of the loved and the unloved

the harbinger

he chuckles as he waves the wine glass jovially, joining in and singing along with the other fellow drunkards in his favorite tavern, albeit, one of the only in mondst. the pluck of lyre strings make him grin, it's cheerful and it's in times like these that kaeya realises that venti is, indeed, the best bard in mondstadt.

he is, with grace, on his eighth cup of the unanimous 'death after noon'. he's been here since 1800 hours, and it is now, very late past midnight. it's only when the tune finally ends and the bustle of the atmosphere resigns to idle chatter that he realises his cup is empty. he makes a grab for the wine bottle before it's snatched by a certain redhead. he looks up and snickers.

"well, if it isn't my darling brother~," he taunts, just for the fun of it, and diluc's left eyelid twitches. the man has got an iron grip on the practically finished wine bottle, and if any more force was added, it would definitely shatter to pieces. kaeya smiles with pure content, because this is the reaction he loves getting out of the redhead.

"do not call me your brother." diluc bites, tossing the item in his hand in the bin and discarding it. he picks up a wine glass and begins polishing it, sometimes wiping the counter as well. kaeya smiles brightly, completely unbothered and a bit tipsy, "and what is my dear, lovely, brother~ doing, working so late?"

"this dear lovely brother of yours will be snapping your neck in half if you do not leave immediately. most people leave when it reaches midnight, and yet here you are you damn alcoholic. i'm closing up the tavern, get—," diluc is interrupted when the door behind them opens. kaeya spins around to see who their unexpected guest is, especially since it's 0300 hours in the morning.

it's a traveler donning a black hood, mostly covering his head, upper half and midriff. all that can be seen under it are his belt with the hydro vision hanging off of it, grey pants, black boots, and gloves. he's wearing a mask, so his face can't be seen, the only thing that's revealed are the blue orbs that make his eyes; bright orange locks that can barely be contained by the hood are poking out the hood. it's a bit alarming that so much is hidden, after all, the first pointers of an enemy are their appearance.

the traveler walks in casually, and diluc's about to inform him the tavern is closing until aether follows behind him. "honorary knight! fancy meeting you here again, and at this late in the night too, what's the occasion?" kaeya's voice rings with eccentricities and for once, diluc is grateful for his ex-brother's archon-blessed communication skills.

"hey! aether's been working hard all day today; he doesn't need mr. flirty all up in his business right now, okay?" paimon's as expressive as she always is and the way kaeya laughs in response makes her blood boil. diluc sighs exasperatedly, every time he has to enter his own establishment, kids always enter and he's ashamed to say that he used to share a last name with one of them.

aether smiles at their banter and the traveler beside him chuckles just the same. "i'm sorry, aether, but i was just closing up the tavern. i'm afraid you can't stay for long." his voice is gentle, and it makes kaeya feel unnerved. this voice diluc uses is only used when talking to the people he cares about, it's endearing but it's been so long since he's heard it that it's become unsettling. he feigns unbothered, continuing to play punches with the tiny flying... girl? thing? that paimon is.

"oh, i'm sorry! we've just had a long trek from liyue to here. i didn't even realise how late it's gotten. no wonder it's so empty here."

"if you need accommodation, i have a few rooms upstairs you and your friend could stay in." diluc suggests, the sound of glass clinking against each other echo as he places the last one to its place. 'what a shame, that means i'll have to leave soon.' kaeya slightly pouts.

"talking about your friend, aether, come on, we're just dying to know who this character is. enlighten us." kaeya smiles brazenly, leaning his side against the counter. diluc had to admit, he was in fact, curious as well. the blonde's smile falters a bit, and that is a red flag for kaeya already.

aether turns to face his friend, and they nod at each other a little, as if they communicated an understanding between them. the hooded traveler takes his hood off, what's under there makes diluc drop the rag he's holding. kaeya is off his stool in seconds and he grips at the hilt of his sword that materializes from thin air. he knows diluc is behind the counter, claymore in hand as well, livid.

contrary to his previous tone, this one is filled with disdain, a hint of fire laced within it, "fatui..,"

"how interesting- now, now~ what business does the eleventh harbinger have with our honorary knight?" kaeya is now simmering with curiosity, because would you look at that, there's the famed eleventh fatui harbinger, tartaglia, in his brother's tavern, in front of them. right now.

"my, a bit possessive, aren't you? aether isn't mondstadt's to own." the harbinger snarks, swinging an arm across aether's shoulder. that seems to do it for diluc, because he slams his fist on the counter and it makes paimon squeak. "that's enough. what are you doing here in mondstadt, why are you with aether?"

"everyone, please, stop." finality and exhaustion radiates from the blonde's plead, and kaeya lowers his weapon and so does diluc, rather reluctantly. his eyes still narrow with hatred towards the harbinger, and if the blonde wasn't there to stop them, he'd be at the ginger's neck by now.

"let me explain. alright? i'm pretty sure you know who he is, but he means no harm. i swear. i only brought him along because he was interested in mondstadt and he had never been here before. since i was heading back here anyways, he decided to come along and i agreed with the condition that he doesn't cause anyone any trouble or hurt anyone. i'd really appreciate it if you didn't harm him because he is my friend. i know it's a lot to ask but.."

the harbinger looks surprised and it makes kaeya huff an icy laugh. he can restrain himself, sure. he's not sure if diluc can, though. he turns to the redhead beside him, and surely, he looks like he's out to kill.

"unbelievable. although i will respect your wishes and not harm him, i will not tolerate the likes of him within my premises."

just as he expected. diluc is reasonable, he is. however, he can be extremely stubborn when he wants to be. it took growing up with him and an unscrupulous amount of times of it happening to him to understand this. tartaglia laughs, "you're a feisty one now, aren't you?"

it's funny. this tartaglia reminds him of someone. kaeya knows that was probably the last straw of diluc's patience, and he's ready to defend the harbinger for aether's sake when he realises there's a very light rosy tint on diluc's cheeks behind the flames emanating from his claymore.

he has to use all of his strength to not grin deviously because;

interesting, how very interesting.