Chapter Text
the angel’s share was basking in the golden, honeyed light of a late afternoon. it was the quiet lull before the evening rush, and the air was warm and still, smelling of polished wood and fermenting grapes. a sense of easy contentment should have filled the space, but it shattered the moment the tavern door swung open.
diluc ragnvindr stood behind the bar, his shoulders a tense line of coiled frustration. the entire day had been a cascade of petty aggravations – a broken axle, a cryptic missive, rowdy recruits from the adventurer’s guild. the simmering irritation was a low burn in his gut, a banked fire waiting for a spark.
the spark, as it so often was, came in the form of his brother.
kaeya alberich entered not with a flourish, but a quiet, almost weary step. he was followed by lumine and a chattering paimon. he seemed subdued today. a faint dusting of ash smudged his shoulder pauldron, and there was a tired set to his mouth that his usual smirk couldn’t quite conceal.
“...and then kaeya used his cryo to freeze the whole collapsing beam solid!” paimon was squeaking. “he saved everyone!”
lumine offered a grateful smile. "it was well done."
kaeya waved a dismissive hand, a gesture that was genuine for once. the compliment was a warm, unfamiliar weight in his chest. he wasn’t used to such open praise. his end of the month reports were mostly disapproving headshakes and criticisms of recklessness and sadistic manipulations, softened in polite feedback sandwiches. but the true incentive that made him wear his uniform every morning was the precious feeling of pride that helping the people of mondstadt gave him, a feeling he clung to on days when a certain red head’s disapproving dismissals became successful in shaking his fragile sense of self.
"master diluc. a death after noon, if you please," he said as he slid onto the barstool before his brother, his single eye crinkling in a tentative smile. it was an offering, a naive hope of a different reaction than a hurtful jab, or worse, indifference.
diluc didn't return the smile. he didn't even look up from his ledger. to him, the praise, the soot, the weary heroism – it was all part of an infuriating, impeccable performance. the reliable act of kaeya alberich. the banked fire in his gut found its kindling.
"the usual theatrics, i assume?" diluc's voice was a shard of ice. "a controlled situation, blown out of proportion for maximum effect and free drinks."
the fragile warmth in kaeya's chest shattered, freezing over in an instant. he kept his smile. "no theatrics today, i assure you. just a collapsing building and a few terrified civilians. surely you don’t think of me as the kind to endanger people’s lives for a heroic performance.”
"performance is all you know," diluc retorted, the pen in his hand scratching like an accusation. "the question is what you've chosen to be today. the gallant knight? the wounded soul?or the carefree drunkard?”
the words landed not as an insult, but as a verdict. the air at the bar grew cold. lumine and paimon fell into a stunned silence.
kaeya's posture went very still. the tentative hope in his eye was extinguished, replaced by something guarded and hard. "diluc," he said, a low warning. perhaps it was the unprepared discomfort in being so truthfully called out.
but diluc was beyond warnings. the frustration of his day, the years of bitterness, converged into a single, catastrophic eruption. he slammed his pen down and looked up, his crimson eyes blazing with a contempt that had been festering for years.
"no. it's not enough," he snarled, leaning forward, his voice a venomous, intimate hiss. "you stand there, covered in the soot of a 'rescue,' expecting me to believe in your sudden altruism? you, who have built your entire life on a foundation of deceit? don't pretend to be a hero now. you're just a traitor, polishing his armor.”
the word hung in the air, absolute and unforgiving. traitor.
it was the ghost they had never named. to speak it aloud here, now, in the wake of a genuine act of courage, was an act of profound cruelty. for diluc, it was a release, the triumphant landing of a blow he'd been winding up for years.
for kaeya, it was a confirmation that the hope he'd foolishly felt moments ago was a delusion. all expression drained from his face, leaving it a smooth, cold mask. the life in his single eye receded, pulling back into a deep, frozen place within him. he was no longer there.
slowly, deliberately, kaeya stood. he placed a handful of mora on the counter, the coins clicking with a sound of finality.
"i see," he said, his voice utterly flat, the voice of a stranger. "thank you for the clarification."
he didn't look at anyone. he offered no witty retort, no wounded glance. he simply turned and walked out, his footsteps silent on the wooden floor. the door swung shut, leaving a void.
the golden light now felt garish and accusing. diluc stood, his chest heaving, the heat of his anger rapidly cooling into a leaden weight of shame. he had wanted to lash out, to wound. he had succeeded beyond his darkest intentions. never had he, since his return to mondstadt, let slip the professionalism he’d so carefully built around them shatter. and now with it gone, he’d unwillingly given their relationship, which meant nothing to him anymore, a name, especially in the eyes of the witnesses. the very public act of humiliation inflicted on a respected officer of the city was undeniably going to make things awkward between the two in the future. diluc cursed under his breath.
he had taken a day of genuine good and weaponized it. and as the adrenaline faded, he was left with the chilling realization that his daily frustrations were just an excuse. the true source of his venom was, and had always been, the unhealed wound that was kaeya himself.