Chapter Text
Childe knew it was a terrible idea, right from the start.
What was she thinking, asking him to join the fatui? The very own organization that she killed so many of, the organization that she considered to be her enemy for so long.
Now she wants to join it?
Is he missing something here?
“Childe, please, ” she pleaded, looking at him with an expression that, on regular occasions, would have made him give in to her request. Her cheeks were painted red from the cold, a color that matched the scarf she wore on her neck - a gift from him when she first joined him in Snezhnaya.
“Lumi,” Childe said, biting his lip. “You don’t know the fatui like I do. They won’t let you in so easily.”
“I’m willing to do whatever it takes,” she argued. Childe could tell her fists were clenched inside her mittens.
Archons, she’s stubborn.
“I know you’re determined and all that,” he said, rubbing his temples, “but that won’t get you anywhere. Do you really think the Tsaritsa will let someone who killed so many of her subordinates join her?”
“I’ve changed,” she stated simply.
“And the harbingers are going to believe that?”
Lumine shut her mouth. Her gaze shifted downward.
Childe sighed. “Look, Lumi, I know you’ve defeated gods and whatnot, but that doesn’t give you a free pass to join the harbingers. It’s just…not the place for you.”
Hearing that, her head snapped up. “Why not?”
The ginger shook his head. “You don’t want to join, trust me.”
“You joined.”
Celestia save his soul.
Why is she so stubborn?
“That’s because–” Childe immediately stopped himself. She doesn’t need to know about his childhood. “...my goals align with the Tsaritsa’s.”
“Well I can say the same for myself,” she said, planting her hands on her hips.
“No, you can’t.”
“Yes, I can.”
“Lumine,” he hissed.
“ Childe,” she returned the emotion. “Let. me. join.”
Remind him why he asked her to be his girlfriend again?
“Has anyone ever told you you’re more stubborn than a mule?”
“Yes. I don’t care.”
“Of course you don’t, you’re the ‘Honorary Knight’ after all.”
Her eyes widened as she gasped. “How did you know that?”
“Fatui secrets,” he said with a wink, receiving a punch from the other.
“You’re an idiot.”
“At least I’m your idiot.”
“Shut up.”
“I’ll go to your esteemed cryo archon myself then,” Lumine declared while on a commission with him.
Childe unsheathed his hydro blades, walking towards the hilichurl camp. “You will not.”
“Watch me,” Lumine said, pulling out her own sword as she followed behind.
The two of them instinctively took on opposite sides of the camp. Childe went left and Lumine took the right.
“Do you have a death wish?” Childe called out from behind his shoulder, aiming at a rather large mitachurl.
Lumine dodged an incoming arrow. “Not particularly.” She shrugged before unleashing her elemental skill against a group of hilichurls, watching in satisfaction as the anemo swirled them together. She swapped to geo to strike with a construct.
Childe narrowly missed the swing of the mitachurl’s shield, cursing in the process. “Fucking hell man, these shields!”
“Language,” Lumine rolled her eyes as she stabbed through the monster’s weak point.
“Sorry. Fucking heck.”
With a twirl of the sword, Lumine obliterated the remaining few regular hilichurls. “Are you gonna ask for me or not?” She shouted over the loud roars of the second mitachurl. It didn’t have a shield.
Lucky, Childe thought with an annoyed glare before turning back to his own and killing it with the final burst of riptide.
“I believe I’ve already told you, numerous times, why you don’t belong there,” he said, dematerializing his bow as he strolled over to where Lumine was fighting.
He spun his hydro blade around his fingers. “Need assistance?”
“Fuck no,” she growled before slicing through the monster’s neck.
“Language.”
“Shut up.”
Their next conversation didn’t go as smoothly.
It was nighttime, at approximately 10 p.m.
Or was it 11pm? He had no clue.
Childe swirled a glass of wine as he sat tiredly in their cottage - a cozy little home that lay near the outskirts of Snezhnaya’s central town. He had built it around a year ago for mission purposes, but ever since he and Lumine became a ‘thing’ - for some reason she hated calling it a formal relationship - he spent most of his days here with her. They’ve been living together for a few months now.
Lumine stepped out of the shower with a towel wrapped around her wet hair. Her golden orbs landed on the harbinger and then traveled down to the wine glass held in his hand. Her expression was a bundle of emotions.
Childe sipped the drink. Lumine watched silently as the dark liquid slid down his throat. She didn’t say a word. Childe refilled his glass.
She simply eyed him with the expression that Childe was too familiar with. Without even saying a word, he knew exactly what she meant.
He broke the silence.
“You really aren’t going to listen to anything I say, huh?”
Lumine’s gaze shifted.
“Lumine.”
The traveler stiffened at the call of her name, her hands froze in place as she stopped drying her hair.
“I just don’t want you walking the same path,” he mumbled, “one of us is enough.”
He knew she understood exactly what he meant. She wasn’t stupid. She had experience.
“I don’t want you to become like me,” he whispered under his breath before downing the entire glass.
“Ajax.”
He lifted his head with a hum. Sea blue eyes met pure golden irises.
“I need to do this,” she said quietly, her face filled with the sadness that Childe hated seeing on her face. “I’ve thought it out already. It’s the only way I can get closer to finding my brother.”
Family.
“You understand how I feel, right?” She asked softly. “What would you do if Teucer got separated from you?”
The same thing. Childe clenched his teeth. He’d do the exact same thing. Even more, probably.
“I know how you feel,” she murmured as she walked closer to him. “I really do. But…this is something that I’m sure about.”
She placed one of her hands onto Childe’s. The one on the wineglass. And she brought it down slowly until the glass met the hardwood table.
“Can you trust me just this once?” Her voice was near silent as she leaned closer until her forehead was pressed against his.
Childe was silent. He hated seeing Lumine like this. When she made that face, he knew it was serious…but something about it scared him. Her tone, her eyes, her choice of words. Why did it make her seem so broken?
“Ajax, I–”
“Fine,” he interrupted,
She blinked, her bright yellow eyes shining. “What?”
“I trust you.”
“You…you do?”
Childe hummed an answer. The candlelight flickered in the dark room as the reflection sparkled in the wine.
Lumine chewed her lip.
The wind howled outside. The snowstorm picked up in strength. Thick flurries of snowflakes pushed against the thin windows.
Childe finally stood up, ignoring the creak of his chair as he pulled it back. Before he turned to head to his room, he looked back at Lumine.
“I’ll speak to the Tsaritsa tomorrow.”
He could only hope that Lumine didn’t see his pained expression.
What am I doing, bringing a lamb into the wolf's den?