Chapter Text
~1~
Diluc sighed to himself. He had closed the Angel’s Share a half hour ago, but he was still cleaning up; washing glasses, cleaning the bar, the like. He finally finished, setting down the last glass with a satisfied expression on his face.
If only the walk back to the Dawn Winery wasn’t so far. Diluc could easily make the journey, and quickly, but he really didn’t want to after a long day of work.
Diluc followed the path, lost in thought. Soon enough, he recognized the familiar scenery around the winery.
With just one small difference. In the distance- near enough to the grapes, he saw… something. Diluc wasn’t sure what, exactly, but it certainly hadn’t been there before.
As he got closer, he could see that it was multiple somethings. And even closer, he could tell that they were hilichurls.
Why in Teyvat were there hilichurls this close to the winery? And what were they doing?
Diluc really didn’t feel like fighting them- he was exhausted- but he knew he needed to deal with them.
He walked closer, slowly, silently, wanting to know what they were doing.
And unfortunately, he figured it out.
He saw a small figure, wearing green, trying desperately to fend them off, but there were at least five hilichurls- they were close-knit, so Diluc couldn’t tell exactly- and only one of them. Diluc watched, horror-stricken, as two things happened.
One. The hilichurls knocked the figure to the ground and started attacking even more relentlessly as the figure cried out in pain.
Two. Diluc realized who the figure was.
Aw, shit.
Venti.
Diluc charged forward, knocking the hilichurls back with a blast of flames from his claymore. They looked panicked as they disintegrated into dust and faded away.
Diluc ran over to Venti, suddenly forgetting about his exhaustion.
“Venti! Are you okay?!” It was a stupid question, seeing as the bard’s clothing was torn and he was bleeding; but what else could Diluc say?
Venti shook his head. His teal eyes were still shining with fear.
Impulsively, Diluc scooped Venti in his arms, lifting him bridal-style and cradling him to his chest.
“I’ll take you to the winery,” he said quietly. “I can treat your wounds and get you something to eat.”
Diluc could feel his face turning the color of his vibrant hair. Luckily, Venti didn’t notice- his face was buried in Diluc’s shirt.
Fuck it. His face was brighter than his hair.
“Hello, master Di…. luc….” said Adelinde, her voice trailing off as she noticed Venti.
“Master Diluc…? How can I…?” Adelinde looked confused, but didn’t say anything.
“Um, maybe you could… I don’t know,” he confessed. “I’m going to go clean and bandage his wounds… maybe you could make something for him to eat?”
Adelinde nodded, walking away to go do something else- hopefully cook something.
Diluc carried Venti to his bathroom and filled the tub with water. Gently, he set Venti down.
“Do you… um… do you care if I….” He gestured to the bard’s torn, bloodstained clothing.
Venti nodded, his face pale.
Diluc cautiously heated the water with his pyro powers. He didn’t want the water to be too hot, but he also didn’t want Venti to be cold.
Diluc gently pulled off his shirt, which was sticky with blood. Luckily, the hilichurls had really only gone for the top half of his body.
“Oh, Venti,” he said, looking at the bard’s torso area. It was not a pretty sight. He was badly wounded, that had been obvious, but he was also really thin- Diluc could count the poor bard’s ribs.
Gently, he cleansed and bandaged the wounds, and then realized he didn’t have a shirt that would fit Venti. Diluc was much taller and more muscular than the tiny bard.
“I’ll be right back,” he said, suddenly having a (bad) idea.
“Hey, Adelinde…?” Diluc called out. “Um, can I… where are the spare maid dresses…?”
Adelinde opened her mouth, then closed it. She pointed in the direction of the closet. Diluc found it, picked the smallest dress he could find, and pulled the apron and frills off, leaving him with a plain black dress resembling a black nightgown.
Diluc returned to the bathroom that Venti was in. “So, um, this is kinda awkward, but, um, the only thing that I thought would fit you was…” Diluc flushed and held out the altered maid dress. “If you want, I can cut it to make it more of a shirt… I did pull the lace off though.”
Venti took the dress from Diluc, shaking ever so slightly as he pulled it over his head. He pulled off his bloomers; leaving him standing in a simple black dress and white tights.
“Come on,” he said, somewhat awkwardly, extending his hand to the bard. “Adelinde’s making something for us.”
Venti took his hand, a soft blush spreading across his cheeks. The bard’s small hand was callused, probably from using his bow and lyre so much.
Diluc lead him to the kitchen, where there was a small table with a couple of chairs. Adelinde was making something.
Diluc sat down, pulling one of the chairs over so that they were sitting next to each other. Adelinde spoke.
“Oh, hello, Master Diluc! I’m almost finished.” A few minutes later, she walked over to them with two plates of sticky honey roast.
The tiny bard looked hesitant. “Master Diluc, you don’t have to-“
Diluc cut him off by sticking a piece of sticky honey roast in Venti’s mouth. “I know don’t have to. But I want to.”
Venti blushed a shade of red that rivaled Diluc’s long hair.
It was adorable.
Wait, what? No. What? Adorable? Where the fuck did that come from? What part of Diluc’s brain had made him think that?
Diluc took a bite of the sticky honey roast, trying to clear his mind. He was watching Venti out of the corner of his eye.
Venti ate quickly. It was obvious that the poor bard had been starving. He didn’t finish the whole meal, though, and just stared off into space as Diluc ate.
“Venti…?” Diluc tapped him lightly on the shoulder.
Venti blinked, shaking his head a bit as if to clear it.
“Mhm?” He looked at Diluc, aquamarine eyes shining ever so slightly.
“You must be exhausted. I know I am. Do you want to head to my room…?”
Venti gave a small nod. He stood up, losing his balance, but Diluc caught him.
They walked upstairs, Venti leaning heavily on Diluc for support. Diluc supposed he could just pick Venti up again, but now that the bard was fully conscious and aware of what was happening, he felt like that would be a bad idea.
Diluc opened the door to his room, realizing that he didn’t actually have a guest room in the winery. That… was probably a lack of thinking on his part. Part of him wanted to just… sleep on the floor outside, but the rest of him really didn’t want to leave Venti alone.
Welp. This was going to be at least a little bit awkward no matter what they did.
At least Diluc’s bed was fairly large.
“Um…” whispered Venti, realizing what would happen.
Diluc felt his face heat up. “If- if it makes you uncomfortable, we can figure something else out…”
“Oh, I don’t mind. I just… didn’t want you to feel weird…” Venti looked away.
Diluc sat down on one side of his bed, gesturing for Venti to join him. The bard moved slowly, as if afraid that Diluc would get mad, but did eventually make his way over to him.
“Um… good night, Venti,” he said softly, lying down and turning off the light.
“Good night, Master Diluc,” he heard the bard whisper.
They laid there in silence for a few minutes, neither one able to fall asleep.
“Master Diluc…?” Venti whispered. “I’m cold… do you have a blanket or something…?”
The logical part of Diluc’s brain told him to just get up and get Venti a blanket. The rest of his brain, however, decided just to roll over and wrap his arms gently around the bard. Diluc always slept with his pyro vision on him, just in case, which was why his room was always so cold- it caused Diluc’s natural body temperature to be higher.
And also why he could just… warm the temperature of his skin a bit for Venti. The position felt a little bit awkward at first, but maybe it was how unexpectedly hectic the night had been, or maybe it was that they were just exhausted, or maybe it was the warmth of each other, but both soon fell asleep.