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Mondstadt does not see snow any time of year. Its patron archon, Barbatos has created a climate so docile and warm that its greenery stretches for miles, all year round. So it is with great surprise that Lumine wakes to a shiver.
Paimon thinks she might have a fever.
But one look at the calendar and Lumine knows. It’s not the weather. It’s the big red mark on the little square under today’s date. It reads ‘Date with Childe’.
“You don’t HAVE to go, right?” Paimon asks, dabbing nervously at Lumine’s forehead with a damp towel.
“I’m fine,” she waves her friend away. “It’s just one day.”
“Date.”
“We’re just hanging out.”
“It says DATE in big red words!”
“You wrote that!” Lumine sighs.
“And did you forget how the last time you ‘hung out’, you ended up fighting! Again!” Paimon exaggerates the air quotes, unable to contain her outrage.
“You know him, he likes to fight.”
Lumine has already mentally prepared for a sequel to their initial showdown. The last time he’d asked her out, she had been careless enough to assume that he’d wanted nothing more than a meal and a chat. Come to find, he’d arranged to meet her at Wan Min restaurant, only to whisk her all the way to Golden House for a rematch. Her evening dress had not survived the encounter, the sweet lilac stained an ugly rust colour, falling apart at the seams. Paimon never forgave Childe for that tragedy (“That colour! Unforgivable Fatui!”)
But somehow, Lumine isn’t as resentful. During their fight, Childe hadn’t fought to kill. Not even their first fight, the first time she’d seen his Foul Legacy transformation. Even that behemoth hadn’t held any real malice. Unlike with Signora, Lumine recalls the way she’d tossed Mondstadt’s Archon aside and taken what was rightfully his. Childe bears none of this. He may be an adrenaline junkie, but his purpose is simple. Back then, his eyes were bright with the thrill of a worthy opponent.
It’s all a game to him.
“Why do you keep making bets you can’t win?” Paimon whines, doing a tumble through the air.
“Hey, whose side are you on?”
“Yours! Always! But first it was the shirt, and now this…”
“Don’t remind me.” Lumine groans.
Childe had gotten away with winning a bet, and Lumine was made to wear a shirt that read “LOST A BET TO TARTAGLIA SO I’M WEARING THIS DUMB SHIRT” for a week.
“That… was silly. But at least everyone had a good laugh.” Lumine recalls how Venti couldn’t stop laughing when she’d stopped by Angel’s Share for a commission one day. She grabs her things, and makes sure to wear her battlegear, sword tucked neatly away. She isn’t about to ruin another gown for Childe.
“Anyway, I’m coming with you!” Paimon holds her arms out, blocking Lumine’s path. Lumine smiles softly.
“It’s alright, Paimon. He won’t hurt me.”
Paimon frowns.
“How do you know?”
Lumine thinks about the Foul Legacy transformation, and the shielded eyes that bore no malice.
“If he wanted me hurt, I’d be dead by now.”
“Where are we going?”
Lumine thinks she knows the answer, that is, until Childe sets off in the opposite direction from the Golden House, heading further North rather than South.
“You’ll see.”
He’s wearing something different today. It’s not his battle attire, which makes Lumine even more suspicious. The fur lining his collar looks too warm for comfort. What’s the catch?
“Wait, so- not Golden House?” She glances behind them at the diminishing silhouette of the ornate building.
“Nope.”
“Wan Min?” She asks, hopeful.
“Nope.”
They arrive at the waypoint in Liyue Harbour, it’s one that Lumine frequents often. Childe holds out his hand.
“Come on.”
Lumine blinks. He laughs.
“Don’t you trust me?”
Lumine hesitates for a second, before placing her palm in his.
“Off we go.”
The first thing Lumine feels is the freezing chill.
“Why didn’t you tell me that we were coming back here?” She manages through chattering teeth, looking around at their blindingly white surroundings.
“So I can do this.” In one swift motion, Childe removes his coat and drapes it around Lumine’s shoulders in a move that one might mistake for nothing less than gallant chivalry. Lumine knows better.
“How long did you practice that? Weeks? Months?” Despite her words, she pulls the coat tighter around herself, warmed by the Snezhnayan wool and the remnants of its wearer’s body heat. It carries a homely scent, of pine needles and snow, if snow had a smell (Xiao says it does.)
“A few days.” He shrugs and grins, unperturbed. “You’ve been to Dragonspine before?”
“Quests and commissions.”
“Well, we’re here for neither today.” He holds out his hand again, waiting. Lumine stares at it.
“I’m not a child, you don’t have to take my hand like we’re crossing the street.” She swats it away.
“I know, but the ice gets slippery at parts.” Without waiting for her reply, he reaches out and grabs her hand from beneath the coat. It’s warm, but his palms are calloused. Lumine says nothing, pausing for a beat before her fingers curl instinctively around his.
“Besides,” he turns to hold her gaze, a twinkle in his eyes. “I just feel like it.” He gives her fingers a friendly squeeze and Lumine feels her stomach jump.
What is happening ?
They set off across the brilliant snowscape that is Dragonspine, traversing the peaks and valleys. Lumine convinces Childe to avoid most of the hilichurl mobs (she’s been around these parts enough to know where they set up camp), but pulling him away from the Fatui mobs proves to be a bigger obstacle. Somehow he always feels the need to make himself seen.
“At ease.” He says smugly, waving them away as the Fatui agents sink into low bows at the sight of the Eleventh Harbinger crossing their path.
“Surely you didn’t bring me here just to greet your subordinates?” Lumine makes eye contact with the pyro gunslinger she’d bested a couple weeks ago and ducks her head sheepishly, taking hold of Childe’s elbow and tugging him along.
“Of course not.” Childe scoffs. Lumine grasp on his arm doesn’t escape his notice either. “Chin up, buttercup. We’re here.”
And so they are.
Lumine looks up, and gasps.
She has been all over Dragonspine but somehow, miraculously, she has never encountered anything like this before.
A wide expanse of ice, a clear sheet coating the water beneath from bank to bank. A frozen lake hidden amidst the thick growth of pine trees.
“Wow.” She wish she hadn’t sounded so dumb but truly that was all that she could muster. It was breath-taking. The ice, clearer than she’d ever seen before, reflecting the deep blue hues of the water beneath.
“Where are we?”
“Still Dragonspine, darling.” Childe looks upon the lake, smiling proudly.
“No, I mean— know this place.” Lumine turns in a circle, orienting herself. “This… should just be a lake! Even when it freezes over it’s never… it’s not this clear.” She trails off, gazing at the ice sheet. In spite of the cold, something in her prompts her to take her shoes off. She does, and she takes a tentative step onto the ice. Strangely, it’s warmer than expected.
She takes another step, such that both feet are now on the ice, testing it.
“Hey! Watch out!” Childe’s panic isn’t something Lumine is accustomed to hearing and she secretly enjoys the worry, evident on his face. He reaches out for her but she dances out of his grip, landing lightly on her feet and making sure to balance and spread her weight well.
“Lumine.”
Childe’s voice carries a hint of fear that Lumine kind of relishes. He looks like a worried mother bear, his stance protective, arms outstretched to her, yet still not on the ice for fear that his weight will sink them both. Lumine grins, enjoying the power she currently holds.
“Hm?”
“That’s dangerous, the ice is not stable. Come back.”
“How would you know? I’m the one standing on it.” Lumine giggles, dancing just out of his reach as he makes another experimental grab for her. “It feels stable to me.”
“It’s not.”
“Well, come get me if you’re so worried.”
“You know why I can’t. I’ll sink us both!” Childe’s face is contorted into an expression Lumine has truly never seen before. He was genuinely worried. For her!
Lumine tiptoes closer to the center, where the ice is surely thinner, flirting with danger, her back turned to Childe.
“Archons, Lumine!”
This shout is followed by loud shuffling and minor curses. Lumine barely turns before she finds herself enveloped.
“Childe—!”
“Why are you so stubborn?” He’s so close, his breath warming her ears from the nipping cold. His arms are wrapped protectively around her in a tight embrace. Almost as if he would shield her from the cold should they plunge into the icy depths with one wrong step.
“Sounds like someone else I know.” She says into his hair, feeling quite snug and pleased with herself.
Childe sighs, and instinctively leans his forehead onto hers. “You’re incredible.”
Goosebumps line her skin and it’s not from the cold.
“I did this for you, you know?” He lowers his voice, straightening slightly (as much as their precarious position allows).
“What?” Lumine follows his gaze.
“The water. It’s mine.” He nods towards the frozen lake, at the clear ice all around them. Lumine's eyes widen. "How do you think I got it this clear?"
“But— how?”
“A magician never reveals his secrets.” He winks, and he’s back to his old self. “Take this as an apology for last time.”
“By last time you mean—”
“The shirt. That was a little too much.” He laughs. Lumine feels the vibrations from his chest, their bodies pressed together. “I don’t regret the spars, though.” He looks into her eyes, and the spark is there again. “I never do. You’re an incredible opponent.”
She looks back into his, and finds them to be brimming with passion. The fire that ignites in the heat of battle. Lumine falls in love with him a little, then, with the burning passion of a warrior, in the freezing snow.
“Thank you.” She’s not sure what else to say.
“You’re welcome. Now, can we get off my ice?”
“Your ice? Since when did you own a Cryo vision?”
Lumine nearly falls backwards when Childe nudges her with his shoulder but he keeps his arms steady around her waist.
“Hey!”
“My bad.”
They’re about to make their way back to shore when Lumine has an idea.
“Childe.”
“Hm?” His arm is still warm around her waist.
“What are your thoughts on ice skating?”
Childe breaks into a smile. “I know a good place for it.”
“Why not here?”
“It’s too thin.”
“You’re scared.” Lumine pulls a face.
“No, I’m worried.”
“Aw, Snezhnaya man can’t handle the cold.”
“It’s not me I’m worried about.” Childe’s gaze is piercing. Lumine finds it a little difficult to return it. She averts her eyes.
“I can handle myself.”
Childe doesn’t reply. For a moment, he just looks at her. She looks out at the frozen lake. It mirrors the muted pastel blue of the icy sky.
“Alright.”
As it turns out, Childe is an (unsurprisingly) excellent skater. Lumine, however, is an (embarrassingly) terrible one.
“And here I thought you said you could handle yourself.” Childe grins as he skates circles around her, gliding along the ice in a practised figure eight.
“I’m out of practice.” Lumine snaps, wobbling and barely moving from her spot. The sky is turning a lovely orange as the sun begins to set. It’s still early, but the sun always sets earlier in Dragonspine, the tall mountain range blocking what little sunlight reaches its snowy terrain.
“Looks like a skating race is out of the question.” Childe smirks, dodging easily out of the way of one of Lumine’s haphazard swings.
“I’d beat you if you hadn’t tampered with my skates.” Lumine stumbles, and in two quick moves, she slips off her skates and tumbles onto the ice. In a few steps, she reaches him. He tries to evade her, a parry that she recognizes from their spar. To the left two steps, duck. She knows his moves. Her feet are cold and numb but quick to grip the ice, and she runs at him headfirst.
“Hey—!”
Childe is taken by surprise. He too, recognizes her moves, but even on skates, he’s too slow to beat her, and she rams into his midriff. The force throws him off balance and he grabs onto her with both arms, cradling her. It’s all he can do to keep them both upright. He feels her head against his chest.
“So all this time, you were trying to drown us?” Childe skids backwards, skates digging into the ice and dredging up bits of shavings.
“No, just you.” It’s Lumine’s turn to grin cheekily.
Childe rolls his eyes.
“I should just let you fall right here.”
“But you won’t.” Lumine’s eyes sparkle, the sunset reflecting specks of gold and light.
Childe catches his breath.
“No. I won’t.”
They end up sitting by the bank as the sun dips below the snow, bathing the pale white in swathes of orange and indigo. They sit in silence for a spell, until it disappears and the inky night takes over in Dragonspine.
Lumine is the first to pipe up.
“This was nice.” And it was. Wrapped in a coat that’s not her own, they sit by a small fire near the now black lake, occasionally reflecting the light from the slowly ascending moon.
Childe’s original plan for the day had been for the pair of them to go fishing. So in the dying light, they sit with fishing rods in hand, huddled around a tiny flame. The fish have long gone to bed, Childe knows this very well, and after the hour had gone by with no luck, Lumine realises this too. But neither say a word as they sit together in amicable silence. Childe shifts a little closer to her.
“Does this mean you’ll agree to another date, perchance?”
Childe grins.
“I will make no promises.”
“Then I suppose I will have to defeat you in battle for another shot at your company.” Childe’s laughter is quiet in the evening, mellowed by the fire and the comfortable silence of a friend.
“I suppose you will.” Lumine smiles.
She’ll be ready, come what may. Today was lovely, but who knows what tomorrow may bring? Childe, for all his boyish playfulness, is a walking set of contradictions that Lumine should, in theory, steer clear from. Instead, she finds herself diving, heart first, into him. All too often.
“I got you something else, by the way.” Childe nods to the coat draped around her shoulders. “Reach inside. Left pocket.”
Lumine feels around, and sure enough, produces a sizeable package from its left inner pocket. It’s soft. She undos the package and her eyes widen when she spies the soft lilac.
“Is this—?”
“Your gown. I had it fixed.” Childe’s smile, Lumine thinks, has probably never been this lovely. “For our next date.”
Lumine falls in love with him a little more now. And she’s afraid that very soon, she may have fallen too far. But for now, just a little bit of love and butterflies can do no harm. Right?