Chapter Text
Lumine knows that her brother is the opposite of her. Never one to start a fight, levelheaded, yet not a pushover, strong but never abusive of his power. Unlike her who is brash and always heads straight to any trouble, easily angered, emotionally fueled.
The only thing similar between them is their determination to help others, be it small tasks like mail delivery, picking flowers or even playing with kids or the more serious ones involving defeating hilichurls and the abyss order.
Sadly Lumine noticed another difference between her and her twin.
Aether is dense as hell. Observant is something the both of them have but when it comes to himself, he never notices anything different.
"Good morning everyone." A quiet sleepy voice echoed around the camp, rousing those that were just regaining consciousness.
"Good morning Aether." Without even inspecting, Lumine already knows the atrocious bedhead she is sporting whenever she wakes up from an uncomfortable sleep, and sleeping below the volatile sky and hard cold ground is a place she wouldn't consider sleeping well at.
Before Aether could reply back to his twin, he was engulfed with a pair of clingy arms, courtesy of one captain of the knights.
She shook her head, not excited for the day's event. She waited for the other man to wake up, wishing for the umpteenth time she should have joined the other girls in their cart rather than joining the males travelling. But that will leave his brother to two predators, no matter how the bar owner plays it cool.
"Kaeya enough." A deep melodious voice cut off her musing, and when she looked up to stare at the origin of the voice, Diluc was already dressed prim and proper, any signs of sleep vanished from his being.
"But Diluc-!"
She didn't want to see another verbal combat in front of her this early in the morning so without even missing a beat, she plucked her brother away from the grabby hands of one pervert then pulled him towards the campfire.
"We'll be the one making breakfast today!"
Lumine ignored the pitiful whine from the knight, and they considered him cool too, the first time they met him, he's such a disgrace, pathetic.
She already knew that they'll be travelling for a few more days, preferably a day more before reaching their destination, Liyue city as Aether recalled excitedly.
"The city is massive Lumine, and everyone work with contracts, it was confusing at first because it's very different from Mondstadt!" she can only laugh about the excitement her brother has for the city, she has no idea what she will see in the area as only Aether and Paimon went to do some errands for the adventure guild that concerns the neighboring city, but if it made her brother this happy, then that means that it wouldn't be that bad.
She was wrong.
Very very wrong.
Because the first thing that happened before they could even enter the gates of the city, a tall lanky guy plunged towards them and hugged his brother, Lumine already noting the placement of those perverted hands.
"Aether, I missed you." And Lumine is disgusted with how a grown man can whine like a kid, he's a pathetic pervert. On par with the pervert of Mondstadt…
Great, two perverts out for his brother's innocence.
The other man waiting for them looked respectable, but she's still wary, Diluc looked respectable, until she caught him staring at her brother. He never trusted him with Aether alone ever again.
The other man greeted them kindly, and his voice held a certain tone that makes him otherworldly, a melody that can make you want to follow him. But Lumine ignored it when he saw his brother trying to escape the perverted man #2 while the said pervert is still hugging the life out of his brother.
"You must be Lumine." Mr. Nice guy approached the fuming girl, and reached out for a handshake.
She hesitated for a minute but reciprocated the greeting with her own, when the annoying pervert showed up in her peripheral view.
"You look like Aether," 'because we're twins' was the unspoken answer from the both of them.
"Hello everyone, I'm Zhongli, and he's Childe. It's nice to meet you..."
The pause urged Aether into pulling the two guys now warily looking at the two new companies, still not breaking their outer appearance.
"Zhongli, Childe, this is my sister, Lumine, and the two guys behind me are Diluc and Kaeya. There are also the others but they'll arrive later!"
All of them started a leisure pace, and having a group of six foreign or respectable people wearing something unusual, they garnered quite a crowd. She wouldn't even be surprised if there would be murmurs about how handsome they are, Lumine scrunched her nose, in what way are they handsome?
But she knew they really are, but them preying on his twin, add in his naive nature, she only sees them as dirty perverted pigs.
But Zhongli is still in scrutiny.
When will you show your true colors closeted pervert.
They stopped into a beautiful building, intricate carvings and architecture littered the expanse. Lumine now has an inkling why his brother gushed about the place.
All of them entered the place, a hotel perhaps, a light atmosphere draped in their company.
"We'll be staying her-'' before she could even comment about the peculiar words, Kaeya intervened, incredulity palpable in his words.
"Wait, we?"
Childe, the one who spoke of the words, stared at his shoulders, a single brow arched in obvious bewilderment. "...yeah?"
"You don't have anywhere to sleep here?"
"Of course I have nowhere to sleep here, I'm from Snezhnaya, you didn't tell them Aether?" The sheepish smile that is drawn in Aether’s face answers the question.
So this man is the one his brother is hinting at for being the weird guy that helped him even if he is affiliated with the "Fatui-?"
And the reaction was immediate, Kaeya and Diluc became frigid, hands wandering towards their weapons while Aether was in between the four men.
She quietly observed, Lumine trusted her brother’s judgement, and if he is okay with the presence of the pervert, that means there is nothing that will happen, maybe.
But the two are hard-headed to even think about that.
"You're friends with the enemy?" Diluc asked, emotionless, except if you look at his worried and weary eyes. Kaeya on the other hand, shows explosive emotion, waving his hands restlessly in the air. "Aether are you nuts?"
Without missing a beat, Diluc steadied his eyes to Zhongli, distrust now rolling in waves.
"So you're Fatui too?"
Zhongli didn’t break the stare, merely returning it with mute politeness. "I am a mere consultant of-"
Lumine is praying, for fuck’s sake, why his brother’s life, and inevitably her’s as well turned from travelling across worlds, to facing perverted men on a daily basis as she protects him from them.
She wished the girls would arrive sooner than later or else the hotel would be in for a bloodbath if they wouldn’t stop their banter.
“Please stop it guys.”
Poor brother.