Through Thick and Thin- Diluc x (female) Reader

Chapter 36: Rosaria

I stretched, standing up with a yawn. The library was still pretty much empty, and most of the day had passed. I looked down to my book, Veras Melancholy, and sighed. I was only a fourth into the book, and I had read it all day.
Taking it with me, I walked over to Lisa. I set it on the desk, ready to check it out.
"Oh, no worries darling!" Lisa said, setting a paper in front of me. "I figured you'd check that book out, so I've got the paperwork all ready! Just sign here."
My eyes followed her finger, which pointed to a line at the bottom of the page. "Oh wow, how'd you know I was going to check out this one?"
"I've had the paperwork ready since... well, that day," she said, smiling somewhat sadly. "You had said you might come back to check it out, so I got the papers ready for you just in case."
"Really?" I said, feeling happy that she had thought about me. I signed the paper, and picked the book up.
"Got to go, thanks Lisa!" I waved to her and walked out of the library door, only to be immediately greeted again.
"Ah, Y/n," Jean said, holding a box for me. "It came in today, so I've been looking for you so I can give it to you personally."
"Oh, hey Jean," I looked down to the box, which she held out to me. I lifted the lid off the box, revealing the belt I had requested for my vision.
The materials were exactly how I imagined. The colors and details, down to the exact metal I wanted for the buckle and vision holder. I picked it up, examining it carefully.
"It's perfect," I said, looking it over. "Do I need to send the blacksmith any mora for it?"
She shook her head, smiling a little. "Since you are technically with the Knights of Favonius, we cover that sort of thing already."
"You sure?" I asked, taking my cryo vision out of my pocket. I felt the elemental energy surging though my hand as I picked up. Looking between the vision and the holder, I thought about how I was supposed to put it in.
"You can just press it in," Jean said, realizing I was a little confused.
"Oh, right," I laughed nervously. I carefully pushed the vision in, and it snapped in place. "Looks pretty secure..."
Jean nodded. "You should try it on, make sure it fits."
Wrapping the belt around my waist, I buckled it and straightened it out. "Feels comfortable..." wanted to test if my skill still worked with my vision on the belt, I dashed to the side, feeling my body disintegrate and reform. Since figuring it out the night prior, I found the trick easier to replicate.
"Yeah, that works," I chuckled as I walked back over to Jean, who seemed surprised.
"You can do that?" She said, a little surprised. "How did you even find out?"
"I got jumped, and next thing I knew, I was in a tree," I shrugged, oversimplifying the story. "It's alright, haven't seen any hoarders since then and it was a few days ago."
"Still, please report it to us next time," Jean said, sounding concerned. Her smile quickly returned, though. "I have more work to do, I'm glad you're satisfied with it."
"All good. I'll remember next time, don't worry!" I waved to her as I left the building, headed for the tavern.

As I pushed through the doors, I waved to Diluc and headed straight for the bar. He turned towards me and was already mixing the wolfhook juice, smiling slightly.
"Good evening, y/n," he said, pouring the liquid in a glass.
"Oh, forget formalities, Diluc," I said, smiling. "How's your injury?"
"Still painless," he said, setting the drink down in front of me.
"It's going to be dark soon," I reminded him, taking a sip of the drink. I sighed, the sweet taste soothing me. I had missed the wolfhook juice that Diluc made, it was always better when he mixed it although I wasn't sure why.
"Glad you like it," Diluc said quickly in response to my positive reaction to the drink. "I know it's going to be dark soon. I'm heading out in a few minutes."
"Is anyone coming with you?" I said, slightly nervous about it.
He shook his head, and then smiled at me comfortingly. "It's alright, I'll hurry straight home. I promised you, didn't I?"
I looked away, sighing a little. "Yeah. I'll come over first thing tomorrow after work."
He nodded, and then turned to mix more drinks. "I'll come say goodbye before I leave, don't worry."
I nodded back and turned, seeing the usual table filled with faces familiar, and one unknown. Had our group grown again?
I aproached a little nervously, Venti rambling drunkenly while Albedo watched him quietly, sipping from a glass of his own. Kaeya sat up, greet me with open arms.
"Rosaria! This is y/n!" He shouted, a wine glass half empty in his hand. While he moved his arms about in expression, he took special care not to spill his wine.
He pointed at a dark pink haired nun, who sat at the table somewhat irritated. She had a drink as well, which surprised me. While she certainly looked the part, her aura and mannerisms were not akin to a sister from the church.
She looked over to me, somewhat intrigued. "Oh, you're the y/n he's always on about," she said, taking a sip from her drink. "You seem okay. You look just like Sucrose, too."
I sat down at the table with everyone, an open seat between Kaeya and Rosaria. "What drink is that?" She asked, pointing to my glass.
"Oh, it's wolfhook juice. I don't drink alcohol," I smiled, responding to her question.
"You and Diluc must be a match made in heaven," she said, drinking some more. I felt my cheeks go a little red. "I'm just joking. It's nice to meet you," she said, offering her hand for me to shake.
I shook it, and glanced around the table. Kaeya and Albedo were having their own conversation, while Venti was still drunkenly rambling to himself. "It's nice to meet you too, Rosaria."
"If Barbara asks, I was never here, alright?" She said, glancing at me. Although she wasn't being rude, her tone seemed dangerous. She was the opposite of Barbara, it seemed. Her eyes pierced everyone around her like daggers.
"Sounds good to me," I said, shrugging. Although she made me slightly nervous, I could tell we would get along fine.
"So, how did you start dating Diluc?" She asked nonchalantly. "Cant say I've seen him show interest in anyone."
"Really?" I asked, raising an ear. "I don't know. He helped me out a few times, and we started hanging out. I guess it just evolved from there."
"Well, in any case, he seems to care a lot about you," she said, eyeing me. "I was curious, so I did a bit of digging. I'm sorry about what happened to you," she said, her tone somewhat different.
"It's... alright. I mean, if I didn't happen, I wouldn't have gotten this," I said, pointing to my belt.
"Cryo?" She said, intrigued. "I've got one too," Rosaria pointed to her lower back, and sure enough, there was one there too. "Anyways, you've been heading to the Winery a lot, so I hear."
I nodded. "Yeah, I've been going every couple of days to help change his bandages and stuff."
"Is that so?" Rosaria said, drinking some more. She glanced over my shoulder. "Speak of the devil."
I turned my head around to see Diluc walking over. Giving a little wave, I turned back to the rest of the table who watched Diluc walk over.
"I'm heading home, have a good evening y/n," he said, putting a hand on my shoulder. What I didn't expect was for him to bend down and give me a short peck on the cheek. "See you tomorrow, dear," he whispered in my ear, too quiet for the others to hear.
"G-goodnight. See you tomorrow," I said, almost shivering. My face was red, and Diluc turned to walk out of the tavern. "Be safe!" I called to him, and he waved in response as he walked out the door.
I hesitantly turned back towards to group, who all sat and stared at me. Feeling my face get redder, I began to get nervous. "Why are you all looking at me like that...?"
Kaeya looked at me with watery eyes. Suddenly, he could no longer hold it in. "Pfft! Your face!" He laughed with booming volume, unable to contain his amusement.
I looked over to Venti, who had keeled over with laughter as well. Even Rosaria and Albedo snickered a little, and my face got redder. He did that on purpose, didn't he? Had Diluc kissed my cheek in front of them knowing they would tease me? I'll get him for this... one day.
As the others died of laughter, Rosaria leaned towards me. "What did he say?"
"Huh? That he was heading home..." I said, nervously.
"No no, after that," she said, smiling somewhat sadistically. "What'd he whisper to you?"
The others took notice of this, looking over to me with amusement all over their faces. "H-he only said goodnight!" I looked away, hiding my face behind my cup of wolfhook juice. "Don't stare at me like that!" Although I couldn't help but smile a little.
As laughter echoed throughout the room, I hoped life would always be that way.