#once again warning for diluc/kaeya even though it doesn't get discussed in this particular snippet

[dandelion-wings]

Still thinking about this one, so:

---

Despite what the Knights' only remaining Outrider seems to believe, Diluc isn't stalking Kaeya.

He does need to talk to him. In person, not through letters. Certainly not through Jean, who has only ever known half of Kaeya's story. She has assured Diluc that she has no interest in becoming his alpha, nor he in being her omega, but Diluc can't trust even that--Kaeya *lies*, and can get away with it to everyone but Diluc himself, who even far away in Snezhnaya had felt the twinge through their bond whenever he did it.

Which is exactly why Diluc needs to talk to him in person. When the truth had come out in their youth, Kaeya's dreams and the twinge of his lies tangling together into something Diluc knew was big enough to take to Father, he had trusted Father's plan to disarm him. Keep him at the Winery, train him for its management and business, and keep him out of the Ordo and safely away from any of Mondstadt's other levers of power.

(*'Love him,'* Father had said, smiling sad-eyed at Kaeya clinging to Adelinde on the far side of the courtyard as if she was his only protection, and ruffled Diluc's hair. *'His father certainly didn't. In time, he'll understand that Mondstadt is where he's actually cared for.'*)

Diluc no longer possesses that naive faith in Father's wisdom. He can't assume that his plan to win Kaeya over actually worked. Not when the very moment he'd left, Kaeya had abandoned the Winery and stepped straight into a position with the Ordo. Not when so much *dread* floods their bond every time Diluc tries to approach him.

There are other reasons he might feel that dread. Diluc can think of plenty. But one of them is, very possibly, that he's dreading what Diluc might tell the Knights, and Diluc can't ignore that possibility.

Neither, though, can he force Kaeya to bear his presence with that silent fear so loud and harsh between them. It isn't in Diluc, any longer, to override what Kaeya wants. He's no longer the young fool he was in so many ways, and one of them is that he understands, far too late, that he can't just *make* Kaeya feel calm and cared-for and safe under the aegis of his brother and alpha. He lost any power to do that the first, impulsive time he tried.

So he watches Kaeya from a distance, learning his schedule, learning his habits, noting what he does and who he talks to. Learns the Outrider's schedule, too, so that he can do it when she's out on patrol and not when she's around to glare and accuse him. She doesn't frighten him, and neither does the Lawrence woman, but that doesn't mean he cares to provoke that confrontation.

Plenty of Kaeya's drinking companions are suspicious--but, while Kaeya is merely Quartermaster, not an investigator or guard with the powers of arrest, somehow most of those he gets too involved with eventually end up arrested. The knights he spends the most time with all seem loyal and honest. If he's feeding intel to anyone through dead-drops or clandestine meetings, he's somehow avoiding Diluc catching any sign of it. Rosaria scoffs when Diluc tentatively asks her if *she's* seen Kaeya do anything she might question.

"I wouldn't trust him with a bottle of wine, but I'd trust him with my life," she tells him. "The only people he's feeding intelligence are me and the Acting Grand Master."

Diluc swallows down an irrational, unjust jealousy and abandons that line of discussion.

He can't trust that reassurance either, reliable a defender of Mondstadt as Rosaria seems to be. Kaeya is a liar, and an excellent actor--he knows *that* all too well--and no doubt has the nun's measure far better than does Diluc. It will take more time, and more observation, to draw a complete conclusion.

If he could just *talk* to Kaeya, question him directly and wait to see whether he senses the twinge of a lie-

Observation will be good enough. It isn't stalking when it's potentially in Mondstadt's defense.

***

The Ordo Librarian is an interesting figure, competent and confident, yet reluctant to exert herself even when it would be to the Knights' benefit. She's also both Jean and Kaeya's very close friend. She visits the Angel's Share regularly with each of them, and sometimes with both. Rarely does she come alone.

Not long after her last visit with Kaeya, though, she does. Comes alone, sits at the bar, and nurses first a single glass of wine and then an herbal tea for hours, nearly until closing. As everyone else trails out and she lingers, eyes on him and smiling faintly, Diluc grows more and more tense.

"Master Diluc," she says at last, less than half an hour from closing, with the only other patrons left out of earshot. She leans across the counter, chin propped on her hand. "You really do have to stop stalking Kaeya. He's much less fun to chat with when he has his shoulders up around his ears."

"I'm not stalking him. If he comes into the Angel's Share with you, that's his own-"

"It isn't just in the Angel's Share, cutie. I'm not going to argue with you about exactly what you're doing. I'm just going to warn you that if you keep doing it, I'm going to have to ask Jean to intervene. She doesn't want to do that, and Kaeya doesn't want her to, and I'm sure you don't want her to either, but I can't put up with this forever. You've done enough damage, don't you think?"

For a moment, all Diluc can see is red. The blaze of flame, long as it's been since he's wielded it, not the dull blood-red of the Delusion he still keeps secretly tucked away.

"You don't know Kaeya half as well as you think you do," he tells her, turning away and setting a glass down a little too hard.

"I could say the same about you. Mate-bonds aren't the end-all and be-all of knowing someone, and I don't know if you've been counting, but it *has* been three years." He can hear her stool scrape against the floor behind him as she stands. "Keep my warning in mind, Master Diluc. And try actually talking to him, instead of lurking in the shadows and pretending you're not eavesdropping. You may not like what he has in mind if you don't."

Diluc stares at the cracked glass in his hands, taking slow, controlled, deliberately deep breaths, and says nothing. After a moment he can hear her heels on the floor as she departs. Once the door has closed behind her, he heads into the back room to throw the glass away.

***

(She's right. He *doesn't* like what Kaeya has in mind, at all. He had never imagined that, with the blighted bond between them, Kaeya could so badly misread Diluc's intent. But then, with that same bond, he'd just as badly misread Kaeya's own.)

Kicking around a new omegaverse scenario on Discord last night/this morning (I make. so many omegaverses. that I am gradually trying to uncringe enough about to actually talk about) and was just seized with the need for Lisa's POV about it, mostly because "Lisa sees Kaeya's reaction vs. Jean's reaction to Diluc's return and tries to decide whether she needs to do a subtle murder or not" is a trope I made up myself for me but nonetheless absolutely adore. So:

---

It's a lovely day out, a warm sun cut with just enough of a breeze to keep her from getting sweaty, so Lisa has insisted on tea out in the gardens below the Ordo instead of indoors. Jean isn't joining them this afternoon, which is a shame, but Eula and Amber are both in from the field and happy to be invited. Kaeya has, as often happens, invited himself.

Eula is in the middle of indignantly complaining about her family's latest shenanigans when Kaeya tenses, and he, she, and Amber all look almost simultaneously towards the garden entrance. Lisa, less vigilant than any of them but certainly interested, follows their gaze.

There's a gentleman heading their way, dressed in an unseasonably heavy black coat, his red hair vivid against it. Eula's eyes narrow in recognition, and Kaeya sets down his tea and sits even straighter. It's entertaining to watch both Eula and Amber do the same in response. Lisa settles back in her chair and takes another sip of her tea, watching closely.

"Kaeya," the man says, without even a glance at the rest of them. "Jean told me you would be out here. I wanted-"

Kaeya flinches. It's a tiny movement, just enough to be visible, and then a smile spreads over his face that Lisa doesn't believe for an instant. She sees Amber sniff the air and brace her hands on the table to stand.

"-to talk to-" The man cuts himself off, going white. He takes a step back almost defensively, then shakes his head. "Never mind."

He turns his back and flees the garden as if Amber and Eula are actually after him. Lisa takes another long, thoughtful sip of tea, looks at Amber slowly relaxing in her seat and the glances she and Eula are exchanging, watches out of the corner of his eye as Kaeya slumps in his own seat and then regathers himself enough to stretch out and casually take a cookie, then lowers her cup and smiles sweetly at him.

"I take it that was our newly-returned Master Diluc Ragnvindr?"

"You have a good eye." Kaeya gives her very nearly the same languid smile he had his long-missing alpha, every genuine emotion shuttered away.

Lisa wonders what Master Diluc had gotten down their bond in the moment that Kaeya flinched. Surely much, much more than any of them, even Amber with her alpha's nose, picked up on. There are reasons why Lisa is willing to let Jean keep their relationship quiet and bondless until the Grand Master comes back, and the thought of having Jean's anxiety in her head day in and day out is certainly one of them.

"I don't like him," Amber declares, loud and decisive. "He didn't even look at Eula!"

"Oh?" Kaeya smirks at her. "He didn't look at you, either. Is our little Outrider getting big enough that that's a problem?"

Amber sputters angrily. "No! I'm not- it's not about stupid alpha stuff! It's because he was *rude*."

"He was at that. Maybe you should call him out next time." Kaeya's smirk broadens. "You do want a rival or two to face down if you want to catch anyone's eye, you know."

"I'm not trying to!"

"Amber doesn't need to get into foolish fights in order to impress anyone," Eula says, taking the bait, and Kaeya, eye gleaming, immediately begins needling her as well.

Lisa sits back to watch again, ready to rein him in if he needles either of them a little too sharply. The subtle shifts in their relationship this past year constitute delicate new growth, and she won't see it wilted. But Kaeya's shoulders are relaxing again as he teases them, and it *is* an effective distraction.

***

While Lisa insists on quiet in her library, she doesn't insist on absolute silence. It's interesting, and sometimes useful, to listen in on the patrons' gossip.

"I heard Diluc Ragnvindr is back in town," someone whispers, back in the natural studies section. "But everyone says he isn't going to return to the Knights...."

"Of course he wouldn't," their companion scoffs. A little more loudly, but not loud enough to scold. "Master Jean would never let him. Not now that Master Kaeya's the quartermaster. She'll keep Master Diluc well away from him."

"But aren't they mates?"

"They're *bonded*, if that's what you mean. But Master Diluc wasn't even a knight yet and Master Kaeya was even younger when it happened. Master Crepus hushed it up, but... well, they may not be Lawrences, but the Ragnvindrs *are* aristocrats. Why else would Master Jean have taken him away from the Winery as soon as Master Diluc left it?"

It would explain the flinch, but something about it doesn't taste right. Lisa knows that Jean and Kaeya have secrets between them, but Jean *would* have told her. If not before, then when Master Diluc did return, so that Lisa would know to intervene if she had to. Besides, Jean had been genuinely delighted by the news that he was back in Mondstadt. She wouldn't be if that was the story.

"Why wouldn't Master Jean challenge him for his claim, then? I've heard that- you know- not that Master Jean would ever do anything inappropriate. But it wouldn't be, if she did challenge him."

The voices are drawing closer, and Lisa makes sure she looks like she's paying close attention to marking returned books, though she could do this simple little spell in her sleep.

"Politics, probably. She needs some kind of excuse, and until Master Diluc gives her one- Oh! Miss Minci," the knight says as they round the corner, smiling nervously. "I didn't realize you were in."

"I came in after you," Lisa says, with a gracious smile. "Do you have books to check out, cuties?"

She checks out their books, pretending not to notice their awkward silence and making no comment on their discussion. No point in taking offense when she and Jean *are* keeping their affairs quiet. They aren't the first people to assume that Kaeya lives with Jean for prurient reasons, or, more kindly, to imagine a star-crossed forbidden romance between them.

To be fair, Lisa had probed at that exact possibility before she dedicated herself to acquiring Jean's affections. But she's quite certain, bond or not, of Jean's loyalty.

***

If Master Diluc's return is causing a resurgence of such rumors, though, Lisa would rather Jean and Kaeya not be blindsided by them. She doubts that Kaeya *would* be, even if no one says them to his face--he's quite good at tracking such whispers and rumors. Jean, though, relies on him and Lisa to keep her informed of such things, and Lisa isn't sure Kaeya would share this one.

Lisa can also confess to some personal curiosity. It may not be the one the rumors claim, but there is a story in that blighted interaction in the garden.

"I overheard an interesting conversation in the library the other day," she tells them over dinner the next time Jean invites her over for the night. "It seems there's an interesting theory going around about you refusing to let Master Diluc return to the Knights. Mixed in with that old nonsense about the two of you being secretly, passionately in love."

"If that's so, I can guess which one it is," Kaeya says, smiling ruefully. "Unfortunately, no one's put me in a position to deny it."

Jean frowns. "Oh, no. Not the one Father had to investigate when you were younger? I thought he'd settled that years ago."

"You know how it is. A good rumor never dies entirely. All it takes is a few people willing to be convinced that Father paid the Church off to hide the evidence, and, well." Kaeya shrugs. "The cavalry won't be convinced that their Saint Diluc did any such thing, so as long as I stay friendly with them, it'll eventually die down. The other half we won't be able to do anything about until I move out."

"Do you want to?" Jean asks, bracing herself as she does for bad news.

"And live where? I'm not quitting as your quartermaster." Kaeya gives her a reassuring smile and reaches for the wine, refilling his glass. He offers it to Jean, who waves it off, and Lisa, who holds her own out to be topped off, before setting it back down. "Let me handle it."

"I may be able to help, if you'll tell me enough of the truth to do it with." Lisa smiles innocently in response to his amused look. "And I *am* curious."

Kaeya salutes her with his glass. "The only part the rumor has right is that Diluc *was* acting on impulse, but it was hardly the salacious one everyone likes to think. It wasn't that long after Father took me in, you see, and Father wanted to adopt me formally, but circumstances fell out such that it wasn't possible. If Diluc had one flaw at that age, it was that he was bad at thinking out plans. Since my birth parents abandoned me, if I was his mate, I would be as close to legally Father's son as possible without actual adoption. And both of us were a little too young to understand what we were actually getting into."

"Neither of them thought to bring it to Master Crepus first," Jean adds in affectionate exasperation. "Diluc presented it to their father as a fait accompli, and it did cause some terrible trouble at the time. But Father proved that... that all Diluc did was bite him, which was the only legal problem."

"The rest was merely an issue for the Ragnvindr reputation, and Father was excellent at handling that."

A very childish action indeed, but unless Jean's father actually *was* complicit in far more than she realizes, it still doesn't explain the flinch. Lisa lets prurient curiosity get the better of her and leans in. "So did you end up childhood sweethearts?"

Kaeya chokes on his wine, splutters a moment, and wipes his face with the napkin Jean hands him while she uses his to blot at the tablecloth. "No, that wasn't- no." Regaining his composure, he sets his glass down, leans back, and smiles at her, just as he had in the garden after Master Diluc left. "Do you recall that book I loaned you? The childhood favorite of Jean's, where the honorable alpha knight sits in front of the beautiful omega's door with her sword drawn through her heat?"

"Kaeya, you *didn't*."

"I thought it was adorable," Lisa assures her, before turning back to Kaeya. "Don't tell me-"

"Jean made him read it too, before I even came to the Winery," Kaeya says, with relish. "I suspect it was his model, because that's exactly what he did, for six years straight. He always was the picture-perfect noble knight and alpha. Jean was the only one who could exceed him, in either area."

"That's not true. He was my better and you know it. I admired that about him very much."

"Mmmm. Well. If Commander Fredrica had died to Eroch's machinations, I doubt you would have...." Kaeya waves his hand briefly, and his smile slips. Jean goes sad-eyed, but nods.

*There*. Lisa would swear to it that right there, in that trailing-off and waved hand, is the reason for that flinch. She doubts Kaeya would respond to further prying, no matter that he's nearly finished that second glass of wine, but that doesn't matter. Jean clearly knows what he's referring to. Lisa will push with her, later, when she gets her alone and finds a good window to ask.

For now she smiles, and says, "*I* would certainly agree that Jean exceeds him in knightly dedication, though I will confess to being biased," and enjoys watching Jean blush.