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In the town of Mondstadt, nights were never truly quiet. While it was on the smaller side, and the night life was not as bustling as in the neighbouring Liyue, many came by to experience the regional wine the town was so famous for. Bars were a popular destination, always full for the night, drinks sold out at record speed. One such bar prouded itself in tradition, playing up the theme of a tavern it once was long ago. Various musicians from all over captivated the audience like bards once did in years long past, glasses clinked together full of drink, that of a recipe unchanged for generations, the decor full of archaic paintings and authentic-enough artefact replicas that wouldn’t cost much to replace should a drunkard break one or two while stumbling their way to another drink from the bar.
The bartender for tonight was not the usual deal - some regulars gawked at the change, others laughed as they recalled the last few times the man himself was behind the bar. Though the crowd could not be called big that night, cheers and murmured conversations still mixed together in a cacophony of sounds; someone smashed a glass and was promptly escorted, people glanced in fear at the hawk that kept an eye on the tables from where it was perched behind the bar, next to the bartender. Cigarette smoke filled the air along with the smell of salt, fishermen having finished their work days at the port for the day.
Diluc Ragnvindr always hated cigarette smoke. It reminded him too much of the overly fancy parties full of people who deem themselves more important than the next man, ones his father always took him to, though he always despised them for how fake they were. Crowds were not his thing either, and frankly he preferred to take care of the paperwork side of things rather than stand behind a bar. And yet, even as he heard tonight’s sounds all blend together, one stood out. From a deep corner of the bar, the unmistakable clink of a coin being flipped rang in his ears, and Diluc had sneaked a few glances to confirm his suspicions.
There, sat at a table was a group of people. Impressionable youth and seasoned workers alike stared in what seemed like both awe and fear at the man before them, currently laughing and no doubt in the middle of some brilliantly crafted tale from his many exploits, one that would undoubtedly sound completely made up in the mouth of anyone else but him.
Then again, he always had a talent for obscuring the truth and captivating people with lies. The stories he told might not have been entirely false, but who’s to expect the full truth from a retelling? Especially one woven together by… Him.
The him in question had to have just finished his story of the hour, for he flipped that insufferable coin one last time with a cling and seemingly vanished it from sight with a clever sleight of hand. The trick drew out a small chorus of woah ’s from the audience, and Diluc rolled his eyes. Always the one for dramatics, is he.
In that moment, a patron knocked on the bar, which brought Diluc’s attention back to his current job. Because that’s what he was supposed to be doing, not staring at shady men who happened to exist in a dark corner of the room at his bar. Right. He assessed the patron in front of him, then sighed. Venti waved at him a bit too animatedly for the short distance separating them, his other hand occupied in an attempt to fix his rapidly slipping hat.
Diluc mentally tallied up the drinks his customer had drunk so far tonight, decided it was way too much for one man to not get alcohol poisoning from, then politely asked Venti to pay up his current tab before making any more orders. The drunkard looked shocked for a second, then did the worst thing a horribly drunk patron could - opened his mouth to talk.
“Aw, but Master Diluc! Won’t you make an exception for the greatest musician in all of Mondstadt? I could help advertise your bar, you know! Lots of people come here on the nights I’m on, and I just think that-”
“Out.” He pointedly gestured at the door, to which Venti flailed his hands around in a desperate attempt to plead for himself.
“Ooookay! I can see there’s some negative feelings in there, yeah, I understand, customer service may be gruelling, but y’see, ehe, you really don’t wanna kick me out-”
“I do. Out. Or I’ll pick you up and throw you over the doorstep myself.” He glared at the musician, who visibly deflated for a second, then perked right up, a mischievous expression in his eyes.
“Pick me up, you say? Well shit, Master Diluc, wouldn’t it be more appropriate to ask a man out to dinner first?”
And with that, the other patrons could observe as one self-proclaimed “greatest musician in all of Mondstadt” was picked up by the scruff and thrown onto the pavement by the terrifying bartender, which sent the bar into a temporary quiet before said terrifying bartender returned and glared at the rest of them.
As Diluc sighed and turned to the backside of the bar, he felt a single stare remain on him. Goosebumps trailed up his arms, but made sure to make no movement that would seem out of the ordinary. Distantly, he registered that a few patrons quietened down unnaturally, but his mind was currently too focused on the possibility of a confrontation to consider why that might be. As he took a deep breath and turned back around, however, he was instantly met with the single, star-pupiled eye that seemed to always know his deepest secrets, and instantly felt his whole body freeze up.
“Diluc.”
“...Alberich.” Diluc forced himself to relax, even though he knew that this man had caught onto his hesitance long before they locked eyes. Appearances, he told himself, appearances.
“No ‘Kaeya’? Oh, how you wound me, Master Ragnvindr .” Kaeya swooned theatrically, and Diluc sighed. Appearances be damned, I want to punch this man. “That aside,” Kaeya’s expression flattened, “I didn’t know you still did bartending. I thought I heard some rumours about you never showing your face here, especially after-”
“I don’t.” Diluc glared at Kaeya, who in turn raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t, what?”
“Do bartending. Usually.”
“Well, that’s interesting.” Kaeya leaned over the bar with a practised smile. “You claim you don’t ‘do bartending’, and yet here you are, are you not?”
A resounding crash went off somewhere in the bar, no doubt from one of the more intoxicated patrons having knocked something over. Even the musician on stage paused their song when they heard the sound, the commotion in the bar dying down for a few seconds. Someone likely picked up whatever person crashed and escorted them back to their table, one of the bar staff undoubtedly already on their way to help clean up whatever had been broken. At the bar, however, the two men still kept their eyes locked on each other, all like it was the world’s most intense staring contest.
“So?” Kaeya tilted his head.
Diluc gave in and looked away. “I’m here tonight for a reason.”
“Oh?” A devilish smirk appeared on Kaeya’s face. “Might I inquire as to what the reason might be? Surely it’s not related to the Captain’s crew pulling by the shore tonight, that would be ridiculous. Or,” He slowly ran his eye over Diluc’s form, and oh, wasn’t this a familiar dance? “Is the reason related to me going down on land with the others, perhaps? Did you want to make sure a threat such as myself isn’t able to walk around town freely? Or,” For a split second, a fragile vulnerability crossed his face. “Was it perhaps that you missed me?” A display likely purposely trained in front of a mirror, for the specific purpose of making people trust him.
Still, spouting nonsense wouldn’t get him anywhere.
“Actually,” Diluc cleared his throat. “It is unrelated to you, or any of Captain Beidou’s men.” He raised an eyebrow. “The Captain may be a pirate, but she is a fair woman, and I can… Close my eyes to some of her actions. I could not, and do take this the wrong way, care any less about what you’re doing here either.” A small, victorious smile graced Diluc’s face as Kaeya’s broke into a rare, genuine shock for a few seconds, before he swiftly recovered and laughed.
“Oh, Master Diluc. Ever so funny.” Kaeya shook his head. If Diluc didn’t know any better, he’d say the gesture was almost fond. “Now that we’ve established that our simultaneous presence here has nothing to do with each other, may I ask for you to get me one Death After Noon ? I’m afraid I haven’t tasted much liquor tonight yet, being so busy with telling tales.” He batted his eyelashes at the bartender, who levelled him with a stare.
“Like I’m supposed to believe all these people you have oh so enthralled with your presence haven’t offered to buy you anything yet?” Diluc scoffed, but turned to grab a glass and the drink ingredients for a Death After Noon .
“They have, actually.” That coin reappeared in Kaeya’s hand, but this time it passed between fingers and swapped hands constantly. Diluc always thought it was two coins when he was a child, but he could never figure out where the other one appeared from and disappeared to, and Kaeya was never keen on sharing his tricks. “But you, more than anyone else, should know that taking drinks from strangers is a bad idea.” Kaeya’s voice broke through the silence, and Diluc shook away the memories.
“What, like you wouldn’t immediately catch onto someone trying to poison you.” He shrugged. “I’d bet that if anyone tried to slip you something, it would somehow end up in their drink instead.”
“Oh, how well you know me.” Kaeya chuckled. “Speaking of knowing things, though, would the esteemed Master Diluc be so kind as to allow me some expression of curiosity?”
Diluc tensed and eyed Kaeya with suspicion. “If you were gonna ask me something like, ‘if it’s not about me then why are you here’, know I will not entertain such a question with an answer.”
“Why, that’s precisely what I was going to ask.” A devilish grin split Kaeya’s face in half. “So many years apart, and yet you still read my mind oh so perfectly. Truly, it sometimes feels like we’re destined to-”
“One Death After Noon for you, sir.” Diluc placed the glass in front of Kaeya, keeping his face carefully blank.
“Ah, but Master Diluc-”
“Thank you for supporting our establishment.”
“Diluc-”
“Apologies, I think I saw an accident happen somewhere in the bar a few minutes ago. As one of the staff, it is my professional duty to assist with whatever might have happened. I will now take my leave to go do that. Goodbye.” Diluc bowed his head, and turned stiffly to leave for where he’d heard that crash earlier. Hidden from view, Kaeya stared at his retreating back with a gobsmacked expression.
“...Huh.” Kaeya shook off his shock, then snorted. “Does he always do that when he doesn’t want to have a conversation?” He stared at the hawk, still perched on a perch behind the bar. The hawk stared back, but didn’t answer. Like owner, like pet , Kaeya mused, then took a sip from his drink. It was, of course, delightful, and how could it not be, when made by such a perfectionist when it came to his business.
“Well, looks like someone got dumped.” Someone patted him on the shoulder, and Kaeya laughed.
“This particular dumping happened a long time ago, Huixing.” He nodded to his fellow crew member.
“Sure didn’t think that could happen.” Sha raised an eyebrow. “You getting dumped is already a scary idea, let alone when you willingly go back to flirt with the ex. What is he, a god on earth?”
“It was years ago, I wasn’t as charming back then.” Kaeya laughed again and took a sip of his drink. “We were just catching up, you know, reminiscing on old times together.”
Huixing narrowed her eyes, then snorted. “Sure didn’t look like it with how fast he left. But whatever you say, Mr. Charming. Anyways, I was hoping to get some more drinks, but it looks like you scared off the bartender.” She grinned at him, and he rolled his eyes. “Oh well, looks like we’ll have to go back to the Alcor now. Let’s leave tonight’s poor victim of Kaeya Alberich alone for now, shall we?” Huixing slapped him on the back. “I’m guessing you’ll somehow disappear halfway through our walk there anyways, so I’ll just ask you to not come back half dead, if that’s something you can do. The Captain would probably be at least sort-of disappointed.”
“Better come back half-dead than not come back at all.” He mused, then downed the rest of his drink and got up. “Tonight was a long one. Let’s go get some rest.”
Huixing took off, but something made Kaeya pause. He looked at his glass again, only now noticing a note strapped to the bottom of it. Curious, he ripped it off the glass, then took a glance at the writing.
Kaeya skimmed the contents, then grinned when he saw what it detailed. Never change, Luc , he mused to himself, then put some extra tip money on the bar’s surface. And if there was a response note written in code between the coins, that was only for him and his old friend to know.