Chapter Text
Khaenri’ah used to be a place filled with treasures and overflowing with untapped potential.
He remembers how the stalagmites glinsted brilliant bright blue from the small balls of blue light that looked like the stars littered along the skies of Teyvat, he remembers the large mushrooms that glowed between aqua, purple, or green, so large some of them grew that they rivalled the size of some one story houses. they made a twinkling sound the closer you got to them and when you touched them they would move slightly in response. The smaller types of these mushrooms were delicious in stews and along with meats.
He remembered the cobblestone streets that connected up to the castle. He remembers the river that ran through his homeland and brought one of the only forms of life along with it. He remembers how the river pooled in the center of Khaenri’ah and wrapped around the roots of the largest tree in the city, it branches towering above the rest of the trees that were growing around the city, its branches extending out invitingly to those who seek its comfort, a brilliant thing, its glowing fruits, known for their healing properties, illuminating it and the areas closest to them in a green glow.
The large stone pillars at the entrance of the city are always beaming a wondrous aqua into the tops of the cave, much like the glow of the crystals that littered both the ground and the walls of their dwellings, their soft low hum a comforting sound to outside ears. intermingling with the artificial stars and moon. A perpetual state of night enveloping Khaenri’ah and its people, who preferred it as such. The sun of Teyvat is much too harsh to both their eyes and to their sensitive skin. Much preferring to worship the stars and the phases of the moon than to adore or welcome the sun.
He remembers the smell of fresh kindling for the forges and the steam arising from the blacksmiths workshops from the castle's balconies. He would spend many hours there listening to the clanging of metal on metal as the city bustled around and created anything their heart desired. The stomping and mechanic musings from the field tillers as they marched their tall bodies around and protected their city. Hostile to outsiders but kind to those who dwelled beneath the surface. He remembers what it felt like to be picked up in those giant metal hands and to wrap his entire front around its gargantuan head to hug it. Protectors of the people. Created to protect and to destroy.
All Khaenri’ah did was create.
He would hear the groaning of the land, a deep cry, resounding through the vast chambers leading to their land which his father, The King surmised as there being passing storms up above, and that the earth was a living thing too, and that Khaenri’ah lived so close to its heart, that them and their people were allowed to hear its breathing as it fought the storms away.
The people are all too kind and too eager to continue advancing themselves too. Their mumblings were a welcoming thing to the young prince as he went to and fro. Many a time he had snuck down past the palace guards to wander around the lit up shops or splash around by the river and the tree of life and made jovial conversation with his people, smiling and waving, staying out and conversing until the horn from the castle echoed against the chambers walls and called him back up for another round of superfluous - in his opinion - studies.
He above all else remembers the palace, his family, his friend and his dragon. The palace was a large grandiose thing nestled high above the rest of Khaenri’ah, the only thing connecting the castle to the city itself was the large winding bridge up to it. Levitating earth allowing it to survey its land from every angle And while it was large, it was by no means empty or cold, much like the rest of Khaenri’ah itself, the young prince believed there was never a moment where it was not alive with chatter, galas, meetings or anything other than some form of mild chaos, decorated in blues, purples, silvers and blacks, and filled with exquisite gothic architecture, the prince believed it to be inviting. In lieu of doors in common areas, thick tapestries of blues and blacks hung instead. The marble floors created with black and littered with flecks of gold to reflect like stars in the night sky glowed a soft lilac along with the torches placed onto the wall.
The guards would smile at him as they walked around and did their rounds, they would normally find the young prince fully immersed in conversations with his older brother and sister. speaking about alchemy and more big people talk whilst he would hang onto his older brother as he was piggy-backed around.
His big sister, every part the leader their mother was, first in line to the throne and beautiful, the confidence in her step was almost infectious, she was the type to roll up her sleeves and pants and play around with the young prince in the mud by the waterfall that flowed out of the cave top behind the castle and onto the grounds below, her blue hair trimmed to just above her shoulders as to not disturb her in training. So smart, she was, that she had created a levitating box that resided on top of castle grounds that would drop down slowly and magically to the pond below. She was so proud of her work that she had allowed everyone in the family to gather in it and be whisked down to play within the clear aqua waters of the waterfall and the small pond that surrounded it. Her love for puns and desserts is a staple within the family that many joked with her about, both for her bad comedy and her ever growing sweet tooth.
His brother was a quiet but vastly protective thing, he doted on his siblings as much he could, and took a rather big interest in alchemy. Many a time he would see his big brother venture beyond the castle grounds to Gold the alchemist’s house and workspace located on the outskirts of the city. His brother would always come back having made something to help with his big sister in her newest sword training or to give to the youngest boy in order to appease him. The boy liked his quiet section within the study to ponder about his alchemy books, or to read the new literature they would get in from Teyvat, but he also enjoyed music, and acquired the best tutors in all of Khaenri’ah to teach him how to play the keys of a piano. He too was as beautiful as the rest of them, with glowing eyes and rumoured to have the longest and silkiest hair in all of Khaenri'ah, gaining much satisfaction in winning such a title.
Almost as quickly as the guards would see the three siblings, would they see their parents, the Queen a lovely strong woman who acted as Khaenri’ah’s war strategist, and current ruler, would scoop up the youngest son into her arms and allow him to babble about what a lovely day he had with his siblings, she would allow the young boy to place her crown upon his head and would chuckle as it fell past his eyes. The king, a bright charming man, with warm eyes and a hearty laugh would gather the two other siblings between his arms and hold them tightly in an embrace as they would talk about the newest inventions that would soon be available to the land. He would whisk them off to the dinner he had prepared, and would brightly exclaim how it was a new recipe, or a twist on an old dish, and him and his older siblings would rush to the dining table with drooling mouths over their fathers exquisite cooking. The guards would smile and bow to the King and Queen who would clasp their hands together and wave familiarly in greeting.
The young prince loved his family dearly, and so did all of Khaenri’ah. But that was to be expected of the Eclipse Dynasty . The talk was only positive about the royal family and their rule over Khaenri’ah. Most of the talk comes from their beautiful blue hair, a feature in which they all shared, and their seemingly glowing blue eyes. An ethereal graceful air befell the family, along with their seemingly endless talents, they were revered and respected by their citizens. They provided security, peace and harmony among their people, and to the creatures who dwelled within it.
The young prince was gifted a dragon at the tender age of two years old. It was a tiny creature, its body black as soot aside from the stripes of magenta traveling up its body and to the edges of its wings. The dragon was an affectionate thing, who loved his caretakers at the palace immensely, but especially took a liking to the youngest prince who visited it by the pond near the waterfall every chance he could once the dragon became too big to keep on the castle grounds. He would fly around the city of Khaenri’ah during festivals and special occasions to encite cheers and laughter from the people, who would then leave gifts and offerings to the dragon by the waterfall for him to continue keeping watch over the city. The young prince named him ‘ Durin’ whilst petting the snout of his nose with his tiny hand at the age of four years old, and once the dragon was named, he vowed to everyone in Khaenri’ah to be the nations protector from unknown danger and threats until his very last breath.
His only friend that he could remember was a young boy with blond hair who spent time with the alchemist Gold, he would often accompany his brother to the alchemist's lab on days where his sister would be strategizing with their mother, and he had befriended him soon after. Many days he would spend laying with the younger boy and watching as he scribbled in his notebook, while he would pretend to work on his studies. He didn’t know much about him other than that he was orphaned and Gold has taken him under her wing. According to his older brother, Gold believed the boy was a prodigy with alchemy, and would one day take over her position when she got too old and too grey to do so. She called him Kreide one day while they were sitting down to eat and the young prince smiled at knowing such important information. The young boy had a very aloof personality that drew the other in like a moth to a flame, and although he did not speak much, the prince was captivated with him in a way he didn't know how to explain.
Most days right before bed he would be tucked in by the most trusted royal guard to the royal family. A tall young man with blond hair and piercing azure eyes much like his friend of the alchemist. Ever the curious man, whilst tucking in the young prince and reading him a story he would always ask the young prince about his day and listen intently to what the boy had to say, always interested in the child's anecdotes about his brother and sister. The young prince called him Dain but the rest of the castle called him by his full name Dainsleif. The man had sworn allegiance to the family by blood oath, something that had been talked about amongst the nation for months, however the guard quickly became part of the family, eating dinners with the royals and being invited on their journeys to the surface for diplomacy with the neighbouring nations of Mondstadt and Inazuma, while also being given a section of the castle to claim as his home as well. Dainsleif had fit in nicely, both mischievously entertaining the children's antics and playing the part of a curious and attentive bystander to the family as they went about their duties.
The young prince loved Khaenri’ah.
He loved his family, his home, his pet, his life, and most importantly he loved feeling like he belonged.
Sounds of war are uncommon in Khaenri’ah. Never is the sound of pain or evil put into their ears, never is there sounds of explosions of rock on rock, or the howling of winds like tornados and the crackling of electricity akin to the claps of thunder. Never do the people of Khaenri’ah hear the sound of rain whipping against their abodes, or the chill in the air cast by ice, or the smoke created by blazing fires.
The young boy is unaware what happens, all he knows is he’s being shushed and cradled in his fathers arms, rushing to the box that would transport them to the ground below. The flaps of Durins wings beat them to it, and the young prince registers the screaming of the people from down below.
“Father? What is happening?” He had asked, eyes clouded with fear. “Allaister and Octavia, Mother, where are they?” The lack of response causes tears to well up within his eyes. “Father-”
“There are bad people right now trying to hurt Khaenri’ah, my moonshine. They are out in the town with Gold and Dainsleif protecting it, but we must get you out of here. So we can keep it safe. Okay?”
The boy nods his head. And says nothing else, allows his father to carry him onto the back of Durins monstrously large body, and Durin speaks in a language the young prince cannot fully speak yet, although he is able to pick out parts from the Mondstadtian studies he was learning.
‘ ...unannounced....yes...the seven...here….must...leave him...safety…for...plan...”
His father holds the prince against the dragon and his own chest and Durin lifts off the ground. Once the young boy is in the air his right eye pulses painfully within its socket, and his fathers voice guides him through it and calls out to him through the pain. “My e-eye-!” He gasps out.
“It’s okay son, focus your energy, it will be okay.”
His blood begins pounding and ringing in his ears and his breath comes in pants.
“Pretend you’re building up a wall behind your eye, my moonshine. Be strong for me okay?”
Tears overflow and suddenly the pain slows to a dull ache as he thinks of himself building a large towering wall behind his eyeball. Keeping the pain trapped inside with nowhere to run. His father, noticing the lack of crying now, hugs him closer to himself and whispers “Keep that wall up until we get out of the cave, my boy.”
The last thing he sees is a boy atop a burning building, soaring up through the air with a gust of green wind, a bow in hand as he shoots it toward Durin, and he remembers the maniacal grin that paints his childlike face when the dragon roars in pain at landing the hit. Then his father is turning his gaze away and he blows something onto his face and his vision goes black.
He has woke sometime later and arches his back and feels the muscles pop from stiffness and he wonders how long he had been asleep for when he sees his father cradling him in his arms, they are travelling toward a city and he vaguely recalls before he cocks his head to the side. It’s familiar but he can't quite place his finger on why.
“Good morning, my moonshine, and how was your sleep?” He asks. And although there's a smile on his face the young prince is aware it's for show.
“Long…” He says into the lapels of his fathers jacket. “Where are we, Father?”
“Why Mondstadt, of course.” The King allows the boy to drop from his arms to walk by his side, with his hand clutching the child's own. It’s different than he remembers Mondstadt being only a month prior. There are more houses, and a large cathedral up at the top that he didn’t see when he was last here, that towers over everything else. The prince goes to rub away the sleep and notices the piece of fabric that covers his right eye. Moving to take off the bandage is thwarted when his father quickly bends down to eye level with the young prince and looks at him with a seriousness the young boy had never seen. “Do not take that eyepatch off, my son. You bear a curse that others can not know about now. It must stay hidden.”
The prince nods his head and lets his hand drop back to his side.
They stop inside the walls for a moment, before they head out again, past another small town, and through some brush until a large mansion peaks through the trees, there're vines upon vines of grapes and the boy can decipher that those grapes would be fermented into a wine of some sort. His father stops him and looks down and ruffles his hair between his fingers. “Why don’t I go get us something to eat? Okay? You must be starving from such a long slumber.” The boy nodded frantically, his head bobbing up and down with so much speed that his bangs obscure most of his face.
His father kneels in front of him and whispers to him, and the Princes eye widens like saucers before the happiness seeps into it,
I'm a spy?
The prince is overjoyed at the idea of having his first mission for Khaenri’ah, as his father had stated, to gather important information for our country to continue prospering for years to come . He’s happy about this, and as he watches his father wipe the tears from his eyes he wonders why his father is crying.
Then, with one last kiss to the forehead, his father leaves to get that food that would never end up settling within the princes stomach. The rain begins to pour down onto Mondstadt as the young prince awaits for his father to return back to him.
The chill of it seeps deep into his bones, he worries his bottom lip between his teeth and soon enough, within the chill of the rain, he finds himself curled up by the door of the mansion, sobbing his tiny heart out. It’s becoming dark out and there's no sign of anyone, and as the thunder rears its ugly head closer the prince closes his eyes and sniffles through his snotty nose.
The door to the house opens to a tall man with long red hair whose surprise at a sopping wet child at his doorstep is evident by the way he gasps in surprise and quickly rushes out to guide the boy inside. The warmth of the dry wood and torches along with a burning fireplace caused the prince to relax and draw out a shaky exhale, the ice finally beginning to leave his lungs. He talks in a language he only half understands, Mondstadtian, he thinks, and he's brought in front of the flames and the boy shudders out breaths as he feels the coldness from his wet clothes dissipate, only to leave him shaking. The boy hears the man speak to his butler and a couple minutes later the man comes back with a bowl, and only after he places it onto the table that separates the chairs and steps back, does the young prince grab it.
The boy is swaddled now in three large towels and he eats ravenously, beginning to cry all over again when he remembers his father and his own promise that he had failed to uphold.
Where had he gone?
Why did he leave him all alone?
He cries and cries as he shovels the food into his mouth, and he cannot stop. He’s scared and alone and he just wants to go back to his father and his family, to his people and to the artificial stars, to the tree that gives fruit to their kind. to Kreide, to Durin. To Dainsleif, who swore to protect him, whatever the cost.
He doesn’t stop crying until a boy similar to him in age pokes at his side. The young prince jumps out of his skin and is luckily finished with his bowl of liquid when the child does so. The boy starts speaking to him animatedly, and the prince is momentarily stunned by the flames that appear to be cascading down the boys shoulders. He doesn’t understand what the boy is saying, and he looks to the older version of the boy and furrows his brows, and he must look like a fish out of water because the older man says a few things to the boy and he nods his head and turns back to the prince, his nightgown sleeves flapping around as he points to his chest.
“Diluc!” He exclaims, and the prince realizes he's saying his name. He’s grateful for... Diluc ...helping him understand something. The boy with fire for hair then points to what the prince assumes to be his father. “Crepus!” He points toward the prince. His ruby eyes bore deep into the prince's own, and he felt a sense of calm wash over him. He remembers precisely how to speak his name from his visits to Mondstadt in previous diplomatic missions and he points to his own chest with a smile.
“Kaeya Alberich.”
Diluc grins wide and grasps onto the prince's hand. “Pretty!”
As he falls asleep that night, tucked into the soft blankets, he cries for his father and his mother and his siblings, he is welcomed here, but this was only temporary, this was not home. He listens to Crepus read him to sleep much like Dainsleif did, although this is in a language he could not understand, however it was comforting nonetheless. He will go home with father tomorrow. He thinks as he begins to dream. Khaenri’ah is waiting for him.
Picking up Mondstadtian wasn’t as difficult as Kaeya had thought it was going to be. Practising for many a month with Crepus and with Diluc’s help had been challenging but no more so then how he would be with learning any language back with his tutors back home in Khaenri’ah, and soon he was fully fluent, although this didn’t come as surprise to Kaeya himself, as he had already learned a handful of languages whilst he had lived in his castle, he had learned not everyone had a way with linguistics, namely Diluc, who sometimes struggled to speak his own native language tongue, much to Kaeya’s enjoyment.
He had soon made the Ragnvindr household and the Dawn Winery his unlikely home, and the city of Mondstadt grew to become his people. He had been told stories of Khaenri’ah and the fall of his people and his city. That the alchemist Gold had grown mad with power and turned everyone to evil monsters and trapped them within the land many millennia ago. Was told stories of how the seven archons of Teyvat had fought valiantly and fought the alchemist and her evil creations until they were able to cage them all within the depths of their caves. And Kaeya, a young child, soon began to believe this. His hatred for the father who deceived them into believing Khaenri’ah was a beautiful place full of love and creation was no more than a farce for their evil and greed. He soon began to describe his homeland as some distant faraway place he had not known much of, and through the pain of betraying his homeland, he severed himself from any and all possibility that he could be from the far away kingdom.
Diluc had fused to Kaeya the instant he had arrived, and they further meshed the more Kaeya was able to understand him.
“Kae!” Nine year old Diluc whispers as he points toward his feet, which were knee deep in water. “I’m gonna get this fish and then you’ll eat it for dinner!”
Kaeya, who was also knee deep in the river with him, holding a basket full of windwheel asters and grapes, giggles. “Will you be cooking it for me as well?” He tucks his fringe behind his ear and he feels the familiar lightness in his chest much like he always does when he and Diluc find the time to co-exist together. He watches as Diluc twists his body and hones in on the fish swimming in front of him.
“Of course!”
Kaeya gags at the mere thought as Diluc plunges his hands into the water, his tongue sticking out in pure concentration. “Bleg! No cooking from you, Luc! The last time I got sick you showed up to our room with burnt toast and slime secretions instead of jam.”
The fish quickly swims away and past Kaeya who just laughs at the other boy's failure. Diluc huffs and pouts much like he always does when things don't go his way and waddles through the water with little to no grace. “I thought I had it too, so don’t laugh!” He makes his way to shore, and like always, Kaeya trails after him. “Plus you’re one to talk, you can’t cook either.” Taking a seat on the rocks above the water they let their feet dangle and Kaeya puts the basket of their flowers to the side and looks toward the roaring waterfall and the small rainbow it creates at the bottom of it from the help of the midday sun.
“I at least know more than you!”
“Do not!”
“Do too!”
Kaeya turns his head back to the red haired boy and shifts until their shoulders bump together. Ever the people pleaser, Kaeya smiles at him, aware that it's something Diluc is powerless against “It’s okay! We can learn together.”
A cloud momentarily blocks the sun's view but Diluc still looks vibrant as ever to Kaeya’s eye. Dilucs hand finds his own on the rock and Kaeya feels their hands interlock much like how they always do. Such a common gesture between them that they are unfazed at the contact.
“C’mon! We should bring our flowers inside or else we won't make it to the Windblume ceremony!” Getting to his feet, and also slipping his hand out of Dilucs hold, Kaeya brushes his pant legs back down and slips back into his socks and then his shoes now that they were dry, he notices Diluc doing the same from his peripheral. Once done he turns to pick up the basket and sputters as the red haired boy claps both his hands against the younger's cheeks. “What are you doing?”
Diluc removes one hand in order to swoop in and smoosh his lips to his cheek and Kaeya blushes beet red. “Being with Kaeya forever is my Windblume wish!”
Kaeya has half a mind to doubt Diluc, but he can’t help but well up inside with fuzziness. “Idiot! You can’t say your wish out loud! Now it wont come true!”
“Did Jean tell you that?” Diluc asks as he pulls away. His free hand now holds onto the other boy's hand. “Jean believes everything she reads! But it's totally not true you know!” He looks into Kaeya’s eye and chuckles with the loudness of a child unencumbered by anything. “I know because before you came to Father and I, I wished at the last festival for my wife! I told Father, and here you are!”
Kaeya growls at that but only for the use of the term. “I am a boy! Not a girl! So your wish did not come true!”
“Boy, girl, who cares! Kaeya is my person forever!” His voice is so sweet and kind that Kaeya can only simmer with some form of mild embarrassment. But he mirrors Dilucs own hand and moves in to peck the other boy's cheek, and there's a brief satisfaction coursing through him when he sees Diluc being as flustered as he was.
“Then...My Windblume wish is to be with Diluc forever too! Forever and ever!”
They made their way back to the manor with their hands swinging between them, and when Crepus saw them the two children excitedly exclaimed their wishes to him. With his two hands he ruffled both of their heads and nodded along. Bending at the knees to a crouch.
“What a lovely wish you two have shared this season, my boys.”
“Mhm!” Diluc grins as he climbs onto Crepus’ shoulders “Kaeya and I are gonna get married, Father!”
“Why, how wonderful! And who will I be walking down the aisle?” Crepus inquires, his tone light and inviting as it always. The older man stands and begins to walk down the path and toward Mondstadt, his hand is warm in Kaeya’s own small one, And Kaeya holds onto it for dear life.
“Kae, please!” Diluc exclaims from atop his fathers shoulders and Kaeya lets out a laugh as he swings his basket of flowers in his free hand.
Kaeya never depended on an Archon for anything whilst he was living within Khaenri’ah, but he found himself hoping that if these Archons did truly exist, that somehow the God would grant their wish.
“I got you some Kaeya lilies.”
“Luc…” Kaeya, now fourteen, heaves a chuckle from out of his chest. “Aren’t we a bit old to call these flowers by such a name?” He takes the handmade bouquet of calla lilies nonetheless and holds it to his chest. His index finger going to trace the soft petals.
“No, I would have to disagree. There will never be a time where I don't like to tease you.” Diluc grins and Kaeya feels his heart stutter in his chest.
Kaeya moves his hand out to push against Dilucs chest, but the other boy just grabs onto Kaeya’s wrist and pulls it past his shoulder while his other hand wraps around his waist. Now that Diluc had wielded a vision his touch was almost scorching upon its rest on Kaeyas back, even through the many layers he had been wearing. However Kaeya always welcomed the heat that came with being encased in Dilucs fire even before the young boy had gained such an element. Kaeya had always likened Diluc to intense, passionate fire while he, cold, calculating ice.
“Come to the river with me tonight?” Kaeya asks suddenly, and the redhead nods obediently. “I should get some lamp grass for you too. Or should I say, Luc grass.”
Diluc sticks his tongue out in distaste. “Unfortunately, my name does not fit well with my flower.” He leans forward and plants a peck to Kaeyas nose and pulls away, a gentle smile on his lips. The lack of a warm hand on his back has the blue haired boy pouting, but it slowly dissipates as the knock on the door shows their tutor, and the duo take their seat at their desk and they begin their studies.
Only once dinner had been finished, and Crepus and the rest of the staff had retired for the night, did the two boys sneak past their window and into the maze of vineyards below. They reach the river and the roar of the waterfall is loud as they shuck off their shoes and roll up the pants of their pyjamas. The mid summer heat staving off the chill of the water. Kaeya makes his way over to the other side of the bank while Diluc enjoys watching from his seat on a rock, swishing his legs back and forth within the water.
They’re quiet because the windows are open to receive the cool breezes the anemo archon so gracefully sends down from the mountain of Dragonspine and they technically aren’t supposed to be out so late in the evening because of slimes, but they do anyway. They always have.
Kaeya picks a few glowing flowers and hums to himself as he makes his way back to the redhead situated on the rock. He makes his way between the other’s swishing legs and pulls out the flowers from behind his back before brandeshing them in front of the other's chest. “To you, my dear Luc.”
“Oh Kaeya, you shouldn’t have!” He gasps with a hand to his heart in mock shock, much like the maidens in the romantic novels Lisa, the newest addition to their friend group, so very much loved to read. “To bequeath me such a stunning gift, why, I might just die from my flusteredness!” He grabs the makeshift bouquet and flops down onto his back, making a soft grunt as he hits the pavement. “Oh no! Master Kaeya, it seems I truly am dying from my embarrassment!”
Kaeya huffs and decides to play along. He uses his forearms to lift himself onto the rock next to Diluc, he notices belatedly when he situated himself next to the boy just how beautiful the other looks with his red hair flowing and cascading everywhere. “Oh no, my fair maiden! However will I fix this?!”
“Im...so weak…” Diluc groans out. “Perhaps a kiss will heal me!”
Kaeya doesn’t need to be told twice. He leans himself forward and his free hand that isn't holding himself up moves to push Dilucs thick bangs away from his forehead before placing his lips there. He plants a soft kiss onto the exposed skin and lingers, feeling the heat slip into his own lips before pulling away. The boy below him exhales a sigh of air at the sweet gesture. “I hope that will suffice for you, my dearest.” The blue haired boy mumbles, sitting up straight and sticking his legs out to also dangle his feet off the ledge.
“More than satisfactory.” Diluc replies, immediately moving to lay his head onto Kaeya’s thigh, his body now horizontal. Kaeya’s hands find purchase within silken strands of fire and he combs through the hair reverently, as he always does when Diluc is within a two foot radius of him. He watches as Diluc stretches out his arm with the flowers in them and he sees the way he studies them. “Will these be our flowers for our wedding, Kae? Along with the Kaeya lilies, of course.”
Kaeya can only chuckle and nod his head. “If that's what you want, I wouldn’t pick anything else.” His nails scrape down the other's scalp and Diluc smiles at the feeling, his eyes fluttering closed before opening again. “Crepus said that our wedding won't be until we turn eighteen though, correct? Why think so much about it now?”
Diluc huffs and tilts his head back until he can stare up at Kaeya and pout. His flowers were placed onto his chest. “It’s our wedding, Kae! You don't sound too excited.” One of the redheads' arms moves to swat at the other's chest and Kaeya can’t help the loud laugh he lets out. “Don’t keep that up or I’ll start to think you don’t want to be wed to me!”
“Oh no, Luc! Never.” Giggling a little more he hunches his back to get a little lower. His fingers trail through his hair and down to the end before returning up to the base, he continues this as his eye melts within Dilucs own. “I am eternally yours.” And, perhaps Kaeya’s family would have scolded the young prince for pledging his life to someone who was not nobility or to another royal, and merely an aristocrat but Kaeya couldn't care any less about the old life he used to live when they had so ruthlessly abandoned him. “I’m just curious as to why you’re still beginning to plan, what if you grow out of calling calla lilies by my name and start to dislike them but you already bought a florist from Liyue to make custom flower bouquets.”
“I will always call those flowers Kaeya lilies.”
“Hm...And why is that?”
“You have always been as beautiful as a flower.”
The fondness that rushes through Kaeyas chest is almost too much. It threatens to consume him, and he just lets out another breathless laugh. Hoping that maybe the way his eye so softly stares into Dilucs and the warm hand of the older that Kaeya lifts to press a kiss to the knuckles of is enough to convey, without words, just how much he loves the boy laying on top of his leg.
Diluc must be aware because he flushes and turns his gaze toward the sky, letting Kaeya continue to place kisses to the back of his hand. There's a brief lapse of silence before Diluc breaks it, always the talker. Never silent and always filling the air with his voice when Kaeya did not. “Do you think I’m going to be captain?”
Kaeya chuckles once more before placing Dilucs hand back onto the others chest. Dilucs hand goes back to holding onto his bundle of lampgrass. “What is with you and your questions tonight, Luc? So very unlike you.” The silence on Dilucs end means its a genuine question and Kaeya immediately continues. “You train every day, you’re extremely skilled with a claymore, and everyone in Mond loves you, Luc. I included. plus I see how well you tend to those horses. They would be fools to not put you there. Without a doubt you will make it there, and when you are, I will be behind you every step of the way. The brains to your brawn if you will.”
“Are you saying I’m not smart, Kae?” Asks Diluc, his voice is teasing and it means his words actually helped assuage his doubts. Kaeya is relieved.
Kaeya sticks out his tongue like he had done many times before and pokes his finger into Dilucs cheek, moving out of the way before the redhead turns his face to try and bite it. “Maybe.”
“You’ll have to answer to me then, Kae.”
The blue haired boy wiggles his eyebrows and delights in Dilucs own giggle. “I do that anyways, my sunflower.”
It comes as no surprise when the next day Diluc is awarded the title of Cavalry Captain of the Knights of Favonius, Kaeya is so high on adrenaline and pure elation for the boy that he places his lips onto the other for the first time that night while huddled under their blankets. The lamp grass is placed onto Kaeya’s bedside and the calla lilies placed onto Dilucs.
He feels the tingle on his lips until the next morning.
Some nights he worries that this will all disappear. That this was nothing more than a cruel joke being played out for Celestia’s enjoyment. Kaeya will wake up to the sounds of Khaenri’ah. To the music of his brother playing the piano or to the ringing of the crystals littering the inside of their underground world.
Some nights he wakes up with so much pain under his concealed eye that it brings him to tears. He wonders why the world has to be so cruel to him as he curls his toes into his sheets from agony. His lips pressed together to avoid waking the slumbering Diluc beside him. He begs the Archons to stop the pain, silent prayers escaping his lips while his tears leave their marks down his cheeks.
I don't want this. It hurts. Please, why does it hurt, just....please make it stop.
Those nights are normally the worst.
Kaeya swings his legs over the bed and toward the door into the hallway. He turns back around to watch Dilucs arm move to the spot of warmth where Kaeya used to lay. He thinks to call out for the redhead to be doted on and cared for, but Diluc has a lot on his plate right now anyway and the blue haired teen knows he shouldn't, no, couldn’t add to it.
The walk to the bathroom is quick and when Kaeya walks in the darkness consumes him. He locks the bathroom door and slowly turns to where the mirror is. His knee bumps into the counter and he places his hands against the edges of the sink and hunches over it. He draws in shaky breaths before the pain becomes too great and his fingers tear away the eyepatch that's causing his issues.
“Why do you want to be shown so badly?” He mutters to himself. “You disgusting, vile thing.”
It takes courage to open his now uncovered eye, and when he does the room is awash in an aqua glow. It washes over his hands that he looks down at, and after a stilled moment he looks up at the reflection before him. His face is a mess, Kaeya realizes as he swipes one of his fists against his regular eye to rid it of its tears. The pupil of his now uncovered eye is a bright gold, a smaller size than his normal eye, and around the pupil are lines of dark blue and pale turquoise, reminding him of ice shards flaring out against the azure blue backdrop. The little ice shards rotate clockwise and although Kaeya cant feel his eye revolving, thinking about it for too long causes a sinking feeling to settle within his stomach. He knows that the white of that eye is replaced with black, and much like an eclipse it glows the most brilliantly at the edges of his cornea.
He knows his eyepatch covering up this eye that so clearly is meant to be shown is slowly draining him somehow, although he’s not entirely sure why. He knows that he can't keep this eyepatch on forever. That the throbbing ache behind his eye as he keeps it hidden away will only worsen over time, but he refuses to let others know what he is.
“I loathe you.” He speaks as he looks into the glowing abyss. “I loathe your existence. The way you mock me for the life I’m trying to make. The way you remind me of what creature I am.” Nimble fingers reach out to run down faint white lines that lead from his undereye to the top of his cheek, they glow faintly too, and Kaeya wonders if the inside of his body glows like this too. If when in battle, he'll get slashed with a sword and he’ll glow and let everyone around him know his secret. He runs his hand down to his chin before it hits the basin with a clang. “How many times have I tried to gouge you out? To be rid of your existence once and for all, only to be paralyised by my own body the moment I try to finish it once and for all.”
He feels the sutter in his chest and he lets the tears fall. “Yet, after all the pain you’ve caused me, why can I not hate you entirely? Why do I want to protect you? Why do I want to protect my home?”
Apathy washes over him quickly, every part the trained prince he used to be and Kaeya quickly regains composure, sniffles his nose and rubs at his eyes before hastily tying the eyepatch back on.
He makes his way to bed that night. Finding comfort in the boy beside him who warms his cold body with his flickering fire. His heart feels like ice as he slips into slumber again. But Diluc is able to warm him in a way that he doesn’t truly understand how.
All he truly knows is Diluc would never love that disgusting side of him.
“Luc, I...haa...wait!”
Two hands interlocked onto the grass under them. Tightening and untightening sporadically.
Diluc’s head scratches against the rough bark of the tree behind him as he tilts his head back, and Kaeya must be going delirious because he swears when Diluc huffs out his next breath of air up toward Celestia that he sees steam go with it.
Dilucs free hand is wrapped tightly around the left side of Kaeya’s waist, who's sitting obediently on top of the olders lap. The hand moving him down in a clumsy, unpractised rhythm against his own need. Kaeya should be ashamed of doing this near the river in broad daylight, but somehow with Dilucs incessant grinding and the fullness he feels he lacks the reasoning needed for such a train of thought. All Kaeya thinks about is Diluc.
Diluc, Diluc, Diluc
“ You’re so cute, Kae.” The boy says, It’s lost to the others ears as he tilts his own head back when Diluc leans in to press kisses to his jaw. His lips feel like they boil the skin he leaves in their wake, it makes Kaeya dizzy in a way he’s never felt before. All he knows is he desires more of everything. More friction, more kisses, more love, and always more Diluc. His back arches prettily, his own free hand settling on the redhead's shoulder for balance.
“I...Diluc...slow down I-” The words die in his throat in order to stifle his moan that peaks its way through his words. Diluc takes this as an opportunity to go quicker, harder. His lips find a patch of skin above his turtleneck, and he sucks it between his lips and Kaeya’s eyes shoot open. A gasp making its way out by force. Kaeya tries to pull his hand out of Dilucs grasp, wanting to pull away and reposition himself because of his aching thighs, but the redhead growls into his ear, and he slowly succumbs to the older boy under him, his hand squeezing at both the other hand and Dilucs shoulder.
“So pretty. You feel so good Kae.” He can feel the sting of teeth reaching all along the top of his neck and his brain briefly registers the question of how he’s supposed to hide the choker of bruises there, but at the moment all he feels is heat, in every single direction. He feels Dilucs hand slide under his clothes and onto the skin of his hip, and his direct skin on skin paired with the praise lights the blazing inferno within him to even greater heights. Dilucs thumb rubs on his jutting hip bone, all while using the force of his fingertips to push Kaeya forward and backwards, enjoying all too much the drag of his own need inside Kaeya. His thighs burn from exhaustion and his brain turns to mush. “How lucky am I?” His lips ghost upon Kaeya’s ear, the deepness from his voice making his brain go fuzzy, the hotness of his breath paired with the scent of his hair draped so wonderfully in front of him, so inviting and warm and so Diluc that Kaeya groans and his own head falls forward until it too rests in the crook of Dilucs neck. He breathes in and plants his own sloppy pleasure induced kisses to the skin of his neck that was closest to him.
“Please, Luc. I need-”
“I know, Kae.”
In these moments everything washes away. Kaeya isn’t the prince of a lost ancient civilization, or lying to his family. He’s not the man being eaten alive by a curse he doesn’t know how to break. He’s not the boy who’s scared to look in the mirror. Not a sinner. In these moments he’s Kaeya Alberich, almost seventeen years old, living with the second most wealthy family in all of Teyvat but most importantly he was Kaeya, Dilucs lover, and that mattered the most out of everything. It’s these moments where Kaeya can be free from the shackles placed onto him, and he relishes in it.
Their movements get more rushed, more greedy, and Kaeya feels his cheeks burning as his shaky hand grips Dilucs shirt and tugs. Diluc noses into Kaeya’s neck and he shudders in the way he always does to signal he’s about to finish, and the other so desperately wants to join. And as they crescendo Diluc groans out praises for his lover, and Kaeya pulls back to place his lips onto Dilucs own. They stay like that, riding their respective highs. Kaeya feels Diluc move Kaeya to sit across his lap, his bottom on the grass and his legs bent across him, he feels Diluc pull his trousers and underwear back up onto Kaeya's legs and then rights his own lower body and then Diluc wrapped an arm around the other's waist. And Kaeya feels his legs shaking from not having to support so much weight anymore.
He closes his eyes as he feels a breeze of cool air hitting his body. Sinks into Diluc’s embrace he nuzzles into the other's neck. He hears Dilucs melodic laughter ringing out through the air and he smiles to himself.
“Mmm. such wonderful stress relief.”
Kaeya plays with one of the lapels of the redheads jacket. “Mmm.” He mumbles, tilting his face upwards and puckering his lips to get a kiss from the boy above him, to which the other is all too happy to reciprocate. They’re young and overeager, clearly and unabashedly infatuated. In love to the fullest extent they could be, and Kaeya knows their entire relationship shows that. From their kisses that are a little too intense, to the way they slide their hands together whilst on patrol, to their desire to always be touching when they’re in a two foot radius of each other. How they finish each other's thoughts and how they stare at each other during briefings at work. There's still heat behind the touch, but it's a calming, pleasant heat that Diluc always carries with him. Comforting and warm. the blue haired boy breaks the kiss and noses back into the junction between shoulder and neck. “I’m not a fan of this particular cleanup, but..I can agree.”
The hand holding onto his waist squeezes and he feels a kiss planted onto his hair.
"Oh! how silly of me! Kae, I bought us something!" the redhead exclaims, his free hand going to rummage in his jacket pocket.
Kaeya arches his brow and a box is pushed into his line of view. Diluc opens it and inside lay two rings, one a silver with a sapphire inlet, and the other a bright gold with a ruby. Kaeya world tilts on its axis and he moves his head from the rings to Diluc face to the rings again.
"You get the ruby, I get the sapphire." Diluc says gently, allowing Kaeya to pick up the silver ring and place it with shaky hands onto Diluc awaiting ring finger, only for Diluc to do the same to Kaeya's ruby ring. "Father said when people propose they have a ring to keep their finger company until they wed and get more lavish ones to replace them. I thought we could wear each others colours so we always have a reminder of each other on us at all times. to show our eternal devotion to one another." The pounding in Kaeya's ears is his own heartbeat, and he feels the beginnings of giddy excitement begin to well in his chest and explode so quickly that he smashes his lips to Diluc and grins into their kiss like a madman.
"Diluc...!" He giggles. Holding up their ringed hands to view them together.
"Kae...I'll love you forever." He feels all his thoughts slip back into place. “I love you so much, Kae.”
He closes his eyes as he feels the tears well up inside himself, he snuggles closer even though he doesn’t deserve this, doesn’t deserve Diluc. But he’s always been selfish like everyone from Khaenri’ah was. Greedy. And so he smiles. Presses his hand onto the redhead's heart and watches as his ring glistens in the filtered light. Diluc's own hand comes up to hold Kaeya's hand to his chest, and with both rings slowly, lazily shining together between them, it has Kaeya's heart slowing back down to its normal rate. “I love you more, my dear Luc. Forever and always, eternally.”
“Happy birthday, my love.” Kaeya grins as he ruffles the bedhead peeking out from under the sheets of his bed. “Come now, eighteen is such an accomplishment that Crepus and I made sure we had an entire itinerary booked for you.”
Diluc groans and shakes his head, his hand appearing from under the covers to make a grabbing motion, the blue gemstone constantly pulls a reaction out of Kaeya and he gasps softly at seeing it before he lifts his hand to his mouth and giggles at the gesture before grinning deviously and diving under the sheets himself. He guesses nobody would be too peeved if he stayed and bent to Dilucs whims today. He finds the face of a sleepy young man with fiery red hair and leaned in to place a sweet lingering kiss to his lips.
“Isn’t my birthday supposed to be full of stuff I want to do?” He asks, slipping his arm around Kaeya’s waist. “Isn’t the whole point to do everything I desire today? Like stay in bed with you until noon?”
“Perhaps for spoiled children, but you’re an adult now, Luc. Now you have to be spoiled and considerate of others.” He makes a mocked gasp as he boops Dilucs nose. “You have brunch with your father and I, and then you must head into the city with us, to see Jean and Lisa and have tea with them. And then….I heard father’s going to take you for your very first legal drink! Then we’ll all be back home in time for dinner and I heard from on the grapevine that your father bought a cake and macaroons all the way from Fontaine. How extravagant!”
“Hm…wait, and where will you be after we see Jean and Lisa?” Diluc inquires. Using his hand to squeeze the others side.
“Unfortunately, duty calls. There must be at least two competent members in the knights without you there during the day, and later on I will be back home to see to it that we all watch you blow out your candles.”
Diluc heaves a long suffering sigh, using his hand to pull Kaeya closer. “My birthday and I can't even spend it all with my intended. What a sin.” Slotting his leg between Kaeyas he gives a wolfish grin toward him and the blue haired boy feels his stomach swoop.
“I’m more than aware. You should bring it up to Lord Barbatos when you next pray.”
“That I should. However for now, I’ll just have to get my fill for the rest of the day.”
Who is Kaeya to refuse such an offer?
Of course, like every good thing in his life, it comes to an abrupt, ungraceful end.
He had something wrong with him. He had rationalized as he showed up too late to protect Diluc, the one thing he had sworn himself to do since he was old enough to wield metal. His heart feels heavy in his chest but not out of sadness for Crepus. Pity, perhaps for the loss of someone close to himself and to Diluc especially. But he had felt the twinge inside that reviled so self-destructively within himself.
This is because of you, Kaeya.
Kaeya moved closer to his lover. Shrugging off his coat in the process. His steps loud even as the rain poured down, the knights around him scattering every which way to try and scout out the area. Utterly useless. He thinks. He meets Diluc and crouches on the ground. Diluc doesn’t even register as Kaeya pulls him into his side. Forcing his head into the notch between shoulder and neck. His eyes wander to the corpse before him as he pets Dilucs hair lovingly. Cooing and shushing while laying his jacket over Dilucs father, obscuring the face from view. if only to stop Diluc from being any more scarred than he currently is, and to stop himself from being too interested.
No, interested was a horrific word to use.
Morbidly curious?
Kaeya settles on that.
The fire eyed boy hiccups and his hands are full of blood when they clutch onto Kaeya. “I...I had no choice I…” Diluc pulls back quickly, and he turns his face toward the body, and Kaeya tethers Dilucs gaze to his own with a hand cupping his cheek harshly, forcibly keeping their eyes locked. “I didnt- I dont!”
“I know, Luc. You don’t have to prove anything to me.” He’s earnest in his reply. Unshaken. He would be Dilucs rock if he needed to be, and so he would. After all he had already decided what had to be done. He would be what Diluc needed him to be until they got out of this wretched place.
“Father had a delusion. Why did he have a delusion if he couldn’t use it?! I have a vision, I should have protected us! This is all my-” He hiccups again, and his face scrunches up in the way it normally does when Diluc is about to throw some sort of tantrum. And Kaeya picks Diluc up within his arms and stands up. He sees one of Dilucs hands move toward his stomach and Kaeya is awash in fear.
“Diluc. You’re hurt.”
“I should have been able to...to protect him. I’m so useless.” Kaeya grunts a little as he hoists the boy up farther in his hold. He keeps a hand on the back of his head to keep the others head firmly against his chest. Moving away from the scene and walking back toward the manor. The more he walks the tighter his chest feels.
“This wasn’t your fault, Luc. Don't talk like this. Fire isn't effective in such a heavy downpour, my love. Nothing was your fault.”
They stay exactly like that the whole walk back, with Kaeya carrying his lover home with his hand tangled in the boy's red tresses. Diluc cries and kicks, claws his nails into Kaeyas neck unknowingly. They’re both soaked and Kaeya thinks about how distraught he feels inside.
It's all your fault Kaeya.
They reach the door of the manor and Kaeya sets down Diluc in order to open it. The other holds tightly to his hand and Kaeya winces at the tightness. Adelinde opens the door with a knowing look and the other maids are behind her with a fresh pot of brewed tea and fresh clothing and something snaps inside Kaeya seeing them all fretting over the new young master.
Kaeya’s appearance had caused all of this, every single piece of Kaeya’s wretched existence had caused Crepus to take extra care in protecting them, and had forced him to use a delusion in order to keep the both of them safe. Chaos and death followed Kaeya wherever he went. The curse throbbing constantly under his eyepatch was proof enough that he was only ever going to bring misfortune. But Diluc deserved to be fret over, to be cared for, to be looked after. He was kind and always made sure no one picked on Kaeya for his eyepatch or how he tended to only want to converse with Diluc most days. Diluc showed him nothing but love and kindness. Had never kept secrets from him and had even told him he wanted to spend the rest of his life with him.
He ushered Diluc inside and turned around back out into the rain, and waving off the concerned looks of Adelinde, almost pleadingly. The air around him is stifling, he can't breathe, he feels nauseous, he feels like he’s going to crawl out of his own skin so he squeezes Dilucs hand and disappears back down the steps and into the rain. His sword clangs as he runs toward the river that had become their safe haven over the years. His knees barely hit the ground before his stomach churns and he retches. The contents of his stomach falling to the ground and leaving his gasping and choking for air. He feels dizzy and like he could pass out, but he manages to move away from the vomit and toward the tree that Diluc and he had taken shelter under multiple times.
His hands shake as he goes to lean against the trunk, he rubs at his eye that isn’t concealed and groans as his thoughts overtake him.
You’re relieved he died, Kaeya. Things were going too well for too long, and you’re relieved.
No.
Khaenri’ah will always follow you. Your curse bleeds into everything, every person who decides to come into contact with it signs their own death wish. Are you truly that selfish? Can you not see how despicable you are? Look at the harm you’ve caused Diluc already.
No. No. No!
He thinks of his life so far with Crepus and Diluc, of all the happy memories he had made, of the times where Crepus read him to sleep during storms or when he had overheard Diluc telling Adelinde not to cut his hair so he could be more like Kaeya. He thinks about his position in the knights and the desire he has to marry the boy currently placed within the manor. It’s the life he had only ever dreamt about having after the loss of his first.
But that's built on lies. Your whole life here is built on lie after lie. It consumes you Kaeya, nothing here is real. You have never spoken a truth of who you are. Diluc does not love the real you. Diluc doesn’t even know the real you.
Kaeya slams his swirling head within his hands and lets out a tearless sob in frustration. His own mind battling himself is killing him, causing the dull ache behind his eye to worsen.
“What is wrong with me?” His voice borders hysterical, as he claws into the flesh of his cheeks. Desperate to feel some kind of feeling other than the coldness of the rain soaked clothes that cling to his skin. “His father just died and I'm sitting here worried about... that place. ”
Liberation is a terrifying thing, Kaeya thinks.
Perhaps he should come clean. To speak the truth to Diluc. To unshackle himself completely from where he had been chained for so long.
“Kae!”
The boy looks up and sees Diluc running down to the river with his claymore in tow. Normally he would make a quip about how comically large it was in comparison to Dilucs body, but he can only find his stomach churn again at the sight of his intended, tears mixing with rain and the blood still in his clothes from earlier.
“I’ve looked everywhere for you! I thought something had happened to you too.”
Diluc reaches under the tree and pushes past a few low hanging branches. And he spots the vomit seeping into the ground and grimaces. “Kae…You’ve been out for an hour. You’re going to get sick.”
His thoughts from earlier begin to slam against his skull. Rendering him useless against it. He sees the redhead toss his claymore onto the ground without a care and Diluc slams into him so hard that the grass beneath his knees gives way and becomes upturned. Diluc cradles Kaeya in his arms now. “You don't have to grieve on your own, Kae. He was important to you too.” The bluenette lets out a laugh at the irony strained as he lay motionless in the others arms. His own inner turmoil was completely different from what Diluc was currently going through.
It’s silent and Diluc speaks again, voice shaking. “Why would he lie to us about this? Why would he hide something like a delusion?”
“Everyone has their secrets, Luc.”
“But we were family, you were family too! Don’t we have the right to know? Isn’t that what all families are there for? To confide in? To share burdens together?”
Tell him. End this now.
“ Some people are scared to tell the truth. Sometimes it's easier to just, not talk about it at all.”
You’re living in a delusion, Kaeya.
Tell him. Tell him what you are. You don’t deserve this life you’ve tried to live. That’s why Crepus is gone.
Wake up from this dream.
For Diluc’s sake you must sever this now.
There's a blow of air against Dilucs cheek, and he registers it as Kaeya taking a sigh before he’s pulled back at the shoulders. Diluc scans Kaeya’s face and takes note of the desperation in his eye. “I have something to tell you.” Kaeya whispers. Diluc wipes at the others pale cheeks and frowns.
“You can tell me anything, Kae.”
“I-...I know.”
Kaeya’s cerulean eye meets with Diluc’s own ruby, and Diluc swallows.
“I love you, Diluc Ragnvindr.”
“I love you too, Kaeya Alberich.” He lets out a crooked sad smile, moves to press their foreheads together, and Kaeya accepts it with another sigh. Dilucs heart rate spikes and he feels his knees starting to burn. “Is that...everything?”
“I…”
Diluc moves his hand forward to swipe the bangs covering Kaeya’s eyepatch behind his ear. Kaeya holds onto the lingering warmth as Diluc rests his hand on his cheek. Kaeya closes his eye and sighs once more and Diluc grows increasingly concerned. Diluc is caught off guard as Kaeya is quickly moving a hand to push the eyepatch off of his eye, and Diluc is momentarily entranced by the skin he had never seen in all of his years being close to the other boy. Of the glowing marks on the skin leading to the eyelid.
“Kae?”
Kaeya opens his eyes and Diluc pulls back quickly at the bright blue that surrounds them. His iris spins with what looks like shards of ice and glows a brilliant azure blue, and Diluc is confused. “What is-”
It is for the best, Kaeya. Perhaps he’ll accept you.
“Do you remember when we had first met? How I was abandoned by my father outside of the winery? How I could not speak German?”
Diluc quirks his eyebrow upwards. “How could I not? It was the day I met you, Kae.”
Kaeya smiles, a small painful thing. Diluc is saying his name every other sentence the way he normally does when he think’s Kaeya needs comforting.
His father has just died and he’s comforting you, Kaeya. A worthless piece of trash you are.
“It wasn’t entirely untrue, please listen to me, please understand me.”
Silence, Kaeya feels the pain behind his glowing eye fading. “I was from a country that has long since been destroyed. My father did abandon me but...I-...I was sent here for a reason. I was...a plant. I was to report everything back to Khaenri’ah. I was “their last hope”. I was supposed to do something here.”
He feels Diluc still completely before he feels hot. Unbearably hot. Dilucs eyes narrow and Kaeya feels his heart break into a million different pieces, feeling himself slowly spiral into the depths of hell from the way Diluc goes to grab at his claymore, his eyes locked onto Kaeya like he was an enemy that needed tabs on him at all times, like he wasn’t his intended. To be wed on the day Kaeya became of age. Like Kaeya wasn’t the love of his life. The flames of heat crawl up his throat and Kaeya materializes his own. The redhead raises himself up and onto his feet, and Kaeya, always the follower, stands too. Their swords clash as many times as Kaeya feels his heart has broken.
Diluc has a vision and brute strength on his side, the muscles showing from the rain soaked button down clear as day. His slashes with his claymore are burning, Kaeya realizes as he’s swiped at, barely missing his side. In most situations Kaeya normally adored the look of concentration on his face when Diluc was fighting or training, and had normally always found it especially attractive as they had grown and the olders features had matured, but in that moment with those cold eyes trained on him like he was a threat that needed eliminating Kaeya shivered.
Kaeya was strategic and agile. Cunning, and tricky, ‘More or less impossible’ Jean would say, to pin down during battle. His quick wit and ability to see opportunities for victory at a glance rewarding him many a time, But Kaeya didn’t fight. Allowed himself to slowly lower his sword. “You promised to listen to me.” he whispered pathetically, his voice hitching and breaking midway through.
“I don’t listen to liars and traitors, Kaeya. You of all people should know that.”
And so Diluc tackles him to the ground. The blue haired boys head clangs against the ground and his eyesight flashes white as pain seeps through him. He burns so brightly on top of the younger, and he finally feels the tears he had always so perfectly concealed fall from the edges of his eyes and into his hair.
You deserve this, you monster.
A fitting end for such a disgusting person.
How lucky of you that after everything you’ve done to him, Diluc will do the honours himself.
He feels the tip of that burning claymore at the ground next to him, and he lets out a breath of air. Feels Diluc pulls back his sword and raises it above his head. Kaeya takes one last look at the beautiful man above him, of the flaming red hair that had always kept his own hands busy braiding it, of the face he had kissed and had grown to believe was the most beautiful in all of Teyvat. Of those strong arms that had crowded him into Dilucs chest. Or had carried him to and fro like a princess in distress when Kaeya had decided he didn’t quite feel like walking anymore.
He shuts his eyes and braces for it. Finally lets go of the breath he was holding and closes his eyes and exhales as he hears the swoosh of scorching air coming down upon him. And suddenly he’s freezing. There's a loud resounding clang of metal hitting an immovable force, and a hiiisssss from above him, to which he cracks his eye open to see a wall of pale blue shielding above him. Silence fills the air, the only sound is the rain pelting against the ground and the scraping of clothes on cobblestone as Kaeya scrambles out from under the older boy only kept up my the ice slowly being eaten away by the lick of his unforgiving crimson flames. The swosh of air from the collision of elements so strong that Kaeya can feel the stones flicking up to create small cuts to his exposed flesh.
The vision appears to fall down as if its floating through molasses to right in front of Kaeya’s face. With trembling fingers he grips onto the object, and the area around him lights up azure blue. As the vision seeps into his very being, into his veins and into the metal of his sword.
Why me?
Why would the Tsaritsa, the most picky of all Archons, chose him?
“Kaeya.”
He whips his head back to the young man who had finally yanked his claymore from the thick barricade of ice. He looks tired, and Kaeya can feel his heart begin to ache.
He feels Diluc’s sadness radiating off him in waves. He wants to scream, to sob and bang onto Diluc’s chest to forgive him, but the ice flowing through him is calming him, placating him. He had finally shown Diluc his truest self and he was met with the highest form of rejection there could be.
“I will never call a stranger my family. You are not welcome here.” His head whips around and Diluc rushes back toward the manor. Kaeya watches him retreat.
Jean finds him that night while walking around in search of lampgrass. Her umbrella covering the shivering, cowering sobbing boy from receiving any more droplets rained upon him. She holds him tightly between the halfway point to the city of Mondstadt and halfway to the Dawn Winery as he cries to her, tells her that Diluc now despised him, had thrown him out like he was garbage for something he had no control over. Jean tries to console him as blood rushes through her veins. So upset she was by watching one of her closest friends quake and dissolve into nothing but a snotty, desheviled, bloody husk of himself that Jean makes it a note to ‘speak’ to Diluc the next she sees him.
The only thing that allowed him to sleep that night, in an unfamiliar house in the heart of the city, is the potion Lisa brews for him as she rubs soothing circles into his back.
Kaeya receives the news horribly, as a jilted ex lover would, at finding out Diluc had resigned from his position as the cavalry captain and had left to get revenge and search for the delusion weilders who had ended his fathers life. Worsened even more by the fact that he was handed the blood red vision of his lover and told to not follow or make matters worse for the knights than they already had.
He tugs the loops of string together and fixes the burning crimson next to his freezing azure and lets them hang by the hoops of his belt. The presence of the flames is comforting to him and part of him hopes that Diluc will find his way back home within the next few days.
He ignores the desire to vomit when he’s given the title of cavalry captain and steels his expression into one of mild joy and acceptance. He feels Jean’s fingers holding onto his clothed elbow and he thanks the Grand Master for his generosity.
When he rushes out of the room and into the nearby washroom and heaves into the basin Jean is there to hold his hair out of his face as he vomits up his dinner from the night before.
“Kaeya, we should go back to the winery and perhaps see if we can get some of your belongings back.” The intense shudder that ripples through his own body is enough for Jean to continue. “You don’t have to come, but you and I both know Diluc wouldn’t want you to go without basic care, no matter what you two ended up fighting about that night.”
The self-deprecating smile that spreads across his face is worrisome, and Jean's thumb rubs small circles into the boy's scalp from where she was holding his hair back. “Unfortunately Jean...That’s where you’d be wrong. So very...very wrong.”
She chews on the inside of her cheek and helps steady Kaeya as he goes to stand. His fingers shake where they clutch onto Jean’s shoulder and she sighs, bumps their foreheads together. “Come on, first to Lisa and then back to her house, okay? Perhaps I'll even make you some food to go down as well.”
Kaeya eyes her with the meekness of a scared cat, and she pulls away and begins to walk with him, half supporting him and half fretting over the young man beside her and what to do to care for him.
When they walk down the stairs to the library Lisa has stationed herself in and the brunette takes a look at Kaeya’s withered form she rushes to his side. “Oh Kaeya…”
She flutters her eyes around the room and pulls away from Kaeya and makes her way towards the desk situated right in the middle of the room, something she had told the higher ups multiple times to change but had not be listened to, grabbed a vial of mysterious lavender scented and light purple in colour liquid. She uncorked it and the wafting of flowers slowly coated the room. Jean sets Kaeya onto a rather plush chair nearest the door and farthest away from the windows to allow him some darkness, and moves to allow Lisa in front of the now sitting boy.
“This concoction is for your nausea.” She speaks gently, her free thumb and forefinger going to clasp at Kaeya’s chin to steady his shaking form. The mage tips the vial into Kaeya’s mouth and coos as he drinks the bitter liquid down. “You rest here for the nausea to subside and then it’s off you go. I will be home in the early evening.” She leans forward to place her lips on Kaeya’s cold forehead and he nods only minutely. As he closes his eyes he hears Jean pull Lisa farther away and begin to speak in hushed whispers, and Kaeya would be a fool to not know it was about him and Diluc’s abrupt falling out and the new role he was just assigned within the knights.
He thumbs his ring finger and the metal weight placed on it. he wonders if Diluc took his off or if he too continues to wear it.
He passes out not too long after. His last thoughts about the man who had upended his entire life. to the man who made Kaeya believe in the purest of things.