Athena's sacred bird
The tavern door opened but to Kaeya's misfortune the one who entered was not Rosaria, but Diluc.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me."
Diluc had been brought to the tavern by force, rather the knights under his command who had gone to replace him had told him that he had to go and that if he didn't, they would tell Varka that he had skipped out on going for a drink with everyone.
Diluc didn't hate going to the tavern, but going meant that his father would probably be there.
Going in uniform, to the tavern, with all the other knights meant that they would try to get him to drink, and Diluc hated drinking.
It was also true that his father was going to start his shift later as he had been in a meeting.
So Diluc would probably arrive at the tavern before his father.
The thing is, it was going to be awkward as he would be watching everyone get drunk and he would end up talking to his father all night when they got tired of trying to force him to drink.
Then he would have a talk with his father about the dangers of alcohol, which he had not consumed, and in the end it would just end in 'but don't worry son, I know you're not going to do all that stuff I just explained to you'.
So Diluc entered the tavern pissed .
What had Diluc particularly surprised was how the young man from before knew his name.
"'His name was Kaeya? I should investigate that he is not someone dangerous, even so he seemed quite young, according to the information from the adventurer's guild he is only two years older than me."
He looked at the door of Angels Share for a few seconds before actually entering, he had to mentally prepare himself for what he was about to encounter.
As soon as he walked in what he saw was a bunch of knights drinking quietly, which was odd since they were never this calm, then a bluish hair caught his eye.
It was the young man from before, drinking with someone else, for a moment he felt their gazes had crossed.
"He must be waiting for someone, otherwise he wouldn't have looked towards the door."
What Diluc hadn't expected was that all the knights had noticed that he had stared at the blue-haired fellow and were already formulating a plan to get their beloved captain to talk to the stranger.
-Captain Diluc! Sit down with us, come on!
Shouted one of them, seeing how the redhead had stared at the stranger, who was still talking to the bard.
-Yeah! Don't gape at him or you'll get flies in your mouth!
As soon as he heard that, his face turned the same color as his hair, generating laughter from his subordinates.
-Captain, has the new guy caught your attention? Do you know if he's here to stay?
With a sigh Diluc sat down on a chair near the bar and decided to answer.
-I only know that he is from Liyue, that he is eighteen and that his name is Kaeya.
-You even know his name! This is a record!
Diluc was getting redder and redder.
"Really, they have to be drunk to go around with this, again."
Knowing he could do nothing to calm them down he decided to look around him to see what was going on in the tavern.
Without knowing why his eyes ended up on the table of the stranger, who gave him an uncomfortable smile, realizing this he turned his head quickly only to find all the knights grinning at him from ear to ear.
"Shit."
-Hey captain, don't you think you should go talk to him?
-Come on Captain! You've never shown that much interest in someone before.
-That much? He hasn't even shown interest in general until now!
-And he's our number one bachelor!
Unable to cope with all the nonsense Diluc, gave up.
-Okay, okay! If it'll shut you guys up
The knights high-fived with each other.
-Good luck captain!
-You can do it!
Unable to hide a soft smile, he got up and went to talk to the foreigner, who was quietly drinking.
The first thing he noticed was that the way he was dressed was interesting, it was certainly traditional Liyue clothing but there were a few changes in his attire, like the fact that his chest was completely exposed and that his accent was not from Liyue, in fact his accent was a strange mix for Diluc.
The next thing he noticed was that from his posture he didn't seem to handle weapons or at least Diluc wasn't sure if the person in front of him handled weapons as although a sword could be seen on his hip he didn't look like someone dangerous or someone trained to handle the sword.
The third thing he noticed was that the person in front of him did not seem to have a vision, certainly if he did it was not in sight.
And lastly, the person in front of him was nervous or seemed nervous.
"Is it because I am a captain or because my father is a well-known businessman?"
Before he could figure out what to say the bard in front of him opened his mouth first.
-Ohoh! It's been a long time since I've seen a Ragnvindr!
The comment caught him by surprise but he couldn't run away now, the knights wouldn't let him live that down.
-Do you know my father?
At this Kaeya tensed up, it had been a long time since someone had spoken so calmly about Crepus, not even he himself would be able to talk calmly about it, even though he annoyed Diluc many times with that.
The Diluc in front of him was a Diluc who had not suffered the injustices of the world, a Diluc who did not know him, a Diluc who did not know anything, a Diluc who smiled happily instead of always being angry.
A Diluc who didn't hate him.
And Kaeya wasn't sure if approaching him was a good idea.
His plan was just to return to kill the Ursa the Drake and leave to never be seen again, his life in Liyue was good so staying there was not bad.
He knew exactly how, when and where the attack was going to happen and had come early so that his appearance in Mondstadt would not be a complete surprise.
"But, getting close to the person I have to save isn't a bad idea, is it?"
Kaeya flipped his coin.
"Heads I get close to him, tails I just stay for the festival."
Kaeya watched as the coin was about to land on tails only to have it change to heads at the last moment, as if a small gust of wind had moved it.
"Venti?"
But as he looked at the bard he was concentrating on the conversation in front of him and not on the strange occurrence with the coin.
-You mean the little Crepus? Ohoh! Of course! He's always been an interesting child!
Diluc frowned.
-Child? My father must be thirty years older than you!
"Come to think of it, why is Venti already in town? I don't remember seeing him when we were young..."
-Assuming someone's age so quickly!
When Diluc was about to answer Kaeya decided to interrupt.
-Come on, let's not start a fight over some silly thing!
Diluc, unlike Venti, had the normal reaction of getting embarrassed and sitting down.
-A pleasure, I'm Kaeya and you?
Kaeya could see Diluc frowning.
-But you already know?
"Eh? Diluc remembers? He? No, let's not jump to conclusions there must be a reason for this."
-I'd rather hear it from you, even though I've heard of you doesn't mean I know you.
-That's true, I'm Diluc, a pleasure to meet you Kaeya.
At this Venti shook the bottle.
-Hey! I'm still here you know! If you want to get lovey dovey go somewhere else!
This time both Kaeya and Diluc blushed.
-We weren't...
-Yes, yes I'll leave you two alone, I really just wanted to drink! See you tomorrow under Vanessa's tree, Alberich!
"I've never told him my last name... How? Venti, you really are full of secrets"
-See you then
Shortly afterwards the bard was already outside the tavern, but he didn't leave until he had taken three bottles of the best alcohol with him.
-Did you two know each other before?
Kaeya smiled a little.
-You could say so, Master Diluc.
-Just Diluc is fine.
Kaeya looked puzzled, while it was true that he wanted to get close to Diluc he didn't know how much he could afford to.
"It's okay, it's just a name, I'm not becoming best friends with him or anything."
-All right, Diluc
This got a chuckle from Diluc.
-What's so funny?
-It's nothing, rather, what brings you to Mondstadt? The festival is not until next week
-While it is true that the festival is what I come for, when most jobs there are for adventurers is when the festival is being prepared, it's a two-for-one, I enjoy the festival and get some mora.
Diluc thought for a moment.
-If you want the Dawn Winery needs an extra pair of hands, I can give you the job but for that I should evaluate your capabilities, would you be okay with that?
Kaeya kept getting surprised today, but the opportunity was too good to refuse.
-It's no problem at all, in fact it would be a great help.
-Okay, so first question, do you know how to pick grapes?
-Yes, as a child I once worked in a vineyard, it was one of my hobbies.
"More like I worked at your vineyard but I can't tell you that."
-Well, are you adept in any weapon?
Kaeya kept thinking, giving too much information here could be bad, so he could only answer a half-truth.
-My weapon of choice is the sword, you could say I'm pretty decent.
"It's not a lie, but honestly if I compare myself to the Diluc I know I'm confident that I'm capable of beating him, so if we look at the Diluc of now... The difference is abysmal."
-Well, last question, are you against doing heavy labor?
-Not really? That's the normal work of an adventurer, in Liyue I usually carry several boxes from one place to another when I'm requested to do so.
"I honestly don't know why master Zhang asks every week to bring him 4 pieces of pure iron, I guess he's pretty bored."
-Then it's alright, I'll discuss it with my father when he arrives, he should be just about to arrive.
"About to arrive? Oh no."
-Kaeya? Are you alright?
Diluc watched as Kaeya seemed to tense up.
" Is he nervous because he's going to meet his boss?"
-It's nothing Diluc, I was just wondering how to make a good first impression
Diluc nodded, it was normal to want to make a good impression the first time you meet your boss.
-Don't worry, my father is actually very nice.
"I know Diluc but I'm about to see the person who raised me and the person who died in front of me walk through that door."
Instead of saying all this Kaeya nodded his head and smiled.
They continued talking for a little while longer, neither of them were tired so they didn't notice that they had been talking for quite a while and it was getting late.
-So, is Liyue interesting to visit?
-I'd say it's quite interesting, although you have to be careful not to disturb the adeptus, they are a bit of a pain in the ass usually but in fact they are just lonely.
-Is that so? They were said to be myths but you seem to know them in person.
Kaeya laughed as Diluc looked at him with curiosity.
-I don't know what you're thinking but it's not that, there's actually more than one adeptus living in Liyue, for example, Yanfei is a half adeptus that everyone knows, there's also Ganyu, who works for lady Ningguang.
-Is that so?
The back door of Angel's Share opened, letting in a red-haired man with an affable smile.
-Diluc son, I didn't expect to find you here today, much less without the knights
Crepus scanned the young man his son was with and then glanced at the knights who seemed to be gossiping about what was going on at the table.
This immediately made him aware of what was going on and smiled.
-A pleasure to meet you young traveler, I am Crepus the father of Diluc, what brings you to Mondstadt?
-A pleasure Master Crepus, I am Kaeya, the reason for my visit is the festival but I am also here to work on the preparation of this one.
Diluc decided that bringing up the subject of work now was a good idea.
-About that, dad I have offered him to work in the vineyard these days as we are very busy, he says he has worked in a vineyard before so there should be no problem.
Crepus smiled at this.
-No problem, knowing how cautious my son is means you're someone to be trusted, still we'd better discuss working hours and pay before anything else
-It will be my pleasure
Diluc watched as they discussed and wrote down certain conditions, Kaeya seemed to know a lot about it, unlike him who was not so interested in the vineyard Kaeya seemed to have run one.
"I don't think he has run one, if he had, that winery would be known and would rival ours, even so I am curious as to why he hasn't opened one, he seems to enjoy this."
-Okay, so I'll see you tomorrow Kaeya, are you going to stay longer at the bar?
Kaeya nodded, he hadn't met Rosie yet.
-Yes, I'm actually waiting for someone, I hope she arrives at some point, the last time I saw her she looked like she really needed a drink.
Crepus looked at him puzzled.
-Is that so? When do you think your friend will arrive then?
Kaeya kept thinking and didn't notice that Diluc was looking at him, if he had looked a little closer he might have noticed that Diluc seemed to be jealous.
-I'm not sure, but if she doesn't show up in an hour I'm going to camp outside and sleep.
Diluc stared at him at the same time as Crepus.
-Are you going to camp, outside?
-Young man, I know you're an adventurer but I don't think that's safe.
Kaeya cursed, he had forgotten that not everyone saw that as normal and even if he wasn't going to be attacked it was quite common for others.
-Don't worry, I have experience
Diluc and Crepus exchanged glances.
-Dad, I'll stay with him this hour, in case he tries to sleep outside I'll take him to the mansion to sleep at the guest room.
-I was going to propose that just now so I'm fine with it.
"Wait what, why are you guys going around making decisions for me, I'm supposed to be eighteen!"
-Eh Master Crepus, Diluc don't worry it's not necessary....
-Don't worry kid, the guest room is comfortable!
"That's not what I meant!"
In the end Kaeya just gave up which made Crepus laugh.
Rosaria arrived just as Kaeya was about to give up.
When Rosaria saw the blue-haired boy greeting her with a wine glass in hand, her favorite, she decided that even if the glass was poisoned she was going to drink it.
"Fuck it, it's Monday, I'm not in the mood to think."
-I really don't know if you're dangerous or a complete idiot.
-Ouch
-Still, your friend seems to have fallen asleep on top of you.
Even though Diluc had said he was going to wait with Kaeya he had ended up falling sleep from exhaustion, this Diluc was not the Diluc that Kaeya knew, that Diluc could not sleep for days and keep going, this Diluc had not had to go through such a situation.
-That's true, it's a shame but I'm going to have to wake him up to take him home.
Rosaria nodded.
-Good luck then
-See you around, my name's Kaeya by the way.
-I already knew that, I've looked into it.
-Oh
-Rosaria, now go away, you little rascal.