Chapter Text
“Paimon doesn’t trust Tartaglia at all,” Paimon told Lumine as they lead the man towards the closest teleporter. He wasn’t resisting, probably deciding that he was better left in Lumine’s hands than Childe’s.
“I know,” Lumine answered, her gaze wandering around. She didn’t have any intention of letting her guard down. She had learned over time that Childe was most suspicious when he was amicable. “The teleporter is quite a distance from here. We should keep up our pace.”
They remained vigilant as they walked on, but despite their worries, they didn’t even see a speck of Childe’s shadow until they got to the teleporter. Paimon quickly entered Mondstadt’s coordinates as Lumine watched their surroundings—if Childe was going to strike it was his last chance to do it.
But Childe never showed up at all, and they were able to get to Mondstadt just fine. Lumine quickly herded the man to the Knights of Favonius HQ, eager to hand the target over and be done with her commission. She would rest easier when he’s in Kaeya’s custody.
“Captain Kaeya had some business to attend to, but he left instructions in case you came in today,” the guard stationed outside said. “Please head in to see Wyratt, he will escort you to the lieutenant.”
“How about Jean? Is she back yet?”
“The acting Grandmaster is still out on business as well.”
“Alright, thank you.”
“The HQ is as busy as ever,” Paimon commented as they headed in. They met with Wyratt and followed him upstairs where the lieutenant was waiting for them.
“Captain Kaeya should be back tonight or early in the morning. He said he will prepare your compensation himself,” said the lieutenant.
“He’d probably want to hear my report himself,” Lumine muttered.
“He should pay us double for giving us wrong info,” Paimon grumbled. Lumine frowned. Kaeya and Childe were similar in some ways, and she wondered if Kaeya had deliberately misled them.
But why would he lie about Childe? Lumine would have prepared better plans if she knew she’d be encountering him. If Childe had been in a bad mood, Lumine would have been in huge trouble.
And what was Childe hoping to achieve by surrendering, anyway? He wouldn’t stand down for nothing. It couldn’t really be that he wanted her to go out with him, could it? He wouldn’t flop his mission just for that.
She huffed. Sometimes she just wanted to smack these men into oblivion.
“Thank you, lieutenant. We’ll stay in Mondstadt for a while, Kaeya will know where to find us.”
Lumine decided to put the matter of Childe to rest. Whatever he wanted, the target was already out of her hands so he couldn’t do anything recklessly. Maybe he had changed? It had been a while since she last saw him, after all.
Ugh, she hated him for bothering her so much. He lingered in her mind long after he was out of sight. Curse him and his mind games. She was going to hit him the next time they meet.
--
Lumine shouldn’t have let her guard down at all, even here in the city. The headquarters was abuzz when she came to meet Kaeya in the morning.
“What happened?” she asked when she saw him outside Jean’s office.
“Ah, there’s my favorite traveler. Did you sleep well?” Kaeya asked with a smile, but Lumine decided to skip the pleasantries.
“Is it the target?” she asked again. Did Childe do something, after all?
Kaeya dropped his smile and said, “We’re still investigating what exactly happened, but the target was found dead in his cell this morning.”
“What? How? What about the guards?”
“No one else is injured, fortunately. Let’s borrow Jean’s office to talk.”
“Ah, Paimon knew it! That sly Fatui scum!”
“Tell me what happened,” Kaeya said as he shut the door behind him. Lumine gave her full report, recounting the things she’s observed from tracking the target down to the journey back.
“Hhm, this gives me another useful piece of intel on the harbinger,” Kaeya mumbled to himself. “It’s not a complete waste, I suppose.”
“I didn’t think he would hit the HQ so boldly. I shouldn’t have let my guard down at all,” Lumine muttered with a frown.
“You did well in bringing the target in,” Kaeya said. “We’re still not sure if it was indeed Tartaglia, but it was nevertheless an oversight on my part. It’s not your concern anymore the moment you handed him over to the Knights.”
Alive and unharmed, just like your contract.
So this was what Childe meant! He’d been planning it all along. Forget about merely hitting him; she was going to flip him and slam him down on the ground.
“What are you going to do now?” Lumine asked.
“We’ll finish the investigation for now and go from there,” Kaeya answered with a friendly smile. “Here, this is your compensation.”
“Let me know if I can help with anything,” she offered.
“Diligent as always. Thank you for your hard work.” Kaeya patted her on the head. “Please excuse me for now, I have things to get done.”
“Of course.”
--
It took some convincing before Paimon agreed to stay behind in the city. Lumine had to leave more mora than she wanted, but food was the best bribe for Paimon. It wasn’t the first time they were apart, but Lumine had never deliberately left her behind before to meet a potential enemy, much less the eleventh harbinger.
Lumine didn’t have to walk long; she only needed to find a remote enough area. She didn’t know how he did it, but she was pretty sure he’d been watching her since she stepped out of the gates.
“Come out,” she said loudly. His laugh reached her before he did. She whirled in his direction as soon as she heard him and grabbed him the moment he showed himself.
“Whoa, are you that happy to see m—” the rest of his sentence came out as a huge grunt as she flipped him over her shoulder. She didn’t manage to slam him as hard as she wanted, though, damn him for being unnecessarily tall. He tried to get up but she was quicker this time, straddling him and pinning his arms beneath her knees while holding him down by his neck.
“You like it rough, Ojou-chan?” he teased in a strained voice, grinning as if he wasn’t being strangled.
“I knew you were up to no good, you damn Fatui harbinger,” she growled.
Childe’s grin widened even more, his eyes sparkling in mischief as he looked up at her. “As beautiful as ever, even when you’re spitting mad.”
Lumine let go of his neck to hit his chest with her fists. “Why are you like this.” She groaned in frustration. All her energy seemed to have gone out in her fists because suddenly she felt drained. She let her forehead drop to his chin even as her fingers clenched his shirt tightly.
She was annoyed with him. Annoyed with herself. Everything he did was for the glory of his beloved Tsaritsa, while the things she did were for the sake of finding her brother. They stood on different paths that sometimes met, but never stayed in one direction for long.
Was that why this twinge in her chest wouldn’t go away?
Lumine thought about the times she basked in his easy laughter, and how she always had to stop herself from seeking his playful smile. She hated him for taking so much space in her mind, but she hated the thought of forgetting him even more.
She wanted him.
Could never have him.
Soon their paths would diverge again, and who knows if it would ever meet once more.
She hated the mess she had become.
“You promised to go out with me after you complete your mission,” Childe murmured in her hair.
“I did no such thing.” She felt the rumble in his chest as he chuckled.
“Eh, but we were both successful on our jobs. Calls for a celebration, no?”
“How did you even do that?” Lumine raised her head so he could see her frown.
“It wasn’t hard. The Knights of Favonius aren’t as good as you are.” He grinned. Of course he wouldn’t tell her. Childe may be friendly sometimes, but he never divulged any secrets. “It’s been a while. I’m not kidding about going out.”
“Go out with yourself.” Lumine rolled off him and got to her feet, dusting herself off. “I don’t want to be anywhere near you when Master Diluc incinerates you on the spot as soon as he spots that ginger hair in Mondstadt.” She started going the way she came without looking back at him.
“Let’s go to Liyue Harbor, then. Those cursed chopsticks are the bane of my existence, but at least they have good meals there.” He caught up to her and put an arm around her shoulders.
“Go away.” She elbowed his side. He sighed dramatically, and the sound of it immediately raised Lumine’s guard.
“Alright, I’ll just drop you off at the gates then.”
Lumine growled. He sure was annoying when he put his mind to something. “Wait quietly at Wangshu Inn, I’m going to get Paimon!”
“Don’t take too long.” He was grinning when he leaned down to give her a kiss, and he quickly danced away before she could get her hands on him. “It’s a date!”