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Lumine stared at the ginger tabby tomcat in front of her. He stared back at her.
“Well, now what?” the cat asked. It was mildly disturbing to see a normal-looking cat open its jaws as if it was going to meow, then hear a very not-cat voice come out.
Lumine glanced at the cat--at Childe--then at Sucrose. Sucrose was scribbling furiously fast into her notebook. She shrugged.
Sucrose flipped her notebook shut, then looked at Lumine with pleading eyes. “I-I am so sorry, Miss Lumine! I have no idea h-how cat hair got into the potion! I-I even tested the potion on myself beforehand, and nothing happened. I...I don’t know what went wrong,” she apologized profusely, clasping her hands in front of her and bowing several times.
“It’s fine, nothing we can’t handle. It’s just a tiny inconvenience. Besides, Childe doesn’t mind, right?” Lumine gave Childe a scary look.
“Yeah,” he said, so Lumine wouldn’t get mad at him.
“O-oh, okay. Erm...do you have a way of turning Childe back?” Sucrose asked.
“We could ask Zhongli what to do,” Childe said, licking a paw and drawing it over his ears.
Sucrose took note of the cat-like behavior and opened her notebook again to start writing about it.
“Good idea, Childe. We should get going if we want to make it to Liyue within the next few days. The less time you’re a cat, the better.”
With that, Lumine and Childe bid Sucrose farewell, though, at the door to the alchemy laboratory, Sucrose couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy about leaving the two. She closed the door muttering about talking to Albedo, and the pair left Mondstadt.
“There’ll be a lot of monsters on the way to Liyue, so you better not get hurt, okay? I don’t know how to heal cats,” Lumine said to Childe on their way out. The guards at the gate gave her weird looks for talking to a cat, but didn’t stop her.
“Have a little faith in me, Lumi. Besides, I betcha these claws can shred those hilichurls apart,” Childe replied, leaping forwards and slashing away at an invisible enemy.
“Alright, alright. I just don’t want you dying on me, that’s all. You’re my travel buddy, remember?”
______
On the way to their first stop, Springvale, the pair had to keep pausing their journey due to Childe’s ‘cat tendencies.’ Whenever they saw a flock of finches on the path, Childe just had to drop down into a crouch with his rump in the air. Then, he’d try and pounce on the finches, but they somehow always knew he was approaching.
“I don’t know, maybe it’s your battle cry as you’re jumping,” Lumine laughed. She didn’t really mind the interruptions, it was always funny watching Childe fail miserably.
“Hmph. Why, if I had my bow, I’d shoot them out of the sky,” Childe said, shaking his fur out in indignation.
“Yeah, yeah. C’mon, I want to at least make it to Springvale before sunset.”
Lumine started walking off, expecting Childe to follow her, but she didn’t hear the padding of pawsteps behind her. She turned around, and there Childe was, sitting in the middle of the path.
“Come on, don’t you want to sleep in a house tonight?” Lumine asked, exasperated.
“I dunno, my paws are kind of tired…” Childe left an unspoken question hanging in the air.
“Fine, but only because you’re a cute cat right now,” Lumine groaned.
The traveler walked back to Childe and knelt down, making a cradle with her arms. Childe stepped into Lumine’s arms, then curled up. “Wake me up when we’re there,” Childe said, giving a little cat grin.
He wrapped his tail around Lumine’s arm like a vine, then shut his eyes. After a few minutes of walking, Lumine was debating with herself on whether to try and pet Childe’s ears or not. They just looked so cute and pettable twitching ever so often. In the end, Lumine lost the war against herself and tentatively moved her hand slightly to touch the back of Childe’s ears. She had to hold in a gasp of delight--the short fur on the cat’s ears were so silky and perfect. Lumine kept petting Childe as she made her way to Springvale, and eventually, he started purring. Wow. I didn’t know he could do that, Lumine thought.
Without Childe stopping the pair every two minutes, Lumine was able to carry Childe to Springvale in good time. She decided to be a little ambitious and make it to where the Dawn Winery was before nightfall.
Instead of leaping into battle with every hilichurl that was in her way as she normally would, Lumine tried to quietly sneak around the camps. After all, she was currently carrying precious cat cargo.
Lumine had just arrived at the winery’s staff houses near the actual winery when she noticed a certain grumpy redhead walking to the shore with a claymore in hand. She almost called out to him in greeting before remembering the sleeping Childe in her arms. So instead, Lumine tried to speed up her pace slightly to catch up to Diluc.
“Hey, Master Diluc!” She greeted the man.
Diluc immediately whipped around with his claymore drawn above his shoulder, but relaxed when he realized it was just Lumine. “Ah. Apologies, Miss Lumine.”
“It’s fine. So, what’re you doing?”
“There has been a cryo slime infestation down by the mist flower plants, so I’m currently going to clear them out.”
Forgetting about her journey to Liyue even though the most important part of it was right in her arms, she offered to come along, as a helpful traveler would.
Diluc looked down at her arms. “If you’d like. Though, your cat may be a hindrance.”
At the mention of ‘cat,’ Childe peeled open one eye and hissed at Diluc. Lumine nearly dropped him in surprise--he could purr and hiss?
“Oh, right! My- this cat. I’m taking care of him for someone, and I’m currently on my way to Liyue to return him. Sorry, I forgot,” Lumine fibbed her way through. Diluc would try to murder the cat on the spot and call it retribution if he knew he was a Fatui Harbinger. “Actually, speaking of which, could we spend the night at Dawn Winery?”
“Sure.”
At this, Childe started scrabbling to get out of Lumine’s arms, hissing. But, he only ended up falling slightly, getting sandwiched between Lumine’s arms and her chest. He was being held up only by his forelegs, and his hind legs were hanging there--exposing his entire stomach-- rendering himself powerless. Though, Childe didn’t really mind this new position.
“Ah. It seems like my cat doesn’t approve. You know what they say, a cat’s word is what goes,” Lumine laughed nervously, hugging Childe tighter to her chest. He waved his paws menacingly at Diluc, who just stared at him with his usual neutral face.
“...Right. See you next time, I suppose.”
Childe wanted to shout that there wouldn’t be a next time, but it’d blow his cover as a very-real cat. So, he opted for meowing triumphantly over Lumine’s shoulder as she carried him past Diluc.
Once they were well away from Diluc, Lumine boop ed Childe’s nose. “Childe, what was that for?” she hissed.
“What was what for?” Childe blinked innocently. Lumine glared at him.
“We could’ve stayed at the winery in a nice, comfy bed, but no, you just had to act all petty, huh?” Lumine ranted. “Now I’ll have to find a safe spot to set up camp, and pack up in the morning. I’ll probably have to keep watch, too, because how in the world would a cat protect us from monsters?”
Childe’s ears twitched. “Could you stop yelling in my ears? These things are sensitive, y’know. Also, can you return to carrying me like a baby?”
The way Childe acted like he was oblivious just fueled Lumine’s anger even more. She just let go of Childe, dropping him on the ground. She knew there was no way he’d break a leg or anything--he was a cat, for crying out loud.
Childe sat up on his haunches, curling his tail over his paws. He licked his front paw, and drew it over his right ear. He could hear Lumine huff at his behavior. “Why are you so mad, huh?”
Lumine opened her mouth to speak, but Childe continued. “Girlie, what if I told you I had a solution to this terrible, terrible problem? Would you still be mad at me?”
Lumine paused to think. On one hand, if she agreed, maybe Childe did have an actual solution. On the other hand, he could have just been his usual, joking self. Still, she’d rather not set up an entire tent fit for three people, and patrol the area. “Fine,” Lumine sighed.
Childe jumped onto his paws, shaking his pelt out. “ Purr fect!”
“That was a terrible pun. So what’s your oh-so-amazing plan? Somehow turning back into a person with two functional hands and a bow?”
“No,” Childe said, weaving between Lumine’s legs. “Pick me up.”
Lumine rolled her eyes, but crouched down to pick Childe up anyways. She cradled him in her arms. “Tell me.”
Childe had all four paws in the air, and swatted at Lumine’s chin with his front two paws. “Well, remember that time you invited me somewhere a few months back?”
Lumine stared at him blankly.
“Oh c’mon, don’t tell me you forgot. The teapot thingy!” Childe said.
Lumine’s eyes widened. “How did I forget about that?”
She quickly summoned the Serenitea Pot that Madame Ping had gifted her and Paimon a while ago. Lumine hadn’t really used it, aside from inviting a few friends in and adding a few scenic sets near the mansion.
“Good thing you have someone as smart as me on the team,” Childe said teasingly.
Lumine smiled at him. “...Yeah.”
The duo entered the teapot in a flash of white, and when they opened their eyes, Tubby was in front of them.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that,” Childe said, shaking his head to clear the lights still flashing behind his eyelids.
“Hello there, Traveler, and her companion. Would you care to sit down and join me for some tea?” Tubby asked.
Lumine shook her head. “Ah, sorry, Tubby. Maybe another time? Childe and I are just staying for the night. We’re on our way to Liyue to find Zhongli.”
Tubby blinked owlishly. “Zhongli? Now, where have I heard that name? Oh! You must mean the fellow who is currently observing the scrolls in the Feiyun Study Room? He joins me for tea every now and then.”
“Is that so? Thank you, Tubby!” Lumine smiled at Tubby as she hurried into the manion, Childe in her arms.
“Of course he’d prefer to read scrolls than have a duel with me,” Childe grumbled.
“Now, now. You don’t want to be badmouthing the person who will un-cat you,” Lumine scolded him.
Lumine went up the stairs, hearing Childe hiss at the cats and dogs she brought into the mansion. “You’re a lot more cat-like than I thought you’d be. Here I was, thinking Xiao was the ultimate cat.”
Childe huffed. “Don’t go around badmouthing others,” he said, making his voice a pitch higher to imitate Lumine’s.
“Hey!” Lumine exclaimed. At Childe’s pointed look, she relented. “Okay, you’re right. But anyways, we’re here.”
Lumine opened the door to the study, and there Zhongli was, sitting at the desk examining a scroll.
“Hello, Zhongli!” Lumine greeted the man. Zhongli looked up from his scroll.
“Ah. It’s a lovely surprise to see you as always, Lumine. Are you looking for a scroll?” Zhongli replied.
Childe huffed. “No greeting for me, Zhongli? To think you’d be this cold!”
Zhongli glanced down at the tabby in Lumine’s arms. “Do my ears deceive me, or is that rascal Childe with you, Lumine?”
“Hey!” Childe complained while Lumine began her explanation of why they were there.
“Hm. I see. If that’s the case, could you hand Childe to me?” Zhongli asked after Lumine was done speaking. She nodded.
“Way to speak about me like I’m not here,” Childe said.
“Hush, now,” Zhongli replied, hovering a hand above Childe’s face. “Hm. Interesting. Ahem. There appears to be a seal placed on Childe, though I am not sure how an alchemical potion could do that.”
“So how do I stop being a cat?” Childe asked.
“You cannot.”
At Childe’s horrified cat face, Zhongli smiled. “I am merely jesting. From what I can remember of another similar case, you need a kiss of love to turn back.”
Lumine almost snorted. Zhongli must’ve been in an especially humorous mood. But, Childe didn’t understand the reference.
“Lumine! Kiss me,” Childe said, preparing to jump into Lumine’s arms.
“Who says I’m the one who can give you the kiss of love you need?” Lumine asked, taking Childe from Zhongli. She buried her face into Childe’s fur. “Your fur is so soft...maybe you should stay a cat.”
Childe swatted her face away. “I want to be able to spar with you, though. I can’t do that as a cat, I’d get squished!”
Lumine pretended to think about it. “That is true...fine, I’ll give you your kiss.”
Lumine lowered her face closer to Childe’s, and he closed his eyes. He felt a soft pressure on his forehead that only lasted a mere second. Childe opened his eyes again.
“Eh!? It didn’t work!” Childe exclaimed. “Lumine, you wound me so. Do you not love me enough?”
Lumine smacked Childe’s face lightly. “Zhongli, any other solutions?”
Zhongli stroked his chin. “Hm. How about you two get a good rest, and I’ll come back the next day to give you a better solution to this issue?”
The pair agreed, and off to sleep they went.
______
The next morning, Zhongli was having tea with Tubby when screaming erupted from within the mansion. It sounded a lot like a furious traveler that both Tubby and Zhongli knew.
“Oh, dear. Shall I go check up on the Traveler and her companion? There seems to be a problem,” Tubby said, putting her teacup down on its saucer.
Zhongli simply took a sip of his tea, hiding a smile with his teacup. “I believe it’ll be quite alright if we continue our little get-together, Rain Calmer.”