paradoxical | genshin impact

05: rage.

You absolutely hated getting sick.

For some reason, whenever you went down with the flu or ate a bad apple during your afternoon siestas, your body reacted in the most extreme ways. You'd be stuck in bed for days at a time—adding more load to your mother's plate especially when you couldn't help around the vineyard. But each time you were afflicted with something, she never once scolded you for your carelessness. You aren't supposed to work out in the fields at fourteen, she said. You are to finish your basic studies first before offering your services to the Dawn Winery. So don't fret too much, is that clear?

Master Crepus was kind enough to sponsor your homeschooling, so of course you took every lesson you were taught to heart. But you could never really sit still, knowing maman bathed under the scorching sun while you sat next to Kaeya in his father's study—comfortably listening to your tutor prattle on about Teyvatian history.

Needless to say, you felt ten times more useless now that you were lying beneath a mountain of blankets, unable to attend today's lessons nor extend some help to your mother. You could even hear the birds chirping and tapping outside the window, as if mocking you for being out of commission on such a nice day. Burrowing yourself deeper into your little blanket fort, you closed your eyes—feeling the heat of your fever permeate against the bunched up fabric. Hm. Maybe a quick nap will make you feel a bit better...

.

.

.

"Mon chou, a couple of problem children have come to visit."

It hardly felt like five minutes since you dozed off, but when maman's voice jolted you awake, you spotted not just one, but two of the Master's sons hovering by the door to your room.

Kaeya and Diluc were the most unlikely pair you could have imagined. One was gifted with the Vision of Pyro, while the other carried one of its direct elemental opposites. Not only that, but they were as different as adoptive brothers could be. Diluc hated the taste of alcohol, Kaeya would always sneak a few sips from the cellar despite being underage. Diluc loved grated ginger roots, and Kaeya would rather live with the wolves than be forced to indulge in a meal prepared like that. The list of disparities between the two were practically endless. No wonder they bumped heads over the most trivial things so often.

But there were also moments like this, where you think they could stand to be a little more in tune with each other despite all the differences that set them apart.

"Miss Celia told us you were sick, and we came by to give you something," Diluc started, awkwardly trying to catch Kaeya's gaze, but his brother's one blue eye was trained on you the whole time.

The younger boy's lips twitched into a sneer. "I am so going to best you in lessons again if you keep holing yourself up like this. Look at me, I've never caught a flu ever in my—ow!"

Diluc shot him a warning glare as he put down the foot he kicked him with. "That's not how you talk to people who are obviously ill."

"You're no fun at all, O'Great Cavalry Captain," Kaeya sighed. "The first time you're back from the capital and you're being uptight as usual."

"Only because you have no sense of delicacy."

"Hey! I do, too. In fact I..." The Cryo user's voice dwindled out of your ears when you paid attention to the Vision dangling by his waist. For a moment, your mind strayed from the conversation as you watched the orb fog up with snowflakes from within. Kaeya has had his Vision for as long as you've known him, but this was the first time you'd been so...fascinated by it.