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Childe finishes the last of his paperwork and leans back on his chair. His head turns to the calendar on the wall. "It's been a while since I've last seen girlie…"
The Traveler had accepted a commission about some Abyss Ruins, but neither she nor the little fairy returned to Liyue last week. It was even past their promised weekly sparring matches. His eyes also trace down to a certain date that was only a day away.
A knock at the door and one of his agents, Vlad, comes in. His eyes lit up and knows what it meant when Vlad came to his office. The Traveler is back in Liyue.
Yes, it sounds creepy to have a guy stalk the girl of his interest and let Childe know when she's here so he can hang out with her. But Childe can't help but feel more comfortable with the Traveler's presence and trail her like a lost puppy. Unfortunately, he is stationed in Liyue, so he can't go with her on commission in Mondstadt, with the Windblume Festival being a sole exception. So he'll take every chance he can get to be with her, like a teenager looking for attention from their crush.
As Childe walked out of the office in a rush, Vlad called out to him down the hallway, “Head over to Wanmin Restaurant! She’s on her way there with her flying companion!”
He turned and said walking backwards, “Thank you Vlad! You’re the best!”
The staff at the bank all looked at the lovestruck Harbinger and can’t help but giggle and eye roll at how happy he is just to see one girl, even if she gets in the way of doing their jobs. Only Ekaterina is being melancholy about this whenever he leaves to meet with Lumine, because whatever work he hasn’t finished was passed over to him as his secretary. Thankfully, everything was done so she doesn’t have to babysit the young Harbinger.
~~
“Ojou-chan!”
Lumine was walking across the bridge until she heard the familiar cheeky voice and footsteps running behind her. Childe tries to give her a big hug from behind and tackle her, but instead, Lumine grabs his arms and throws him over her to the ground.
“Wow, Oujou-chan, you’re really strong! You definitely made my world turn upside down,” he beamed as he was staring at her from above upside down. Lumine bent down and looked at him with the smile he always adored. “How many times must you try to attack me from behind Mr. Fatui?” She boops his nose and continues walking, “You know I always have my guard up, especially when I’m with you!”
Childe caught up to her and before he could do anything, Paimon flew right between them. “Hey! That’s too close! Keep your grubby hands off her!” He pushed Paimon’s forward and continued to walk next to Lumine. “Why? She’s not your pet. In fact, I think it should be the other way around.”
“Hey! Paimon’s not a pet! That’s way worse than a mascot!”
“Then I guess you’ll be okay when I call you emergency food if you don’t like either of those names, “ Lumine jokes.
“This is Paimon abuse! Paimon will not let this slide.”
The two friends looked at Paimon, and then to each other before letting out a laugh. Childe waved Paimon off as he curled his arm around Lumine and said, “Okay, I guess we’ll be heading down to Third Round Knockout for our own little date.”
Lumine stopped in her tracks and slapped Childe. He rubbed his face and looked at the blushing mess on her face. “You idiot! Stop thinking that whatever we do is a date!”
“Well, I can’t help it. Not when I’m spending time with a beautiful lady like yourself,” he chuckled.
“Stop flirting and let’s head over to Third Round Knockout already!” Paimon whine, “Paimon is hungry!”
~~
The three shared a hefty meal and enjoyed the entertainment from the storyteller performing. As Paimon fell into her usual food coma, Lumine went into her Mora pouch to pay for the bill. Childe stops her and raises his pouch. “Let me handle the bill.”
“Oh please, let me spend, I want to treat you guys.” Lumine shook her head. She put down his pouch that was about three times the amount of the bill they were paying. Childe lifted his hand and insisted, “But I invited myself over for this dinner. Let me pay as compensation.”
“No, no please. It’s the least I could do. To be honest, your company is what I really needed.”
Childe smiled at the compliment she gave him. “Aw, did you miss me this past week?”
“Mmm. You could say that.” Childe knew that look. The way she averted her gaze and gave a soft smile but with a sad expression. Something must have happened this past week, and it must’ve affected her a lot to give such a pained look. It hurt her even more to see that she was sad, he would kill anyone that would dare to make her cry. Lumine opened her mouth to start the serious conversation, “Hey Childe, there’s something I need to tel-”
“Ah, Lumine. There you are. I thought I would find you here.”
Heads turned to see at their table a certain white haired samurai smiling at them. Lumine stood from her seat in excitement. “Ah! Kazuha! Nice to see you!”
Childe never met this man before and was perplexed at how Lumine knew this man. A hint of jealousy went through him wondering how close these two were. Lumine noticed Childe and explained, “Oh! This is Kazuha, he’s with the Crux Fleet. He and Beidou are helping me get a boat ride over to Inazuma.”
Ah. Inazuma. He knew that the next step in her journey was to reach the next nation, and that was Inazuma. But currently the situation there is dangerous and barely anyone can get past the storms and port checks. Nevertheless, there will be some crack that can get her to continue her journey. Childe could only say at that moment, “Oh, well, that’s great!”
Kazuha nodded and told Lumine, “Correct, and the boat is all set. We’ll be leaving tomorrow morning.”
And now Childe stood from his seat so quickly, the stool tipped over.“Tomorrow?!” But tomorrow's…
Even Lumine was surprised at the sudden news. “That quick!? But do we have to leave so soon?”
“Anything for Liyue’s savior.” Kazuha pointed in the air to feel the faint breeze. “The winds are telling me now is the best opportunity before the storm surrounding the islands gets worse. I’ll see you at the docks tomorrow.”
As Kazuha left, the two went back to their seats at the table. Childe tried to take everything from Kazuha’s message. Lumine will be leaving Liyue. Lumine will have to move her commissions in Inazuma. Lumine will no longer have weekly spars with him. Or the dinner dates. Or just simply hanging out. Or trying to bail him out of work to go adventuring. But he can’t show how scared he was at the fact at that, not here in public, and not in front of Lumine. Childe looked at Lumine with the best smile he can put up for now and said, “Well, looks like the next part of your journey is about to begin.”
Lumine nodded. “I know. But I guess that means...we won’t be seeing each other for a while.”
“Yeah, it’s unfortunate,” Childe couldn’t help but let out a sigh from the tension building up inside him. “I’m going to miss those weekly spars. It’s a shame though. I was looking forward to tomorrow's match. But you’ll need all the energy you can get for tomorrow’s trip.”
“Well, thank you for considering my well-being.”
A waitress came up to them for the bill. Lumine and Childe raced to see who’s pouch was in the waitress’s hand first and Childe won. “Please, this is my treat. Think of this as a farewell party from yours truly.”
“Farewell, huh…”
Lumine carries Paimon back to the place where their Serenitea Pot was secure when they were in there, and Childe escorted her. Before she touched the teapot, she turned to Childe and smiled at him. “Well, good night Ajax.”
“Good night, Lumine.”
~~
The next morning, Childe thought he would wake up early enough to get to the Alcor before Lumine left. As he opened his room’s door, he was greeted with the face of Ekaterina.
“Ah Master Childe, I have some urgent news for you,” she said, “We have some new recruits that are being stationed in Dragonspine. Lord Pantalone in Mondstadt is unavailable to do the opening ceremony, so you have to be there in his stead since you are the closest.”
“How soon?” he asked.
“As soon as possible, my lord.”
Childe looked away with distraught. He just wants to ditch the ceremony so he can go see Lumine off. And Ekaterina can see that expression.
“Well, you should have enough time to meet up with the Traveler. They should be setting sail soon. I can give them a heads up that you will be late” His eyes lit up and hugged Ekaterina. “Thank you so much Ekaterina! What will I do without you?”
“Anytime, sir.” Childe rushed out of his door and heard Ekaterina yell something but was inaudible since he was running fast.
~~
“Lumine!”
Lumine heard that mesmerizing voice and sees Childe running to the Alcor docked at the Harbor. “Childe! Hey!”
Before she can comprehend anything, Childe tackled her with a tight embrace, face buried in her shoulder. He leaned his chin on her shoulder and can smell the lavender scent he loved. “Just wanted to see you before you get off.”
“Thanks, Childe. Um, you can let go now.” But that only made him tighten his hold on her. He never knew those moments he enjoyed the most would end so soon. After all, nothing lasts forever, just like his childhood. His body shivered as the time to be separated was near. So he decided to might as well let everything out. “I’m….going to miss you. I really am. Ever since I met you, my life has been so much more interesting. I’m gonna be sad that I can’t fight with my favorite sparring partner anymore, and go out for dinner with them. And just simply hanging out and chatting, like we weren’t Harbinger and Traveler.”
Thanks to the position they were in, he can’t see the blush appearing across her face. Lumine hugged him back and leaned into his shoulder. “We can be right now...Ajax.”
That was the name he gave her a long time ago, trusting that she use it when it was just them.
“But you’ll be going soon. And I don’t want to hold you back.” Lumine has to continue her journey, and Ajax will have to return to doing his duties as a Harbinger. They knew that their time together was taboo, and that it wouldn’t last forever. It wouldn’t have hurt this much if they didn’t grow so attached to each other, months after they first met, after they fought for the first time, after they rekindled the friendship between them, after months of unsaid mutual pining.
“I know, I know. I hate that I have to leave everything here in Liyue so soon. Listen, I don’t know how long I’ll be stuck there, but I promise I’ll come back.”
Childe lets go of their hug, even though he missed her warmth, and holds out his right pinkie. “You pinkie promise that?”
“I pinkie promise,” Lumine smiled as she linked her pinkie with his, “You make a pinkie promise, you keep it all your life.”
“You break a pinkie promise, I throw you on the ice,” Childe recited back.
And then they said in unison, “The cold will kill the pinkie that once betrayed your friend, the frost will freeze your tongue off so you never lie again.”
They both giggle and can’t stop smiling at each other. Then Lumine’s eyes lit up and gasped “Oh! I almost forgot!” She opens her pocket dimension and pulls out a huge blue paper bag. Lumine gives it to him and says, “Happy Birthday, Ajax.”
Childe slowly took the gift bag and stared at it intently. He got a present...from Lumine. For him. From the girl he adores, Tsaritsa be damned. Lumine explained, “I’m so sorry I can’t celebrate with you on your special day. But I did prepare presents for you. There’s a big narwhal plushie in there to cuddle with.”
A bit of blue fabric, probably the skin of the plushie, stood out from the top of the bag. Childe realized he was holding his breath the whole time he was holding the bag. And he lost it again when Lumine said, “One more thing! I need to mark you.”
His head shot up and stuttered for the first time since he fell into the Abyss, “Huh? M-mark me?”
Lumine grabbed his left hand and pressed a small piece of wood, a sigil, on his wrist. The wood glowed for a bit and faded. She handed the sigil to him. “There. Now you can visit my Teapot anytime.”
“You want me to come inside your teapot home?” Although he was thrilled, he thought it was dangerous since he was literally giving her enemy access to her private home.
“Yeah,” she nodded, “Although, once you leave the teapot home, you'll be back to where you were before. But at least, you can see me without any problems.”
And that’s where he lost it. He fell to his knees and trembled. Before, back when he was a kid, birthdays were special and made him the star of the day, praised by his family. But since he joined the Fatui, he never had time to celebrate it, only receiving letters from his family greeting him a happy birthday. “Lumine, are you real?” he asked with a shakey voice. He got up from his spot and scratched the back of his neck. “I just...I’m sorry, this is the first real gift someone gave to me in person since like, forever. I know my family also sends me presents and letters too, but they are mailed to me. Thank you so much Lumine. This means a lot to me.”
Lumine put her hands on his shoulder and looked at him with her lovely caring honey eyes. “Hey, relax. It's not like this is goodbye forever Childe. Besides, I did promise Teucer to come to Sneznhaya. And you're welcome to come to my Serenitea Pot."
"How will I know if you're in the teapot, by the way? I could go in and not find you there."
"When the dispatch glows, it means I'm there. Just tap on it and it should transport you to the teapot." Lumine heard in a distance Beidou's voice calling out to the Traveler. Lumine couldn’t help but sigh, but she smiled at him with assurance, "I'll see you soon Ajax."
"Safe travels Lumine." He was about to say something but closed his mouth immediately. But after a few seconds contemplating, he pressed a kiss on her forehead and whispered in her ear, "I love you."
"Oi! We gotta get sailing now!" Beidou yells from the ship, “Stop your lovey dovey-ness and get over here. Who knows when the weather will change!”
Lumine pushed Childe away and stuttered, “I-I-I’m not in- I- Whatever! Coming!”
She didn’t deny her feelings for him or reject his intimate confession, and that made him more thrilled.
The Alcor was free and started leaving the boat. Lumine ran to the back and shouted to him,“See you soon!”
“Don’t get seduced by the Inazuman men! I will be mad if I’m not your second followed by your brother!” Childe yelled as the boat was getting farther and farther from him. He felt satisfied despite being a sad parting, and prepared for his trip to Dragonspine.
~~
Childe returned to the bank to check if everything was good before he departed. One of his agents came up to him and said, “Sir, you have a few packages. I placed them in your office.”
“Cool, thanks for letting me know.” He nodded as he went to his office. They’re probably from my family, he thought.
As he reaches for the door knob, the door to his office opens and sees Ekaterina coming out. “Oh, Master Childe, I didn’t know you would be back so soon. No matter, I sorted out the gifts sent to you on your birthday. The ones on the left are from your family, and the right is from the Traveler.”
Without hesitation he strutted towards the right first. Ekaterina muttered, “Simp,” and continued, “The staff and I also baked a cake for you. It’s on your desk.”
“Thank you Ekaterina, You may go now.” he replied while staring at the sack and case lying on the right side of his office.
Inside the case was a new bow. Heavy, likely good for more physical damage, and it aesthetically went well with his outfit. Inside the case was also a note saying “I maxed it out just for you. You better use this, I sacrificed Mora and your Fatui people just for this.” He opened the sack and there starconches, Fatui Insignias, Varunada Lazurite, and more ascension materials littered inside.
He pulled the Realm Dispatch from his pocket. No glow. He held it to his chest and smiled like an idiot. “The only thing that could make this day better is if you were here.”
And then the Realm Dispatch glowed.