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“A Little sister? So all this time he just saw me as a little sister? What sort of brother has duels with their sister? That battle obsessed bas-“
“Lumine?”
Hearing a familiar voice, Lumine’s train of furious thoughts stopped in its tracks.
It was Zhongli.
Looking rather concerned and puzzled as he stood before the golden haired girl who had been mumbling to herself just moments ago.
Archons, she didn’t even realise he was in the vicinity!
“Oh! Zhongli! What are you doing out here?”
It was not a busy time for the funeral parlour nor for Liyue, but it was still not often that Zhongli would be out of the harbour (albeit nearby) during the afternoon, choosing to be engaged with the lives of the citizens at its peak.
“I was at Bubu pharmacy when I heard Paimon ask if there was any medicine to stop you from pacing up and down and... I do know a cure. Care to join me for a walk?”
A leisurely stroll around Liyue might help keep things off her mind. Zhongli’s stories never fail to intrigue her.
“It would be my pleasure.” Lumine replied back with a smile.
If only a certain battle-crazy Fatui could have half the perceptiveness to other’s feelings as Zhongli has.
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“It’s getting late so may this be our last stop for the day.”
Letting herself get lost in the plethora of stories and knowledge that Zhongli had shared, she hadn’t realised that it was already starting to get dark.
“Thank you Zhongli, I has so much fun toda-“
Turning her gaze from Zhongli to the door in front of her, she realised that their last stop was in fact, the Northland Bank.
“I figured that it must have been a misunderstanding between lovers, and the best cure to that would be to talk to each other about it right?"
So he did hear her back then.
He was right, but the last thing she wanted was to accidentally bump into the object of her rage earlier in the day. She wouldn’t want Zhongli or the bank’s staff to be a victim of her fury.
Who knew just by thinking that, she would’ve jinxed it.
Before she could get another word out, the doors before her opened towards them, leaving a bewildered Childe standing in front of them.
“Comrade! And... Zhongli? What are you two doing here?”
Childe would usually have no qualms if it was anyone else but here was Lumine, flustered, next to Zhongli, a man who was perhaps, the most well-liked in Liyue.
For the first time since he fell into the abyss, Childe felt his control over his emotions get thrown into a disarray.
“Ah, Childe, what a good timing. I have some matters to attend so do see to it that Lumine gets home safely. Then, I’ll take my leave.”
"Ah, Zhongli wait-" Lumine cried out in an attempt to prevent the awkward situation that was about to befall her, but to no avail.
"I had an enjoyable afternoon with you today Lumine, see you another day."
And just like that he was off.
What was that all about.
A million questions swarming in Childe's mind.
They spent the afternoon together? What was the situation he walked in on? Why was she all flustered?
Stoping himself, he decided to push those thoughts away.
Focus, Childe Focus.
Focus on the Lumine standing right in front of you now, not of what had happened in the past.
Now back to his chivalrous demanour, he gently stuck his hand to lead the way.
"Well then, shall we?"
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The walk together was, to say the least, awkward.
Childe tried to start some light banter but was simply met with short replies and not even meeting his eyes.
Was she sulking?!
Noticing that a certain talkative shorty was missing too, he queried. "Oh hey, where's shorty?"
"Oh, I haven't seen her since I met up with Zhongli, she's probably already at the camp."
Again, Zhongli.
She hardly accepts his requests to have little dates alone, just the two of them, but she's alright with it if it's someone else?
Ever since they went their separate ways earlier in the day, all he could think of was of her, yet her head was filled with the thoughts of another man?
Something inside of him snapped.
Was he... losing?!
He couldn't accept it. He wanted her to have only thoughts of him.
"You know girlie, Paimon came to me earlier and asked me to meet you at sundown because you were feeling a little down, but there you were all chummy with Zhongli, and now you're just avoiding eye contact and conversation with me? What's up with that?"
Pause.
HE was getting upset with her?
As if she wasn't trying hard enough to suppress her anger towards him from earlier, she finally snapped, and all her pent-up emotions came right out.
"And why does it matter to you who I'm with? What's it to you? Aren't I just a little sister to you? So why are you so mad?"
That's when it hit him. That it was all a misunderstanding.
And his own fault mostly.
"Lumi wait I-"
"Even if it was something like meeting up to duel I thought about how I looked, I wanted to look good to you, I wanted you to see me as a woman, but you just saw me as a little sister? I've just been making a fool of myself. I've just been a fool to fall in love with you."
She.. what?
It was as if all the stars in the sky focused their light on them in that moment, like all the spotlight was on them, like there was no one else in the world.
Just the most beautiful girl in Teyvat in front of him, catching her breath from her outburst of emotions.
"Could you say that one more time?"
She was already about to implode from the embarrassment and he had the audacity to ask for her to say it a second time?!
"No, you idiot I'm no- mngh?!"
At that moment he wanted all of her, and he rushed to steal her lips for himself.
When their lips met, everything felt so sincere, so true, just their honest feelings with each other.
Craving for more, yet gently guiding her, being careful not to hurt her.
"So? Would anyone do this to their little sister?"
Slowly breaking himself away from the shorter girl, now panting for a different reason from before, he whispered in her ear before backing up.
"I love you too Lumine."
"I've never wanted someone so earnestly before. You've always made me feel emotions within myself that I never knew I had, and in my clumsy attempts to grasp them, sometimes I make mistakes. So could you forgive me? As I learn about these feelings... together with you?"
Somehow, hearing his answer to her confession made her even more embarrassed, and Lumine could swear that right then, she was having Teyvat's record of the highest temperature.
"F..fine. Just don't say such tactless things again and... it's my first time too... liking someone."
"Oh, I could tell."
"W..wha-"
"Not gonna lie, I was a little peeved that you confessed first but, I count it a win if I could take your first kiss, and I'll just be taking many of your firsts from now on." Pulling her right up against him, his arms wrapped around her delicate waist.
Lumine really began to wonder.
Why did she fall for a battle obsessed fool with no shame.
"Well you'll start by taking my kick to your shins. Now come on let's go, Paimon will be waiting for us. The food's only good when you're around."
Let's go, towards many firsts together.