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“You do know I’m doing you a favour here, right?”
Diluc sneers as he looks up from the counter, a bottle of grape juice still in his hand. Childe is sitting on one of the barstools. He barged in just before closing time. Something about the frantic look in his eyes convinced Diluc to let him in.
And now he’s sitting here. His arm is bleeding, blood dripping onto the floor. Neither of them is too concerned about it; if it truly meant something Childe would’ve at least tried to heal it with his hydro powers.
Diluc tries to not think too hard about how a Fatui Harbinger, a monster, was granted healing powers. He ignores how he, a normal and protective older brother, still has the power to burn down all of Mondstadt. These cases don’t have to be related.
That’s because they aren’t. He and Childe are nothing alike.
He focuses on the look in Childe’s eyes. He has looked into his eyes more than he’d like to admit – even if it’s just for how much Kaeya would tease him for it – and his eyes still look dead. Troubled by the abyss, as per usual, but…
Childe looks uneasy.
Usually when he walks into Angels Share he stops by for a glass of grape juice. He laughs at Diluc’s hate for Firewater and gives José a generous tip. He always looked so relaxed. Not that Diluc would ever admit it out loud, but… his heart drops a little at the defeated look on Childe’s face.
“So why are you here again?” he asks, a scowl appearing on his face. “You told me this expecting… what exactly? I don’t trust you. You’re lucky your head is still attached to your neck, Fatui scum.”
The nervous smile on Childe’s face drops.
Diluc can feel the shift of energy in the air, like the entirety of the world holds its breath, waiting for Childe to snap. Diluc’s eyes widen as he realizes what’s happening. He’s a monster.
He keeps granting Childe second chances. Maybe he should believe him this time, but why would a Harbinger spy for Mondstadt? He comes back every time, battered and bruised and looking like his soul is falling apart.
The Tsaritsa has always been praised for her control over her Harbingers, over her people.
Childe is shattering like the cyro hold she has on him. He’s falling apart under the pressure of growing ice. He’s trying to break free, but how can water ever protect itself from the freezing cold? There’s only one way to survive; he has to give in to her.
Elemental energy works in a strange way. It wraps itself around Diluc. It’s hidden in the flutter of the wings of butterflies, in the flowing water, in the starlight of the vast galaxy of Teyvat. Elemental energy is supposed to be everywhere.
He asked Venti about it once. The archon just laughed, and over his glass of Dandelion Wine, he muttered a quiet ,”the wind doesn’t reach every part of the land. Freedom means nothing if it is your worst enemy; if it’s not given to you but demanded of you. Freedom means nothing if it’s the reason you’re fighting to stay alive.”
The next laugh falling past Venti’s lips had sounded so empty.
Maybe that’s the emptiness he sees in Childe’s eyes. The vast nothingness of a place not even the wind can reach.
There’s no elemental energy around Childe.
The energy warps around him. It’s curling and twisting around him, disappearing into the black hole of Abyssal energy surrounding him even now. It’s all dawning in on him now, and he-
Diluc is standing in front of Kaeya all over again. His father’s delusion is still in his hand, the fires of hell burning him as he tries to cool it all down, tries to temper down the fury burning his last resolve to the ground.
Kaeya is a spy sent by the Abyss order, or by Khaenri'ah. It didn’t matter to him at that very moment. It didn’t matter to him that Kaeya was always the one to visit him when he was sick, or how he listened to all of Diluc’s talks about turtles, or how he-
It was his tenth birthday when Kaeya called him the best brother he’d ever had. His father had smiled, had taken him apart when Kaeya bolted upstairs to go grab the owl plushie he had bought Diluc, and…
“Diluc. If a day ever comes when I’m not around to help you, please promise me to take care of Kaeya. He’s family, and he always will be. Don’t let people talk you into thinking you don’t choose your own family, firefly.”
When he blinks the memories away, Childe is still staring at the empty glass he’s holding. His reflection shows his exact emotions. Diluc doesn’t dare to look away; he’s finally seeing him this time, sees why Childe is choosing this path.
Childe is exactly like him.
Everything about the Diluc who stood over Kaeya, the Diluc who let the fire in his lungs consume even the icy chill of his brother trying to save them both…
Diluc sees Childe in every part of his history. The darkness surrounding him matches the overload of energy twirling around his knuckles. It’s like a puzzle piece falling into place after years and years. It’s as if he’s no longer incomplete.
Maybe his shattered heart matches Childe’s broken soul perfectly.
“I do apologise. Thank you for giving me this intel, Childe. I will make sure the Fatui camps will get taken care of properly. If you’re willing, maybe you could join me on the mission. I would not mind,” he says. He avoids Childe’s eyes as he stares at the counter. “I would appreciate your help.”
He barely misses the grin appearing on Childe’s face.
They set out just a few minutes later, the hastily drawn map in Diluc’s hands. The outskirts of Mondstadt are expecting a visit of not just one, but two vigilantes tonight. The darkness curls around them. It almost swallows them whole, if not for the faint light coming from their visions.
The moon shines just a little brighter when they ambush the Fatui camps later that night, making it seem like Childe’s eyes are still shining.