A Game in Dawn Winery

Dawn Winery was one of several places that Coryn didn't enjoy being a regular visitor at, and especially not without Kaeya. Admittedly, it was mostly because Coryn only tolerated Diluc, especially after Diluc had decided to come to his rescue during his time with Corynacht’s weird Miasmo element. Sure, so did a lot of other people, but the knowledge that Diluc decided to even come did soften him up a bit.

Hence why he’d bothered to spare a thought for Diluc while he was here. Coryn had a few ingredients to pick up for potions, so why not check to see if his brother-in-law needed anything?

Entering the manor after greeting the maids outside, the atmosphere was tidy as per usual. The strange vase and the owl statues were still there, appearing recently cleaned thanks to the lack of dust. Coryn opened his mouth to announce his presence, only for his voice to falter upon noticing something new in one of the smaller areas.

A chess table, with two chairs placed on either side. Each and every piece appeared to be set up for a game, each piece facing forward where they could.

The presence of the board seemed to draw him closer, a memory of the home he'd refused to go back to beckoning him. He hadn't realized that chess was still a thing in Teyvat, but he'd also never thought to ask about the game, among many other things.

Coryn sat down in one of the chairs, looking over the black pieces on the side he'd selected. It was an exquisite set, one that wouldn't have looked out of place with a price tag in the hundreds of dollars, perhaps even thousands. Each piece was made of wood, with a sleek paint over them that made them shine. The wood was carved in a way that looked as if the wind itself had been the carver, with the king pieces looking like a Barbatos statue, and the queens looking like windmills.

"You play chess?"

Coryn nearly jumped in his seat, even as his gaze darted towards the sound of Diluc's voice. The man himself was walking down the stairs, an expression best described as "unreadable" on his features. The urge to roll his eyes and be snappy with the redhead crossed Coryn's mind, but...well, this was probably one of the few times Diluc wasn't sassy first.

"Sometimes. I'm not great at it, but I play."

Diluc sat in the chair across from him, in front of the white pieces, that unknowable expression easing into something more...curious? "But you do play chess."

Oh, so Diluc wanted a yes or no answer. Wonderful. "Yeah."

"Back in your world, I presume." Diluc moved a pawn, amber eyes meeting Coryn's, an unspoken invitation accompanying the movement, his hand leaving the piece almost confidently.

White goes first in chess. A pawn two spaces forward is a typical starting move. Removing your hand from the piece means that you've declared your move is finished.

A sigh escaped him, before Coryn's hand selected the pawn directly across from Diluc's, moving it forward to block his. "My dad—father, my father taught me and—I mean, my siblings and I."

Diluc's hand was steady, those eyes not losing their focus on Coryn was he moved a knight. "As did mine. Kaeya never took to it like I did."

"Really? Would've thought it'd be the other way around." A bishop in the shape of a nun was moved, although Coryn couldn't help but squint as Diluc responded quickly with another pawn moving forward.

He could easily take the pawn, yes, but the knight's position meant he'd have to risk the bishop. Clearly a trap. However, the first pawn he'd sent out was also in a good position, and so he moved the pawn instead.

Practically out of nowhere, Diluc moved one of his bishops, and Coryn took only a second to realize that it was perfectly positioned to put his king in check.

This was going to be a long game.

---

Throughout the adventures that Coryn had in his pursuit of answers, Diluc had been rather surprised by the other man's tendency to turn others' presumptions of him on their heads. Sure, Coryn had given himself the verdict of not being great at chess, but he was also his biggest critic.

That didn't exactly make Coryn’s opinion a reliable judgment.

During the several games of chess that the two men played, though, Coryn's own verdict seemed to be correct. While Diluc had thoroughly defeated him in every game, it was clear that Coryn had a good grasp of the rules and some common strategies. Otherwise, the younger man's recklessness was interspersed with an air of caution towards his pieces, one that often landed the younger man in hot water later.

And yet, Coryn's tenacity had him coming back for more. Well, it was nicer to say that, rather than point out Coryn's stubbornness, but it was mere semantics in the end.

At the end of a final round, Diluc finally crossed his arms across his chest after setting his side's pieces back into place. "...perhaps I've given you too little credit."

"Maybe too much." Coryn gave a sheepish smile once he finished setting up his pieces, before sighing. "My older brother would pretty much beat me just as badly."

"No, not with regards to chess. In general."

"...huh?"

"I'm sure you might have been told this already, but the only thing holding you back is your desire to retain the form of what you've learned. While in this case, it's chess, I wouldn't be surprised if it carried onto other things." Diluc paused, waiting for Coryn to react.

One of Coryn’s hands twirled at his own braid, but he kept his gaze on Diluc nonetheless, not interrupting.

Diluc, satisfied with such, continued. "Your ability to resonate with the Statues of the Seven should make you a more flexible opponent, but you still choose to return to Anemo for the long term. You always open with a pawn moving two spaces forward, even if your opponent does something differently."

"...and I'm too easy for you to read, apparently." Coryn shifted in his seat, before meeting Diluc's gaze. "Not that I'm surprised."

Instead of finishing Coryn's implied end of sentence, Diluc merely nodded. "You're an open book. While the biggest dangers that would bring for you are over, it bleeds into your competitive side. While I would certainly enjoy trouncing you in chess more often...I suppose I could work with you to improve your strategy, instead, to make you into a better opponent."

"What?" Coryn frowned, tilting his head, those brown eyes wide. "I...didn't take you to be the one to offer."

"It'd give you more reasons to stop by than potion ingredients, and I think Kaeya would appreciate it if we got along better."

"...I'm that easy to read? Holy shit."

Diluc rose from his chair, turning to head back upstairs. "The scent of the stamens you've been gathering isn't as weak as most people think it is. You'd probably be able to find more Mist Flowers around here, and I’ve seen seeing a few more lizards than usual. Regardless, I don't need anything now, but I appreciate the visit."

---

Coryn stood up from his chair after Diluc left, giving a sigh as he did so. Everyone seemed to enjoy delivering a psychoanalysis towards him whenever things like this happened, didn't they?

His gaze rested back on the chess pieces, the sunlight reflecting ever-so-slightly from the sheen on them. Maybe he'd talk to Kaeya about the events later, ask him a bit about why he didn't play ---- although he could come up with some reasons why. Maybe they were the same as his own.

As he left the manor, one of Coryn's hand reached into his bag, pulling out his Adventurer's Handbook. If Diluc didn't need him for anything else, the tip about the Mist Flowers was a good lead-in to a few hours of exploring the area further.