Chapter Text
Childe crouched down to pick up a bloodied insignia that was left in the rubble of the destroyed camp. This was a common occurrence, whether it was the adventurers guild that sent people, a large group of treasure hoarders that were after after the recruit's supplies or a certain traveler.
"Any casualties?", he asked the agent that was silently awaiting orders behind him.
"No, sir. All five were wounded, but not beyond repair."
He nodded quietly as his eyes continued to scan the area. Although the loss of a new recruit didn't have much affect on the Fatui, he hated having to inform their families of their offspring's untimely death. A glimpse of white against the red stained grass caught his attention and he made his way over to observe it.
A surprised chuckle left his throat as he recognized the dainty blossom and bent over to pick it off the ground. Four pale petals and a fifth light blue one surrounded a fragile shimmering core.
"I wasn't aware you were back in Liyue!", he enthusiastically muttered under his breath.
The ginger abruptly stood up straight and looked around for the man that had quietly remained behind him.
"I'm not sure if I'll return to Northland Bank again today. If there is any important paperwork, just leave it on my desk."
He waved off the agent and returned his attention to the flower in his hand.
"Looks like I'll be paying someone a visit."
-
Lumine let her feet dangle off the overhang she sat on and looked down at Luhua pool. A cold breeze had picked up and she welcomed the cool, clear air on her skin after spending so much time in Sumeru's rainforest. Even though it wasn't much longer until new years, Liyues temperature remained mostly mild.
Another year. Another year of her journey, another year without Aether.
She shook her head at her mellow thoughts and stared down at the lakes calm waters. If Paimon was here, she would've started some kind of conversation to distract her. Perhaps about what kind of dinner they should have, or where they would get enough mora to pay for it. The girl relished in the quiet moment. One more day of privacy remained until she would meet up with Paimon again and travel to Mondstadt for a week or so. She was looking forward to returning, both Liyue harbor and the city of freedom had grown close to her heart throughout her journey. Maybe it was the subtle feeling of comfort she felt when reminiscing that reminded her of the feeling of home she'd been searching for all this time.
She had no idea how long she had been pondering when a familiar cheerful voice cut slivers into the still atmosphere.
"Comrade! I was looking for you!"
Childe.
Lumine looked over her shoulder and there he was, joyous as ever, approaching her position way too quickly for her liking.
"Childe?" She stood up and patted down her skirt as she turned in his direction.
"Enjoying the nice weather? I was checking out what was left of one of my recruit's camps earlier when i saw you were back in Liyue."
"Haha, yeah...I came across a couple of camps on my way here. Wait a minute, how did you even find me?"
"You have this habit of leaving a path of destruction everywhere you go. Makes it incredibly easy to track you down! Anyway, I found something you might want back."
Lumine scowled, looked down at his extended arm and found her beloved flower sitting carefully on his gloved fingers.
"Archons, I thought I lost it!", she sighed out in relief and took the blossom out of his hand. "I could kiss you!"
"I wouldn't be opposed to that happening."
Lumine glared up at his face where his signature grin had formed.
"It was in the rubble. You did a sloppy job, I found an insignia you forgot to collect without even looking.", he teased. "I assume you still hoard everything you can get your hands on."
She shot a second glare up at him and carefully tucked the blossom away in her bag.
"Having things on hand is always useful. Maybe you would know that if you didn't have enough mora to spend it without thinking."
"Hey now girlie, I dont come from money either! I just can't fathom why you would carry all this stuff around with you. Besides, where is Paimon? Its barely midday, no way shes taking a nap already."
She sighed, sat back down at the cliff and patted the ground next to her, gesturing for him to join. He sank onto the grass as she retreived a few apples and a knife from her bag and began cutting them into smaller pieces.
"I know it's mind blowing, but I actually got to go on a camping trip without her! I know Liyue well enough by now that she trusts me to survive on my own. Knowing her though, she's probably chewing Zhongli's ear off about me getting eaten by hilichurls or something," the blonde muttered and handed Childe one of the apple slices.
"I would be surprised if you didn't know Liyue like the back of your hand by now. This will be the beginning of the third year of your journey, right?"
Of her journey, yes, but also her third year in Teyvat. But he doesn't know that. Does he?
She just nodded in response and kept her focus on the apples.
"What are your plans next year?"
"We'll be going to Mondstadt for a while tomorrow. But I'll be back in time for Lantern Rite. After that, I dunno. Probably gonna head to Fontaine sometime in the spring."
Lumine groaned internally. The last thing she wanted right now was to fix another of the seven nations problems. Though she hated to admit it, she really craved a proper break. Some peace and quiet, something to distract her from the painful memories she had collected in Teyvat. She peeked over at him. "Are you not mad at me for beating up your recruits at all?"
"No, why would I be? I think it's kind of endearing."
"Endearing?"
"You never go beyond knocking them out. We deal with treasure hoarders too and they get way more nasty than that. In my opinion, it shows what a nice person you are."
"You recognize the camps I destroyed?"
"Of course! You have a very particular style. The flower just made it extra obvious this time." He smiled over at her.
"What about your plans? Are you going to be evil somewhere else?" She asked and bit into an appleslice, one thin blond brow still raised at him. The fact that he thought about her on his patrols planted a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"Very funny. I've been very well behaved lately, trust me! If I wasn't, I am sure you would already have come to stop me." He smirked and nudged her side with his elbow, and she just now noticed how close they had been sitting together. His tall shoulder rested against hers and their knees were brushing together. She felt a slight heat rise to her cheeks.
Oh come on, Lumine!
"How have you been, anyway? You guys were in Sumeru, right?"
Lumine swallowed hard. The mission that was supposed to give her more information about her brother had ended in an angry little man deleting himself from Irminsul. Apart from her, nobody that she knew of kept their original memories of scaramouche. Not Scaramouche. She reminded herself that she promised to pick out a name for him soon. Did Lisa have books with baby names?
"Lumi?"
"..hmm?"
He gave her a worried look. "You were completely lost in thought. You seem off, anyway. I can't believe you haven't told me to go away or tried to beat me up yet. Everything alright?"
"Oh it's nothing, I've just...", she put her knife away and wrung her hands in her lap. "My mind has just been feeling kind of fuzzy lately. Maybe I need some company. Don't get me wrong, I love Paimon to death, but it's not the same as talking to another person, you know?"
"Makes sense. I'm surprised your nerves survived this long with her."
Lumine smiled faintly. Paimon was her closest companion in Teyvat and had been for her entire journey. Without the pixie, trying to find Aether would have been a lost cause. A few seconds of silence passed between them.
"I've got an idea. Why don't we spar? Just like in the old days!" He had already gotten up and offered his hand to her. She scoffed, but pulled herself up and rose to her feet anyway.
"If it was just like the old days, you'd be trying to murder me."
Childe laughed, created some distance between them and both parties summoned their respective weapons. He was right though, maybe a good fight could clear her mind. As a Harbinger, he was certainly a worthy opponent.
"Don't be like that Lumi! This is all in good fun! But I can't miss an opportunity to test my strength with someone like you again." He gave her a sickly sweet smile.
"Don't call me that." She rolled her eyes at him. He really enjoyed calling her all sorts of nicknames. Comrade, girlie... he picked up "Lumi" after Paimon let it slip one time. Even though she didn't want to admit it, she did kind of miss spending time with him. It had been a while since they last met, that was in Inazuma and she was undeniably weary of him back then. They were only briefly visiting after spending time in Sumeru and she couldn't have him create more messes for her to clean up there. Turns out he was really only there to get gifts for his siblings. At least that's what she assumed, scara's fiddling with history changed many things she had no way of checking on. New name. Right.
She took a deep breath and finally focused on her opponent. He was slowly circling her, meele in hand and his ocean blue gaze fixed onto her. A small shudder ran through her body when their eyes met. They had always been like this, cold, observant and lacking any kind of light.
Fuck, focus!
The traveler silently cursed herself after he swiped at her in a split second of distraction. His hit wasn't hard, actually just banter like he said. She relaxed a bit before going in for her first attack.
Much time passed and she was in a much better headspace. They had spent ages swirling around each other, one attacking, the other dodging and so over. Every now and then he let out a delighted gasp at her elemental abilities, and she had to bite back her smile when he did. For the first time in a while, Lumine actually had fun. Battles with weaker monsters felt almost mundane to her now and the ones she actually struggled with only put more strain on her mental well being. Once again Childe came in for an attack that she dodged with her blade and their faces came together so close she could feel his breath on her skin.
She took a split second to observe him. He was enjoying their little game, a grin plastered onto his face and a passionate expression in his eyes, enough to send a shiver down her spine. But that wasn't all, there was something else hidden beneath the clashing waves of his irises. In moments like this she wished she could read people's emotions just as well as he could.
Lumine shrieked when he suddenly moved his position and slid away to her left, giving her a good look at the ruby dangling from his ear.
"I like your earrings!", she caught her breath and shouted after him. The wind had picked up and she had to raise her voice a bit for him to hear her.
"Thanks! If you win this fight, I'll get you your own~"
"I don't even have my ears pierced. Buy me dinner instead!", she demanded in his direction and prepared for another attack.
"You're sounding very confident that you'll win this fight, girlie!"
Lumine just giggled. He stood conveniently close to the cliff they sat at before. Too convenient to not take this opportunity. The water beneath them was deep and the fall wouldn't be too far.
She silently prepared herself before sprinting towards him, ramming her sword into the ground and using windblade to launch herself at his body. Childe let out a surprised yelp as they tumbled off the cliff and she clung to his upper body and held her breath, preparing for them to dive into the lake. In the short seconds they were falling she felt his arms being slung around her waist and pressing her closer against him. In the heat of battle she hadn't even thought about this outcome. Her head was held against his chest so close that she could hear his heart beat rapidly.
After that, all she could feel was impact as they hit the lake and the cold water streaming around them.
As soon as she could collect herself, she scooted away from him underwater to look up at his face and failed to repress a laugh. The utter shock in his eyes was hilarious. His ginger locks were floating in the water and the lightbeams that broke through the lakes surface made them glow like flames.
He looked ungodly pretty like this.
Lumine didn't know what she was thinking in that moment, or if she was thinking at all, but she reached her hand up to cup his cheek and tenderly kissed him.
She kept her eyes shut as their lips met, swallowing the noise of surprise that he let out when his hands pulled her hips even closer to him.
Shit. SHIT. Why did I do that?!
Lumine suddenly panicked, seperated their mouths and began pushing herself up to the surface without looking back. She inhaled sharply as soon as her head crashed through to the air. How long had she been holding her breath for? It felt like all oxygen had been drained from her lungs. She steadied her breathing, glanced around at her surroundings and headed for a large bolder by the shore that was being bathed in the welcoming winter sun.
The traveler crawled onto the rock and flopped on her back. She didn't dare to look, but she heard the water ripple where Childe was following her.
She glanced over where he emerged from the lake, his hair stubbornly clinging to his face. Her heart beat loudly in her chest, almost as loudly as his had when she flung him off that overhang, waiting for him to say something. Anything that would make her head stop spinning. Instead, he too laid on his back, folded his hands on his chest and looked up at the sky.
A few seconds of silence passed.
"I didn't expect that."
She glanced over at him, relieved at his casual tone.
"Which part?"
He turned his head to look at her and chuckled. "Neither, honestly."
"Hah...to be honest, I didn't expect to do that either."
They laughed in unison and continued to look at eachother. She noticed his gaze wander further down her body for a split second before his face flushed bright red and he fixated his eyes back up at the clouds. After she glanced down at herself she found her suspicions confirmed. The white parts of her dress had become more or less translucent. To her relief, she was wearing black underwear. A simple bra that was made to support her through endless fights and travel wasn't necesserily appealing in her opinion.
Lumine crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked back at him. Childe was still carefully keeping his eyes on the clouds and she giggled at his focused expression.
He swallowed hard and she noticed they were laying not even an arm length apart when she got done stalking his face.
"What, would you really loathe to see me in my underwear that much?"
"I- no, that's not what I-...you're making fun of me."
Lumine threw her head back and laughed. "I appreciate your decency, really."
He smiled back at her awkwardly and handed her his soaked scarf, which she gratefully accepted and hung over her chest.
"Do...do you want to talk about it?", he asked and turned his head in her direction.
"What, am I a bad kisser or something?", she laughed nervously, desperately trying to avoid any deeper emotions about the situation.
"No, you kiss very well. Even when you're trying to drown me," he smirked, that stupid dastardly grin already back on his face.
"Drown you?! I launched myself off the cliff with you! Besides, if you really drowned I couldn't have teased you about the face you made when we were falling!" Lumine burst out into laughter and pulled her knees up to her stomach. Childe mumbled something along the lines of "so mean" and "can't believe you" next to her.
She rested her hands by her sides and suddenly felt his little finger ever so slightly touching hers. Her laugh broke and she glanced over at him. He was facing the sky again, a satisfied smile on his lips and his cheeks lightly blushed. Butterflies started intruding her chest, making her entire body feel fuzzy. She should tell him that this was all a misunderstanding, that there was no reason for them to be this close. She took a deep breath and prepared to reject him before she finally spoke...
"Are you free today?"
What the fuck, Lumine?!
"I warned an agent that i may not return to the bank today. Why, got plans?" He looked down at her softly, his little finger now intertwined with hers. Her face was flushed pink as they both sat up.
"I know a few nice places we could go. Places that Paimon likes to avoid."
"You're really enjoying your freedom, huh?", he chuckled.
She ran her hands over her face and groaned, "You have no idea!"