Chapter Text
The far-too-early dawning summer sun was entirely too cheerful about waking Kaeya up. The knight groaned, throwing an arm across his eyes to defend them from the shining rays. “Fine, fine, I’m getting up, now fuck off,” he snarled into the empty room.
Unfortunately, the sun didn’t listen.
Kaeya heaved a deep sigh, then dragged himself out of bed to pull the curtains shut. He was still exhausted, but that didn’t change his duties– there was paperwork to do, and an acting Grand Master to keep from working herself to death. Long practice got him into his uniform, wrinkles in the fabric smoothed, his hair brushed and tied up. A splash of cold water on his face helped him to wake up enough to disguise the dark circles with a touch of cosmetics before tying on his eyepatch. Then it was just a matter of picking up last night’s file and heading to Headquarters.
All told, it was under ten minutes from those first too-bright rays of sunlight to Kaeya’s first step out the door.
Not too many people were on the streets of Mond this early. A few natural early risers, or those working opening shifts. A couple other knights who, like himself, had duties they couldn’t escape of a morning. But at this hour, most were still sleeping off the previous night’s drinking.
This made for a nice quiet walk each morning for Kaeya, with a smile and a nod here and there, but mostly just a chance to finish waking up for the day. Or try to.
For the rest, there was coffee.
The wonderful aroma of roasted beans hit the knight as soon as he stepped into Headquarters, and he detoured to collect his first mugful along with a fresh one for his best friend, draining his own on the way to Jean’s office. “Good morning!” He relished the glare he got for his bright smile, and the way it shifted as the blonde noticed the fresh mug of coffee he was offering her. “Figured you’d need a refill by now. And I’ll just take these–”
Jean made a sound of protest as he scooped the nearest stack of paperwork off her desk, but he had danced out of the room before she could get a full word out, whistling on the way to his own office. It wasn’t that he enjoyed paperwork, not in the slightest! But pulling one over on Jean, and lightening her workload? Knowing she’d smile a little more today? That brightened his morning.
Besides, chances were at least half that stack was his anyway. She likely pulled the same stunt before he got there.
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Kaeya had long since lost track of how many mugs of coffee he’d had by the time the sun reached its zenith. The important thing was that he was just setting aside the last of the paperwork when Jean stuck her head in and told him to get his ass out of the building and eat something. She seemed satisfied with his cocky salute, luckily, and didn’t question him.
Which was lucky. Kaeya wasn’t really hungry. He’d head out anyway, though, some fresh air would be nice after a morning stuffed behind his desk–
Better yet, he ran into Noelle in the hallway. A raised eyebrow and a thumb jerked towards Jean’s office, and he knew Jean wouldn’t be escaping lunch today. Perfect revenge. And then just down the stairs, Klee bounced up to him, and Kaeya’s grin widened. He was getting all the luck today. “Big brother Kaeya! Look what Klee found! It’s colored just like Dodoco, don’t you think?”
He could correct her grammar later. Kaeya didn’t want to spoil the girl’s obvious excitement over the striped rock she was holding up for his perusal. “It is indeed! Where did you find such a perfect pebble?”
“It was right by the gate! Klee tripped on it,” the girl’s smile faded for a moment, but spread across her face again as she continued, “but it was worth it! Klee scraped her knee but found this, so it’s okay!”
“ ‘I scraped my knee’, Klee… wait. Did you see Barbara about that yet?” A true scrape would be more minor than was worth bothering her with, of course, but he’d seen some of the gashes Klee had called scrapes’ and wasn’t taking chances.
“Nooooo….” the evasive tone was adorable, really “... but Sir Guy patched Klee up, so it’s okay!”
Guy was… far from the brightest of the knights, but he wasn’t so stupid that he’d fail to bring Klee to the church if she were badly injured. It was probably fine. “Good thinking, Klee. Are you going to go show that to Jean and Albedo now?”
“Oooo, yeah!” And she was off. Kaeya shook his head. If he had her energy, his days would be much easier… but coffee was almost as good. He debated grabbing another mugful before heading out, but no, that would give away he had no intention to stop anywhere to eat.
By the time he reached the main street those intentions were wavering. He could swear he could smell a fresh batch of skewers, wafting temptation out of Good Hunter. Maybe he would—
“Sir Kaeya!” The knight turned at the call to see a familiar bandage-adorned teenager, and smiled fondly. The poor kid didn’t deserve what life had dealt him, but somehow had kept his chin up despite arguably worse circumstances than Kaeya’s own. “I’m glad I caught you! I can’t seem to get that last technique you showed me right. The cross-body slash goes fine, but on the way back my sword always seems to want to go down instead of up– ”
Kaeya spotted Fischl and her parents further down the street and cursed under his breath. He liked the girl just fine, she was imaginative and competent, but her parents just would not stop trying to shove them into marriage vows together. “You have perfect timing, Benny. I have a free hour. Why don’t we head to one of the practice ranges, and I’ll run you through it a few more times?”
“That would be awesome,” the kid enthused, and in no time at all they were out of sight.
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The knight found himself telling his mare, Frosted Glass, all about the impromptu training session an hour later as he tacked her up. “Kid’ll be a master swordsman one day, if he lives long enough. All he needed was a slight angle change and to add some shoulder exercises to his routine. If he could’ve had a dedicated weapons master to teach him…”
Glass nickered and mouthed at Kaeya’s hair, and he broke off with a sigh. It wasn’t as if a horse knew or cared about Benny’s future, he knew, for all it seemed like it sometimes. She was just reacting to his tone.
But who else was there to talk to about such things? Jean was busy, Albedo was rarely interested in what he termed ‘gossip’, and Rosie never had understood why he took the time to teach the kid what he could. Diluc would have understood, once, but, well…
That was a long time ago.
Kaeya swallowed, and shoved aside the painful memories threatening his mind. He had a patrol to run. A moment to quickly run his hands over the tack to make sure nothing was twisted gave him the time he needed to ensure his face remained neutral, and then he was leading Glass out of the Knights’ city stables.
It was clear almost immediately that the mare was feeling frisky that afternoon, so as soon as they were past the bridge Kaeya swung into the saddle and signaled a gallop. He couldn’t help a grin at the way the wind blew past, leaning forward and raising his hips to help her run. Glass knew the way; it wasn’t like he had to direct her every movement on such a routine ride.
Kaeya reined her in after she’d worked out her excess energy, though. It would be a while before they reached the winery, and overworking Glass was not in his plans for the day.
There weren’t terribly many people traveling the road today. Merchants would be more common closer to harvest, or come next spring, and it wasn’t close enough to any festivals for tourists and travelers sight-seeing. Earlier and later in the day would be those who lived outside the city but worked inside the walls. For now, it was just a scattering of farmers and locals, and Kaeya gave them his usual friendly greeting while keeping an eye out for trouble.
By the time he reached the winery, there was just about enough time before dinner to switch horses and do a sweep of the local woods. Glass could easily handle the whole patrol, but Kaeya knew Ravensong, Diluc’s horse– if he ever came back for her– was likely lacking in exercise. She didn’t let anyone but Kaeya ride her these days.
And that hurt. Raven shouldn’t have to suffer because Kaeya had driven her rider away. So he did everything he could for her, when he had the time.
“Here to take Ravensong for a ride? We’d be grateful if you do, she’s been in a mood today.” Kaeya grinned at Willis as he passed him Glass’ reins, giving her nose a rub before heading in. “She always is. She’ll be calmer when we get back. Probably.”
The stablehand scoffed, but was chuckling and shaking his head as he led Glass to her usual stall. Kaeya headed towards the back corner, where Raven now occupied her sire’s old stall. Thunder had been picky about his riders too as he recalled, and had terrified him when he was a small boy new to the household.
No one would ever call Glass delicate, but if she were side-by-side with Raven, she would almost look it. Diluc’s horse was a few hands taller and proportionately far more muscled– much like her rider, if she were shorter, she’d be considered stocky. Where Glass’ primarily dark grey hide was splattered with the frost-like splotches that gave the mare her name– like looking out a winter-frosted glass window at night– Ravensong was completely black, with a wavy mane and tail that when combined with the rest made her look like a warhorse straight out of legend.
And she was a bitch.
A lovable bitch, and more importantly, Diluc’s bitch, but a bitch all the same.
Kaeya prayed this was a day when Raven was in the mood for sugar, and pulled a few lumps from his pocket to offer the beast of a horse. To his relief, after a tense moment while she considered the offering, the mare leaned forward and gently lipped the sweet from his palm.
Good. He’d forgotten to grab carrots and apples on the way here, and that could have been… unpleasant.
Now that the niceties were out of the way, Kaeya murmured to the horse softly as he slipped into the stall to check on her condition. It seemed like for the most part the stablehands had managed the basics, but her mane and tail were a woeful mess. He’d have to take care of those when they got back. “Alright, girl, you ready for a ride? I still have part of my patrol to do, and I bet you’re tired of being cooped up.”
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It was nearly dinnertime, by most people’s standards, when they made it back. Kaeya swung by the stables long enough to drop off Raven’s tack and snag a brush, then led her out to a clear area of the pasture to work on the leaf-filled tangle her mane and tail had become. It didn’t take long for Glass to wander over and start rolling in the grass nearby, and the knight let a soft smile slip onto his face.
All that was missing was…
Kaeya slipped a hand into his pocket, and gently set the round object he found there on a fencepost, watching the steadily pulsing red light within. “See, Raven? He’s still alive, somewhere. I think he had a close call, a few days ago, but he’s still there. Still here, almost, in a way.”
He drifted his fingers over the glass-like surface, remembering the horror and despair he’d felt watching Diluc’s Vision flicker and nearly go out. Curling around it and hoping, praying, even to the archons who had every reason to hate him, anything so long as they just let Diluc live.
Raven’s head nearly knocking Kaeya off his feet interrupted his spiraling thoughts, and he tried to force a chuckle, scrubbing the tears away that had managed to sneak out. “Sorry. I know it’s my fault he’s not here to be with you. Don’t worry, I’ll–”
His words got interrupted this time, as he frantically scrambled to try to keep the massive horse from eating his eyepatch. “Stop that! You’re a horse, not a goat, damn it! Give that back!”
A short tussle later, Kaeya stared at the sodden half-chewed mass in his hand and sighed. This is why he brought a spare every time he left the city. Not because it might get caught in a tree branch, or cut off in battle… but because of Raven. “You’re a bitch, you know that? Oww!”
He rubbed his shoulder, glaring. “Fine. I concede. Now can we get your hair properly braided?”
You would never know Raven had ever been anything but perfectly composed. Suddenly she was standing still and poised, waiting for his fingers and brush. Kaeya laughed more genuinely this time, and set to work.
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It was well after dark by the time Kaeya made it back to headquarters on Glass, grateful his mare had been cooperative with night-riding on the familiar, well-tended roads close to the city. He hadn’t been able to get all the dirt from her roll out of the mane, despite his best efforts, and he made a mental note to take both mares for a bath the next time Jean randomly decided to enforce a ‘rest day’.
In the meantime, he made sure his girl got a proper rub-down before leaving her stall. The stablehands hired by the knights were generally competent, but a rub-down was also bonding time… and Glass deserved the best, before he headed off to the next part of his duties.
He could walk to the Angel’s Share in his sleep, practically, and today– tonight– that was just as well. It had been far too long since Kaeya’s last cup of coffee. He could sneak more in if he could talk Charles into letting him run the bar instead for a bit… the aroma was not terribly disguisable in a purportedly alcoholic drink, but no one thought twice about the barkeep drinking coffee.
The knight found he was in luck. Charles hadn’t even arrived yet– as much as the man tried, he’d been late fairly often since his daughter had been born– and the dayshifter was clearly desperate to head home. Kaeya grinned and jerked his thumb at the door, and the man wasted no time tossing him the rag and apron and skedaddling.
It didn’t look to be a particularly busy evening. The dinner rush was already long over, and the only customers at the bar were the regulars who would be there until near closing time every night, quietly nursing their drinks. Kaeya already knew what they wanted, and simply made sure to slide them a fresh glass whenever one lifted a finger.
Lovely. That left plenty of time to start a pot or two of coffee and drink it down.
Charles finally showed up, looking very frazzled, about an hour later, and a very caffeinated Kaeya cheerfully handed him control of the bar and set off for a table near the back. A suspicious-looking group had settled in just a few minutes before, and if he settled in with his back to them, apparently focused on a drink, he could hopefully pick up some interesting tidbits.
The barkeep walked over not long after he’d thrown the rough-looking individuals a smile and sat down, handing him his usual virgin ‘dandelion wine’ and a plateful of skewers. Kaeya opened his mouth to say he wasn’t hungry—
Well. When Charles had that look in his eye, the knight wouldn’t get any more drinks until the food was gone. So he just smiled and nodded, and set to. The man always made the best skewers in town, anyway, except for Kaeya’s own. And… okay, at this point he was hungry. A little.
“I see Charles beat me to it tonight,” Rosaria commented, sliding into the seat next to the knight. “For once I don’t need to shove food down your gullet.”
Kaeya glared briefly, “I eat!”
“Really? Since when? Name the last thing you ate that you weren’t forced to.” The nun lifted a hand to snag Charles’ attention, then turned back to Kaeya. “I wager it wasn’t anytime in the last week.”
“Uhhh…..” The knight racked his brain, trying to remember. He could just make something up– if it was anyone else. She always knew, somehow. “I think I had a carrot Raven didn’t want the other day?”
She snorted. “That doesn’t count. You need to have proper meals, Kaeya, or by Barbietoes’ ass you’ll wither away and vanish.”
“Barbatos.” How a nun could get the name of Mond’s archon wrong every single time, Kaeya had no idea. Unless it was on purpose. But he’d rather not draw any archon’s attention, so… “And I do. Between you, Charles, and Adelinde, I’ll be stuffed rounder than an autumn boar at this rate.”
Charles interrupted their discussion bringing Rosie’s usual starter, a Death After Noon and a plate of fresh-carved roasted chicken. He also set another plate of skewers in front of Kaeya, along with what looked like another Death After Noon– though the knight knew his would be completely without alcohol.
It seemed his prediction was accurate. Usually he could get away with just one plate of skewers.
“As if we ever could. I swear you’re still getting thinner, Kaeya,” Rosie snarked, pausing long enough for a bite of chicken. ”Maybe I should drag you to the church for a day or two. I bet the other nuns would make sure you ate properly.”
“Don’t you dare! Do that, and I’ll tell them about your drinking, Rosie!” Kaeya suppressed a grin as the group behind them finally relaxed and returned to their own conversation. This old argument was hardly going to take his full attention- that was the point. He could respond without thinking while listening in, and filing away useful tidbits. “I’ll also tell them about your nicknames for Barbatos— “
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Hours later, when Kaeya was just about the last customer at the tavern, Charles made a show of shooing him out the door. The knight put on an act of being an amiable, staggering drunk for the few witnesses, and kept it up down the streets until he was nearly to the house he was watching for Adelinde. From there– where there was no one to see, in the wee hours of morning– he straightened and walked more normally to Ragnvindr Manor instead.
There was no need to disturb anyone so late. Or early, depending how you counted. Kaeya still had a key, for now, so he let himself in and headed straight for the ground-floor office, pausing only long enough to wave when Adelinde poked her head out to see who had come in. In the office, more piles of paperwork awaited his attention, if not nearly as much as he’d handled for the knights that morning.
He might no longer be a Ragnvindr, semantically, but legally he was the only one here with the name. And someone had to keep things running.
The paperwork was soothing, in a way, after a long day. Like when he was a kid, and had sat next to this same desk as Da– Master Crepus– did much the same paperwork. Kaeya traced his fingers over the signature he only used here, Kaeya Ragnvindr, and sighed. If only… but no. he’d thrown that away before he’d ever even had it. He’d thrown it away by being born.
When the last paper was signed and placed in its stack, Kaeya stretched and glanced out the window. It was time to head back to Adelinde’s house and sleep, though as the first hints of dawn streaked the early summer sky, he knew it would only be a couple hours before it was all to do again.