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Kaeya showed up right before closing time, which might have been the only blessing that he had gotten that day.
At first, Diluc thought nothing of it. For once, the majority of the drinkers had filed out before Diluc had had to kick them out. They had all scattered off into the night. He didn’t know where any of them had gone (he wasn’t sure he even really cared. They always ended up coming back the next day, and Mondstadt was safe…other than the occasional monster). Diluc was busy cleaning glasses, expecting that Kaeya would show up soon enough. He always showed up at some point, with very few exceptions. Typically, those exceptions were birthdays. Three birthdays. Once upon a time, Diluc would have just dismissed it. He wouldn’t have cared.
But this wasn’t once upon a time. Meeting the Traveler, having to hear about her loss of her brother and the obvious pain that had left her with…something had changed in him. They both reached out at the same time. It was a funny story, looking back. Now, though…
Kaeya had been drinking less lately.
It was a slow process. They weren’t going to force him to quit cold. The fact he had even started to drink less was enough (maybe it was Diluc, maybe it was because Kaeya and Diluc had teamed up to find a runaway Diona not too long ago. Did it really even matter?). Diluc wouldn’t pressure him more.
When the door opened, Diluc heard the familiar knock. It sounded…weak, though. He didn’t think anything of it. Instead, he finished polishing his current glass, set it down, and turned—
Only to see Kaeya standing there, shaking and bloodied and panting.
“Hey, ‘luc,” Kaeya murmured. Blinking oddly, he tilted his head to the side. His gaze blurred, went hazy. The blood dropped out of his face. Then, tilting to the left, Kaeya groaned, arms wrapped around his middle. His knees buckled.
Diluc raced to his side, catching him just in time. Kaeya’s head fell back, Diluc caught the back of his head and eased him to the floor. A low groan left him as Diluc settled his arm on his stomach. “Kaeya?” He checked his pulse. Under his fingers, Kaeya’s skin was cold. More than that, Diluc finally got a glimpse of his back.
There were several broken-off crossbow bolts sticking out of him.
Swearing, Diluc cupped Kaeya’s cheek, shook his shoulder as gently as he could. Despite that, Kaeya cried out. His face twisted. A bloody hand came up to grab Diluc’s arm. “Ssh, ssh, it’s okay. It’s okay.” Diluc murmured, easing Kaeya’s head into the crook of his elbow as he lifted the rest of him. He drew his free hand over Kaeya’s body, feeling for wounds in his arm and his side. His left shoulder was dislocated (his right wasn’t, thankfully, or Diluc would feel even worse about lying on his right side to check him over), and his arm was broken in several places. The bones didn’t feel right as Diluc felt them over, and there was an unusual heat on Kaeya’s skin. Six of his ribs were broken, and Diluc found blood at his stomach and solar plexus. He also found the knives behind the wounds. His right leg had a thin sheen of rapidly-melting ice on it. There were burns on his arms. Second degree. “What happened to you, Kae?”
He didn’t get an answer. Panting into his chest, Kaeya let out a weak moan. Carefully, Diluc checked his back for more wounds, felt over his head and spine. Then, quickly, he scooped Kaeya up and stumbled upright. When he looked over his shoulder, he glanced at the bar.
Whatever. If someone steals from me, so be it. He glanced down at Kaeya, shifting his grip slightly. Kaeya let out another groan.
With no time to waste, Diluc sprinted for the Cathedral.
On the bright side, it was late at night. Most of Mondstadt was at home, curled in their beds comfortably. With that, though, Diluc was left praying that there would be enough people in the Cathedral to help Kaeya. This wasn’t something that Diluc could fix, not in the Angel’s Share. Even trying was a bad idea.
He kicked open the doors, immediately catching the attention of Rosaria. Pale eyes narrowed as she spotted Kaeya. “What did you do to him,” she demanded, hurrying to Diluc’s side. She held her hands over Kaeya for a second, like she wanted to take him.
Somehow, Kaeya stirred.
A barely-open blue eye wandered over Diluc’s face, then found Rosaria. When she tried to take Diluc from her, even as Diluc tried to hand him over, Kaeya reached up. He tangled his fingers in Diluc’s shirt. Tilting his head to the side, Kaeya moaned. “Don’t—” He wheezed out. “I—”
“We don’t have time for this. He needs medical attention.” Nodding, Rosaria pulled away and hurried towards one of the back doors. Diluc followed her.
“Most of the nurses are away. Do you know how to operate on someone?” She demanded, glancing back. Diluc nodded once. “Good. Time to scrub up, Diluc—and you’ll be following my lead. Not whatever one you usually do.”
“You’re queen of the operating room, got it.” He replied, settling Kaeya on one of the beds. As he pulled away, Kaeya grabbed at him.
“Treas—” Kaeya trailed off, eye rolling back. His hand dropped to the bed under him. Carefully, Diluc settled Kaeya’s hand against the table, brushed his hair back, and fixed the Anemo mask that Rosaria offered to him against Kaeya’s face. The split lip had already started bleeding.
Scrubbing up was simple enough. Rosaria hung a sign on the door while Diluc stripped off his jacket and his gloves, then quickly stripped off Kaeya’s cape, corset, and shirt. Underneath, Kaeya looked rough. Dark bruises marked his ribs and chest. The burns were worse than Diluc had thought. There were more bruises running down Kaeya’s waist, over his hips. “We need to get his pants off.” Rosaria commented, glancing over Diluc’s shoulder. He glanced at her and nodded.
“Wouldn’t be the first time. Got any hair ties or something?” She flicked him in the face with one.
For all Rosaria clearly thought that Diluc had been the one to hurt Kaeya, she showed a remarkable ability to compartmentalize. They actually worked pretty well together, even when it came to the fact they had to stand side-by-side as she fixed Kaeya’s right leg (under the ice, he had a broken ankle and a broken tibia) and Diluc worked on suturing the remnants of the dagger wound in his solar plexus. The one to his stomach was easy enough—Kaeya had, by the grace of Celestia, missed getting his intestines or any other internal organs hit. The bruising was still darkening, and they would have to handle the broken ribs on the outside. They weren’t badly broken, but they would have to secure them in a way that wouldn’t limit his breathing.
Then, they moved on to Kaeya’s dislocated shoulder. Rosaria secured Kaeya, while Diluc carefully lifted the arm. There was an ugly-sounding crack, and then— “Nice job. Fixed that fast.”
“It’s easier to do on someone else.” Diluc cracked in a deadpan tone. Looking up, behind the face mask, Rosaria smiled. “I think the Treasure Hunters might have gotten to him, but—I don’t remember any of them having the ability to burn.” The burns to his arms didn’t look too deep, thankfully. They were ugly, swelling, and blotchy, but—
“We can have Barbara fix those tomorrow. For now, let me handle them.” Diluc nodded. “I need you to change those gloves of yours and fetch some new ones. We have to treat his back for those crossbow bolts. They need to be removed.”
“Of course.” Diluc glanced at Kaeya, then went to find the gloves and wash his hands again. If Rosaria wanted him to change gloves and wash his hands, then he would change gloves and wash his hands. Simple as that.
Kaeya’s breathing remained steady behind the Anemo mask.
Kaeya woke a day later.
Unfortunately, Diluc wasn’t there for that. He was sitting in the Knights of Favonius’ dungeon, head resting against the stone wall behind him. Apparently, running through the middle of Mondstadt at nighttime with a bloody Cavalry Captain? Not a good idea when people thought you hated him. Apparently.
Thankfully, Diluc only had to suffer through one meal of prison porridge, brought to him by Rosaria herself. She confirmed that Kaeya was alive. And then Kaeya confirmed that he was alive in a much more reckless way.
He showed up in the dungeon with a parcel in one hand and a chicken and mushroom skewer in the other.
The not-very-clean, definitely not safe for someone whose immune system was as awful as Kaeya’s, dark and damp dungeon. Looking up, Diluc crossed his arms and arched an eyebrow. “Why are you here?”
“Can’t I check on my beloved brother?” Kaeya asked, leaning against the bars and biting a mushroom off the skewer. His eye was bright, though a bit tired. Regardless, he looked better than he had a second before. “Besides, I came to free you.”
“And Jean allowed this?”
“What Jean doesn’t know won’t hurt her.” Diluc stared at him scathingly. Still smiling, Kaeya shrugged. “What? Did you really think I wouldn’t come to save the man who saved me? I have to admit, I’m grateful you carried me through all of Mondstadt, but I really didn’t expect that from you. Jean, perhaps. Maybe even Albedo—or, no, not Albedo. He would patch me up himself. But you—thank you, Diluc.”
“You can thank me by getting out of the dungeon before your wounds get infected.”
“Ah, but then I couldn’t feed you.” Unlocking the door, Kaeya slipped inside and then sat down slowly in front of Diluc. He took another piece of chicken, chewing. Innocently, he held out the parcel. “It’s not as amazing as Adelinde’s cooking, but the Good Hunter ain’t half bad. Better than the prison porridge, I’m sure.”
Looking at him, Diluc took the bag and looked in to see a Pile ‘Em Up waiting for him. The smell was enough to make his mouth water. Glancing up, he looked at Kaeya. “We haven’t eaten together in a long while.”
“Nope.” Kaeya pulled two bottles from his bag as well. When he offered one to Diluc, he wrinkled his nose on instinct. Huffing, Kaeya explained, “It’s grape juice. Not wine. I know you don’t like it, and I shouldn’t mix alcohol with my medication.”
“How are you going to avoid withdrawals?” Diluc prompted, studying his brother’s hands for any shake. There were bandages around his forearms. Kaeya shrugged.
“I’ll have to wait until the painkillers wear off. It’s becoming troublesome.” Rolling his eyes, Kaeya added, “I won’t stop forever, though. Just…limit. You know?”
“Sounds rather smart. But you don’t like grape juice?”
“Apple.” Kaeya replied, waving it around. “I’ll come by Angel’s Share, don’t worry. I’d miss you too much.”
“But not every day?” Diluc asked. With a shrug, Kaeya smiled at him.
“Don’t need it that much anymore.”