Work Text:
Kaeya walked along the path to Dawn Winery, thinking about what he would say to his brother.
Diluc had been back for some time now and while things were rocky at first, they were starting to get along again. They couldn’t avoid each other, after all. They were both making an effort to repair their relationship after their fight. Of course, when Kaeya would have to deal with a grumpy Diluc, he would become snarky. He didn’t really mean to, but it was a defensive wall that just kind of popped up on its own.
Kaeya and Diluc had bickered just the day before, in fact. Diluc had been going out on his own for some time now, fighting enemies. While he was one of the best swordsmen in Mondstadt and a strong pyro user, he couldn’t block everything that was thrown his way by larger groups of enemies and would come back with injuries that he would hide. Kaeya could see through the charade and confronted him about fighting alone.
“At least come and get me!” He’d said to the fiery redhead. Kaeya didn’t mind helping make sure both Diluc and Mondstadt were safe.
Diluc had refused, of course. “I can’t keep an eye on you while I’m trying to fight.” He grumbled.
He knew that was Diluc for “I’m doing stupid stuff and I don’t want you to get hurt.”, but for Kaeya, well, he knew Diluc was doing stupid stuff and didn’t want him to keep getting hurt. Kaeya had become beyond annoyed and stomped off.
Kaeya had calmed down since then and had decided that he was going to keep pestering his big brother until he agreed to accept his help. Since he couldn’t find Diluc at the Angel’s Share, he was meandering his way to Dawn Winery.
The afternoon sun was bright and hot today and he’d expected to find Diluc inside or perhaps relaxing under the gentle shade of a tree. Of course he wasn’t. As he approached the winery he found Diluc practicing his swordsmanship just off the road to the right, in an opening next to where the rows of grapes started.
Diluc was pacing towards the water while swinging the massive claymore in well-practiced moves and Kaeya just stood far off to the side and waited to be noticed.
He had his arms crossed and a serious look on his face for when Diluc turned around, he instead let out something like a horrified laugh. Diluc’s face was as red as his hair.
“How long have you been out here?!” Kaeya exclaimed. “You look like a tomato. Why would you come out with no protection? Oh, and you rolled up your sleeves too…” He trailed off. Diluc had rolled his eyes and turned away.
“What do you want?” The redhead grumbled as he walked over to the fence his coat was laying on.
Kaeya sighed. He’d only been here for a few minutes and they were already starting to bicker. He watched as Diluc started to roll his sleeves back down and could hear him hiss while the stubborn man started mumbling under his breath.
“There’s no use doing that, you can’t hide it now.” He said and crossed his arms and waited while Diluc tried for a moment longer, gave up and hung his head. “Why did you stay out so long without sun lotion?” He asked as he approached cautiously.
“I didn’t. I had some on, I just… lost track of time.” He sucked in a sharp breath as Kaeya touched his back and tried to hide it, but Kaeya had noticed and pulled back his collar to look at his back.
“Diluc… You burned even through your shirt!”
“I could tell.”
“Come on, let's go inside.” He tried directing his brother without touching his burned skin.
Diluc’s eyes became as big as saucers as he stopped in his tracks. “No! Adelinde is in there!”
Kaeya would laugh at a grown man being afraid of their housemaid, but he had been on the receiving end of Adelinde’s care after hurting himself and was a little afraid of her too. She had always taken her job of caring for them very seriously and Diluc was right, she wouldn’t be happy, but…
“There’s no way she’s not going to notice. Even if you manage to somehow avoid her today, what about tomorrow or the day after. And you know you’re going to get sick from this. It happens every time, Diluc.” Kaeya said sympathetically, but couldn’t stand the dejected look plastered on his brother’s face at this point. “Fine. We’ll try to avoid her, but I’m telling you- she’s going to find out.”
As they reached the house, Kaeya opened the door and peeked inside. It seemed clear so he waved Diluc in and they crept up the stairs as quietly as they could. Once they made it to Diluc’s room Kaeya instructed his brother to take his shirt off while he got some cool water. Diluc was going to freeze, but it would bring down the inflammation.
Kaeya could hear Diluc hissing in pain in the next room. They had been through this routine before. Diluc would forget to put on sun lotion when his mind was occupied, which didn’t happen infrequently. That’s why when they were kids Kaeya had started to carry sunburn soothing sunscreen with him. He didn’t really need it much himself, but his extremely fair skinned brother was another story. Diluc could easily sunburn on a cloudy day. Even after Diluc had left for years, carrying the jar of lotion around had become a habit. He never minded doing this, it was just one of his ways of protecting his big brother.
He filled a basin with cool water, grabbed a washcloth and headed back to the next room. Diluc was fighting with his shirt and the shirt was winning. He couldn’t flex his back without the shirt scraping against his skin here or there. Kaeya grabbed a sleeve and helped as best he could.
Kaeya had him sit on the ottoman. Diluc looked exhausted and was already shivering. His upper back, shoulders and upper arms were nearly as red as his face and forearms. He wrung out the cloth and started to gently pat it on the burned skin. Diluc held back a yelp and tried not to move.
After a while of repeating this, he dug the soothing lotion and started to apply it to the sunburn. Diluc, who had been quiet this whole time, stared at the jar.
“You still have that?” He slurred tiredly.
“Of course, I still have a brother who forgets to use his own.” Kaeya quipped with a raised eyebrow.
“Hrmph.”
“Is it feeling better at all?” Kaeya asked as he closed the jar.
“Yeah.”
Diluc’s eyes were closed.
“Come on, let's get you to your bed before you fall over.” Kaeya said, gently pulling his brother’s arm up to get him moving.
Diluc slowly made his way to the bed, pulled his boots off and laid down. He was nearly already asleep by the time his head hit the pillow, staying awake only long enough to say “Thanks, Kaeya.”, and then he was out.
Kaeya went and stood by the window, looking out across the orchard. He could picture Diluc and himself as kids, running around and getting themselves into trouble. The best days of his life, being side by side with his brother. He hadn’t had a chance to talk to Diluc about facing enemies together instead of going it alone, but he still planned on it and he wasn’t going to let King Stubborn stop him. He’d follow him around everywhere if he had to.
He checked his watch, Adelinde would be looking for Diluc any time now for dinner. He’d better go warn her. Taking a deep breath and swallowing hard, he quietly told Diluc goodnight and went to face a dragon. Err, housemaid. He meant housemaid.