[ The heat in her cheeks only deepens when Diluc's hold her changes, something softer, less stiff than before, something almost as if they are courting after all, like they're lovers and not two people on opposing parts of the same side, barely even allies let alone anything more.

She's still trying to figure out how to answer his question when he goes on to explain his words—

(and he calls her beautiful)

—and by the time he's done talking, there's a tight and uncomfortable feeling in her gut, a knot of emotion that just sits there, leaden and sickening. How dare he be so kind to someone like her? There would be an uproar if it got out: Mondstadt's most eligible bachelor, showing affection to the scion of a fallen family. It would damage her own reputation, too, as someone who doesn't require such kindness and understanding; as the strong, unflappable Reconnaissance Captain who needs no one.

But is she really so strong and unflappable? Right now, she feels weak.

...That's his fault too, she decides.

Before, Diluc Ragnvindr was someone about who she barely thought. But in just the last hour or so, she's created a mental page yards long of all the reasons she has now to seek vengeance on him.

In that case, is there really any harm in opening up further?

She wants to stay close, but he won't be able to hear her if she does, and so it's reluctantly that she pulls back slightly, her gaze still held carefully away from his, lest her eyes show vulnerability she's not ready to share. ]

The truth is... I think that is how most people see me. It keeps people at arm's length, and it lets me do my job— [ and those are good things, her tone says ] —but it's not who I really am.

[ Which leaves his first question, right? ]

...I want to be like water.