"So they made his birthday extra special, because there were already special guests over?" Diluc questions. You two finally had a pretty decent conversation, although you weren't telling him too much of yourself, in which Diluc found very unsatisfying.
"I didn't even wanna appro-" You stopped talking as you felt sudden uneasiness, the air felt stiff for some weird reason. Diluc seemed to notice too.
As you both stayed silent to observe your surroundings, you had a clue. "could it be?.." A cold sweat dropped down your cheek.
You both faced the fences in unison. An Abyss Herald was standing behind it, looking intimidating. You stood up quicker than lightning and stared at it. What's it doing so close to your house? As much as you want to get rid of it now, there's a high chance it will catch everyone's attention in the ballroom.
"(Y/N), get inside, I'll go after it" Before Diluc could take action, you lift up your dress as a bow and quiver fell down. Catching Diluc's attention.
"W-Why do you have weapons stuffed under your dress?" Diluc frowns with a bright pink blush on his face.
"Well it fit perfectly under this stupid crinoline, pretty handy I guess" You gave a cheeky smile.
"you do know your abilities are very loud right?" He stares at you like you're the dumbest person in Teyvat.
"a little thunder won't hurt" You ran before him and chased after the Abyss Herald, luckily for you, it teleported somewhere a little far from the manor. Now you can be as loud as you want.
On the way however, your dress got stuck in some thorns which made some fabrics rip. You were also running barefoot which slowed you down due to stepping on tiny rocks and sticks. So Diluc was already ahead of you.
"Ugh, no matter how skilled I get, I can never be pretty and fight at the same time" You sighed as you took off a golden clip from your hair and let your gorgeous hairstyle fall apart. You also had to break your crinoline so you could move better in that dress.
You could now finally run freely, although your feet still hurt.
After catching up to Diluc, the Abyss Herald stopped and faced you both.
"You both have been a nuisance to the abyss, it's time for you to perish once and for all" It said with a raspy voice.
"The only thing that will perish is this beautiful dress and that's your fault!" You yelled the last line once you attacked first. You usually start with 1 arrow when facing one enemy, but this time you went straight ahead with 3.
The arrow quickly made its way to the Abyss Herald's head, only for it to poke its cheek and fall off.
"what?" You frowned.
"It's immune to electro" Diluc looked at you without an expression, as always.
"you could've said so sooner!" You jumped on a tree branch when it launched a hydro attack on you.
Another hydro attack went straight for Diluc but this dumbass was looking at you so he was drenched in water and the attack also left a scratch on his cheek.
"oh no, Diluc, watch out" You said with a sarcastic tone, but your expression looked surprised.
"Thanks, I'll remember that" He frowned.
Playtime's over, it was time to analyze a plan. You hold tight onto the tree as the Abyss Herald had all its focus on Diluc. Your arrows are always infused with electro and poison, so focusing on physical damage would be pointless since the poison itself takes a lot of damage. The Abyss Herald is much more powerful than a mage, so it's obviously impossible to poison it.
"I guess I'll play support" You sighed and aimed for the fire on the grass that was caused by Diluc. Lucky , the Abyss Herald was still in its place. So you aimed the arrow exactly on the fire which caused an incredibly loud overload.
It certainly made a huge impact on your enemy. As easy as that, all you gotta do is support Diluc as much as possible.
"light up some stuff for me, but try not to burn the forest" You instructed the redhead. He nods and swing his claymore to the enemy once again.
The abyss herald was smart enough to slice of the tree you were at, though you were faster than lightning to move to another tree. Its attention was all on you now because it knows your strategy, now it's time for distraction.
Annoying it with an arrow here and there, Diluc lit up one tree from behind the Abyss Herald. Proud that he was following the script in your mind, you shot an arrow behind it which caused another big overload. Making the tree fall over the Abyss Herald.
"burn" Diluc said in a monotone voice and looked down on the enemy as if it was a peasant to him. A huge phoenix followed the swing of Diluc's Claymore and burned the fallen tree along with the Abyss Herald.
after a few seconds, you jumped down and electrocuted the fire to stop it from spreading in the grass. Fortunately, you didn't have to clean up the mess since the tree turned to ashes along with the enemy.
"Not bad" Diluc commented, he then looked at your messy dress. "Uh-"
"I have no regrets" You sighed and dusted some of the dirt on it. How are you gonna explain this now? You're a mess.
"I can't go back like this" You frowned and tried to think of a way. "Oh, that's right, do your maids have extra dresses I could wear?"
"no, they don't sleep in the manor. And it's obvious they are asleep by now. How about you sneak to your room?"
"I can't, a lot of servants and members are walking around the manor. I'd be caught by then. Also they're guarding it more carefully now because bad things usually happens when the nobles have a party"
"like what?"
"robbery" You crossed your arms and stared at him like the answer was obvious.
Diluc did his thinking pose, as well as you. Only crickets and owls can be heard now.
"How about... you stay in Dawn Winery for the night.." Diluc's idea kinda caught you off guard but you eventually nodded to his suggestion.
"Yeah, and then I can just sneak into my room early in the morning! They'll be too tired to have their guards up"
Hold up, staying in Diluc's Manor?
"I hope you have a spare bedroom" You looked into his eyes, hopeful yet nervous. He stays quiet which makes you sweat more.
"Kaeya's bedroom is vacant, but I'm pretty sure he wants it untouched"
"He doesn't have to know" You nervously laughed.
"unless you want him to keep nagging me about how you and I wrecked his property" He crosses his arms.
"well if I have no place to sleep there, why did you suggest that in the first place?!"
"There's a couch in the Master bedroom"
"oh good"
"where I sleep"
"ahh." You turned pale as a ghost and had an expression as if saying 'its the end for me'.
"I'd rather sleep with your butler" Your mouth became dry as if you were truly dying inside.
"he sleeps in a single bed"
"THERE IS NO WAY I'M SLEEPING IN THAT DAMN MANOR"
•——————•°•✿•°•——————•
"Welcome back Young Master!" The Butler greeted as he opened the door for the both of you."Ahh, an unexpected visitor" He looked surprised.
"Pardon me" You said. On the way to Dawn Winery, you frowned and kept mumbling bad stuff to Diluc as if he didn't hear you.
"You're quite a mess Lady (Y/N), come in, come in. I shall prepare a bath"
You bowed at him and looked around the Manor. It wasn't as big as yours but it was still pretty fancy and luxurious.
"Hillie, you're still here?" Diluc looks at the maid who was about to finish arranging the bookshelves.
"Good evening Master Diluc, I just have some last stuff to finish with, then I'll be leaving" Hillie stood up and bowed to the young master before going back to her work.
"Oh! A maid, maybe I don't have to sleep here" You smiled. Your original idea was to borrow a dress from his maids and go back to the manor as if nothing happened, but then you felt your legs tremble.
"it'll be futile" Diluc said and placed his coat on the hanger stand. "Hillie, would you mind offering (Y/N) a spare night gown and dress for the daily?"
"Sure thing" She bowed and quickly left the manor to go to her house.
"The bath is ready for you, Lady (Y/N)" The butler came out from another room and announced.
"Thank you"
•——————•°•✿•°•——————•
After a 20 minute bath in the hot tub, you wore the night gown Hillie handed to you and left the bathroom. It was already 10 PM which means you should sleep in order to wake up earlier than 7 AM. Though you were a little hesitant since you will be sleeping in the master bedroom, where Diluc now sleeps.
Lost in your thoughts, Diluc comes out of the kitchen with grape juice. "Do you want some?" He raised his brow. "uh no, maybe wine?"
"Our wine goes at the Tavern and storage room, we never use them for our own purpose" Diluc's tone sounded as if he was attacking you.
"Fine I'll just sleep" You took one step away but hesitated once more. You really don't wanna sleep in his room.
"The couch is only facing the fireplace, I won't be able to see you as you sleep" He took a sip of his grape juice.
"well in that case, good night" You wiped your sweat and walked up the stairs, Diluc already told you where his room was located in earlier. So you didn't have to check any other room.
As you entered the Master bedroom, of course it was bigger than any other room in the manor. There were two couches facing the fireplace, a king sized bed in the center of the wall, bookshelves & desks, and some golden and stone structures here and there.
You wasted no time and laid on the couch, closing your eyes. You didn't really feel sleepy since you were still anxious about sleeping in another person's house. You do know that Diluc is a respectable man to others, and only does his job, so you're sure he won't do anything immature during your slumber.
As for Diluc, he was still confused and surprised to bring a woman over to his house. Not just any woman, but a noble whom he started secretly respecting.
Knowing himself, it is rare for him to suggest this idea to anyone at all, not even the traveler that he's well acquainted with, unless it's urgent.
What in Barbatos' name got him thinking like this now? He's certainly had a change of heart and mind for some reason.
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o7 to Chadwick Boseman who died 1 year ago. Wakanda forever (8.28.21)🖤
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