maid • kaeya

lxxix

• third person •

It was a quiet day in Mondstadt. Well, mostly, if it weren't for August. He was currently rummaging through his room, a droplet of sweat trickling down his forehead, as, soon enough, a bout of frustration began to rise within him.

"Where the hell did I put it?" he whispered to himself.

He'd already checked in his drawers, in his wardrobe, under his bed, hell, in the showcase itself, yet the item he was looking for was nowhere to be found. Various items were now sprawled across his floor: clothes, paperwork, weapons...

August rubbed his forehead, heaving a breath. I should pick those up...

August bent down, though, just as he did, a sudden noise from his door caused him to raise his head.

"Yeah?" he answered the knock. "It's open!"

August knelt down, hurriedly beginning to pick up the weapons the moment he heard the creak of the door.

"You know," he spoke softly, before even looking to see who it was, "you don't have to knock on my door every time. You can just come in."

"Oh... s...sorry," Lucien mumbled. "Um."

August stood. A clatter echoed as he dumped the weapons on his desk, a nervous chuckle escaping him when he noticed the immediate bewilderment on Lucien's face. "Don't mind the mess. Sorry, haha. Everything okay?"

"Mhm... Are you looking for something?" Lucien asked in curiosity. The entire morning she had been listening to August running around and rummaging through things, but she had been rather engrossed in reading his mother's research books to ask if he needed any help.

"Yeah," August sighed, "my showcase's k—"

All of a sudden, August froze. The pair stared at each other blankly. And then, August's gaze dropped.

"Uh... it doesn't..." His pupils became fixed upon his desk. "It doesn't matter. Do you need anyth..?"

"Oh my god."

Lucien blinked.

Abruptly, August shoved a few things on his desk out of the way. Lucien's gaze softened slightly when August's lit up, before he grabbed something that glistened in the sun.

"Found it!!!" he exclaimed. "That took way longer than it should've."

Lucien's head tilted. The piece of metal was tiny in his fingers, the shine soon disappearing as August stepped away from the window, and towards his showcase.

And then, again, he froze.

His eyes widened, his head slowly turning back towards the person who was still stood at the door.

Fuck. I was so relieved that I found it, I somehow instantly forgot Lucien was still here...

"A key?" she asked quietly.

The key... for his showcase..?

Lucien's eyes dropped. It didn't take long for the cogs in her head to turn.

As soon as she realised it, her heart sank.

Of course, their conversation from yesterday was still fresh in their minds. She thought they could just brush it off now, but, obviously... that wouldn't be the case.

Especially if... August really did care about her.

"Ah..."

A bittersweet laugh escaped her.

"I'm sorry... for inconveniencing you like this..."

August averted his gaze. "I'm not inconvenienced," he said quietly. "You don't need to apologise for anything."