Chapter Text
“You Traitor!!!”
Red hot steel, aflame with hellfire arced toward him, barely giving Kaeya enough time to jump back out of harms way. But Diluc wasted no time in following up with another slash. This time, Kaeya blocked with his sword, struggling against Diluc's strenght as the flames licked painfully at his arms. “Diluc... please lis-”
“Shut up!” Diluc cut him off with a snarl, backing up a step to break the stalemate, only to rush back in with renowned fury.
Kaeya could only back off more and more with each strike of Diluc's claymore, barely managing to block the blazing blade with his own, while his continuous pleading to his brother fell on deaf ears. Diluc wasn't pretending nor holding back, and even in his rage his swordplay remained steady. Each one of his strike was strong and precise, aiming at cutting him down. Kaeya knew one misstep and he'd be done for.
He raised his sword, to parry another strike, but as the blades collided, Kaeya's battered blade shattered. Eyes wide, Kaeya pulled back, but he wasn't fast enough. The flames licked the side of his face as the searing tip of Diluc's blade cut through his skin.
Kaeya screamed as he fell hard to the ground, clutching the right side of his face. For a moment, everything was white noise as the pain overtook his senses. Still holding his hand against this burned eye, gritting his teeth though the pain, Kaeya looked up. Diluc towered over him, surrounded with flames, looking down at him with fury and loathing in his eyes.
He could only stare helplessly as Diluc raised his flaming swords one last time. He spoke, but Kaeya couldn't hear the words over the ringing in his ears, and then the blade came down.
---
There was a sudden blast of cryo, icy walls instantly rose up around Kaeya as he woke up with a gasp, sitting up suddenly, grasping at his right eye.
The sudden movement and noise startled Albedo awake next to him. Momentarily confused, he blinked once at the cryo walls protectively surrounding the bed. Then, realizing what was going on, his attention instantly turned to Kaeya. He pushed himself up, kneeling next to Kaeya. Kaeya's entire body was shaking and he was panting heavily with panic, his eye wide as he stared at something only he could see. His right hand digging painfully into the right side of his face.
“Kaeya?” Albedo called him out softly, but Kaeya gave no sign that he heard him. Albedo slowly raised his hands to Kaeya's face, gently cupping his cheeks. “It's alright.” He said as Kaeya turned his head slightly toward the sound. He was looking at him, but clearly wasn't seeing him.
Ever patient, Albedo carefully pried Kaeya's hand away from his face, to prevent him from hurting himself. “Look at me.” He said softly. “You're safe. You're home.” He said as he gently intertwined their fingers and squeezed Kaeya's hand.
Home. The word resonated in Kaeya's mind. He blinked, his starry eye finally focusing on the Alchemist in front of him. “A-Albedo?” He croaked, flinching at the sound of his voice. Confused, he looked around, at the cryo construct surrounding them. He groaned as he realized what had happened.
“Sorry.” Kaeya apologized, his voice low, as he dropped his head onto Albedo's shoulder.
Gently, without letting go of his right hand, Albedo pushed him back to lay down on the bed and laid down in front of him, their forehead touching as Albedo gently stroked his thumb against Kaeya's cheek in a reassuring way. Kaeya's eye remained solely fixated on Albedo's, letting himself get lost in their teal dept. He was too afraid to close his eyes again, terrified of falling back into the dream.
Albedo did not asks him what he had dreamed about, there was no need to. For he knew that while many traumas plagued his lover's mind, there was only one dream that made Kaeya clutch his eye in such a way.
Albedo frowned as he could still feel the tremors in Kaeya's fingers. While Kaeya's sleep had been anything but peaceful lately, It had been a while since the he'd had that particular dream, Albedo noted to himself. “Do you want to talk about it?” He eventually asked.
Kaeya sighed as he inched closer, burying himself against Albedo's chest. “I don't think there's much to talk about... It was just a nightmare.”
It's not like there was really anything new to discuss. He'd been defeated, captured and tortured by the Abyss Order for almost a week. And came within a hair breadth from dying. Actually, according to Albedo, he had actually died for about a minute or two. Although he considered himself more resilient than most when it came to overcoming traumatic events, the whole ordeal had, unsurprisingly, left him more than a little mentally and emotionally taxed.
That vulnerability didn't mix well with Diluc's recent change of heart and wish to fix their relationship. He hadn't actually seen Diluc since that day they had agreed to stop fighting. After all, he was still recovering and confined to house rest... mostly.. not really. He could go out... but he might have been avoiding doing so. He told himself he simply didn't yet have the strength to keep his masks in place in public. But while not exactly a lie, he mostly didn't want to take the risk to run into Diluc anywhere. He wasn't ready.
He still had a whole lot of mixed feelings about this whole thing. They had only agreed not to be assholes, nothing more. But Kaeya wasn't a fool, he knew where that path led to. And while Diluc had seemed honest and earnest in his wish to fix things, Kaeya had much more reservations. The possibility of letting Diluc in his life brought back a lot of negative feelings and painful memories to the forefront. Many of which Diluc had absolutely no idea about...
...And it was almost that day.
And so, unwilling to face the world, Kaeya hid away in the safety of his home. Secure in his lover's protective arms. Basking in his surprising warmth, a clear contrast to the bitter cold emanating from the cryo walls around them.
....He'd have to do something about all that ice...
...but not now...