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Kaeya felt guilty for rejecting Diluc’s dinner invitation for the nth time that month, but he truly was swamped with so much paperwork. He just had to have picked up the backlog the night before everything else came rolling in like an avalanche. Even his daily visits to Angel’s Share were limited to a single glass of Death After Noon. Being limited by himself and the mountains of paper on his desk instead of Diluc kicking him out felt far worse than Kaeya would have imagined.
Then there were days like today, where Kaeya didn’t think he even had time to visit Angel’s Share. He could only stare wistfully out his window at the glittering lights of Mondstadt city that felt too far away.
Kaeya sighed. He really should have kept a small stock of wine in his office, but that would leave the chance for Klee to discover it.
His window slid open and a familiar figure rolled into his office.
Kaeya paused.
“Diluc?”
Diluc said nothing as he dragged the smaller side table near the couch closer to Kaeya’s desk. Soon, it was groaning under the amount of food Diluc had pulled out of his Vision space.
“Diluc???”
Diluc then picked Kaeya, and his whole chair, up to sit him in front of the food-laden table.
“You will eat, or so help me, I will force-feed you.” Diluc sat opposite Kaeya, leaning back with crossed arms. “Appreciate your good fortune that I managed to convince Adelinde against joining me.”
Kaeya was pretty sure Diluc had been the one to tattle to Adelinde in the first place.
“You wouldn’t have snuck her up here.”
“Adelinde doesn’t need to sneak up here. She can walk through the front door.”
“And you can’t?”
“It’s easier if no one sees me come in.” Diluc shrugged, watching in satisfaction as Kaeya eagerly piled food onto his plate. Diluc had been sure to get a bit of everything from Sara, and a dish or two from Adelinde, to ensure Kaeya would have nothing to complain about and a reasonable variety to choose from.
“Are you just going to watch me eat?” Kaeya paused. He pushed the Sweet Madame closer to Diluc. “Please, I don’t think I’ll be able to stomach anything if you just keep staring. Besides, I doubt you’ve had dinner yet either.”
Diluc sat up a little straighter where he had been slouching against the chair.
“I expected to be kicked out because you were busy.”
“I’m not that ungrateful.” Kaeya paused, remembering the times he did indeed kick Diluc out. “I’m also glad for the distraction this time.”
“That bad, huh?” Diluc’s eyes flickered to the piles of paperwork on the Captain’s desk. “And are you going to tell me you didn’t take more of the backlog as well?”
Kaeya grumbled incoherently.
“I’ve been clearing out as many camps as I could before it got to the Knights. If you have time to take on extra paperwork, perhaps I shouldn’t have bothered.”
“Eula’s on leave. Albedo is holing himself up in his Dragonspine lab. There’s not exactly an overwhelming number of people to work on it,” Kaeya complained. “You would do the exact same thing.”
“I suppose I have to count my blessings that you’re actually bothering to sleep relatively normal hours, huh?”
“I have no doubt you’d have a plan to get me to sleep if that wasn’t the case,” Kaeya grumbled.
“It’s always worth having a plan,” Diluc said smugly.
“Do you really want me to get started on your poor habits knowing exactly what you’re planning to do after this?” Kaeya glared.
Diluc coughed, and they both lapsed into silence that was broken only by their cutlery. Surprisingly, it wasn't long before all the plates were empty. Kaeya hadn't believed he was that hungry, but he could still feel the satisfaction of a good meal fill him as he stretched.
Kaeya could hear Diluc’s equally satisfied hum around the clinking of plates. He knew should offer for Diluc to just leave the plates where they were for him to take care of in the morning.
“You definitely look more alive now.”
“Hey! What are you trying to say?”
“I’m not
trying
to say anything.” Diluc snickered, taking the chance to ruffle Kaeya’s already messy hair before dashing for the still open window. As if Kaeya was going to chase him with how satisfyingly full he currently felt.
Diluc had probably abandoned his usual shift at Angel’s Share for this, Kaeya thought as he watched Diluc slip out of his window, disappearing into the city. Kaeya laughed quietly to himself.
His permanently overworking brother had also been unknowingly convinced into a short break.