Another part! (This is for you, my dear reviewer, you know who you are).
Day 3: Sandcastles - Sealife
Ever since their adventure to the golden apple archipelago two years before, Alice had been meddling and basically forcing Diluc and Kaeya to go on a vacation together. She was rather fed up with their attitudes towards each other in public and just wants them to act like family again. She knows, as many others do, that they love each other dearly, but there is still some lingering distrust and feelings of betrayal that need to be eliminated. The day may never come that the past is truly buried for Diluc, but Kaeya has at least decided to live in the present.
"Big brother Kaeya, Klee wants to build a sandcastle!" Klee exclaimed from in front of the blue-haired male and proceeded to grab his hand and pull him from his place on the beach.
"Now Klee, I think I have a better idea," Kaeya said, getting Klee to pause.
"What's better than building sand castles, big brother?" Klee asked with mischief in her eyes. "Are we going to go fish blasting?"
"No, not fish blasting, Klee. I think we should get everyone to participate in a sand castle competition," Kaeya explained. Klee's eyes lit up with excitement.
"Big brother Kaeya, that's a great idea! Klee has to go tell everyone that there will be a contest!" Klee quickly ran off to spread the news. Behind him, Rosaria shook her and took a sip of her drink.
"You might have just saved the coastline, Kaeya," Rosaria said rather sharply. Rosaria didn't necessarily dislike Klee, she just didn't like her overly destructive tendencies. It caused her quite a bit of trouble whenever she's trying to keep Mondstadt safe. She'd fallen into old blast holes quite a few times on her nightly rounds.
"Her vision and bombs are currently being watched over by our dear Honorary Knight. Klee won't be getting her bombs back any time soon. Everyone is under strict orders to NOT let her blow anything up and cause us to get arrested. I'd rather not have to deal with the Milleleth while on vacation," Kaeya shrugged. Rosaria rolled her eyes and went back to focusing on the book in her hand (don't let Barbara know what she's reading, please, the girl is too innocent to see the sinful text in the older nun's hands).
Klee came back with a whole crew of people behind her, including, to Kaeya's surprise, Diluc. The red-head unfortunately already looked somewhat like a lobster from their brief time in the sun. A sand castle contest wouldn't make it any better.
"I see you've gathered some friends for the contest, Klee," Kaeya said as he ruffled the girl's hair.
"Klee told everyone and said they had to come or else Klee and Dodoco would be very sad," Klee boasted, quite proud of her guilt tripping. Kaeya sighed.
"Klee, we can't make people feel guilty if they don't want to participate," he told her, gently telling her that her actions were wrong. Klee dropped her head.
"Klee just wanted everyone to play. Klee is sorry," Klee apologized.
"Oh, Klee, we forgive you. We know you didn't mean it like that. I think a sand castle contest will be very fun! And we are all here," Barbara comforted. The rest of the small army Klee had recruited nodded in agreement.
"Now, what are the rules for this contest?" Jean asked, hoping to get the topic changed. Klee was suddenly very excited.
"Klee wants to make the teams! Klee wants Barbara and Jean on a team, big brother Kaeya and mister weird grownup on a team, and Klee and Albedo on a team! Amber and Eula can be a team too! Oh, and Bennett and Fischl and Razor, too! Klee thinks that's it," Klee finished.
"Oh? Alright then. And what does the winner get, Klee?" Kaeya asked. Klee paused and furrowed her brows.
"Umm, Klee doesn't know what prizes we have," Klee sighed, becoming saddened once more.
"How about whoever wins gets to pick where we eat tonight? We are heading the rest of the way into Liyue Harbor and there are a number of good spots to eat there," Amber offered. Everyone nodded.
"Klee thinks that's a great idea!"
"Now, how about we all get an hour to build our sand castles, Klee? Is there anything else you want to add?" Kaeya asked the girl. Klee paused and thought for a second before she spoke again.
"No being meanies! That means no destroying another team's sand castle! I think everyone should try and make a perfect castle for Dodoco to live in!" Klee stated.
"Is everyone ready? One hour starts now!"
"I'm surprised you decided to participate, Diluc. You've already burnt yourself redder than a sun crab that's been boiled," Kaeya jested. He suddenly found himself with a face full of sand.
"Well, that wasn't very nice of you, Master Diluc. You could have gotten sand in my good eye and then I would have been blind!" Kaeya complained. Diluc sighed.
"You and I both know it will take more than a bit of sand for that to happen, but I do apologize. That was immature of me," Diluc said, muttering the last part. Kaeya found himself laughing.
"Did you at least bring some of Adelindes Miracle Sun Cure with you?" Kaeya asked. Diluc dropped his head in an uncharacteristic show of displeasure.
"No. I did not foresee getting sunburnt to this degree. I will have to wait for us to go to the pharmacy in the harbor to buy something similar. Adelinde never taught me how to make it," Diluc trailed off and got back to working on their sand castle. It was less of a castle and more of a replica of the mansion he and Kaeya grew up in. Kaeya found himself with a soft smile on his face.
"It's alright, I have some," Kaeya told his brother. Diluc looked up at him questioningly.
"What, is it made of Flaming Flower Stamens or something?" Diluc glared. Kaeya frowned.
"No, Adelinde taught me how to make it when we were kids. I always carry some with. You always forgot," Kaeya said softly. Diluc paused and stared at his brother.
"Still?"
"Always. Someone had to take care of your transparent ass when you couldn't do it yourself."
"Hey–"
"Big brother Kaeya said a bad word!" Klee shouted, making the brothers jump a bit. Somehow the little girl managed to sneak up on them both while they were in the middle of their conversation.
"It's fine, Klee, just don't say it yourself. Big brother Kaeya is an adult and can say those words, but you are little so you can't." Kaeya explained. Diluc rolled his eyes.
"Regardless of being an adult or not, you should know better than to use any vulgar language with children around," Diluc scolded. Kaeya shrugged.
"Ah, well. Anyway, Klee, has it been an hour already?" Klee nodded.
"Miss Lisa came and told Klee that it had been an hour and to go tell everyone the contest is over!"
Amber and Eula ended up winning the competition with their castle. Klee said it was "the bestest castle she had ever seen and Dodoco loved it too." After their dinner at Wanmin Restaurant, the group made their way to their rooms in the hotel in Yujing Terrace (Courtesy of both the Honorary Knight and Master Diluc). Kaeya decided not to go to bed yet and stare over the harbor when he found himself no longer alone.
"I used to think about running away a lot when we were younger," Kaeya started. Diluc simply made his way to stand next to him on the overlook.
"I actually did once. Master Crepus never told you because you would have freaked out. I heard some people he was working with talking about going to Sumeru. I'd heard from my father that Khaenri'ah used to be beneath Sumeru. I thought that, if I went there, then I could fix everything. Of course, I didn't make it that far. I was found on the ship shortly after I stowed away in a container. Master Crepus was furious when he came to get me and dragged me back."
"For what it's worth… I'm glad he did."
