Chapter Twenty-Seven

Kaeya sat on his balcony with one of his warmer blankets draped loosely around his shoulders and over the sling keeping his arm firmly immobilized. A bottle of Angel's Share's finest wine sat unopened on the table beside him, but it had completely slipped his mind from the moment he set it down. His fingers tapped slowly against the oaken planks as he stared out over the city, his thoughts restlessly wandering over the events of the past week. Lanterns cast warm pools of light across the darkened streets, but at such a late hour, there was no one on the roads. Kaeya knew he should be sleeping, yet every time he tried, he was haunted by Diluc's calm gaze as Kaeya's knife hovered at his throat, over and over again. The nightmares were so fierce that he'd barely slept at all since the evening they'd reached the Dawn Winery and he was forced to watch the vineyard workers carry Diluc's slumped body into the mansion. By this point he was beyond exhausted, too traumatized to even attempt slumber.

He was so lost in thought that he nearly jumped out of his chair when he caught the sounds of someone scrambling up his wall. There wasn't time to reach for his Aquila Favonia before a scarlet cat leapt over the railing. Kaeya's mouth dropped open as the cat shook his soft fur with a feline mutter, then sprang lightly to the tabletop.

"Diluc?! What happened? Did you get attacked again?!" He bit his lip, trying to stem the instinctive panic at the thought.

The familiar sound of his brother's scoff crossed his mind, followed by the disdainful response. "You think I'd let my guard down again? Not a chance. I'm not one of those inefficient knights of yours."

Kaeya cocked his head, panic gradually subsiding into vibrant curiosity. "And yet you're a cat again, with vastly improved communication skills. Care to explain?"

Diluc nodded, sitting down and wrapping his silky tail around his forepaws. "Kirara left today, but not before I asked her for some more details on my condition. She was quite helpful, actually." One long ear twitched thoughtfully. "She said that there's a lot of Dendro energy lingering inside me. She believes it's a permanent effect from being struck in the chest with so much flawed Dendro energy, combined with the resilience I built up by using Father's Delusion. It seems I can use the Dendro power to shift back and forth as I please. It hasn't dissipated in the slightest, either. Kirara promised to check back in with me from time to time in order to monitor the residual energy, but she wasn't very concerned about it. It seems to be rather normal for those like her. She also helped me figure out how to communicate telepathically more consistently while I'm a cat, which certainly would have come in useful last week." He gave a tiny cat snort that managed to perfectly capture his exasperation. Then his eyes flicked up to meet Kaeya's, and he straightened. "But enough about me. I came to check on you. You doing alright?"

Kaeya shrugged, trying for a lazy smile. "Of course, why wouldn't I be alright? I'm perfectly fine. It's not like I nearly murdered my last remaining family member a few days ago or anything." He hated the way his voice broke in the middle of his flippant sentence, giving the lie to his words.

Diluc glared at him, his tail flicking loose from his paws in his intense displeasure. "Hold on." He jumped to the ground, and his muffled voice echoed through Kaeya's mind again. "We found out by accident that it's best if I don't try to transform while on a table. Adalinde was not pleased that I broke her favorite side table this morning." Kaeya grinned at the thought. But when wisps of Dendro energy surrounded the scarlet feline for an instant, it nearly triggered another flashback for Kaeya, and he winced as his smile disappeared. Then the tall form of the Dawn Winery's skilled vigilante materialized on Kaeya's tiny balcony, stumbling forward a step before catching himself.

The Cavalry Captain blinked at him. "Huh. Don't see that every day." He scanned Diluc closely, noting with concern the bandages still peeking out from his collar and the edges of his sleeves. "Should you even be out and about yet? Did Barbara clear you from bedrest?" He started to rise, but his brother waved him off.

Diluc limped forward, pulled out the other chair and dropped into it, his usual rough elegance marred by a hint of stiffness. Kaeya's jaw clenched at the way Diluc's hand subtly pressed against his ribs, his breathing halting until he could relax against the wrought-iron chair back. The redhead finally noticed the bottle of wine, and his eyes narrowed. "You haven't been drinking, have you?" He reached out and swept up the bottle to examine it, completely ignoring Kaeya's query.

Kaeya watched the bottle spin in his brother's gloved hands, but didn't bother trying to retrieve it. "No. You know I quite enjoy a glass of wine now and again, but it's not a particularly good idea to drink when my emotions are running so high already." He winced, realizing too late that he'd betrayed his conflicted mental state.

Diluc set the unopened bottle down, apparently satisfied that Kaeya was telling the truth. He met Kaeya's mild gaze with a slight nod. "You're wise to understand that, Kaeya."

Kaeya smiled, pleased to win Diluc's notoriously elusive approval. Then he determinedly returned to the topic at hand. "Why are you even out of bed right now? I sincerely doubt that you're supposed to be galivanting around."

Diluc's ruby eyes glittered with all the smug satisfaction of his cat form. "It turns out that cats are much harder to keep track of than people. I shifted, then simply waited until no one was around and slipped out to hitch a ride on the Dawn Winery transport that Miss Fischl was escorting to the tavern this evening."

Shaking his head at his brother's refusal to stay tamely under control, Kaeya said wryly, "So much for the bedrest. Really, though, the tavern doesn't need you so urgently. I'm sure you could've taken another week to yourself."

Diluc huffed, saying shortly, "I wasn't worried about the tavern." He fell silent. His long fingers played idly across the bandages around one wrist as he thought. But when he noticed Kaeya's wince at the reminder of what he'd done, the redhead abruptly dropped his injured wrist. "Stop staring. I'm not made of glass," he said flatly. Kaeya didn't respond, and Diluc's eyes sharpened, holding an understanding that was far too intelligent. When he broke the silence again, it was to ask, "So... are you ready to talk about it?"

Instantly Kaeya closed off, his throat tightening at the mention of the dreaded topic. "There's nothing to talk about," he retorted in a clipped tone, avoiding Diluc's questioning gaze. He shifted, tugging the warm blanket closer around his shoulders. My cape just isn't cutting it tonight. He ignored the faint suggestion that perhaps the chill in his spine wasn't from the cool summer night, but from the memories haunting his thoughts.

"No? I disagree." Diluc leaned back in the stiff wrought-iron chair and crossed one leg over the other with only the slightest falter before he settled. Absently he picked up Kaeya's unused goblet and twirled it, his fingers rotating the stem with casual ease. "I…" he sighed, then continued, "I have some experience with guilt like this. So I knew I had to come talk to you before you did anything foolish."

Despite himself, Kaeya smirked. "You mean like charge off on a one-man mission to destroy the Fatui for several years?"

One corner of Diluc's mouth went up in a matching smirk. "Mmhm. Something like that would be quite out of character. I really can't say I recommend such a foolhardy course of action."

Kaeya couldn't help a tiny chuckle at his brother's brazen unconcern over his own past actions. They lapsed into silence, his thoughts turning back to his inward turmoil. Diluc waited quietly, not pushing him to speak or interrupting his thoughts. He seemed utterly interested in toying with the wine glass as if he didn't spend half his evenings cleaning similar glasses in the tavern.

Finally Kaeya couldn't hold back anymore. He burst out, "How do you bear it? Every time I close my eyes, I see that knife again. I can't focus on anything. I can't sleep. It's just…" his throat closed off and it took a moment before he was able to choke out, "I nearly killed you, Diluc." He clenched his fists to keep them from trembling and bit his lip, falling silent again.

When the tall Pyro user replied after a pensive pause, he sounded completely calm. "Kaeya, none of that was you. It may have been your ice pinning me to the wall, your knife against my neck, but in reality, none of it was truly your own actions. Your very being seems to recoil against the idea of harming me. In your soul, such an act is apparently unthinkable, to the point that you can't even sleep for the idea of what might have happened. That is the brother I know." He looked up and met Kaeya's gaze steadily. "I trust you, Kaeya, and I know for a fact that you would never willingly put me in danger like that. Don't beat yourself up over something that barely even pertained to you."

Kaeya stared at him, completely oblivious to the blanket sliding off his shoulders and falling across the back of his chair. "Diluc! How can you possibly sit there so calmly, discussing the fact that I nearly killed you?!"

Giving a soft huff of amusement, Diluc set the goblet down on the table, tracing its base absently. "Would it help if I had hysterics? I'm not very good at that." His eyes returned to the tranquil street before them as Kaeya snorted, trying to imagine his fiery brother acting hysterical. Then Diluc continued thoughtfully, "It's honestly not a big deal for me. I've been in life-or-death situations that I escaped just as narrowly. And… I already told you." When Kaeya tilted his head inquiringly, Diluc repeated simply, "I trust you."

Silence fell. Kaeya joined Diluc in studying the Mondstadt street as if it held the secrets of Khaenri'ah itself. His mind was whirling, but Diluc's final calm statement kept repeating in his head. Finally he looked over at his brother and said quietly, "Thank you, Diluc. I'm… honored. Perhaps one day I will prove worthy of that trust."

Diluc snorted. "Weren't you listening? You don't need to prove anything to me. You're my brother. I already trust you." Then he looked up suddenly and spoke hesitantly. "Oh… I did have something that… I wanted to ask you. Does petting me when I'm a cat help you relax?" He shifted, looked a little uncomfortable with the odd question.

Kaeya froze, then unexpectedly laughed. "Well, I'm certainly not petting your hair in this form, I'll tell you that much!"

Diluc rolled his eyes, while Kaeya's own eye sparkled with mirth. Crossing his arms, Diluc retorted, "Fine, fine. Laugh all you want. But I'm serious. Does it help?"

"Well… just a little, I suppose. You make quite a good therapy cat, I'd say," Kaeya teased. He shivered, realizing his blanket had slipped off. He tugged it back up around his collar, feeling grateful for the extra layer. The night really was getting a bit chilly by this point.

Diluc kicked him lightly under the table in retaliation, making Kaeya laugh again. "All right. If it helps you, I'll put up with it. Mind you, this is only for special occasions. I'm not a pet." Diluc gave him one last warning look. Then, in an instant, the tall redhead vanished. After a moment, the scarlet cat jumped up onto the table, sauntered over, and climbed down onto Kaeya's lap. He shifted around, fussing with the blanket and making little cat mutters that made the corners of Kaeya's mouth rise. Finally Diluc got everything to his liking and settled down, comfortably curled up with the thick blanket wrapped neatly around him and his paws tucked in. Reluctantly admitting that his brother's astute guess was correct, Kaeya gave in and stroked the soft fur, enjoying the warmth that his Pyro brother radiated. Diluc's purrs broke the night air, his ears twitching back in mild annoyance at the reveal of his satisfaction again, but Kaeya only gave a small chuckle. He understood. This was his brother's way of showing his rough care for Kaeya.

The knight gave a tiny sigh, his eye fluttering closed as he relaxed. His brother was safe, Kaeya was home again in his beloved city, and really, no one can be upset when holding a cat who condescended to be loved on.

As Kaeya's head drooped and he drifted off into the sheer peace of a dreamless slumber at long last, a final thought crossed his mind. I truly couldn't ask for anything more.

Author's note: Only one chapter remaining!