Through Thick and Thin- Diluc x (female) Reader

Chapter 16: Tavern Talk

I stumbled through the gates of Mondstadt with Amber tiredly. She was almost running circles around me, ecstatic from the days activities which consisted of: her dragging me around to shoot hillichurls.
"That was awesome! You're a really good shot!" She shouted, jumping excitedly. "We have to do that again sometime!"
I stretched, sore from all the running around we did. "You just want help with patrol, don't you?"
"Hey!" Amber said, her hands on her hips. "I could handle them easy! If by help you mean some company, then yes," She smirked.
"It's getting late, I'm going to go to the tavern for a bit and then head home," I began. I held the bow and quiver out to her. "Thanks for teaching me to shoot, I had a lot of fun today." I smiled warmly.
Amber pushed the bow and quiver back to me, shaking her head. "Trust me, I don't think I taught you much. You're a natural! Just keep practicing and you'll master it easy,"
She turned to walk away, but I stopped her. "Hey, thanks. Really," I began. "Your advice is going to help me, I think."
"It's not a problem," she said, smiling widely. "You should come with me again soon!" Amber turned and started running for headquarters.
I waved to her. "I will!" Soon enough, she had disappeared. "She's fast..."

Walking through the tavern door, I stored my bow and quiver behind my back. "Y/n, good evening," I heard Diluc say behind the counter.
"Hey," I began walking to the counter, and Diluc was already pouring me some wolfhook juice. "Thank you. And if you turn the mora down again..." I said playfully, pointing a finger at him.
He chuckled under his breath, setting the glass of juice down in front of me. "I see how it is. You'll never change, will you?" He smiled.
"Probably not," I smiled, and began to down some of the glass. "Hopefully this wolfhook juice doesn't either, it's just as good as the first time you made it for me."
Trying what Amber had taught me was working, strange enough. I found the conversation moving along with ease, despite the desperate beating of my heart.
"Is that so?" Dilucs voice shook me from my thoughts. "I see you've got a weapon now. Did Amber give it to you?"
I nodded. "Yeah, she taught me how to shoot it," drinking some more of the wolfhook juice, I contemplated telling him about arrow splitting trick I pulled off.
"What is it?" Diluc asked, raising a brow.
One of my ears perked. "Huh?"
He glanced down at my fidgety hands. I hadn't even noticed I was fidgeting. "You left something out, didn't you?" He said, smiling again.
"It's not like you'd believe me," I laughed. " he if you insist, here," I reached into the quiver and brought out a split arrow. I kept one as a memento, just in case I never pulled that stunt off again.
"Really?" He asked, intrigued. I held it out to him, and he took it carefully. Diluc turned it in his hands, in somewhat disbelief. "There's no way, even I can't do that and I've shot a bow many times before. It's split perfectly..."
"If you think that's crazy, you won't believe the rest of it," I hesitated to tell him the rest, positive he wouldn't believe me. He raised a brow, intrigued again. "Fine, but you won't believe me. I did it two more times after that."
"Impossible," he said, standing up straight. "How? You did?"
"Ask Amber," I said as he handed the split arrow back to me. "She believes it more than I do, I think," I laughed.
"Anyways, I should get to Venti and Kaeya. I haven't been here in a day so I should catch up with them," I said, picking up my wolfhook juice. I set some coins on the counter, much to Dilucs displeasure.
"Very well, I will see you tomorrow at noon, yes?" He said, reluctantly gathering the mora.
I nodded. "Yeah, I'll be there. Maybe I'll pull off the trick with some arrows again, right?" I smiled, heading to our usual spot.
As I turned to go to the table, I noticed a peculiar sight. Alone at the table, was Venti.
I approached the table, Venti drinking his wine slowly this time. "Taking it easy tonight?" I said, suprised.
"Only because this wine is limited for the windblume festival!" He said, sipping some more. "And it's expensive..."
I chuckled, sitting down at the table. "Where's Kaeya? He's usually here by now," I said, concerned.
"He'll be here, he's just doing an extra thing, or something..." Venti said, immersed in his wine. Tipsy already, it seemed.
"Venti, do you use a weapon of any sort?" I asked curiously. "You have a vision, but I've never seen you fight or use a weapon of any sort."
"I shoot the bow," he said, swirling his drink in its glass. "I've been using one for... a long time, to say the least."
"A bow?" I said, pondering. "Does your anemo vision make it easier to shoot? Just curious, that's all."
"It can," he said, looking over to me. "Why?"
I rested my chin in my hands. "I don't know, curious I suppose. Do you think I'll ever earn one? A vision?" I asked, although it might have been a stupid question. Master of no particular skills, the chances I had of receiving one were slim to none.
"I think so," he sat up straight. "You just have to be patient, maybe you'll get one when you're older, or even tomorrow. Could happen anytime," he shrugged.
"Yeah, I've seen both Klee and Diona have visions. And so young, too..." I said. "How did Kaeya get his?"
Venti seemed taken aback. "Kaeyas vision?"
"I just figured you might know, since you're friends," sipping my drink, I sighed. "It's okay if you don't, but I'm just curious."
"I do, but it's a very long story," Venti said, staring at his wine. "He was losing a battle, to summarize it, and the Tsarista seemed to take pity. She blessed him with one, and that's that."
"What was he fighting?" Venti looked at me for a second, unsure how to answer.
Suddenly, the tavern door swung open and I heard Kaeya laughing. "I'll tell you another time, it's not an easy subject for him..." Venti said, returning to his drink.
I looked back to the door, and froze. In walked Kaeya, and behind him... Albedo. They stopped at the counter, ordering drinks. Diluc seemed surprised for a moment, but mixed the drinks without a second thought.
"Woah, didn't see that coming," I commented on Kaeya bringing Albedo with him to our usual spot. "Although, it makes me happy to see him happy too."
"Agreed," Venti said, raising his glass to mine. I have his a clink and took a sip of my juice.
As they walked over to us, Albedo stopped for a second when he saw me. I smiled, and gave a little wave.
"Do we need any extra chairs?" I said, looking around the table. Of course, our usual spot only had three. I quickly got up and dragged another chair over, setting it next to Kaeyas spot.
"Thank you, y/n," Albedo said, taking a seat with Kaeya.
"So," I began, setting my drink down. "What did you order Albedo? I've never seen you in a tavern before," I chuckled.
"I decided on an apple cider," he began, holding his drink carefully. "I don't mind alcohol, but I haven't had cider in a long time. It reminds me of deserts and such."
"Speaking of, what did you think about the pie?" Kaeya asked him. "I never really asked if you liked it. Y/n and I worked hard on them," he laughed.
"The pie? It was good," he said, trying some of the cider. "I wish we hadn't ate all of it already. It would taste even better with this cider...."