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It was rather unclear to Klee as to why Jean had left her with the weird grown-up of all people.
She knew Jean trusted master Diluc a lot, especially with all the other adults so busy doing Dodoco-knows-what, but that didn’t mean she had to like being stuck here. And how had Jean managed to convince someone as scary as him anyway?
Klee would have much preferred to stay with big brother Albedo, or Kaeya, but the two of them had gone to Dragonspine for the time being, and as much as she was certain that place wasn’t actually as dangerous as Jean wanted her to believe, Albedo had made it very clear she wasn’t allowed to come look for him there. Kaeya had agreed with that rule, and if even Kaeya agreed with the other grown-ups, that usually meant they were right, and Klee would be better off listening.
Still, Diluc was always very grumpy, and got mad even faster than Jean did when she blew something up, so that wasn’t fun at all.
He’d even taken her treasures away, saying she was only allowed to play with them outside and under supervision. It was wholly unfair, and thus, when master Diluc hadn’t been looking, Klee had made her way to Dawn Winery’s attic in protest: something he had forbidden her to do.
That’s what he got for being mean, Klee mused.
As she looked around at all the stained cloths and dusty boxes though, she couldn’t imagine why he’d told her not to come up here in the first place. She’d expected there to be treasures, or some sort of cool, big secret no one knew master Diluc was keeping, but this just looked like any regular attic. Nothing here gave any indication that there was some grand mystery to be solved at the winery whatsoever.
Klee let out a disappointed sigh, leaning against one of the boxes in defeat.
If only master Diluc wasn’t so strict, they could have actually had fun together. They both had a Pyro vision, so they must have had something in common, right?
Speaking of which, she needed to make sure her vision was still there. Taking her treasures was one thing, but if master Diluc had taken her vision too, she’d report him to Jean so he could be put in solitary confinement as punishment. Taking one’s vision was a serious crime, Jean had explained to her.
Klee quickly swung her bag from her shoulders to check, letting out a soft shriek as it accidentally knocked over one of the boxes.
‘Oh no-…’ she brought out, kneeling down to collect the items that had come tumbling out. If master Diluc found out she’d broken anything, she feared solitary confinement would be a kind fate in comparison.
Lucky for her though, most of the items that had come out weren’t breakable at all. She let out a sigh of relief upon realizing, and carefully started putting the items back into the box. If she did so neatly enough, master Diluc would never even have to find out she’d knocked it over in the first place.
As Klee was tidying up, an old-looking photograph caught her eye. It was lying discarded on the floor, not really fitting in with the other items that had come from the box at all.
She carefully picked it up, making sure not to crumple it too much, and observed.
The man in the picture looked almost identical to Diluc, except he looked older, and was sporting a beard. It was a big difference in comparison to master Diluc’s baby face, and Klee couldn’t help but let out some giggles at the thought of him with this much facial hair.
Now that was an idea.
Perhaps if she drew a beard on his face, they’d have something to laugh about together? Klee remembered the fun she’d had with Albedo when trying on one of her mom’s old dresses, and even for someone as stern and grumpy as master Diluc, surely that kind of fun was impossible to ignore.
…now all she had to do was find a crayon.
In the end, master Diluc never even found out she’d ever been to the attic. He’d simply told her not to run off again, and had invited her to dinner. He’d even gotten her favourite kind of apple juice, making Klee think perhaps he wasn’t as bad as he made himself appear the majority of the time.
Still, apple juice or not, she was determined to make the man laugh at least. It was her mission to stay up until he went to bed, so she could execute her plan undisturbed. It had taken some effort not to fall asleep, especially with how soft and big and tempting the guest bed was, but she’d managed in the end.
After determinedly making her way to master Diluc’s room, crayon firm in hand, she’d quickly gotten on with her work. She had to be very careful of course, lest he’d wake up and scold her.
The crayon she’d picked out was just a little too dark red, but she’d have to make do. A few strokes on his chin, and on his neck, and then-…perfect.
Once satisfied, Klee gave the photograph in her hand one last glance before sneaking out once more.
Her excitement about master Diluc’s reaction in the morning was almost too much to be able to let her sleep, though with Dodoco safely in her arms, she eventually drifted off into a peaceful slumber anyway.
The following morning, Klee was very suddenly woken up by a loud crash.
It wasn’t clear what had caused the sound, but it worried her to say the least. If something happened to master Diluc while she was there, Jean would definitely strip her of her title as knight. She had to protect people, even if those people were grumpy adults.
She quickly grabbed her bag, and ran out of the guest bedroom.
The sight she was met with in the hallway was far from the horrific scene Klee had expected to run into. It was just master Diluc sitting on the floor across from the bathroom, holding his face as if in pain. The door was still ajar, as if he’d ran out in a hurry.
Had he perhaps had an allergic reaction to the crayon?
‘Master Diluc?’ Klee brought out, walking towards him. ‘Are you alright?’
Now that she came closer, she could see there were some scratch marks on his face, like he’d attempted to rip the fake beard off, and his eyes were a little hazy too.
‘Klee.’ he brought out hoarsely. ‘What did you do?’
The fact he didn’t sound angry should have been a relief, but the hurt in his voice was worse somehow.
‘I-…’ she started. ‘I thought it’d make you laugh…’
Diluc clenched his eyes shut in what Klee could only assume was an attempt not to start crying, which was an almost surreal sight on someone usually as stoic as him.
‘Did I mess up…?’
She truly hadn’t meant any harm, but the man looked terrible. If this was somehow her fault-…
‘It’s not your fault.’ he told her, opening his eyes again. ‘Just…don’t do it again, alright?’
There was more to this, Klee could tell.
With utmost care, she took Dodoco from her bag, and handed him to master Diluc.
‘You’re sad.’ she stated. ‘You’re trying to hide it, but it’s not working very well. So, just do what Klee does, and hold onto Dodoco for a while, okay? He always cheers me up when I want to cry, I’m sure he’ll do the same for you.’
‘Klee—’ Diluc tried to argue, already pushing Dodoco back into her hands.
‘No, it’s my fault you’re sad, so I’m going to fix it too.’ she argued, pushing Dodoco back to him again. This time, Diluc gave in, taking hold of the plushie hesitantly.
‘It’s not your fault.’ he repeated, slightly softer this time.
Klee quietly put down her bag, and sat down next to master Diluc so she could wrap her arms around him. That’s what big brother Albedo always did for her when she was sad. He wasn’t very good with words, but he gave the best hugs in all of Teyvat.
When he didn’t pull away, she took that as a sign it was alright.
They sat like that for a while, master Diluc holding on to Dodoco, and Klee holding on to master Diluc, who still refused to cry. It was hard to tell whether that was because Dodoco was doing his job well, or because master Diluc was just stubborn, but that didn’t really matter.
‘I look like my dad.’ he eventually broke the silence, making Klee look up at him in surprise.
That explained who the man in the picture was, at least. Though, Klee didn’t think she’d ever seen him in Mondstadt, nor had she ever heard anyone talk about him. Did that mean master Diluc’s father had been gone for a very long time already?
Perhaps he’d gone far away, like her mother did, and people had started to forget about him. Being forgotten was one of the saddest things Klee could possibly think of. If Jean locked her in solitary confinement just a little too long, she sometimes felt like she’d been forgotten too, and it was horrible.
‘Is that a bad thing?’ she asked softly, deciding not to ask questions that were too complicated.
Master Diluc seemed to have to think about his answer, because it took him a while to respond.
‘Not necessarily.’ he eventually said. ‘But…when you miss someone a lot, being reminded of them can hurt.’
That didn’t really make sense to Klee. It was okay to miss someone, right? She missed her mom too, she even cried about it sometimes, but thinking of her mom didn’t always hurt. The memories could make her laugh and smile too.
‘I miss my mom too.’ Klee stated. ‘But thinking of her doesn’t always hurt. So…if thinking about your dad does hurt this much…does that mean something bad happened?’
Master Diluc toyed with one of Dodoco’s ears absentmindedly, refusing to look at her.
‘Your mother set out on an adventure, didn’t she?’ he quietly asked her.
‘She did!’ Klee told him. ‘Though, I hope she’s coming back soon, because she’s been gone for a while now.’
Then, her eyes widened slightly in realization.
‘Is your father on an adventure too?’
At that, Master Diluc let out a soft chuckle. ‘I suppose you could say that.’ he explained. ‘The difference being here that he isn’t ever coming back.’
Going on an adventure without ever planning to come back? When your son was still at home being sad? That didn’t seem right. Big brother Albedo’s mom had done something very similar, and it upset him to this very day. Klee wasn’t even allowed to mention her around him anymore.
‘But why would he do that?’ she brought out. ‘If my mom did that, I’d be very mad at her…’
Klee could feel master Diluc somewhat returning the hug now, putting an arm around her so he was holding on to both her and Dodoco.
‘It’s not that he doesn’t want to come back, Klee.’ he murmured. ‘It’s more so that he can’t. He’s…he’s dead.’
Dead.
Klee remembered her mother trying to explain that concept to her once, though she hadn’t really understood at the time.
So “dead” meant going on an adventure one could never return from, not even to hug your friends and family?
She could feel the tears prickling in her own eyes now too, holding on to master Diluc just the slightest bit tighter.
She understood why thinking of his father had made him so sad now. If her mother would never return from her adventures, Klee would be very upset too. She didn’t think she’d ever be able to stop crying, not even with Albedo’s hugs.
‘Ah…Klee, are you okay?’ master Diluc interrupted her thoughts. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—’
‘Hug Dodoco for as long as you need to, okay?’ Klee whispered, unable to stop the tears from streaming down her face now. ‘I promise I won’t draw a beard on your face ever again, and you can borrow Dodoco whenever you need to.’
Master Diluc’s gaze softened at this, before carefully pulling her into a proper hug.
Klee held onto him as tightly as she could, clutching his shirt in her hands and burying her face in his shoulder.
‘And-…and also, you can ask for a hug whenever you like, okay?’ she mumbled. ‘I’ll walk all the way from Mondstadt if I have to.’
They slowly parted their hug then, and Klee could swear she saw a tear running down master Diluc’s face. Despite this, he gave her a small smile, and nodded.
‘Thank you, Klee.’
Klee gave him a smile in return, though it probably looked a little weird with how wet her face was.
‘There’s one thing though…’ Diluc spoke softly. ‘Would you please help me clean the crayon off of my face?’
He didn’t have to ask twice. Klee wouldn’t allow him to look at his reflection again, so long as the crayon beard was still there.
‘Of course.’ she said, getting up right away. ‘I’ll make sure you’ll look like master Diluc again, and no one else.’
He seemed surprised at the way she addressed him, though Klee merely grinned.
From now on, she would make it her goal to genuinely start calling him master Diluc, instead of “weird grown-up”, or “grumpy adult”.
If her family was gone, Klee was sure she’d look grumpy too. Grumpier than he did, even. It wasn’t master Diluc’s fault for looking and acting this way, so perhaps, by being a little nicer to him, she could make it just a little better.
She’d promise to try, anyway.