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"This is absolutely your fault," Diluc argues, resting his forehead against the cool, smooth rock on the wall of the cave.
"I don't recall... asking you for backup..." Kaeya replies, voice strained with pain. He shifts around somewhere behind Diluc for what must be the fifth time in the last two minutes, but he's not likely to find a comfortable position with a broken leg and no painkillers.
"So I was supposed to watch you chase down an Abyss Herald alone?"
"Given your fever... yes," Kaeya says. "You passed out twice... Once right after the fight... and once while you were dragging me here."
"You're one to talk," Diluc mutters. "You admitted you've been unwell for days and you still went off hunting the Abyss Order after midnight. At least I was at home before I saw you out there." He coughs into his fist. "You would have died, Kaeya."
"I was winning..." Kaeya mumbles, rubbing his arms.
"Sure," Diluc says.
"And you were awake after midnight... or you wouldn't have seen me..."
"I couldn't sleep," Diluc murmurs. And even after all that, as far beyond exhausted as he feels, he doubts he's going to sleep anytime soon, either.
It's still raining, and there's not a hint that it's going to stop anytime soon. What a miserable night.
Kaeya sighs. "Don't know how you can stand leaning against that wall..." he says. "It's so cold..."
"Feels good," Diluc says. "Been so hot all day..." He lifts his head a little. "You can have my coat, if you want."
"You'll get chilled..."
"You're hurt," Diluc replies, and tugs the coat off. "Don't want you going into shock. Should've thought of it earlier." He turns, discovering that Kaeya is staring at him.
"You're not even... wearing a shirt..." Kaeya says.
"Was in a hurry," Diluc says, spreading the coat over Kaeya.
Kaeya sighs in relief. His eyes sink shut for a moment, but then he forces them open. "You're... you're going to catch a chill..."
"Already sick," Diluc points out. "It's okay." He turns, resting his head against the wall again.
"That's... not the good argument... you seem to think it is..." Kaeya says.
"Won't be for long," Diluc says. "I'll get my strength back and get help."
"In this weather...?"
"You're not going anywhere fast." So Diluc will have to do it. Hopefully the dizziness will pass soon.
"You're really... not in any shape for it..." Kaeya coughs faintly. "Do you even... know where we are...?"
"Probably," Diluc says.
"So... no," Kaeya says.
Diluc can't find the energy to keep arguing. He just closes his eyes and lets the cool stone ease his headache for a moment. For a minute or so, the only sounds are the rain and Kaeya's labored breathing.
"I'm... still cold..." Kaeya whispers.
Part of Diluc wants to snap at him for whining. But getting angry sounds like work. And Kaeya is in intense pain, and he's been so quiet about it. He gets to complain a little. And getting chilled won't do him any good.
"I don't have anything else to warm you up with," Diluc says.
"If... you could... down here..."
It takes a moment for Diluc to understand. He's exhausted, and they're not... children anymore. "You want me... to lay with you?"
"Please?" Kaeya asks, voice thin and timid.
It will be far too hot and deeply unpleasant, and Diluc is already crawling over to Kaeya's good side because Kaeya should not sound like that.
"Thank you," Kaeya whispers.
Words are too difficult. Diluc doesn't try to bring them forward. He just huddles up against Kaeya as closely as he dares. Kaeya shifts slightly closer, too, with those extra shivers that sometimes arrive with an influx of heat, and sighs.
"This is... okay...?" Kaeya asks.
"Mhm." It's not as bad as Diluc expected, if he's honest. He closes his eyes. A hand reaches for his forehead, brushing the hair away from his face.
"You really are burning up..." Kaeya murmurs. "I'm sorry..."
"No," Diluc says.
"No... what...?"
"No," Diluc repeats, too exhausted to try to explain why Kaeya should not be apologizing. "Sleep."
"Someone's got to keep watch... and you're... about to crash right there..."
"I wish," Diluc says. His body demands rest, and he couldn't deny that if he tried. But he watched the Abyss Herald lift Kaeya from the ground and toss him like he weighed nothing, watched his leg snap like a twig. Sleep won't be arriving anytime soon.
"Have to-" Kaeya breaks off, coughing. He lets out the tiniest pained whimper afterwards.
Diluc opens his eyes to Kaeya clutching at his own ribs.
"I'll go for help," Diluc says. He rubs at his forehead. It doesn't do anything to temper the ache.
"Luc..."
"You're ill and in pain." Diluc reaches around behind himself and tries to push himself up off the ground. His arms shake with the effort of holding him up.
"Luc," Kaeya says, too gentle. "You really can't..."
Diluc hates the very idea of being incapable of something. He's hated it since he was a child, and half the point of all the training he's put himself through is so that he can do whatever it is he needs to do. He despises the thought that his body might not be able to follow his orders. It gives him a little more to work with, a slight spike in adrenaline that finally gets him sitting--and then he topples back, barely managing not to bash his head against the ground.
"So stubborn..." Kaeya murmurs, a hint of a laugh in his tone, as his shaking hand brushes Diluc's hair aside again. "It's okay..."
"M'sorry," Diluc mumbles. He draws close to Kaeya again. At least he can keep him warm.
Kaeya sighs. "We're... quite the pair..."
"Mm." Diluc closes his eyes.
"Try to rest..." Kaeya says. "Maybe when it stops raining... you'll have your strength back..."
"This okay?" Diluc asks.
"Fine," Kaeya says. He's stopped shivering, which is either good or very bad. There's nothing to be done about it either way.
Diluc coughs into his fist and tries to relax.
---
There is a point at which even intense pain can be... not ignored, precisely, but put aside. After enough time, the mind can decide anything is normal. Kaeya has hit that stage.
Deep sleep is impossible, but he dozes on and off through the night. Diluc only really moves when he's struck with a coughing fit, but stays a warm presence against his side. It shouldn't feel as soothing as it does.
It stops feeling soothing when enough light seeps into the cave for Kaeya to see, and he realizes that Diluc's fist is spattered with blood.
Kaeya is sure he has some trivial cuts and scrapes on him, even if he can't be bothered to try to figure out where they are. But he knows neither of them were bleeding all that much after the fight. And he doesn't remember the blood being there the last time that he got a good look at Diluc's hands, when he was half-conscious on the ground in the middle of bringing them here.
He knew that Diluc was ill. That's the reason things could escalate to this stage to begin with: the Darknight Hero has already taken a full week off, and that's a massive hole in Mondstadt's defenses. But this...
Kaeya's leg is broken pretty badly. His ribs are bruised, if not broken as well, and he's been running a fever for two, maybe three days. Diluc is so sick even he can't sit up, and he's coughing blood, which in the best case scenario means he's extremely sick and in the worst case indicates an internal injury.
They have no supplies. No one knows where they are.
The possibility of death starts to feel very real.
Kaeya takes a deep breath. Thinking. He's supposed to be good at that.
"Luc?" Kaeya asks. "Hey... Luc...?"
Diluc shivers and huddles closer.
"Diluc..."
"Mm..." Diluc's eyes flutter open. "Kae... Where...?" His voice is deeply hoarse, and his expressions change in rapid succession: confusion, then panic that fades into exhaustion. "You're... hurt."
"Yes," Kaeya replies. Affirming reality is worth it, delving into specifics is not. "How... are you feeling...?"
"Sick," Diluc mumbles. This is not a good answer: it's bad that he's giving any answer at all instead of objecting to the question, and it's worse that the answer is negative instead of an attempt at neutrality. "S'it... is it still raining?"
"Less..."
"Mm." Diluc manages to sit up this time--but then he starts coughing and coughing, entire body shaking in place. He wheezes cautiously as the fit ends, with what must be involuntary tears glistening in his eyes. "I... give me a minute..."
"Luc...?"
"Nn... I'll go..."
"Don't push yourself..." Kaeya says, tugging at Diluc's shirt. "Not in a rush..."
Diluc looks down at him. "Kae, it's... I just..." He seems to struggle to arrange his thoughts. "Not... better than last night... So I..."
"It's okay..." Kaeya says. "Lay down..."
Diluc... doesn't fight him. He lays down, curling close to Kaeya, wiping his hand off on what must be his pajamas in a way that he probably intends to be subtle but is not. "M'sorry..."
"Nothing to be sorry for..." Kaeya assures him.
"Mm." Diluc shivers.
Kaeya suppresses a sigh. Neither of them are going anywhere.
Jean will probably assume he's at home, resting. She told him that she expected him to take a day off yesterday evening, when she caught him icing his forehead at his desk.
But Diluc's been sick for over a week already, and he's had staff waiting on him the whole time, people who know he isn't where he's supposed to be and that he very well might need help. Someone will be looking for him.
But there's so much space to search. The rain will have washed away most indicators of their direction. And they're not in the open. And...
Kaeya is just so tired.
He needs to figure this out. He needs to get them safe. Diluc shouldn't even be here.
Kaeya falls asleep, instead.
---
The next thing that Diluc is aware of is that he is thirsty. He's thirsty, and his throat hurts, and he's cold, and...
And he's holding onto Kaeya. Who is wrapped up in his coat. Because...
The Abyss Herald, and...
Ah.
Kaeya is asleep. That's good. He needs to rest. He's hurt, and he had... that look, the one he gets when he has a fever, the one where he's not really looking at anything.
Cold. It's cold.
Kaeya needs help. Someone who can do something. And to be warm. Injured people should be kept warm.
Diluc rolls over to the wall and props himself up against it. He coughs. Wet, sticky, all over his hands. Blood again. Not good.
He can't carry Kaeya like this. Someone has to find this place.
Light outside, but rain, still.
Rain. Wet wood smokes.
The Knights are... are bad, and can't be trusted, but even they would send someone out if there was a bunch of smoke somewhere, right?
So it's just... just outside enough. Not far. Just enough to light a fire.
Would be good to have one inside. But... that's too much.
Standing is difficult, but possible, if Diluc uses the wall to help pull himself up. He's dizzy afterwards. Enough that his legs shake. But he waits it out and pushes forward.
There, just at the mouth of the cave. Just what he needs. The log is thick and probably soaked through, but with a Pyro vision, he can light it, and...
He realizes far too late that there is a problem with smoke.
His lungs burn. He gasps and coughs and drops to the ground and oh, oh, he can't breathe. He can't breathe-
---
Kaeya wakes up, coughing and cold.
Diluc isn't there.
He's not there, but there's thick wheezing from somewhere close by, and the crackle of burning wood, and visibility is worse despite there being more light...
"You absolute-" Kaeya can't finish the insult. He's coughing again.
And anyway, he can't really blame Diluc for this one. The man was probably half delirious. He should be home, in bed. He would be, if he hadn't looked out his window at the exact wrong time and seen Kaeya and the Abyss Herald...
Kaeya doesn't do these things expecting rescue when he makes a mistake. He knows he could easily have died, and he was more than fine with that risk. But now Diluc's gone and got himself involved, and Kaeya has to fix this instead of just- just letting go, out in the grass last night, and-
And now is not the time to indulge in that particular line of thought, because their cave is going to fill with smoke and they are going to suffocate.
They just need to get out.
Easy.
Kaeya lets out a hysterical little laugh.
Crawling will be... easier... and keep him lower to the ground. He'll just need to roll over onto his stomach, and then turn around, and then leave. Simple.
He doesn't give himself time to dwell on it. Just rolls, putting the pressure on his good leg.
His bad leg hits the ground hard.
He screams, though he bites it off as soon as he can manage.
It's... it's fine. It's fine, and he's going to get out of here, and get Diluc out of here, and it's fine.
Dragging the leg is... more plausible than trying to hold it above ground level the whole time. He'll just... have to tolerate the pain.
He takes a deep breath and pushes, getting himself onto his hands and one knee. He coughs miserably, trembling, and then starts to shift, eyes immediately flooding with involuntary tears. He can't suppress a moan.
"Oh, Archons."
That's... not Diluc's voice, that's...
Kaeya lifts his head. "...Jeanie?" It comes out faint and rasping.
"You are in so much trouble," Jean says, voice shaking. She turns behind her. "Get the medical kit. We need to set his leg before I can heal it." A burst of Anemo clears the air in the cave, and then she's looking back at him. "Captain Kaeya Alberich, I swear in Barbatos' name, you are going on disciplinary leave for a month-"
Kaeya drops to the ground, sobbing with relief.
---
Diluc is comfortable.
This is... wrong, somehow, he thinks.
There are people talking nearby in low voices, a soft murmur. If he wanted, he could just let it wash over him and go back to sleep. He probably should. He's almost never able to just let go and sleep.
But he was doing... something important, before. Wasn't he? Did he get it done?
"...course I didn't ask him to come with me. Did you really..."
"...alone, then? Kaeya..."
Kaeya?
"...got wind of... ...obligated to deal with it. Which, as you'll note, he..."
"...could have asked me to..."
Diluc cracks his eyes open.
He's in an unfamiliar room, in a bed. There's another bed a short distance away. Kaeya is in that bed, sitting up but slumped against the headboard. Jean is sitting next to him, arms crossed.
Diluc takes a breath in to speak, but starts coughing instead. As violent as it is, it ought to hurt, and it's a little disorienting that it doesn't. He blinks in the aftermath and realizes he's being watched.
"Ah, Master Diluc is back with us," Kaeya says. It's probably intended to sound casual, but his voice is hoarse and half an octave deeper than usual.
Diluc tries very hard to come up with a response. "Where... is this?" His own voice is extremely faint, barely a whisper.
"You're in the Cathedral," Jean says. "You had internal bleeding from a wound on your chest."
"You're on quite a bit of the good stuff, if you're wondering," Kaeya says.
"As if he's not," Jean says, and sighs. "It's just making him argumentative."
"It is not," Kaeya mutters.
Diluc smiles faintly. "Thank you," he manages.
Jean smiles at him. "Thank you for retrieving my wayward Captain."
"Hey-" Kaeya coughs softly.
"Get some sleep, sir," Jean says, coming to stand next to Diluc instead, running her fingers through his hair. "We inefficient Knights of Favonius are just having a little staffing dispute. Nothing that concerns you."
Diluc swallows. "Make sure... Kaeya doesn't do anything else stupid," he forces out. He coughs, then lets his eyes fall shut.
"Neither of you appreciate me," Kaeya says. Even in his currently-husky voice, instead of petulant, it just sounds insecure.
So Diluc rallies himself one last time as he feels Jean put something damp and cold on his forehead. "We love you," he says, the reasons he shouldn't say those words feeling far too distant to grasp. "You're just an idiot."
"I- what-" Kaeya splutters.
"He's right, Kaeya," Jean says, a hint of a laugh in her voice. She brushes the hair from Diluc's face. "Rest well."
Diluc thinks he will.