if i wear a mask i can fool the world

[cryostrike]

[ The last time he'd been in this region of Teyvat, Kaeya hadn't even caught a glimpse of Mondstadt's walls. He remembers the grassy plains, the looming mountains, the wide open sky — the first few days he was sure he could take a step and trip right up into the endless expanse of all that sky. it had all been so new, so alive that he'd felt like he was going to suffocate at any moment. How was it possible that a whole world full of fruiting trees and unpoisoned rivers and animals that ran at first sight existed like this? Nothing like the dark of Khaenri'ah with Abyssal monsters lurking just outside every pool of torchlight, waiting to snatch away kids who wandered too close to the paling edges of the light.

Or so he'd thought.

The Fatui had shown him there were monsters lurking in the dark no matter where he was. In Mondstadt, they were just better at keeping out of sight. The masks they wore hid smiling faces with sweet words instead of gaping maws full of gleaming fangs, but Kaeya could see they were monsters all the same.

And now here he is, strolling through the streets of Mondstadt with a mask fixed over half his face, one of those monsters himself. It's one big cosmic joke — which would get the colder welcome? An agent from Khaenri'ah or one of the Tsaritsa's Harbingers?

Too bad he can't test it out. The reception for the mask he wears openly is already frigid enough.

There's an audible hush as Kaeya steps through the door of the Angel's Share, but he doesn't let that stop him from sauntering over to the bar. The temperature drop of the glare he receives from the bartender might be daunting to anyone else, but the blessing of his Vision means it's a comfortable greeting. Kaeya just waves as he takes a seat and settles in, smiling at Young Master Ragnvindr, drinking whatever's put in front of him without complaint as the evening wears on. Eventually conversations resume, and by the time the last customer's trickled out, Kaeya has even managed to finish half his cup of grape juice.

Idly, he taps a finger on the rim of his glass, watching ice crystals form across the surface of the liquid. ]

Now that we're alone, Master Diluc, I don't suppose you'd be willing to give me something worth drinking? I am your partner, after all.