I just felt like writing something different. I realized I have written Diluc to be rather docile, submissive, etc. Which in some ways he is, especially when he is around the reader. However, I wanted to explore the other side of him. After all he has been by the readers side longer than anyone (asides from Zhongli) and has stood by her through out even her more horrendous actions.
Kaeya, for the first time, was nervous to be around Diluc.
When you spend so much time around someone, you believe you know how to read them. Yet as Kaeya met Diluc's hardened gaze, reality slaps him hard across the face.
He cannot recall a time where Diluc appeared as anything other than a gentle soul. Someone who can make even the toughest walls of an individual crumble. You're evidence enough to this. The way you care about Diluc. The way you subtly cherish him in ways you think others can't notice. He's broken through you in ways that slim to none have.
Kaeya knew this. Kaeya experienced this. That is why he can't wrap his mind around the Diluc who is in front of him.
Diluc isn't treated special for no reason - Kaeya thought. Diluc has been by your side longer than any of the other harem members. Diluc has remained loyally by your side even as you commit atrocities that cause Kaeya's stomach to churn. It's Diluc, who may despise blood, grime, and violence, who welcomes you into his arms even when you're coated with blood and guts. When your mind is lingering in a violent place that causes other to keep you at a distance (even Kaeya himself at times) Diluc actively steps towards you, shortening the distance between you and him.
"However," Kaeya was dragged out of his thought, his eyes once more focusing on Diluc.
Kaeya's hands twitched at his side, aching to grasp onto one another in order to ground himself but he refrained. He wasn't going to portray any weakness. Not in a situation he had no idea how to deal with.
"If any harm come to Y/n, or the others in the harem, due to your actions, I will not be so forgiving."
There wasn't a single tremor in Diluc's voice. Nor did his eyes flicker away from Kaeya's.
"My words carry more precedence, after all."
The kind Diluc that Kaeya was so used to was missing.
Kaeya understands the implication of Diluc's words. You trust Diluc and if Diluc were to have any suspicion and relay it back to you, you would take it seriously. Kaeya may have been by your side for a few years but he knows that Diluc's word's would easily triumphant over his own.
This was a new side of Diluc. A side Kaeya thought didn't exist.
Kaeya was well aware that there were individuals who questioned Diluc's position at your side and his possible rise to the emperor's seat. The general public does admire Diluc for his soft-spoken demeanor. Afterall, it is a very soothing contrast to your own harsh demeanor. However, many doubt his ability to handle the other side that came with being the Emperor; the scheming, the politics, always having to be one step a head of anyone else. Many people believe that Ayato would be a more suitable choice to be Emperor due to him being more comfortable with this side that comes with power.
Looking at Diluc now… he realized that he - just like the public - had let their guards down. Diluc is showing that he would be more than capable of handling the pressure that came with being emperor.
Kaeya wanted to shout to Diluc that it wasn't what he was thinking. That he would never do something to harm y/n or the others. That is was all his family's doing but he froze. His mouth closed tight.
In some fucked up part of himself he couldn't betray his family. He couldn't tell Diluc what they were planning; that they were using him as a means to disrupt the harem and cause internal strife.
That is why Diluc had found the poison and the letters. They didn't like that Diluc still retained the highest-ranking position. His family wouldn't even consider the fact that some one as docile and soft as Diluc would ever be considered as the future emperor.
If only they could see the Diluc that stood across from him now.