Through Thick and Thin- Diluc x (female) Reader

Chapter 60: In the End

Sucrose walked into the room the next day, pushing her glasses up as she did. "Y/n? Are you awake?" She asked softly.
I nodded, sitting up. "Hey Sucrose."
"I... brought you some coffee," she said, the steaming mug in her hands. Sucrose occasionally glanced at my bandaged eye, a strange look on her face that I couldn't put my finger on.
"Thanks. I missed the coffee here," I said, taking the mug with a smile. "Is Albedo downstairs?"
Sucrose nodded. "Yes. He had me allocate some of his time on his itinerary so he could come say hello."
"Really? He's that busy, huh..." I said, taking a sip of the coffee. I hummed in joy, the familiar taste making me feel at home. "Oh, that's right. I have the flowers in my bag, over there," I pointed to the corner, where my bag laid undisturbed since the night prior.
I also had my book in there, which I had finished on the way home from Wangshu Inn while on the travel balloon.
"Oh! I completely forgot," Sucrose said, turning to the bag. She dug around for a bit, eventually pulling out the two jars. "Do they look the same as when you first harvested them?"
I studied them carefully as she brought them over for me to look. "Yeah, haven't changed at all."
"I see," she said, studying them. "If that's the case, then maybe we can assume that nothing changes until we remove them from the jar for an extensive period of time..."
"Well, those are from Liyue. They might not change at all," I said, tilting my head. "How do we know that what happened in experiment 001 wasn't an isolated case?"
"Oh, we ran another test while you were out," she said, setting the jars aside. "A similar thing happened, minus the whopperflower. The energy levels just kept climbing, and then it stopped. I'll show you the notes later, and you can review it for as long as you need."
"Okay..." I said, looking out the window. "What time is it?"
"Eight," she replied, gathering the jars once again. "I'm sure plenty of other people want to say hi, so... I'll leave you be for now."
"Oh, Sucrose," I said, stopping her. "Will you return my book in my bag to Lisa? I'm sure it's long overdue by now."
"Of course," she said, picking it up from inside my bag. "You don't want to see Lisa when a book isn't returned on time..." Sucrose let out a slight shiver before turning back towards the door.
With that, she retreated from the room with the jars. Is Lisa that scary to her?
I sighed, leaning back. How many people were going to walk into the room before the person I was waiting for did?
He had said he would come first thing in the morning, but still wasn't here. My mind wandered to undesirable possibilities, but I pushed them back.
Not long after Sucrose left, Albedo and Kaeya walked through my door. "Y/n, how are you feeling?" Albedo asked with that strange expression. It was a look of worry and concern.
"I feel okay, just missing an eye," I shrugged, and smiled.
"Aside from all that," Kaeya said, motioning to my bandages. "How was your trip?"
"It was... fun," I said, remembering the friends I made. "The food was good, I made a few friends. The inn and the hotel were comfortable."
"I see, I see..." Kaeya said, nodding. "Comfortable, you say?" He added with a slight smirk.
Albedo nudged him with his elbow, and Kaeya quickly straightened his posture. "Kaeya?" I asked, raising an ear. "Did.. you put Albedo up to it?"
"Up to what? I don't understand what you're talking about," Kaeya said, looking off to the side.
Raising a brow, I looked to Albedo. "Did he?"
Albedo stood there for a moment. "Do you mean the size of the rooms?"
Kaeya froze, looking to Albedo and shaking his head. "I seem to remember Kaeya swearing revenge on me..." I said, a finger to my chin.
"Absolutely. He made me do it," Albedo said, shrugging with a straight face and pointing to Kaeya with his thumb.
"Wha- how could you sell me out like that?" Kaeya said, sounding betrayed. "Didn't you come up with it?"
Albedo shrugged, turning to the door. "I don't know what you're talking about," he walked to the door, turning the knob. As Kaeya turned back to me, Albedo turned his head and smiled at me slightly. "I have to go back to the lab. Take care."
"Already?" I gave him a slight wave before turning my attention back to Kaeya. "Well?"
"I..." Kaeya said, looking at me with an awkward smile. "I didn't think he'd sell me out like that..."
I raised a brow, but couldn't help but smile. "Kaeya, Kaeya, Kaeya..." I said, shaking my head in disapproval sarcastically. "He came up with it, huh. Is that really your idea of 'revenge'?"
"It was only a joke, I swear," Kaeya said, putting his hands up in defense. I raised an ear, tilting my head as a distraction took my attention. Not noticing, Kaeya continued to defend himself. "A joke, yes. A-and Albedo did come up with it."
"Although," he said, putting a finger to his chin. I smiled, realizing he hadn't yet noticed the presence behind him. "I do wonder... did you and him do something?" He raised a brow, smirking at me. "Not that I would be one to judge, but-"
"Hey, Kaeya?" I said.
"Y-yeah?" He stopped, looking at me slightly nervously.
"What do you mean?" Said a voice from the doorway. I couldn't help but snicker into my hand as Kaeya turned around slowly.
"Ah, Diluc. You're... here," he said, glancing at him hesitantly. "I didn't think you would actually enter the building again..."
"Kaeya," Diluc said to him, raising a brow. He crossed his arms, stepping aside from the doorway. "If you can't find an answer my question, I'd suggest you come up with one."
"Oh, it was only a joke," he laughed nervously, walking out the door. He waved to me from the hallway. "That's all, I promise!"
He walked down the hallway quickly, disappearing from view. "I don't know how you manage to put up with him," Diluc said, shaking his head as he walked to me.
"You get used to it," I shrugged, smiling to him. "I'm glad you're here. I was getting a little worried."
"I'm alright," Diluc said, taking a seat on the foot of the bed. "Not a single hoarder showed up on my walk home."
"Not one?" I asked, raising an ear. "That's good. Kaeya said he didn't expect you to enter the building 'again.' What... does that mean?"
"Oh..." he said, glancing down the hallway. He stood up for a moment, closing the door before returning to sit again. "I came here the night you went missing. Before that, I hadn't for years."
"Was your break from the knights that bad?" I asked hesitantly, not wanting to open any old wounds.
"It's a long story," he said, smiling to me. "Did you sleep well dear?"
I flushed a little, realizing he hadn't called me that in a few days. "I slept okay," I said, which was technically true. I slept, at least. "I guess I had just gotten used to you being being beside me."
Diluc was silent for a moment before he nodded. "I felt the same way."
I grabbed his hand, holding it against me tightly. "Barbara said that I'm going to have scars."
"I would expect so," he said, squeezing my hand tenderly. "Those cuts on your legs were quite deep, not to mention..."
He glanced at my missing eye for a second before returning to my remaining one. He gave me a look of sadness, mixed in with some guilt.
"Yeah, I know. I just... thought it was a little funny," I said, smiling.
"What's... funny about it?" He said, raising a brow.
"That we ended up with matching scars in the end anyways."