#but I just think Crepus has something else going on

[cluescorner]

Brighella Real (4.1 Spoilers)

I'm gonna talk about new info we got about the harbingers in 4.1, spoilers for that.

Ok, so now we know that Arle is 4th. I love that for her. And you know what I love more? 10th IS PROBABLY OPEN SO GUESS WHAT FUCKING BRIGHELLA IS FUCKING AROUND SOMEWHERE! It never made any fucking sense that Sandrone and both Scaramucci and Capitano were there when FUCKING BRIGHELLA WAS NOT! Brighella is like...one of the most popular and important characters in the Comedia. Like, he's no Arlecchino but he's certainly above characters like Sandrone and Tartaglia. So, it's gotta be Brighella. Plus, Brighella is the exact type of motherfucker who would hide himself from the other characters. He's a fucking scheming little shit, and if anyone was to obscure their very existence in the plot it would be Brighella.

So....what is Brighella's deal? Why wouldn't they show them during the Lazzo when literally everyone else was? I think there's two possibilities, also maybe overlapping with each other. 1. Brighella is either dead or has somehow left their position, and 2. Brighella's identity will be a twist and revealing them in the Lazzo would ruin the twist. The overlap comes if it is a character who we know who is ALSO dead/fucked off. Again, both of these things uniquely suit Brighella more than any of the other unused Comedia archetypes. Personally, I hope Brighella is a character we know but don't know is a Harbinger. I think that would be fucking cool.

As for who it would be...bro IDK. I've seen people throw Crepus's name around and I like that idea (mostly because it makes the story of the Wine Family both more sad and more hilarious) but I just don't know if there is enough evidence yet. Like, he has a delusion and a shady past that has yet to be elaborated on that made it so that Fatui/Dottore targeted him specifically. That's some pretty good circumstantial evidence and it also makes sense thematically with both Diluc and Kaeya's characters. But like...those things also have other explanations. And I don't think Crepus particularly makes sense from a logistical angle considering that like...what could they possibly have recruited him with? Why would he want to seize authority from the Gods? Or otherwise, what other thing could they recruit him with (ie fighting with Childe)? Additionally, we don't know of any combat experience he has and the only other harbingers who seem purely like administrative/logistical picks include the richest man in Teyvat who made Snezhnaya one of the largest economic powerhouses in the world and the biggest politician in Snezhnaya who can easily sway the people to support the Fatui unconditionally + he might have an important role in recruiting people. Compared the them, Crepus doesn't measure up. Sure he controls the wine industry in Mondstadt and is a noble there, but the Fatui don't really seem to be struggling in Mondstadt and we know that Pantalone has operations there to take over the wine industry. So while I like the idea that it's Crepus and I think it's fairly probable, I don't think it particularly makes sense when you look at it from the Fatui's perspective.

[conlaluce]

thinking about diluc and kaeya each having their own complicated relationship with religion. crepus is a devout believer of the anemo archon, to me, so he definitely took his kids with him to mass at the cathedral, if not every sunday then at least once or twice a month.

diluc learned to pray from his father; learned to give thanks to the god who gave this city its freedom, the god who blesses them with gentle weather and bountiful lands and protects them from tyranny. he believes wholly and truly in the anemo archon's grace; his father does, after all, and everyone says barbatos is great and benevolent and kind and helped found the nation he loves so dearly.

kaeya doesn't like mass very much, but he never says so. it makes him uncomfortable, especially in the beginning, worshipping one of the gods that his homeland has reviled - but he wants to fit in, he doesn't want to lose his place here. and surely, surely, it would be a dead giveaway to his "true" allegiances if he refused to pray to mondstadt's god. so kaeya closes his eyes and pretends to pray, because better this than losing another home. (better this than failing his mission, than failing in his duty to khaenri'ah.)

and then, diluc's 18th birthday passes. ursa the drake attacks. crepus dies. diluc leaves mondstadt. kaeya is left, alone, the only ragnvindr left (except there aren't any, really, because he isn't a ragnvindr anymore, he isn't allowed to be.)

the first time diluc's vision starts to go out, the light flickering and fading and dying, kaeya prays. for the first time, he doesn't pretend, he doesn't close his eyes and clasp his hands together just for show - he prays.

please. please. let diluc live. please don't let him die. he can't die. i know you hate me, but you can't let him die, he's one of yours, isn't he? he's a child of mondstadt. he has to stay alive. save him, please, please-

(i can't lose him too)

diluc's vision never does go out all the way. it always retains its light, even if only slightly. maybe the anemo archon really did protect him. maybe barbatos answered kaeya's prayers.

sometimes, when diluc's vision is weak, kaeya prays. surely, barbatos will at least grant him this. surely, barbatos wouldn't be opposed to keeping a child of mondstadt safe.

when diluc finally comes back home, kaeya closes his eyes and whispers a quiet thanks to his god.

diluc, on the other hand, no longer prays. hasn't, since that day.

he doesn't think he deserves to.

kaeya said something, that night, about khaenri'ans being sinners. a people who have been condemned by the gods themselves for their sins. he said it so viciously, so bitterly, so sincerely. like he believed it, wholly and truly.

if you're a sinner, then what am i?

kinslayer. a failure of a knight. a man who could not save anyone when it mattered most, who raised a blade to his own family. killer of his own father, and nearly his brother, too. he has learned to kill without feeling the slightest hint of remorse, to steal and torture and deceive. he has committed so many atrocities he can no longer count them all. his sins are far worse than kaeya's have ever been, will ever be.

if you're a sinner, then so am i.

diluc doesn't pray anymore. he's a little scared to.

and besides, no gods would save him now, would they?

not with all the blood on his hands.

some time after his return to mondstadt, diluc starts attending mass again. every sunday, he enters the cathedral with the rest of the crowd, chooses a quiet spot in the back, and waits for the service to begin.

he doesn't pray.

when everyone else's heads are bowed together in prayer, diluc lowers his head to show respect, but his eyes are open. his hands lie still in his lap. he stares at the wood of the pews in front of him as the sister leading the service offers words of thanks to barbatos. he does not pray.

does he even deserve to ask anything of the gods now?

and then diluc finds out the annoying bard that frequents his tavern is actually a god. is actually barbatos. not just any god - his god.

his god trusts him to keep his human guise a secret. his god tolerates him enough to become a regular at his tavern and beg him for freebies.

okay. this is fine.

(vaguely, diluc wonders if it is heresy to say no when your god asks you for something. repeatedly. but their dynamic has been like this for months before venti's true identity was revealed, and the god has shown no indication of wanting to change that. so, for now, diluc will treat him the same as he always has.)

sometimes, he thinks about asking. asking venti - asking barbatos - if he would forgive diluc of his sins. if he deserves to be forgiven.

he never does ask.

[raylazuko]

So we know nothing about Diluc’s mother right? Other than she probably died when he was little and Adelinde helped raise him.

But what if she isn’t/wasn’t dead and trapped somewhere? Or she died and her soul was trapped somewhere for some reason? And Crepus was using the delusion to try to save her.

What if she either got cursed by someone for soemthing she did or she cursed herself by accident? I’ve heard rumors she was into witchcraft or something. And if she got cursed that’s why she died.

Or maybe she was killed or something and Crepus didn’t have a vision to save her so he used a dellusion so that the same thing wouldn’t happen to Diluc or Kaeya. (Remember Kaeya didn’t have a vision until after Crepus died so he’d be naturally more vulnerable.)

Also I consider it very possible that Crepus knows something about Kaeya even if Kaeya never told him. Just like speculation. Khaenri’ahns have those primogem eyes. He never brought it up or questioned further not to upset Kaeya who either doesn’t remember what happened or refuses to talk about it. It’s hard to keep a secret for that many years so it makes me think either Kaeya had his memory wiped in some way. Like he knows he’s supposed to be a spy but doesn’t remember much else or his memory got blocked because of trauma. Trauma fucks with your memory and concept of time, trust me, I know.

I think Varka knows. He must know. He probably either doesn’t question it out of kindness or good will OR he knows Kaeya is powerful and wants him on his side and won’t wanna antagonize him. I don’t really trust Varka.

Now moving on, we know nothing about either of Kaeya’s parents but considering the whole abandonment thing, and that the Alberiches are probably crazy abyss shills, I would imagine Kaeya’s father was abusive in some way. Also I talked about it in another post but Kaeya’s mom is probably Sumerian or Natlese but more likely Sumerian because of Kaeya’s outfit, the trip when he was a kid, and the geography.

Idk I get freaky weird supremacist vibes from the Abyss order and they are probably nuts about blood purity. Like considering what happed with Caribert and that he was used for an experiment it kinda makes me think that non pureblood kids are not well regarded. My thought is that Kaeya IS powerful with abyss powers but his father is mad about this because Kaeya isn’t pureblood and instead of blaming himself for having an extramarital affair, he just takes it out on Kaeya himself. Kaeya’s mother was either killed or sent away imo. If she was sent away, Kaeya probably doesn’t know where she is since he doesn’t go looking for her. Or he was lied to and told she died. I would guess she’s probably an Eremite and doesn’t know where he is either.

Either it was just an affair when kaeya’s father was on the surface for some reason or he kidnapped kaeya’s mother as a slave/mistress which unfortunately seems like something the abyss order would do. Either way I headcanon that she kicks ass and is actually powerful and has a dendro vision or some shit. Like that would be sick.

In other words we know nothing about the parents here except the limited things we do know about Crepus but yeah, I wanna know more haha. Like just imagine if Diluc’s mom is a powerful witch from Fontaine or something (oh shit what if she has Fatui connections).

So yeah, maybe either Crepus got looped into working for the Fatui because of his wife, or maybe she left the Fatui to marry him and they hunted her down and killed her! And then Crepus works against the Fatui to avenge her and some of his “business trips” are actually underground intelligence. And maybe his wife had the dellusion when she worked for them and it got kept as an heirloom OR he got it to protect himself and kids after failing to protect her. Or maybe it’s out of anger and vengeance.

Either way I need to know more about their moms, this shit is crazy.

[dandelion-wings]

In the classic 'warmups that ate my whole writing session,' have some not-so-baby Kaeya (he's like fourteen here, but still fairly newly-come to the Dawn Winery) from yet another AU @theabysscomeshome and I were kicking around on Discord yesterday. >> I like the Dawn Winery family vibes, okay.

---

They have a lot of trust to rebuild after the incident. Master Crepus says that they need to start with more focused language lessons, so that they can actually explain to Kaeya what's going on. Adelinde does understand where he's coming from, but she thinks it needs to be a little more basic than that.

Fortunately, Kaeya seems to have latched onto her as the safest person around: domestic, slight of build, without a Vision and apparently not combat-trained. He doesn't have to know what the head housemaid has taught her to do with kitchen knives (or what she has done with them for Master Diluc, the once, and what she would gladly do for him). She takes care to be always gentle with him, to keep her voice soft, to reinforce that perception of safety. To make her someone he doesn't feel he has to flee.

Master Crepus looks sorrowful every time Kaeya ducks behind her when he enters the room. He understands why, though, and he doesn't press. There's time enough for Kaeya to re-learn how kind he, too, can be. For now, Master Crepus reassigns Adelinde from all her other duties. Taking care of Kaeya is one of only two she has to concern herself with. Keeping watch on him is the other.

He *was* the other half of the incident, after all. What he did cannot happen ever again.

Despite that reassignment, Adelinde carries on with some of a housemaid's work, picking and choosing whatever seems to suit Kaeya's needs that day. It means she spends a lot of time in the kitchen. He may not trust them, but putting temptation in front of him long enough does induce him to eat. And everyone from the Cathedral's healers to the fieldworkers agree that he absolutely needs to be fed.

"Two cups of flour," Adelinde tells him, showing him the bag, then each scoop, as she measures it into the bowl. Formal language lessons are all well and good, but she knows that the expensive Akademiya tutor isn't teaching him this vocabulary. That he can see in the process that she's not putting anything harmful into the food is just as important.

(That first potion was, she thinks, a terrible idea. It was absolutely necessary; the Mages' taint *had* to be cleared, or it might have killed him or worse. And there was no way to tell him in words why it was given, or what the effects would be. But they never should have slipped it into his food.)

"Salt," she goes on, showing him the block. "We'll scrape some off. That's enough. Then we'll cut in the butter, and the lard. You want to taste that? It won't taste good, but all right. Now we sprinkle milk over it as we knead it together. I'll do that. Do you want to start chopping the meat?"

No one else would approve of giving him a knife, which is why Adelinde has cleared out a small side-kitchen instead of working in the main one. The thing is, he knows full well he's under watch. She sees how he flinches whenever someone looks so much as alarmed at his behavior. He's afraid of being hurt, again, if anyone even thinks he's trying more magery. How can he think otherwise, with his burns still healing and Sir Jean checking in almost daily on Diluc's behalf? It's not as if his fears are groundless. If he attempts another Abyssal ritual, they'll have to do *something* to stop him.

If they want him to trust them, they need to demonstrate that they're willing to trust him in exchange. So, the knife. Adelinde isn't ready to turn her back on him yet while he's holding it, but she'll do that eventually, too. For now it's no surprise that she isn't when she's working at the same counter and all that they'll need is already arrayed in front of them.

She rolls out the pastry and divides it out into the pie pans while he chops the meat fine and dumps it into the bowl. Then, after making him wash his hands, she presents the spice rack before him. "What do you want to put into this?"

For this, she gives him is the appropriately-sized spoon and free rein. The pies may come out oddly-tasting this way--they have before--but he knows by now what she does use, and she wants to let him experiment. He tastes a bit of each spice, thoughtfully, mixes them in his hand and tries various combinations, and finally pours scoops of each one he's chosen into the bowl. Adelinde watches him out of the corner of her eye as she whips the eggs, but he doesn't do anything she'd have to scold him for--dumping a whole spice jar in, or licking his finger and sticking it into a jar to taste, or touching the meat and then a jar. He's so much more careful with food than Master Diluc ever was.

Pouring the eggs in, she offers him the spoon. "Do you want to stir?"

He does. Adelinde watches as he mixes it all together, then pours it into the pastry herself before showing him how to fold the tops up. Then into the oven--he stays well back from the heat--and she makes them both hot cocoa while they wait for them to bake. He huddles over his mug like he expects it to be taken from him. Or tampered with.

(*How* she wishes they hadn't put that potion into his food.)

She takes the pies out herself and puts them on the cooling rack, pretending not to notice Kaeya scraping the last, dregs of cocoa from the pot while her back is turned. He never tries to ask for more

than he's offered, and that's from more than just the language barrier; he's expressive enough in his gestures when he wants to be. Someday she'll be able to tell him that he can have as much as he likes. For now, she'll let him get away with all his pilferage.

And make more hot chocolate while the pies are cooling, of course.

By the time they've finished the second pot, they're cool enough to eat without burning his mouth. Adelinde gets out a plate, then pauses, a thought occurring to her. Instead of loading it up herself, she hands it to Kaeya, then steps back, gesturing towards the rack. "How many do you want?"

The look he gives her is eloquently disbelieving. She can almost hear the question: surely she's not telling him to take the whole batch. There's no way to explain to him yet that she *would* let him have it all if he wanted, and hope he had the sense to save some for later rather than give himself the stomachache, but that's not the point. Right now she just wants to give him a choice.

She's expecting him to simply take a pie or two, readying herself to smile and nod in approval so he knows he's not taking too much. Instead, he looks at the rack, clearly counting off, then looks at her and says, with tremendous care, "I want... two?" He holds up two fingers as he says it.

It's the first time he's actually tried to answer her in Mond. Adelinde beams at him.

"Yes, you can have two," she says. "Or more. Three, or four, or five," she adds, holding up her fingers in turn, because she doesn't know whether 'more' is a word he's learned yet, nor any of the numbers. "As many as you want."

Kaeya studies her for a moment as if looking for a trap, then says, "I want four."

"You can have four." Adelinde gestures again towards the rack, encouragingly. "Choose whichever ones you like."

He takes the pies, quickly, before she can take the offer back, and then returns to the little table in the corner and hunches over them. Adelinde takes three pies for herself. She only really wants one, but she hopes that this way he won't think he's over-indulging; she can manage two, and wrap the third in her napkin as demonstration, so that if he does end up finding he's taken too much he'll know it's all right to keep for later.

She compliments his spice choices as they eat, though privately she thinks the rosemary was too much. Kaeya unhunches, slowly, once he's wolfed the first two down and finds himself working his way more slowly through the third. He's looking uncertainly at the fourth when Adelinde finishes her own second pie. She deliberately wraps hers in her napkin and tucks it into her pocket, making sure he's watching. He wraps his own, watching her as she does it and relaxing further when she nods.

"I want... one more?" He holds up a finger, again, and the wrapped pie in the other hand, and Adelinde smiles and nods at him before rising to get him another napkin. Kaeya pockets them and looks satisfied. Then he looks up at her and, again in Mond, says something that from the intonation he must have learned in his formal lessons. "Thank you."

Something warm swells in Adelinde's chest. "You're welcome," she tells him, and on impulse holds her arms out wide. He steps forward into the hug, tentative at first, then clinging tight when she pulls him in against her. She pretends not to notice how he's shaking and simply holds him until he chooses to let go.

It feels like a first step forward, after all their steps back. She's so, so proud to be part of it.

[lilyandthegenshinbrainrot]

Leyline Bard Chapter 7 Notes

aka a ramble that I couldn't in good faith put at the end of my chapter 😭

"The Knights standing guard at the entrance of the building that Gunnhildr brought them to had straightened their posture at the sight of her, bringing up a fist to their hearts. She tilted her chin in acknowledgement, and brought up a hand in a short wave. Dismissive, but not unkind. In fact, she seemed like a fairytale character, tall and noble in her movements..."

> She's the people's princess !! Everyone respects the hell out of her !!

"He smirks at their displeasure, the star in his eye twinkling. Amused. This was funny to him. They sneer at the expression.

Let the enemy reveal its own weakness, if they will but Cecil will not be exposing any more of themselves."

> Cecil is thinking about how Kaeya is reminding them of those in the court of the Tyrant, however the specific link on the Khaenri'ahn eye and usage of "enemy" is a fun one !! What would you know of such things Bard...

"There was something corrupted in the roots, and it caused all those people to be stuck in their final moments."

> While an obvious recounting of Imperatrix Umbrosa II, this is also a call to the first chapter while Barbatos notes these things as something happening !! This is a note of just recapping that Mondstadt is more in the loop of things than the Traveler may suspect

"The mage- Lisa, exchanges a glance with Venti and giggles. She leans forward, as though sharing a secret. Her expression is mischievous and her voice takes on a conspiratorial tone. / Her eyes are bright with curiosity and Cecil feels the eagerness. The call for adventure and the lure of something unknowable is tempting."

> This is a reference to both the fact that Lisa was scouted by Alice to join the Hexenzirkel and her vision story !! How a woman wanted to understand certain things so badly, that the heavens caved to her wonder. Interesting for Bard to be having the same desires !!

"Cecil glances at the Captain’s eyepatch. Then, at the way the Maiden favors her left leg."

> Besides being a note of possible weaknesses that Cecil CAN and WILL exploit, the note about Lisa's leg is a reference to the way that in her attack patterns, she is left-legged. This means that is her dominant leg in which she revolves her movement around. Cecil is targeting places that would incapacitate the Knights.

"But… something about this seems like there’s more that they don’t know.

The Captain’s expression is especially dark."

> This is a reference to the experiments that the Fatui did on Mondstadtian children and how it led to the death of Crepus Ragnvindr + Kaeya being disowned. The Knights are furious at the fact that the Fatui returned to THEIR LANDS to commit such egregious acts.

CONCEPTS

> I am begging yall to notice the many times that Cecil compares the Gunnhildr that they know to Jean. it's very sweet to me that she would be like her forebear 🙏🙏🙏

> Cecil starts using the given names of people once they learn them,,, except for Jean. How they go back to titles when Kaeya and Lisa become threats again... And Jean calls them all by their given names, except for Lumine.

There is power in names, and Cecil does not respect any of these freaks except for Venti and Gunnhildr, which is why they get their consideration and everyone else is just getting called what Cecil knows them by. Once they understand names and titles, please expect them to start calling people by their titles externally while I write their given names to keep everyone aware of who is who.

> The fight with Paimon is layered, enough for its own post, which you can read in the post linked below:

In short, she has been very inhospitable and TERRIBLY impolite this entire time and that is an INSANE concept to Cecil. The only reason it did not happen immediately is bc Lumine scares them, but Cecil is not the kind of person to be influenced by fear for long so.

> Jean's burst ! Her burst is described as smth along the lines of her wish being related to her magnanimity which is. generosity or forgiveness towards a rival or less powerful person.

Jean forcibly settles the argument by enforcing such a gentle vibe that it literally caused Cecil to stop being so pissed and get confused as to why they are no longer pissed

very importantly, her sword is not drawn when she does this. It is a non-threatening stance, and that is bc she speaks Old Mondstadtian. She knows exactly what Cecil was saying and why they were so angry, unlike Lisa, Kaeya, and Lumine who were ready to resort to violence. Isn't Jean just the best 🥰🥰??

[fatuismooches]

I'm coping so hard with the fact I'll probably have to wait ~2 years to see Pantalone bc he literally has no reason to leave Snezhnaya🙂💧

At the very least I hope to see Sandrone in Fontaine please, please, please

I heard theory that Arlie will betray the Tsaritsa (bc Childe said he'd do that and Scara called her "wolf in the sheep's clothing", plus in trailer she's surrounded by harbingers figures, but not a part of them). Maaaybe GI will finally add more morally gray characters in character rooster and Arlie will follow us (and become playable as a result) only bc of her own benefit (kinda like Yae Miko). One thing I want is - please, don't change her appearance, especially her clothes, she's perfect the way she is. Don't add her skirt or shorts with kneesocks, leave her her cool tuxedo😔

Another theory I heard is that her arms are black not bc she's wearing gloves, but it's a damage from using delusion. Which... Gives me a small angsty idea. As we saw in Inazuma archon quest, delusion drains vitality out of their user, as for Crepus - he was in such great pain from using it that Diluc had to kill him. So, imagine Reader being concerned for Arlie bc she's in pain after using her delusion, but she brushes it off, after all she's a high-ranked harbinger, maybe she'll even try to hide her pain from Reader as much as possible to not seem weak in their eyes

-can I be 🥀 anon if it's not taken yet?

LITERALLY SAMEEEEE 🥀 ANON IT'S LITERALLY NOT FAIR AT ALLL 😭 Pantalone really is chilling in Snezhnaya, controlling the economy and money flow ig 😭🚶‍♀️ I also can't think of a reason why he would leave, other than perhaps a Liyue mission, because Yelan does say he has his eye on Liyue. I do have a lot of faith that Sandrone will appear in Fontaine, so I'm very excited for her at least!

Yup yup I've heard that theory too! I think it's super cool, and I can really see it happening. But it also makes me wonder how she'll survive if she betrays the Fatui. The Fatui probably doesn't take traitors lightly so she might have a lot of people after her if she does betray them. Girl's gonna be on the run I guess. And now who's gonna run the orphanage? The Fatui are losing their top members hella quickly, makes me wonder how the fight against Celestia is gonna play out. And i completely agree, she needs to keep her tuxedo!! But if she does betray the Fatui, it'll probably end up getting changed a bit, just to cut off association with them.

I've been wondering for a while why her arms are black even though she's not wearing gloves, and that's actually a really interesting theory. I can see her as a person willing to do anything for her goals... even if that means she gets injured herself (though she's always ready to use someone else to take the fall for her.)

You did not need to be a fighter to know the dangers of using a Delusion. It could grant you unspeakable power, but also have drawbacks better left to the imagination. Sure, the Harbingers were capable of controlling it. But sometimes things don't always go as planned.

She was strong, extremely strong, you believed that more than anyone. But you couldn't help but worry, especially when she nearly burst into your shared room, making you jump from the unexpectedly loud entrance. It seemed that she didn't expect you to be here right now, not at this time. You were usually elsewhere in the mansion. And she was usually not home at this time. And you immediately knew why.

"You're hurt," you quickly stood up. Something almost unnoticeable flickered in her eyes as she rebutted your statement.

"It is nothing. I am fine," she replied calmly, brushing off your words. You furrowed your eyebrows at her dismissal.

"Arlie, please consider taking a break from that... thing. It simply isn't good for-"

"[Name]. You know what my mission is. What I have to fulfill." Her voice came off sterner than she intended it to be and she realized as she noticed your quietness.

"There is no bleeding," she stated, returning to a softer tone. "I truly am fine. You need not worry. I just came to pick something up for business." You didn't want to sigh in front of her. Though her face had no trace of pain, you knew she was lying. She was hiding it from you.

You knew better than to push the subject. So right now, the only thing you could do was let it go, as you walked up to your lover and slowly wrapped your hands around her from behind. Arlecchino was still stiff from the tension in the conversation.

"Just... be careful out there." Arlecchino didn't respond, but she brought her hands up to cup your arms. Nothing else was to be said as the two of you stood there, relishing each other's company.

But your heart still hurt when you saw the medical supplies and pills you left for her were used.

[kaeyachi]

A reinterpretation(?)/theory of what may have happened that led to the night Kaeya and Diluc fought:

or how i wanted it to be anyway

Spoilers for Kaeya and Diluc lore just in case you dont know about it yet.

What if Diluc wasn't mad about Kaeya being a spy for Khaenri'ah, and was instead mad about something else Kaeya also confessed to?

Kaeya is/was a spy for Khaenri'ah, but his skills for spywork did not go unoticed by the KoF, leading him to become a spy for them too.

I could imagine Kaeya doing undercover work for the Knights of Favonius regarding fatui activity, only for his intel to bring him back to the KoF, and even worse, to Crepus and the delusion he purchased.

The KoF will be harder to figure out, but he could ask Crepus about the delusion. He can't help but worry because he knows of the dangers based on his intel.

He confronts Crepus, and Crepus tells him to keep it a secret from Diluc.

That...is another father in his life telling him to keep quiet and hide things. Kaeya might have felt a sense of dejavu- his bio father and Crepus are the same, asking him to hide something so crucial and dangerous- he'd do it anyway.

because he's a loyal and loving son that follows orders

That means Kaeya technically had a part in getting Crepus killed- by not telling anyone about the delusion.

Did he perhaps felt relieved he no longer had Crepus's secret to keep? And then felt guilty for thinking so because Crepus died? And if Diluc still doesn't know that he knew...doesn't he have to tell Diluc about it? It's part of his top secret mission for the KoF so he shouldn't be saying anything about it but...

...he has to tell Diluc or else the guilt would eat him up.

And of course Diluc would get mad. Why didn't Kaeya tell anyone about what Crepus had done? If Kaeya told him about it, then maybe his father wouldn't be dead. He wouldn't have had to kill him with his own hands.

Kaeya expected the anger. He did not expect almost getting killed for it.

And after Kaeya receives his cryo vision with clipped wings, Diluc's anger would have been depleted and he would surely feel guilty for nearly killing and actually leaving Kaeya permanently scarred because Kaeya was just following orders. (maybe he doesn't deserve to be in Kaeya's life after what he'd done)

While Kaeya really would feel bitter and spiteful about how Diluc reacted, but he doesn't really blame him because he thinks he deserved it for keeping said secret that got Crepus killed and the fact that he was sent to them for a nefarious reason in the first place (maybe the Ragnvindr family would have been better off if he didn't arrive in their life)

They don't hate eachother, they just didn't like the events and the choices that led them here, and they don't know how to reconcile after what they've done to the other.

tldr: the real secret is Kaeya knowing about the delusion that Crepus got and its dangers, and him keeping it a secret from Diluc- a secret that costed Crepus his life.

[tenebriism]

It's . . . a lot to take in, really, and considering the life he leads, it takes a LOT for something to, well, BE a lot for the winery owner. Kaeya is treating him, NOT like an estranged sibling, but like a VIP guest at an inn whom he was HELLBENT on not allowing to lift a single finger, if possible. It distantly reminds him of how they had once been, as TRUE brothers, going above and beyond to ensure the other was as happy, as content, as SAFE as their innocent, naïve existences could allow, back then.

Idly, he smooths a finger over the curved exterior of the bowl, his appetite ( rather, lack thereof ) not quite allowing him to take more than a few sips before he feels like anymore may come right back up. Nerves were fickle, troublesome things . . . he wishes he could tear them out as easily as his own hair, but like everything else STRESSFUL in his life ( and the list - - - archons, was it endless ), he would have to face it head-on.

The eldest Ragnvindr seats himself on the opposite end of the couch, and carefully balances the bowl within the palms of his hands, letting the silence befall them as he gives Kaeya time to eat. He knows the Knights are taught to eat quickly--- one never knows when he or she will be called away for duty, after all, but this seems . . . almost unnaturally quick. By the time he works up the courage to part his lips and urge Kaeya to pace himself, the bowl is empty, and without need to even CONSIDER it, Diluc is passing his own over to Kaeya. " Here, I ate before I came. It was good, though, the . . . sample that I had. "

The smile he offers thereafter is tragically shortlived. He turns away, leaning over and propping his elbows atop his thighs, fingers lacing betwixt one another. Okay, he'd gotten this far . . . WHAT NEXT ? He could spend all the time in the world going into intricate depth about his THOUGHT PROCESS on that fateful day. No, he hadn't been thinking . . . he'd felt so lost, confused, betrayed, and it was then and there, the unhealthy coping mechanisms formed.

It didn't excuse how he'd nearly killed his own brother, however. Nay, he couldn't promise that he'd have EMBRACED Kaeya, or accepted him until quite some time after, still, had the truth of his origins been offered at any point before or AFTER Crepus' death, but he knew, deep down, no matter HOW horrible the timing had been . . . no matter how much he WISHED he hadn't been told when his world had already seemed on the very cusp of ENDING . . . to actively HURT his own brother had been INEXCUSABLE.

" I . . . I wanted to say I'm s . . . " His voice catches within his throat, and the strain in his hands is visible as he squeezes them together. Deep breath in, deep breath out . . . don't run, Diluc. Even if you absolutely cannot look your own baby brother in the eye, just SAY IT.

" I'm s o r r y. "

And once it's out, he cannot stop himself, the flood gates have opened, and all that he has kept PENT UP for years is given a voice. Finally. " I shouldn't have hurt you, I shouldn't have raised a blade to my own DAMN brother, and then I pushed you away, and--- what if I had lost you that day, too !? With dad, and . . . I wasn't THINKING--- " He hides himself away into the now risen, trembling palms of his hands, and pulls at the very hair he, still, WISHES was as difficult to rid himself of as these nauseating nerves. " I'm sorry. I'm so, so, so, so . . . fuck . . . I'm so sorry . . . "

kaeya looks almost sheepish as diluc steps across the threshold and into his flat. it's ... really not much; he's managed to turn an ugly place into a rather cozy one ( inasmuch as that's achievable with such a rundown place, anyway ), what with a few tastefully-placed decorations, a few throw pillows, and some heavy blankets on the couch in front of the fireplace. his gaze flits nervously to diluc's face and then drops to the floor as if ashamed. "it's not much, but ... make yourself at home, 'luc. i'm ... sorry it's not a bit warmer."

( the heavy sweater he's wearing speaks volumes about how (un)happy kaeya himself is about that fact. )

he does perk up a little at the bottle; as if out of thin air, two wineglasses materialize, and kaeya flashes his big brother a genuine smile --- dimples and all. "thanks, 'luc. you didn't have to."

he disappears into the kitchen and reemerges with not one, but two bowls, both full of a piping-hot and hearty-smelling soup. "you don't have to have any if you don't want, but ... it's meant to ... y'know ... keep your constitution up and all that in the winter." perhaps ironically, for someone with a cryo vision, kaeya's never handled the cold well; even the tincture of time hasn't quite been sufficient for him to adapt to such a wildly different climate than that of his homeland. "if not, i'll be ... quick about it."

diluc is one of a precious few individuals on teyvat who get to see this side of the cavalry captain: the side that proceeds to cocoon himself in two heavy blankets as he sits as close to the fire as his couch will allow, delicately sipping his soup from the bowl. his gaze doesn't once leave diluc as he does, and the hurriedness with which he eats suggests he's gone most of the day without much --- which isn't ... atypical, but it's unfortunate nonetheless.

finally, and with a notable ( and earnest ) concern: "of course, 'luc. i'll always listen to anything you have to say. you're sure everything's all right ? that ... you're alright ?"

one hand snakes its way out from under the blanket, stretches towards diluc. it's an invitation --- an innocent one, much like kaeya's shy gestures from their youth.

"what's on your mind, yaa 'akhii ? it's eating at you."

[bumbleklee]

something happens and im head over heels (diluc x reader)

hi hello hi! havent posted in a while so please be gentle with me (i am fragile). feel free to leave a comment, would love to chat with you guys about this little piece

pairing: diluc x gn!reader

characters: diluc, baby!klee, reader, unnamed neighbor

synopsis: diluc is stuck babysitting his neighbor’s baby–the only problem? he isn’t really the babysitting type. good thing you are!

key tags: minor cursing, babyfic, first kiss, clueless diluc, modern!au (technically college era but no mention of college), lowkey punk!diluc

word count: 4109

“I tried calling Jean but she isn’t around and then I phoned Eula but I think I sent her into overdrive at just the thought of babysitting.” You hear Diluc shushing the baby in between words. “What if I just drop her off at the fire station and her mom can pick her up after her shift?” 

“Okay–don’t do that.” You shake your head in bewilderment, imagining the absolute shit-show that would be. “You just need to calm down. She’s probably freaking out because you’re freaking out.” 

There’s shuffling in the background and Diluc curses when he knocks something over. “She gave me a bag, right?” He continues, his voice laced with pure disconcertment, “And I don’t even know what half of this stuff is. There’s like a bunch of plastic thingies and a bag of powder that kind of looks like meth–” 

“Not meth.” You interrupt him. “I mean, probably not meth.” 

“That’s not the point,” Diluc emphasizes, “The point is that I’m a fucking loss and really need your help.” 

(full story underneath cut)

Diluc Ragnvindr doesn’t know much about his neighbor. He knows that she’s young, probably in her late 20s or early 30s, and that she’s a single mom to a little baby girl (who has a tendency to wake up in the middle of the night and cry so loudly that it nearly wakes up everybody in their apartment building). He also knows that she works at the local hospital–specifically in the emergency room–and that her mom usually comes around every evening to watch the baby. But other than a simple wave to each other when they simultaneously take the trash out, Diluc doesn’t really know her. 

So when she shows up on his doorstep at eight thirty at night with a bundle of pink blankets in her arms and a panicked look across her face, Diluc was, to say the least, surprised. 

“Um, you’re Diluc, right?” She stammers nervously, bouncing the baby in her arms. “Crepus’ son?” 

Diluc blinks once. Then twice. “Yeah,” He says, “That’s me.” 

The woman stares at Diluc for a moment, like she was contemplating everything in her life that had led up to this point, before heaving a desolate sigh. “Is your dad home by any chance?” Her tone suggests she already knows the answers and Diluc catches her anxious eyes darting from him to the vague view of his living room.

“He’s away this weekend. Sorry.” 

“Dammit.” His neighbor thinks for a while longer, clicking her tongue against the inside of her mouth a few times before asking, “Have you ever babysat before?” 

Diluc holds back a laugh. Babysit? Him? This must have been a life-or-death situation if his sweet neighbor was asking him to watch her daughter. Because, sure, they didn’t know each other but Diluc doesn’t doubt for a moment that she has some assumptions based on his appearance alone. 

“Err…isn’t there anyone else you can ask?” Diluc asks awkwardly, his eyes drifting down the apartment hallway as if someone much more suitable for the role is going to pop out. 

“Believe me, you’re the last person I would have thought about asking.” His neighbor says nonchalantly and Diluc tries not to take offense. “But there was a bad accident on Route 46 and I was called in to the hospital. My mom is out of town too, otherwise I would have asked her. And–” She gestures to the closed doors lining the long hallway, “–I don’t even think anyone lives in those apartments. At least I know your place is habitable.” She pauses again and her eyes shift down, gazing sadly at the quiet baby in her arms. "It's so hard being a single parent...I barely have any help and just..."

Her voice wavers more and more with each word and it looks like she’s about to start crying. But before she could crack, Diluc huffs quietly and crosses his arms across his chest. 

“Okay, okay,” He says exasperatedly. “I’ll watch her. Go save lives. Or whatever.” 

His neighbor’s face lights up at his agreement and before Diluc can fully comprehend what's happening, the baby is being shoved in his arms and a black bag full of many things is dropped at his feet. She whirls around, straightening her scrubs, and looks over her shoulder one last time. 

“Call the front desk if you need anything!” She calls, blowing a kiss to her daughter. 

“Wait!” Diluc yells, a sudden wave of dread washing over him. “Does she need to eat? How do you change a diaper? Does she have a name?” 

Ignoring his more-important questions, his neighbor yells back, “Her name is Klee! Thanks again!” 

Diluc watches as his neighbor races towards the elevator at the end of the hall, presses a button, and disappears from view. He stares at the empty hallway for a second before the baby in his arms makes a noise–reminding him that, oh yeah, he’s in charge of a baby now. 

He turns to look at the baby, his arms tightening around his tiny frame, and mumbles to no one in particular. “What did I get myself into?” 

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　

Your phone rings four times before you manage to grab it. “I’m coming, I’m coming,” You say to the ringtone before grabbing your cell phone off your bedside table and swiping across the screen without bothering to look at who was calling you. “Hello?”

“Hey. I need your help.” 

“Diluc?” You zone in on his voice and immediately pick out exhaustion, agitation, and even a little fear. And the more you listen, the more you notice…a crying baby? “I swear to God, Ragnvindr, if you kidnapped a baby and want me to be your getaway–” 

“I didn’t kidnap anything!” Diluc abruptly snaps. “Shit, shit, it’s okay, Klee…” You rub your forehead in confusion as Diluc explains that he’s babysitting for his neighbor. “Fuck–everything was fine for, like, twenty minutes and then she started crying and she hasn’t stopped since! I don’t know what to do!” 

You hold back a giggle. Of course notorious ‘bad boy’ Diluc Ragnvindr doesn't know what to do with a crying baby. You aren’t surprised–in fact, you’d be more surprised if he did know what to do. 

“I tried calling Jean but she isn’t around and then I phoned Eula but I think I sent her into overdrive at just the thought of babysitting.” You hear Diluc shushing the baby in between words. “What if I just drop her off at the fire station and her mom can pick her up after her shift?” 

“Okay–don’t do that.” You shake your head in bewilderment, imagining the absolute shit-show that would be. “You just need to calm down. She’s probably freaking out because you’re freaking out.” 

There’s shuffling in the background and Diluc curses when he knocks something over. “She gave me a bag, right?” He continues, his voice laced with pure disconcertment, “And I don’t even know what half of this stuff is. There’s like a bunch of plastic thingies and a bag of powder that kind of looks like meth–” 

“Not meth.” You interrupt him. “I mean, probably not meth.” 

“That’s not the point,” Diluc emphasizes, “The point is that I’m a fucking loss and really need your help.” 

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　

When you finally get to Diluc’s apartment, his front door is unlocked so you let yourself inside. You assume your friend has his hands full with the baby anyways. 

“Luc?” You ask, wandering into the disaster-zone Diluc calls his living room. Dish rags and bathroom towels are thrown everywhere, there were random baby items all over the floor, and the yellow powder that Diluc thought was meth was spilled on a couch cushion (and upon closer investigation, you realize it’s just baby formula). You snake down the apartment halls until you spot Diluc in the kitchen. 

He already looks so spent. His hair is loose from its usual ponytail, locks frizzy and tangled, and his eyes are tired and pleading. He leans against the fridge, bouncing a wailing baby in his arms robotically. 

“Hey.” You greet with a teasing smirk. “Nice baby. Where’d you get it?” 

“Shut up.” Diluc murmurs, a frown etched deep into his face. Your smirk morphs into a sympathetic smile and you hold your arms expectedly. Diluc doesn’t hesitate to transfer Klee into your embrace and while her cries don't cease entirely, they quiet to a whiny whimper as she tries to process who you are. 

“What’s the matter?” You coo sweetly, rubbing Klee’s back with a gentle hand. “Is Diluc being mean and scary?” 

“Hey!” 

“I'm just kidding.” You laugh briefly and turn your attention back to the baby in your arms, looking for any physical signs of distress–not that you thought Diluc would have ignored them, but he was so frazzled that maybe he missed something. When you adjust Klee against your hip, her face scrunches up in discomfort and she pushes against your chest. You hum in recognition and move her onesie aside to see if there’s a blue stripe on her diaper. And sure enough, there is. “She just needs her diaper changed.” 

Diluc pales visibly. “How do I do that?” He fumbles with the hem of his Pearl Jam t-shirt. “Are there instructions on the diaper or something?” 

You laugh again and roll your eyes playfully, “I’ll show you.” 

Diluc takes Klee from you so you can rummage through the black bag on the floor and pull out a package of wipes and a clean diaper. Diluc watches you in amazement and wonders how someone could be so calm and collected about something that made him want to crawl up the wall. You grab a nearby towel–the cleanest one, to be honest–and lay it on the ground before taking Klee back from Diluc and setting her down on top of it. Your quick fingers unsnap the metal buttons on her onesie and discard the dirty diaper, cleaning Klee up and sliding a fresh diaper underneath her wiggling body. 

“See?” You beam, pressing down the sticky sides of the diaper. “Super easy!” 

“For you,” Diluc mumbles. He sits on the edge of the couch and watches you interact with Klee like you’ve known her forever. You tap her belly occasionally, enticing a giggle, and the baby kicks her legs excitedly. She was attentive, reaching out towards you and babbling incoherent sentences loudly. She was loud, and a little annoying, but if Diluc was being honest, he was just glad that she wasn’t crying anymore. “When’d you become a baby whisperer?” 

You clean up and drag Klee into your lap, letting her play with your sweatshirt strings. “My mom used to watch my cousins,” You explain, “And I guess I picked up on a thing or two.” 

Diluc hums in response. Watching you play with Klee made him feel warm. Not a bad warm, but a good warm that filled his stomach with butterflies and made his chest feel weightless. Part of him was totally impressed by you and your ability to swoon over everyone and anyone–including little babies like Klee–unlike himself, who became a quivering mess during the unknown. You kept your cool no matter what. You owned every situation life threw at you so yeah, Diluc was totally impressed. 

But even more than that, Diluc is glad that you gave him the time of day. You could have brushed him off, could have told him to figure it out, but you went out of your way to drive across town and hold a baby–a stranger’s baby, even–just because he asked. 

“You know…” You voice grabs Diluc’s attention again and he gazes down at the floor where you’re sitting. “I was supposed to go out with Itto Arataki tonight. But I canceled our date to come here.” 

Diluc holds back the urge to roll his eyes. “Yeah?” He says instead. 

He knows Itto Arataki back from high school–though they were never particularly friends. He was captain of the football team and had a 2.3 GPA and drove the most obnoxious and ugly muscle car in town. Diluc didn’t care for him then, doesn’t care for him now, and the more he thinks about your potential date with him, the more a feeling of irritation grows in the pit of his stomach. 

“Yeah,” You say casually. You face Diluc and silently mimic packing and rolling a joint in the air. “He was going to give me a free eighth.” 

Diluc stifles a laugh, “What a steal.” He doesn’t particularly care to hear about how you were going to smoke with Itto (because–you could smoke with him instead). “You could have gone if you wanted to.”

You shrug, “And miss out on hanging with my best friend, Klee?” You tickle her feet and blow on the top of her head before looking at Diluc again. “This is ten times more fun than hanging out with Itto Arataki, anyways.” 

Diluc raises an eyebrow, “You’re kidding.” 

You shake your head adamantly. “Nope. I’d much rather spend time with you than the idiot who only graduated because his daddy threatened to press legal action against every single teacher at that school.” For a moment, Diluc wonders if you even know what you’re saying, wonders if you realize that you just prioritized Diluc Ragnvindr–the same Diluc Ragnvindr who pierced his own ears at fourteen and sells his extra Adderall to college freshman–over Itto Arataki–the hero of your hometown. He’s about to ask if you have your head screwed on right but before he could open his mouth, Klee starts fussing again. 

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　

As the night progresses, you and Diluc come to four conclusions about one another: 

Diluc is absolutely terrible with children. 

You are absolutely amazing with children. 

Diluc can’t stop imagining you with a different baby, maybe one with fiery red hair that kind of resembles you, and keeps shaking his head violently to disperse the invasive thought. 

And you think Diluc is acting really weird because he won’t stop shaking his head. You just hope he doesn’t have lice or something. Ew.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　

“She cries a lot.” Diluc comments when Klee curls her head into the crook of your neck, angry whines leaving her mouth. You frown slightly, swaying back and forth. “Do you think she’s hungry?”

“Maybe,” You shrug, moving over to the black bag and sorting through it with one hand. “Does she just take a bottle? Or does she eat solids? Do you even know how old she is?” Diluc blinks at you, not having an answer to any of your questions. “Right. Okay. One night off her routine won’t hurt.” 

You carry the bag of formula–at least whatever was left in the bag–and an empty carafe to the kitchen and somehow manage to put together a bottle for Klee with one hand, all while Diluc stands back and watches. He wants to help, really, but feels like he’ll just be in the way more than anything. Klee cries more until you push the rubber tip into her mouth, but she only bothers to drink half of the bottle before she lets it slip from her mouth and pushes it away with her little hands. 

Sighing, you pass Diluc the half-empty bottle. You bounce Klee in your arms for a few minutes, pat her on the back, and try to make her laugh, but to no avail–she won’t stop crying. “Maybe…she’ll calm down with some music?” 

“How would I know?” 

“I don’t know! Just put something on.” 

Diluc grumbles something and heads into the living room, connecting his phone to the speaker. He scrolls through his Spotify playlists and clicks on a random one and hits shuffle. Heavy rock music fills the apartment and the opening chords to Enter Sandman start. You’re about to yell at Diluc for putting on such rowdy music for a baby but Klee only hiccups and turns towards the living room, her eyes wide and curious. 

“No way.” You laugh breathlessly, carrying Klee to the living room. Diluc’s eyes glimmer with elation and he jumps up, grabbing Klee’s tiny hands in his big ones and singing the words to her, finally eliciting a smile from the baby. 

Enter Sandman fades into Shout It Out Loud. “Well, the night’s begun and you want some fun.” Diluc taps Klee’s nose. “Did you think you’re gonna find it?” He taps her cheeks. “You gotta treat yourself like number one.” He taps her forehead. And next thing you know, Diluc has Klee in his arms and is bouncing around the living room, whirling her around in circles and dipping her up and down. “Shout it, shout it, shout it out loud!” 

It was your turn to sit back and watch–as warmth spread throughout your chest.  

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　

After an hour of dancing around the living room, Klee yawns. 

It’s then that Diluc realizes his apartment isn’t really set-up for a baby. Fortunately, Klee isn’t walking yet but she is crawling, which means you and Diluc are constantly pulling chargers or wires out of her mouth. It also means that Diluc doesn’t have a crib, or anything remotely close to a crib.  Maybe you could just hold her all night. Or maybe Diluc could put a blanket down in the kitchen sink and lay Klee in there or maybe…

“How many pillows do you have?” 

Diluc cocks his head to the side. “What?” 

“I said,” You repeat, drawing out the vowels, “How many pillows do you have? On second thought, just grab all of them and meet me in your room.” 

Diluc cocks his head again, to the other side this time, and watches as you saunter down the hallway and kick open the door to his bedroom, carrying Klee inside. If it was any other night, Diluc might even throw a fit about you barging into his sacred space–but he was too exhausted to put up a fight tonight. Instead, he gathers all of the pillows from the living room, hall closet, and bedrooms. 

By the time Diluc gets to you, you’re already busy doing whatever you had planned. You fluff the pillows on Diluc’s bed and lay them on either side of Klee, making sure they’re tight and secure. You take the other pillows from Diluc and finish up your makeshift barricade around the baby. 

“There!” You beam proudly. “She won’t be able to roll over with all the pillows.” 

Shit. You were really good at this. And here Diluc was, ready to put her in the sink. 

Diluc stands stiffly in the middle of his bedroom as you run around like a headless chicken. You shut the blinds so the moonlight won’t seep through the window and turn off the floor lamp in the corner. The bedroom is veiled in darkness until you turn on a nightlight (which, in all fairness, Diluc totally forgot he owned) and a warm glow embraces the space. 

Klee is fighting sleep. She wants to sleep, desperately, but her body doesn’t, and she whines uncomfortably. You sit on the edge of the bed and pat the empty spot next to you, urging Diluc to fill it. “What’s wrong?” Diluc asks–the question directed at Klee and you. 

You smile softly, “She just needs some help falling asleep.” 

“Um…” Diluc says, his awkwardness coming back. “Like a blanket or something?” 

Without much thought, you say, “Why don’t you sing to her again?” 

This catches Diluc off guard. Sure, he took choir in high school and never turned down a drunken karaoke session but singing underneath a loud metal song was very different from singing a lullaby in a silent bedroom. He didn’t want to traumatize the poor child.

“Come on,” You plead sweetly. “She loved your voice so much before…I’m sure it would lull her right to sleep.” Diluc feels his face grow warm and he looks away, not sure how to handle the compliment. He’s extremely thankful for the darkness of the bedroom that conceals his cherry-red cheeks from you. 

Diluc composes himself enough to look back at you. He’s about to protest again but his voice jams in his throat when he realizes how close he is to you. Your faces are only inches apart and all Diluc had to do was lean forward and–

Klee cries out again, this time louder, and Diluc clears his throat. “Yeah, um, fine,” He manages, “But you can’t tell anyone. Especially my brother.” You make a ‘zipped and locked’ motion and Diluc twists his body so he’s facing Klee. She kicks her legs angrily, her tiny fists hands curl into fists and before Diluc really knows what’s doing, his voice leaves his mouth delicately. “I wanted to be with you alone and talk about the weather…but traditions I can trace against the child in your face.”

You can’t hide the smile that grows across your face. Diluc hates Tears for Fears, thought they were sellouts who made music for teenage girls who wanted to be different, yet here he was–singing their most popular song to an innocent little baby. 

“Something happens and I’m head over heels. I never find out ‘till I'm head over heels.” 

You sit back and listen. Klee is quiet now, an occasional coo leaves her lips, and you’re positive that she’s going to fall asleep any minute. So Diluc keeps singing, perfecting the song word-for-word until there’s no more lyrics to say and a sleeping baby. And secretly you’re a little bummed out–you could listen to Diluc sing forever. 

But, alas, the bedroom is filled with a gentle silence and you reach across the bed to make sure the pillows are still secure before standing up and stretching your arms. And when the realization finally hits Diluc that he had just sung a baby to sleep, he wants to jump up and fistbump the air as hard as he could. He wasn’t as bad with babies as he thought and this was living proof. 

“I did that!” Diluc exclaims in a hushed-whisper. He grins at you, the kind of smile that reaches his eyes and wrinkles his nose. “I got that baby to fucking sleep all by myself! God, I feel like I can do anything right now–” 

Diluc doesn’t get to finish his sentence. In fact, he doesn’t even get to finish his thought. Because, in a matter of mere seconds, you’re dipping down towards Diluc on the bed and holding his face oh-so gently and crashing your lips together. And as cliche as it sounds, Diluc swears time stops. 

You pull away first, your eyes big and wide. “Oh my god,” You whispered. “Luc, I just–” 

“Oh.” Diluc says in a breath of air. He sits back on his hands and stares at you. He feels like his entire body is on fire. 

“I’m sorry,” You continue. “I don’t know what came over me.” 

“It’s fine,” Diluc nods. “Just…” 

He reaches a slender finger up and runs it across his bottom lip. You keep staring at him with utter shock written across your face and Diluc partially wants to remind you that you’re the one that kissed him. But his mouth refuses to move, refuses to speak, so he sits there in silence.  

“Did you hate it? 

Diluc hesitates before shaking his head, “No.” 

“Good,” You say quietly. “Good.” 

Diluc feels the bed dip again and you sit next to him. Your knees knock against his and when he doesn’t pull away, you take that as an invitation to lean in again. Diluc’s hand cups your jaw and everything feels fuzzy. You kiss like a champion, as expected, and Diluc kisses like each one is his last. Your mouths fit together like puzzle pieces and it’s enough to course electricity through your veins. 

When he needs air, Diluc pulls back enough to press his forehead against yours. “What are you doing?” He asks solemnly. 

“Kissing you,” You say–like it’s the most obvious answer in the world. 

Obviously it goes deeper than that. Because you kissed Ayato and you kissed Thoma and Childe and Itto Arataki and, well, not Diluc. Except you were. You were kissing Diluc in his dark bedroom while his neighbor’s baby slept on his bed surrounded by pillows. And it was fucking mental. 

And confusing. And overwhelming. And Diluc doesn’t really know how to have a single coherent thought about it. 

“Hey,” You urged, “What’s the matter?”

Diluc closes his eyes so he doesn't have to look at yours staring into his soul. “I don’t know,” He admits. “Everything and nothing.” And this was true. His mind feels like a jumbled mess of broken records and no matter how hard he tries to put them together, nothing would play. He eventually equates it to getting hooked on a book he thought he would hate, and how surprised he is that he’s really into the book, but it’s too late to put it down and really needs to see how it ends. “Kiss me again.” 

You do. 

“Again.” 

You keep kissing Diluc experimentally, like you’re trying to work your way up towards something. You kiss him until your lips are swollen and your jaws hurt and then some. 

“I’ve wanted to do that for so long,” You finally tell him. 

“Really?” Diluc asks and you nod. 

In the darkness of his bedroom, Diluc smiles. Kissing you doesn't necessarily mean anything. But it doesn’t not mean anything, either. Though he hopes it evolves past the darkness. At least one day. 

And, knowing you, Diluc has a good feeling that it would. And hopefully without a baby in the room. 

a/n: no promises i won't delete this but for now--enjoy <3

[dkniade]

Kaeya is Kaeya

Characters and setting belong to HoYoverse

Characters: Platonic Kaeya & Tartaglia

Genre: hurt/comfort

Note: Kaeya backstory spoilers

Author’s Note

First half drafted August 8, 2021. Sunday. 11:36

I caught sight of a name on a piece of paper and pondered about one’s own name

This was after I read @f-ai-n’s Kaeya essay

Then I thought about Tartaglia/Childe’s whole double name thing and decided he’d help Kaeya ‘cause he’s on my team too

Perhaps when one has nothing else to do, it’d make a good chance to reflect on one’s own name. Kaeya is Kaeya, but which family does he belong to, exactly?

He was sitting at his desk that sunny afternoon. With graceful strokes, the feather pen swished, and on the blank paper there read yet another “Kaeya” in cursive. This time, his hand moved to write “R”, but then stopped.

“…”

It was only Master Crepus’ name and not his, right?

“I don’t belong in the Ragnvindr house anymore. The moment our blades clashed, it was all over, wasn’t it?”

He had been abandoned by the Alberich family as a pawn in Mondstadt, and rejected by the member of the Ragvindr family closest to him for the same reason. Truths and lies both led to the same dead-end, so naturally it was better to conceal himself and lie so he wouldn’t get hurt again, right?

“And really, how cold of him whenever I try to converse… Almost as cold as…”

And that Cryo Vision was a reminder, wasn’t it? Did the gods give him the Vision to reward his ambition to live, or was it out of pity?

“Should I wander this land as just ‘Kaeya’?”

What’s in a name? Something you’re defined by? Close to no one would know that he was an Alberich, but—

Two knocks on the door.

“Captain Kaeya? Are you in there, comrade?” said the cheerful voice outside his office.

He looked up from the paper. Tartaglia?

Kaeya quickly slipped the paper under another pile on the desk and put down his pen.

“I am. Come in, please.”

The door opened and the friendly warrior stepped inside.

“Ah, it’s so good to see you, comrade!” Tartaglia said. Kaeya nodded in agreement. “I’ve been practising both my aim and bladework on the way here. Today could be the day we finally spar!”

Tartaglia walked around the office, checking out the displays and enjoying the glorious sunshine. The corner of a piece of paper caught his eye.

“Oh?”

He took the paper out from under the pile. Kaeya seemed disgruntled as he quickly read it. Then a bright laugh bursted out.

“Has life gotten so mundane that you’ve been writing your name over and over?”

Kaeya smiled kindly at this observation.

“It’s good practise for signing documents.”

“Ah, that’s true…” Tartaglia made his way to Kaeya’s desk and sat down on the edge, turning a bit to look at him. Kaeya leaned back a bit more in his chair.

“Come to think of it, aren’t you related to Master Diluc? You must have the same family name, then? Ragnvindr, was it?”

Kaeya flinched at the mention of the name, but continued to smile, nonetheless.

“Now, now, there’s no need for formalities concerning my family name. And one could say…” he hoped Tartaglia didn’t catch the slight sadness in his smile, “we were like brothers.”

In truth, Tartaglia did catch it. But why the hesitation before saying that he and Master Diluc were not brothers, but were like brothers? He didn’t have a very good childhood, did he? No, but Master Diluc was a polite man, being the one behind Mondstadt’s wine industry… Did something happen between the two? And he avoided the topic of his family name, too. Did he and Master Diluc not share the same family name after all?

Wait, was Captain Kaeya… adopted?

Tartaglia smiled kindly and got off the desk. He stood before Kaeya, cheerful. “Y’know, Tartaglia isn’t my only name. I’m also known as Childe.”

“On the battlefield, yes…” Kaeya brought a gloved hand up to his chin. “You’ve told me that many times.”

“But I go by both names! So it doesn’t matter which one you’re born as.”

Oh? Kaeya had not considered this previously. It had always been a huge burden to carry the Alberich name along with the secrets he had to conceal.

Tartaglia continued, “As long as you feel happy about the one you choose, then it’s your name.”

As long as he felt happy about the one he chose, huh?

“Hmm, interesting point.” That faint smile never left his face. “Then ‘Kaeya’ will be enough.”

“That’s the spirit!” Tartaglia punched the air. “What do you say we spar, Captain Kaeya?”

“Gladly.”

Kaeya is Kaeya. No matter which family name he accepts, he’ll always be Kaeya. That fact never changes.

[kazewhara]

i literally just discovered your blog ehe- anyways, if it’s okay with you, could i ask for some familial headcanons for diluc and jean fussing over a (fem) younger sister reader after she catches a cold please? tysm!

a spoonful of sugar.

# — characters: feminine reader (she/they pronouns), jean, barbara, diluc, kaeya, adelinde, crepus ragnvindr

# — summary: “our siblings push buttons that cast us in roles we felt sure we had let go of long ago – the baby, the peacekeeper, the caretaker, the avoider…it doesn’t seem to matter how much time has elapsed or how far we’ve traveled.” – jane mersky leder

# — warnings: n/a

# — tags: hc format, slight canon divergence, diluc angst, hurt/comfort, fluff, familiar relationships, found family, reader is younger than jean but older than barbara

# — notes: ahh, i feel like this is mostly me projecting, since i'm the eldest sibling myself.. man, i wonder what my little siblings think of me, lmao. but! like always, reblogs and reactions are always appreciated, and i hope you enjoy!

(NEW!) # — tag list: @marius-z @eternalvvs

(want to join the tag list?)

✧ — 𝐝𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐜 — ✧

something that you and your brother have in common is your tough exterior, meaning it would take diluc a while to know that you're sick

hell, you probably wouldn't even know. you both have pyro visions, so you both run warm regardless of if you're sick or not

you go a pretty long time without showing any signs of being sick, so when you pass out while doing some simple paperwork in place of your brother, it comes as a shock to him

i also want to preface this by saying that you and diluc aren't close

you were too young to understand the issue with kaeya.

all you know is that one day you had a father and two doting brothers, and the next day, you were down to one brother who wouldn't so much as look in your direction for a few years.

to be honest, you didn't like diluc very much for a while. he's got a very avoidant method of caring for you, and you hate it

at some point in your life, you desperately tried to get his attention, but as you got older, you just.. stopped.

these days, you don't feel much of anything for him. it's kind of a negative feeling, but if he's not around, you don't care at all. out of sight, out of mind.

diluc's no idiot, by the way. he knows you stopped trying to be around him and he feels guilty, but in his eyes, there's more important things than trying to mend a relationship that's been broken for ages.

he cares very deeply about you -- loves you, even -- but he's not going to go out his way to eat dinner with you or anything like that. he spoils you from a distance, sending you gifts and providing you with things you want and need, but that's it.

in short, the famous ragnvindr siblings aren't the dynamic duo everyone thinks they are. the only person who knows this is kaeya.

(side note: you get along very well with kaeya. he's assumed the big brother role very well in diluc's place, but he'll never rub it in.)

(but rest assured that diluc is very, very bitter about the fact that the man who betrayed him and his family has a better relationship with his sister than he does.)

(will he fix it? no.)

(you and kaeya may have opposing visions, but in truth, you two have more chemistry than anybody else in mondstadt.)

okay! onto to the sickness.

diluc finds out that you've passed out while working a shift at the tavern.

one of the workers from the dawn winery came barging through the door, breathless, and the only thing he could say was:

"it's your sister."

diluc, stubborn as he is, doesn't wait for an explanation. he just closes the tavern right then and there and tries to get home as fast as he could.

diluc barges into your room unannounced, his fiery hair messy and his eyes as wide as saucers. you're laying immobile in your dark room, and you groan when the light from the hallway hits your face. "adelinde, you just gave me medicine," you rasp, your voice deeper and scratchier than it should be. "can i please just sleep--?"

"you're alive."

diluc normally has far more tact -- he would never do something as undignified as burst into someone's room -- into your room -- without apologizing first. but the only thing he could think of as he sprinted here was his father.

crepus' death was sudden and devastating. there was no slow build-up, no time to mentally prepare for a period of grief; diluc had to sit there and watch as life bled out of your father's eyes. he blamed himself for years -- cursed his paltry strength for not being enough to fight for himself. even if he was the youngest cavalry captain, it still wasn't enough. so when he got word that something had happened to you, diluc did something he hadn't done in years.

he panicked.

because he's strong enough now. diluc dedicated his life to having enough strength to defend mondstadt from the abyss order from the shadows -- to defend you from the shadows. if you had died, he felt as though your blood would be on his hands. how could he have obtained all this strength for his home -- for his sister -- and still manage to fail?

never in his life, not since his father's untimely death, has diluc felt as many emotions as he did on his way home to see you. you would have died alone, and it would have been his fault. he has so many regrets when it comes to you, and he never would have been able to try to make it up to you.

so when diluc sees you alive and well (relatively speaking), he drops to his knees.

you, unaware of your brother's internal strife, push yourself up to a sitting position with difficulty and frown at him. "what are you talking about?" your frown deepens. "and why are you kneeling? get up; you look pathetic."

diluc can't help but chuckle. fair enough, he decides. it's fair that you would still hold animosity towards him after all this time. he brought this on himself, after all. and he agrees -- he does look pretty pathetic. the great diluc ragnvindr, once the youngest cavalry captain in mondstadt's history and the owner of the renowned dawn winery was here, on his knees, thanking an archon he didn't care for because you were still alive.

"are you going to get up and answer my question, or are you going to stay there like a crazy person?" you ask. you break into a fit of rattling coughs. for a second, panic starts to bubble over again in diluc's chest, but it's reduced to a simmer once you talk again. "the light is straining my eyes and i want to lay down. if you're gonna stay in here, then close the door."

you were going to allow him to stay? really? diluc makes up his mind faster than he anticipated, rising to his feet and shutting the door per your request. it's almost pitch black in here due to it being late at night and your curtains being drawn. he hesitates for a moment (can you believe it? him, hesitating.) before pulling up a chair at your beside and sitting on it.

neither of you say a word. what were you supposed to say? why was he even here? the silence is so loud it makes diluc's ears ring. he has to say something to you, right? at the very least, he should explain why he's here. but his curiosity starts to burn, and--

"why are you here?"

oh, so you were going to lead this conversation. he can live with that. diluc crosses his arms instinctively. "am i not allowed to visit my sick sister?" he retorts. it comes across much harsher than it should, but he's only matching your tone. plus, he's not sure how to talk to you anymore. the last time he spoke to you, you were but a little girl who just wanted to run through the vineyard and catch crystalflies with her brother.

a fleeting thought crosses diluc's mind. do you still like crystalflies?

you speak again, cutting his thoughts short. "you haven't looked me in the face in years. i have every right to question your presence."

"we're family." diluc squints at you in the darkness. you sort of look like your mother, though he himself can't remember what she looks like anymore. if he had to guess, you're probably a carbon copy of her.

"oh, now you think we're family." you scoff. you wheeze for a moment before breaking into another fit of harsh coughs. you sniff and groan before laying down slowly.

diluc starts to reach out to help you, but catches himself. what was he even about to do? he has no idea how to handle a sick person, especially since that sick person is you. but he can't ignore the familiar sensation of brotherly protectiveness that flares up when he sees you struggling. your words cut deep -- deeper than he ever thought they would.

"i've always thought we were family." he says. he sighs through his nose and cuts the topic short. you're in no position to have this conversation right now. "did the doctor come and diagnose you yet? your cough sounds terrible."

you turn over on your side, your back facing your brother. "yes." your answer is short.

diluc wonders if things would be different if he never avoided you. "and what did they say?"

"why do you care? you're not the one nursing me back to health." you cough again.

"i am, actually." he blurts.

he has no idea where that came from. he's never spoken so abruptly so quickly -- the words didn't even feel like they came from his mouth, but he doesn't feel the need to take them back. he's more than willing to learn how to care for you, and if he can fix your relationship while he does it...

diluc blinks a few times at the realization. that's why he's sitting here, tolerating your snappy attitude.

he just wants to be a family again.

you shoot upwards and face him. diluc can't see your expression well, but he can feel the sting of your glare. your frame wobbles a bit in the darkness -- probably vertigo -- before you speak. "i didn't ask you to do that. don't even think about taking the doctor's place."

diluc clicks his tongue. "i'll do as i please. now, lay back down." he stands and makes his way to the door. he cracks it open, ignoring your furious calls of his name. he turns back to look at you, his body silhouetted by the hallway light. "sleep," he instructs you gently. "i'll be back in the morning."

and like that, he's gone, leaving you alone in the pitch darkness of your room.

so! how does he care for you, exactly?

well, first of all, your cold isn't just a cold. after a few days of diluc trying to nurse you, you both come to the realization that you actually have the flu -- and a very severe one at that.

won't get into the details, but it's disgusting and humiliating, as you can imagine

but... diluc doesn't give up. he sticks to his word and nurses you the entire time, coming to you morning, noon, and night to check on you and administer your medicine

the only reason it takes so long for you to recover is because you adamantly refuse to cooperate with your brother

it's childish and infuriating, but diluc is weirdly endeared by your behavior. he thinks it's cute!

once you give in and start doing as your told, you become compliant and almost amiable as the days pass

you don't ignore diluc's (terrible) attempts at conversation, and the two of you actually.. bond.

but as you two get closer and your relationship improves, you start to notice that diluc is kinda... overprotective.

once you can finally stand on two feet without falling over from dizziness, you've been walking about the hallways at any given opportunity.

your fever has yet to break, but you're still active, and diluc doesn't like it

"put me down!" you flail about in your brother's arms, weakly kicking about to get him to give up. "hey! are you listening?!"

diluc sighs and stops walking. "who raised you to be such a brat?"

"excuse me?!" you stop moving and scowl up at him. "put me down right now, or i swear to barbatos, i'll--"

diluc raises a brow at you. "what, will you try and fight me? i assure you, you will lose. now quit struggling. you're burning up."

the fight seeps out of you pretty quickly. you realize that you're just being stubborn, and that he's right, but...

"i'm not a child. i can walk." you grumble.

"on the contrary," diluc chuckles, "you weren't walking in a straight line. you reminded me of the patrons down at the tavern. you need more time to recover."

only now do you feel the heat in your face. "shut up."

ugh, he's so doting it's almost sickening.

"don't eat this" or "chew and swallow" or "sleep for more than 8 hours"

"diluc, you're gonna crush me under all these blankets."

"oh hush, they're soft."

"uh," your eyes drift to the mountain of blankets on your bed, "i think fourteen blankets would be too much, though."

it's frustrating, but believe it or not, it works!

once you've recovered, a part of your relationship with your brother has as well.

you two aren't exactly joined at the hip, but you're on speaking terms -- enough to joke around and spar with each other from time to time.

and while diluc does still envy kaeya for being so close to you, he thinks that you may be the key to mending their relationship as well. <3

✧ — 𝐣𝐞𝐚𝐧 — ✧

unlike jean and barbara, you aren't related to them by blood

you're actually just someone who was taken in by the knights of favonius at a very young age and grew alongside jean

the two of you trained under varka and share the same sentiments about protecting mondstadt.

while you and jean are the best swordsmen in monstadt, she prefers to be their shield, while you prefer to be their sword.

jean considers you to be her little sister!

not in place of barbara, but rather an additional sister

you two are as thick as thieves but unfortunately, that means you share the same work habits

so you both work non-stop to keep mondstadt orderly and safe, even to the point of exhaustion

and you, my friend, have hit your limit.

"lisa, get barbara, now!"

as you come to, you try to remember what happened in the past fifteen minutes.

you were walking with jean back to your shared office after a long, long day of checking in with the citizens of mondstadt. you remember thinking that fall must be approaching, since every breeze made goosebumps rise on your skin. only in the sunlight did you feel warm, but you didn't think much of it. there was also a strange pressure at the front of your face -- one that made you squint at everything. again, you thought nothing of it, since it was a sunny day.

back at headquarters, you faintly remember telling jean that you were freezing.

"really?" she asked, a confused frown marring her features. "but today is one of the hottest days of the year..."

and then... nothing. you're not sure why jean is helping you into a room to wait for barbara to show up.

an unexpected bout of nausea makes your squeeze your eyes shut. beside you, you can hear someone bouncing their leg rapidly. it has to be jean -- no other knight does that but her. you come to the conclusion that you must be sick; that would explain the chills and dizziness. you're upset that this will interefere with your work, but you're well aware that you won't be able to work properly unless you're feeling your best.

"i'm not dying, you know," you laugh weakly after hearing jean sigh for the fifth time in two minutes. "it's just a cold."

jean sighs. that's six times now. "i shouldn't have let this happen." she mutters. you crack your eyes open to see her worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. she has a lot of habits that no one but you knows she has -- mostly because they're born out of anxiety. "i should have noticed a long time ago that you were--"

"you're doing it again." you chide gently. you don't make any effort to look at her properly. one wrong move and you're afraid that you'll lose what little you have in your stomach. "it's been a decade, jean; how many times do i have to tell you to stop?"

jean gives you a look. "and how many times must i remind you that as your senior, it is my job to look after you?"

her sense of responsibility will surely be her undoing. it terrifies you; the last thing you want is for her to be in your position. she's right -- she's your older sister and in a way, she is responsible for you, but this was your fault -- not hers. you open your mouth to bicker with her, but barbara comes rushing in.

the deaconess sounds frantic. "what happened? is she okay?" she frets over you so much that you have to laugh. it comes out as a nasty cough, and it only serves to make barbara worry more. "oh, barbatos, this isn't good!"

"you two act as though i'm on my deathbed." you cough.

"don't even joke like that!" your sisters say in unison. your eyes are open enough to see them both flush a light pink at their exclamation, but neither of them look away from you.

jean clears her throat while barbara gets to work on healing you. "you of all people know better than to joke in such a manner."

"it's a superstition."

"a bad one." barbara murmurs beside you. you can feel her hydro on your body, but you don't feel any better than before. if anything, you feel worse. barbara seems to notice and quickly stops what she's doing. "i-i don't know what's wrong," she says to jean, "she's not getting any better, i--"

jean lays a hand on her sister's shoulder, offering her a kind smile. you can't help but feel a little bit of pride; they would never have acted like this a few years ago if you hadn't intervened. "you did what you could, barbara. thank you." she turns to you, grimacing when she sees the color draining from your face. "for now, i think we should let them warm up first. they're shivering too much."

your eyebrows twitch up. you didn't even realize you were shivering so hard -- your teeth are chattering, too.

"i-i'll really be okay." you mumble.

jean sighs. that's seven. "lying is technically a violation of the knight's oath."

"k-kaeya lies all the time!"

"that's different." jean lifts you into her arms and follows behind barbara. you cling to her desperately, trying to absorb her body heat for yourself. "you're far from okay." she whispers sadly. "i'm sorry."

jean undoubtedly will blame herself, no matter how much you tell her not to

she can't care for you herself due to your half of the tasks falling onto her, but during any down time she has, she's in your room by your bedside

barbara doesn't leave your side either; she tells the church that she'll be taking a break for a while, just so she can try to care for you

your sisters are out of their depth since elemental healing isn't working, so they both dedicate a lot of time to reading up on medicines that would help you.

"jean, wake up." you gently nudge your sister. she fell asleep along with you a few hours ago after giving you a medicine that would work in your sleep. faint dark circles formed under her eyes from how much time she was putting in to care for you.

"hm, what? oh!" jean shoots upright and presses the back of her hand to your forehead, feeling for a fever. her eyes are still half-lidded and you smile at her. "you don't feel very warm anymore," she says, her words broken by a yawn.

"at this rate, you'll be the one catching a cold. when's the last time you slept properly?" you ask. knowing her, she probably hasn't slept since you fell ill.

probably even longer that, knowing her.

"that's not very important right now." her tone is final. it's her 'grand master' voice; you don't know how she managed to wake herself up fast enough to use it, but she did, and you drop the topic. jean can be pretty scary when she wants to be. "what's important is your recovery. i think hydro healing should work soon."

you frown. "jean, why don't you go home for a while. get some rest." when she opens her mouth to protest, you put a hand out, covering it. "it's not like i'm going anywhere any time soon. go rest, okay?"

there's a brief staring contest between you two before jean gives up. "very well. i'll be back shortly." she says as she heads to the door.

"i hope not!" you call after her.

jean doesn't come back for like, 12 hours.

she was sleeping the entire time, according to barbara.

she comes back completely disheveled and apologetic, fretting over you to the point where she almost gets in the way of barbara doing her job, LOL

overall, jean's a TOTAL worry wart.

and, in the days that follow after your recovery, you find yourself sitting at a sneezing jean's bedside, laughing at her bright red nose.

✧ this kinda makes me wanna go build my jean... yeah i think imma do that, actually, LOL

[catgirlforkaeya]

birthdays suck, but not with you

kaeya x gn!reader

fluff + hurt/comfort + love confessions

warnings: all lowercase + not proofread + mentions of alcohol + swearing + slightly suggestive (like one small mention of intercourse)

a/n: happy birthday to the prettiest man in genshin thank you for being my main since i started in feb 🙏🙏 (also i���m sorry this is short and shitty i’m doing it last minute)

kaeya never really cared for his birthday. growing up crepus would always throw parties but after his passing kaeya just lost what little enjoyment he had for them

he avoided telling people because he knew they’d always try to get him to celebrate. he preferred to just be alone in the tavern, getting extremely drunk to forget what day it was

you didn’t even know today was his birthday; you only found out because you heard jean and lisa talking

you weren’t trying to eavesdrop, really. you were in the library reading a book and overheard them talking. they probably figured there was nobody else in there, you were tucked back in the corner afterall

at first you heard jean complaining about someone giving her a hard time about taking the day off. you didn’t understand at first until lisa mentioned kaeya, saying how “he always seemed to dislike his birthday.”

you paused everything that you were doing. today was his birthday?? since when???? did you forget? combing through your memory you couldn’t recall him ever mentioning his birthday. as long as you two have known each other he never told you. you couldn’t be mad at him for it. if what lisa said was true you understood. you couldn’t just sit around and do nothing for him though, he was your best friend

returning your book to the shelf it came from, you quickly made your way out of the library. you didn’t exactly know where to find him, but you’d do it somehow

first you checked his office, finding that it was empty. “guess he did take the day off,” you mumbled to yourself.

then you checked good hunter, no sign of him

you checked the cathedral too, no clue why he’d be there but he’s unpredictable sometimes. nothing.

went to the taverns, still no sign

you even stopped by his house and didn’t get any response

at this point you were lost. you were just aimlessly wandering until windrise popped into your head. you remembered one day kaeya took you to windrise. he told you how he always went there to clear his mind

as you jogged towards the tree, he eventually came into view. you let out a sigh of relief

—

“y/n?” kaeya looked up when he heard footsteps approaching him. he was honestly shocked to see you today. “what’re you doing here?”

“i just wanted to see you, it has been awhile since we hung out,” you shrugged. you didn’t want to barge in and immediately talk about how today was his birthday and blah blah blah, so you decided to play it cool.

you looked over and saw a bunch of windwheel aster petals scattered all over the place, kaeya was in the middle of plucking one bare currently. it looked like he was playing “they love me, they love me not.”

“you’re supposed to use roses for that, yknow.”

“i know, i just couldn’t be bothered to find some roses,” the man next to you said in a flat tone. you could see his lips turn slightly upwards when he finished the last windwheel aster though. part of you wanted to ask who he was thinking about, but the other half said to just stay quiet.

silence lingered between you two. not an awkward silence, but more of a peaceful one. you enjoyed the quiet moments you two shared. something about them eased you.

after a few minutes kaeya stood up, stretching slightly. you watched him closely, tilting your head to the side some. he turned around, looking down at you.

“i was going to go on a walk by myself later today, but since you’re here… would you do me the favor of accompanying me?” kaeya held out a hand to you. you smiled at him, taking his hand in yours and standing up.

“i’d be more than happy to.”

you lost track of time. you didn’t even know where you two were going and to be honest you didn’t think kaeya knew either. you two just walked in silence, your hands still intertwined from him helping you up. you two held hands quite often recently, not exactly sure. you were a little ashamed to admit that your heart would beat a little faster every time his thumb rubbed against your knuckles.

the temperature started to slowly fall as the sun started its descent. every now and then you’d shiver when a breeze would come through. unlike kaeya you were not immune to the cold. your anemo vision only made you unbothered by the wind.

“can’t handle the cold?” kaeya glanced over at you, that usual shit eating grin was on his face. he loved to be an ass whenever you were cold.

“no, i can’t.” you shot a glare at him, receiving a hearty laugh in return. you couldn’t help but laugh too. his laugh and smile was contagious to you. whenever you weren’t in a good mood kaeya would always shoot you a smile and within a few minutes you’d be smiling too.

eventually you two stumbled upon the statue of seven near the winery. you noticed kaeya’s mood drop when he saw it in the distance. he tried to hide it but you could easily see through his front. he’d always fall silent when he’d get reminded of something. the sparkle in his one exposed eye would fade. he’d start to drift off into his headspace.

“we can stop here for a few minutes,” kaeya motioned at one of the trees near the cliff that overlooked the winery. you could hear the slight sadness in his voice.

“are you sure?” you looked over at him with worried eyes, squeezing his hand a bit tighter. you knew everything about what happened at the winery, what happened between him and diluc, basically everything about him. you were the only person he trusted to tell.

“yeah, i need to rest my legs anyways,” within a few seconds kaeya had that mask back up. his smile returned, but you could tell he was faking it.

you two took a seat at the base of the tree, your backs leaning against it for support. you felt kaeya’s head resting on your shoulder.

“i know this is kinda weird timing but..” you reached into your coat pocket, pulling out a wooden box. kaeya sat up and looked at the box you were holding out to him. you moved it a bit closer, signaling for him to take it.

kaeya took the box, slowly taking the lid off. he looked at it for a few seconds before a huge smile came across his face.

inside the box there were come calla lilies, fruity skewers, a small ring, an ice blue crystal, a very small bottle of perfume, and a note. it was astonishing how you managed to fit everything in there. kaeya was stunned at how you managed to include all of his favorite things, he didn’t think you payed that much attention. he took out the note and unfolded it.

“happy birthday idiot. i know this is really random but i wanted to do something once i found out it was your birthday (i’m not mad at you for not telling me). i tried my best to include everything you liked… minus wine because it wouldn’t fit. the ring is a little out of place but it’s a matching one to what you got me for my birthday. i hope you had an amazing day and if you didn’t i hope this brightened it some :) -y/n”

kaeya stared at it for a few minutes while you awkwardly sat there. you couldn’t tell how he felt about all this. yes he was smiling but he smiled a lot.

“i’m sorry it’s kinda out of the blue and rushed— i just found out this morning through lisa and jean and i hurried to get something together— i wasn’t exactly sure what to do so it’s okay if you don’t like it i just wanted to d-“

next thing you knew kaeya’s lips were on yours. you were stunned at first and just froze for a second. it all happened so suddenly and randomly. it didn’t take you long to give in though.

his lips felt soft, cold like snow. they delicately moved against yours, treating them like they were as fragile as glass. his kiss tasted like wine and vanilla. his touch felt like heaven. when his hand cupped your cheek and the other snaked around your waist you felt ecstasy take over your body.

you both pulled away, foreheads resting on the other while you looked at each other. you both were out of breath. that was one of those kisses that just completely steals all the air from your lungs.

“i love it,” kaeya let out an airy laugh, smiling at you.

“good,” you pulled away, still trying to process what the fuck just happened. you made out with your best friend?? hello?? you did like him yes— scratch that you were in love with this man and had been for awhile. you just weren’t expecting it to happen now.

“i’m sorry how sudden that was,” kaeya ran his hand through his hair that was now completely out of the loose ponytail. “i just— no one’s ever given me something that meaningful in a long time. i never told you about my birthday because i normally just ignore it. but the fact you found out last minute, weren’t mad, and managed to do all this was just.. wow.”

you let out a small laugh. watching kaeya ramble about your gift was adorable to you. the usual glow to his face that you absolutely loved was back.

“and um— if it’s still not obvious, i really fucking love you y/n.”

“i love you too.”

—

you were back at kaeya’s place now. you weren’t intending on staying but he asked you to spend the night, there was no way you would decline that.

so now here you were, laying in your new boyfriend’s bed with nothing on, the two of you clinging onto each other. you were still trying to catch your breath, you’d never done something that extreme with anybody. you definitely knew you’d be sore in the morning.

kaeya’s hands ran through your hair, gently massaging your scalp. your head was nuzzled up against his bare chest. it felt nice here. you felt safe in his arms.

all of this felt so surreal. you’d dreamed about a moment like this for so many years now, it just was crazy to think that your desires had became reality.

“thank you for everything today,” kaeya’s voice was soft, softer than what you were used to. you’d seen many sides to him but you could never remember seeing this soft side. “i really wasn’t having the best day. in all honesty i was miserable. im used to being drunk off my ass on my birthday. you made it a lot better though.”

you looked up at kaeya, resting your chin on his chest now. you placed a kiss to his jawline. “i’m glad i made it more enjoyable.”

“y’know i honestly thought birthdays always sucked, but now that you know about it i think they’ll be a hell of a lot better.”

you hummed in response, too tired to answer.

you two drifted off to sleep, still holding each other close.

[shadowmist0706]

Diluc's Birthday

Seamstress f!reader x Diluc

A/N: This was originally an OC x Diluc but I also made this version for a bit of emersion. Y/N is a seamstress who takes commissions related to the fatui. She only arrived in Mondstadt recently so she and Diluc are still not in a relationship in this oneshot :> Though they are developing some feelings. Hope you guys enjoy! I'm still a beginner when writing but I think I did good😭

────┉┈◈◉◈┈┉────

Many businessman or woman wouldn't admit owning a successful business is very rewarding, but it is. They love to see people enjoying their hard work and appreciating their efforts. After all, it's what makes them keep the business.

-Well... that and money

But running a business isn't an easy task. It requires you to accommodate to your customers needs, keep up with trends, manage and keep tabs on everything that's going on in the business.

Being a seamstress, that's as much as you know.

So it's understandable when a certain Winery owner was late than usual. After all, today was a special occasion.

After a few more minutes, she heard something land behind her.

"You're late" Y/N said, slightly turning to see the man of the hour, Diluc Ragnvindr or better known as the "Darknight Hero"

"Apologies, work in the tavern has been quite...lively today" He replied, walking up beside her by the bridge inside Mondstadt. Unlike usual, she noticed how his attire seems different. As she turned to face him completely, she were able to figure what was missing.

His Jacket

He normally wears his black signature jacket. But this time, it's just his white vest paired with a button up shirt that shows his bare arms. It was surprising, not in a bad way.

"I presume it's because of your birthday" Y/N eyed Diluc's appearance. Although it was his birthday, it seemed he was a bit worn out.

Meanwhile, Diluc gave her a look of surprise before regaining his composure "So you know?"

"It's practically the talk of the town" It was hard to ignore especially when the people started talking about it yesterday. The tavern was filled with gossip and rumors at that time.

Most of the talk were light hearted with some people wanting to think of a simple token of gratitude to the uncrowned king of Mondstadt. But other news were better kept unsaid.

Y/N wanted to believe it wasn't true. But as she took a closer look in the shadows, things became clearer. Throughout the day, Diluc has been receiving complements and gifts. Despite his gratefulness, it seemed he wasn't that... happy.

Diluc was not fond of attention except his position forces him to. When it comes to topics about his birthday, he quickly dismisses them. Everything pointed that the information was not false but there was one clue that will prove it.

Even if Y/N knew it wasn't right, her curiousness got the better of her. She walked through the backyard of the favonious church, searching for a certain name. After a few minutes, she found the grave with the same date as today.

Crepus Ragnvindr

xx/xx/xx- 4/30/xxxx

To ------- ----- ---- ------

"Ah, let's pay no mind to that now. Let's focus on our agenda-" Diluc dismissed the topic as usual. Y/N doesn't know how to act with her knew found revelation but she knew it'd be best to keep it a secret.

Focusing on the task at hand, Earlier, she was supposed to take this commission alone. Though a stubborn red head decided to tag along claiming it's his duty. Reluctantly, she accepted his request and decided to meet today at this certain time to settle this.

"Before that, I think you're forgetting something" Y/N stopped him from going off.

"Wha-" Before Diluc could utter a word, a cloak suddenly wrapped around his shoulders and clipped on it's own. He was rendered speechless as she secured and fixed the positioning of the clothing. Their proximity was not that close but near enough to make his cheeks redden

"That's better, wouldn't want the fatui recognizing who the Darknight hero is now, would we?" If it were anyone else, he'd be scoffing at the title. But, even Diluc has to admit that it sounds appealing when it falls from her lips. Or, maybe he's just too infatuated to think of it as anything less when it comes from her.

But of course he wouldn't admit that.

"You shouldn't have" Grateful as he is, he sighs, and she can tell he's weighing his options. Diluc was not a fan of presents yet he could see how detailed and high quality the cloak was. It was simple yet the golden accents plus detailed embroidery was beautiful. Before he could think much, Y/N spoke.

"Don't think much of it, it's just a token of thanks-" She knew it'd be best to act naive of her new found information by gifting him something. But it doesn't mean she can't find ways to alleviate the situation

"-For helping me with this commission" As she outstretched her hand, she caught sight of the softest smile as it pulls ever so slightly on the corners of his lips. She chuckled at the sight for it is rare to see the man let down his guard and take a hold of her hand.

"Now let's take care of that fatui hideout so you can gave some peace of mind for the rest of your night." Fatui matters are not something they take lightly but just for today, they'd make their night a living hell as punishment.

For making someone's birthday a memorable one in a horrible way.

Letting off some steam by beating off enemies isn't really a good birthday event. Though it's the only thing Y/N knew how to do good in besides sewing. As they ran through the night in the whispering woods, she started to rethink if this was a good idea. However these thoughts quickly dissipated as soon as it came when she saw a certain glint in his eyes.

She and Diluc were partners yet they know little about each other. That's why these nightly activities became something they could connect at. It probably wasn't a good reason but these ventures is something they could feel comfortable at in each other's presence.

They weren't lovers after all, just partners.

Either way, she knew she should definitely think of another way to celebrate his birthday but as of now, this should do.

'Happy Birthday Diluc'

[omiscurls]

hmm this is like my first time responding to a request thing so here goes: (slight webtoon spoilers!!)—- imagine if you/reader finds out about kaeyas secret accidentally, before he told diluc. how would he react to that? i’ve given some thought into it and i’d love to see your perspective!

dark whispers

plot: hurt/comfort, reader finds out about kaeya's secret before anyone else

contains: kaeya

warnings: WEBTOON SPOILERS, the story takes place before the start of the game, approximately 5-6 years, alcohol, acting under the influence, you can even say underage drinking, curse words

the sun had long set behind the mountains adoring the territories of mondstadt city. it's people had already closed their shops, workshops and businesses, having gone home to their families, many of them possibly already drifting off to sleep.

some individuals, as everyday, be it a workday, weekend, or a holiday, decided to go entertain themselves with different kinds of alcohol at the local tavern.

but to some of the mondstadt folk, that day, that evening was a special one, for it was a celebration of the ever so famous master crepus' adoptive son, kaeya, turning seventeen.

the night fell special even for regular customers, not only the ones celebrating, for it was rare for the master of the dawn winery himself to pour drinks and serve them at his establishment. for the birthday of his son, though, he had abandoned his normal nightly duties, and stood behind the counter for a good couple of hours, giving one speech and joining everyone in singing happy birthday for the young knight.

he had gone home around an hour ago, leaving the happy, slightly drunk bunch of customers in the hands of a younger bartender.

"alright" kaeya's older brother, and cerpus' firstborn, diluc, had made everyone quiet with the way he clapped his hands, a sly smirk on his lips as he looked his friend and brother in the eyes. diluc, being older, already knew the taste and... other qualities of alcohol a little better than the blue-haired boy, so he found nothing but amusement in the way kaeya couldn't find balance on his chair, or in how his eyes just wouldn't focus on one spot, instead wandering around the walls and ceiling of the tavern. "kaeya" he called out, making the boy face him with a dumbfounded look. "you're one round of shots behind me"

kaeya's expression changed to distressed within seconds, as he examined the three glasses before his eyes, wondering if he'll even fit those in his stomach.

"is yer head made out of stone or sum?" he slurred out "how're ya this sober?"

diluc laughed, pointing to the glasses.

"less complaining, more bottoming these out" he rushed, arms crossing at his chest, as he leaned back on his chair and observed his little brother struggle to make the decision.

"go to hell" kaeya mumbled, emptying the drinks one by one, a grimmace coming to his face right after he had laid the last glass back on the table. "what even is that?" he asked, unamused, as diluc responded happily:

"firewater."

a smile of satisfaction painted the redhead's face.

"what?" kaeya's eyes widened "how'd you even get this past father?" he leaned lower on the table, studying diluc's expression. „that’s like, forty percent sheer alcohol!”

"i have my ways" he responded enigmatically, and kaeya shook his head in resignation.

"aight" the birthday boy took a deep breath "your turn. ya don't want to loose now, do you?" remains of a grin lifted the point of his mouth, as diluc chuckled, pouring the transparent liquid into the glasses yet again.

"what's the prize?" you asked one of their friends, having come late to the scene of the challenge.

"oh, the one to loose has to do the other's chores for a month" the guy responded, eyes not darting away from how diluc managed to empty all three glasses, much to kaeya's dispair.

hours had passed, and everyone slowly left the birthday party, diluc leaving kaeya in your hands, as he helped the bartender clean up the mess the young knights had made. you asked the blue-haired boy if he wanted to get some fresh air, to which he nodded, you can't say eagerly, but nodded nonetheless. so that leaves you to where you were now, slowly walking towards your place, kaeya bumping into your side every now and then as he lost balance.

"did you have fun?" you asked happily, eyes focusing on his face, waiting for a response.

"yea" he murmured, not even sparing you a look.

"poor you, are you that wasted?" you continued, amused, as a hiccup left his throat.

"'m not wasted" he denied instantly. " 't was nice to spend some time with diluc, we all know i don't have much of that left"

your eyebrows furrow in confusion, as you stop in your tracks, making him stop, too. he seemed to have thought this was a normal thing to say, and politely waited for you to start walking again, but you didn't, instead crossing your arms, and asking again.

"what do you mean by that?"

he scoffed, almost rudely. " he's gon' hate me for life, isn't it obvious?" he slurred, head lifting to look on the starry sky, hands going deeper inside his pockets. your expression turned even more confused, as he stared up, acting like it was the most natural thing to say, and like everybody knew this.

"what's he gonna hate you for? he's your brother, he loves you deeply, right?" you wanted to rub his arm, or something, do anything to soothe the feelings that must've been eating him alive, but stayed still.

"brother" he scoffed again. you couldn't possibly see, from the angle his head was at, but hot tears flooded his eyes as he said the word out loud, and the moment of silence that came after, he used to calm down even the slightest bit. "i think that's the most beautiful lie i ever came up with, y'know? brother." he repeated.

"what- what do you mean by that?"

"i've been nothing but a useless homewrecker to his family for as long as i have been in this world. how did i ever find the audacity to call myself his brother? oh my, even i hate my guts for this." he chuckled, painful irony overflowing his voice "and my dearest, short-tempered diluc is gonna flip the fuck out, for sure"

"kaeya" you asked, growing to be scared of how mysteriously he was acting "is there anything you wish to tell me?"

you swallowed a gulp in your throat by saying that, and awaited the reply in stress, even if you didn't know why.

his gaze finally came down from the sky, as he looked at you with a sad smile.

"if it was up to me, i'd wish not to tell a soul anything. but i have been lying for far to long, and my so-called family did nothing to deserve that. nothing, nothing bad, ever, and yet they've been cursed to deal with one like me. truly unfair, the fate of this world. how kindness pays off in nothing but sorrow."

you could tell he was a bit more sober by how his words were more understandable than before, but he was still far from his right mind. you would've stopped him, but there was really no going back now, and you almost needed to hear what secret he was talking about.

"my dearest" he said, addressing you "please, do not get angry with me as well. i don't know what i'd do if i lost even more people than i intend to with this information."

after you nodded in confusion, he explained the story, briefly and in a twisted way, having little control over his slurred words.

you stood there in silence for a good long while as silent tears rolled down from both yours and his eyes.

"i'm sorry" he finally mumbled "i'm sorry, i swear i didn't do what i was designed to do, i didn't tell anyone anything, i didn't attempt to harm anyone. it wasn't my decision to make, i swear, i hold no loyalties to-"

"kaeya" you interrupted him, and he feared for the worst. "that must've been so confusing for the little kid you were"

the worried tone of your voice, the way your words were covered in affection, the way your eyes seemed to care, it all flooded his wrecked soul all too quickly and all to strongly, making him gasp for air, as if it was knocked out of his lungs.

"you- you don't think i'm a-"

"no" you interrupted again, afraid of how he might finish the sentence. "and neither will diluc. i can't promise you he won't be mad, because he probably will, but you're brothers, by blood or not. you're gonna fight and you're gonna make up, because no anger will ever top the love i'm sure he has for you. and if rougher days are really coming your way" you said, approaching him to wrap your arms around his shaky form. "then i'll stand by you to face them with you."

little did you both know. the date of diluc ragnvidr’s 18th was approaching faster than anyone could ever anticipated.

[husbandohunter]

Stardew Impact [Genshin+Stardew Valley/xReader]

Part 1/3 Kaeya, Diluc

Synopsis: “A mysterious phenomenon brought you and your s/o to an unfamiliar world: Pelican Town! Without the power of Visions, the two of you begin to learn the life of what it takes to be...a farmer?”

(DOMESTIC FARM LIFE YIP YIP)

Coming soon...

Albedo and Childe

Zhongli and Xiao

(A/N): So the brainrot was real in this one. I planned to add Albedo for a Mondstadt edition but kinda went overboard so I gotta split this one into parts too. Wordcount_almost 2k spspspsp

______________________________________________________

Diluc

• Already has the whole year planned in his head. Literally if Diluc were to play this game, he'd have a booming farm within year ONE. Calm and collected through and through, though the new environment raises alot of questions, as long as you were still with him, Diluc ain't complaining

• The town welcomes you two with open arms. It was all thanks to the attire. Diluc wore his usual dark coat adorned with regal gold while you had a dress made of Liyue's finest silk, one that he bought for you. Needless to stay both of you reeked the aura of rich aristocrats (Mayor Lewis is pleased that greedy bastard)

• Once the farm was permitted to your owndership, Diluc began to think of ways to turn it into a vineyard. He was a businessman afterall. Although the staff back at the Dawn Winery were the ones who tended the field, Diluc still knew a few things about planting due to his childhood days Master Crepus would bring him out to their yard and demonstrated the process of gardening. He still remembers those days clearly, doing the very same this moment with you.

• Occasionally works at the Saloon bar. It was the perfect opportunity. As you took care of the farm side, Diluc continues to look for more ways to increase the income while gathering information from the folks around town. Gus LOVES to have him over, like he's just so efficient and reliable! They soon become good friends saying if Diluc were ever to own a wine stock, he would gladly buy from him.

• This is why Diluc would stay a little later due to just chatting with the people from the bar. One time you walked into the Saloon only to the front desk with Emily alone. Turns out the others were in the other room, too busy playing a game of pool. You decided to leave him be since it was rare to have Diluc so relaxed in leisure activities. Thus in the end, you spent your time chatting with Emily until a whole hour has passed before your lover notices and apologizes for losing track of time.

• Everything felt like a dream because it was his dream. To live a life undisturbed from chaos, his duties and the dangers that lurk in Teyvat, Diluc grew fond of the domesticity. There was nothing he loved more than to spend his hours by your side, day after day, returning home to your freshly handmade meals.

• Spring: Already up and early planting the parnersnips (I'm very soft for gardener Diluc you see). What do you expect from a workaholic? Even during his leisure time you would often find him near some plant as he does consider this hobby quite therapeutic. But when it rains, Diluc would be standing beside you with an arm around your shoulder, smiling contently as you lean into his touch. He gazes through the dripping window and silently admires the current progress you both made on the farm.

• Between the two annual spring festivities, I would say the flower dance. Diluc is a private man and would prefer to take things where no eyes were on sight. But with a little bit of nudging from Gus (your wingman), he gives in and leads you to the center stage. Elegant. Graceful. The way you two moved together became the talk of the event. Though, Diluc was already used to people staring by now, all he needed to do was to ignore them and keep his focus on you.

• Summer: No blankets in bed. Nope, its bloody hot in Pelican Town. He tends to stay indoors or anywhere with shade, in other words, his work hours in the Saloon increased.

• Diluc always has a nice cold drink prepared for you if by any chance you were to pay a visit after a whole day of labour. It's a habit he's made subconciously as if it would be a natural occurance for you to enter the door. His colleagues would ask him who did he make that drink for? Honestly so cute i cri

• Moments like these remind him of Mondstadt, where he quietly wipes the glasses while listening to you talk. Your voice is soothing. Sun rays peek from the side casting onto the umber tables, reflecting a rich golden light as the radio plays a soft song in the background. It's so peaceful, the town was small hence not many people visited the bar, Diluc came to appreciate this warm privacy (plus no Venti and Kaeya which is a huge pog realization).

• Autumn: Harvest time baby. The kegs are full and the sheds are full of kegs. This season was huge stonks and the house ended up getting an upgrade. Diluc is the type of man who wants to make sure that his spouse wouldn't have to work another day of her life. I reckon this is why he's so ambitious because he wants you to have the best and you deserve the best. (Husband material. Slap a ring on him ladies).

When there was no more work left to do, time would be spend peacefully exploring the woods. While you skipped a few steps ahead as the leaves crunched beneath your feets, Diluc follows slowly from behind. He sees your back but his eyes stares somewhere far beyond whats in front of him: His future. 

It was such a stark contrast to the one he envisioned before. One filled with uncertaintly, blocked by darkness with no silver lining in sight, endlessly wandering as he drags the claymore against the ground. There was never a day in which the Darknight hero wouldn't think of Mondstadt. Leaving the city in the incompetent hands of Ordo Favonious while Abyss Mages continue to lurk fuels him to find a way to return as soon as possible and yet...

"Higher big sis!" Jas tightens her hold on the ropes as you pushed the swing with all your might. She laughs, like a child, it was full of innocence and joy. Later Vincent came in and nugdes you, asking when his turn will come.

"You wanna go too? Alright alright don't worry," waiting for Jas to come down, you lift the boy up so that he was seated safely on the chair, "3..2..1 go!"

He wonders if he could just be a little selfish for once.

• Winter: Best man to have in this season. Every morning Diluc would find himself restricted in movements due to a pair of arms around his waist and legs entangled with yours. Turns out you've been doing it subconciously because he's just so warm (Diluc keeps it lowkey and pretends to sleep longer cuz of it)

~~xx~~

Kaeya

• Haha looks like the portal is gone, guess we'll be stuck forever :)). No kidding Kaeya would be so down to stay here for the rest of his life and the best part is to spend it with you. He doesn't show a shred of concern regarding Teyvat, not like he's easily shaken by events that are abnormal, but you can see that Kaeya is truly and genuinely happy. (You're stunned).

• Oho we also have this marvelous landscape just for the two of us? And a cozy little cabin to go along with it as well? This should be fun~ 

• Of course Kaeya would also know a few things about planting, just the basics since he did grow up with Diluc. When they were kids, Crepus would give each of them their own pots so they can grow their own plants. It eventually became a competitive thing where whoever's plant grows the fastest gets to eat the other person's dessert for a year (no one wins. They end up sabotaging each other which Diluc started first, thinking it'll be funny as a joke).

• You are, and will be going on dates with him. In fact, the amount of dates you two went on increased since then. The townspeople would call you two "lovebirds" since he's practically by your side 24/7. 

• I mean he doesn't have the responsibilities as a Cavalry Captain anymore so what else is there to do?

• Would attend all annual events no matter what season. 

• Evelyn constantly gushes how much of a wonderful pair you and Kaeya make and often is the one who provides Kaeya a fresh bouqet of flowers for him to use as a gift. George on the otherhand just rolled his eyes mumbling something along the lines of "youngsters these days" and "crazy hormones."

• Befriends Pam. Love for beer plus somewhat cynical attitude? They get along real swell! She starts sending some recipes into the mailbox of course saying if yall ever need a hand, let her know.

• Spring: I can see Kaeya be switching back and forth between caring for the farm or taking quests posted on Pierre's bulletin board. He likes to keep things interesting, learning the ways of the new world while also getting to know the people around town.

• Would NOT return Mayor Lewis' shorts in which he found in Marnie's room. It's such high quality blackmail material. Kaeya is currently plotting what is the best way to use it to his advantage.

• He didn't tell you of course.

• Summer: There are no blankets because he is your blanket. Since your cabin was small so was the bed. That's why he has to hold you so that no one falls off when rolling over. Either he hugs you with your nose close to his neck, or your back against his chest while spooning you or holding hands if sleeping on your sides became too much. Yall need a serious house upgrade.

• For some reason Kaeya becomes more energetic in the summer. He lets you rest in the shade while handling the farm work for the time being. If you guys got a pet it would be a cat. Hes the first one to refill their bowl every morning outside.

Another day passes as summer comes to an end, the town’s Mayor invited you and your lover to see the annual Dance Of the Moonlight Jellies. Kaeya being the opportunist was delighted to come along. Locking the door of your house, you follow him down the path and made your way to the beach.

Everyone from town was already gathered by the docks when the sun had disappeared down the horizon. You stood by his side in a space far from the others, watching  the candle boats set off to ride the waves, lighting up a small ray of light for creatures to find. 

“Wow,” your tone almost above a whisper, “If only our friends back home could see this too.”

“Perhaps,” he says. Kaeya slips his fingers into yours and you shot him a curious glance, “But let us enjoy this moment shall we? Just the two of us.”

And there they were. A sea of luminescence radiating colours of brilliant blue with hints of green like a city of laterns floating in a world below. Their image reflects in the star of Kaeya's eyes as he wonders, where would they go? Where would the light lead them? They were so free with nothing to worry, so serene just like the sea and unknowningly, he squeezes your hand. It was a sense for confirmation. One to remind him that this moment was indeed a reality he wishes to keep.

Autumn: Finally a house upgrade and a kitchen!! Because it was harvest season, you guys end up making a set of delicious meals with all the recipes the townspeople gave you. Kaeya can cook since he lived by himself back in Mondstadt. Most of the stuff he learned to make were food that can be accompanied by alcohol though...

• Ahah remember Mayor Lewis' lucky shorts? He found a use for them. It was displayed on the stands during the Stardew Valley Fair (Oh my how did this get here? Must be the wind). Ends up buying a Rarecrow for the farm when Lewis bribes him not to tell this to anyone.

Winter: This was mostly an indoor season for the both of you. With the existence of television, nights would be spent until morning while watching movies at the couch. A blanket drapes around your shoulders as extends to his.  Oh and don't forget the hot chocolate! 

[caelestis-composition]

killshot anon! YEAH i totally agree w/ your view on kaeya. it's so weird to me that people will blame him for his role in a situation he was forced into as a child through no choice of his own. that itself had to be traumatic, not to mention everything that happened later. i hate when people say he's untrustworthy - like yeah, he's lied, so has everyone? it's clear he does it mostly to protect himself. not to mention that (& sadism) can be symptoms of trauma. kaeya deserves nothing but happiness

take a seat folks it’s time for a “brynn should’ve been an english major” lesson! today we’re gonna learn some literary theory; specifically, we’re gonna apply psychoanalytical trauma theory to kaeya’s backstory and current character. killshot anon i bet you never thought this would result in a whole ass essay.

disclaimer one! you are allowed to dislike kaeya! i am not saying you need to like him or his character, you’re entitled to your opinion and i’m not here to change your mind.

disclaimer two! i am in no way an expert and this is all for fun! this is just my silly little analysis of one of my favorite characters as someone who’s studied literary theory and rhetoric and can also apply personal experience. seriously analysis is like a hobby to me and this is just an excuse for me to ramble about kaeya.

disclaimer three! this contains lots of spoilers! basically for everything we know in-game, general knowledge as well as stuff from his voicelines and character story. don’t read this if you don’t want spoilers.

since this is going to be filled with spoilers and is about to get really long, everything will be under a cut. for those who wanna read my dumb super informal essay: enjoy!

final note: yeah this is over 2000 words long can you tell i like analysis

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let’s start by getting a quick rundown of trauma theory out of the way. to begin, what is “trauma?” in this case, trauma is going to refer to an experience that greatly affects and changes one’s life; attitudes, memories, behaviors, mental state, etc. while not all changes may be bad, per se, the overall effect of trauma is generally a negative one, which is why it’s so significant. literary trauma theory, then, explores these changes and the impact of trauma in literature. it analyzes the psychological and social effects of trauma, explaining what those effects are and why they happen. in the context of a specific character, trauma theory breaks down said character’s behaviors, feelings, and general mentality in relation to their past experiences; trauma theory hopes to explain to others the reasons for why a character may act or feel the way they do, all based upon the character’s experiences, particularly traumatic ones. our character today is the lovely kaeya alberich, with the “literature” being genshin impact. i’ll be referencing kaeya’s wiki page to ensure i get all details correct for his character story and voicelines.

it would be good to review kaeya’s backstory before delving into the actual analysis. though we don’t know much about his life before living in mondstadt, we’re told he was sent as an agent of khaenri’ah. and by “sent,” i mean his biological father abandoned him in a completely unfamiliar land to serve khaenri’ah’s interests and fullfil his mission—what this entirely entails hasn’t been revealed. mondstadt, however, welcomed kaeya “with open arms when they found him.” crepus ragnvindr took him in as his adopted son, with diluc as his adopted brother. kaeya and diluc were “almost like twins,” so close they “[knew] each other’s thoughts and intentions without a word.” he’d began a new life in mondstadt, one surrounded by friends and family that loved him; one that was completely shattered by crepus’s death. kaeya arrived at the scene of the disaster, and was led to believe diluc was the one who killed their father to “set his father free” from the effects of his delusion. there’d always been one big question in kaeya’s life: if it came down to it, who would he support? the nation that abandoned him, but he still felt loyal to, or the nation and family that took him in and really loved him? overrun with guilt, kaeya confessed his purpose to diluc, sparking a fight between the two brothers. in this fight, kaeya receives his cryo vision. though both brothers stepped away alive, they’ve never been able to make peace with one another. now, kaeya is the eccentric and charming cavalry captain of the knights of favonius; a man who gets his way by using any means necessary, regardless of whether or not it seems right.

kaeya’s not evil; he’s morally ambiguous, and that stems from what appears to be a general distrust of others. his life is one shrouded in secrecy. from the moment he stepped foot into mondstadt, he was surrounded by secrets. even now, he doesn’t talk about a lot of things, namely his past, vision, and feelings. though he’s always willing to get information out of others, kaeya never reveals anything about himself. he repeatedly tells the player they can confide in him, but whenever you try and pry into his life, he deflects your questions with some sort of witty comment or flirty remark. anything he does reveal is vague, or spoken in some sort of “code.” for example, his “interesting things” voiceline. he tells us about the owl of dragonspine, how it “seems to look right through you, while letting go of none of its own secrets,” and then tacks on a “quite fascinating, don’t you think?” it seems like an awfully accurate parallel to himself; kaeya does all he can to get information from others, but never gives anything about himself. now, this whole thing—his relationship with diluc falling apart and his need for secrecy—could have probably been avoided if he had just come clean about his mission years ago. so why didn’t he? to start, kaeya was a literal child. not only are children unable to properly tell the difference between right and wrong, but they’ll also typically follow their parents’ orders blindly. kaeya had just been abandoned, and he wouldn’t want to risk being cast out by mondstadt as well if he came clean right away. you see, there’s this thing about trauma, something that trauma theory states. traumatized people feel a sort of shame or guilt regarding their traumatic experience; they’ll keep quiet because they don’t want to cause problems or bother others with their issues. of course kaeya wouldn’t tell the truth about his past, he doesn’t want to destroy the genuinely loving relationships he’d built in mondstadt. his fight with diluc only proves what he was afraid of: if he’s honest, he’ll be abandoned again. and if kaeya’s used to all the lies, why should he bother changing?

another thing, if he’s not going to tell the truth, then why would he have initially gone along with his father’s plans? again, he was a child. he really had no choice, and was forced into a very wrong and cruel situation. there’s a good explanation for this, too, which is also stated in trauma theory; traumatized people will still do their best to please their abusers. especially if said abuser is a parent, that will drive traumatized people to work even harder to please them. although his father hurt him by ruthlessly abandoning him, kaeya still sought to make him and his homeland proud. he was willing to be used as a tool for their gain; that is, until he found people who actually cared about him. he was an impressionable child, of course he’s going to obey orders. but as he gets older, he feels torn. does he serve those who abandoned him, or those that took him in? his father—and arguably, khaenri’ah as a whole—hurt him, sure, but he still feels some loyalty and connection to his former home. instead of revealing anything, he lets the situation play out. that way, he can’t be blamed when things fall apart.

the thing about claiming he’s untrustworthy is that hardly anyone in-game believes that. he’s adored by the older folks in mondstadt, and foes and allies alike find him easy to talk to. despite seeming lazy and uninterested in work, kaeya takes his job very seriously. in fact, his story states that crepus’s death was the “first and only time kaeya failed in his duty.” the “only time” is especially important, because it signifies kaeya still fulfills his duties successfully. he’s had a total of one slip-up, and hasn’t failed since. no, kaeya is not untrustworthy. rather, kaeya finds everyone else untrustworthy. it’s not unlikely that this is a direct consequence of being abandoned as a child. although it’s been established that kaeya and diluc were very close as children, when crepus dies, kaeya assumes diluc is the one that killed him. in order to jump to such an extreme conclusion against someone he was so close to, there had to be some underlying sense of distrust. furthermore, kaeya expresses feeling as though he doesn’t belong anywhere. he was abandoned by khaenri’ah, and then worried he wouldn’t be accepted by mondstadt. he is, but there’s still that worry. if you place him in your teapot as a companion, he tells you that your home feels like someplace he belongs, following it up with a “heh, who’d have thought…” kaeya still feels as though he doesn’t belong in mondstadt; despite the fact that he’s a high-ranking knight of favonius and rather popular, he still feels like an outsider. he doesn’t trust that anyone actually wants him around, and he finds joy in testing peoples’ trustworthiness. it’s noted in his story and through his voicelines that the beloved cavalry captain has a rather sadistic nature. he likes putting people into difficult situations, to see what decisions they will make. he does this to both opponents and allies, testing to see who’s going to back out and who’ll keep fighting; in the sake of allies, who can he trust? or who will turn tail and abandon their teammates at the slightest hint of danger? i mentioned it previously, but kaeya doesn’t care what measures he has to take so long as his job gets done and he gets the answers he wants. it’s a sort of self-preserving mindset, putting himself above the safety of others. kaeya’s trying to protect himself, which makes sense with all he’s been through. he doesn’t want to be hurt, and instead finds pleasure in threatening harm upon others. it’s twisted, sure, but it’s because he can only trust himself in a world that he believes is out to get him. he’s got as many enemies—if not more—as he does allies; of course kaeya focuses on protecting himself first, whether physically or through keeping his secrets, well, secret.

his most obvious traumatic effect is definitely his alcoholism. but he uses it as a distraction, not just to wallow in self-pity. this is seen again in his story, particularly in story 3. it’s found that when his favorite drink, death after noon, is out of season, mondstadt’s crime rate is decreased drastically. at face value, this just means kaeya spends more time working when death after noon is low in supply. but kaeya doesn’t skip work to go to taverns; it’s already been established he takes his job very seriously, so this means he actually patrols and tracks down threats while off work when he can’t indulge in his favorite alcoholic drink. he doesn’t get drunk simply because he’s depressed. if he did, there wouldn’t be a drop in incidents when death after noon is out of season. no, kaeya uses both the alcohol and fighting to distract himself. after all, it’s a little hard to think about feeling sad when you’re either drunk out of your mind or fighting for your life.

despite being so secretive, kaeya gives us glimpses of his true emotions from time to time. as previously mentioned, his flirty attitude is nothing more than a mask to hide how he really feels; and kaeya is terribly, terribly lonely. that may be why he seems so extroverted. constantly being around people should, logically, drive away that feeling, but it doesn’t work like that. when he talks with the player, he frequently expresses disappointment when you have to leave. each time, though, he dampens the weight of his words with playful or flirty language. he’s lonely, but doesn’t want you to know that, like he’s afraid of asking you to stay. he takes the seriousness of his feelings, and basically bends it into some sort of lighthearted joke. kaeya hides his true feelings—negative feelings, to be exact—so that he doesn’t bother anyone. which is, again, something that happens with traumatized people. he displays that hesitance to reveal his true feelings, because there’s a shame or guilt that comes with his past. he doesn’t want to bother others or hold them back, so he puts on a smile and amps up the charisma. one other very important thing—but very small detail—i would like to note is his feelings toward family. his fell apart not even once, but twice, and kaeya still holds familial relationships in high regard. we know he doesn’t exactly care how he goes about getting his work done. he doesn’t pay attention to what’s “right” or “wrong,” so long as he gets what he needs. but one of his informants, vile, notes that the cavalry captain has one exception: he won’t work with those who threaten others’ families. in fact, kaeya claims those who do should be hunted down and destroyed. even though his own families have caused him so much pain—and he ended up estranged from both—he still understands the importance of having people who love you in your life. because he didn’t get that.

kaeya’s not evil. ultimately, as a knight of favonius, his goal is to protect others, because no one was there to protect him. and because no one was there to protect him, because he’s been hurt time and time again by people who were supposed to love him, kaeya has taken to protecting himself. he hides any and all negative feelings with a charismatic, friendly façade, because he thinks it’ll drive away his persistent loneliness. any “bad” actions of his were hardly his fault; he was forced into a life of secrecy and lies, and then abandoned by the first people who truly loved him. kaeya’s a multi-faceted, tragic character, one that toes the line between good and evil, and that’s what makes him so interesting.