Chapter Text
Kaeya sighed as he trudged out of Angel's Share with a heavy heart and soreness racking through his body.
While it wasn't unusual for him to be preoccupied at work, the past week had made him feel like he'd been crushed underneath a Lawachurl's armor. Seven days in a row, he reported to his office at sunrise and stared at piles upon piles of reports, case files, and questionnaires, which always took him until after sundown to complete and be able to leave. It had only taken the first two days for Kaeya's mind to zero in on the tasks at hand, with any thoughts of a meal or a good night's sleep quickly drowned out.
To say nothing of the tense atmosphere that had followed him each time he stepped foot into the Knights' Headquarters - he'd started the week with no less than six scoldings and lectures. Hertha, Jean, Lisa, Amber, Huffman, even Albedo...Kaeya didn't need to be a Vahumana scholar to know that he was in hot water with his colleagues since he told them about the explosion at Wolvendom, for which he had faulted his own negligence. Thankfully, there had been no reported injuries or casualties, but the matter of a major trade route closure and several million Mora in destroyed goods wasn't something to be let go of easily.
"Do you have any idea how much this costs us?! Those goods were supposed to last us two weeks! Not to mention one of our most important business routes needing repair, the complaints from the merchants...you've really done it this time, Sir Kaeya."
"I could excuse your unorthodox methods, I've defended you when people called you a slacker and covered for you in every possible way. But what happened this time is something I can't let you off the hook for, Kaeya. You've proven yourself to be incredibly irresponsible and a danger to others, and if I get another report with any complaints about your performance, I'm terminating your position immediately."
"Were you trying to give Jean more paperwork, Kaeya?! You know how much she already has on her hands, yet you still let this happen! Can't you think about what happens to the people around you for once?"
"What's he up to this time? I swear, he's such a bad influence!"
"I don't trust you around Mika. You can forget about hanging out with him this week."
"Due to the circumstances, it would be best if he doesn't see Klee anytime soon."
On top of that, the incident had been the reason for the increase in Kaeya's workload: The destruction and losses to the economy required a lot of paperwork to be sifted through, and as the alleged instigator, Kaeya not only had to fill out and complete all of the work by the end of the next week but was also required to take up other knights' loads as well, and it was decided that he would have to do this until Grand Master Varka himself was back from his expedition and would decide what to do with him.
Kaeya had held his tongue and taken it all in stride - their reaction wasn't unwarranted, after all. He was the one who told them he did it, and really, he shouldn't have expected anything else. And yet, he couldn't help the stinging sensation that shot through his chest each time he was scolded, heard the other knights gossiping, or tried to greet his closest friends only for them to turn their backs in silence.
He knew he didn't deserve to get upset over it; those were just consequences he had to deal with. It's not like this was anything new for Kaeya, so why now, of all times did it have to hurt so much? No matter how much he told himself that he had no regrets, that this was something he could easily take, he had been losing the ability to stave off the growing pains more and more each day.
Despite this, he held his tongue and never let slip more than a "hello" or "goodbye." He feared if he talked more, he'd have to speak the truth of what had been happening, and all hell would break loose - and he wouldn't be the only one caught in the storm.
After all, he knew the truth only ever hurt him and those around him.
Even his trips to Angel's Share hadn't been as relaxing as they had previously been. The knights who frequented the tavern quickly let slip that the Cavalry Captain had made such a grave error, which meant that everyone at Angel's Share had caught wind of what was happening before the day was over. And while he could laugh off Rosaria and Venti's jabs at how the alcohol was finally seeping into his work performance, facing Diluc during his shifts was a different story entirely.
He'd expected his former brother and friend to mumble about the inefficiency of the knights, take a jab at his drinking habits, or even cut him off before he could show any signs of inebriation. He could deal with all that just fine.
What he hadn't expected was for Diluc to stop acknowledging his existence entirely as soon as he stepped foot into the tavern. Every time he was on shift, the redhead had averted his gaze from Kaeya and preoccupied himself with cleaning the glasses on the counter and making drinks, only speaking when another customer or Charles addressed him. Kaeya had found himself at a loss for words the moment it happened - while there was a part of him that longed to tease his ex-brother about how he was ignoring one of his best customers, he was never able to go through with it. How could he when he had not only screwed up majorly again in Diluc's eyes, but in a way that was detrimental to his beloved Mondstadt’s livelihood and economy as well?
Just like how it was at the Knights' Headquarters every day, Kaeya's heart clutched in pain no matter how much he told himself that this was an inevitable consequence of his actions. And tonight, after overhearing a conversation between Rosaria and Diluc grumbling about how a certain someone was responsible for them having more work to do during their night patrols, he had wordlessly dropped the payment for his drinks on the counter and walked out.
Now here he was, leaning against the wall just near the side entrance of the gates. Relieved that Hertha (or anyone else, for that matter) wasn't here to remind him of his failures, he raised a hand to his eyes to rub the sleep out of them before thinking of how he'd survive another full day of this tomorrow.
He wouldn't wish something like this on anyone else.
Before he could continue with his thoughts, something (or rather, someone) barrelled into him, knocking both of them to the ground. Kaeya grumbled before he was able to register a loud, yet comfortingly familiar voice in his ears.
"Shoot! Captain Kaeya, I'm so sorry! Did I hurt you?"
Kaeya's eyes sparkled as he sat up and turned to Bennett, his young friend from the Adventurer's Guild. A sweet boy with an unfortunate luck streak, and thankfully for Kaeya, one of the few people in Mondstadt who wasn't currently fuming at his carelessness.
"Heh, can't be worse than anything that work's been throwing at me this week," Kaeya replied as he stood up, reaching his hand out to help Bennett up. "It's great to see you, Benny."
"Same here! I've been looking all over for you this week, where have you been?" Said Bennett as he wrapped his arms around the surprised Captain, who returned the hug.
"Hey, I wasn't kidding when I said my job's been throwing things at me all week," Kaeya replied with a chuckle. "Sorry for disappointing you, though..."
He's been doing an awful lot of that lately, hasn't he?
"No worries! If anything, I should apologize for running into you. I just realized I was totally out of supplies, and wanted to get to Mondstadt General Goods before it closed..."
"Well, we can still make it if we head over now. Let's go, shall we?"
----
As the two made their way over to Mondstadt General Goods, Bennett couldn't contain his excitement as he told Kaeya the reason for his good mood.
"So I was at the Guild this morning, right? And I heard Master Cyrus talk about this cool new pathway that opened up around Springvale!"
”Oh, is that right?” Kaeya asked in reply as they stepped over to the shop’s counter, where they were greeted by Blanche.
“Hello, how can I help you today?” She began as looked right past Kaeya, at Bennett. “Apologies in advance, our stock is quite limited in some items…” her voice trailed off at those last words as she shot a look at Kaeya. The Captain couldn’t hold back his flinch, which didn’t go unnoticed by Bennett.
“That’s alright, I’ll just take whatever you have on here.” Bennett quickly said as he handed Blanche a list. The shopkeeper nodded, walking to the back of the shop to gather what was needed. As soon as she was out of earshot, Bennett turned to Kaeya with questioning eyes.
“Hey, are you okay, Cap? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“Uh…” Kaeya’s eyes trailed over to the wall as he wondered how to get the teen to drop the topic. Before Bennett could say anything else, Kaeya turned to him with a smirk. “Well, how do you know I can’t actually see ghosts, hm? As a matter of fact, I think I just saw my grandfather leaning against the wall right there, relaying a message about new Springvale domains-“
”Oh, that’s right! I wanted to ask you something, Captain.”
“Hmm? Let’s hear it.”
”So I asked Guild Master Cyrus if I could explore the domain,” As he continued, Bennett looked down at his shoes. “He said I could only go if I took someone else with me…and well, Fischl’s been caught up in an investigation lately, and Razor’s been refusing to leave Wolvendom all week after the explosion on the trade route. So I was wondering if you’d be able to come with me?”
“Well…” Kaeya started as he stared at Bennett thoughtfully.
After a heavy and monotonous work week that never seemed to end, a small excursion like this was certainly welcome and needed. But the amount of free time he actually had for that was a completely different story.
“As much as I really, really want to…I don’t see myself having any work-free days in the future.” Kaeya sighed, slumping his shoulders. “Unless you’re willing to explore during the evening, that is.” He added under his breath, but loud enough for Bennett to hear.
“That’s alright with me!”
“Wait, you’d seriously want to do that?”
”Yeah! It’s been a long time since we hung out anyway, so why not?”
”Well, I suppose I have some missed sword training sessions to make up for…” The Captain answered dryly.
"Besides…I wanted to do something to thank you for the awesome week I've been having lately." Bennett said, reaching into his pocket to pull out a small, blue gem. "And it's all thanks to this."
Kaeya hummed in acknowledgment as he recognized the gem - the earring that normally hung off his right ear. "You actually kept it.”
"Yeah! You really weren’t kidding when you said this thing would turn my luck around. I didn't need to use that many bandages this week, and I didn't even get a stomachache once! And best of all, no one blamed me for anything going wrong! Your ancestors were really onto something with this whole 'lucky gem' thing, huh?"
Kaeya nodded along, “They wouldn’t have gotten this far without a few tricks up their sleeves.”
A loud thud on the counter brought them back to the present, as Blanche set down a bag of food and camping supplies. ”Here’s everything we have in stock, Benny. Enjoy your night.”
“Thanks!” Bennett slung the bag over his shoulder, turning to Kaeya as he did. “So, we’ll meet up at Good Hunter tomorrow after you leave work, right?”
“Sounds good to me.”
"Oh, before I forget," Bennett said as he pulled out a box, opening it to reveal its contents. "I made a bit too much food out on the road today, and everyone else keeps telling me they're not hungry. You just got out of work, right?"
"Indeed I did."
"Why don't we have dinner together tonight? You must be starving after doing so much!"
Kaeya's eyes widened in surprise as he heard the acknowledgment of his hard work, giving Bennett a small smile as he nodded. However, his smile faltered into an awkward laugh as he got a good look at the steak and eggs, in which not a single piece of the meal had been spared from being charred on all sides. Not wanting to turn down a sincere gift, he picked up a fork and took a small bite.
'Ew...' Kaeya thought before he caught Bennett's curious gaze. "Oh, I'm just a slow eater. I'll finish it, don't worry." He quickly supplied, flashing a grin at Bennett as the boy's eyes lit up.
Even if he still felt the lingering aftertaste of charcoal at the end of the meal, it was the best thing that had happened to him all week.