Chapter Text
Diluc spends his days doing the same over and over and over again. Because routines were nice. They were for a sense of familiarity and order.
He followed a strict routine. Not like he actually consciously forced himself to, it was just something he did and enjoyed. He wakes up- if he has slept that night that is. Today he did, four hours of sleep. A generous amount, nowadays.
He woke up a few hours later than usual today. His curtains were already drawn open, undeniably by a maid who was too scared to wake the master of the house properly. Yesterday was a busy day because of all the spiraling abyss activity in Mondstadt. He took care of that though.
‘’Not that those inefficient knights will do anything about it,’’ Is what he told himself as he burned the umpteenth abyss mage to mere crisp with his flaming claymore.
(Diluc wasn’t aware of Jean’s increased workload, the highly alarmed knights or a certain calvary captain falling asleep in his tavern twice last week.)
He made his way to his bathroom and decided to take a quick morning shower, cold. Freezing cold is how he preferred it. The injuries that he obtained the night before made him hiss slightly in pain. He bit his tongue to be quiet and pressed a hand on a deep scratch. It was nothing he couldn't handle
There was a cut on his thigh and a scratch in his abdomen.
The redhead had peeled the bandages Adelinde took great care of applying last night off beforehand. She had to because he refused to visit the infirmary or send for a doctor. Not only was this quicker it also stopped people from getting suspicious about how he could've gotten injured. A scandle like that was unacceptable for both his image and bussiness. He grimaced at the way the scars were nearing some sort of purple color now.
He stood there for a good while. His mind contained of blank buzzing static. He wished the water would silence it, it never does though. When the constant ringing in his ear became deafening he swiftly cut the water off.
After Diluc dried himself up, he applied a thin layer of healing salve on his wounds to avoid an infection. He changed into his usual attire of dark hues and finished taking care of his hair. Which, to be honest, he rarely does. The curls that he inherited from his father were hard to tame and he couldn't be blamed for procrastinating the tiring task of attending to his hair.
Diluc observed his surroundings as he walked downstairs.
The winery is pretty big, but nothing compared to the old Ragnividr mansion that Diluc sold away all those years ago in attempt to escape from all their his childhood memories
Still, the winery holds it’s fair amount of painful memories too. All of Mondstadt did, that must be why he was so hesitant to come back to it.
The ceiling stood tall, a beautiful gold chandelier hanging from it. Jewels reflecting light onto the walls when the sun peaking right through the window hit it. The walls were decorated with family portraits of the Ragnividr clan.
A delicious smell silenced out his suffocating thoughts when he reached the bottom of the staircase. Adeline had prepared breakfast for him like usual. Diluc walked into the dining room and pulled the chair to sit down. The scratching sound that the chair made after being dragged over the wooden floor made him cringe. There was no sign of the headmaid herself anywhere though.
‘‘Master Diluc, it seems that you’ve finally awakened,’’ A stern voice called behind him… Adelinde had a knack for sneaking up on people.
Diluc grimaced when he turned and saw the head housemaid of the Dawn Winery looking not so pleased. She was gonna have his head for turning up yesterday injured and in the dead of the night.
She seemed ready to scold him. One hand on her hip as the other held a cleaning cloth with a nice blue flower pattern. However the way she was holding it could be deemed quite threatening. Adelinde wasn’t afraid of scolding him, she never spared his father either when it got to that point.
‘‘Goodmorning Adelinde,’’ He tried giving her a polite nod but the way she was holding that cloth like she was about to smack him was making him nervous.
Adelinde sighed and walked over to the table he was sitting at. ‘‘I assume you didn't get a lot of sleep last night. You should prioritize your health more, Master Diluc,’’ She left the blue cloth disregarded on one of the chairs. She picked up a coffee pot from the table and poured a cup of coffee for Diluc. The steaming hot liquid hit the porcelain cup.
Diluc let out a breath of relief when she made it clear she was going to let it go. She must've empathized with him because of his injured state. (Or the pathetic and pitying ways he seemed to be sulking all week.)
Though that relief was quickly replaced with a frown as he watched her place the cup infront of him... She didn’t bother to add sugar or milk. Not even cream! Well it was too good to be true to get away without some form of punishment.
Diluc tried his best to appear grateful knowing he was gonna have to surpress a face after eaceh sip. ‘‘Ah… Thank you, Adelinde,” Adelinde returned a sweet innocent smile and bowed.
‘‘You have an important meeting with some Liyuean merchants in an hour, Master Diluc. You better prepare and take the documents Elzer has left on your office desk. And since Charles has fallen ill you’ll be expected to tend the bar tonight.” Adelinde added with a helpful nod.
Diluc knew he was frowning but he couldn't help it. “No complaints, Master Diluc. You need to learn how to connect to the people of Mondstadt more! When is the last time you have been in the city excluding your “nightly outings”?” Adelinde was fussing over him once again. Sometimes it felt like she still saw Diluc as the little kid who proudly presented seashells to her.
Diluc blankly stared at her until she left. Muttering to herself about all the chores she still had to do.
He still couldn’t believe he had to work at the bar again tonight. After what happened last time he'd was hoping he didn't have to go back there for a while.
The redhead mentally groaned at the thought of dealing with Kaeya. According to Venti, his little nun friend would be busy with ‘’church activities’’ (whatever that meant) meaning that Kaeya would pour all his efforts into making Diluc’s evening miserable.
But to be fair, Kaeya managed to do that with his day relentlessly whether he showed up or not.
He put his fork down, swallowing the last bits of food as he stood up.
It would be a long day.
Arriving at the bar Diluc noticed how crowded it was. There were suspicious individuals to be spotted pretty much everywhere. The bartender saw shady looking men smirking to themselves as they played their card games. Their intentions couldn't be pure seeming by the way they leaned in to whisper to each other.
He was drained from the meeting, it was just usual back and forth bantering with them trying to convince him to lower the price of his wine. He never knew Liyuan people could act so greedy.
“Master Diluc! What has gotten you so worked up on this nice spring evening? They say it's the best time to relax with a fine glass of wine!” The lousy bard in front of him cheerfully grinned at him.
Diluc scoffed and averted his gaze from the drunkard. “I'm not worked up... And you better pay your tab by the end of this night, bard. I do not enjoy your games as much as you think i do," Diluc turned to focus on other customers. He felt a bit silly for snapping at Venti, even if the bard didn't notice he was a bit harsher with his words that usual he did and it scared him. He should try to keep his emotions in check.
Diluc scrubbed the already clean glass a bit harder ignoring the fact he was heating it up... No matter how hard he couldn't wash the stench of alcohol of it or the red stains of wine... Diluc felt his hands twitch, starting to feel the heat through his gloves... The stench of rotting flesh and the red stains of blood blemished him...
He ignored the skeptical look the bard threw him and quickly put the glass down. Walking away from the anemo god as he turned to take more orders.
As the evening passed Diluc repeatedly kept glancing at the door waiting for the familiar bluenette to stride in and pester him for the rest of the night. Even if Diluc despised him, he was still part of his routine.
But night quickly fell over Mondstadt and the patrons slowly poured out one by one. Even Venti was already long gone. He disappeared with the wind in a matter of seconds when Diluc tried to get him to pay for his tab.
Diluc groaned as he tried lifting yet another patron out of her seat to throw outside. It certainly wasn’t his problem to deal with every single one of them. He was a vintner, not a homeless shelter.
As a kid he was amazed by the concept of wine. Others described it as a warm fuzzy feeling that spread through your body and blanked out your brain. He desperately tried convincing his father to let him try a sip when he was younger though Crepus was unwilling to cooperate. Telling Diluc to drink his grape juice instead with a chuckle.
Crepus forbade him and Kaeya to touch alcohol, well except when they were helping out around Angel's share. It was quite easy for his father to get Kaeya away from alcohol. He was such an obedient child when he was younger, fearing the smallest mistake could get him kicked out.
Diluc on the other hand had been caught in the winery cellars an embarrassing amount of times.
He cleared the tavern out and got most dishes done. He finished his final task of sweeping the floors and bar counter.
When he finally left the tavern he felt relief and anguish.
Relief because his shift was over and anguish because he had to go home to a place that hadn’t been home for a long time now.