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Today was going to be the best day of Diluc’s life. He was buzzing with energy, barely able to sit down for a moment. He had worked hard for this day, and now it had finally come: his captain's ceremony. Soon, he would be one of the ten captains of the knights of Favonius, something he had always wanted to be.
“Diluc, can you hold still? Doing your hair will take me ten times longer.” Kaeya, for the third time, forced Diluc to look forward before going back to doing Diluc’s hair. “Oh, sorry, but I'm just so excited, Kaeya, I'm going to be a captain!” the younger rolled his eyes as he finished up the second braid, tying the two together in the back. “Yeah, yeah, I know you have been chatting about it for weeks.” He grabbed another rubber band to put half of Diluc’s unruly curls back.
“Sorry, but I am just so excited for tonight, I am going to be a captain, and then I could be acting grand master. Ooh, what if I become grand master after Varka?” the redhead was getting more and more giddy.
“Already going after the old man’s job?” Kaeya chuckled as he finished up with Diluc's hair.
Diluc’s eyes widened, and he covered his mouth. It did sound a bit wrong to say that he wants his mentor's place. “Oh, sorry that was a bit rude of me,” Kaeya only laughed louder, patting Diluc on the back. “Oh, don’t worry about it, I get why you are excited. It's a big deal. You have been training for this for years now.” He was proud of his older brother; it was easy to get the redhead this excited, but every time it made Kaeya smile to see.
“Well, let's get going and get Nox Father would probably want you to ride all the way to headquarters or something, probably to show off.” Diluc rolled his eyes. He really didn’t want to be showing off, but at least his horse, Nox, can attend too. Maybe if he gets to be the Calavry captain, they will give Nox the special gold reins that would stand out well against the horse’s dark coat.
“You coming or what?” Kaeya called out from down the hall.
“Oh, right, sorry.” Diluc grabbed his favorite gloves, the leather worn from years of riding, but it was probably going to take a few more years for him to give them up. He pulled them on, making sure they were secure before running after Kaeya.
The two walked to the neat stable area where two horses were standing in their stalls. Diluc ran up to his horse. “Good afternoon, Nox, are you ready for a ride? I bet you are,” he brushed his hand through the silk coat, baby talking to him before going off to grab his saddle. Kaeya, on the other hand, didn’t really do the baby talk but did greet his horse, Snowball, which Diluc was the one to pick the name out when Kaeya couldn’t pick one.
“Do you want to ride in with me?”
Kaeya looked up, a bit caught off guard by the question, looking over at him. “Are you sure? This is all about you and your ceremony” Diluc let out a laugh, “I know but I still want you to be there too your my brother after all” he fixed the saddle on Nox “if you are going to come I suggest you should start saddling up only if you want to come of course.” and of course Kaeya started to get ready.
All saddled up and walked slowly down the dirt, hooves hitting the path. A peaceful quiet fell between them, only the sound was the horses walking and birds chirping. After a bit of silence, Diluc spoke up. “So is Father waiting at the headquarters instead? He wasn’t home.”
“I think so, he probably brought wine for the adults. Maybe we can sneak a little sip,” Kaeya chuckled, which was cut short by receiving a light punch from Diluc. “Don’t you dare think about doing that, you're far too young to be drinking. I will force grape juice down your throat.”
“Okay, okay, I got it, no joking about drinking wine at the party.”
The two got closer to Mondstadt, greeted by Lawrence and Swan as they made it to the front, tying their horses in the small stables on the side of the wall. Sadly, no horses inside the walls. The brothers walked along the main path, lightly chatting and joking around as they took their time up the steps. If Diluc wasn’t distracted, the nervousness of being early would kick in.
They got to the headquarters, greeted by Crepus. “Diluc, my boy. Right on time, to Diluc’s surprise, Crepus hugged him. It was warm and comforting, making the teen quick to hug back, his smile widening. But it was only for a moment before Crepus pulled away, “Now come on, it's starting soon,” turning up the steps, the boys hurried along.
The doors were held open for them, knights stood along the walls. Diluc recognized many faces and felt his heart beat grow faster as they walked to Varka’s office, who had been waiting. The moment the three entered the room, he got up from his chair with a large grin on his face. “I'm glad to see you, and I'm glad to see you brought Kaeya with you.” The grand master was an older man and probably the kindest man in all of Mondstadt. He was gentle, teaching the two how to master using a sword.
“Of course, we are a package deal, so he had to come.” Diluc couldn’t wipe off the smile on his face, struggling to keep in his excited laugh. It was obvious to everyone else in the room. “Why don’t we get to the point before the boy explodes into flames of excitement?”
Varka moved from behind his desk, and the chairs that were usually in front of the desk were moved out of the room to give as much space as possible. Crepus pulled Kaeya long to stand on the sidelines, giving the two space. Varka took Diluc’s hand, and he was gentle with his touch, rubbing his thumb over Diluc’s fingers gently. “Diluc, you have joined the knights' young almost as soon as you got your vision. You were quick to climb the ranks from a knight in training to doing patrols on your own to teaching other knights, some even older than you.”
Varka straignhted up a bit more, “you are as strong as many knights here that are years beyond your age and experience. And now today you will be one of my ten captains. Will you please get on your knee for me?” he let go of Diluc’s hand letting the redhead get down on one knee lowing his head.
The grand master took in a deep breath, taking out his sword, it was a long blade, not his usual weapon, but this blade had a different purpose than fighting, it was dull, useless for such a thing, only used to make knights captains. Varka lightly tapped each of Diluc’s shoulders, “Diluc Ragnvindr, I hereby decree under my rule, you will be my cavalry captain.”
Diluc’s eyes widened, both surprised and happy about his new position, but he didn’t know if he could get up yet or even speak. Varka smiled, feeling his nervousness, and spoke once more, a bit more gently, “Do you agree to my proposal?” Diluc was quick to nod before realizing he needed to verbally answer, “Uh-yes, sir.”
Varka chuckled at the reaction, sheathing his sword, patting Diluc’s shoulder, “You can get up, my boy.” Diluc did so, being tackled into a hug by Kaeya. “Of course, you, out of all people, would get the cavalry position, you horse nerd.” The nervousness soon left Diluc laughing along. It was kind of funny that he would be the cavalry captain.
Crepus gave Diluc a pat on the back, “My son, the youngest cavalry captain who would have thought?” the youngest? He was the youngest? More pride filled him.
“Now come on, we have to tell Jean and Lisa, and I need to get my 50 mora from Lisa.” Of course, those two would bet on what Captain Diluc would end up being. Diluc chased after Kaeya as they ran down the hall. He could already hear the music playing; he wished this day could last forever.