Chapter Text
It was the night after the lantern rite festivities had ended. Lumine told Paimon she wanted to be alone to make her wish. So, she sent her fairy to hang out with Zhongli.
Carrying her Xiao lantern she climbed to the peak of Mt. Tianheng battling the windy nights and cold air. It was quiet, the faint sound of the city disappearing the farther she got up.
She took a few more steps before reaching the top and spotted a familiar ginger harbinger staring out into the city, lost in his own thoughts.
“Childe?”
The harbinger turned around in shock but quickly shifted it into one of happiness, “Oh! Hey, Comrade! What brings you all the way up here?”
She stands there watching his figure, she feels a little bad for disturbing his peace now, “I was...looking for a quiet place to release my Xiao Lantern”
“Oh, uhh..I can leave?-” Childe says as he moves to stand up
“No-!” Lumine says. Why did she say no? She has no idea.
Childe looks at her in confusion.
“I mean… It’s okay, I don't mind you being around.” Lumine adds, fixing her gaze to the sky shyly.
“Oh then, you want to have a seat?” Childe offers, patting the ground beside him.
She takes that offer and takes a seat to his side and places the Xiao Lantern on her lap. There’s a comfortable silence between the two as they both stare at the other Xiao lanterns that slowly make their way to the heavens.
“So…what are you wishing for?” Childe asks whilst still staring at the sky.
“Do Teyvat wishes still come true if I tell someone about them?” she follows up
“No?”
“Darn. Then guess I can’t tell ya”
They both chuckle.
Lumine closes her eyes and leans backwards to lie on the grass as she releases her Xiao Lantern. She lets the cool air kiss her cheeks and crickets chirp their song in the silence of the night.
“I can feel you staring,” she says, her eyes still closed.
“Oh, sorry. I thought you died” he joked. He laid down beside her but left his eyes open to watch her golden lantern float up to the sky.
“Idiot, what kind of excuse is that?” she chuckles.
“I catch you staring at me sometimes, Lumine,” he says softly as he turns his head to face hers.
“And I you, Childe,” she yawns.
“Why is that?” he asks.
“There’s…something in the way you look at me.” she thinks. But she didn’t have the strength to say that herself.
She gave herself a few seconds of silence before she finally spoke, “You have blue eyes as haunting as the sea…But as empty as a void”
She opened her eyes and moved to her side and met those ocean eyes.
“Trying to figure out my secrets, ey traveller?” Childe joked.
“Something like that..” she replies with a chuckle. “So how ‘bout you? What's with the staring?”
He sighs and moves his hand to her cheek like he did in Inazuma, “You carry sunlight in your eyes. A flame I never want to see put out.”
“Why’d you never visit me after Fontaine?” okay, even she was surprised by how straightforward and soft spoken she was confronting him.
He moved his hand closer to her touch when she leaned in and relaxed in his touch. She closed her eyes at his touch as they conversed.
“I didn’t want you to see me in such a broken state.” he said softly.
“Not even a letter?” she added.
“I’m scared that it’s becoming too real”
“What is?”
“Us.”
“What about us?”
“The… something between us.”
“So, you feel it too?”
“Of course”
“So, what do you think of it?” She says, opening her eyes slowly and pulling away from his touch.
He moves to lay his head on her lap and gazes at her eyes from below.
“I don’t know.” he says softly
I know I’m in love with you
“I have an idea though” he adds
I think you’re in love with me too
“ Then you don't not know” she teased, brushing his hair away from his eyes.
“Your smile is really pretty” he retorted, he grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips to kiss.
“What happened to being scared that it’s too real?” she chuckled, his kisses ticklish on her hand.
“Suddenly I’m not scared anymore” he said, moving his kisses higher up her arm ti’l he’s seated upright again.
They both gaze into each other's eyes where blue and gold fuses like a beautiful sunrise.
The Xiao lanterns in the background only illuminate what beauty they see in each other.
“If I kiss you…” he asks silently, moving his face closer to hers. His eyes take a quick glance at her lips, “...would you kiss me back?”
“If I said yes would you kiss me already?” she said, bringing a hand to the back of his neck.
“I probably would.” A hand wraps around her waist to pull her closer, “But it depends, is that a yes?”
“Is it a yes?” she smirks
“You’re really going to tease me right now, Lumine?”
“That’s what I like about us, Ajax”
“I still haven’t heard a yes or a no”
“Yes.”
“Yes, what?”
“You gotta be joking..” she chuckles softly, before moving to close the gap between them.
They both melt into the kiss as Ajax pushes her softly down into the grass.
They slowly pull away from each other with heavy breaths.
They stare at each other.
Still.
Silence that speaks so many words.
Is it okay to fall in love with you?
Either way. They both don’t care..
As Ajax dives in for more of her.