Work Text:
There wasn't a bar or tavern in Mondstadt that Kaeya hadn't visited. He'd drunk at Angel's Share, Cat’s Tail, the bar in the Goth Grand Hotel, even a few places that had since closed to either relocate or seek prosperity in a different venture. But like most people, he’d ultimately decided upon Angel’s Share as his tavern of choice. Not only for the good drink, but for the gossip and entertainment it provided as well. The only downside was that Diluc manning the bar usually meant he would be denied decent service, and sometimes denied service altogether.
He didn’t always mind the interruption to the flow of drinks. If he was particularly inebriated, he could deceive himself it was a demonstration of concern for his well-being instead of one of disdain for his overzealous drinking habits. He'd taken care of Kaeya when they'd been younger. He’d chastised Kaeya when he’d sampled alcohol as a minor and pulled Kaeya away from danger when he'd been too eager to prove himself, because Kaeya had been his precious sworn brother back then, someone to protect and guide and love, and if Kaeya didn’t look at Diluc’s face while he was being escorted from Angel’s Share, he could just about convince himself some of those feelings still persisted.
Tonight was one such night: a night where he’d over-indulged in Death After Noon and earned Diluc’s ire for it. He bore a toothy smile as Diluc snatched his bottle away and tossed his half-empty mug to Charles. It’d already been paid for, but he didn’t complain. He was almost at capacity anyway, bordering on drunk, and he didn’t want to get too inebriated in case Aether called on him (and there were his duties, of course, but Mondstadt was quiet enough nowadays that he could have performed them blind drunk).
“Angel’s Share is closing in thirty minutes,” said Diluc coolly, casting his eyes over the largely-vacant bar. “You can get a heads start.”
Kaeya straightened in his chair, giving his arms a stretch and brushing the fur of his cloak away from his jaw. “Mm, but the headquarters are so very far away. I think I need a moment to recover my strength.”
“You’ve been doing nothing but sitting and drinking for the last several hours,” said Diluc, his voice flat and unamused. “You have strength enough to get out. Sleep on the cobblestones, if you must.”
The remark stung. Nonetheless, Kaeya’s smile didn’t waver. “Cruel,” he said, affecting a casual tone. “I could end up with pneumonia, and you might not much mind, but I imagine a few people would find it inconvenient if I died.”
“I never said-“ Diluc exhaled heavily through his teeth and started to round the bar. “Get up.”
“How about I sleep upstairs instead?” suggested Kaeya as he rose from his chair, finding himself wobbling once on his feet. He was more affected than he'd thought. Aether had put him through his paces recently, so his body probably wasn't able to offer up the usual defences. He really should have considered that before he'd sat down to indulge.
Well, too late to fret now.
“I’d like to see what you have hidden up there,” he said, glancing up at the ceiling. “A torture attic, maybe?”
“Would you like to find out?” asked Diluc, and Kaeya almost barked a laugh, because for Diluc, that was downright playful.
“Maybe I would.” He started for the stairs before Diluc could stop him. It’d been a long time since he’d last gone off-script and Diluc was about due to have his boundaries toed. “A torture chamber designed by you would be something formidable.”
“Kaeya-!” Diluc started, hurrying to following him to the second floor. “Do you have no self-control whatsoever?”
Kaeya cast a wry smile over his shoulder. “You should know the answer to that by now.”
Even idling up the steps he managed to reach the second floor before Diluc, and he made quick work of the distance between himself and the door. As far as Kaeya could tell, it was just your standard wooden door, protected by nothing but a simple iron lock. Breaking into it would have been effortless, though Kaeya hadn’t in all the years he'd had access to Angel's Share, and nor did he now. He wasn’t so boorish that he’d go breaking into Diluc’s property.
When Diluc emerged from the stairs, he did not look in the least bit in the mood for Kaeya’s games. Not that he ever did, but he especially didn’t now.
“So,” said Kaeya. “Will you be giving me a tour?”
Diluc eyed the balcony exit for a long moment, like he was contemplating throwing Kaeya out over the rails, so it was especially surprising when he instead unlocked the door and hauled Kaeya inside. Uninhibited by the alcohol as he was, Kaeya wasn’t able to mask his shock.
“What-?”
“You asked to go upstairs,” said Diluc, speaking over him. Though Kaeya was more than capable of moving on his own, Diluc continued to manhandle him up every step. “So we’re going upstairs.”
Kaeya furrowed his eyebrows. “There’s not actually a torture chamber up here, is there?” He wouldn't put it past Diluc, to be honest. One didn't become the most knowledgeable man in Mondstadt without searing a few Fatui and Abyss Order members.
“Perhaps.” The corners of Diluc's lips rose so fractionally that it should have been imperceptible, but Kaeya had known Diluc long enough that he found it easy to discern.
It was nostalgic, seeing Diluc smile. It reminded him of better days.
"If not here, I'm sure you have a torture chamber somewhere." And then he asked, quite without meaning to: “Remember when you’d try to scare me as kids?” Alcohol did loosen the tongue, and he'd drunk quite a lot this evening.
It was perhaps for the best that Diluc didn't offer an answer. He didn't even look at Kaeya; just stared forward as he hauled Kaeya up the last few steps, turning them before Kaeya could get a good look at the room they'd entered. He saw a window, some furniture, and then his attention was directed toward an ajar door on the far side of the room.
“There is a bedroom here," said Diluc. "You’ll be permitted to use it until morning, but you’d better be gone before opening.”
“Oh?” Kaeya’s eyebrows jumped toward his hairline. “You’re really letting me use it?”
“If it’ll keep you out of my hair until morning, I’m willing to tolerate your continued presence on my premises.”
“How kind,” said Kaeya, smiling.
The moment Diluc released his arm, Kaeya started to miss the warmth of his hand. Funny how these trifles became profound under the touch of inebriation. With smile fading, he toed the door open and stepped inside, sweeping his gaze over his temporary lodgings. It was considerably more modest than the rooms offered by Dawn Winery. Which wasn’t to say it was a bad room, but all it had was a small, single-person bed, a smattering of furniture, and one window, and that was a far cry from the extravagance Diluc’s personal quarters usually boasted.
He dropped himself onto the edge of the bed and picked a stray red hair from the pillow. Diluc must have slept here recently. Considering how far away Dawn Winery was, he wasn’t surprised that Diluc opted to sleep here instead of journeying home. It had to be convenient for his late-night activities as the Darknight Hero, but he was surprised that Diluc would let him stay in a room he utilised. In the past, Diluc had complained of Kaeya’s presence ‘sullying’ his bar, and now Diluc was letting Kaeya slather himself all over his personal sleeping quarters.
There had been periods of amicability between them lately. Maybe if he looked into Diluc’s face this time, really looked, he wouldn’t see animosity.
“Diluc,” he said, with uncharacteristic uncertainty. He’d spent so long feigning confidence that his faltering tone of voice sounded strange to his own ears.
Diluc turned, and Kaeya drew his gaze to Diluc’s face. He appeared wary and exasperated. Not angry, not hateful.
“Diluc,” he said again. He'd like to have blamed the alcohol for this, but he knew desperation was as much at fault. “You know I’m- I…”
“I need to go back downstairs,” said Diluc stiffly, turning to take his leave. “Take off your boots before going to sleep.”
His hand shot out on its own accord, tugging Diluc back by a fistful of his coat. For someone who’d filled himself full of Death After Noon, he was surprisingly agile. “I’m sorry,” he said, swallowing thickly and pulling Diluc closer. It would have been simplicity itself for Diluc to extract himself, but he didn’t. “Stay with me a moment longer. Please.”
There was something uncharacteristically gentle about the way Diluc sighed. “Why? And don’t try to be witty about your answer. I tire of needing to untangle them.”
One more tug, and Diluc was forced to bend at the middle, lowering enough for Kaeya to seek his mouth for a kiss. Intimacy was always easier than conversation, but Diluc caught him by the chin before their lips could make contact and held him a hairs breadth away. He’d never done that when they’d been young; he’d always been eager to experiment, often initiating their fumbling attempts at intimacy. Just another of the ways both him and their relationship had irrevocably changed.
“Tell me why, Kaeya,” said Diluc, voice firm, allowing for no argument.
Kaeya fisted and unfisted his hands a few times. “I miss you," he said, finally.
“I’m right here,” said Diluc, and Kaeya gave a mirthless laugh.
“You know what I mean.” He turned his head just enough to scrape his lips over Diluc’s fingers and was rewarded with a sharp intake of breath. “Please?” he said again, tongue darting out to wet the skin immediately in front of him, tasting Diluc’s warmth even through his glove. The man always ran delightfully hot. He’d been like that as a youth, too; just like a furnace, and kissing him had sent heat soaring through Kaeya’s entire body. He wondered if Diluc would still be able to do that, now that Kaeya had been blessed with an ice-based Vision.
Diluc didn’t pull away, which was promising. He watched Kaeya with wide, unblinking eyes as Kaeya laved his tongue over the smooth fabric of his glove, sliding it up the hollow of his palm before closing his lips over two fingers. When he looked up at Diluc through thick eyelashes, gaze wanting, that was all it took to snap the final thread of resistance. With a growl that sent all Kaeya’s blood surging into his cock, Diluc yanked his hand free and tore his fingers into the thick of Kaeya’s hair, holding him in place as he closed the distance between them in a crash of lips and teeth. The kiss hurt, drew blood; he tasted the copper of it as Diluc pressed him down onto the mattress, but still he pushed back into Diluc’s ravenous mouth, seeking more of anything Diluc was willing to give him. A single, searing lick along the seam of his lips won Diluc entry, and Kaeya shuddered as Diluc dipped his tongue inside and tasted his fill of him.
The kiss didn’t just warm him; it melted him. It roared through his veins and swelled in his chest, left him hot and shivering in a way no other partner had ever achieved or could ever achieve. It melted barriers he’d erected all those years ago, on that frigid night he’d confessed his sins to Diluc and paid penance through Diluc’s hatred. His eye had turned glassy, so he closed it and focused instead on the journey of Diluc's mouth, which had abandoned his now-aching lips to apply bites along his jawline and various areas of his throat. The bites were vicious, leaving Kaeya’s skin just as sore and throbbing as his lips, but it was still so good, so perfect.
“'Luc,” he breathed, venturing one trembling hand down between their bodies and closing his palm over the significant bulge of Diluc’s cock. He’d almost forgotten just how well-endowed Diluc was.
The contact didn’t have the reaction he’d hoped for. Diluc abruptly jerked back, his breaths laboured and fiery eyes narrowed to slits. One of his hands remained buried in Kaeya’s hair, holding his head in a tilted position, while his other closed over one of Kaeya’s shoulders hard enough to prevent him from rising. He’d always been the more powerful of them, able to hold Kaeya down with the same ease he wielded his Claymore, and normally, Kaeya wouldn’t have minded, but suddenly being denied Diluc’s affection had him squirming beneath that grip.
“Please,” he said, and gods, he’d begged tonight more than he had in his entire life. Years of compounding neediness had turned his resolve threadbare. “I want to make you feel good.”
“Don’t pretend this is all about my pleasure," said Diluc, glancing pointedly at Kaeya's arousal. “How long have you been thinking about this?”
His answer came without hesitation. “I never stopped thinking about it." He never stopped thinking about Diluc in general. It had been further penance, in a way, to continue torturing himself with thoughts of what had been, and what could have been, had he not fucked everything up.
The air barrelled out of Diluc as though he’d been struck. He shifted, and his cock pressed hard and heavy into Kaeya’s hip. “What do you want?”
“To make you feel good,” he said again, licking his lips.
“What else.”
Fuck, this was hard. He wanted so much and he didn’t know how to verbalise that. “To be close to you," he tried, his words slow, faltering. Normally he would have been able to eradicate all vocal inflections, but normally he wasn’t this aroused or this desperate. "To have you inside. To- to show you how sorry I am.”
During the silence that followed, Kaeya continued to squirm, his fingers twisting and pulling at Diluc’s clothes while Diluc watched him with a face dusted pink and pupils blown wide. It was all too long before Diluc finally made his decision, reversing their positions so Kaeya was standing while Diluc sat on the edge of the bed. He hauled Kaeya down by the fur of his cloak and though the pressure was minimal, Kaeya obediently knelt between his legs.
“Then show me.”
Kaeya didn’t need to be told twice. Fingers shaking with eager anticipation, he carefully undid Diluc’s belt and popped the buttons of his trousers. Peeling them away, he was able to reach past the waistband of Diluc's underwear and curl his fingers around the impressive girth of Diluc’s cock, pulling it into the cool air. A gasp flittered out of Diluc and Kaeya suspected it’d been a long time since he’d last been intimate with someone. No wonder he’d been ravenous.
He peeled off his glove and began to stroke Diluc from base to tip, admiring how large and heavy Diluc’s cock was in his grip. With a dark pink head and prominent veins on the underside, it looked as nice as it felt, and Kaeya was practically salivating at the thought of getting it all the way into his throat. Deep throating was no easy feat, especially with a cock of this size, but he’d told Diluc he’d make him feel good and he wasn’t going to let a trifle like his gag reflex stop him.
One of Diluc’s hands returned to his hair and fisted tight at the base of his skull, dragging him forward until his mouth was directly over Diluc’s arousal. A clear ‘get on with it’, and Kaeya was more than happy to oblige. He applied a few kitten licks to the leathery head of Diluc’s cock before lowering his lips over it, sucking delicately at the warm skin and listening intently to Diluc’s breathing to gauge how well he was doing. Judging by the way Diluc’s breaths started to hitch, he was off to a good start. He lowered himself a little further, touching every dip and crevice as he descended and flattening his tongue as he approached the base.
He didn’t quite manage to get Diluc’s cock all the way in before he had to draw up for a breath, but he didn’t care, because what he had managed elicited a long, breathy groan from Diluc. The sound throbbed through Kaeya and his cock strained harder than ever against the crotch of his trousers. Swallowing around Diluc’s cock, he descended again, saliva accumulating at the corners of his mouth as he fought to get lower than before. Again, he didn’t quite manage to reach the base of Diluc’s cock, but he only paused briefly before resuming his efforts.
Unsurprisingly, Diluc lost his patience before Kaeya did. With one push, he sheathed Kaeya completely on his cock, the head battering at the soft back of his throat before pushing past it and filling every bit of available space, rendering Kaeya unable to draw in a breath. But Kaeya didn’t resist. He relaxed himself, swallowing around Diluc, stimulating everything he could reach with his tongue while looking up at Diluc with an eye rimmed with moisture. Diluc stared down at him, drank him in, and Kaeya held himself in place for as long as possible to give Diluc time to enjoy the sight before the need to draw in a breath compelled him to rise. He jolted up and breathed in raggedly through his nose, spiderwebs of saliva snapping with each heave of his chest.
“You’re…” Diluc looked just as dazed as him, now. “Beautiful.”
It’d been so long since Diluc had extended him a compliment, and it felt so damned good. He lowered his mouth to Diluc’s cock again, eager to earn further praise, and with that initial barrier having been overcome it was much easier to get Diluc deep into his throat this time. Not as deep as before, but deep enough that Diluc was shortly moaning and twisting his fingers into Kaeya’s hair and thrusting shallowly.
“So- so good,” Diluc breathed. He seemed to have noticed how much Kaeya enjoyed the compliments. “I wouldn’t have thought you’d be so damn hot inside. You’re- nnmh. You're perfect.” It was at this point that Diluc seemed to lose the capacity for intelligent speech, his words turning into a litany of Kaeya’s name. “Kaeya. Kaeya. Kaeya.” Each one sent hot arousal lancing through Kaeya.
Unable to help himself any longer, he tore his own trousers open and reached for his aching cock, stroking himself in time with Diluc’s thrusts. In the barracks, there weren’t that many opportunities for masturbation and nor was he particularly interested in it when it took him so long to reach a subpar finish, but even his fumbling attempts to stroke himself now were enough to draw him rapidly toward the precipice.
Diluc’s voice suddenly died and he pressed Kaeya all the way down, shoving his cock in as deep as it would go, and it became apparent why when Diluc groaned loud and guttural and a thick, salty warmth slid down the back of his throat. He swallowed every drop and drove his cock with greater desperation into the circle of his hand, so close to his own finish now that his thighs had begun to quake. There was moisture on his face, streaking down his cheek, and he didn’t care, just wanted to finish while Diluc was still buried in him, while he could still feel the heat Diluc radiated and taste the salt of his finish and feel the man’s legs trembling under his hands. He was so close, so close-
He came with a shout that Diluc’s cock muffled, rendering it almost inaudible. The vibrations this created prompted a jolt and a startled little moan from Diluc, who tightened his grip on Kaeya’s hair again, tight enough to make his scalp ache and bring fresh tears to his eye. Beneath the waves of euphoria, that dull pain was nothing short of delectable, and Kaeya distantly, in fragmented sentences, wondered if it would feel just as good if Diluc pulled his hair while buried in his ass.
It was Diluc who drew Kaeya up far enough for Kaeya to breathe. He would have happily remained at least half-way on Diluc’s cock and gave a hoarse little moan at the loss, looking up at Diluc with tears clinging to his eyelashes, cheeks pink and wet, and lips bruised and saliva drying on his chin. In short: a mess, and Diluc must have enjoyed the sight, because he swallowed hard and brushed a thumb along the rise of Kaeya’s cheekbone.
“Are you finally going to go to sleep?” he asked, and Kaeya would have laughed had his throat not been so sore.
He leaned his cheek into Diluc’s thigh. “Anything you like, Master Diluc.”
Diluc cleared his throat, cheeks flaring red at the use of his title. Who would have thought the reserved Diluc Ragnvindr would have a thing for being referred to by ‘master’ during initmacy?
“Wait there,” he said, pulling his trousers back into place and turning to open the bedside table drawer. After some rifling around the contents, he returned to Kaeya with a handkerchief in hand. “Tilt your head up.”
Kaeya did as he was told, and Diluc began to clean his face while tilting Kaeya’s face this way and that to make sure he got every blemish. Once he’d finished, Kaeya glanced into a full-body mirror standing beside the bed and was more than a little pleased to see he was still a mess of bruises and red patches. They would serve as reminders of this night over the following week, little mementos he could sink into instead of being maudlin about the fact this would probably never happen again.
After throwing the handkerchief into a waste basket, Diluc tucked Kaeya’s cock back into his underwear – the slight touch managing to provoke a little moan – and worked off Kaeya’s outer layers and boots, leaving them in a pile at the foot of the bed. He didn’t seem to trust that Kaeya would be able to do it himself, which wasn’t unreasonable, because Kaeya was feeling particularly lazy after that explosive an orgasm and would have crawled into bed fully dressed if left to his own devices. He was always tired after sex. Not Diluc, evidently, who was just barely flagging despite having had his first orgasm in god knows how long.
“Bed,” he said, once Kaeya was undressed.
Kaeya threw him a lopsided smile before crawling onto the mattress and beneath the covers. His skin remained warm and sensitive and the cool blanket felt wonderful against it. He cocooned himself in it, his eye falling shut the moment his head touched the pillow.
“Thank you,” he murmured.
Diluc didn’t respond, but as Kaeya started to drift off, lulled to sleep by a pleasant exhaustion and the soft embrace of the bedding, he felt Diluc’s hand drift briefly through his hair.
A week passed and few words travelled between them. Most they did exchange were related to combat tactics, since they were currently accompanying Aether through Liyue on a job set by Jean. It was all ‘do this, do that’ from Diluc, and Kaeya usually acquiesced, but Kaeya couldn’t complain too much because he'd caught the man staring at him so often on their journey that Diluc had now dropped any pretence that he wasn’t. He just stared, unabashedly, at length, and Kaeya hoped it was a sign Diluc occasionally – when they had privacy, anyway – touched himself to thoughts of Kaeya. Or maybe he’d always done that; he had seemed awful enthusiastic during that blowjob.
Fancies aside, it felt good to be travelling with Diluc again. They'd always made a great team. Even before obtaining his Vision, Kaeya had been able to hold his own well enough for the Knights of Favonious to consider him an appropriate partner for Diluc, so they'd been on numerous expeditions and patrols together. He’d never quite emerged from Diluc’s shadow until after he’d received his own Vision, but he had still been competent in battle. Sheer will could take you a long way, and Kaeya had always had that in spades.
Diluc was less personable than he had been back then, but he didn’t think that intense staring was too bad a trade-off. He’d certainly never looked at Kaeya with such interest when they’d journeyed together as knights, like he wanted to eat Kaeya down to his marrow.
(Kaeya probably would have met those teeth half-way.)
He threw Diluc a smile whenever he caught Diluc’s eye, and he was rather bemoaning the eye patch because a wink would have served him well here. These playful little reciprocations must have been winding him up, because he was downright vicious when dispatching their enemies, tearing them asunder and sullying his clothes in the process- something he did so rarely that it disquieted the other members of their party. Barbara seemed to think a lack of rest was to blame for his irritability, and she proposed that they camp for the night at the edge of some ruins, which were so plentiful in Liyue that they had encountered several today.
“I wouldn’t be opposed,” said Kaeya, casting his eye over the surrounding ruins. Being enclosed and littered with signs of local worship, it seemed safe enough. They would just have to keep an eye out for treasure hoarders, who tended to be hostile to anyone who wasn’t part of their group. There didn’t appear to be any treasure here, but that wouldn't stop them from poking around in hopes of a scrap of profit.
“Paimon could really go for some roast,” said the floating little thing that always accompanied Aether. Kaeya hadn’t quite figured out what she was supposed to be. Not human; that, he was certain of.
“You could always go for some roast,” said Aether, sighing and stooping down to start collecting firewood. “Do you think I carry legs of beef around? I’ve got some vegetables, some herbs and some salt. We’ll throw them into a pot.”
Kaeya couldn’t say he was particularly eager for this meal. He liked a little meat in his dishes.
“Well,” he said, stretching and stepping languidly for the exit of their hovel. He didn’t miss the way Diluc’s gaze followed the natural sway of his hips. “I don’t fancy eating with our last encounter on my hands, so I’ll be washing up.”
“And I’ll- I’ll get the pot set up,” said Barbara, hurrying to her feet. Unlike he and Diluc, she’d managed to avoid the splash of Hilichurl viscera.
Diluc didn’t offer comment, and Kaeya tipped his lips at him before stepping beyond the camp.
Their surroundings were quiet. Dragonflies zipped through the dimming sky and a few animals scuttled about, but it was otherwise a tranquil evening that promised an easy rest. He breathed in deep, drawing the warmth of Liyue into him before exhaling heavily. Having an ice-base power didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy the warm climate. It was a nice change from Mondstadt, which often caught the cold winds of Dragonspire.
He located a quiet corner of their sanctuary and willed ice to travel up his fingertips and forearms, crystallising the mess there. It was easy enough to remove once frozen. A few swipes, and the worst of the viscera and blood had been relocated to the grass. He’d done this so often that he went through the process on autopilot, staring up at the steadily darkening sky while he worked. The nights in Liyue were always stunning.
Once he’d finished with his hands, he moved on to his chest, swiping away the blood that had dipped between the crevice of his pecs with a wrinkle of his nose. A proper bath would have been nice, but since there was no chance they’d stumble upon a bathhouse while out here, he would have to wait until they reached the Harbour for that.
Footsteps crunched at the side of him, stilling his movements. He paused and listened. Just one set of footsteps, so it was probably a friend, but he turned with an attack at his fingertips anyway. One could never be too cautious.
"Who's-?" The elemental energy he'd gathered burst in his palm as he was slammed into a nearby pillar, ice misting the air while a hand closed over his mouth and another snatched up his wrists, pinning them with impressive strength against the rough stone. Kaeya’s heart started to hammer against his ribs before it registered that he hadn’t been accosted by an enemy; he was being held down by Diluc, who didn’t even have the decency to look amused by managing to frighten Kaeya. If you were going to sneak up on someone, you should at least crack a smile over it.
He narrowed his eye, huffing against the warmth of Diluc’s glove.
“Are you still sorry now that you’re sober, Kaeya?” asked Diluc, which promptly swept away his frustration.
Kaeya wet his lips, tongue grazing Diluc’s palm and some of the congealed copper there. The taste was repellent, but not so much as to distract him from Diluc's body aligned with his own, chests pressed tight together.
“That isn’t an answer.” Diluc slowly released his wrists and reached down between them, thumbing open Kaeya’s trousers. “If you’re sorry, touch yourself for me.”
Even someone as well-versed in sexual exploits as him had to blush at that. His eye flicked in the direction of their camp, and he listened briefly to the distant sound of voices and food preparation before returning his attention to Diluc. He was no exhibitionist and didn't relish the idea of being walked in on, but Diluc looked expectant, and Kaeya wasn’t about to disappoint him. Besides, he couldn’t deny that the risk had its appeal.
He reached down and closed a fist around his flaccid cock, choking on a breath at the jolt of arousal that resulted in. He wasn’t usually this sensitive, this reactive, but Diluc seemed to have a way of making him experience everything to a profound degree. Taking a shuddering breath, he began to stroke, the head of his cock brushing up against Diluc’s belly.
Instead of watching his hand, Diluc watched his face with the same, rapt interest he’d displayed throughout their journey. It made Kaeya feel pinned down for inspection. Not as an insect; not something so paltry, but something coveted, and perhaps even worthy of it. It was laughable how easy it was for Diluc to strip away his protective layers with a look, but he couldn’t get the chuckle that bubbled up his chest through Diluc’s fingers and it was quickly swallowed up by the urge to groan.
With so little distance between them, he could feel Diluc’s breath on his face, sloping over his cheek and further heating the already sweltering skin there. His blush had begun to crawl into his ears and up his neck, turning the skin there red, and Diluc was still staring, still drinking him in, which turned his blush all the more vivid.
“So eager,” murmured Diluc, his voice low and rough. “And just for your own hand. Does my presence rile you that much?”
Kaeya groaned in answer, bucking into his hand, his cock scraping up Diluc’s belly and leaving a dollop of pre-come on his belt.
“Beautiful.” He spoke the word as though in awe. Leaning forward, Diluc grazed his lips over the curve of Kaeya’s jaw and mouthed the hot shell of his ear. “How low would you go for me, Kaeya? Would you let me take you behind the bar? Would you let me use your mouth to warm my cock while I worked?”
Two delightful ideas, and shocking to hear from someone as straitlaced as Diluc. Clearly all that staring hadn’t been unproductive.
If Diluc had asked him, he wouldn't have refused. He would have gotten on his knees, let Diluc slide his cock all the way into the tight heat of his throat and kept him warm and wet throughout the day. Exhibitionist or not, the idea of being used by Diluc for such a purpose was enough to have arousal jolt through him, zigzagging its way up his spine. He would have done just about anything for the man, been just about anything for him.
“You would, wouldn’t you,” said Diluc, gracing him with a rare smile. “You would get on your knees for me in every conceivable way.”
With those words, Diluc brushed away Kaeya's fingers and replaced them with his own, giving the base of Kaeya's cock a generous squeeze before beginning to stroke. He did so without any great expertise, but it didn’t matter, because it was Diluc, and anything Diluc did to him was immediately in the category of perfect. It took all of a few seconds for Kaeya to start panting and jerking into Diluc's grip, his hands shooting up to find purchase in the thick fabric of Diluc’s coat. His knees would have buckled if not for Diluc’s weight pinning him to the pillar.
“That’s it,” Diluc murmured, his voice distant over the rush of blood in Kaeya’s ears. He’d barely enough self-control remaining to listen. “You’re going to come when I tell you to and not a moment sooner. You hear me, Kaeya?”
He offered a dazed, muffled sound, which was only vaguely identifiable as an affirmative. Diluc slid his thumb over the head of his cock and pressed down on the slit, as though in warning.
“Let me watch you for a few minutes more.”
The stroking resumed, this time with Diluc trying different positions and different speeds, and the compounding pleasure was enough to make Kaeya’s thighs shake. An overwrought sob crawled up his throat and he tore shaking fingers into Diluc’s jacket, ice involuntarily jumping from his hands to plume in the air. If Diluc noticed, he didn’t care; just continued his experimentation, applying persistent pressure to any places that elicited a significant reaction. When his fingers pressed down on Kaeya's sensitive frenulum, rubbing insistently, he shook so hard that it was a miracle Diluc managed to maintain a grip on him.
He curled his toes and tensed his muscles to try and hold off his climax, but it was too much, too good. He wasn’t going to be able to stop himself, he couldn’t-
“Come for me,” said Diluc, and Kaeya promptly unravelled under his hands.
If he cried out as he reached his climax, he couldn't hear it over the turgent blood in his ears, nor feel it over the steady throb that had enveloped his body. His vision flashed black, blinding him, and every part of him moved all at once, like he was a ribbon Diluc had pulled loose.
When finally cognisance returned to him, his vision was blurry and his body slack and leaning heavily into Diluc, who had slipped an arm around his waist to ensure he wouldn’t go slamming into the ground. He wouldn’t have minded that, really; he was very much in the mood to lay down after coming hard enough to see black, but he probably ought to return to camp before letting himself collapse.
“Kaeya?” said Diluc, questioning.
“Mmm?” He blinked blearily and leaned his cheek into Diluc’s shoulder, sinking into the warmth he provided.
He didn’t want to let go, but he knew he really should. They’d been away long enough that Barbara and Aether were probably getting worried.
“We should finish cleaning off,” said Diluc.
Kaeya nodded sluggishly, but made no move to extract himself from Diluc. This close, he could hear the steady thump of Diluc’s heart. “Just another minute,” he murmured. “The stew won’t be ready by now.”
There was a moments hesitation before Diluc sighed and curled his other arm around Kaeya, closing what little space remained between them. “Just a minute, then.”
They ended up standing there for well over a minute, and it was only the call of a worried Barbara that ultimately compelled them to part. Kaeya cleaned himself up as best he could and tucked himself back into his trousers, his footsteps stumbling on their way back to the camp.
As he lay in the grass with an arm pillowing his head and the fuzziness of completion finally receding, he wondered how long it would be before Diluc lost interest. How long it would be before he satiated himself and threw Kaeya aside, as he was wont to with things that had 'outlived their purpose'. It wasn't something he was unaccustomed to. He was aware he was good for little else than one night stands, because people tended not to like him once they got to know what kind of man he was beneath the polite and friendly veneer. No one liked a liar, and Diluc had more reason than most to dislike the sort of deceitful, ruthless person Kaeya was at heart.
It would have been nice, to be kept a permanent fixture in Diluc's life, but Kaeya wasn’t one to get his hopes up where his interpersonal relationships were concerned. His entire life had been a string of failed and fraudulent relationships. Whatever this was, and however long it lasted, he would enjoy it for all it was worth, and he would try not to let it wound him too severely if (when) it slipped away.
It wasn’t uncommon for Jean to seek Kaeya's presence for social functions. While she still attended and went through the standard introductions and small talk, she wasn’t much for the celebrations herself, and so the wine drinking, idle chatter and entertainment fell to Kaeya while Jean devoted herself to more productive pursuits. Kaeya's standard evening consisted of drinking and employing his boyish charm on people (usually in the pursuit of more drink), so he was always thrilled when this task came up on the schedule. Who wouldn't want to get paid for relaxing?
On this occasion, they were celebrating renewed trade and treaty terms with Liyue officials, who were the reason Jean had sent them into Liyue. Peoples whose lives consisted of paper pushing couldn't very well be expected to get through the Liyue and Mondstadt wilds by themselves, after all. After such a perilous trip, they were kicking back to appreciate all Mondstadt had to offer in regard to drink, food and company, and Kaeya was providing the latter in spades, charming a crowd of Liyue residents with anecdotes of knighthood and the occasional offer of dandelion wine.
A few of the women were paying particularly close attention to him, one even leaning forward to reveal the valley of her breasts while he regaled them with the various ways Amber had managed to lose her flight license. They were very nice breasts, but in polite company, he wasn’t about to do any appreciating of them.
“And then,” he said with a smile that displayed his teeth. “She carried not just one cat, but five while gliding to safety-“
“Thrilling,” came a dull voice, and Kaeya jerked his head around just in time to see Diluc brushing skilfully to the front of the crowd. He plucked the glass of wine Kaeya was holding from his fingers and pressed it into the hands of a passing waiter, then caught Kaeya by an elbow. “I apologise, but I must borrow Captain Kaeya for a moment.” He didn’t sound very apologetic. A touch angry, in fact, which was probably why his crowd of admirers ended up relinquishing him without so much as a question as to his return.
Kaeya trailed obediently behind Diluc, curious and eager to see where this encounter would go. Diluc's ideas hadn’t disappointed him thus far.
However, Diluc didn’t take him somewhere private, as he’d expected. He selected a few finger foods and escorted him to a quiet corner, pressing two chicken and mushroom skewers into his hands.
“I haven’t seen you eat,” said Diluc, clearly disapproving. “You should know better than to drink on an empty stomach at your age.”
“Why should I worry about such things when I have you to fret over me?”
Diluc pursed his lips, and Kaeya gave a ringing laugh.
“I’m surprised to find you in attendance,” he said, taking a delicate bite out of one of his skewers. “These are your waiters, so I doubt it’s for information gathering purposes. Hoping to sidle up to your trade partners, perhaps?”
“I don’t need to ‘sidle up’ to anyone,” said Diluc. “My produce is already renowned and highly sought after, which you are well aware of. Do those aspersions usually work on people?”
Ah, figured out so fast. All these years, all their differences, and Diluc still knew him all too well. “If that doesn’t, my other tactics usually do. Excepting you.” He tore a mushroom off his skewer, chewing it and swallowing. “Have you found anything of interest?”
“Nothing you would find interesting, though I won't be inclined to tell you if I do uncover something,” said Diluc.
"Naturally," said Kaeya, amused. “Well, I hope something does turn up regardless. This celebration could do with more excitement.”
“Eager to sow discord, as per usual.” Diluc snorted and folded his arms, leaning into the wall behind him. “And before you ask, I won’t be divulging why I snatched you from your admirers either.”
“Oh,” said Kaeya, grinning. He suspected it had something to do with that woman displaying her assets. “You don’t need to tell me that. I can make an educated guess.”
Diluc huffed a breath through his nose. “Eat your food.”
He did as he was told. It was a little surprising just how much he enjoyed submitting to Diluc’s demands. Or still, rather, because he’d been quite happy to follow his orders as a younger man too.
“You know,” he began, slow and thoughtful. “It’s been pleasant to work together again. I find myself thinking frequently of how well we worked together as knights- except for that one outing to the outskirts.” Though it wasn’t exactly a positive memory, he still smiled wistfully. “Running straight into two ruin guards. Rather hard to coordinate while being thrown around, and that we managed to defeat them with just the two of us was a feat.” It was strange to speak of their time together without an undercurrent of pain. He’d spent so long avoiding his past, avoiding the associated shame and loss, that he’d almost forgotten what it was like to reminisce and not hurt.
“I remember.” Though he was looking directly at Kaeya, there was a distance in Diluc’s eyes. “You made a sound like a cat that’d had its tail stepped on when they emerged from the rubble.”
Kaeya’s smile faltered. “I don’t recall that.” He did, in fact, and quite vividly, but he didn’t want to encourage Diluc to dwell on the incident. He wasn’t impervious to embarrassment.
“You ‘don’t recall’ anything that’s inconvenient to you,” said Diluc, his voice wry.
“Not unless I have to,” Kaeya agreed with a shrug. “The exact details weren’t why I brought it up, in any case. We worked well as a team back then, and we work well as one now.”
Diluc regarded him quietly for some time before he spoke again. “How much of that was genuine?” It sounded like a question he’d withheld for years, falling from his lips at an uncharacteristic speed. He inhaled deep through his nose before he spoke again. “Our time together as brothers in arms, as family- how much of that was genuine, Kaeya?”
Kaeya visibly hesitated. Any answer he could provide wouldn’t satisfy either of them, but the man deserved something, even if it wasn’t sufficient to completely ease the burden of doubt.
“The reason I was there, my purpose, was always in the back of my mind, even as a child, but I had come to love you and your father. None of that was a farce.” He swallowed. The last time he’d been this forthright with Diluc, it’d been the day Master Crepus had died. It made dread and fear burgeon in his chest, and it took everything he had to wrest it under control, because Diluc was listening; he was really listening to Kaeya for the first time in years, and he couldn’t let his fear ruin this opportunity like it had so many others. “Maybe I never… fully let myself integrate and see Master Crepus as my father and you as my brother, but you were the closest thing I had to kin after my father abandoned me. You were my dearest friend, and Master Crepus a guiding force in my life. You were both important to me- are important to me, and not a day goes by that I… that the guilt…” He swallowed again, struggling against his tightening throat. “Diluc, I’m so-“
“Don’t.” Diluc gently raised two fingers to Kaeya’s lips and drew them shut. The gloves were absent, and his skin warm. “That’s enough. You don’t have to say anymore.”
“I should,” said Kaeya, lowering his eye. “We have years to make up for.”
“And years in which to do it.” Diluc slowly drew his hand back, resting it on Kaeya’s shoulder. “I… I always considered you my best friend too. I haven’t had one since.”
“Where are we now, on that front?” asked Kaeya, unable to help himself. All his fears were bloating to the surface.
“I don’t know,” said Diluc, and Kaeya’s stomach dropped for all of a moment before Diluc added: “But I’ve missed your presence in my life.”
Kaeya could have cried from how good hearing those words felt. He covered his face with a hand, choking back the urge, and managed to shoot Diluc a wavering smile once he’d finished fighting off the worst of his vulnerability.
“Kaeya,” said Diluc quietly, drawing away. “Ill be tending Angel’s Share this week. You might come by to talk.”
A few days following the function, he returned to his room at the Favonius headquarters to find a vase on his bedside table. A large, tall, ugly vase that didn’t match his style in the least, and normally he would have tucked such an offensive gift into a drawer to never see the light of day again, but he noticed a tag with Diluc's name neatly scrawled on it and immediately the desire to put it somewhere out of sight faded. With a grin, he plucked the offending item from his table and lay down on the bed with it, feeling out its dips and grooves (there was an overabundance of them, considering this was a vase) and heart thrumming with pleasure at the thought of Diluc carefully picking out the absolute worst looking vase for him.
He made sure to thank him for the gift when they met the following day, and Diluc appeared slightly embarrassed by the acknowledgement, his cheeks warming.
It wasn’t the only gift he received. Over the weeks, between kisses and conversation and reminiscing, he received all sorts of things: clothes, trinkets, weapons, flowers. The message was clear: affection, forgiveness, and providing things Diluc felt Kaeya needed seemed to be his idea of conveying that. They had never been good with their words, and this was a pleasant compromise. It was nice to have reminders of Diluc littered throughout his room at the Favonious headquarters.
Some weeks into their tentative relationship, Diluc sent a bottle of Kaeya's much loved Death After Noon along with the time and location for a meeting. He recognised the place: it was the island he’d taken Aether to on his birthday, the one closest to his homeland. That Diluc wanted to meet there made him uneasy. It felt like the prelude to a test or a rejection, but Kaeya wouldn't refuse Diluc his presence. He wouldn't give in to cowardice.
When the time came, he made a path to the island with bursts of ice and stepped uneasily onto the shore, the waves licking at his heels. It was vacant, save for a few crabs scuttling through the sand and a bird flying overhead. Diluc had always been the punctual sort, so Kaeya had probably arrived a few minutes too early. Brushing down a nearby rock, he dropped himself onto it to wait.
It was a nice day. The air was fresh and the wind-currents pleasantly warm. Hopefully whatever Diluc wanted him for would fit the theme, because he’d hate for this to become a location associated with more pain that it already was.
It wasn't long before he felt a warm chest press up against his back. It was testament to how much time they’d been spending together lately that he didn’t even need to look behind him to identify the body as Diluc’s. With a pleased little sigh, he leaned into the contact.
“Keep still,” Diluc murmured against his ear.
Kaeya shivered and did as he was told. He remained still while Diluc’s hands drifted up his body, over the swell of his pectorals and then along the warm column of his throat. The journey of those long, talented fingers didn’t end until he’d reached Kaeya’s face, at which point Diluc slid a slip of a cloth over his eye and tied it at the back of his skull. With the world rendered dark, Kaeya could now only feel the journey of Diluc's hands as they guided him into the sand, arranging him at a kneel. They closed over his wrists next, coiling rope around one and then the other before securing them to his legs. With the rope pinning his calves and wrists to his thighs, compelling Kaeya to tip forward, it was all to easy for Diluc to loosen his trousers enough to unveil the pale slope of his ass.
Kaeya’s breath caught in anticipation as he was drawn into Diluc’s lap, the swell of Diluc’s cock brushing between his cheeks. By now, he was intimately familiar with the impressive length and girth of Diluc’s cock, and with it so close to being inside him he was too eager to remain still. He ground down against the hot, veiny bulge of it, delighting in the strangled moan this drew from Diluc.
“I have to apply some lubrication to you first,” said Diluc, his voice tremulous.
Kaeya heard the pop of a cork before a dollop of oil dropped onto his entrance and was pushed into him by two of Diluc's fingers. They reached deep into him, stroking the oil into his silky insides and eliciting a startled little moan as they brushed up against his sweet spot. Diluc grazed it again, then once more, and Kaeya's cock was twinging by the time he finally withdrew.
“Will that suffice?” asked Diluc.
“Yes,” said Kaeya, his voice a rasp. “Please.”
“I like you like this," said Diluc. “Begging for me.” He made quick work of his trousers, the sound of him stroking oil onto his cock filling the air.
“Please,” said Kaeya again, letting a groan travel along the plea. “I’ll do it as much as you like.”
“I don’t doubt it.” Then Diluc's arms were folding beneath his thighs, hitching him up until he could feel the hot, veiny underside of Diluc’s cock brushing against his hole. “How long have you been thinking about this? I want to hear it.”
He didn’t hesitate on his answer. “Since- since we were young,” he choked out. “Gods, Diluc- I’ve wanted you to fuck me since I was old enough to want something like that.”
It was toe-curlingly slow that Diluc eased him onto his cock. Inch by delectable inch, he sheathed himself in Kaeya, stretching him impossibly wide, wider than he’d ever been stretched before, yet it felt so good and so right that any pain was inconsequential. He whimpered and clenched around Diluc, throwing his head back against Diluc’s shoulder.
“You might have told me sooner,” said Diluc, carefully easing Kaeya down those last few inches, until he was seated neatly in Diluc’s lap. “We’ll have to…” An unsteady breath. “Have to make up for lost time.”
With his wrists bound to his thighs, all his weight bore down on Diluc’s thighs, driving Diluc’s cock in as deep as it could go, and gods, he was so full he felt as though Diluc’s cock would leave an imprint on his insides. All he could do was tremble in Diluc’s grip, his bindings rendering helpless. In this position, Diluc could do with his body what he pleased, and he did, lifting Kaeya a few inches before sliding him all the way back down, settling into a rhythm that left Kaeya panting and already so close to the precipice.
Each time Diluc slipped back inside, his cock rolled over that wonderful bundle of nerves within him and sent electricity zigzagging up and down his spine, leaving him dazed and nerves raw and twinging. He registered, faintly, that his fingers and toes were burning, and that his face was so hot that it stung. With each movement, the heat expanded its reach, eating its way up his thighs and engulfing his cock and pelvis, leaving him flushed and hypersensitive and shaking under the intensity of it all. His throat vibrated around sound, but he wasn’t cognisant enough to register what noises he was making. Probably whimpers, pleas, mindless praises- anything except a ‘no’.
His own cock strained hard and painful against the smooth fabric of his trousers. He was desperate to touch, desperate to come, but trying to ask Diluc to give him what he needed was difficult when he was actively having the capacity for intelligible speech fucked out of him. He managed maybe a few syllables that he could scarcely hear over the steady thump of his heart, but he must have gotten out enough, because Diluc slowed to speak against the damp of his nape:
“You’ll come on my cock, or not at all.”
He almost sobbed, at that. Outright did sob when Diluc resumed fucking into him with greater vigour, tilting him forward so he could pull his cock almost completely out before slamming back in hard enough to jar his hips against Kaeya’s ass. They were going to be bruised later, and he’d no doubt be walking awkwardly for a few days. But with Diluc driving into him so hard and fast, applying a merciless pressure to his prostate, he’d too little presence of mind to give the consequences of this much consideration- or any, really.
Moisture gathered in his eye, slid beneath the blindfold and over the curve of the cheek, journeying far enough to join the saliva on his chin and then the sweat gathered in the hollow of his throat. His hair had stuck itself to his forehead, and his clothes were in disarray. What a mess he must have been, and he was too far gone, too close to climax to care. Diluc had told him to come on his dick, and that seemed entirely feasible with how relentlessly the man was battering his sweet spot. His cock had already begun to twitch, a pressure developing from tip to pelvis. His every nerve tingled, rubbed raw, and he could suddenly feel every hair follicle and every drop of sweat.
And then he screamed. This time, he heard himself, his voice too loud to escape his perception. Half of Teyvat were probably privy to the sound as well, but he didn’t care; couldn’t care while so deep in the throes of orgasm, his entire body tight and quaking and closing vice-like around Diluc, holding them both in place while euphoria rocked through him. Then, all at once, he fell slack, turning into a dead weight in Diluc's arms. He was as soft and pliant as a doll as the man continued to rock into him. Slower now, one of his hands venturing down to make sure Kaeya had been milked for all he was worth, but still hard enough to be dully registered.
“Kaeya," murmured Diluc. "Kae.” He pressed him down, right into the sand, bending over him and speaking into the thick of his hair. The sudden change of terrain on his skin jarred Kaeya out of his daze. “I know… what this island represents to you; I know it’s a source of doubt and fear, I want-“ A groan grated out of him, his voice lost for a handful of seconds before he managed to continue. “I want that to end. I want you to swear loyalty to Mondstadt, and to me.”
So soon after his finish, it was hard to wrangle together enough strength to both listen and respond. “I… I already have. I’m…” His voice was failing him, so he left it there, hoping it would suffice as an answer.
“No,” said Diluc, and Kaeya groaned in dismay. “Say it here, on this island, so we might bury this at last.” A hand closed over his head, pressing his face into the sand while Diluc buried his cock deep into his passage and held it there. “Say it, so I know my loyalties will not be for naught. Say it so we might be together again.”
Kaeya fell quiet. Torn loyalties had been a terrible source of grief throughout his life; this place had loved him, accepted him, but his homeland had sent him here as their last hope, and it’d seemed an inescapable burden to have to betray one or the other. But here Diluc was, descending into the chasm with him, offering him hand and a promise to stand at his side.
“I swear it,” he managed to get out.
Diluc flattened his chest against Kaeya’s back and held him close. They slotted together so perfectly. “Good,” he said, low and warm. “I swear it too, Kaeya.”
The thrusts resumed, and so did Kaeya’s overwrought cries.
For all its success, one would have expected Dawn Winery to be large and imposing, but it was actually quite a homely place, and surrounded by even homelier cottages. It was only once one entered that the wealth and success of the owner became pronounced, conveyed through beautiful architecture and an abundance of lavish décor. The first time Kaeya had seen it as a child, he’d been in awe. It’d all been so different and beautiful from what he was used to seeing in the ravaged Khaenri'ah.
He smiled upon seeing the interior now, with a touch of that childlike awe he’d had when first invited into the Ragnvindr winery. This felt rather like seeing it for the first time all over again, though by now, this place was a well-worn sight.
“Oh, Master Kae-“ Adelinde caught herself before she could finish, colour rising into her cheeks. “My apologies. Force of habit. Your room is ready now, if you’d like to see it.”
Kaeya shook his head, his smile broadening. He’d been smiling through every stage of his journey here. “I intend to see Diluc first, but thank you. Where might I find him?”
“He’s just finished bathing,” said Adelinde. “He should be down shortly. Would you like me to get you something to drink in the meantime?”
“If you would,” said Kaeya as he meandered toward Diluc’s office, giving Adelinde a polite incline of his head before slipping around the corner. He toed the pile of books situated against the wall and clucked his tongue at the mess, making a mental note to tease Diluc about it later, then ventured on to the window, passing his fingers over the mullions as he glanced out. The sun had almost descended out of sight, leaving the sky in its vicinity a molten orange. It would be night soon, and Kaeya had no intention of returning to the Favonius headquarters before then.
It was such a pleasant change of pace to be here as a guest and not an intruder. He idled around the office, touching this and that, re-familiarising himself with a room he hadn't had a good look at in years. There was enough official documentation in here that Diluc usually tried to keep him out.
“Kaeya.”
He turned, greeted with an unusually under-dressed Diluc. It was rare he saw him in anything less than three layers. He liked this casual look; it was… cosy, in a way, and while Kaeya thrived under pressure (particularly shared pressure), he was not at all opposed to cosiness.
“Master Diluc.” He manoeuvre around the desk, leaning against it with one arm catching his weight and legs crossed at the ankle. His gaze was drawn to the glass Diluc was holding. “Grape juice, I suppose?”
“Dandelion wine,” Diluc corrected him, stepping forward to press the glass into his hand. He manually arranged Kaeya’s fingers around the stem for him. “I noticed Adelinde coming down with an entire bottle and decided to intervene. You’ll be permitted one glass.”
With a melodramatic sigh, Kaeya sipped the offering. “You’re so hard on me.”
“Be glad I’m not forcing grape juice on you,” said Diluc.
Kaeya wrinkled his nose and gulped down a mouthful of wine, as if to chase away the taste of that threat. He would never understand what appealed to Diluc so about grape juice. “Seems like a waste of product, if you ask me.” He didn’t hide his interest as he looked Diluc up and down. It was much easier to make out his broad shoulders and tight, muscular build when he had so little on. “So, how was the bath?”
“Cleansing,” said Diluc with cocked eyebrows. Sweeping across the room, he slid an arm around Kaeya’s waist and turned him in the direction of the stairs. His arm was still damp, leaving a smudge of water on Kaeya’s back, which went entirely ignored. “I think it’s about time you had a bath yourself, don’t you?”
There was promise in that question.
Kaeya leaned into him, grazing his lips over the corner of his mouth. “Wine and a hot bath- I really can’t think of a better way to be welcomed home.”
“I can,” said Diluc, his mouth tipping in one of those rare, pleasant smiles.
Home- a word that had largely been foreign to Kaeya throughout his torrid life, but tucked against Diluc’s side, the mans warmth seeping into his own, he thought perhaps he’d finally found it.