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“Hey Lumine, Paimon thinks Valentine’s Day is coming up soon. What’re you going to do?”
Valentine’s Day? The name flickered with familiarity in Lumine’s mind, but she couldn’t grasp the memory proper.
“What’s Valentine’s Day?”
“Really?” Paimon flashed her a suspicious glance. “You’ve travelled hundreds of worlds, traversed the universe a thousand times over, and you don’t know what Valentine’s Day is?”
“Paimon thinks you’re trying to trick her,” the little pixie narrowed her eyes.
“Paimon.”
“Lumine.”
“I’m not joking.”
“Neither is Paimon.”
“Just tell me already, otherwise you’re only getting three sticky honey roasts per meal.”
“ What?! You can’t just cut Paimon’s meals in half!” The small girl screeched, indignant.
Lumine raised her brows and waited.
Paimon caved in about two seconds.
“ Fine . Paimon is only doing this to save her precious belly from eternal starvation.
“Valentine’s Day is a day where people confess their feelings of love to the people they like, or simply to spend a special day with their significant others.”
Lumine’s footsteps faltered. How would she ever reply to Paimon’s original question? She’d rather die than spit out a single word regarding emotions about a certain someone. Nobody but herself needed to know that sort of information.
“Soooo? Do you have anyone in mind?” Paimon fluttered her eyelashes, floating around in a half circle.
“Paimon would like to know who that special person is.” The small girl had a devilish smile on her face, her words sweet and saccharine. Payback for Lumine’s earlier threat.
And there was absolutely no way she could back out now. Paimon had seen her reaction when she explained the day’s meaning.
Lumine’s reluctance to speak seemed to fuel Paimon’s maniacal delight, and the pixie pinched her cheeks between small fingers.
“Tell me, Lumine. Paimon knows there’s someone. You’re all red!”
“That’s because you’re pinching my cheeks,” she scowled.
Paimon let go of her but didn’t relent. “See? You’re still red!”
Lumine sighed. She’d have to fight stupidity with even more stupidity.
“I was so mad that nobody liked me that I turned red,” she deadpanned.
Paimon let out a scandalous gasp. “How dare they! Paimon will find Lumine a boyfriend if that’s the last thing she does!”
Lumine would one day be reduced to a vegetable with the number of brain cells she lost listening to Paimon, but at least she’d thrown the pixie off her trail for now.
As of now, Lumine had her hands full. She wanted to get something for Childe for Valentine’s without drawing anybody’s suspicion. Paimon wasn’t too hard to fool, but the small girl sometimes revealed a sharp mind. Especially when it concerned food.
“I think I’ll just get a little something for everyone I’ve met in Liyue,” Lumine cut through Paimon’s very vocal scheming.
“Oh, Paimon thinks that works too. Everyone will see how nice Lumine is, and fall in love with her instantly,” Paimon said dreamily.
“What do you suggest I make?”
Paimon was all too eager to share her expertise in food.
~
The day before Valentine’s, Lumine received a letter. It was addressed to her with red wax stamped at its centre to seal it. The message didn’t include the sender’s name, but Lumine was about 99 percent certain about who wrote it when she saw the first two words in the letter.
Hey girlie,
Come to Liuli Pavilion at 12.30pm tomorrow. Try to ditch your loud-mouthed friend too, would you?
Childe… he couldn’t have had that intention right? It must have been purely coincidence that he asked Lumine to meet him on Valentine’s Day.
There was no way he felt anything for Lumine after she beat him up at the Golden House, and especially after she helped foil his plans with Osial.
Regardless, Lumine felt her heart flutter as she folded the expensive paper and slid it into a small pocket in her bag.
She would keep the note. If only because she would be able to take a whiff of it every few hours; Childe’s distinct cologne clung to the piece of paper.
It would be one of Lumine’s few mementos of him once they parted ways forever. Once they went their own ways and Childe forgot her.
The thought made her want to melt into a puddle of tears.
~
Lumine gnawed on her nails as she walked through the streets of Liyue. She had just dropped off two sets of sweet slime condensate, made with the help of Paimon, at the Wangsheng Funeral Parlour.
Paimon swatted Lumine’s hand away from her teeth when the pixie noticed her unusual meal.
“Stop biting your nails or you’ll get worms in your guts!” She chided.
Lumine didn’t care whatsoever about what took residence in her body as long as it didn’t harm her. Still, she forced her hand to her side.
Paimon could not, and would not find out about her not-date with Childe. Lumine had an act to keep up.
The pair appeared at Xiangling’s restaurant at 12.15pm, the bag of slime condensate hanging at Lumine’s shoulder significantly lighter after all her deliveries.
They found the young chef in the kitchen and offered a package of the dessert to her, and amidst the praise they got, Lumine enacted her grand plan.
“Paimon, why don’t you stay here and teach Xiangling how you made the slime? I’ll leave you some mora for you to buy more food if you want.”
The pixie took one look at the mora pouch dangling from Lumine’s hand and snatched it away before promptly returning to her food discussion with Xiangling. Lumine was an absolute genius.
She slipped through the crowd of the restaurant unnoticed and dove into the streets of Liyue, even more packed than the restaurant and buzzing with activity and made her way to the meeting point.
Lumine arrived at Liuli Pavilion five minutes early, sweaty from the humid weather and transferred her bag from arm to arm—probably ruining the shapes of the slime desserts as she did so—as she searched the masses for a splattering of ginger hair.
She was starting to think that se had been left standing when an irritating voice she was all too familiar with sounded from behind her.
“Girlie, you made it!”
Lumine jumped, spinning on her heel to come face-to-face with the Harbinger’s chest. A sharp intake of breath told her that he smelled heavenly.
Common sense told her to take a step back.
“D-Don’t scare me like that,” Lumine glared at him playfully.
Childe was grinning down at her, still close enough to make Lumine wonder if he could hear her crazed heartbeat.
He was…
The first words that came to Lumine’s mind had her averting her gaze to stare at the ground while a flush crept up her cheeks.
Childe’s sharp eyes didn’t miss her reaction, and he placed a hand under her chin to tilt her face up, a wicked smile plastered on his face.
“Pretty girl, you look adorable when you blush like that,” he teased.
His words only served to turn Lumine a deeper shade of red.
It wasn’t her fault that his mussed fair fell around his face so perfectly. It wasn’t her fault that his eyes took on a blue so deep she wanted to dive right in. It wasn’t her fault that his smile was so hypnotizing in its charm.
Lumine blinked at him.
“Come on, let’s get inside.”
Childe slipped a gloved hand into her own, and she jolted with the sudden electricity and fire that tore through her at the contact.
Ignorant to the sudden wave of adrenaline washing through Lumine’s veins, Childe led her into the fancy restaurant. He tugged at the tote bag in her other hand to hold it for her.
Before Lumine could register his actions, Childe already had her bag in his hands and was peeking into it.
“Are those for me girlie? I’m honoured that you thought of me!”
He pulled on her hand so that Lumine was pressed into his side before he tilted to nuzzle her head with his own.
In her panicked mind, Lumine told herself that Childe was an exceptionally touchy person; she shouldn’t take this the wrong way.
“Not all of them,” she squeaked, the heat of her embarrassment no doubt visible on her face, “I haven’t given them all out yet.”
Childe’s enthusiasm died a little, but he remained almost stuck to her as they followed the waitress to their table.
“So, which one’s mine?” He demanded once they were seated.
Of course, the sheer entitlement with which he asked sparked a flicker of irritation in Lumine’s chest. How did she have feelings for this fool?
“Hmm, I may have left it back at my inn,” she said with as much aloofness as she could manage.
Lumine’s irritation faltered and then intensified at the mischievous grin on his face. She had fatally miscalculated her reply, Childe loved these sorts of games.
He leaned forward on his arms, “That’s a pity. Then I wouldn’t be able to give you anything on White Day.”
Childe’s tone was disappointed, but his face said otherwise.
“What’s White Day?” Lumine demanded, eyes narrowed. She needed to grill Paimon on all the special days Teyvat celebrated soon.
A glint of devilish delight.
“Hmm, I may have left that knowledge back at my inn,” he threw her words back at her.
Childe was immensely irritating and infuriating and handsome and irritating and husband-material and-
Lumine glared at him.
“Come on, Lumi,” he pouted.
And cute and frustrating and annoying and patient and kind and caring and-
“I’ll tell you what White Day is, and you’ll give me my present,” he gave Lumine his best impression of puppy dog eyes. “And I’ll pay for lunch,” he added as an after-thought.
And strong and convincing.
Lumine searched through her bag for the small purple pouch containing the heart-shaped slime condensate. The only bag with heart-shaped desserts.
She felt her face burn up as she shoved her hand out to drop the bag into Childe’s hands.
“You’re too sweet, girlie,” he smiled.
He opened the bag and fished out a small, translucent heart, popping it into his mouth.
“And a good cook too,” he added, impressed, “I love it.”
There was sincerity in his words that she didn’t often hear withthe joking around he did. Lumine couldn’t help but preen at his praise.
Recalling their deal, Lumine quickly spoke before he could eat another piece.
“So what’s White Day?”
Childe swallowed the last vestiges of the slime before he replied.
“It’s a day one month from now when people give reciprocal gifts to those who gave them gifts on Valentine’s.”
Lumine’s mouth formed an ‘O’ shape. It was quite simple.
And Childe wanted to give something to her in return that day.
The arrival of their food saved Lumine from further questioning. Apparently, Childe had ordered the entire menu.
It was the one day that Paimon’s bottomless belly would’ve come into use.
They ate in silence, mostly because Lumine was too busy stuffing food into her mouth, but she somehow managed to grunt at Childe whenever he poked at her feet with his boots under the table.
Lumine left the restaurant pregnant with a food baby that Paimon would surely be jealous of. With her appetite more than satiated, Lumine thanked Childe for the meal, genuinely happy to spend time with him.
As she made to leave to continue her slime distribution, Childe wrapped a hand around her wrist, rooting her to the spot.
He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear as he stood in front of her, eyes blazing.
“Thanks for coming today,” he said softly, a husky undertone in his voice.
Was it just the lighting or did his cheeks turn a little pink?
Childe’s eyes flicked down to her lips and Lumine held her breath. She closed her eyes as Childe leaned down.
And kissed her on the temple.
The skin where his lips touched burned and tingled, the sensation spreading through her entire body and concentrating on her face as her stomach did flips.
Lumine felt a pang of disappointment that Childe hadn’t kissed her lower, but… what could she expect? It wasn’t like their lunch said anything about what he felt about her.
With short breaths, she looked into Childe’s deep, royal blue eyes.
“Enjoy the rest of the day,” he breathed, and released her.
Taking it as a signal to leave, Lumine tore her eyes from him and slipped into the crowd.
~
Lumine felt incredibly stupid each time she chanced upon Childe. She had become all awkward movements and broken sentences around him, it was humiliating. Worst of all, he didn’t seem to be affected by their day at Liuli Pavilion.
After a whole month, Lumine felt like avoiding the city altogether was starting to look like a good option, especially so when Childe found her.
In an alleyway beside the Wangsheng Funeral Parlour where she was hiding from him. Fantastic.
“You’re getting pretty hard to find these days,” he chuckled as he sauntered up to her. “Why would you come here of all places though?”
Childe cornered Lumine, trapping her between the corner of two joining walls and his body and extended a hand as if summoning a hydro blade.
Lumine’s eyes widened.
But then a small package materialised where a weapon should be. It was a small, pink, heart-shaped box, a maroon ribbon wrapped around it and a blue whale nestled at its centre.
It was cute. And very harmless.
“I… What is this?” Lumine breathed. She felt like the wind had been knocked out of her.
Childe’s eyes twinkled. “It’s White Day, don’t you remember?”
Lumine shook off her shock. Oh, right. No wonder she had received a whole pile of packages overnight.
“And have you opened any of them?”
She slapped a hand over the offender, and then shook her head. Her thoughts had slipped right out her mouth without consent.
“Then open mine first,” Childe took her hand and placed the box on her palm, “I want to see your reaction.”
As if they weren’t already close enough, he took a step closer.
Gingerly, Lumine tugged on one end of the ribbon. It fell aside easily, the small whale tumbling down with the action. She hadn’t expected it to drop just like that, but Childe did. Before Lumine could react, his hand was cupping hers, catching the small object at the same time.
That big and warm hand set her back straight as a rod and kicked her heartbeat into a gallop. Childe’s just being touchy again.
Lumine muttered a word of thanks before she continued the unboxing. The hand beneath hers didn’t leave.
At the centre of the soft, velvet cushion, a set of earrings were displayed.
The four-pointed stars were translucent, pearl white. Light refracted off its surfaces, glowing with apricot and sky blue. A thin layer of silver bordered the gems to hold them in place. The accessory was a brilliant match to her outfit, Lumine didn’t realise that Childe had such a good eye for things like this.
She plucked one out from its home, inspected the studs on the other side and faltered.
“Thank you, Childe. These are beautiful, I love them. But… I don’t have any piercings,” she grimaced.
Lumine peeked up at him. Despite the problem she’d just raised, Childe didn’t seem phased by it at all.
“I know,” he smiled, “so I’m going to help you get one.”
Going around getting stabbed in battle was a completely different situation compared to intentionally stabbing herself in the ear. Unnecessary pain should be avoided in Lumine’s humble opinion.
“A-”
“Don’t worry, I’ve done it many times before,” Childe cut in before she even said a word. That was kind of rude.
Without another word, he plucked the earring from her hands.
“Wait!” Lumine blurted, “How many is many? How do I know it won’t hurt?” She had her hand wrapped around his arm to halt his movements.
He raised a brow. “Well, I helped my sister and did mine myself,” he raised two fingers. And then stopped there.
Oh, Archons. No.
“Come on, Lumi, you’ve experienced worse,” he reasoned.
Lumine’s fingers turned icy.
“And there won’t even be any blood,” Childe continued.
“But it’ll hurt!” She retorted, “Nobody goes around stabbing themselves!”
Those were shitty excuses and they both knew it.
A look of understanding crossed Childe’s features and he extended his other hand to stroke her cheek.
“I promise it’s very fast.”
He tilted her face up so that she couldn’t avoid his gaze.
“Tonia was scared when she first asked me to do it. She’d seen my earring and wanted to have them too. When I told her how exactly it would be done, she ran away and didn’t talk about it for a while.”
Childe pried Lumine’s fingers off his arm as he bent to be at eye level with her and tilted his head so that his face was hidden in the crook of her neck as he resumed his story.
“But then she came back to me a few days later and asked me to help her with some earrings she’d gotten. She even pulled at my hair the same way you’re doing now,” he chuckled.
Lumine’s eyes snapped open at his words.
She was doing what?
Suddenly, a dull, throbbing ache bloomed at her right ear, the one Childe had been prodding at.
She pulled her hands out of his hair and shuffled backward.
Well… tried to move back. The walls around her still caged her in.
“Ow,” Lumine mumbled belatedly.
Childe had returned to his full height to examine his handiwork.
“Perfectly centred, and it barely hurt, right?” He puffed out his chest. If he were a peacock, he would’ve been polishing and shining his tail feathers.
“Ow,” Lumine repeated, more exaggerated this time.
He merely smirked at her.
Childe dove back down to get to her other ear, but Lumine’s palms were already flat against his chest. His face stopped right before hers.
“I-I don’t need to wear two at the same time,” she protested.
“I would only have given you one of the earrings if that were the case, pretty girl,” he replied smoothly. “If you’re that scared, just close your eyes and squish the life out of me or something.”
Childe didn’t expect Lumine to take up his offer, but he found himself with two slender arms coiled around his body, choking the air out of his lungs.
“Girlie,” he said softly, “I don’t think you want me to do this blindly do you?”
His head hovered right next to hers, placing her ears beyond his periphery.
Lumine relaxed her hold on him so that he could straighten and tilted her head to the side, keeping her eyes screwed shut as she once again trapped him in her suffocating embrace. She could hear the uneven lub-dub, lub-dub of his heart.
Probably just the lack of oxygen.
“ Just do it, ” she grit out.
This time, without the distraction of his voice, Lumine could feel the coolness of liquid on her earlobe. She could feel Childe position the end of the earring on the soft flesh and the puncture of metal, quick and precise.
He was right, it wasn’t too bad at all. The first, underwhelming piercing had been what allowed her to cave so easily for the second.
And now it was done. Lumine hoped she never went through this again, no matter that it didn’t really hurt. She slumped against his chest. Pain throbbed in her ears, but it was no worse than pressing on a bruise.
“See? I’m a professional.”
Again with the ego.
Lumine pulled back and crossed her arms. “Oh yeah? Why don’t I give you a few more piercings, then I could call myself a professional too,” she retorted, “and I can’t believe a professional would provide his services in a shady alleyway.”
Childe broke into a devilish grin.
“Would you prefer other types of services given our current location?”
Lumine was a complete idiot with words.
She pushed her way past his body and stomped away, her face a shocking shade of red. “No, thank you,” she seethed.
She was decent enough to add a word of thanks for the piercings as she made to leave.
“Give them a twist every now and then,” Childe called out from behind her, “and keep them in for a few days first before you try to take them off.”
His laughter carried to her in the air as she turned out of the alley, the sound irritating yet lovely at the same time.
~
Lumine flicked her hair out of the way.
And then tucked them behind her ears.
Then she tied the two longer locks of hair on top of her head like a bow tie.
Her earrings were annoying .
They probably had 10 litres worth of sweat run through them over the course of the past five days, but Lumine couldn’t take them off.
She actually did not have the ability to pluck the backings off.
What did Childe do to them? He probably pranked her and put some sort of permanent binding spell or whatever on the earrings, they just wouldn’t budge.
It didn’t help that Lumine’s nails were all bitten down to the quick. Her bad habit had finally caught up to bite her in the ass.
Her fingers just slipped right off the small accessory in her ears, even Paimon couldn’t take them out. Then again, Paimon didn’t really have any more nails than Lumine did.
She had tried everything. Using geo to try to slip between the earring and the backing, soaking it in water—which worsened her grip more than it lubricated the small passage in the backing—and even begged a statue of the seven to solve her problem.
“If you can’t fix it, then get the person who created all this trouble to do it for you!” Paimon declared.
That was something she didn’t want to do. Sure, she could just leave the small gems in her ears for the rest of her life, but if she didn’t clean them, they’d turn black one day. Better to get it done and over with now.
Lumine sighed. “Fine.”
Time to go running back to Childe. Memories of their last encounter still brought her shortness of breath whenever she thought about it, so Lumine was outright lightheaded as she walked into Northland Bank, Paimon disappearing into her own dimension in a flurry of constellations.
The traitor wouldn’t even stay to help her shoot snide remarks at the Harbinger she was going to visit.
Ekaterina looked up from her position at the desk when Lumine barged in.
“Can you take me to him please?”
The receptionist didn’t ask any questions as she led her up the stairs to his office.
She gave three light raps on Childe’s door before announcing, “Master Childe, the Traveler has come to look for you.”
“Come in,” was his faint reply from the other side of the door.
Ekaterina pushed open the door for Lumine and shut it behind her once she was inside. Childe was already walking towards her, leaving a tall stack of papers on his desk.
“What brings you here, pretty girl?”
Despite being at work, Childe’s hair was still a mess, though he did look a hundred times cuter that way. Lumine gulped as he stopped about ten centimetres in front of her. The scent of him slammed into her like a wall.
“I… uh, can’t take my earrings off,” she mumbled.
“Hmm?” Childe hummed as he placed a finger beneath her chin, tilting her head from side to side to inspect the small white studs in her ears.
Lumine repeated herself, putting in a little more strength to her words.
“Beautiful,” Childe breathed, not seeming to hear her words as he stared at her, his eyes wild and lost in hers as his hand slid up to caress her cheek.
Of course. Nobody would call the present they gifted someone else ugly.
Lumine opened her mouth, then closed it, and then opened it again. Eventually, she gripped Childe’s shirt and shook him lightly, snapping him out of his trance.
Lumine could hear her pulse in her ears as she repeated herself for the third time.
A breathy laugh as Childe took in her words. “How unfortunate. Luckily, I’m here to help you.”
“I came to you,” she pointed out, frowning, but Childe ignored her and instead pulled her to the couch tucked below the window of his office.
Now that Lumine had a chance to examine her surroundings, she could see how lavish the room was. Not in a flashy way, but it was visible in how everything was of the best quality. The pieces in the room flowed together seamlessly, creating an image of peace and elegance. Very unlike the person who occupied the room.
Childe sunk into the plush sofa and patted his lap. A command.
“I can stand.”
Childe was silent for a while, and then, “Have it your way.”
He was too calm.
Lumine discovered why in the next three seconds.
Abruptly, he stood and crossed the distance between them, hands encircling Lumine’s arms as she was backed up against the desk at the back of the room. Childe didn’t stop as Lumine bumped against the edge of the table.
He pressed his body against hers, and Lumine pushed herself onto her tiptoes to get her butt on the desk, all the better to get away from him. Childe refused to relent, and eventually, he stood between Lumine’s thighs, his hands now on her hips.
There was a faint knocking as something behind her toppled.
A storm was brewing in Childe’s eyes as he leaned in to whisper to Lumine. “More comfortable here, pretty girl? I quite like this position.”
Lumine’s breathing turned ragged as she held his jacket in fists. The heat emanating from him, the hands at her sides, they drove her insane.
She burrowed her face into his neck, unsure if she would be able to speak. Childe’s hold on her tightened, and he pulled her even closer to himself so that their bodies were flush against each other.
From this position, Lumine could feel each sculpted ridge on his body, the expansion and contraction of his chest as he breathed, in and out, in and out.
The way they fit against each other was as if they were molded to be one.
His lips strayed to her neck, leaving a trail of hot kisses in their wake. Lumine hadn’t signed up for this when she came over, but to be fair, this was too good to pass up anyway.
She tilted her head to give him better access, her breaths turning to pants as she felt teeth sink into her skin.
Even if this is all fake, I’d still take it any day.
Lumine groaned as Childe sucked at her skin, her hands moving to his hair. She found the mask he always kept on the side of his head and tugged, giggling as it came free.
All this activity was making her delirious.
“Girlie,” Childe said against her skin, “it’s not very nice to pluck things out of people’s hair, you know?”
He looked up at Lumine just in time to see her stick her tongue out at him as she scoffed, “Live with it.”
With his mask in her hand and her tongue out like that, there was no way Childe could hold himself back any longer. She was his.
Lumime felt her lips consumed by his, and then Childe was pushing her down onto his desk, kissing her all the way.
With one hand, he braced the back of her neck, and with the other, he blindly shoved the unfortunate items on his table out of the way. There was a heavy thump as a stack of papers flew over the edge.
“For you, I will.” His voice was husky, rough around the edges, “Love does amazing things, huh?”
Between their kisses, Lumine managed to grind out, “Love for what? Your office?”
Childe’s lips pressed into hers one last time before he pulled away, a small string of saliva still connecting them.
“How could you… think that?” He was halfway between incredulous and exasperated. “I wouldn’t bat an eye before I decimated this place to get that mask back, just so you know.”
Childe was still leaning over her, her own legs hooked around his hips as he stared into her soul.
Uhh… What?
Lumine blinked. She’d gotten lost in those deep blue eyes.
Those eyes were staring intently at her, as if expecting a response.
“Did you hear me?” Childe probed.
Lumine shook her head, a flush colouring her cheeks.
A soft chuckle, “I said I love you.”
Her eyes widened. “You’re lying.” It was a reflex response, Lumine couldn’t stop the words from leaving her mouth.
Childe rolled his eyes and gestured at whatever position they were in. “Does this look like I’m lying?”
He had a point.
He pressed his lips to hers in a soft, loving kiss. “Don’t tell me you didn’t realise when we had our first date.”
“What?” Since when had they gone on those kinds of things?
“The Golden House. It’s our best date yet, we should do it more often. You don’t really love someone if you don’t want to fight them to the death every few days.”
A glare. “Idiot, only you think that way.” Lumine hesitated before she added, “But I would like to see you surrender.”
A mischievous grin. “See? You’re perfect!”
“So,” Childe nuzzled her neck, “do you love me?”
Lumine brought her hand to his face, tilting his head so that he looked at her. She tried to channel as much solemnity into her expression and voice as she whispered, “No.”
Childe’s eyes widened as he went still as a rock, disbelief stark on his face.
Lumine could see the cogs turning in his mind, processing what she had just said. He narrowed his eyes now.
“Really?” His voice was dark.
“Do I look like I’m lying?”
“Yes, you do,” Childe replied flatly.
“You’re right,” Lumine leaned up to give him a quick kiss.
His eyes blew wide before he snarled, “Don’t play with my heart.”
He nipped at her lower lip, slipping his tongue into her mouth as she gasped. Childe kissed her with renewed passion, and Lumine shuddered at his intensity, at the way he pressed himself even further into her body.
She could only claw at his back to pull him even closer.
“I love you,” she breathed between kisses.
Lumine repeated the three words like a mantra, kissing him each time she said it.
She wasn’t sure how long they remained there on his desk, but the shadows in the room had shifted by the time a hesitant knock interrupted their make out session.
“Master Tartaglia,” Ekaterina’s voice began, “some clients wish to speak with you.”
Childe stilled above Lumine, eyes shut and a small furrow between his brows as he issued his orders with a surprisingly steady voice, “Tell them to come back tomorrow.”
They had moved to the chair at his desk at one point, and the mess in his office was evident from their position. Nobody was coming into this office any time soon.
“Yes, sir,” was the receptionist’s reply.
“Childe, I-”
“Ajax,” he interrupted, though the name was said like a whisper in the wind, “call me Ajax.”
This piece of him that he’d given her, Lumine felt like she was wobbling and filled to the brim with warmth. It couldn’t have been easy for him to tell her this with the information kept under lock and key from the outside world. She would cherish his gift.
Lumine grazed a thumb over his high cheekbones, “Ajax,” she planted a kiss on his lips as she said it, “I think we should continue this another day. You have work to do, and so do I.”
“But I don’t want to,” he whined much like a child would.
“Nobody does, you don’t have a choice here,” Lumine asserted, “I’ll help you clean up.”
She slid off his lap and picked up the stationery and papers that littered the floor, righted the tilted furniture and helped Ajax arrange everything on his desk back to tidiness.
They’d both make good housewives and househusbands.
Lumine opened the window of Ajax’s office and stuck her head out to take note of the possible footholds she’d have to climb down.
“Lumi,” Ajax hugged her from behind, “you can use the front door.”
She leaned into him, “Really? So everyone would know that you ditched work to do things with me? This way you could tell everyone that I got mad at you and hopped out the window. I do it all the time.”
Lumine reached out to smooth a section of his hair down, especially around where his mask had been replaced. She’d made sure that his hair was well and truly mussed as they were kissing.
“Fine,” Ajax sighed, “but come back tomorrow, I’ll miss you already by then.”
With one last parting kiss on the crown of her head, he released her and Lumine leapt out the window in one smooth motion.
~
Night had fallen by the time Paimon reappeared beside Lumine, stretching and yawning.
“Lumine, didn’t you go to Childe just now?”
She nodded.
“So even he didn’t manage to get those earrings out?!” Paimon gasped.
The- Oh no.
Lumine cursed her Harbinger. His tongue and teeth were too distracting for his own good.
“I’ll get my revenge,” she vowed.
So the plotting began.