Archive of Our Own

It isn't exactly unheard of for a Harbinger to drop in on Mondstadt, but after Signora, it is a little gaudy.

Not that Kaeya is supposed to know about Signora, of course, but she chose an incredibly public venue for her attack, no matter how quickly she left—and Mondstadt is, for better or worse, the city of bards. Of gossip. Even if Venti refused to speak of what she took, Kaeya has been able to make a few guesses in the years since, some warmer than others.

Still, it wouldn't do to ignore a Harbinger that went so far as to book a hotel room under his own name—which is how Kaeya finds himself in the lobby of the Goth Grand Hotel, with Jean's begrudging blessing, grinning at the clerk.

"If you could just leave a message for him," Kaeya says, an elbow on the counter, chin in his palm. "Let him know that Captain Kaeya of the Knights would like to welcome him to the city."

"A message won't be necessary."

Kaeya does not flinch at the voice behind him, low and cold, but a chill creeps up his neck all the same. He keeps his smile in place as he turns around, looking up at the broad, dark figure of a Harbinger. Il Capitano's face is hidden, an empty sheath on the hip Kaeya can barely see beneath his cloak—but that doesn't matter. Kaeya knows, like a rabbit in a trap, that this man does not need steel to kill.

"How fortunate," Kaeya says, extending his hand. "It seems our paths were fated to cross today."

There is a long moment where Capitano's veiled face simply looks in his direction. It is a heavy gaze, even eyeless; Kaeya cocks his brow in challenge, trying not to fidget like a child. The lobby is filled with Fatui, all watching their lord for a cue, and Kaeya rather hopes he won't go out as a diplomatic nightmare.

Then Capitano takes Kaeya's hand in his own. His palm dwarfs Kaeya's, but where he expected a rough, mean shake, Capitano holds him rather delicately, gloved fingers pressed to the bones of Kaeya's wrist. It makes Kaeya shudder again, the white-hot bite of adrenaline under his skin.

"Well met, Captain Kaeya," Capitano says, and releases him slowly.

Kaeya lets out a rather inelegant laugh. "Kaeya is fine. We don't need titles between us when they're the same, do we?"

It's almost an insult, comparing the weight of their names—but Capitano merely inclines his head. "Yes, I would prefer to dispense with such formalities."

"Well," Kaeya starts. Takes a deep breath. Finds himself again, on the back foot, an unfamiliar position for him these days. "Would you care for a drink?"

Capitano lets out of a huff. It might be a laugh. "I'm not much for drink, but I'd gladly accompany you."

Kaeya smiles.

Outside the hotel, in the crisp fall air, Kaeya tries not to eye the man at his side. "How do you find Mondstadt? Surely southern Snezhnaya must be of similar clime."

Capitano hums. "I suppose they are similar. Quite different from my home, though."

"Oh?" Kaeya asks, glancing at him fully this time. "You are not from the north?"

"Far from it," Capitano says dryly, then waves a hand over the plaza. "Well? Your drink awaits you, does it not?"

It's a mean pivot; Kaeya files the information away to wheedle from him later, circumstances willing. "There is a sampling of restaurants, and a gambling house, but only one tavern of note." He pauses. "Perhaps the tavern isn't the best option."

"The reason being?"

"How do I put this delicately?" Kaeya says, tapping a finger on his chin. "The owner would rather eat his sword than host a member of the Fatui."

Capitano laughs, for real this time, a short bark. "That wasn't particularly delicate, Ser Kaeya."

Kaeya grins at him. "I thought you might appreciate a straightforward answer."

"I do," Capitano says, voice lowering, quieting. "Especially considering what I've heard about you."

That manages to surprise Kaeya. "A Harbinger keeping intel on a lowly soldier like me," he sighs, clicking his tongue. "Am I not what you expected?"

"No, you are not," Capitano says, a weight in it Kaeya does not understand, no hesitation in the words.

"And is that good or bad?"

Capitano tilts his head towards him. "Fishing for compliments is beneath someone like you. Come—show me the tavern."

Kaeya pauses for just a moment before leading the way.

When they enter Angel's Share, even Jose falls silent mid-song. Kaeya doesn't think he enjoys this open attention. The scrutiny. He knows his grin shows otherwise—he's perfected it.

"Charles," he says, stepping up to the bar. "Is Master Diluc in tonight?"

Charles eyes Capitano with clear mistrust, carefully cleaning a glass the way one would a blade. "Luckily for you, he's out for some time."

"Perfect. Could we take the balcony?"

Charles purses his lips. There is a spattering of whispers in the bar that they both ignore. "As long as you shut the door behind you."

"Thank you, truly." Kaeya leans on the bar to look back at Capitano. "C'mon, at least play pretend with me."

Capitano's sigh is long-suffering, as if he's dealt with Kaeya for years and not the past bell. "Whiskey," he says simply. "An old one."

Kaeya licks his tongue over his teeth, the request unsettling something deep inside him in its familiarity. "You know what, Charles? Use the bottle you opened for my last visitor. Malbec for me, as usual."

There's a weariness to the look Charles gives him, like he knows what happened the last few times that bottle of whiskey was uncorked. He doesn't press, though—simply climbs a step-stool to pull the bottle from a high shelf, dusting it off. He grabs a bottle of wine along the way, pouring them each their glass.

"Enjoy, gentleman," he says, acceptance in it, and Kaeya nods wordlessly at him as he takes the glasses. "And, Kaeya?" When Kaeya looks back at him, Charles' smile is bare. "This will not stay a secret from him."

Kaeya laughs—a little bitter, even now. "Don't worry. I've learned my lesson about keeping secrets from Diluc."

He heads for the stairs to the second floor, Capitano behind him. It's dangerous, baring his back to pure lethality. But Capitano follows silently like a hound, the only danger the hand he places low on Kaeya's back when they skirt a table on the second floor. Kaeya ignores the way his pulse quickens at the weight.

Outside on the balcony, with the door closed behind them, Kaeya lets out a sigh of relief. "Please sit," he says, setting the glasses down on the table. "It'll be quiet out here."

Capitano pulls out a chair, but he doesn't sit. Instead, he gestures to it, his head bowed just a little. "After you, Ser Kaeya."

Kaeya can feel a blush on his cheeks. Were he a few years younger, he might burst into giggles like a schoolgirl in his shock. Time has disillusioned him to the notion of such indulgences. "A true gentleman," he teases, taking the offered seat. "Does the Tsaritsa take kindly to such gestures?"

Capitano sits across from him. In the light of the setting sun, the thin fabric of his mask is dyed red. It does nothing to illuminate his features. "The Tsaritsa does not care about trivialities. We Harbingers are free to live our lives as we see fit."

Kaeya hums, taking a sip of his wine. "And the average Snezhnayan?"

Capitano looks at him. Taps a finger on the table, just once, a flicker of irritation or, perhaps, distraction. "Are the whims of the Tsaritsa truly what you wish to discuss over drinks with me?"

"Forgive me. I'm simply curious what she's like." Kaeya leans back in his chair, legs crossed. When his foot brushes Capitano's knee, neither of them pull away. It is a familiar dance, by now, but tonight it feels especially risky. "Was there something you wished to discuss?"

Capitano glances out at the alley, arms folding across his chest. Kaeya can see the bulge of his biceps even with his cape draped over them. "You are not of Mondstadt."

"Kindred spirits, then."

"Do you remember it?" Capitano says slowly, each word picked with care. "Where you came from?"

Kaeya's drink of wine is much longer this time. "My family were nomads, really. We were always on the road until Mondstadt."

"What made them stop?"

Kaeya laughs through his nose. "The thing that stops everyone. Death."

Capitano's breath is ragged, as if it is his own family he's hearing the news of. "I'm sorry. Truly. Did you find family here?"

"I did, yes."

"Do they treat you well?"

It's not a conscious thing when Kaeya's hand lifts towards his eye-patch. "Well enough," he says, lowering his hand. "All brothers have their teenage squabbles."

Another tap of Capitano's fingers. "And did your family tell you about your homeland?"

Kaeya looks up from his wine glass, eye narrowing. "Captain, please extend the same courtesy you requested of me. If there is a question you'd like to ask, ask it plainly."

Capitano sets his elbows on the table, leaning in. His long legs stretch out beneath the table, bracketing Kaeya's. "Your eye," he says, so soft it's barely more than a murmur. "It is an eye of Khaenri'ah."

And Kaeya takes a gamble—a big fucking gamble, even for him. He knows the wonder in Capitano's voice; he smiles and says: "My family name is of there, too."

He can feel Capitano's hot breath through his fabric mask, their faces far too close for decency. "Alberich, I've heard. Do you know its meaning?"

"A friend explained it, yes. I've been more careful with it since, although I see it hasn't escaped your notice."

"I only know of one man who would be familiar with the providence."

Kaeya grins, gaze flickering down to Capitano's covered lips. "I see we have a mutual acquaintance, then."

"It's a relief to know he's alive somewhere. I haven't seen him in—well. A long time."

"Captain," Kaeya chides. "There's no need to obscure these things from me. If you're like Dainsleif, I'm aware of your age."

"Does it bother you?"

"Your age?" Kaeya says, looking back up to where Capitano's eyes would be. "Or everything else?"

"I'm not worried about the age," Capitano says, his breath of laughter ghosting over Kaeya's mouth. "Rebellious boys like you always chase men like me."

Kaeya's grin widens into something wolfish. "I don't think I'm the one doing the chasing tonight."

Capitano's big hand reaches up, cupping Kaeya's chin. A gloved thumb brushes his mouth. "Can you blame me? I didn't expect to find such sweetness in this city."

Kaeya's eye widens, and he turns his head away to cough out a laugh, still caught in Capitano's grasp. "People don't usually call me that, you know."

Capitano forces his head back to face him. "They do not know what it means to starve," he says, and heat curls in Kaeya's gut.

Kaeya swallows hard. Considers the complications of inviting a Harbinger to his home. Considers the regret he'll live with if he doesn't—if he has a sliver of Khaenri'ah in his hand and doesn't even give it a taste. Left to wait another year to see if Dainsleif will sweep in with the summer heat, or if Kaeya Alberich has to remain the last natural-born Khaenri'ahn this side of Teyvat.

"Would you like to come home with me? Perhaps I have something to sate that hunger," Kaeya whispers—though not because he's sparing a thought for the people inside or on the street. Because this moment feels as fragile as a spiderweb and the slightest wrong move will tangle it all up into something irreparable, lost to the wind.

Capitano presses his thumb against the crease of Kaeya's lips, and Kaeya opens them, letting him feel at his canines, over his tongue. When Kaeya closes his mouth, teeth digging into Capitano's glove and tongue lapping at the leather, Capitano's whole frame shakes.

Capitano pulls his hand back, spit shining on his thumb. "If you don't," he says, voice rough now, "I'll take you right here. Would you enjoy that?"

On another day, Kaeya might entertain the thought, if only for a moment. But this evening, his heart is wicked with jealousy. There isn't a soul in the city he would trust to see such a thing. To even overhear their words.

Kaeya reaches between them, retrieving the untouched whiskey glass. He drinks it slowly, but steadily, watching Capitano all the while. Capitano cups his throat with that same hand, feeling each swallow, a promise and a threat all in one.

Kaeya slams the empty glass down, rising to his feet. "Come," he says, not quite smiling. "Before your hounds come looking for their master."

Capitano stands, towering over him, and Kaeya knows they're already past the point of no return.

They take the bottle of whiskey to go.

It's rather indelicate, walking Capitano through the back alleys of the city, hoping beyond hope the whole of Mondstadt has not heard of his indiscretions by dawn. The potential for fallout, however dangerous, is not enough to deter him. He has dealt with Jean's disappointment before. With Diluc's grief.

"Pardon my mess," Kaeya says as he unlocks his apartment, tucked up against the quiet, fortified southern wall of the city. "I was not expecting a guest today."

Capitano follows him. He pauses in the entrance as Kaeya locks the door behind them, surveying the scattered notebooks and clothes and trinkets, and Kaeya almost feels nervous, like he imagines he would have if he had ever dared to sneak a boy into Crepus's home. There was never a need, back then. Diluc and then training and then work took up all his time, and Kaeya, for all his proclivities today, never thought twice about matters of the flesh.

"It's lovely," Capitano says sincerely, unclipping his coat and hanging it on a hook to reveal the broad span of his covered chest. "There is a life here."

Kaeya kicks off his boots by the door and steps backwards into the studio, still holding the whiskey bottle. "Consider this your second home, for however long you grace Mondstadt."

"This is a deep trust you place in a stranger, Ser Kaeya," Capitano says, but he's following Kaeya towards the bed, anyway. "Do not make me offers you will come to regret."

"Sometimes, we need to take a leap of faith," Kaeya says. It is the first time he has had thought this since he met Dainsleif. He places a hand on Capitano's shoulder and pushes at him. "Sit. I want you to try this whiskey."

Capitano obeys, sitting down on the edge of the bed with his thick thighs spread wide. "I did not lightly reject drink earlier. I have little need for such things."

Kaeya steps away, grabbing a glass from the wall cabinet, before returning. "There is a difference between needing and wanting," he says, pouring a glass and setting the bottle aside. "I could remind you, if you like."

"I am well aware of what I need in this room, and it is not the alcohol."

The shiver that runs through Kaeya this time is pleasant. He steps between Capitano's spread legs, grinning down at him. "Indulge me, if you will. Besides, this is Dainsleif's drink of choice."

Even veiled, Capitano seems unamused. "Do you think I enjoy everything Dain does just because of our shared history?"

Kaeya shifts, his thigh pressing into the join of Capitano's legs, the bulge there. "I'm banking on you sharing some interests."

"Kaeya," Capitano sighs, a little hazy. His hands lift to grip the backs of Kaeya's thighs, keeping him close. "Dainsleif and I may share a curse, but our tolerance to it has not been equal. I promise you that I am not in as good a condition as him."

"It is not your body compelling me, Captain." Kaeya pauses, the corner of his mouth curling. "Although it certainly does not hurt."

Capitano squeezes his thighs so hard they feel like they might bruise. Kaeya hopes they will—hopes that tomorrow, when Capitano has surely long disappeared like smoke in the night, he'll have the fingerprints as proof that they were here like this: ensconced in the privacy of this room, the curtains drawn against the rest of the world, the only witnesses their own ghosts.

"Are you afraid of monsters, Kaeya?" Capitano asks, his lips barely moving behind the veil. "Not the fairy tale ones, but those Death herself has touched."

Kaeya lifts his free hand, toying with the hem of Capitano's mask. "There is only one way to find out, isn't there?"

Capitano grabs his wrist. The power in that grip is stunning—even with all Kaeya's strength, his training, his elemental abilities, he knows Capitano could crush his wrist like a dove's wing. But Capitano does no such thing—merely holds onto him as Kaeya slowly peels up the mask, revealing his face only to his lips.

He does not flinch at what he finds there—skin pulled taut over the sharp bones of his jaw, abyssal in tone and as dry and hard as obsidian. A hole cracked in Capitano's cheek shows his white, sharp teeth, his black tongue. Kaeya can see the whiskey through it when he holds the glass to Capitano's lips and makes him drink.

Capitano drinks the entire glass without stopping, sighing when Kaeya places his free hand on his cheek. "It has been some time since I consumed something," he says, voice smoother now. "There is a point in undeath when sustenance causes more grief than satisfaction."

"What does satisfy you?" Kaeya asks, setting the empty glass on the nightstand.

"A job well done. Good music." Capitano's hands slide up to Kaeya's ass, kneading. "Pretty things too curious for their own good."

"Well," Kaeya says, climbing onto Capitano's lap, "I suppose you'll forgive me for indulging that curiosity."

Kissing Capitano is a strange experience. His mouth still has give, unlike the jaw that Kaeya cups with both hands, but the tongue he pushes into Kaeya's mouth is terribly cold. Kaeya sucks on it anyway, reveling in the groan Capitano lets out, the way his hands pull Kaeya's cheeks apart and then squeeze them back together. Capitano's thighs flex beneath his, his cock thickening beneath Kaeya's cunt through their clothes, and Kaeya feels his own underwear grow sticky. He nearly loses himself in it—all that strength, all that rage and grief and determination, caged and moaning between his legs. The thrill that rocks through him is as heady as the whiskey burn.

One of Capitano's hands slips lower, cupping Kaeya's cunt, and he draws back just enough to speak against Kaeya's lips. "You surprise me once again, Kaeya Alberich. Have you really been hiding this from me all these years?"

Kaeya hums, hands dropping to grip Capitano's chest. There's soft flesh here, too, enough that it spills between Kaeya's fingers when he gropes at it. "Am I inspiring you to do something about it, or are you going to keep marveling like a schoolboy over his first sight of cunt?"

Capitano makes an animal noise in his throat, and then Kaeya is being lifted effortlessly and tossed on his back onto the bed. He laughs, high and free, as Capitano bullies between his legs, a forearm braced beside Kaeya's head. Capitano's other hand disappears between them, followed by the rustling of clothes.

"For all I am a husk of a man," Capitano murmurs, teeth flashing, "there are parts of me that have not changed."

Kaeya cranes his head up, his swallow nearly painful as he tries to catch a glimpse. His moan catches even himself by surprise as Capitano's thick cock slaps down on his cunt, his pants pulled down below his hips. It is clear now how the corruption works—Capitano's stomach, the join of his legs, the inside of his thighs, are all flesh, pale from sunless centuries but still strong. It is the extremities—the outside of his legs, his hips—that are crystallized, withered, streaked like the claws of death gripped him and never let go.

"Beautiful," Kaeya says mindlessly, and Capitano lets out a huff that would be embarrassment on a lesser man.

"May I?" he says, his hand on Kaeya's belt, just barely tugging.

"If you don't fuck me right now," Kaeya says, looking back up at him, "I think I will have to kill you."

Capitano laughs that low laugh and tugs Kaeya's trousers down. Kaeya kicks them away gracelessly, wrapping a bare leg over Capitano's ass to drag him down. The first drag of Capitano's cock over his cunt has Kaeya's head falling back, throat bared and eye fluttering shut.

There is a sharp sting as Capitano bites the crook of his neck, and Kaeya gasps, his cunt clenching on air. Capitano rocks against him in slow strokes, wetter each pass from precum and slick. Kaeya's dick throbs every time that heavy tip rubs over it. He scrambles at Capitano's shoulders as kisses are pressed into his neck.

"You're torturing me," Kaeya sighs, digging his blunt nails into Capitano's shirt.

"I've waited lifetimes for this," Capitano says into his neck, going even slower. "You can wait for me to have my fun."

Kaeya shifts his hips up in time with Capitano, one heel dug into the sheets. "Dainsleif would have had his cock in me by now, you know."

He can feel Capitano's rumbling chuckle. "You are too much like him. He was demanding, too, but in the end he begged for cock like a good boy, just as you will."

Kaeya slaps a hand over his mouth to smother the keen that tries to come out. It's shocking how the idea makes heat curl in him—Dainsleif on his knees, reduced to pleading. It's impossible to imagine his pride allowing it. "I'd like to see that someday."

"I'm sure you would," Capitano says easily, and this time his cock catches on Kaeya's hole, threatening to push in. Kaeya tries to lean into it, but a hand shoves his hip back down, pinning him to the mattress. "What a pair of nuisances you would make."

"Such a scene could be arranged, surely."

Capitano draws back, teeth bared. His eyeteeth are terribly long, like a tiger's. "If you don't stop talking about another man while my cock is out," he says, the first irritation Kaeya has noted on him since the tavern, "you will find my patience is not endless."

"Perhaps you should do better to shut me up."

Capitano stills, contemplative. "I am not averse to fucking your throat instead of your cunt, if that would make you behave."

It's a wonderful idea—for a different time. Right now, Kaeya aches so bad he thinks he might come if Capitano puts even a finger in him. He closes his mouth, fluttering the lashes of his good eye up at Capitano, arms wrapping around his neck to pull him back.

"Good boy," Capitano says, allowing himself to be tugged back down, and it is at the same moment Capitano kisses him that he pushes his cock into Kaeya.

Kaeya gasps against his lips; the pressure hurts. Capitano is big, and for all the rumors, Kaeya does not make a habit of fucking all of his targets. Capitano licks into his mouth as he presses inside Kaeya's cunt, unmoved by Kaeya's death-grip on his neck or the tears lining his eye.

"Fuck," Kaeya breathes out wetly when Capitano finally slips in to the hilt. "Archons, you're so—"

Capitano bites his lip hard enough to bruise it, then licks it in apology. "Do not speak of them in this room, Kaeya," he says, sounding just as rough.

"Slip of the tongue," Kaeya manages, his whole body tingling as Capitano slowly draws out. "Your colleague made me godless on her visit, anyway, as you know—"

Capitano sits up, bracing his hands on Kaeya's shoulders. His thrust back in is so brutal, so deep, that it rips the breath right out of Kaeya. "That's better," Capitano says, a grin tugging his lips, creasing the crater of his cheek. "You are talking far too much for me to be doing my job well."

Kaeya has nothing to say to that—can't say anything, not with Capitano fucking into him now, holding Kaeya down with a big hand spread across his stomach. The most he can manage is running one hand along Capitano's jaw, memorizing the jagged planes, the way his skin glitters in the dim light. It is a terrible beauty, the kind of thing that will haunt Kaeya for the rest of his life, even if he forgets the feel of Capitano inside him or the smell of his leathers or the way his long hair falls like a curtain around them. Mondstadt may be his home, but there is a part of him that will always yearn for lost things, solace found only in these fleeting moments with dead men looking for hope where they shouldn't.

Kaeya pushes himself up, too, searching for Capitano's mouth until Capitano relents and tugs him into his lap. The kiss is much slower than Capitano's grinding hips; Capitano braces Kaeya's back with one hand, the other fishing between them to tug up Kaeya's shirt. They part long enough for Capitano to pull Kaeya's remaining clothes off, and then Capitano's mouth is on him again, feverish, like he needs to swallow him whole.

Capitano's gloved fingers trail up Kaeya's chest, running over the scar beneath his pecs, over his nipples. Kaeya gasps into his mouth when Capitano twists at the bar through Kaeya's nipple, his cunt clenching around him.

Capitano's head drops to Kaeya's shoulder, headpiece digging into the skin there, his breath hot on Kaeya's collarbone. His hips fall still, chest heaving instead. "Forgive me," he says, a fragility to it that makes Kaeya's chest hurt. "I overestimated my own composure."

Kaeya smirks, stroking his fingers through Capitano's hair. "It's fine to admit it," he teases, even as his slick drips down Capitano's cock. "An old man like you didn't expect to be able come anymore."

The hand on Kaeya's back drifts down, slapping Kaeya's ass in warning. "Don't get bratty, pup. You haven't managed to make me come yet."

"Oh, a challenge," Kaeya coos. "What did you say earlier about offers and regrets?"

An uncanny noise leaves Capitano, a stray dog's snarl, but Kaeya ignores the way his hair stands on end. He cradles the back of Capitano's head, holding him to his chest, and then begins to ride him.

Capitano's whole body goes rigid like a bowstring as Kaeya rocks down onto him. Kaeya barely lifts off his cock—just enough for friction, for the chilly air to hit Capitano's skin, before he drops himself back down. Like this, in Capitano's lap, his cock reaches so much deeper. The pressure climbs into Kaeya's chest, builds in his throat, as if Capitano could reach him even there. Kaeya wouldn't mind it, being split open. If Dainsleif were here too, cock down his throat with Capitano in his cunt.

It's enough to make Kaeya's hips stutter, his sigh shuddering. Capitano mouths at his throat, hands finding Kaeya's hips to guide him. It is only a few more thrusts before Capitano's grip grows bruising and he begins to manhandle Kaeya, like he's no more than a doll, grinding him on his cock in search of his own pleasure.

Kaeya chokes on a laugh, crazed with pleasure. He lets Capitano use him, his head falling back, eye unseeing on the ceiling. He has a moment, nearly delirious, where he wonders if Capitano is still fertile. If it's dangerous to let this happen raw. Then Capitano smacks his ass again, so hard Kaeya registers the noise before he feels the shock of pain, and he comes so hard his vision goes white.

When he returns to himself, panting and sweaty, he's laying down again, Capitano fucking into him relentlessly. It's too much pleasure too soon, makes him cold in his stomach with the white-hot pain of it, but he doesn't think he could bear telling Capitano to stop—certainly doesn't have the strength to push him away.

Capitano's fingers trace the edge of Kaeya's eye-patch, the only part of him still covered. "Show me," he says, frenzied, his voice trembling. "I need to see."

Kaeya doesn't fight him—merely closes his eyes and wraps his legs around Capitano's waist. Capitano pulls the eye-patch off, and the gentle kiss Capitano places to his scarred eyelid belies the way he buries himself in Kaeya's cunt a moment later, spilling inside him, onto the sheets.

Kaeya doesn't open his eyes. He thinks, if he did, it would be the first time he's cried since he was a child. He laughs instead, a helpless, tired noise, and Capitano laughs with him.

Later, when they are wiped off and no longer panting, Kaeya lays his head on Capitano's chest through his clothes and listens to his heartbeat, surprised it is there at all.

Capitano pets through Kaeya's hair, his pants done up again but his cock still half-hard in them. "I would kill who did that to you, if you wished it."

Kaeya hums. It is strange to use his right eye for sight like this, watching the rise and fall of Capitano's chest. "He had reason. We have moved past it." He pauses, wetting his sore lips. "When you are gone, when Dainsleif is gone, he is what I have left."

Capitano's hand does not falter in his hair. "Many families turned on each other as Khaenri'ah fell. My acceptance does not mean I like it."

"We all accept many truths to survive."

Capitano tugs on a strand of Kaeya's hair, just hard enough to sting. "Tomorrow will be a mess, you know. My reputation means nothing here, but yours does."

"I think we are far past the point of worrying about political implications of what happened here tonight."

"And what would you say happened?"

Kaeya sighs, running a hand over Capitano's stomach, feeling the outline of his crystallized ribs. "Two lost men shared a drink. No one needs to know anything more."

Capitano presses a kiss to the crown of his head and says nothing more.

In the morning, the bruises remain.