Chapter Text
The temperature, as expected, was drastically cold in Snezhnaya. Despite this, it was a nation filled to the brim with residents. Be it tourists who came to see the extravagance of a nation covered in ice, or natives who know that the beauty means nothing if you have hypothermia. This, unfortunately, made finding a place to stay extremely hard.
Now, Lumine is not opposed to camping out; settling beneath the stars has been a great comfort for her during her travels in Teyvat. The blonde could hardly remember the image of her home, and while the stars have never formed the same constellations in different realms, the fact that there were stars in the sky never seemed to change.
Lumine remembers always latching into that knowledge. It’s funny, she would muse. For a person who never stays in one place, you would think she would be less weary of change.
Lumine is , on the other hand opposed to getting frostbite, or hypothermia, or any other bone chilling ailment that seemed to come easy in a place constantly blanketed with snow.
That leads to her current predicament. Sitting on a bench outside the last inn in the area, thin coat she had purchased in Liyue not doing much to protect her from the cold.
The blonde traveler sighs, wiggling her pinkened nose from under the fur collar.
Occupied. Of course it is.
Lumine is reminded that she could always teleport to Liyue and stay there for the night, but she had yet to find a single cryo statue here to open up the maps, and she would have to make this trip once again just to be forced back into the same predicament.
A tiny streak of ginger flashes before her and the traveler furrows her brow, reminded of a certain harbinger.
Pulling her collar down she squints. “Teucer..?”
A small body turns around, followed by a gasp. “Miss Lumine! What are you doing here?”
Teucer runs over to the girl, and Lumine melts a little with the heat the young boy brings when he leans over her legs to wrap his small arms around her shoulders in a hug.
She smiles. “I’m traveling, that's what a traveler does, after all.”
The blonde studies the boy. Is he here by himself?
“What are you doing here Teucer? Alone I mean.” She frowns.
Said boy giggles, gloved hands coming up to cover his mouth. “I’m not alone! My older brother is here too.”
Lumine freezes.
Childe.
“Your… older brother.”
“Mhm! Anthon!”
Okay not Childe.
“Oh, I didn't know you had another older brother!”
Teucer takes one of Lumine’s freezing hands into his smaller gloved ones. “Yep! I Have three older brothers! And a big sister, but Miss Lumine, you’re really cold! Aren’t you gonna go inside the inn?”
Lumine lets out a nervous chuckle, hesitant on dragging an innocent child into her current housing dilemma. Teucer tilts his head and Lumine sighs.
“Actually, all the rooms in all the inns in this area are taken so I have to find somewhere to camp out, make a fire, all that jazz.” She throws in a weak smile, hoping to appear optimistic.
“Teucer!” Light and hurried feet sounded as a boy that seemed around the age of twelve came into Lumine’s view. No doubt related to Childe, eyes bluer than all the seas in Teyvat. She mused. Must be a family trait.
The kid — Anthon she assumed — held his hands on his hips.
“Teucer! I told you to stay with me!” He scolds.
Sharp blue eyes travel down the younger boy’s gloved hands encasing Lumine’s and widen.
Shuffling closer to Teucer, Anthon wraps a protective arm around his smaller body and speaks directly to the traveler.
“And not to speak to strangers.” He spat.
The blonde’s lips part in surprise.
Oh no.
“Errr.. this isn’t- I’m not-” she stumbles.
The youngest grins and looks at his brother. “This is Miss Lumine, Anthon! She’s not a stranger! I promise!”
Anthon blinks, eyeing Lumine wearily. “Miss Lumine from brother’s letters?”
Lumine chuckles quietly. Childe wrote about me?
“I’m not sure if I’m that Lumine, though I haven’t met anyone else in Teyvat who is also named Lumine. I met Teucer with Childe a little while back and I decided it was finally time to see Snezhnaya for myself-- Anthon, right?”
The traveler stands, pulling off her hood before she reaches her hand out to Anthon. “It’s nice to meet you.”
The preteen’s posture relaxes greatly, his cheeks flushing when he meets the girls eyes. “I’m so sorry.. The streets are relatively safe at night, but it doesn’t hurt to be safe..”
He takes off one of his gloves to shake Lumine’s hand and gasps. “Miss Lumine, you are freezing.. And you’re not wearing gloves!” He inspects her hand and frowns.
Lumine tilts her head at the change in expression before she takes a look at her hands and realises they were turning a ghastly purple from the temperature.
Teucer speaks up. “Anthon, Miss Lumine has nowhere to stay, and she’s already so cold! Can’t she stay with us?” He pleads. “Please? I bet Miss Lumine can cook and stuff like that too! And brother wouldn’t be happy if we just let his friend stay cold… Right?”
The older boy seems to think over it, humming before his eyes brighten.
“That’s right! And brother will be returning home tomorrow morning!”
Lumine isn’t sure she’s emotionally prepared to see Childe yet.
“W-wait,” She stutters. “I really don’t want to impose…” Even though I really need somewhere to sleep tonight..
Anthon beams at her as if he wasn’t glaring into her soul a few moments prior.
“No worries! My little sister Tonia actually complains about being the only girl in the house all the time! You would actually be doing us a favour!”
And with that Lumine reluctantly nods her head, heading to their home.
Meeting Tonia was not as nerve inducing as being stared down by Anthon, Lumine is relieved to find out.
The young girl gushed over Lumine’s pretty eyes and hair and the blonde always got a bit more flustered when compliments came from children.
Paimon, as if sensing the change in temperature finally made an appearance from out of thin air as usual. “Wow! Paimon’s impressed Lumi! You’ve found a real nice inn to stay in this ti-- WOAH.”
The fairy-like creature freezes in the air, slowly turning to look at her companion before shifting her eyes to the set of children in front of her and then back to Lumine again.
“Lumi…” She starts slowly, “have I been asleep for like thirty years or something, because,” she leans in close to whisper in her ear. “It looks like your crush on that nasty harbinger really got you somewhere!”
Lumine flushes scarlet, swatting the air. “Do I look thirty years older to you?!”
Paimon giggles.
This irritating little--
The blonde inhales. “Paimon, there were no rooms available at any of the inns around here, and i ran into Childe’s siblings and they very graciously allowed for us to stay here and not freeze outside. Not that it matters to you since you can pop in and out of your own little world whenever you want.” She grumbles. “I’m sure you remember Teucer, from when we were in Liyue, Paimon.”
The companion places a hand on her forehead, closing her eyes in thought. “Oh! That’s right! I remember now!”
Lumine nods, motioning to the other two kids in the room. “And this is Tonia and Anthon.”
After introductions ended, the rest of the night before the children went to sleep was admittedly quite fun, they taught the two visitors Snezhnayian games and talked about Lumine’s adventures.
When Lumine’s head hit the plush pillow in an seemingly abandoned room painted in dark maroons and gold, she quickly falls asleep with a smile on her face.