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The rain never breached Mondstadt’s walls but that did not mean the poor saps who were caught outside the city had any such luck. Kaeya was young when he discovered nothing good ever came when it rained. Celestia did not pity the Khaenri'ahn people.
The wind pelted him, his hands cold and sticky- the rain unable to wash away the blood. It had not been his own for most of the fight, treasure hoarders falling to his sword, frost keeping their feet stuck to the ground. He hadn’t even noticed when his blood joined the stains until the end of the fight when the adrenaline finally began to fade. A wound in his side leaked sluggishly. He had used shaking fingers to readjust his corset; moving the unscathed side over his injury and using it as a bandage. The tightness of the garment didn’t help with his exhaustion and breathing was a chore he would almost happily give up. He probably looked like a right mess, soaked and injured. Hopefully, when he made it back to Mond stories of his drunken state or his promiscuous nature would overwhelm the truth.
The path back to Mond was not a hard walk on a normal day, but the ground was loosened from horses and carriages and rain had turned it to mud. His feet didn’t want to remain under him, his injury aching every time he swayed to the side. Ice would likely be just as slippery if he were to freeze the ground around him, and Kaeya was not a man who particularly enjoyed the cold, much to the pleasure of the gods who bestowed upon him the vision. Thankfully Mondstadt rarely got less than mild. The chill of Dragonspine would only carry so far.
The city walls were in sight; admittedly swaying more than any walls should and slightly blurry. The side entrance only had two guards. Unfortunately, this entrance meant he would walk in into the tavern stretch. It was early morning though and the guards looked exhausted, the taverns should have closed an hour ago which meant the street should only have the drunks who forgot how to get back to their residence- and The Darknight Hero. The two guards were perfectly dry, tucked inside the walls enough to avoid the downpour. They both gave Kaeya a pitying look and an awkward salute, he waved them off with a laugh, he doubted he could say anything without a substantial slur.
He ducked down an alley, out of sight. His breathing was sharp, his hands shaking as his vision seemed to tilt worse. If it had been anything else, he told himself, he would have gone home. He was just desperate. And wet. And in horrible pain and honestly, he could deal with Master Diluc in the morning when he wasn’t bleeding out. If Celestia had any kindness Diluc would have deigned to have the day off from his vigilante life.
He had no idea if Diluc had changed the locks since their childhoods, not that he had his key on him anyway but perhaps he could avoid the crowd by helping himself some day, he would pay of course. He rounded to Angel Shares' back door and fished out his lock-picking set. The lock refused to stay in one place and his hands shook something fierce, but he was a Spymaster for one nation and a spy for another. Kaeya would not be bested by an Archon damn lock. The blood from his hands coated his picks and the lock making the whole ordeal far harder than it should be. After a shameful amount of time the lock clicked open, it slipped from his hands along with the lock picks but he couldn’t bring himself to pick it up. He simply kicked it into the room when he opened the door and let it fall closed behind him.
Angel Share was dark, the glasses put away and whatever mess the drunkards had left had been cleaned up already. The chairs were up and the floor lacked the layer of stickiness that he had come to expect late at night. There were chips in the wood of the bar that Kaeya remembered from his childhood. He moved away from behind the bar, heading towards the stairs.
Kaeya rarely got actually drunk in the bar, the concept of being so inebriated around strangers caused his heart to race. But he had gotten tipsy enough that walking from one side of the room to another was not simple, this skill was incredibly useful since no doubt he could not handle anything requiring a decent amount of thought right now. He would certainly have to apologise to Charles for the bloodstains he was no doubt leaving, bloody hand prints and smears covered the bar. And the tables… And chairs that lead to the stairs. The bannisters were also not spared. He couldn’t see the extent of the damage but he could only assume. Adeline would have his head, perhaps she knew how to clean up blood. He’d ask her later.
The next lock posed another problem. His lockpicking tools were in the lock behind the counter. It was too late to turn back now. Luckily sleeping on the table didn’t even fall bottom three places in the worst places he has slept. He checked the loose panel on the side regardless. His fingers were larger than the last time he tried to reach into it and the wood was far more worn. There was little chance that Diluc had left the key there, he probably tossed it out when he disowned Kaeya, no point letting a spy know your secrets. His fingers brushed metal and he pulled it out, it was hard to see, but the grooves of the key were hard to miss. He was skeptical as he put it in the lock, but it clicked open. Perhaps Master Diluc intended to change all locks at once.
He pushed the door open and moved up, the wood creaked as he walked. The sound echoed through the abandoned tavern. The upper level was crowded with crates, they seemed fresh; perhaps Angel Share was about to have a whole new supply of foreign alcohol. He moved passed them to the sparse bedroom at the back. There was a paper and quill on the desk and a pair of Master Dilucs shoes sitting under a cloak. Thankfully, there was no sign of anyone in the room.
His limbs were heavy. His feet dragged as he stumbled over to the bed. he wasn’t sure if the black parts of his vision were from his eye closing or blood loss but he was so tired and caring about that seemed to be a momentous job. Instead, he collapsed into the bed, not caring about taking any of his accessories off. His shoes were going to muddy the blanket. He would need to give Adeline some mora for that too. He grabbed the pillow and hugged it close to him, shoving his face into the fabric. It smelled of wood smoke and wine. He could almost imagine callused hands running through his hair.
Dozing off had been his intention, but it still surprised him when hands shook him roughly. His knife got caught on the sheath, falling from his fingers and clattering on the floor. The person touching him didn’t even have the decency to see him as a threat. He took great offence to that, even in his weakened state. He would have to give them a piece of his mind and show them just how dangerous he could be. But that would be after a bit more sleep, the bed was so comfortable and he really couldn’t bring himself to leave the familiarity of it.
“Get up.” The person said as they shook him again, he squinted his eye to make out red hair, Diluc must have lit a candle when he came in. He had already decided he would deal with Master Diluc in the morning and since the sun had yet to rise he simply groaned and shoved his face further into the pillow.
“Patrons aren’t allowed to bleed to death in my bed!” Diluc pulled the pillow out from under Kaeya’s head.
Kaeya groaned, not opening his eye. “G’d thing I’m your brother then, huh?” He felt the fingers tense, squeezing slightly before he was rolled over, he groaned as the wound on his side moved.
“Kaeya! Get up!”
“No. I’m dying.” The sound Diluc let out was akin to an enraged sumpter beast. When he dealt with Diluc tomorrow he may have to see if he could get him to make that sound again. Clearly, he had never truly succeeded in annoying him in the past.
Diluc seemed to be fussing with his clothes and uttering under his breath, but the world was still spinning and Kaeya really was comfortable. And tired.
“Get up or you will die.”
Kaeya huffed a strained breath. Now that he wasn’t laying on the cut and the fabric of his corset had finally been loosened he was sure whatever healing had occurred in however long he was unconscious had just been reversed. He bit back a sharp groan as the fabric over the cut was moved. “Your threats need work.” His skin was getting slicker with sweat and even he could hear how slurred his voice was.
“I’m not threatening you, Kaeya! Archon damn it! I can’t treat your wound if you don’t help me out!”
“Cap’ian Kaeya.”
Still, he shifted a little to sit up, Diluc’s grip on him kept him steady. He didn’t open his eye, leaning into Diluc as the other man removed his blood-soaked shirt. “Now is not the time for honorifics, where else are you injured?” Diluc laid him back down, careful to avoid anything touching the wound.
“No where, the hoarders didn’t get that lucky.”
It took him a moment to realise Diluc wasn’t next to him. He finally opened his eye, watching his brother pull a box out from the desk drawer. He supposed that made sense. The Darknight Hero had to patch himself up somehow. It was stupid of him not to think of that before, otherwise he could have patched himself up.
Diluc knelt next to him, cleaning what blood he could away to find the cut. He felt the urge to say something. A remark about The Darknight Hero; how unusual it was for Diluc to be so practised in stitching someone up. But despite the desire to speak, no words would make it to his mouth. He simply watched his brother work in the dim candlelight, his hands covered in Kaeya’s blood and his gaze focused.
He reached out and touched Diluc’s hair, it was shorter than in their childhood, but it was just as vibrantly red. He wore it like Master Crepus. “Don’t distract me, Kaeya.” His voice lacked its usual bite. It was hushed and soft like they were children sneaking around again, trying to get a midnight snack.
“Sorry, ‘Luc.” He hissed, fingers pulling away from Diluc’s hair when the needle pierced his skin. He tried to breathe through the pain, keeping himself still despite how his body wanted to move away from the needle. Nausea and vertigo hit and he wasn’t sure how long it took before the pain stopped.
Diluc was holding up a gauze, the pair stared at each other for a beat before Kaeya sat up with Diluc’s help. Kaeya held the gause over the stitches as Diluc carefully wrapped the bandage around his stomach. It was tedious with Kaeya leaning back into Diluc every few moments when the pain became unbearable, but Diluc didn’t complain.
When the bandage was wrapped the last time, Kaeya leaned back against Diluc, eye falling closed. The smell of smoke and wine was hidden behind the metallic smell of blood but he didn’t particularly care. Apparently, Diluc did not have the same sentiment.
“Do you think you could sit at the desk for a moment?” Kaeya groaned and grabbed Diluc’s jacket in response. “Kaeya, I need to change the sheets around and wash your blood off. Don’t be stubborn.”
Kaeya huffed. “I’m injured and yet you’re going to make me move. How cruel.”
“Yes.” Diluc slipped his arms around him. “Get up.” It took a little maneuvering, with Kaeya being dedicated to not helping; because really a blood and mud-covered bed did rank higher on places he would sleep above a table. Diluc was always the more stubborn one and once he was safely lying on the floor by the desk with a pillow under his head, Kaeya began to doze. He really should reconsider his rankings on sleeping spots at some point.
He didn’t wake up when Diluc was finished. Instead, he opened his eye to sunlight streaming through the window. The room seemed more sparse in the daylight. Diluc saved everything, even if he tried to pretend to have a utilitarian lifestyle, so in the light of day, Kaeya wondered why there wasn’t anything here. If the Darknight Hero was seen walking into Angel Share the gig would be up anyway, so why keep the room so stagnant?
About the only interesting thing in the room was Master Diluc, wedged into a chair that was most definitely too small for him to sleep in comfortably next to the bed. His head was lulled to the side and he had changed into a simple shirt and pants. Kaeya pushed himself up and poked Master Diluc’s cheek.
“Rise and Shine, sleepyhead.” His voice was a bit rougher than he hoped for but Master Diluc groaned and knocked his hand away. “Come on, it’s hardly the time to be lazy.”
Diluc grunted and scrunched his eyes up like he could go back to sleep through sheer force of will. “I’m not lazy.” He shifted slightly in the chair. “I spent all morning cleaning up blood thanks to you.”
Kaeya sighed and shifted over in the bed. It took a lot of small movements and hissing but he had finally made space for another. Kaeya had been injured enough times to know moving around after being stabbed was a less-than-ideal move that generally resulted in him taking a belated trip to the cathedral. But he was a knight with at least a hint of honour and allowing a man to sleep in a chair after patching him up and cleaning up all his blood did not sit well with him. That was all. “Fine then, but get into bed. Even looking at you hurts my joints.”
Diluc did not move at first and Kaeya was almost sure he had fallen back asleep. “You better not hog all the blankets or I’ll kick you onto the street.” Diluc unfolded himself from the chair and lifted the blanket. He practically fell into the bed. The blanket was cocooned around him in an instant, his breathing was steady. Kaeya considered complaining about Diluc taking up too much of the bed, after all his back was just inches from Kaeya’s hand, but that was more energy than he had.
He closed his eye, the smell was stronger than before. Sleep pulled him under quickly, aided perhaps by the warm sunlight that streamed through the window and the rhythmic breathing from the body next to him.
The smell of wood and wine was replaced with a sweeter one, he wrinkled his nose and pressed further into the warm source on the bed. Pancakes; repulsive. The warm source on the bed whacked him. “Stop trying to push me off, Kaeya!” it hissed.
There was a soft laugh in the doorway before the pancake smell got closer. Kaeya reached up and adjusted his eyepatch so it was no longer pressed into his hairline before opening his good eye. His arm was tossed around Diluc’s middle and he was practically lying on top of the other man to see Adeline.
“Good afternoon, Master Diluc, Sir Kaeya.” Both men chirped back a greeting. Exhaustion was no excuse for poor manners. “Lunch is ready downstairs for when you two are ready.”
“Thank you, Adeline. But there was no need to come all the way to Mondstadt.” Diluc said as he sat up, successfully dislodging Kaeya from his perch.
She shook her head. “Nonsense, Master Diluc. I needed to stop into the city for things this morning anyway and since you were not on your way back to Dawn Winery I thought I would take over Charles' job for the day.” She turned around, “Although I said when you two are ready, I do hope it is in the next ten minutes, otherwise the food will go cold.” she closed the door behind her leaving the two men alone.
“I suppose we best not keep her waiting, Master Diluc.” Kaeya tried to push himself up, his arm shaking and his side protesting. Diluc awkwardly stepped closer and helped him stand. They moved together to the desk chair where Diluc deposited him.
“Stay there. I don’t want to clean up any more blood.” Diluc dug through the wardrobe, he tossed one shirt to Kaeya, one of his many identical black button-ups. He would definitely need to see about spicing up Master Diluc’s wardrobe a bit, now that he knew where he kept his spares he could surely dispose of them and exchange them for something with a bit more colour. He was sure Adeline would have something to say about his prank but he didn’t think she would do anything to stop him.
He pulled on the new shirt, it was wider on the shoulders than his usual one but it covered the many scars across his chest. Adeline and Diluc had been nice enough not to comment on the burn scar that covered much of his torso.
He sat there for a while, watching out of the window. Adeline had probably been the one who opened it because he could hear soft chatter from the street, too far away to make out properly but nice regardless. The sky was perfectly clear, no rain clouds from the night before had lingered.
Kaeya stayed like that until Diluc reentered. He had changed back into his usual clothes complete with the thick coat. Kaeya might not like the cold but Diluc seemed to make it his challenge to hate all temperatures. He got cold too quickly, shivering at even the slightest chill but overheated so rapidly in the summer.
“Really, Master Diluc, have you developed an allergy to colour?”
Master Diluc huffed. “Not all of us will parade ourselves around like an overgrown peacock.” He leaned forward and wrapped his arm around Kaeya, careful to avoid his injury. Kaeya pushed himself to his feet, his arm wrapped around Master Diluc to steady himself.
“Well, I’m sure we could tell Adeline that we took so long to get down because you don’t want to be noticed. Your drab outfit doesn’t dissuade it as much as you hope I’m afraid. Donna still hasn’t forgotten you.”
Master Diluc grunted, the pair of them hobbling their way to the door. “Oh please, if I could make it through a shift without hearing some young knight practically salivating because of your outfit I could die happy.”
Kaeya laughed breathlessly. “Just because some people have a taste that you so sorely lack does not mean you can excuse being a sad sack.” His sentence became more absentminded as he looked down the stairway. How he made it three flights up he could not recall. He took the first step and hissed when it stretched his side.
“It’s not your outfit the poor sods are caught up in; you seem to not understand the meaning of clothes considering how little you cover.” Diluc’s hand on his side was probably the only reason he hadn’t toppled over. Sweat was beading at his hairline and his legs were shaking. When Kaeya didn’t respond Master Diluc huffed and picked him up. “Besides, we can tell Adeline that we took so long to get down because you are incapable of looking after yourself and not getting stabbed by some lowly treasure hoarders.”
Kaeya tensed the arm around Master Diluc’s shoulders and hissed a quick ‘Prick’, before focusing on breathing as he was carried down the stairs. No matter how gentle Diluc tried to be, every step shocked the wound on his side. By the time they made it to the bottom step, Kaeya was already exhausted from the pain; though Diluc seemed unphased from the weight, a consequence of claymore use no doubt.
Diluc dropped him on the seat before disappearing behind the bar. Kaeya turned to Adeline. “It’s always a pleasure to see you, Adeline. How have you been?”
She finished setting out the table, the food looked divine and Kaeya was sure to tell her. “I’ve been quite well, I was intending to visit you to give you the book I borrowed back actually. It was part of the reason I came to the city, although I was quite surprised when you didn’t open your door. I am glad to see you are safe.” Kaeya flushed slightly and laughed. Their conversation was interrupted by Master Diluc setting a glass in front of him. He picked it up and swirled it, it didn’t look like grape juice, he took a sniff and frowned. Apple Cider Vinegar, well it’s not the worst, he supposed, but it really is no way to treat a guest. Even an uninvited one.
Diluc and Adeline seemed to be happy conversing without his input and the injury really had taken it out of him, so he just watched. He slowly picked at the fruit and skewers in front of him. Diluc did not seem happy, though he had rarely seemed happy. It was not even just Kaeya who noticed. Kaeya had to remind Klee without any heat not to call Diluc ‘the weird adult’ to his face, that was of course after laughing at Diluc’s face at that comment. Jean had seemed worried about her old friend too.
There were moments in the recent months, after Storm Terror and over some drinks, when he seemed relaxed. When he looked like the 22-year-old he was meant to be and not the imitation of his father. When his violence softened at the edges he teased back, pretending not to have the vase, or making comments about Venti’s drinking.
Diluc looked at him and raised an eyebrow, grape juice in hand. “There must be something comically wrong with my face for you to stare at me Sir Kaeya. Care to enlighten me?”
There was a time five years ago when he would just say it; just ‘I missed you, Luc’ over lunch and Diluc would roll his eyes and say he hadn’t even been gone that long. That being a Captain had duties. But they would lounge about in one of the rooms together anyway, Diluc going over reports and Kaeya going out of his way to annoy him.
“I was just marvelling over how you could drink such a repulsive drink, did your vision burn off your taste buds?” He said instead, a smirk forming and head tilting innocently.
“Some of us have the kind of life that we cannot simply waste our days away drinking,” Diluc said, but his words lacked any venom, and he was rolling his eyes. Adeline cleared her throat and gave a warning ‘Diluc’ anyway.
Kaeya laughed. “I can assure you, no day in which I have a delicious Death After Noon is wasted. Perhaps you would be more fun if you found a way to relax from time to time.”
Diluc stabbed a piece of his pancakes. “I can assure you, I will relax from time to time when the knights stop relaxing all the time.” He shovelled it into his mouth; it was remarkably hard to argue about the merits of the justice system with a man who had stuffed his mouth with an abhorrent amount of pancakes and now mimicked a chipmunk. Even in the strange world in which a man could look dignified while eating a pancake drenched in syrup, Diluc would still be an outlier.
“Of course, I will write to Grand Master Varka and inform him that the knights must certainly return home to Mondstadt immediately under decree of Master Diluc.” Kaeya declared, his voice pitched just how he would when someone would pick a fight, the perfect mix of sarcastic and lighthearted. Usually, this would end with the other person seething but Diluc simply nodded.
“As you should, Jean looks ready to faint from exhaustion every time I see her.” Diluc’s tone shifted, and Kaeya couldn’t help but smile at it, it wasn’t the same as when they were kids but it was close, a snooty tone they used to mock the other nobles after they visited. The condescension laced every word.
“Well, I’m afraid there’s simply no fixing that one. We even got Lisa involved and all that ended with was Jeanie hiding in my office to complete her work.”
“And I suppose you didn’t tell her that you were in on the plan?” Diluc raised an eyebrow, the condescending tone gone.
Kaeya laughed, “Of course not, and you won’t tell her. The last thing we need is a wayward exhausted Acting Grand Master hiding. No, at least if she’s in my office we all know where she is.”
Diluc rolled his eyes. “I guess the Knights have lasted this long without Grand Master Varka, there has to be some method to that madness. Even if it does result in those few being remarkably overworked.”
Kaeya decided that it wasn’t the best time to inform Diluc that he actually occupied three roles in the Knights, the Calvary Captain since Diluc’s absence, the Quartermaster, and the Spy master since Enoch. He was quite sure that would just invoke a whole new tirade and quite possibly get him cut off from alcohol until Varka came back; which was possibly a fate worse than death.
“Between Jean, Albedo and Lisa I can say Mondstadt is in good hands.” Kaeya raised his glass, typing it slightly in a mock cheers. Diluc’s face shifted for a flash, despite all those years Kaeya could see the flicker of confusion in his features.
He raised his glass to mimic Kaeya. He took a moment before speaking. “To Mondstadt being in good hands.” He stared at Kaeya with an expression the other couldn’t decipher before taking a drink. Kaeya followed his lead.
The apple cider was nice, sweet but not too sweet with a slight spice to it; though he would not tell Diluc that he enjoyed it lest the other man decide it would be a suitable replacement for Kaeya’s Death After Noon.
Adeline cleaned up their plates when they finished and Diluc insisted on helping Kaeya home, not that he had much of a rebuttal, he hadn’t even made it down the stairs by himself. As they pushed the door open Adeline promised to drop by during his recovery to check on him.
They made it down the street before Diluc spoke again. “I’m telling Jean about your injury.”
Kaeya gasped, twisting to look at him and almost tripping over his own feet. “You wouldn’t.”
Diluc glanced at him and Kaeya saw a hint of a smirk. “I would, be prepared for desk duty for the next few weeks.”
“You are a cruel man, Master Diluc.” Kaeya had to resist the urge to stick out his tongue. The pair made an odd sight, Kaeya being practically dragged through the streets by Diluc and wearing his shirt. He never pictured the day he would look indecent wearing more clothing.
Kaeya waved back to the people he passed, pausing at a couple of knights to calm their worries. Apparently, Jean had been quite distressed to find Kaeya hadn’t gone to work that morning. By the time they made it back to Kaeya’s residence, he’d had to stop several times to catch his breath and he was still exhausted. He unlocked the door and pushed it open.
He made it a few steps in before he turned and looked at Diluc. “Thank you.”
The other man shuffled awkwardly and looked down the street the way they came. “Uh, yeah, it’s alright, although I would appreciate it if you avoided bleeding all over my property in the future- it is still a bar that has to function.”
Kaeya laughed. “Yeah, of course.”
Diluc took a step away and paused. “And Kaeya?” Kaeya tilted his head. “You won’t be served alcohol until that side heals.”
“Absolutely not! You’re going to get me put onto desk duty and you’re withholding alcohol.” He huffed. “I suppose I should take my patronage to Cat’s Tail.”
“I’ll inform Margaret of your situation as well.”
Kaeya’s disgruntled shouting followed Diluc down the street.