Chapter Text
Kaeya knew Diluc better than almost anyone. That was merely a fact. So when he’d arrived at the Winery to check in on his brother, it came as no surprise to him that the man had been nowhere to be seen all morning. It was his birthday, after all, and while birthdays were meant to be times of celebration, for the Ragnvindr family it was a time of mourning as well. One that Diluc took the hardest of any of them. He couldn’t be blamed for that. After all, it was in his arms that Crepus had died. It was his life, among the others of their retinue, that Crepus had died while trying to save. Though the pyro-user never talked about it, Kaeya knew he blamed himself for what happened.
If only he had been stronger, or acted faster. If only he had pushed himself just a little further in his training, maybe their father would still be alive. Kaeya knew those thoughts, because he had the same ones. The same guilt of feeling he was in some way responsible for Crepus’ death. But in the end, it was Diluc who had been there to witness the scene. It was Diluc who bore the burden of ending the man’s suffering. Or so it was believed. Though the evidence pointed to it, his brother had never confirmed or denied that fact. Never once had he even brought the incident up. As if somehow retelling the scene would only cement it into reality.
So instead Diluc had made the habit of isolating himself on that day. It had been the same for the three years prior. His brother would disappear sometime in the night before and not be seen until the next day. Perhaps some would call him inconsiderate for not spending the day with his family or paying respects to their father’s grave, but Kaeya didn’t think so. On other days of the year, Diluc often visited Crepus’ grave. Of late, sometimes they would even go together. Just never on his birthday, because sometimes it’s better just to reminisce on the good days than to be reminded of the bad ones. It had always been Diluc’s style to process his negative feelings by making himself so busy he wouldn’t have a chance to think about them. To let off his steam through physical labor.
Kaeya only wished that Diluc didn’t feel so obligated to suffer alone.
Though their relationship had slowly been on the mend, it was not the same as it used to be. It never would be again. That blind trust they had in each other was gone. They were trying though. They were making progress. So perhaps that was why Kaeya couldn’t help but feel a tinge of disappointment to find that Diluc was gone again, even if he wasn’t surprised.
“He wasn’t present for dinner last night either.” The maid’s voice was laced with concern. While she had every confidence in Diluc, she also knew he was far more reckless when emotionally charged. Every year when he returned, he always seemed to have collected some injury or other. Not accounting for the mess of scars left over from his four year murder spree.
‘Fool,’ Kaeya thought bitterly. “I’m sure he’ll be back sooner rather than later, Addy. It’s been raining since last night and he hates being wet. Just give it a couple hours, you’ll see.”
Adelinde already knew this about the young master, of course, but it didn’t hurt to reassure her. Unfortunately, a couple hours did pass, and still there was no sign of Diluc’s return. Meanwhile the steady drizzle outside had turned to pouring rain as the air became heavy with the threat of lightning. The worse the weather grew, the more uncertain Kaeya and Adelinde became. Elzer soon joined them, waiting expectantly in the parlor with hot tea at the ready for the sound of Diluc’s heavy boots tramping up to the front door. After a while, he moved to watch through the entry window.
Kaeya stood with a stretch, electing to start a pot of coffee rather than sip on another cup of earl grey. Noting the way Adelinde and Elzer were watching the door, he said nonchalantly, “He’s probably holed up in a domain right now. Stubborn as he is, even Diluc knows better than to be out in weather like this.”
“Yes, you’re right.” Elzer reluctantly moved away from the door, but his eyes remained fixed on the window. “Master Diluc is quite the capable young man.”
Another hour passed, and it seemed more certain that Kaeya’s statement was correct. There were plenty of domains scattered around Mondstadt that Diluc could have decided to raid in his quest to distract himself from the memory of that day. Given that it had started raining the night before, the pyro-user had most likely headed towards one of the domains from the start. If he had cleared it by then, which was more likely than not, he’d probably realized how bad the storm had gotten and decided to stay put until it lightened up. It wasn’t as if this was the first time that had happened.
Yet Kaeya could help the feeling in his gut that he was wrong. Call it a sibling sense if one would, but he and Diluc always seemed to have a knack for knowing when the other was in trouble, and all day Kaeya had felt it slowly festering up to the surface of his mind.
His fingers drummed against his cup of freshly poured coffee. Should he go out to look for Diluc just in case? No, the chances of him finding the man in that storm were slim, and it would only serve to worry the staff more than they already were. He would just have to wait like the rest of them.
All three of their ears suddenly perked as the sound of heavy footsteps broke through the thundering of the rain against the earth.
Elzer was the first to the door, but by then the knob had already turned it open as a soaking wet Diluc stepped through the threshold. Kaeya let out a breath of relief.
“My, look who finally decided to—”
His words died in his mouth as his eyes took in the other’s state. The man’s clothes were torn and bloodstained in multiple places, his skin looked even more sickly pale than usual, and his entire body was shivering violently. The fact that Kaeya didn’t see any steam rising off of him wasn’t a good sign either. Adelinde rushed to his side to help remove his soaked cloak and overcoat. As she did so however, Diluc began to sway on his feet before his knees buckled entirely.
“Diluc— Shit .”
Kaeya darted forward to catch him before he had a chance to hit the ground. Archons, he was heavy . Were their roles reversed, Diluc would have easily been able to carry Kaeya up to his room at that point. Unfortunately, that was not the case for the other way around. Despite being shorter than Kaeya by several inches, the man weighed significantly more due to his bulky musculature. A difference that was made even greater now that Diluc and his many layers of clothes were so drenched. As such, Kaeya was forced to share the burden with Elzer to carry the half-conscious man up the stairs and to his room.
Adelinde wasted no time in removing Diluc’s soaked clothes and taking stock of the injuries beneath. Nothing life-threatening, thank the gods, but some were deep enough that a healer would be needed to prevent them from scarring.
“I’ll ride to the city to fetch Miss Barbara or Master Jean,” Elzer said resolutely. As he turned to leave however, Diluc grabbed his arm and shook his head weakly.
“No, m’fine. Storm.”
Kaeya was surprised his brother was still lucid enough to keep track of the conversation. He had to agree with him though. As much as the man would benefit from Vision healing, it was too risky riding to the city and back in that weather. He could survive without it for a day. “When the storm dies down, we can send someone. For now let’s just get him dry and warmed up. I’ll grab the medical kit while you heat up some water. Addy, I trust you can finish drying him off?”
The woman nodded. “Yes, though I may need help lifting him onto the bed afterwards.”
In the end it wasn’t necessary. No longer bogged down by rainwater, Diluc had found the strength to assist Adelinde before passing out entirely.
“Poor thing is freezing,” Adelinde muttered as Kaeya returned with the medical. He felt his brother’s forehead and was dismayed by how clammy it was. Especially for being a pyro-user. The next hour was spent dressing his wounds and raising his body temperature the best they could. They worked quickly, but were careful not to warm him too quickly for risk of his body going into shock.
The entire time Kaeya kept his distance. Not because he didn’t want to help, but rather he feared his cryo Vision would only mitigate their efforts.
Finally, once they had determined they had done all they could for him for the time being, Elzer and Adelinde sat back to catch their breaths. The room had warmed considerably on account of the fire they'd started in the hearth, almost to an uncomfortable degree. That, along with the many layers of blankets having been piled atop him, hopefully would be enough to raise his body back to a healthy temperature.
They'd tried to give him warm water to drink as well, but given that he had gone unconscious before Elzer had a chance to bring it to the room, it would have to wait until later.
“What was he thinking, being out there in that storm?” Though Kaeya had been the one to voice the question, he knew they all were thinking it. Judging by the state he was in, it was easy to deduce he must have been in the rain directly for quite some time. Normally his Vision would have been enough to keep him at least relatively warm, but when Kaeya checked it, he found that its energy was drained from overuse. “Even he isn't normally that thick-headed.”
Adelinde put a hand to Kaeya's shoulder. “Be gentle, Master Kaeya. We don't know what happened.”
Right. She was right. They didn't know. Diluc could have had a good reason for remaining outside in such foul weather, Kaeya just couldn't imagine what it could possibly be. “You're right, Addy. I shouldn't judge before we know the whole story.”
The cryo-user's sentence was punctuated by the sound of his stomach growling. He looked at the time and was surprised to see it was nearly seven in the evening.
Adelinde appeared surprised as well. “Oh dear, it's late and I haven’t even started dinner. I’ll start a pot of soup. I think that would do Master Diluc well once he wakes.”
“I think that’s a splendid idea, Addy. Good thinking.”
To be honest, Kaeya wouldn’t mind a nice bowl of soup as well. It was certainly the right weather for it, and he was starting to feel the chill from his own clothes getting wet while trying to carry Diluc up the stairs. At least Addy and his brother were both gracious enough to ensure he always had a spare set of clean clothes waiting for him in his old room.
As his soiled garments fell to the floor, Kaeya couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty about all the laundry being created for the maids, but it couldn’t really be helped. It hadn’t taken him long to change, but by the time he came back down the stairs he could already smell the scent of Adelinde’s cooking.
His stomach growled again in anticipation…
~ ~ ~
Later That Night
Wind and rain still rattled the windows by Kaeya’s bed when he woke sometime early into the predawn hours. He was tempted to roll over and go back to sleep, but something compelled him to check on Diluc. The man had still been sleeping when he’d gone to bed around midnight, but his temperature was on the rise and it seemed as if he’d make a smooth recovery. Still, there was a nagging somewhere in the back of Kaeya’s mind that would not allow him to rest until he checked again.
Goosebumps ran up his limbs as he left the warmth of his bed with a yawn. He liked to fall asleep with his room cold but it always came back to bite in the mornings. Diluc on the other hand always kept his room warm and toasty, and that night was far from an exception. Unsurprisingly his brother was asleep, and the bowl of soup Adelinde had left for him was still sitting on his bedside table, uneaten. The maid had initially insisted on staying in the room with Diluc just in case something went wrong, but Kaeya had been able to convince her Diluc would be fine and that she ought to get some rest. Looking at his brother now, though, he wondered if that had been the right call.
The man still looked pale as death, but now sweat was lining his brow as if he were overheating. Kaeya put a hand to his brother’s forehead only to quickly withdraw it.
Fuck. He definitely had a fever, and a high one at that.
Kaeya considered waking Adelinde to help him, but then thought the better of it. She’d only blame herself for Diluc’s condition worsening again because she hadn’t stayed with him. No, Kaeya would take care of this until she awoke.
He started by removing the majority of Diluc’s covers as well as his Vision, which he placed on the dresser furthest from the bed. Then he went downstairs to get a rag and a pitcher of water, both of which he cooled with his own Vision. Given how sweaty the other was and the fact that he had yet to drink anything since showing up at the Winery’s doorstep, Kaeya knew that dehydration would have set in by then. He shook his brother’s shoulder firmly but gently.
“Diluc, I need you to wake up. Diluc. Come on, wake up.”
To his relief, the man shifted before opening his eyes sluggishly. He didn’t appear entirely lucid, but as long as Kaeya could get him to drink something it wouldn’t matter.
“Hey, can you sit up for me?”
“M’tired.”
“I know, but I need you to drink something. You’re dehydrated and have a fever.” Diluc’s eyes began to drift close but Kaeya shook him again. “You can go back to sleep after you’ve had some water.”
Diluc let out a groan as Kaeya tried lifting his upper body and wedging pillows beneath it, but thankfully he didn’t put up a fight about it. Nor when Kaeya had put the glass of water to his lips.
“That’s it, just drink.”
Though much of the water ended up dribbling down his chin, Kaeya managed to make him drink a couple glasses worth before releasing him again. Almost immediately the pyro-user’s eyes shut again as unconsciousness took him, but at least he had some liquid in him now.
It felt strange as Kaeya frosted over the damp rag and pressed it to Diluc’s forehead. In the past it had always been Diluc wanting to care for him when he was unwell. It happened often while they were kids, and every time Diluc had been there for him, always quick to take the role of ‘big brother’. Now they were grown and only recently overcoming years of estrangement, yet there Kaeya was, tending to his brother just like Diluc had done for him time and again. Seeing the normally capable and independent protector of Mondstandt so vulnerable made his protective side show its head, and with it came a determination to ensure Diluc would be safe and well.
Yes. At least until Diluc was on his feet again, it was Kaeya’s turn to be the big brother.