The Red Haired Man (Diluc x Reader)

13. Deliveries

Hellllooo welcome back and just wanna mention something
In this story Diluc will always be taller than you (for the sake of the story) no matter how goddamn tall you are. Even if you're 6' 7' he's still gonna be taller than you, we're just ignoring his cannon height. Alrighty enjoy!

The nearby shuffling of footsteps roused me out of my sleep. Curling deeper under the covers, I kept my eyes shut tight, until curiosity got the better of me, and I opened my eyes. I saw Diluc, already ready and dressed for the day, in similar attire to yesterday, packing up his backpack. He must've felt my eyes on him because he turned around not a moment later.
Oh. good morning." he said.
"Good morning" I mumbled quietly.
"I'm sorry to wake you, but we have to leave soon."

No, it's fine," I said, pushing myself up and losing the warmth of the covers. Diluc suddenly whipped himself back around, and went back to work on packing. Feeling the cold on my bare skin, I realized part of my shirt had been rolled up right underneath my breast. This always happens around him doesn't it. "I got you breakfast," he said. I looked toward my nightstand and saw a small pastry, with a bowl of fruit added on the side, a couple of coffee to accompany.

"Oh wow, thanks," I replied, grabbing a piece of fruit.
"No problem," he mumbled quietly, slinging the backpack over his shoulder. "I'll be going then."
"Oh, where are you going?" He stared at me for a moment.
"Outside?" he replied slowly.
"Why?" I asked. He paused again, keeping heavy eye contact with me.
"Would you rather I stay or.."

"Stay for what?"
He stared at me for a moment, looking apprehensive. "Do you really want to spend the entire day in those clothes?" He said quietly, looking away. Still affected by the early hours. I forgot that I actually had to get ready for the day and finally understood why he was so reluctant to stay inside.
"Oh, right. Yeah I'll be ready soon," I replied rapidly, slightly flustered.
"Okay, I'll knock when-" He cut himself off, "No, I'll just wait outside." And with that. He walked out of the room and closed the door behind him. However before leaving, he said something through the door.
"By the way, I left something for you on the desk."

I walked over to the desk to investigate and saw a beige dress. Plain and simple. I held it out in front of me and looked in a nearby mirror. It went down to my knees and looked like it would fit me. It wasn't exactly my style, but I was glad to have a change of clothes. I put on the dress, rearranged my hair so that it would be more under control, grabbed my backpack and shoes and headed outside the room. I walked down the hallway to see Mr. Zhu and that solemn lady sitting down near a fireplace having tea.
"Thank you M. Zhu, I hope to see you again inthe future," I said, doing a slight bow in thanks. I heard from Mona that's how you show respect here.
"Come again soon!" He replied, and the woman nodded in agreement. Waving goodbye, I went outside and walked around the inn. The weather was still cloudy and the air was wet. Still my type of weather. I saw Diluc near the back of the inn, where we left the horses last night. He seemed to be preparing the cart for departure. Upon hearing my footsteps he turned toward me and stared me up and down.
"You look nice in that dress," He said, turning away quickly.
"Ah thank you, where did you get it?"

"Oh, I brought it just in case, I suspected that we might have to stay a day or two on the road, but I forgot to mention that to you." he informed me, closing his backpack. "Sorry about that."

"No, it's fine, at least now I have clean clothes, " I said.
He grunted as he lifted some crates into the cart, which for some reason gave me a strange feeling. It reminded me of something..ah yes, last night. And then I got hit with what I believe is called, aftershock. My face began to head up and I put my hands on my cheeks out of embarrassment and nervousness as my face filled up with visible shock.
"Are you okay?" He asked. Oh please don't make this worse.
"Yep. Fine. Fine." I said, looking up at him. As if reading my mind, he finally caught on to why I was so embarrassed, and the effect spread to him too, as his face turned bright red and he whipped around. Why is it always around him that I go through the most embarrassing, the most regretful. but exciting scenarios. This man has cursed me.
We both loaded our things onto the cart and then settled down at the front, finally ready to go. Lashing the reins, the horse began to trot and we departed from the Inn.
I began to appreciate the landscape, playing a game of I-spy with myself, noting every tree, every plant, and even the small lake that was nearby the Inn. Large mountains enclosed us and we could just make out the ocean from this view. I had no memory of ever seeing an ocean, so this was really incredible.
"So who exactly are we delivering all of this wine to?" I asked.
"Well, when we get to Liyue harbor we will deliver to Liuli Pavillion, Xinyue Kiosk. Third Round Knockout and Huye Tea Bookhouse and once we are done with those we'll go to Wangshu Inn, northwest of here," Diluc replied.
"Wait, why are we delivering to a tea bookhouse? Do they really have a need for wine?" I asked jokingly.
"You know, I could ask the owner the same question myself. '' Diluc replied with a soft smile. The subtle ways he acknowledges my jokes made my heart flutter, and my face became hot.
"Hey, do you mind if I borrow your notebook?" I asked apprehensively.
"My notebook, why?" He asked, turning toward me.
"I want to repay the favor that you did by drawing me yesterday," I said, feeling bold and also nervous.
"Sure, you can grab it out of my backpack." He replied calmly.