know. But Il Dottore—”
“Was in Sumeru before being called back to Snezhnaya. The traveler wrote to Jean about this.” Diluc felt silly. He knew La Signora was dead, but a part of him still thought she could have been alive. She and Dottore could have been here. He knew the wrath that they were capable of. They were higher ranking harbingers for a reason.
“Have the things you’ve been hearing been things they’ve said to you in the past?”
“Yes.”
There was that look again. Diluc averted his gaze to the rain pouring outside the window.
“Adelinde’s been worried about you. She said you haven’t been sleeping much, and you’ve been working too hard.” Diluc didn’t say anything. Adelinde essentially asked for Kaeya to look into things. That’s why he was doing all of this. It couldn’t possibly be that—
“Stop it, ‘Luc. I know what you’re thinking. I’m here because I want to be…also, someone needs to give you a scolding.”
“Huh?” Kaeya crossed his arms and proceeded to softly chide him.
“The older brother is supposed to take care of the younger, no? Yet here I am having to scold you as if you were a child. You ought to know better than to run on low sleep and lots of work. Even father didn’t work this hard, and he established many trade routes through Mondstadt.”
“Kaeya…Mondstadt isn’t being protected properly. It wasn’t this dangerous when we were children. The abyss could be planning on something right now and we—”
“Diluc. You need to relax. The abyss has been quiet recently because of whatever nonsense the traveler’s been up to. They said so in their letter. If you spend every waking minute worried about protecting Mond, you’ll end up right where you are now.”
“And where am I now?” Diluc asked out of spite, yet Kaeya answered anyway.
“You’re tired.” It was such a simple thing, and yet it was true. Diluc was tired, but that wasn’t all he was. “You’re hearing voices and seeing things. Your body needs rest. You need rest.”
“Rest can’t fix me.” Kaeya slightly frowned before replying extremely softly.
“You’re not broken.”
Diluc wished that were true. So much so that he felt his vision start to blur. He quickly wiped his eyes before hissing in pain as his left hand still had some slivers of glass. Kaeya patted Diluc’s knee before getting up to retrieve the tweezers.
“First, let’s take care of that hand. Then you’ll get some proper rest tonight.” Diluc couldn’t respond through the lump in his throat. Kaeya worked on his hand for another minute before speaking once more.
“Also, you’re not allowed to take any shifts at the tavern for the next two weeks.”
“W-what?”
“If I see you at the bar, I’ll arrest you.”
“For what?”
“I don’t know. I’ll think of something.” Diluc let out a faint laugh. Kaeya looked up from Diluc’s injured hand with a grin.
Maybe everything would be alright after all.