Far Apart || Kaeluc/ Genshin Impact fanfic

2 𝕿𝖜𝖔

Charles cleared the tavern in the afternoon, and the rest of the day was spent decorating it. Well, more like cleared everyone but Venti, that chatty bard in green. He'd insisted to stay when he heard that there'd be a celebration thrown for Kaeya, and exclaimed that he absolutely, definitely must wish him a happy birthday, too, though he seemed more interested in the free food and drinks. Amber and Klee certainly didn't mind his staying, so Diluc just grumbled and let him stay.

There wasn't much to decorate, to be truthful. Kaeya was a grown man who had no need for a birthday party, but Klee insisted on tying balloons to every surface she could find, and soon the tavern was filled with red and blue balloons, messily tied in a knot on the railings and corners of tables and chairs. Diluc could only pray that they weren't filled with explosives. He certainly did not like that his tavern was filled with childish balloons, but Klee was enough of a sweet child that he couldn't refuse.

Amber was the one to bring in food—plates upon plates of food and absolutely every dish one could think of: bolognese, pizza, stew, and more that Diluc couldn't list. Venti had laughed hard when he saw 'barbatos ratatouille', but Diluc didn't bother to question him as he cleaned and cleaned and cleaned his wine glasses again and again until they were shining and spotless.

Jean and Lisa came a while later, and Diluc watched as Jean and Amber and Klee rushed around decorating the small cozy tavern and Lisa lazed around inspecting the bottles and antiques on the wooden shelves, and afterwards, stretching out on one of the benches like a cat and yawning elegantly.

- - - - -

"It's my birthday, isn't it?" Kaeya raised his glass of wine and clinked it with Diluc's grape juice. He drank half of the wine and pushed the glass towards Diluc, "drink this," he said with a smile.

Diluc growled at Kaeya, "no." Kaeya knew very much how much Diluc himself hated wine, and how easy he could get drunk. That one time he'd drank too much and gotten drunk... it had not been a pleasant memory, and the teasing he received afterwards was enough of a reason for him to not drink wine anymore. Or anything that contained alcohol.

Kaeya's smile stretched even wider, "why, though, Master Diluc? It's my birthday, surely you could do me a small favour." Kaeya stood from his stool in front of the bar table and leaned forward to Diluc, who backed a step away. Kaeya made a soft clicking noise with his tongue, "I didn't even receive a present from you."

Diluc felt his ears redden and turned his back to Kaeya. His heart was beating loud as hell but Diluc managed to keep his composure as he coldly replied, "Why should I give you a present?" Well, Diluc had spent quite some time looking for a present for Kaeya, but hadn't ended up with anything that he could deem nice enough for Kaeya, so he ended up not gifting him anything. But Diluc wasn't about to tell him that.

Kaeya's eyes dimmed, only slightly, with disappointment perhaps, and only for a split second, and that darkness was once again replaced by the usual sparkle. But Diluc didn't see that tiny little change. "So cold today, brother," Kaeya drawled with a smirk and a soft, almost sexy laugh.

Diluc randomly swiped a glass off the shelves and began cleaning it with a cloth. He made himself focus entirely on the cloth and the wine glass, and told himself to clean and clean and clean, but that was merely to distract him from Kaeya and his talking and smiling and that stupid fucking laugh that made Diluc's heart race and his cheeks redden.

He thought he'd hidden it well enough— those things Kaeya could do to him. But he hadn't considered one thing— that he'd actually already been cleaning the glasses during the day, and it was already spotless and shining, and that there was absolutely no need to clean them again.