Chapter Text
His name was Sergey, and he had long blonde hair and brown eyes.
Well, Lumine would’ve preferred it if he had more...golden eyes, but he’d serve his function as long as he slept beside her every night, to which he had no objections to, anyway. They laid ground rules - he’d keep his hair in a long, straight braid, sleep in the same bed, cuddle with her, and in return, all he wanted was a basket of very pretty blue flowers for his mother, which she had already given him in advance.
Lumine tended to wear tiny silk slips to counter the heat in her sleep, and while Sergey was a bit flustered at first, he’d grown used to it after a couple weeks of sleeping next to the pretty blonde. Sometimes she’d cry in her sleep and Sergey would wipe them all off and kiss her on the forehead. She’d lean into his touch and if she whispered a name that wasn’t his, he didn’t pay any mind to it.
It made him feel...needed. As the days went on, he’d become more and more protective of the fearless traveler who was currently in his arms, showing him a side of her nobody but him knew. It made him feel special that the girl in his arms trusted him enough to be so vulnerable around him.
Once, she had a particularly bad nightmare, and Sergey was there to hum softly and stroke her hair to calm her down. When he awoke, she was long gone - probably to do more commissions, he mused - but when he stood up to leave as well, a note on her bedside table caught his attention.
Thank you.
He brought the note up to his chest and squeezed it tight. That was the moment Sergey knew that he would do anything in his power to keep Lumine happy for as long as he could.
Zhongli was not happy.
Over the course of two months, Lumine had missed every single tea time appointment they had planned together beforehand. She didn’t go without an excuse, but it still made him unhappy - he barely saw her, and the few times he did, she was already running off to who knows where.
The man in front of him was equally - if not more - unhappy about the traveler’s growing absences. Tartaglia was very upset that Lumine hadn’t been appearing to their weekly sparring matches, and Zhongli was unfortunate enough to be the one to listen to his ranting, which had grown more and more irritating with each passing week.
Even Xiao had taken to subtly complaining about Lumine’s absence to him every time he’d seen him - if subtly was appearing every day to ask him if he’d talked to her.
But Zhongli understood. Lumine was very good company. Her bright light had always drawn people in, and Zhongli was no exception. Which was why he was so unhappy - he hasn’t had the chance to bask in her light in so long. Was she ill? He wondered, is that why she rarely made appearances anymore?
He was snapped out of his thoughts when he suddenly felt the very familiar presence of a fellow archon enter Liyue. What in the world was Barbatos doing in Liyue?
“Xiao,” he called. A burst of anemo energy appeared from behind him. “Could you check that out for me?”
Xiao only nodded before disappearing once more. “What was that?” Tartaglia asked, no doubt curious about what had just happened.
Zhongli took a sip of his tea. “Nothing that concerns you.”
Venti hadn’t seen Lumine in months.
It was more than he could handle. She was cooped up in Liyue for far too long. Venti couldn’t go another day without seeing her smile like she used to smile at him before these horrible Lumine-less months.
So he did what he thought was best. He baited Diluc into taking him to Liyue with him during his next inspection - which was now, and he even managed to bring Kaeya with them! Well, not that it took much convincing.
“We haven’t seen Lumi in so looong!” Venti whined for the umpteenth time that night alone.
Diluc scoffed. “She’s a traveler,” he pointed out, “she’ll come back when she wants to.”
“But what if something’s happened to her?!” The bard cried melodramatically, downing the rest of his wine. “And what if someone took advantage of her?! We have to go - ”
Diluc grabbed his coat. “We’re going.”
Venti laughs thinking about it. Kaeya, much to Diluc’s chagrin, joined immediately after finding out they were going to check on Lumine, eager to get away from his knightly duties and to see the blonde again after such a long time.
They barely set foot into Liyue Harbor when they were faced with a sudden burst of anemo energy and a menacing scowl. “What is your business here?” Xiao questioned sharply.
“Relax,” Kaeya started. “We’re just here to check on Lumine. We haven’t seen her in a while.”
Xiao’s eyes narrowed. “She hasn’t been spotted often. Don’t disturb her.”
“We’ll leave once we see her healthy,” Venti chimed in with a carefree - dangerous, Xiao recognized - smile. “Could you take us to your master?”
Xiao pursed his lips, hesitant, but began leading the way.
“You’re here to check on Miss Lumine?” Zhongli raised an eyebrow at the sudden influx of visitors for the traveler. “I don’t think you’ll be able to meet her. We don’t know why, but she’s been making herself scarce lately.”
Venti tilted his head, confused. “Why would she be avoiding everyone?”
“That’s why we said we didn’t know,” Childe answered. “She does her commissions, but other than that, she’s been at her room at the inn.”
The bard stood there, silenced. “Then I’ll visit her room!” Venti suddenly proclaimed, ready to march to wherever Lumine was. He was so close and yet - so far!
Diluc held him back by his cloak. “We’ll go visit.”
A sudden noise made them all look in Childe’s direction. He had knocked back his chair. “I’ll come with!” A chance to see his comrade! It’s been so long!
“Then I suppose we’ll all go,” Zhongli said, standing up as well. “Shall we?”
The rather large entourage was making their way to where Lumine was apparently staying when they caught sight of who she called her emergency food.
“Paimon!” Venti waved. “Over here!”
“Tone-deaf bard?!” Paimon squawked, almost dropping her food. “What’re you doing here?!”
Venti laughed. “We’re here to see Lumine,” he explained, noticing Paimon’s bewildered stare. “It’s been a while!”
Paimon gave them an ooooh before smiling brightly. “Then Paimon can take you to her!”
She quickly flew to the inn’s direction, the entourage trailing after her. “She’s been really sleepy lately, so she’ll probably still be asleep when we get there. But Paimon can wake her up for you!”
Once they arrived in front of Lumine’s inn room door, Zhongli raised his hand up to knock three times. The others watched with bated breath.
No response.
“Hmm, let me try!” Venti strode up to the door, giving it a few knocks. “Lumiii?”
Still no response.
“Let me do it,” Diluc said, preparing to knock on the offending piece of door. But the door opened…
...And the person who answered it was definitely not Lumine.
“Did we get the wrong room?” Zhongli asked Paimon, who shook her head vigorously. “Ah, then…”
“Do you need anything?” The stranger raised an eyebrow, and the boys noticed his attire. A robe meant for sleeping. No...he couldn’t be…
They all turned to Paimon. “Who is this?!” Childe frantically asked, hoping his hunch was wrong. It had to be wrong. Lumine couldn’t have possibly -
“Oh, he’s the guy Lumi’s been sleeping with!” Paimon exclaimed enthusiastically.
A deadly silence erupted in the hallway before Childe reared back and punched the stranger square in the face.
“What was that for?!” Sergey exclaimed, holding his rapidly swelling cheek. “Who even are you?!”
Childe held himself back from punching him again. “You don’t deserve Lumine!” He roared, his body telling him to maim the guy who dared to lay his hands on Lumine. The other guys weren’t much better.
“Who are you to decide who deserves her?!” Sergey yelled back. “You don’t even know me!”
“But we know that you don’t deserve her,” Kaeya drawled in an icy tone.
Paimon gawked. “Wha - what’s happening here?!”
“He’s been sleeping with Lumine,” Xiao snarled, fighting the urge to stab a hole through the stranger’s heart.
“Well, yeah! They’ve been sleeping together every day!”
“Bastard!” Diluc exploded, ready to give the man another punch.
A yawn came from inside the room. “Sergey…?” Lumine rubbed her eyes sleepily, a short blanket covering her figure. “Who’s there...Sergey?!”
Immediately, Lumine sank down to her knees to where Sergey was on the floor. “What happened?!” She inspected his injury before looking around and saw - the boys?
“Did you do this to him?!” Lumine stood up angrily, her blanket falling to the floor, revealing her tiny slip of rumpled nightwear. The boys had only grown angrier, no, downright murderous.
“He’s been sleeping with you!” Childe accused, hand twitching. No, no, not in front of Lumine.
Lumine’s eyes were alight with rage. “So you punched him?!” She was so mad she was shaking, how could they hurt Sergey?! “What’s wrong with him sleeping with me?!”
“Lumi, he doesn’t deserve you!” Venti grit his teeth. “He can’t sleep with you!”
“Why?!” Lumine snapped, tearing up, something they didn’t miss. “Why can’t he sleep with me?!”
Silence.
“Why are you so mad about him sleeping with me anyway?” She continued with a sniffle. “I can’t fall asleep without him.”
The silence continued until Zhongli cleared his throat. “Of course we’re... mad , miss Lumine, he made love to you.”
It was Lumine’s turn to fall silent before she turned a bright red. “Ma - made love?!”
The boys stared, dumbfounded. “You’ve been sleeping together, right…?”
“Yes!” Lumine held her suddenly burning cheeks. “Sleep! That’s all we’ve done!”
Oh. Oh. Oh. “So...just...sleep…?” Xiao stepped forward to confirm one more time. Lumine nodded.
They all felt a huge wave of relief hit them. Sleep. That’s all they’ve done. They’ve only slept together -
“Wait! But why are you sleeping together then?!” Venti shrieked, dragging his hands over his face.
“She hired me,” Sergey finally spoke up from his place on the floor. “She gets bad nightmares so I’m here to soothe her.”
The boys suddenly felt very apologetic, and they knew Lumine would never let them live this down. Childe narrowed his eyes. “But girlie - why couldn’t you have slept with me? I would’ve been a perfect cuddle buddy!”
Lumine kicked him in the shins.