Chapter Text
It had been an exhausting week. Training new recruits, negotiations for the Fatui, paperwork… It was all too much.
But at least Childe had this to look forward to. Where was she, though? He’d been sitting there for half an hour, without catching a single glimpse of her. Slouching in his velvet-covered chair, he looked up at the gilded and poshly decorated ceiling of the Golden House, sighing. It’s not like girlie to be this late, he thought. He squinted at the mahogany door, waiting for any sign of the blonde Traveler, and fiddled with the buttons of his coat. Still not here… She’s probably not coming. Childe rose to his feet, preparing to leave. He shouldered his pack and adjusted his Hydro Vision, and was checking his hair in the reflection of a piece of Mora in the piles on the floor when – suddenly – he heard a creak. He whipped around, his eyes wide with relief.
The large, lavishly painted doors opened, and gave way to an exhausted-looking Lumine. Paimon trailed behind her, scoldingly.
“Lumine, if you’d just listened to Paimon and didn’t help that person–” Paimon sighed and stomped her feet in the air, floating around. Lumine sighed and tried to fix her tousled hair, meeting Childe’s gaze.
“Sorry I’m late, I had to help someone and-” Lumine looked highly embarrassed.
“No worries, girlie.” Childe mustered a smile, trying not to act too relieved. Thank the archons, he thought. “Though I must say, I nearly missed out on the highlight of my week.” He smirked.
Lumine sighed, her apologeticness gone, replaced with exasperation. “Shut up, Childe.”
“Not when I’m with you, girlie!” Childe set down his pack to the side and cracked his knuckles, getting ready.
Lumine glared at him.
“Shut it, let’s start fighting already.” She took out her sword, and held it in front of her, bending her knees and getting herself into a fighting stance. She was impatient.
“Ready to spar?”
“Of course, girlie!” Childe readied himself, backing away to the center of the polished arena. He looked up at Lumine, waiting for her cue.
Paimon clapped her hands. “Fight! Fight! Fight! Paimon wants to see a fight!”
Childe dashed forward immediately upon seeing her nod, wielding a Hydro spear in each hand. He threw one, but Lumine dodged it with ease. “Hey! That wasn’t fair!” he shouted, aghast.
Lumine tightened her grip on her sword. “That was totally fair! You’re just jealous you’re not as good as me-”
“I’ve gotten stronger now,” he insisted. “I swear! I’ll win this time, I’m not gonna lose!” He charged at her, but Lumine dodged again, hitting him with a powerful burst of Anemo.
“Like hell you are! Windblade!”
The burst of power knocked him onto his back, skidding along the polished floor of the Golden House – but Childe got back up, albeit wincing a little.
The room swam before him, and he felt dizzy and nauseated – but still determined to win.
The feeling of bile in his throat mixed with the musty scent of the room uncomfortably. He massaged his back before going back into position, and summoned his bow, pulling on the string.
“That was good, but see if you can handle this!” He fired arrows at her, aiming swiftly but clumsily. He turned around as Lumine kept dodging sideways, spinning in a circle, the paintings on the walls of the Golden House turning into a messy brown blur.
One of the arrows just nearly missed her face, coming so close that Childe saw the fletching brush her cheek and tousle her hair as it zipped past.
Paimon also zipped around in the air, trying to dodge the arrows that missed Lumine, a few narrowly missing her feet. She cringed as Lumine dodged the first few arrows, only narrowly avoiding the sixth shot, which grazed her right shoulder, leaving a small dash of blood; her forehead glistened with sweat.
“Lumine! Slow down!”
Lumine ignored Paimon’s warnings and leaped around, running along the sides of the arena. She was trying to keep her cool, drawing on her experience, but the small gash in her shoulder stung as she ran, and it was getting hard to ignore it, telling from Lumine’s strained expression.
“Ugh… I can’t keep this up forever… “ hissed Lumine . To further complicate things, Childe, showing no sign of exhaustion, continued to fire quick arrows, each one being narrowly avoided by Lumine; she was tiring, and made a desperate maneuver – on the eleventh arrow, Lumine caught it, and, taking advantage of Childe’s surprise, stabbed it into his left arm.
Childe grimaced. “Ha – you win again… That was good though. You’ve gotten even stronger, if that was possible.” He removed the arrow from his bicep and waved a hand, making it disappear – but the damage was done. He let out a small gasp as he pulled out the arrow; the pain was sharp. It had made quite a deep cut, and blood gushed from it, trickling down his elbow.
“Sorry…” Lumine stared at his arm, her expression unreadable but her shoulders stiffened.
“No worries, girlie, it’s fine.” Childe looked at the floor, seeing his face hazily reflected in it. He gritted his teeth, trying to ignore the pain. He was silent for a few moments as Paimon bandaged his arm.
“...You still up for dinner?” Lumine asked, trying to relieve the tension.
“Of course! Who do you take me for?!” Childe stood up, leaning on Lumine for support. “Let’s go!”
“…don’t you want to rest first?” Lumine looked up at him, concerned.
“I can handle it! You’re talking to the Eleventh Fatui Harbinger here!”
“Hmph, if you say so.”
The sky was slowly darkening, a shade of inky blue when they arrived in Liyue Harbor. Lumine looked around Chihu Rock; the bright yellow lights coming from the lanterns contrasted with the dark night sky, the stars beginning to twinkle faintly.
Childe quickly realized his arm was still around her shoulder, and quickly removed himself and stepped a little bit further away, his heart rate quickly increasing. “Where do you wanna go?” asked Childe, looking down at her.
“ Paimon wants to go to Wanmin Restaurant!” Paimon hovered in front of them excitedly, pumping her fists.
“Wanmin Restaurant, I guess,” responded Lumine nonchalantly. “I haven’t seen Xiangling in a while, so it would be nice to pay her a visit.”
Childe nodded and smiled. “Wanmin Restaurant it is then, girlie.” They walked amongst the lively crowd of Chihu Rock, Paimon floating behind them and their footsteps barely heard over the chatter. He pushed open the door.
“You first, girlie,” he said, holding it open.
“R-really? Thanks…” Lumine smiled nervously and stepped past him. She stood in the doorframe of the crowded restaurant, twiddling her thumbs. Childe stood besides her, looking around.
He walked over to an empty table, and, to her surprise, pulled out a chair and gestured towards it. Lumine sat down and smoothed out her skirt; Childe noticed that the tips of her ears were slightly pink.
“Thanks…”, she said stiffly. Lumine’s forehead seemed a bit shiny from sweat, and she refused to make eye contact. Childe scratched his head, trying to think of something to say, but to no avail. Lumine looked down at her hands in lap.
“Girlie? You okay?”
“Um, uh, erm, I-”
“Are you ready to order?” Xiangling had appeared out of seemingly thin air, bearing a notepad and staring at them expectantly. Lumine looks relieved….
“I’ll take the Slow-Cooked Bamboo Shoot Soup, I guess…”
“And I’ll take an Adeptus’s Temptation!” smiled Childe.
Lumine stared at Childe’s messy ginger hair; he pretended not to notice to avoid making the situation any more awkward.
She quickly looked away, fidgeting with the tablecloth.
“Will that be all?” Xiangling said, interrupting Childe’s train of thought. She scribbled down their requests in her notepad.
“Hey! You forgot Paimon!” Paimon stamped her feet angrily. “Paimon wants Mora Meat, Almond Tofu, Black-Back Perch Stew, Universal Peace, and Minty Meat Rolls! Hehe!”
“Seriously, Paimon?! I’m not paying for that! That’s way too much Mora!” exclaimed Lumine angrily, but Xiangling had already written the order down on her notepad. Lumine sighed exasperatedly.
“Don’t worry girlie, I’ll pay for it.” Childe placed a hand over Lumine’s on the table reassuringly. Lumine looked up, her eyes widened in surprise – but couldn’t find the willpower to move her hand away, feeling the warmth and friendliness of his hand.
“Oh, thanks…” Their hands were still clasped together, on the table; Lumine wouldn’t meet Childe’s eyes, and he himself looked to the side, avoiding eye contact; the room suddenly felt a bit too warm, and his hair stuck uncomfortably to the back of his neck.
Her hand feels really warm.
It’s comfortable.
I… want to hold her hand forever…
Unable to let go, he stared at their intertwined hands, until he heard a voice.
“Hey, you lovebirds, the food’s here!” Childe jumped and quickly retracted his hand; looking up, he saw Xiangling, bearing several bowls and plates on her arms. Childe quickly stood up, grateful for the distraction.
“Here, let me help you with that –” He quickly took a bowl from Xiangling’s arm, setting it on the table. Ah, thank the Tsaritsa , he thought to himself as he helped Xiangling with a few more bowls, avoiding eye contact with the Traveler.
Unfortunately, there was only a finite amount of bowls, so he sat down and sadly watched Xiangling leave. Great, now it’s just me, girlie, and Paimon…
Without a second thought, Lumine and Paimon dug into the food enthusiastically, Paimon forsaking the use of utensils entirely and shoveling the rice into her mouth with her fingers.
“Ah, you little glutton, Paimon!” Lumine smirked at Paimon; however the blonde Traveler still had a spot of rice on the corner of her mouth as well.
Paimon was too busy eating to hear Lumine’s joke, and the next few minutes passed without incident – at least, nothing observable.
However, Childe’s brain was waging an internal conflict. He kept staring at the little grain of rice on the corner of the Traveler’s mouth. Should I wipe it off? Should I tell her? Ugh…
Without realizing what he was doing, Childe cupped Lumine’s cheek, bracing her head with his hand, and with the other hand, picked up a napkin and wiped the rice off for her.