Paradoxon [Kaeya x Reader]

4. Abscondence: Human Frailty

You knew he would. He was strong and skilled, if it came to a fight - whether with humans, hilichurls or anything else - Kaeya would be able to protect you surely. It was due to other reasons that the prospect of this trip made your heart beat fast with nervousness.

❅

"He is Master Diluc's brother. Just not by blood. They grew up together, here at the winery," Adelinde answered you question about Kaeya, looking you up and down, then nodded, satisfied with her work.

"Then why do they seem to hate each other?" you asked, quite confused.

"Oh, rest assured they don't," she replied. "But they had a fight after Master Crepus died. You'd do better to not ask them about it, though, it's a sensitive topic. Now, you're ready to go!" She handed you a backpack to complete your hiking outfit. "Don't forget this, you'll especially need the water."

"Hm, I see..." If their issues were centered around Diluc's father's death, it surely was a not a conversation you'd want with either of them. Still, you were quite surprised that those two were supposed to be step-brothers, you couldn't imagine two men more different than those. Absent-mindedly you took the backpack and put it on your back. "Thank you very much!" You were very grateful to Adelinde, all the clothes you had brought with you were more than unsuitable for a trip into the wild.

"You're welcome." The head housemaid smiled at you warmly and opened the door into the corridor for you. "Sir Kaeya is already waiting."

She was right, as you exited the building, there he was, leaning against the wall near the entrance.

"Good morning, little miss," Kaeya greeted you with his usual smile, resting in the familiar pulling in your stomach as you tried your hardest to keep the blood from rushing to your face. How was it possible that him simply looking at you had such an effect?

"Good morning," you greeted him back with a smile of your own. "Are you ready?"

"Whenever you are."

With Kaeya's guidance, you started the trip in the direction of Mondstadt, where you would then turn right and start hiking up the mountain you had chosen for its height: Starsnatch Cliff. After a while of silent walking side by side Kaeya started a conversation.

"I take it you like nature? Since you wanted to go hiking so badly?" he asked with honest curiosity.

"Mhm," you answered with a smile. "I do. I like the quiet when I'm out in the wild. It's relaxing. Just getting away from the busy city, from all the people from everything..."

"Running away, huh?"

"Huh?" His question had taken you by surprise and you didn't know how to react to it, but Kaeya already continued.

"Well, I can't say the same for myself. I'm too social of a person to like being alone." He shrugged.

What he was saying was no doubt correct, he did not seem like a person that fancied solitude, quite the opposite. With his eccentric personality, and his fancy clothes he surely liked standing out from the crowd, as well as all the attention he was getting. Which was a lot, no doubt. You couldn't even imagine the amount of admirers he probably had. People that felt just like you did whenever his gaze fell upon them.

Not wanting to continue thinking in this direction, you changed the topic to something you really were curious about. "Let's go back in the conversation a bit. You said I was running away?"

"Aren't you?" He looked at you as if challenging you.

"What would I be running away from? It's more dangerous out here!" you laughed his question off.