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Kaeya sighed, sinking gratefully into a chair at the counter of Angel’s Share. Since Diluc was the bartender, he knew he would have little company other than Rosaria and Venti, if they felt up to it.
Klee had been upset the entire day, and Kaeya was simply exhausted. If he thought he could peacefully sleep at the counter, he very well would, but he knew Diluc would just wake him up and kick him out.
That didn’t stop him from being one of the last patrons lingering as DIluc closed the bar.
“Have a good night, Master Diluc.”
“Kaeya.”
Kaeya took his chances at ignoring the silent request.
“ Kaeya ,” DIluc repeated. Kaeya quietly slid back into his seat.
“What happened? You’re not usually sloppy,” Diluc commented, drying the last of the glasses.
“Sloppy? What do you-?” For the first time that night, Kaeya noticed the bandages that were still tied along his left forearm - Klee’s work that had only marginally improved over the afternoon. “Oh, it’s nothing. Klee wanted to practise her bandaging. I must have forgotten to take them off after she left.”
“I see.”
Kaeya tugged off the bandages as proof when Diluc didn’t say anything else. He even unbuttoned and rolled his sleeve up as if the clean bandages didn’t say enough.
Kaeya yawned then, just in time for Diluc to turn around and frown.
“Give me a moment. I’ll close up then walk you back to headquarters.”
“I can walk myself back to headquarters perfectly fine . Besides, I’m the Knight here. I should be walking you back, not the other way around.”
Diluc paused briefly while locking the backdoor to shoot Kaeya an unimpressed look. “You would be asleep before we got to Springvale.”
“Would not ! I’m wide awake,” Kaeya insisted despite yawning again. “It’s just… late… “
… oOo …
“Big Brother Kaeya!”
Kaeya barely caught the snicker as he wheezed awake, but when he squinted at the door, both Albedo and Diluc wore perfectly straight faces.
“I told you that I didn’t mind keeping an eye on Klee. You didn’t have to make an extra trip to the tavern.”
“If I told you that it had been completely worth it, would you believe me?”
The pair shared an amused glance and headed back to the second floor, but Kaeya could practically hear their silent laughter at his expense.
“The weird grown up took me fish-blasting all morning.” Klee informed Kaeya gleefully. “You have to convince him to teach me how he made Dodoco’s explosions so much bigger! Mom would be so impressed!”
That was quite frankly the absolute worst idea Kaeya had heard in years. He only hoped Diluc didn’t think it was a good idea to also start throwing bombs with his flaming phoenix and claymore.
Wait… all morning ???
“What time is it, Klee?”
“Right! I was supposed to wake you up for lunch.” Klee hopped off the bed. “C’mon, Big Brother Albedo brought lunch from Good Hunter. And we have loads of grilled fish!”
Kaeya reluctantly left the bed at Klee’s urging. He wondered what Jean thought when he apparently just didn’t show up to work for a whole morning. Or when their current resident Knight Pyromaniac decided to spend a morning with their previous Knight Pyromaniac?
The wafting smell of food quickened Kaeya’s steps.
“Your control is incredible,” Albedo commented as he watched Diluc place the last of Klee’s grilled fish on the joined table, now steaming.
“What did you tell Jean?” Kaeya asked, settling next to Klee, reaching for the newly heated grilled fish.
“What did you tell Jean, Albedo?”
“I told her I’d sent Kaeya with Klee to pick up some ingredients from Wolvendom that I needed after lunch.”
“Those wouldn’t happen to be…?”
“Yes, the same ones I asked you to fetch yesterday. I was a bit delayed in picking them up, so it worked out perfectly.”
Kaeya blinked. “Did the two of you just get me out of work for a whole morning just to let me sleep???”
Albedo and Diluc shrugged unrepentantly.
“The weird grown-up said you can tell how tired you are by how loudly you snore,” Klee whispered to Kaeya.
“Diluc, you take that back! I do not snore!”
“Shhhh!” Klee hissed. “I’m not supposed to tell you!”
“I’m afraid I have more witnesses than just me this time,” Diluc started gravely.
“Albedo, no. I do not snore,” Kaeya pleaded.
“I’m sorry, Kaeya. The Snore has claimed you.”
“It’s okay. You only scared a few birds,” Klee comforted, patting Kaeya’s arm.
Kaeya dropped his head into his hands. There was no way. He lived in the Knights’ Dormitories. If he really did snore then…
Pfft .
Kaeya glanced up. Albedo was putting away his canvas. Diluc was determinedly looking at his helping of Sweet Madame. Kaeya narrowed his eyes at the slight tremble to Diluc’s shoulders.
“It’s just a few birds, right?” Albedo patted Diluc’s shoulder.
Diluc cleared his throat.
“Right. The stray cats probably chase more birds away every day. Don’t think too much about it.”
The barely suppressed mirth in DIluc’s expression tempted Kaeya into snickering despite how annoyed he felt. And Kaeya had the feeling he didn’t even know what the joke really was.
It wasn’t often that he was left out of one of DIluc’s jokes.
Huffing, Kaeya turned back to his lunch.
… oOo …
“Albedo?” Diluc called, stepping into the Dragonspine laboratory.
“Ah, Diluc. Give me a moment.”
Diluc took the opportunity to relight the few torches that had gone out as he entered.
“Pleasure doing business with you, Diluc,” Albedo said, exchanging the painting for a bag of elemental materials.
“Likewise.”
This time, Diluc didn’t hide his amusement as he once again admired the framed portrait of “Kaeya convinced he’s a Snorer (he isn’t)”.
As he traversed back to Dawn Winery, he wondered if it would look better above that awful vase or in his study.