In The Mountains

Chapter 6

Authors POV

They both decide that the quickest way to get down the rest of the mountain was to rappel down. Diluc picks the cliffside with the gentlest slope and digs and inverted U-shaped trench in the snow a distance from the edge. Next, using the packed snow inside the U shape as the anchor, he lays down a rope in the trench. 

(Seriously, where did Kaeya keep all of that stuff...? It was like he'd pulled the rope out of his cleavage.)

To test the snow anchor, he stands south and pulls at it with his body weight, making sure the rope held firm instead of cutting into the snow and getting loose. Once he is satisfied, he nods and hands the rope to Kaeya, wanting to get his younger brother to a healer as soon as possible.

Kaeya goes first, half-rappelling, half-sliding down the slope. One hand on the rope and the other tucked right to his body in its sling. Diluc keeps an eye on top, ready to catch him if the anchor crumbled and the rope slipped. Thankfully, it doesn't, and when Kaeya reaches the ground safely, Diluc quickly follows.

When he hits the ground, he inevitably stumbles, clutching his head and swearing under his breath.

"What's wrong? Is it your head acting up again?" Kaeya asks worriedly.

Diluc winces. Pain sparking from the back of his head like mini fireworks, and he feels like the world is swaying around him.

"I think I went too fast and overexerted myself," he admits. "The whiteness of the snow is making my head spin."

Kaeya grabs his arm. "Just close your eyes." He says. "I'll lead the way."

Together, they stumble across the path. Kaeya would murmur when they made a turn, and slow down whenever a particularly harsh wind blew.

While someone had seen wisdom to pack food in the emergency supply packs by the roadside, it seemed furry winter coats were too big to fit inside. As such, they had no choice but to cope by bundling up tighter. Diluc has the incredulous wonder of witnessing Kaeya, for the first time in his life, button up his undershirt. Diluc's Pyro Vision did help to reduce a bit of the cold, and it did help that they, well, more Diluc than Kaeya, ate something earlier to keep up their strength. Though Diluc could tell Kaeya is now starting to struggle. Still, it is not enough to keep them from shivering.

When Kaeya suddenly stops, Diluc cracks open his eyes tentatively, and then widens. Kaeya's face is extremely pale, his one eyes lidded as he clutches his arm and grimaces in visible pain.

"Is your arm hurting? Did I accidentally jostle it-?" Diluc asks, a little panicked.

Kaeya says hurriedly, "No, No. It's just," He hesitates. "It's just some old scars hurting. They don't do well in cold weather. Or in the rain."

Oh.

"You mean your Pyro scars." Diluc says softly.

There is a silence then, only punctured by the winds whistling by.

Diluc has seen the burn marks on Kaeya's arms, once.

It had happened on one of his patrol nights. He wasn't careful enough during his last skirmish and suffered serious injuries, and The Dawn Winery was too far away for him to seek treatment. Kaeya was the only person in Monstadt who would take him in without asking questions like, Why Diluc Ragnvindr was bleeding from multiple stab wounds in the dead of night. Kaeya has answered the door armed with nothing but the thinnest nightclothes on his body and a sword in hand, and Diluc knew from a glance, as he knew the way fire burns intimately, that those scars curling around Kaeya's arms down to his palms weren't ones that moved painlessly.

Diluc's lower lip trembles. Every time he takes a step, he is reminded of the ways he and Kaeya hurt each other so deeply, they still burn from the wounds today. He loves Kaeya. He really does. But every time they speak, the air around them is brittle and jagged like broken glass, and it hurts just to breathe.

Kaeya lunges forward. He laces his hand in Diluc's hair and tugs him in for a hug.

"Hey." He whispers. "Hey. It's fine. I told you because I wanted you to know. To get you to trust me again. Because I'm trying, and I know you're trying too. And I know you won't burn me again-"

"I would rather eat a living Cryo slime." Diluc mutters into Kaeya's shirt.

"-You see?" Kaeya laughs. "So dont worry about the past. We're here now, and that's all that matters."

"Okay." Diluc says in a half sob. "Okay."

He hugs Kaeya a little harder, and Kaeya hugs him back fiercely, because Diluc was the one that craved physical contact, not Kaeya. Kaeya always hated it when other people, except Albedo, touched him, but usually relented when it came to Diluc. And now, in Kaeya's arms, Diluc feels the world re-centre itself, just a little bit.

"When we go back," he says. "Let's go out somewhere. Just the two of us. spending time together. Just being... happy." Diluc says the last word with a curious sort of reverence. Hah. It's been a long time since he's wanted anything remote to happiness.

Kaeya strokes his hair. "Its a promise." He says with a smile in his voice. "We can go fishing at Cider Lake like we used to, or skydiving off cliffs at Starsnatch Valley. Or we could-"

Suddenly, Kaeya breaks off, shoulders tensing.

"Diluc?" He says softly, icicles creeping into his tone.

Diluc wipes his eyes and looks up. "Yes?"

"Do me a favour."

"What?"

"Sit down and let me handle this."

"What?" Diluc untangles himself from Kaeya, and then he hears the hillichurl cry.

Fuck.