𝓒𝓸𝓷𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓵𝓵𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓸𝓷𝓼 || Genshin Impact x Reader

Prologue

"It's a god damn bar, Diluc."

"I'm still not serving you anything alcoholic."

A groan left your lips as you dropped your head onto the smooth wooden surface of the counter. You just wanted something to drink, preferable something to numb the pain of your injuries with, but dealing with Diluc and his bullshit again was not part of your plan.

Why, pray tell, did you always stumble into the bar when Diluc was – for what ever reason, you assumed he had enough employees to do his work for him – working? The other Bartenders always gave you what you wanted, without buzzing into your personal business, but Diluc was - to put it nicely – a pain in the ass.

Always telling you to consider to stop drinking in his weird stoic way and stuck up way of talking, not really seeming like he cared that much, but still refusing to give you anything other than juice.

Grape juice.

To be honest, his Grape juice was quite nice but-

God damn.

"Bars serve alcoholic stuff-", you mumbled.

"I'm aware.", Diluc answered without taking his focus of the glass in his hands which he was polishing.

You had absolutely no clue what Diluc's problem was. It was always a weird encounter when your paths crossed, always a little bit awkward and confusing.

It wasn't even like you really knew him. He was acquaintance at most.

When you were in Mondstadt for work or to take a break, you sometimes visited his bar. When he wasn't working, you would simply drown your problems with alcohol, and if he was working you would try to do the same – order some alcohol or whatever, but Diluc was like a stubborn wall of bricks, refusing your orders over and over again.

Sometimes he would give you a glass of juice instead, never accepting the payment if you didn't order it yourself – what you never did.

Every attempt to convince him to give you something else was fruitless.

And that was exactly what was confusing you.

Why?

You were a paying customer, and yet, he couldn't care less.

"But-", you tried it one last time.

"No.", Diluc interrupted you before you were even able to finish. "You shouldn't drink, you are injured.", he glanced sharply at your bandaged arm.

"Eh, it's nothing serious, just a little burn from a stupid fire slime.", you tried to explain, but Diluc only raised one eyebrown.

"You should be more careful. A mere slime shouldn't be able to injure you."

You grumbled. He wasn't wrong per se, getting injured by a slime was indeed not one of your greatest moments, but rubbing more salt into your woundwas not really cheering you up.

"Why do you even care?"

A question which always bothered you. He had no reason to care, no reason to belittle you. You both had no connections, no friendship. You knew his name and you were aware about the fact that he was the owner of the winery, but that was it. You knew of nothing more, and you were certain it would be for the best if it remained so. And Diluc? He knew nothing about you, besides the fact that you were a traveller, a adventurer perhaps, who earned more through fighting monsters and putting yourself in danger.

You would be surprised if he even knew your name. You never told him and he never asked.

"I don't."

You pulled your lips into a thin line. Charming, but not a surprise.

"Alright."; you simply answered and sipped at juice.

Diluc's eyebrows furrowed and for a moment he seemed like he wanted to say something more, but the chiming of the doorbell interrupted whatever he was about to say – or not say.

A blond boy stumbled into bar, a tiny -... flying? - girl following him. For a short moment you considered asking but... no, better not. You really shouldn't care. It was better for you if you wouldn't care.

"Traveller.", Diluc greeted the boy, in a similar way in which he was always greeting you. The only difference was that he always choose to adress you with 'Adventurer' or simply 'you'.

"Hello Diluc.", the blond returned the pleasantries, placing himself in a seat besides you. He gave you a short but friendly smile and focused back on Diluc. "Can I have-"

"I'm not serving you alcohol.", he interrupted.

The Traveller sweat dropped. "Uh- I don't even want alcohol?"

His little companion however seemed to have a different opinion. "Aww man! Why? Paimon wants-"

"Don't bother.", you huffed. "He's always refusing the good stuff."

The little girl – or Paimon if that was supossed to be her name – blinked. "Huh? And who are you?"

„Just another traveller, nobody of importanc.", you muttered.

"You are also a traveller?", the boy asked.

"Yup."

"Then you must have seen a lot of places, right? Did you... maybe saw somebody who looked similar to me?"

You raised a eyebrow. "Similar to you? Do you mean a family member or something?"

The boy nodded. "My sister. We lost each other, and now I'm trying to find her."

"I see. But I don't think I have seen her, sorry."

The boys expression deflated slightly, but his smile didn't slip. "It's alright. I'm accustomed to hearing the same answers already."

"A shame. I suppose I can keep a eye up, if you want?", you proposed, mostly out of trying to be friendly.

"That would be great! Thank you!"

"Uh, yeah. No problem, buddy.", you mumbled and pushed yourself up from your stool. "But I think its time for me to go. I still got... stuff to do. Bye Traveller, bye... Diluc."

"Be careful.", Diluc advised nonchalantly, without even granting you a last gaze.

"I thought you didn't care?", you grumbled and pushed the heavy wood door open to leave the bar. You didn't wait for anybody to say something else, and you doubted there was anything more left to say.

And that was alright. Thinking about Diluc being weird would only waste your time and your nerves. You had enough shit to deal with, like taking a few new missions or Bounty up. The fact that you were still injured annoyed you a little bit, but it wasn't like you had a choice in that matter. Mora was always tight, and a stupid injury wouldn't stop you from ear some.

Somewhere in the back of your head, you wondered about the traveller and his sister, and if he would find her. You would stay true to your words and look out for her but somehow you doubted you would stumble upon her. You weren't even sure if you even would see him ever again, so...

Whatever.

You had already enough shit to deal with, you remembered yourself.