Chapter Text
There were two things in life that Donna loved - flowers, and Diluc Ragnvindr.
Oh, she knew she was being silly. Diluc, after all, was a scion of the famous Ragnvindr clan, a former Knight of Favonius, one of the richest, handsomest, most eligible men in Mondstadt - and she was plain old Donna Braun, whom nobody even looked at twice, and plenty of people passed by her every day at Flora's shop near the Mondstadt gates.
"You just don't stand out, dear," her mother had told her lovingly, once, and she had long ago made her peace with that. Not everyone was blessed with the looks or talent or grace to stand out, but even those who weren't still had a valued and fulfilling place, like baby's breath in a bouquet.
Donna hummed slightly as she swept a broom over the shop. For example, where would Flora be without her? Still at work, that was where. Instead, her pint-sized boss was off somewhere else, most likely conducting experiments on the latest flowers imported from Fontaine, or perhaps tucked up and cosy in bed after a glass of warm milk. Donna hoped it was the latter. Flora tended to push herself too hard.
The sound of quiet footsteps behind her made her turn. A man stood near the windwheel asters, watching them spin gracefully in the evening breeze.
"Good evening," called Donna, smiling and setting down her broom. "Welcome to Floral Whisper! Can I help you?"
The man started slightly, and turned to look at her with a sheepish expression. "Oh, sorry. I was just thinking about sending a...bouquet."
"Oh, certainly!" This was one of Donna's favourite parts of her job, putting together the perfect bouquet for customers. Bouquets were so much more than eye-pleasing bundles of flowers - each one held a special message from its sender, and Donna took a great deal of pride in crafting them. She had borrowed every book on flowers and their meanings in the Knights of Favonius' library, and memorised them long ago. "Who will you be sending it to?"
The man hesitated a moment. "Someone I've loved for a long time, even though she's never returned my feelings."
Ohh. Donna nodded in sympathy. Unrequited love - she could certainly relate. "Do you have any particular flowers in mind? Otherwise, I could recommend some -"
"Windwheel asters," said the man, looking over the flowers on display. He swung his gaze back to Donna and gave her a sad sort of smile. "She loves windwheel asters. And maybe...calla lilies?"
Calla lilies, a symbol of faithfulness and revival. They were popular in bouquets for their loveliness and their significance, it was a good thing she had some left. "Of course. Anything else?"
"I think...those." The man pointed at some intense red blossoms that had been placed on a lower shelf.
Donna blinked. "Oh, I wouldn't really recommend those, sir. They're dendrobiums. Not really the kind of flower for a lover's bouquet." Dendrobiums were associated with blood, and were used more often for memorial rites.
He shook his head. "No, she loves that colour. And - I don't think we'll ever be lovers." His sigh was all too familiar to Donna.
She wavered slightly, then relented and reached out for the flowers. He was the customer, after all, and flowers were flowers at the end of the day.
The man waited patiently as Donna expertly wove the flowers he had picked into a carefully judged blend of scent and colour, adding some foliage and some filler, and tying it all together with a fresh silken ribbon.
"You have a fine hand," he remarked, and Donna blushed slightly.
"It's only practice," she murmured, "I'm sure anyone could do it."
The man shook his head. "I don't think just anyone could do it. And I wouldn't ask just anyone to -" He paused, and looked pained.
"To put together a bouquet for the person you love?" Donna guessed.
"Actually, I must ask for your help to deliver these flowers," said the man. At Donna's surprised expression, he hurriedly added, "I know it's not part of your usual services here, but I'll make it worth your while! I just can't...can't see her again." He sighed. "Perhaps you'd understand if you loved someone out of your reach..."
Well, that she did. Feeling a kinship with the man, she leaned over the counter and told him, "Don't worry, I'll do it."
His face lit up. "You would? It's near, uh, Springvale, but you wouldn't have to walk far off the main road..."
Donna hesitated slightly. She had not expected the delivery address to be outside of Mondstadt, honestly, but then again, Springvale wasn't too far away. Just maybe a little over an hour's walk. She'd earn a little extra for the effort, and it wasn't as though she'd had any exciting plans for the evening. "You can leave it to me," she said, nodding.
The man's fervent thanks gave Donna a warm happy glow as she shut up the shop for the night and popped home briefly to let her mother know that she was going to be home much later. Her mother was slathered completely in some face cream that had no doubt been recommended by Blanche again, and waved vaguely in her direction as she left.
Donna clutched the bouquet to her with one hand and gathered her cloak a bit more tightly around herself with the other as she made her way to Mondstadt's main gate. It was close to the end of summertime now, and the nights were starting to get a little chilly. Her heart beat a little faster, as it always did, as she passed by Angel's Share - in the privacy of her own mind she could fantasise about how Diluc would happen to step out of his tavern just as she was passing by, and their eyes would meet, and he would say - well, she wasn't sure what he would say, but it would be something grand and romantic, and she would flirt elegantly with him until he was so taken with her that -
Donna laughed a little at herself as she walked. No one came out; the evening was still relatively young, the carousing was only just beginning. Diluc didn't know her name, or that she existed at all. But fantasies were harmless, weren't they?
She didn't see the shadowy figure that detached itself from the city walls behind her, slipped down the darkened alleyways, and disappeared.
======
Donna was trying hard not to regret her impulsive offer to help by the time she reached the house that the man - Eber, he'd said his name was - had given her directions to.
At least his directions had been clear, she thought, as she trudged up the path leading to the door of the ordinary-looking house. It had rained a little earlier in the day, and the philanemo mushrooms growing under the eaves sparkled slightly in the moonlight.
She knocked lightly on the door. "Hello? Anybody home?"
It was plain from the warm lights in the windows along the side of the house that somebody was home, but they were taking a while to get the door. Or hadn't heard.
Donna knocked again, harder. "Hello? I have a deliv-"
The door opened abruptly, silhouetting a rather large man with lightly dishevelled hair instead of the dainty woman she had been imagining would appear. Donna blinked in surprise, glancing to the room behind him.
The man leaned casually against the doorframe, cutting off her view. "Can I help you?"
"I'm sorry to disturb you, I have a bouquet for Miss Karen Ann," Donna said dutifully. "Is she at home?"
"Ah. I see," said the man - her husband perhaps? Was that why Eber couldn't deliver the bouquet himself? The man studied the flowers a moment, then reached out for them. "I'll take this for her."
Donna hesitated. "Perhaps I should hand them to her personally..."
The man withdrew his arms and crossed them, but he seemed amused rather than offended. "Did Eber send you?"
Something was odd, Donna thought warily. Unconsciously, she backed up a step. "He did."
The man nodded. "Well, I think you'll do."
"Do -" what, she wanted to say, but then the man stepped forward and in the light that now fell through the doorway she had a moment to register that he had the most unusual eyes. Behind her there came the strangest sound, a chirp that sounded like a cross between a child and an insect, a cold sting to the back of her neck, and then all was darkness.
======
The hard drumming of rain from overhead brought Donna awake, but the jolt of panic that lanced through her as she opened her eyes to an unfamiliar dimness held her still.
What had happened? Where was she?
Hardly daring to breathe, she rolled her eyes to look around the room as much as she could. At least there didn't seem to be anyone in there with her at the moment, just lots of shapes that looked like boxes or stacks of books, as far as she could tell without poking them.
Her heart still thumping, Donna tried to sit up, and this made her aware of two things: one, a pounding headache that translated itself into a wave of nausea, and two, the smell of pancakes, which did not help the nausea.
She clutched the edge of the bed and tried not to retch. A sliver of light caught her eye - a little bit of gold slanting in under a door. It was probably also where the smell of pancakes was coming from.
Swallowing hard, Donna slid carefully off the bed and tiptoed to the door. There didn't seem to be a window in the room, the door was quite possibly her only chance of escape. She couldn't waste any time.
She tried putting her ear against the door, but the sturdiness of the wood and the noise of the rain drowned out any other sound. There had to be people on the other side of the door, but how many? And what would she do if they saw her?
Donna felt around her for something that she could, maybe, defend herself with. Her fingers clamped on something hard and heavy - it would have to do. She tried not to think about the fact that she had no real idea how to defend herself as she nudged the door open a crack and peered out.
There was a small sitting room on the other side of the door, and beyond that - Donna opened the door a touch wider, and mercifully it did not creak - what looked like a main door. Yes. She just had to get over there, fling the door open and dive out into the stormy night. She'd figure out what came after that...later.
First she had to get past the man in dark clothes in front of the fireplace with his back towards her, crouched over something, most likely the pancakes. The flickering flames made it hard for Donna to see, but he seemed to be the only person in the room.
One person. She could do this. The instant he was distracted taking a bite of his pancakes, she would -
As she watched, the man removed a mask over his head - a mask? What kind of villain was he? - and set it carefully on the chair beside him, then dipped his head for a bite of his cooking.
Barbatos protect me! Donna clutched her weapon to her chest with both hands and squeezed through the door, sliding along the wall as quickly as she dared towards the main door. Her feet were bare, she realised, so they made no sound, and the sound of the storm would cover anything else - surely.
Donna kept her eyes on the figure of the man as she moved, hardly daring to breathe, and she was nearly there, nearly -
And then of course she had to bump into a lamp, which rocked lightly on its base.
The man startled, started to turn.
Donna yelped, squeezing her eyes shut as she hurled her only weapon at him at full force, then instantly opened them again in panic.
The metal bound book thumped harmlessly into the wall far to the left of one very bemused Diluc Ragnvindr.
Donna felt like she'd taken a punch to the gut. "You can't be serious." In all of her elaborate, romantic fantasies about him, Master Diluc of the Dawn Winery had never been a kidnapper of women. "Is the winery doing poorly?"
"...I'm sorry?"
She gave him her best look of disdain and betrayal - or at least, she hoped she did. "Master Diluc, you are not the honourable man I thought you were. You -" Her eyes widened at her belated realisation that she was attempting to chastise a former Knight of Favonius and Vision holder, who could most likely fry her where she stood, and she clamped her hand over her mouth. "- mmph mmng - I mean, I'll, I'll - I promise not to tell anyone about this if you, uh, just let me go -"
Diluc held up both hands, and Donna instinctively flinched. "Wait," he said. "There's been a misunderstanding."
And since that was not followed up by a bright flash or a sizzle, Donna paused.
"You are safe," Diluc said, enunciating each word carefully. His eyes held hers frankly, without a shadow of deception, and against her better judgment, Donna felt herself relax slightly. "You ran into a criminal organisation, I rescued you, and brought you to this safe house. You will return to Mondstadt tomorrow."
"You...rescued me?" Her mind spun. And I missed it?? her inner schoolgirl squealed. But a thought occurred to her. "Wait - how did you know where I was?" Or had he just happened to be passing by the same secluded house in Springvale that she had been delivering flowers to? That didn't seem very likely.
Diluc sighed. "I've been tracking this criminal organisation for a while. This evening one of my informants told me about an agent of theirs that visited the flower shop, and that a citizen of Mondstadt was in potential danger."
In danger. Donna bit her lip. She supposed she had been very lucky that nothing worse had happened - that was definitely going to be the last time she helped a total stranger out of the blue.
"Have a seat," Diluc said, stepping back and gesturing to the armchairs in front of the fireplace. "I've made some pancakes, you can have them if you like."
Donna hesitated. It all felt like some strange fever dream - especially the waking up in a tiny, storm-stranded cabin in the middle of nowhere with the man of her dreams telling her he'd rescued her from criminals and offering her pancakes. She was sorely tempted to pinch herself, but what if this was real? She wasn't ready for this, she realised with a growing sense of panic. What was she supposed to do? What was she supposed to say?
Diluc apparently mistook her daze for reluctance. "Of course, you're free to go now," he said. "But one of my staff will come by in the morning with a cart. You'll have a comfortable ride back to the city." Thunder rumbled ominously overhead. "Dry," Diluc added, glancing at the ceiling.
Donna gulped a little and nodded. She awkwardly accepted the chair he offered her, breathing a light sigh of relief as he turned away to get something. That gave her the opportunity to covertly study his back from a closer range than she'd ever had previously. He was wearing a black coat that looked thick and expensive; she wondered how his back would look under it - an expanse of warm, taut muscle dipping down to his equally taut -
"Here, have a drink." Donna jumped and muffled a squeak as he turned around, a hot rush rising to her cheeks. He held out a cup to her and she studiously avoided his eyes as she took it with murmured thanks, praying the firelight hid her blush.
"It's understandable you're still a little nervous," Diluc said, his voice low and reassuring. "Is there anything you need to make you more comfortable?"
He's such a gentleman, her inner schoolgirl gushed. Maybe you can ask him for his autograph? Donna told her inner schoolgirl that she was doing no such thing. "I think...erm, I'm fine, thank you."
Diluc nodded. "Good. In that case, I have a few questions for you."
Donna looked up at him. "About the criminals?"
"Yes. Tell me everything you remember about them."
Donna furrowed her brow. Truth be told, she didn't remember much of anything. Eber and his bouquet delivery request, of course, and the walk to Springvale. Had she been followed? She couldn't be sure. The little house she had knocked at, and someone had answered the door - a man...?
"What did he look like?" Diluc asked, leaning forward, his eyes intent.
Donna strained to remember, but her memory was all fuzzy, and his closeness only made her even more flustered. "I - I don't remember...maybe you could go back to the house and...?"
Diluc shook his head. "It's empty now."
"Oh...of course." Donna felt a jab of disappointment. If only she could have been useful, she thought. "I'm sorry," she said.
"Don't be," Diluc said with a small sigh as he stood. "I'm sorry I didn't get to you sooner."
"Sooner? How long was I out?" Donna glanced around the room, but saw no timepiece.
Diluc cocked his head, thinking. "It's nearly dawn now. If you got there fairly early in the evening, I would say...most of the night."
Donna gulped. If Diluc hadn't arrived...what fate would have awaited her at the end of the night? "Thank you," she said softly, clasping her hands together. "I don't know how I can ever repay you."
He stiffened uncomfortably. "There's -" He cleared his throat. "There's no need for that. Just doing my duty."
That last bit struck Donna as odd. "But...you're not a Knight of Favonius anymore, are you? Everyone in Mondstadt knows that."
He slanted a look at her. "My duty to Mondstadt goes beyond being a Knight of Favonius."
"So you - try to stop criminals yourself? Just like the Darkn -" Donna cut herself off so abruptly she nearly bit her tongue, her gaze darting to the mask he had discarded on a chair, to his outfit, to his Pyro vision. "...The Darknight Hero...?" she whispered.
Diluc groaned faintly, and slumped into his chair. "I was really hoping you wouldn't go there."
Donna couldn't help shrinking back a little. "Are you going to kill me now?" she squeaked.
"What? No. No, of course not." He threw her a quelling look just a shade shy of a glare, and shut his eyes briefly. "Listen, Diana -"
"It's Donna," she said, before common sense could kick in and tell her she probably shouldn't interrupt someone whose secret identity had just been blown.
" - Donna, I need you to trust me." He sat straight, and stared her right in the eyes. Donna forgot how to breathe. "Mondstadt is in great danger, and I'm trying to protect all of us. To do that, I need you to keep this - all of this -" his gesture was all-encompassing "- a secret for me. Can I trust you?"
Donna's heart pounded; she didn't trust herself to speak. Maybe this really was just a crazy fever dream she was having, but if it wasn't...it was Diluc's personal request, and she would take the secret to her grave. She nodded.
"Thank you," Diluc said, and the relief in his voice was palpable. He glanced at the cup still in her hands. "Let's have a drink to seal that promise."
"Oh...okay." Donna lifted her cup to her lips as he poured himself another. The drink inside was fruity and aromatic, and quite refreshing. "What is this? It's delicious."
Diluc smiled, and it felt like his first smile of the night. Donna tried not to stare. "It's a fruit cocktail, from Dawn Winery. I'm glad you like it."
So this was the taste of Dawn Winery, Donna thought, peering into her cup. She had seen it before from a distance, of course, all lush vines and soft loamy earth, with the red roof tiles of the Ragnvindr manor gleaming at their centre. It had to be nice living there, she thought, taking another swig, and then another. She would drink this all day.
The steady patter of raindrops on the roof lulled them into a companionable silence as they enjoyed their drinks, punctuated by the occasional pop from the fireplace. Donna felt her eyelids growing heavy. No - she couldn't fall asleep now. Someone was coming with a cart. How far away was the morning?
It will be dawn soon, she thought, setting her cup down and leaning back in her chair with a covered yawn. The darkest night was just before -
======
"She'll sleep all the way back," Diluc said, as he carefully tucked the blanket under the woman's - Donna's - shoulders. At the front of the cart, the horse stirred restively and snorted.
"You sure about that?" Ernest asked warily, peering over his shoulder. "What do I say if she wakes?"
"She had the full dose," Diluc said, stepping back. "No chance of that."
Ernest sighed, moving to take the reins. "I trust you, Master Diluc, but sometimes you make me nervous."
Diluc smiled wryly at that. "Thank you for all your help, Ernest. I'll be counting on you to get her home safely."
"Will you be coming back to the winery for breakfast? Adelinde wants to know."
Diluc shook his head, his gaze turning to the sharp profile of Starsnatch Cliff in the distance. "I have some new leads to follow – and they'll take some time."