Moira - [Kaeya x Reader x Diluc]

Chapter 2

It's quite a funny thing, strangers.

Is someone really a stranger when you can recognize their laugh from miles away? Or when pictures of them tucked away into dusty wooden frames sit silently on the old table you never use. Or when you could recite each of their childhood memories with vague fondness.

And even when neither of you have dared to speak a word to each other, and the term "friend" is nothing but an unkind and unfamiliar concept between the two of you, you can still recall the way their eyes light up when they get excited, and the way their fingers fumble with each other when they're nervous.

I clumsily ran my fingers over the intricate patterns carved onto the side of the picture frame. My eyes settled on the photo within the frame. A picture of me, Kaeya, and Diluc on his coming of age day. My lips subconsciously curved into a longing smile as I stared at our lopsided grins and innocent eyes, so blissfully unaware of the future.

What I would give to be so naive once more.

But alas, pain never truly does weaken the heart, though it may feel so. And if anything, pain to me was only a barrier. I could choose to get past it, or live my life in foolish monotony, never knowing what was on the other side.

Sighing, I turned away from the picture and towards my closet, where rows of long gowns hung on the racks. I tirelessly shuffled through them, not paying much heed to the fine details on each dress. Rather, my mind was still off wandering, and it was not an easy task to get back into focus once that happened.

I finally pulled a dress off the rack and slipped it on, admiring myself in the mirror. For a split second I couldn't recognize myself, but that feeling vanished as quickly as it came. And I'd rather not dwell on it.

Quickly styling my hair and makeup, I walked to the main door of the manor, patiently waiting for Kaeya to arrive.

Part of me was excited and part of me dreaded seeing Diluc and Kaeya again. I suppose I should've been happy, but they felt like strangers to me now.

And I could only be friendly to strangers I had never met.

A knock on the door sounded, the hollow ring resonating through the open room, and I opened the door with a deep breath.

"M'lady." Kaeya said with his signature smirk as he extended a gloved hand.

"Cut the act."

I rolled my eyes and walked out past him, closing the door behind me. "No need to be so cold. Aren't you the one with the Pyro Vision?" He joked, gesturing to the fiery red orb that was clipped to the studded belt around my waist.

"Whatever, can we just get going?" I sighed in exasperation, not wanting to make small talk. "Right." The captain said shortly and led me to the carriage waiting in the courtyard.

"Ladies first." He held his arm old as a show of chivalry. "I told you, cut the act." I glared at him. "I'm just trying to be polite, would you rather I let you walk there by yourself?" That shut me up.

The rest of the ride was filled with awkward silence. And like I said before, I didn't want to make small talk. I hated small talk.

Awkward silences and meaningless conversations were meant to be saved for strangers, acquaintances even. And somehow the way that the atmosphere in the carriage was cold and tense made it feel like Kaeya and I were nothing more than just that. Strangers.
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(A/N)
And there is Chapter 2 for y'all. I did not expect Chapter 1 to get as "big" as it did. Over 100 reads and like 8 votes and like 15 people have saved it ??? Granted, that's not a lot but it's big for me since I didn't really expect it to reach people. But thank you so much for that!! It makes me all the more excited about working on this fanfic. Like I said before I'll be trying to juggle updates along with school and my personal life so I will try my best to be consistent but please do be patient with me. Again this chapter is a bit short, and I did want to write more initially but I thought that that was a better place to end because it kind of connected to the beginning of the chapter. Am I making any sense here? Probably not, oops. Anyways, thank you for reading !!
Lots of love,
- misty