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“Sit still”, Childe hisses. His words fall on deaf ears as Diluc squirms even more. The two had been hunting the same commission, an abyss mage wrecking more havoc than usual, when they met again. The abyss mage was quickly forgotten about as they pointed their blades at each other.
It was only a small scuffle, neither getting any hits on the other. That was until one of Childe’s hydro infused arrows tore straight through the meat of Diluc’s shoulder. A rare lucky shot considering his shit aim.
“Next time you better hit where you’ll actually kill me”, Diluc sneers. “I don’t have time for an injury like this.”
“Hey, you’re the one who almost cut my leg clean off once. I think we’re pretty even now, hm?” Childe retorts. Diluc kicks the ground. It reminds Childe of when one of his siblings throw a tantrum. He rolls his eyes.
“Lucky for you I’m a gentleman-“ Diluc snorts, interrupting the harbinger. “So I won’t have you bleed out here.”
“I don’t need your help, scum”, Diluc groans. “I’m fine.”
He tries to stand and leave. Childe holds him down by the shoulders, digging his gloved hand into the wound. The winery owner winces. The sound from his throat unusually high and pathetic. Childe doesn’t bother hiding his smile.
“Back when you almost sliced my leg off, you did try and patch it together. You left a pretty nasty burn scar there y’know. That makes me indebted to you”, his tone softens. “Let me help you.”
Diluc remains quiet. If it’s from the fingers in his wound, the blood loss or something entirely else Childe doesn’t know. What matters is that he stopped squirming. He takes it as Diluc allowing him to help.
He drags off Diluc’s jacket. His shirt underneath is soaked with blood and sweat. A pretty sight but unfortunately it’s not the time to stare.
“You need to take off your shirt”, Childe says. Diluc rolls his eyes. When he tries to lift the injured arm he recoils in pain. Using only one hand to unbutton it will take too much time.
“Here, let me”, Childe mumbles, knocking away the others’ hand. He ignores Diluc's embarrassed glare.
The wound is grisly to say the least. It’s not a clean cut, instead it’s left jagged tears in flesh. There’s more lacerations surrounding the main wound from the infused hydro. Childe grimaces. He usually doesn’t see the damage he does up close.
He begins to clean the wound with more conjured hydro. He doesn’t know how to infuse it with healing properties like he’s seen others do. Diluc is tense, obviously willing himself not to squirm. His hands grip his jacket harshly as the wound is cleaned.
“Do you have any bandages?” Childe asks once the blood is cleaned off. Diluc shakes his head.
“Hope your shirt wasn’t expensive”, the harbinger says as he begins tearing it into strips. He tries to make a padding over the wound, then fastens it with the rest of the shirt. Looking at it, the makeshift bandages won’t hold long. With a sigh he unclips his red scarf and ties it around Diluc’s shoulder. Hopefully it'll be more secure like that.
“You holding up?” Childe asks when he’s done, moving to stand in front of the injured man. Diluc’s face is paler than usual, his gaze distant. The skin on his chest prickled with goosebumps. Gently Childe takes Diluc's coat and wraps it around him.
“What”, Diluc barks without bite when he notices Childe’s incessant staring. The latter moves his hand to push away the red hair sticking to Diluc’s sweaty face.
“How do you feel?”, he asks softly. The winery owner looks away.
“I’m fine”, he answers. “I’m just tired.”
He leans against the harbinger. Childe doesn’t push him away. Instead he lowers them both to the ground. Diluc feels warm beside him, probably because of his pyro vision. He closes his eyes and breathes in the night air.
Lying together like this, exhausted in a mostly good way, it feels nice. Neither of them can afford to be seen in such a vulnerable position by anyone. It’s even worse that this vulnerability is shared between their own worst enemy. No matter how many times they agreed that this has to end, neither of them make a move to stop. Their violent fights became another intricate step in their strange ritual. The rest was the reward.
Childe turns to bury his face in violent red hair. Political sides be damned he will enjoy this while he can. Who knows when they’ll get a moment like this again. Who knows if they’ll get a moment like this again.
Diluc lets out a deep and content sigh, nuzzling closer into the other man.
”At least he enjoys this too”, Childe thinks as a smile forms on his lips.
They remain hidden in the woods and each other’s arms until early morning. Too tired to leave despite the chill air. Diluc’s pyro vision keeps them warm.
“You’ll be alright?”, Childe asks before departing. His time in Mondstadt over for now. Diluc is still pale but seems far more awake and aware than earlier. Still, the arm connected to his injured shoulder hangs loosely by his side.
“Yeah, yeah”, he sighs, squeezing Childe’s hands despite his annoyed expression. “Why do you always think I’m so fragile? You’re not that strong.”
Childe snorts.
“Don’t go and die yourself. I promised I’d be the one who kills you after all”, Diluc finishes.
Childe presses a kiss to his lips, it’s too soft for either of them.
“Of course, Firefly”, he whispers. “I’ll hold you to it.”