Chapter Text
It seemed like something slightly more than simple coincidence, something meant to be in it’s own strange twisted way. Kaeya was used to life and it’s utter bullshit but there were times when even he was left reeling.
And he was—left reeling- that is.
It could also be hysteria, fatigue, and whatever affect that weird gas had. Here he was, barely holding it together, a landslide the size of a mountain barely held back just above their heads by rapidly melting ice because it was hot in here.
Kaeya did not plan on walking into any strange caverns ever again.
It’s not like he really had much of a choice in the first place, Diluc was in trouble and Kaeya had come, like the fool he was because his last words to Diluc had been something snide, and cruel and he didn’t need even more guilt on his conscience.
As soon as he had walked into the cavern (the meeting place that had been arranged, cryptically through letters) the place exploded, Diluc hit his head and Kaeya barely managed to restrain the ceiling above them from crashing down on their heads.
To make matters worse, it seemed this cave had little pockets of natural gases, Kaeya just hoped it wasn’t something that would kill them.
So here he is, dripping sweat, surrounded by mysterious gas with impending doom quite literally held right above his head and a brother who had definitely had most of the sense knocked out of him, judging by the almost cute smile across his face and bleeding head wound.
“Diluc.” He grunted. “Come here, let me see your head.” Blood drenched just above his right eye, sticky and dark, curls wet as well.
Diluc staggered over to him and sat down, the cave was so hot and the melting ice added a humidity that made Kaeya feel dizzy. (Or maybe that was the gas?).
Kaeya reached a hand out to touch his brother's brow, when the man jerked back, like a child.
“No.” He whined .
“Diluc.” Kaeya hissed. “Let me see your head!”
“No.” Diluc said, stubbornly and Kaeya restrained himself from physical violence.
“You’re injured.” He pleaded and Diluc gave him a glazed deadpan look.
“Touching won’t help.” He finally mumbled out, like that's all the argument he needs.
“I need to see how bad it is.”
“Bad.” Diluc scoffs, then pats Kaeya's knee. If Kaeya had any doubts about a concussion they were all gone now. Diluc needed medical attention. “You have a concussion.” Kaeya sighs and Diluc’s eyes are definitely unfocused, it makes sense, a huge piece of rock had hit him in the face, Kaeya’s just grateful it didn’t crush his skull or brain him.
“I’m sorry.” Kaeya says, because it’s always easier to apologize for the little things. The large icy pillars around them drip, vast and thick but clearly he messed up somewhere because Diluc got hit hard on the head and he definitely has a concussion and when he recovers he is going to hate Kaeya so much for this.
“It’s okay.” Diluc says understandingly, he’s swaying just slightly and he brushes back his slick wet hair. It looks kind of funny. “It’s really hot in here.” Diluc observes quietly.
“Yeah.” Kaeya looks up worriedly to where the ice is melting fast, too fast.
“At least we have water.” Diluc gestures aimlessly to the dripping ceiling and Kaeya can’t help but scoff. “Can I please see your head?”
“There’s nothing you can do.” And there’s that familiar drier than the desert tone, Diluc’s so blunt and Kaeya would cringe any other time but right now he’s glad that Diluc hasn’t completely lost his mind.
(Just most of it)
“It’ll make me feel better.” Kaeya bargains, if Diluc didn’t have a concussion Kaeya knows for a fact Diluc would do the Diluc equivalent to laughing in his face and telling him tough luck. But Diluc does have a concussion and it’s making him much less hostile.
“Fine.” Diluc grunts and he leans forward slightly, Kaeya push’s back the red curls, they’re soaked with sweat and humidity and hopefully not all blood. When he gets to the injury he barely refrains from flinching when he feels a deep laceration within the swelling bump.
“You need stitches.”
“Did you bring a needle?”
“…yes, but I don’t see how that would help. Neither of us are medical practitioners.” Kaeya always has a needle, in a small pocket in his eyepatch, he has it mostly for lock picking, definitely not for sutures.
“I can.”
“You can do what?”
“Stitch.”
Kaeya really shouldn’t be surprised, he has a suspicion that he knows why Diluc has invested in the art of sutures. “If the dark knight hero is that dangerous you could always include Barbra in your schemes.”
“She’d tell Jean. Immediately.”
“Maybe she would but then again, maybe she wouldn’t.”
“Little siblings are tattletales.”
“I-“ Kaeya sputters for a moment. “I know you aren’t speaking from experience.”
“I’m not.” And it’s said almost fondly. This is startling and Kaeya’s gone from worried to very very worried.
“See Barbra for this wound, yeah?”
“I can stitch it!” Diluc argues and Kaeya shakes his head. “Not with a concussion you can’t.”
“Then you stitch it- I’ll tell you how.”
“Ew no.”
Diluc’s face is very scornful when he looks at Kaeya. “You plan to allow me to bleed out because you’re squeamish.”
“I’m not squeamish- I just don’t know how to suture, and knowing our luck I’ll poke that needle right into your brain and kill you.”
“As if you could kill me so easily.”
“I could probably freeze it?” Kaeya ignores.
Diluc thinks about it for a second, his reaction times are a bit sluggish but he’s seeming slightly more like himself. “That wouldn’t help it heal but it would slow the bleeding.”
“Is that a yes?”
“Yes.”
Kaeya reaches forward again, carefully feeling his hand around the wound and then letting a small elemental burst escape his fingers, he hears Diluc inhale sharply, stiffening slightly.
“Did I freeze your brain!?”
“No… just cold.”
“It’s ice? Of course it is.”
“That’s not what I mean.” Diluc scoffs, he’s blinking lazily like a cat getting ready to nap. “I’m tired.” He says and Kaeya knows at least one thing about concussions and it’s the fact that you are not supposed to sleep with one.
“Diluc.” He warns and jostles his shoulder slightly. “You have to stay awake.”
“How…how are we even getting out of this?”
Kaeya will admit it’s a fair question, and it has more despair than Kaeya is comfortable with. “We’ll figure it out, but I can only do that if you’re awake.”
“You don’t need me.” Diluc mumbles, and it’s not self-deprecating so much as it is belief in Kaeya and Kaeya feels a little impossibly happy right now even though it’s probably going to be the last time he’s ever happy because they are stuck in a rapidly melting enclosure of rock.
“I do.” Kaeya says. “I need you so please stay awake.”
“Okay.” Diluc breathes and it's hoarse and faint but nobody has willpower like Diluc so if he says he is staying awake he’s staying awake. He's laying on the ground, sprawled out and boneless “Talk to me.” Diluc demands, which is a good idea, it’ll give him something to force himself to pay attention to.
“Okay, uh, we are in a cave, it’s held up by my elemental burst, it’s pretty big so if it melts to fast I won’t be able to do it again in such a large scale, I should probably reinforce some of the pillars soon, there’s strange natural gases around us and I don’t know it’s effect but nothing noticeably has happened yet, unless I’m already tripping and talking insane…”
“Natural gasses?”
“Yeah, from the cave. I used to…we— remember? We liked collecting crystals and caves would have them a lot so I did a bit of research on them. The gases could be mostly harmless like sulfur, however typically the deeper you are the more likely to run into carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide, methane, and excess carbon dioxide, which of course could kill you.” Kaeya let’s out a light laugh. “Let’s cross our fingers and hope, yeah?”
“I don’t believe in such things.” Diluc rasps, and of course he doesn’t believe in superstitions.
“Do you think you could stand?”
“Yes.” Diluc answers immediately, so quickly that Kaeya knows he’s lying. “We could try going deeper into the cave.”
“So we can die deeper underground?” Diluc raises an eyebrow tiredly and Kaeya sighs. “This ice can’t hold, we’d at least be going somewhere.”
“Okay.” Diluc finally agrees tiredly and he’s stumbling up and It’s painful to watch, his hands shaking and face rapidly paling—“here.” Kaeya maneuvers himself over to his brother and swings his arm around his brother's back. Diluc stiffens for a moment before letting him. Eyes lidded and exhausted.
“You’re looking a bit paler than usual.” Kaeya teases gently as Diluc slumps further into him, they make their first few steps awkwardly, the ground is damp and wet and going down into a darker section of a cave goes against every human instinct Kaeya has- he’s never liked enclosed spaces and it’s getting darker and warmer too.
There’s something comforting about the slouched presence next to him, the steady warmth of his brother smushed against his side.
“Can you stop ?” Diluc grits out and Kaeya blinks, Diluc is prying Kaeya’s fingers from out of his hip. “Are you trying to break my bones?“ It's a grouchy sleepy complaint, there’s no bite and Kaeya feels bad, his nerves have clearly made themselves known in the bruising grip he has had around his brother's waist. “Sorry. It’s just a little gloomy here isn’t it?”
“So?”
“I can’t really see…it makes me nervous.” He keeps his tone light because Celestia forbid Diluc remembers any of this and he figures out Kaeya is perpetually traumatized by his missing eye.
Diluc grunts and Kaeya feels him shift slightly, their steps falter and then there’s a small burst of orange light.
It goes out moments later but it eases something tight in Kaeya’s chest when he blinks the light seared into his eye.
“Sorry.” Diluc grunts. “Can’t hold it.”
“Ah no. Thank you. That was fine.” Kaeya knows if he could see his brother's face it would be filled with doubt and skepticism, maybe even some irritation, all things Kaeya is okay with because it distracts Diluc from the fact that Kaeya had shrunk from the dark like a child.
They continue to walk, silence heavy and hot, dark all encompassing.
Kaeya hopes Diluc is wrong and they aren’t simply walking deeper to die.