Warning: Tooth Rotting Fluff.
Exhausted beyond all belief, you stumbled towards the broken bridge that led out of Dragonspine and towards the tiny fire that sat burning at the end of the cutoff. You shivered as you inched close, curling into a ball. The gap was too far to jump, especially when you were this bedraggled. You would have already died of exposure if your Cryo Vision didn't offer you some resistance to the cold. In that, you were lucky.
Let's start from the beginning.
A member of the Adventurer's guild, you took a commission regarding an expedition to study ruins in Dragonspine, specifically the Entombed City. You'd always had a fascination with the place, reading every book you could find on it. The problem was, when the expedition was proposed, you were the only one to volunteer. So, despite everyone telling you not to go, you went. Alone. You more or less snuck off, really. But you had to see those ruins. You'd been fascinated since childhood, and you weren't going to let lack of volunteers stop you from going. Besides, you were a Cryo Vision user. You'd be fine, right?
Wrong.
The only one who really knew where you were going was Diluc. You'd formed a close friendship with him not long after moving into the main city from Springvale. You met at Angel's Share the week after you'd settled into your new home, and you'd assisted Diluc with catching a thief who was pilfering stock from the tavern. It turned out to be a drunkard who'd run out of money. You turned him over to the Knights of Favonius, and that was that.
Diluc soon became your partner in crime as you assisted him in issues regarding the winery and the tavern, and a friendship was struck up. You'd always had a habit of sticking your nose where it didn't belong, so trouble was a plentiful thing to be found. Diluc began to pay you for your help, and after you got a job at the adventurer's guild, you continued helping him for fun. Diluc didn't mind. You enjoyed each other's company, and truthfully, you'd grown quite fond of him.
You had a crush.
Now, you knew you were hardly the only woman in Mondstadt who had a crush on Diluc. Donna also liked him, and she had it so bad she stammered when he was anywhere near her. She constantly asked you for help regarding winning his affections after you'd grown close to the man, and at first, you had no problem delivering the occasional bouquet. After a while, though, as your feelings grew, it began to get on your nerves. But you didn't show it. Donna was a sweet girl, and the last thing you wanted was to hurt her feelings.
That brings us to now.
You informed Diluc of the vague area you'd be traveling to, then set off. Things went wrong very quickly when you were attacked by Fatui Skirmishers, barely getting out alive after you explained you were only an adventurer, and they actually apologized when they saw the Cryo vision attached to the ribbon around your neck, saying they hadn't know you were blessed by the Tsaritsa. You left out the part where you didn't worship the Cryo Archon and moved on.
Even with the added resistance of your vision, the sheer cold was harsh, biting through your layers of clothes, and it wasn't long before you had to set up camp. You were barely able to light a fire. Your trek to the Entombed City was hard and treacherous, and by the time you'd gotten there, you were nearly out of rations. You explored the ruins, fought monsters, and after a day of studying and exploring, you began to head back.
But fate had other plans. A fight with a Frostarm Lawachurl caused an avalanche, and you were luckily able to form a dome around yourself with ice, but by the time you'd dug yourself out, you were out of rations and the sheer cold was getting to you. You'd been gone for five days, and that wasn't part of your plan. People had to be looking for you. You planned a three day expedition after which you'd return. After that disaster, you had one goal left: survive.
You did so by stealing food from Fatui Skirmishers and various hilichurl camps, but it was barely enough to get by. You tried to look for Albedo, as you knew he often did research on the mountain, but his camp was empty and the fires were out. You were on your own. It was a stroke of pure luck that you found the bridge that led into the camp at the base of the mountain, but you were too weak to make an ice bridge, and if you swam across, Cryo vision or not, you'd freeze to death.
So when you saw someone across the bridge, near where the snow met the grass, you almost cried with relief.
"Hey!" You cried, standing up and using the last of your strength to wave your arms, "please, help me!"
The man turned, racing over to the break in the bridge on his side.
"Hello?"
You tugged at your tattered coat. You'd lost track of the number of days you'd been gone.
"Please," you cried, "help me get over there!"
You recognized the man as Stevens, a researcher who typically spent his time at the camp. His eyes went wide enough that you could see them do so across the gap.
"You... You're... The missing adventurer! Hold on, I'll go get Iris!"
He turned on his heel and took off at a full sprint, and you crouched back down beside the small fire, but in your half-frozen state, the small amount of heat wasn't doing much. Diluc... You didn't know what he'd been doing this whole time. You'd have to apologize if you worried him.
"(Y/N)!"
You looked up to se Iris, arms wrapped around herself to combat the cold.
"I can't believe you're alive," she said, "thank Barbatos. You have to jump, see that broken part of the bridge below? Jump onto that and we'll pull you up here!"
You nodded, standing up, and with a grunt of effort, you tossed yourself onto the broken bridge, legs buckling beneath you. You felt something give, followed by a sharp pain.
To add insult to injury, I just broke my ankle, didn't I?
Despite the pain, you heaved yourself unsteadily to your feet, standing on your tiptoes to grab Iris and Stevens' hands, and they hauled you up onto their side of the bridge. You lay panting in exhaustion on the ground for a few moments, laying your head down on the frigid stone. Snow was falling around you.
You were so, so tired. Your limbs felt heavier than lead. You hadn't slept in two days, and now that you were safe, you felt too sluggish to move.
Your eyes fell closed, and everything went dark.
————
When you woke, you were warm.
That was new.
You opened your eyes.
You were laying on a cot, swaddled in heavy blankets, braziers smoldering with fire on either side of you. You were in one of the tents in the camp. You felt very weak, but you had enough strength to sit up. On a crate beside your cot was a bowl of goulash, steaming and fragrant, and you picked it up with shaking hands. You devoured it in record time, the heat each bite brought absolutely heavenly.
You must have passed out from exhaustion, you figured as you finished your food, setting the empty bowl down on the crate you'd found it on. You laid back down, pulling the blankets up further. You didn't feel like getting up yet. Plus, you could feel a stiffness in your right ankle that told you that you had indeed broken it, or at least sprained it. You could tell it was wrapped.
Your clothes had been left the same, but your coat had been stripped off, as had your boots, leaving you in the woolen trousers and sweater beneath.
"Where is she?"
You sat up again. You knew that voice.
"Resting, Master Diluc, she hasn't woken up yet. Poor thing passed out from exhaustion after we found her."
Diluc's voice was calm as he spoke over Iris. "She will return with me to my home where I will look after her."
"But Miss Barbara will be visiting soon—"
"And she is welcome to visit (Y/N) at the winery."
"Master Diluc— Master Diluc, let her rest!"
The sound of voices was getting closer, and you watched as Diluc strode into the tent, closely tailed by Iris.
Diluc was usually eloquent and well groomed. His scarlet hair was always pulled neatly back behind his neck, his clothes pressed and spotless, his shoes shined. And for the most part, he looked how he always did. But the more you took in his appearance, the clearer it became that he hadn't been sleeping very well. His carmine eyes were ringed with shadows, his face pale and haggard. He looked exhausted.
You could only manage a smile. "Hey."
He glared at you. "That is all you can manage? (Y/N), you've been gone for a week. Everyone thought you were dead."
Your smile wavered. "I'm sorry."
Without warning, Diluc moved forward, gathering you into his arms in a bone-crushing embrace. You hesitated before returning the hug, wrapping your arms around his waist. He was pleasantly warm; he always radiated heat. It came with having a Pyro Vision, you assumed. Diluc released you, keeping his hands on your shoulders.
"I thought... Everyone thought you were gone. After three days went by, I went to the mountain myself, but I couldn't find you. The Knights of Favonius launched a search party. What happened?"
You told him the whole story, start to finish, and as you spoke, it occurred to you how terribly your situation could have ended. If you'd frozen to death, nobody would have found you, not on Dragonspine. You would have never seen the city you loved again, never spent the afternoon in the tavern, nursing a glass of wine as you spoke to Diluc or the bartender about your day. You would have never been able to tell Diluc how you felt.
You sighed, pushing the feelings to the back of your mind. "You can take me to the winery. I'll spend the next few days there if it'll give you peace of mind."
Diluc nodded. "It would be good to keep an eye on you, yes. I shall summon a carriage. Iris, when Miss Barbara arrives, redirect her to Dawn Winery."
Iris nodded. "Alright."
When the carriage arrived an hour later, Diluc loaded you into the back when you explained you couldn't walk, and you were off. The cushioned seats of the carriage were heavenly after everything you'd been through, and Diluc sat beside you even though the seat across from you was vacant. It made your cheeks flush with pride.
You leaned close, the cold from before still clinging to your bones, even with Diluc's massive coat around your shoulders. His vision was a warm spot where it sat at his hip, and you sighed as the warmth overtook you. His arm came around your shoulders.
"Are you still cold?"
You nodded. "Colder than usual, yeah."
He chuckled at your attempt at joking, which made you smile. You could stay like this with him forever.
"Diluc," you said, "Thank you"
Diluc furrowed his brows, glancing down at you. "Whatever could you be thanking me for?"
You felt your cheeks warm. "For not giving up on me."
Diluc simply nodded, eyes darting to a spot on the wall. "I care for you, (Y/N). You are a dear friend. You know that."
Your heart seized. The words 'dear friend' stung a little bit. You'd wished you were more to him than that. Like he was to you.
"I care for you, too," you said finally.
You watched the Mondstadt countryside go by outside the window. You wanted more than just the status of a dear friend. You wanted to wake up in the morning in Diluc's arms, spend lazy mornings with him, tell him about your day when you returned home. All of that, no matter how utterly domestic it was, sounded more than perfect.
You didn't quite know what to do. You could stay at his house while you healed and go home and let things go back to the way they were. Diluc would call on you when he needed help with the occasional odd job, and you'd pine for him when you were alone. Or you could take a leap of faith. You were in his arms right now, for Archon's sake.
Come on, (Y/N), put on your big girl pants.
"Diluc," you said, "you wanna..." You trailed off, words caught in your throat.
"Do I wanna... what?"
You sighed. "You wanna maybe... Go somewhere with me sometime?"
He cocked his head. "Go where?"
You mentally facepalmed. "Out. Would you like to go on a date? Like... Like with me."
Diluc was quiet for a moment or two, and when you looked up, you could swear he was blushing.
"What did you have in mind?" He asked finally, and your brain just about shut down.
"Well," you said, "We could go to Good Hunter. There's this new dish I've been wanting to try, and—"
"Alright," Diluc said, "once you have been seen by Barbara, we can go share a meal at Good Hunter."
You couldn't believe he said yes. Your heart was doing somersaults in your chest, and it was all you could do not to shout with joy. You may be cold and you may have been on the brink of death a few hours ago, but you had a date with Diluc Ragnvindr and that pretty much made your whole week.
"It's a date, then," you said, unable to fight you smile.
You arrived at the winery soon after, and Diluc helped you into the house where the servants set up a room for you. Barbara came by in the next hour, and after treating your more minor wounds, she healed your broken ankle like it was nothing. She told you it would be sore for the next few weeks, and to take it easy since her vision could heal the major damage, your body had to do the rest. After that, you fell asleep, exhausted by the day's events.
You woke in the middle of the night to the sound of footsteps.
Diluc was standing in the corner of the room, leaning against the window and looking out. He was dressed in a set of dark silk pajamas, his hair loose around his shoulders. You started when you saw him. Diluc seemed equally surprised to see you awake.
"Go back to sleep," he said, "I was merely checking in on you."
You rubbed the sleep from your eyes. "I'm fine. Really."
A sigh. "I know. I know you are."
You sat up in bed, pulling the blanket against your chest. "What're you doing up?"
"Couldn't sleep."
Another sigh, and he crossed to the bed, sitting down on the edge. "I thought I'd lost you, (Y/N). Even though I knew you were too stubborn to die, part of me wondered if you didn't make it."
"I care for you as more than a friend," you said, before you could stop yourself. Diluc turned his body towards you.
"What?"
"You heard me. I care for you, a lot." You looked down at your hands, "And when I got back, and I was telling you everything that happened on the mountain, I realized that if I died, I would never be able to tell you how I feel."
"And how do you feel?"
You looked up, meeting Diluc's eyes. "I love you."
Diluc pulled you into his arms, tucking your head against his shoulder, and you clung to him, sighing in contentment. When you leaned up to speak, he kissed you.
The kiss was warm, gentle, tender. He held you fiercely, like if he let you go you'd disappear, and you realized just how terrified he'd been when you were missing. His lips were warm and soft, and you cupped his cheeks in your hands, melting into him. His hands smoothed your hair away from your face, tucking it behind your ears so gently it made your heart ache. When he pulled back, you rested your forehead against his.
"I love you, too," he whispered.
Your heart thudded in your chest. "Stay with me?"
He nodded.
You scooted over in bed to allow him room, and once he was beside you, you tucked the blankets around your bodies, curling close to him.
"Sleep," he said, "you need it to heal."
You smiled. "I know. You need sleep, too. You've got bags under your eyes."
Diluc chuckled. "Alright. Good night."
You closed your eyes. "Good night."
You lay awake for a few more minutes until Diluc's breathing became slow and steady. His warmth chased away the lingering cold, and you snuggled close, the blankets providing pleasant heat. You felt safe in his arms.
You fell asleep slowly, feeling safer than you had in days.
You sure hoped there was more of this to come.