LOYALTY. | diluc x reader

eight - holding on

it was a quiet day in mondstadt, colder then ever. frost lined the corners and edges of glass windows like lace over the brim of a dress, the inside warmth gave hope to those who didn't know needed it. december came swiftly, turning flowers into dead ice.

speaking of ice, kaeya alberich was on his way to jeans office to deliver some papers regarding snezhnaya. the snowy land was causing them problems once again, or more specifically the business men that came from there.

he knocked on the door of the office, letting himself in after hearing an approving yell from the other side of the door.

the blond woman, jean, was sat behind her desk as per usual. she smiled at the blue haired man, holding her hand out for the papers in his own hand.

–"thank you" jean smiled, getting up from her seat and turning to the window that was once behind her.

kaeya nodded, he stood there for a minute to observe the woman. he wanted to make sure she wasn't overworking herself again, last time that happened it didn't really end well.

the city was really grateful for jean and everything she did, but they could never understand just how much of her soul she actually puts into her work. that's why there are people such as kaeya and lisa to check on her every so often.

jean gazed through the frosted window, looking over at the dark grey clouds that complimented the harbor grey sky. she thought her mind was playing tricks on her when she noticed the clouds were getting darker abnormally fast.

–"is your water supposed to be doing that?" kaeya asked suddenly, snapping the woman from her trance of staring outside the window.

jean turned around, looking at the cup on her table and the water inside of it that was moving by itself. she released her crossed arms, looking over at kaeya with a confused look on her face.

the ground suddenly started to shake on its own, sending a few books off the shelves and onto the cold tiled floor.

–"an earthquake?" kaeya asked the woman who seemed distressed, her eyes wide and arms out as if she were about to fall at any moment.

–"we have to warn everybody!" jean heroically yelled out, running out of her office and into the library as she hurriedly searched for somebody.

kaeya ran out the entrance of the building, being met with a dark cloud over the once fairly sunny mondstadt. or at least as sunny as it can get at the beginning of december.

the people were rushing out of their homes, mothers hugging their children in a protective manor. kaeya looked back up at the cloud, seeing it only spread even more over the edge of the city and over nearby forests and plains.

he noticed a few cryo abyss mages appear out of nowhere, floating one foot from the ground in the air with a circular shield around them. the mages looked fairly normal, however the shields had a certain darkness to them. this only sparked more curiosity in the man.

he walked over to the edge of the walkway, looking over the shrubbery with a squeezed eye. it was times like these in which he really despised his eye patch.

jean ran out with lisa and a few other knights relatively fast, the ground still vibrating beneath their feet.

–"what is that?" she asked kaeya as he shook his head in disbelief.

–"the abyss order is at it again, it seems" kaeya replied, feeling the wind take his tied long hair with it.

–"at least the ground is not shaking anymore" lisa added on as she fixed the purple brimmed hat on her head.