Cross-posted on AO3
Day 19: Sleep Deprivation
Diluc forced back a yawn as he wiped down a glass.
The last few nights had been more than a little hectic. There had been an unpredictable spike in crime, so he had more than just the odd Abyss Mage sneaking into the city to worry about.
He had been returning to the Winery later than usual and eventually settled for starting to stay in the room on the top floor of Angel's Share. Most days now had him returning during midday for a few hours before turning around and doing some work for a few hours before needing to go back to the city for his nightly duties.
It all pretty much ended with him getting little to basically no sleep.
Tonight had been blessedly calm, but Diluc wasn't one to just assume that nothing was going to happen. He wasn't complacent enough to do that anymore ever since his self-imposed banishment. Near death experiences were known to do that to people.
He had only been at Angel's Share for two hours before the front door slammed open. Turning sharply, he almost summoned his claymore, expecting o have to deal with some trouble maker.
Well, it was a trouble maker.
And he didn't look happy.
Following close behind was Charles and he definitely looked nervous. He looked back and forth between Diluc and the Calvary Captain like he was expecting an explosion just from them being in the same room.
"What do you want, Sir Kaeya?" he asked irritably. He really wasn't looking forward to dealing with the man. Kaeya had the special ability to tick every nerve Diluc had. He felt his skin crawl when Kaeya gave that gein that could only ever mean that trouble wasn't far behind.
"Charles."
The unspoken order was followed by the man nervously moving behind the counter. Diluc could only wonder when his employee started taking orders from a Knight of Favonius. It certainly didn't help the tycoon's rising irritation.
Not even bothering to say anything, Kaeya grabbed Diluc by the color of his shirt, effectively catching him off guard as he dragged him from behind the counter.
"What are you doing?!" he demanded, venom dripping from voice. He wasn't about to put up with being Dragged around like a badly behaved child.
"You only have yourself to blame for this, Master Diluc." The knight's voice was light, but the redhead swore that he could sense some underlying anger.
What in Barbatos' name could have possibly made Kaeya angry?
It didn't take long before they stepped outside and found a carriage waiting for them. Diluc wasn't given the chance to say anything before he was roughly thrown in the back. He would forever deny that he yelped.
He was closely followed by Kaeya climbing in after him, settling down between him and the exit. The Pyro wielder was tempted to push him out, but something about the other today was setting him on edge. His face looked as annoying as ever, but he was giving off a cold feeling that he wasn't used to, like he was winter incarnate.
It was putting him on edge.
"What is this all about?" he questioned, only to be thoroughly ignored.
"Now, Adelinde!" the other called towards the front.
The carriage jolted forward, startling Diluc as much as the words had. Adelinde was in on this scheme as well? She knew better than anyone how much he disliked Kaeya. Just what was going on?
The ride was spent in silence, the atmosphere so thick that he probably douldnt have been able to cut theough it with his claymore. Were they planning on killing him and dumping his body somewhere? He wouldn't put it past Kaeya, but he hadn't expected two of his most loyal employees to get in on the plot.
"The look on your face tells me you're thinking something stupid."
Kaeya would have looked amused if Diluc didn't see the ice in his gaze. The other was clearly very unhappy. Did Jean give him a pay cut? Were the other knights giving him a hard time?
"Where are you taking me, Sir Kaeya?" He wasn't expecting an answer, but the silence was beginning to drive him up the walls.
Surprisingly, he actually got an answer.
"This," the captain gestured around him, "is an intervention put together by your employees." The man's expression was an expression that Diluc only saw when Kaeya was forced to take orders that he really didn't like. It was unnerving.
Sadly, that was the only explanation he received. The rest of the ride was quiet as the tavern owner tries to think of something that would require him needing an intervention. He didn't drink and he never smoked. He was too busy to worry about things like that.
It wasn't like he slept around either. He was too focused on his work to even give it more than a passing thought. If anyone out of the two of them would need an intervention for that, it would probably Kaeya. Not that he knew if the other engaged in the activity or not.
Nor did he want to know.
He shook his head wildly as he tried to disperse the thought. It wasn't any of his business what his ex-brother did or not. When he looked back up at Kaeya for a distraction, he found the other seemed to have calmed from whatever was making him upset before. His face had become less tense and the amusement had finally started to reach his eyes.
"Your face is red, 'Luc."
The tease made Diluc flush in embarrassment. Kaeya hadn't read his mind had he?! His panic must have shown on his face, because Kaeya started laughing. It was a full-belly laugh, loud and unrestrained. It made Diluc stare in awe as the other struggled to breathe through his laughter.
Ever since their falling out, Diluc had been certain that he would never hear that laugh again. It reminded him of a newly taken Kaeya, how small he had been. A malnourished child who jumped at almost every little sound as if he expected something to jump out at him.
Making that same boy laugh had been one of the proudest moments of his life.
And then everything went wrong.
"H-Hey," Kaeya started, sounding shaken, "what's wrong, Diluc?"
All the redhead could do was continue to stare. His eyes seemed to have gone blurred and his brother's form became distorted. Alarm raced through him at the sight.
Was Kaeya disappearing?!
The thought had him lunging forward and grabbing onto the other's sleeve, nearly ripping the fabric in his tight grip. Two cool hands reached up to steady his shoulders and he could vaguely make out the other's voice raising, but he ignored it in favor of slumping forward.
He was so sleepy.
He drifted away to the feeling of cool arms wrapped around him.
Kaeya sighed as he felt Diluc's breathing evening out. Sleep had finally gotten the best of him. Not that it really should have been a surprise. That was the whole reason this entire operation was put together, after all.
Taking a breath to steady his heartbeat, he settled into a more comfortable position until they reached their destination. It didn't mean that he was comfortable with their new position, though. It had been years since they had been this close to each other and it was putting him on edge.
In an effort to calm himself – and hopefully keep Diluc asleep – he began to hum an old song that Crepus would sing to them when he was able to see them off to sleep. It hadn't been very often that he would be back in time for it. Adelinde would have usually be the one to put them down for the night.
As he continued to sing, he didn't notice as Diluc snuggled closer, his mind slipping away as he joined his brother in the world of dreams.
He also missed when Adelinde checked on them, having grown concerned at the silence. She smiled when she was met with the sight of the brothers leaning against each other on the side of the carriage before turning back to the road.
They would work it out eventually.
A/N: This took both yesterday (the 22nd) and today (the 23rd) to write. I actually planned on the events being different, but I couldn't work up the motivation to keep going since I wanted to catch up on the other prompts.
I originally planned on Kaeya unconsciously humming the song and accidently putting Diluc to sleep and them arriving at the Winery at Kaeya carrying him to his room before Adelinde tried to convince him to stay the night. He refuses politely, saying he has work to do and heading back to Mondstadt. Adelinde wonders if she should tell Diluc that this was all Kaeya's plan, but decides not o since she knows how shy he gets when he does something nice for anyone, especially Diluc.