(New) Playing with Fate // Diluc x Reader

Part 12 - Cavalry Captain

Squeezing your eyes closed, you tried to block out all the noise that surrounded you. With a sudden jolt, you sat up, realizing you weren't in your bedroom but rather Angel's Share. Sunlight flooded in through the windows, accompanied by the warm laughter of the customers as they talked about the upcoming festival.

Cursing, you grabbed your jacket and bolted out of the tavern, sleep still written all over your face. You promised yourself that you wouldn't give Diluc any more trouble, yet you fell asleep in his bar....again..

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You held your breath as you pushed open the doors to Angel's Share once more after going home to freshen up. You were ready to find the redhead and apologize, but he was already waiting for you. You gulped and looked at his face, which was expressionless as always.

"What do you have to say for yourself", he said, looking at you from head to toe, as if he were judging you.

"I.....", you struggled to come up with a response so you sheepishly looked down at the floor instead. "I'm sorry..." , you apologized.

"Being late is unacceptable. As a part-timer at Angel's Share, all employees are expected to be on time, ready to serve customers.", he remarked, turning away

"It won't happen again..", you mumbled, taking a second to process what he said. "Wait, you're hiring me??", you beamed, wondering if you misheard the whole thing.

"I don't see why not", he replied. "You've been working here for the past two days. It is only reasonable that I pay you for it."

You opened your mouth to thank him, but he had already vanished to the back of the tavern. You silently screamed out of joy to yourself as you walked behind the counter, ready to serve the customers. Diluc had finally given you a chance and there was no way you were letting it go to waste.

"Hello, how can I help yo-", your mouth slightly fell open after realizing who was standing in front of you. Because the person who entered was none other than Diluc's beloved brother. That's right. You recognized him instantly. It was Kaeya Alberich, the captain of the Knights of Favonius. He strode in with a smirk. "Is something wrong?", he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Kaeya?", you asked, before you could stop yourself.

"Oh?", he smiled. "It seems I met yet another fan today, hm?"

You couldn't deny it. Kaeya was someone you had known about for a while but never met in person. He was known throughout Mondstadt for his clever and extremely flirtatious personality.

Before you could respond, he gently took your hand and kissed it. "I'll have the regular, please,"

Blinking in confusion, you barely noticed someone walk up and stand between you and Kaeya. You looked up to see the back of the familiar redhead as he glared at his brother. "What do you want," Diluc growled at his brother.

"Just a drink, that's all. I'll have my usual," Kaeya chuckled.

"Fine, but keep your hands off my employees", Diluc snapped, turning around to get Kaeya's drink.

"Alright, alright, no need to get all riled up," Kaeya replied. You couldn't help but notice the difference between the two of them. One was quiet, firm, and stoic while the other was carefree and full of laughter. As Diluc gave Kaeya his drink, you noticed how happy Kaeya looked at the sight of it.

"Finally, all I wanted was a drink. All the new treasure hoarder incidents call for a small break.", Kaeya sighed, shaking his head.

You and Diluc look at each other, much too familiar with treasure hoarder incidents for comfort. "What treasure hoarder incidents?", you asked slowly, wondering if they had anything to do with the treasure hoarders you and Diluc fought the other day.

"It seems that the treasure hoarders have been getting more aggressive lately and the abyss order may be behind it. Jean has been pushing me to look into them and I can't say it's the most fun thing in the world.", Kaeya replied, while swirling the drink around in his cup, then downing it in one go.

'Treasure hoarders have become more aggressive..?', you thought to yourself, realizing that the sudden increase in treasure hoarder sightings wasn't just a coincidence. You had only heard murmurings of the abyss order and their schemes, and those rumors weren't pleasant in the least. This could mean serious trouble.

"Well, I'll take my leave now. Thanks for the drink", he said, winking at you as he got up. You didn't want to admit it, but he stole your breath with that wink. The cavalry captain just had that effect on people. He didn't have the title of "top candidate for son in law" for nothing. Noticing the effect his brother had on you, the glare in Diluc's eyes only got fiercer as he looked at Kaeya. "You haven't paid," Diluc muttered sternly at his brother.

"Oh? But I already did." Kaaya smiled. "Information about treasure hoarders doesn't come for free. I'll take the drink as payment", he smirked slyly as he walked out of the bar.

You swore you could feel the anger flowing through Diluc's veins as he balled his fists and glared at his brother as he left. You couldn't help but let out a laugh. Bewildered, Diluc turned to look at you, confused about why you were laughing. Diluc and Kaeya's relationship was certainly one of a kind, and entertaining to watch.

"Cute....", you murmured, smiling to yourself. "Who? Kaeya?"Diluc asked, his voice filled with equal parts curiosity and frustration at the thought of it being his brother. "No, you", you laughed, shaking your head only to look up and find Diluc seemingly lost for words.

Your cheeks started turning pink as you saw his cheeks do the same, his face otherwise blank as he blinked twice. You couldn't help but notice the shadows his soft hair cast across his fair face, illuminating his sharp cheekbones, trailing down to his lips...his lips that were just within your reach...

Startled, you suddenly looked away, your heart about to explode at the thought of what you were about to do. You silently cursed yourself for your incredible lack of self-control. 'How could I stare at him for so long??', you thought while grimacing. Embarrassment washed over you as you slowly turned to look at Diluc, whose face returned to being the same expressionless one you always saw, but you could still see a light pink tinge on his cheeks as he attended to the next customer, as elegantly as always

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8 exhausting hours later, you sighed in relief, glad that another successful day as a bartender at Angel's Share had come to an end as you looked around the now quiet and empty tavern. You felt a sense of serenity as you saw the dim yellow light from the bar clash with the soft silver moonlight from outside, casting shadows everywhere. The only thing left to do for the day was to clean up and lock up.

As you started to wipe down the counter, you heard the festival music from outside slowly float into the tavern. Today was a celebration in honor of the famous traveler who saved one of the four winds, Dvalin, from the abyss' influence along with Jean and the anemo archon himself. Thanks to them, the city of wine and freedom was at peace once again.

The music was lively and so joyous that you couldn't help but dance along to it as you wiped down the rest of the tables. Your dance moves definitely weren't the best, but you didn't care.

As you danced your way back to behind the counter, you heard a soft chuckle from somewhere behind you. You whipped around so fast that you almost broke your neck in the process, to find someone watching you from the shadows of the tavern. Realizing that you weren't alone that whole time, fear washed over you.