-Chapter Summary-

The morning after Diluc's little actions at the tavern, he wakes up to find that Kaeya is already awake and has made the two of them breakfast. The two of them sit down at the kitchen table and have a very important conversation in the process.

A/N: The final of The Fiancée and we finally get to see Kaeya's reaction to what Diluc did last night. It's certainly not how Diluc thought he would react. He doesn't know if he should be concerned or not.

- Addict

Breakfast and Conversations

When Diluc's eyes finally peeled themselves open, he found himself settled onto the bed and the covers lifted over him. At first, his groggy mind couldn't figure out for the life of him what he was doing here. Then, as if a cold bucket of water had been poured over his head, he shot back up with a gasp. Frantically, he looked around for any sign of Kaeya. It took several moments of frantic searching before it finally registered that his brother was probably the one who tucked him into the bed.

Trying to remain calm, he got up from the bed and made his way into the hallway and toward the living room. Just as he entered the room, the aroma of cooking meat caught his nose and he immediately took a deep sniff on reflex. Moving towards the kitchen – at a much more relaxed pace – he is greeted by the sight of Kaeya cooking at his stove.

The clacking of his boots on the linoleum floor catches Kaeya's attention and causes him to turn around.

"Hey," he said with a sheepish smile, gesturing towards the table. It was fairly large with four chairs with blue cushions. "You can sit wherever you want."

Diluc wondered how many people actually ever sat in those chairs. Kaeya did seem awfully chummy with that platinum blond boy from the Adventure's Guild.

No, he wasn't jealous.

Taking a seat at the seat closest to the door, he observed as Kaeya kept cooking. It didn't take long for him to finish before a plate of mushroom skewers were sat in front of him. Kaeya sits across from him as he sets his own plate in front of him.

Diluc gives the meal a skeptic look before picking one up and biting the top off. His eyes widened as he felt flavor flood his mouth. Looking up, he was sure his face must have looked ridiculous because Kaeya was already laughing at him.

"So-Sorry," he tried to get out between bursts of laughter. "I would have made you some Pile 'em Ups but I didn't have any ingredients." Diluc couldn't help the rue smile at his brother's cheerful attitude.

At least what happened last night hadn't broken him. Unless Kaeya was faking again. But Kaeya had either gotten better at hiding how he felt or he was genuinely unbothered now. It was a complete 180 from last night when he was sobbing in his arms.

"Wh-what?" Kaeya asked. He seemed to notice Diluc's sudden scrutiny, his expression becoming sheepish again.

"Are you okay?"

Kaeya tenses up and Diluc considers immediately apologizing and backtracking until Kaeya slumped in his seat.

"Honestly," the man sighed, "I was hoping that yesterday was all a fever dream but –," he looked through his eyelashes at the red-haired man, "I couldn't think of any other reason you would be here now."

"What do you mean by that?" Diluc was trying not to let his growing irritation show in his voice.

Kaeya gave a defeated shrug.

"You don't have to pity me, ya know," he mumbles. "I'll be okay." Before Diluc could say anything, Kaeya let out a self-deprecating laugh. "I must have looked really pathetic for you to stick around for a whole night." He let his head drop against the table. "I'm sorry."

Furious – and maybe with a bit of fear (where were these negative thoughts coming from) – Diluc shot up from his seat. He felt a little guilt when Kaeya's head shot up but he was too worked up to bother with that.

"I didn't stay because you were pathetic!" he shouted. "I stayed because my baby brother was in trouble and he needed me!"

Kaeya seemed too stunned to really respond to his words, becoming flustered before turning his head away.

"Why are you hiding?" Diluc asked, confused.

"I'm not!" Kaeya squawks.

Moving around the table and to Kaeya's side, he lowers himself to his knees next to the other's chair, causing him to startle. He doesn't have a chance to flee before two gloved hands gently grabbed his face and coaxed him into turning back around. Kaeya's tanned skin was lightly flushed red, a testament to how hard he must be blushing for it to be showing through his darker skin tone. Diluc couldn't help but smile at the sight as he moved his left hand to hold Kaeya's as he kept eye contact with him.

He could have a worn Kaeya's face got redder.

"No matter what," Diluc says, "I will always come to help you if you need me." His breath stuttered a little. "Even at my angriest, I still loved you." He made sure to look Kaeya in the eyes, blue and gold gleaming back at him. "I am so-," he choked, "so sorry that I ever made you doubt that."

Kaeya gave him a watery smile before he lets his head fall onto his brother's shoulder.

"Thank you," Kaeya whispered, his voice also choked with emotion.

The elder let go of his hand so that he could bring both arms up to circle around his shoulders.

"I'll repeat it as many times as you need to hear it," he promised.

They've moved from the kitchen to the living room and were sipping on some drinks when Kaeya asks the dreaded question.

"Diluc," he asks, his voice deceptively calm. "Did you track mud onto my floors last night?"

Diluc chokes on his juice and looks at Kaeya, red eyes wide after being caught off guard mid-sip.

"Wh-what?"

"Well," Kaeya starts, his face perfectly plain and giving nothing away, "when I woke up this morning, I found a trail of dried reddish dirt tracking into my bedroom from the hall. Imagine my surprise when I noticed that they led straight to your boots that you were still wearing." He looked up to look Diluc in the eye. "I had quite the mess to clean up."

Diluc splutters, his face taking its turn to go red. He had completely forgotten about the blood on his boots! His flustered mind was having a hard time thinking up an excuse. He wasn't used to getting caught red-handed in such a way. The only people who had ever caught him in the act before were Father and Adelinde.

Maybe Kaeya wasn't the only one whose good sense went out the window when the other needed him.

Before he could panic any further, Kaeya gave him an amused grin and no sign of irritation.

"Did you really forget to clean the blood from your boots before you came inside?" Kaeya giggled, his voice becoming teasing. While a part of him felt warm at the thought of Diluc being so eager to get back to his bedside, it seemed that he couldn't pass up the teasing opportunity.

Diluc's face flushes in humiliation as he lets out a disbelieving huff.

"How did you know it was blood?"

"Oh, 'Luc," he simpered, "I've seen more than enough blood to last a lifetime. I am quite familiar with the forms it takes in various conditions."

Diluc mutters what he can only suspect to be 'unbelievable' under his breath as he slumps in his seat, trying to ignore how Kaeya gave a lighthearted laugh at his theatrics.

"But seriously," Kaeya says, "just where did the blood come from and why did you track it through my house?"

Diluc turns from him and Kaeya thinks he won't answer for a minute until Diluc mutters something under his breath. Kaeya asks him to repeat what he said and Diluc finally looks at him with worry clear in his eyes. It set off a few alarm bells in the blue-haired man's head.

"I said," the elder rose his voice just enough to be heard, "that I told you I would take care of it."

Kaeya seemed confused at first before he seemed to jolt and partially spun to look between the now clean floors and Diluc with growing horror.

"What have you done?"

Diluc remained silent. He knew that Kaeya was no fool and could put two and two together.

"How could you be so reckless, Dilluc?!" his brother shouted, clearly upset about the conclusion his mind had come to. Just what was Diluc thinking?!

Diluc feels a bit of irritation prick the back of his mind but beat it back down. He knew that Kaeya was coming from a place of concern and it would do no good to snap at him for it after they had just made up last night. Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm himself down before he answered.

"I don't want to hear that from the guy who was about to allow himself to be blackmailed into a forced marriage to save someone he should hate."

Kaeya's face twists into a not-quite-a-scowl.

"Don't give me that, Mr. Darknight Hero," Kaeya huffs, clearly irate at the sentiment. "We both know that your life is much more valuable than mine. You contribute to Mondstadt far more than I do."

His words clearly struck a nerve because Diluc was sitting up completely the next second, looking Kaeya straight in his starry eyes, which Kaeya belatedly realizes meant that he left his eyepatch in his room.

"Kaeya," he starts, making Kaeya inwardly flinch at his sad tone, "you are just as valuable – if not more than I am." He held up three fingers in a very pointed manner as he continued. "I disappeared for three years and the city didn't collapse without me," the redhead then pointed at the younger, "because you and Jean worked your hind ends off day and night.

Kaeya opens his mouth to protest but he's cut off.

"Ah! Don't even think of denying it," the tycoon said. "Don't act like I don't know that you didn't finally start up a semi-regular sleep schedule after the arrival of a certain vigilante that you seem so fond of."

Kaeya huffs out a disbelieving laugh.

"I take care of myself just fine, thank you very much." He tries to give Diluc a smirk but it probably didn't look right. He didn't expect Diluc to put him on the spot about this. "You're the one who's running himself into the ground protecting Mondstadt."

"Alright then," Diluc settled back against the couch and put one leg over the other, practically oozing confidence, "stand up and walk."

Kaeya gives him a look that clearly says that he thinks his brother has lost his marbles.

"You want to prove to me that you are taking care of yourself?" he asks. "Then get up and walk right now." Diluc knew he was being a hypocrite but he needed Kaeya to realize that he needed to take better care of himself.

Kaeya hesitates for only a split second before stubbornness seemed to set in and he did as instructed. Only for his legs to immediately collapse under him. Diluc ducks forward to catch him and the two fall the rest of the way to the floor, hitting the wood with a solid thunk.

"Welp," Diluc huffs while sitting up from his sprawled position on the floor, "I dare you to look me in the eyes and tell me that you're taking care of yourself now." He stared down at Kaeya with a raised eyebrow, challenging Kaeya to dispute it.

Kaeya lets out a huff of his own and stays laying on the floor.

"Hey," the redhead leaned a little closer, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Kaeya muttered petulantly.

Diluc wondered if Kaeya's behavior could be caused by a lack of sleep or food. Kaeya had just slept last night for a few hours before Diluc had left, so all that was left was food.

"When was the last time you ate before breakfast?"

"Uh – actually," Kaeya looked sheepish as he reluctantly admitted, "I may or may not have been eating one meal a day since the blackmail started."

Diluc cursed under his breath before moving to help Kaeya sit up. The act of benevolence gained him a grateful smile that almost made him feel guilty for what he was about to do next. Reaching underneath Kaeya's back and legs, he hauled the taller male into his arms, earning him an indignant squawk from Kaeya. He didn't like how light Kaeya felt but it was nothing that a healthy three-meal schedule couldn't fix.

He's sure Adelinde wouldn't mind helping.

Without hesitating, he rose the rest of the way up and began to stride toward the front door. Just as he was about to make it through the doorway he was suddenly jerked to stop by some kind of force. Looking down, he was met with the sight of Kaeya holding onto the door for dear life with an alarmed expression.

"Whe-where are we going?!" the captain demanded.

"We're going home."

Kaeya's face went slack from surprise before he shook his head and tightened his grip on the door.

"What in the Seven are you talking about?"

"I mean what I mean," Diluc said in a matter-of-fact tone that irked Kaeya a little and he honestly felt like putting ice down his shirt. "We are going home and you are going to sit down and let Adelinde feed you." He tried to tug on Kaeya but the younger held fast onto the doorway.

"I can make something for myself later when my legs don't feel like they've been replaced with Hydro Slimes!"

Diluc just gave him an unimpressed look.

"And exactly how long would that take, moron?"

Kaeya opens his mouth to retort but is cut off when Diluc takes advantage of his distraction and walks forward, knocking his loosened grip on the doorway. Kaeya made a valent effort to reach for the doorway again but quickly gave up. Diluc made sure to shut the door with the arm that was under Kaeya's legs.

"Don't worry about it. I locked the door."

"That isn't the problem here!"

Diluc ignores his brother's whining and proceeded to walk down the cobbled road toward the main gate. He at least made an effort to stick around the city walls. If he carried Kaeya in front of too many people, he'd likely never hear the end of it. Either because of harassment or people who were genuinely curious but didn't understand boundaries. There was a chance some people would see them anyway but they probably wouldn't say anything since it was likely no one would believe them.

"This is humiliating," Kaeya mumbles, still put out at being carried.

"You should have thought of that and taken better care of yourself."

Kaeya grumbled under his breath but doesn't protest as he allows himself to slump in his brother's hold. It wasn't like he could get away from his brother with that gorilla strength of his. If he enjoyed it just a little bit, that was a secret he would take to his grave.

Diluc looks down as he feels his brother go slack against him and can't help but smile when he finds him asleep.

As bizarre a sight as they were, no one bothered the two as they made their way out of the city gates and toward the Winery.

A/N: This took far longer to write than I had meant to and I wound up throwing more fluff than usual to try to compensate since it took so long and I made the previous chapter was a little violent. I kept having ideas for this chapter that seemed good and kept forgetting. Hopefully, this makes up for it.

Thank everyone for sticking around until this final chapter.

- Addict