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It was raining, not exactly a downpour, but it was still a pretty heavy drizzle that had all Wangshu guests dashing inside to stay dry.
All, but one.
Xiao can recognize the strange white dress from anywhere. Even from the highest balcony of the inn, he sees her. Lumine just stood there, letting herself get drenched in the rain like it was nothing. Her head tilted up to the sky and with her eyes closed, Xiao can't see it from this high up, but he has a feeling she was smiling like the weird girl she was.
She has no regard for her health.
Xiao scoffs to himself, but his eyes never leaving her figure. As strange as the sight was, something about it—her standing still in the rain like she was trying to bleed into nature itself.
It was captivating, he couldn't look away.
Won't she get sick if she continues that?
He hates being concerned for the traveler's well-being. She was doing this to herself anyway, why should that concern him? But the brief flash of her bedridden with a fever, weak and vulnerable, didn't sit well with the young Adeptus either.
Then he feels someone staring at him. Looking back down, Xiao finds a pair of golden eyes staring back up at him and he feels himself freezing under her gaze.
Lumine smiles at him—so warm and welcoming—and waves at him. Xiao turns his head, refusing to acknowledge her or the fact he was caught. He disappears in the rain, ignoring the heat on his cheeks and the slight red of the tip of his ears.
.
.
.
It was raining hard, enough to drown out the excited chatter of the children of Qingce Village.
"You play the flute right?" Lumine asks under the light drizzle. They're keeping dry under one of the trees a little off from the villager, the area that's usually plagued with greedy treasurer hoarders.
Xiao looks at her, questioning. "Where did you hear that from?"
"The children tell stories of a flute being played," her eyes twinkle. Xiao grumbles, turning away when she giggles at his reaction.
"Can I hear you play?" she asks.
"No," Xiao instantly denies, not showing how amused he is at the pout she gave him. "Besides, the rain will drown out the noise."
Lumine hums, gazing up at the cloudy sky. "Then will you play for me when the rain isn't so loud?" she asks, looking at him expectingly. Xiao opens his mouth but finds the words stuck in his throat. Getting lost in those golden eyes of hers, so warm and staring so fondly at him.
Don't look at him like that.
Xiao looks away, scared of drowning in those eyes that shine so brightly at him. "You're persistent," he meant to make it sound like an insult, but Lumine laughs. Melodic and light like windchimes, her laughter echoes in his ears.
Dangerous.
Yet he listens so attentively.
.
.
.
It was raining, lightly this time around, but still enough to wet the mint leaves in the marsh.
"Are you attuned to water or something?" Xiao raises an eyebrow, keeping dry under a nearby tree as he watches Lumine stand out in the rain once again.
Strange girl.
Lumine lets out a little laugh, her dress swaying as she twirls slightly. "I can't really explain it, but I've always loved the rain. The way it feels, the sound," she closes her eyes as if she was embracing each droplet. "Something about it feels like being in your own world." Then she turns to him, a big smile on her face. "Dance with me," she says, grabbing hold of both his hands and tugging at him.
"I—I'm not mad like you." Xiao sputters, not budging but not ripping himself away from Lumine's hold either. Not with how she gently squeezes his hands.
Lumine giggles, swinging their hands together slightly, a gesture Xiao can't bring himself to tear away. "Worried you'll get sick?" she teases.
"We Adepti don't get sick," he bristles slightly. The rain starts falling a little harder and Xiao almost pulls her back in, some instinct in him wanting to keep her dry from the rain. She was always out there, out of all people, won't she get sick?
He'll never understand her.
She lets go before he could, even if it was a strange reflex. "Suit yourself," she shrugs, twisting and twirling with her arms outstretched as if she was trying to capture all the droplets. A little laugh bubbles out from her as she dances in the rain—no, she's dancing with it. Her form was a breathtaking sight that not even he can deny it as much as he wants to. She's right in some aspect; the rain really did make things feel more... personal. Their little world, a world where Xiao can take a part in. Not as a weapon, not as Alatus.
Just him.
The notes of a flute flutter through the air; a calming melody paired up with the pitter patters of the rain. Xiao thought Lumine already shined so brightly before he met her.
She's radiant when she sends him the biggest smile.
How beautiful.
.
.
.
It was raining when Xiao finds Lumine again. On the ground, frost patches across her skin, her blood washing away with the heavy downpour of the rain. The storm doesn't even compare to the inner turmoil the Yaksha was feeling once his eyes were drawn on Lumine's motionless body. A numbness goes through his body, white noise drowns out the loud rain in his ears as his mind starts to cloud up with despair and rage.
Lumine's—no, they're HIS now—enemies creep closer. Hilichurls threaten to swing their clubs and that accursed Cryo Abyss mage was cackling.
Xiao dons on the Yaksha mask—hearing the whispers, feeling his health slowly depleting even before he could even make a move—and plunges forward.
Anger still courses through his veins, pain surges through his head. He needs to destroy, he needs to vanquish, he needs—
"X-Xiao..."
A broken, but soft voice calls out to him. Like a drop hitting a calm unbroken water surface. It causes ripples and Xiao breaks out. Clear from his angered state and rushes over to the fallen traveler.
"Reckless girl," he grits out, cradling Lumine's injured body close to his. "I'd said to call for me when you needed help!"
It's so hard to stay mad at her.
He can't. Not for too long. Not with her bleeding in his arms like this.
But she's alive. Still alive, still with him—
"I-I wasn't e-expecting a Cryo mage, or for the sudden weather change." she weakly smiles, coughing out a little blood in the process. She reaches out, cupping his cheek. "I'm sorry I made you cry," she whispers, wiping away the rolling tear.
"I'm not crying. It's the rain," Xiao stiffly says before lifting her up in her arms and carrying her away.
Lumine simply leans her head on his shoulder.
She doesn't comment how the storm has already settled by the time the battle was over.
She closes her eyes, lulled into sleep by her wounds and the sound of Xiao's rapidly beating heart.
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.
.
It was raining, light with grey clouds and skies. Xiao holds onto her hand when she looks like she's about to step out into the rain.
"Stay," he says (requests), something vulnerable slipping out.
It feels like he'll lose her in the rain. He already almost did.
"Stay," he repeats, almost pleading. Just for this moment, please.
Lumine's silent, but he can hear her take steps towards him until he feels her fingers intertwine with his, a reassuring pressure on his forehead when she leans in.
"Ok," she whispers, so softly that if it weren't for his hearing the rain would have drowned her out. But even with the pitter patters of the rain against the tiled roof, her voice will always be louder than the rain itself. Something Xiao always noticed, even if her voice was reduced to a whisper.
But Xiao breathes.
He breathes in the scent of the rain in the air. The scent of wet Silk Flowers near the inn.
The scent of Lumine still here with him.
It was raining, and she's still here.