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“Paimon, please don’t tell me you ate the last of our rations!”
Lumine was digging through her bag in a desperate search for said rations, coming up empty. Golden eyes turned to angle a glare at her floating companion who flinched before looking away with guilt. “I-I was hungry-- I’m so sorry, Lumine!”
Sighing, Lumine shakes her head as she stands. “Just… make sure the fire stays lit. I’ll go catch some fish for lunch.” As she grabbed her blade, Lumine left her companion behind at their campsite, the flames being carefully looked after by the small friend. They’d only just recently finished their commissions and were ready to sit down for a late lunch which Paimon had argued was definitely late enough to be dinner instead.
“Fair enough.” Lumine had agreed with her partner when she’d looked up at the quickly setting sun once more. The waters around the city of Mondstadt were calm and clear, several fish swimming about in the shallows as the girl reached down to tug her boots off. Next, she bunched up the hem of her dress, tying the bulk of the fabric behind her in an attempt to keep it dry as she waded into the water.
The fish were slippery and fast in the water, but she was faster as her hands shot through the surface like lightning, gripping one by the tail as she quickly flung it behind her onto the shore.
“You’re going to scare off all the boys if you keep fishing like that, Lumi.”
Her brother had loved to tease her about it, but it always ended with her shoving him into the water anyway as the two broke down laughing. But now there was no one to tease her. No one for her to push in and laugh with. Shaking herself, Lumine focused once more as a third fish hit the rocks. It was nowhere near enough, not for Paimon alone at least. The two of them could easily eat at least ten fish between them if they didn’t hold back.
Lumine flung a fifth fish over her shoulder, freezing when someone squawked in surprise. “Archons above! That nearly hit me in the face!”
The light voice was familiar and as she turned to face her friend, she couldn’t help but giggle a bit. “Don’t you think you’re exaggerating a bit, Venti? Since when were you as short as the rocks at your feet?” True enough, the fish were all piled up at the bard’s feet, nowhere near close enough to even have hit his leg had he walked up.
“Well, I know the people of Mondstadt would accuse me of the same if they heard me singing songs about the Honorary Knight fishing with her bare hands!” he says with a wink. “Say, you do know fishing rods are a thing, right?”
Huffing, she wades closer to shore, her hands on her hips. “Does it look like I have the room to store one while I travel? Besides, fishing with my hands is perfectly effective.”
Venti hums in thought, looking her over. “Has anyone ever told you how very unfeminine you are?” he jokes. The smirk on his face quickly melts away when she trudges out of the water to stand behind him. “Wh-Wha--” Not giving him a chance to try and apologize, she shoves him forward, smirking when he lands in the water.
“Has anyone ever told you how unmasculine you are?” she fires back, wrinkling her nose as he spits out a mouthful of water.
“Alright, I deserved that,” he sighs, sitting up as he retrieves his hat trying to float away. “But did you really have to push me in?” He wrings the hat relatively dry before replacing it atop his head, turning to pout at her with the biggest puppy dog eyes he could muster.
Crossing her arms, Lumine shakes her head. “Then you should know better than to-- Hey!” A hand wrapped around her ankle and tugged, dragging her into the water as well as she landed with a splash. When her head broke the surface of the water, she could hear his laughter echoing across the lake. “You!”
She lunged blindly, hands searching to throttle the bard as she blinked the water from her eyes. Thin fingers intertwined with her own, helping to steady her in the water before she could fall over again. “Alright, I’ll admit I went a little too far, but you left yourself wide open, did you not?”
As her vision cleared, she could see a sparkle of amusement in his eyes at their predicament. The two were sitting together in the shallows, hand in hand as they came down from the high of excitement. “I-I should be getting back,” Lumine says, clearing her throat as she stands, wading back to the shore as she collects her fish and boots.
“You aren’t going to offer me any fish?” Venti asks, looking hurt as he follows after her.
“Y-You don’t deserve any of this fish after that little stunt you pulled,” she bites out, shivering as a cold breeze brushes against her bare, damp skin.
Venti purses his lips in thought. “If you’re cold, then you shouldn’t sleep outside,” he says, gently placing his hands on her shoulders as he steers her away from the direction of her campsite and back towards the city instead. “I’ll book us some rooms for the night!”
“With what money?” Lumine asks, distracted.
“Just because I’m always broke doesn’t mean I don’t save money from time to time,” he says.
She frowns at him, planting her feet. “Your words are very contradictory. In any case, if we’re going to stay in the city, then I’m not going to leave Paimon by herself.”
The bard trails after her, laughing weakly. “Paimon? Surely she’s already at Good Hunter eating them out of stock?”
Lumine angles a glare at him over her shoulder as she leads the way back to their campsite, the little companion fast asleep by the dying fire. “Well, I suspected as much,” she sighs before throwing more wood onto the fire.
“You aren’t going to start packing up?” Venti asks.
Waving the fish in his face, Lumine laughs lightly. “I can hardly let these go to waste now, can I? Besides, the fire should be warm enough to dry us off and keep us from freezing to death.”
Looking less than pleased, Venti sat down by the fire, watching in silence as she speared the fish on small sticks that she put near the flames to cook. Paimon was still fast asleep, rolling over once as she whined. The pair sat by the fire in silence, soaking in the warmth as their clothes slowly dried. Lumine took that opportunity to slip her boots back on, humming in approval as she rotated the fish.
After some time, she leaned over to poke Paimon who sat up rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “Here.” Lumine offered one to Venti who took it gratefully, watching the girls sit next to one another as they dug into their own meal. It lacked any seasoning of any sort, Venti noticed as he took the first bite, but the girls looked like they were enjoying an eight course gourmet meal nonetheless as they devoured the other four fish.
“Wait, since when was the Tone-Deaf Bard here?” Paimon shrieks as she finally notices him across the fire.
“I’ve been here the entire time,” he said with a grin.
A yawn cut off Paimon as she shook her head. “Well, you’re free to go now. There’s no need for you to stick around, especially after eating my fish.”
As she crossed her arms with a frown, Venti scoffed. “ Your fish? Wouldn’t it have been Lumine’s to give away in the first place? She’s the one who went out and caught them.”
“Ah! Who cares?” Paimon says quickly, waving her hands in front of her. “Don’t you have a bartender to harass tonight?”
Venti hums in thought. “I could go back to Angel’s Share tonight, but perhaps I’d like to spend this night sober instead.”
“That’s surprising coming from you,” Lumine notes. “You aren’t one to pass up on your favorite dandelion wine so easily.”
“W-Well I can live without a drink, you know?”
Lumine chuckles. “Could have fooled me.” She stood then, hands on her hips as she frowned. “But if you are going to stay with us tonight… Well, there’s only one bedroll.”
Paimon scoffs. “We have two!”
“One human sized bedroll,” Lumine corrects herself. “I don’t mind sleeping in the grass so--”
“Whoa, hold on!” Venti cuts in as he stands as well. “I’m not going to steal your bedroll from you! Besides, I’ve spent plenty of nights sleeping wherever. I don’t need it.”
A frown tugs at Lumine’s lips as she considers his words. “That is fair, but… you’re still technically our guest here.”
“Then stop fussing and share it!” Paimon snaps, rolling her eyes as she crawls into her own small bedroll. She turns so her back is to the pair, sighing as she drifts off to sleep in an instant.
“Th-That’s…” Venti trails off. His face was beyond hot and he knew it wasn’t just the flames keeping him warm.
Lumine clears her throat. “Well the bedroll is big enough for both of us… considering how small we are. I-It’d be a little cramped though,” she says, averting her gaze as she scratches the back of her neck. “I-I don’t… mind.”
His mind was spinning at her words of confirmation. She was fine with this arrangement?
And as she walked over to the bedroll, laying it out on the ground, she motioned to Venti to lay down first. Swallowing thickly, he did so, body tensing as she lay next to him before draping the blanket over top of them both. His side was left slightly exposed to the cold air, but he didn’t complain as they lay in silence. He tried desperately to clear his mind and sleep, but it refused to come to him.
“Is it hard for you to sleep like this?” Lumine whispered softly next to him.
He flinched, startled by her voice as he laid a hand over his chest to still his pounding heart. “I-I’m alright. You should focus on getting some rest.”
Lumine hums in acknowledgement before rolling over onto her side, one hand resting on his shoulder. “Are you a little cold?” she asks softly.
“N-No--”
“You’re shivering a bit,” she scolds, propping herself up on one elbow as she reaches across him to tug the blanket down further.
A frown formed on his face as he noticed she’d now left her own backside exposed to the cold as she laid back down. Huffing, he rolled onto his side to face her, pulling the blanket back towards her enough that they were both covered. “There. That works better, doesn’t it?” he whispers.
“Y-You don’t mind sleeping like this?”
Her hands were now braced against his chest, her face flushed a deep red at the lack of space between their bodies as she scooted ever so slightly away from him. With a gentle laugh, he took her hands in his. “We can keep each other warm this way, right?”
Wordlessly, he closes the space between them, the warmth radiating between the two of them as they share one another’s space. Lumine leaned her forehead against his chest, laughing. “I can’t argue with that logic at least,” she mutters.
As he wraps an arm around her shoulders, holding her closer, Venti smiles warmly as he soon feels her drift off in a peaceful slumber…