Two Birds on a Wire (A Diluc and Kaeya fanfic)

Part 1

It had been years, four years, to be exact, since Diluc Ragnvindr and Kaeya Alberich considered each other to be brothers...and the best of friends. They used to be inseparable; Diluc with his confident and cheerful smile, and Kaeya fully ready to support his brother in all his endeavors. Some even said they were like twins.

Now though, the two of them couldn't be more different from each other.

Once, Diluc had been a warm, lighthearted, and happy young man. Now he was anything but. He still had a gentle heart deep down, but the naivety of his youth was swept away, leaving him grumpy and bitter. He limited his dealings with others to business deals and shifts at the Angel's Share (and even then, Elzer and Charles took care of a lot of that), and was considered to be something of a recluse. He refused to ever talk about his past, so only those who'd known him for years, like Jean, knew the hardships he'd gone through. Even then, there was much that only he knew. No one here knew about the horrors he'd faced in his years away from Mondstadt.

No one knew the scars that time still left him with.

To be honest, it felt like no one cared enough to ask. Not in the sense of his emotional and mental well being, anyway. Occasionally someone would ask why he was always frowning or make a passing comment about how aloof or unfriendly he seemed, but that was that. Only a handful of individuals who used to know him well paid any attention to the many ways he'd changed. They knew better than to bring it up though. Diluc shut down anytime someone brought up the way he used to be.

So as sad as the reality of it was, Diluc was left alone, for the most part. Elzer and Adelinde watched over him as they always had, and he had some kind of mutual understanding with Jean, but that was it. He never spoke to Kaeya anymore, and no one else cared enough to wonder how he was doing. He was fine with that though...Or at least, it was better that way. There were things that were far too personal for him to share with anyone else, things that he wasn't sure he could get himself to talk about even if he wanted to. No one could know about the disturbingly vivid, recurring nightmares that kept him up at night, or the unwanted memories that crept into his mind during the day. He knew he wasn't fine, but he couldn't have anyone else know that. Not Elzer, not Adelinde, and certainly not Kaeya.

He was used to dealing with all of his issues alone by now, anyway. So what if he couldn't stand to be out in public much during the bright hours of the day, or if he preferred to stay in his private study for hours and hours on end? So what if he had this constant feeling of paranoia or guilt gnawing at his core that only went away when he did some good as the Darknight Hero? Maybe Diluc wasn't doing "well", per say, but he was managing, he was getting through each day, and that was enough for now. That had been enough for years now.

---

Diluc was in the process of wiping down a glass as Kaeya walked through the door of the Angel's Share tavern. He looked up, and for a moment, the two made eye contact. Diluc nodded slightly in greeting.

"The usual?" Diluc grumbled.

Kaeya merely hummed in reply as he took a seat on one of the barstools, propping his chin up with his fist. There was silence between them as Diluc prepared a Death After Noon. Once it was done, he slid it over to the other.

This was how they typically acted around each other these days. Awkward silence filled the air as Kaeya sat there sipping his drink and Diluc continued wiping glasses. Sometimes there was minimal small talk, but that was about it. They acknowledged each other, but only just barely. Any actual talk between them usually ended in a heated argument, which then led to Kaeya being kicked out of the tavern. So if a little uncomfortable silence meant the peace could be kept between them, that was enough.

Diluc's shift was ending soon, anyway. He was off a couple hours earlier than usual tonight, but he had places to be and things to get done. Charles was more than happy to cover the rest of the night for him, even though he worked there most nights. Once this whole night was over, Diluc would be sure to thank Charles by taking over the bar some other night this week as well.

Diluc looked over at Kaeya, who was already halfway through his drink. It was a little odd, how he wasn't at another table with others tonight. Kaeya almost always had drinking buddies, whether they were fellow knights, a group of hunters, or just some random city folk. But for some reason, even though the tavern was fairly packed tonight, Kaeya was sitting here at the bar table.

Kaeya's gaze moved up to meet Diluc's. "Something on your mind, Master Diluc?"

Diluc huffed and quickly turned away, moving to assist another customer. Yeah...Kaeya was up to something, wasn't he? Or maybe he just wanted to be a menace. Either way, it was annoying.

Thankfully, it wasn't much longer until Charles showed up. Diluc greeted him, finished mixing a drink, then got ready to leave.

"Thanks again for this. I'll make sure you get the whole day off next time," Diluc said as he walked out from behind the counter.

"It's no problem at all, Master Diluc. It's already very kind of you to cover even just a few hours.

"Leaving so soon?" Kaeya questioned, raising an eyebrow at Diluc as he made his way to the door.

"I have business to attend to," came Diluc's impatient reply.

"Business? At this time of night? Now, what kind of business could that be?"

Though Diluc came across as being grouchy, he was usually able to keep his temper in check. He knew how to deal with difficult individuals, but somehow, Kaeya was always the exception to that. For some reason, Diluc's fuse was much shorter when it came to the cavalry captain. That being said, he could already feel himself growing considerably annoyed. Kaeya had a talent for being exceptionally nosy.

Diluc tugged on his left glove and furrowed his brows. "It's private." His tone was cold, a warning to stop with the questioning. He hoped Kaeya would stop. The last thing either of them needed right now was to break out in another argument.

"There's no need to get so defensive, Master Diluc," Kaeya said, holding his hands up in surrender. A subtle smirk played at his lips. "It was only a question."

Diluc focused on his breathing. In through his nose, out through his mouth. His fists clenched. It was stupid to get so worked up over something small like this. "I'm leaving." Without acknowledging Kaeya any further, he opened the door and left the tavern. As the door shut behind him, Kaeya started to say something else, but Diluc was already walking away. Charles and the other tavern patrons could deal with that idiot-of-a-captain now.