Work Text:
Tick, tock.
Lumine stares at the clock on her wall, both hands pointing to the number 2. A sigh leaves her lips as she stares at the thick textbook in front of her, a couple of notebooks scattered around.
Picking up a sticky note and immediately glaring at the scribbles, Lumine is convinced that maybe studying at 2am wasn’t the best idea. Sentences turned into gibberish the more she looked at it, and nothing was getting into her head.
She shakes her head and lightly slaps her cheek. “Come on, Lumine. You got this.” Turning to her laptop, fingers drumming against the keyboard as she revises the topic.
—must be able to differentiate between antemortemalskdhjksahfla…./…./...
“Dammit.”
She wonders if the cup of coffee she just had contained any sort of suspicious looking mushrooms. Her phone buzzes, startling Lumine from her seat.
Irritated, she grabs her phone to turn it off for disturbing her study time. Though before she could do so, she sees the familiar icon for YouTube, the words ‘cyun’ and ‘LIVE!’ and feels the corner of her lips twitch upwards.
Chongyun, she thinks.
The blonde immediately abandons all will to study and proceeds to open her phone, immediately clicking on the notification. She’s greeted by the appearance of pastel blue- haired male clad in a gray hoodie, with white headphones on.
Congratulations! You are the 1000th viewer of cyun’s stream!
Lumine leans her cheek against her palm and smiles. Chongyun has really come a long way since his early streamer days. The shy male would usually laugh it off when Lumine compliments about his rising popularity.
“Honestly, I’m already grateful even if there’s only one person watching.” He mentioned once to Lumine, and she smiles at the thought.
1100… 1201… 1289..
The corners of Lumine’s lips rise, heart swelling with pride as she stares at the small screen of her phone. She sees Chongyun sipping his drink, scrolling through his phone while occasionally checking the screen to greet the newcomers.
It only takes a few more minutes when he finally sets his phone down, icy- blue eyes staring into the camera. Chongyun beams, absolutely catching Lumine off guard every time, even though she’s used to watching his videos. He’s too cute.
“Welcome, everyone! I hope you’re having a great day— or, uh… night,” Chongyun greets his audience, eyes shifting back and forth from his camera to his monitor.
“qiuqiu, xiiiiiiiiny4n, guobomb, welcome back! Xing— qiuqiu, ” Chongyun pauses, distress obvious in his tone.
“Stop spamming the chat or I’ll have the moderator kick you out.”
vi8rix has entered the chat.
Chongyun’s eyes seem to light up upon seeing the familiar username. Lumine, he thinks.
“Vi8rix,” Chongyun grins, eyes forming crescents.
“Glad you’re able to join us again today.”
Lumine feels her cheeks getting warm at the gesture, as she stares at her phone.
Chongyun was being bold again, per usual, but it didn’t mean she didn’t like it. Lumine honestly would prefer if she didn’t have any fans doodling ‘X’ on her face if they find out she was the girlfriend of a famous streamer, but it was also something Lumine (secretly) wanted to boast about.
She remembers voicing out her concern, to which Chongyun responds in the form of laughter. If anything— it was him that was supposed to be worried about getting ‘X’s’ doodled on his portraits because Sevens, has Lumine ever looked at herself in the mirror?
Dork, she notices her lips forming a smile from the reflection in her phone, and taps the heart button in the chat.
_________________________
cyun has entered the chat. Say hi!
vi8rix has entered the chat. Say hi!
cyun is typing...
cyun: lu ive got sumn to say
vi8rix is typing…
vi8rix: what
vi8rix: for the last time im not gna force you to buy me welkin
cyun is typing...
cyun: >:(
cyun: not that
cyun: promise me u wont freak out
vi8rix: mmmm ok
cyun is typing…
cyun: ok so here goes
cyun: if i had a masterball
cyun is typing…
cyun: i’d use it on u.
vi8rix is typing…
vi8rix: LMAOOOO WHAT
_________________________
The scent of coffee is heavy in the air as Lumine enters the humble coffee shop. Ordering a caramel latte with whipped cream, she drums her fingers on the counter while staring at the interior. Lumine drowns in her own thoughts, thinking about her mountain of assignments and also the fact she has finals coming up.
A sigh leaves her lips as she receives her drink, making her way to her usual solitary window seat. Taking a whiff of the coffee as she opens her laptop, a notification pops on the screen almost immediately.
Lumine looks at the sidebar, clicking on the bright YouTube lable to see that familiar pastel blue hair, the sweetest smile and somehow, stress seems to dissipate from her body. Chongyun was streaming again, and this time he was playing Animal Crossing, instead of his usual horror games.
“—girlfriend recommended me to play, even though I wasn’t really interested in this initially,” His mellow voice blends with the soundtrack and Lumine finds herself smiling.
“I wish I could show you guys her village, it’s a lot better than mine!”
Lumine finds herself giggling, tapping the heart button in the chat box and grins when she sees Chongyun taking notice of her presence in the stream.
“.......She bullied me a lot about decorations though— I can’t blame her, the only part I’m proud of is this Godzilla statue I bought.”
Chongyun’s avatar (it was basically a mini him, except he was clad in a cat onesuit) marches into a small amusement park-like design in his village and Lumine laughs. She remembers him excitedly showing her about his Godzilla- themed amusement park when they played Animal Crossing together a few days ago.
Taking a sip of her drink, Lumine lets out a small laugh as she continues watching Chongyun introducing everyone to his village, the apple trees, the beach, even his winter- themed interior designs.
“—snowing today so I think I’m gonna go swim at the beach,” Chongyun grins, immediately moving his avatar to the designated location, but pauses when he sees the comment section.
“D-Don’t go to the beach? It’s too cold for that? But that’s the best part!”
Lumine chuckles again, mouse hovering over the heart button as she shakes her head. Somehow, she finds comfort in just seeing Chongyun talk and enjoy himself, while doing what he loves. After all, it’s one of the reasons why she’s fallen for him.
What she doesn’t know is that Chongyun’s streams seemed to become a bit more livelier, eyes looking much brighter and smiles just a little bit wider, all because of that one notification appearing on his screen.
vi8rix has entered the chat.
_________________________
cyun has entered the chat. Say hi!
vi8rix has entered the chat. Say hi!
cyun is typing…
cyun: ….uh
cyun: if you were a weapon
cyun is typing…
cyun: you’d be 5 star.
vi8rix is typing…
vi8rix: ...is this ur effort at flirting
cyun is typing...
cyun: ISTG XINGQIU TOLD ME THIS WOULD WORK???
_________________________
‘cyun is now LIVE! Watch his stream now!’
Lumine raises an eyebrow, blinking a few times to see if her eyes were fooling her. Chongyun streaming on an early Tuesday morning seemed to be out of the ordinary, especially when she knows it’s about 4am where he’s from, whereas it was 10am for her.
Stretching her limbs, letting out a satisfied groan when she hears that ‘crack’ in her bones, Lumine taps the notification to see Chongyun’s pastel hair obscuring the view.
For some reason- his setup for this stream was different from usual. First of all, he was outside. Secondly, it was obviously too bright for it to be 4am where he’s from (‘Isn’t it 4am in Liyue now?’) and lastly— why does that door seem familiar?
“—hey, everyone!” He grins at the camera, adjusting it properly to get a full view of his upper body.
Chongyun is even more dressed up for this stream for some reason, though he doesn’t fall short in terms of comfort. His white hoodie, shoved over a checkered tee, made his soft features stand out even more.
“Give me a second,” Chongyun smiles brightly at the camera, biting his lips nervously as he taps the phone icon.
Please tell me she’s home.
_________________________
vi8rix has entered the chat. Say hi!
cyun has entered the chat. Say hi!
vi8rix is typing...
vi8rix: hey chongyun
vi8rix: roses are red
vi8rix: violets are blue
vi8rix: if you were a pokemon
vi8rix is typing…
vi8rix: i’d choose you ♡
_________________________
Chongyun raises his phone to his ear, cheeks flushing as he smiles brightly. Lumine feels the corner of her lips raise as well, as she rests her cheek against her palm. Maybe Chongyun was visiting a friend today for a stream today and wanted to surprise them?
She almost jumps at the sudden buzzing of her phone, ringtone playing loudly and the words ‘ chongyun ♡ ’ appearing in her notifications.
Chongyun was calling her? In the middle of a stream? Lumine blinks for a few seconds, finally realising she’s been staring at the notification for a while before tapping the green icon.
“Hello?” She answers, almost confused.
“Chongyun? Why are you calling me in the midd-”
“Lu,” Chongyun interrupts, and she could hear the nervousness in his voice.
“Could you open the door? I’ve been holding it in since the airport because the line was too long…. But hey— h— hello?”
Lumine isn’t listening anymore. Her grip on her phone tightens, not moving from her ear as she turns around. Blood rushing to her head, heart pounding, thoughts in a mess, because Sevens… Was Chongyun here?
She almost practically runs to the front door, hands fumbling with the doorknob as she lets out a long exhale.
Whatever you do, Lumine… Don’t freak out. Don’t freak out…. Don’t freak— Oh.
The door opens to reveal the same pastel- blue haired male she’s known only from the small screen of her phone, standing right in front of her. Chongyun’s hand falls to his sides as a shy smile makes its way to his face.
“H— Hi.” He squeaks out, almost a question and Lumine’s heart almost bursts.
Her cheeks were flushed, mouth agape and too surprised to even say anything, until she realises he’s been standing outside her door for Archons know how long. She snaps out of her obvious daze, stepping aside to allow Chongyun to come in.
“C— Come in,” She mutters, trying to mask her shyness.
“Your stream, is it… still on?”
Chongyun makes a confused expression for a few seconds, until he realises he was still live and smiles sheepishly at Lumine. He mutters a quick ‘sorry,’ and pans his phone to his face.
“Hello everyone! So I’m at my girlfriend's house, and no, qiu, I can’t show her because of privacy reasons,” Chongyun moves the camera away from his face and looks at the shorter blonde.
“Or do you want to be on camera?” He whispers, asking for permission.
Lumine feels her cheeks warm at his question, and lets out a chuckle.
“Maybe next time.” she whispers back and eyes the way the comments seemed to flood even more.
qiuqiu: I HEARD HER
qiuqiu: STOP KEEPING HER IN UR BASEMENT
xiiiiiiiiny4n: oh my god this is so wholesome i cant
guobomb: tell her i said HIIIII
Lumine lets her fingers peek through the camera, forming a small heart with her thumb and forefinger, right beside Chongyun’s face for good measure. Chongyun laughs at the action and nods at the camera.
“I’ll see you guys later, I’m gonna go get settled now, so thanks for joining me today! Bye!”
He waves at the camera, giving his signature grin and another smaller hand snakes into the frame, waving as well. Chongyun stifles a laugh and presses the end button, pocketing his phone before finally looking at the person he was in the plane, 6 hours for.
Lumine.
He’s here, he’s finally here, after months of long distance and everything feels almost blurry. One second he’s smiling so much to the point his cheeks hurt, the next second, he’s enveloping a small blonde in his arms.
It’s when Lumine’s arms snake around his torso, his arms making their way around her smaller body as well, slowly, as if asking for permission, and all he smells is vanilla.
The realisation finally hits after he feels her arms tightening around him as well and Chongyun realises.
She’s here.
She’s here too.
Not in the form of a frame on the side as they played games together online, not in the form of chatting with each other through discord or social media, but it’s her. Here, in flesh, warm and sunny just how he thought it’d be with Lumine, the first time they actually facetimed each other.
“You’re here,” Lumine manages to mutter, finally leaning back as she takes one good look at the person in front of her.
It takes Chongyun by surprise because it seems Lumine is still in shock as well. He lets out a small chuckle and gives her a small smile.
“You’re actually here.” Lumine’s statement almost laces with disbelief, but evidently happy.
“I’m here,” Chongyun smiles widely, eyes turning into crescents as he nods. “Chongyun, in the flesh.”
“Nice to… finally meet you, Lumine.”
A pale hand holds out in front of her, belonging to the boy with flushed cheeks. His voice laces with concern, as if afraid she was going to reject him.
Lumine’s hand slowly grips his and instead of shaking it, she pulls him into another embrace that catches Chongyun in surprise.
“Nice to officially meet you as well, Chongyun.”
Lumine smells like burnt toast on a cold morning, with a side of sunny- side eggs.
Chongyun smells like peppermint, freshly dry- cleaned cotton sweaters and vanilla milkshakes.
Embracing each other in the doorway of Lumine’s small apartment, only releasing after a few minutes, as they looked into each other’s eyes, giving each other smiles that could put the stars to shame.
It’s unfathomable how familiar they feel to each other. Blue staring into gold as the puzzle pieces fit into one another.
He couldn’t hear it, hearts beating too loudly in their almost perpetual embrace but he swears Lumine whispered it at some point.
The smallest, softest,
“Welcome home.”
_________________________
“Lu— Lumine.”
“I’ve been… wanting to do this for a while now,” He mutters with a timid tone.
“May I?”
Lumine nods, feeling her cheeks warm as she takes one of his hands in hers, giving it a small squeeze. “Go for it.”
He leans in, faces flushed but Sevens, he’s doing it.
He’s going to kiss her.
He’s been thinking about it ever since she responded to his lame pickup lines (courtesy of Xingqiu,) and he’s finally doing it.
Callused hands lightly treading her jaw, cupping her cheeks slowly as he closes his eyes. Pressing his lips against hers in the lightest way possible, he widens his eyes as he feels Lumine press against him, hands making their way to his.
She might have a quiz tomorrow at 2pm, but all she could think of right now is the soft lips of a pastel blue haired boy against hers, and how he smells of vanilla and peppermint.
Lumine was the first to break the kiss, face clearly flushed as she looked away immediately. Chongyun was no better— somehow finds his face buried behind his hands to cover his flushed cheeks, but he sneaks a glance at the girl in front of him.
Lumine notices his stare on her, eyebrows scrunching as she huffs.
“What?”
Chongyun holds out his hand, to which Lumine places her palm against, after a few minutes and chuckles. He takes her hand in his, clutching them gently as his gaze turns towards her once again.
Chongyun wants to memorise every twinkle in her eyes, resembling stars in the sky, how the edges of her lips would curve upwards in a smile, the way she giggles, hitting his shoulder in unison.
Chongyun wants to remember every little feature she has, because how else was he going to bear leaving her, when he returns to Liyue?
He shakes his head. He’s here with her right now, and that’s all that matters.
“Nothing.” He says with a soft smile, earning a pout from Lumine.
No rush. He wasn’t going anywhere without her, after all.