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For some reason, Lumine always invites Childe into her party despite the fact that some of the other members clearly hate him. Xiao almost always looks at him with some sort of annoyance and Venti clearly pulls more pranks on him than the others. At least Bennett's fine with him, but the kid's just that: a kid. Maybe eventually, he'll learn a bit more about the dangers of the Fatui and start looking at him with disgust, too.
Maybe, just maybe he deserves it.
Occasionally, he'd ask Lumine "Why do you insist on letting me come with you?" And all she ever answers with is, "You guys work well together." and leaves it at that. Knowing full well that their personalities clash.
Sometimes, in the early mornings when the sun's just barely on the horizon. Lumine's already awake before the rest. But Childe can see the signs. N-not that he spends that much time staring at Lumine to know in the first place! But he can tell that she never slept, and never even intended to rest at all. Can see it in the way she stares off into the distance at the slowly rising sun, that makes her look so ethereal bathing in its warm glow. She alone could replace the sun, he thinks.
He'd be lying if he said his heart didn't skip a beat at that moment. Being the only two awake at camp, with Xiao away doing whatever he does and Venti and Bennett still asleep, he moves in closer to the traveler. The powerful and beautiful traveler who managed to beat him, stop him in his tracks and reseal away an old god that he summoned. Maybe he has made mistakes.
Childe leans down, standing right next to her. If she noticed him awake, she doesn't mention it at all. Doesn't even move, actually. Just continues staring, gaze going nowhere, for a while longer.
"Good morning Ajax," she suddenly greets after almost a full minute, "The view is beautiful, isn't it?" The use of his actual name and the abruptness of her words catches Childe off guard. But he looks over at her instead of at the sun, almost wanting to reply with 'but you're more beautiful, girlie.' But catches himself, instead replying with a single "Yeah." He won’t admit to the slight blush adorning his cheeks.
He stares at her fondly, but her smile is full of melancholy. "I wonder if Aether is seeing this too."
Both of them know how vulnerable she’s really feeling just in this moment alone. All Childe wants to do right now is bring her into his embrace and comfort her.
He still remembers when Lumine came to him that day months ago hugging him out of the blue, eyes full of unshed tears. She'd spilled everything, then. About what she'd just witnessed. Of what she learned about her brother’s whereabouts, about Dainsleif, whoever that is, and about her encounter with the Abyss.
He knows from personal experience. How the Abyss only takes and takes, and leaves nothing of yourself behind. He was lucky to have escaped then, whether or not he wanted to at the time. Even now, periodically, he'd hear them. The dark voices in his head beckoning him to return. It would only get worse while using Foul Legacy. He can still ignore it, simply grin and bear it.
But what of her brother? Who knows how long he's spent in that never-ending void? All he could do for her as she sobbed into his chest looking so weak and fragile was comfort her. Run a hand through her hair, rub circles on her back, whispering words of reassurance that even he was unsure of.
Even now she still thinks of him so fondly, still believes there's a way to save him. Childe isn't so optimistic. Maybe she's just in denial.
In that time, the sun's fully risen, and he turns around to see that Xiao's returned to camp. It looks like Venti's taken no time to welcome him back, judging by the few visible red marks visible on the yaksha's neck. If he's embarrassed by it at all, Xiao shows no signs of it. Venti, on the other hand, looks all too proud of his work. Clever little mouth, that one has.
Even Bennett with his unruly bedhead comes out of his tent energized and ready to take on the world. "Hey girlie,” He alerts, “Everyone's up. C'mon, let's go make breakfast." Finally she looks up, away from the sun. Up at him. And this time, her smile seems less wistful. Feels happier, lighter, that he can't help but smile back.
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For some reason, sometimes he'd pick up a sweet flower or mint or any other wild, natural material lying about without thinking too much about it. He’d store it away and think of how it can be used, in cooking, alchemy, or anything else. A habit of Lumine's he must've picked up, he muses.
Whenever they're travelling together, Lumine seems to have a habit of picking everything up. And by everything, he means everything . From the tiniest frogs and lizards, to the hardest of ores, to even the strangest of plants and other materials and ingredients. Because seriously , who even needs this many dandelion seeds? And what the hell even is a sea ganoderma?!
Randomly, she'd casually take out whole servings of jade parcels and golden crab from whatever tiny little space hole she keeps them in. Heck, he's witnessed her pull out whole adeptus temptations from it! It's almost like she has hundreds of pots of them ready at all times. He's never even seen her cook it!
Childe swears, the only thing he's ever witnessed her cook other than their little meals while out adventuring, are sweet madame and mondstadt hashbrowns. She'd give the adeptus temptations to them, right before a huge fight with a Primo Geovishap or a huge Regisvine. She tells them it'll make them stronger, and Childe doesn't really get it, but he can feel its effects and it’s always still warm and tastes delicious, so that's good enough for him.
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He's given up questioning how anything weird Lumine does works anymore. She only ever keeps surprising him, with new little tricks that she appears to acquire and use. Every once in a while, if the team has a quest or task that they have to wait for a certain time of day for, all Lumine does is stare into the distance. Unblinking. It's honestly slightly unnerving when all of a sudden time would shift, and when did it turn to day?
He's tried to question her before, if it's another one of her little abilities. Yet she only ever stares him in the eyes with a smile and responds with "Maybe."
There was once he'd asked Lumine while they were out mining, "How many crystal chunks do you actually have?" And she'd replied, with a hint of mirth in her eyes, "Oh. Two thousand, seven hundred and ninety-seven."
He still can't tell if she was joking when she'd said it. Childe's been to the abyss, sure. But somehow, Lumine still consistently makes him consider the possibility that he just might be going insane. Because there's no way this girl is actually real.
Nevertheless, she always manages to remind him of how real she is, with the sensation of her lips on his. How could this girl, great as she is, ground him as much as she drives him insane?
When the sun sets for real, without Lumine's little trickery. Camping out in the wilderness, he always saves a spot in his tent for her. For whenever she decides to take a rest. A spot right next to him.
Just for her.