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It’s a remarkably uneventful day.
It's early afternoon, and Angel’s Share isn’t open yet, but Diluc Ragnvindr is already in Mondstadt taking care of it. Patton came down with some sickness the previous day ; so the Wine tycoon decided to clean the outside tables himself, and prepare his evening shift at the tavern afterward.
“..valry Captain.”
Diluc stills for a second.
Then he resumes his cleaning, acting like nothing happened, but stealthily making his way to a table closer to the voices in order to better hear the conversation.
Just in case this is something important, of course.
“ - And I still can’t get it, and he keeps making fun of me for trying !” complains a tall man with a bright mop of ginger hair, and a red mask stuck to it.
The Eleventh Harbinger, the one the Traveler has brought back to Mondstadt so often that most of the population isn’t afraid of him anymore. But Diluc knows what kind of bloodthirsty monster hides beneath the seemingly cordial young man, and he won’t be deceived.
“Is that so ?” answers a small blonde man, braids in his hair. The Chief Alchemist of the Ordo Favonius.
Diluc frowns as he pretends he’s still cleaning the already spotless table. What could a Captain of these useless Knights want with a Harbinger ? Is it some sort of shady deal involving Kaeya ?
Diluc risks another look toward the two men.
The ginger is gesturing wildly while whining about something or another Kaeya did. In contrast, the Alchemist is as calm as ever, patiently waiting for the woman working at the counter of the shop to fulfill his order. It’s an herbalist shop ; perhaps he’s buying medicine, or alchemical materials. Diluc doesn’t know enough about either field to figure it out with just a look.
Hm. Perhaps the knight is just an unfortunate passerby getting caught in that Fatui scum ranting.
Or at least, that’s what Diluc thinks for a second. Before he hears the next part of their conversation.
“So I suppose you haven’t been able to get him either ?”
“No !!! It’s super frustrating ! I want the Cavalry Captain too, but I can’t get him.”
Diluc clenches his hand, taking a deep breath.
That piece of -
“Well, don’t blame yourself too much. I don’t think many have managed either. So far, I only know of the Traveler who had him, but that was because Captain Kaeya himself decided it. And I suppose he also belongs to Klee, in a way, but we both know it’s not the same…” The Alchemist ponders out loud.
Diluc’s mind blank out for a second.
The Traveler… and his brother… Is it… Did they..?
“It doesn’t matter. I’m going to have him, whether he likes it or not. At this point, it’s a matter of pride !” the ginger exclaims.
“Well, if you manage it, do tell me how you did, please. You know I need him too,” the blonde man answers, still so calm and unruffled despite the way he’s talking about his colleague with one of their enemies.
Diluc’s already very low opinion of the Knights falls even further ; it seems their Chief Alchemist is a traitor too. A traitor conspiring with Fatui in broad daylight.
And to hear these men talking about his brother like he’s a piece of grilled meat…
Their chatters - well, mostly the ginger’s, the blonde one answering in monosyllables and humming - get fainter as they leave the street.
With another deep breath, Diluc raises his hand from where it was clenched on the table.
A handprint is burnt into the wood.
Diluc spends most of vigilante time in the following week tracking every and all movement of the Fatui, as well as anything unusual with the Knights, and especially their alchemy department.
He doesn’t learn anything, sadly.
The Fatui grunts he “interrogates” in Mondstadt are all ignorant wimps. They cry about the fact they’re never made aware of what the Harbingers, and especially Tartaglia, are up to.
He can barely get a word in with Sucrose before she runs away, and Timaeus chats his ears off for over an hour about Liyue’s romantic landscape.
He tries to pour more resources into his informants’ network, but they all come back empty handed.
He’d already have marched to the Ordo Favonius and forced Kaeya to be brought to a secure house, if he hadn’t had a little talk with a (very unimpressed) Vile, who told him the reason the Cavalry Captain wasn’t being seen around the city much these days was due to tax season being upon them, and that his role as Quartermaster made him the unfortunate recipient of most of the related paperwork.
Therefore, he was stuck in his office.
His office which is right across the Acting Grandmaster’s one, in the heart of the best protected building of the city - or so the Knights claim. The red-haired man isn’t quite convinced, but even he can admit it’s probably better to have Kaeya in a public and rather safe space, keeping up with his usual schedule, to not alert their enemies that they’ve been discovered.
So Kaeya is fine.
For now.
Sure, his brother can actually take care of himself. The Cavalry Captain is a force to be reckoned with, one of the greatest Cryo Vision wielder of Mondstadt, and one of the sharpest mind of Teyvat -
But still. If the Fatui are after him, and if some Knights are collaborating with them…
Diluc frantically sends more missives to all corners of Teyvat, and then puts on his owl mask to prowl around in the night.
At best, he’ll find some information about the conspiracy going on.
At worst, he’ll take his stress and anger out on some Abyss mages.
In any case, it’s a win.
Diluc’s search proves fruitless ; no one has heard of any plans involving the Fatui, the Knights of the Ordo Favonius, and especially the Cavalry Captain.
Nothing. Nada. Nichts.
But he won’t stop, he knows there is something going, he’s seen the ginger talk with the Alchemist around the city at least two more times in the past few days, and he’s heard more snippet of conversation while stalking them, and it always involved his brother -
So there is something going on, and he just needs to figure out what exactly !
But before he can do so, it all comes to an end.
He’s picking up some ingredients from Blanche’s shop, in the main street, and from the corner of his eyes he sees the blonde alchemist ordering food from Good Hunter -
And the ginger is suddenly running toward the shorter man, stopping abruptly, excitement visible in the way he’s bouncing on his feet.
“I got it,” he (loudly) whispers.
“You mean..?” the alchemist asks, confused.
“I finally own the Cavalry Captain !”
Diluc sees red.
Before he can even process his own actions, he’s dropped his bag on Blanche’s counter, turned around, and he has a fist in the Harbinger’s collar, other hand raised, a few flames curling around his gloves -
The Harbinger is surprised, but also excited - what a freak . The Alchemist has a small movement of recoil, and he’s the next on his hit list, neither will escape this unscathed, they will both pay -
“ Master Diluc. Care to explain ?” A very unamused voice asks right behind the Wine Tycoon.
Diluc lets out a deep breath.
He slowly lowers his fists, letting go of the Harbinger - but still glaring at him - before turning around.
Hands on his hips, a frown on his face, Kaeya is here.
“Not that I don’t understand the urge to punch him, but what exactly happened that would make you cause such a diplomatic incident right in the middle of the city ?” his brother asks.
Diluc stares at him. Beside an eyebag darker than usual, and his fur cape being a bit matted at the end, Kaeya looks fine.
“What are you doing here ?” Diluc asks.
“Hey, that’s my line ?” Kaeya retorts. “I was just coming to get lunch at Good Hunter, and I found you about to commit apparently uncalled acts of violence against a diplomat.”
“Uncalled ? He deserved it. They both deserve it, and so much more, for what they did to you !” Diluc growls.
“Did to me ? What did they do ?” Kaeya asks, bewildered. He turns to the others, but they both look confused.
“You don’t have to pretend - “
“Why do you immediately assume I’m lying ?! I haven’t even seen Childe in days !” Kaeya frowns. “Now that I think about it, it’s a bit suspicious I haven’t even heard a single complaint about him in so long, but…”
“Did the Harbinger drug you ?” Diluc worriedly asks. If his brother can’t even remember what happened…
“Wh - Hey ! What kind of man do you think I am !” the ginger protests loudly. The Wine Tycoon throws him a murderous glare, but he doesn’t even flinch. “Why the hell would I want to drug Kaeya anyway ?”
“Yeah, why would he - or Albedo, for that matter, want to drug me ?” his brother repeats, raising a single eyebrow.
“Sir Ragnvindr, perhaps you should - “ The Alchemist tries to interject.
“ Shut it. I know what I heard. They were saying… He said…” Diluc struggles to say it out loud.
Kaeya waits patiently, tapping his foot. The ginger still looks confused, but he’s also glaring at him.
“ Oh .”
They all turn to the Chief Alchemist as he lets out a sound. His eyes are widened, and he looks like he just had a revelation.
“Ah. I believe this is all a misunderstanding,” the blonde man says, a slight blush on his cheeks. “We were talking about Genius Invocation.”
“The trading card game ?” Kaeya asks, even more bewildered.
“What does that card game has to do with - “ Diluc grits out.
“Yes. Childe and I were discussing the game, when you heard us earlier. Not talking about… doing unspeakable things to the real Cavalry Captain,” The alchemist cuts him, muttering the last part with a cough.
The ginger immediately lets out a high-pitched squeak, and turns bright red. He struggles with his pocket for a moment, before shakily taking out a single card.
His brother’s smirk adorns the piece of glossy paper.
“I - yeah, that’s not - ! I was saying I finally owned the Cavalry Captain’s card !” the Harbinger splutters, embarrassment clear on his burning face.
Diluc’s mind goes blank again.
Wait. All this time, they were talking about the stupid game ?!
“But you don’t even play that game ?!” he says accusingly to the Alchemist.
“No, I don’t. However, Klee does, and Captain Kaeya has let her borrow his deck several times. I’ve bought her own cards recently, and she has been hounding me to get her the Cavalry Captain’s card too. However, I have had no luck so far - it seems it’s a rather uncommon one,” The shorter man answers.
The Cavalry Captain card -
Wait, so the part with the Traveler was about that time Kaeya gave them his own card too, not -
Kaeya’s bewilderment turns to a wide smirk - and then he’s folded in half, holding his belly, laughing so hard he’s snorting and wheezing.
“Oh m-my Barbatos… They were… They were talking about… And you thought - !” his brother splutters, still cackling.
Diluc feels his own skin turns the same color as his hair.
He has nothing to say for his defense - He’s the one that jumped to conclusions !
“I was worried for you. For nothing it seems. Great. See you never,” he barks before sharply turning around.
He can still hear his brother cackling as he speedwalks away.
He’s never gonna live that down.
Time to hide in the Winery.
Forever.