Chapter Text
Snezhnaya was colder than Mondstadt. On some level, Lumine knew that, but being here and actually feeling the cold was much different than just thinking about it. She nudged the thermostat next to the fridge up a few degrees. Every surface of her new apartment sparkled with newness, but it didn’t feel like home yet. As if on cue, her phone buzzed with an incoming call. Aether. She held up the phone to her ear, striding to her room to take the call in what passed for peace—Mualani’s snores practically shook the floorboards with their force.
”Have you seen my gloves?” Her brother’s voice was tinged with the slightest edge of panic. Lumine scrubbed a hand over her face. “They should be in your duffel, why?” Lumine had done all their packing herself. Double-checked every nook and cranny of their bags to make sure they had everything. She knew for a fact that they were in there somewhere.
A rustling came through the tinny speakers. “False alarm, found ‘em. Hey, are you busy right now? Can you come to the gym with me? I heard they’re pretty empty around now.” Lumine checked her watch.
“Okay wait, I’ll grab my stuff. Meet you at your place?” At Aether’s vague noise of agreement and subsequent hang-up, she grabbed her duffel and went out the door.
Lumine’s chest heaved from exertion. Aether stood behind the bag she was currently hitting like it had personally insulted her grandma, bracing it. She unlaced her gloves, throwing them down. The gym was, admittedly, nice. There were a few rows of punching bags along the walls encircling a small boxing ring. Aether was right; there were only two or three people in the gym. Most students were still moving in, or celebrating their precious few days of freedom in the local bars.
They’d been going at it for a while now. With the chaos of move-in and adjusting to a totally different country, they clearly had a lot of energy they needed to work off.
“Maybe it’s time to call it a day,” Aether said, packing away their stuff.
“Maybe.” Lumine put her hands on her hips, trying to catch her breath.
They walked home together, stopping at a bakery on the way for pastries. “Holy crap,” Lumine said, mouth stuffed with almond croissant. “These are so good.”
“I know, right,” Aether replied. Powdered sugar was streaked across his nose. “My roommate’s best friend knows a guy—Xiao, you know him?” He kept talking without waiting for an answer. “Anyways, apparently his mom owns the place. Almonds are like his favorite food in the world, so she wanted that to be the theme.”
Lumine polished off the rest of her croissant, licking the sugar off her fingers. “Hey look, we’re here.” She looked up at the large building, ivy crawling up the sides. It was home now. Unease licked the bottom of her stomach.
The moment she stepped inside the apartment, she was bombarded with noise. There were hordes of people in the kitchen, on the couch, everywhere. Mualani was in the center of the commotion, like the conductor of some strange orchestra. Music blasted from a cheap speaker on the dining table. Lumine silently hoped the walls were soundproof. Layla was sitting at the dining table, head buried in her computer. She’d been working non-stop, though the term hadn’t even started yet. Lumine groaned, and resigned herself to locking herself in her room and praying the noise stopped soon. She really needed to get herself earplugs. If this was only September, what was the rest of the year going to look like?