~ The Cold Truth ~

Trouble At The Tavern

A/N:
Second chapter woo hoo!! I will start to add trigger warnings in case some people dont like or feel uncomfortable with what happens in the story :)

TW: alcohol use.

3rd person POV (Following Diluc):

It was a quiet morning in The Dawn Winery, just as it usually was, you would expect any sane or normal person to be sleeping or just waking up from a healthy 8 or more hours of sleep. Not Master Diluc, he has been up all night 'saving Mondstadt'. Honestly, what is up with Mondstaters and their messed up sleeping schedule?!

Diluc was walking back to the tavern, it was a long night and he had a makeshift bedroom on the 3rd floor. He walked in to see the usual, unfinished glasses of wine and beer on a few tables and clean ones stacked behind the counter in neat rows on shelves and counter tops. It was a good thing that the tavern was closed, Diluc didn't think that he could handle a bunch of drunk citizens singing ballads or talking about 'brave deeds' for the Knights of Favonious. One person in particular is who he couldn't handle the most, Sir Kaeya, the Cavalry Captain of the Knights of Favonious, and his former adopted brother.
Diluc resented him for what he did, not only was he a spy for the ancient city Khaenri'ah, but he and his foolish Favonian friends acted like they could save everyone without any casualties or consequences.

Once Diluc had finished cleaning the glasses he headed up the stairs of the first floor, then the next, using a key that he had in his pocket to open up the door to his bedroom. It was unusual for Master Diluc to take time off from work or anything of the sorts, but he had been working hard on Monday without any sleep or breaks so, he deserved it.

He locked the door once more and took his boots and jacket off, after undoing his hair, he climbed onto the simple double bed, using his pyro vision to warm it up. After staring at the ceiling for a couple minutes, he drifted off to a light sleep.

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It was late afternoon when Master Diluc awoke, he would need to set up the tavern as it was his shift tonight, hopefully it would be less unbearable than any other night. And maybe Captain Kaeya would be there (hopefully not drunk though). He would never admit it but...

He enjoyed seeing Kaeya in the tavern. He hated seeing him drunk and at his lowest, but it was better than being ignored for a whole 4 years, because that is how Master Diluc handled his grief, leaving Kaeya in the dark.

Dilic put his usual attire back on and re-did his fiery red hair in it's usual ponytail. Using the key, he unlocked the door, locked it again and made his way to the bottom floor of the tavern, tidying up any tables he missed earlier as he went on. Cleaning was always a therapeutic activity for him, although he had multiple maids now and growing up, it had always been seen to him as something that he could do to keep his mind off of some things or just to make things look better. He had finished cleaning and the sun was starting to set. He should be opening up soon, but for now he would get something to eat, as ge missed lunch.

Diluc left the tavern, locked the door and made his way through the city to go to Good Hunter. He was usually at the Dawn Winery at this hour, getting ready to set off to the tavern or just to finish off some paperwork, so he had never seen how beautiful the sunset looked as the light ebbed away from sight under the walls that surrounded Mondstadt. He marvelled in it's beauty for a moment longer before approaching Sara.

"How may I help you on this fine evening Master Diluc?" She asked politely.

"Can I have one fisherman's toast to go please?" Diluc did not have much of an appetite, but he still had to eat something, so eat something he shall.

"Of corse! That will be 1025 mora."

Diluc haded her the mora and walked back to 'The Angles Share' the missing person poster still hanging on the notice board.

"I will have to talk to the traveler once they come back to Mondstadt about this useless poster" he scoffed to himself under his breath.

He unlocked the front door and after a minute or two, the first of the customers came in. They ordered their usual and Diluc gave them the pints of beer before sitting behind the counter, cleaning glasses and pints to keep himself occupied.

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It had been a few hours since the tavern had opened, Rosaria and Venti were there, Venti singing silly ballads out of tune and drunk out of his mind and Rosaria was simply watching as the other drunkards joined Venti, she was drinking 'Death After-Noon', the strongest drink that Diluc had. It was unusual for a Sister to be drinking, but this particular one had managed to squeeze her way past that rule...

What was even stranger on that night at the tavern was that Sir Kaeya wasn't there, come to think of it, Diluc hadn't seen him during the day either, at that time he should have been helping around the city. Had the ever-so-great Cavalry Captain, Sir Kaeya, taken a day off? Diluc thought to himself, amused that Kaeya might not be able to handle as much work as himself. His thoughts were soon interrupted by a certain drunk bard.

"One -hic- Dandelion Wine -hic- plEasssSe~" Venti asked with a wobbly smile.

"One more then I want you out of my tavern" Diluc replied coldly, the bard was annoying and he hated the smell of strong alcohol, ironic, given that he practically runs the Mondstadt wine industry...

Diluc let his mind wonder again as he cleaned used glasses and pints from customers that had left already. He kept this up for another hour before getting the remaining drunks out of The Angles Share and he closed up for the night. He was about to head to the Dawn Winery when-

"Master Diluc! Have you seen Sir Kaeya today? He hasn't been spotted around the city and im getting worried" A frantic and tired Acting Grand Master Jean ran towards Diluc.

"No I haven't, i simply suspected that he was given the day off" Diluc replied, his tone colder than Kaeya's cryo vision.

"We need to find him, if he hasn't been seen around the city, then were would he go?" She said, anxiety dripping off of her every word.

"Hold on, there is no 'we'," He put finger quotes in the air. "You and the other knights must have this under control, or are you not able to handle one missing person?" Diluc was slightly worried, but he was sure Kaeya could look after himself, he was a grown man, not a baby for Barbatos' sake!

"He's your brother Diluc-"

"HE IS NOT MY BROTHER!" Diluc snapped, "Now, leave. Im sure the Cavalry Captain can look after himself, he is a grown man, not a toddler." He told her, he would not take anything else that Jean had to say after that, he wanted the day to be over already.

"Oh alright, have a nice evening Master Diluc" Jean said, her voice quiet and sad.

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It was 10 O'clock now, Diluc was laying on his bed in the Dawn Winery, his vision in his hand and above his face. Really and truly, he was worried about Kaeya, but he would wait at least two days to show any sign of that. He put his vision on his bedside table and went to sleep, tomorrow was going to be a big day...

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A/N
1325 words!
It was a bigger chapter today lol, im doing this because I have a week off of school
Have a nice day/night!