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The kitchen was mostly quiet, the only noise coming from the ticking of the small timer on the counter that read that it only had twenty minutes left and the soft breathing of the two people inside, currently having a stare-down.
Neither of them really blinked, mainly because the pair of soft amber eyes was trying to figure out what exactly his girlfriend was doing. The raised brow got his question across without words, meanwhile, the narrowed golden ones by the open fridge wordlessly responded, “You can’t stop me.”. The soft noise of the last of the whipped cream being sprayed into Lumines mouth made Xiao sigh. She already had her mug of hot chocolate in hand, nearly overflowing with whipped cream and a mixture of black and orange sprinkles on top. No doubt she was finishing what was left in the can.
He watched as she swallowed and tossed the empty can away before taking a long sip of her sugary drink. “I thought you were coming in here to check on the pumpkin seeds?” Xiao asked, making his way over to the oven to peer inside. Lumines cheeks heated up, having been caught devouring the last of the whipped cream like a woman starved and forgetting what her main intentions were for even coming into the kitchen.
She licked the whipped cream from her bottom lip before huffing, “I got a little distracted is all, I was running low on whipped cream for my hot chocolate anyways,” She’d stated as she made her way over to peer over her boyfriend’s shoulder. The hairs on the back of her neck rose slightly as she listened to him give a rare but low chuckle. “I can see that.” Was all he commented before pulling out the tray of goldening seeds. He grabbed the spatula they’d been using and tossed them around before sliding them back inside the warm oven.
Silently, Xiao made his way back towards their small kitchen, a small smile tugging at his lips as he listened to Lumine pad behind him, her long socks muffling the sounds of her feet. On the table rested two pumpkins, both gutted and barely carved resting on top of several issues of Teyvat Times. At the end of said table sitting in a chair as if she were the queen of the apartment, also happened to be Paimon, the cat apparently Lumine and Aether had shared custody over.
It wasn’t an every other weekend exchange like most would think, no, it was instead a whichever twin Paimon grabbed onto and cried for till she got to go home with them, type of ordeal. And it shouldn’t have really surprised Xiao that she acted the way she did when they both visited Aether a few days ago. They’d stopped by on their drive through Mondstadt to pick up some pumpkins in Springvale, Aether currently staying around the area and had just so happened to bring the big ball of fluff with him.
The couple had stopped by the Goth Grand Hotel where Aether was currently making his stay. He’d decided to visit a couple of his and Lumines mutual friends, however, bringing Paimon along left him with limited housing options. As soon as the fluffy glutton had spotted her other owner, she had latched onto Lumine, claws sinking into her sweater though not enough to sink into the skin that lay underneath.
When Xiao had tried to remove her, she’d swatted at him, hissing, and crying out dramatically. Thus, too much of his girlfriend's joy, and his torment, they ended up bringing the screaming demon with them.
Luckily, after arriving home, she’d chilled out.
Though it seemed as if her vacation had been ruined by the pumpkins before her. As soon as Lumine had put them on the table, she was quite curious. She’d watched with wide eyes as they cut the tops off and scooped the seeds and guts out into a bowl to begin later separating them from each other. Lumine had taken the seeds into the kitchen while Xiao cleaned up the excess guts that had landed on the table, however, it seemed Paimon had grown rather curious about the orange substance.
Xiao watched as the cat sniffed around, curious about what it was the two were doing. It wasn’t till she got to the bowl of discarded pumpkin insides and sniffed did he begin to panic. He quickly dropped the few pieces of the discarded pumpkin back onto the table as he watched the cat's mouth open, a familiar gagging noise emanating from her throat. He was quick enough to get her away from the table before she got sick, placing her on the floor as she began to struggle in his grasp. He kept an eye on her for a while, watching as she jumped up on the couch and glared at the table. Luckily, it appeared to have been a false alarm.
And now, apparently, she was back to glare at them as they worked on the monstrosities that had upset her stomach.
“Does it look okay?” Lumines voice pulled Xiao’s attention towards her. He glanced over, humming at the sight before him. Lumine currently had the pumpkin on her head, making sure it fit her properly before she began carving.
It was a trend she had seen couples doing on the internet the past few years that had piqued her curiosity.
She knew Xiao wasn’t big on their couple photos going onto social media, preferring to keep their photos between themselves except for certain friends and family seeing them. However, he had noticed just how badly she had wanted to participate. Besides, it would be something fun and seasonal for them to do, seeing as they rarely got to get any dates in due to the start of the new college semester.
Both Lumine and Xiao were swamped with schoolwork, so having a small indoor date of carving pumpkin heads and having a photoshoot the following day at Liyues Mt. Hulao sounded like a fun way to make up for lost time.
Reaching under the pumpkin head, Xiao felt around the opening, “Does it feel like it’s sitting okay?” He asked. He watched as Lumine shifted the pumpkin just a bit to sit more squarely on her head.
“I think it’s fine, do you want to try yours on before we begin carving?” Her voice was muffled inside the confined space. Amber eyes peered awkwardly at the pumpkin that rested on the table, it would be best to do as she suggested. Lumine was quick to slip the pumpkin off her head, now giving her attention to Xiao who seemed to be having a staring contest with the eyeless pumpkin.
Smiling, she placed her pumpkin down and reached for her boyfriends, “Lean down please, I’ll help you put it on.” She requested. As tempting as it was to try and tell her that he was very much capable of putting the pumpkin on by himself, he refused to damper any excitement she currently held. Thus, he leaned down.
Xiao couldn’t help but cringed as he felt a few stray pumpkin guts land on his neck, quickly making a mental note to clean around the hole area when the pumpkin came off. The excited squeal of Lumine was blocked out by the circular object encaging his head, but though her excited voice was low, when he looked down, he could see her bouncing on the tips of her toes. It took him a minute to adjust the pumpkin, finding a position that felt right as it balanced on his head.
Once removed, he took note of the carving knives on the table, no doubt Lumine had grabbed them while she went back to the kitchen to remove the seeds from the oven when he was busy messing with his pumpkin. She had even brought a few baked pumpkin seeds with her to snack on, having left a few by Xiao’s carving knife for him.
It’d been a while since Xiao had carved a pumpkin if he were to be honest. When he was younger his siblings usually dragged him to a stall in Liyue that bought pumpkins from Mondstadt and sold them. And every year they made it a tradition to carve them together. However, as they got older and adulthood steadily pulled them into bigger responsibilities, such a tradition became rather rare.
How long had it been, five, or six years since he’d last carved a pumpkin? Xiao picked up the knife and angled the pumpkin to begin carving the eyes. Once the first eye was cut out, he held the pumpkin out to get a better look. Not exactly a perfect triangle, but it was good enough.
Curiously, he peered over at Lumines. She had decided to take a little less traditional path than he, having instead cut an X out for one eye before going about cutting a triangle like his for the other. Once again, he went back to carving, the two falling into blissful silence. The only time they needed to stop was when Paimon hopped onto the table to start swatting at the fallen pieces.
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The air atop of Mt. Hulao was frigid, especially when the sun began to set. Even though the black suit jacket that Xiao wore, he couldn’t suppress the slight shiver that racked his body. “Okay, are you ready? Just tell me when and I’ll hit the button to start the timer!” Lumine called out, dragging his attention towards her. She currently wore a long-sleeved black dress with a matching pair of ankle boots and stockings, the two matching just about perfectly.
Lumine steadily pulled her hand away from the kamera that she had managed to balance on top of one of the many rocks surrounding them. Sure, they could have asked one of their friends to tag along to help take the photos, or even hire a professional, but to Xiao’s surprise Lumine had been insisted that it just be the two of them.
Quickly, the blonde grabbed her pumpkin, slipping it onto her head, and turning to her boyfriend. With a blush, be it from the cold weather or the way his girlfriend stared at him with her pumpkin head on, Xiao reached beside himself, picking up the pumpkin that was rested on the stone. Carefully, he slipped it on.
With excitement that was no doubt keeping her body warm, Lumine clicked the button on top of the kamera before rushing over to Xiao.
They had discussed a few poses, the first being Xiao picking up the petite blonde once she got to him, his arms circling underneath her legs and lifting her with ease. She couldn’t help the small gasp that slipped from her lips, the quickness of her boyfriend to beat the timer of the kamera catching her by surprise.
Luckily, her hands found his shoulders in time to hear the faint click, confirming that the photo had been taken. And thus, they fell into a routine.
Throughout the evening they had taken multiple photos. One of Lumine sitting in one of the many trees as Xiao gazed up at her. Another, by accident of the kamera malfunctioning and taking two photos. It was of Lumine picking up her dresses skirt as she rushed over to her awaiting boyfriend, and the other of him taking her hand in his to help her up onto one of the large stones in the area.
Though they didn’t get the picture they had planned for that specific area, they still found it cute.
One of Xiao’s favorites had to be when he’d managed to get the kamera while Lumine walked around trying to find a good location for their next photo. The red leaves dancing around her as they fell from their branches, a sight Xiao couldn’t help but take a photo of.
They had planned for a few more, but as the sky began to darken further and the evening chill shifted into a night that threatened them with frost, did they finally decide to call it a day.
“Thank you for doing this with me.” Again, Xiao nearly missed her words as they began to walk back down the mountain. They continued to wear their pumpkin heads Lumine for some reason insistent that she didn’t want to take it off yet. However, he was tempted to take his off, the heat inside the confined space causing him to sweat for the past hour. But he remained idle with the action.
Instead, he allowed his love to take his hand and guide him forward towards the awaiting car. With his free hand, Xiao began to fish around in his pocket to find the keys. Though, once he pulled them out Lumine was quick to slip her hand out from his to instead reach for the one that contained the keys. “Can we take one more picture?” She pleaded out of nowhere.
Xiao blinked in surprise inside his pumpkin, cocking his head to the side as he wordlessly asked, “What do you mean?”
He allowed her to slip the keys from his hand, watching silently as she rushed over to their car and slipped into the driver’s seat. She turned the headlights on, the brightness causing Xiao to flinch, but amber eyes quickly shifted to watch the girl climb out of the car and rush past him. She placed her kamera onto a fallen tree limb, setting it up to catch them in front of the car’s lights.
Remaining still and waiting for further instructions, Xiao continued to watch as his girlfriend once again clicked the button atop of the kamera to start the timer.
Once again, Lumine rushed over, taking Xiao’s hands in hers as they stood in front of the car. He couldn’t see her face, but the simple gesture of just holding hands made his face flush, and he prayed he wasn’t the only one whose heart was beating fast.
As the quiet timer ticked, getting closer to taking the photo, just seconds before it went off did Lumine make her move. She stood upon the tips of her toes, bumping the front of her pumpkin with Xiaos in a makeshift kiss.
They both couldn’t help but grunt lowly at the feeling of the pumpkins clunking together, but that didn’t matter. Once the photo was taken, both Xiao and Lumine remained idle for a moment. He could hear her soft joyful laughter muffled by her pumpkin, the sound making his face feel aflame.
He made quick work, lifting his pumpkin off his head before reaching for Lumines. Removing it revealed her glowing smile and bright eyes, such a sight causing him to cup her cheeks gently and pull her into a soft kiss. Once close together, they both couldn’t help but wince at the strong scent of sweat both seemed to be giving off, thus the kiss lasted shorter than either preferred.
Once separated, Xiao made his way to the driver’s seat while Lumine went to retrieve her kamera, and once she returned to the car, she was quick to lean over and press her lips against Xiaos flushed cheek, another silent thank you for doing this with her.