after the hug, diluc filled you in about everything that had happened so far.
"and that is why you can stay in mondstadt." he finished and looked at you while the two of you sat down on the dinner table.
diluc proposed the idea of letting you stay in mondstadt, since he knew you didnt have a home anymore. but first he would tell jean that the mission was a succes and that you werent considered a threat.
"you really thought it all out already." you commented as your eyes were slightly widened, impressed by his mind and ideas.
his gaze softened as he heard your comment and spoke up, "dont think too much of it." he said while avoiding your gaze, not wanting to make eye contact with you.
aether and paimon were peacefully making dinner in the kitchen and paimon suddenly spoke up, "n/n! you gotta make a choice soon!" she said while focusing on the pan in front of her.
you turned your gaze her way and tilted your head to the side in a questioning way. "that is true." diluc spoke up from besides you.
"how so?" you asked him as you turned your head back at him, looking into his crimson eyes, waiting for him to explain. "we no longer have a reason to stay in liyue." he started off.
"which is why we will be going back to mondstadt tomorrow." the red haired male said. it made sense to you, aether would finish his small tasks today and the main reason you all came here was to confirm your identity.
now all that would be over tomorrow, there would be no reason to stay any longer.
you nodded your head at his words, "i see." you spoke up as you thought to yourself. "then we should enjoy liyue the most today, since were leaving tomorrow." you suggested with a small smile on your face.
diluc copied your actions and nodded his head as well, "i agree." he said truthfully.
"me too!!!" you heard a high pitched voice from the kitchen, you wanted to tell her that she was more than welcome to join but someone else beat you to it.
aether calmly spoke up, "let them go alone." he said in a whisper to paimon, "we can always come back here." he continued his reasoning as he made eye contact with his floating companion and gave her a warm smile.
diluc ignored paimon request and aethers words by coughing and grabbed your attention, he spoke up, "i want to go somewhere while were still here." he said as he averted his eyes to the side once more.
"would you care to tag along?" he asked you as he tilted his head back to look at you, waiting for your answer.
you knew exactly what to say, without hesitation you spoke up, "i would love too." you said in your usual voice while giving him a smile.
he smiled as well, but only for a split second, barely noticeable. diluc stood up from his chair and opened his mouth once again, "lets go." he said and turned around to walk to the front door.
"wait, now?" you questioned as you saw him walk away, a lot had happened to you in the past moments so far therefore you were surprised that he didnt wait to go after dinner.
he heard your question and looked over his shoulder as his body was facing the door, "yes, the sun will be setting soon." he said as he gave his only reasoning.
he turned his head back to the door and extended his hand to the handle to push it down, opening the door in the process.
suddenly you felt two tiny hands on your back, in an attempt of pushing you, "go!" you heard paimon say from behind you as she continued to push you out of place, but her efforts were futile. she wasnt that strong unfortunately.
the attempt made you laugh and you stood up from your seat, "alright, im going." you reassured her as you turned around to tell her that.
now walking to the front door, you saw that diluc was already standing outside. you approached him and walked through the doorframe.
as you stood besides him, hw extended his own arm to the door handle and grabbed it to close it, he paused for a second and opened his mouth, "we will be back later." he greeted aether and paimon calmly.
the door made a slight creaking sound as it got pushed back to its frame, you immediately spoke up, "where do you want to go?" you asked him with curiosity.
"ill lead the way." he said with his monotone voice, and started walking besides you. "firstly..." he started off, looking forwards to avert eye contact.
he had all your attention, and he continued his speaking, "have you been thinking about a place where you can stay?" he said and looked at the far sea that stretched into the horizon.
the sun was setting slowly already, just like diluc said. the rays of sunlight gave the entire city a warm orange-ish hue and your shadows became bigger with every second passing.
you thought about an answer for diluc, "you said something about telling jean that im not a threat, which makes mondstadt the easiest place for me to stay at." you reasoned and continued to think as you looked forward as well.
truthfully you wanted to stay with diluc, aether and paimon, but mainly diluc. staying at mondstadt would be a good start.
the two of passed a bridge and took a turn to the right, diluc snapped you right out of your train of thought, "then where from mondstadt exactly?" he asked you as you both descended a long staircase.
you already had a quick answer to that question, "the place i stayed at before, next to mona." you said and thought internally if you used the correct name.
diluc and you descended from the main staircase in liyue and met a beautiful sight, with the sun now almost fully set, you saw several lights in every corner of liyue harbor litting up, giving the whole city a magical look.
you both continued to walk towards the railing, looking directly into the sea and the beautiful building.
diluc spoke up, "i see." he said with a hint of disappointment. he got both of his forearms on top of the railing, leaning againt it as he stared into the ocean in front of you both.
the coast was fairly windy, the wind flowing between your hair and giving you a refreshing feeling, it had been a while since you enjoyed something as simple as this.
you did the same as you stood besides him, grabbing the railing with one hand and admiring the view with him besides you.
"wouldnt you want to stay somewhere bigger?" he asked out of nowhere. you turned your head at him with a confused expression, but he continued to look forward.
you spoke up the obvious, "of course, that would be nice." you said with a small smile on your face. you continued speaking, "what are you suggesting?" you asked him as you leaned onto the railing.
diluc grew a smile on his face too, "you know." he started off, "when you were out for two weeks i realized something." he said as his smile faltered and furrowed his brows again, not wanting to remember thosw events.
once again he had all your attention, and you didnt know what to say, you didnt want to interrupt him and waited or diluc to continue. fortunately, he did, "i..." he spoke up, but paused.
he took a deep breath, and turned his head slightly to look at you, "i dont.. want to be separated with you again." he said truthfully and refused to make eye contact again, staring at the far lights in liyue harbor.
those words made your heart flutter, you felt your face heat up simply from a comment and averted your gaze away from him as well, but you still wanted to speak up and tell him.
"... me too." you spoke up in a whisper, almost inaudible but he luckily heard it. indirectly teling him that the feeling was mutual. the moments he heard those words was when his eyes softened.
diluc coughed up, "so." he said and paused for a second, now fully turning his head at you while still leaning on the railing. "stay at my place." he proposed with the smallest, unnoticeable smile.
his hand slowly released the railing which he was holding and got stretched to your face instead, letting his fingers dance on your cheek and eventually cup your cheek.
once you realized his motion and his words, you started smiling unconsciously, and nodded your head at his words, giving approval.
a million thoughts entered your head, 'do i finally have a home? and with the person i want to stay with too?' you thought to youeself, it was unbelievable.
it was finally your turn to be happy.
"then lets stay together." you told him with the most genuine smile you had ever given someone while you tilted your head sideways, into his touch.
he nodded his head at your words and you noticed his cheeks tinted a light pink, blending with his skin color perfectly but you still noticed it.
and without hesitation, he inched his face closer to yours, slowly but steady. now as close as your noses almost touching, he opened his mouth again.
you could feel his red bangs touch your forehead, that was how close he was. you widened your eyes as you realized what he was about to do, but didnt want to stop him, and let him continue.
while smiling, he spoke up, "lets stay together." he quoted you as his eyes were glued onto your lips. and did the unthinkable.
beneath the moonlight and the dimly lit streets in liyue, he shut his eyes and closed the remaining gap that was between the two of you. he pressed his lips against yours while he still cupped your cheek, gently and delicately.
you couldnt believe what was happening, but eventually gave into the kiss and moved your lips at the same rhythm as his. his lips were softer that you expected and his warmth was hotter than ever.
feeling him smile in the kiss, you couldnt contain your own smile and curled the corners of your mouth as well.
end of part one
thank you all for reading :)