Summary:

5 times Crepus showed Kaeya what a good father is supposed to be like and 1 time Kaeya tells him he is a good father

Or

5 times Crepus wants to punch Kaeya's "father" in the face

Took a while but another fic is here. This one was originally planned for Fathers Day... oops.

Enjoy!

1. A little one/A strange man with a bright red hair

Now despite his flaws Crepus would like to think he is a good man and a father. He adores and takes care of his adorable spitfire of a son, goes to church every Sunday, and endeavours to treat everyone with fairness and kindness, be it a nobel or a common folk. He is a good law abiding citizen and a father but as he looks down at this ragged scared child that he found in the rain he's starting to wonder if hunting down and beating up a man would be a favor or a crime in the eyes of Lord Barbatos. Who leaves their son in this sort of deathly weather in the rain? To get grape juice? Just the thought of Diluc alone in this weather makes him shudder with fear.

Some of that displeasure must have shown on his face despite his best efforts to keep his expressions open and relaxed because the poor boy was staring to cover into his ragged cloak, terror clear in that unique star-pupiled eye.

"M-me s-sorry, Father come b-back soon…" The boy stammers in broken common, another peculiarity to the boy. There were not many in Teyvat that couldn't speak common, but there weren't many with that shade of blue in their hair either, though it looked more black with all that grime, or stars in their eye. Not to mention the crudely put on bandage over the other eye. Still, all that was worth noting about later, but right now Crepus had a one very scared child in front of him and a realization that while comforting Diluc was very easy he was completely out of his depth here.

Well, getting out of the rain first would probably be the best course of action, his late wife would probably smack him for waiting this long and had taken the poor boy with her already. Get out of the rain, get home and feed the boy, he could clearly really use it, the boy was basically a stick, (maybe hunt down and beat up a man, undecided). Move Crepus, now! Right, he can basically feel another phantom slap to his arm. (Archons, he misses his wife, she always knew what to do)

He slowly crouches down, moving his umbrella a little so it doesn't smack him or the boy in the violent storm. "Now now little one, there's nothing to apologize for. My son and I live rather close by so why don't you come with me to the Winery to wait for your father? It's rather dark and dangerous to be out here by yourself," he rumbles as comfortingly as he can and offers his hand to the boy. He doesn't move to touch the boy, especially as he sees the little one tense as he gets closer.

The little one hesitates, looking conflicted as his little eye darts to the lamp post he had been huddling against and the hand offered to him. "B-but Father say to stay…what if come back. Me gone, get mad" The boy mutters fearfully, curling into himself and shuffling in place. Hunt down and punch a man? Plausible.

"I'm sure your Father didn't expect this sort of storm, maybe he got lost? I'm sure he'd want you to get to safety. Tell you what, once we get home, I'll send word to the knights. They'll look for your father," Crepus smiles reassuringly and hope blooms in his chest as the small frail hand lands in his after a moment of hesitation. Thank the Gods, he wasn't going to leave the boy out here and he didn't think the little one would take it well if he took him by force.

"O-okay" The boy mutters weakly.

"Thank you little one, come, the Winery isn't far away, let's get you somewhere warm."

He helps the boy onto Orion, the horse he had been riding to get back to the Winery, the little one is stiff from both fear and the cold, looking at the horse like he expects it to eat him and then at Crepus when he tries to coax him onto it. Crepus suspects that if the boy wasn't so tired he would have put up more of a fight, but the little one was clearly spent and soon after some reassurance they were riding towards the Winery. Small fists clench into his cloak as they ride, the little ones eyes droop as Crepus holds him close, both to shield him from the rain and to keep him securely on the horse.

He tightens his hold firmly and smiles down at the boy. "We'll be there soon, what's your name, little one? I'm Crepus Ragnvindr, but most people call me Master Crepus."

"... Me is called… Keaya"

"Nice to meet you Kaeya"

-ω-

Kaeya thinks that the man with the bright red hair is strange. Father said that the people that worship the Seven, the ones who live under the endless ceiling were cruel and selfish people. They only cared for themselves and if they found out about who they were, where they came from, they would hurt and even kill him. The blessed people would not accept the sinners so he must learn and lie to be like them so they'll never learn of his tainted blood. Father said he was their only hope, Kaeya must do his best to fill his duty.

But the man with the bright red hair isn't cruel. He smiles at a sinner like Kaeya and calls him "little one" with such a kind tone and holds him gently as they ride the big scary four legged animal Kaeya vaguely remembers is called "a horse". Kaeya has never seen a horse before outside the books mommy had shown him but it's huge and scary. He knows he shouldn't freeze when big scary things come close because that will get you killed in the Abyss but he couldn't help but stare in fear as it turned it's head to look at him.

But the strange red haired man didn't get angry at him for showing fear. He smiled and patted the horse and told Kaeya it's name was "Orion" because the white dots on it's flank looked like the constellation named Orion and that the horse was "really nice to little boys like him". He also says a lot of other things but Kaeya can't quite understand all the words despite his numerous lessons in Teyvat common, but the strange man with bright red hair doesn't get mad like father. He just smiles and helps him up (so high!) and hold him with a firm but gentle grip.

As they neared the big house with lights on in the distance, Kaeya's eyes started to droop despite his best efforts, the little bluenette decided that Mr. Crepus was indeed a very strange man.

End Notes:

Thoughts?

Ah Kaeya my beloved. I now have him at C6 at last. I'm so happy about that.

Anyways, heya! ٩(ˊᗜˋ )و Been a while again but I finally got a fic out and decided to go for Kaeya & Crepus this time! Shockingly not just angst and cliffhangers. I'll allow some fluff this time.

I'll be honest and admit that this fic got kickstarted because I realized my crossposts actually had some comments and for some reason I never got notified for most of them and now I feel bad because I always just figured that my fics there just disappeared into the void o(TT-TT)o.

Due to feedback I'll also endeavour to make more satisfying endings than I've been doing in the past, even though writing comfort in hurt/comfort is quite hard for me. Not to say you won't be getting hit in the face with angst still (人^‿^)

I'll try to finish this fic before new year, I already have a plans for each chapter so hopefully life doesn't get in the way! They'll probably be a bit cliche but I wanted to try anyways!

Thank you for reading! Leave a comment and kudos those make me happy and come say hi on Instagram pinxku22

Stay safe!