DISCONTINUING - Fairytale Dreams [Diluc x Reader x Kaeya]

ｃｈａｐｔｅｒ １

"One more round for the table over here if you will!" A voice hollered loudly across the room full of drunkards and casual drinking soldiers on their break.

A small giggle escaped Diona, the bartender of the place. "They sure are lively as always."

On the other hand, [name] sighed lightly in slight annoyance feeling nothing more than upset at just seeing the way beer spewed left and right out of their mugs from all of the swaying the group of men were doing in their state and onto the floor, wetting it in the process. "Yeah... That's the Cat's Tail for you..." She mumbled.

Diona laughed. "How enthusiastic of you."

The younger woman frowned proceeding to drop off the drinks by the table that had called for them earlier. "They're too rowdy for me." She glanced on her way back over to the bunch hidden at each corner of the small space. "Way too rowdy."

The brunette in front of her twirled a finger in her hair, playing with it a bit. "Men with this much charisma in them are hard to find, you know. It's pretty sexy."

The [hair color] haired girl grabbed the mop right beside a stool, mopping the floor as cheers echoed one ear and out the other. "Pass, your sense in men is rather unappealing to me."

Diona pouted crossing in arm over her chest. "[name], you're young so you don't understand. Dating at this age is getting harder and harder. Personality matters a lot but sex appeal really matters as well, alright. It's hard to find complete happiness in solitude alone."

[name] blushed a bit at her words feeling backhand embarrassment crawl up her back. She hurriedly waved a hand in front of her face. "No way, no way! That's a hard pass. I'm completely fine here."

"A young romantic is a curse indeed." Diona paused. "You're a lost cause, you read way too many books when you should be out there in the crowd with other men. Tsk, tsk. How unfortunate life just is."

"Don't insult my Gus like that, okay! He's too good for this world, he and Hazel deserves the world after all of what they went through."

"I'm just saying that you're too into those books."

"Don't question me. The Fault in Our Stars is a golden read, better than all of these guys out here trying to get drunk every night."

Her boss didn't let herself stop there though, unfortunately for [name]'s sake. "Please! Wake up and take a look at the Cavalry Captain, Kaeya: a real man. There's rumors going around that he's always late out at night because he's seeing people. Out of all of the knights throughout Mondstadt, that man simply reeks sex appeal. Tell me you aren't jealous of whoever could be in his arms!"

Her words irked [name]. "I'm not jealous一 "

"Not convincing enough."

"As if, whenever that guy comes around here for a drink, all he does is flirt with women. Guess who ends up having to do all of the work? Me! I do, because you're too busy talking to that guy."

The bartender playfully pushed her by the shoulder. "Aish! Don't be like that, huh, [name]. Older women also need to let loose every once and awhile, so let me off a little won't you?"

"If you two don't stop playing around, I'm going to deduct your pay." Margaret, the actual owner of the bar interjected walking into the room with her own sigh.

[name] and Diona straightened their postures smiling nervously at her. "Yes, boss."

Margaret rose her head glancing up at the youngest worker in the room. "By the way, [name] shouldn't you get going?"

Diona blinked looking over to a small clock tucked beneath a shelf of drinks. "Going... Um, let's see... It's almost 11 right now." Her head flicked up when it hit her as well. She gasped softly. "Oh shoot! She's right, don't you have to get up early tomorrow?"

[name] jumped up to her feet in response, taking off her apron and hanging it behind the counter. "Yeah early on at 5. I have to load some boxes onto a cart and head for Springvale, then I have to help Miss Flora set up her stand."

"Again?" Margaret's lips fell into a  loop at her words. "Hun, doing this much work every day isn't good for you. Maybe you should try taking a day off at least."

"I can't." [name] interjected.

"Why not?"

Her shoulders trembled a bit. "How could I pay the rent if I stopped working now..? You know already that they won't even try... So how can I?" Seeing their frantic looks of concern made her chuckle. "Don't worry so much. Young people like me are in their prime state of life, so I'll do fine. Then... I'll get going."

"Wait, [name]!" Margaret called after her.

She turned back to look at her boss who continued to frown, arms crossed.

"Take a week off, I'll still be giving you your pay, however you need to make sure that body of yours is better rested before you come back in, you hear me."

A small smile of gratitude found its way towards her lips. "Thanks, boss." With that, she left the cavern.

The nightly lit city of Mondstadt paved its peaceful silence into her. She found solace in it and it's stars. Of course there would be knights that occasionally would bypass her by the shoulder but she never let it bother her much. It reminded her exactly of the book that had been mentioned earlier on.

"The Fault in Our Stars..." She giggled. "I wonder if I'll get that here this lifetime myself."

After a moment of walking, a flash of red threw itself into her vision. She was pushed backwards at a rather large amount of force to knock her butt to the ground. She stared in bewilderment as a man dressed in dark clothing with a mask on had drawn his claymore right beside him. His long red hair was pulled up into a ponytail swinging wayward towards wherever the breeze was blowing. As frightened, although moreso surprised as she was at his sudden figure appearing out of nowhere from an alleyway, she couldn't pull her eyes away.

For him however, the mysterious man simply kept his way going at a fast pace, as though her presence wasn't even worth mentioning or looking at. The sound of clunking noises echoed through the street, a pair of running knights seemed to have been chasing after the figure.

One stopped himself to lower a hand and helped [name] up. "Miss, are you alright?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine."

Her reassurance was nothing much to question for the two soldiers, considering how the other frantically questioned her next. "By chance, did you see a man in dark clothing?"

Slowly she pointed towards the exact location the man earlier had left towards. "O- over there..."

"Thank you, please get home safe!" Hurriedly they both left without another word.

Her face fumbled into a mix of irritation and confusion. The thought of the rude one earlier crossed her mind. "What a bunch of jerks, especially him."

Her [eye color] eyes looked up at the stars above her head whispering to herself as she continued to walk home. "Barbatos, take some responsibility won't you? 'City of Freedom', but all I do is work. There's got to be some fault somewhere here, I just know it!"