Through Thick and Thin- Diluc x (female) Reader

Chapter 5: The Deal

I stretched as I looked out the window. This morning, I had managed to wake up at the right time. I sighed as I observed how the sky was still dark, that's how early it was. I would never get used to waking up that early, I supposed.
I begrudgingly stood on two feet and got ready for the day, fixing my hair and slipping on my shoes. Right before I was ready to head out, I heard a knock at the door. Yawning, I walked over to it.
Still half asleep, I creaked the door open and looked up to see Kaeya had been the one to knock. Surprised, my ears perked up and I opened my eyes fully, as they were half lidded from being so tired.
"Kaeya?" I said, opening the door fully. "It's so early, why are you up so soon?"
"I just wanted to ask you something," he looked around the corridor, making sure no one would hear. "Do you know what Albedo would like as a gift?" He said somewhat quietly.
"Kaeya?" I asked, putting a hand on my hip. "Seriously? It's like 5am and you're asking me that?" I sighed, rubbing my eyes tiredly. "I don't know, ask him."
"I can't do that y/n!" He exclaimed quietly. "It would ruin the surprise aspect."
Shrugging, I stepped out the door and closed it behind me. "I'll think of a way to ask non conspicuously," I sighed. "But you owe me. What do you need a gift for anyways?"
"Ah... no reason." I turned to look at him, studying his face carefully. "Why are you looking at me like that! It's because we're friends! ...of course."
I raised a brow before turning to walk down the corridor. "Did Jean make more coffee?" I asked.
"Yes, it's downstairs," He said quickly as he followed me, happy about the subject change. "Wait, one more thing." I felt his hand on my shoulder, stopping me.
Turning to face him, I nodded. "Go on."
"If Albedo and Sucrose send you out again, don't be afraid to ask for my help, or even Ambers."
"Alright." I said, turning to walk down the hall. "I will."

I stepped into the lab, coffee in hand. The steam from the hot liquid rose into the air, highly visible due to the lab being slightly colder than the rest of the headquarters.
"What are we doing today, Albedo?" I asked. "Oh, where's Sucrose?"
Not looking up from his desk, Albedo sipped at some coffeee and set it down. "She's running some things around Mondstadt for me today."
I nodded, before walking over to his desk. "This coffee is pretty good, huh?" Albedo nodded in response, drinking some more. "I'm curious, what do you think the best flower is? Lookswise, I mean."
"Flowers? I think cecilias are nice," he began, and then he looked up suspiciously. "Why do you ask?"
"I dunno, just curious. I like lamp grass the most. I like how it glows at night," I laughed. "What about food? I think wolfhooks are pretty good."
Albedo shrugged. "I enjoy deserts," I tilted my head, surprised. "Home baked deserts are my favorite. I always overeat or can't seem to find the right thing to eat when I go to a restaurant, so I prefer to make deserts and such at home. Although, it does put a strain on my schedule, so I can't make them myself," With that, Albedo looked down to his desk, turning his attention back to his work.
"I get it," I said, understanding. "Any work for me today?" He nodded slightly, and dug through his notes. He plucked a piece of paper, handing it to me. On it were a list of what seemed to be titles and authors.
"What's this?" I said, turning the page over. The other side was half filled as well. "Are these books?"
"Yes," he began. "I need you to run some back and forth from the library for me while I search for more information about the mist flower issue."
"Well, alright." I said, holding the paper in my hands. It's just some books, couldn't be that bad right?

I huffed as I set another pile of books on Albedos desk. They sure were heavy... As he pulled books out of the pile and skimmed through them, I checked off the books in the list that I had grabbed. All day I had been running books back and forth, and my arms were getting tired from the work.
It was past noon by the time Sucrose walked through the door. She set a box of things down in the corner of the room and joined Albedo skimming through the books.
"Find anything?" She asked quietly.
"Hm," he hummed. "Not yet. Still searching," he shut the book and set it down on the other side of his desk, and then reaching for another.
I sat down, catching the small break while I could. "What exactly are you looking for?" I said.
He flipped through the pages diligently. "Anything that talks about mist flowers or flame flowers growing disproportionately," Albedo set the book aside and reached for the next one. "Sucrose, did you get the test kit?"
She nodded before heading back to the box she had set down. Out of it she pulled some small glass slides, and a scalpel. "Will you grab the mist flower for me please?" She asked, preparing the slides by the microscope.
"Yeah," I said. Grabbing the jar from off Albedos desk, I popped it open as I walked to Sucrose. Reaching inside, I pulled it out and set it down on the table next to her. "What's this going to do?"
"I'm going to check the Corolla and petals under the microscope," she began, not looking away from her work. "And then I'll test how much elemental energy is in the flower."
I nodded, and she sliced off a bit of the flower and the smallest piece of the Corolla. She placed each one in an individual slide, choosing first to examine the petal.
As she peeked at it under the microscope, she turned the slide around to get a good look. "Nothing unusual with this petal yet. It's still a little frosty even though it's been a day, which means it has a little extra energy. Nothing to be concerned about so far."
I nodded, and she readjusted her glasses and she switched slides to the corolla. "Oh," she began, immediately thrown off a little. I leaned in closer, as if I could understand what was happening if I did. "Odd. It's creating a pattern of ice on the slide. Even the corolla shouldn't be producing this much, especially this quickly."
"Hey, Sucrose?"
"Yeah?" She asked, still examining the slide.
"Is it supposed to do that?" I pointed to the mist flower on the table. I noticed that ice was growing where the petal and corolla had been cut. The temperature in the area had began to to cool down slowly after the follower had been removed from the jar.
She did a double take as she laid eyes on it. "Um... no, I suppose not."
Albedo stood up from his desk to investigate. "What is it?"
I pointed next to the petal, which seemed to be regrowing, only with ice instead of organic material. "Is it... regenerating itself?" I asked. Albedo leaned down, eyeing it closely. "This is truly strange. I've never seen a mist flower do that."
Sucrose motioned for him to check the microscope. "Come see this," she said.
He peeked in, and I saw his eye widen in surprise. "Look at that," he exclaimed under his breath. "It's regenerating over here, too. Although much slower. Did the petal do this?"
Sucrose shook her head. "No. It created some ice crystals, but nothing at this scale."
"Hm..." he said, leaning away from the microscope. "Y/n, I believe I've ordered you around enough today. Sucrose and I will handle the testing, you may rest for today. I'll take notes and allow you to read them tomorrow."
"Okay, sounds good." I replied. I would have liked to see the testing, but was tired from all the book running I had done.
As I stepped out of the lab, I was bombarded by Kaeya the second the door was closed. "Did he say anything?" He said quickly, before calming himself and composing his cool exterior.
"Calm down," I smiled. "Listen, I'm starving and I'm off early. Let's grab lunch and I'll tell you," He opened his mouth to speak, but I interrupted. "Only if you pay for lunch, though. You owe me, remember?" I smirked.
Kaeya sighed, rolling his eye. Due to him missing one, or at least covering it up with an eyepatch. "Fine, but it better be good."

I stared hungrily at the grilled fish on my plate before remembering my deal with Kaeya. "I did ask him about a couple things."
Kaeya glanced at me as he ate his food. "And?"
"Well," I began, taking a bite. "His favorite flowers are Cecilias and his favorite foods are home baked deserts."
"Really?" Kaeya said, somewhat surprised. "I didn't expect deserts. I'm not great at baking or anything though..."
"Oh!" I said, coming to a realization. "I'll help! I know a couple recipes."
"You'd do that?" He said, surprised. "I didn't take you for the kind of person to help me out with this kind of thing."
"What can I say," I began as I ate my food. "I'm a great wingman."
"You really are a good- what?" He said, turning towards me quickly. "I..."
"Oh come on," I said, rolling my eyes. "I know." He went silent for a moment. "I'm not going to say anything, you know. I can keep a secret."
"I know," he smiled. "You know, I can tell you a thing or two about Diluc."
I nearly spit my food out. "I- huh?" I said, feeling my cheeks go red. I glanced around to make sure no one would hear our conversation. "What do you mean?"
Kaeya winked. "I don't get along with him, but you're alright." He said, taking a bite of his food. "I owe you more than one by now, I think."
I thought deeply. Did I like Diluc like that? I replayed the scene in my head of when he intervened when I was being robbed. How a warm flame danced from the blade that followed in his wake. The more I though about it, I began to feel flutters in my stomach. Did I?
"It's not like that," I said, feeling my cheeks glow at the accusation. "I've only just met him."
"I knew it," he took a sip of his drink. "You're getting redder by the second."
I shoved him lightly. "Don't say another word." I said quietly. "It's embarrassing."
"I'll tell you a few things I already know," he began, catching my attention. "If, of course, you help me with my friend."
I raised a brow at 'friend' but then thought about it. "Okay..." I felt like I could trust Kaeya with this information, despite him being Dilucs brother. "But Venti can't know a thing, I'm worried he's going to drink a few too many and spill it."
"Alright then, it's settled." He set his drink down, and crossed his arms. "Diluc enjoys grape juice."
"Seriously?" I said, raising a brow. "I know he doesn't like alcohol, but he likes grape juice?"
"I know. Unromantic," I laughed a little. Perhaps Diluc and I were more similar than I thought. "Let me think... he likes to play chess. And he collects artwork for the manor at the Dawn Winery."
"Artwork, huh?" I said, putting a finger to my chin. "I cant say I'm a collector, but I can sketch a little for Albedo's work. I'm not great at chess myself either, but I know the rules at least." Diluc had refined tastes in hobbies, it seemed. I couldn't help but think I was way out of his league.
After lunch, I waved goodbye to Kaeya as I got up to walk around Mondstadt, enjoying the city. I still hadn't had much time to explore it since moving there, so I decided to spend my afternoon doing that.
As I turned the corner nearing the Angels Share, I barely jumped out of the way to see a familiar blonde child dragging a poor soul down the street. She stopped in her tracks, her feet skidding on the path. She turned quickly, recognizing me.
"Miss y/n!" Klee shouted, running towards me, letting go of the girl she was dragging.
"Hi Klee!" I said cheerfully and bent down to her level. "Who's your friend?"
The girl who she had been dragging stumbled slightly, having been thrown off balance. She breathed a sigh of relief as she steadied herself.
The attire she wore was armor, but reminded me more of a Favonius maid. Her hair was adorned with roses, and a geo vision glowed on her flowing skirt. Was she a knight of Favonius?
"Pardon me," she said, dusting off her skirt. "My name is Noelle, maid of the Knights of Favonius," Her voice was soft and slightly quiet. It seems I guessed right.
"It's nice to meet you, I'm y/n. I'm with Sucrose and Albedo in the Alchemy research portion of the knights," I said. "Where is Klee dragging you off to?"
Klee smiled mischievously. "I was going to go show Miss Noelle my bombs and explode fish outside Mondstadt!"
Noelles eyes widened slightly. "I only asked her how she joined the knights so quickly and off we were!" She explained. "You'll get both of us in trouble with Jean!"
I laughed. "Well Klee, be careful with your... bombs," Is that what she used her pyro vision for?
"Okay..." she said quietly. "Bye miss y/n!" She then perked up, grabbing Noelle by the hand again and continuing to run down the street.
As I watched her drag her victim away, I saw a familiar face jump out of their path.
Diluc?