Dark Crimson - Diluc x Reader

Chapter 4 - A glass of Death After Noon

The tavern was noisy, and bustling with the sounds of wine glasses clashing with one another as people did their cheers. The room was just as I imagined it would, a bar lined with high wooden stools face towards the inside, and shelves of bottles neatly placed in rows. A bard was standing next to the door, asking for anyone to listen to his poems and stories, and in the back of the room, sat him with his long blue hair. His back was facing me, as he sipped his glass of wine while staring towards the wall, I thought he was one to socialise, but perhaps I was wrong. After all, it was mentioned in Kaeya's voice lines in the game that he was particularly lonely. My feet tapped along the floor as I walked to where he was sitting, getting a few weird glances towards me from all different angles, I was holding flowers for the Cavalry Captain of Mondstadt after all.

"Hey Kaeya...I came as promised", I said in a softish tone as the blue haired man looked at me calmly.

"Hey Y/N, well it seems you were right on time.", Kaeya replied back leaning back a little in his chair. I took a seat in the one opposite his, closish to the stairs leading to the second floor. 

"Who are the flowers for Y/N? Are these for me?" Kaeya mentioned looking a little smugly puzzled. I could tell he knew they were for him but none the less wanted me to confirm it for his own satisfaction.

"I thought since you were really friendly to me, and that you didn't kick me out of this city, I would do something nice in return. I had help choosing these for you, and I thought you would like them... it's okay if you don't though... you could always give them to someone else...", I said going red in the face. 

"No Y/N, they are beautiful. I really thank you for them, I really do.", Kaeya said with a smile on his face. One that I couldn't keep out of my mind from then onwards. 

"So, would you like a drink? How about a glass of Death After Noon? It is one of my personal favourites. A little flavour of Sparkling Wine mixed with Mondstadt's specialty, Dandelion Wine." He said quickly to break the moment. I didn't really like wine, or alcohol for that matter, so I decided I was going to ask him for something a little less strong, like a grape juice or something.

"Maybe Ill have a Grape Juice please, I am not a big fan of alcoholic drinks", I murmured. 

"Hmm, you indeed remind me of someone I know..", Kaeya muttered to me as he stood from his chair and went to the front bar counter. Charles was working at the bar tonight and immediately gave our drinks to Kaeya in a formal manner. 

"So Y/N...how did you find your first day here.", Kaeya stuck up conversation.

"It was so fun! Amber showed me around, and I got to meet these new people like Flora and Marjorie who Im sure you have met before too. Flora was the one who helped me choose your flowers.", I said, interested to tell him what I had been up to that day.

"Ahhh Flora. She is an interesting little girl, none the less, she has clever knowledge in all things flowerlike. I will say, these flowers are my favourite, I do wonder how she managed to gather this information. I dont think I have ever told somebody my favourite flower before..."

"Flora just has a great perception of people! Those people skills of her really pay off.", I answered. "And to top it all off, she keeps her flowers so nicely kept!".

"Indeed she does, everything perfectly organised..", Kaeya told me. "Now then, is there anything important you need to get done, I may have a contact who can help you with whatever you need. That is, if the deal is reasonable..."

I thought about what I needed to do, and one thing I absolutely needed to do was find a job. It didn't have to be full on or anything, just something small I could do to earn enough to get me around, and if I could...maybe a nice place to stay as-well..

"Do you think you could find me a job Kaeya? Or someone I could talk to to help me find one? I have had no mora and haven't been able to pay for anything here... I feel so bad for making Amber pay for my things I saw, and now you for paying for my grape juice...", I said to him a little guilty, even though these were gifts for me. 

"Now there Y/N you are just in luck. I happen to know someone who could have you with a job in no time, and maybe a place to stay if he likes you. The only thing is, this man I know, he is quite stern and takes his job very seriously. I just wonder if it will suit your style..", Kaeya pondered. 

Stern? Takes his job very seriously? I could have an idea of who this is, but I could be wrong. 

"This person I know works down at Dawn Winery, have you heard of it? It is the supplier of all Mondstadt's finest of wines, and also the grape juice you are sipping on just now", Kaeya says as he takes a sip of his Death After Noon. "Now, I will say the journey there is one you have to be careful with, since you don't have a weapon, I will accompany you for the first time there. But after that, you will have to make your way on your own". 

"But what if after that one time I get attacked by monsters?", I say with worry. Not only did I not have a weapon, even if I did, I had no experience with using them in real life. Only in the game, and all I had to do was press a couple buttons here and there. 

"I reassure you that you will be just fine, with the path from Mondstadt leading straight there, I doubt you will be attacked out of the blue. There will be Merchants along some areas of the path down, and there will always be places to hide if you do see something lurking around. Just don't go off the path and you will be alright, okay?, Kaeya told me with a focused face. 

"Okay, that sounds good then. So as long as I don't go off the path, I will be just fine.", I repeated back. 

"Yes that's right. Now remember I will be accompanying you the first time there, so you will have a safe space to remember the trail. Anyways, I better be going now i'm afraid, Master Jean will not be too happy if I am caught slacking around in the tavern.", He said standing up from his stool and giving back his glass to Charles at the bar as I sat still in my seat. 

"Have a good rest of your night, see you next time. Don't make me wait too long though..", Kaeya announced as he opened the front door to the tavern to leave. 

I still sat there, and people looked at me like I had just been rejected or something. I guess him suddenly leaving gave that sort of an impression huh. I thought of my conversation with Kaeya and then realised I had nowhere to sleep tonight. It had been around an hour since I met up with Sir Kaeya meaning it was around 7pm. I exited the tavern, as it was giving me a headache due to the noise.The sun was already setting and I could hear the chirps of birds and the flowing sounds of the fountain back in the central. The sunset was beautiful, just as beautiful as the night sky I saw when I first woke up here, maybe having no place to sleep wouldn't be too bad with this kind of view from above, although it will be very cold. 

I sat down on the one of the chairs just outside the Angels Share and gazed at the gradient sky filled with all sorts of warm colour tones for almost an hour. The time on the clock attached to the small pillar like tower read 7:56 and the pretty coloured sky was almost completely faded into a dark night sky. Not many people were around and all the stores and stalls were completely abandoned and packed up. Things sure do close early around here, maybe it is a weekday and things closed early. I still don't know what day it is here seeing as I never asked, I should have though. Even though it was early for someone like me, who stays up late, my eyes felt heavier by the minute and I was getting sleepier and sleepier, but I still had nowhere to stay. I made me way to a spot behind the tavern where there was a little patch of grass against a wall, I layed my cloak like thing on the ground as something soft to sit on and just sat there waiting for myself to naturally drift off until I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"You there, are you alright?", said a deep voice from above.