by: memoriesofdust (BehindTheRobinsmask)
As music practically throbbed through every cell in his being, Diluc was sure that something had come over him when he agreed to Kaeya's proposal to go clubbing on his one free day during a week of doing nothing but projects for his classes. Then again, when Kaeya walked up to him with his usual confident swagger and proposed the idea, Diluc could barely even hear him over his own thoughts that were focused on finding a warm bed and falling asleep. Pulling all-nighters for three days straight was bound to do that to someone. Once he had rested enough, the idea of going out with his friend to unwind didn't sound so bad.
Diluc wasn't much of a drinker himself, keeping his alcohol intake to a bare minimum, especially since when Kaeya and Rosaria really started drinking, someone had to be there to make sure they got back to their rooms. Usually, when it came to clubbing, Diluc would turn down invites knowing that the chances of the night ending in utter chaos were much too high but, this time, he said yes. This time, he got dressed, met up with his friends and truly believed that he could have a good time. After all, Rosaria was on a date with her girlfriend and wouldn't be dropping by while Kaeya was too busy chasing after Albedo. This meant that the only one Diluc had to worry about was Childe and without Kaeya in sight, Childe was usually laid back.
In the one week that he had been too busy to even respond to the group message between him and his friends, Diluc had forgotten how smitten Childe was with the history teacher Zhongli. He had forgotten that when in love and fearing that his heart was breaking, Childe was known for downing shots of Snezhnayan vodka and turning into a blithering mess.
If Diluc was just a little smarter, he would have seen the warning signs when Childe showed up poutier than usual and immediately went for shots instead of joking around. If he was smarter, he would have slipped away once Childe's cheeks flushed red like Kaeya had done, albeit Kaeya was on the hunt for his on and off boyfriend Albedo. But instead, here he was, with his head in his hands, listening to Childe whine about how he was head over heels in love with a tall, handsome and eloquent man who had a way of making people stare just by walking down the street. Unfortunately, since Childe was majoring in marine biology, it meant that he never had many chances to interact with Zhongli. All he could do was stare from afar. A lot.
"I only saw him seven times today, Diluc," Childe whined, burying his face in Diluc's chest and staining his red shirt with slobber.
Clenching his fists, Diluc took in a deep breath and contained the urge to slam his friend's face into a table.
"Yes. You said that earlier," he reminded instead, praying to god that the topic of the conversation would change. Or the ceiling would collapse over him and end his misery, whichever came first.
"I can't bear to be around the love of my life for only seven short moments, out of which he only noticed me two times! Two times he smiled at me and then, no more," Childe continued, his blue eyes turning watery.
Flabbergasted, Diluc stared at his friend because he couldn't possibly actually cry because of this, right?
"How about I get you another shot?" Diluc offered and his friend's face brightened.
Apparently, promises of free alcohol were always enough to cheer up his friends. Diluc really needed to reconsider if these were truly the people he wanted to be associated with.
"You're a true friend, Diwuc!" Childe slurred, tripping over Diluc's name and mispronouncing it.
Diluc, however, didn't have the energy to correct him. He already knew how things would play out. He'd tell Childe how to pronounce his name, Childe would get confused because clearly he knew how to say his bestie's name and they'd just go back and forth from there.
