Diluc x Reader

28

once you realized whose voice it was, you slightly widened your eyes and turned your head to look over your shoulder.

your eyes met with fierce red ones, just like you expected as you heard his usual calm words. you figured diluc was here for the same reason as you, but it wouldnt hurt to ask and confirm.

"cant sleep either?" you asked him as he approached you from behind to stand besides you, leaning on the railing as well.

diluc wasnt wearing his travelers outfit, instead, he wore a black long sleeved shirt accompanied with black sweatpants. his gloves were off while he was still wearing his usual shoes.

he too breathed in the fresh air as he stood besides you, "i figured it would be better to spend some time here than lay awake the entire night." he said without making eye contact with you, he continued to gaze over the land in front of him.

you looked over to diluc who kept his eyes in front of him, his red bangs and low ponytail moving along in the wind as you continued to study his side profile.

but you didnt stare too long, you shifted your eyes back to the mountains in front of you and spoke up, "same here." you silently agreed with him.

there was a comfortable silence over the two of you, the rustling of the leaves around you, the wind softly flowing in between your hair, a few strangers below the balcony still conversing and the infinite amount of stars illumimating the night sky.

neither of you felt the need to say anything, untill diluc decided to ask you something personal, "you seemed troubled when i came here." he said, it was supposed to come out like a question but sounded like a statement.

you knew he was wondering why so you decided to speak up, but kept the details vague, "there is nothing to worry about." you started off as you fiddled with your own hands as you had your arms leaned on the railing.

diluc thought that you were done talking and felt slightly disappointed. "travelling just gets lonely sometimes." you breathed out and casted your gaze downwards to the bridge of wangshu inn.

you didnt expect to feel like this already, normally your lack of human connections would get to you during the end of your missions, not in the middle of it. you wondered why.

the red haired man besides you shifted his gaze from the mountains to you and studied your expression, which was a genuine troubled one.

with furrowed brows you still looked downwards, diluc then asked you more, "how about your home? is your family not enough?" he asked twice while looking at your side profile.

family was a heavy topic for diluc, even if he only grew up with one parental figure and an adopted brother, he still felt like it was enough for himself.

your only family would be the fatui, you answered his questions in al honesty, "we are all travelers." you said and looked to him, meeting his eyes in the process.

"we dont see each other often." you concluded while keeping the eye contact with him, his eyes were curious and he seemed seriously interested in your life.

diluc raised one of his bare hands up to cup his own cheek as he looked at you, his elbow resting on the wooden railing below him.

he listened to your answer and put some of the pieces together, "you arent home often, are you?" diluc asked you yet another personal but smart question.

to answer the question, you received mission after mission and always choose not to think much of it. you remained silent, as a way of saying yes to his previous question.

which came to the result of the red haired man speaking up once more, much to contradiction to his usual silent behavior. "do you have a place to call home?" he asked you.

you desperately wanted to say yes but knew it would only be for your own benefit. you did love the fatui with all your heart but to say that it was your real home went too far.

childe did call the fatui a home to him, but he had a family outside of it, so did signora and dottore.

with the wind flowing through your hair once again, the soft breeze made a strand of your hair fall on the side of your face. it didnt bother you much since it wasnt blocking your vision in any way.

diluc who still gazed at you let your silence speak for you, while still cupping his cheek with one hand, his other hand reached out to you.

his fingers made contact with the loose strand of your hair that fell in front of your face. he placed the strand between his index and middle finger and brought it to your ear.

tucking the strand of hair behind your ear, his fingers made contact with the shell of your ear. now that the red haired man wasnt wearing gloves, you could feel how delicate and gentle his touch really was, not to mention how warm.

you couldve sworn that his touch lingered around longer than needed, but wouldnt complain about that.

"you can call mondstadt your home." he then breathed out while continuing to look at you. the corners of his mouth tilted upwards as he spoke those words, but only for a split second.