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“I think we… got carried away a bit,” Venti chuckled under his breath as he poured another glass of wine for himself. Then he proceeded to stare intently at it for a few seconds before shrugging and drinking straight from the bottle.
“And the night is still so young, too,” Kaeya sighed, his eyes seeming as though they were covered by a thick haze.
“She’s sleeping in the corner over there,” Diluc pointed to the side with his thumb, however his annoyed gaze was fixed on Kaeya. “You’re not drinking more today,” he sputtered from behind clenched teeth. Then his attention returned to the Yaksha standing in the entrance. “I have to admit, though, seeing you at this doorstep makes for quite an unusual view.”
“I just came to pick Lumine up since she wasn’t where she said she would be. If you allow now—”
“Help yourself. I have to make sure these two won’t cause any trouble.”
“You have my thanks.”
Xiao moved to the pointed direction, paying no mind to the curious stares landing on him with every step of the way. It wasn’t that anyone was hostile – however the exotic vibe he gave off was enough to put him on a display.
She showed no signs of waking up. He wasn’t very used to dealing with drunk humans, thus Xiao had absolutely no clue how to go about this situation. Shaking her shoulder lightly did no good, she only yawned, making a small ‘aaah’ sound.
“Good heavens. You’re a handful sometimes.”
And that ever-chirping fairy-like creature wasn’t around, either. For once she could have stuck around. Xiao scratched the side of his head pensively before coming to a conclusion that he had no choice but to carry her back to the inn.
***
“Xiaaaaa-ooooo,” a voice spoke his name in a bubbly manner, making it sound more like ‘ao’. They were still halfway to the inn, the city at night hosting but a few sleepless strollers. Unlike the crowd in the tavern, these didn’t even acknowledge a foreigner carrying a woman safely asleep in his arms.
“Did you decide to wake up?” He made a point of not looking down at her, observing the road ahead instead.
“Mmmm. Am I dreaming?”
“Not to my knowledge, no.”
“Then,” the rest of the sentence was cut off by a merciless ‘hic’, so she had to start anew. “Theeeen, what are you doing hereeee?”
“We’ve agreed I will meet you in your room in the inn.”
“Tomoooorrow!”
“I came earlier.”
“Why?”
His mistake – he finally looked down to see an adorable pout adorning her flushed face. The reason was simple and Xiao would never come clean with it like that. ‘I missed you.’ Just thinking about it caused a strange heat to tickle his cheeks. What a bother.
“Xiaooo, whyyyy?”
“I just did. Be quiet now, we’re almost there.”
“Killjoy.”
She hadn’t spoken a single word and by the time they reached her room he began to worry. Maybe she wasn’t feeling good? Was it the alcohol that messed with her well-being? Or was it something completely else?
He gently lowered Lumine down on the bed, the woman refusing to look him in the eye. Xiao, at first at a bit of a loss, knelt by the bed and with divine-like subtlety tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.
“Lumine?”
“Do… you hate me?”
Xiao’s hand froze mid-air, that question catching him off-guard. Hate her? “What?”
Much to his surprise a downpour of crystal diamond tears started to stream down her carmine face. She grumbled, wiping them with the side of her palm. What to do? He wasn’t very good with handling humans to begin with, one with mood swings was too much to bear.
“W-when we first met,” hic, again. Even not knowing a lot of that intoxicated state, Xiao could tell she was a babbling mess. “I… you we-were ssso cold, hic, and I thought you hated me.”
“That was so long ago—”
“Xiaaa-ooo. Do you hate me?”
There was no reasoning with her. Not when she was like that. What a peculiar state of affairs, truly. No amount of words could express how little he still knew about humans and their patterns of behaviour. Maybe he should just leave her to sober up?
No. That wasn’t a solution. Mostly because he couldn’t bring himself to let her be alone now. “What makes you think so?”
“Just answer th-the question!”
Will answering like that be enough to calm you down?
Xiao pondered for a moment. His bet was that it wouldn’t do any good. Even though it was the first time seeing that side of hers, it was beyond doubt for him that just ‘I don’t hate you’ wouldn’t do. With a sigh, yet another that night, he pulled his body up to sit in front of her on the bed.
“Lumine,” Xiao’s long fingers pressed against her soft skin to cup her face in them. She had no choice but to look straight at him as his thumbs began to wipe that endless waterfall of tears away. And then, with a straight face, serious as ever, he said something he had never dared to speak before. “I love you.”
The time stopped.
No, not literally. The world kept on moving around them as the two remained frozen in the realm of their own, laced with tears and loud echoes of those three heavy words. Wrapped in that bubble of the magic reaching beyond any elemental powers within this reality, the two of them breathed in sync, Lumine’s hazy eyes gaining a brand new light as the tears came to an abrupt stop.
And the turn came for her to be speechless.
“Wh-what?”
“I don’t hate you,” Xiao stated clearly, never looking away. “I love you.”
To an extent, this treatment cured the foul mood she was in. However, it appeared that her alcohol-soaked mind had trouble processing the words. She let her mouth hang open for the longest time, as if she were to speak, but ended up closing it in the end.
And then… she burst out laughing. The bubble burst.
“Oh. Alright then. Alright. I see,” a chuckle escaped Lumine’s lips, her face still trapped between Xiao’s hands.
“You see what?”
“Mmm, I see,” she repeated, slightly cocking her head to the side. “That’s nice.”
“You’re not making any sense.”
“Xiaaa-ooo…”
“Yes, Lumine?”
“I love you. Isn’t it nice?”
Before the confession had any chance of sinking in, Lumine’s fists clenched a handful of Xiao’s shirt. Just like that she yanked him forwards until their lips met. She tasted like sweet wine and herself. The latter was far more addictive than alcohol. He let his arms slide down to wrap around her waist.
As they pulled away, she wore an angelic smile stretched across, from ear to ear. She brought one finger up to her lower lip and pressed it as if to imitate the sensation she had just felt. “Your kiss tastes sweeter now.”
“You’re a strange one.”
“Mmm, no. I’m just tired. I will sleep. Xiaoooo?”
“Yes?”
“Will you be here when I wake up?”
“Why?”
“I want you to be the first sight that greets, hic, that greets me in the moooorning!” With a fit of laughter she toppled over on the bed. The sandman took her away to the land of dreams in the matter of seconds.
“I want you to be the first thing I see in the morning, too. Goodnight.”
***
It felt as though someone put a handful of sand in her mouth. Lumine groaned, trying to roll to the side but there was an obstacle blocking her way. A warm and soft one. And familiar. She looked up to the irises of molten gold staring straight at her.
“Xiao? What are you doing here?”
“Are you still drunk?”
“What? No! I’m—”
“Good.”
Xiao sealed Lumine’s mouth successfully with a soft peck to her lips. Her eyes widened for a brief second before she gave into the caress. “Mm, what was that for?”
“Last night.”
Last night… Last night. What?!
“What?!”
What happened last night?
She recalled sitting in the tavern with Venti and Kaeya, both of them too eager to keep her cup filled. And then… and then there was sun soaking through the curtains in the inn’s room. Between naught but pitch black darkness. “Hold up, hold up. What?!”
“Why are you panicking?”
A quick check-up confirmed that they were both still dressed. As the thought of the possible what-if crossed her mind, Lumine’s cheeks were instantly dyed pink. It couldn’t have been that.
“Do you wish to know what occurred last night?”
“…yes.”
Ah, what a strange feeling. There was a shadow of worry clenching around her heart, threatening to stop its beating right there and then. The same heart proved to be going strong still within the next few seconds, when Xiao’s arms pulled her even closer, as those golden eyes took her captive under their spell.
What was there to expect? No idea came to mind. Not even when his face inched nearer, not even as his lips left their warmth on her forehead. And not even when his enchanting voice rang out oh, so nigh to her skin. “I shall tell you when the time is due.”
“That’s unfair! I didn’t know you could tease! When did you acquire such a skill?!”
A pout told the story of how frustrated she was. And yet, he was relentless. He would keep last night’s words as a secret buried deep within him.
Soon enough I will tell you again.
My ‘again’ will be your ‘first’.
This time I will make sure you will remember.
Just like I treasure your confession now.