|𝙈𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙂𝙖𝙢𝙚𝙨|

eight

a focused smile was present as she held kazuha's hair in her hands, she was deciding whether she wanted to braid it or put it into his signature side ponytail. however, she also wanted him to wear his hair down. 

"kazu, dear, what would you like to wear in your hair today?" she softly and gently squeezed his shoulders and patiently waited for his answer. he slowly opened his eyes and leaned back and looked up at y/n. 

a loving smile was present as he stared at her. mornings like this were always his favorite, they were quiet and calm. he was relaxed and she was relaxed and they were content with each other. which is why he gave her a closed eye smile and just shrugged his shoulders. 

"you do whatever you think i'll like. and if you think it's bad, i'll only see a masterpiece you've made with my hair." he grabbed her hand and placed a softly kiss on her wrist. she leaned down and teased him. they were mere inches away, so close to having shared a loving kiss. 

however, instead of that they were interrupted by a knock at the door. kazuha stopped leaning up and just sighed. the morning with his wife was no longer quiet and content, but instead one filled with an uneasy feeling. 

"let me see who it is, love." kazuha moved and went towards the door. he opened the door and instantly his mood was changed.

kazuha wasn't a jealous husband, he trusted y/n enough to know she wouldn't hurt his heart in any way. so he didn't understand why the man she was friends with, stood in front of their door way wearing a confident smirk. 

"is y/n here by any chance?" diluc stared at kazuha, he felt as though he had the upper-ground this moment. but it faltered when kazuha seemed as though he had just finished giving y/n the most memorable morning. 

"yes she is. however, i would like to advise that she is quite busy... mr. Ragnvindr. would you like to come in and wait for her?" kazuha leaned against the doorway. 

"no.... however, do tell her that i stopped by and would be awaiting her presence at angel's share." 

"very well, mr. Ragnvindr. i'll see to it that she knows." he stepped back and slammed the door shut. kazuha looked disgustingly at the door. "he smelt like blood.... yet i saw no such thing." 

y/n stared at kazuha, "he smelled like blood? are you sure? i assume it's just what you smell everyday when you go hunting with the traveler, perhaps it's stuck in your nose?" she didn't want to assume anything bad about diluc.

she considered him a friend, yet kazuha seemed weary of him-- and she trusted kazuha's intuition much more than her own.

but kazuha went and hugged her. "don't worry, i hardly doubt he would cause any harm towards you. so just go to angel's share tonight as usual, okay? though, this time i'll pick you instead of letting him leave you here, okay?" 

she nodded, but she didn't feel as content as she once was before. she couldn't help the feeling that diluc really did do something bad. 

"... this is a beautiful jewel, master diluc! where did you find such a thing?" she held the jewel within her palm, she inspected it. she didn't know where he found such a magnificent thing in mondstadt. however, the more she inspected it, the more she realized it wasn't a ore from mondstadt, but rather it was from liyue. 

"do you like it? it took me a while before i could find this. i didn't know noctilucous jade was hard to mine. but i was able to find it, and i used it to make this pendant for you." 

she stared up at diluc, however she let out a small gasp when she saw a look in his eyes. it wasn't gentle or soft like the other days before, but instead it was as though he seeked praise from her. he seemed like a crazed lunatic. 

"master diluc....? are you alright?" she placed the pendant down and started to reach out to diluc. though he moved back and shook his head. 

"i'm quite fine. don't worry." he poured her another glass, and remained quiet for the rest of the night as she only observed the pendant. 

'the last time i saw this was when me and kazuha came upon it suddenly... how did diluc find it within the day?'

she was weary of anything about this, but more so the fact that he went all the way to liyue for it. even kazuha didn't do this. he only made her things out of the skills he learned or taught himself-- to which she enjoyed quite much of. but diluc seemed as though he had ulterior motives with giving her things her own husband didn't give her. 

she didn't like it. she only accepted the gifts from him because she wasn't one to say no-- and she most of the time it is only a one time thing. yet he bought her more gifts. she didn't like it-- she had no need for them. 

she sighed, she wasn't thinking too into it. every single thought had a reasonable reason behind it. but she also felt as though she really was thinking too into it. but she wasn't. she knew and trusted herself to know she wasn't thinking too much about it. 

there really was something wrong with diluc, and she wanted to know what it was. and she wanted to know why he gave her the look he gave her before. 

so that night when she went to bed curled up into kazuha's side, she felt as though everything made sense, yet it also didn't. but she figured one thing out about diluc.

she hated to admit it, because she knew it was wrong. and she didn't like confronting people about it, so this would only remain a suspicion of hers. 

the suspicion being: diluc was in love with her, which was why he gifted her the jewelry and more. which was also the reason she was treated specially at the tavern. but she only saw this as a suspicion. she wasn't that egotistical to think he would fall for her. 

she would leave that to her future self to know if she was right or wrong about her suspicion on diluc.