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SIDE A: Kaeya
Diluc has his father's hair.
He has his father's nose.
He has his father's laugh.
Diluc has the brains that could combat his father in chess matches, and a heart of gold that would occasionally shine through for those in need. It is that same mind that could challenge and defeat Kaeya in TCG matches, and the same heart that would stop everything and save anyone who would cry for help.
Diluc was so much like Crepus…
…It must be awful for Diluc to keep seeing that face in every reflection, to keep hearing him in every laugh, and to think of him in every game of chess.
It might be easier when he successfully saves someone from some bandits, or when he secures a good business deal yet again for Dawn Winery.
Still. It must be hard seeing a dead man’s face regularly.
Kaeya can't help but feel a bit jealous anyway, and he feels wrong, very wrong, for being jealous... but he can't help it.
Because when Kaeya looks in the mirror, he gripes at the fact that he doesn't have anything that could remind him of Crepus at all, and for him who has nothing, how could he not be jealous of the man who could see it every single day?
All he has is his deep blue hair, as dark as the night sky, instead of the blazing red fire that he has long come to adore.
All he has are his cold-looking eyes that had stars for pupils, telling of a cursed civilization, instead of the passionate crimson that shone with righteousness.
All he has are his bony hands that get cold too quickly, instead of the warm hands that held him on nights when his nightmares won against him.
Kaeya was nimble and quick, with words that could be like flowers for one instance and poison in the next. He was cunning and strategic. All admirable traits, most would say…
All Alberich and no Ragnvindr.
He doesn't hate his birth father, he's not even sure if he is capable of hating him... but some days, when he stares too long in a mirror, he can't help but wish he was a bit more like the man who took him in and loved him like a real father instead.
SIDE B: Diluc
Diluc could hear a delightful sound that he had long forgotten of, and oh, he didn't realize how much he missed it.
He turns his head, searching for the source, only to find his estranged brother and Alice's daughter. Kaeya was running after Klee across the vast and open grasslands of Mondstadt without a care for the world. Their giggles are scattered by the winds, sounding much like a duet between wind chimes and piano keys.
Diluc couldn't help but stare in wonder from a distance as a memory consumed his mind.
He could see his father chasing both him and Kaeya across the very same fields, all of them without a care for the world. He could hear their giggles- like a symphony, being scattered by the very same winds. His father scoops down and reaches for the red and blue blurs that moved around him. The older redhead cheers as he successfully captures both of his children, eliciting loud laughter and protests from them both.
But then Diluc blinks.
And the illusion falls.
And oh... oh...
It was Kaeya, not their father, who managed to capture the giggling little girl instead of two young boys. It was Kaeya who spins the child around as he hugged her tightly, making her squeal in delight. It was Kaeya who gently lets go of Klee, letting her grab his hand firmly to drag him to a new adventure yet again.
Diluc may have his father's hair.
His father's nose.
His father’s laugh.
His father's mind.
He has seen the way the older staff in Dawn Winery look at him when they think he wouldn’t notice. He has heard the whispers of the people of Mondstadt when they think he couldn't hear them. He knows what goes through everyone’s minds when they talk to him. None of that matters in his opinion. His similarities with his father are all superficial. A byproduct of genetics. Something that was inevitable.
Diluc feels an ache in his chest as he continues to observe the duo dance together, as if they were in their own little world. The flowers and grass dancing along with them to the tune of their laughter.
Diluc turns around and walks back home alone with one thought in mind.
Kaeya is more like their father in the ways that mattered the most.
Their father would have been proud of Kaeya. Diluc isn't so sure if his father would have been proud of him too.