Chapter Text
I.
─── scorching flames of desire
Drip. Drip. Drip. The consistent sound of melting snow pattered down from the rooftop onto whatever lay below. And with that came the first glimpse of the gentle rays of an early-spring sun in Morepesok.
Happiness. The sun brought a new season of hope to a nation that only knew cold.
But Childe wasn’t a fool. He knew better than to expect much more than a few minutes of solace, followed by hours upon hours of the usual bleakness.
Either way, it wasn’t even worth opening the worn curtains that adorned his childhood room. He’d much rather lay in bed and…
Wallow? Sulk?
No, no. Reminisce.
It had only been a few weeks since he arrived back in Snezhnaya. With only a two-day notice, he was whisked back to the land of ice to answer Her Majesty’s summons. To the land of his family. To the land he was sworn to.
To the land of… what was once comfort.
But now, his temperament matched the frigidness outside.
Heh, at least it was fitting.
Though, it wasn’t as if his comfort zone left Snezhnaya. No, that was all wrong. In fact, it was less of a “what” his comfort zone was and more of a… “who.”
She had become his comfort zone. For better or for worse.
“Lumine,” he whispered at the dark ceiling above him.
Even saying her name ached.
In the few weeks that he was gone, he yearned for her. Worried for her.
Was she okay without him? Was she safe? What was she thinking at this very moment?
Gods. He yearned so much to protect her once again.
Because the fact of the matter was that Lumine was a newly presented omega. And without him, she had no one to defend her.
No, no. He furrowed his brow at the ceiling. She was completely capable of taking care of herself. She always had been and always would be.
At least, that’s how she reassured him when he told her of his summons. “I don’t need anyone to help me,” she crossed her arms and raised her chin to the sky defiantly.
And yet, her stubborn confidence was juxtaposed by the way she clenched her hands at her sides as he wished her goodbye. His little bird tried her best to remain strong, and yet, the look in her molten gold eyes was…
Fuck. It was still imprinted in his mind. He couldn’t. Get. It. Out.
“When will you be back?” A near-whisper.
“I don’t know,” he looked away.
He knew, she knew, they both knew that she was in danger. Maybe even more so than when she first presented.
And that day was bad enough.
Back then, the scent of orange blossom garnished by sweet, mouth-melting honeysuckle hit him even harder than she did at the Golden House not too long prior. As he leisurely walked past Wanmin Restaurant with his hands in his pockets, he collided with the most delectable omega scent that he had witnessed.
He turned his head only to catch the eye of the confused and slightly unwell Traveler, completely oblivious to the gaze of multiple other alphas scrutinizing her. And at that moment, all he knew was that she was in danger. Immediate danger.
Because what of her mission if she was claimed? What of her independence? Her freedom to travel as she was meant to?
So he grabbed her wrist and just about dragged her the hell out of there.
“H-hey, Childe, what the fuck?!” She yelled from behind him.
He ignored her. Even though he wasn’t in rut, her scent permeated just about every cell in his body. And the tingling sensation of his grip on her inner wrist, and the time he’d have later with this particular scent dousing his hand…
Shit. Get it together, Ajax. He wasn’t even in pre-rut. Had he lost his damn mind?
So they made their way through the city in a borderline comical manner, with him trying his best to keep a steady mind while she kicked and screamed the whole way to the Liyue City gates. And when he released her wrist and took a few steps back for good measure, he crossed his arms and dug his nails into either side of his jacket. He couldn’t—no, he wouldn’t let her see him falter. “Tell me, Traveler,” he put some force into his lackadaisical tone, “why were you out in the open like that?”
“What the hell are you talking about, Childe?” Venom just about dripped from her words. “I’ve been feeling sick and wanted to treat myself to takeout. Can I do that without being dragged by the war criminal of the century?”
Childe just stared at her, confused.
“And what’s with that cologne you’re wearing?” She continued, completely oblivious to the gears turning in his head. She paused, gulped, and then doubled down, “Y-you need to get rid of it. It smells horrible.”
Well, that made one of them. He almost laughed.
But, instead, he chose to stay tempered. Her anger only worsened the situation—the space around them had become absolutely swamped with her scent, and any rash moves would end… badly. “You’re in danger here, Lumine,” he said through bared teeth. “Are you playing games with me, or do you truly have no idea what’s happening?”
Omega.
His brow twitched.
That question made her falter, which was a blessing, because only then did she take notice of his tense demeanor. “W-what do you mean?” Her hands at her sides balled into fists and then released, very obviously beginning to tremble.
The delicious honey that adorned her eyes filled his senses with want. Need. Want. Need.
No.
“We need to get you to Wangshu. Like, right now.” And so he reached for her wrist to drag her once again.
But before he could catch her, she took a step back. “No,” she said, her voice as hard as stone. “You need to tell me what the hell is going on, Tartaglia.”
Why was she using his Fatui title as a weapon? And why did it… hurt?
He shook his head at the thought. “I’ll explain on the way. Please, Lumine. I’m not messing with you here.”
She must have seen the depth of his plea deep within his eyes, because she nodded without another word.
And so, as promised, he told her everything.
That, in this world, there was a hierarchy system of sorts.
That she had presented as an omega.
That as a newly presented omega, her scent was more potent, and therefore she could be in danger if she lingered around alphas in rut.
That her heightened temperature was a part of her pre-heat.
And that, without help from a heat partner, those symptoms would get worse, and sometimes… painful.
The only thing that would quell the symptoms was…
“You’re fucking with me.”
Childe scoffed. “A choice set of words, but no, I’m definitely not fucking with you.”
“So the fever, the sweats, the full body aches, the clinginess,” Lumine counted on her fingers, “are all just symptoms of needing to be fucked?”
“Pretty much.”
“Then what do I do?!” She balled her hands into fists once again as they ascended the steps of Wangshu Inn. He could tell that she was overwhelmed by the influx of information, and even possibly…
“W-well,” he pushed that thought into the recesses of his mind, “there are a few things you can do. Most people suggest that you wait out your first heat, just to understand its dynamics. You could also buy heat suppressants that wipe out the symptoms, but… those can have side effects after a while, especially for someone who just presented. And lastly…” he squinted. “You can find a heat partner.”
And then she fell silent.
She remained quiet as Childe checked her into the inn. Without a second thought, he booked a room for two weeks, just in case she was one of the unlucky omegas whose cycle was on the long side. He walked her to her room in silence, and just as he was about to say his goodbyes, her shaky hand caught his wrist.
“Childe,” Lumine spoke quietly, maintaining her grip on his wrist. “I think it’s happening. Can you get… some heat suppressants for me?”
And his fear was confirmed.
“I-I…” he spoke softly, “I would, but they only work during pre-heat. And it seems as though—”
“Your scent,” she interrupted. And against his better judgment, he allowed her to raise his wrist up to her nose. “It’s…”
“No, Lumine,” he nearly growled, sending her reeling back to the edge of the bed. And with that, remorse immediately flooded his conscience. But… at the same time, if he wasn’t harsh, he might lose himself to the voice in the back of his mind, drunk off of her potent scent.
Omega. Sweet omega.
No.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly, rubbing her lingering touch away from his wrist. “I just don’t want you to make any… rash decisions.”
She nodded slowly, and instead of responding, she chose to wrap herself in the duvet atop the bed.
Ah. Okay, that was sort of adorable.
He took a step forward as his instinct to protect began to crowd out all of the sinful thoughts that once overloaded his subconscious. “Do you need water or anything?”
Gods. Why was he doing this?
“I left my food at Wanmin,” she said flatly, face half-buried in the blanket surrounding her. “But I don’t…”
“But I don’t want you to leave,” he knew she wanted to say. But no matter how much of an omega she was, she was still stubborn Lumine underneath it all.
So he smiled. And without a word, he unwrapped the scarf from his neck to drape around her blanket just beneath where her nose was covered. “I’ll be right back,” he soothed as he made his way out the door. “Ten minutes tops.”
He refused to turn back to see her reaction.
Thankfully, the fresh air brought him a bit of clarity. At the very least, it was enough to realize that he didn’t need to do this for her. He could have just left her at Wangshu to fend for herself.
But he just couldn’t leave her like that. Was it because of his instincts as an alpha to care for an omega, or was it for… some other reason?
He wasn’t sure. But expending any thought on it it was a futile effort.
A literal ten minutes later, Childe burst through the door, huffing and puffing on shaky legs. He, of course, ran straight back to Wanmin to grab her leftover food, as well as another serving that she could have later.
The look in her honey eyes made it all worth it.
“Thank you, Childe,” she mumbled wearily, shakily, but sincerely all the same.
And so he sat at the desk next to her bed until she finished her food, then bought the trash out of the room for her.
He soon came back with some water and stayed for a little while longer to make sure she was okay.
An hour became two. Three. Four. It was only until the sunset that Childe realized how long they had sat together, sometimes in silence, sometimes in comfort, sometimes laughing at how ridiculous this situation was with how jaded their past friendship had made them.
He waited until she fell asleep to leave. She clung so hard to his scarf that he wouldn’t dare try to remove it from her.
Needless to say, the next week was spent together. She recovered under his wing, and no matter how insane her scent drove him, he had to remain strong for her.
He would admit that he… took care of himself multiple times before seeing her just to dull his desire.
Was the object of his momentary satisfaction the image of her twitching beneath him, head thrown back as she reveled in the way his cock nestled deep inside of her?
Maybe, maybe not. It didn’t matter. It was just the hormones fucking with him, after all.
After Lumine’s heat ended, she decided to put her travels on pause so that she could get used to her new lifestyle. And in that time, they began to spend much more time together. Sparring, having lunch, walking along the seaside. Sure, they got weird looks, but Childe was the last person to pay those any mind, and Lumine didn’t seem to care either. The vines of forgiveness had started to grow over the wreckage, and he dared to say that they had become friends.
Over the next months, though, they began to talk openly about things that friends didn’t usually talk so openly about. Their past partners, Childe’s rut cycles, and his experience being an alpha. She even helped comfort him through his own rut, though he hated that she saw him like that. Regardless, it seemed as though she was genuinely interested in the science of the hierarchy system more than his experiences specifically.
A piece of him wished that wasn’t the case, though. He suppressed that piece as much as he could.
And though all was well, one thing that Lumine said one day irked him.
“What’s stopping me from taking heat suppressants every time that I feel a pre-heat coming on?”
“Well,” he tilted his head, “it builds up after a while. When you get off of the suppressants, your heat is a lot worse and your scent is a lot more potent. People usually don’t recommend heat suppressants for new omegas until after 2-3 heats because of how much of a target it puts on your back.”
She wrinkled her nose. “I mean, I was pretty miserable the first time around. There’s no way that I’d go suppressant-free next time.”
He winced at that. “They’re, like, 500k mora each and expire a few days from purchase.”
“I’ll figure the money situation out when it comes,” she waved her hand at the thought.
He knew that words fell on deaf ears. About a month later, during her next pre-heat, she just about begged him to help her buy a heat suppressant.
And… he just wanted her to feel okay. So he gave in.
And then he gave in again during her next pre-heat.
After all, he owed it to her after what he made her go through, right? It was only fair, right?
Maybe, but it was a bad move all the same. A very bad move. Because he was summoned to Snezhnaya just a week and a half before her next expected pre-heat.
“Can you find a heat partner? O-or, maybe someone to bring food and water to your room?”
“No.”
“Can you at least take some money so you can order Wangshu delivery?”
“No, Childe. I’ll be fine.”
Gods, she was stubborn. To a major fault. Had she no idea how dire this situation was?
Well, no. She never really had to learn. He had cultivated her ignorance via heat suppressants, after all.
And on top of that, she put on that confident, defiant mask as if she wasn’t phased at all. As if she had to prove to him that she could take care of herself after all those months of him taking care of her.
But he knew her better than that. The cracks in her composure were all too familiar.
“When will you be back?”
“I don’t know.”
He left his scarf with her the morning he left.
And when he finally arrived at Morepesok, everything was… different. Everything was different.
For instance, when he walked through the door to see his family for the first time in over a year, his mother nearly dropped the pan she was drying. “Ajax,” she said with hushed urgency, “did you… did you finally find someone?”
That was when he realized that he still smelled like Lumine. That’s why people were acting differently around him. Her scent was practically imprinted on him, yelling at everyone that he was taken.
It wasn’t long until he realized that he was, in fact, taken.
That realization only blossomed with deeper thought. He really did care for her. He wanted her. He…
He loved her.
And that knowledge just made it all the more painful when Her Majesty told him that he was being relocated to Inazuma.
“You leave in three days,” she said apathetically.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. What a terrible hand he had been played.
But regardless, he would take it. If this was the place that loving her put him, he’d take it any day.
“Lumine,” he whispered once more at the darkness of his childhood bedroom ceiling. “Just hold on a little longer.”
II.
─── envy bound to catch fire
It had been twenty-two days, five hours, and thirty-seven minutes since he last saw Lumine.
It had been four days and ten hours since he boarded the ship back to Liyue City.
And he had until tomorrow morning at dawn to convince her to come to Inazuma with him.
Childe wrung his gloved hands in front of him.
Liyue City hadn’t changed at all since he left, thankfully. The sights, scents, and people were all the same. That was at least one relief upon the heap of anxiety that clouded his senses.
He weaved his way through the city, eager to pass through the crowded streets so that he could hit the vacant dirt road to Wangshu. There was one thing he needed right now, and it was to find Lumine resting in bed, completely unscathed, happy to see him.
And maybe even a bit more than happy to see him.
No, Ajax. He shook that thought from his head as he hurried as much as he could. But that didn’t take him very far—it had to be peak lunch hour, judging by how people flocked to the sizzling grills that lit the already-scorching air on fire. The streets were positively clogged.
Amber sparks filled the cloudless sky, and as Childe waded through the mass of people, he winced at his sudden hypersensitivity to it all. The mix of scents of those surrounding him, combined with the piquant smells of Liyue cuisine, had suddenly made him feel a bit faint. It was as if he was being bombarded with too much, too much, too much until…
Until he caught a particular scent that flooded his palette.
The scent of home.
Lumine. Lumine. She was here.
But… why was she here? Out in the open? If his timing was right, she should be mid-heat right now.
So he started to hurry.
“Excuse me,” he mumbled under his breath as he pushed through the crowd. Pointed glares and scoffs melted into downcast looks as they realized exactly who was pushing them to the side.
Childe was like a lost puppy determined to follow the scent trail to its owner. And gods, when he found her…
Hm. When he found her, how would he act? Happy? Mad? A mixture of both?
Well, knowing how she was in her heat, he would need to approach her calmly before he showed any sort of anger. And even then, the anger needed to be tempered. He couldn’t risk hurting her. Not again.
Gods, she was close.
In the midst of his deep thought, he realized that he was being led straight to Wanmin. Of course, she must be there getting lunch. He could only imagine the light in her eyes when he saw her again. And then she would say—
The thought died mid-sentence when he saw her once again.
Lumine. The light of his world.
And she was… with someone.
His heart hit the bottom of his stomach.
Across from Lumine was a man he hadn’t seen before. Tall, well-built, and… he gave off the air of arrogance. Cockiness. And he was in rut.
Lumine hated cocky guys. Why was she with…
“Childe?”
How long had he been standing there, frozen, watching them eat their meal together?
Lumine’s honey eyes, though dazed, shone a kaleidoscope of emotion. Surprise, horror, and then…
Was that relief?
“Lumine,” he said. Small. Weak.
She had chosen another man over him. Another man to spend her time with. Another man to protect her. Another man to…
And then the man in question turned to catch his eye. Inquisitive, and yet at the same time, seemingly bored at the whole ordeal.
Childe couldn’t will his charismatic mask to replace the dejected face that he knew he wore. For a moment, the man scrutinized his gaze.
Gods. Fuck. Fuck.
He had never been like this, so weak for anyone or anything. He had been growing soft, slowly and steadily at first, and then all at once when he was separated from her for only three weeks. Three fucking weeks.
Get it together, Ajax. At least she didn’t have a claiming bite.
“T-Traveler,” he said, silently cursing at the stutter in his cautious tone. And when he used that term, Traveler, she flinched. “What brings you here?”
She knew what he meant.
“Well, if it isn’t Tartaglia himself,” the man interrupted Lumine as she opened her mouth. “I’ll spare you the pleasantries. Me and my girlfriend are having some lunch. Maybe she can get back to you afterward?” A coy smile touched his eyes.
Girlfriend.
Girlfriend.
Childe’s heart was simultaneously shattered into pieces and set ablaze.
She was his. Ajax’s. Wasn’t she?
And then reality dawned upon him that… no, she wasn’t. She never was.
Lumine was her own person, just as she should be. A bird in the sky, destined to carve her own path and hers alone. Didn’t he grab her wrist that fated morning for that exact reason? Because he couldn’t stand the idea of anyone claiming her and taking away her independence? Her freedom?
And yet, that’s exactly what he was doing all those months. Stunting her growth. Impeding her path forward.
Selfish.
A solid mass of anxiety grew at the pit of his stomach, and yet, he felt hollow all the same.
And then he decided. Concluded that he should just… let her choose her own path.
But just before he was about to turn away, his eyes caught a glimpse of her pools of honey, entrenched in the depths of desperation.
He paused.
No. No. Something was very wrong. The outspoken, defiant Lumine he knew, his Lumine, would never act like this. Even during her heat. So instead of turning away, he took a step forward. “She and I were actually supposed to get lunch today. Isn’t that right, Lumine?”
And once again, as she opened her mouth, the man spoke over her. “Look, bud,” he stood to face Childe. “I don’t think you understand what I’m trying to say, but let me make it a bit more obvious. Back off.”
Oh, this guy wanted to die. He would rip him apart with his bare hands.
“And what if I don’t?” Another step forward.
“Well, I might just have to—”
A small palm crashed against his chest. In a flash, between him and the man two steps from death, stood the woman he would never dare to defy. Her palms pushed against both of their chests.
“Enough,” Lumine growled, as angrily as she could for a mid-heat omega. And Childe just stood there, eager to obey. Eager to protect. “Childe, Chaoxi, please.”
Gods. Even after months of seeing her on the daily, her scent was enough to knock him off of his feet. And wasn’t she feeling feverish? Sick? She usually craved Chef Mao’s fisherman’s toast during her heat—why was there a plate of crystal shrimp at the table? She deserved so much more.
Wrong. It was all wrong. She needed to be taken far away from here.
“Stand behind me, Lumine,” Childe murmured, moving to grab her wrist and guide her behind him. But, unfortunately for him, he wasn’t fast enough. Her other wrist was in the firm grasp of the man who practically begged to get his hand lobbed off at the wrist. Chaoxi.
“Is this guy bothering you, Lumine?” Chaoxi let out a boisterous laugh, tugging her toward him with too much force. And when she let out a small yelp of pain, Childe saw red.
“Let her go,” he snarled, summoning his hydro spear in his free hand.
Chaoxi responded by letting out a short, peculiar whistle that sounded like a signal. And from out of the crowd came a few more men of varying shapes and sizes, all with the same cocky smile spread across their faces.
With the distraction, though, Lumine was able to free herself from Chaoxi’s grasp to hide behind Childe, gripping at the back of his jacket as if her life depended on it.
“What the hell happened, Lumine?” Childe murmured under his breath as throngs of men continued to approach from all sides.
“We need to run,” was all she responded with. “There are more men to come.”
Her refusal to answer his question sent his mind to unimaginable places. Hatred spread like poison searing through his already red-hot veins. Burning him from the inside out.
The only antidote was their blood on his hands.
“I’m going to kill them. Did he touch you? Did he fuck you?”
“Ch-Childe—”
“I’ll kill them for you,” he snarled. “I’ll kill them all.”
Kill. Kill. Kill for Lumine. Kill for his omega.
He was quickly drowning in the depths of bloodlust. He wanted to kill for her. He needed to.
And, yet, the only ounce of sanity holding him back was the woman he was on the verge of slaughtering them all for. The woman he would protect to the ends of this gods-forsaken world.
“Childe, you can’t. Not—not here.”
His hands shook. The thought of one—or all—of these men taking advantage of her was…
“Please, Lumine,” he begged.
“No.” Her voice was firm and resolute.
And he wasn’t one to defy her orders.
So without another word, he turned, scooped her up into his arms, and took off into the crowd.