new friend || kaeya angst

bonus - halloween

it was dark outside, stars littering the inky blackness of the sky and faintly twinkling down onto the nation of mondstadt. children were all over the city dressed up as witches and abyss mages and any other monster you could name. some carried those cute little pumpkin baskets, while others has ridiculously large pillow cases. or maybe they were blankets? no one could be sure, but they were filled with candies of all varieties.
it was a cool night, not particularly cold but in a way that you'd prefer to wear a sweater if you had to step outside for an extended period of time. the night had just begun, and it was only going to get colder. a smarter person would've worn a heavy jacket, or just gone home early.
not kaeya, though. this was his night.
the winds brushed against his exposed skin, and he suppressed a shiver as he stood in front of a very familiar door. millions of thoughts and voices telling him to turn away and run flooded his mind, screaming that if he stayed he'd be burnt to the very core of his flesh. but like usual, kaeya ignored it and knocked.
and waited.
and waited some more.
he went to check the time on his wrist like they did in cartoons, only to remember that he had no watch and silently laughed at himself. how comical.
i really should've gone with benny...
bennett had invited kaeya to join him, razor, and fischl in their halloween shenanigans but declined the offer- bennett didn't always get the chance to hang out with his friends considering they had other business to take care of when bennett had an adventure in mind. like babysitting the wolf pups and teaching oz how to communicate with small animals to receive their aid in bringing salvation to this new world, as fischl had put it.
apparently, xingqiu and chongyun also joined the group of teens, claiming that while childe might give them good candy, they'd rather not run into zhongli since he'd only give them 'old people' candy and start asking if either of them shared the memory, whatever that meant. kaeya had to admit, it was quite entertaining- and tragic- to see bennett's face go red when chongyun showed up and asked to hang out with him.
it had now been several minutes, and no one had answered the door. kaeya knew he couldn't slam his fist against the door- he'd be causing an unneeded disturbance and he'd hate to bother the maids. no breaking in, either- they'd surely call the knights. oh wait, he's a knight!
no, jean would kick his ass.
the gears in the navy-haired captain's head turned as he thought, until one solution came to mind. not a particularly smart solution, but if it didn't work then there was no way that door would open.
kaeya slowly turned like he was going to leave, making sure whoever was in front of the peephole could see him. and hear him.
"oh well, i guess i'll just go back to my office and send out some paperwork. ohh, but it would be such a shame if the files for your recent order managed to slip in..."
and that was all it took for the door to fly open with an angry vampire grabbing and pulling him into the building.

slamming the door behind him, diluc turned to his younger b- alcoholic acquaintance as he looked at him dead in the eyes with the most shit-eating grin he'd ever seen on a man.
he pointed a finger as his exposed chest, and practically hissed with a face so red that not even the darkness of the winery could hide it- "you are never to tell anyone about the contents of that order", and didn't put his finger away until kaeya nodded, that grin showing no sign of going away. while kaeya had a thing for causing trouble, he knew where to draw the line and never exposed diluc's secrets. it might have been repayment for diluc not spreading the word that kaeya was a khaenri'ahn. it could have been basic human decency. whatever the reason, diluc was silently grateful.
he sighed and stepped back, doing a quick run-down of the cavalry captain's costume.
white blouse open at the chest with a black vest, a large belt shaping his waist with a flowy skirt-like...thing. black pants with gold stars laced on the thighs, much like his usual pants but different somehow. brown boots that reached his knees with buckles going over them with golden clasps. kaeya's navy hair was down instead of in its usual low ponytail, and his eyepatch remained the same. his earring was replaced with a golden hoop. all in all, it looked pretty similar to his usual attire. like if he started wearing this every day no one would really notice anything except that his chest was more exposed than usual.
diluc knew exactly what kaeya was supposed to be, but decided against stating it as revenge for his...remark earlier.
"what are you supposed to be?" diluc remarked with the most clueless tone he could muster, and almost laughed at the look kaeya gave him.