Cross-posted on AO3

Day 18: "I Can't See"

The last thing Kaeya remembered before everything went dark was the feeling of a Hilichurl bringing down a club against the back of his head and the sound of the Traveler calling his name before he was gone.

Kaeya knew that he had a habit of being reckless, of making enemies of powerful people and then laughing when they realize that they can't do anything without it becoming a public issue. Jean would always take his side and – with her – the public would follow. He might receive a scolding later in the privacy of her office – but ultimately – no real punishment would be given to him.

It seemed like the last person he ticked off knew that.

Jean had gotten a commission about a hoard of Hilichurls attacking wagons and merchants coming through the canyon. Strangely, Kaeya had been specifically asked to be the one to investigate. It had set Jean on edge, but it merely got a chuckle out of Kaeya. He knew exactly who had sent in the commission even without a name signed on the paper.

He had recently ticked off a traveling wine seller who would be staying in Mondstadt for a week by saying that nothing could own up to Dawn Winery's selection, boasting the entire time about how he would pick a Death After Noon over anything they had to sell.

To say that the merchant had been upset would be an understatement. While Kaeya hadn't exactly been trying to tick the man off, the had blown up, saying that they would prove him wrong by making a lot money by the time of his departure and would make him eat his words.

There might have been a slur or two thrown in, but he honestly couldn't remember and couldn't have cared less.

Jean had been suspicious the moment the commission was received. Kaeya had told her about what happened not long after the incident and he was pretty sure she was thinking the same thing he was.

"I could give this to someone else to solve, you know," she said. "You don't have to be the one to go out on what's sure to be a trap."

"Don't worry, Jean," he had reassured, "I'll be perfectly fine. It'll be a piece of cake."

The Acting Grand Master hadn't looked convinced.

"At least take someone with you?" she had asked. She didn't want her friend walking into a trap.

"If it will soothe your worries, I'll ask around and see if anyone is free."

It had been intended to be a lie, but when he saw Jean's shoulders visibly relax, he found that he couldn't bring himself to go back on his word. The few knights he actually did try to ask were too busy and he couldn't even find Amber. Lisa was completely out of the question and he wasn't even sure if Sucrose could handle it. He knew asking Albedo would be a lost cause and there was no way he was taking Klee into a trap.

He found himself lucky when the Traveler came over after a trip to Liyue. They told him about the festival they attended there and expressed their eagerness to attend Ludi Harpastum when the time came around. They conversed jovially the entire walk and Paimon didn't miss on the chance to throw insult after insult at him, despite the Traveler's reprimands.

Not that Kaeya really minded; he had been called much worse things in the past.

Their conversation was cut short when they arrived at the canyon. They initially split up to look for the supposed Hilichurl infestation but had found nothing. By the time they regrouped they had begun to believe that it had been a hoax just to waste the knight's time.

They were quickly proven wrong when they were ambushed. The Traveler focused on the two Samachurls while Kaeya kept the Hilichurls off their back. Things began to get out of hand when more Hilichurls started showing up. Thankfully, they didn't run into any Mitachurls and the closest Lawachurls were mostly spotted on Dragonspine. They were lucky in that department.

That didn't change that they were starting to be overwhelmed by the sheer number of Hilichurls that were appearing.

'This would be a sucky way to go out,' he thought.

This thought was the last he was hit over the head by a Hilichurl that decided to get a lucky hit in while he was distracted. His sight went dark as he drifted away.

When he opened his eyes again, he was met with darkness.

At first, he assumed it was because of the room likely being one of the underground rooms at the cathedral and there simply being no candles lit. Then he remembered that there was still usually at least a faint outline of the room that he could usually make out was also absent and felt a trickle of alarm shoot up his spine.

While it was hard to see in the dark, it looked more like he was looking into the darkest parts of the Abyss. It was setting off every warning sign in his brain as his heart rate seemed to kick into overdrive.

He nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a hand rest on his shoulder.

"Kaeya?"

He immediately relaxed; he knew that voice.

"Diluc?"

The hand tightened, a sign that he had guessed right.

"Why did the Traveler and some guy from Liyue come running into the cathedral screaming about you dying?"

"Some guy from Liyue?"

"Yeah," his brother said irritably. "Some guy with long brown hair and amber eyes. Liked to talk all prim and proper? Ring any bells?"

Kaeya buried his face in his hands as he felt it heat up in embarrassment. It was just his luck that the Geo Archon himself would show up after he passed out and would offer to carry him back to the city. Not that he would tell Diluc that.

Just what was his life anymore?

"He's a consultant for the funeral parlor," he found himself saying instead. "I met him during a trip with the Traveler to Liyue."

Diluc made a sound in the back of his throat that usually meant he knew Kaeya wasn't telling him everything, but the tycoon thankfully let the subject drop.

"What's the verdict then? How long are they keeping me here?"

"Actually," Diluc started, his voice starting to sound lighter, "You're allowed to leave immediately since the wound itself has already been healed. They couldn't find anything else wrong with you, just a concussion from blunt force trauma." There was a brief pause that Kaeya could picture was Diluc shrugging his shoulders. "It was an easy enough fix."

Kaeya felt his shoulders begin to shake.

An easy fix?

Nothing wrong?

"Kaeya?"

Oh no. Was that concern in Diluc's voice?

"You know, you haven't thanked the Traveler since you woke up. Don't you think they deserve some form of gratitude?"

Kaeya found himself panicking. When had the Traveler shown up? How long had they been here?!

"Of course," he said, trying his best to hide the tremor in his voice as he raised his head. He kept his eye closed in case he gave himself away by not looking in the right direction. "They have my sincerest gratitude for getting back to the cathedral safely. A drink is in order once I'm released."

He paused when he noticed that he could hear Diluc's breathing change. His breathing was coming heavier, slower. Almost like he was trying to calm himself down.

What had he missed?

That's when realization crashed over him.

He could only hear Diluc's breathing.

The rest of the room was completely silent.

Son of a –

"Kaeya." Barbatos, he hated that crack in Diluc's voice. "We're the only ones here." The younger man could practically hear the hysteria that the older was holding back. How close he was to snapping.

His own mounting panic was interrupted by warm arms wrapping around him as a wet face buried itself into his neck.

"It's okay, Kaeya."

Something in Kaeya finally snapped.

"How is this okay, Diluc?!" he cried. He could feel anger boiling in his chest, twisting with the despair there and forming a cocktail stronger than most of the drinks at Angel's Share.

"I can't see!" he sobbed. "I – I can't see anything, 'Luc."

His arms had risen at one point, wrapping around the other just as tightly. He turned his until he felt it rest against Diluc's head, burying himself in those vibrant red locks he could no longer see. Those red strands that he had been so jealous of in his youth, that proven his ties to Crepus; the man he had admired so.

And now even the color was robbed from him.

How could he even do his job now? What about the informants he still had out there? The criminals that would now be able to get away with a lot more now that he couldn't track them down? The crime rings that would take this as their chance to increase the crime rate in Mondstadt? The citizens that would be put in harm's way in his absence?

All he could do was cling to Diluc harder, the situation seeming more and more grim the more he thought about it.

Diluc shifted, pulling away. Kaeya began to make a distressed noise but was quickly silenced when Diluc merely moved until he was sitting beside him on the bed and pulling him close again, moving Kaeya's head under his chin as he scratched lightly at his scalp.

"It's going to be okay, Kae," the other's voice stronger than before, hardened by determination, "because I'm not going anywhere. I'll protect you and be your eyes until we heal yours." He felt a kiss pressed to his head, the same way Crepus would when he woke up from a nightmare.

"I promise."

And in that moment, Kaeya believed him.

A/N: This story was started on the 21st and finished on the 22nd. It took a while because – while my sight isn't the best – I'm not blind, not do I know how someone who has suddenly lost their sight would react. I can only use how I would probably react.

I originally was going to have someone sneak into Kaeya's room to attack him and no one realizing Kaeya was blind until Kaeya couldn't describe what the person looked like and then everyone subsequently freaking out when they realized that Kaeya couldn't see.

This felt more personal and was the more whump-ish idea in my head, so I went with it.