Through Thick and Thin- Diluc x (female) Reader

Chapter 68: I'm Not the One to Judge

I opened my eyes lazily, my mind still groggy from sleep. Warm arms were wrapped around me, too heavy to move. Although, it wasn't as though I wanted to move them anyways.
Dilucs chest rose and fell slowly, pressed against mine. His arms held me closer to him. I glanced up to him, only for his eyes to be closed. He's still asleep.
I realized I wasn't wearing anything, and I remembered our... moment the night before. I blushed, burying my face in his chest.
A few minutes later, he finally began to stir. "Y/n?" He asked, blinking his eyes as he began to wake up.
"Good morning..." I said quietly, not really knowing what else to say. His arms began to move, not holding me quite as tightly as they had before.
His red eyes examined my face before his hand reached for my hair. Diluc ran his fingers through my locks, and my ear twitched in comfort. "We should get you back to Mondstadt before Sucrose begins to worry again."
"I'd be more concerned about Kaeya," I laughed, and Diluc's lips pulled into a small smile. "He's going to say something for sure," I noted.
"Everyone knows you can only trust half of what he says," Diluc rolled his eyes before sitting up. "At best."
He swung his legs over the side, pulling up his loose night pants a little. He walked to his wardrobe, retrieving his usual outfit. I stood up, stretching. I looked around and my eyes landed on his nightshirt that I had discarded on the floor. He had brought it to me last night and I hadn't even slept in it. Next time I'll wear it. Probably...
"I'll go and see if your clothes are clean," Diluc said, slipping on his shirt as he opened the door. It closed quickly, and I glanced around the room as I waited for him.
I saw his coat hanging on a rack by the door, the dark fabric beckoning me forward. It looks warm. Fancy, too... I pushed back the idea of trying it on, but I couldn't help but steal glances at it.
It didn't take long for Diluc to return, holding my clothing in his hands. I sat on the bed as he brought it over, setting it down beside me. He brought his face to mine, leaving a small kiss on my cheek.
"Come on out when you're ready, and we can walk to Mondstadt," Diluc said, smiling at me before leaving the room.
I tried to call to him, but he left the room too quickly. "Diluc, you... forgot your coat," I said, sighing. I'll bring it to him when I go out.
I glanced out the window, noting the cloudy weather. It's looks like it's going to rain soon...
I slipped on my clothes and retrieved my shoes from the bathroom, having left them there the previous night. Buckling up my belt with my vision, I quickly put on my eye patch and made my way towards the coat.
As I grabbed it from the rack, I felt the warm material on my skin. It was slightly heavy, although not overbearingly so, and would definitely fit too big on me. Still, my curiosity got the better of me.
I put my arms through the sleeves, feeling the weight of the coat on my shoulders. The length of it was closer to the ground than I had thought it would be, the hem reaching below my knees. I never realized how long the tail of his coat was.
I peeked out of the door and down the hall. I should take this off... My eye widened when Diluc peeked back at me from across the hall, his brow raised.
"Are you... wearing my coat?" He asked, smiling a little.
"I... was going to bring it to you, it looks like it might rain," I said, leaving the room and closing the door. "But I got curious, sorry..."
"Don't apologize," Diluc said, rolling his eyes as I approached him. "I really don't mind."
A little embarrassed, I took the coat off and handed it to him. "It's warm," I said, remembering the texture of the material.
He put the coat on, glancing back at me. "It is warm."
"It gets pretty cold in the lab. I should probably get a jacket or sweater at some point," I said, following Diluc towards the door. "Speaking of, I should check the lab today, see if Albedo has any extra work for me. Oh man, is it raining already?"
My head tilted up to the sky as we stepped outside, water sprinkling over the ground slowly. Sure enough, the rain began to fall faster.
"Oh well," I shrugged, stepping outside. "At least I like the rain."
"Is that so?" He asked, the water falling on his hair as we began to walk on the dirt path. Too bad for him, his coat didn't have a hood.
"Mhm. The water feels nice, but it gets a little cold sometimes," I said, holding my hand out as the water drops ran off my palm. "It's not bad today, I'll be fine until we get to Mondstadt."
"Are you sure? You look a little cold," Diluc said, a brow raised.
"Yeah, I'll be- achoo!" I sneezed a little, feeling goosebumps on my skin. "I'll be fine! It's not a super long walk."
Diluc sighed, taking his coat off. He held it over me, the fabric pulled over my head. I hesitantly held it over myself, shielding me from the rain.
"I don't want you to get sick, take it," Diluc said as he watched me hold the coat over myself.
"Diluc, won't you be cold?" I peeked over to him. His shirt clung to him as the rain began to grow heavier.
"I have a pyro vision, I'll be alright," he smiled at me before returning his eyes to the road. His face turned to one of confusion as he squinted at the path. "Who...?"
I turned my head forward, my eye widening as I saw a familiar face running towards us. "Hey! Y/n! Diluc?"
As he got closer, his feet slipped out from under him thanks to the new mud. He fell backwards, right into his back.
"Bennet, are you okay?" I asked him, raising an ear. "What in Teyvat are you out here for?"
"Ow," Bennet scratched his head before looking up to me and giving me a thumbs up with a wide smile. "I'm alright! I'm just lucky I didn't fall on my face this time!"
I reached my arm out, pulling him to his feet. "This is Bennet," I introduced them, glancing back to Diluc.
"I'm Diluc, but you already know me it seems," Diluc said, reaching a gloved hand out to Bennet. Bennet shook his hand before turning back to me.
"Crazy to run into you here. I was just going to Wolvndom to see Razor and it started pouring out of nowhere!" Bennett's eyes turned to the sky disappointedly. "This happens all the time!"
"Bennet, it's been raining around here the past few days," I said, smiling at him. "It's nothing to do with bad luck!"
"I know it's been raining around here, but the skies were clear when I left!" Bennet sighed dejectedly. "Last time I came out here while it rained, I got struck by lightning!"
"Oh, come on," I laughed, Bennet raising a brow. I looked to him confused. "Wait, you aren't kidding? That happened?"
"Yeah..." Bennet turned towards the direction of Wolvndom. "Ive got to go before it happens again, I'll see you around. Later!"
Diluc watched him run down the road before taking a step forward again. I followed him, my footsteps squelching in the new mud.
"So that's the Bennet who handed you that note," Diluc said, glancing back at him behind his shoulder. "He does seem rather unfortunate."
"He's convinced Lady Luck has it out for him," I chuckled a little. "Still, struck by lightning? That's crazy."

I peeked my head into the lab, Sucrose at her desk like usual. "Morning," I said, stepping in. Glancing at the clock, it was nearly 11:00 am. Oh... "Well... almost afternoon."
"Y/n?" Sucrose peeked her head up at me, setting her papers down. "I was starting to get worried!"
"I knew you were," I sighed before smiling a little. At least she looks out for me. "Anything new with the experiment?"
"A couple things," Albedo said, standing from his desk. He approached the flowers, but kept a relative distance. "Come over here and you will see."
I stepped closer, immediately noticing what he meant. "The temperature is so strange..." I said. The side where the mist flower was seemed very cold, and the side with the flaming flower was extremely hot. "Good thing you can only feel the temperature difference this close to the flowers. I couldn't imagine being this warm or cold all day," I said.
"The only reason the lab is bearable is because the temperature of each flower neutralizes the other," Albedo said, flipping through some papers he had brought with him. He picked out a couple, handing them to me. "Here are some notes I'd like you to work on for me."
"You got it," I said, reading through the papers, and then I sighed. "Yeah, I thought this would happen. Same energy levels as in Mist Flower Experiment 001?"
"Precisely," Albedo said, taking a seat.
I sighed, examining the flowers in front of me. "Man, these things sure have grown a lot since I plucked them in Liyue."
"They are slowing down, though," Sucrose said, pushing up her glasses. "The same thing happened in 001."
I took the papers to my desk, pulling out a quill. "Let's hope we don't end up with another whopperflower on our hands."
"That is a possibility," Albedo said, his eyes on his work.
A knock sounded on the door for a second, before a familiar face poked their head through. "Y/n, do you have a moment?"
I looked up from my desk. Kaeya? I just sat down...
"Yeah, sure," I got up, despite my slight annoyance. I followed him outside the lab and into the hall, which seemed to be empty at the moment. "Is this about last night?"
He nodded. "How did it go?"
"Well, he was telling the truth," I said, and a look of relief spread across Kaeya's face.
"Any trouble?" Kaeya asked.
"A little, but nothing we couldn't handle thanks to Diluc and the traveler," I said. I raised an ear. "Why do you ask?"
"Just wanted to make sure, I was a little concerned since it took you a little while to show up today," Kaeya said, glancing at the clock.
"Huh, guess I slept in," I shrugged, and Kaeya smirked at me a little. "What?"
"How was your little sleepover?" He crossed his arms, a slight smirk pulling at his face.
"Uh... what do you mean?" I raised a brow, confused. He couldn't possibly know what Diluc and I did, right?
"You know what I mean," Kaeya said, the smile not fading.
"You don't think we did something, do you?" I asked, trying to keep my face from going red. If Kaeya knew, I would be embarrassed for a very, very long time.
"No no," Kaeya said, putting his hands up. I only had a brief second of relief before I saw his finger point to my shoulder. "What's that?" He asked quickly, a smile on his face.
I glanced at it, seeing that the smallest mark was visible from where Diluc had bit me. Subtle, but definitely two small marks akin to canines. How did he even notice those? Sharp eyes...
"I... I got that when we ran into trouble," I said, trying to explain.
Kaeya raised a brow, obviously suspicious. "Did you now? I thought you said Diluc and Aether handled the trouble?" He glanced at my shoulder again. "Or did one of the hoarders bite you?"
"That... That's irrelevant!" I said, covering the mark with my hand. "How did the raids on the camps go?" I said quickly.
"Changing the subject, are we?" Kaeya chuckled a little. "Although, I suppose it is important you know. Many of the treasure hoarders are in custody, so you won't have to worry for a while."
I breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. At least I can have some peace."
"Not with me around. What is with the bite mark?" Kaeya pointed to the area again. "I didn't think you would be into that."
"I- I'm not! It's not what you think," I said, rolling my eye.
Kaeya smiled before shrugging. "Oh well. I cant say I'm the one to judge. We're more similar than I thought."
"Yeah, that's what I- wait what?"