(New) Playing with Fate // Diluc x Reader

Part 13 - Crap...

Was it an intruder? A thief? "Wh-who is it?", you asked, trying to keep your voice steady. You watched, eyes wide as you recognized the familiar redhead as he walked towards you, a small smile on his face.

The fear was replaced by embarrassment as you realized Diluc saw everything...all your terrible dancing,...it was all over. You wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear, but you silently cursed yourself knowing that you couldn't. Doing your best to regain your composure, you tried to face Diluc but couldn't. The embarrassment was too much.

Instead, you found yourself looking down, panicking as you saw Dilucs shadow getting closer and closer to you. Silently screaming to yourself, you tried to get away but were trapped behind the counter, Diluc blocking the entrance. 'I can't believe he saw everything...', you thought, desperate for anyone, anything to distract Diluc.

You slowly looked up after noticing he came to a stop right in front of you.....closer than you would have expected. You stared at him, unable to look away from his face as the soft moonlight from outside fell onto it, making him look more attractive than ever. His eyes seemed to sparkle as they gazed at you, a small smirk on his face.

"C-can I help you...?", you asked, turning away while trying to keep a steady voice. 'Maybe...he didn't see what I was doing...' you hoped, knowing it was a stretch. "You should try taking up dance as a profession.", he smiled, as if he enjoyed teasing you. You could feel the temperature of your cheeks shoot up as you closed your eyes, refusing to believe what was happening. Crap....

You slowly backed away, panicking as you realized you had backed into the wall. You looked up to see Diluc slowly walking towards you, his red eyes looking straight into yours as he did. "If you like dancing, you should do it more often", he said, tilting his head.

"I'm terrible at it", you replied, wondering if he was being serious or just teasing you.

"Terrible? I thought it was cute...", he murmured, continuing to look at you

You couldn't handle any of this. Your knees were about to collapse and you could feel your heart beating so hard it might come out of your chest. It didn't help that Diluc was slowly leaning towards you, his face....and lips...inching closer to yours. You couldn't help but close your eyes and tilt your face up towards him.

Confused at why nothing happened, you opened your eyes to find Diluc gazing at you, playfulness in his eyes as a smile slowly formed on his lips. "What are you doing?", he asked, crossing his arms as he stepped back.

Your eyes went wide as you realized what you were going to do. "I-I just....I w-was going to...", you stuttered, struggling to come up with an excuse as you felt embarrassment spread to every cell of your body.

"You were going to what?", Diluc asked, determined not to let this go.

"I don't know.....", you mumbled, praying that something would get you out of here

As you looked around the bar for a way to escape, you never expected Diluc to lean forward and plant a small kiss on your cheek. It was only for a few seconds but you shivered as you felt his lips momentarily brush your cheek.

Shocked, you looked up at him, struggling to find something to say. "Get your coat and come outside quickly. We have business to attend to.", he said, turning around. But before you could reply, he had already walked out the door.

You stood frozen in place for a second, taking a while to process what just happened. "What the heck just happened....", you murmured, touching your cheek. Coming back to your senses, you grabbed your coat and ran out the door to find the only man who had ever made you feel like walking in the air.

.

.

.

You burst out of the tavern, hoping you hadn't taken too long. Scanning the brightly lit streets, you tried to find the redhead. All the people from the festival made it harder to spot him, but you ran to him as soon as you did.

"I'm...here...", you said, out of breath from all the running.

"Good, follow me.", he replied, making his way towards the Mondstadt bridge.

"Where are we going? What...did you mean by 'business to attend to'?", you asked, doing your best to keep up with him.

"To investigate the treasure hoarder incidents of course.", he said. "I overheard some of the customers mentioning a large cluster of treasure hoarders near Starsnatch Cliff"

As you looked up at him you couldn't help but feel disappointed. His face went back to the same expressionless one you were all too familiar with as if the kiss from earlier never happened.

Telling yourself to come back to your senses, you followed Diluc into the dark, star-speckled night to find the hoarders.