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Lumine might’ve been more aggressive this week. Too many emergency commissions, too many late-night requests, and so on. The stress reflected in her fight with Childe, and it was most obvious on his body.
Cuts and bruises littered the expanse of his skin. Those were normal, but the deep gashes that cut through the flesh of his thighs and sides weren’t. Her sword may have sliced through him too cleanly, leaving him incapacitated.
“Haha, hooo…” he exhaled, pressing on the bandages that covered his injuries. His pain tolerance was high, but the risk of infection was still there. That, and the fact that he couldn’t move much or else they’d re-open again. “You really did a number on me, ojou-chan!”
“Sorry,” she winced, shooting him an apologetic smile as she paid attention to their more minor wounds. “I’ll help you with the things you have to do with this week, or until your injuries heal. Is that okay?”
“More than okay,” he flashed her a cheeky grin. Normally, those would send Lumine into a slightly flustered mess, but the guilt was eating at her alive. His wounds would be able to heal, sure, but outside their Golden House fights, he still had a job to get back to. It was her fault he was so weak right now. His body would be using all that energy to recuperate, too, so the burden fell to her.
The two of them worked in silence, with Childe pointing out some of the things she missed. She let him disinfect her scratches, too, but her wounds weren’t as serious as his. He was stunned most of the time.
“Okay, I think we’ve got it all,” Lumine was the first to stand up, helping the man get back to his feet. She let him lean on her, grunting as her lithe frame tried to support his larger body. “Urk... what —what do you need done this week?”
“Well, I’ve got some new recruits to train,” he explained. Her face turned pale. Back when Teucer came to Liyue, they’d both seen his initiation first-hand. It was a humiliating experience for Childe, but Teucer believed every moment of it, so everything was well.
The problem was the training, though. He was in no condition to take on a bunch of trainees, no matter how inexperienced. It would take a toll on his body, and it would just hurt him more in the long run.
“Do they really need to fight you?” Lumine asked, her face scrunched up. Phantom pain washed over as she tried to imagine that kind of scene.
“They can fight you , you know. You’ve beat me more times than I care to admit,” Childe suggested. Oh. That made more sense, at least more than making him the one to fight. “What’s more exciting than fighting the one who beat the Harbinger?”
It was always entertaining to watch Childe give his speech. He spoke about the Tsaritsa and their homeland, inspiring the new recruits while they nervously watched him. They were scared of him, yes, but there was also something concerning about the bandages that covered him.
And then there was Lumine.
She was idly watching him talk from her stone perch. As amusing it may look, the actual content bored her to death. The girl may not have been as bloodthirsty as Childe, but she was already starting to think that fighting would be better than whatever this was.
The recruits were squirming uncomfortably in their positions as he hobbled down, mindful of the lacerations on his legs. “For our final segment, I’d like to watch you fight! But now with me, of course. I did get someone who I know is a good sparring partner.”
He didn’t have to put her on the spot like that! Lumine stood up from her position, materializing her sword in her grip. The recruits looked more comfortable now, as if they were confident in beating her rather than their injured superior.
The recruits ran towards her, evidently uncoordinated. Childe took a seat on the boulder she was using a while ago. He was watching them with plain disappointment before he turned to her.
Lumine was already used to fighting hordes of enemies, and this was nothing new. They had given her only seconds before they started to attack, already harnessing elements with their weapons. It was a dance she was familiar with. The very commission that led her to doing this for Childe was like this, too.
The battle was over before it even began, and the poor Fatui members were on the ground not long after. The Harbinger clapped his hands, observing the recruits before wrapping an arm around her.
“We’ve got one task down,” he said. The girl’s brows furrowed, ready to protest, but he continued before any word could get out. “I still need to do some… ah, ‘debt collection.’”
The day was long after that, having to traverse Liyue to hunt down Treasure Hoarders and other stubborn people. Not all of them had to end in fights, especially when they were strolled around the harbor instead.
Some of the shop owners were indebted to the Northland Bank, and Lumine had to do those as well. Childe supervised the whole thing, praising her for dealing with the owners calmly. “I thought this one would escalate in a fight, but I guess you’re just too cute, huh?”
Her cheeks reddened. Dropping the pouch of mora in his hand as the noon sun beat down on them, they continued to stroll around the harbor with the man trailing behind her. “The Bank has some seriously screwed up interest rates, so you have to be extra nice to them.”
Childe snorted, tugging her to his side. Her eyes widened as she tried to figure out what he was doing. They were going off-track and to Wanmin Restaurant, the aroma of jewelry soup attacking her senses and placating her for a bit.
“Since you’ve been a good helper today, how about I treat you to some lunch?” he offered, letting her sit down on one of the empty tables before he ordered for them. Both of them had their favorite dishes memorized already, but that wasn’t what Lumine was worried about.
No, she was worried about how Childe’s gait was wobbly. The bulk of his work belonged to her now, but he still had to follow her with his injuries. He was still his playful self with high pain tolerance, but nothing could mask the strain it put on his body.
Lumine narrowed his eyes at him when he came back with Jueyun chili chicken and Qingce stir fry, trying to balance the two meals on a tray with two bowls of rice. He almost dropped them when her eyes locked with his, laughing nervously.
“You’ve been tired the whole day,” she accused. Childe pulled out his own set of cutlery from his jacket, preparing to eat without hearing the girl out first. “Childe! You should’ve told me if you were feeling exhausted.”
“Aw, is ojou-chan concerned about me?” he ribbed, earning a huff from her. “You have been a good helper, though, but I’m afraid I still have to oversee your work.”
“I can’t continue dragging you around like this,” she told him, digging into her chili chicken with a frown. “I’ll give all the mora to Northland Bank, and you will be going home.”
Her words were a thinly-veiled threat, and yet he couldn’t help but laugh at her pout. She guessed that she might’ve resembled a mother, just a teeny-tiny bit, but that was what he needed to recover well.
“Oh? I didn’t know you were so eager to spend less time with me.”
“It’s not—I can spend time with you even outside your work, you know,” Lumine said, a little flustered. “If you end up with a big pile of work, I’ll just come back and lend a hand.”
His laugh had calmed down to a simple, yet warm smile on his face. “Such kind words coming from you. Who am I to turn them down?”