of the loved and the unloved

pancakes

diluc wakes up with the feeling in his gut that it's already going to be a horrible day. he slowly swings his feet to the side of the bed, sitting up. rubbing his eyes, he gets up with a grunt and stretches his limbs with a yawn. the redhead doesn't get ready before cleaning his bed up, a habit he hasn't been able to break rooted deep from his past.

he takes a quick shower, brushes his teeth and does other miscellaneous tasks. water is dripping down his hands as he splashes his face with it. diluc pauses when his eyes stare back at him and his reflection makes him shuffle in place uncomfortably. he did sleep pretty late last night, but has his eyebags always been this dark?

oh well, his appearance was the last of his concerns at the moment. the large carriage carrying almost twenty barrels of dawn winery's dandelion wine are still missing; contracts and documents are still waiting to be signed, and reports are waiting to be made. he sighs, wondering if charles is okay to have been working at the dock for so long.

diluc wipes his hands and face with his hand towel and takes his time changing into a fresh set of clothes, putting on his coat. he is adjusting the seams of it when in the corner of his eye, the glint of light from the picture frame of his father, kaeya and him, catch his attention. he walks towards the frame and picks it up, staring at it for a minute before placing it back to its original position, leaving his room.

scents of familiarity flow through the air, and he notes that adelinde has cooked her signature pancakes for breakfast. the smell already makes him know it'll be delicious, but then again, when has adelinde ever misstep when it comes to cooking?

diluc walks the stairs down to the main hall and expecting to greet her a good morning and for he to smile and greet him back. what he doesn't expect is for kaeya to be standing there and talking to her, a plate of pancakes in hand. he is suddenly more tired than he should ever be so early in the morning. the redhead almost wants to stomp back into his room to sleep and never wake up. communicating with kaeya is always exhausting.

he reluctantly makes his presence known when he stands in front of them. kaeya and adelinde both smile brightly, "ah! master diluc, good morning. i've made pancakes for breakfast today, and kaeya has unexpectedly dropped by." diluc's glare is unwavering and piercing. that's right, unexpected. he would have appreciated a notice before having the knight simply barge into his mansion.

"right, my dutiful apologies for coming uninvited. i had to take care of klee and resolve some issues with jean last night; i lost track of time to send a letter."

"it's fine. care to explain the visit?" diluc tries his best to hide his annoyance for the sake of adelinde. he knows for certain that she is delighted to see kaeya. after... kaeya barely ever comes ho- over. she's loved him to pieces ever since he was welcomed into the household. to say the least, it's been a long time since she's seen kaeya.

"i am taking over your duties today." flippant as always.

kaeya says it so casually that he has to do a double take. was he hearing things clearly? "what are you talking about?" he was beginning to get nervous, suddenly remembering the forlorn feeling he had when he woke up.

"there's just a particular ginger waiting for your arrival in mondstadt," kaeya sounds just a slight bit tentative. when he finishes the sentence, diluc immediately understands. he's never wanted to break anyone in half more than he does now. "kaeya, no! i can't just take off and leave you to do things you don't even know how to do. what if you make a mistake? why does childe suddenly want to meet me?"

kaeya chuckled, lightly placing his hand on his brother's shoulder. "now, now. i know you think i'm stupid, but you can trust me to deal with a few documents. besides, elzer is here to help me out if i am confused with anything. you deserve a rest, and i'm sure you'd just be thrilled to spend it with prince charming."

diluc elbows kaeya's side, and the other doubles over, groaning in pain. adelinde looks worried, as if some bigger fight might break out between them. her expression is close to heartbreaking, so he decides to let up. as much as he hates the idea of someone like kaeya taking over his job, he also hates the idea of leaving tartaglia waiting for archons know how long. he knows this is just kaeya's scheme, "when i return, you are dead meat."

with that, the redhead begins to stomp out the door, the other maids watching in either interest or concern. kaeya is still on his knees, hunching in pain when he triumphs, "have fun, my sweet brother!!~~,"

it makes diluc pause only for a second before he opens the doors and leaves.