I properly looked over my account and noticed that I have over 1k followers by now. Like wtf. Thank you guys T.T
Happy to see an old face, you smile. “Hello, Kaeya! How have things been while I wasn’t here?”
“Aw, no ‘Kaeya, I missed you so much! How have you been?’ How hurtful...”, pouts the Cavalry Captain.
“I mean, I could ask that, but you look fine to me… At least fine enough to joke around.” Trying to mimic Kaeya’s whiny tone, you probably end up looking like an idiot. Especially if you consider that you – a (more or less) grown person – are sitting on top of someone else’s shoulders. At least the blue-haired man in front of you doesn’t seem to mind.
Kaeya extends his hand to you with a charming smile. “Want me to help you down?” His eyes, which were looking at yours at first, move down to Dain’s and stay there.
While you are trying to figure out how to take Kaeya’s hand, the two men have a staring contest. Whatever information is exchanged during it, it makes Dainsleif sigh in defeat. “Let me help you getting down. If you jump from up there you are just going to fall unfavorably.”
Finally, your feet are back on solid ground – completely without having to beg or protest. Good that Kaeya came by or else you might have had to stay on Dain’s shoulders for a few kilometers more.
“Would you introduce me to your new friend? Mine is – as (Y/N) already partially said – Kaeya Alberich.”
“…Alberich?” There it is – the same look Dain gave you when he was still wary of you and Kaeya appears to catch onto that.
“If that name has some meaning to it, I must disappoint you. I have severed ties to my family a long time ago. I barely know of my Khaenri’ahn heritage.”
“I see… My name is Dainsleif.”
Seeing how distanced those two are, you can’t help but think about all those theorizers and shippers who thought that there would be a grand connection between those two. Funny enough, Dain looks more as if he wants to throw Kaeya in the nearby river – which might just be an over-interpretation on your side as his face remains unchanged from his neutral state, but still.
Since the conversation has grown quiet, the Cavalry Captain decides to speak up again. “So, where are you two traveling to? The last time I saw you with Aether, you were going to Liyue, right?”
You open your mouth to answer, but then you realize that you don’t even know yourself where you are going. Therefore, Dainsleif is the one who answers. “We have lost the lead to our investigation, so we are currently traveling without a particular direction in mind.”
“Then how about I invite you over to Mondstadt. I also could treat you a nice meal, like in old times.”, suggests Kaeya with a small wink at the end – or maybe it was just him blinking as it is hard to tell with the eye patch…
Despite having different reasons behind it, both you and Dainsleif hesitate at accepting his offer. While your current travelling companion has generally no desire to bear the presence of anyone other than yours, you don’t want to accept since you would feel bad for using Kaeya’s hospitality. He had helped you quite a lot when you arrived in this world, but you still wouldn’t consider him an close friend. Getting help from an ‘acquaintance’ without having anything to return, isn’t fair.
“I will take that silence as a yes.” That being said, Kaeya somehow manages to drag you two all the way to Mondstadt. During that walk you notice just in what a good mood he is. Sure, he is a good talker with a silver tongue, but as far as you remember his smile rarely reached his eyes. Today it does.
Kaeya kept his word and invited your small group for lunch at Good Hunter. You were able to order one dish and one drink each that would go on Kaeya’s account. Even Rosa got a small plate with food with which it could at least play a bit.
By now, everyone has finished with eating. Since Kaeya never was in Inazuma before, you decide to describe him what you saw there. This description ranges from Narukami Island with its shines and the city to the fairytale-like scenery on Watatsumi Island. In addition, you also try to explain him what type of place Enkanomiya is. “Mhm. There live a few monsters you would never get to see here in Mondstadt. For example, there is one species that looks like an oversized elemental lizard. One of them almost killed me. Luckily, Dain saved me. Right Dain?” Looking over to your blond friend, you see that he has fallen asleep in his chair. “Oh, he must have been really tired to fall asleep like that… I wonder how much energy he wasted to take care of me, especially when I was unconscious…”
“Finally...”, Kaeya sighs and removes a strand of hair out of his face, “(Y/N), can I ask you something?”
“Eh… Sure?”
“Do you want to travel with Dainsleif?”
Confused, you tilt your head. “Do I want to travel with him? Yeah, I think so. Or where are you getting at with that question?”
“You know, when I first saw you two, it didn’t look like you were enjoying his presence. As if you were kidnapped… or something similar.”
“Oh, no no. Dain didn’t do something even remotely like that.” Shaking your head, you put up your hand defensively. “I was just a bit annoyed because he insisted to carry me for a while. We only had a small argument about which direction we should head, that’s all. …Is this why you were so insistent at inviting us to Mondstadt? So that you could help me if something is wrong?”
“Partially. I would have invited you over to Mondstadt regardless of the circumstances. We haven’t seen each other for such a long time after all. Are you sure about him though? To me he seems oddly tense and overprotective. Not like someone who is particularly trustworthy…”
You look over to Dain’s sleeping figure. He seems so peaceful when he isn’t forced to be conscious in his painful reality… “No, I am certain that he is a good guy at heart. You are right about the overprotective part, but I have seen far worse than that.”
Kaeya shakes his head. “I don’t know if that is supposed to reassure me or if I should seriously worry about you. Well, anyways – if you ever notice him becoming dangerous, you can tell me and I will make sure that he won’t do something to you, alright?” He offers his hand for you to shake.
Smiling, you take it. “Alright.”
“Perfect. Now…” The Cavalry Captain stands up from his chair and pulls you towards him, causing you to fall into his chest. “…How about we take a stroll around Mondstadt. Like a little date between just the two of us. I will tell Sara to watch over your friend while we are away, so don’t worry about him.” He puts on his most charming smile and starts walking with your hand in his.
I hope you enjoyed reading and stay healthy!
I also hope you never had to clean the inflamed wounds of your cat after it got into a bítch fight with another one. This was a) digusting and b) it took me more than half an hour... Guess who is going to the vet on Monday -.-