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It wasn’t often since his return to the City of the Wind that the wine tycoon himself needed to man the tavern bar in place of his faithful employees; he could probably count on one hand the number of Angel’s Share nights in those three years, all blissfully similar once he’d settled in for the night’s work.
There was always a tune floating through the air, the chorus of lyre mingling with drunken laughter ever-present. That would never change. A collection of knights slacking on their duties and being too raucous grated on his nerves but wasn’t out of the norm. And the Cavalry Captain, in his usual spot at the bar, joking with Diluc to keep him company on another long night.
“Enough about the new recruits getting mobbed by Hydro and Cryo slimes,” Kaeya snickered, still reigning in his laughter from his latest story as Diluc finished moving another case of bottles to their place, “What’s been up with Monstadt’s favourite winery owner? Any drama between the staff that’s particularly interesting lately?”
A twinge of pain struck the redhead's hands, quickly fading into static numbness. He must've been obvious with it because lilac eyes were analyzing him as Diluc shook out the feeling. "Sorry, I... I keep having my hands go numb, it's a bit odd. Like pins and needles, but with Electro flowing in it. It'll pass in a moment."
This, of course, was the wrong answer to give the most nosy man he knows. "Hm, that sounds quite peculiar. If you don't mind my prying," he does, but he'll let Kaeya continue anyway, "is there anything else I should know about, 'Luc?"
Kaeya's normally cheerful smirk dropped, leaving him to carefully watch Diluc's every reaction. Guess he can't downplay it if the knight is paying attention. "...Well, I can't say there aren't other things like it."
The screech of Kaeya's chair caught a few stares from nearby patrons, but it seemed the bard quickly switched to a group-participation song. He'd have to thank Barbatos for his quick thinking later.
"What you do me-" Kaeya's voice squeaked out before he could reign in the volume after being shushed. "Diluc, that can't be good! You need to see a professional, not just one of the Mond healers... A real doctor will tell us-"
The groan ripped from the bartender before he could stop it, "I'm perfectly fine, Kae, stop fussing over nothing."
Kaeya continued as if the other never spoke at all. "I mean no disrespect to the lovely ladies like Barbara, but the graduates from the Akademiya working over in Sumeru would be able to figure it out. Their doctors are the best in all of Teyvat–” He practically pleaded with the redhead, who looked like he wanted to melt into the floorboards. Could his Pyro vision make a hole through the wood planks to swallow him up?
…On second thought, that’d be expensive to replace, perhaps not.
With the way the knight kept rambling, there was no way Diluc would be able to stop his tirade until he gave the answer the man wanted. "Will you drop it if I agree? You're going to scare away my patrons."
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Within days, the staff of the winery were informed that Master Diluc would be on a trip abroad with Master Kaeya, despite the former's protests after the fact. He'd tried to even force an escort of knights to make their way, but Diluc cut that idea down quickly; Kaeya tried to reason then that Diluc shouldn't need to worry about the physical work to focus on his health, but it was hard to argue when the other said they'd rather eat rotten Mitachurl than be protected by morons.
Less than a week later, they'd arrived in Sumeru for their scheduled appointment with Bimarstan's professionals.
"So, Mr. Ragnvindr, before we begin," A middle-aged Amurta graduate drawled as he filled in paperwork on a clipboard, "I need to ask you some questions about your medical history and some of your symptoms. Is there any history of major diagnoses, sicknesses, injuries?"
"I had an incident roughly four years ago where I was knocked backwards off my horse during... A trip abroad." He was leveled with a look from Kaeya, who knew damn well that was code for 'being a terrorist in Snezhnaya.' "At the time, I had a concussion and got whiplash, but it healed rather quickly and left no long-lasting effects. Past that, no other major events in my medical background."
The pen was flying across the page, but it didn't stop the doctor from speaking once more. "Interesting, I'm glad you are feeling better. Now, tell me about what brings you here. Mr. Alberich mentioned pins and needles in your hands, but is there anything else?"
Fingers clenched within his gloves before sighing. He was dreading this part. "... Mn, I wouldn't say it's just my hands. It starts in my hands, and it spreads up my shoulders, and sometimes it happens with my legs." A pause to take in how quickly his heart was beating, how anxious he was speaking the full truth of the past few months, "When it's happening, it's like Electro-infused needles, and I can't tell if something is hot or cold... I've nearly burned myself on the woodstove a few times now, because I hadn't realized the metal was still warm from use."
"That's not the only symptom I've noticed, however." The scratching of ink on parchment paused, anticipating each syllable, scrutinizing his thoughts and words with precision. "It's like my neck and back are... Stiff, holding tension no matter how often I stretch. Sometimes, when it's really bad, it'll feel as if my throat has thickened, a frog keeping me from swallowing or breathing right. It's alarming, but I suppose I never felt it urgent to speak on."
A cough jolted him back to the faces seated around him. Both the doctor and the knight looked rattled, the latter slack-jawed as he processed. Before Kaeya could speak on it, whether to scold or pity him, the Amurta scholar coughed again to school his expression back into neutrality. "I-I see, that is very interesting Mr. Ragnvindr. You mentioned it being 'really bad' and I'd like to touch on that; when you say that, have you noticed a pattern in any of these symptoms? A common denominator leading to this cluster of sensations?"
"While it's not a concrete answer, I've noticed it happens most consistently when I am working hard... If I'm lifting kegs or training with my claymore, it happens almost every time."
That clipboard finally lowered, and it was no surprise to see it covered in incomprehensible notes. "I see. Well, Mr. Ragnvinder, I believe that you have come to the right place, as these could be a sign of something serious. I would like to order some tests done, but please... relax a moment while I put in the requests."
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Hours passed in a blur of nurses passing him around Birmarstan, from one test to another, hushed voices as they used machinery to scan his insides and outsides; one test inside a large tube to scan his body, another test involving sticking metal to his skin and shooting controlled Electro into his arms, and so many faces of doctors and nurses that it nearly made him dizzy.
In the end, they ended up in the same sterile room along with the same Sumerian doctor from the start, who was holding a folder with a plethora of documents. "Well, Mr. Ragnvindr, my colleagues and I have come to a conclusion regarding the causes of your mysterious afflictions."
Please say he's overreacting, or it's carpal tunnel-
"There is a mass inside your spinal cord, most likely from your previous injury while abroad."
Fuck.
“Due to the nature of things involving your spine possibly causing paralysis or worse, it would be too risky to remove it. It’s not going to kill you, if that’s what you’re worried about, Mr. Ragnvindr… You could still do many things yet, as long as you follow the rules to keep it from getting worse!” The man spoke as if to comfort him, but it felt like a hollow prize.
"And those rules are...?"
The doctor nodded with a smile before his eyes scanned the page once more. Seems like it was uncommon enough to not have memorized, perhaps even a rarity. “Well, let’s see here… No operation of a hang-glider, jumping, or anything that could jostle your neck. Oh, and under no circumstances should you lift anything heavier than a large cat, you can potentially exacerbate the issue and cause more damage.”
He could see the man's mouth still moving, but nothing was registering in his ears as the common tongue. Diluc mumbled his thanks for their time as they were escorted back out to the streets of the city once more, eyes refusing to focus on anything but the floor, "...Kaeya, I'm going to return to the inn for the night. Feel free to explore the city on your own."
Unfortunately for the redhead, Kaeya insisted on coming back with him, knowing all too well the other was attempting to isolate himself to lose that composure when not a soul could see it. Or, as Kaeya had referred to it many moons before, 'being a brooding, mysterious asshole.' The knight spoke, probably to ask how he was doing, but it wasn't sticking in his mind, blending into a garbled puddle of sounds he couldn't decipher.
A hand jutted out to grab at his sleeve, “Are you… Are you sure you’re okay, Diluc? That was a lot to–”
“I’m fine.” Diluc said flatly, shaking off the hand to continue his brisk pace, “Why wouldn’t I be? They said I’ll live, so I don’t see the point in dwelling on it.”
The knight furrowed his brows with disappointment but didn't push it. Instead, he let the uncomfortable silence linger over them, even as they made it back into the inn. Checking in earlier only to drop off their bags meant their terse standoff was left undisrupted as they walked past the front desk and onward to their shared room.
He could feel Kaeya's eyes watching his movements as they both got comfortable, shedding his outwear with numb fingers fumbling with the fastenings. The hairs on his neck raised but he refused to look the man in the eyes. Kaeya knew him too well.
Innocently, the redhead reached to his worn leather trunk, mind still on autopilot and seeking to unpack, when a gloved hand gripped his wrist. "No, that's heavy, 'Luc. I got it." The knight was hushed, mumbling as reached past to lift up the gear onto a luggage stand. A kindness on the other man's part.
It was too much.
Suddenly, it was like the room was spinning around him, colours blurring together and the world contorted into ugly silhouettes. He haphazardly snatched at a chair, and it met the back of his knees to allow him to crumple into it. The only reprieve from the nauseating swirl of everything was burying his face into still-numb hands, static licking at the base of his skull like the waves of the river meeting the shoreline by the Winery.
This was real. This was permanent. He was sick, and there was no cure. Diluc Ragnvindr, sole heir to the Dawn Winery and the crown jewel of Mondstadt's thriving alcohol industry, would never be considered healthy again, and he was hopeless to do a thing about it.
The walls felt suffocating, but the lump in his throat reminding him of what he couldn’t erase was worse. “If I can’t lift things, how am I supposed to move the kegs? What about stocking the Angel’s Share when the wine supply is low?”
"Well, that's what Charles is for, right?"
Diluc carried on as if Kaeya had never spoken, frantic as he felt the room shifting uncomfortably around him, "And my claymore... That's heavier than a cat. How can I protect the citizens if I can't even lift my blade? Archons, and that's without considering battling without jerking my head–"
Arms around his shoulders tugged his shaking frame into an embrace. Kaeya's body always ran colder than his own, and the effect was almost immediate. Like a puppet's strings being cut, the fight left the redhead in hiccupped sobs while fingers ran through messy crimson hair.
"Hey now, I'm here, 'Luc..." The tenor of the other man's voice was trembling, but Diluc could barely hear it over the rushing of his own blood in his ears. The hands rubbing comforting circles on his back and threading through red locks were quieting the world. "I'm here for you, just breathe... I know it's hard, just let it all out... It's okay to not be okay, so don't bottle it out, okay 'Luc?"
They stayed like this for what seemed like lifetimes. Kaeya murmured to him sweet consolations, nothing but kind words as Diluc sobbed grossly against the man's stomach like a toddler who dropped their ice cream. Distantly, he contemplated when the last time he'd cried this hard was. His father? No, he pushed it down then too. Maybe losing his mother as a child.
Once the tears subsided into shuddering gasps, the arms wrapped around him pulled away only enough for blue hair to come into his vision as the knight kneeled in front of the chair with a sad smile.
That smile was nice, he mused, even if the man it belonged to got on his nerves sometimes.
"You back with me?"
He nodded, and Kaeya's smile ticked up at the corners, like he was proud of the answer... or maybe he was grinning at how snotty and disgusting Diluc looked after ugly crying for what felt like eons. "Good, I was starting to worry I'd have to sic Adelinde on you." A threat, but spoken with no malice. It made them both chuckle. "...I know it doesn't change it, but I promise I'll be here for you no matter what. No matter how different things will be, I'll be here for you."
Diluc tried to speak, but it came out as a wheeze. A gloved hand reached into a pocket to pull out a handkerchief for him to clean off the sticky, wet mess smeared across his cheeks and chin.
"And it's not just me, you know. All the staff at the Winery, all our friends back in Mond... They will be there too. We're all by your side and here to help you, so don't for a second think you'll be alone in this."
"You're starting to sound like Adelinde lecturing me for eating a cookie before dinner."
Kaeya snorted, shaking his head with a smile. "Hey, you were Mister Goodie-Two-Shoes, she never caught you doing that, it was always me she was scolding for stealing treats. If anything, you're due for a lecture too." A thumb caressed the top of his hand, the pins and needles from it prompting Diluc's mind to catch up to the fact they were being held. Even if he couldn't feel their warm, unsure of when they'd latched onto each other, he was still grateful for the contact.
"I know the haughty Darknight Hero works alone and would like nothing more than to be a brooding, mysterious asshole–"
The redhead glared down at the smirking knight, "I hate that nickname, you know– and I'm not brooding or an asshole."
"You kind of are, 'Luc, but that's okay. You're my brooding, mysterious asshole, and I'm here to help you. With your brooding."
"You're insufferable... but thank you, Kae."