Chapter Text
Lumine P.O.V.
I will be here when you call.
I brush my thumb across the aspen tree, the bark scratching lightly at the pads of my finger. The grove we’re passing through lies somewhere on the border between Mondstadt and Liyue and possesses traits of both—the rich color of the wind-swept grass, the telltale reds and oranges of the old trees. I crane my neck and peer up at the canopy above me.
“Razor?” I call.
The boy appears, perched on a branch some ways ahead. He cocks his head, one arm still holding a branch above him, claymore strapped on his back.
“Lumine?”
Razor has learned to say my name only recently, and he does so now with an earnestness that makes me look away, back toward the dull orange sky to the east. The silhouette of the Wangshu Inn looms on the horizon, far closer than expected. I swallow.
“We’ll stop for the night up here,” I say. “Can you…”
He drops to the ground. I hear the light thud of his shoes hitting the path.
“...get down here,” I finish sheepishly.
Razor stands in front of me and crosses his arms. He’s taller by a few inches. His hood has fallen back from his face during his run through the canopy, leaving his wild hair to fall freely around his shoulders. My pace of travel is much slower than he’s used to with his pack, I know. He doesn’t complain, and in return, I say nothing about his dangerous ways of passing the time in the surrounding terrain as I walk.
His mouth bends in the start of a frown. “Not tired. Night time not here yet.”
“It’s an early morning tomorrow. We’re hoping to get to Wangshu Inn by sundown—“
“Why sundown.” Razor asks the question in a flat voice. He moves closer and fixates with the whole of his focus. I take a step back, hand settling flat against the cool bark of the tree behind me. I doubt he’s aware of his own intensity, or that most people only listen to others at around seventy percent of their attention.
“I have to meet someone,” I say.
“Meet after sundown,” he insists.
“We agreed on sundown.” I manage a small smile. “He doesn’t appreciate people being late.”
“After,” he says, a whining edge slipping into his voice.
Strong wind sweeps through the grove, and the canopy shivers above us, drowning out every other sound. My hair whips around my ears, tickling the skin. The orange light of the sunset peeks through the gaps in the shaking branches, throwing bright streaks across the grass at our feet. Razor frowns at me all the while.
As the wind slows, I hear the sound of the other two coming up the path behind us. Diluc appears from around the turn, his dark coat standing out amidst the scenery. Qiqi walks close to him. The little zombie girl is always difficult to read, but she is walking stiffly, which usually means she’s sick of moving for the day.
“Are we stopping here?” Diluc asks.
He stands beside me and crosses his arms, mirroring Razor, but giving off a wholly different aura—less like a petulant child, more like someone concerned with their time being spent effectively. Both him and Qiqi tended to linger behind Razor and I as we walked. Diluc explained that he felt most comfortable guarding our backs, but secretly, I think he just enjoyed Qiqi’s lack of small talk.
“I hope to,” I say.
Qiqi stares up at Razor, the long unabashed stare of a toddler who doesn’t know any better. Her lilac eyes are blank and shallow-looking. She reaches out one hand to point at him.
“He has his wolf face on,” she says.
Razor bites at his bottom lip, teeth sharp against the flesh, still frowning. Then he huffs and turns away, stalking further down the path. He leaps onto the lowest branch of a nearby tree and sits down, facing away.
“He’s not happy about stopping,” I say to Diluc, hiding my mouth with my hand. “He has a lot of energy, even after traveling all day. And I think he’s used to staying up late with his wolf pack.”
“I don’t imagine they often put him to bed early,” he responds dryly.
I have to stop myself from rolling my eyes. “He’ll behave, if we show him we’re stopping. We just need to be firm about it.”
Diluc uncrosses his arms and moves past me. The claymore on his back makes him appear larger than he really is. “As you wish. But you’re handling that conversation.”
Qiqi follows him. The two of them head off to the left, where the ground is flatter, better for setting up camp. As usual, the talking would be left to me. I put my hand up, shading against the light of the sun, which sits just on the horizon, nearly gone.
I go to stand beneath the branch where Razor is sitting. He doesn’t look down, but I know he can hear me.
“Razor?”
I tap the side of one of his hanging feet, lightly. He makes a displeased noise. I sigh.
“We’d all worry if you didn’t stay with us for the night. We’re all supposed to stick together, you know?” I say. I try to put it into words that he’ll understand, but I can’t know for certain whether I’m making any sense to him. “I won’t be able to sleep if you’re wandering out here, alone.”
Razor stirs at that. He slides off the branch, landing on his heels and turning to face me. His hair swirls wildly with the movement.
“No sleep?” he asks. His red eyes are pinched with concern.
I nod. “We need you nearby. Stay together.”
I reach out to take his hand, but hesitate. There were certain human acts that I hadn’t yet tried, even after all our weeks together. I didn’t know how he would react if I tried to touch him, and I didn’t want to set him on edge right after he seemed to be calming down.
“Lumine?”
I’m staring at nothing, I realize. Razor ducks down a little, trying to get me to look at him.
“Let’s go to the others,” I say.
He says nothing. But when I start to walk, he follows.
——
The weather is warm, even when night fully falls. Diluc, Razor, and I sit around the embers of our campfire, all in varying stages of falling asleep. Qiqi is a ways off, seated in the shadows, looking up at the almost-full moon. She doesn’t sleep, not really, but the nighttime puts her into a slow sort of trance. Occasionally, she reaches above her head and stretches, silhouetted against the sky.
“But will you be returning to us before the Lantern Rite?” Diluc asks. He is sprawled out nearby, one arm bent behind his head. Warm light from the fire illuminates his features. His red hair, though still tied up, falls freely around his face in many places, loosened by travel.
The news that I would be leaving early tomorrow morning was not striking him well.
“Er, likely not,” I say. I roll over onto my back.
The reality is, I’m certainly not, but I don’t want to say so, not with Diluc’s good opinion at risk. My plan to meet Xiao had never been conveyed to the rest of my travel companions. Something about the yaksha’s expression when he agreed to join me for the festival made me embarrassed to speak of it, though his usual indifference had only been slightly less intense than usual.
Razor, laying on his side, opens one eye. “Should stay,” he says quietly.
“I don’t understand why you can’t reveal your reasons, at least,” Diluc presses, ignoring Razor’s candor. “This is the first we’ve heard of this. Why are you leaving?”
“I’ll be back by the next morning for sure,” I say awkwardly, dodging the question. I had hoped that Diluc wouldn’t pursue the issue, but it doesn’t surprise me that he does.
He clicks his tongue. “And where are you going?”
I roll over onto my side, facing away. “The Wangshu Inn.”
I hear movement, and I can imagine Diluc throwing his hands up in exasperation. “Finally, something concrete. If only you were this accommodating the rest of your information.”
It’s silent for a moment between us, and he sighs.
“At least… let us know where we should look for you. If you don’t come back. Is it the Inn, still?”
The seriousness in his voice catches me off guard, sending a small burst of fear into my chest.
“Diluc, I’ll be fine. I won’t be in danger. Promise.”
My mind chooses that moment to call up an image of Xiao from the other day, perched over the corpses on the beach, spear in hand. Cold, unchanging eyes, turned upon me, as though nothing could be offered which he hadn’t seen before.
“I’ll be fine,” I say again.
I’m not sure whether the words are more for him or myself.
——
“Razor—”
“No.”
I had hoped to leave before the boy woke up, but he had caught me, quite literally, as I left the clearing, fingers wrapping around my wrist. The contact surprised me, though his bleary expression makes me wonder how aware he actually was of his forward actions.
“We talked already. I’ll be coming back tomorrow morning. Just one day, Razor.”
“Diluc... doesn’t like, too,” he mumbles. “Not only Razor.”
I fight back a smile. He looks wholly unthreatening, still blinking away sleep and scarcely able to put his words together. Gently, I pull my arm from his grip.
“Diluc decided it’s okay. You can trust me, too,” I say.
He hangs his head, like an abandoned puppy.
“It’ll be okay, Razor. Just one day.”
When I pace back a few steps, I’m pleased to see that he stays put. Low, thin fog covers the field around us, cool against my face. I walk a ways further, until I can only see his silhouette. I wave. He raises a hand, too, though not very high.
“See you soon,” I say quietly. My chest surges with a burst of affection. Then I turn and crest the hill, heading out into the misty plain.
My journey passes without event. I steer clear of the hilichurl camps, keeping to the main road. Around midday, I stop for tea at a stall along the road. The man is kind, and wishes me a happy Lantern Rite. I nearly tell him that I’m not from here and don’t deserve his gesture, but I manage a smile instead. My sense of being out of place always deepens when I’m alone.
Around evening, I reach the Wangshu Inn. I crane my neck, looking up at the large golden tree perched on the very top. The elevator arrives slowly, descending on the thick wires, and the smell of the rich seafood being cooked in the nearby stalls makes my mouth water. I haven’t eaten today, though I don’t allow myself to fully think about why; I know that Xiao would never think to offer a meal to me, let alone share one. Yet still, I’ve waited.
A crowd of three women makes their way out of the elevator dressed in colorful qipaos, likely in preparation for the festival. Again, I feel like an imposter. I push past them and stand in the elevator, trying to fight against the building knot of anticipation and guilt in my stomach.
I dismount and head inside the inn. From the floor below, Verr Goldet catches sight of me.
“He’s waiting on the balcony above,” she calls. Her eyes nearly sparkle with excitement. “I’ve cleared the guests from the area.” The fact that she knows he’s there, that he’s waiting, reminds me of her request from before, and my face grows hot.
If you're able to... could you... try to convince Xiao to go with you? We're not close, I wouldn't know how to ask him myself. But it seems that you've grown familiar…
Familiar , she had said.
I give her a stiff nod. I look up the staircase to my right, trying to catch sight of the yaksha. Somehow, I know that seeing him from a distance would lessen my nerves. But the balcony is just out of view.
I climb the steps. In my chest, I have that strange feeling that comes only in dreams, like a thread is pulling me forward, whether I want to follow or not. My breathing grows jagged. I step out up and out onto the balcony.
He’s there, standing beneath the moon. He's facing away, the white light falling across his bare shoulder, across the winding green tattoos threading down his arm. His spear on his back is silhouetted against the sky.
"You came," he says. There's a controlled hint of something in his voice, but I'm not sure what.
"I did," I say. "You asked me to."
He turns around. His eyes are golden and piercing, even in the half-light. The balcony is empty except for us.
"Shall we, then?"