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For the rest of the Weilesefest Festival, without fail, Captain Kaeya would have dinner at the Dawn Winery, which was (and always will be) his home
In the past few years, the idea of him visiting the grounds without a Favonius escort to justify his presence would be frowned upon.
(Not because he was necessarily unwelcome to the staff, but rather because of the strange nature of his strained relationship with the Dawn Winery’s master)
But over the course of 2 years, they have learned to grow out of that phase of their strained relationship re-development
Now, they can have dinner together, with only 2 of their 5 topics going out of hand throughout the course of the meal
But it wasn’t always a guarantee. It was big enough of a gamble, on Adelinde’s part, to ask Captain Kaeya to stay for dinner on the first day of the Weinlesefest Festival, and for Master Diluc to agree as well
So Elzer considered the last day of the Weinlesefest to be an even bigger occasion, as it might be the last time Master Diluc and Captain Kaeya could have the time and care to sit down together over dinner to celebrate a nostalgia-related event as a family – what they are and what they will always be
And perhaps it is with that judgment does Elzer find himself at the deepest part of the Dawn Winery’s cellars
He figured a momentous occasion calls for only the best service. At this time around, Miss Adelinde is coordinate with the housekeeping staff to prepare a full-course meal for the two young Master Ragnvindrs, while Elzer takes it upon himself to find the best wine to serve to commemorate a milestone in the two brothers’ path to reconciliation
So, he tells himself…
Elzer, much like many others who have found new beginnings and redemptions in Mondstadt, considers the estate that housed and employed them a home. And he is one of the few, alongside Miss Adelinde and Charles the Bartender, who are closer to the Ragnvindr family than most
Elzer grew up as a sort of older brother for the young Master Diluc and Master Kaeya
He watched them grow up into fine men, grow into each other as brothers, then fall apart as unlikely enemies
And now, he’s getting to see them grow back together as hesitant friends who are almost like brothers; a little changed but in a familiar way that is kind to how different they are now as adults
So, by Celestia, Elzer will find the best wine to serve over dinner tonight
The Dawn Winery’s deepest cellars are reserved only for the oldest and most precious barrels of wine. Some barrels date back as old as the Aristocracy Era, and some are worth more than Mondstadt itself if Elzer were to guess from the aroma
It was sacred, precious grounds, so Elzer needed to be quick
The wine had to be earthy with a sweet aftertaste, just like Captain Kaeya always preferred it, according to Charles who always served him at the Angel’s Share
However, it also had to be conservative in its alcoholic content. Master Diluc, despite his talent in mixology and brewery, is not very good at holding his alcohol
Very…. very not good…
A shimmer caught Elzer’s eye and he stopped his aimless wandering along the barrels.
Strange. There shouldn’t be anything shimmering at this part of the cellars, not when all there was here were wooden wine caskets and abandoned beer mugs from ancient times
Elzer’s curiosity compelled him forward to the source from between two large barrels. He reached his hand in and felt something oddly cold… a glass bottle
He pulled it out carefully and indeed, it was a glass bottle. Curiously, it was a more recent model than he’d expect to be found among the oldest wine storages of the traditional Dawn Winery… perhaps dating at least 10 years back or more
He turned it over and read the details of the wine
Judging from the handwriting and unfashionable label, it could already be said that it wasn’t an official Dawn Winery product
After all, it was literally named:
“Don’t open until Kaeya and Diluc are both 18”
The handwriting had the late Master Crepus’ touch all over it. Elzer knew, seeing as he adapted how he wrote his Ps and Ys from him
Not much is said about the ingredients or the alcoholism content, but from the smell, Elzer already had ideas for how to serve it and what snacks it would go well with it
Satisfied with the decision, he smiled and carried it back with him up the house
What better way to close a nostalgia-related event than with something straight from the past?
Kaeya belched loudly and patted his stomach. He slumped back on his chair with a sigh, fondly looking at the head maid who came to collect their salad bowls along with a couple of others
“Adelinde, you did it again, as always…” he smiled sweetly at her
Adelinde hummed thoughtfully “And what exactly is it did I do again?”
He looked at her, then his stomach, and grinned cheekily, “Get me pregnant with your sexy as hell salads.”
Diluc kicked him from under the table, hard enough that Kaeya jolted up and hit his head at an awkward angle on the chair. The maids can’t help but giggle, even as Adelinde shooed them away with the dirty plates
Ever the well-trained noble that he is, Diluc pads his napkin over his mouth before proceeding to return the attitude of his guest to them
“You really ought to choose your words better next time. I know you can hear for yourself how wrong that sounded,” he grumbled
Kaeya pouted, leaning over the table and folding his hands before him. “Come now, we both know Miss Adelinde knows me better than endure my crass humor,” he turned to her and gave her doe eyes, “You’ll tell me when I’m overdoing the genuinely bad jokes, right?”
Adelinde looked between both of the men and sighed. “Well, this is your home and you are free to speak your mind. Although your words can use more… consciousness to them, it isn’t as though they’re hurting anyone.”
“What a very convoluted way of saying I should stop saying the food you make is sexy,” Kaeya chuckled
Diluc’s glare turned from Kaeya to Adelinde. “How is it when I make crude jokes, I get reprimanded; but when Kaeya says your cooking makes him feel pregnant, he gets coddled?”
The head maid returned his pointed look with another, folding her hands in front of her. “Well, between having my cooking be complimented in an odd way and being asked if one is allowed to stick their fist down someone’s throat to check where they store their audacity, I’d say this crude joke is lighter by a mile in comparison.”
“Adelinde, stop playing favorites.”
“Must everything I do concern favoritism?”
“Just accept it, Diluc. You’re not Adelinde’s favorite child.”
“Neither are you. It’s always been Jean.”
“Yeah, but she’s my boss, so by association~”
Adelinde groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose, “Boys…”
As if on cue, Elzer, entered with Hillie and Moco. Both maids were pushing a tray cart with a covered platter on each, while the butler was carrying two new wine glasses and an… unfamiliar looking bottle
Hillie and Moco set down and uncovered the main dish of the evening. Braised meat.
Diluc could probably tell from the scent of the meat, and the way his eyes seem to light up at the recognition. Kaeya stifled his laugh from such a childlike expression on the elusive Master of the Dawn Winery
Instead, Kaeya’s eyes land on the bottle that Elzer held in his hands.
“Oh? Are we being served a Dawn Winery vintage?” he smirked, watching as Elzer set down their new wine glasses and began to pour some of the wine into them
Diluc frowned from staring at his main course. He shifted his gaze between Adelinde and Elzer, “We are? Why didn’t I know about this?”
“It’s old wine sitting in the deepest parts of the Dawn Winery’s cellar,” Elzer answered, “I just thought… the closing of the Weinlesefest deserved to be celebrated with a taste of the Dawn Winery’s best.”
Adelinde’s eyes flashed in bewilderment. “I’m sorry. You got this from where?”
Few things ever surprise Adelinde enough to make the startlement show in her tone. All the men were at least a little taken aback
“The bottom cellars…” Elzer answered hesitantly, holding the bottle out for her to see, “Master Crepus seems to have been the one to make it, so I thought it was alright to save it now.”
The mention of the late Dawn Winery master made both men pique up, one quicker than the other
“Father made it?” Diluc gasped
“It would appear so,” Elzer nodded. Adelinde took the bottle and held it up to the chandelier light. He frowned, “This is his handwriting, isn’t it?”
Adelinde hummed, reading out the label, and more of it that Elzer swore were just incomprehensible squiggles made to seem like an underline. “Don’t open until Kaeya and Diluc are both 18. It’s safe to consume by then, I think. From Crepus.”
Kaeya cleared his throat. The tip of his cheeks was flushed, but pray tell, what could he possibly be embarrassed about? “That bottle feels… familiar, even without Master Crepus in the picture,” he said
And as though nothing was at least a little wrong or strange about the situation, Diluc sat upright on his chair and sighed, holding up his wine glass. “Well, no point in questioning it. We’re both 18 now, I suppose.”
Such bravery, or stupidity. Even Elzer took a double take, almost spilling the wine as he poured on the winery master’s glass
“Oh?” Kaeya smirked, “The usual cautious and careful Master Diluc about to take a swig at a wine he knows not the backstory or ingredients of? Why I thought you’d start to go on about safety protocols and wine tasting?”
Diluc narrowed his eyes at him, “If I get poisoned, then so will you. I get one last win before I go.”
“Master Diluc.” Adelinde snapped
Kaeya flushed even more. “Wait… w-what do you mean I’m having this with you?”
Diluc frowned, genuinely confused at why such a question would be asked. “It’s a wine that Father made for both of us, after all. Why shouldn’t you drink?”
The snark and sass melted in Kaeya’s chest, reducing him back to the blushy young man that he still is and always will be. Diluc smirked in satisfaction, knowing he caught the unshakeable, cool Calvary Captain off his cool
Kaeya cleared his throat in a weak attempt to save face. “Adelinde, Elzer, won’t you be drinking with us?”
Elzer smiled, almost feeling himself up to agree. But one touch on his shoulder from the older head maid and he quickly pursed his lips.
“Oh, I feel this is better shared just between the two of you,” she said, throwing Elzer a kind look that he swore meant to say ‘You’re gonna thank me later…’
Kaeya’s glass was also filled. Much like Diluc, he took a moment to inhale the aroma and study the color of the wine, as sons of a noble winery master were taught to do from a young age
The scent of ingredients was everywhere, none of which he could tell apart from the other. But the smell gave out the fact that it was old, very old; not as old as the Aristocracy Era, of course, but as old as a childhood that has long since ended
And he can’t help but smile, as the feelings that erupted in his chest tasted as bittersweet as the aroma would suggest the wine also taste
He raised his glass at the man sitting across from him. Master Diluc, his friend… his brother…
“Well, Happy Weinlesefest to you, Master Diluc,” he greeted
And surprisingly, his genuine smile was not meant by skepticism and hesitance; but instead, another smile just as warm and inviting as his
“Cheers to that, Captain Kaeya,” Diluc replied
Their wine glasses joined for a second to make a clinking sound. Kaeya took a large gulp right away of his, while Diluc only took one tentative sip
Adelinde snorted from behind the hand she pressed on her lips, hiding the grin that seemed to reach her eyes
Suddenly that “I think” part of Master Crepus’ label made sense
Diluc choked on his wine and shifted sideways on his chair to double over properly, entering a merciless coughing fit
“What the fuck!?”
Elzer knelt down to the young master, patting his back as he tried to spit out the bad taste that already melted on his tongue. “Why? What’s wrong?”
“Elzer- fuck, water, p-please-” Diluc wheezed, barely managing to cup his hands in front of his mouth
Kaeya was crouched over the table, heaving deeply
Adelinde reached out, “Master Kaeya-?”
Then he bolted, over to where the downstairs bathroom would be. The maids gave a yelp as he brushed past them
Elzer gave an apologetic look to Adelinde, who only smiled knowingly.
He didn’t know whether he was fucked or if there was more to it than meets the eye
Dinner was an hour ago.
Diluc got his glass of water and a bucket to help carry what the water is trying to push out of his system the same way it came back in
Kaeya spent a couple of minutes in the bathroom. According to Adelinde and Moco, he was holding onto the toilet rim for dear life as he threw out 3 parts of a 5-course meal
The entire time, Elzer was mentally preparing himself for his termination from his employment
That or death
Honestly, whichever of the two that the gods decide he deserves most
He lives a good life up until this point
Not a single bottle of wine from the Dawn Winery turns out to be bad wine. Or so everyone thought. How foolish was he to be complacent, all because Master Crepus staked his name and his sons' names on a mysterious bottle?
The rest of the meal had been left for tomorrow and the staff cleaned up the table. While the two managers of the estate and young masters were left to their own resources
Diluc and Kaeya were sat on the same couch, shoulders touching, heaving from the mental and physical exhaustion that came with drinking bad wine. Adelinde sat on the armchair next to them, Elzer standing timidly by her seat
Adelinde did not seem as panicked as he’d thought she would be
Then again, it’s not her that will be getting fired once Master Diluc or Captain Kaeya catch their breaths
After a beat or two, she spoke, “You made that wine.”
The three boys’ eyes widened as they turned to her. She giggled, “Oh yes, little 10-year-old Diluc and 9-year-old Kaeya did make that wine. Even I’d forgotten about that bottle until Elzer handed it to me. I didn’t think Master Crepus actually saved it, god help him.”
She reached her hand up. By instinct, Elzer took it. Hopefully, her immunity from the young masters’ rage rubs onto him just this once
She beamed up at him, “Don’t worry Elzer, you’re not getting fired. If anything, thank you for bringing this up. This was a long time due coming and I’m glad to be able to see this now.”
“Huh?”
“Well, Master Diluc and Master Kaeya were definitely too young to remember this but they tried to brew wine for the Weinlesefest too,” she said, glancing at the neglected wine bottle of the aforementioned wine placed on the coffee table before them
“They gathered ingredients and attempted to brew it on their own; when Master Crepus intervened, it was already too late and the wine was already halfway through the process, so by then, it was only by chance that we’d find out what the wine tastes
Diluc and Kaeya’s eyes shifted between the wine, each other, and Adelinde and Elzer
“What’s in it?” they asked in chorus
Elzer furrowed his brows, crying out “I-I don’t know! Apparently, you two made it!”
Adelinde, revealing herself to be more of a little devil than they’d initially thought, pressed a finger on her lips and hummed. “Maybe it’s best that you don’t know. The horror might make you sick twice over,” she said, her smirk suggesting that she definitely wants to tell them
Kaeya chuckled nervously. “Honestly, how bad of a thought process could two kids have?”
Diluc looked up longingly at the ceiling as a memory passed him by through a mysterious gust of wind. “There’s fucking frog goo in that.”
Adelinde snorted. Kaeya sat upright and turned to his brother, face contorting in disgust.
"WHAT!?"
"And probably slime condensate and mudwater. Trust me, I've spent enough time with Diona to know what those would taste like."
“H-How- HOW did YOU know!?”
“It came to me in a vision. I’m pretty sure you put it there.”
“I would- I WOULD NEVER!”
“Actually, that would sound quite like you,” Elzer interjected quickly, surprising even himself
Both brothers looked at him and he shrunk under their gazes of playful contempt.
“Okay, you know what?” Kaeya growled, grabbing the bottle of wine and popping it open
Elzer’s eyes widened, but before he could take a step forward, Diluc lunges at him and holds him back from running, laughing like the menace he and his brother are.
Adelinde stepped away, like the traitor that she is, chuckling as Kaeya attempted to pry open Elzer’s mouth and let the wine fall in
“Let’s see how you like it, wine bitch,” Kaeya cackled
And just before the droplets could be scored exactly to reach Elzer’s lips, he gave a laughed-out cry “NO!” and forced the weak hold off of him, knocking the wine off of Kaeya’s hands
And the full wine spilled onto Adelinde
The world stopped. The break-proof bottle rolled on the floor. The entire house went quiet.
Adelinde closed her eyes and her smile tightened. She took a deep breath.
“Boys…”
“RUN!”
Diluc shouted, and the three boys bolted up to the second floor in a matter of seconds
Adelinde walked calmly and peacefully, shaking her head.
Her tight smile quickly faltered into a warm, fond one once the three were out of sight.
“Crepus, we both raised some pretty stupid kids…” she whispered into the nothingness
And such was the family that Crepus Ragnvindr lived and died for