Erythrophobia

Chapter 9: A Familiar Feeling

Note: This is a bit of a transitional chapter. I wanted to write more but I realized it would take much too long since I'm busy and having some writer's block... It mostly happened near the end so if it seems like the quality dropped, that's why... aha

Also, something important to note probably is that I imagine the interior of the winery quite differently than it actually looks. The two main differences being two large hallways, one upstairs and one downstairs with several rooms... The library from an earlier chapter is up in that top hallway. Just feel like the place looks too small in canon.

Anyways, enjoy!

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The sun peeks over the horizon as the morning arrives, light glaring through the window and filling up the room. Kaeya's eyes flutter open, strained from the sunlight. Immediately, all he sees is red-a blinding red that injects panic into his nerves. His brain is hardly awake enough to approach it rationally, instincts taking over as he flinches at the sight and shoots up into a sitting position.

Kaeya immediately regrets it, however, as a terrible ache shoots throughout his entire body and he collapses back into the mattress, the throbbing pain in his leg now apparent.

'Oh. Right.'

Kaeya's memories of last night flood his mind. He still feels exhausted, as if he hadn't slept at all. It's probably too early to be awake... But once he's awake, there's not much he can do about it.

He looks down at his thigh, the sight of his blood soaked pants causing his brow to furrow.

The pain temporarily distracted him, but the sight of his blood quickly reminds him of what he saw as he awoke. His head snaps back to the side, vision flooding with red as he spots a familiar face amidst it, sound asleep.

Belatedly, he realizes he feels a weight on his hand. Looking down, he sees Diluc's hand is somehow gripping it tightly in his slumber, unwilling to move.

The only thought his mind supplies him is a confused 'What?' as several different emotions overload him all at once, his body frozen in place.

Diluc sleeps soundly against the edge of the bed, his movement slight with each breath he takes. Kaeya stares, a bit confused as to why he's still here. Did he fall asleep by accident?

...Maybe he decided to stay?

But another question arises in Kaeya's mind, this time for himself: Why did he ask him to stay in the first place?

Embarrassment floods out any other emotions he felt before and he places his free hand over his eye with a quiet sigh. He asks himself this question out of frustration, but he knows the answer.

He just won't admit it.

As Kaeya refocuses onto the situation at hand, he realizes he's in a bit of a predicament here.

One thing Kaeya remembers from childhood is that Diluc is a heavy sleeper-or, at least, he was. He's not actually sure if that's true these days... Obviously.

He actually hopes it's not true in this case because unless Diluc wakes up soon, Kaeya's stuck here. If he didn't know any better, he'd think Diluc was a corpse and rigor mortis had already set in just from how ridiculously strong his grip is. No matter how much Kaeya pulls, it refuses to yield.

Kaeya huffs, moving his free hand over to place it on Diluc's shoulder and begins to shake him. Despite Kaeya putting a decent amount of force into it, the man in front of him is like an immovable boulder.