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It’d been three days, and Kaeya was beginning to lose his vision.
Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, not that Vision. Nah, Kaeya meant his literal vision, his eyesight.
Head tipped forward, chin resting against his chest, he slumped against the post in the middle of the cave. Above his head, the sun beat down through a small skylight. His wrists were rubbed raw from previous struggles, before he’d been chained where he was now. His captors hadn’t even bothered to remove his Vision from his person.
To be fair, it wasn’t like they’d had to.
After his last escape attempt, they’d beaten him halfway to death, chained his arms behind him, and then left him where he was beneath the skylight. A sign above his head had a simple sentence: “Three days—no food, no water”. Kaeya had heard it being written out, a smirk playing on the writer’s face as they spoke. His tongue was thick in his mouth, he could see black spots dancing in his now-tunneling vision. Even if he could get out of the shackles, he wouldn’t make it very far. He probably wouldn’t even have been able to take a single step.
His stomach wasn’t growling anymore. Instead, there was just this sharp cramp in his gut, and an ache in his mouth and throat that meant he needed food. Which, he wouldn’t get. Considering the violence that these men had inflicted when they didn’t get what they want, they probably wouldn’t even hesitate to continue restricting Kaeya’s food. He doubted they would still keep him from getting water, or else he would die of dehydration, and they would have to deal with the body.
He had to give them credit—starving a person out was a clever method of interrogation.
Cracking his eyes open, Kaeya swallowed thickly. His lips were cracked and dry. He could feel his throat pulse with pain at the muscle contraction—there wasn’t anything to swallow. It was just an instinct, an impulse.
One of the men walked by. Kaeya watched him. In his hands, the man had a bowl full of apple slices. Their gazes met briefly. Then, with a scoff, the man grinned and popped an apple slice in his mouth. Kaeya just watched him. Not like he could do anything else. When I’m out, I’m taking a nap. A really, really long nap.
Closing his eyes again, he dropped his head down.
It pulled at his wrists. He really didn’t have the energy to care anymore. Eventually, the man with the apple slices retreated, footsteps fading away into silence. Knees aching, Kaeya kept his eyes shut. There wasn’t much else to see.
His stomach flipped again, threatening to make him try and revisit the last thing he ate. Not a great feeling. Neither was the cough that shook his shoulders pretty quickly afterwards. A groan left him. It echoed in the cavern around him.
He must have fallen asleep.
When he woke, it was to someone crouching in front of him. “Kaeya,” flinching, he tried to raise his head. His eyes didn’t focus. Gentle hands touched his cheeks. “It’s me. It’s—it’s your brother. Diluc.”
There were other people around him. Something was held to his mouth. A water bottle. “—‘luc.” Flashing a weak grin, Kaeya asked, “You—really don’t get paid enough—for this.” Words were difficult. Slow. Pain shot through his shoulders as his arms, pinned behind his back before, were freed. Somewhere, Venti was playing his lyre.
“Would you stop that?” Paimon wailed. “It’s hurting Paimon’s ears!”
Chuckling, Kaeya groaned as he slumped towards Diluc. His forehead clunked against Diluc’s collarbone. “Ow.” There was a short laugh from Diluc himself. A hand ran over his hair.
“Yeah, yeah. Sure. Relax. Venti, keep on playing. Unless it’s not helping you.” Diluc turned to Kaeya. He could tell by the subtle shift in his brother’s weight, the way his grip changed to accommodate Kaeya.
“It’s helping. Little bit of a distraction.”
“Then by all means, Venti, keep playing.” Diluc turned back to Kaeya. “It’s strange. I—never mind. Not the time.”
“Got the feeling you almost want to forgive me.” Kaeya forced out. Cracking an eye open, he looked up and saw Diluc watching him. Jolting, Kaeya raised his head. “Hold on—”
“Your birthday passed while we were looking for you. It…affected me more than I thought it would.” Meaning it hurt. Looking at him, Kaeya blinked a few times. Then, he looked away. His eyes landed on Amber and Aether, who were standing beside Paimon where she was wailing a few feet above the ground. Over the little fairy’s head, the pair exchanged eye rolls and Aether shook his head. Then, closer to him and Diluc was Venti, sitting on the air and playing his lyre with gentle, slow fingers. The tune was soft, comforting. At Kaeya’s sides, treating his wounds as best as they could, were Lisa and Jean.
Lisa dabbed something into one of the cuts in his back. Gasping, Kaeya dropped his head forward. Diluc caught him. A hand brushed over his hair again. “Sorry, sorry.” Lisa apologized. “We just need to make sure that your wounds don’t get infected. Albedo will help you when we get back, but we need to make sure that they’re cleaned before we wrap them. Do you remember what happened?”
“I—” Kaeya shook his head and groaned. The world went…odd. His face flushed with heat, the whole world was hot. His eyes locked on Diluc’s hands where they were on his shoulders. His heart rushed in his throat. Grabbing onto Diluc, he met his gaze. Straightening up, Diluc’s eyes widened and he reached out—
Where was he?
What was he doing?
Where—who was touching him?
His captors? Was he—why were there hands on him? And why did his head hurt so much?
The first sense that came back was touch. Someone was holding him close to their body, his ear was pressed against their chest. His breath wasn’t coming right, his back hurt—everything hurt. Gasping, he choked on his next inhale, reaching out blindly. There were tears running down his face, he could just feel his fingers curl in someone’s shirt. He could only just hear himself murmuring “ow”, repeating the word again and again in this cracked way he didn’t want to remember.
The next thing he could hear was Diluc’s voice. “It’s okay, you’re okay. You’re alright, focus on me.”
Chest heaving, Kaeya nodded without thinking. Slowly, he managed to crack his eyes open. Diluc was cradling him close. The others were gone, except for Venti. The bard wasn’t playing anymore. Instead, he was…standing guard. A serious expression sat on his face, eyes narrowed as he looked at the cavern opening.
Kaeya reached up with his free hand, fingers shaking until he tangled them in Diluc’s dress shirt. He’d been out long enough for his shirt to have been stripped off of him and his wounds bandaged. Despite that, they hadn’t moved him.
Burying his face in Diluc’s chest, listening to his heartbeat, Kaeya shuddered.
Diluc held him until his breathing slowed, until he could relax. Even when Kaeya had calmed, though, he didn’t do anything. He didn’t shove Kaeya away or put him down on the ground. Instead, he continued to hold him, like Crepus would when they were younger and woke from a nightmare. (It was usually Kaeya. Diluc would stay by him, leaning against the bed and watching him with round, red eyes and a worried expression.)
Hands shaking, whole body shaking really, Kaeya choked out, “I passed out?”
“You did. Jean and Lisa took everyone outside. We have a cart ready for you so that you don’t need to walk. Oh, and this was left for you when you woke up. You’re a little hypothermic.”
A small canteen was raised to his mouth. In Diluc’s gloved hands, he could hold it just fine. When Kaeya brushed it with his fingers, however, he felt the burn.
“Just let me hold it.” Diluc huffed. Nodding, Kaeya dropped his hands back to his lap. Reaching down, Diluc returned Kaeya’s hand to the front of his dress shirt, letting him tangle his fingers in it again. “It’s hot chocolate. We’ll get you some more protein-heavy food when we’re in the cart. For now, the sugar will help boost you for a short bit until we can address it more appropriately, and it’ll warm you up.”
Nodding, Kaeya let Diluc pour the hot chocolate into his mouth. It was Crepus’ old recipe, almost brought tears to his eyes as he drank it. There was a small hint of peppermint in it. Ignoring the heat in his face, he watched Diluc’s face when he pulled the flask away and capped it. “Thanks—”
“Don’t mention it.” Diluc grumbled. Pulling off his glove, he put it on Kaeya and then wrapped his fingers around the flask. “Keep a hold on that. You can’t drink it all right now, but we need to make sure that you get somewhere warm. Okay?”
“Right. You’re being…very kind right now.”
“Adelinde wanted you to come back.” Diluc didn’t meet his gaze while he spoke. As he lifted Kaeya up, though, he accidentally gave the perfect vantage point to seeing the corner of his mouth twitch. He’s lying. Well, maybe not entirely. I’m sure Adelinde was stressed.
But I don’t think she was the only one.
“Here, get an arm around my neck. We’ll get you back to the Cathedral and treat your injuries more there.”
“Ah, they don’t even hurt. I’m fine.” Kaeya dismissed, doing as Diluc asked. Without him meaning for it to happen, he ended up with his head resting against Diluc’s shoulder. On instinct, he tried to pull away. Diluc stopped him, moving his head back to that spot.
“That’s not a good thing. You’re likely going into mild shock. It could be the hypothermia, it could be the low blood sugar, or it could be blood loss.”
“Or dehydration.” Kaeya added, mumbling the words more than speaking them. His eyes weren’t staying open when he wanted them to anymore. “Diluc…think I’m…going to pass out…”
“I’ll be here when you wake.” Diluc said. Nodding, Kaeya grasped at his brother’s dress shirt.
Diluc’s grip tightened around him when he slumped.
+
He woke up to someone wiping at his mouth.
Jolting, Kaeya sucked in a breath and grabbed the person’s wrist. Diluc was seated right next to the bed he was in. Raising an eyebrow, he pulled back the towel he had. It was spotted with blood. “What—Diluc—”
“Your lips are cracked from dehydration. We’re working on it now.” Frowning, Kaeya tipped his head to the side. His eyes wandered the Cathedral room. “I…don’t see an IV.”
“You’ve woken up a few times. And then passed out very quickly afterwards due to said IV. They eventually decided to just remove it, so you stopped blacking out.” Diluc replied. Pushing himself back, he grabbed something and then held it out to Kaeya. “Let me help you upright. You need to drink this.”
Hands shaking, he clutched onto Diluc’s arm. His entire body was shaking. He couldn’t stop it. “I’m still shaking.”
“That’s what the hot chocolate is for. Klee brought some of her fish-flavored toast. We have some homemade applesauce from Aether and Paimon—I wouldn’t touch it if I were you. Lisa dropped off some cheese if you feel up to it. Venti offered his well wishes.” There was a roll of his eyes at that. Kaeya smiled, watching him. “And Jean brought some chicken soup.”
“And what did you bring? Your company?” Diluc glanced at him, picking up a small metal tureen of chicken soup. He set it on the bedside table. Glancing over, Kaeya took a drink from the canteen.
More hot chocolate.
“Oh.” He blinked a few times. “Thank you, Diluc. I appreciate it. How bad were the injuries?”
“It could have been worse. There was some concern over the infections you got—lung and blood infection. Then, suddenly, you were much better after Venti visited you.” With another roll of his eyes, Diluc added, “He’s not very subtle about keeping his Archon status under wraps.”
“Well, I sure appreciate it.” Kaeya laughed. As he shifted too quickly, he frowned. “I don’t feel any stitches.”
“Again, our dear Archon seems to be to thank for that. This time, though, it was with his statues. Aether made sure we brought you there. I would think he was crazy if I didn’t see you heal up myself.” Diluc explained. “The unconsciousness was due to the infection and hypothermia. Seems even the blessing of an Archon isn’t able to heal everything. We had…our own injuries.”
“Is everyone alright?”
“Oh, yes. Mostly just bumps and scrapes. I think the worst of us was Amber, and she’s been working to make sure your absence isn’t too destructive to the Ordo. They certainly care about you.”
Looking at him, Kaeya laughed, “I think that’s the nicest thing I have ever heard you say about the Ordo.”
“Don’t get used to it. Drink your hot chocolate.” Smiling, Kaeya sipped some more of it. Diluc shifted where he sat. “I will never forgive the Ordo for what they did. But I don’t think I ever asked why you stayed when I did not.”
Setting the canteen down, Kaeya pulled one leg up so he could rest his arm on his knee. It felt comfortable. Like they were talking while sitting on the grass somewhere, not stuck in the Cathedra after Kaeya nearly joined Crepus. “Someone needed to stay and make sure the Ordo did not stay the same. I would never have asked that of you, and I would never ask you to forgive them. Archons know I can’t forget it, either. But I think…” He took a breath, rubbing at his chest. Even without the infection in his lungs, it still hurt. The rope burns were faded, but he could still feel the marks—the same for his broken ribs. His wrist had been set, his ankle and lower leg, and yet. “To be a little poetic, the scars remain but we can allow them to fade. It might take a bit of hard work, and it might hurt a lot more than we want it to, but the important thing is that we do the work to make it happen. I wanted—and still do want—to make the Ordo something that Crepus would be proud of.”
“Father.”
Turning to look at him, Kaeya frowned. “What?” Red eyes raised to meet his.
“If you so wish, call him Father. It was not my right to take that from you. The Winery is still in your name, as is the Angel’s Share. You have a burial plot on that land the same as I. No one has the right to take that from you.” Diluc said. Slowly, hands shaking (though not from the lack of food), Kaeya reached out to set the hot chocolate canteen on the bedside table. Diluc glanced at him.
“Come here.” Grabbing him, Kaeya yanked him into a hug. If Diluc stabbed him, so be it. They both needed it.
For a second, nothing happened.
Then, slowly, Diluc raised his arms to wrap them around Kaeya. “This seems…pretty sudden, Kaeya. Are you alright?” He pulled back. Grabbing Kaeya’s face, he tilted it from one side to the other, looking at his eyes. “Are you concussed? Did you hurt yourself? I didn’t leave the Cathedral for more than ten minutes, I could have sworn—”
“I’m fine, Diluc.” Kaeya batted his hands away. “I should be asking you that question, where did all this come from? I haven’t been out that long, have I?”
“I—” Diluc sat back in his chair. “Only a few days. I just—never mind. It’s not important. Just—eat your soup.”
He practically shoved it into Kaeya’s hands, along with the spoon. Laughing, Kaeya settled back against the wall, watching Diluc. “Well, we have some time to kill before Barbara or another nurse comes in to check on me. Let’s hope it’s not Rosaria. How has the Angel’s Share been doing? I haven’t been in much—I’ve been trying to…change some habits of mine that I don’t quite like anymore.”
“Mhmm, sure, that totally has nothing to do with you brothering Diona.” Diluc mumbled. Taking a breath, he pulled a knife from his boot and a stone from his pocket and began to whet the former. “Well, the Angel’s Share has been doing surprisingly good. A little bit lower on the income. Don’t make it go back up.”
He gestured at Kaeya with the knife, then went back to his work.
Smiling, Kaeya went back to the soup.