Work Text:
"Diluc! I'm coming for youuu!" Kaeya yells playfully as he darted through the grape vines. The two had been playing hide and seek for well over two hours now, though Diluc seemed to keep finding very good hiding spots. He always found Kaeya way before Kaeya would find him.
"Surely you're starting to run out of good spots by now," Kaeya says, mostly to himself, given that he wasn't sure where Diluc was yet. He continues running between vines and circling the winery until he's sure he's checked behind every single possible leaf. "Hmmm," he stands still, tapping his chin and looking around for bright red hair.
Kaeya decides to go back into the winery, assuming Diluc broke their agreement and hid inside. He peeks into every room, behind every piece of furniture, and even under Elzer's desk. His brother was still nowhere to be found. "What on earth are you doing, Master Kaeya?" Kaeya bumps his head as he crawled out from beneath the desk.
"Looking for Diluc," Kaeya says as he stands up. "We're playing hide and seek."
"I hope you find him soon, dinner will be ready soon dear."
"Yes ma'am!" Kaeya smiles and runs past her and back outside. "Diiiiluccc!" Kaeya shouts, hands cupped over his mouth. "Miss Addie says dinner is almost ready! I give up!" Kaeya sits down on a bench and waits for Diluc to emerge from hiding. After nearly five minutes have passed, he tries again. "C'mon Luc! You win, okay? Come out!"
Worry finally starts to set in once his older brother doesn't show. After hearing that he was the winner, he should've come out by now. "Diluc?" Kaeya shouts again, hopping down from the bench. He walks another lap around the winery, eyes peeled for anything that might look like his brother. Nothing.
He decides to stray a little further; their outside rule was that they weren't allowed to play past the grape vines, but maybe Diluc went on without realizing. He walks between trees and tall patches of sweet flowers until he reaches the edge of the lake. He looks both directions, hoping to see red. Tears threaten to fall now, his fear growing, but he wanted to remain strong. He wouldn't be able to see if he was crying.
"Diluc?" Kaeya shouts again, beginning to walk along the edge of the water. "Diluc, come out!" After several minutes of walking, Kaeya's heart drops when he hears the sound of a familiar cry. He runs towards the sound as quickly as he could until he finally catches sight of his brother; and a cryo slime.
"Diluc!" Kaeya shouts once he reaches him. Diluc was on the ground, sobbing as he tried to pull his leg away from the slime that was grabbing onto it. "Hey! Get away!" Kaeya shouts and begins throwing rocks at the slime. He throws them as fast and hard as he can, while Diluc cried more and more. Finally, the slime backs off and retreats into the water. "Luc, Luc! Are you okay?" Kaeya kneels down to inspect his older brother. The red head grabs onto Kaeya and cries into his arms. Kaeya wished Diluc could tell him what happened, but all he could do was comfort him.
"Oh, thank Barbatos." Crepus quickly approaches the two boys and kneels down. "What happened?" he asks as Diluc moves to cling to his father instead.
"A slime hurt his leg," Kaeya frowns and Crepus begins examining Diluc for any serious injuries. His leg had some slight bruising with a scrape on his knee, but overall was mostly just muddy.
"Sh, sh, you're okay my boy," Crepus coos and sways his son back and forth. "Let's go get you cleaned up." Crepus carries Diluc back to the winery with Kaeya following behind.
"I'm sorry papa," Kaeya finally speaks once they're all inside. "I let him go past the vines."
"Your brother knows the rules, Kae. This isn't your fault. I'm just glad everyone's okay." Kaeya waits outside the bathroom while his father helped clean and bandage his brother. After awhile, he hears muffled giggling and exhales; that was a much better sound to hear.
"Alright, it's dinner time. Off you go," Crepus says once opening the door and Diluc, now smiling, runs down the hall and towards the dining room. "Kaeya, come here." Kaeya walks up to his father, head drooped low. He still felt like he was at fault for what happened. It's his job to protect his brother and he failed. "Hey, look at me," Crepus says softly, placing a finger beneath Kaeya's chin and lifting his head up. "I know you're upset, but I'm proud of you."
"But Luc got hurt-"
"Diluc is just fine; I know it was scary for both of you, but it would've been much worse if you didn't go looking for him." Kaeya lowers his head again, pouting. "Go wash up, Adelinde made your favorite tonight." Kaeya does perk up a little after hearing that and rushes into the bathroom to wash his hands.
When he enters the kitchen, Diluc waves at him excitedly and points at the chair beside him. "Okay, okay," Kaeya smiles and climbs into the chair. Diluc smiles and pushes a mangled Calla Lilly towards Kaeya. "You picked it for me?" Kaeya asks, raising the flower to his nose to smell. Diluc nods and now Kaeya understood what had happened. Diluc wanted to pick a flower for Kaeya but the slime attacked him before he could come back.
"Thank you, Luc," Kaeya smiles, carefully setting the flower in his lap. "But don't do that again, okay?" Diluc huffs and lowers his head but nods in agreement. Kaeya then leans closer to Diluc, mouth towards his ear and hand cupping to hide his whisper; "Maybe Papa will take us to pick flowers for Miss Addie soon."
Diluc pulls away and nods, giggling. Kaeya giggles too before they begin eating, earning confused but gentle glances from Crepus and Adelinde.