Chapter Text
“I see someone gave the audience something to look at,” Eula whistles as Diluc comes back to the dressing room. “How does it feel to be back on stage?”
“It’s everything,” Diluc smiles.
He hasn’t been this excited for a long time, and the adrenaline is coursing through his veins, making his heart beat so fast it will surely jump out of his ribcage.
“A toast!” Eula says, raising her glass of orange juice she took from the bar. “To Dawn, our prodigal son!”
“To Dawn!”
They all raise their glasses and water bottles, and suddenly Diluc feels like his mind is taking a screenshot of this very moment — a little souvenir that he will keep in his memory forever, because this is it — this is his family that accepts him no matter what, where he feels the safest. It’s a silly sentimental thought, yet Diluc cherishes it and keeps it somewhere close to his heart. An eternal reminder.
“To the love of my life,” Kaeya hugs him from behind and puts a water bottle in his hands, and Diluc gratefully accepts it, taking a big gulp and nearly choking on it. God, he is thirsty.
“Thirty minutes, and then we start the second part of the show,” Lisa says as she enters backstage. “Get ready, everyone, we have more to show.”
“Yes, mom!” Amber salutes her, and then nearly falls down after tripping over Venti who is trying to put on his high platform heeled boots.
“Oh fuck me sideways, Am,” Venti hisses, “is this sabotage?”
“No one can upstage you, our little crossdressing queen,” Eula awkwardly pats him on the head, and Jean rolls her eyes.
“Thirty minutes,” she repeats before leaving the dressing room, and Diluc suddenly realises that they have another act to prepare for. Fuck.
“Come on, doll,” Kaeya whispers into his ear and places a soft kiss on his neck. “Let’s get ready. I’ll lace you up.”
***
This is somewhat the Knight Follies specialty — this type of burlesque. Not just the glittering rhinestones and feathers, but something a bit more… interesting. Burlesque is toying on the fine line between fetish and tease, and sometimes it’s fun to cross it like that.
It’s so much fun.
That’s why Diluc can’t hold back his excitement when the music starts, and the strobing lights surround Kaeya and him, the beat alive and pulsing in his veins. It’s exhilarating, this degree of desire that he feels on that stage, all eyes looking at him differently. It’s not hunger — it’s something more discreet, more hidden, yet it fuels him all the same.
There is something dark — and he wants more.
Kaeya is sitting on his knees in front of Diluc, a leash attached to his tightly fastened collar, hands behind his back, and as Diluc tugs, he follows, standing upright and bringing their bodies flush.
Diluc feels giddy as he turns Kaeya around, sliding hands up and down his leather-clad body, his own long latex gloves shining in the sharp contour stage lights. He feels Kaeya’s breath hitch as he starts unfastening his vest, clasp after clasp in a tantalisingly slow movement. And once it’s undone, Diluc opens it, revealing Kaeya’s bare torso,only a pair of cross-shaped pasties covering his nipples. The crowd erupts in cheers, whistles and screams nearly overpowering the music. Yeah, that’s how it’s supposed to be.
Louder.
They part, moving to the beat and in sync, and Diluc just lets the music take the lead, his body following the choreography precisely as if he’s performed it a thousand times before.
When they meet in the middle of the stage again, it’s Diluc’s turn to fall down on his knees to unlace Kaeya’s pants, and Kaeya makes him look up by grabbing his chin. It’s tethering on the obscene, but Kaeya knows how to make things artful — it’s a calculated distance between them, a tamed version of movements, a lingering gaze.
Diluc’s hands unfasten the ribbons down the length of Kaeya’s legs with practised dexterity, until he can finally tug at them, and the pants fall down. Kaeya’s almost naked body looks divine in the red light that bathes the stage, and Diluc bends lower, till he almost lies flat on the stage, cat-like movements, something to show off his flexibility. He is slow when he peels of the gloves from his hands — the material sticks, but Diluc knows a trick to peeling it off properly, and Kaeya takes them from him, using them as a whip on Diluc’s thigh when he arches his spine and rolls his hips like he’s humping the floor. And then Kaeya lifts him off of the floor and makes him bend in half.
There is a pocket knife hidden in Kaeya’s boot, and he uses it to cut the laces on Diluc’s corset in one practised move, and it falls to the ground, leaving Diluc only in his hot pants and thigh-high boots. The feeling of torn laces, pressure suddenly leaving, makes Diluc breathless — the barbaric, wild nature of it igniting something primal within. He feels exposed in the best way — seen but not solved, another mystery, and every person in this room desperately wants to try and crack him.
It takes Kaeya no time to unhook the leash from his collar and use it to tie Diluc’s hands together — tight, impossibly tight, and Diluc’s thoughts are bordering on something deeply disturbing, but he can’t help it — not when Kaeya lifts his bound hands up and grabs him by the neck, his hot breath on Diluc’s lips.
They shouldn’t kiss on stage, it’s so unprofessional, and it takes all Diluc’s restraint to hold back, because he knows that he will get his fill later. But for now — oh, for now it’s just them and a deafening wave of roaring applause, and Kaeya smiles into that nearly-kiss of theirs.
“Wasn’t that hot?” Lisa’s voice interrupts Diluc’s unholy thoughts as she re-enters the stage. “Give it up for our resident couple: Dawn Noir and Midnight Noir!”
They hold hands when they bow to the audience, and Kaeya sends a sneaky kiss to a group of girls at the front row, which results in them erupting in cheers. That cheeky bastard, Diluc thinks as he smiles fondly. A flirt till the very end.
“Now scram backstage, lovebirds, and kiss all you like, you are making the audience blush,” Lisa says, and Diluc can’t help but blush too when Kaeya lifts him up bridal style and carries him away, followed by the loud applause and whistles.
God, he is so, so happy he could die.
***
“God, I want you so fucking much,” Kaeya says as he pushes Diluc inside the apartment and slams the door behind them so loudly that his neighbours definitely heard that.
The ride home was unbearable. They just sat there at the backseat of the taxi, hands intertwined, Diluc’s legs over Kaeya’s knees, and it’s been so hard to keep the hands to himself when Kaeya was right there — hot, still shining with glitter, his makeup slightly smudged, but he had to play nice and be a decent fucking human, because otherwise he would ride Kaeya right in this fucking car — but he promised himself what he would behave, and hated himself for it during the whole trip. Then they had to carry their suitcases upstairs, and it was another obstacle between Diluc and the pounding of his life, so when Kaeya opened the door, pushed the suitcases and then Diluc inside, all was finally right in the universe.
“I don’t care if you fuck me right in this corridor, just touch me,” Diluc gasps as his hands roam Kaeya’s body, sliding under the T-shirt and then down lower, till his hands grab the handful of Kaeya’s ass.
“But what if I want to treat you like a princess and make sweet, sweet love to you on our marital bed?” Kaeya laughs, and Diluc slams him right into the wall with a loud thud.
“I want you to fuck me like a whore, not a wife,” he hisses, and Kaeya tugs him into the bruising kiss by the back of his neck.
“Well, my pretty wife is a whore, right?”
Kaeya slaps him across the face so hard that Diluc hears ringing in his ears, and his heart is beating so loud it nearly overpowers Kaeya’s next words.
“On your knees. You look so beautiful like that.”
It takes Diluc no time to fall to his knees with a loud thud, face immediately pressing into the crotch of Kaeya’s pants, and he is hard, Diluc can feel it through the fabric, and his mouth waters at the thought of it.
“I’m gonna fuck your throat, and you will thank me for it, got it, love?” Kaeya asks, tenderly cupping Diluc’s cheek, and Diluc nods like a good whore, hands moving to unfasten the ties on Kaeya’s pants.
“How eager.”
Kaeya’s cock is hot and heavy when Diluc takes it in his hands, already leaking precum, and Diluc can’t help himself — he licks at it, tasting the bitterness on his tongue, and Kaeya laughs as he gathers Diluc’s hair in a ponytail and grabs it in his fist.
“Open up, doll. Be good for me.”
Well, he doesn’t have to ask twice. Diluc is eager to open his mouth and let Kaeya slide inside, deeper and deeper, ignoring his gags, till he slams all the way in, bullying his way down Diluc’s throat.
‘Fuck me like you hate me,’ Diluc thinks, and then Kaeya pulls out — and immediately thrusts back right after.
The rhythm he sets is relentless — Diluc feels the tears stream down his cheeks, his throat tightening around Kaeya’s cock with each thrust. He is going to pass out for sure, but Kaeya pays him no mind, just chases his own pleasure as he increases the tempo, thrusts in harder, groans louder.
“So. Fucking. Beautiful,” Kaeya stutters as he nearing the climax, and Diluc lets his teeth barely scrape at the skin of Kaeya’s cock — that gets him a loud hiss and a cruel tug to his hair that makes him moan. The vibration must feel divine on Kaeya’s dick, because he curses and thrusts in one, two, three more times, before Diluc feels him cum down his throat in a thick load.
Everything is hazy inside his head — the way Kaeya takes his cock out of Diluc’s mouth, the way he helps him to his feet, gently picks him up and carries to the loveseat in the workroom.
Kaeya sits Diluc in his lap, cradling him close, kissing his cheeks and whispering sweet nothings into his ear.
“My pretty baby,” he says, and Diluc preens under the praise. “What a good whore you are. So talented with your mouth, too. Come back to me, baby, we are not done here.”
“Fuck me,” Diluc pleads, his voice hoarse, and rocks his hips forward in a desperate attempt to get off, but Kaeya just laughs at that and calls him a slut with such affection that Diluc’s heart melts.
“Let’s get you undressed first, I want to see you.”
It takes work to untangle Diluc from his clothes — and from Kaeya, — but they manage, and now Diluc is straddling Kaeya’s thighs completely naked, his erection now obvious. Kaeya takes Diluc’s hand in his, places a soft kiss to the centre of his palm, then kisses each finger before taking two of them into his mouth and sucking on them.
“Kaeya,” Diluc whines as Kaeya takes his sweet time.
“Come on, darling,” he says, withdrawing the fingers from his mouth with a wet ‘pop’. “Stretch yourself for me.”
Diluc thinks it will be easy, and he is so damn wrong. His hand shakes as he circles the rim of his hole and slides both fingers in at once. He hisses in pain, but Kaeya kisses him better, drinks every whimper and moan from his lips, tells him how good he is doing, fists his hand in Diluc’s hair and tugs, exposing pale tender skin and biting into it.
He leaves a map of kisses and bruises, a necklace that Diluc is so proud to wear, and each sharp sensation makes him gasp and clench on his fingers. But it’s not enough. Not when Kaeya is right there.
“Need you,” he says, and Kaeya shushes him with a kiss.
“You have me,” Kaeya chuckles, and Diluc wants to kill him so bad.
“Put your cock in me now, or I’ll fucking choke you to death,” he manages to pant out. That gets him a sharp slap on the thigh, and the sudden movement makes him jostle, rubbing his dick against Kaeya’s already hardening one.
“Take it if you want it that much.”
He doesn’t have to ask twice. Diluc’s legs are shaking when he lifts himself and takes Kaeya’s cock in his hand, stroking it with a tight fist, eliciting a moan, and lowers himself down, really feeling the stretch.
The pain is sharp, but he keeps going through gritted teeth, with tears in his eyes, till he is flush with Kaeya’s hips, and he is so proud for taking it all the way.
“Work for it if you want it that bad,” Kaeya says, and Diluc puts a hand around his throat. “Don’t be shy, grip me tighter.”
And Diluc does exactly that. He feels Kaeya’s breath hitch under his palm as he starts slowly rolling his hips, getting used to the size, but it’s not nearly what he wants. His legs feel like jelly, but he wants it too much, so he has to power through it. Up and down he goes, slowly increasing the tempo, and the drag of Kaeya’s cock inside is exquisite — it hurts in all the right ways and then some, exactly what Diluc’s been dreaming of the whole evening ever since they came back to the dressing room after their duet. He regrets not taking the leash from the suitcase, because Kaeya looked so beautiful in it, because Kaeya could choke him with it, bind his hands again, whip him with it till he is bloody and bruised, so many wonderful things, but this is good, too. This, too, is paradise — at least that’s how Diluc feels.
His legs are giving out, he can feel it, and the desperation makes him move even faster, tiring himself out, and there are tears in his eyes again.
“Daddy, please,” he whispers, and Kaeya moans at that. “I can’t, please, daddy, help me…”
“Anything for you, baby,” Kaeya says and tightens the grip around Diluc’s thighs, helping him move, thrusts up into his now pliant body with rising urgency. “Tell me how good you feel, wanna hear it.”
“So good,” Diluc moans, his grip on Kaeya’s throat slipping, and he paws at his chest instead, sinking his nails into the firm flesh there, so hard that he draws blood. “Feel so good.”
“That’s right, babydoll. You were born for it.”
Kaeya uses Diluc like a toy, bouncing him in his lap, thrusting up in his own rhythm, but Diluc likes every second of it, and his moans are loud enough that the whole building probably hears him.
“There, right there, please! Ah -ah!”
It feels obscene, the way they bodies meet with wet slaps, skin against skin, and their are panting into each other’s mouth, not even able to kiss, and Diluc desperately wants to touch himself, but he can’t not like that, because he is a good boy, he isn’t allowed, daddy didn’t let him…
“Daddy, please, can I touch myself?” He asks, because he is a good boy, he is so, so good, and Kaeya smiles at him as he thrusts harder, hitting Diluc’s prostate dead-on.
“Me sweet baby, so obedient. Of course you can touch yourself, pretty thing. Show me how good you can be.”
It’s such a relief when Diluc is finally allowed to touch his cock — to fist it desperately in time with Kaeya’s harsh thrusts, and the stimulation drives him mad, leaves him dumb and leaking like a real whore, and that gets him going like nothing else.
“I’m cumming, daddy, please… dad, please!” He screams and doesn’t even realise what he’s saying anymore.
“That’s right, baby. I’ll be your dad, I’ll be your daddy, your everything. Cum for me, love.”
Everything whites out.
It’s a blissful feeling, something akin to dreaming, where everything feels floaty and light, and he goes limp in Kaeya’s arms with a silent cry, body shaking as Kaeya keeps fucking him until his hips stutter and he cums deep inside. And it’s probably what heaven feels like.
They are quiet for a moment, just like the world around them, their hearts beating in sync against each other, and Diluc is so overwhelmed with feelings that he is crying without even realising it — and Kaeya kisses each and every tear off his face.
“I fell in love with you all over again today on that stage,” Kaeya finally says when Diluc’s tears finally run fry. “I don’t know how to live without you anymore.”
“Never leave me then,” Diluc whispers, because that's all his voice is capable of now, throat suddenly so tight. “Move in with me. My apartment is big enough to make a room for costumes and all other burlesque things. My bed is bigger, too.”
Kaeya laughs at that and kisses Diluc’s eyelids — a butterfly kiss, a tender caress of the lips.
“So I can be your pretty trophy husband?”
“Anything you want,” Diluc says as he cards his fingers through Kaeya’s dishevelled hair, a meticulous hairstyle ruined a long time ago. “Just stay with me.”
“Forever, firefly,” Kaeya promises, and the look in his eye is as serious as it can get. “Till death do us part.”
“Put a ring on it first before you say that,” Diluc huffs out a laugh and places his head on Kaeya’s shoulder, nuzzling into the crook of his neck.
“Oh, I will,” Kaeya says, tracing some mindless pattern on his back. “It might be a cock ring though…”
“Kaeya!”
“Don’t worry, love. I’ll give you all the rings you want. But first, let’s get cleaned up, okay? We still need to take off our makeup, too. Do you want to take a bath?”
“Yes, please,” Diluc nods, but his head is suddenly so heavy, and his eyes just can’t stay open. “Carry me?”
“Whatever your heart desires.”
***
The Angel’s Share looks so different in the daylight, especially after the show — there is still confetti and glitter everywhere, and Diluc sighs as he estimates just how many years he needs to get rid of every little shining speck. It’s easier to just forget it, honestly. Their bed was a mess this morning even after a bath, too. He has glitter in places it is not supposed to be. Every-fucking-where.
He takes out the broom from the closet and starts swiping off all this glittering mess from the floor when he hears the familiar clack of the heels, and he just knows that this is Lisa — the sound is etched into his memory, after all.
“Well, well, well, would you look at that, my little star in the flesh.”
Lisa looks less flashy today — they all do after a performance day — but elegant nonetheless. There is a smile on her lips — wide and sincere, the one that Diluc likes seeing on her so much.
“You were amazing yesterday, Diluc,” she says, and Diluc’s heart fills with warmth like it’s the sunniest summer day. “I was so proud to stand on that stage with you once again.”
“And I am so grateful for a chance to share it with you,” he says, leaning on the broom that he holds tight in his hand. “Thank you for letting me perform one more time.”
“You really made the Knight’s last show unforgettable.” Lisa looks sad when she says it, and Diluc suddenly remembers that he didn’t actually tell her what he was going to yesterday.
“About that… Do you think the Knight Follies can perform here from time to time?”
There is silence between them. Lisa looks pensive, her brows knit, as if she didn’t expect such a turn of events, but Diluc can’t imagine anything more logical than that. As a business owner, he sees an opportunity. As a friend, he knows what to do.
“Are you sure? Diluc, it’s one thing to let us in for one show, but completely another to book us regularly. Won’t it influence your clientele?”
Ever the businesswoman.
But Diluc has never been so sure of anything in his life — he wants the Knight Follies back in his life, he wants the fun and the chaos, wants the glitter and the charm of performances, wants the cheers and applause to fill this dull bar that once belonged to a man who despised those things.
“Our revenue yesterday was the biggest we had in a year. Not to mention all the people that came up to Charles to ask whether there will be more performances in the future,” Diluc says, and he sees Lisa’s eyes fill with hope. “But the most important thing is that I want you there. That’s what I wanted all along.”
“You can have that and more,” Lisa says, and Diluc is confused for a moment.
“What do you mean?”
“You can perform with us again,” she smiles, and Diluc’s heart skips a beat. “You are an exceptional performer, the audience loves you — and we all love you just as much. So… come home?”
She extends her hand to Diluc, and it feels so unreal, like a fleeting dream in the flurry of confetti and glitter.
“You want me back?”
He doesn’t expect himself to sound so small and unsure, but that’s exactly how it is — and he can’t find it in himself to be ashamed. Is this really happening?
“We want you back,” Lisa nods. “If you’ll have us.”
To hell with manners. Diluc hugs Lisa so tight that he’s sure she’ll start complaining any minute now, but she just hugs him back and gently pets his head, like a mother would.
“I want to come back,” he says, and it’s so fucking true.
He wants to be back on the stage, wants to fall in love with the sound of the applause again and again, wants to dance and feel the thrill, the rush of adrenaline that comes with the performance, wants to listen to the guys banter backstage and spill glitter all over the place, wants to listen to the terrible jokes and even laugh at them. He wants this life he’s lost back.
And now, he can have it.
“What’s going on?”
Kaeya enters the bar with a box of freshly baked pastries and a cup of coffee in hands, and Diluc can’t help but beam at the sight.
“I offered the Knights to perform here, in this bar, and Lisa offered me to join the cast again.”
“Oh, firefly.”
Kaeya crosses the bar to put the box and the cup on the counter, and Lisa lets Diluc go and watches with amusement as Kaeya comes up to him and twirls him in some whimsical dance move.
“Is that what you want?” Kaeya asks with a wide grin, and Diluc kisses him for it.
“I do.”
“Not the context I wanted to hear this phrase in, but okay,” Kaeya says and brings Diluc closer. “Then will you, Diluc Ragnvindr, keep sharing your last burlesque name with me?”
“I will.”
And then, everything seems right in the world, because Diluc has Kaeya in his arms, and there is a family that wants him back just as he is, and there is a promise of a life he’s always dreamt of.
It’s funny, really, how everything turns out, but for now it’s perfect, and the morning sun streaming through the windows and reflecting into the sea of glitter seems twice as bright.