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Tartaglia thinks he misheard Lumine when she told him that his birthday present was her. He keeps his smile in place, frozen with a hundred questions on the tip of his tongue.
"...Just kidding!" Lumine points finger-guns at him with a wink after an awkward silence. "I wanted to give you this actually."
Something is placed into his palms and he glances down to see a badge carved from wood with a teapot design etched onto the surface. Confused but grateful for the gift regardless, he slips it into his pocket. "What's this, girlie?"
"It'll give you access to my teapot realm…" Lumine tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, suddenly embarrassed at having to explain it to him. "A-Anyways, you don't have to come but I figured that since you always travel a lot, you probably feel homesick quite often. This can be like your second home, wherever you are in Teyvat."
Despite feeling anxious about his reaction, she forced herself to look him in the eye, seeing surprise etched on his features. Maybe she was too presumptuous for thinking it could be his second home, they weren't that close. When he still didn't say anything, she decided it was time to high-tail it out of there before he laughed at her for suggesting something as silly as that. Blurting out some excuse to leave, she only makes it about four steps before she feels a hand gripping her wrist.
"Ah, wait."
Lumine slowly turns around at his sudden call.
He scratches his nape sheepishly, looking at a spot on the ground with a slight blush on his face. "I...I don't know what to say, Lumine. I'm touched."
She feels herself relax a bit at his words. So he wasn't opposed to it after all.
"Thank you, I mean it." His eyes finally meet hers, blazing with a rare sincerity that she only saw with Teucer. It was only for a brief moment, but she got it.
The beginnings of a smile is forming on her lips when he ruins the mood.
"I'll have you know, I can be the best house-husband ever! I can cook and clean! Gotta pull my part for letting me stay at your lodgings."
Placing her hands on her hips with a scowl, she replies, "House-husband? Who said you were going to be my husband? Y-You're not even husband material!"
He was, but she wasn't about to let him know that.
"Eh? Weren't you proposing to me?"
" What?! "
Tartaglia boos, saddling up to her side while giving his best puppy-eyed look. "I just thought it would be great to have a wife that could kick my ass!"
"You want your butt kicked? Come here, you." She brings her boot up, narrowly missing his flat ass because he jumped out of the way with a chuckle. She ends up chasing after him angrily, but anybody that looked at the scene unfolding in front of them could see that she was quite happy.
Happy Birthday, Tartaglia.