Epilogue: Diluc

Diluc was busy manning the bar at Angel's Share. A large shipment was due to be sent to Liyue in a few days, which unfortunately meant lots of paperwork.

Surprisingly, Kaeya had filled out many of the regular invoices the week prior, which allowed Diluc to focus on these current documents. Although to be honest, he would rather fight an Abyss army than have to deal with all these tedious numbers.

The tavern was quiet that night, which allowed him to fill out the many invoices in between serving customers. It wouldn't be long now until closing.

Diluc was exhausted. He'd barely eaten all week, partially due to a lack of free time, but mostly due to the fact that he could barely keep a meal down. He opted to have small, bland meals of bread and butter instead, but this sparse diet was quickly catching up with him.

The door of Angel's Share chimed, and he looked up from his work to see Kaeya waltzing in. Luckily, the knight had been courteous enough to give Diluc some space after their… talk. So this was the first time in over a week that the two brothers actually saw each other face to face.

Diluc sighed, pushing aside his seemingly endless stack of papers and started to prepare a glass of Death After Noon.

"Nothing for me tonight," Kaeya interrupted as he sat down. "I just had dinner and drink, so I'm quite full."

Diluc eyed him suspiciously. Kaeya was surely up to something, although what, he wasn't exactly sure.

Given his growing headache, which was sure to only get worse with the blue haired knight's presence, Diluc decided he'd had enough of paperwork for tonight, and chose to start washing the stack of dirty glasses instead.

"Quiet night," Kaeya remarked. Diluc grunted in agreement, not turning away from his stack of dirty dishes.

"I hear Dawn Winery has a shipment heading for Liyue soon," the knight continued. Diluc wasn't exactly sure how he'd come to know this, although he had been spending more time with Adelinde lately, who was likely the one who told him.

Another patron walked in the door, and Diluc had to stop his task in order to serve him. It was getting late now, so the tavern should at least be clearing out soon.

Kaeya kept waiting patiently at the bar. It was rather unnerving, since Diluc had no idea what's intentions were.

Finishing the dishes, he had no choice but to return to his stack of papers.

"Those are for the Liyue shipment?" Kaeya asked. Diluc grunted in agreement once again. It would be far harder to finish these with the Khaenri'ahn's incessant prattling.

Kaeya leaned forward, peaking over the bar at what Diluc was doing.

"I can help," Kaeya offered. Diluc frowned as he looked up at his 'customer'.

"I'm far better at math than you. Between the two of us, we can get it done in half the time."

Diluc considered this proposition for a few moments, ignoring the pointed comment at his math skills. Sighing, he handed his brother about half the stack of papers. Whatever Kaeya's plan was this time, his exhaustion and headache won out, and he wanted nothing more than to head home as soon as possible.

The two worked together in silence. Diluc had to admit, it was rather nice to have some help. As expected, Kaeya finished his stack far quicker that the tired wine tycoon.

"What are you doing after this?" the knight asked as he handed back the completed invoices.

Stifling a yawn, Diluc opted to rub his eyes instead. "I have to take half a dozen empty barrels back to the Winery."

"I'll join you," Kaeya offered again, earning another frown from the bartender. "If that's okay with you," he added quickly, putting his hands up in a defensive gesture.

Diluc kept frowning as he searched Kaeya's face for answers. Unlike their usual conversations, tonight there were no snarky remarks, no insults. It seemed like Kaeya was being genuinely earnest.

Maybe their little heart-to-heart had more of an impact on the Khaenr'iahn than Diluc had realized. Whatever the case, he had promised to stop pushing his brother away.

Perhaps all those times that Kaeya had pestered Diluc at the tavern… Perhaps that was his way of trying to spend time together.

That thought hurt. Diluc always tried to push him away to protect him, not to hurt him.

Finally, he nodded. Kaeya's eyes seemed to light up a little at that.

The last few customers slowly filtered out.

"Have you heard from Quinn?" Kaeya asked curiously. Diluc scowled at the mention of her name.

"I don't usually 'hear' from her, she just shows up unannounced whenever she pleases," he complained.

"She's a real pain in the ass," Kaeya remarked. Diluc let out a slight chuckle, surprised that Kaeya could elicit a genuine laugh from him.

Kaeya seemed equally as shocked. He looked at Diluc expectantly, a hopeful look in his eyes.

There wasn't much that could make Diluc crack a genuine smile these days. But the hopeful expression on his brothers face made him indulge the younger with a weak smile.

A goofy grin spread across Kaeya's face, the same look he often sported when something excited him as a child. This was enough to coax a more genuine laugh out of the red head.

Diluc couldn't even remember the last time he'd smiled like that. It felt good.

Epilogue: Kaeya

Kaeya and Diluc walked close behind the transport ballon carrying the empty wine barrels.

It was a quiet journey, but was filled with a comfortable silence.

Kaeya's trip to the tavern had gone better than expected. It was hard for him to keep his distance from Diluc after having left the Winery, but he knew it was for the best. Finally, however, he couldn't resist visiting the tavern to check up on how his brother was doing.

Admittedly, Diluc looked a million times better than the last time the two had met. Still, Kaeya knew him well enough to see how tired he was.

Diluc did seem to be keeping his end of the promise, at least. Though clearly sceptical of Kaeya's visit, he didn't tell him off or try to send him away.

Kaeya even managed to coax a laugh out of him. It had been so long since he'd seen his brother smile like that, and while it certainly warmed his heart, it also saddened him to realize how much he'd missed Diluc's warm smile.

All these thoughts ran through his head as he walked. Looking over at the red head, Kaeya couldn't help notice that the warm expression on Diluc's face had long been replaced by his usual neutral look.

It was rather impressive how quickly the wine tycoon had regained his usual composure after the events of last week.

Kaeya stopped walking, pausing to think. Diluc pulled on the transport balloon to bring it to a halt, looking back at the knight expectantly.

"Would you tell me?" Kaeya asked suddenly, earning a confused look from the red head.

"If you felt like you were going to drink like that again, I mean," he clarified, although he wasn't sure if he was just making things worse.

Diluc scowled at the ground in front of his feet.

The two returned to silence, although it felt much less comfortable than before.

Kaeya took a deep breath before continuing. "All those times you stayed after closing, waiting until I woke up after passing out drunk, lecturing me… You were looking out for me, weren't you?"

Diluc didn't reply, which seemed like enough of an answer in and of itself.

"Even though I might not always deserve it, I have people looking out for me. You, Rosaria, Jean… someone's always there when I need them, even if I don't want them to be."

Kaeya swallowed hard. "I don't want to lose you again, Luc."

This seemed to somehow get through to the red head. Diluc seemed to deflate, hunching over slightly and looking as tired as he must have felt.

Finally, he nodded.

This was enough for Kaeya. With a grateful smile, the two set off again.

A few minutes later, Diluc broke the silence.

"Last week, you asked about the night I left Mondstadt," he started, still staring straight ahead.

Kaeya's heart dropped. He wasn't sure where this was going, but Diluc was trying, at least.

"I was always planning on leaving, even before you came to the Winery," he continued.

"I was going to ask you to come with me, to investigate the cause of Father's death together."

Kaeya stopped dead in his tracks once again. The familiar guilt returned, and he had to squeeze his eyes shut.

Diluc addressed his letter to Adelinde, not Kaeya. He'd always assumed it was because that was the night he'd betrayed him, so he never would have wanted the Winery to fall into Kaeya's hands… But Diluc never returned to the Winery after their fight.

Diluc asked Adelinde to take care of the Winery because he was expecting both him and Kaeya to have left. He never could have anticipated Kaeya signing away his rights.

When Diluc wrote that letter, he was expecting to come back.

Kaeya had to swallow his emotions. On the one night that Diluc had needed him most, Kaeya shattered what was left of his family.

Opening his eyes, he looked at Diluc. One hand on the transport ballon, he looked back at Kaeya expectantly.

Diluc didn't need the added burden of Kaeya's guilt, just like he hadn't that night. What he needed was the support of his brother.

"I would have gone with you," Kaeya said honestly. "Diluc, I would have followed you to the end of the earth if you'd asked me."

The red head's expression softened slightly, and he nodded. Even if it wasn't the answer Diluc as expecting, it seemed to be the most comforting one.

"Thank you, Kae," he said softly. It was the first time in years that he used his brother's nickname.

– – –

Kaeya finally returned back to his small flat in Mondstadt. It was past midnight, but he didn't regret taking the time to visit Diluc. It seemed that they might be able to reconcile after all.

Taking off his belt and setting down his sheathed sword on the kitchen table, Kaeya noticed a glint of light from the bookcase in front of his window. Walking over to investigate, he was shocked to see his silver coin laying on the top shelf.

Picking up the only trinket he had from his past, he noticed that short note that was hidden underneath.

" Take care of him.

-Q "