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Kaeya’s least favorite part of not being able to see his right side was that it was the exact same side Diluc’s falcon liked to come and sit as she waited patiently for Kaeya to notice her before she started beating him up.
He’s not even sure what prompts him to look in that direction but maybe he can just sense those beady little eyes boring into the side of his head. Either way, he looked up and looked over and almost fell out of his chair at the sight of the bird.
Instinct had him bracing for her stupid little talons to tear into his arm but when several minutes went by with no contact, he slowly lowered his arm to find her just innocently sitting on the side of his desk, watching him.
Letting out a breath, he scowled. “So what?” He demanded. “What do you what, huh? Did Diluc send you to bully me again?”
The bird just blinked at him, cocking her head to the side before moving towards him. He flinched back, expecting a bite, but she just stared at him expectantly. Almost as if-
“Excuse me, are you demanding pets right now?” Kaeya asked, appalled. “From me !? You hate me.” She just pushed her head even closer and Kaeya scoffed before slowly reaching out to trail his hand over her back.
He was expecting to have fallen for a trick and for her to immediately rip into him, but she just puffed up her feathers and pushed into his hand. He still kept himself tense, ready to yank his hand away in case she decided to get violent, but she just seemed content with the attention.
“You literally just tried to peck my eye out three weeks ago,” Kaeya reminded her. “What, is Master Diluc not giving you enough treats at home?”
Kaeya knew the answer to that. Diluc spoiled his birds rotten—throwing more of his wealth onto them than anything else. Which made sense, because there wasn't much he had that he actually cared about the way he cared about his birds.
If Kaeya tried, he could probably find a way to link that back to some sort of trauma as a result of having to mercy kill his own father , but he was currently enjoying actually being able to have a pleasant experience with one of Diluc’s birds for the first time in six years, so he was damn well not going to think about anything else.
He was still waiting for the other shoe to drop and for her to suddenly turn around and rip into him but for now, he was enjoying stroking over her back as she leaned into the touch.
“So what is this?” he asked. “Why do you suddenly like me now? Are you trying to lull me into a false sense of security before you peck my eye out in my sleep? Or is Master Diluc trying to bribe me?” He stopped petting then. “That’s it, isn’t it? Master Diluc is making you be nice to me because he wants something, right?” He leaned back in his seat and chuckled. “That’s not very in character of him, is it? Using his birds to bribe someone when half the time he doesn’t even want Adelinde near you.”
A knock at the door drew him from his thoughts and after giving Dawn one more little pet—unable to resist since he’d probably never have this nice of an interaction with her ever again—Kaeya dropped his hands to the desk and called,
“Yes?”
Jean stepped in, opening her mouth to speak but promptly shutting it and pointing a finger at the bird as she asked,
“Is that Master Diluc’s bird?”
“I’m as surprised as you are.”
“I thought she hated you.”
“I’m pretty sure Master Diluc is just using her to bribe me.”
“...for what?”
“You know, I’m not really sure.”
Jean stared for another moment—the bird staring back just as intensely—before she finally just shook her head and approached the desk.
“Uh, so Chief Albedo is going back to Dragonspine in a few weeks and he wanted to know if you wanted to go with him.”
Kaeya raised an eyebrow. “He sent the Acting Grandmaster to ask me?”
“It’s not that odd.”
“...Lisa locked you out of your office and made you take a break, didn’t she?”
“Maybe.”
Kaeya chuckled, the sound quickly switching to a yelp when Dawn flapped her wings and took off, flying right for him, only to settle on the fluff on the shoulder of his cape.
“Don’t do that,” Kaeya snarled, scowling at her though she just tilted her head and blinked innocently at him. “You can’t do that and not expect me to punch you! Do you have any idea what Master Diluc will do to me if I hurt his bird?”
Dawn just stared at him before leaning forward to nuzzle into his cheek. Kaeya shot a desperate look towards Jean who just shook her head and tried not to smile.
“Should I let Chief Albedo know you’ll join him?”
Kaeya huffed. “Sure,” he agreed, trying to lean carefully away from Dawn without exposing too much of his neck, lest the nasty bird decide to take a bite out of it. “Why not?”
Dawn chirped in his ear and Kaeya flinched when she finally decided she’d had enough of his attention and took off—out the window the same way she came in.
“Probably off to tell Master Diluc she buttered me up enough and he can come ask for whatever he wants,” Kaeya mumbled.
“I don’t think so,” Jean remarked.
“Why not?”
“Well, you and Diluc had a good talk a few weeks ago, didn’t you? After Klee blew him up?” The following ‘again’ went unsaid, but they both heard it.
Kaeya frowned. “Well, yeah, but-”
“Doesn’t Dawn act towards others according to how Diluc feels about them?”
“...well, yeah, but…”
“Just something to think about, that’s all,” Jean threw over her shoulder as she headed back towards the door. “I mean, Dawn was being awfully nice to you, wasn’t she?”
“Yeah…” Kaeya murmured. “She was.” He barely heard Jean leave, too absorbed in his thoughts.
“ Doesn’t Dawn act towards others according to how Diluc feels about them?”
Yeah, she does.
“You and Diluc had a good talk a few weeks ago, didn’t you?”
Yeah. We did.
Kaeya shifted, leaning back in his seat. “Diluc doesn't hate me,” he murmured to himself.
After several moments, he rested his elbow on the desk and covered his mouth with his hand to hide his smile.