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"What a busy day of commissions! Paimon is exhausted!" The floating fairy stretched her arms in the air as if she just battled hilichurls, Treasure Hoarders, a Ruin Guard, and a Stone Lawachurl hoarding a monolith to protect (which she didn't)
"Exhausted? Does flying all day make you that exhausted? If anything, I'm more beat up than you," she retorted as she was handed her rewards at the Adventurers Guild Reception.
"Well all this exhaustion has made Paimon hungry! Paimon is gonna find Xiangling and see if she has anything new!"
"Wait Paimon-!"
The little fairy flew away unable to hear her. Lumine didn't feel like eating yet, she just needed a bit to relax. Trusting the Xiangling will take care of her, Lumine warps herself to the Waypoint on the Yaoguang Shoals.
Lumine was greeted by the cold ocean breeze in the air. The night sky was out. She loved the night time, it was when the world was quiet and she could lose herself in her thoughts as she had always done since coming to Teyvat. And the beach only amplified the calmness in the atmosphere.
She kicked off her boots near the Waypoint and walked barefoot on the sands, feeling the grainy sand barely submerging her feet. Her foot felt something cold and smooth however. When she lifts her foot, she sees a starconch half buried in the sand. Lumine picks it up and holds it in the air, the moonlight shining on it's porcelain surface.
There was something that charmed her, maybe because of the star at the center of the shell, or maybe the idea of hearing the longing of the sea if she held it to her ear. But her attention on the shell drifts to something further ahead.
A figure, standing half-submerged in the water, the saltwater reaching their knees. Lumine recognizes the grey uniform and ginger hair and makes it out to be Tartaglia. Memories of the Golden House flashes back in her mind and she unconsciously takes a step back. The amount of hurt she went through because of him, even if it was all planned, tingled throughout her body: when she clashed blades with him, dropped her from over two hundred feet in the air, summoning an ancient god because of a tantrum, and being unable to not ruin the dreams of his adorable younger brother.
Better get away before he sees me , Lumine thought. Right now she was just here because she wanted to relax after a hard day. She didn't want anything to ruin her brief calm break, especially with a walking catastrophe a few yards from her.
She turns and walks back to where the Waypoint was to leave. But for some reason she had the need to turn around, but didn't know why. Lumine decides to turn around and sees the ginger haired man gone. Somewhere off the shore of the beach, bubbles arose to the surface of the water.
Maybe he went out for a swim , Lumine told herself, eyeing the Fatui mask and scarf discarded on the sand, Don't know why in his uniform but not my place to ask .
Lumine continued to return to the Waypoint, but she still felt uneasy. She looked back and didn't see him come out of the water. There's no way an idiot like him would drown, he knows how to swim.
She walks a few more steps and turns around again and no sign of the Harbinger. Now she was getting worried, even though she shouldn't.
Reluctantly, Lumine runs to where Childe jumped into and dives into the water. It was extremely difficult to see underwater since it was nighttime. She put her hands in front of her to feel around the watery space.
Come on, come on!
She ran out of breath and rose to the surface for air. No sign of Childe above.
Again she bobs down and looks for Childe. Suddenly she feels a lump in front of her. Lumine pulled it closer and it was Childe's body. She holds him as they go up to the surface and drag the unconscious body back to shore.
He's not breathing ….
She could have just left him to die, to drown in the water and not worry about a potential enemy in her way to travel the world.
Yet she was pumping his chest multiple times, pressing her lips to his and breathing life into him over, and over and over again.
His face flinches and Childe coughs on her mouth. Lumine backs away and lets Childe spit out ocean water inside him. After catching his breath, he turns to see a startled Lumine.
"Comrade…" he heaved, "You saved me."
But instead of asking if he was okay, Lumine got up and kicked him in the stomach, rolling him onto the ground. It did help get more water out, but it still hurt.
"What the hell was that?!" she yelled, "Why would you let yourself drown like that?! Do you have a death wish?!"
"Never thought you would-cough! Care about me! What are-cough! cough!- doing here anyway!"
"I was just here minding my own business and I see your stupid butt trying to see if you can be a fish in the sea."
"Well yeah, I wanted to see how long I could hold my breath! You know me, always pushing myself to the limit!"
"You are unbearable." Lumine pinched her nose. "I should have let you drown."
"Then why did you, comrade?"
Why indeed? That was a question she's been asking herself since she decided to dive in the water to pull him out. It felt wrong just to let him die like that? Childe wouldn't have preferred to die in a big battle anyway. Or maybe just for the sake of his family who worry for him? Or maybe somewhere...somewhere in her heart she still sees him as a companion, a friend that shares a lot with her, despite all of their differences?
Lumine opened her mouth to say something, any of those answers in her head, but nothing came out. She closed her mouth and then spoke, "I don’t even know myself.”
“Come on, you gotta have some ulterior motive behind it. Nothing happens without reason.”
“Then why did you choose to let yourself drown there? And don’t say you were just testing your limits.” When Lumine first spotted him in the Shoals before he dove into the water, she noticed the lonely gaze towards the ocean. It was like he was entranced by the sea, and yet reluctant to go in.
Childe didn’t reply, only shifting himself to sit on the sand and stare out into the horizon of the sea, with Guyun Stone Forest in the distance. Lumine sat next to him and looked at their legs stretched out to where the water barely touches their feet. The awkward silence was slowly killing her, but it felt safer than saying something that they would regret.
“When I ventured into the Abyss, it was a nightmare,” he finally spoke. Lumine didn’t turn to see him speak, only gaze at their feet and listen to his voice. Childe has only spoken to her about his time in the Abyss before, but not enough to remember in detail.
“You were constantly on the run, monsters at every corner. No time for rest or to catch a breath- survival of the fittest down there.” He lifted his shaking hand as he recalled his childhood that was taken from him too soon. Then he clenched it and continued, “But to me, it was exhilarating. And I enjoyed every bit of my time.” Whether that was a lie or not, who knows? “Sometimes when I’m not satisfied with my battles, or get bored with work, or I have nothing to do, I just come here and let myself sink underwater, because that’s how it felt like in the Abyss. Dark. Suffocating. Numb. The Abyss taking everything from you until there’s nothing.”
“You sound like you prefer being in the Abyss.” Lumine replied.
“I do.” He said as he stood up. “Because I’m a monster inside that belongs in the dark. I guess tonight, I just wanted to stay there longer than usual. I am a monster, and I’ve always been like this.”
Lumine looked up to him and saw that lonely gaze she saw earlier. Silence between them was replaced by the crashing waves on the shore. The breeze blew his ruffled hair from his face and she could see a faint scar above his left eyebrow. She lowered her head and muttered to herself, “You’re not a monster.”
Of course, being the skilled man he is, Childe heard that. “Don’t flatter me Lumine, I am kind of a bad guy.”
“But you’re not always a monster, you know that?” She snapped back. “You’re a kind brother who protects his siblings’ dreams. You do things straightforward and not sneak around things. And what kind of monster doesn’t know how to hold chopsticks?”
“Haha, very funny comrade.”
Lumine got up and grabbed his hand, placing the starconch she picked earlier in his. “What I’m trying to say is, you don’t have to picture yourself as a monster or a bad guy. Well, I guess you are. But you’re a nice person in my eyes, just, different positions.” She looked back and could see his face lit up in the moonlight. His eyes showed disbelief, doubt, but a hint of comfort somewhere inside those dull ocean blue eyes. Lumine pulled away and started to retreat back to the Waypoint, but Childe called out to her.
“Hey. If I ever drown again, will you come save me?” Drowning in the water, drown in the darkness of the Abyss, drown in a boring world without excitement .
A giggle fell from her mouth and she smiled back at him. “What kind of question is that? Of course I will, even if you’re a Harbinger. Your brother would be worried if you harmed yourself like that." and she mutters to the side, "....and so would I."
Childe stood there and looked at the starconch he was given. Later, he ran and caught up to her again. At this point, Lumine was tired and she did want to go back to check on Paimon. But they way Childe wanted to say something but glancing everywhere but her made Lumine want to wait for him like they had all the time in the world.
“Could you, stick around with me? In case I drown again?”
“What kind of question is that. Sure, but I’m tired. Can we just sit down and relax?”
“Anything for you Lumine.”
Lumine sat back down on the side with Childe next to her but closer. She leaned to his shoulder and closed her eyes to rest, letting the waves be her lullaby to sleep. Childe, feeling the new warmth from her and in his chest, cracked a smile and leaned into her too as well while they sat by the shore.