Work Text:
"Lumine."
"Liliana."
Both names felt so familiar to her. In her dreams, she hears the same voice. But it's always calling her by a different name.
She doesn't even know who Liliana is.
Lumine's head couldn't stop pounding.
Lumine had never found herself bedridden before. Perhaps it was the fact she was in Teyvat for too long, but her body felt tired.
And her caretaker for today was none other than Childe.
"Aren't you too busy for this?" Lumine manages to mumble. She feels delirious, and feels her consciousness drifting in and out. She feels weak, and she hates feeling weak. It was annoying to look so pathetic in front of Childe.
"I can always make time for you, girlie." Childe smiles, but for a second, Lumine hears someone else.
"I will always make time for you, signora."
This time, Lumine saw a different man saying this. A memory she had no recollection of played throughout her mind. Instead of Childe's ginger hair color, she saw a man with blonde hair instead. Their eyes were both blue, but the man wore something foreign. A white suit and a colorful tie, something that was not typical in Teyvat.
But the mirage of the man quickly disappears in an instant.
"Does a Fatui harbinger really have time to play babysitter?" Lumine teases. She was still annoyed at him after the events with the gnosis. She knows she should be nicer, because he is taking time out of his day to look after her, but Lumine can’t help but feel annoyed. She hated his playful voice, acting like he did nothing wrong.
But before he could respond, Lumine's head started pounding again.
"Aren't you busy, Nicola ? Since you're the underboss, I can't imagine there being no work today…" A woman asks. She’s speaking in a strange language, but Lumine can somehow understand her.
"Ah. Don't worry Lili. Dante knows that today is a special day for me." Nicola winks, and helps the woman up from bed.
The young woman approaches a mirror. Lumine thinks she looks familiar, but she doesn't know why. The young woman had long blonde hair and green eyes, and she can see a strange birthmark on the woman's chest.
Nicola comes behind her, and puts on a necklace for the woman.
"This is too expensive for me, Nicola…" The woman remarks. It's a few emeralds, but they shined like no other.
"It's our 5th anniversary, should I not celebrate?" Nicola pinches the woman's cheeks. The woman only pouts in response, but admits defeat. She rests her head on the man’s shoulder, admiring the jewels. He brushes through her hair with his fingertips, before raising her hand to his lips. “Let me spoil you for today, Lili.”
The woman blushes, and Nicola soon surprises her with another gift.
“You’re always cooking for me… so I wanted to try to cook too.” The man’s playful tone is a bit quieter, as if he was a bit shy about his cooking.
Leo pokes his head through the doorway, before winking at Nicola. He hands Nicola a dish, and Lili could immediately smell it.
Nicola puts the dish of cannoli in front of her. The bread looked a bit burnt, the cream was falling out, and there was a bit too much ricotta. It looked like a child made it, but the woman can’t help but smile. “It’s fine, I’m sure it will taste good.” The woman opens her mouth, and Nicola grabs a piece to feed her.
Even if it looked a bit silly, Lumine thinks it smelled good. She doesn’t realize she’s dreaming when she opens her mouth, and feels something squirming against her tongue.
Lumine’s instantly brought back to reality, only to see Childe with a bowl of soup.
“Ah..where’s the cannoli…” Lumine whines, biting the urge to puke up whatever she just ate.
“Cannoli? What’s that? This is my homemade soup. You were drooling with your mouth open, so I thought you wanted me to feed you.” Childe brings the bowl of soup closer to Lumine, only for her to gawk.
She wasn’t sure what she was looking at. She thinks it might be the tentacles of an octopus twitching in an ocean of blood. She wasn’t sure how he could make a bowl of soup look so...terrifying. He’s a bad cook, just like the man in her memories…
Wait, who was he?
Lumine shrugs the memories off as a silly dream. “I’m grateful you’re nursing me but...what the hell is that?” The octopus legs were still twitching. Lumine thought it would have stopped moving by now, but it looked almost pitiful.
“I’m very hurt by your comment, you know. I showed a secret family dish to you.” Childe smirks, before pushing another spoon of the mystery soup to Lumine’s lips.
“Is this how you plan to kill me?” Lumine’s not sure if she can take another bite, not until the tentacles stop moving. Lumine remembers meeting Teucer, but she couldn’t imagine his cute little brother eating a dish like this.
Childe scoffs. “I told you, I hate underhanded tricks. This soup is proof of my sincerity towards you.” The spoon touches Lumine’s lips, and Lumine’s too tired to fight back. She’s eaten worse, so she figured his soup couldn’t be too bad.
“Fine. Since this is your sincerity after all, Childe.” After the tentacles stop twitching, Lumine finds that the soup was alright. Childe looks delighted, and perhaps a bit shocked that someone actually finished his food.
Lumine feels the fatigue creep back in, and Childe notices. "Get some more rest, Lumine." He tucks Lumine in, burying her in blankets. She was shivering, and he felt a bit sorry for her. It was no fun to fight a sick person, after all.
He wants to turn away, but he feels an urge to stay. Lumine only stares at him, until Childe puts his hand over her eyes.
"Just sleep. We can have our duel next week." Childe doesn't know why he felt the need to close her eyes. She doesn’t bother to push his hand away either. Lumine reaches out for his other hand, holding it in her palm. Their fingers interlock, and Childe can feel the sweat trickling down her fingers. She holds onto his hands for a while, even when she falls asleep.
And even after she falls asleep, he finds himself unable to let go of her hand. In a week from now, he would probably find himself again with her sword at his throat. It was a bit funny, being so intimate with her, when she wouldn’t hesitate to cut him down.
But this wasn't bad either.
It was nice to pretend to be someone he wasn't. At times, it almost felt natural. Being romantic was easy for Childe, he's done it all before. Whether it was for missions, or for a late night rendezvous, it never meant much to him. It would never last longer than a night, and he would never see them again. But he finds himself again and again at her side, whether as enemies or friends.
It was odd. This was just supposed to be a game for him, to get her to lower her defenses. He would eventually win. This persona he was emitting was nothing more than a tool.
There was nothing else to it.
If I keep up this persona, this should keep her away from Dante.
Childe shakes his head for a moment. Who's Dante?
He writes it off as nothing more than a fleeting thought. Perhaps one of the plays he saw was creeping into his subconscious.
But, while she's defenseless, when they have no reason to murder each other, Childe decides to play along. It was harmless, as long as she wasn’t in his way. It was fun to tease her. It was fun to spar with her. It was fun to go on dates with her. It was fun to… be with her. Childe doesn't want to stop, not yet.
She’s honest, she’s strong, and she isn’t afraid of him. It was a bit refreshing for Childe. He was used to being around schemers or cowards. But Lumine...Lumine was different. She was like a splash of color to his otherwise bloody life.
Even the Fatui Harbingers deserve some fun in their lives. So Childe lets her hold onto his hand, even as she mutters a strange name in her sleep.
Because when the time comes, he can easily stop this.
At least, that's what he thinks.
