Chapter Text
“This is boring,” Childe sighed, twirling his blade on his palm while nudging a fallen man with the tip of his boot. “Couldn’t you have put up a better fight?”
There was no answer, but he wasn’t really expecting one. After all, everyone was busy decorating the ground with their blood and bodies. There must have been more than twenty men he encountered, but Childe didn’t even break a sweat.
“You know,” he said, leisurely stepping over a body to approach the lone uninjured man who was cowering in a corner, “if you’re going to sell out the Fatui, you need to hire better people to guard you. I would recommend someone, but—”
Childe felt a stir in the air and instinctively jumped to the side, dodging the plunging blade just in time. He had barely gotten into a defensive stance when it came at him again, not giving him the chance to orient himself. He raised his own blades to parry the sword that was relentlessly attacking him, neatly blocking all attempts to slice him open.
His blood sang with the rush of thrill and pleasure. This was exactly what he craved. His delight doubled when he recognized the woman wielding the weapon that seemed to be coming for his heart with every forceful thrust.
She looked as beautiful as ever, as bright as her namesake.
“Ojou-chan!” he greeted excitedly with shining eyes and a wide smile. She replied by swiping her sword in a wide arc, forcing him back before she stepped forward with a clean thrust.
Childe dodged to her right, his fist hitting her wrist in an upward motion to disarm her, but Lumine wasn’t so easy to throw off. She turned her body counterclockwise, her free hand clenching into a fist and catching him right on the cheek.
He laughed, lightly leaping away from her reach before she could land a second hit—but not far enough to let her catch her breath. This time he came at her, but instead of wounding her he dropped light kisses every time he came close enough—on the top of her head, on her bare shoulder, on the tip of her nose.
It was a game he discovered he liked playing, but only with her.
Despite his teasing (or maybe because of it), Lumine seemed to be serious in trying to hurt him. Her sword advanced with the intent to injure, maybe even kill. They’ve known each other for a while now, have even shared plenty of meals together both with and without others’ company. They weren’t comrades, weren’t even quite friends, but they were also not hostile to each other on a normal day. For Lumine to give him such an exhilarating battle, there could only be one reason for it.
He let her blow him away with an elemental attack, dancing away with the breeze and lightly landing on his feet some distance away. She watched him warily as she stood there, panting in exertion. Childe himself was out of breath, but that only made him feel more alive.
Lumine had planted herself between him and the traitor—who was now tied up thanks to Paimon’s efforts after the man tried to slip away while Childe was distracted—which confirmed Childe’s suspicions.
“Eh, you don’t seem happy to see me,” he said with a shit-eating grin.
“No one’s ever happy to see you,” she quipped back, making him laugh.
“Good point. I’m always happy to see you, though.” He gestured to the man behind her with his blade. “Even when you’re trying to steal my prey.”
“It’s not stealing if you willingly hand him over,” Paimon butt in.
Childe finally put his weapons away and crossed his arms over his chest. “Do I look that easy?” he asked with a wriggle of his eyebrows. Lumine sighed in resignation.
“I guess I have no choice.” She lifted her sword again, taking a stance. Childe wondered how someone so small could pack so much fierceness. She had a calm and quiet presence, but when she fought she moved with such grace that made it hard to take one’s eyes off her.
Childe sighed. “It’s that Favonius captain’s idea to send you, isn’t it?” he asked. He already knew that the Knights of Favonius were also after the traitor for information, but he didn’t think they’d tap his little traveler for the job. Kaeya must have known the Fatui would send him. “He’s such a pain,” he mumbled.
Childe and Lumine had a complicated relationship. She could deny it all she wanted, but he could tell that she had let down some of her guard around him. They stood on opposing sides most of the time, but they had mutual connections that allowed them to spend time or even work together at times. They had nothing personal against each other, so they weren’t hostile if they didn’t have to be.
While she wasn’t an enemy, Childe knew they would never really stand on the same side because she would never affiliate herself with the Fatui.
Still, he wanted her.
It was intoxicating to fight her, but there was another kind of pleasure in watching her.
Her soft smiles. Her intense glares. The way she would stare off in the distance when she was longing for her brother, or the way she would look down with a wistful smile when she’s feeling nostalgic.
He felt a different kind of thrill every time she laughed at something he’d said, or when she would scrunch her eyebrows in disapproval at something he did.
If only she wasn’t an honorary knight.
If only he wasn’t the eleventh harbinger.
Childe groaned, rubbing the back of his neck. It had always been, and always would be, a pleasure to cross blades with Lumine, but right now it was a complication. Fighting with her here meant one of them would fail at their respective missions.
He cursed Kaeya under his breath.
Lumine, oblivious to his inner turmoil, pounced. He wanted nothing more than to meet her sword with his own, but he needed to think so he sidestepped and turned to get behind her. He caught her gently but firmly, trapping her arms with his and holding her wrist down so she couldn’t stab him with her sword.
“Hey, Paimon,” he said thoughtfully, resting his chin atop Lumine’s head to stop her struggling. “Kill him quickly so we can all go home.”
“Paimon is not your lackey, Paimon won’t be ordered around!” Paimon huffed, waving her fist in the air. “And we have to bring him in alive!”
“Paimon!” Lumine groaned, giving up the fight and slumping back against Childe’s chest. “I told you not to talk to him.”
Paimon gasped, realizing what she’d just said. “Argh, you sly Fatui!”
“You’re still so easy,” Childe teased, chuckling. Lumine was trying to elbow him to get him to release her, but he pretended not to notice. “Is that it? You just need to bring him in alive?” he asked her.
Instead of answering, she rammed the heel of her boot into his shin—but his own boot was protecting his leg well, so he barely felt any pain. “Let me go,” she demanded.
“Tell me first.” He squeezed her lightly, hoping that her stubborn nature would get the best of her and prolong the embrace.
She knew him well enough by now, however, so she wasn’t easily provoked. “Yes, Kaeya commissioned me to bring him in alive and unharmed,” she said with a huff. “I wouldn’t have accepted it if I knew you were the one I have to deal with. You’re such a pain.”
Childe let out an exaggerated gasp. “You’re doing a commission without gathering intel?”
“They said it was someone else. I guess they got the wrong info.”
Childe couldn’t see her face in their current position, but he could hear the frown in her voice.
Ha. Wrong info? Yeah, right. The Knights of Favonius would never meet with the Fatui without verifying their information firsthand. He laughed, finally loosening his arms around her. That damn captain. It was clever of Kaeya to send Lumine after him, alright. But if the captain thought that was enough to thwart this harbinger, he had better think again.
Childe disliked resorting to dirty tricks but he didn’t have a lot of options in this kind of situation. He stared at Lumine, the gears turning in his head.
“Alright,” he decided, raising his hands in a gesture of surrender. “He’s all yours.”
Lumine stared at him with narrowed eyes, suspicious. Ah, she knew him too well. He gave her a charming smile, trying to throw her off.
“You have to go out with me after you complete your mission, though.”
“You know what, I’d rather fight you.” She brought the tip of her sword below his chin, but her statement only put a huge grin in his face.
“That would be the most pleasurable thing, of course, but you’re already at a disadvantage. I only need a small window of opening to kill him, but you have to render me completely immobile for an adequate amount of time so you can haul him out of here.”
Lumine studied him carefully. Her eyes flickered in consideration as she weighed her options. It was a no-brainer, really. She was a worthy opponent, but they both knew that even if she somehow triumphed over him there was no guarantee that she’d have enough strength left to drag the traitor all the way back to Mondstadt.
“I’m going to make you hurt if you try anything funny,” she said finally. He beamed at her.
“I’ll let you bring him in and complete your mission,” he promised. “Alive and unharmed, just like your contract.”
She gave him a final glare before brushing past him, stomping her way towards where Paimon was waiting. He watched her, feeling both pleased and unsettled at how trusting she was to leave her back open to him like that. Even now he had the urge to come at her—with a sword or with gentle arms, he couldn’t decide.
He was longing to fight her until they were both on the ground.
He was aching to kiss her until neither of them had any breath left.
He laughed to himself, shaking his head.