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Water laps at Diluc’s ankles, moving forward and receding before continuing the pattern aimlessly. His hands card through the waves and sand, grasping at whatever is solid to pull out and examine after washing it in the coming tides.
Boring. Diluc thinks. Lame. He wants to lay down and fall asleep. He can’t find anything impressive, and turns out his skill and talents with training do not apply to finding ocean critters and seashells. Perhaps if he were to wield his claymore, he’d be able to stab a fish, but that was merely a stray thought that he knew he couldn’t execute. He offers a drawn out sigh, hopefully to garner the attention of his Father, who was merely lounging on a bench he had brought and underneath a sun umbrella. He sighs, more irritated now as his hands card through the water for what must be the 50th time.
He had promised Kaeya to get something for him while Kaeya happily plays in the water, and he’s yet to have found anything that’s worth giving to his brother. Boring , Diluc yawns. Lame. He could just join Kaeya, but that would mean he was going back on his promise, and he swore to become a man of his word when he joined the Knights of Favonius.
Finally, his hand grasps on something big, and he pulls it up from the sand. His eyes widen with glee, and he bolts over to Kaeya, nearly tripping in his haste. “Kaeya!” He calls out happily, running into him with a force enough to make Kaeya fall onto the floor, water surrounding him as he blinks in a daze. “Look, I found you something!”
Kaeya finally meets his gaze, then it lowers to look at the vibrant blue seashell Diluc was able to find. “Wow,” he says, blinking once and rising to look at it better. “It’s so pretty, Luc! When did you find it?” Diluc preens in the praise, soaking up the compliments directed towards the shell as if they were for him.
“Oh, nothing, just while I was digging in the sand,” he boasts, trying to keep his voice under a too prideful note. “It matches the color of your eyes! You should keep it. Because it’s a gift. From me. We can try finding more, too, and get some matching ones for me and Father, and maybe even some gifts for the friends I have at the Knights of Favonius, and maybe some more for the sisters!” Kaeya nods, puzzled at Diluc’s sudden joy. Diluc gasps a bit as well, grabbing Kaeya’s wrists with determination. “Let’s find enough shells to make our business associates want to partner with us, because they’re so pretty.”
Kaeya laughs at that, gazing down at the shell with fondness. “The shells are pretty, but I think they wouldn’t give away their partnership so easily, Luc,” he says between small bouts of laughter, patting Diluc on the shoulder awkwardly. “But let’s find as many shells as we can. I’ll help you.” Diluc’s heart swells, accidentally grabbing onto Kaeya’s hands too tight with his palms heating up unconsciously. “Ow, ow! Let go of me!” Kaeya wails, and Crepus bolts up from his resting seat to check on them, doting in every way.
Despite the shock, Diluc laughs at that, grabbing onto Crepus’ wrist as well. “Now that Father’s up, let’s go look for shells altogether! We’ll find so many pretty ones, and we can decorate our rooms with them, maybe even give them to our turtles!” Crepus smiles, as warm as the sun beaming down on them and comforting as the waves at their ankles.
“That sounds like a good idea,” Crepus approves, watching Diluc practically brighten even more at the acknowledgement. “Kaeya, what do you think? Would you like to join us?” His gaze goes over to Kaeya, scrutiny nowhere to be found and Kaeya smiles, grabbing onto Crepus’ hand as well.
“That sounds nice,” Kaeya admits, eyes brightening as if to match the hue of the starconch clenched tightly in his hand. “Do you think they’ll be easy to find?” He gazes up at Crepus, and he laughs, confirming the shells wouldn’t be as easy to locate as they should be, and that acknowledgement only makes him the more happy to know he was so willing to help them.
Later, the three make their way back home on foot with armfuls of flowers and seashells, for they had lacked the planning ahead with buckets to fill them with. Underneath the stars in their shared room, Diluc gazes at the shells and holds one to his face.
He decided that day that his favorite color was the one on this shell, as well as the blue in Kaeya’s eyes.
~
“Take a look at this, Diluc,” Kaeya calls out, gaze twinkling with mirth. Diluc makes his way over, though hesitating. “Isn’t this shell particularly curious?” He holds it to Diluc’s face for him to look at.
Diluc moves his hand away. “Yes, I can see just fine.” He gives the shell a once-over yet again, and hums appreciatively. “What a unique hue. The only shells I’ve seen picked by you were of a blue variant. You’re quite the narcissist, are you not?”
Kaeya laughs at that, bringing the shell to his gaze again. “My, Diluc, to accuse me of such views of myself. So sorry I cannot control the colors of the shells we encountered as children. So sorry to appreciate the memories by finding you a shell. How narcissistic of me, to find shells that were only so common to find.” He recites solemnly, and Diluc’s eye twitches.
“Remind me why I’ve joined you, again?” He drops bluntly, as if insinuating he would leave. Kaeya laughs at that, and Diluc’s mood is soured again. “If that was all, I’d like to leave.” Kaeya hums, patting his shoulder with a practiced ease and fluidity, as if he were a man who’s done this lifetimes before. Diluc almost feels bad for inching away.
“Because you’re as nostalgic and sentimental as I remember you.” Kaeya sings, walking alongside the shore of the archipelago with a spring in his step. “I’ve always felt bad, you know,” Kaeya starts, and Diluc wonders if this is a start of an apology, during such festive times. His heart catches in his throat as there’s an awkward pause, orchestrated by Kaeya’s timing. Go on, Diluc thinks. Tell me. Don’t tell me. Please don’t tell me. He pleads internally. “That the shells we found were always matching my eye color, and never yours.”
Perhaps neither of them were ready for an apology. “I’ve been told my eye color and hair color are vivid. There’s no need to rub it in.” Diluc doesn’t trail alongside Kaeya as he would do mindlessly as a child, and his heart aches all the more. “However, I vaguely remember you showing off that the shells were always your color and not mine. Why feel sorry about it now, if you teased me so relentlessly as a child?”
Kaeya hums, a teasing lilt in his voice and a near laugh bubbling from his throat. “Why, how perceptive of you. It’s nice to know you remember as well.” Kaeya turns to greet Diluc’s gaze with his, slightly somber despite the relaxed setting of the island. “It’s not what I’ve felt bad about, but it is partly because of it. Here.” Kaeya tosses the shell at Diluc before he can ponder on his words, catching it with ease. “Keep it. As a token of my apologies, and a reminder.”
“Yeah. Go along and frolic among the sand to catch crabs, now will you?” Diluc dismisses. His heart aches, and his hand clenched onto this red pigmented shell. Water laps at Diluc’s ankles, and he sighs as he looks along the horizon and away from Kaeya.
Boring, Diluc thinks, as he stares at the resemblance between the shell and him, gazing back up at Kaeya’s retreating figure and relays the words he had said. Lame.