Chapter Text
This fic was originally called “Souvenirs From Teyvat,” but I decided to change direction a bit – I wanted to add a background part to this fic, so I made “Souvenirs From Teyvat” into a series, and this fic the first installment of it.
“Oh? You’re looking for souvenirs from Mondstadt? For whom?” Kaeya asks, when Lumine and Paimon breach the topic.
“No one in particular, just . . . we were in a bit of a pinch when we got invited to the Jade Chamber,” Lumine says. “We had to scramble to cobble together a suitable gift. After things calmed down, I started thinking it might be nice to have a stockpile of gifts to draw from. So, if we need them, we have them, but I don’t know what’s suitable. I was hoping you could help me.”
“Certainly.” Kaeya taps his fingers on the tabletop as he mulls it over. “You’d do well to collect some from the other nations you visit too. Then you can gift them across borders to people who wouldn’t have access to them otherwise. That makes something commonplace a bit more valuable. If you don’t have a specific person in mind who you’re shopping for . . . well, items of culinary value rarely go amiss. Everyone needs to eat, after all.”
“Paimon knew Kaeya was the right person to ask about this!” Paimon speaks up.
“You’d think that about anyone who suggested food,” says Lumine.
Kaeya’s smile is just this side of a smirk when next he speaks. “Collecting edible souvenirs also serves another purpose. If ever you find yourself in a bind, you can eat them yourself. It would save you from having to resort to . . . other Emergency Rations.”
Lumine giggles as Paimon releases a torrent of abuse at the Cavalry Captain. Once her guide calms down a bit, Lumine resumes her line of inquiry. “Do you have any recommendations, Kaeya?” Her gaze falls to the meal Kaeya’s treating them to. Delicious Sticky Honey Roast. She knows that’s a Mondstadt specialty, but it’s not exactly something that can easily be packaged for gift giving.
“Unfortunately, you’re not old enough to buy my go-to gift,” Kaeya says. “A nice bottle of wine is almost always well received, and if you’re looking for the flavors of Mondstadt, it’s got to be Dawn Winery’s dandelion wine. In lieu of that, the winery does bottle some nice, nonalcoholic ciders . . . insofar as any cider that’s nonalcoholic can be called nice.”
“What else do you recommend?” Lumine asks. She suspects that those are probably outside of her budget.
Kaeya gives her a knowing look. “Many things that you can gather for yourself, actually. There are two berries that only grow in Mondstadt; Wolfhook Berries and Valberries. Both are delicious and quite attractively colored. Dry them and they’ll last for months. Put them in a jar, tie it up with ribbons, and you have a classy gift most anyone would appreciate. Or, mix them with some dried Sunsettia peels and mint leaves and you have a lovely tea blend. Hmm . . . what else? Calla Lilies are a favorite of mine, but don’t keep well, I’m afraid. Small Lamp Grass though, can be dried and retains its flavor. Or, if you’re looking for something more material, you could preserve its blossom in resin to make a charm or ornament. They’ll even continue to glow at night. I used to have one, actually. It was gifted to me when I first came to Mondstadt.”
“What happened to it?” Paimon asks, and Kaeya’s expression shifts from nostalgic to blank.
“I lost it while moving . . . probably. Circumstances were less than ideal, and I wasn’t able to retrieve my belongings. My . . . former landlord of sorts isn’t big on sentiment. Most likely he threw it out.”
“Awwwwww.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No need for the long faces. It was only a trinket.”
“We’re making a new Small Lamp Grass charm for Kaeya, right?” Paimon asks the moment they’ve parted ways with Kaeya.
“Of course we are. To Wolvendom!”
Wolvendom is almost one stop shopping for their souvenir supplies. Everything on their list but Valberries grows there. It’s mid-afternoon when Lumine and Paimon arrive, which isn’t the best time to look for Small Lamp Grass, but it’s plentiful enough they should be able to find a few pieces before night falls and it starts glowing . . . or so they thought.
They start at the lake and follow the path through the forest, checking places they’ve seen Small Lamp Grass growing before, but by the time they’re deep enough into the forest to pick Wolfhook Berries, they still haven’t found a single piece.
“Maybe someone else picked it all?” Paimon suggests, as she flies up to pluck Sunsettias from a nearby tree.”
“Maybe. Or maybe it’s out of season?” Lumine’s not familiar enough with Mondstadt’s plants to know when they’ll become scarce. “Wait, wasn’t there some near Dawn Winery? In that little garden by the road to Stormterror’s Lair?”
“Oh right!” Paimon remembers. “Near those Seelie courts!”
“It’s not too far away,” Lumine realizes. “Let’s check there if we don’t find any soon.”
They collect a nice haul of Wolfhook Berries, then proceed to the cliffs at the forest’s edge. They glide down and there they are. Four blue blossoms amongst the glow of Seelie courts.
“Yay! Mission accomplished!”
“Careful! Be gentle. Who knows if we’ll be able to find more?”
They gather the four blossoms and Lumine carries them in bouquet, rather than packing them away since they might get crushed. Then they head toward Dawn Winery. Kaeya had a point about bottled beverages making nice gifts, and Dawn Winery’s famous across all of Teyvat. They’re unsure if there’ll be anything in their budget, but checking doesn’t hurt.
“Lumine. Paimon. Hello . . .”
Diluc himself is tending his vines, black coat put aside, shirtsleeves rolled up. Lumine’s opinion of him rises again. Many wealthy men don’t stoop to dirty work, she knows. Then again, Diluc does much dirtier work than gardening, when necessary.
“Hi Master Diluc!” Paimon waves enthusiastically.
“Hello again,” Lumine greets him.
“What brings you here?” Diluc asks, not quite smiling, but his expression is still friendly.
“Paimon and Lumine just finished picking Small Lamp Grass to make charms for souvenirs!”
“So we’ll always have some small gifts to give if we need them,” Lumine elaborates.
“One’s for Kaeya because his evil former landlord stole his precious keepsake!”
Lumine wishes Paimon hadn’t brought that up. She’s not sure what happened between Kaeya and Diluc, but she knows it’s complicated.
“What?” Diluc’s expression darkens.
“Eek!” Paimon realizes her error and flies behind Lumine to hide.
“Kaeya told us he had one, but he lost it in a move, and couldn’t get it back,” Lumine explains. “So, we’re gifting one to him, if we can figure out how to coat them in resin.”
Diluc’s expression softens slightly. “I can teach you.”
“You can?” Paimon and Lumine ask together.
“Why so surprised?” Diluc asks.
“Paimon just didn’t think Master Diluc was the sort of person who knows how to turn flowers into ornaments.”
Diluc picks up his basket of grapes. “Come inside and I’ll show you. We’re almost out of daylight anyway.”
The next thing they know, they’re at a table with snacks and juice as Diluc shows them how to preserve flowers in resin. He uses his Vision to warm sealing wax so it’s soft enough to shape and they form it into tiny cups that the blossoms fit into. Next, they pour the resin, then all that’s left to do is wait while it hardens. Diluc moves their molds to a stillroom, so they won’t be disturbed, and promises it’s okay if they leave them here until they’re cured. He even offers to put them up for the night. An offer which they decline.
“We found a bunch of red Wolfhook berries in Wolvendom that we thought we’d share with Barbara, and since freshness counts . . .”
“Then I shan’t keep you,” Diluc says. “At least no longer than it takes to pack a few things for you, for the road.”
“Ooh, maybe he’s going to give us some free bottles! Maybe some that are really expensive and would even impress Ninguang,” Paimon whispers loudly, when Diluc goes to collect what he wishes to give them.
Free bottles do turn out to be what Diluc had in mind, though all of them are nonalcoholic. Cherry cider, apple cider, and grape juice. He also sends them with dinner; Sweet Madams and Satisfying Salads packaged for the road, with Mint Jelly for dessert, and one thing more . . .
“Your charms will look like this when they’re cured,” Diluc says, handing one to Lumine. It dangles from a slightly tarnished silver chain, but the charm itself is in pristine condition, and glows now that night has fallen. “Take this one. Give it to Kaeya.”
Lumine hesitates. “I was hoping to give Kaeya one of the charms I made.”
Diluc sighs. “I’m sure he’ll like yours better . . . but this one used to be his, so . . .”
He’s cut off by Paimon’s gasp.
“Master Diluc! You’re Kaeya’s evil, greedy former landlord? No wait! You beat up his evil, greedy former landlord and took the charm back for him?!”
Diluc gives her a withering look.
“We’ll give it back to him,” Lumine says quickly. “Thank you, Master Diluc. For everything.”
The look on Kaeya’s face when Lumine gives him his charm back is priceless.
“How did you get this?” he asks, closing his fingers around it like it’s something precious . . . and Lumine feels bad that she feels a bit jealous. She’d wanted to give Kaeya one of her charms, but this one’s clearly irreplaceable.
“Master Diluc had it,” she answers honestly. “He showed us how to make them . . . and asked us to return yours to you.”
Surprise flashes across Kaeya’s face. “Oh? Well, my thanks then, for your courier services.”
“You’re welcome.” Lumine doesn’t tell him it’s Diluc he should be thanking. Kaeya certainly already knows. She has the feeling that the story of how Diluc ended up with it is complicated and best not brought up. “I’m glad we could aid in returning it. It clearly means a lot to you.”
“Ah . . . yes. I’ll admit it’s a bit more than just a trinket. My . . . brother gave it to me.” Kaeya’s smile reaches his eye for a change. “He didn’t believe I wasn’t afraid of the dark, so he made me a charm to ward it off until dawn. It wasn’t something I actually needed, but I appreciated it all the same.”
“I guess what really makes souvenirs special are the memories attached to them.”
“Yes,” Kaeya agrees. “Especially memories of the people who gave them to you, if they’re gifts. Of course, some souvenirs have room to attach more memories than just the ones of when you received them. Provided that you don’t eat them.”
“Hey! Why did you look at Paimon when you said that! Paimon’s not food! Paimon’s not a souvenir either!
Lumine recognizes the deflection for what it is, but doesn’t comment on it. No need to embarrass Kaeya. She understands what he meant and she’s happy that she had a hand in returning something precious to him . . . and to have her memory attached to it now, even though she wasn’t the one who gifted it to him.
“I daresay your future friends will be delighted with the charms you made,” Kaeya says, ignoring Paimon’s ranting.
“I hope so,” Lumine says, and it does feel good having four to give rather than just three. They’re so pretty, and their glow so useful that she thinks anyone would be happy to receive one. Especially outside of Mondstadt, where most people have never seen Small Lamp Grass before. As for a gift for Kaeya . . . well, she’ll just have to find something twice as cool on her travels, to thank him for everything.
She looks forward to the challenge.
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