Opposites Attract | Diluc x Reader

Timmie's Birds

After the night at Diluc's mansion, you had returned to the place that you were renting near the city of dandelions. You had only recently came to Mondstadt after tediously traveling for a long time to escape the clutches of your home.

"It was a fun night," you fell to your bed and rolled around before finding a comfortable spot to lay on.

Spending a few minutes laying on the bed and not being able to fall asleep, you stared at the ceiling remembering the stars back at the mansion. It reminded you of those moments when you camped back in the Inazuma forests. Usually, the stars weren't that obvious around the city but the night was one of those special days when the stars shone with incredible beauty.

Soon enough, your eyes felt drowsy and your sight darkened.

~~~~~

Waking up, you were greeted by bright light that penatrated your room in lines through the slightly open window in the room. Yawning, you stretched comfortably and adjusted to the new day.

Standing up, you went to your closet and picked out an outfit to wear today. You were planning to go out to explore around the city of Mondstadt. After all, you wouldn't want to miss the opportunity to explore the new place that you would be staying in for the time being.

“Time to go to Mondstadt,” you hummed as you closed the door behind you after fixing yourself up.

You were excited to see the city of Mondstadt since you had heard many different stories about the famed city of freedom. It was said to be a peaceful and joyous place despite not having a specific head to lead the people. To say you were excited to explore the place would be an understatement. You just couldn’t wait. After all, your life had always been about training and you were never able to enjoy the normal and simple things that many other people enjoyed.

Walking and admiring the scenery, you soon made it to the bridge that led directly to the heart of the city.

“Incredible!” you gawked at the medieval look of the city from the outside. 

The walls were built high and the gates that were opened wide were something that intrigued you. A new culture and a new nation to explore. Who wouldn’t be excited.

“You scared my pigeons,” a young boy’s voice suddenly brought you back to reality and you stared at him in confusion.

‘’I- what,” you looked at the teary-eyed boy. “Don’t worry about them. I'm sure they’ll come back.”

“What if they don’t come back… like daddy…” the young boy started crying to your shock.

Your heart dropped when he had mentioned his father. You could understand why he was crying and because of that, you had felt all the more guilty. The pigeons must have been his coping method to help with the loss of his father yet you had still scared them away. The guilt you felt as you watched the boy cry continued to sink deeper into your heart.

“I- I’m so sorry,” you stuttered, not knowing how to comfort and console the young child.

“The pigeons will come back like they always do,” you heard a familiar voice say from behind you. “Don’t worry Timmie. How about you just play with the ducks first. Here is some wheat for you to feed them.”

Looking behind you, you saw the familiar face of the man that you had eaten dinner with last night. It was none other than Diluc. 

He handed a bag to the boy who had finally stopped crying. The boy in reply thanked Diluc and started to run towards the river in front of the city where you could see white feathered ducks swimming about.

“Do you make it a thing to carry wheat with you?” You asked Diluc who started walking towards the gates of the city.

Diluc gave you a look that you quite couldn't explain. It looked like he was questioning if you were dumb or not.

"Sorry, sorry," you said in reply to his stare. "Thank you for helping me back there."

“Well since you're here,” Diluc motioned you to follow him. “We might as well have your injury checked out by an actual healer.”

“It’s fine,” you waved your hands to decline his offer. “It’s not a problem for me. Really.”

“I’m not asking you,” Diluc deadpanned. “Let’s go now. It will still bother me if you're still injured because of my negligence.”

Diluc dragged you along with him towards the cathedral at the highest point in the city. You followed him - against your will - and gaped as you saw the giant statue of the Anemo Archon proudly standing in front of the cathedral. It was something new to you and you couldn’t help but look at the statue in awe from its grandness.

“Let’s go,” Diluc pulled you along with him once again, not letting you look at the status any longer. “I have other things to attend to.”

“Wait,” you whined as you wanted to slow down and look around the city.

“You’ll have more time to look around later,” Diluc sighed, releasing your wrist from his slightly tight grip. “Look. I’m sorry about forcing you with me but it’s still on my conscience about how you got injured because of me. I’m going to be bothered if I keep worrying about this and I won’t be able to work efficiently. Also, I don’t want you to be inconvenienced because of the injury.”

You could feel your eyes slightly getting wet as you realized the meaning behind his action. “Thank you Diluc.”

“Let’s go,” Diluc turned away from you and led you inside the cathedral.

Meeting a girl named Barbara, Diluc had asked her to heal your injury. Immediately, the girl had healed you using her hydro vision while questioning you about how you had gotten such a bad injury. Diluc had explained the situation in your stead and finally after explaining things to Barbara, she let you go - the pain from your injury gone.

“Thank you Diluc,” you said once again as he nodded in reply before leaving you to do your business.

You waved goodbye to him with a large grin on your face. Despite how cold he acted, he was a kind and caring person at heart. Your thoughts on him had changed over the short time that you had spent with him. He was truly a nice person, just someone who had a hard time genuinely showing it.