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It was one of those days since he arrived in Sumeru. He was waiting for his little wood order for his wood carving hobby. The Traveller had gone to see how it was doing.
She was walking back with her floating companion, she waved "We're back. Trouble with monsters, you know, the usual" She shrugged. Then she grabbed something from that bag of hers. How she kept so many things in there was beyond him "I went to Inazuma last week and thought you could use a different wood for once" She unwrapped a wood strip of a different color than his usual ones.
Her companion looked back at her wordless " A miracle " He thought. Unfortunately it didn't last long "It was for him!? He's a Fatui! A bad guy!" She pointed at him accusingly.
The Traveller sighed "He's our friend who just happens to work for the Fatui" Now it was his turn to be confused. She noticed almost instantly "I mean, we've known each other for a couple years already. And really, I know I don't talk much but I appreciate our occasional talks"
"And now you're flirting with him!?" Her companion continued to complain.
The frown on the Traveller reminded him of their first meeting in that cathedral full of nuns glaring at him "Now I'm flirting!? Go and eat a slime Paimon!" She floated away.
"Is that okay?" He asked with a concerned tone.
The Traveller nodded "Sometimes she's impossible. I mean, flirting, really? I've been flirting with Ei for months and she never said a thing. But I give you a present, and now I'm flirting?" She shook her head in disappointment and gave him the present "I'll go look for her before she does something"
The wood was surprisingly good for carving, but the actual surprise was when the Traveller came back the next day "Hi Viktor" She waved and glared at her companion "Paimon"
For once the white haired girl seemed regretful in his presence "I'm sorry about yesterday. You're not one of the bad Fatui"
He was thankful his mask covered some of his surprise. The Traveller rubbed her head "See, it's not that difficult" She turned to him "Do you have a break soon?" She cleared her throat as her companion tried to make a remark "I'd like to talk about something outside of our usual deals" He could swear he saw a slight blush on her face.
For some reason he thought to accept the proposal, probably a mistake. Both of them were somewhat known and privacy was a difficult thing "I have a break in one hour"
She nodded "Good. I'll ask if there's room at your usual place" It took him a moment to remember he talked a bit too much about himself and mentioned his eating habits.
It took him by surprise when Mr. Lambad guided him upstairs after the next hour passed.
There she was waiting with a nervous look without "The usual?" Mr. Lambad asked and Viktor nodded.
He sat in front of her "So what is it Traveller? Is your companion not joining us?"
She shook her head "No, no. She's better not hearing us talk about this in particular. And you can call me Lumine, Viktor"
He struggled slightly with this level of familiarity with someone so open about her dislike of Fatui "Are you joining the Fatui then?"
She chuckled and shook her head in a theatrical way "I said it was different from our usual deals" She answered with a smile "But really, I said a little too much last time we talked" Her blush was appearing again.
He thought back to yesterday. The wood, calling him a friend… the flirting… "I see" His forehead creased "I won't tell a soul, whoever that person is"
Her eyes grew wide open "Oh, right. You wouldn't know" She sighed "Lumine, you idiot! Why would he know about Ei!" She whispered to herself a bit too loudly.
"Is that all?" He asked out of curiosity.
She nodded, biting her lip "It was, yes. Unless you…" She opened her mouth as if trying to word something, but ended up shaking her head "Forget it"
He sighed. Why was he doing this? "I want to send a letter to Lily. I don't miss Mondstadt, but that little girl grew on me" That got her attention back on him "So I don't mind, talking about whatever is on your mind and keeping it a secret as a payment"
Lumine gave him a thankful nod and sighed "I don't like men" That didn't mean much to him, he never had much of an interest in women either. But it did make him question her words from yesterday.
"I'm not much of a fan of women either. I worked for Signora, in case you forgot" She smirked at the remark, but soon her expression turned into a mix of anger and regret.
"I assume you know I got her killed" He nodded, it wasn't that he would miss his old boss but he didn't welcome the news either. Another sigh followed "I didn't like her either, but seeing her just… turn to dust like that… was really a bit too much" She shook her head and hid her face behind her hands.
The food arrived, Mr. Lambad didn't ask thankfully and left as quickly as he arrived "I like girls. To be more precise I have big fat crush on the Electro Archon"
He wondered if Ei was some type of nickname and, for a brief moment, thought if he ever liked a man that way just to quickly dismiss it.
"Nothing to say?" She questioned with a worried look on her eyes.
He shook his head with a little smile creeping its way on his face "I heard she tried to kill you"
"Twice" She added with her eyelids drooping closed "I do question my taste in women and I wanted to be angry at her. But…" She chewed on her food, interrupting her words.
"But?"
"She's not a bad person" She paused for a second "God?" followed trying to correct herself before following on her words "I doubt I wouldn't have done something similar in her situation. And I freaking love her face when she has sweets. If someone told me she had a sweet tooth before I would have laughed at their faces" She had the same face those guards from the bank in Liyue had, the same smile plastered on their faces with their heads tilted. Maybe it had something to do with love.
"Well… If anyone has the possibility to date an archon I think it's you" He concluded.
Lumine let out a long, tired breath "I'm not that worried about it" She tilted her head in the other direction "I mean, she is horrendously oblivious. I'm not the only one, Miko and I talk about it on Friday's nights"
He was about to ask what the problem was then when she answered the unasked question "I'm scared about telling Paimon. She's been…"
"Annoying? Noisy? Gluttonous? Avaricious?" He had too many interactions with the usual conduit of conversations. It was the first time he heard Lumine's voice so much.
She stifled a laugh "Yes, but she's like a little sister to me" She paused for a menacing look "Don't ever tell her I said this, please" He nodded fast and slightly scared at her tone "But really she's been trying to pair me up with every guy we've met. With the exception of Kaeya and Xinqiu, and the latter was because Paimon thought he was a girl"
That didn't sound like her, but then again she said it herself he was a Fatui, just one that didn't even fight "Have you told her to stop?"
She just sighed "I told her I'm not interested, I thought she would catch on when freaking Ningguang said “We need a lass like you aboard” with the same tone Beidou uses"
That sounded weird more coming from one of the Qixing "Maybe she didn't understand the implications?"
"She held my chin up with a finger to look into my eyes! I don’t think someone can be clearer than that!" She answered, jumping from her seat.
Okay, she was definitely oblivious "Have you thought about telling her directly?"
She teared up "What if she hates me?"
He didn't expect to talk about this but if he learned something this last years "Then she does, it will hurt but you can't stop being who you are because of others" Maybe he was being naive, but sometimes it was best to cut the problem from the root.
She started to cry and he wasn't ready for it. He made the Traveller, who fought two of the Eleven and won, cry with just his words "Don't cry. I-I-I" He looked around not sure about what to do "I'll go get her and… mediate?" He wasn't sure about what he was doing and his break was almost done.
It didn't take long for him to find the floaty girl. She was talking to Katherine, but Katherine looked more expressive than usual. He disregarded this little fact "Umm" Both turned to him "Your friend needs you… She's… crying and…" The little one didn't even give him time to finish and floated past him.
He arrived to find Lumine hugging the girl between sobs "Don't leave me, please"
It took her minutes to calm down before she actually told her friend everything.
"Wait! You're telling me you like Ei!? Why did you not tell me before?" The companion complained.
"You seemed to ignore every girl trying to make advances on me" Lumine answered.
"I-I" She pushed her fingers together "Who did that?"
"Eula, Ningguang, Beidou, Yoimiya, Dehya and that's only the vision holders"
The face on Paimon was too comical not to laugh "I thought they were just being friendly!"
"Eula kissed me!"
He found himself ready to leave before his boss would get angry about him being late from his break, absolutely not because this was getting a bit too much for him.
It wasn't much later when both of them appeared by his spot. Surprisingly with Paimon looking like the big sister for once "We're sorry you had to see that" Then she left a well enveloped present in his hand and floated away.
Lumine sighed and looked with a thankful smile at him "Thank you. I already told Katherine your next commission is paid" She walked past him before talking again "We're going back to Inazuma for a while. I'll update when we return"
"Safe travels" He said in his usual tone "I'm hoping for good news when you return" He blurted out earning a chuckle from his friend.