Chapter Text
He was pretty.
Too pretty.
In retrospect, it really shouldn’t have surprised her. The first time she had seen Ayaka emerge from behind the shoji screen, she had been taken aback by the elegant beauty the Shirasagi Himegimi radiated. Her frosty blue eyes contrasted with a hidden warmth that brightened her whole face, with a sweet smile that could melt even the coldest of hearts.
The longer Lumine had known her, learnt of her hidden desires and fears, the more she had come to realise that Ayaka’s beauty was something that was reflected both inside and out.
But as Kamisato Ayato watched her from across the room, with his blue eyes the colour of dusk framed by dark lashes, Lumine knew that she could not draw the same conclusion as she had with his sister.
Careful, that charming smile hides sharp teeth.
She’d caught a glimpse of them before. Had seen how tightly coiled the strings around his fingers were, playing his opponents like puppets for his bidding. The tri-commission maintained power through its balance, yet as she had watched Ayato congratulate and dissolve a wedding in mere days, Lumine knew that his own trial by fire had turned him into a deadly political weapon.
But why did he have to be so pretty ?
Uyuu Restaurant was filled to the brim as her friends gave one last hurrah to the Irodori festival on its final night. At one table she could see Itto stuffing his face with food, scarfing the egg rolls down in what looked to be some kind of eating contest with Paimon (Lumine didn’t have to be a gambler to know who would win that one), while Xinqiu was busy detailing his ideas for the next chapter of the Legend of Sword to Albedo, little Klee’s eyes drooping as she tried valiantly to keep awake despite the late hour. At the other end, Ayaka talked quietly with Thoma, her fan playfully smacking his shoulder at something he said, while Kazuha lounged off to the side with a lit pipe dangling from his fingers.
Left sitting by herself at the bar, Lumine realised how exposed she was as Ayato’s lips pulled into that charming smile. When his regal brow rose into an arch, she felt herself flush and turned her head away.
Batting away the redness spreading across her cheeks, Lumine told herself she had no desire to become a pawn in whatever game he was playing.
Unfortunately for her, she was the easiest prey in the room. No amount of abjectly ignoring his presence stopped his shadow from encroaching on her personal space, nor the heat of his hand as it came to rest politely on her shoulder.
“It seems that your cup is empty, traveller,” Ayato crooned as he swept into the space beside her, “That’s no way to celebrate.”
Lumine watched with bated breath as he poured the sake into her empty cup, the sweet, earthy aroma she had become accustomed to in her months in Inazuma filling her nose.
“It appears that it is no exaggeration to say that you charm people everywhere you go,” He said conversationally as he proceeded to fill his own cup, “I would think I’d be hard-pressed to find another with so many friends in such high places.”
Lumine’s fingers curled around her cup, using the scant few seconds as she lifted it to her lips to try and decipher what Ayato’s play was. The pleasant burn of the sake barely registered as his eyes gleamed brightly over the lip of his own cup.
“I’ve been lucky that there have always been people who wanted to help,” Lumine conceded.
Ayato chuckled, his next words full of mirth, “For a price, you mean?”
“I- That’s not-”
Ayato’s finger pressed up against his own lips, a smirk poorly concealed beneath it, “Come now, dear traveller. I’d say the price you have had to pay for everyone’s help has been quite steep. You wouldn’t be the famed hero of three nations otherwise.”
Lumine felt her hackles rise at his statement, fractured memories of her first few weeks in Inazuma rushing to the forefront. When she had arrived, she had been bitter for that very reason. For all her efforts, no one had been able to provide her with meaningful information, barring a god whose tongue was tied by his contracts and a man from an ancient kingdom who had jumped back into the abyss before his secrets were spilled. Lumine had had no desire to help Inazuma when she first arrived, but somehow that had changed.
Aether had always said her heart was soft, and she was doing her damndest to prove him right.
“The Mondstadt artist, Calx. He seems quite fond of you,” Ayato mentioned airily, as though he was simply commenting on the weather, “Is he another one of your friends that has helped you so readily?”
Something in her lungs caught at his words, could taste the venom on her tongue that hid behind his sweetly veiled praise. When she glanced towards him, his dusky eyes had shuttered, his chin resting on his fist with feigned ease.
“Yes. We met back when I was still in Mondstadt,” Lumine broached carefully, “He’s an alchemist, so he thought he might be able to help me find my brother through alchemical means.”
“So he told me, when he came to me for inspiration for the portrait of Kuronushi. He spoke quite highly of you, which I imagine is quite high praise coming from someone such as Calx,” Ayato said, his free hand drawing idle circles over the edge of his sake cup.
“And what did you offer him in return for his services, Lumine?”
Lumine thought of the series of exams Albedo had put her through, experiments to test the endurance of her alien body. She had a feeling that the reality was far from what Ayato was insinuating in that moment.
“There’s nothing between us,” Lumine stated, her eyes turning frosty as she stung him with her stare, “And I don’t like what you’re implying, Ayato.”
Ayato smiled, his eyes closing with a languid blink. It really was a shame that he was so unfairly handsome. If he had been anyone else, Lumine felt she already would have kicked the stool out from under him for his broad assumptions.
Pretty privilege indeed.
Still, her ire stayed at a steady simmer rather than kindling to a burning inferno, and Ayato seemed to take her silence in his stride as he reached towards her. She tensed as his hand curled over her ear, glancing across the stone flowers in her hair before capturing a lock and curling it around his finger.
He leaned in, his warm breath fanning the flush over her cheeks, “I just don’t want you getting into any trouble you’re not prepared for, that’s all.”
Lumine’s throat convulsed, swallowing down the trepidation at his close proximity.
“I can handle myself,” She frowned.
“I know you can,” Ayato chuckled, pulling her hair into a tight coil before he released it, “I’m more concerned over whether your admirers like your dear Calx can handle themselves. I would hate to see my dear traveller being taken advantage of, that’s all.”
Lumine felt his gaze like a physical caress as it dropped unabashedly to her lips.
“Why do I feel like that warning applies to you just as much as any of my other admirers ?”
Ayato’s lips split wide in a grin as he leaned into her, his hand curling around the back of her neck. The scent of his cologne embraced her, her head swimming from the fragrance and the sake. A shiver tracked down her spine as his lips pressed against the shell of her ear, his reply a warm whisper against her skin.
“Because it does. ”
“Brother!” Ayaka’s voice called out, and Lumine turned to see the young woman waving her hand high in the air, beckoning Ayato over. With glassy eyes and a flush spreading over her cheeks, it was clear that that the night’s libations had gotten to her as well.
“Duty calls,” Ayato hummed as he stood from his perch, releasing her from his grasp.
He went to grab the sake bottle he had brought with him, but before he left Lumine in peace, he refilled her glass once more, ever the diplomatic host.
“Lumine, in case we do not get a chance to speak further tonight, I’d like to invite you over to the estate tomorrow evening,” He said as he started to turn, “My family owes you a great deal, and unlike others I prefer not to leave my debts unpaid.”
“You don’t have any debts,” Lumine denied, swivelling in her chair to follow his movements.
He paused, glancing back with those sly eyes, “Oh? Well then, I shan’t expect your presence tomorrow then. But, if you decide otherwise, the invitation remains.”
Lumine watched as he sauntered off, joining his sister and Thoma at their table. Ayaka beamed with unfiltered joy in his presence, and their loyal housekeeper watched on with admiration for his lord and lady. It was a little hard to reconcile this innocent image with what just occurred, but maybe she too had had a few too many to drink.
When Ayato glanced back, his eyes bright and his smile authentic, she wondered if she’d imagined it all up.