Work Text:
Jean was perched on a ladder, grabbing a title off the shelf when she heard the door behind her creak. She swiftly turned around, wondering who was also up when it was long past midnight.
“Master Diluc,” she gasped.
“Forgive me, I did not mean to startle you” he said, his hand still grasping the door knob. “I thought one of the maids forgot to extinguish the candle.”
Jean descended the ladder, the book in her hand. “No, it’s just me,” she answered. “I hope I did not disturb you.”
Diluc shook his head, still standing by the doorway. His usual coat and vest were discarded, and he remained in a black short-sleeved shirt with the top few buttons loosened.
“Why are you still up?” he asked. “Are your accommodations unsatisfactory?”
Ever since the Dvalin incident, she and Diluc had been working together more often on missions she couldn’t directly handle through the Knights. While there had only been a light drizzle when they left the Fatui base, a violent storm had built up by the time they made it to Dawn Winery. Diluc refused to let her return to the city with the weather so atrocious, so Jean was spending the night in a guest room.
“No, not at all. If anything, Adelinde prepared too much for me,” Jean answered.
“It’s not often we get guests,” Diluc explained.
Jean smiled as she recalled Adeline’s eagerness, although her wink as she left the room made Jean think there was more to it than just being excited for a guest.
Shaking the thought aside, Jean drifted closer to a wide window. The room glowed with the sudden flash of lightning, and the sky rumbled moments later.
“I struggle to sleep when it thunders,” she said, answering Diluc’s earlier question. “I thought a book might help.”
“I do as well,” Diluc answered quietly. He seemed to be contemplating entering as he hesitated by the doorway, but eventually made to stand next to her.
They both looked outside, even though the torrential rain made it difficult to see much. Jean was sure Diluc was also thinking about the night his father died, when a heavy storm ripped through Mondstadt.
He turned to her, and whatever vulnerability clouded his eyes swiftly disappeared. “So, what did you choose to read?” he asked, tipping his chin towards the book in her hands.
She silently handed it to Diluc. They were in Crepus’ former study, and the book belonged to him. She could tell by his rueful smile that Diluc recognized it.
“This was one of our favorites to discuss,” Jean explained, remembering Sunday afternoon picnics where Jean and Crepus would converse over their latest reads as Kaeya and Diluc sparred.
“I recall,” Diluc said, his fingers running tentatively over the cover. “I think he always wished that one of us would be into reading, but Kaeya and I had no patience for it.”
Jean grinned. “He complained about it often enough.”
“At least you were around,” Diluc answered, and as he returned the book his eyes rose to meet her own.
The mirth in their red depths slowly morphed into something more intense. Jean felt exposed under his gaze, dressed in a nightgown Adelinde had allowed her to borrow and her hair down from its usual ponytail.
But the intensity also reminded her about something she wanted to ask about.
“What happened earlier?” she asked.
Diluc blinked, as if snapped out of a trance. “Earlier?”
“When we were fighting the Fatui agents,” Jean explained, “something seemed to anger you.”
“You bastard!” roared Diluc behind her, startling Jean.
She couldn’t look back because she was engaged with an Agent herself, but she could tell the fight behind her had intensified.
Once Jean finally dispatched the enemy and tied him up to be interrogated, she was able to turn to see Diluc. He had the Agent pinned to the ground, pummeling him with punch after punch.
Bile rose in her throat. Jean knew Diluc was ruthless when it came to the Fatui, but he hit the man with a brutality she hadn’t witnessed from him before. Blood flowed from the multiple wounds on the man’s face, and Jean wouldn’t be surprised if his nose was broken.
“Diluc, wait,” Jean called out, sprinting towards him. She tried to hold his arm back, noticing how harshly he was breathing. “We need him alive and able to answer our questions.”
Diluc pulled back, his expression thunderous and his arms shaking. His cold glare remained fixed on the beaten Agent. “I don’t want to hear another word out of his filthy mouth.”
“My contact will deal with them,” continued Diluc, motioning for her to leave the room with him. A hooded figure entered, nodding towards Diluc. This must’ve been the women who would conduct the interrogation. They were supposed to remain and help, but it seemed like Diluc had changed his mind.
As they walked out, Diluc placed a hand on the small of her back, and she felt as though his warmth branded her skin.
She stopped, looking back at Diluc. “Is something wrong?” she asked, a pointed look directed at his arm. He had never touched her like this since he returned. It puzzled her exceedingly and… jumbled her thoughts more than she liked to admit.
Diluc’s eyes widened as he retracted his hand, as if he wasn’t aware of his own action. He mumbled an apology as they continued walking, but Jean couldn’t help but notice he still hovered nearby her, a constant shadow. He remained that way until they reached his estate, when Adelinde whisked Jean away to her room for the night.
Diluc’s eyes closed as he sighed deeply. “It’s nothing to concern yourself with.”
It was not a moment she could forget. Not the anger that rolled off him in hot waves or the proximity he maintained afterwards. Jean could still feel the lingering ghost of his touch.
“I can’t help but be concerned when I’ve never seen you quite so upset during a mission,” she replied.
Silence lingered for a few moments as Diluc’s
jaw clenched. Jean raised an eyebrow, indicating she was waiting for his answer.
“The scum tried to goad me by saying… disgusting things regarding you,” he admitted, his gaze burning holes into the floor.
“Oh,” Jean said, her eyes widened with surprise.
“I know you could send him flying to Liyue if he tried to lay a finger on you,” Diluc continued, his words rapidly rolling off his tongue, “but I could not tolerate such vileness.”
“I-I see,” Jean stuttered, looking down at the book in her hands.
Diluc’s answer cast the events earlier in a new light. His fury was for her sake. If he knew she could protect herself, why did he hover around her afterwards? Did it… reassure him?
Jean shook herself out of her thoughts. It was a dangerous path she’s had to stop herself from going down multiple times, wondering if there was more to Diluc’s actions than what a partner in combat would do.
“Although I would have preferred not risking the interrogation in any way,” she added, hoping her voice was steadier than she felt, “I appreciate that you cared.”
“Of course,” Diluc answered swiftly. “Always.”
Jean looked up sharply, wishing that one word didn’t have an affect on her. It was more probable Diluc had said the word without any underlying meaning. Certainly he didn’t mean to imply forever or that the care he had for her ran deeper than friendship.
But then she questioned her assumptions as Diluc stepped closer. The faint light from the candle danced over his features, and his expression was inscrutable to Jean. Yet there was a conviction in his eyes that made goosebumps rise on her arms.
“Jean,” he said, his voice low.
Jean’s fingers tightened against the book. She could imagine Diluc laying a hand against her back again, but this time to pull her against him.
A booming thunderclap jolted Jean out of her thoughts, and she visibly flinched.
“Oh, I shouldn’t—” she said.
“It’s alright,” Diluc insisted, but Jean was already wrapping her shawl more tightly around herself, stepping around him to leave.
“I shall bid you goodnight,” she said, hurriedly walking out.
Her steps seemed to echo loudly down the hallway as she returned to her room. Jean shut the door behind her none too gently, leaning against it as her chest heaved.
She was exhausted from a difficult mission. She was reading into the situation more than she should. She needed to sleep, and go back to her office in the Favonius Headquarters as soon as the weather let up.
Jean cast the book aside, knowing it was useless to try and read now, and climbed into bed. Sleep would prove elusive as she tossed and turned for hours, her heart racing as she wondered what could have transpired had she not left in a rush.