disdelusioned | Songerein Inbox

[He doesn't want to let her go any more than she wants to let go of him, and his first reaction to her words, heartfelt and soft and filled with more wamrth than he has in his whole body, is to hold her closer and rub her back gently.]

As you are mine, starlight. Even before I realized it. Even before I wanted to admit it.

[He stops short of saying that, in a way, she's been his home since they first met. But there's truth to the sentiment; the first thing she offered him was a bit of normalcy and company when he was still so disoriented and irritated from his arrival. Ori has always been a stablizing force, from that afternoon onward.

In this moment, he makes a decision that he should have made earlier. He remembers Eustace's warning about keeping Ori out of the loop as far as his plans. What's happened tonight is a worst case scenario, and Diluc is not so naive as to believe it can't happen to him. It almost has once, and by poking around where he intends to he's putting himself at greater risk.

If they are each other's homes, then they need to be honest. And they need to work on the seemingly insurmountable obstacle of their separate worlds together.]

There's something I need to tell you. I refuse to accept that our limited time in this dream world is the only way we can be together. I intend to figure out, by whatever means necessary, how to reach you. Or how to have you reach us.

[By which he means him and their sunlight. Thoma is a part of this too, even if he's no longer here.]

We can get into the details another time, after we've slept and you've had some time to truly decompress. But after tonight... I want you to know that I'm going to find a way home to you, no matter what.

[ Oriphi hums, fingers curling and tightening around fabric on his back at his words. Even before Thoma’s birthday, before they saw the worst of each other in their nightmares, before even the mistletoe gumdrops forced them closer together… She has always been drawn to him. She hadn’t known, when amber first met scarlet in an innocuous meeting over tea, that their paths would be irrevocably entwined from that moment on, that he would change her life so wholly. After all, she was simply meeting Diluc. Not Diluc of Mondstadt, or Diluc Ragnvindr of Dawn Winery, or the Darknight Hero. Just Diluc, a man who likes his tea plain sometimes, but quite sweet other times. Who likes birds of prey. Who stays up late and wakes up early. Who fights and fights and fights to protect. Who wants nothing more than to bear the darkness so that others may live in the light.

Who, in spite of that, became her moonlight, guiding her through the dark of the night so that she could see dawn.

She can’t help but think of what she had seen of Eustace and Tifa tonight. Their pledge to one another - though twisted it became in the waking nightmare - to always keep each other safe. And of Eustace’s dream…

There’s no small part of her who, in that moment, wants to look into Diluc’s eyes and find that same devotion. She knows she would, with all of her heart, and she would give him the same. And she would make the same pledge. She’s sure of it, now more than ever. Then, when they find Thoma again somehow, someway, he would, too— ]

Diluc…?

[ —but her moonlight forges on. Her eyes widen and although they cannot see each other’s faces positioned as they are, her gaze falls on each and every single reminder of their life together here in this home as he speaks. Their boots by the door, the scarves Thoma had made them hanging on a rack. Plants everywhere, flowers that remind him of Mondstadt growing in pots and kept in vases everywhere. His books and paperwork and her journals of pressed flowers on the table. Of course he has been thinking about how to protect all of this, and even beyond that— how to chase this dream even once they’ve woken up from it. Thinking of that eventuality twists at her heart and she exhales a quivering breath as she nuzzles into his shoulder again. ]

…Me, too. No matter what. We’ll find each other.

[ Which is to say, she has very much been drowning in her own thoughts on the matter, albeit differently. She has no concrete intentions to find or fight gods. But she does intend to grow stronger, however she can, so that she can harness the kind of magical energy that she knows would make what they both want possible. But if they are to have any hope of succeeding… ]

We have to figure it out together, okay…? Please don’t run off on your own. If something were to happen to you like last time, or like what happened to Eustace tonight… I don’t know if I would be strong enough, moonlight. I don’t want to see you in that much pain…

[Diluc has every confidence that Ori would be strong enough to handle herself if the worst were to happen to him. But to force her to do so, knowing that he can possibly prevent it, is a cruelty he could never inflict on her.

Tonight has been a stark reminder of what can happen when he shuts her out. In the aftermath of their shared grief over Thoma's departure, he'd allowed himself to forget. Even if he believes that keeping things to himself is for her own good, it isn't. Not here, and not ever.]

I'm not running off anywhere. We're doing this together, or not at all.

[He loosens his hold on her, rubbing up and down her arms a few times before letting go entirely.]

We should head to bed. You, especially, have had a long night.

I…

[ She’s honestly not sure if she’ll be able to sleep tonight. But for Diluc’s sake… She’d like to try. ]

Okay. I suppose the potions can wait until tomorrow morning…

[ A distinguished little bark erupts beside the two then - the source of it being Cadoc, the oldest of Eustace and Tifa’s corgis who seems to have elected to stay in this home in the aftermath of it all. Though Ori hasn’t cast her animal-speaking spell and is too tired to at this point, something about the corgi’s demeanor suggests that he’s of the same mind as Diluc. ]

Hah. I think Cadoc agrees with you, moonlight. And, um... Will you help me up, please?

That makes it two against one.

[Vespera gets no vote because he's not here.]

Of course I'll help you up.

[He does one better, actually. After he gets to his feet, he reaches down and scoops her off the floor entirely and starts carrying her to the bedroom. Cadoc and Diluc's firebird follow behind.]

[ Sorry, Vespera, wherever you are.

Ori isn't startled in the least when Diluc sweeps her off of her feet and carries her into their room; even if she had been, she's simply too tired to react properly. She nuzzles his neck and hums against him while he carries her. ]

I'm glad you're always so warm. It was really cold where we were...

[ Once they reach the threshold into the bedroom, Cadoc picks a spot somewhere in the corner to lay down, his hind legs outstretched across the floor. Ori quietly gestures for Diluc to set her back onto her feet, if only so she can take off the rest of the gear she still has on; it wouldn't do to fall asleep with light armor on when she doesn't have to. When it comes to getting dressed, though, she lazily reaches for the first garment she sees: one of Diluc's shirts. With that accomplished, she softly pads her way over to wherever he is and simply presses in close however she can. Her voice comes out small and sleepy, though still tinged with some worry. ]

Diluc...?

[Right. It's a difference between himself and Eustace--the latter's power comes from ice, not fire. The natural warmth he carries from his Pyro Vision must feel especially comforting after a night of frigid cold.

At her request, he sets her down next to the bed and steps back so that she can change without him in the way. That she picks one of his shirts to sleep in fall in line with his expectations. It's close to her, and it's another bit of comfort she can find in him. Plus... she tends to steal them quite often.

He doesn't mind.]

Mm? What is it, Ori?

[She presses back into him, and he immediately wraps an arm around her.]

I love you. I'm so lucky to have you.

[ Her arms wrap around him in turn as she maneuvers them onto their bed. As she lays beside him, her hand finds its way into long locks of red hair, soothing both him and herself with the way she gently combs her fingers through. ]

Will you talk to me until I'm too tired to keep talking and fall asleep? I'm... Scared. That if I close my eyes, I'll keep seeing those nightmares. So... Please...?

[Oh, his heart. With a request as genuine and heartbreaking as that, how can he say no?]

Of course, Ori. I'll talk as long as you need.

[As the settle in, he begins to tell her about Mondstadt. He keeps the topics light and simple, typically focusing on day to day minutia - collecting seashells, his childhood pet tortoise, the best time of year to pick grapes, the endless debates of what flower, exactly, a Windblume is...

He keeps talking long after he suspects she's fallen asleep, hoping that he can somehow influence her to have pleasant dreams of opens skies and gentle winds. After the frozen hell she's been through tonight, she deserves that kind of peace as she sleeps.]

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