#diluc.

I imagine baby's in one of those wicker baskets for babies and a note saying give him the love their homeland couldn't, to let him be able to dream, that they couldn't go through with the plan their superiors had for this baby bc he's just a baby. They put his birthday and potential names they had thought of, there's fresh bloodstains on the note and welp there's a faint blood trail further away from the house, darling is the one who tracks the body down and uses their dendro to cover the body up since this is the least they can do.

Baby Diluc absolutely crawls into the basket with Kaeya and is gonna give crying Kaeya his teddy bear which is a big thing bc he loves that bear

Now, I'm just picturing Reader going back into 'Fatui Mode', so to speak. While Crepus is fussing over the abandoned baby, and simultaneously trying to calm Diluc down, the Reader notices the bloodstains, and it doesn't take them long to conclude that something terrible has happened or is going to happen. They grab their Catalyst and they're already bolting for the door, telling Crepus to stay inside where it's safer.

Only once they've made sure that the house is secure (and is convinced that their family is safe, it's not a trick of the Fatui), only then does that distant, icy look in their eyes receed. They don't tell Crepus about the body they've covered with plants. They just tell Crepus to get some sleep, they'll take care of the new baby, and they can talk about things in the morning.

my scattered diluc thoughts are gradually compiling and though i do believe i have some of them on my ancient diluc (@dawnswine) blog i wanted to have them here too. ―while the delusion diluc wielded during his time in snezhnaya did not have the same deadly repercussions it did on crepus it did take a toll on his body. the most prominent are scars, majority of them have faded with time ( and some are from battles with the fatui ) but others resemble chains and are a direct consequence of using the delusion. i'm considering that there were other consequences of using it; numbness in the extremities, fatigue, things that he over-came but were far more notable while he was recovering and before he took his place at the head of the wine industry. ― diluc did quite a lot of sword-practice with jean during their youth, it wouldn't be all that surprising to know that she knows his own stances almost better than he does. kaeya would tag along with them but it was a while before he began training with them opposed to observing, eventually he would join in, encouraged by the two of them. this goes for horse riding as well, diluc was always full of determination, as a child it was far less regulated, so, he was always the first to attempt to straddle a stubborn horse and would find himself promptly ousted from the saddle. ( none of this dampened his resolve lmao )

― diluc's falon is unfalteringly loyal, but it still has a preference for jean and kaeya when it comes to fondness. it's almost as if it has a business relationship with diluc but considers the two of them 'friends'.