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Lumine hugs herself for warmth, sneezes and sniffles, she hoped she wouldn't catch a cold. This happens because of her own ignorance, she couldn’t have imagined that in the hot desert the nights would be so cold, otherwise she would have taken her measures when she agreed to cover Raef on his watch.
‘Watch the wind’, that was what Raef told her. She could expect anything during the night, but her duty now was to be alert for any danger coming from the desert. However, he also told her that the desert was quiet, and that she should most likely only report the arrival of supplies to the village, actually, for one in particular, that was the reason to be standing guard all night long.
Another loud sneeze escapes from her lips, but it seems that no one has heard her. ‘Everyone should sleep, it's past midnight, - thinks Lumine observing the village from her height. - Surely Paimon must be sleeping in a warm bed, while I'm here catching a damn cold.’ It's just that her chattering little friend had quickly abandoned her when the temperatures began to drop, she had gone to the village chief's house when Candace dropped by to leave them a plate of hot food. She simply agreed to sleep somewhere away from the cold of the night, while the traveler froze in the watchtower. Ungrateful dwarf, that's what she was.
“I heard the scream of a beast in the middle of the night, but it turns out it was just you”.
Lumine shivers when she hears that mocking voice, and it wasn’t because of the cold. She turns to look at her unexpected visitor, she finds him sitting on the highest wall of the tower, he greets her with a raised hand and a mischievous smile, his hair shaking in the night breeze.
“Tartaglia.” It was the greeting Lumine gave him before turning his gaze to the front, staring into the void.
She was exhausted from dealing with the Fatui: first Dottore, then Scaramouche, to finish with the 11th Harbinger. She didn't want to know anything, least of all about Childe, not when she feels like her heart wants to burst out of her chest. She takes a deep breath, and tries not to let his expression show the rush inside her.
“Oh, wow! I was expecting more excitement from you after don't see me for a very long time!”
She pays no attention to the pitiful tone of his voice, nor when she heard his footsteps coming down the wall. Childe sits next to Lumine, so close, that she could easily smell his distinctive scent that reminded her of the ocean and feel the warmth of his body warming her.
“What brings you to a place like the Sumeru desert, Tartaglia?” asks the traveler with resignment.
He laughs dryly at the distance she was put it. He couldn’t been able to blame her, his colleagues put her through with so much, He deserved her distrust. However, that didn't mean he wasn't hurt by that indifference.
“I told you, girlie. I heard a beast so I came over to check if it was the one that I was looking for, and it was”.
Lumine lets out a snort as she feels offended after understands his words, and also because of her heart that seemed to want to come out of her mouth.
She feels a warmth invade her, she is surprised to notice Childe's gray coat on her shoulders. She turns to look at the cause, but he seemed to be busy writing something on a small piece of paper. It was hard to see what he was writing down.
“What are you doing?” She wasn’t like that, she knew she has to thank him for the gesture, but she was curious about his presence next to her and what he was doing.
“Writing down a few wishes.” Childe answers simply.
“Wishes?”
Listening to Childe was always like a chocolate box, he could say anything unimaginable in the mouth of a Herald in front of what should be an enemy.
“It is a common holiday in Snezhnaya at this time. When the bells of the main tower start ringing, we all have ready a piece of paper like this one, on it we write down the deepest wish we have in our heart. While the bells are ringing they have to write it down, burn it and throw the ashes away”. Childe smiles with longing. “Some, including my father and my older brothers, throw the ashes into a glass containing champagne, wine or beer, depending on taste, then drink it all, to the bottom!”. He explains with a laugh that seemed almost childish to Lumine. “I imagine the atmosphere in the streets full of joy at this moment”.
He sighs with the nostalgia of a moment he misses, and the warmth of a home that eagerly awaits him. She understood his sorrow, because it was like hers.
A piece of paper suddenly appears in her field of vision startling her. She looks at Childe with stunned confusion on her face.
“Do you want to do it too? As I explained, it's very easy. Just write down your deepest wish, and then burn it to make it come true. It doesn't seem so complicated, does it?”
Lumine takes the role that was offered to her.
“It’s not a problem!” says Lumine, trying to look nonchalant and to keep her cheeks from blushing.
Childe laughs softly.
“Great”
With paper in hand, Lumine writes down her wishes quickly, without giving Childe a chance to read them. She looks at the paper in her hand with her wishes written down. There were two of them, and she was hesitant to ask for the second one after she had rushed. She bites her lip with doubt and anxiety, she feared it couldn't be fulfilled or that it was too silly to even ask. Would he even want to? He told her she was like the stars, that he wanted to introduce her to his family, and even have blushed while they talked about trivial things. That was something, wasn't it? She turned to look at Childe looking for an answer to her doubts and fears.
“Something wrong, girlie?” Childe leans over her, and placing an arm behind her, seemed to be putting his arm around her.
“O-oh! Yes, everything is fine.” Lumine is startled to hear him, and stutters a reply. She had been lost in her thoughts of what she had written.
“So, are you ready to burn your wish?” Childe's voice seemed to drop a little, but there was mischief in his tone.
‘No, I'm not ready,’ thinks Lumine crumpling the paper in her hands in a fit of shyness. Where was the Lumine who was going to be cool with the 11th Harbinger, and ignore him for the rest of her watch, she had gone with Paimon surely. Part of her was telling him not to do it, that it was stupid and a waste of time. The other part wanted to burn the paper between her fingers. All because of Childe wanting to do this tradition in front of her. Lumine regretted it and cursed her curiosity.
“Are you going to burn it?” asks Childe with a superb smile.
‘Why is he smiling so much?’ questions Lumine in disgust. She glances at the wishes written on the paper. Of course, the first one was to be able to reunite with her brother and return to their life from before they were trapped in this world, however, her crossroads lay in the second wish. No, this wasn’t the time to have regrets, she was not that kind of person.
“Yes, let's do it”. She replies, trying to sound determined. It was better not to think about it too much.
Childe lights a small flame, brings his paper closer to burn it, Lumine watches him fiddling with the paper between his fingers, he was curious to know what she had written on it. she throws the paper, letting it burn in the air. Now Childe brings the fire closer to Lumine. Doubt came over her again as she brings the paper closer to the fire in front of her.
‘Archons, what was she doing?’ Removing the paper from the flame when the fire almost consumes it completely, it was time to throw it off the cliff. She drops it, and doesn't know why she was so nervous a few moments ago. It's a meaningless tradition, nothing could happen, beyond what was already happening.
Silence settled between them. Childe hummed a song, while Lumine was still struggling to remain in a calm state next to him, although inside she was quite the opposite. He fixed his gaze on the night sky, and blushed at the sea of stars.
“How many wishes did you make, girlie?” Childe asks casually.
She was so distracted that she hadn't realized she had stopped singing.
“Just one, I want to be reunited with my brother and be together with him like before”. She says omitting her second wish.
“Only one? I thought you ordered two”, asks the Herald doubtfully.
“Well, I... Did you see my wishes?”
Lumine turns to look at him in surprise. He couldn't know the truth of her second wish, could he? No, maybe he was just asking out of politeness. Childe laughs before answering.
“I also made two wishes, you don't have to be ashamed. One is to be able to spend more time with my siblings.”
“And what is the second one?”, Lumine asks without thinking.
Childe puts a finger to his lips and winks.
“It is a secret”.
Lumine is embarrassed, and feigns disinterest by turning to look at the entrance road to the village as a reminder of her job at the tower.
A strong air rises from the cliff, kicking up the sand and ruffling their hair. The rising sand seemed to shimmer in the night like small golden snowflakes, it rises above them and drifts past them until it is lost in the desert. Lumine arranges her hair with a faint smile, when she feels arms around her back. A flush comes over her face, as she feels Childe's hot breath rising up her neck. She turns to look at him without knowing what to say, he was simply looking at her with gentleness.
“Although, I can tell it's already come true”, whispers Childe close to Lumine's ear.
She felt her skin crawl and her face burn, the beating of her heart she could hear perfectly in her ears. She was unable to move, to do anything, to stop that little heart of hers. Many times she had wanted to imagine that when she met him again it would be in the most casual and cordial of circumstances. Her pulse would be untamed, there would be no anxiety or blushes, only the pleasure of greeting an acquaintance. How wrong she had been!
“Lumine”.
The moment I invoke each letter of his name in a whisper close to her lips, at that moment, her heart began to beat happily, as if maddened. ‘He's going to kiss me. Oh, archons!’ she cries inwardly. Not knowing what to do, Lumine gently closes her eyes and then feels how Childe rests his lips against hers in a light caress, in a warm kiss that warmed their bodies in that cold night, it had barely been a brief contact. Then his arm pressed her body against his with more force and again his lips opened on her lips moistening them. The contact was just as gentle but more prolonged and Lumine, with her eyes now completely closed let herself be carried away by the caress as he squeezed her in the embrace. The kiss continued and she surrendered to him without thinking anything anymore. Childe's mouth was caressing hers with sure movements that enveloped and wet her lips. Soon the Harbinger surrendered what little resistance there was in her and penetrated her mouth decisively in a kiss as if in no hurry.
Lumine, still too nervous, felt unable to respond on her own initiative to his caresses inside her mouth. To have him so close. To feel his scent, his arm around her waist... the warmth of his hand caressing her cheek and tangling in her hair. For so long she had had to hide her love for him from everyone else, even from herself, she had done it no matter what the cost. But now... now she felt a release welling up inside her chest, where she no longer felt the need to hide it anymore. He sensed it immediately. An intense joy and a more relaxed enjoyment of pleasure filled the young man's heart at once.
Childe breaks away from her, but not before brushing the tip of his tongue against Lumine's upper lip. A current runs down her spine, her hands clench his shirt in an attempt to stifle the sounds that were born inside her. For a few moments Lumine stood motionless, eyes still closed, savoring the sensations felt, but the breathing behind her back made her instinctively lower her head and pretend to pay attention to the sands shifting in the wind. It was marvelous to believe that such a situation would happen on this night watch.
“Did you get your second wish, girlie?”, Childe asks close to her ear.
“You can say yes”, she answered with a certain shyness. Her skin was completely bristling and her cheeks were flushed.
Childe widens his smile and kisses her again briefly, Lumine's heart freezes.
“I'm glad to know that yours was also fulfilled along with mine”.