Work Text:
'Traitor.'
An unsheathing of a blade, held in a vice grip by two hands. The droplets falling from the sky were evaporating upon contact with the person's skin, creating a layer of steam wading off of them.
The blade ignited. It came down with fury speaking of heartbreak, mirrored in the blade's owner's face, and clashed with another; this one slimmer, faster, though lacking strength. The weapons were trembling against each other where they met again and again, sparks flying past both the men holding them.
Slowly but surely, the fury of the burning blade overpowered the other; it wasn't intended for use with both hands, much less to simply parry strikes from a weapon so much larger. Both blades were burning to the touch at this point, and the longer they fought- the closer the large blade got to rip into skin- the more it burned. A warning one had ignored, and was now suffering the consequences for.
"I'm sorry, please, I'm sorry. I know I'm a failure, I know, I'm sorry, I'm sorry"
The blade struck particularly hard, making the other stumble, sword slipping from their grasp.
'There's nothing you can say to make this right, so shut up, JUST SHUT UP!'
The blade came down again fast against the defenseless form on the ground, only missing its target by inches as the man had rolled out of the way not a second too soon. Their side burned, skin non-existent on the arm inches away from the blade. Though it itself had missed, the flames had not.
Kaeya's ears were ringing. The air was unbearably hot and all of him felt sticky from the sweat rolling down his body. Strands of blue hair were strewn about the floor. His heart was hammering in his chest, though he barely noticed that next to the fact that it felt like his chest was being stomped on by a lawachurl, and more importantly the fear that seemed to compress him even more, making him roll up to try to escape it all.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I deserve this, all of this, I'm sorry-"
There was a knock at the door.
Kaeya sobbed. "Not now, please, fuck not now."
Another knock, much louder in volume than the previous ones.
Thunder crashed in the background as a wall of flames flew through the air, one giant spark of heat flying directly towards him. Was this it, he wondered. His last moments, engulfed by flaming retribution.
"Please, I'm sorry, please stop"
"-eya"
Not quite how he'd imagined the night to end, but perhaps it was exactly what he deserved.
"Please, no-"
"Kaeya!"
Kaeya's eye snapped open, coming face to face with an all-too-familiar redhead.
"No, no- you have to go- please, I-" he gasped for air, shutting his eyes tight once again and shaking his head vigorously. He still wasn't sure where he was, just that his body was burning, and that he was too open, and that Diluc couldn't be here.
"It's okay, you're doing great. Just focus on my voice."
Kaeya could do that. Probably. He tried, anyways.
"I've been thinking of adding some new bar snacks. The skewers are selling really well, better than I expected at least. I was thinking of asking your opinion. What do you think, maybe something with vegetables this time? We buy the skewers in bulk from Sara's, so perhaps something else from there?"
While Diluc was talking, Kaeya's tense muscles slowly relaxed, his hands going lax in his hair and his heart hammering a bit less violently in his chest with every word spoken.
Diluc's voice, calm and warm, made him feel safe; at home.
Kaeya breathed in a calming breath. He didn't feel quite right yet, but the innate sense of danger had faded to a manageable level.
"You're doing really well. Do you think I can touch you?"
Kaeya nodded.
"Alright. I'm just going to take your hands." True to his words, Diluc very gently took Kaeyas hands in his and guided them away from his head.
"Perfect. Now, do you think you can look at me?"
Kaeya opened his eyes once again, hesitantly meeting the others eyes. The warmth held in them surprised him. He was still shaken up, and part of him expected to look up and see Diluc's furious expression from his memories (because that's what they were, just memories) in front of him, but not a hint of that could be found on his face at that moment. Only a concerned furrow of his brow.
Diluc, who was kneeling before him, stood up and reached out a hand.
Kaeya took it, his hands still shaking to his embarrassment, and Diluc helped him up onto equally shaking legs.
Kaeya didn't say anything, avoiding Diluc's gaze again, this time not out of panic, but out of shame and nervousness he couldn't seem to supress.
"Are you feeling better?" Diluc asked in a carefully neutral tone.
"Uh- yeah", came the weak reply from Kaeya.
"I thought you didn't like open flames?" Diluc said, the topic catching Kaeya off guard.
He furrowed his brows "I don't, what-"
Oh.
Oh no.
How could he forget?
A "Kaeya?" came from the redhead, soft and level in a way that made Kaeya feel like he was being coddled. Maybe he was.
He let out a breathy laugh on instinct, not knowing what to make of that. He went the first path his fried brain could think of, which was, unsurprisingly, deflecting.
"It's nothing, I just.. thought I could start exposure therapy."
Which wasn't even a lie, technically speaking. He did expose himself to the fire.
"Is that why you had the panic attack?" Diluc asked, voice still calm.
Kaeya nodded jerkily, trying not to show just how nervous he was at the line of questioning "Yes."
Which was also not a lie.
Diluc didn't respond for a second, which only served to make Kaeya even more nervous
"..And why you have burn marks on your forearm?"
At that, Kaeya's gaze shot up to Diluc. He tried not to show the panic the question elicited in him any more than he just had, but that left him just staring at the other dumbfoundedly for a moment.
If it wasn't for the fact that he literally just had a panic attack he's sure he would've found a way to rile Diluc up enough to get out of the question, but with how muddled his brain still was there wasn't anything plausible he could think of.
As he was now, the best he could come up with was hiding his arm out of view as best as he could and looking away from the others searching gaze. He felt like a child and a fish out of water all at the same time, the shame and panic swirling together in his still muddled brain.
"No, I- What- How did-.."
After it became clear that Kaeya wouldn't finish that sentence- his mouth clamped shut for a good few seconds- Diluc started to talk.
"I have elemental sight. There's.. pyro residue on your forearm" he made a slight grimace saying that "and hydro all around the candle. With all that, well, doesn't take a genius to figure out, really."
Kaeya had been waiting for a shouting match; accusations thrown at him, insults, maybe some more burns as a gift, just.. anger. Disappointment, at least. And while that could still be there (he wasn't that naive), it was nowhere to be seen on Diluc's face. Once again, only a look of concern greeted him when he looked at him. There was something else there that Kaeya couldn't decipher, but a gut feeling almost like a distant memory whispered to him that it was care.
Kaeya still wanted to laugh, lay out some elaborate lie to explain the situation with anything but the truth- the truth made him vulnerable, the truth made him suffer more than any lie ever could- but with how things were, already laid out in front of him, and a part of his brain that might be bigger than he would like to admit that just wanted comfort from the one person standing in front of him, he found he could.. well, not come clean, that still felt too dangerous and too burdening on the other, but at least not deflect.. as much.
So, instead of a half-truth, or anything of the sort, he nodded once.
A small, timid thing, begging for acceptance and comfort, reaching out the tiniest olive branch.
Whether Diluc would burn it or cherish it was in his hands alone.
Diluc looked almost nervous as he replied
"Okay. Alright. I have burn cream on me, how about we apply that and then bandage up your arm?"
Kaeya practically deflated at that response, fear and tension ebbing away word by word of acceptance. He nodded again.
The other sat down, taking the ointment for burns out of his pocket. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Kaeya shook his head, willing himself to talk at least a bit, even though his mind, tongue and eyelids felt like lead after everything that just happened, the adrenaline wearing out of him leaving behind only exhaustion. "No."
Diluc held out his hand, waiting for Kaeya to confirm it'd be okay to touch him. Kaeya moved his arm toward Diluc in confirmation, who gently took it and lifted the sleeve up.
"I get that, I.. often don't want to talk about it either. Especially not right after."
"You also..?"
This time it was Diluc's turn to give a simple nod, lips pressed into a thin line. He started carefully applying the cream on Kaeya's forearm.
"It's.. hard to talk about. Even more so, I'm.. glad you're allowing me to help you. Kae."
Kaeya smiled gently at the nickname, a tear rolling down his face.
"You didn't have to" 'I'm not worth it'
Diluc smiled back "I know. I wanted to." 'To me you are.'