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Rain season comes to Mondstadst as summer ends and autumn begins. What were before sunny and warm days are fast to disappear ad grey skies and cold winds replace them.
Days in which the rain is never ending, giving the rivers and lakes all around the region the chance to flood and increase. The vast valleys and plains were quick to change into nothing but muddy fields that made it almost impossible to walk through them.
And alongside the water comes the cold winds that originate from Dragonspine, freezing the surroundings near the mountain and traveling as far as to reach the city, bringing with them the bitter cold born from the freezing mountains.
Rain season for Mondstadt means days in which the rain never stops, the skies above being engulfed in gray and dark clouds, the sun disappearing for days, inevitably ending up full of mud if one is to step outside the city walls, the cold and freezing winds creating a pestilential combination that meant that during the season everyone was going to come down with a cold at least once.
In short for the citizens of Mondstadt rain season was just another way to name the flu season.
Dawn Winery was quickly disappearing behind her, she had the horse that Diluc had lent her walking at a fast gallop, and even though the heavy and dark clouds above her made her want to be at Mondstadt as fast as possible, the fear that the horse would slip because of all of the mud, or trip over a hidden rock or branch, didn’t allow her to make the animal run.
Of course, Diluc had offered her refuge at his home, a heavy and long rain was to start at any moment now, and thanks to her previous commissions her clothes were all muddy, and while not soaking wet her clothes were no longer dry.
For some seconds she had been tempted to accept his offer, but doing so would have made all of her efforts go to waste.
Thanks to all of the sickness going on around sweet flowers and valberries were in high demand, and all the water and mud made accidents such as slips and falls common, ending up in many injured and in need of wolfhooks to treat their injuries.
So before a storm that was said to take over for days started she had decided to go out and collect as many of the plants that she could.
Her morning and whole afternoon had been spent like that, picking up all that she could, and before what little light was able to pierce the thunder clouds above disappeared she made the way to some of the places that had made the request for the flowers and fruits.
Dawn Winery had been the last one, and now she just had to go back to Mondstadt and hole herself up in her room at the Knight’s quarters.
The first drops of water started falling right as she was crossing the bridge to the city, quickly she guided the horse to Angels Share where she left the animal to Charles.
By the time she arrived at the Knights Headquarters, a downpour was falling from the skies, and the winds were bitterly cold. The rain had scared away the guards that usually stood outside the building, and once she entered it was almost the same.
The entrance was deserted and no sign of life could be found, probably everyone seeking comfort and refuge inside the offices or their rooms.
The main hall was freezing and the fact that she was soaking wet wasn’t helping her, with only the sound of her wet boots against the tile floors she made her way towards her room. Any other day she would have felt guilty over the trail of water and mud that she was leaving behind her, but alongside hers, many other trails extended over the floors of the headquarters.
She would come back later to clean it up, but first, she needed a bath and to get outside of her wet clothes.
The sound of the raindrops hitting against the windows and the occasional thunder were her only company, occasionally she would hear shuffling and coughs coming from one of the many rooms, but aside from that, she had encountered none else.
Outside the dark reigned, and the light from other houses and buildings was barely visible. In the same way, with only her outside her room, she finished cleaning.
Putting the cleaning supplies inside the room in which they belonged, she was basking in the fact that she was going to finally be able to go to her room and do nothing when on one of the floors above a door opened and closed, and in just some seconds later echoing loudly around the silent building the steps of the person coming down the stairs were heard.
As they got closer the clinking of glass bottles hitting against one another was also heard.
Finally rounding the corner and coming down the last flight of stairs Albedo appeared before her.
“Lumine.” He said after taking notice of her presence. “Albedo.” She greeted him. In his hands, were several glass bottles, the kind in which medicine was stored. “Dou you need help with those?”
She didn’t wait to hear his answer and immediately walked towards him, taking some of the bottles in her left hand. Up close she could see well-defined eye bags on his face, and exhaustion clear to see on his eyes. His hair was also a mess, and his clothes were not as pristine and clean as always.
He looked more as if he had been outside adventuring than being locked up inside avoiding the storm. Her right hand was quick to place itself on his forehead. “You look exhausted.” Without her gloves on (they were in her room drying alongside her dress), it was easier to check on Albedo’s temperature.
“You aren’t sick, right?” Albedo said nothing and instead closed his eyes and let himself melt into her touch. At least it allowed her to confirm that his temperature wasn’t out of the norm. Slowly she moved her hand from his forehead to his nape, and closing the already small distance between them brought down his head to rest against her neck.
She moved her hand to his hair and started to slowly move her fingers through it, and the next few minutes were spent just like that.
A heavy sigh escaped Albedo’s mouth and the silence was broken. “Not sick… just tired.”
“Have you been working too much?” Sometimes her fingers would find themselves tangled in his hair, she made sure to carefully detangle them when that happened, and if she was able to make sure that the knots in his hair disappeared.
“Not work.” Outside lighting fell and thunder followed, the rain had somehow managed to grow stronger. “If not work then what?”
From one of the rooms above someone went into a coughing fit, and at this Albedo’s exhaustion seemed to grow.
“Almost all of the knights have fallen sick, and from the few that are still well the majority of them were sent to Springvale to help with reparations that will be caused because of the rain. Yesterday Kaeya and Lisa also fell sick, and ever since Jean has been looking after them.”
Lumine feels nothing but sympathy for Jean, the time she had to look after Kaeya after he got sick during one of her travels has been one of the hardest of her long life.
“I had been helping with what I could, creating and giving the sick their medicine and doing one or another errand that was needed. But today Sucrose and Klee also got sick. Jean, Noelle and the other few knights that are still well are already running themselves ragged taking care of the sick.”
Albedo’s free arm snakes around her waist bringing her even closer, and he slumps even more on her.
“So I offered myself to look after them but.” There are truly few things that are able to leave Albedo unable to express himself. Uncertainty and embarrassment are some of them. “Albedo, do you know how to take care of a sick person?”
A long dragged exhale is the answer she gets, and she doesn’t need to see his face to know that it is being currently being painted in crimson.
“I- I’m afraid that aside from making the medicines and being able to calculate the required dose, I’m rather out of my knowledge zone.” He pushes his face more against her neck, trying to hide after his ‘embarrassing’ confession. “Well, then I suppose it’s a good thing that I have a lot of experience looking after the sick.”
Separating herself from him takes her a lot of will, it has been quite a while since their last encounter, but there is work to do. “Common,” taking him by the hand, she sets their course to the kitchen, ”we have work to do.”
***
In the same way as the rest of the building, the kitchen is empty, at least it presents signs of having been used before unlike the rest of the place, over the counters, there are what look like attempts at preparing some foods, probably attempted by those who were too sick and had to leave the task at the middle of doing it.
Under her orders, Albedo puts noodles in water to heat and while it boils she takes to the task of cutting the vegetables, “are there any more ingredients that we will need?” Lumine finds incredibly cute the way in which Albedo simply awkwardly stands beside her.
Few are the occasions in which the Chief Alchemist of the Knights of Favonious finds himself out of the required knowledge that is necessary, if it were to someone else, he would probably hide his ignorance and search for the answers alone.
But when it comes to her he has no second thoughts about confessing his need for help.
“No,” in front of her potatoes, onions and carrots fill the counter, “we want a light meal, more ingredients would make it too heavy.” Grabbing one of the potatoes and a knife she starts the task of peeling it. “I see.”
“Do you need help peeling the carrots?” She finishes with one potato and grabs the next one. “Yes please.”
Outside the rain falls down with no mercy, and the only sound inside is the one of the water over the fire.
“Isn’t the food going to be too bland tasting with no other ingredients?” She finishes with another potato and goes for the next. “Right now our priority is just making something solid but with liquids, the flavor isn’t really important right now. And also, while under the flu or a cold is normal to lose the ability to taste things.”
She’s not looking at him right now, but she is sure that he’s the expression that means ‘storing new information.’
“I understand that being hydrated is vital to combat the sickness, but why is keeping the meal a light one important? After all, their ailments aren’t ones of the stomach or the like.” She finishes peeling and now she has to dice the vegetables.
“Because we want to prevent their condition to worsen, as you said they haven’t had any stomach-related issues, so we don’t really want to give them one now. And also because you said that for both Sucrose and Klee their last meal was breakfast, right? ”
A quick glance shows her that Albedo has also finished peeling, and copying her he has already started dicing the carrots.
“Yes, by the moment that it was meal time Sucrose said that she had no appetite and Klee said she was tired, so I left her to rest, I thought that leaving them to rest was the good thing to do, but going by your expression them I’m safe to assure that I didn’t make the best choice.”
It takes her some seconds to change the frown that forms on her face. “The thing with fevers is that they also mess with appetite, someone sick could say that they aren’t hungry but their last meal could have been days ago.” Finishing dicing the potatoes she adds them to the pot of now boiling water and noodles.
“And while rest is also important an empty stomach isn’t of much help fighting against sickness, also medicine with an empty stomach may cause nausea.”
Finishing with the carrots Albedo adds them to the pot. “I see.” The water boiling and the rain outside is the only sound for some seconds, a frown adorns his face and she doesn’t need to be a mind reader to know that he’s kicking himself mentally for his mistakes.
“Don’t beat yourself over it, letting them rest was the logical thing to do. And also, taking care of someone sick is not easy. Yes, there are manuals, and suggestions, and dos and don’ts but in the end, it isn’t as simple as if one were to follow a recipe. Even the more experienced of medics and caretakers find themselves sometimes out of their depth. And you only had the most basic of knowledge.”
A quick stir to the soup shows that it is ready and she takes out some bowls.
“I suppose, that what I’m trying to say is that you were in an unfamiliar situation with barely any knowledge of how to handle it, and yet you did fine.”
She fills up the bowls and makes it to the door of the kitchen, Albedo following behind, and on his face, the previous frown that adorned him has gone away.
“Thank you.” He opens the door for her and both get out. “What for?” He takes the lead, and now she trails behind him following to Sucrose’s and Klee’s rooms.
“For your words. I now realize that in my worry about doing something wrong I was starting to doubt all that I did, and was actually giving myself the possibility to commit the mistakes I was so afraid of.”
“You’re welcome then.”
She directed a smile at him and he did the same in return, in between laughs and light conversation they continued their walk.
They had patients to take care of after all.