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Lumine ran through the paths of Liyue as the rain poured soaking her to the bone, she knew it was scheduled to rain that day but she pushed it to the back of her mind continuing to do her commissions. Now she was paying for it as the rain thrashing against her skin as she pushed through it to the road she knew led to the inn.
Her feet splashed into puddles as mud littered her usually pristine white dress which was now weighing her down making it difficult for her to run as fast as she would have liked. Luckily it wasn’t far off by this point she could see it growing bigger. Before long she was speeding up the ridiculously long stairs of the inn trying her best not to slip and accidentally fall all the way back down.
Lumine felt as if the air had been sucked out her lungs once she finally got to the top despite her being as fit as a fiddle. She got some odd looks from passing guests but she couldn’t careless anyone would be looking like a mess if they just did what she did. After catching her breath she walked up the desk as Verr Goldet gave her a look.
“Got caught in the rain slightly” Lumine waved her hand towards the rain outside trying to act as if she was only lightly caught in it.
“I can see that” The women laughed at her while handing her a key to the room, “Try not to get everything wet”
“I will try my very best” Lumine told her waving goodbye and heading up the stairs to dry off. Her and Verr Goldet had become friends over Lumine’s extended stays to the inn it was a regular occurrence to joke about a bit with each other.
Lumine let her feet drag her up to her room as she felt the over whelming feeling of exhaustion wash over her. As much as she liked her room was always the one in the private section of the inn it was located at the top area of the inn which meant a ridiculous amount of stairs and long hallways to get to it. She never thought about how long it usually took when she was wide awake but today it felt a mission on its own.
Once she finally got into the room she walked right towards the bathroom, she needed to warm up before she turned into an ice cube. She took what felt like the longest nicest showers of her life, once she felt like she didn’t feel as if she was up on the peak of dragon spine she finally got out. Once she was in her pyjamas and put her other clothes to dry she went to the private common area that was mainly reserved for Verr Goldet and her husband but she got told she could use it since the pair never really got the chance to use it.
It was Lumine’s favourite room in the entire inn due to the fact it was the only one apart from her room that was quiet all the time. Plus it was beautifully laid out, it was a hexagon shape with a bookcase on one wall the side where the door was with windows around the rest. One window had a window seat which is were Lumine personally liked to sit. It had cushions surrounding the edges and a big fluffy blanket in the middle, it was big enough for at least two people so Lumine could stretch out.
Today it was especially nice today even though it was around midday it was dark due to the stormy clouds overhead making the room darker even with the glowing lamp on in the corner. The pattering on the windows made it even better, Lumine quite enjoyed the rain when she wasn’t actually in it, it was rather calming from the safety of the window seat.
She grabbed one of the books she was reading the last time she was there, it was about the long history of Mondstat which was surprisingly quite intricate. It had Lumine engaged in it quite quickly. Once she had it she walked over to the window seat making herself comfortable and began reading.
She wasn’t sure how long she was reading she was so encaptured by the way the author had wrote the history. This specific book was about how the knights of Favonius and how they were formed it was interesting to see how it had changed since then. The book had stressed the importance of each role and how even the smallest one was important for it to work, Lumine thought that maybe this person was rather biased when writing it.
Lumine was so entranced by the book she hadn’t noticed the door open until the person who had come in coughed slightly to get her attention. She jumped out of her skin, closing her book in the process. When she spun her head to see who it was she was quickly calmed, it was just the grumpy Adeptus with a cup in his hand.
“Oh it’s just you” She placed a hand on her heart as she tried to slow her heartbeat again, “Do you need me for something?” She doubted even if he required her help he would actually ask he was ridiculously stubborn.
“No, Verr Goldet asked me to give you this” He held out the cup in his hand to her, she grabbed it their hands touching slightly as she took it in hers. She felt her cheeks heating slightly ‘Archons Lumine get it together’ She scolded herself completely missing Xiao’s slight blush that dusted his cheeks.
“Thank you” She looked down into the cup realizing it was her favourite tea, Lumine didn’t even think to question twice why the boss lady would send Xiao up to give her it.
“I should go now” Xiao awkwardly told her, “Good bye” he gave an awkward half wave before turning to leave. Before Lumine could even question what she was doing she reached out to stop him. She grabbed his wrist before he managed to get to far and she pulled him back towards her.
“Stay?” She tilted her head slightly giving him her best smile, “I could do with some company” She excepted him to say no and roll his eyes, she probably pushed him to far. Sure they were friends and occasionally sat together but never in the forced proximity of a window seat.
Xiao didn’t reply for a minuet as if he had just frozen the minuet Lumine had grabbed his wrist. Once he finally snapped out of it he looked as if he was overheating making Lumine nearly ask if he was feeling okay but realized that would just make him run for the hills.
“What about your book?” He finally asked, Lumine shrugged before scooting over slightly to make room for him, she patted the spot next to her.
“You could just keep me company” She told him and he finally caved slipping his shoes off he moved to sit next to her. Lumine tried not to show her surprise at the fact she actually got him to join her, she was fully prepared for him to teleport of.
She grabbed her book again opening it to where she left off. Lumine began reading again but this time with company. It wasn’t much different from when she was by herself the rain was still pattering against the window, the sky was still grey, the lamp still dimly glowing in the corner. What was different was warmth next to her, the elbow touching hers, She had less room to spread out. While she wished she could spread out a little more she would never change it for the world.
Lumine had never said it out loud before but she loved her time with Xiao, she loved when she gets him to smile just a bit, She loved when he would stay with her even when she wasn’t under any danger, she loved when he would give her flowers then get flustered and disappear. She loved Xiao in his entirety it might have took her to a miserable rainy day to admit it to herself but she did.
“Turn the page” Xiao’s voice snapped her out of her thought’s, she got so lost in her own head she forgot she was meant to be reading.
“Sorry” She whispered an apology before turning the page.
Lumine slowly leaned to the side before resting her head on his shoulder as she continued to read, she had expected Xiao to tense up and push her away but he didn’t instead he let her do it. She felt a weight on her head about a minuet after and realized it was him resting his head on hers. She tried to go back to focusing on the book because as much as her mind wanted to wander she was thoroughly enjoying it.
After a couple of hours she felt her eyelids sagging as she tried to read more, she was so close to finishing the book she didn’t want to stop now. Her body was not agreeing with her mind as she felt herself slipping further and further into sleeps grasp. Xiao must have sensed it as he took the book from her hand and placed it beside him. Lumine fell further down into the window seat before she was properly lying down in it. Xiao was still sitting upright as he pulled the blanket up to her chin, if she wasn’t so out of it she would have been freaking out. But her sluggish brain was to busy thinking of sleeping.
The rain that wasn’t as heavy was now only slightly tapping the glass as she fell asleep not realizing she had trapped Xiao until she let go of his hand.