Cross-posted on AO3

Day 6 ALT: "Don't Try To Pin This On Me"

Diluc was getting really tired of getting into these kinds of situations.

It was one thing to join the Traveler on a journey to Dragonspine to get some flowers for Flora. It was another to get into a battle with a bunch of monsters. Most were just the normal average Hilichurls; thankfully without any archers, since those were annoying and distracting from the monsters in front of him.

Then there was the other distraction.

They had run into Kaeya on the way to the mountain and Lumine had begged him to come along. While he had seemed hesitant, he eventually caved when the Traveler and Paimon gave him those darned puppy eyes.

No one in all of Teyvat could resist that face. Instead, they kept tabs about how long they lasted and aimed to be the one wo could last longer than the rest.

One quick trip to a waypoint and they were teleported to the solitary Statue of the Seven on the mountain. While they had run into the occasional monster, even Diluc had to admit that this was a lot.

Thankfully, they were relatively easy to take down and the only real problems were the Mitachurls.

Diluc made it a point to focus on them while the Traveler and Kaeya focused on the small fry since neither of them used an element that could counteract the ice shields. Several minutes into the fight, however, they were all distracted by the roar of another monster.

When Diluc had turned to look, he was met with the sight of a Frostarm Lawachurl charging directly at Kaeya.

Somehow, the man felt his body move on its own as he placed himself between the captain and the giant monster, moving his claymore to shield the two from the blow. Sadly, the block didn't do much to slow the monster's momentum and the two found themselves being pushed off the cliff as the Traveler shouted their names.

The two slammed violently against the ground, their fall at least cushioned somewhat by the snow.

That didn't mean that it didn't hurt.

Diluc groaned as he gripped his left shoulder, likely dislocated, and tried to sit up. His attention was caught by Kaeya trying to sit up as well, gripping his leg as his dark pants began to taint with a faint sign red. Diluc cursed mentally as he scooted closer, thankful that hadn't fallen too far apart.

Moving his good arm to check on Kaeya's leg, he's surprised when Kaeya slapped his arm away.

"You should focus more on your own injury, Master Diluc."

Diluc growled in frustration.

"This isn't the time to be stubborn. Just let me see how bad it is! You're bleeding!"

"I'm fine. You should reset your shoulder before it swells up too much."

"We wouldn't even be in this situation if you had been paying more attention!"

This earned him a glare as Kaeya immediately got defensive.

"I didn't ask for you to jump in the way, idiot!"

"Of course, I would save you," Diluc found himself snapping back. "It's not my fault my little brother is such a ditz!"

The second the words came out of his mouth, he froze. He could see Kaeya's eyes widen in surprise. Both men were silent for a moment as they stared at each other before Kaeya ducked his head and turned it sideways, hiding his face from view. He murmured something, but Diluc couldn't quite hear him over the storm.

"Just speak up, I can't hear you."

This was met by the other ducking his head further, but he obliged.

"I said," he started in a shaky, but a little louder voice, "that I'll let you tend to my leg if you let me set your shoulder."

Diluc was a little stunned at the change in character and he could have sworn he saw Kaeya's ears turn red from something other than the cold. It almost felt like they were kids again and Kaeya was that shy boy who didn't know how to do anything other than fight for his life.

The redhead found himself smiling – if only a little – as he agreed.

Kaeya let him move closer and he handed him his cape for a makeshift bandage material.

"Are you sure?" Diluc found himself asking. "I almost never see you not wearing this thing."

"It's fine," Kaeya reassured him half-heartedly. "It's wasn't the only one I've had tailored."

Diluc scoffed playfully at that.

With that out of the way, he took the cape and carefully ripped half of it into bandages. Wrapping them around Kaeya's thigh, he made sure to tie them firmly, silently cursing that they didn't have any stitches to at least keep the wound closed until they made it back to the cathedral.

After that was done, he maneuvered himself until he was sitting beside Kaeya with his dislocated arm facing the other, giving him access to the injury. Without much preamble or warning, the captain grabbed the arm and jerked it upwards, causing Diluc to let out a hiss of pain.

Once his vision cleared a little, he noticed that Kaeya was handing him the remains of his cape to use as a sling. He knew that field surgery wasn't going to be enough and that they would both need to visit the cathedral when they returned to Mondstadt.

Once his arm was secure, the two huddled closer by the nearby heating statue as they waited for the Traveler to finish the fight and join them. They both knew that everything would be fine.

Until Diluc sneezed loudly, causing Kaeya to crack up.

A/N: The draft for this piece was written on the 29th of January. I just wanted an excuse to have them visit Dragonspine together and to make up before they froze to death. A nice soft ending for the likely mostly sad and/or bad endings I'm going to write.