Cross-posted on AO3

Day 9 ALT: Gunpoint

Diluc and Kaeya really seemed to simultaneously have the best and worst luck.

Forget to study the night before a test? Guess and get all the answers right.

Work their butts off at the bar until they nearly collapse while dealing with terrible customers? Their schedule somehow miraculously cleared up the next day and allows them to rest for the next three or four (sometimes a whole week if they were lucky).

Someone tries to rob them? They're dumb enough to do it in front of the police and are arrested immediately.

Why couldn't that have been the way things went this time?

He glared at the men who held Kaeya hostage, even with the red and blue lights outside. One was holding Kaeya still while the other pointed a gun at Diluc's head to keep him from doing anything. Even with a gun practically point-blank at his head, he didn't take his eyes off the man who was holding a knife to his brother's throat. Kaeya was giving him that look, the one that told him not to do anything stupid or he'd get himself shot.

Never mind the knife that was about to slit his jugular.

It made him grit his teeth angrily, making Kaeya narrow his eyes in warning. He's forced to pay attention to the gunmen when he shoved the gun further against his temple, growling for him to not ignore him. He could practically feel Kaeya roll his eyes when he let out an audible growl.

The gunman looked surprised at first, most likely surprised that Diluc was still giving him attitude with a gun put to his head. His surprise was quickly turned to anger as he pulled the gun back and pistol-whipped him, causing him to fall to the ground as his vision swam.

He heard Kaeya call his name, but quieted with the sound of a slap and a yelp, the gunman having struck Kaeya across the face. Raising his pounding head as much as he could, he squints his eyes and feels his blood boil at the sight he was met with.

The man had hit Kaeya hard, causing his head to jerk to the side and the other man holding him to leave a cut on his neck. The blood was pooling in Kaeya's half-buttoned shirt, staining the blue fabric red.

With fury fueling his actions, Diluc felt the adrenaline fuel his actions and he pulled himself up off the floor. With the men's attention still on Kaeya, they missed him getting back to his feet, but the cashier was staring at him with wide eyes, shaking his head no.

Ignoring the man and the other people cowering around the store, he grabbed the bottle of wine they had brought with them off of the counter, gripping it by the neck. Without hesitation and as hard as he could, he brought the bottle down on the gunman's head and the man immediately flopped onto the floor unconscious.

Cursing in surprise, the man with the knife made the mistake of loosening his grip on the teen in his arms and Kaeya immediately let himself drop. Diluc didn't give the man a chance to react as he pulled his fist back and let it fly, hearing a crunch as it collided with the man's nose. The man fell to the floor screaming in pain, but the redhead ignored him as he grabbed his brother's bicep and dragged him out of the store.

He ignored the cops calling him to come back, purely focusing on getting Kaeya home and hopefully just collapsing into bed and sleeping this crappy evening off. He knew that he would have to deal with Father and Adelinde first, though. The two were going to badger both of them until they accepted medical attention, he just knew it.

He was so done with today.

A/N: The draft for this was written on the 31st of January and was written on the 10th of February. I felt like doing another no dialogue story because I didn't know how to fully flesh this out with words and action.