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Kaeya Alberich doesn't get along well with the other Mondstadt kids. It's not because he doesn’t fit in, no, it's because they don't fit in with him. Yeah, that's it. It's not his fault, it's theirs. Well, he's only been in Mondstadt for more than a year or so. Making friends takes time and effort. He tried talking to the other knight trainees, but they didn't seem to like him all that much. See? It's their fault. At least he has Diluc, his brother and best friend, and not forgetting Jean, the blonde girl from the city whom Diluc introduced to him not long after Kaeya started to settle in with life in Mondstadt. But it would be nice to have someone else to talk to.
Every Sunday, Crepus would bring him and Diluc to the city for mass. Kaeya doesn't like the cathedral. He was never raised to depend on any deity as a Khaenri’ahn. Of course he couldn't tell that to anyone in Mondstadt. Fortunately, Crepus never questioned him and excused him from visiting the cathedral which gives him lots of free time. How kind of his father. He doesn't like to be left at the winery, always not wanting to be far from his brother.Kaeya usually just waits it out at Angel’s Share or sometimes visits the horses at the Knight’s of Favonius stables.
Today, Kaeya feels like strolling through the city. He normally doesn’t go anywhere near the lower part of the city alone, always having the company of Diluc or Crepus or on occasions, Adelinde whenever he follows her to the marketplace for their weekly grocery shopping. Naturally, he sticks close to the city walls to avoid interacting with anyone, not feeling courageous enough to stroll freely among the rest of Mondstadt’s citizens.
Kaeya sees a calico cat resting on one of the empty wine barrels as he passes by the area behind Cat's Tail. “Hello there.” He stretches his hand out to pet it, scratching it behind the ears and under the neck. The cat gets up to stretch and jumps down from the barrel, rubbing itself on Kaeya’s legs. Kaeya giggles at this and continues to pet it but the cat starts walking away.
“Hey! Where're you going?” unsatisfied, he follows it. They end up behind one of the buildings at the housing area at the lower part of the city. Kaeya hesitantly trails the cat, having not been around that area before. There’s a stack of crates by the building wall and as the calico finds its way behind them, it meows loudly as if there was someone there. Just as Kaeya inches closer to the stacked crates, he hears an unfamiliar female voice, “Shh, you're gonna blow my cover.”
Curious, he peers behind the crates and sure enough there was a person behind them. A young girl in a nun outfit probably around Diluc’s age or older, with skin a pale shade of gray — almost ghostly — dark shadows under her eyes and short wine colored hair. Kaeya doesn't miss the cigarette between her fingers. Isn’t she too young to smoke? The girl looks at Kaeya, an annoyed expression on her face, then down at the cat, “Look at what you've done.” The feline just meows back at her innocently.
Kaeya wants to ask tons of questions. What's your name? What are you doing here? Why are you smoking? Shouldn't a nun be at the cathedral? Why does the cat favor you? His eyes landed on the dagger she was holding in her other hand. “Nice dagger”, he says instead.
That caught the girl off guard. “Thanks,” she eventually replies, letting the conversation die down. It’s getting awkward. Kaeya doesn't like awkward situations, he’s not good at handling them. Diluc usually leads the conversation but his brother isn't here right now and the girl doesn't seem to want to talk either. He’s going to have to handle this one by himself. It’s alright, he has seen Diluc do it a ton of times, how hard can it be? Who knows, maybe this is his chance to finally make a friend on his own.
“I have a dagger too,” Kaeya says, taking out his own dagger, a gift from his biological father before he arrived at Mondstadt, a small smile on his lips. Yes, this is how you make friends, by showing each other’s daggers, totally normal. The girl only spares a glance at it before going back to her cigarette, clearly not interested. “Cool.”
“Um.. my name’s Kaeya,” remembering he hasn't told her his name yet. “I know,” she looks at him, standing up and stubbing her cigarette on one of the crates. The redhead turns around to flee, leaving Kaeya confused. “Wait, aren't you going to tell me your name?” He calls back at her but she just keeps on walking away, the cat tailing behind her.
Kaeya is dumbfounded. His first attempt at befriending another Monstadt kid didn't go as planned. Guess he’ll just try again next time. Right now, he should go back to Crepus and Diluc before they worry.
When he enters Angel’s Share, Diluc is already there, fretting. “Kaeya! Where were you? You weren't here when we got back. I thought you ran away!” tears running down his cheeks as he hugs Kaeya. Diluc always worries about him running away ever since that Sumeru incident. “I was just strolling through the city and lost track of time. Don't worry, Luc.” Kaeya hugs him back, leaving out the part when he met that strange girl.
“See Diluc. I told you not to worry,” Crepus approaches them to pat both his sons’ heads. Diluc sniffs, “Of course I have to worry. He's my little brother,” he hugs Kaeya closer. Crepus chuckles, “Alright then, let’s head home shall we?” Diluc finally lets go of Kaeya. “Yeah!” they both say in unison, Diluc a little more enthusiastically.
The following week, Kaeya tries to find that girl again at the same spot. Presumably enough, there she is, another cigarette in hand. She spots Kaeya and clicks her tongue, debating with herself whether she wants to leave or not. Not to worry, this time Kaeya brought a peace offering — a bottle of apple cider he got from the winery this morning. Diluc always gives him gifts like a slingshot or a stuffed animal. Kaeya wasn't sure what that girl likes but Adelinde said everyone would enjoy a bottle of Dawn Winery’s apple cider and Adelinde is always right.
“Um… I got you.. a gift,” he says hesitantly, lifting up the bottle. The young nun eyes it suspiciously. “Trying to poison me now?” Kaeya is taken aback by that sudden accusation. “What? Of course not! It's just apple cider,” Kaeya shakes the bottle as if that would prove it to be poison-free. She lifts an eyebrow, “A bribe then,” she flicks her cigarette, the ashes falling from it.
“No, it really is just a gift,” Kaeya sits down in front of her. She retracts her outstretched legs, feeling a little too exposed to the boy. Kaeya struggles with the cork for a while. Perhaps he should have brought along a corkscrew with him. The redhead sighs and grabs the bottle from him. She takes out her dagger and stabs the cork from the side, using the mouth of the bottle as a fulcrum to make a makeshift lever and pulls out the cork. It opens, the sweet scent of cider wafts from the bottle.
“Woah!” Kaeya is astonished by that display of dagger usage. He has always thought it was only used in combat or for cutting things. The girl hands back the cider.
“I told you, it’s for you.”
“You sure it’s not poisoned?”
“I promise you, it’s not.”
Kaeya extends his pinky out to her. Diluc always does this when he promises something — a pinky promise was what he said. The nun looks at Kaeya, shocked. Then she lets out a snort. “What are you, five?” It's Kaeya's turn to be shocked. “Is that not what you do when you make a promise? It's what my brother taught me.” His hand falls back to his lap.
“Sure,” she takes a sip of the cider, “Hmm no poison.”
“Told you,” Kaeya fidgets with his fingers, “Um you never told me your name.”
“Ah, so it is a bribe,” the girl takes another sip. Just as she was about to say something, a Sister from the cathedral suddenly appeared from the corner of the building. “There you are, Rosaria!”
The girl — now called Rosaria — curses under her breath and swiftly gets up and runs in the opposite direction, the Sister chasing after her. Once again, Kaeya is left alone. He's going to have to try again next time.
Next time arrives and Rosaria is no longer at her usual spot. Must be because she had already been exposed. Kaeya doesn’t find the fact that she's constantly hiding from her responsibility weird in any way. Maybe because he can somehow relate — knight training can be taxing. He tries searching for her, looking for all the best hiding spots. After about half an hour of searching, Kaeya decides to go back to Angel's Share, thinking Rosaria might have not escaped and actually joined mass today. A shame, he wanted to have an actual conversation with her.
He arrives at the tavern, heading to the back door because he prefers to avoid talking to any patrons even though it’s early in the morning. Just then, he sees the person he was trying to find all day, sitting cross-legged and leaning against the tavern’s wall. This time she doesn't have a cigarette with her. Instead, she's just twirling her dagger on one of her fingers.
“There you are, Rosaria,” Kaeya says enthusiastically. Rosaria looks up at him, “Great, you know my name. What do you want now? And how do you keep finding me?”
Kaeya sits down next to her, making sure to leave a little space between them. “Just wanted to chat with you. And it can't be helped that you're sitting behind my father’s tavern." Rosaria stops spinning her dagger. “If you're trying to befriend me, you're out of luck. I’m not interested,” she says sternly. “Okay.” Kaeya says, a disappointed look on his face. Rosaria notices this, an unfamiliar feeling twists in her gut. “Ugh fine. Just this once and that's it.”
His face lights up again. “Do you like apple cider, Rosaria?”
“Well I don't dislike it. I just prefer alcoholic drinks.”
“Aren't you too young to drink?”
Rosaria scoffs, “So? Don't you try the drinks your father makes?” Fair point. Crepus does allow Kaeya to taste test any new brews before putting them on the tavern’s menu. “How'd you know?”
“A wild guess.”
Just as Kaeya is about to ask another question, the calico cat from last time appears. It immediately approaches Rosaria and rubs itself on her knees. “It’s that cat again. How come it likes you so much?”
“Probably because I sometimes feed her my leftovers from lunch,” Rosaria gently strokes its head. “Do you like cats?” Kaeya asks, trying to beckon the cat to come closer to him. “I guess, only when they're not scratching me.”
The calico finally nears Kaeya. He giggles at Rosaria’s answer, “Yeah, getting scratched does hurt. I've been scratched by my brother’s falcon a few times.” Kaeya lifts his sleeves to show her the talon marks on his arms.
“Ouch,“ Rosaria hisses, “is that eyepatch caused by his falcon too? Or are you actually a pirate?”
“Oh this?” Kaeya touches his covered eye, “the pirate thing,” he says casually. “What about you? Are you actually a vampire?” He refers to her pale skin.
She hums in thought, “Maybe. Why? Scared I might suck your blood?” she smirks.
Kaeya doesn't believe her but he covers his neck with both his hands for good measure. He can't die yet, he hasn't fulfilled his biological father's wishes yet.
Rosaria laughs at that. Hmm no fangs.
They chat for a little while longer, the cat long asleep on the ground between them. Kaeya asks her more about herself and in exchange, he tells her about himself — excluding his past. He even invites her inside the tavern to offer her a bottle of dandelion wine. As tempting as it is, Rosaria declines, saying that they're not there yet.
“There you are Kae!” a familiar voice exclaims; Diluc. Kaeya turns his head towards his brother, “Oh, hey Luc.”
“Well that’s my cue to leave.” Rosaria stands up and turns to leave, the cat waking up and following her. Kaeya didn't even get to say goodbye. “Who was that? A friend?” Diluc asks, helping Kaeya up. “Hopefully.”
The next week arrives and this time it’s Rosaria who found him — revealing herself just as Kaeya passes by Floral Whisper. “Oh, found you sooner than I thought,” he grins. Rosaria grabs his arm and drags him to one of the alleyways between the buildings, “Thanks. You know, for the cider the other day." She hands him a brown paper bag. Kaeya peeks into the bag, a few Chicken-Mushroom Skewers inside. Oh, that's right. Kaeya had told Rosaria his favourite food in exchange for hers. He can't help but feel touched by this gesture.
“Aww, you're so sweet Rosie,” he takes out one of the skewers and bites off the mushroom. “Don't call me that,” she grumbles. “Sure,” Kaeya giggles, finishing that skewer, “Rosa then.” Rosaria reaches to grab the bag back from him but Kaeya manages to evade. “No take-backs.”
She is about to retort when she suddenly catches a glimpse of one the Sisters slowly closing in on them. “Whatever, let’s get out of here.” she grabs Kaeya’s arm again, yanking him towards the wall. She leads him to the closest windmill. “Wait, where are we going?” he asks exasperatedly, making sure all his skewers are in check.
Rosaria picks the lock on the windmill’s door, “Just follow me,” a slight vexed tone in her voice. Kaeya just remains silent as they ascend the spiral steps to the top of the tower. Once they step out into the open air again, he can feel the wind blowing in his hair. He marvels at the view — he can see the entire lower city, everyone looks so small from up here. How had he been missing out on this? “It’s beautiful.”
Rosaria just hums, “Enjoy while it lasts. The windmill keeper will come up for inspection in about twenty minutes.”
“Do you come here often?”
“Sometimes. If I feel like climbing all those stairs.”
“It’s nice up here,” Kaeya smiles, “thank you, Rosa.”
“Don't call me that.”
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“Took you long enough. I've been waiting for ages.” Rosaria sighs as Kaeya closes the windmill door. “Some of us actually clock out on time, Rosa,” he rolls his eyes playfully.
She scoffs, leaning forward on the railing, “You will not catch me attending the night choir. Plus, it’s not like the Cavalry Captain has anything better to do with no cavalry available,” she smirks, “Anyways, did you bring it?”
Kaeya ignores the slander, “Two bottles of dandelion wine, as promised,” he hands her one bottle, looking expectantly at her, a grin on his face. “Seriously? You can't open your own bottle?” Rosaria accepts the bottle and opens it with her dagger taking almost no effort, a familiar notion, almost like a routine. She gives the bottle back to Kaeya and takes the other one, proceeding to open it in the same fashion.
Well, you could call it a routine — after all those years, still meeting up on the same windmill every Sunday night, drinking wine in the night breeze and the view of Mondstadt City below them while making small talk. Kaeya always makes sure to not bring a corkscrew.
Yeah, Kaeya Alberich does get along with the other Mondstadt kids after all.