@pavocelus: though rare, on nights when the burdensome loneliness could only be soothed with the alluring promise of alcohol, kaeya had been known to drink himself into a near unintelligible state. he couldn't quite remember what had triggered it ; a fight with diluc, some abyss correspondence, maybe it had been too much reminiscing over old burned, and storm soaked letters, but he had woken the next morning with a pounding headache.
strange though ; no recollection of charles asking rosaria or venti to escort him home, no memory of who'd shed his outer layers, removed his boots and tucked him in, nor who'd left the water by his bedside table until dainsleif appeared. sucking in a sharp breath, suddenly so painfully sober, kaeya became aware of his bedhead, the drool at the corner of his mouth, how much of an asinine mess he might have made of himself last night and panicked. this was not the carefully constructed image he'd wanted to portray to the former twilight sword.
wide blue - gold eyes would stare at dainsleif in something akin to shock, before dramatically diving under the covers with a dramatic fwip of the sheets. followed then by a an amused and faux mortified " don't look at me ! i'm hideous. " maybe he could still salvage this yet.
ㅤㅤㅤ𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 ( not that he believed in that ), that had brought dainsleif back to haunting mondstadt's locale. divine intervention, still, that had struck him with the urge to check in on the other khaenri'ahn that night. and once more, divine intervention ( because undoubtedly celestia was laughing at him ) when he'd found the other man piss drunk and so utterly, wakingly depressive that even he, dainsleif, had felt bad for him. oh, what a sight kaeya had been - beautiful, as always, but with sorrow in one revealed eye and a flush on the bare plain of his chest that dainsleif had tried very, very hard to ignore. only when the alberich had become... too lost, did the twilight sword offer to take him home - and what a feat that was, weedling the man from beneath that obnoxious bartender's nose with more clandestine effort than he'd care to admit.
ㅤㅤㅤdainsleif has tried for the past six or so hours to blatantly ignore how it'd felt to cart kaeya across the threshold, cryo body cool against the heat of his tainted arm. he also continued to try to ignore the way the alberich had looked up at him, through pretty dark lashes, soft lips parted, chasing the twilight sword's gloved fingers when he'd gently removed his eyepatch, his coat... oh, the poor bough keeper, riddled with his desires and instead forced into the vestiges of painful, painful propriety. fortunately, he'd passed out quickly.
ㅤㅤㅤdainsleif had taken the living room, but not before untying kaeya's hair, and laying the warmth of his cape across the spread of the younger's bed. he barely slept, of course, and spent most of the night peering through the ajar doorframe, watching the steady rise and fall of the sinner that lay beneath those sheets, so sad, so lonely... morning came quickly. he spent it preparing a simple breakfast, always pleased by subtle mondstadt fare with the lieu of sumeru spices, allowing him to craft a dish that reminded him of... home. coffee was brewed, set aside in two mugs, and only then with one in hand did he go to check on the cavalry captain, and well...
ㅤㅤㅤit was a comedy of epic proportions. there stood the twilight sword, cursed claws clutching a steaming porcelain mug, at the bedside of a very sleep-addled, but breathlessly beautiful kaeya alberich. he stared at kaeya. kaeya stared at him. they stared at each other. and then not a moment later - there the captain went, beneath the blankets, and blatantly missing the soft and amused grin that tugged at the twilight sword's lips. ❝ i beg to differ. ❞ he murmurs quietly. once more, kaeya misses the softening of sky blue hues, before there is the clink of porcelain to wood, and he tugs lightly at the bedsheets with one clawed hand, ❝ rise and shine, sir alberich. i made breakfast. and that drool isn't going to wipe itself, you know. ❞
