Within the Winery (Diluc×Reader)

{2} - Shed Not Any Tears

Frankly, Diluc was distracted. 

Kaeya even had to take over his role during meeting with the board of directors, it was usually the opposite between the two. Diluc had barely been paying attention to any of the directors, and Kaeya had to cover for him, claiming that "the young master stayed up all night working on the new apple cider project." A few of them praised Diluc's initiative, others whispered about how he should've still been prepared to handle the meeting. Still, Kaeya was a skilled liar, and he carried Diluc's duties throughout the meeting. He did worry about what was happening to his brother though. Not just today, in general too. He'd... changed, after their father's death. Well, not in a way he can point out to someone who wasn't as close to Diluc as he is. Diluc's outward appearance remained the same, the way he dressed, the way he spoke, his professionalism. In fact, if anything, he became even more "perfect" from an outsider's view. But his small mannerisms definitely changed, so did the way he... handled things.

It was... slightly disturbing. And sometimes Kaeya wished he had never noticed, but it's hard not to. After they made up, Diluc had become excessively clingy and overprotective. Granted, an older brother is always protective of his younger brother, but it was overly overprotective. And the Darknight Hero's vigilantism seemed to lean more and more towards personal motives rather than a sense of justice. And now he wasn't paying attention to work? Another thing to add to the list of worries, no matter how small it may seem. 

When the meeting ended, Diluc made a beeline towards his office, Kaeya trailing behind. He quickly put on a teasing smile and elbowed his brother. "Something on your mind? Maybe that pretty lady from the flower shop."

"Perhaps." 

Kaeya stared at Diluc. That was a joke as well, right? 

The red-head rolled his eyes. "Don't ask me questions you would not believe my answer to." He pushed open the doors to his office, taking a seat at his desk. The interior and furnishing was nothing fancy, it didn't seem like the office of the CEO of the largest winery in the country. It had a more cozy feel to it, a soft carpeted floor and simple shelves and lighting. The thing that stood out, though, were the two vases that rested on a table off to the side. Kaeya sat down in front of that table, the softness and the familiar squeak of the couch did little to comfort his worries about his brother. He stared at the two vases, one was tall and had blue hues - sticking out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the office - and the other stout and bright red. His eyes traced the patterns of the vases aimlessly as he thought about the current predicament, then he paused and picked up the blue vase. 

"Since when did it have a crack?" He frowned, running his thumb over the small crevice that had formed at the bottom. 

"Since when does what have a crack?" Diluc looked up from his phone. 

"The vase I gave you," Kaeya looked closer at it. "Maybe we should get it fixed or something?"

"Is it a big crack?"

"No, no not really..."

"I'll keep it safe for now. Could you pack it for me so I can bring it home?" 

"Yeah, sure." The younger brother stood up with the vase, heading over to the storage room that Diluc insisted must stay beside his office. Surely there were some packing peanuts there? He carefully put down the vase and looked into the boxes. He couldn't help but roll his eyes at how organized everything was, except for that one level of the shelf on his right.

Except for ?

He glanced at it out of the corner of his eye. It didn't seem like much, just some random trinkets. Or were they? None of them truly made sense, Diluc wasn't exactly fond of collectibles. Kaeya returned the box he was searching through and stood up, dusting his hands off. Just a quick peek. He scanned through the random Funko Pops and other less popular collectibles. Behind all that — plenty of cleaning supplies. Okay, maybe that wasn't super concerning. If anything it was just largely anti-climactic. Kaeya rolled his eye at himself. What was he expecting to find? He turned around and finally spotted a box labelled packing peanuts in a corner.

After quickly finishing what he came to do, he stepped back into the office, only to find his brother gone.