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The grass is uncomfortably sharp against her back. Stupidly, she didn't change out of her stage outfit before coming out to their meeting place. A place for just the two of them underneath the tree that had grown alongside them.
"So you got here before me, ojou-chan?" She opens her eyes, her gaze catching the countless little lights, shining in the dark sky like fireflies in a forest.
"Haha, you're still calling me that, Ajax? You've only been to Inazuma once!" She chuckles, directed at the tall ginger behind her. She doesn't have to look to know he's there; they're used to each others' presence.
"Hey, I still had to learn the language to go there!" Childe retorts in faux annoyance "Might as well make use of what I remember. And you do make quite the princess, lyubov moya." His voice gets closer, and he sits himself down on the grass next to her. He leans his back against the lonely tree behind him.
Lumine sighs up at the moon above them. "There aren't too many stars out tonight, are there?" Lumine frowns slightly, she's always been fond of the stars. When she was a kid, she'd wanted to explore them herself. "That's a boy's job!" The other kids would say. They'd tease and mock her, call her a tomboy and all. Children are just that, children. She turns her gaze to Ajax’s ocean blue eyes, "You're thinking about that time again, aren't you, Ajax."
"I can't help it, printsessa! Those children were mean, imagine if I wasn't there to protect you!"
She sticks her tongue out towards him. "I could've taken care of them myself! Besides, I had Ae with me too."
She remembers that incident well too. She was crying, just a little, when all the kids teased and mocked her. The only one who didn’t was one Ajax ‘Childe’, notorious for his rough play and getting into fights with the other children. He stepped up and screamed at the other kids to leave her alone or he’d fight them. After they ran away he told Lumine that he thought she was cool to want to be an astronaut. They’d been best friends ever since.
Childe cracks a warm smile, "whatever you say, malyshka."
They sit together in silence for a while, basking in each others' presence just as they always have.
Ajax looks down to see the woman of his dreams moving to lie her head on his lap, flashing her a boyish grin. "Say, since it's our anniversary, why don't we carve our initials into the tree?" Ajax stares at her with his puppy eyes that affect her so much. Gee, Teucer has those too and she can't say no to him! It must run in the family.
"Pfft, like teenagers? Let's do it." She agrees, and his smile grows wide, pleading look abandoned in an expression of pure childish joy. They never got to act that way, after all. Even as childhood
sweethearts
friends, as a young idol since she was fifteen, Lumine wasn't allowed to have relationships. Even now, they've had to keep their relationship a secret.
Once a year, on this day, on their anniversary. She always makes sure to hold a concert while Childe takes a day off from his work to watch. And she'll always dedicate a song to a special someone in the crowd. To him , always him, only him. But her fans don't need to know that. There are theories plastered all over the internet, but that's normal, somehow. None have gotten too close, nor too much attention for them to have to part ways. Fans are crazy, and it's not like she hasn't met her fair share of overbearing ones.
Especially how both of them have their fair share of fans themselves. Her being the soloist idol Firefly while Childe "Tartaglia" is the youngest actor ever to join the Harbingers, the highest rank of actor from the famous studio, Fatui. The Fatui have had many scandals in the past, but they always fizzle out easily. Because of fans white knighting it, praising it as housing the absolute best among the best of actors. That they could do no wrong because of it, because it would ruin their reputation. How wrong they are, with what Childe told her it could probably burn to the ground easily if its loyal fanbase didn't exist.
After the concert? From the time it ends up to the next morning, they get together. Back on the same hill, underneath the same tree, overlooking the same sky. They’d sit on the grass and stare up at the constellations above them, abandoning all pretenses of status or titles. Here on this hill, they’re just Lumine and Ajax.
There are the shippers, obsessive fans who seem to enjoy seeing them together romantically. Every little sign or hint they give(on purpose!), the shipper fans eat up like a five star buffet. It's almost too easy. They get a good laugh out of riling up all of them. Not to mention the fanfiction of them, even if some of it is definitely more... risqué than they'd like.
Lumine shifts her gaze back up to the star-filled void. "The stars are beautiful today, aren't they?"
Childe only continues to stare down at the woman in his arms. The brightest star to exist, if he had to give his opinion. He answers,
"Yeah, they're beautiful."
The stars shine down on them, the constellation of monoceros caeli showing itself past the sparse clouds.
"...Hey Ajax?"
Childe returns a questioning hum.
"Happy anniversary."
Unable to control himself, he presses a soft kiss to the cheek of the maiden in his lap. He returns her surprised look with a tender expression.
"Happy anniversary, Lumi."