Through Thick and Thin- Diluc x (female) Reader

Chapter 14: Outrider Amber!

I blinked my eyes open lazily to a knock at the door. "So tired," I said, rolling over. Not wanting to get up, I shouted towards the door instead. "Come in!"
The door creaked open, and Sucrose popped her head in. "Y/n?" She said quietly. "Are you still asleep? It's almost eight..."
I sat up quickly. "Oh dammit!" Now fully awake, I jumped out of bed and began getting ready right away. "Oh, I'm so sorry Sucrose! Tell Albedo I'll be right down!"
"O-okay..." she said meekly, closing the door so I could change.
I slept in that late? I could see light peeking in through the blinds, and usually I was awake before sunrise. Reaching for my shoes, I remembered the moment I had the night before.
The whole world had seemed to melt away, and I stayed there admiring the sky for what seemed only like a few minutes, but time flew. Diluc and I had stayed out until late, and parted ways eventually. I felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulder since the night before.
My shoes tied, I opened my door quickly and raced down the hall. As I flew down the stairs, I barely jumped out of Ambers way, nearly tripping all the way down.
"Woah!" I yelled, regaining my balance. "I'm so sorry Amber! Running late!" I gave her a quick wave, her face seeming slightly concerned.
I ran through the lab and froze. "Ah, y/n, you're here," Albedo said, going through notes on his desk. "How was your evening?"
"What the hell is that?" I said bluntly, pointing at the mist flower. It's stem rose higher than before, and mist could be seen rolling from the petals. This thing had seriously outgrown its jar. "I'm sorry, excuse me. But what happened?"
"No worries, your concern is quite reasonable," he switched his notes. "It has simply outgrown its jar. By a substantial amount, I'll have to add."
"Yeah," I said, rubbing my hands together. My breath came out a fog, and I shivered from the cold. "It's even colder in here than last time..."
"I agree," Albedo said. "It's almost as bad as my expedition to Dragonspine, so I brought an indoor burner to keep warm. I also promised I would keep an open flame in case this gets out of hand."
It wasn't out of hand already? "Here, I went and got you some since I figured you would be tired," Sucrose said quietly. In her hand was a steaming cup of coffee, which she handed to me carefully.
I wrapped my fingers around my cup. "Thanks Sucrose," I said gratefully.
"I have to ask," Albedo said, looking up from his notes. "Why is it you slept in so long? Were you out late?"
I felt my cheeks go red slightly. "Ah... yeah," it wasn't a lie, but I left details out because I was slightly embarrassed. It was personal, after all.
"Enjoying the festival?" He studied my face, raising a brow in suspicion. I gulped under his gaze, worried he was uncovering something. "Did you give a windblume out?"
"Ah! No! I mean, yes. Wait, I mean no-" I said, bringing the coffee to my face to hide it. I quickly drank some to avoid questioning.
"Diluc?" Sucrose said innocently, not realizing my embarrassment.
I almost spit my drink out, my face beet red. "Sucrose! No!" I looked around quickly, Sucrose gazing at me innocently. Albedo smiling slightly. "I mean yes, I mean-"
"I knew it," Albedo said, his smile not disappearing. "Although you can't be running late for work."
"I-" my face was completely red from the accusation. "Well, where were you last night?" I raised a brow, remembering what I had heard from by the door.
He froze for a second, then sighed. "You have a fair argument."
"Huh?" Sucrose said, having no idea what we were talking about. "Did something happen?"
"Ask him," I nodded towards Albedo as I took a seat at my desk, an oil lamp at the corner of it. I took delight in its warmth.
Albedo set his notes down. "Don't make her ask me," he said, slightly flustered.
Shrugging, I left Sucrose to question him as I began my work.

Around noon, I stood up from my desk and gathered the papers neatly into two piles, one of the old notes and one of the new ones I had compiled. Bringing the new ones to Albedos desk, I set them down and stretched, my back aching from sitting down all day.
"Anything else today?" I said, my ears twitching as I yawned.
"No, I think that's all," he said, gathering the work I piled on his desk. "You can go for today, if you'd like."
"Alright, I'm going to grab lunch," I said, turning to walk out the door. As I reached for the knob, it began to turn on its own.
The door creaked open slightly, and staring back at me was Kaeya. "Oh hey, I was just heading out," I began, turning around the lab to check again for Sucrose. She was out running more errands for Albedo. "All clear," I whispered, winking at him.
He sighed, before giving me a smile. "Don't mind me y/n, just coming in to say hello."
I stepped to the side to let Kaeya in, and slipped out of the door quietly. I stopped outside the lab, putting a finger to my chin in thought. I wonder if the tavern is open yet...
"Y/n! Hi!" I heard an excited voice approaching me, and I turned to see Amber waving at me excitedly. "Do you want to come with me during patrol? Maybe I can show you how to use a bow!"
"Amber!" I said, happy to see her. Although we hadn't talked much, she seemed nice and I wanted to get to know her. "I actually would really like that. Last time I went out without a weapon alone, I got robbed..."
"Yeah, Kaeya told me about that one," she rolled her eyes, sighing. "Some people really have nothing better to do I guess. But hey, at least you got away with all your stuff!"
"Yeah, at least there's that," I said smiling. I put a finger to my chin. "I am a little hungry though, can we stop for lunch first?"
"Yeah, I don't mind," Amber said, adjusting her goggles. "By the looks of it, you didn't have time for breakfast," she winked.
"Nope," I laughed as we walked towards the door. "It's a long story."

We sat down outside good hunter, and I ordered a chicken mushroom skewer for lunch. "This looks great!" I said as the dish arrived.
I looked over to see Amber excitedly eying a portion of sticky honey roast. Kinda heavy for lunch, but she was about to go out on patrol after all.
As she began to munch down, I took a bite of my skewer. "So, why did you sleep in? Aren't you usually up before Dawn?" Amber said in between mouthfuls.
"I was up late last night enjoying the festival," I said simply, leaving out the details.
She rolled her eyes. "That can't be the only reason! You said it was a long story!"
"Oh... yeah, I did say that, didn't I?" I said nervously, my ears laying flat. "I... was giving out a windblume."
She stopped, laying her hands on the table. "Who?" She exclaimed, a huge smile on her face. "Come on, I won't say anything!"
"No, you'll yell it," I said with a smile. "I'm not sure if they want to go public with it yet, so I'm not saying anything..."
Suddenly, I heard a familiar voice behind me. "Y/n, how are you today?"
I froze, and began to turn around slowly in my seat. My stomach turned as my heart fluttered. "Diluc?" I smiled in surprise, hiding my nervousness. Although, my ears always betrayed me. "I-I'm good today! You...?"
Amber sat there motionless, aghast. She really didn't expect this, did she?
"I'm doing just fine," he gave me that small smile. My heart fluttered every time he did. "I saw you and decided to stop by. Would tomorrow be a good time for that picnic? I've been wanting to do that again, if that's alright."
My face went red as I remembered. "I- yes! I'm free at noon every day!"
"I'm glad. Do you want to grab pizza again? I'll buy it this time," he said gently, still smiling.
"Oh, sure!" I finally began to relax. His sudden appearance had startled me, that's for sure. "It's a date! I mean-"
"Sure thing, I'll meet you at the gates tomorrow at noon, alright?"
My stomach floated away, and I nodded. "Yes, I'll be there tomorrow!"
He gave a small wave as he walked back down the street. I sighed happily as he walked away, glad we were having another picnic.
"What?" Amber exclaimed, standing up with her hands on the table. "It was him?"
I continued to eat my food, rolling my eyes. "Y-yeah..." I couldn't help but smile a little, my face beet red. "I guess he doesn't mind going public about it too much."
"Wha- I... Kaeya?" She exclaimed, utterly shocked by the situation. I tilted my head, trying to make sense of what she was trying to say. "What does Kaeya think about this?" She shouted, her arms out. She was really shocked.
"Kaeya?" I said, chuckling under my breath. "He helped me a bit, actually."
"Kaeya helped you? What's the ulterior motive? I know there is one!" She shouted. "A-and did he say a picnic again? You've already been on a date?"
"No no!" I said, my face red. "T-that wasn't a date! Just an outing! So I could get wolfhooks! For pie! Which... I... gave to him..."
"I..." she sighed as she sat back down, eating her food. "So... it's technically your first date?"
I nodded, pecking at my skewer. "I'm a little nervous, but I think it'll be fine. I mean, we've already had a picnic before, it's probably not much different."
"Not much different?" She said, tilting her brow. "You're dating now, right? Have you guys kissed yet?" Amber asked playfully as she raised her brows, smirking slightly.
"Ah! No!" I said, embarrassed. "N-not yet."
"Hmm..." she said in thought.
"What are you scheming?" I remarked sarcastically.
She looked at me, pretending to be offended. "I'm not scheming anything! Just thinking, that's all... you can't give him a windblume, since you already did that."
"Actually, I didn't..."
"Hm? I thought you said you did?" She asked, confused.
"Well," I began. "I went out to do that, but I actually forgot it... then he gave me one instead, it's was actually pretty smooth but I'm not going to bore you with-"
"No! Tell me!"
I sighed, realizing this would take awhile. Oh well.