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“Well,” Lumine said, staring at the heavy door shut tight in front of them. “This is going to be a problem.”
Teucer looked up at her in confusion. “What’s wrong? Did we get locked inside? Maybe Mr Cyclops has the key!”
“Yeah,” Lumine said absent-mindedly. Childe was supposed to go back to the city on his own, but if the door was shut, there was no way he could have left. For a single second, she considered that maybe Childe… but no. Even if he was willing to lock Lumine and Paimon inside and hope the Ruin Guards end them, he would not do that to his brother. “Let’s look around, okay? But don’t let go of my hand. It’s pretty dark with the door closed.”
The three of them turned and walked back, deeper into the facility. Paimon floated ahead to scout, and Lumine didn’t let go of Teucer’s hand.
“There you are!” Paimon called suddenly, and as Lumine sped up, she could see Childe standing near the wall. Or rather - he’d been leaning against the wall, but pushed himself away and stood up straight as soon as they came around the corner.
“Big brother!” Teucer tugged at Lumine’s hand and tried to run towards Childe.
“There you are,” Childe said, with a suspiciously wild grin. He still looked beaten up, and he was playing up his joy to cover it. Lumine sighed and glared at him behind Teucer’s back. She’d already told the man she didn’t approve of lying to the kid, and she didn’t think Childe pushing himself beyond his limits to keep the story was a good idea.
But what did she care, anyway? She let go of Teucer’s hand and the kid flew into Childe’s open arms, and the Harbinger only flinched a little as the tiny arms squeezed his body. “Wow, easy, kiddo,” Childe said. “You got stronger while I was away, huh? You’re going to strangle me at this rate.”
“Big brother! We got locked in. We need to find one of Mr Cyclops’s friends to get the key,” Teucer said excitedly. Childe glanced at Lumine above the kid’s head, and Lumine knew from the look on his face that he wasn’t in any state to fight even another Ruin Guard, let alone several.
“We do,” Lumine agreed, walking up next to them. “But Mr Cyclops and his friends are very busy keeping this place running, you know? We already played with them once, so we should be careful not to disturb them this time. That’s why we have to be quiet while moving around.”
Teucer nodded seriously, and Childe gave her a grateful smile that made her heart skip a beat.
No. She would not be swayed by a pretty face that betrayed her and tried to kill her not too long ago. Not even if he was a caring big brother who cared about children’s hopes and dreams, and not even if she knew in her heart that even if she disagreed, she would do the same for Aether.
“Let’s go, then!” Paimon said. “Paimon is going to starve to death here if we stay much longer!”
Teucer grabbed Childe’s hand, and Lumine moved to walk ahead when she was stopped by the boy’s voice. “Hey! You said we should all hold hands!”
Lumine glanced back, and bit her lips to hide a smile. However she felt about Childe, there was no saying no to Teucer. She had a weak spot for kids, and missed being around them.
“Okay,” she said, and she held out her hand. But Teucer pulled his hand away and giggled.
“No, silly! You already held my hand! You should hold big brother’s hand now!”
Lumine froze, avoiding Childe’s eyes. “Hey, that doesn’t make sense at all. You’re the smallest, so you should be in the middle.”
Teucer pouted. “That doesn’t make sense at all! You’re just making rules up!”
Lumine opened her mouth to argue, but she stopped when she felt Childe’s around her, pulling her against his side. “We all want to get out of here fast, don’t we?” Childe murmured in her ear. She wanted to push him away, or hit him even, but-- she could feel the warm pressure as Childe leant on her. Not completely, but it was clear that he had trouble walking on his own without his injuries being noticeable.
Lumine sighed, and resigned herself to pressing against Childe’s side and keeping him upright. Everything to keep up appearances for Teucer.
Absently, she wondered how much he’s going to owe her for this charade, and what she’s going to ask for in return. A full-course meal first, of course - Paimon wouldn’t allow anything else. Maybe she could nag him into giving up some information about the Fatui…
And if his arm felt so nice around her waist, well, she wasn’t going to mention it.
“We’re in serious trouble,” Lumine said in a low voice. “We can’t keep dodging the guards forever, and we still haven’t found an exit works! Didn’t you say your friend created this place?”
Childe made a face. “He’s not my friend. He’s my colleague at best. And believe me, he didn’t give me a map and all his keys.”
She was right about the first part, though. They couldn’t keep doing this much longer - eventually, Teucer was going to get hungry, or bored, or worse, scared. Childe couldn’t bear Teucer being scared in his presence, but he also knew he didn’t have another fight in him. It was embarrassing enough to be forced on Teucer-distracting duty while Lumine fought the last three ruin guards alone.
And with having to entertain his brother, he didn’t even get to enjoy the show. He let out a breath, remembering Lumine’s blows against him back at the Golden House. Archons, she was beautiful in battle, and far stronger than he thought she would be. It was embarrassing how much he wanted her - not only in bed, but in battle, in heart, in every conceivable way.
That was his weakness, really. He gave his heart away too easily, even if most people wouldn’t have noticed. His brain was still working just fine, and he knew his duty and what he would have to do for it, but that didn’t stop him feeling like his heart was beating in Lumine’s non-existent back pocket.
She was beautiful even as she ranted at him, hissing under her breath to keep Teucer in the other room from hearing them. Childe let the exhaustion settle over him for a moment and simply gaze at her face.
“Are you listening to me?”
Right. He probably should have been doing that, too.
“I was thinking about what else to try,” he lied. “So far, the only thing we found can only open the door from the outside, which doesn’t help. But if we found out why the doors closed in the first place…”
“We’ve been looking around for hours, and haven’t found anything we can actually use.” Lumine ran a hand through her hair. “... Look. I have something that might work, but I need your help with it. You’re still well enough to shoot straight?”
“I don’t do anything straight,” Childe replied without thinking.
Lumine punched his shoulder - he flinched - but he could see her hide a smile. “Very funny. But I’m serious. You’ll have to aim precisely, or this won’t work.”
Childe nodded. “I can do that.” He would have to. It would be rather embarrassing if he couldn’t even shoot an arrow, no matter how beaten he felt.
He absently wondered if he’d be more embarrassed by Teucer or Lumine seeing him fail.
Lumine glanced towards the room’s entrance. Paimon poked her head in and set them a questioning look, but Lumine shook her head, and Paimon went back to Teucer with a sigh. They could hear the boy chattering excitedly away, not paying attention to them.
“You’ll have to shoot me in the heart,” Lumine said casually.
Childe stared at her. “Can you repeat that?”
“There is a protective charm on me,” Lumine explained. “It teleports me away if I’m in mortal danger. But it has to be a wound that would kill me, otherwise it won’t trigger. So if you miss and hit my shoulder or something, then the arrow will hit, and we’ll still be stuck in here, but also I’ll have an arrow in my shoulder and will be very mad at you. You have to aim to kill.” She gave him a measuring look. “You’re a Harbinger. Surely, it won’t be difficult.”
“Of course it won’t be difficult,” Childe said with a scoff before he could stop himself. “I know how to shoot.” He almost added that he’d killed more than enough people, but somehow, he didn’t think that would make Lumine think better of him in this moment.
Lumine patted his arm. “Then you’ll be fine,” she said, then took a few steps back to get to some distance from him. And then she stood, facing him, and looking at him expectantly.
Childe made another face and took his bow and an arrow in hand. He glanced towards the entrance to buy time, and to make sure Paimon wasn’t going to rush in and bring Teucer with her, only to see him shooting at Lumine.
Because he was about to shoot an arrow at Lumine, aiming to kill.
It wasn’t supposed to be difficult. He certainly had the skill, and after their fight at the Golden House, it would have been hypocritical to say that he didn’t want to hurt her. But he didn’t expect her to die back there - he knew she was strong enough -, and even if one of them had, dying in an equal fight would have been different from… this.
From Lumine standing in one place and making no move to step away as Childe aimed an arrow straight at her heart.
He breathed in, trying to steady his hand that somehow insisted on shaking. It must have been the exhaustion, he told himself, even though that was no excuse for a Harbinger.
“Are you sure this is going to work?” he asked.
Lumine nodded. “Yes, I’m sure. But you have to aim to kill, okay? I don’t want to be stuck in here with you with an arrow sticking out of--”
“And I don’t want to be stuck in here with my little brother, your mouthy friend, and your corpse,” Childe snapped back in a loud whisper. "Teucer would get upset." Not to mention himself.
“Would you please just hurry up?” Lumine crossed her arms, then she must have realized that would make the shot more difficult, because she let them fall next to her body again.
Childe focused on aiming again. He shifted his finger, about to take a shot, then…
Lumine squeezed her eyes shut.
Childe lowered the bow. “If you’re sure it’s going to work, then why are you losing your eyes?”
Lumine opened them again just to glare at him. “Because having an arrow come towards me at high speed is still fucking scary, Childe!” she snapped.
Both of them froze at the loudness of her voice.
“Big brother?”
Shit. Childe was glad he’d lowered the bow.
“Are you two fighting?” Teucer asked with a frown, coming back into the room. He looked like a disappointed parent about to separate two unruly children, and despite himself, Childe smiled.
“We’re doing a magic trick,” Lumine said quickly, then looked at Paimon, who seemed significantly more concerned than the kid. “Your brother is helping me with it. But if you want to see it, then you have to go back to the main door and look at it very carefully, okay? The magic will be happening out there."
Teucer looked suspicious, but Childe smiled and ruffled his hair, giving him an exaggerated wink. "You heard the lady. You want to see the magic trick, right? So go wait at the door."
The boy finally hurried off, followed by an equally concerned Paimon. The little creature must have trusted Lumine a lot, to leave them alone like that.
Lumine took a deep breath. “Let’s hurry up. Please? I’m just going to close my eyes.” And she did. She also put her fingers in her ears, and her mouth moved silently, whispering some mantra that was too quiet for Childe to hear.
Childe raised the bow. He breathed in as he aimed. And then he let the arrow fly.
Right away, his heart dropped into his stomach, and he found himself lurching forward and reaching after the arrow, like he could catch it with his hands, like he could pull it back, stop it from… from…
The arrow flew unbothered towards Lumine’s heart. His aim had never been off in his life.
In the split second before the arrow hit, Lumine disappeared without a trace. The arrow flew through the spot she had been standing and hit the wall behind her.
Childe collapsed on his knees, a sob tearing out of him against his will. He bowed his head and closed his eyes, trying to stop himself from screaming.
"-- the stars that watch over me --"
The somewhat-familiar nausea hit her in the middle of the line, letting her know that the protective charm was activating. It was a keepsake from home, something precious she rarely used, something that would leave her weak and in need of recharging for days. It was almost foolish to use it for something frivolous, and yet, if it worked...
When she opened her eyes, she was outside the locked door. She let out a little celebratory whoop out of reflex, then quickly looked around to make sure no Treasure Hoarders were lurking around the area before stepping up to the entrance.
Her heart was beating hard in her chest, and she took deep breaths to calm down. She wasn't sure if Childe would go through with her request at all, and she couldn't help wondering how he felt about it. Did he feel anything at all when he let the arrow loose? Was it something he'd imagined doing to Lumine before? Was it simply another task?
The main door opened slowly with a creak, and Lumine forced a smile as she met Teucer's and Paimon's equally shocked faces.
"You did it! You really did a magic trick! How did you get out there?!" And then Teucer was off, throwing himself in Lumine's arms. She caught him with a laugh.
"Yes, I did. I told you I would, didn't I?"
She ignored Teucer's and Paimon's demands for explaining what happened, and kept her gaze on the doorway. It took some long moments before Childe walked up, bow in his hand, still looking sickly pale from using his Delusion earlier.
Lumine opened her mouth to say something ('told you so', maybe, or perhaps even 'thank you' or 'good work'), but before she could speak, Childe closed the distance between them, pulling her into a hug. The words caught in Lumine's throat, and she stood still as the man held him close, completely ignoring Teucer's protests at being almost squeezed between them.
She couldn't bring herself to return the hug, but she didn't pull away. That seemed to be good enough for Childe. He pulled his head back after what felt like minutes, his hands still lingering on Lumine's arms.
"Ready to go?" he asked with false casualness.
Lumine nodded, and they both took a step back at the same time.