Gonna live this life as the Heroine Villainess

❄️Chapter 18 👑

"...What are you doing here?" Wren rolled her eyes as she stared at the man who was wiping down glasses with a clean piece of cotton fabric. She huffed, crossing her legs as she accepted a glass of grape juice. "Believe me, I wouldn't be here if I wanted to be. It was your brother who chose this place to meet." Diluc's face immediately twisted at the thought of his estranged brother. "...Is Kaeya really that much of a nuisance?" She said slowly. "Yes." Wren smothered her laugh with her palm, earning a quizical look from the red haired man. "Oh, don't look at me like that." She sobered. "I wholeheartedly agree." He made a half strangled noise from his throat, seemingly caught between scoffing and laughing.

"Ah, I'm hurt- may I ask why you think of me that lowly? We have just met, no?" Kaeya said, dramatically throwing himself onto the seat beside her. Diluc glowered, subtly inching a bit futher away from the blue haired man as he called for a drink. "So? It doesn't take long to know what kind of person you are. You're kind of- infamous, I guess. And I'm a good judge of character," She finished. Kaeya raised an eyebrow. "Oh? So did you go around asking about me?" ...what? "No? Why would I need to?" He chuckled. "Well, what do you really think of me then?" Wren paused to think. Her first retort would have been an "annoyingly charismatic drunkard", mainly because of his tendency to drink well past noon- but of course, he would only take it as a compliment...wait. Why was she thinking about this so much? She turned to face him.

He stared back at her, a lopsided grin on his face. He was enjoying toying with her, even for just the most childish things. Hey, don't think you've won... She let out a sigh. "...to be honest, I think you're weird." "...do go on?" "It's the way you treat people. Whenever I see you around town, you're always talking to someone. But every time they praise you, you only laugh it off or return a compliment of your own. But you never really seem genuine, you know? Or happy. Kind of like you're... scared of something." Or holding yourself back because you don't want to hurt anyone more than you know you would. Wren gave a small laugh. "Honestly, the way you act- it's like you're royalty." That should get his attention. You're not the only person who knows stuff, eyepatch man-

Kaeya stayed silent. For a moment, neither of them said a word. Diluc had his back turned towards them, but she knew he had heard the whole thing. Good. He should. She turned at Kaeya's sudden, low laughter. "Well- I guess I really underestimated you... you really are interesting." He tilted his head, the light from the chandelier reflecting onto his eye, causing it to shine ever so slightly. Now that she thought about it, was his iris shaped like a star? That was odd. Diluc slammed a glass bottle onto the bar counter top, causing her to jump. Kaeya remained unfazed, reaching forward to pull the cork from the top and taking a large swig. "Ah... death after noon. My favorite. Much better than your drink of choice, but who's asking, hmm?" Wren glanced down at her glass, which was still half filled with deep, pinkish purple juice. Grape juice. "...Who knows? Maybe I just did it to tick you off." A dry cough. Diluc... really needed to work on his acting skills.

~❄️👑~

"Are you really sure you aren't just following me around?" Wren looked up form the pile of papers in front of her. There was some report about Margaret's missing cat. Again. What was it, the second time this week?  Kaeya leaned on the door frame of her new office, giving the room a quick survey before looking back at her. "I assure you and you're big ego I am most certainly not." She said flatly, turning back to her work. She... would go find the cat later. What time was it? "...Miss Wren?" She looked back up in exasperation.

"Why are you here?" Wren dropped her quill, causing the ink to splatter onto the parchment. She swore, attempting to use a few pieces of paper to blot out the ink before it bled. "Ah shoot no..." Kaeya laughed, seemingly amused at her predicament. She gave him a deathly glare before turning away. " I'm gonna do some extra work for the knights. Just for a bit- won't be here for long." Lie. It was really the other way around. A favor for the acting grandmaster." "...Is that so?" Kaeya strode in to glance over her shoulder from behind. She clenched her fist, stabbing the tip of the quill through the paper when she tried to dot the next "i". "...It would seem like it." Wren swiveled around, causing Kaeya to leap back so he wouldn't be hit in the face with the back of the chair. He threw his hands up in surrender.

"Don't you have work to do, Cavalry Captain?" Kaeya chuckled. "Ah no. I've done it all you see." Wren frowned. "It's 9 in the morning. I know for a fact that you were still at the tavern 3 hours ago- don't deny it- how can you finish all your work so fast?" He smirked. "I just work fast." Oh, the nerve- if she was an anime character, there would be an irk mark on her forehead. "...Ok? Then you're completely fine with helping me with mine?" His smile disappeared as she motioned towards the small mountain beside her. "Come on! The faster we finish, the sooner we can eat!"

~❄️👑~

They finished. Eventually. It was almost 4 by the time the two of them had finally finished working through the paperwork, replying to requests of citizens and merchants who came and went from Liyue. It was strangely hard work, but it was nice to have something accomplished... and somehow, she found herself back at the tavern. Again- this time, as a chaperone. Kaeya, to his credit, had a pretty high alcohol tolerance- but Venti, of course, didn't. So Wren sat in her corner silently laughing at the bard's drunken antics as she sipped on her own Apple Cider. Beside her, Kaeya sat balancing a bottle on his thigh as he spoke animatedly to Diluc, who made no signs that he was paying attention. But despite his indifference, Wren could still see the barley discernible sadness in Diluc's eyes as he reminiscenced happier times, when he was closer to his brother. It must be nice to have siblings. They were someone you could always rely on. Siblings were different then a close friend or an ally. They were family. She stood up. "I'm going to turn in for the night," She said quietly. "A bit early, isn't it?" Kaeya shouted over cheers of Venti's growing audience. "...Not for me. Got a few errands to run." With that, she turned and left, pushing the empty glass towards Diluc with a small handful of mora. It was off to inazuma. A mirror maiden and fatui pyro agent were being particularly pesky towards some of the adventurers. It would be another sleepless night for her.

~❄️👑~

"You're strangely quiet," Diluc noted. His brother shifted towards him, giving him his signature (and annoying) smirk. "Oh?" He rolled his eyes, slamming the next glass down on the counter a tad bit too hard. He picked it back up to check for cracks before setting it back down. "Something on your mind?" Kaeya hummed, swilling the wine around in his glass. "... Ah, not much. But the new wanderer in town is quite the character, no?" "..." Diluc picked up another glass. "...So? Does the Knights of Favonius have so much time to look into such trivial matters?" The bluenette chuckled. "...There you go again. And it's not for work- it's more for... personal reasons." Diluc felt his eye twitch in annoyance. "...Whatever you're thinking of doing..." A laugh. "Oh, don't worry. I mean no harm in my advances." 

Advances? What did he- he frowned at the triumphant look on Kaeya's face and turned back to his vigorous cleaning. "If you're not going to pay, leave," He said, gesturing towards the door with a disgruntled huff. Kaeya dropped another sack of mora on the table but made no move to get up. "Ha- so why are you so defensive of Miss Wren, then? Are you two close?" Diluc closed his eyes in annoyance. He knew that he was only trying to rile him up so he could get information from him. Secrets that weren't his to give. "...No." Kaeya leaned forward onto the table. "Oh? Don't you sound forlorn?" He tilted his head, observing him from the side. "You've been different too recently, you know," he mused. It was almost comical, how Diluc wasn't even aware of his own feelings. "...?"

"Your hair for one," Kaeya said, motioning towards his own head for emphasis. "It's... higher. Like when we were younger." He said with a laugh. "Who are you trying to impress, brother?" Impress? He wasn't trying to impress anyone. He must have subconsciously tied it higher when he did his hair in the morning. Wren's arrival in town was just a coincidence. "..." Little did he know, Kaeya was watching the various emotions that flickered through his brother's expressionless face. Ah... things would be interesting from here on, he thought. It wasn't often he saw his brother unnerved. Who are you, little bird?

A/N Hi. new chapter for my fellow genshin addicts! Hope ur enjoying march break!!! (If u have march break idk) 

I have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WUT I AM DOING :D tbh i have no idea where this plot is going i'm just kinda making it up as i go along ig. anyway, hope you enjoyed the day with klee and some wholesome interaction between kaeya and diluc!!!