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Despite the efforts they’ve been making into improving their relationship, Kaeya can’t help but feel a bit uneasy every time Diluc has stared at him and then immediately averted his eyes tonight. They’ve been doing this song and dance for about half an hour now, on opposite sides of the tavern counter, and Kaeya’s patience keeps running thinner each time it happens. He finally cracks when Diluc seems to linger a second longer, as if mulling over whether or not it would be wise to say something.
“Do you wish to speak to me about something, Master Diluc?” Kaeya asks, his smile a bit playful, while his tone carries a small hint of sharpness.
The question appears to catch Diluc off guard, as his eyes slightly widen before he looks down. He hesitates, but then he opens his mouth.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but you’re good at baking, right?”
That is nowhere near where Kaeya expected this to go. Why the hell is Diluc asking him about baking of all things? He’s not sure if he manages to hide his surprise.
“… Yes. Why?”
“Good… that’s good.” Diluc says, avoiding the question entirely, while picking some pen and paper from under the counter. “What ingredients would you need for a birthday cake? With measurements, please.”
“Okay, I am not telling you anything until you answer me. Why are you asking?” Kaeya replies, trying and failing to figure out where this was coming from.
“Adelinde’s birthday next week. I was thinking we could do something nice for her for a change. Make her dinner and everything.” Diluc’s tone is assertive, as if he doesn’t expect any alternative whatsoever. As if Kaeya being there had always been part of the plan, as if this was some tradition of sorts. “So, what would you ne-”
“Diluc, I… I’m not sure I’ll be able to make it.” Kaeya interrupts, because this is… a lot. Two minutes ago he was getting annoyed at his brother for lacking the courage to say whatever he wanted to say, and now Diluc has managed to completely turn the situation on its head with just a few words and it is Kaeya who is uncomfortable. And how come Diluc is so sure that he will be available? How does he have the audacity to basically count Kaeya in as part of his plan? “As much as you love to go on and on about how inefficient the knights are, I do have a job with duties and obligations to fulfill, you know?”
(There is also this insecure little voice in the back of Kaeya’s mind telling him that he is not as welcome in the Winery as Diluc is making it out to be right now, and that accepting this offer will only backfire horrendously for their fragile pseudo-reconciliation, but Kaeya pretends it doesn’t affect his decision process.)
“Well, from what I can recall, the Knights of Favonius are not such a heartless organization as to not provide their employees with days off, especially when arranged in advance, which would be the case because her birthday is in over a week from now.” Diluc supplies, his voice almost… smug? “Unless you don’t want to come for Adelinde’s birthday. Which is fine. I’m sure she will understand when I explain it to her.” He adds, this time undoubtedly smug.
“That’s not… of course I…” Kaeya stutters, because even if Diluc is bluffing – which he probably is, and Kaeya knows that –, the sheer thought that Adelinde might think he doesn’t care fills him with dread. The woman helped raise him, for crying out loud. He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. This was a losing battle from the beginning, wasn’t it? “Fine, I’ll talk to Jean to rearrange my schedule and have next Thursday off.”
“Great.” Diluc says, his smile somewhere between genuine and a smirk (how dare he?), and puts pen to paper. “Alright, I’ll need the ingredients list so I can have them ready for you. Oh, and how long do you think you’ll need?”
Kaeya starts listing everything he’ll need for a chocolate cake with valberry filling, mindful of the number of people that will likely grab a bite of it, and sets aside a few hours for the whole thing, telling Diluc that if he comes by the Winery at around two in the afternoon he will probably be finished by dinner.
Once he’s done, Diluc tucks the piece of paper into his coat pocket and goes back to mixing drinks as if this surreal interaction hadn’t taken place at all. As if he hadn’t just basically emotionally blackmailed his younger brother with the closest thing they have to a “mom card”. Which is ridiculous, and Kaeya decides he needs to do something about it.
“Diluc,” he starts, and the man looks back at him, intrigued. “You’ve got to stop doing that.”
“Doing what?” Diluc has the nerve to tilt his head to the side, feigning obliviousness.
“Using Adelinde as a bargaining chip.”
Diluc blinks, apparently figuring out what to say next.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” is what he goes for.
Excuse me?
“Yes, you do!” Kaeya retorts, entirely unconvinced. “You’ve been doing it with varying degrees of subtlety ever since that Weinlesefest with the traveler. It’s getting really annoying.”
There’s a very small pull to his lips when Diluc speaks next, a hint of mischievousness in his eyes that Kaeya hasn’t seen in a long time.
“I am doing no such thing. It must be your wild imagination at work.”
Diluc is insufferable. That’s just an irrefutable fact of life.
“Gods, you’re such an asshole.”
***
Kaeya arrives at the Winery a few minutes before two, already anticipating that every worker he came to find on his way to the front door would probably greet him and perhaps even stop him to chat for an instant. Even so, he’s walking through the front door very punctually at two o’ clock, and Moco immediately comes to him to ask if there’s anything he needs and to tell him that Diluc is already in the kitchen. He takes the opportunity to ask her where he can store the gift he brought, and once she grabs it from his hands and says she’ll take it to the main office, he heads to the kitchen himself, thanking her as he leaves the room.
The scene that awaits him could almost be described as “surprising”. Diluc has his hair pinned up in a high bun, his bangs pulled to the sides of his head with the help of bobby pins. He is wearing an apron and the sleeves of his shirt are pulled up all the way to his elbows. One of his hands is dirty with flour while the other is occupied with a fork, as he stirs what appears to be eggs in the middle of the flour. He doesn’t look up when Kaeya steps inside, but he hears him approach all the same.
“Good, you’re on time. There’s another apron over there if you want it,” he says.
“What on earth are you doing?” Kaeya asks, because he can’t help his curiosity over the whole ordeal. This gets Diluc to finally raise his eyes.
“Gee, I don’t know, what does it look like I’m doing?” He asks, sarcasm dripping from his voice, his eyes barely avoiding a full roll.
“Well, I have no idea because I don’t remember flour and eggs being ingredients for Pile ‘Em Ups,” Kaeya retorts, going for a mocking tone instead.
“And who said anything about Pile ‘Em Ups?”
“Oh, so let me get this straight: when it’s my birthday, you force me to eat that thing, but Adelinde gets premium treatment?”
Of course that’s how it is. Of course Diluc would punish him on his birthday, but not do the same to Adelinde. Why would it be any different?
“First of all, I didn’t force you to eat anything. I just prepared my special version of the dish and put it on the table, you could’ve refused it if you hate it so much.” His brother sounds almost annoyed, of all things. “And secondly, you forced me to drink beer that night, so I’d say I got the short end of the stick.”
“Well, by that logic I also didn’t force you to drink it, I just placed two pints of beer on the table and you picked one of them out of your own volition. Also, it was my birthday, so if either of us had the right to force the other into doing anything, it was me.”
And even Diluc must realize that he is absolutely right in his conclusions, because the man stares at him silently for a few seconds before resuming his activities, whisking the eggs into the flour a bit more aggressively.
“… Whatever.”
Yes, Kaeya definitely won that battle.
“You still didn’t answer my question, though. What are you cooking?” Kaeya insists, all while moving to put on the apron and roll his braid into a bun as well, because that is actually a really good idea.
“As starters, I am making this Sumerian dish that’s composed of a baked potato with melted cheese and some rukkashava mushrooms that I had to import.” Diluc answers, as he points to a portion of potatoes, cheese and mushrooms that is set aside on a different part of the counter. “For the main course, I’m going with some Flaming Red Bolognese, and I am making the spaghetti from scratch, hence the flour and eggs.”
That explains a lot, but Kaeya doesn’t recall Diluc being proficient at so many different dishes, and from international cuisines, no less. Sure, Diluc could cook – Adelinde made sure that the two of them knew the basics, and while Diluc had always been better with savory foods, Kaeya excelled at baking sweets, hence their current arrangement – but this was on a different level entirely.
“Oh wow, holy shit. Did you secretly spend those years away at a cooking camp or something?”
“Ha ha, very funny.” In lieu of rolling his eyes, Diluc opts to roll his whole head. “I mean, I did have to learn a few recipes along the way. It was either that or surviving only on rations. When I came back, however, Adelinde insisted on teaching me everything she could. At this point it has become kind of a tradition, actually… every other Wednesday we cook dinner together.” This was the most Diluc had ever told Kaeya about his time away from Mond – which was saying something, because even now he had barely disclosed anything, really – , and Kaeya couldn’t help but stare at him all the while. Thankfully, Diluc had had his head down for most of it, only looking up by the last few words. Diluc seems hesitant about something, as if pondering what to say next. He looks back down before uttering his next words. “We’re having one of those next week if you’re curious…”
Well this is… unexpected. Sure, Diluc has invited him to dinner at the Winery a few times over the course of the last few months, but every time he’d done it, it had been somewhat indirect. Surely you wouldn’t dream of disappointing Adelinde, he’d said. You don’t want to have Adelinde’s food tonight?, he’d asked in front of her, learning that the technique truly worked. The traveler is staying, so you might as well, he’d commented another time. And every time, Kaeya understood the meaning hidden behind all of these, because this was how they communicated after Diluc’s return, and Kaeya was just as much of a coward, so he couldn’t judge.
But this… this is different. This is the closest Diluc has come to outright saying ‘I want you to come to dinner’. No, scratch that, Diluc is basically saying ‘I’m inviting you to a family tradition Adelinde and I have created. I want you here’. And Kaeya doesn’t know exactly what to do with it. Because if he refuses, he is sabotaging something he’s wanted for years now, and that apparently his brother wants to. He’s putting a dent in the bond they’ve been rebuilding. But what if he accepts, and somehow ruins it? Wouldn’t that be even worse somehow?
“Oh… Uhm… Yeah, I’ll… I’ll see if I can make it,” is what he settles for, and Diluc seems to understand his uncertainty, if his short nod with a small genuine smile is anything to go by. There’s hope and fear mixed in that expression, the same way those two emotions are tangled in Kaeya’s heart.
Diluc is quick to change the subject while Kaeya picks up the ingredients he needs for his cake.
“You’re baking a chocolate cake with valberries, correct?”
“Yes. I remember she used to like both of these things a lot, so, you know, might as well…” And suddenly, a pool of dread forms in his stomach, because he hasn’t been around for a while, and is not sure if Adelinde’s tastes have changed in the last few years. “She does still like them… right?” He asks, failing to hide the insecurity in his voice.
“Yes, she’ll love it,” Diluc says, accompanied by a humorous huff.
“Good, that’s good.” Kaeya breaths, relieved. And then it dawns on him: he has yet to see Addie today. “Where is the birthday girl, by the way? I still haven’t managed to wish her a happy birthday.”
“Out having a picnic with Elzer.”
Adelinde, the workaholic? Had she been swapped by a clone?
“A picnic? How did he manage to convince her to agree to that?”
“Well… She may or may not have been told that it was just a regular Winery supply run that he needed help with,” Diluc confesses, one hand scratching the back of his neck.
“Ah, that sounds more like her.”
***
For the next couple of hours, the brothers work mostly in comfortable silence. Kaeya tries to strike conversation once or twice, but he also doesn’t mind the absence of it. It feels surprisingly natural, as if they were back in the nostalgic days of their adolescence, sharing a room, but each one of them much too focused on their own tasks to worry about talking, just content with the other’s presence.
A few minutes before four, they hear the front door open, and Diluc’s head snaps up so fast from carving potatoes that Kaeya wonders if his neck didn’t get hurt in the process.
“Oh you gotta be kidding me…” The man says, while running to the kitchen door. Kaeya stays back, just watching it unfold. “Elzer, seriously?”
“I’m sorry, Master Diluc. I tried my best, but she’s a tough nut to crack,” he listens to Elzer say from the other side of the wall, and he feels sympathetic towards their butler. Adelinde truly hasn’t changed much, has she?
“I appreciate the gesture, you two, but I still have a lot of work to do so-” Kaeya can sense her voice coming closer.
“No.” Diluc states, matter of factly.
“Master Diluc, please step away,” Adelinde demands, her tone soft, but also imposing. As a kid, Kaeya had always found it impressive how she managed that.
“Adelinde, you are out of your mind if you believe I am going to let you anywhere near this kitchen today.”
“But dinner’s in a few-”
“Yes, yes, and I’ve got that covered.”
“Well, I don’t mind helping out. Now if you could-”
This has gone on for long enough, Kaeya thinks. It’s about time he intervenes.
“Should I have brought my handcuffs, Adelinde?” He says, approaching the door and that gives her pause. Her eyes widen, her mouth hangs open, and Kaeya wishes he had a kamera on him. Though, on second thought, she probably wouldn’t be very pleased if he took a picture.
“Ma-Master Kaeya?!” She blinks, still shell shocked.
“Quick, lock the door,” Kaeya instructs, and Diluc does just that, quicker than Kaeya even thought possible. And then his brother stands with his back to the door for good measure, as they hear Adelinde trying to pull the doorknob.
“Boys!” Elzer’s loud laughter echoes through the foyer. “Boys, let me in!”
“Sorry, Adelinde,” Diluc says, but he doesn’t sound apologetic at all. If anything, he sounds almost triumphant.
“Happy birthday, by the way,” Kaeya adds, because he realizes the first thing he’d done after seeing her on her birthday was threatening to handcuff her, and Diluc grins with his eyes closed, which almost gives Kaeya whiplash, because he hadn’t seen that smile in years, and it fills him with joy.
“I mean, you had to get your stubbornness from someone,” he says, hoping Diluc can sense the playfulness in his voice, and that a joke like this can land like it used to back then, instead of ruining the moment like it would a year ago.
“Oh fuck off, will you?” Diluc says, but there is no bite in his tone and the grin hasn’t left his face as he moves back to his potatoes, so Kaeya takes this moment as a massive win.
***
A few more hours go by, and the kitchen is filled with an assortment of different – and frankly, delicious – smells as they prepare to give the meals its finishing touches. Diluc’s potatoes have been in the oven for a while now, the bolognese is on the stove just waiting for the spaghetti to finish cooking, and Kaeya has just finished spreading the valberry topping on his now assembled cake. He had contemplated decorating it, perhaps trying to pipe-write a “Happy Birthday, Addie” on top, but decided against it some time in the last two days. His piping work could use some, well, work, and he feared he would only make it ugly and regret it, so he decided to just place some valberries in a circular design.
They hear a knock on the door, followed by Elzer’s voice.
“Boys? She’s almost ready. She’ll be coming down any minute now. How are things over there?”
They exchange looks.
“I… I still need to finish my dishes. You’re almost done, right? You should go, I’ll be there later,” Diluc states, sounding a bit disappointed in himself.
Kaeya doesn’t feel right about this. Diluc should be there by his side. He’d worked so hard, and this whole thing is his idea after all, it just isn’t fair. They can ask Elzer if there’s any chance he’d be able to slow her down, can they not? Just as he’s about to protest, Hillie intervenes.
“Surely you can trust us to monitor the food for a few minutes, right, Master Diluc?”
His brother stares at the young maid, his mouth opening and closing.
“You can still come back later and add your finishing touches, sir.” Hillie looks away before continuing. “She’s a bit strict with us sometimes, but she is also a really good person, and she deserves this. Go ahead, we’ve got this.”
“Thank you, Hillie,” Diluc says, while smiling softly. “I’ll be right back.”
Diluc unlocks the kitchen door, and as they’re about to leave, Hillie speaks once more.
“Masters, the aprons,” prompting them to try to look a bit more presentable, which also involves fixing their hairdos back to their more regular hairstyles.
Elzer is smiling widely when they step out of the kitchen. Kaeya can’t help the wave of nostalgia that’s been close to drowning him this entire day. He could almost fool himself into believing no time has passed at all and they’re teenagers once more, if it weren’t for the very clear absence that makes this entirely impossible. Still, it feels nice all the same.
They stand at the foot of the stairs, waiting for Adelinde to come down from her room, almost as if waiting for a princess to show up for the royal ball. And as soon as they spot her figure at the top, Kaeya can surely say that’s an accurate description, because Adelinde looks radiant. Her hair is styled half-up, half-down, with two small braids connecting at the back of her head, and her bangs parted to the side. She’s wearing some light make-up, nothing too fancy, but more than Kaeya usually sees in her face. The dress she dons suits her perfectly: it is dark blue on the top, and it gradually shifts into a lighter shade below the waist, adorned with subtle snowflakes that grow in size the closer it gets to the hem. Her shoes are black with golden accents, with medium sized heels and thin straps that wrap her ankles.
“Wow, you look absolutely stunning, Linde!” Elzer says, his smile almost splitting his face in two. “I knew that dress would be perfect for you!”
“Oh, stop it, Elz!” She says, smiling back and blushing ever so slightly. “But the dress is lovely indeed, thank you very much.”
“He’s right, Addie, you look fantastic,” Kaeya says, as she slowly approaches them.
“You really do,” Diluc adds, and when Kaeya steals a glance at his face, there’s so much softness in there that it almost feels surreal.
“You are all too kind,” she replies, finally standing right in front of them. Kaeya takes this opportunity to reach out for her hand so he can give it a kiss, which startles her just a fraction.
“Happy birthday again, and sorry for the whole handcuff threat…” he says, but as he feels the smell of the perfume he gifted her last year, his brain supplies him with a memory. “Wait, your gift! I need to go grab it in the office!”
“Oh, right, that’s a good idea, I’ll go grab mine, too,” Diluc says to his side, also moving to head upstairs, probably to his room.
“Gifts?! You didn’t have to, you’re already preparing this whole dinner and everything!”
“Nonsense, Adelinde. We’ll be right back,” Diluc protests, while climbing up the stairs alongside Kaeya and turning left where he turns right.
When they meet back at the top of the stairs, they both freeze as they take notice of the box in the other’s hand. That can’t be…
“Please tell me you don’t have earrings in there,” Kaeya says, because how come they went to the same jewelry store of all places?
“Necklace,” Diluc responds, and they both breathe a sigh of relief as they head downstairs.
Adelinde’s eyes only widen once she spots the boxes.
“I can’t possibly-”
“Yes, you can. Now open them!” Kaeya interrupts whatever foolishness she was about to spiel.
She carefully takes the boxes and sets them down on the closest table. She goes for Kaeya’s first, and he has to control himself not to gloat over that, but keeps a mental note of it to use it against Diluc in the future.
The earrings are of a circular gold design, with some emeralds in the center and some flower-shaped ornaments, combined with a small pendant in the form of a teardrop. He went for a green stone to match her eyes.
“They look amazing, Master Kaeya!” She exclaims, while taking them out of the box to put them on. “Thank you very much, my dear.”
Once they’re settled on her ears, she opens Diluc’s gift next. It is a wide, golden necklace, with an emerald in the middle that seems to be the center of a flower-like design, alongside with other emeralds that drip from the sides in the form of teardrops, and wait a damn minute-
“Are… are those pieces from the same collection?” Elzer voices Kaeya’s thoughts.
“It would seem so. ‘Spring Joy’, I believe it was called?” Diluc muses, and holy shit.
“That’s the name alright,” Kaeya replies, chuckling a bit.
“And you… didn’t buy it together?” Elzer asks the million-mora question.
“Nope,” they say in unison.
“It just goes to prove they have excellent taste!” Adelinde states. “I love it, Master Diluc, thank you! Could you do the honors?” She adds, extending the necklace in his direction.
“Of course, Addie,” he says, as she turns her back to him and he clasps the necklace for her.
***
Kaeya, Adelinde and Elzer are still standing and chatting by a table with some drinks when Diluc returns from the kitchen only a few minutes after excusing himself to check on the last details of his dinner.
“Back already?” Kaeya comments.
“Well, I finished one potato, gave the sauce and the pasta one last taste test and then they…” Diluc trails off, and now Kaeya is oh so curious.
“Then they what?”
“… They kicked me out of the kitchen and said they could wrap it up themselves based on my instructions,” Diluc confesses, looking down a bit.
“Oh, so now you know how it feels to be barred from your own kitchen, I see,” Adelinde teases. Diluc raises his eyes, and apparently decides to rise to the challenge as well.
“Well, I was okay with trusting other people and delegating when presented the oppurtunitty…”
Touché. Elzer snickers by his side, while Adelinde just takes a deep breath, and it seems like Diluc won this round.
“Shall we go sit, then?” Kaeya suggests.
Once they reach the dining table, Diluc turns to Adelinde with a mix of resolution and hesitance in his expression.
“Adelinde, I’d like for you to sit at the head of the table.”
The head housemaid stares back at him, shocked.
“Master Diluc, that would be improper, I don’t thi-”
“Please? I don’t believe anyone here would mind…”
“It’s fine by me,” Kaeya adds, fully supporting Diluc’s proposal.
Adelinde’s eyes jump from one brother to another for a few seconds, still clearly unsure about sitting on the chair that was once occupied by a man all of them miss very dearly.
“I… Are you…” she sighs, conflicted, but it seems like she won’t be able to resist caving to their encouraging faces. “You two are impossible,” she comments, as she slowly proceeds to sit, hesitating til the very last moment.
Kaeya and Diluc both move intuitively to sit at the places where they would originally sit way back when, but Elzer remains standing a little further back, which prompts Diluc to question him.
“What are you waiting for? Dinner will be served shortly. Sit down for the family dinner, Elzer.”
While the butler shakes his head with a smile as he pulls the chair to Diluc’s side, Kaeya can’t help but gape at the redhead, who apparently didn’t notice what he’d just said. “Family dinner”. Huh… was it a force of habit? Momentary lapse of judgment? Or was it some genuine thought slipping past Diluc’s defenses? Kaeya doesn’t know, but his heart warms with hope all the same. This whole day has been very dangerous for him, he might start believing that all’s forgiven between them and that he can have his family back and-
“Good evening, lady and gentlemen. Tonight, Hillie and I will be responsible for serving a delicious birthday dinner for all of you, prepared lovingly by chefs Diluc and Kaeya!” Moco says, interrupting Kaeya’s spiraling thoughts. He steals a glance at Adelinde, who is simultaneously taking a deep breath, shaking her head and trying to stifle a laugh with a fond smile on her face.
“We’re starting with Master Diluc’s famous Potato Boats,” Hillie adds, placing the first plates, while Moco comes back from the kitchen with the other two. “We’ll be back soon with the main course. Bon Appétit!”
The dish sure looks delicious. A large lettuce leaf serves as a base for a carved potato, filled with melted cheese and sprinkled with chopped mushrooms. To the side, a small portion of baked cherry tomatoes.
Kaeya digs in and wow, Diluc wasn’t lying when he said he’d been practicing his cooking abilities with Adelinde, because it tastes as good as it looks. The potato and the tomatoes are perfectly seasoned, to the point where even the potato peel is salty to the right amount.
“Wonderful as usual, Master Diluc,” Adelinde compliments, a spark in her eyes.
“I’m glad you like it, Addie.”
“This is a recipe he introduced to me, you see,” she continues, now looking at Kaeya. “After he came back, I wanted to teach him a few more recipes than the ones I had shown you two as teenagers. He then proceeded to tell me he had a few tricks up his sleeve, and this was one of my favorites amongst them.” She had turned her face back to Diluc while saying that. “I imagine that’s why you chose this one?”
“It is…” he says, looking a bit shy.
“I appreciate it, dear. Thank you.”
It doesn’t take long for all their plates to be scraped clean, and if Kaeya were to be honest, he is eagerly waiting for the main course after such a delightful starter. It seems he’d underestimated his brother’s culinary skills.
“Now we present the guests with a special Flaming Red Bolognese, crafted from scratch by the master of the house!” Moco exclaims excitedly, while Diluc raises his hand to his forehead, an exasperated look on his face. It seems the two maids aren’t yet tired of their little show while bringing out the dishes.
The appearance of this one is not at all surprising to Kaeya. Adelinde herself had made it for them countless times as they grew up, and it was a very traditional dish in Mondstadt’s cuisine. The taste, however… It is basically identical to her version, which is impressive in its own right, given that he had yet to meet someone whose cooking was anywhere near Adelinde’s level. The spaghetti is perfectly al dente, and the sauce feels rich, savory and hearty. It seems he’d have to hand it to Diluc: his brother has turned into quite the cook.
“It tastes even better than last time, Master Diluc,” Elzer comments, earning a thankful look from his elder brother.
“It does, indeed. At this point, I’m questioning if I still have anything left to teach you,” Adelinde supplements, her voice soft and her smile bright.
“Of course you do, Adelinde. I’m nowhere near your level,” Diluc says.
After a beat of silence, Kaeya notices that both the head housemaid and butler are staring at him, as if expecting him to add something to the pile of compliments. Now, that’s their mistake. One of the main rules of siblinghood is that you’re not supposed to tell your sibling that they’re doing a good job unless it is an emergency, a life or death kind of situation, otherwise they will never let you live that down. Still, Kaeya is aware that if he straight up says something along the lines of “it tastes bad”, it will be too blatant of a lie and it will not have the desired effect. So he settles for a middle ground.
“I mean, it sure tastes better than I thought it would.”
Diluc glares at him, Elzer bites back a chuckle and Adelinde sighs.
“Master Kaeya…”
“What?”
She sighs again. “Never mind, it’s useless.”
They spend the rest of the meal discussing various topics, which mostly consist of Adelinde and Elzer asking him questions about work, his life in the city, and some of the people they haven’t seen in a while, like Jean and Klee. Diluc stays silent most of the time, but he doesn’t seem bothered by the conversation going on around him.
There is, however, somewhat of a triumphant smile on Diluc’s face once dinner is finished and Kaeya’s plate is scraped clean once more.
They hear the door to the kitchen open again and steel themselves for yet another mini-performance from Hillie and Moco.
“And now, for dessert, we have an exquisite chocolate cake with valberry filling and valberry topping, prepared by our own Master Kaeya!” Hillie says. Moco trails right behind her, with the candles ready.
“But of course, it wouldn’t be complete without these beautiful birthday candles to crown the celebration.” Moco states, while placing them on the center of the cake.
“Happy birthday, Miss Adelinde,” they say in unison, before bowing and returning to the kitchen.
“Those girls…” she says, while Diluc makes quick work of lighting the candles with his Vision.
“Shall we sing, then?” Elzer suggests, and before Adelinde can protest, the three of them start singing as they watch her cheeks get tinted with a light shade of pink. “Make a wish!” He adds, once the song ends.
Before blowing out the candles, she takes a look around the room and smiles wide. Kaeya can hazard a guess as to what is on her mind for the birthday wish.
“Let’s eat, then.”
His heart picks up the pace as the cake is cut into pieces and distributed across the table. When Diluc made the proposal for this dinner last week, it had been a while since his last adventures in baking, so he felt a bit insecure that his skills were no longer up to par to such a task. Hence, he had baked a test-cake earlier this week to see if he still had it, and had even brought it to the Knights of Favonius to ask Noelle for tips on where to improve. Even still, he is scared that he might’ve messed something up.
(Perhaps he should accept Diluc’s offer on the little family tradition of cooking with Adelinde, after all. She would probably be delighted to share tips and tricks with him.)
Once he grabs the first bite, though, his shoulders relax and he breathes a sigh of relief. It tastes even better than the test-cake, thankfully. The slight sourness of the valberries blends perfectly with the sweetness of the chocolate. It is soothing and almost elegant, in a way, but without feeling too fancy for a family birthday. He didn’t mess up.
“This is delicious, Master Kaeya! I’m very impressed,” Adelinde declares, her face displaying unfiltered joy and pride, and Kaeya feels almost sheepish.
“Thanks, Addie. I’m happy it is to your liking.”
“I didn’t remember that you were so skilled at baking, Master Kaeya. This is fantastic”, Elzer says. Slowly, Kaeya notices a repeat of the scenario from earlier, but now with the roles reversed. It seems the other two are expecting Diluc to be the bigger person and take the route of adding to the praise, but Kaeya knows his brother. He knows Diluc would rather die first than let him have this win. Which is proven correct when Diluc, with a challenging glint to his eyes, says:
“I mean, it’s edible.”
Elzer snorts (apparently, he’s been having a blast with their antics), Adelinde throws her head back while taking a deep breath, and Diluc stares at him intensely, almost as if daring him to complain about his comment. Kaeya stares back, for good measure. They stay like that for a few instants, waiting to see who breaks first, but Adelinde cracks their shells by grabbing both their hands.
“Boys? Thank you very much,” she says, her voice tender and full of love, her face adorned with a dazzling smile. “This is the best birthday I’ve had in years. I’m so grateful to have you around…” she continues, her voice getting charged with emotion.
“You deserve so much more, Adelinde,” Diluc says, squeezing her hand, his features as soft as Kaeya remembers from their youth. And speaking of which, he gets an idea that very much aligns with that period of their lives. He mulls it over for only a few seconds before opening his mouth.
“Diluc?” His brother turns to him. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
Kaeya is not sure he’ll be able to convey what he means without any hints or visual cues, but luckily it seems some of their earlier telepathy is still buried there somewhere, because Diluc’s face shifts with recognition, as he moves to stand from the chair.
“I believe I am, yes. On three?”
Kaeya stands up as well, earning confused glances from Adelinde to the both of them.
“One.”
They move to each of her sides.
“Two.”
They crouch a little, so that their faces are on the same height as hers.
“Three.”
They each plant a kiss to one of her cheeks, reclaiming something they used to do quite as often as kids, but not as much as teenagers, unfortunately. They hear her squeal in surprise.
“Happy birthday, Adelinde”, they say, in unison alongside Elzer, who’s been watching it unfold with a wide smile.
All of them, together. As a family. As it should be.