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Lumine toyed playfully with the curls of his fiery ponytail.
“Let me tell you a little story, Diluc.”
The flames flickered in the fireplace, casting a warm glow onto the dark cedar walls and burgundy carpets of Dawn Winery. An intoxicating aroma of wine drifted through the estate, bringing out the warmth in Diluc’s normally stern voice. “Go ahead, I’m listening.”
“Back when my brother and I had first started travelling, I used to keep my hair long. But once, we were caught by a sinister organisation, and during our escape, the leader grabbed my hair and sliced my back.”
“Aether’s face went stark white. In the instant that the knife sliced open my skin, strength that I didn’t even know I had surged up within me, and twisting around, I snatched his knife and chopped off my hair.”
“Only once we escaped did I realise that my scalp had been torn out. It hurt like nothing else, much worse than the knife wound.”
“My brother helped me fix up my hair, and from then onwards I kept my hair short, while it was my brother who, for some strange reason, started keeping his hair long. Yet he begged me to help him braid his hair every day, as the hair, flowing as the wind blows, became a frequent annoyance.”
“And he refused to learn how to do so himself! He used to always say that, since I braided his hair for him, why would he need to learn to do so himself?”
“I replied that, if he found long hair so troublesome, then why did he keep it?”
Lumine took a deep breath.
“He told me that the next time we encountered such a situation, they would only catch him, and not me.”
She was already standing at Diluc’s side, staring at him earnestly.
“So… Diluc, could you let me braid your hair?”
He stared suspiciously at her, squinting his eyes slightly. She widened her eyes and tugged on one of the bangs that framed his face. He sighed, and released his hairband.
“Here.”
Seriously, he couldn’t deal with her at all.
Diluc’s hair was soft and fluffy, and his curls were slightly more difficult to braid than Aether’s, but Lumine skilfully combed her hands through it, carefully separating it out into neat brunches.
“I almost cried! I was so touched by his nonsense. But later I thought about it. Why must one person sacrifice themself for the other? Why couldn’t we run away together?”
“So I grabbed a knife, about to chop his hair off, when he scampered away yelling ‘Fine, fine, it’s because flowing hair looks cool in battle, ok?’”
Diluc chuckled. “Your brother sounds like a very interesting person. Hopefully, he won’t be angry that I stole his sister.”
Her cheeks heated up. Luckily, the glow of firelight covered up her blush. She tied up the ends of the braid and tugged it here and there to adjust the tightness.
“There.” Manoeuvring in front of him, she squinted, smiling. “It looks great.”
Diluc stood up, and slowly moved right in front of her. Lumine’s gaze tracked his movements, needing to lean her head back to keep her eyes on him. He rather liked how, in this moment, he was only thing reflected in her eyes.
Still, he understood. She was about to leave for Inazuma.
His tone was indifferent as usual, yet unknowingly, a trace of reluctance slipped into his voice. “When are you leaving?”
Thinking back to the injuries that lined her body when she returned from Liyue, though she was only there to participate in the Rite of Descension, she was somehow roped into Fatui plots and who knows what other conspiracies, and not to mention, involved in fighting against an ancient sea god. The situation in Inazuma only seems even more complicated than Liyue; he couldn’t help but worry.
“I’ll be setting off tomorrow.”
Diluc said nothing in response. Sensing his turmoil, she grasped his hand.
“Hey, Diluc, hopefully when I come back this time, I can introduce you to my brother. He’s not as skilled as I am in combat, so maybe even you can beat him!”
He gently embraced her. “Come back quickly. Next time, I’ll let you braid my hair like that Chief Alchemist.”