Diluc x Reader

25

the four of you made your way out of the hotel rooms and went into the elevator, going all the way down to have a nice dinner on the big terrace.

the sun already set but not too long ago, giving the clear sky still a faint warm orange tint. besides that, the different colored lanterns were on, making the scenery more beautiful.

the scenery was painted in various colors around you, giving the area hints of purple, blue and green tints because of the lanters.

there wasnt too much light coming from the lanterns, making the stars in the sky still visible for your eyes. you all took a seat at one of the many bamboo tables on the terrace.

there were many people at wangshu inn, especially since it was time to have dinner. you heard people around you laughing and talking about whatnot. you sat down at a squared table in front of aether, with paimon and diluc both on either side of you.

not much later it was time to order your respective meals, you decided to go with almond tofu. aether and paimon both ordered matsutake rolls and diluc got some monstadt hash browns.

aether explained his plans for the upcoming journey while you were all waiting for the meals. "tomorrow around 3PM, we will start moving again." he started with as he shifted a bit on his seat.

"are you sure we cant stay any longer?" paimon dragged out as she looked at aether, "we need more breaks!" she demanded from the poor boy who just gave her a sheepish smile.

you wanted to be able to have more breaks like this as well but your identity was more important now, "the rite of descension is in a few days, we cant miss it." you said to paimon who immediately stated pouting.

"you can consider your trip in liyue like a break too." diluc then suggested as he placed one elbow on the table to place his chin in it, leaning on the table slightly. suddenly you smelled a delicious aroma of your almond tofu which made you tilt your head to the side.

your guess was right, it was indeed your meal as you saw the waiter come closer with a tray which had several plates on it. you got your gloves off that matched your traveler outfit, since it could be quite difficult to eat with them.

the waitress gave you all the meals and not much later you all started eating it. your almond tofu was delicious. the bittersweet flavor combined with cold texture was just like what you expected, the fresh taste flooded in your mouth which was a great contrast to the warm atmosphere around you.

aether wasted no time and got back to explaining his plans again, "we only have to pass one more statue of the seven and then we will be there." he informed you all.

diluc then spoke up, you expected it to be something about aethers plans but instead was directing at you, "y/n." he said to catch your attention.

you swallowed your bit of almond tofu and shifted your gaze to him, letting him know he had your full attention and waited for him to continue.

"how will you confirm your identity?" he asked you, it was not in a way of distrusting you, he genuinely was curious on how you would do it.

you opened your mouth to speak up, "i have several friends there, they can tell you all about my life in liyue." you said confidently, you broke the eye contact soon after and got back to eating your almond tofu.

"i see, thats good." diluc retorted after he realized you wouldnt say anything else on that matter. paimon jumped in the conversation too, "id love to meet your friends too, n/n!" she said with sparkles in her eyes.

and that was the difficult part, you havent talked to childe after that last information exchange with your device from snezhnaya, which was almost five weeks ago, and therefore you didnt know what he was planning to do.

you carefully searched for your words, "im sure they love to meet you too." you said as you gave her a small smile.

diluc had one more question, he didnt know why he asked it but couldnt stop the words from coming out of his mouth, "will you stay in liyue after we confirmed your identity?"

his voice was quiet, diluc didnt make any eye contact with you and kept his eyes fixated on the food in front of him. you looked at him and spoke up.

not only diluc was waiting for your answer, but paimon and aether as well, the atmosphere around you got slightly thicker untill you spoke up again.

"it depends." you finally said in all honesty. "if monstadt allows me to continue to travel, then ill travel more." you explained simply as you casted your gaze down on your food.

"if they think im a threat or such, i wont be allowed to travel and stay in liyue." you said with slight disappointment in your voice.

this was so far one of your most difficult missions, you didnt know if it would work out or not. if mondstadt were to announce that you were a threat, you couldnt do any simple missions anymore such as information gathering.

paimon was about to have an outburst again but diluc spoke up before she could and calmly reassured you, "im sure you will continue to travel." he said and indirectly told you that he didnt doubt you anymore.

right after the words left diluc mouth you tilted your head up and shifted your gaze on him, making sure he just said that. you didnt know what happened to diluc but he seemed like he was willing to put trust in you now.

which was your first step to ending this mission in a good way. diluc had alot of power in mondstadt even if he wasnt a knight of favonius.

as your eyes scanned his expression, which was a genuine one, he seemed calm and honest about his words. but your eyes noticed something else too.

a small crumble of his mondstadt hashbrowns was on his cheek, close to the corner of his mouth. he seemed to be done with eating as well and was unaware of the piece of food on his face.

instinctively, you reached out your hand towards his face while he was listening to paimons rambling about why aether should extend this break.

your fingertips got closer and closer to his cheek, eventually making contact with it. he flinched in the slightest bit but didnt do anything about it after he saw that it was your touch.

with your palm cupping his cheek, you used your thumb to brush the few crumbles away from his face. his face was warm and softer than you expected.

especially since you had your gloves off, you could really feel all the warmth radiating off. right as your hand broke contact with his skin, you noticed that the man was just looking at you with slightly widened eyes.

you spoke up, "you had something on your face." you said plainly after he was just staring at you. his gaze shifted almost in an instant, his eyes that displayed confusion and hope were now looking away from you, trying to not make eye contact with you.

diluc raised his fist to his mouth and coughed several times in it, trying to pretend like that just never happened. 'is he... embarrassed...?' you thought to yourself after seeing his futile attempt to hide his face.

but not only that, your eyes shifted a bit to the lower part of his face, a little skin was still visible through his gloved hand and you saw his cheek had a dark red tint.