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Diluc returns to Angel’s Share on the last day of the bartending week.
Almost immediately, he notices the piles of Mora left in buckets behind the counter. With wide eyes, he looks over to Charles, who gives him a big thumbs up. The bartender points to where Lumine is standing with Kaeya in a corner, the Captain’s cheeks ruddy, but rather from the attention of the lady before him than from the non-alcoholic coffee in his hand.
Diluc rolls his eyes, wondering if Kaeya spent his week’s earnings on coming to the tavern. He’ll have to stop by Good Hunter later, and request a basket of food be sent over. He could send ingredients, but Kaeya would sooner turn them into crafts with Klee than do something as preposterous as cook.
He was a bit old to receive Crepus’ lessons on stovetop safety, unfortunately, something both Crepus and Addy had overlooked when trying to raise the troublesome boys.
Diluc lifts the overflowing buckets, carrying them into the back before someone tries to rob him. The last thing he needs is to explain to Jean or Huffman why there’s a pile of ashes where an overeager, drunk Treasure Hoarder used to be. He doesn’t think, “Spring cleaning,” is an explanation that could get him out of trouble. Pity, too, since his garden could use some new fertilizer.
When he emerges from the back, he takes a quick mental notice of the customers in the vicinity. Lisa and Jean retreated up to the second floor, giggling like young students hidden in the back of the library. Diluc mentally tones down the flames of the candles on the second floor, and sincerely prays to Barbatos that they don’t act like overeager university heads, hidden from sight.
Lumine and Kaeya wave goodbye to him, Kaeya’s eye squinting in his delight, the man far too tickled pink to even come up with a good insult. He leaves a hefty tip on the counter.
Diluc rolls his eyes, waving his towel as a dismissive goodbye, smirking at Kaeya as the man stares down at Lumine, already smitten. They’re visible for one moment walking through the open doorway, the lanterns illuminating their faces, and then the door closes and Diluc is left alone.
Charles must have slipped out, exhausted from his time teaching students who don’t learn quite as easily as Lumine does. Diluc already spots a few burn marks on the counter that he may leave in, as they seem to add character.
The only other person in the room is a lady with long white hair, and red ropes tied around her clothes. Diluc is a gentleman, so he would never stare, but in the quick glance he gave, he began to mentally catalogue where he recognized the ropes from.
Liyue.
Tales of adepti.
As he wipes at the burns, hoping it’s a substance stuck to the counter, or melted wax, and not, you know, actual burnt wood, Diluc recalls Lumine telling him about someone she had encountered around the time of lantern rite. She met a certain white haired lady, tall, with red ‘ribbons’ as Paimon called them, who was commonly mistaken for an adeptus.
He smiles to himself, walking over to her. “Good evening.”
Her eyes flick to his approaching form reflected on her glass, and his heart begins to pound faster. Then she looks up to him, with eyes that look exactly like pools of water backed by a blood moon.
Diluc’s steps slow, his throat apple bobbing, hand nervously fiddling with his glove. He catches himself, smiling a bit, nodding to her.
“Hello,” she says, a bit unsure. She likely doesn’t realize who he is. Diluc recalls Paimon mentioning that her new friend didn’t know much of human customs, let alone Mondstadtian ones.
“I was wondering if you would like another drink,” Diluc offers, sliding his hands into his pockets, trying to hide the way they’re trembling.
He knew she was pretty when he first saw her, but he wasn’t expecting glass skin, or that one-eyed thing that always gets his heart throbbing, or the way her eyes rove into his, unabashedly, direct.
She continues to stare, and he melts under the weight.
“I would,” she says. “Although I fear I may have grown too accostomed to the taste of this one.” Her fingertips tap the cup before her, eyes roaming down, always settling on one place for a split second before flitting off.
She reminds him of a bird, somehow. “I can offer you something else?”
“Yes, please. Paimon suggested...something sweet.”
Lisa, upstairs, laugh. Diluc’s eyes light up with an idea. “I have just the thing, he says. I’ll return in a moment.”
She inclines her head, and off he goes, trying to remember the last time his heart felt like this. It’s pounding so hard he’s sure even Jean can hear it, and her attention has finally been captured by the rosy lady of the library.
With shaking hands, he grabs the mixer.
I can walk into Fatui strongholds with sure steps, but a pretty woman shakes me to my core. He smiles to himself, pouring in the tea, and shaking in some milk and caramel.
He pours, adding milk foam on top, a healthy amount. At the very top he adds a caramel drizzle.
It’s only once he’s done that Diluc realizes he accidentally grabbed one of the very nice glasses. She would notice, if she knew to, but hopefully she won’t see the blatant favoritism. Suddenly, he finds himself hoping Lisa and Jean don’t come downstairs, because surely they’ll understand that the yellow porcelain isn’t broken out except for very, very special guests.
His hands steady the moment he lifts the glass, and accompanying plate. He walks back, setting them before Shenhe. “Here you are, our signature Love Poem. Tea, with milk, milk foam, and caramel.”
Her eyes widen, then settle into smiles.
His heart leaps forward, then steadies.
“Thank you,” Shenhe says. “It is beautiful. The smell reminds me of my garden.”
He’s in love.
That’s it.
Right then and there, he sees the cliff, feels himself step off, and he enjoys the rush he gets from falling.
“You have a garden?” Diluc ducks his head a bit, smiling, unable to quell the excitement burning in his eyes.
Shenhe looks right up to him, as if she momentarily forgot he was there. She blinks, and he thinks he’s going to die. He barely remembers to breathe.
She smiles. “Yes, I do. Would you care to hear about it?”
Hours later, Lisa stumbles down the stairs. Her legs are a bit shaky, and she has lipstick marks down her artery. A silken smile sits on her lips, which are parted and swollen, glossy with fresh dew.
Her hand traces down the wooden railing, nails digging along the grooves where countless thumbs have pressed in desperate attempts not to face-plant on the oft-replaced planks at the bottom of the steps.
Diluc is behind the counter, Shenhe leaning on the surface. She’s talking animatedly, and he has a smile on his face that Lisa hasn’t seen since he was young.
A wicked grin bursts across the violet lady’s lips, and she giggles to herself, stepping out of the shadows. “My, what have we here? And I only came down for some drinks.”
Shenhe, who has no sense of humor except Beidou’s yet, stares back with wide eyes, unsure if she’s done something wrong.
Lisa feels a miniature knife stab into her chest. Oops. Diluc, meanwhile, is pleading behind Shenhe’s back for her to fix this, his face contorted into a wince.
“Sorry dear, I only meant to tease,” Lisa says. “Jean and I were quite distracted upstairs, and I may have hoped the tavern was empty.”
“It’s okay,” Shenhe says. “We could hear you.”
Lisa gives pause.
Diluc, who was trying to drink down the frog in his throat, snorts.
Lisa drops her change on the counter, hands Shenhe a rose to indicate their newfound friendship, and invites her to the library before returning upstairs to fetch her Grand Master, who’s already writing out routes for the Knights the following day.
"You just gave her a run for her money,” Diluc says, chuckling.
Shenhe widens her lashes, glancing at the Mora on the counter, then to him. “It’s right there.”
He stares back, before she smirks, and he bursts out laughing.
Diluc’s hand closes over the coins, and he slips them into one of the empty buckets, under the counter, listening to the clanging sounds as they drop in.
“The drinks are delicious,” Shenhe says. “I will come to visit your garden soon. I am curious to learn more about this...Mondstadt. And, it’s a bit easier to blend into than Liyue.”
“I am glad that it has been welcoming to you,” Diluc says, meaning every word with every bit of warmth he can currently feel. Which is quite a bit, his cheeks are as rosy as Kaeya’s were earlier.
“Have a good night,” Shenhe says as she walks through the door he’s holding open. “Oh.” She pauses, turning back, brow furrowed. “What is your name? I,” she says, hand pressed to her chest, “am called Shenhe.”
“Diluc,” he says. “I am,” he begins, trailing off.
Being an heir might not matter to someone who cares about gardening and other such things. In fact, it may seem daunting, to come to a new town and meet an aristocrat, or an owner of a large business.
But what else is he? He can’t introduce himself as a friend of the Traveler, he already did earlier.
“I am, a bartender, here at Angel’s Share. Please come again,” he says, which is perhaps the closest he’s come to begging someone to return in a long time.
Shenhe smiles, tilting her head a bit, reminding him once more of a bird. Perhaps a crane?
“I would be delighted to, Diluc. Have a good evening.”
“You as well.” He bows to her. “Please be safe getting home,” he says, staring at the threshold of his tavern.
“You too, Diluc.”
She says his name twice.
And long after she’s walked away, Diluc finds himself taking long, steadying breaths, his hand holding the door open, enjoying the cool nighttime breeze on his face.