#who cares about the windblume festival right now seriously
Diluc x gn!Reader
A/N: i feel so bad posting this with inazuma and all the new content… no one cares abt the windblume festival rn its 2.0 lolol. i wrote this during the windblume festival and thought i’d also share it on here. windblume plot doesn’t really have that much to do with the story itself so its whatever
warnings: cringe… but none
SFW
word count: 1.3k
summary: You fall victim to venti’s schemes and are now on your way to confess to Diluc.
“Oh, Barbatos, I can’t do this. This was stupid to begin with.”
Your heart felt tight in your chest as you walked. Clammy hands fiddled around a bouquet of freshly picked small lamp grass. The blue petals were illuminated in the moonlight that shined down on Mondstadt. Small lamp grass always had a gentle, refreshing floral scent when it was picked, but you did not feel refreshed in the slightest. In fact, you were more than ready to throw up.
The Windblume Festival in Mondstadt was the designated time of year for romantic endeavors and confessions to occur. It was a time of independence, freedom, and love for the city. You planned to spend this year enjoying the culture and activities offered, but the Archons seemed to have other divine plans for you instead. The Archon, Barbatos, to be specific.
In order to make some quick cash for alcohol, Venti had been offering romantic poetry lessons to the citizens wishing to convey their feelings to their sweetheart or lover-to-be. You had no intentions of partaking in the romantic side of the festival, but a certain Cavalry Captain had managed to get you involved. Venti wanted wine from Kaeya, who would procure it from Diluc. Kaeya was unsure if he would actually be able to get the “payment” from Diluc, so he snitched on your feelings for the bartender to Venti.
Venti saw your struggle as potential—for more wine, that is. He decided to kill two birds with one stone, and now you were on your way to confess your love to the Dawn Winery’s tycoon himself. Of course, part of you was doing this willingly.
It’s become almost painful to be around Diluc lately. Your thoughts always became distracted when you were around him, and you’re unable to focus during work and commissions at times due to thinking about him. He sent butterflies swarming into your stomach just from meeting his eyes, and his fire wasn’t needed to make your cheeks flare red from heat. It was embarrassing how much of a wreck he made you.
You figured that finally confessing your feelings to Diluc was for the best, and maybe this push from Venti was exactly what you needed to get over him. There really was no harm in confessing. Having a crush on someone was akin to complimenting them. It meant you respected and admired them as a person. The only down side to confessing was the chance of rejection, which could put a strain on your relationship with Diluc and make things tense. Diluc was known to have antisocial tendencies, so maybe he would feel tooawkward every time he saw you and end up avoiding you entirely.
But, it was too late to let that wonderful pep talk steer you away from your destination himself. Diluc had walked out of the Angel’s Share bar and locked the door. He turned around and found your eyes staring at his. It had obviously been a busy night at the bar, as Diluc only ever put his beautiful hair in a high ponytail on busy nights. The moon’s soft luminescence served to highlight the light flush on his cheeks. Diluc’s smile was gentle and warm as he raised a gloved hand to greet you.
That kind smile felt like an arrow being shot into your stomach, causing you to inhale sharply. There was no turning back now. You softly cradled the bouquet to your chest with one arm, and raised the other arm to return his greeting. Reluctantly, your legs slowly began to make their way towards him.
“What are you doing out this late, (Y/N)?” Diluc questioned. His eyes glanced over the bouquet you carried, but refrained from asking anything about it. You bit the inside of your cheek for a second, thinking about the words you would use to end your favorite friendship. You took in a deep breath.
“I came to talk to you about something, actually. Do you have a few minutes to spare? I know it’s pretty late.”
“I do. What do you need?” He stood looking down at you. Your body was hot and fidgety under his gaze. It wasn’t even an option to continue looking at his expecting eyes, so you settled on giving your speech to his boots.
“Diluc… I know you’re a busy man with a large burden put on your shoulders. I see how hard you work for the winery, and you’re always so diligent.” You nervously played with the parchment wrapping around the bouquet you held. “You take care of everything almost effortlessly, but I know you probably put a lot of stress on yourself to make it seem that way, and I really respect you for it. I respect how you treat your workers with kindness and put their needs above yours… You have such a kind heart to everyone, including me. For as long as I’ve known you, I’ve always seen you put others before yourself, like staying out late and putting yourself at risk for the sake of Mondstadt.” You paused for a second to breathe deeply, the heavy silence quickly scaring you back into talking.
“I really do…think very highly of you.” Your cheeks hurt from how hot they were. “But, the more I got to know you, I recognized other things about you. You have every reason to be cold and spiteful, yet you continue to have the most loving heart out of anyone I’ve met. You’re selfless and brave, and you never expect anyone to thank you. Lately, I’m unable to focus around you anymore. Whenever I’m with you, I feel so giddy that I don’t know what to do with myself. You make me feel so safe and happy, no matter where we are or what we’re doing. With every moment I spend with you, Diluc, I just…
"I realize how in love with you I am!”
It was terribly quiet now, and your heart was beating so fast that you expected to start seeing dots any second. You had said your feelings to Diluc, and there was no going back. You expected an awkward cutoff at some point to save you from the embarrassment of an unreciprocating rejection, or at least a quick, curt response, but neither seemed to come. Some time had passed after your confession, so you decided to look up at Diluc’s face.
When you met Diluc’s scarlet eyes, you immediately saw the dark red blush that covered the poor man’s surprised face. If you didn’t feel that exact same heat on your own face, you probably would have thought it was the cutest thing in the entire world. Your own eyes stared into his bright red ones for what felt like an eternity, until he finally opened his mouth to respond.
“You sure know how to catch me off-guard, (Y/N).” He chuckled softly, his words doing nothing to dismiss the rocks settling in your stomach. It felt like you would die if he didn’t give you a proper response soon.
Diluc stepped towards you, quickly closing the distance between your bodies. He leaned down and brought his hand up to your hair, brushing it back. Soft lips pressed gently against your forehead and another hand moved to cup the side of your jaw. Your eyes went wide and your mouth opened slightly in surprise. Diluc removed his lips and stood up straight, taking your hand in his and tracing your knuckles with his thumb.
“I’m sorry I made you confess first, (Y/N)… I’ve shared your feelings for a long time. Hearing you say those words—I genuinely thought I was in a dream.” His sweet laugh fell out of from his lips once again. This time, instead of making you feel heavy, you decided it was your new favorite sound—one that made you feel light and free. His laugh was the perfect sound for the Windblume Festival.
