"Captain Y/N, are you okay?!" Amber exclaims in concern as she hops down from the balcony. She stares at Y/N and Diluc glaring at each other. Should I leave...?
"I'm fine, Amber." Y/N replies to Amber in a stern voice.
Yikes! Y/N is scary when she glares like that. Amber thinks to herself.
"Thanks to me." Diluc adds in an irritated tone while dusting himself off.
Y/N scoffs. "What are you even doing here? I thought you're 'not made of time'." Y/N quotes his words from yesterday.
"Am I not allowed at my own tavern?" Diluc hisses out.
Oh. Right. "Well, you almost never come into the city unless you have to." Y/N states. "Do you want me to check if you're here before walking by everytime I come here? I'm a little busy to do that."
"Busy chasing cats, I see." Diluc replies, gesturing towards the black furball in Y/N's arms.
"Busier than you, if you're spending your time arguing with me." The Captain responds.
"Actually, I came here because I have things to do." Diluc says before pushing past Y/N and walks into the tavern.
"Come on, Amber." Y/N huffs. "Let's return this Prince to his Queen."
"O-Okay." Amber stammers, a bit taken aback by the hostility between Y/N and Diluc she'd just witnessed.
As the two walk away from the tavern, Amber can't help but get curious as to what happened back there. "U-Uhm, if you don't mind me asking, do you and Sir Diluc not get along?" Amber asks.
"Me get along with that prickly Tomato-head?" Y/N scoffs. "Absolutely not. He's infuriating."
Amber blinks, never having seen the friendly Captain Y/N be this mad. She's livid. "Is there something that happened between the two of you?"
"He's hated me ever since I joined the Knights. I didn't even know him, but he didn't approve of the Knights letting in a Fontaine runaway from a Fatui family." Y/N explains. "If I'm not a Knight of Favonius, I'm quite literally nothing. I'm not the most athletic, the smartest, the most artistic, or anything. So, of course, I wasn't going to let this asshole look down on me."
Y/N takes a deep breath in and out, calming down. "Sorry, I shouldn't be raving like this. That was unprofessional of me."
Amber lets out a small laugh. "No offence, but you're not known for being the most formal Captain in the Ordo Favonius."
Y/N smiles. "At least you all know, then. I don't have to pretend to be anything I'm not."
The pair returns Prince to Margaret and Y/N lectures her on keeping an eye on this athletic-ass cat. By the time Amber and Y/N had parted ways, the sun had disappeared and the moon had risen to take its place.
As Y/N walks down the stone street to her house, a presence appears behind her. "Boo!"
Y/N's hand froze above the hilt of her rapier as she turned to face Kaeya standing next to a tall woman with emerald green eyes, a purple witch's hat, and a matching dress. "It's just you, Kaeya, Lisa." Y/N breathes out a sigh of relief.
The two chuckle. "I got you, didn't I?" Kaeya says with a smirk.
"Yeah, almost got your head sliced off." Lisa jokes, gesturing to my hand still overing over my weapon. I quickly let my hand fall down to my side, linking arms with Lisa as we walk.
"Y/N wouldn't hurt her favourite captain." He responds.
Y/N rolls her eyes with a smile. "I'm my favourite captain. You're a close tenth, though." She jokes.
Kaeya feigns a gasp, his hand flying up to his chest in mock offence. "You haven't even met all ten captains!"
"That's just how far down the line you are." Lisa remarks. "Your false charms won't work on Y/N."
"False? I'm very charming." Kaeya winks at Y/N, but she raises a hand as a gesture to stop.
"Not my type. Sorry."
Lisa snickers at Y/N's rejection to Kaeya's advances before asking, "Then, what is your type?"
Y/N never gave that much thought so she replies with a simple shrug.
"Perhaps, let's discuss over a drink." Kaeya suggests. "Lisa and I were on our way to Angel's Share when we spotted you. Care to join us?"
Y/N scrunches up her nose at the mention of Diluc's tavern. "No thanks. I totally embarrassed myself in front of that asshole today."
Kaeya quirks an eyebrow. "You bumped into him again after leaving the winery this afternoon?"
"I was helping Amber catch a cat on the roof of Angel's Share when I fell onto him." Y/N explains, facepalming.
"I haven't seen him in ages. I'm sure he finished whatever tasks he had and left by now." Lisa states. "What are the chances he's still around?" Lisa asks rhetorically.
-----
Turns out, very high. Y/N groans as soon as the trio enter the tavern. Her eyes land on a certain man with flame-red hair tied in a high ponytail while tending the bar.
"You should buy a lottery ticket, Y/N." Kaeya elbows Y/N jokingly.
At this point, Y/N can't tell if she's extremely lucky or unlucky. "Knowing me, I'd probably get all the numbers off by one."
"Do they even have the lottery in Teyvat?" Lisa wonders.
Diluc's eyes narrow as soon as he sees the people walking over to the bar and taking a seat in front of him. "What are you two doing here?" Diluc snaps.
"Don't worry, I brought them along for a drink." Lisa says. "Long time no see, Sir Diluc."
"Hm." Diluc hums in response.
"Where's Charles? I thought he's usually the bartender." Y/N asks. "Did you fire him?"
Diluc rolls his scarlet eyes. "I let him off early today. I decided to take over."
"Looks like you weren't that busy, afterall." Y/N huffs.
"Clearly, I'm being more productive than you were today. Chasing rumors and catching cats." Diluc grumbles before asking, "Are you going to order a drink, or did you just come here to waste my time?"
"We'll have three Dandelion Wines." Kaeya orders and Diluc turns his back to them, begrudgingly preparing the drinks and placing the glasses of the dark liquid in front of the trio.
Y/N lifts the glass to her lips, sipping on the bittersweet drink. Y/N doesn't particularly like the taste of alcohol, but rather enjoys the feeling of relaxation it brings. At times like this, all she needs is a glass or two to unwind. At times like this, she also remembers how lightweight she is.
After a few sips, Y/N begins to feel just a little tipsy.
"So Y/N," Lisa starts, taking a sip of her drink before continuing. "What were we talking about earlier?"
"Why I'm not Y/N's type." Kaeya half-jokes.
"It's hard to believe you're anyone's type." Lisa jabs at him. "I prefer strong, quiet cuties. Ones that don't flirt with everything that has a pulse." She gives Kaeya a look.
"Just because you don't enjoy my charms, doesn't mean others don't." Kaeya comments, putting an arm around Y/N's shoulder humourously.
She lifts his arm and drops it by his side. Shaking her head with a smirk. "Nice try, Ice-boy. I'm not too into the flirtatious type either, though."
What sounds like a choked, fake laugh comes from the redhead who has been eavesdropping on their conversation.
"What?" Y/N narrows her eyes at the bartender.
"You say you have a type as if you have a selection of people willing to date you." Diluc scoffs.
"Look who's talking." Y/N lets out a sarcastic laugh. "As if anyone would want to date someone with a personality like yours. You talk as if you have a girlfriend."
"I could get one."
Y/N hates that he's right. The amount of people like Donna who practically swoon over him is unbelievable. "As if you would." She mutters under her breath as she takes another sip of wine.
"I don't know, Y/N." Kaeya starts. "Did you see that flower girl? She looks like she has a shot."
"Pfft!" Y/N cackles. "Donna? She gushes about Diluc in the streets!"
"Is that her name?" Diluc asks out loud. "Donna."
"Don't tell me you spent all that time talking to her and don't even know her name." Y/N says.
Lisa lets out a sigh. "Hopeless."
"I simply have no interest towards her." Diluc clarifies as if it makes the situation any better. "I could do better if I tried."
Lisa raises her eyebrows for a moment. "Really? Let's hear it then, Ragnvindr."
"Hear what?"
"A pick-up line."
Y/N unsuccessfully suppresses a snort, but stops when she sees the redhead seriously thinking for a moment.
Without warning, Diluc leans in towards Y/N, his hand tilting her chin towards him. Y/N's eyes widen in surprise as feels her stomach do a flip and her cheeks heat up. "Wha-"
"Did it hurt?"
"Huh?"
"When you fell....from the balcony?"