Reunited. Diluc x Jean.

1. Wishes come true after all.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

The sound of a rubber ball hitting the wall adjacent could be likened to a metronome; constant and perfectly in rhythm. Jean had caught Klee trying to decorate a bomb with glitter and stickers, as a present for her mother's birthday. The child's heart was in the right place, but her common sense was nowhere to be seen - she was only 8 after all - a fact which made Jean feel all the more guilty for locking the child in a room alone to think about what she had almost done.

Two more minutes, and Jean could end both of their suffering. She was blaming her lack of work in the past hour on the sound of Klee's bouncing in the next room, but in reality, things were rather quiet for the Knights as of late. This was the last thing she expected, given Varka's absence and the issues that Stormterror had been causing the city recently, however, the encroaching Hilichurl camps and increase in Treasure Hoarder attacks on visiting wagons were seldom reaching her desk as issues to be resolved. Reports of a vigilante had been swirling around the streets of Mondstadt for around a week, leaving ashen fields in their absence as camps were left vanquished and criminals were left tied back to back on the doorstep of the Knights of Favonius' Headquarters, hence the lack of work for Jean to tackle. 

Despite always wishing for a moment of rest in her busy days as Acting Grand Master, sitting here now, with nothing more to do than sit and listen to her surroundings until the thudding felt like her own heartbeat whooshing through her ears, was driving Jean crazy. Truthfully, she was glad she had found Klee misbehaving, as reprimanding her was the most thrilling thing she had done since clocking on this morning. 

'Master Jean! It's thwee o'clock! You said Klee could come out now!' 

Music to her ears, Jean unlocked the door to the solitary confinement chamber, and got down on one knee, in order to meet Klee's eye level.

'Make me one simple promise, and we can go and do something fun.' 

Jean held out her pinky finger, for Klee to link hers around. Hesitantly, the child returned the gesture, hoping Jean wouldn't make her promise to eat vegetables every day for the rest of her life.

'No more playing with your vision at home, Klee.'

'But, But- Fiiine.'

This retort was all Jean needed, knowing that Klee valued a pinky promise as highly as she did her own Mother. She jumped up to her feet, grabbed her cloak, and tied it neatly around her neck.

'We're going to Windrise!'

Taking Klee to pick some flowers for her mother's birthday was a solution to both of their problems, as well as a chance for Jean to stretch her legs and possibly scout out the area for camps to report back to the Knights. After stopping briefly to alert Lisa and Kaeya to her absence for the rest of the working day, her and Klee set out, hand in hand, across the bridge out of Mondstadt.

It was an especially warm day, considering it was only spring, and Jean felt herself relax as the warmth of the sun caressed her skin. She knew that if the weather stayed like this, she would soon have freckles decorating the bridge of her nose, something she greatly enjoyed seeing, as it felt like a sign that summer was just around the corner. Someone had also told her they suited her once, however she hadn't seen them in years, and compliments had phased out of their daily conversations up to the last time they had spoken. 

'Jean? Jean!'

A tug on her hand brought Jean back out of the daydream she had caught herself in, she mentally scolded herself for her inattentiveness outside of the safe lines of Mondstadt, especially when she was responsible for not only herself, but for Klee. Yet again, getting caught up in thought led to Jean forgetting to respond to her name being called at increasing volumes.