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It was hard to take your eyes off the red-haired man in the corner of the room. He was dressed in a black cloak with eccentric detailing, but the most noticeable thing about him was his bright red hair. It was long, a ponytail being able to be seen when he’d turn his head to watch someone. He was also incredibly handsome, you mused to yourself as you remained behind the catering table. His face was posed into indifference, like he didn’t care to be where he was. Though, he wasn’t leaving.
Movement in front of you drew you away from your observing, and you offered the patrons before the table food from the various platters scattered around it. Everything they enthusiastically pointed at you picked up with tongs and placed on a plate. They chittered away, asking you questions about the desserts before eventually thanking you and taking their plate.
After they left, you let your customer service visage drop for a second with a sigh before taking on a small smile. Who would’ve thought a celebration dedicated to Mondstats infamous crime fighter, the “Darknight Hero”, would’ve spanned so far into said night? The sun had set long ago, the vigilante himself probably long gone and fighting some kind of trouble maker, whether it be a stray hilichurl or something you’d only heard of whispered in passing like an Abyss Mage.
You shook your head for a second, no way one random citizen of Mondstat could take on an Abyss Mage. You went back to the theory you’d been creating in your head, that the Darknight Hero was a Knight of Favonius who wanted five minutes of fame, probably tired of not being revered over the way Captain Kaeya was. You’d seen too many intoxicated housewives cooing to themselves whenever they saw the blue-haired man walk past on patrol, giggling at them from your place at the table by the entrance of the Angel’s share.
Now that you thought about it, maybe the Darknight Hero was Captain Kaeya. He did have a flair for the dramatics, Paimon had made sure to mention it loudly whenever he strolled past her and the traveler. He also had the swordsmanship to finish the job and then get out of there before the rest of the knights arrived.
You looked out around the gathered crowd, trying to ignore the lingering presence in your peripheral and your face scrunched when you found Kaeya, drunk out of his mind. The eyepatch hadn’t come off but, Archons, you don’t think you’ve ever seen him so clumsy. You almost felt bad for the traveler who had placed a hand on his arm, trying to get him to move away from the elaborate fountain and subsequent disaster placed in the middle of the large hall in the Knights of Favonius headquarters.
They were the ones hosting the event, an event which wasn’t rushed but also didn’t seem all too put together. Jean, who was an old friend, had come up to you a day ago and asked you to fill in for one of the catering staff who’d dropped out due to a nasty cold. You didn’t have the heart to refuse her… after she’d promised a hearty amount of mora in return.
You didn’t especially understand the politics of the Knights of Favonius hosting a celebratory event for a vigilante who seemed hellbent on not being associated with said institute, but you didn’t really want to think too much about it. You had a few more hours before the party ended and you could treat yourself to the left-over cakes and the leftover bottles of wine, though that was only if some blue-haired fellow who couldn’t stop singing and rhyming took a few steps away from the booth.
You took your mind off it and allowed yourself a glance back in the red-head’s direction only to find him already looking towards you. It didn’t seem accidental either, his eyes didn’t skim past you as he looked around the room. No, he was looking at you.
Your eyes met his stare, resisting the urge to quirk an eyebrow for a few seconds before it won out. He responded to your movement with a small twitch upwards at the corner of his lips, so small that if you hadn’t already mapped out the topography of his face from your previous ogling you would’ve missed it.
His attention was drawn away when Kaeya stumbled onto him, you having to stop yourself from laughing when his cool expression was broken by one of pure shock. The traveler quickly grabbed Kaeya by the arm and started dragging him away, Paimon laughing as she floated beside the apologising explorer. Kaeya only seemed to revel in the contact, throwing himself on the traveler while the red-head watched with barely concealed… disbelief? You couldn’t get a read on him.
For a few seconds after he remained looking at the trio who were walking away, before ruffling himself and adjusting his coat. He glanced back at you and saw the poorly hidden amusement on your face. His face didn’t sour like you half-expected it to, his eyes seemed to catch fire when they met yours. It was hard to explain but you couldn’t see well before he averted his gaze.
It was weird but explainable when your eyes quickly darted down to his hip to see the Pyro Vision hanging off of his hip. Maybe his eyes actually were on fire. You didn’t even let yourself laugh at that.
A tap on your shoulder caused you to turn and look away. Another one of the caterers was standing beside you. You recognised her as the girl who was in charge of the wine booth. Yeesh, you did not envy her having to pour all the drinks. Diona was busy and, from the reactions of the crowd, she did not meet Diona in any standard.
“Hey, could you please cover my table? You’re right near the bathroom and I want to see if I could slip away without anyone noticing?” She asked, though you recognised it to be a plea when you saw her hopping from foot to foot.
It would be inhumane to deny her so you just nodded. She squealed and ran to the bathroom while you made your way to the wine booth. A line was already forming by the time you got here, so you quickly got to work, taking order after order, recommending your favourite wines from your time indulging at Angel’s Share, and pouring glasses until your wrists got tired of the repetitive motion.
Eventually you whittled the line down to two people. You quickly moved through the first customer, earning yourself a tip which you weren’t sure if you were allowed to take but weren’t going to say no to, before the second customer stepped up to the opposite side of the booth.
You started your introduction before noticing it was the red-headed man. He was looking at you before he spoke.
“Do you part-time as a sommelier?” He asked and you did a double take. Archons, if your voice was that nice to listen to you’d never shut up. You eventually registered what he said and tried to copy his tone.
“Do you spend your time sitting in corners at parties?” You countered and he only shrugged before glancing down at the menu printed on the front of the booth.
“I prefer the solitude.” He said as he read and you scoffed skeptically, as you doubted there was any quiet place in this hall.
“Is being a coat rack for the Captain of the Knight’s of Favonius included in that solitude?” He glanced up at you from the menu, seeing the teasing smile on your lips. His eyes seemed to damper a little bit. You realised you may have touched a nerve and quickly tried to divert the conversation.
“I haven’t seen you around before? Do you spend a lot of time in Mondstat?” You asked, and he started, a slightly shocked expression appearing on his face.
“Yes, a bit of time.” He said, as though testing the waters. You weren’t sure why, was he someone important and you didn’t know? Hopefully not.
“Though, I could say the same for you. I don’t recognise you.” He eventually stated, relaxing back in his stance and crossing his arms. Strangely, it didn’t come off as defensive.
“I spend a lot of time in Springvale.” You replied, trying your best not to echo his stance. “I come into the city occasionally.”
“Do you work in the city?” He was asking a lot of questions, you noted before shaking your head.
“No, the taverns are better here than in Springvale.” He seemed to inflate at that, his posture becoming more prideful. You neglected to mention how there is no taverns in springvale.
“Well then, if you’re a tavern regular, what should I get?” He motioned to the menu below. You briefly pondered if he was reading it for show. A smile came onto your lips as you leaned forward.
“My personal favourite?” You inquired and he nodded, letting his eyes settle into contact with yours.
“My personal favourite is…” You trailed off before turning around and looking among the crates. A readjustment here and a bit of foraging there before you finally pulled out your favourite. It was a dark brown bottle, sealed by wax, made from Wyotl grapes, a specialty of the Dawn Winery. It radiated a subtle elegancy, which you thought was very fitting of the man behind you.
You turned around and presented it. His eyes seemed to darken, though you could tell it wasn’t from anger or sadness. No, your words seemed to burn more fire in his eyes instead of dampening it like earlier.
He looked up at you as you walked back to the booth and swiped a glass from below the counter. You poured a nice portion before corking the bottle and lifting the glass. You brought it under your nose and swirled it, letting the heavenly and rich aroma sink into your nostrils and the wine aerate.
“Is that your preference?” He asked, drawing you out of your trance. Opening your eyes, you nodded. He didn’t smile, but you could tell he was pleased. You handed the drink to him when he raised his hand. He then raised the glass and sniffed it.
His eyes closed and you let him a few moments while he basked in the smell. When they opened, they made contact with yours. A few seconds passed of intense eye-contact before an actual smile graced his face. Sure, it was small but it was there. A shudder rolled down your back.
He placed the glass on the counter, before looking down and patting the pockets of his coat. He extracted his wallet and, after glancing again at the menu, placed down the appropriate amount of Mora. You picked it up and slid it into a collection box as he put his wallet back in his pocket.
He then turned and started walking off into the crowd. You blanched at his abruptness before realising he didn’t take his drink with him. Immediately you called to his retreating back.
“Excuse me!” He didn’t respond, not turning back. You tried a few more times before calling out loudly “Sir!”.
He immediately halted and turned around. His face was apathetic before he started striding back to you. You were not expecting that, nor his strong pace, so you quickly rearranged yourself before he stopped in front of you.
“Yes?” He then asked, tone unidentifiable.
“You forgot your drink…” You said, gesturing to his wineglass on the counter. He looked down at it, and then back at you, and then back at it.
“No, I don’t think I did.” He claimed before turning around to leave. You reared back and shook your head, leaning over the counter and grabbing his arm. He stopped before slightly turning his head to look at you.
“Sir,” You ignored the way his eyes hardened at the title, “you left your drink.” He looked at it before shaking his head.
“No, I believe it’s yours.” His words were spoken as though true and you drew your eyebrows together.
“Excuse me?” You asked in confusion.
“I believe I bought you a drink.” He spelled it out for you, and you leaned back off the counter, letting go of him as you processed that information.
“Oh.” Was all you could muster before you felt your cheeks grow warm. You were definitely flirting with him, you just didn’t expect him to actually act on it.
“Was that too forward?” He asked bluntly and you immediately shook your head.
“No, I just-... I don’t even know your name, nor do you know mine.” He thought about that for a second before leaning in slightly over the bar.
“My name is Diluc Ragnvindr.” He then held a hand over the bar. It was covered by a black glove, but it swallowed your hand whole when you took it. You introduced yourself likewise and Diluc gave you a strong hand-shake, which was, admittedly, a little awkward from a man who’d just bought you a drink.
“Ummmm.” The sound of someone clearing their throat caused you to drop his hand and turn, catching the incredulous look the girl from the bathroom was giving you.
“I can take this booth over again if you want.” She said plainly and you nodded, before picking up your glass. You frowned as you noticed that Diluc had disappeared into the crowd before the girl was at your side and shaking your arm forcefully.
“Dude!” She exclaimed. “I don’t know how you could flirt with a guy like that and not lose your cool!” Ignoring the fact you didn’t even know her name, you focused into another part of her sentence.
“What do you mean by ‘a guy like that’? Is Diluc important?” She stared at you, shell-shocked. She started nodding before saying rather loudly “Duh!”
“How on earth could you not know who he is? Oh my god, that’s incredible! Especially the fact he seemed almost as into it as you!” She was rambling, not letting you get a word in. It started to grate on your nerves after a while.
“Hey!” You interrupted her. “Is he important?” You reiterated and the girl could only look at you before shaking her head.
“You’ll find out.” Was all she said before moving past you and to the counter to deal with customers that had built up over the time she was talking to you.
Well that was useless, all it did was make you slightly paranoid. Which was really annoying. Groaning, you trundled back over to the desert stand and stood there, sipping from your glass. You only waited two minutes before Diluc appeared again, in front of the desert stand this time.
“You don’t have to get me anything this time, the deserts are free.” Was what you started with, watching his face for a reaction. He only nodded, a small smile gracing his lips, before looking down to the table.
While he did that, you glanced around the room. You hadn’t really been paying attention due to the man in front of you but you quickly surveyed that quite a lot of people were looking at you. The attention caused you to flush, feeling like the amount of eyes was unnecessary, especially when people leaned in to talk to their friends after making eye-contact with you.
After a few seconds, you spouted a question that was residing in your mind, unable to shake it off if you didn’t get a denial or confirmation. It would make sense if the answer was yes, considering how important he seemed to be if he was worth gossiping about.
“Are you the Darknight Hero?” You eventually blurted, taking note of the way Diluc’s head snapped up to stare at you in shock.
“P-pardon?” He stuttered, and you knew enough about him to tell that that was very uncharacteristic.
“I-I just mean that everyone’s staring at you and stuff, I know you are in some way important and well y’know..” You lifted your hands up and gestured to the decorated space. “It kinda makes sense for people to be staring at the Darknight at a Darknight celebration.”
He opened his mouth to respond but nothing came out, only a few breaths. His eyes were wide and his jaw was open. The longer he remained in place the more embarrassed you were becoming, especially with the way the chatter around you picked up pace. He eventually responded by shaking his head.
“Uhh no..” He finally stated before clearing his throat and saying strongly, with more fervour, “No.” You only nodded in response.
“I do own the Dawn Winery.” He said after a second and your eyes widened. Oh. No wonder he seemed happy when you said your favourite wine was, well, one from his own company. And no wonder he bought it, considering most of the money would go back to him anyway.
“Oh wow.” You said simply and he nodded. You awkwardly laughed. Archons, he must be rich. Archons, you’re such an idiot.
“It’s funny that you didn’t know that, considering the winery is closer to Springvale than Mondstat.” He thankfully continued the conversation, saving you from trying to think of something else to say. However, you could only nod, more than aware this is one of the richest people in probably the whole of Tevyat.
The conversation went stagnant for a few seconds, a tension that wasn’t really a tension but just a barrier that needed to be broken formed between you. Finally, you sighed.
“I’ve never actually been to the winery.” He turned to you with slightly raised eyebrows.
“Really?” You only nodded in confirmation. He stilled before continuing a few seconds later.
“I could take you one time and give you a tour.” You looked and made eye contact with him, before nodding again.
“I’d like that.” He smiled at your response.