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Lumine decided that she should take a walk outside the Flagship, she needed a fresh breath of air after she was offered to join Dottore multiple days ago those memories still haunt her brain and Aether…..
“I'll be back before it gets really dark, Paimon don't worry” Lumine reassured frantic Paimon stopping her from leaving the Flagship, eventually Paimon let Lumine leave to take a walk.
“It's quite windy outside, I should've brought a coat with me” Lumine thought whilst her arms were covering each other for warmth.
After a while Lumine gets used to the cold.
Lumine let out a deep sigh followed by thoughts about her brother.
She misses her twin brother Aether, he left with no answers.
Lumine started to pace around a field of grass, tears silently running down her face.
Little did she know who would approach her a few moments later whilst she was in this miserable state.
“Well, well, well isn't it the Descender.”
A deep, clinical voice came out of nowhere.
“What are you too sad to even speak at all?”
“Oh. It's you” Lumine snarled at the blue haired man. She quickly wiped her tears “stay away”, the golden haired traveler swung her sword at him, ready to fight as if she wasn't falling apart a few seconds ago.
“I see that you are quite unsatisfied with your current arrangements, let me change that. My offer still stands, you know very well what it is.”
The Doctor said in a carefully calculated tone, measuring every reaction and analysing everything movement of Lumine so that he can conjure the perfect way to sway her to his side for once and for all.
“I'm not falling for you weak words” Lumine sneered at Dottore, irritated at the sight of him.
“Just leave me alone” Lumine pushed away from Dottore, trying to hide the fact that she was sobbing, her mind still fixated on Aether, the whole point of her journey and the end of her journey where she will apparently get her answers.
“When will it all end?” Lumine contemplated.
Dottore sneaked closer to Lumine, his fingers placed on her chin gently, slowly turning her head around for him to observe.
“So the great traveller is actually displeased with her life, interesting..” Dottore whispered to himself but it was loud enough for Lumine to hear.
“Displeased? I'm fine with how my adventures are going, you are simply misjudging” Lumine disagreed with Dottore.
Something weird in Dottore arose, maybe it was his ice cold of a heart finally starting to melt, he doesn't fully understand or know what it is.
It was a new feeling to Dottore.
“You are really unhappy but why are you always rejecting my idea of a partnership.. , you know well that all of these people you have helped won't help you with finding you brother, all you have done for them just for you to be suffering in silence, they don't deserve you”.
The Doctor stroked a strand of her soft, luscious hair, softly whilst stating the obvious, there was no manipulation, only pure genuine words.
He truly loves Lumine, Dottore would do anything for her to keep her content and safe, anything for his songbird.
Dottore pulled Lumine towards him.
They both gazed at the other in memorisation, allured to the other.
For once Lumine's body eased around Dottore, she didn't stop Dottore.
No, deep down she had feelings for him but she always pushed them far down trying to not think much of it.
No way she would ever love that monster who experimented on people, went through much crueler and inhumane means all for “the advancement of his research and science”.
But something in her wouldn't stop.
Her arms went around Dottore’s waist, turning into a hug, Lumine didn't know what she was doing but she did it anyways.
Even Dottore was caught off guard by this but he wrapped his arms around her as a silent reply.
Lumine tenderly embraced his body against hers, her head dived in his torso as a way of seeking comfort.
The silence between them was awkward.
Both of them love the other but they can't be together.
A heretic and a hero can't be together.
It's a cursed combination, what would others think about these scandalous feelings towards the other.
“Dottore….”, a hushed voice came out of the golden haired traveler.
“Lumine, I understand that you wouldn't want to be seen with someone like me” Dottore backed away from Lumine, he wanted to cuddle for eternity but this should be the right thing to do?
He tensed up, Zandik never received love or affection from anyone not even his own parents so this all new territory to him and his attachment issues are a completely different puzzle that needs to be solved in order for Dottore to truly love another.
“I apologise if I made you uncomfortable, traveler” it was very obvious to see his everlasting fire of love for Lumine, even she could taste it in the air.
“Dottore I love you”, you probably know that.
“I … can’t, I'm sorry”, he may be a genius at seeing and understanding everyone’s emotions but his own.
“We simply cannot be, this is unfortunately a harsh reality we must face”, his cold calculated tone was back.
By now the area was shrouded by fog and there was nothing but darkness in the sky, none of them could navigate their way out.
They were trapped here till either the fog disappeared or it became brighter in the sky.
“We can discuss this”, Lumine urgently told the Doctor, she wants him but she must find a way to keep him whilst retaining her “hero” image and she also wants to stop Dottore’s unethical experiments/ make him less of a cruel, distant man that he currently is.
After archons knows how much time passed they worked a few things out and discussed quite a bit, trying to make things work out.
( I’m sorry I genuinely can not be arsed to write the full dialogue but I do have a rough idea of it, rn I'm just winging this fic ).
Deep in their conversation Dottore revealed his origins and with that was his real name.
“Descender, only Pierro knows my real name, it's Zandik”, Dottore/Zandik embarrassly confessed.
“Zandik, the expelled student of the Academia, I have heard of this guy a few times back in Sumeru”, the outlander murmured to herself, things becoming clearer and making sense the more she thought about it, she believed every single word that Zandik said she knew he wasn't lying her, the way he would pause and his body movements that isn't him deceiving her that is Dottore opening up, becoming more vulnerable to her each minute.
The same goes for Lumine.
It definitely wasn't easy for either of them to talk about their past, discussing uncomfortable topics and things they were ashamed of.
Lumine yawned as both of them were laying in the grass, gazing at the stars and listening to Dottore excitedly ramble about the stars, the war of the funerary flame and how fascinating the fake sky was to him, sharing as much knowledge of his as he could, this was Dottore’s dream after all.
Getting the opportunity to share his observations and wisdom to his dearest Lumine.