Chapter Text
It wasn’t everyday that Childe met a foreign exchange student. Especially one as cute as the girl sitting right next to him.
When he walked into class today, he was expecting another day of boring lectures from Professor Zhongli, his history teacher. Although the girls in his class swooned whenever they saw the young professor, if he had to listen to one more lecture about the Archon War, he was going to strangle someone.
“According to the old legends of Teyvat, when the Geo Archon called upon his army to claim a spot amongst the seven great warriors…”
His eye twitched.
That’s it. He needed to release his energy. As Childe buried his face in his hoodie, thinking about the best way to choke his best friend Scaramouche, he heard the light pitter patter of footsteps approaching the classroom.
He looked around the room. He was sure everyone in class was here today, as rare as that may have sounded. Perhaps there was someone he missed?
Childe frowned. No, everyone was here. Who could it possibly be? Every teacher knew not to disrupt Professor Zhongli’s lectures-- he was an agreeable guy most of the time, but when he was pissed... Though, he was sure that some of the people in his class wouldn’t mind facing the “wrath of the rock” (or whatever that was).
The door opened.
Stepping into the classroom was a girl that he had never seen before-- one with bright golden eyes and short blonde hair. She took one look around the classroom, gave a nervous smile, and slightly waved.
Childe felt like his heart was going to burst. She was so cute?!
“Ah, hello Miss Lumine! I was wondering where you were,” Zhongli said, smiling at her. “Class, this is our new foreign exchange student. She’s not from Teyvat, so I expect all of you to give her a warm welcome. And as for your seat… you can sit in the back next to Childe.”
He grinned. He always knew he was a saint, but now he’s starting to think he saved a country in his past life too. She sat down in her seat next to him, hands nervously fiddling with the hem of her skirt.
He leaned over, tapped her on the shoulder, and whispered, “Hey girlie, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Childe. What’s your name? Is it Lumine?”
She stared at him quizzically. Oh, maybe he was speaking too quietly. He raised his voice a little higher. “I’m Childe. It’s nice to meet you!”
She hesitated for a second, then smiled. She pointed to herself and mouthed, Lumine.
Lumine. What a wonderful name, he thought. It seemed like a name befitting of someone like her, who appeared to be radiating light.
“What’s your number?” He asked her, putting on his most charming smile. She then just smiled, turned around, and went back to paying attention to Zhongli’s lecture.
Childe felt his heart sink.
He basically just got rejected within the first five minutes of talking.
Once Zhongli’s lecture ended, he dejectedly trudged back to his dorm, only to be greeted by the most annoying person in the world.
“What’s up, sucker!” Scaramouche grinned. “We going out for drinks again today? Dottore said it’s on him.”
“Mm. Maybe later.” He responded, too disheartened from his failure to come up with anything to say back. “I’m going to my room.”
Scaramouche frowned. “Okay, what’s up with you? You’re not paying tonight.”
He took a deep breath. “There was this super cute girl that joined my myths and legends class and she has literally the sweetest smile and really pretty eyes--they’re like gold or honey or something but anyway--”
“I didn’t get any of that.”
Childe glared at him. “Okay. Cute. Girl--”
“Ah. I see how it could go wrong.”
“Shut up. Anyway, this really cute girl joined the class and I tried asking for her number but she basically just smiled and ignored me.”
“Common occurrence.”
“And that's what happened,” Childe groaned, ignoring Scaramouche’s remarks. “Was I too forward? Argh, I was probably too forward. Who asks someone for their number the second you meet them? Now she probably thinks I’m some sort of weirdo who only asks girls for their numbers…”
“Well, aren’t you?”
“Piss off.”
Scaramouche snorted, then poked him on the forehead. “Hey, it couldn’t have been that bad. Besides, maybe she just couldn’t hear you.”
“There’s no way. I’m sure that I was speaking loud enough,” Childe said, frowning. “Unless she has some sort of hearing problem, she must have heard me.”
“Mm… why don’t you try talking to her again? She did smile at you, right? If she gave you a nasty glare or a disgusted look I would feel differently, but maybe this time it’s an actual misunderstanding.”
“You really think so?” Childe murmured, looking up at Scaramouche with hopeful eyes.
“Stop giving me that look. It’s gross.”
“You didn’t answer the question!”
“Sure. Whatever. Just go ask her, and then never talk to me again.”
All of a sudden, Childe sprang up from his dejected position on the ground and grabbed Scaramouche by the hem of his shirt.
“What…!”
“And you’re coming with me!” Childe grinned, beginning to drag Scaramouche out of the room.
“So. Why the hell am I here too?” Scaramouche snarled, a permanent scowl etched on his face.
“Moral support?”
“Moral support my ass.”
Admittedly, Childe had to drag Scaramouche all the way across campus just so that he could be there if anything goes wrong with Lumine. But that’s what friends were for, right?
“Oh look, there she is.”
At the mention of her, Childe whipped his head around to see Lumine coming out of the music building. He jogged over to her, mentally preparing what he was going to say.
Her eyes widened as she saw him coming towards her. She gave a small wave, a shy smile on her lips.
“Hey girlie! It’s me, Childe, from science class! Do you remember me?” Childe enthusiastically said, grinning from ear to ear.
She smiled. She seemed to do that a lot.
“So… nice weather we’re having, right?”
He could hear Scaramouche snickering in the background.
Out of everything he could have said, he just had to ask about the stupid weather. Now not only did he come off as a player who picked up girls left and right, but on top of it all, he now seems boring. He could only hope that he would do nothing else that would embarrass him further.
She scrunched her eyebrows together, as if trying to understand the question he asked her, then whipped out her phone.
Great. Was he that boring to the point where she decided to ignore him and go on her phone instead?
“Uhh, well, if you ever need me, I’ll be there,” Childe muttered, defeated. He started to walk away, then felt a small tap on his shoulder.
She then said something that he couldn’t understand, and showed him her phone.
Hello! I’m Lumine. I’m sorry if I came across as rude, it’s just that I can’t understand anything you’re saying! You seem to be really nice though, and I’d really love it if we were able to become friends. I’m sort of new in Teyvat, so I can’t speak the language just yet. I hope you don’t mind!
Childe blinked. Wait, what?