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Ajax Alekseev had known he wanted her from the minute she walked across campus the first day, with her silky blonde hair gleaming like woven gold in the afternoon sunshine, a laugh like the bronze bells ringing at Zapolyarny Cathedral, and a sass that struck him to the core like an arrow to the heart of his target, lighting an out-of-control fire in his aching chest.
The problem?
“Viatrix!”
She turned to glare at him as her other friends giggled and left her behind to face the wild wolf of the north all by herself, not that she couldn’t handle her own. “Oh gods, here we go,” She droned, but even across the quad he could see her full lips twitching up in a mischievous smile, clutching her textbook tighter to her chest.
“You act like you know what I’m going to say,” Childe teased, finally reaching her and matching her step for step.
“I do know what you’re going to say.” Her subtle grin only grew, her chin raised in an act of defiance. It never bothered him. “It never changes.”
“Do you want to go out with me?”
“You never give up, do you?” She asked, the early spring wind blowing that gorgeous blonde hair out of her face. “You’ve asked me this everyday and my answer has never changed.”
Now it was his turn to grin, wicked and as wild as the blood in his veins. “I’m nothing if not persistent. So?”
“So?”
“Will you go out with me?”
“Archons above,” His girlie rolled her eyes, then shook her head. That smile never faded; it hadn’t in the entire time he’d tried this.
He gently nudged her, though careful to accept any space she requested. After all, he had no desire to make this awkward, even if his question tended to get repetitive. And for the most part, she had made no move to send him away, though some days he could tell she was in a hurry to get to her next class, or other days he could sense the underlying frustration directed at someone else simmering under the surface of her unblemished, pale skin. If he didn’t know any better, he would swear she enjoyed this song and dance just as much as he did.
The first time he’d asked her out, she stared at him like he had three heads like the legend of Osial, buried deep beneath the surface of Liyue’s stone forest. Her confusion only grew when he asked her the next day, and the next, and the next. By the end of the first week, she’d started teasing him, saying she’d go out with him the minute he recovered one of Dvalin’s claws (impossible, unless he planned on making an archeological discovery to end all discoveries), caught a hellfire butterfly (incredibly difficult, since the botanist at their science lab already wanted him dead), or managed to find a perfectly cut Prithiva gemstone (“Well, myla, if I knew you wanted to skip dating and go straight to the proposal, I would have– ow!”)
Anyone else may have had the wisdom to learn when to take the loss, but Childe didn’t like losing. And he really wanted her to at least give him a chance.
Somehow, in the middle of this game they played with each other, they’d become friends. Strange friends, but friends nonetheless.
Lumine stopped in her tracks, letting out a deep sigh. “What would we even do on a date?”
What an interesting new tactic in this game of theirs. “I have plenty of ideas.”
“Oh?” She asked, one brow raised as she tilted her head. “Like what?”
“What?”
“Well, you’re asking me out. Tell me what you have planned for our date.”
Suddenly, he realized this was no longer a game.
Childe blinked once, twice, a third time, then sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. “Uh— it’s a surprise.”
His cute, sweet, lovely girlie only hummed again, her honey-gold eyes narrowing in incredulity. “I don’t like surprises,” She said, her voice a sing-song, wrapping himself in the warmest blanket he’d ever felt. “Tell me.”
“Oh, you know…”
“You don’t have any plans.”
“Admittedly,” He corrected, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet, “I never thought I’d get this far.”
Lumine guffawed, shaking her head in disbelief. “So you just asked me out all those times for shits and giggles?”
“No! No.” The last thing he needed right now was her thinking this was all some sort of sick joke, when in reality, he’d been waiting for this opportunity for months now. “It’s just– I had a plan at one point. But with the whole delay…”
To his relief and delight, she snickered and shook her head, turning on her heel towards her next class. He watched her go for only a minute, waving to her friends across the campus. Gods above, he would never get tired of studying her every movement. Even when they’d become friends, he’d never lost the deep desire to have and hold her for the rest of his life. Cheesy, sure, and maybe a little creepy, but he’d done a very good job in replacing those feelings with friendly affection so as not to soil what little they had. Until moments like this, when it seemed like the very sun followed her wherever she went, eager to catch a glimpse of her beauty.
Then he realized she’d walked too far away for this conversation, and panic replaced the adoration in his veins, racing after her. “Maybe I really do have a plan,” He said, ignoring how she snorted and rolled her eyes when he caught up, that little smile still playing on the edge of her pouty lips. “Maybe I’m just not willing to share.”
“I hate surprises.”
“You wouldn’t hate mine.”
She shook her head, opening the heavy glass door to the science building and whirling around to glare at him, the intensity of her amber eyes burning through him and all his secrets. “Fine.”
“Fine,” Childe mimicked, smirking. The grin immediately fell from his face when the words reached his brain. “Wait– fine?”
“Fine. We can go on one date.” Lumine tried and failed to hide her smile, and once again he swore he was staring directly at a star from the heavens. “But you have to promise me something.”
“Anything,” He whispered, the air absent from his weary lungs.
“If the date doesn’t go well, you’ll stop asking me out,” She said, an unreadable emotion flickering in her intense gaze. “I’d hate to have to hurt your feelings twice.”
Childe scoffed, leaning on the door as other students weaved in and around them. “Don’t worry, myla,” He purred. “It’ll go perfectly.”
***
“So you really asked her out with no plan at all?”
“I don’t know why you’re shocked,” Childe muttered, lazily scrolling through his thirtieth article of things to do for date night in Liyue Harbor. “I never have a plan.”
From around the room divider, he heard his roommate scoff in disbelief. “Idiot.”
“It’s fine. I have an idea.”
“What, you’ll call your little sister–” He walked around the divider at the same time Childe pulled out his phone, shoulders dropping in exasperation. “Oh my gods, you’re more desperate than I thought.”
“She said the date has to go perfectly!” Childe grumbled, hitting his sister’s name and waiting for the call to connect.
His roommate ran a hand over his face, deep brow pinching in disbelief as he tied his hair up in a black towel, a few longer strands left out of the wrap. “I don’t know what calling her will accomplish.”
“Tonia’s a girl, she’ll know what to do.”
“Maybe she should just tell you not to fight. Though, knowing you, I don’t think that would do much.”
Childe frowned at him. “I’m not going to fight,” He grumbled, then winced. “Well, probably.”
His roommate constantly liked to remind him of the several times Childe had gotten tangled up with thugs pestering the smaller fish around campus. More than once, the much-shorter man had helped him patch up stitches on his face from where they’d gotten a good lick in or disinfected the broken skin on the back of his knuckles from where he’d eagerly beaten the bastards down. Every single time, though, he’d gotten the same lecture of how fighting wasn’t the right option unless he was defending himself, and that Ajax was no vigilante. That’s usually when he tuned his roommate out, only responding in dissatisfied grunts and groans.
“Lumine wouldn’t like it if you did,” His roommate huffed, climbing under the sheets and turning on the television at the foot of the bed. “She’s not a fan of that brutality.”
“How do you know?” Childe asked, distracted by the ringing phone. When the first call didn’t go through, he huffed in annoyance, clicked the red button before the voicemail popped up, and immediately tried again. “Come on T, answer the phone.”
After another moment, his roommate flipped over onto his side, propped up on his elbow. “What if Lumine isn’t the same as your sister?”
“Then I’ll adapt. I always do.” One of his better qualities, he liked to say. “But, it won’t matter. My plan will be so foolproof, it’ll be perfect.”
***
By the time Saturday night arrived, Childe had crafted every little meticulous detail to make sure Lumine would have the best time in her life and grant him the honor of a second date.
He made it to her apartment early, making sure to have enough time in case she counted down to the minute of his arrival. Then, when he was certain it was the perfect time, he slipped out of his car, adjusted his suit jacket collar, and headed up the red stairs to the second floor. A bundle of nerves twisted in his stomach, but he refused to let it affect him too much; after all, it was just Lumine, his friend before anything else. The crush came second to making sure she was comfortable and happy and safe, no matter how much he wanted to be with her.
He knocked on the sturdy wooden door and shifted, checking his father’s watch once more to make sure he wasn’t too early, when warm light quickly bathed him. “Hey– wow.”
Lumine, it seemed, had not come to play around with the idea of a date.
She wore a dusty blue gown textured with hundreds of little deeper blue flower petals, the dress brushing mid-way past her knees and swaying with the breeze. He could smell her wildflower perfume even from here, intoxicatingly sweet like the late summer meadows in Snezhnaya. She’d pinned her soft blonde hair back on one side with two inteyvat flowers, the petals glowing with the same luminescence as her pale skin. Her glossy lips gleamed a peach color, and she’d decorated her eyes with a shimmering gold eyeshadow, twinkling like the stars above.
Ajax couldn’t stop staring, slack jawed at her incandescence.
“Are those windwheel asters?” She asked, tilting her head innocently, as if she didn’t know the effect she had on him. Perhaps she truly didn’t.
“You look incredible,” He finally breathed, looking her up and down once again. He couldn’t tear his eyes away, afraid to even blink, afraid he would miss another minor detail.
“Thanks.” She smirked, poking his chest. “Who told you about the flowers?”
“Huh? Oh, these.” Childe recovered just enough use of his brain, his mouth, and his hands to offer them over to her, shivering his hands into his pockets the minute they were empty. Lumine grinned, pressing one of the petals to her nose and taking a long breath. “No one told me about them. I just thought they smelled good.”
The apples of her cheeks bloomed with a blush, shaking her head as she walked back inside. “Well, they’re my favorite,” She explained, placing them in a porcelain vase. He grinned, unable to help himself as she returned to his side and took his arm. “But don’t get too cocky, lover boy. You get one point.”
“Out of how many?”
“It’s a secret.” She smiled and gave a squeeze of his bicep. “So, where are we headed tonight?”
“It’s a secret,” He mimicked, patting her hand on his arm.
She instantly rolled her eyes, her sandals clacking against the stairs. “You’re cheeky, too.”
“I have my good sides.”
“And you think this is one of them?”
“You don’t?”
“Hmm, well.” That blush continued to burn on her beautiful face, filling him with a pride he should not enjoy that much. “I thought I told you, I’m not a big fan of surprises.”
“You’ll like this one, though. I promise.” He’d done enough research to make sure it felt different than any other date she could have possibly been on while also not being too foreign that she’d freak out about it.
When they reached his car, he did the very gentlemanly thing of opening the door for her (a must-have directive from Tonia), then hurried back to his side. When he slipped inside, he slid the keys into the ignition and–
No. No, no, no.
“Wh–dammit,” He muttered, turning the key again and only hearing a high-pitched clacking noise as it tried and failed to ignite.
“Everything okay?” Lumine asked, clutching her purse over her lap.
“Yep! Just perfect,” Childe breathed, sitting back in his seat. He didn’t understand; he’d just gotten the car serviced two weeks ago and took very diligent care of it so he could make the long drive home to Snezhnaya. The mechanic hadn’t mentioned a single thing about this, and the car had been fine on the way over to her apartment. He tried the key again, silently praying to whatever Archon who may be listening, but the same unfortunate clacking noise returned.
“We could just take my car,” His date breathed, a soft smile playing at the corner of her glossy lips.
“No, no,” He said softly, not sure he could handle the blow to his pride. He tapped the steering wheel for a moment, letting the thoughts collect. Adapt, adapt, adapt– it’s what he was the best at. Finally something clicked in his head, an idea so ridiculous that it may almost be funny. So he turned to look at her, grinning. “How good are you with a little adventure?”
Lumine blinked, then smiled back at him. “I like a little spontaneity. So, where’s this adventure?”
“Funny story– it’s called navigating Liyue’s bus system.”
At that, his date threw back her head and laughed, beautiful and genuine. Oh, good, she found the humor in this too. Perhaps their perfect date wouldn’t be ruined before it even began! By the time they made it to the bus stop, their ride had arrived, and Childe did the very gentlemanly thing of helping her up the steps, making sure she had the last seat available.
As they rode towards their destination, the setting sun set the entire harbor alight with fire, the golden light reflecting off the deep blue-green ocean. It bathed her in a radiance deserving of a star, brilliant and something to be cherished. He tried not to let the thoughts that he should be the one cherishing her drown his mind. Instead, he distracted himself by talking to her about whatever she wanted, listening to her discuss her classes and her life, about her twin brother and his latest crazy experiments in the science labs, about what she wanted to do when school ended. By the time they made it to the restaurant, he almost worried there wouldn’t be anything left to discuss, but she was so easy to get along with that the conversation never stopped.
He did the very gentlemanly thing and opened the door for her at Third Round Knockout, the fancy restaurant packed full with men and women dressed in far better clothes than two college students could afford. Nevertheless, he’d done his due diligence and made reservations the minute she’d said yes to accompanying him on the date, eager to impress her with his forward thinking.
That is, until–
“I’m truly sorry, sir, but it looks like your reservation was canceled.”
Childe felt every nerve in his body stiffen. “But I called this morning to check and everything was fine.”
The host hesitated, running his finger down a long list of handwritten reservation names, then tapping the spot in the book where Ajax Alekseev had been crossed out three times. “It seems this was canceled around two o’clock this afternoon.”
Two o’clock? But he’d been in the shower then, making sure not to miss anything when he shaved the dusting of red hairs on his chin and throat. How could he have called to cancel then? He opened his mouth, then quickly shut it to avoid the string of Snezhnayan curses threatening to escape him. Adapting, that had always been one of his strongest suits, or so he liked to say. “Is there another table available?” He asked, even though he had a feeling he knew the answer.
At least the host felt as awkward as Childe did, shifting nervously. “No sir, not anymore. Again, I’m truly sorry–”
“No, no, not your fault.” He offered the man a smile even though he knew he hadn’t canceled anything, not with the strings he’d pulled to get a spot here. “Thank you.”
He turned back to Lumine, smiling at her to avoid the anxiety in his stomach. “Everything alright?” She asked, chewing on her bottom lip.
“Ah.” No point in lying to her. He rubbed the back of his head and sighed. “Seems like my reservation fell through.”
“Oh.”
“But that’s okay!” He said, offering his arm out to her, which she eagerly took. It didn’t matter if things weren’t going according to plan– he could still make the night interesting and perfect. “I’m sure there’s another restaurant in the strip with seats. Got anywhere you’d be interested to try?”
The amber in her honey golden eyes actually lit up. “Actually, there’s a Liyuean cuisine place down the road. My friend may be able to squeeze us in.”
“Sounds tasty! Lead the way!”
She did as she was told, taking his hand this time and leading him out of the far-too fancy restaurant (honestly, what was he thinking trying to get a seat there?) and back into the busy road. Heat flooded his own face at the feel of her fingers tangling with his, savoring the touch like a lifeline while they weaved through the sea of people.
By the time they reached the building listed Wanmin restaurant, he already had a feeling there would be no seats for them. Nevertheless, Lumine got a chance to meet her peppy and excitable friend, and he even managed to get them a spicy chicken-mushroom skewer, just enough to tide them over until they finally found a place to eat. The nerves at the pit of his stomach continued to burn a hole into the back of his mind, screeching like nails on a chalkboard. But one look at his date’s face as she laughed and enjoyed her snack and that worry vanished, locked back into a little box with the rest of his complicated emotions.
When the bar grew too busy to stick around, he tangled his fingers back with hers and tugged her out into the street for fresh air. “Turns out Saturdays aren’t great for trying to find a sit-down restaurant,” He said, checking the time on his father’s watch, then glancing down the busy street and seeing dozens more places with lines out the door.
“Mmm,” Lumine hummed, still snacking on her appetizer. “Want a bite?” She asked, offering the skewer out to him.
“Oh, sure,” He said, leaning in to take a bite from the food she offered. He didn’t catch the little gasp slip out of her mouth, nor did he see how her eyes widened as his lips grazed against her finger. He stood at full attention as he finished his meal, licking his lips slowly. “Tasty.”
“Y-yes,” She breathed, that bright red bloom returning to her face, the intensity of it flying directly over his distracted mind.
He finished chewing and swallowed slowly, then offered his arm out to her. “Well, if you want, we can move on to the second phase of tonight and find our own dinner later.”
“Oh?” Lumine asked, brushing a strand of golden hair out of her face, not meeting his gaze. “More adventures?”
“Yes ma’am.” Childe only grinned in relief as she eagerly took it, guiding her away from Chihu Rock and headed towards the wharf, the usually-busy dock empty. Honestly, they were probably the reason every restaurant was utterly packed that night, but he tried not to stew on a second failure of the night. He could still make it wonderful.
Warm orange and yellow light from the hanging lanterns stained their steps, the deep purple shadows dancing with each movement. Glade lilies bloomed in the moonlight, their delicate petals like outstretched hands to the night sky. They wandered through the few shops still open on the second level of the docks, eagerly surveying the wares salesmen and women had to offer. Lumine’s eyes lit up at sales, running her fingers over the multicolored fabrics and appreciating the rich, perfect cut gemstones.
Childe not-so sneakily bought her a small bracelet, latching it around her tiny wrist and even attaching the first charm to the chain– a narwhal, to which she teased him about his obsession with the creature (“I’m allowed to have favorites, myla!”)
In a very gentlemanly manner, he offered Lumine his suit jacket as they left the second level of the dock and returned to the main part of Liyue’s market street. The busy sounds died down the further they walked, replaced by the tide hitting the wooden beams supporting the docks. Eventually, they came to stop on the pedestrian bridge headed towards the massive stone archway. Childe followed his date’s gaze to the heavens above, her eyes dancing with a longing he didn’t understand.
“I always love getting out of the city and looking at the stars,” She finally said, leaning on the railing, as if she could inch even closer to the tiny balls of dust above.
“Have you ever seen the auroras?” He asked, resting against the railing beside her.
Her golden brow pinched. “The what?”
“They’re these beautiful light shows up north. When they form, they paint the skies with a multitude of colors,” He explained, smiling as he remembered how excited his siblings would get whenever one appeared. “And when they aren’t there, you can see all the constellations perfectly. They shine so bright in the wilderness– almost as bright as you.”
Lumine snorted, nudging him with her shoulder. He couldn’t ignore her red cheeks this time. “That was corny.”
“I had to slip one in there somewhere,” He nudged her back, their arms brushing against each other in the simple action. “I mean it, though. I think you’d like stargazing in my hometown.”
“Hm,” His date whispered, her wildflower perfume curling around him with how close they had somehow gotten. “Maybe I’ll have to visit.”
Gods above, all he wanted to do was kiss her. All it would take is one lapse of judgment and he’d dive right in. “That would be–”
Every hair on the back of his neck stood at attention, the shadows in the corner of his eye moving in a way they shouldn’t. He frowned, casually glancing over his shoulder and spotting the two men trying and failing to pretend they weren’t studying him. His stomach churned, no longer with anxiety. Instead, his body warned him to be on edge, the same way it did whenever he was about to do something stupid like get into another fist fight.
“Childe?” Lumine whispered, out of breath. From what, he couldn’t tell.
When the men didn’t immediately walk away from his own attempt to intimidate them, he wrapped his arm around Lumine and tugged her into the curve of his side. She squeaked in surprise, but his attention was far too preoccupied by the thugs now inching closer, casually giving him a once-over, as if searching for weapons.
His grip only tightened around his date as she squirmed. “What are you–”
“Evening, gents,” Childe said, voice laced with a venomous charm. Instantly, Lumine stiffened, as if realizing why he wouldn’t let her go.
“Don’t you two look nice for an evening out?” One of the men asked, hands shoved in his pockets.
“Thank you,” He said simply, relieved to feel one of his date’s arms tighten around his waist. “Your opinion makes all the amount of time I spent on my hair worth it.”
Lumine snorted. A sickeningly sweet grin exploded on his face, wild and just as dangerous as the situation he somehow managed to get them into. He gently nudged her forward, trying to guide her forward and leave the men behind as they headed back into the lantern light of Liyue Harbor.
They were almost at the base of the bridge when one of the men stepped in front of them. “That jacket looks expensive.”
Fuck, they were really going to do this. Childe’s brow narrowed, itching to knock this man’s teeth out. He could do it, in a single punch. “Not really,” He said, raising his chin. Lumine only pressed tighter into his side.
The thug’s eyes narrowed. “What about the watch?”
He should have kept walking. They were almost there, and these men wouldn’t dare pursue them into the busy marketplace. But something about the question, about his father’s watch, sent a fire of rage through his body. He slowly turned back towards the thug, who beamed when he realized he’d gotten the reaction he wanted.
“Hand it over and we’ll leave you alone.” The second thug said, joining his friend.
“Oh, you can fuck right off with that idea,” Childe spat, clenching his fists. All it would take is one punch.
“Childe,” Lumine whispered, clinging to his arm.
“Easy now,” The first thug warned. “The watch– and no one gets hurt.”
Suddenly he remembered his promise to both Tonia and his roommate– that he wouldn’t fight, like they expected him. That would be very ungentlemanly. But surely this was an exception; after all, he didn’t doubt for a second that these men would let them go without harm or whatever prize they were so determined to have. His nostrils flared as he weighed his options, trying desperately to adapt to the situation.
Before he could, though, Lumine jumped into action. She pushed his suit jacket off her shoulders and lunged forward, moving like a roaring river in that perfect blue dress of hers. Neither thug had a moment to make an effort to defend themselves with her sheer speed. She recoiled her palm and struck the first thug in the face, the sound of his nose snapping from the attack loud and aggressive. The second thug only had a moment to yelp from fear when her shoe connected with his groin, crumpling to the ground like a bag of trash beside his shrieking partner.
Then she swirled back around to look at him, adjusting the flowers in her hair as she caught her breath.
Ajax Alekseev knew this was the moment he fell in love.
“You alright?” She asked, her sandals clacking against the wooden bridge as she scooped up his jacket and wrapped it back around her shoulders.
“Did you just…?”
“Come on, we should go.”
“You just–!”
“Childe!” She shouted, shaking his arm and dragging him out of his awe, his full attention back on the beauty that she was. “We don’t want to be around when they wake up.”
He finally gave a brief nod, tucking her back into the curve of his side and leading her away from the thugs as quickly as possible.
***
Somehow, his perfect date ended up with them lounging in her apartment living room, getting delivery from the same restaurant they had their appetizers at, playing old board games she’d spent so much time meticulously collecting. One of her favorite records played in the background, the music reminding him of snowy Saturdays curled up in his parents’ living room. As fun and cozy as this was, Childe knew none of his foolproof plans had come to fruition.
“Was that your first fight?” Lumine asked, poking at her dumplings with her chopsticks.
“What?” Childe blinked, tearing himself from his thoughts, lazily rolling the dice to keep up the facade that everything was fine. “No, absolutely not. I get in scuffles worse than that every week.”
His date wouldn’t meet his gaze, firmly keeping her attention on the little board piece symbolizing her. “You just seemed nervous.”
“I didn’t want you getting hurt.” He meant it. Any other time, he would have thrown himself into the fray with reckless abandon. “But you can certainly take care of yourself.”
“...Right.”
“Which is– awesome, by the way,” Childe said quickly, seeing her face twist in confusion. “Those guys never even saw it coming. Neither did I! And the sound it made when you broke his nose–”
“Easy there, lover boy,” Lumine whispered, but he spotted the curve of her lips twitch upwards in silent relief.
Nevertheless, he sank back against the couch. “Ah right, girls aren’t too into that sort of thing.”
“Says who?”
“My roommate.”
Silence followed his revelation, until the record finally reached the next song.
“I’m sorry, by the way.”
Lumine tilted her head, rolling her dice and getting perfect sixes. “For what?”
“For tonight,” He explained, helping her move her character along the board. “For how poorly it went.”
“Childe–”
“I wanted it to be perfect and I somehow screwed things up even more.”
“You didn’t.”
He scoffed, shaking his head, his mess of red hair falling into his face. “You don’t have to save my pride, Lu. We didn’t have a car to get there, we couldn’t get dinner, and we nearly got mugged.”
“And it was still one of the best dates I ever had!”
Surprise flickered in his veins, followed by confusion. That familiar blush bloomed across her pale cheeks, her mouth screwing up at the revelation– as if she was embarrassed. “What?” He finally asked, still not fully understanding.
Lumine sighed, setting her cards down and bringing her legs up to her chest, resting her cheek on her knees. “I don’t get many first dates. And I definitely don’t get second dates, since my older brother is so protective that he tends to… push the guys I like away. It’s one of the reasons I said no to you so many times. I liked having you around.”
Childe straightened in his spot, wondering if screaming I liked having you around too was too blunt. He hadn’t expected to get this far tonight. So instead, he chose the second question on his brain. “Who’s your brother?”
His date snickered. “You know him well.”
“I do?”
“He’s your roommate.”
“Aether is your twin?!” He shouted, jumping to his feet. Oh fuck! He’d spent the past few days telling Lumine’s older brother all his plans to entice her to go on a second date with him.
Lumine tilted her head, still giggling to herself. “Did you really not know that?”
“Admittedly, myla, I’ve only had eyes for you.”
That sent a whole different kind of blush exploding across her cheeks, up to her ears, and down her pale neck. Childe grinned, offering his hand to help her stand. “Aether has this annoying habit of fucking with any guy who dares to date me,” She continued, not meeting his gaze even though a giddy smile graced her face. “Especially on said date. He says it reveals their bad qualities and I can’t disagree. I’ve seen a lot of temper tantrums through that method.”
“Wait,” He breathed, taking her hand and running small circles on the lifelines in her palm. “All the stuff that happened tonight was his doing?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised.”
“Even the thugs?”
“Especially the thugs.”
Oh, he was going to kill Aether. “Huh.”
“But,” Lumine whispered, watching him draw the circles on her hand, “You’re different.”
A frown. “How?”
“You didn’t let anything get you down, no matter how crazy it got,” She explained, her wide amber eyes finally meeting his. “And you still managed to make it fun! I mean– an adventure on the bus routes? No one could have made that interesting, and yet you did.”
Childe opened and closed his mouth, unsure of what to say, if there was anything to say at all. He couldn’t stop reeling from the revelation that his roommate, the man he’d whined and complained about Lumine to for nearly a full year, was his crush’s older brother.
“What I’m trying to say is– thank you,” His date continued, taking his hand and giving a good squeeze. Then she offered him that beautiful smile, as bright as the sun itself. Butterflies erupted in his stomach, the tension in his shoulders finally easing. “I genuinely had a wonderful time tonight.”
He gave her hand a squeeze back, her grin infectious. “So did I.”
“But next time, let’s actually get dinner.”
His heart flipped. “Next time?”
Her smile only grew as she pulled him down to her level with a firm tug of his hand. Then her soft, still-glossy lips brushed against his cheek, the kiss as gentle as the afternoon breeze, and yet the hurricane of glee racing through him nearly took his breath away. His heart hadn’t restarted its frantic beats as she pulled away. “Of course,” She said softly, that blush vibrant on her cheeks. “After all, tonight was perfect.”