Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The air was sweltering in the kind of way that promised of an imminent approach of a truly fantastic storm.

Not that Kaeya was too surprised. There had been no dew upon the grass that morning and the sunrise has been as red as a bleeding heart; moreover, surpassing those old wives tales, Vind the ever-vigilant-sister of the wind and seas who devoutly watched the coast and skies on Mondstadt’s Stormbearer Mountain, had warned of an upcoming cyclone.

Upon receiving the Vind’s warning letter, Sister Victoria had informed the Acting Grand Master who had immediately began to prepare the country for the oncoming storm. Not even a week, later the promised cyclone had begun to bank. Though, it was slightly ahead of the predicted schedule by a day or so as it seemed to have grown larger and faster thanks to the sweltering summer heat and the warm ocean waters.

Even now, with the eye of the cyclone hundreds of leagues from the coast, the trees were beginning to sway from the increased gales and dark ominous clouds had already rolled in. Thunder rumbled within them. Warning the children of the wind that time was quickly running out.

Most of Mondstadt was already hunkering down in their homes. Safe and ready to enjoy the weather with a card game and some good wine. The exact ideal situation Kaeya himself yearned to be in, but alas. Here he was out on the wind-swept road on the other side of Springvale heading back, making sure no wayfarer traveler was caught unawares and all roads were currently cleared before the bottom fell out of the sky and remained that way for the next day or two.

Though that was only part of the reason the cavalry captain was currently out on the road doing his best to make it back to Mondstadt before the weather beat him to it, rather than overseeing efforts in the city itself. Despite the plummeting temperature and dirt getting into his eye, he found this tempest was preferred to the one simmering back at headquarters.

Even though it had been a couple of days since the unfortunate accident with Klee and her rouge bomb ending up in Sara’s stove, Jean had yet to fully recover from the added strain the accident had caused to the Knight’s resources and time. For repairing an entire restaurant stove and compensating the owner for the monetary losses while it was reconstructed was no small fee nor feat, and delegating financial compensation took time and resources.

Not to mention the medical and other aid the Knights had to give to any of the individuals who had had the misfortune of standing too close to the blast zone. Poor Sara had even had to get a haircut to trim off the singed locks and a trip to the Cathedral to deal with her second-degree burns.

Jean’s frustration with Kaeya failing to properly watch Klee was reasonable. He did not deny that. Especially after the initial shock after the Acting Grand Master arrived at the scene of the crime and spotted her quartermaster covered in soot, more than a little singed, and sporting cuts and palpable second degree burns on every inch of visible bare skin.

She was grateful for Kaeya’s quick thinking and fast reflexes? Of course. Had the cryo allogene not gotten that ice wall up in time the, knights might have been dealing with casualties rather than a few scratches, ringing eardrums, and some mild burns. Yet that relief hadn’t stopped her from the reprimand he’d earned, and (what was far worse in his opinion) her obvious concern that something was wrong with him.

“It’s not like you to be negligent, Kaeya,” Jean’s voice rang in the blunette’s head as he paused on the road, turning to look up at the dark purple clouds churning above, almost wishing he had an excuse to tarry longer there in order to avoid going back and reporting in.

“If there is something wrong tell me. I want to help.”

 Kaeya snorted softly as he kicked at a stone. Watching it skitter across the dirt path into the weeds. It was followed by a long, weary sigh that caused his chest to collapse a bit and his shoulders to sag as he turned southward where a certain Chasm laid.

The same certain Chasm he and the young Spark Knight had been scheduled to be at prior to the entire stove debacle. The very one they were mercifully thousands of leagues from. Despite all the trouble Klee had caused, the blunette could only be grateful that her little mishap had gotten them both ‘grounded’.

He couldn’t help the second sigh that escaped him.

“Master Kaeya? Are you alright?”

A burst of cold brushed across his hands as he nearly instinctively summoned a cryo blade mere seconds before his brain registered who called his name. His heels spun in the dirt. A startled expression caused his eye to grow wide as he turned and looked down at the woman who had always seemed to have the rare skill of being able to sneak up on him when he least expected it.

Adelinde smiled up at him. Her arms and hands were full of various shopping bags. Apparently, she had been trying to make one last trip to the city and back before the storm ripped its way through the country-side.

“Adelinde,” Kaeya hurried to play his lack of unawares off, smiling brightly as he moved forward to help her with her bags. “How lovely it is to see you. Are you heading back to the winery?”

The woman allowed him to pry her things away as her gaze locked on to him in a way that concerned parents only can manage.

“Yes. I wanted to make sure we had a few extra things in case the storm caused the roads to be blocked off for a few days. It never hurts to be over prepared, though this storm seems like it is landing ahead of schedule.”

“Quite,” Kaeya winced as a particularly strong burst of wind caused his hair to fall over his eye. Poking it with a few strands.

Adelinde grabbed at her headband and skirt. Holding them down until the abrasive breeze left.

“Allow me to escort you back,” the captain stepped beside her. Trying to stand between her and the winds as best as he could, unwilling to let her head back alone in case something happened. “I can’t have the most beautiful lady of all Teyvat be blown away on my watch, now can I?”

The blonde woman snorted softly with exasperation. Falling into step with the captain with an easily familiarity as they turned and headed towards the winery. “You flatter me, Master Kaeya. And risk causing a bolt of lightning striking you where you stand for a claim so bold.”

The knight shifted the bundle in his arms to place a hand over his chest in mock scandal. “Adelinde, I am a knight. I swore to live a life of truth. I wouldn’t dare tell such a bold lie.”

The head maid chuckled fondly as she reached up to hang onto her headband as the wind only continued to grow more aggressive.

“And why is such an esteemed knight all the way out here before this storm? Shouldn’t you be at the city making sure everyone fairs well? Or better yet, safely tucked away yourself?”

“They have plenty of people there,” Kaeya shrugged. “So, I took the liberty of making sure that the roads were clear, and the people of Springvale were alright. Though it was a fruitless trip on both regards as the people of Mondstadt are quite reliable and swift to ready themselves for harsh weather.”

“Brook always does a good job of readying the village and roads around here are ready for storms,” Adelinde nodded in understanding. “She makes sure Draff gets the hunters prepared for such things.”

“Yes, she had everything under control,” Kaeya agreed. “I was actually about to head back when you caught me.”

“Am I delaying you from your duties?” Adelinde glanced up at the sky. “You don’t have much time before the storm hits.”

“No,” Kaeya shook his head. “It would probably be good if the Knights swung by the winery to make sure everything is fine there too. I’d hate to prove Master Diluc’s ideologies about our inefficacies correct by leaving the capstone of our precious wine industry without the proper aid and support.”

“I am sure Master Diluc would appreciate the concern very much,” Adelinde sent him a pointed look. “Though, you know how the winery operates. We have been preparing for the storm ever since we received word about it.”

“Ah, yes,” Kaeya smiled as the said building came into view, nodding towards the fields. “You and Elzer always ran a tight ship.”

A burst of wind slammed into them both as they stepped down the stone stairs on the path, finally reaching the winery’s property. Kaeya grunted in surprise as he looked up at the dark sky. Frowning.

“It looks like the storm is about to hit,” Adelinde quickened her steps. Hurrying to reach the building before the rain reached them first.

“Indeed,” Kaeya’s jogged after her as the first few drops splattered onto his nose and brow.

First of the rain quickly grew larger and more aggressive. The two just managed to cross the threshold of the winery as the deluge hit like a wall of water. Kaeya winced as he stared out into the storm from under the safety of the balcony as Adelinde hurried to open the door. He couldn’t even make out the river with the waves of rain that roared across the winery.

It seemed Vind had not been exaggerating about the cyclone’s strength.

“Oh dear,” the woman panted as she knocked a bit of water from her apron and closed the door behind them. “That is quite the storm.”

“Indeed,” Kaeya murmured once more. Looking up at the rolling clouds through the window. Wincing as lighting cracked across the sky.

He tsked in frustration. While he hadn’t wanted to be trapped at the Headquarters with Jean during the storm, he hadn’t necessarily wanted to be trapped at the winery instead.

While it was true that he and Diluc had become much more civil towards each other, it was still not an appealing notion to be stuck with the redhead incase the elder’s temper got the best of him or Kaeya’s tongue decided to be rash with no where else to go.

Kaeya always preferred to have an escape route, and that storm outside was not allowing him such an option.

“This might just be the first band,” Adelinde shot him a look, obviously taking note of the way Kaeya  shifted his feet. Clearly planning his escape route despite the dangerous conditions. “There could be a break in the storm if you wait a bit.”

The young man sighed, nodding, before plastering on a wide smile and holding up the bags in his arms. “Shall I go and place this in the kitchen for you?”

“I can take them from here,” the maid grabbed them from him. “You go and dry yourself off by the fireplace while I make you some tea and snacks. You can watch the weather from the windows.”

Kaeya had no chance to reply before she was already gone. Leaving him there with his boots dripping slightly on the floor. He tugged his cape off in acceptance, shaking the fur so the water flung off as he made his way towards the fireplace. He draped it carefully on the floor before the flames, hoping it would help dry it out a bit faster. The armchair welcomed him, its fabric warm from the fire. Instantly causing Kaeya’s eye to droop sleepily despite himself.

For one moment he was lost to peaceful nostalgia. The comforting sound of the winery’s familiar creaking as the wind pushed against its century-old wood was soothing despite the cruel and ferocious weather banging against it. With his eye closed, Kaeya could imagine himself a decade younger. Still new to the land of Mondstadt, but slowly accepting the warmth it brought and the people who came with it.

The sound of the door crashing open shattered the reminiscing. The captain hurried to twist in his seat, leaning around his chair to watch a certain drenched redhead hurry inside. Wrestling the door closed against the wind and rain. Instantly soaking the threshold

“Master Diluc,” Adelinde called as she entered the room at that precise moment, carrying a tray of tea and scones. “Are you alright?”

“I was checking the vines in the south once more and the rain caught me off guard,” the vintner gruffed as his vision flashed. Steam began to rise from his clothes and body as it rid the pyro allogene of all the excess water on his person. Conveniently drying himself nearly instantly.

“Well sit down and rest,” the maid admonished as she swiftly moved past him towards the fireplace. “I made some tea for you and Master Kaeya.”

Diluc’s eyebrows rose slightly in surprise as he finally spotted the other staring back at him. The cryo user turned his attention from the redhead towards the maid as he stood to help her set the tray down. Graciously accepting the cup she gave him. He couldn’t help but smile at the comforting warmth the little red and black teacup sent through his fingertips.

“Thank you, Adelinde,” he murmured as he took his seat and first sip. “This is lovely.”

“Of course, Master Kaeya,” she smiled at him, glancing over at Diluc who had made his way over with his coat and boots discarded near the door in order to prevent Adelinde’s wrath. She always hated when they dragged in mud.

“Thank you, Adelinde,” the wine master murmured politely as he took his own seat and cup.

The head maid nodded, clearly content her two boys were safe and taken care of for the time being. “I am going to start on dinner. We are having steak tonight. I assume you are staying as well, Master Kaeya?”

Kaeya shot the storm outside the window a glance before clearing his throat. “We shall see what the weather does. I was supposed to be at the city. I would like to return as soon as I am able. There will be a need for lots of able bodies once things calm down. I suspect clean-up is going to be brutal.”

Adelinde’s lips pressed into a thin line, but she bit back her comment with a nod before leaving.

Diluc, however, was not so quick to concede to Kaeya’s intended plans. “Surely you are not seriously thinking about returning to Mondstadt until the storm clears?”

The captain shot Adelinde’s fading back a glance as she vanished to the kitchens before he turned back towards the fire and took a long stalling sip.

“You know how it is during these types of catastrophic weather patterns,” Kaeya finally said as his cup lowered from his lips. “The Knights need all-hands-on-deck.”

“Do you even hear yourself?” Diluc glared at him unimpressed. Setting his own cup down to cross his arms. “I am sure Jean would much rather you wait out this ‘catastrophic weather pattern’, as you so put it, somewhere safe rather than you give a fool-hardy attempt of returning to the city only to become a casualty yourself.”

There was such a time where a look like that from Diluc would have caused Kaeya to waiver and shatter any resolve he had. Yet experience had hardened him, and he had more than enough practice against those glares of distain and annoyance. Plus, that lightning and rain outside the window weren’t helping the slow-growing unease that was causing the captain’s knee to bounce with anxiety.

“Oh, come now, Master Diluc,” Kaeya forced his leg to still as he gestured coyly towards the rain. “You should know me better than that. I wouldn’t dare be a problem for anyone if I can help it. Besides, I have much expertise about dealing with difficult situations admit a thunderstorm such as this.”

Diluc’s brow furrowed a bit more. Glare deepening. Kaeya held back a wince as he realized how that statement had probably come across. There was a time, not long ago, when he would have been glad of the unintentional implication he’d made. However, he and his brother had been working towards being more civilized and he hadn’t really meant it in the way Diluc seemed to be taking it.

A sweltering silence loomed between them. Distant thunder rattled the window frame softly. Kaeya resisted the urge to fiddle with his eyepatch.

“So,” Kaeya coughed a bit awkwardly, trying to diffuse the atmosphere he had created. “Adelinde tells me the winery was long ready for the storm?”

“Of course,” Diluc nodded after a moment of stiff contemplation. Probably trying to decide if he was going to challenge Kaeya’s last statement or let it go. Mercifully, he chose the later. “It would be irresponsible to wait until the last minute to prepare for such an event.”

The younger hummed in agreement. 

“Such winds and heavy rains could be fatal to the crops, not to mention the hail or possible lighting strikes,” Kaeya murmured lightly, though it was just a decoy. He was desperately deconstructing the way Diluc’s shoulders were still terse and set.

It was clear the elder was still upset about the cryo user’s last comment. The pyro allogene obviously wanted to bring it back up, but was holding back for the time being at least.

Who was to say how long that would last?

“And you?” the wine master looked over at him, his tone rough and a little judgmental. “Why are you here? Did you somehow forget about the weather?”

Kaeya couldn’t help the flash of annoyance that pulsed in his chest. “On the contrary. I was out patrolling the area to make sure no one needed aid or shelter.”

“And in the end, you became the very thing you were seeking to aid?” the other snorted, crossing his arms as he shot the other a deadpan stare.

“Well—” Kaeya bristled a bit, looking at the window and watching the storm. “In my defense it is several hours ahead of schedule. Besides, I would have made it back to the city in time regardless had I not run into Adelinde on the way. I didn’t see you helping her home. I couldn’t very well leave her to carry all those items alone with the weather turning sour.”

Was the rain starting to slacken? It seemed to. The question was would Kaeya have time to make it to Springvale at least before the next even worse wave? He could stay with Draff if he got caught there or, better yet, Brook with her delicious stews. Both were known for offering refuge when needed and always kept some good ale or the winery’s best around. Having a bit of drink and swapping some stories wasn’t the worst way to ride out the storm. Plus, he’d be closer to the city once the storm was light enough to travel again.

“I had not realized she had gone,” Diluc’s expression softened slightly. “Otherwise, I would have insisted she let me go in her stead with the weather. Thank you for seeing to her.”

A flash of lighting lit the entire room up for a fleeting moment.

“Despite your harrowing opinions of the knights and myself,” Kaeya shot him an annoyed glance, feeling more and more trapped by the second. “I am somewhat capable in my duties.”

The redhead grunted and took another sip from his cup to avoid a reply. Yet his shoulders remained squared and tense. His grip a little too tight on the fragile handle in his grasp. 

Thunder rattled Kaeya’s own tea on the table.

The silence between the two men only seemed to build. The pressure was painful against the knight’s eardrums in contrast to the crashing gale of the wind outside, and a thousand times more frightening. For what would the Diluc say when he opened his lips again? What would Kaeya say when he spoke again? Which of their nerves would frazzle and unravel first? Who would break this tense truce, gnawing and chewing at the other’s patience until something snapped and cut them both?

Kaeya’s knee bounced softly under him. Rain dripped down the glass plane of the window. He watched it slide down, tracing his own face’s reflection looking back at him.

A cold feeling began to creep over him. Rising from his feet and chest. Washing over him in a way that caused his heart to stutter and his throat to feel as though it was swelling shut. The sound of the room sounded a tad more distant. As though he had stuck cotton in his ears.

The claustrophobic feeling only grew worse as the storm grew stronger outside. The blunette could feel a drip of sweat slid down between his shoulder blades. Sense the building glare of the man beside him. 

He needed to get out of here.   

“It looks like this is as light as it is going to get for a while. I will be taking my leave now,” Kaeya stood, leaving his half-finished drink on the table

Diluc hurried to lower his cup, shaking his head in disbelief, and nearly choking on the liquid. “What?”

“The storm isn’t so bad that I can’t make it to Springvale at least,” he didn’t look at the other as he hurried to scoop his cape up and tug it back into place. 

“There is no need to be rash. With that downpour there will most likely be flash flooding,” Diluc glared at him.

“All the more reason to leave so if there are some unfortunate travelers, I might offer my aid,” Kaeya insisted. “Besides, Jean will be wondering where I am.”

“She would not want you to rush idiotically back into a storm the entire nation has been preparing itself for the past week—” the redhead’s teacup rattled a bit as he set it down aggressively on the table next to him. His ruby-red eyes followed the captain as the younger stepped around the chair and began to head for the door.

“We both know the worst of it is yet to come,” Kaeya said as he cast a glance over at the other, doing his best to ignore that cold feeling as best as he could. “Best to head back now otherwise I might be stuck out here for the next couple of days. I am sure that is the last thing either of us would want.”

Diluc’s glare deepened as he opened his mouth, but he was stopped by another.

“You’re leaving?”

Kaeya and Diluc both turned as Adelinde entered the room once more. Her brows furrowed worriedly. A hand pressed against her chest.

“Yes,” Kaeya steadied himself, turning away from her sad eyes. Knowing her tactics well and his weakness towards them. “It is slackening off a bit—”

Curse the gods and their foul sense of humor for causing that bolt of lightning to crack in the sky that precise moment.

“—I figured it would be best to head to Springvale while I had the chance,” Kaeya finished, pretending it had never happened at all despite the way he had jumped at its crash.

“But the roads are probably already flooding with how heavy the rain is, and there is only more to come. You know how the cliffs turn into small waterfalls at the slightest shower.”

“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” Kaeya smiled charmingly as he grabbed the door and pulled it open, gritting his teeth only slightly as a burst of wind and mist slapped him in the face. He had to raise his voice considerably to be heard. “Thank you for your hospitality, but the Acting Grand Master really is depending on me to get back as quickly as possible. “

Kaeya took a step out under the balcony, closing the door behind him before Adelinde could guilt him into staying or he could say something else that he or Diluc might regret. Or whatever form of panic attack that was creeping up his spine could fully take over. He sighed heavily, shoulders sagging as the warmth and light of the winery vanished behind the click of the door.

Both relief and disappointment made its way through his system. Two emotions he had grown to expect every time he interacted with his brother. With a shake of his head to throw those unwanted thoughts aside, the captain turned towards the road ahead of him. Grimacing at the small waterfall splashing off the balcony above onto the stone walkway. Yes, it was raining heavily, but the wind wasn’t dangerous at this point in time at least. As long as he made it to Springvale before it picked up to, he’d be alright.

Right. Standing here wasn’t going to get him to Brook’s warm stew and good ale any faster.

Kaeya had just taken a step away from the door, hefting his cape up over his head as he readied himself to sprint out into the storm, when it happened.

It felt like the world itself had shifted. That cold feeling that had been climbing up his spine suddenly surged and caused him to audibly gasp. Dizziness washed over him. The captain stumbled hard into the pillar of the winery— just managing to catch himself against it but scratching the skin on his knuckles off in the process.

His heart stuttered in his chest, feeling like it had launched itself into his throat.

“Wha—?” his rhetorical question was cut off abruptly as pain rocketed through his nerves and bones. That cold sensation suddenly searing, as though someone injected liquid electricity into his veins and nervous system. Leaving him winded and weak. This was not some average panic attack.

What was going on?

For a half of a second he thought about turning around and going back inside, claiming the weather was worse than he thought (Diluc’s smug look be damned) so he could ride out whatever was going on, but he never got the chance.

Pure cold agony poured over him. Like an bucket of ice water. Sinking into every molecule he was made from. His muscles locked up in shock and his lungs constricted instinctively. The pain was so excruciating he was afraid to move, afraid to set it off any further. Not even his chest rose for a new breath. His teeth ground together as his intestines twisted and felt like they were suddenly in a vice.

Through the agony, he desperately tried to find some logical reason for this sudden, aggressive pain. Was he having a stroke? A heart attack? Had his tea been poisoned? Adelinde wouldn’t have done something like that, but if Diluc had been the intended target—

Kaeya cried out as the stabbing sensation fractured his skull, mercifully it was perfectly timed with a crack of lightning. Causing it to be muted under the aggressive thunder that shook the winery. Preventing those inside from hearing him scream.

The captain bit his lip, swallowing the rest of the agonized choking sounds his body tried to make. A sharp, stabbing pain shot through his eye. His hand instinctively flew to it. Convinced something had to have hit it—an arrow, lighting, something—yet his shaking fingers skuttled across the familiar leather of his eyepatch not some chuck of wood imbedded into his skull.

The throbbing grew and with it his panic. For as his thoughts became muddled and the ringing in his ears seemed to replace all sounds of rain and ambiance around him, it became clear what was going on. This was no mere poisoning that he was going through, if only it were, this was something far more sinister. Something that must have been lingering under his skin for some time know, just waiting to take hold.

This was the Khaenri’ahn curse. There was no other explanation.

Despair gagged him as he wheezed his first hissed breath in several moments. It seemed today was the day he’d finally experience what so many of people had before him. What his ancestors had already bore witness to as their bones split in twain and their muscles ripped apart while the last of their humanity, the thing they treasured the most, was shattered and their cartilage wove itself into something new and monstrous.

Kaeya bit his lip harder to keep his screams locked behind his teeth as the next wave of pain washed over him. The last thing he wanted was for someone Diluc to hear him from inside the winery and come to see what the matter was. He could only imagine the horror on Adelinde’s face if she found him consumed by his curse as his nails thickened into claws and his face sewed itself shut before her eyes.

He was unsure of what Diluc would do. Perhaps the cursed man would feel the heat of his brother’s weapon against his skin once again. If that were the case, he was not strong enough to fight to save his own life this time around—Archons he was barely managing to stay on his two feet currently— and there would be no intervention from the gods this time.

A choked sound ruptured from his esophagus through his clenched jaw. A forced thing caused by his diaphragm jerking unexpectedly. Kaeya wasn’t sure if it was more of a laugh or a sob, but he supposed it didn’t really matter at this point. Crying about the situation was not going to save him and there was no one for him to pretend for.

He was sick. He was weak. He was terrified. But thank Fate he was alone.

Bile rose in the back of his throat. He fought the urge to vomit. Not wanting to discover how painful the sensation would be when all his organs and intestines felt as though they had been sliced open inside of him. The thought of heaving there in the rain made him want to fall into despair. The lurching motion of puking seemed too intense to survive.

Breathing seemed too intense to survive.

Was this it then? Was this how he finally fell? He had been a fool to think he was safe from the curse so far from Khaenri’ah—

Focus, his own voice cut through the panic. You have to leave. Get out of here before they find you or you hurt them. Go!

Kaeya grunted as he forced an unsteady foot forward. Stepping further into the rain. The wind nearly bowled him over but by some miracle he managed to regain his balance in time. His dizziness only increased. The ringing in his ears grew so strong he couldn’t even hear his own ragged breath— the harsh and frantic thing it had become as he tried to escape. He was barely not choking on the sounds of agony that wanted to rip their way out of his throat along with the acid and bile in his stomach.

He needed to go. He needed to get away from the winery lest he truly succumb and hurt anyone there. He needed to get far enough away so no one could hear him screaming over the storm—

The blunette’s entire body was shaking now, yet he took another shuffled step away from the building behind him. He staggered worse than he’d ever had before. He was barely keeping himself up with the pain in his muscles and joints. It felt as though they would rip apart at any second.

The storm was doing absolutely nothing to help this situation.

Suck it up, Alberich, he snarled mentally to himself as he took another pained step forward. You have got to get away. You can’t let them see—

It was then that the voices started.

It took him a moment to realize the ringing of his ears wasn’t actual ringing, but a cacophony of cries what were continuously growing louder. Morphing from a displeasing hum into individual screams that boiled and churned over each other.

The first distinct one sounded like a woman. It felt as though it came right over his shoulder directly into his ear. It caused him to freeze and lurch to look over his shoulder. His hand pressed desperately into his right eye, dread filling him as he thought Adelinde spotted him. Yet the darkness of the closed winery door was all that stood between him and his last childhood home. He was still alone.

The second clear scream was that of a child. It was full of fear and so desperate it made Kaeya gasp as he struggled to look around for its source. Alarmed and quite unsure why someone so young was out in this storm. Kaeya might have called back to them. A gasped ‘hello?’ or something of the sorts, but he couldn’t be sure as it was at that moment the screams within his mind grew much, much worse.

Their wails and cries, their swears, their pleas— they seemed to rupture his skull. They all begged for it to stop—for the pain to stop. The knight cried out himself as his own agony grew. His screams finally joined theirs, bursting through his rain-soaked face and clawing their way out of his clenched jaw.

The vibrations in his throat were the only reason he was even vaguely aware of his screeches for his hands desperately clawed at his ears, shoving his fingers and nails down his ear canals in a futile attempt to muffle the cries out.

Some shouts were begging. Most were wordless. Merely shrieks of agony and despair. The kind of scream that sends a shock of adrenaline up one’s spine upon hearing them as a millennia of instincts kicked in because if someone was making that kind of noise then something is truly and utterly wrong. They caused a desire to run, hide, or fight whatever monster was causing those sounds. Forcing one’s blood pressure to rise as their body prepared to either fight or survive.

Kaeya’s head was full of them.

So many he couldn’t distinguish one from the other. As though he had tuned into some Leyline station that simply played the chorus of agony inside of his head over and over again at full volume with no way to stop it or turn it down. He could barely hear his own thoughts through their chaos, yet the agonized man continued to frenziedly try and figure out what was going on.

This wasn’t simply just the curse otherwise he’d be a monster by now. So what was it? Was this a warning? A premonition? The beginning of the end? Was Celestia making her final move to enact a final Cataclysm upon the Khaenri’ahns? Was anyone else experiencing this? Were others in Mondstadt experiencing this too? Was Diluc?

Kaeya’s body shook as the thought filled him with dread. What if this was affecting more than just him and the rest of Khaenri’ah? What if Diluc and Adelinde were currently writhing on the floor inside the winery experiencing the same thing?

More cold dread filled him. He needed to go back and check on Diluc and Adelinde. If this truly was Celestia’s final strike against those who opposed Fate and fought back, then the others might not know. They might not understand. They were simply suffering despite being sinless. He needed to warn them. He needed to warn Diluc even if it was too late for himself. Even if he was split down the middle and a monster leapt out from the tattered forms of his human shell.

Kaeya urged his feet to turn around— to force himself to go back. He couldn’t abandon them to whatever this was even if Diluc killed him when the transformation finally took over. It didn’t matter.

He had to warn them—

The captain managed to halfway shuffle around, but the next wave of pain caused his balance to waiver and the perfectly timed blast of wind and water from the storm finished the job. He couldn’t help the choked scream that cut through his clenched teeth one last time as he collapsed on the ground. His head slammed painfully into the stone, hard enough cause everything around him to spin as he fell face first into a puddle of dirty water. He was fully soaked now. His body rattled with shivers. He could only curl up pathetically as the pain continued spread and the screams grew impossibly louder.

He felt as though he was hovering over himself. As though he was no longer tethered to his mortal frame. The screams followed him though, and with them flashes of crumpled hilichurls and Abysmal knights clad in dark armor filled his mind. They all cowered under the torturous feeling. Curled up just as Kaeya was.

A familiar flash of cold burst from his side. The rainwater soaking him began to freeze. Hoarfrost crept over the captain’s skin as his vision activated. Trying to heal him as he did his best not to drown in the shallow puddle.

He was so cold.

He was nearly convulsing now.

He’d only made it a few steps away from the door.

How pathetic.

Flickering images of a dark place crossed his mind’s eye, overcoming what little he could see in his hunched position. It appeared to be somewhere deep underground. A castle hung upside down. A large hulking figure was there, some armored Abysmal creature. A creature—a Black Serpent Knight Kaeya recognized— laid motionless over some glowing device. Using his own body to cover it even as he gave one last rattled breath.

For Khaenri’ah.

 The dying thought echoed in Kaeya’s skull. Cutting through the screams as though trying to sooth the wailing victims as the Black Serpent Knight’s life was snuffed as he sacrificed himself to stop whatever device he was draped over. A seeming desperate attempt save the rest of those suffering from it.

Kaeya’s focus settled on the device. That had to be the cause to this agony. It needed to be shut down. Destroyed. But where was it? If only Kaeya could get to it. If only he could destroy it—

The cryo user screamed again as the pain continued, successfully interrupting his thoughts. His ice grew thicker by the second. His pants and clothes were frozen to the ground below. Trapping him. His rapid, panicked breath was visible on the air. The rain froze mere seconds before it landed on him, causing it to sting and pelt him with ice. He vaguely registered that his eye was frozen shut with it as well. Sealing him away in the darkness and the wavering vision of the dead knight. The cryo crept over his mouth, his nose. Cutting off his oxygen.

For a moment, Kaeya wondered if he too was about to end up like the sacrificial Abyss warrior whose body was draped across that strange and evil device. Sprawled out on the ground. Stiff and cold as he suffocated by his own god-given gift. He wasn’t sure he would be too upset by that notion to be honest. Not if it meant the pain finally stopped and he could fade away into a silent blissful oblivion where he would never have to hear such agonized cries again.

As long as this nightmare ended Kaeya didn’t care how he escaped it.

Light suddenly fell upon him, blinding despite his closed eyelid. Celestia’s gaze must have been washing over him or perhaps his soul was crossing over into the Leylines. Perhaps he would be lucky enough to be able to see Crepus again. Or his mother. Archons, he’d be happy if he even just got to see his favorite horse who died a few years back.

Kaeya readied himself for whatever judgment was about to be passed over him. Braced himself for an abrupt and swift end. Yet it was not a blade or godly retribution that washed over him. Rather it was warmth.

He whimpered through his frozen lips as hands grabbed a hold of him. The hands moved him. Ice tore and melted away as his body was dragged out of the rain into someone’s arms. The heat they carried wrapped around Kaeya like a secure blanket. Steaming. Causing the air to hiss and spit as the rain evaporated before ever getting a chance to touch the shivering blunette.

Kaeya’s head rolled limply into what felt like someone’s chest. A heart pounded against his cheekbone, the vibration soothing and grounding. He felt a voice rumbled through the person’s chest, though he couldn’t hear what was said over the screams.  

The searing hands grasped his nose and shoved its way into his mouth, clicking against his teeth in its desperate haste to melt the ice that closed his lips shut. Kaeya’s chest heaved instinctively; air rushed down his windpipe and expanded his lungs. Sending sputtered coughs that painfully wracked his agonized body.  

Another pair of hands found his face. They gently grabbed his limp head and tucked it against the chest holding him. Securing him there as the ground fell away and the strong arms heaved him up. Cradling Kaeya’s long, trembling limbs against the other’s body.

A voice managed to cut through the others screaming in his head that time.

Kaeya.

The man in question whimpered once more, failing to properly respond. He tried to open his eye, but it did little to help. Even though it was open, black spots covered his vision and rainwater and melted ice obscured what little he could see between them.

Though he couldn’t see nor hear the words being spoken around him—he knew the hands that grabbed him. The warmth that encased him.

“D—D—” he tried to call out his brother’s name to warn the man cradling him of what was happening. Yet, as though to mock him, another surge of pain ran through Kaeya’s entire body. Causing him to cry out again, his legs thrashed about as though he could kick the spasms away.

More warmth washed over him. Light surrounded him but suddenly he was no longer in those arms. Kaeya’s heart broke as they pulled away and left him settled onto some hard wooden surface. Had Diluc left him then? Had the elder realize what was happening and decided it was best to just leave Kaeya to this fate?

The blunette couldn’t help the cry he gave. It was a broken sob as he realized Diluc must have recognized he was a lost cause and had set him down to allow whatever this was to take its course.

Of course, it had been too much to wish for a comforting hand by his side as he died or transformed or whatever was going to happen to him next. He had gotten too greedy it seemed. Too foolhardy.

But then—! The hands were back catching him before he fell into utter despair. They began to pull at his clothes. Frantically flittering about his skin as they felt the captain’s arms, chest, and head searchingly. Seeming to desperately be looking for the source of what was causing the blunette’s distress.

One pair cupped his face in their hands. Another snapped his vision from his waist. Hissing as their skin touched it and the frostbite grabbed them back. Kaeya reached up with shaking hands, latching onto the hand that held him. A strong motherly grip clutched him back. Holding him as the screams in his head continued.

His skull throbbed. His eye burned. He reached up, desperate in his attempt to glean any sort of relief. Gasping and crying out. Asking the shouts to stop. For everyone to just shut up. His fingers began to dig into his eye socket. Determined to rip the thing out himself if it meant his connection to it all would stop.

His brother’s hands grabbed him that time. Warm, strong, binding. They pulled his nails away from his bleeding face. Making sure he didn’t harm himself further.

Kaeya’s begging turned towards Diluc. Asking him to make it stop. Then to Adelinde for help. He knew he shouldn’t. Kaeya knew he didn’t deserve it, but he couldn’t take it anymore. He couldn’t fucking take this pain a second longer. Please, make it stop. Just make it stop. Please. For the love of god. Make it stop. Please. Please.

Yet there was nothing they could do but peel his soaked clothes from his shivering body and try to warm him. Scraping and melting the lingering ice from his skin and clothes. They clutched onto his own hands and face. Tracing his jaw. Running their fingers through his hair in an attempt to help sooth him even somewhat. They wiped the tears from his eyes. They might have even apologized to him as though they were the ones at fault for his current condition.

But most importantly: they stayed with him as he trashed and cried. Holding onto him and not letting go.

They held onto him until finally—finally—the screams all stopped.

It happened abruptly. As if someone had flipped a switch, leaving the captain certain he had finally died as they and the pain left him.

Kaeya went limp on the table he had been place on, finally free of the ongoing agony and leaving the man sick, shaking, and exhausted from the entire ordeal. It took him a few shallow breaths to realize he was somehow alive despite the odds.

The silence within his mind felt louder than the shrieks, but it was soon replaced by his family shouting his name in alarm. Their hands shook him. Fingers pressed roughly against his jawline and wrist. Desperately searching for his pulse.

It felt weak against their fingerprints.

Kaeya was suddenly wrapped up in warmth again. Arms picked him up as carefully as though he were made of glass. The blunette wanted nothing more than to instinctively curl into it, but his shaking limbs refused to obey him and his grip on consciousness was rapidly beginning to fade. Luckily, that pair of motherly hands helped turn his face towards the warmth once again. Allowing him to bury his face into the chest of the one who carried him. The smell of firewood and grapes filled his nose. Comforting and familiar.

Now that the shouting had finally stopped, he could clearly hear the soothing baritone voice that was mummering comfortingly to him.

“Hang on, Kaeya. We’ll get you warmed up. Just hang on. It’s alright. I promise. We’ll make it stop. Just hang on.”

The captain’s bones protested as he was jostled around a bit while Diluc hurried up the stairs, apparently racing to get him somewhere else as quickly as possible. A small whimper slipped passed Kaeya’s clenched jaw to acknowledge the discomfort.

There was a soft apology given, a strained thing. As though tight with worry and choked with emotions.

“We need to get him out of the rest of those clothes and dried out,” a softer voice said. Leaving no room for argument.

Not that Kaeya had the energy for that, though he wasn’t even sure she was talking to him in the first place. He was only barely aware of the other two beginning to carefully work on freeing the cryo user of the last of his frozen clothes. His body was beyond his control, he was barely clinging to any sort of consciousness as he continued to shiver.

“We must be careful. His skin is still frozen to them—”

“— thaw him out properly. Otherwise—”

“His skin is tearing off in places—”

“It’s already damaged enough as it is—”

“Fetch the—"

Kaeya jerked from unconsciousness as he felt bandages and ointments gently applied to his frostbitten skin. His teeth chattered loudly as he shivered there naked and bare before the two as they dressed him in some nightgown of sorts.

Archons he was so cold.

A fire was lit yet it did little to help.

One of them called his name, but he had no energy to reply. He merely collapsed as they gently laid him back down. He couldn’t help but sigh in relief as he finally realized he could rest.

“His lips are still blue.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

Kaeya was almost too far gone again to register the bed sinking down and arms carefully wrapping around him. They dragged the young man back into their grip. Pulling the shaking captain close as someone else tucked heated blankets around him

It felt so nice that Kaeya briefly wondered if he actually had died.

He wouldn’t complain if he had. Not if it meant he could just stay like this. Surrounded by this gentle light and warmth.

With shaking hands, he reached up and struggled to grasp the sleeve of the person holding him. Determined not to allow them to slip away should this be a dream, the life Beyond, or just some strange otherworldly miracle.

A calloused, warm, and slightly sweaty hand settled over his. Strong familiar fingers squeezed his reassuringly. Tenderly.

It was the last sensation Kaeya registered before he fully collapsed into the embrace.

-----------------------

Kaeya Alberich had experienced many rough mornings in his life.

Some with his muscles screaming and aching from long hours of training. Others from raging hangovers over a toilet bowl. And those with the occasional flu or some other sickness congested his lungs and throat, making his sinuses wish someone could blow them out of his skull with a bracer’s rifle.

Yet this one seemed to be a combination of all three.

Oh, the joys of being alive.

The captain groaned softly under the blanket he was currently buried in; he couldn’t help it. His mind was too sluggish and hot with being sick to allow him the means to properly recall what he had done to deserve this miserable existence. Why did his bones feel as though they were recovering from being torn in two? Why did his eye feel like someone had knocked it from its socket and rolled it in glass shards before shoving it back into his head?

And, most curiously, why was his favorite downy pillow so hot and stiff? His cheek was smooshed upward, effectively sealing his eye shut with his skin. He couldn’t have opened it even if he wanted to. It took an embarrassing amount of time to realize he wasn’t actually laying on a pillow, and it probably would have taken him even longer had his not-pillow not shifted slightly under him.

Alarm at the realization that something wasn’t right caused Kaeya to find the sudden burst of fight-or-flight energy he needed to shoot up from his position. Though he regretted it immediately. The pain that tugged at his fatigued body was familiar in the way one is with working out too hard and pushing the capacity of one’s muscles and strength only to hate yourself the next morning. Everything ached. Everything throbbed. Everything was so tight it felt like Kaeya would snap in half or sprain himself just by shifting.

He fought through the discomfort as he tore his eyes open— Eyes. Plural. When had he taken off his eyepatch?—and stared down owlishly. He probably looked half-crazy as he felt his loose hair tumble down around his shoulders and neck as he shoved and locked his arm into place underneath him. Helping him to prop himself up.

It took a few rapid blinks for his vision to focus and when it did his shock and confusion only grew.

For it was none other than Diluc Ragnvindr staring back up at him. Seeming a bit surprised and mildly-alarmed by the other’s abrupt awakening. 

While Kaeya was known to be a good actor, he was helplessly unable to reign in his disbelief at finding his brother there lying next to him in bed. He gasped with his mouth open and eyes wide. Staring unblinkingly at the redhead whose expression shifted into something both equally annoyed and concerned.

“Am I dead?”

The question didn’t filter through right. Proceeding to just burst from Kaeya’s mouth rather than run its way through his brain and asking permission to be spoken.

Which caused the wine master to look even more annoyed.

“Despite your best efforts, no. You are not,” Diluc huffed.

Kaeya was left in stupefied silence as he studied the elder’s face. Trying to get his brain to catch up and kindly explain what had happened to lead to this bizarre situation. Was he hallucinating? Had he been drugged? Was this some very vivid dream?

Finding that Diluc was going to be no help in explaining the string of events that led to this, Kaeya glanced about the room. Realizing that, even stranger still, he wasn’t in his own home, but rather in his and Diluc’s childhood room at the winery. It was dark outside, though lightning would occasionally illuminate the curtain and silhouette the trees.

Right. The storm. He had been out patrolling because of the storm and come here with Adelinde. Because he was avoiding Jean. Because she was mad about the stove and Klee was sad about not going to the Chasm—

It hit him like a war horse.

Kaeya’s breath hitched as he shoved his weight off his arm to hold both hands in front of his face, checking to see if his nails had turned to claws or if his fingers had fused together.  He frantically grappled his face. Feeling his ears and features, reassuring himself that they were indeed there. But that reassurance wasn’t enough.

He nearly fell on his face as he scrambled to kick the covers off him. His knees hit the wood floors hard, but he didn’t worry with the bruises the impact would most likely leave. He lurched to his feet, ignoring how tight his muscles were and how they practically squealed in protest as he made his way to the vanity in the corner of the room. He ignored the questioning sound Diluc made as Kaeya ripped the blanket from the mirror, panting as he stared at his reflection.

He looked terrible. His skin too pale and covered in bandages and ointments. His eyes nearly bulged out of his skull. His hair was frizzy, knotted, and loose. Yet even as bad as he looked, he was still human.

He slumped against the vanity. His arms barely catching himself in time as his knees buckled with relief. He placed his face in one of his palms. Struggling to school his expression.

He was human.

Human.

Thank fucking archons he was human.

A hand gently rested on his shoulder. Kaeya jumped, snaping his neck back to look up at the source of the unexpected contact. It took longer than it should have to register that the warmth from the hand was something familiar. Someone familiar.

Fuck. Diluc was concerned. That wouldn’t do. Concerned Diluc was one full of questions. And this wasn’t something Kaeya was ready to deal with now.

Diluc opened his mouth and Kaeya braced for the demands and interrogation. For a shouted reply or anger at Kaeya for acting like some crazed lunatic and taking up both the vintner and Adelinde’s time and energy.

“You’re shaking.” Was all that the other said. His tone was far too soft for Kaeya to handle.

The cryo user closed his eyes, turning away. Demanded for his tear ducts to stop burning.

“Are you still cold?”

A hesitant hand fluttered against Kaeya’s cheek, clearly unsure if it was unwanted or not. So warm and familiar that the blunette reacted before he could help himself. Betraying him and his frustratingly slow mind. He leaned into it for a second before futility pulling away. Twisting further from the other.

It was too late. Diluc had seen through his lie.

The pyro user gave another annoyed harumph and then suddenly Kaeya was being gently guided back to the bed and shoved onto it. Diluc didn’t wait for him to swing his own legs up, instead he reached down and lifted them onto the bed. Tucking the blankets Kaeya had so rudely thrown to the floor in his haste around the shivering man.

It was so warm.

“You gave yourself hypothermia,” Diluc said as he dragged a chair closer to the bed, yet he didn’t sit in it. “You need to rest.”

Kaeya stared up at him from the pillows and mattress his body had sunk into. Blinking owlishly still at the other. Not understanding why he was being treated with such care rather than being chased off of the winery grounds.

Diluc crossed his arms with another glare, but even his furrowed brow couldn’t hide the concern and worry shining in the eyes underneath them, “I spent the last several hours warming you up. You’d better not let that effort go to waste.”

Kaeya blinked again. The motion seemed to help with his thinking. Letting him shuffle through the context clues and memories.

“How long…?” he looked for the clock that was always on the wall opposite of their bed. It was well after midnight. It had been nearly fourteen hours since he had left Mondstadt. And nearly twelve since he had arrived at the winery.

He looked back over at Diluc in confusion. Had his brother laid in bed to keep him warm that entire time? Surely not.

“I’m going to fetch you some food. Adelinde made you some soup to eat,” Diluc turned to go before pausing and tugging the blanket a little further up Kaeya before nodding contently. Leaving the captain utterly confused and lost.

What was happening? Why was Diluc being so—so— so not-demanding-of-answers?

Kaeya glanced back at the mirror. Though he couldn’t see his reflection from here, he knew how bad he looked. Perhaps that had triggered Diluc’s conscious. It had when they were children. Diluc had often felt bad when Kaeya grew sick or had a long night of nightmares. The small pyro user would often pepper Kaeya with hugs and kisses, find him trinkets to observe, or ask Adelinde to make Kaeya’s favorite snacks.

Perhaps this episode had triggered the brotherly instincts the other had long buried and only recently started to exercise in small doses these past several months as they slowly worked on their relationship.

Kaeya might have laughed at the nostalgia of it all had he not felt like throwing up. Though he wasn’t sure if it was just the lingering effects of whatever the fuck that had been or if it was his nerves fully realizing what had happened and who it had happened in front of. Because, a slow reconciliation arc or not, Diluc hadn’t been forced to confront the truths about Kaeya’s past directly since that night. 

And, well, even the strongest men had limits to their patience and goodwill.

Kaeya closed his eyes. Placing his forearm against his forehead. Focusing on his breathing as he listened in the silence. Only too relieved that he could hear no screaming nor other voices in is mind.

Thank the stars.

The door creaked open slightly as Diluc came back with a tray in his hands several minutes later. He was alone to Kaeya’s surprise.

“Adelinde went to bed a couple of hours ago after you had stabilized and warmed up,” Diluc sensed the younger’s question as he placed the tray on the bedside table. He carefully unloaded it. Setting a variety of items down such as a pitcher of water, a glass, a bowl of soup, and something that smelled suspiciously like herbal tea.

“Good,” Kaeya sighed as he struggled to sit up. “She needs to rest.”

The redhead hummed as he handed the other the glass of water. His hands hovered, as though unsure if Kaeya needed his assistance. The cryo user resisted. Not liking how easy it was to fall back into old childhood rolls. Not when his brother had yet to address the Sumpter Beast in the room. 

The captain hummed a thank you after taking a light sip and fell back onto his pillow, letting Diluc take the glass away. Unwilling to try and stay up to and attempt the soup.

“I have some medicine,” Diluc grabbed a bottle and tipped a few pills out. He offered them to the blunette. “For pain if you’re in any.”

Kaeya grunted, taking them and dry swallowing before allowing his eyes to drop close again. Placing his forearm back on his forehead in a grounding gesture. Making sure to keep his jaw unclenched and his body relaxed as he listened to his brother. There was no need to reveal his cards about how truly anxious he was.

The floorboards shifted under Diluc’s socked feet and the chair creaked as he scooted it back some and finally sat down. The fabric of his shirt rubbed together as he, most likely, folded his arms. A deep heavy sigh followed. The other was clearly thinking. Weighing his words and what he should say.

Kaeya let him. Hoping he’d fall asleep before Diluc figured it out.

But, of course, his archon cursed luck was against him.

“You were speaking in Khaenri’ahn.”

The hair on the back of Kaeya’s neck stood up and he froze in the bed. His breath caught in his throat as he waited for the other to do whatever came next.

Would Diluc snap like he had before? Ban Kaeya from their home once again? Challenge him to a duel? Was that why he was taking such care of Kaeya now? He felt too guilty to banish a sickly man and needed Kaeya back on his feet so he could drag him to the Liyue boarder and throw him across like a sack of rubbish?

“I—I could not understand you,” the redhead cleared his throat as though he was ashamed by the fact he could not speak Kaeya’s native language. Which was a confusing notion indeed. “But you sounded…you weren’t talking to me or Adelinde.”

Kaeya remained petrified. The silence so loud it was clawed at his throat. Suffocating him. Keeping his air locked in his throat and lungs as Diluc awaited his response. Yet the silence remained. Long enough to finally force the blunette to exhale, though he did it as quietly as possible. Allowing the air to slip past his pressed lips through his nose.

Still the wine master said nothing else. Allowing the silence to consume Kaeya and eat at him until he finally broke. Diluc really could be cruel at times.

“What do you want me to say, Diluc?” It was barely audible. Not even Kaeya himself heard the whisper yet he cringed with how pathetic he sounded all the same.

“What happened?” was all the other asked in return.

Flashes of the device and the dead knight flicked across Kaeya’s mind. The screaming that had plagued him.

“I don’t know,” he said honestly if not a bit frustratedly.

The disappointed, sharp nostril-exhale indicated the other didn’t believe him. Yet Kaeya must have looked pathetic enough to keep the challenging retort at bay.

Had Kaeya not been so weak and fatigued from the entire ordeal, had he not woken cradled in his brother’s grip half a day after the entire episode, Kaeya might have left it at that. Might have taken that silence as the gift it was and shut himself down and out. Yet—

“But…”

The chair shifted as Diluc sat up straight. Kaeya could feel his eyes burning into him even if the captain still refused to meet them.

“It had something to do with where I came from.”

A swallow as the other digested that information. “And what happened to you? You were in pain.”

How to answer this? How to answer truthfully without revealing too much? For Kaeya was raw and he didn’t want to throw acid on his open wound, but someone needed to know. Because if this became a problem—if Kaeya became a threat— Diluc would be sure to prioritize the fate of Mondstadt and deal with him accordingly should this happen again or should his curse ever take over.

“There was some sort of device,” Kaeya whispered softer still. “It triggered the curse.”

“The curse?” Now alarm had finally set in for Diluc knew what had happened to Kaeya’s people thanks to a different stormy night. “What do you mean?”

“That’s all I know,” the blunette finally found the courage to remove his arm from his face, but not the strength to look at his brother. He stared up. “I wasn’t really able to focus on everything going on when it occurred due to the pain.”

The chair creaked again as Diluc shifted in thought. “Will this happen again?”

The notion of going through that entire ordeal made Kaeya’s eyes water instantly. He tiredly blinked them away, but his voice remained too breathy as he replied, “I hope not.”

The other stilled and the air became heavy with understanding as everything sank into perspective for the redhead.

Kaeya waited for what came next. Dreading it. Perhaps he should offer to leave. To volunteer to be out of their home and nation once the storm had calmed enough and he could properly stand on his own. To vanish and never return, leaving Mondstadt safe from the likes of him forever more.

Yet, a cruel part of Kaeya twisted inside of him as the bitterness of his situation boiled in his chest. No. He would not give Diluc the easy way out. Despite where Kaeya had been born, this was his home now. It had been for years now. He would not bow down and leave it that easily. Diluc would have to tell him to leave. He would not offer.

Yet when his brother finally spoke, it was not what Kaeya expected him to say.

“You’re shivering again.”

Kaeya finally turned to look at him. Diluc’s determined gaze met his surprised stare. Staring at the younger man so intently and deeply that the blunette couldn’t help but feel pinned in place by it. Not in an oppressive way, but in a grounding one.

The redhead stood and walked around the bed, not breaking eye contact with the other the entire time. The mattress sank a bit as he climbed in, careful not to jostle Kaeya too much as Diluc laid back down next to the younger man who was now trembling.

“What—?” Kaeya’s breathy question was cut off as the pyro user pulled him back into his arms, guiding the captain back into the embrace he had woken up in.

“That is enough for now.,” Diluc hushed him firmly as he finally broke their eye contact. His own cheeks a little red. “I’m tired. We’ll deal with everything in the morning.”

Kaeya stared up at him, cheek smooshed upwards as Diluc’s hand pressed his head into the redhead’s chest. Effectively keeping the frozen captain stiffly in place. The warmth of the pyro vision washed over Kaeya’s body. Crooning comfortingly to just go back to sleep and rest.

His body, still heavy with the fatigue of all that had happened, was only too happy to comply. Yet Kaeya’s mind wasn’t quite so ready to give in. It did not quite believe that this was happening. That Diluc was hugging him rather than throwing him out into the rain.

“You don’t—” Kaeya muttered into his brother’s chest. Swallowing before continuing. “You don’t have to do this. You owe me nothing.”

The arms around Kaeya tensed for a second before the other replied, “Shut up and go to sleep.” 

“But—"

“Kaeya.”

The younger flinched at the shift in tone. He couldn’t help it but regretted it instantly for the look of guilt it caused to flashed across the elder’s face.

“Sorry,” he whispered, twisting in the other’s grip. Trying to pull away.

“Just—” Diluc sighed, speaking in a gentler tone. His arms locked firmly in place. Keeping Kaeya where he was. “Just go to sleep. We’ll deal with everything when you wake up. Okay?”

“Okay,” Kaeya whispered as he stopped his attempt to squirm out of the other’s grasp. He was too tired to fight anyone right now.

The silence that washed over them was far from comfortable and the storm outside did little to sooth the two. The clock became obnoxiously loud as it ticked by. Seemingly mocking Kaeya as the seconds and minutes dragged on yet sleep refused to come to either of them. Both were too tense to properly relax despite how tired they were.

Kaeya was nearing the edge of his sanity. He couldn’t take this pressure much longer. Perhaps Diluc realized that or felt the tension in his shoulders grow too tight, for right as Kaeya opened his mouth to tell him to let him go, the elder spoke up once more.

“Together,” Diluc muttered. Not meeting Kaeya’s eye.

“Pardon?”

“Together,” Diluc cleared his throat. Speaking louder. “We’ll deal with it together.”

Kaeya froze. 

“You’re not—” Diluc swallowed hard, clearly frustrated by his lack of eloquence. “You’re not alone. Whatever that was and if it comes again— I’ll help this time.”

Suddenly Kaeya found himself unable to breathe as a lump rose in his throat and Diluc’s arms shifted around him. Squeezing him softly in an almost-hug. He seemed to understand what the other was unable to say.

“Now go to sleep,” the gentle command brushed across Kaeya’s hair. Soft and safe. 

Kaeya tucked his face against the other’s side. Hoping Diluc didn’t notice the tear that slipped out.

“Good night, Kaeya.”

Chapter Text

“You really should get some sleep, Master Diluc,” Adelinde whispered as she brought the requested pitcher of grape juice and a glass. “I can sit with him.”

“I’m fine,” he murmured back, staring down at the man in his arms. Afraid that if he did get up to go to his own bed the younger would wake and become confused or grow cold once again.

Or worse, fall back into whatever catastrophic medical episode Kaeya had experienced earlier. 

It had taken the pyro allogene three hours to finally erase the chill that had encased his brother’s entire body. For Kaeya to have finally stopped shivering and for his toes and feet—which had always been frigid even as children—to become warm against Diluc’s legs. 

Diluc was not about to risk all his hard work going down the drain.

“I can sleep here if I need.”

Adelinde sighed, pinching her lips in a way that the redhead was familiar with. It was the face she made when she disagreed with him, but knew he was too stubborn to listen to her. It was her remember-to-pick-your-battles face.

“As you wish. I will come back in a couple of hours to check in and add some more logs to the fire.”

“You need to get some sleep,” Diluc shot her a worried look. “It’s well beyond midnight by this point.”

“I won’t sleep well with the weather anyways,” the two glanced at the window where the wind and rain continued to beat against the glass. “A quick nap will suffice.”

Nearly fourteen hours after making landfall, the eye of the cyclone had finally just passed over them. It would be several hours yet before the storm finally made its way over and away. 

Adelinde tsked once more as she turned back to look at the sleeping man in Diluc’s arms. Brows dipped in concern as she stepped forward. Hand gently caressing Kaeya’s cheek for a moment. 

“The color has finally come back to his cheeks,” the motherly maid sighed as she bent down to gently tuck the covers around the two men a bit tighter. Smoothing the couple of wrinkles out with her hand before it traveled back to the cheek of her youngest boy. “You’ve done well to warm him back up.”

The elder man hummed, gently pulling Kaeya further into his grasp. His brother’s limp body slid up Diluc’s chest. One arm draped over the redhead and the other tucked between them as Diluc’s vision flashed, sending another wave of heat over the two of them. It was unsettling how unresponsive he was. Kaeya didn’t stir.

“And you’re sure his blood pressure and heart rate seem normal?” the young master shot the woman who he trusted with his life with a frightened boy-like look. He turned to the woman who always had the answers for him when he came home injured or hurt. “He’s actually alright being this…catatonic?”

Adelinde’s hand gently traced Kaeya’s cheekbone, tucking a lock of his navy-blue hair tenderly behind his ear. Helping move the strands that shifted after Diluc had moved him.

“He is just resting,” she reassured. “He used to wear himself out like this back when he was a boy and was ill with fevers. If nothing has changed by morning light we can fetch the Deaconess.”

“If you’re sure,” he shifted Kaeya again, watching as his head rolled limply onto the pyro user’s chest. 

The cryo allogene certainly seemed calmer. His face relaxed and his breathing steady and even. He was no longer contouring or screaming or begging for someone to make ‘them stop’. Whatever that had meant.

“I’ll be back in a bit to check in. Get some rest too, Master Diluc,” Adelinde’s voice drew his eyes back to her. Her hand gently rested on his own cheek for a moment. 

“You as well,” he murmured after her. His gaze drifted back down to lock onto Kaeya’s face as her hand pulled away. Making sure his brother was still breathing properly. 

He had stopped far too many times that night. 

The door clicked softly behind Adelinde. Leaving the siblings alone with nothing but the sound of the fire in the hearth and the storm outside. A deep weary sigh slid from the redhead’s nose as he leaned back against the headboard. Concern tugged at his brow and lips as his fingers lightly danced across the other’s forehead. Reassuring himself for the umpteenth time that Kaeya’s skin was a healthy color and temperature still.

Diluc couldn't help it. His heart still felt tight when remembering how Kaeya had been so cold before. His skin had been blue from his own frost. It was by no small miracle that the cryo user hadn’t given himself frostbite from it. His nose, mouth, and eyes had been frozen shut for archon's sake. 

Just how long had Kaeya laid there in the storm before they had found him? Not even ten feet from the door. Suffocating and drowning in the rain while Diluc sat sulking inside. What if he had ignored the crashing sound he heard outside? What if he had just played it off as the storm outside and not stood up and looked out to see if something fell off the balcony like he had almost done? What if he had been even a few minutes slower? 

Diluc squeezed the other reassuringly. Thanking Celestia above that he had gone to look when he did. That he had opened the door far enough so the light from the winery fell on Kaeya’s white-fur coat and ashen face frozen behind several centimeters of ice.

He had to admit, he had thought Kaeya dead when he first  grabbed him and pulled him under the balcony. He was so cold and still. At first, he had been relieved that the blunette had started moving again as he thawed him out. That relief was quickly shattered as the other, finally free from his self-inflicted ice, finally regained the ability to scream.

Nausea rose in the back of the redhead’s throat as he relived the memory of Kaeya’s thrashing and wailing form as Diluc set him on the dining table, the closest flat surface around besides the floor itself. At how Kaeya didn’t seem to really be able to see or hear them. He had only been vaguely aware of their presence. Just enough to call their names for help. To beg them to make it stop.

Kaeya’s desperation had caused his voice to crack, snapping both Adelinde and Diluc’s hearts alike with the sounds. 

As he begged Diluc to help him. His hands desperately clawed at his eye, cutting his skin and ripping it with his nails. Only stopping as the elder man grabbed him and pinned him down while Kaeya had pleaded with him to help. To make it stop. 

Yet Diluc couldn't do anything. Not even as panic engulfed him and he desperately peeled Kaeya’s rain-soaked clothes away as he tried to find some sign of injury that had left him exhausted and drained in the hours after the episode had passed. He felt as if he had trekked through Dragonspine for three days. That he could sleep for a week and still wake up weary.

The memory alone caused Diluc’s throat to burn as though he had swallowed a tankard of firewater. 

Kaeya sighed softly into the redhead’s side as Diluc leaned his neck down. Resting his chin on the younger man’s head for a moment. Taking a deep breath and grounding himself with the smell of Kaeya. A familiar scent that brought on another wave of emotions and nostalgia. 

Diluc hugged his brother a bit tighter for a moment. He wished he could squeeze his baby brother so fiercely that it would secure the other safely to his side forever. Yet he also didn’t want to wake him. The other needed to rest after everything. So he relaxed his grip despite wanting to only hug him harder. 

The redhead huffed softly into Kaeya’s hair. Eyes wandering as his mind wondered, once again, what exactly had caused Kaeya’s reaction. Adelinde had speculated that Kaeya had been poisoned somehow, yet despite those harrowing five minutes after they had discovered Kaeya in the rain, he was perfectly fine now. Seemingly just exhausted after going through whatever the episode had been. Making poison seem unlikely since no antidote was given. 

Other medical emergencies didn’t explain why Kaeya was begging for he and Adelinde to ‘make the voices stop’ or why he had started screaming in Khaenri’ahn. 

Kaeya’s words still haunted him. He could still hear the shouted:  “Beru si? Beru nye! Beru nya!”

The redhead huffed in frustration. How was he supposed to figure out what that statement meant? He highly doubted that Kaeya would tell him and it wasn’t like many scholars, let alone people, spoke the dead language. Perhaps the Knights had such a book that could help him, but how was he expected to borrow it without Lisa noticing the topic? 

Perhaps he could contact his network. 

Kaeya whimpered softly in his sleep, causing Diluc’s attention to snap back into full alert mode. Watching as Kaeya’s brow dipped for a second before smoothing back out. The redhead held his breath. Eyes wide as he stared at the blunette’s rising chest. Watching as the other exhaled and stilled once more. 

Diluc sighed heavily once more. 

He knew it was going to take him a while to get over his paranoia of his brother breathing suddenly stopping. Not after the way Kaeya had suddenly gone limp after whatever had happened had finally passed. The horror that had struck the elder in that moment as he thought he had just witnessed his baby brother die while he and Adelinde tried to figure out what was wrong would haunt him for the rest of his days. He just knew it.

Not even the thundering pulse under Diluc’s fingers had been enough to convince him that Kaeya was truly not dead those first several seconds. Not when Kaeya was ice-cold to the touch and as still as stone. Even now he still found his fingers slipping down to his brother’s limp wrist. Pressing against his skin to feel the reassurance underneath. Counting each beat that thrummed steadily through his bloodstreams. 

That was the reason he clung to his brother now. The reason Adelinde had hovered beside the bed for hours after. Saying nothing about any of Diluc’s duties or requesting he go and stretch his legs. She had simply remained steadfastly beside the bed as the entire day passed away and Diluc had long since warmed the cryo-user. Only leaving long enough to make a quick broth for Kaeya to eat later. 

Diluc hadn’t seen her that worried in a long time. 

Kaeya didn’t stir as Diluc sighed again and closed his eyes momentarily. Focusing on the rise and fall of Kaeya’s breathing. Focusing on the present before he could spiral once again.

 It was fine.

Kaeya was fine.

Whatever that had been was gone and Kaeya was stable. He’d wake up soon and then explain what the actual fuck had happened because despite Adeldine and Diluc’s best attempts they still had no idea what had happened.

And when he did, Diluc would make sure that whatever had caused it would never fucking happen again. 

Diluc slowly opened his eyes again. Staring down at his brother. A sudden urge he hadn't felt in years crept up his spine. Causing his cheeks to flush with embarrassment and self consciousness.  

But what would it hurt? It wasn't like Kaeya could tease him about it. He was still sleeping after all. The redhead slowly bent forward, tilting his chin so his lips could gently rest on top of Kaeya’s head. His kiss was as soft and light as a butterfly wing. Impossibly light and gentle.

He hurried to pull back. Not ready for Kaeya to wake at the gesture and ask what he was doing. They didn’t really even hug anymore, let alone give each other kisses. The cryo user was probably going to be surprised to find himself in Diluc’s arms already. There was no need to push his emotional state further after all the trauma he had. 

 Yet Diluc couldn't help the way his lips twitched upward in a faint smile as he relaxed against the headboard once more. Glad for the storm that had sent his brother to their doorstep. Glad of the fact he had been able to be there to help Kaeya. Glad that Kaeya was resting and peaceful now. 

Glad his little brother was in his arms where he belonged.