Chapter Text
The sun is shining, and the snow falls gently as Lumine walks around Snezhnograd with Odette and Sandrone. As she walks around Sandrone spots someone in the distance.
“Ah, well if it isn’t councillor Tartaglia. Mr. Big shot himself.” Sandrone teases.
“Go easy on me alright? I’m still recovering from the interrogation the real big shots put me through.” Childe says.
Childe notices Lumine while talking with Sandrone
“Hey Lumine, I heard you came looking for me earlier. Nicest surprise I’ve had in a while” Childe says, a grin spreading across his face.
Lumine rolls her eyes, trying to hide the smile slowly forming on her face “Don’t get too excited, I only came because I needed to talk to you.”
“Oh?” Childe raises his eyebrows, “ And here I was thinking you missed me.”
“You wish.”
“You wound me Lumine.”
Sandrone lets out a sigh to signal she’s annoyed “Are you two finished?”
Childe turns his head toward Sandrone “What? Can two friends not catch up?”
“You call that catching up?”
Lumine lets out a little chuckle as she shakes her head. “ I think she’s getting tired of us”
“Impossible” Childe says while pointing his finger at himself. “Who could possibly get tired of me.”
“Me.” Lumine replies.
Childe stares at her for a moment before bursting into laughter. “Ouchie, I was just trying to be nice.” He replied playfully.
Lumine smiles. “You? Nice?”
“Occasionally.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it.”
Childe grins at Lumine again. “Then I suppose I’ll have to prove it.”
Lumine asks curiously. “And how exactly do you plan on doing that?”
“Well..” Childe looks around at all the snowy paths and the theatre nearby before looking back at her. “You came all the way to Snezhnograd to find me. The least I could do is show you around”
“Gladly”
Childe and Lumine slowly walk off into the distance.
“Finally they’re gone. I can’t stand those two” Sandrone scoffs.
Odette replies, “Something is telling me they aren’t exactly friends.”
“Well, anyways, I best get going. I need to start rehearsals.”
Odette walks off, she hears in the distance Sandrone shouting “goodbye!” but ignores it.
As she walks to the theatre, she sees Childe and Lumine walking very close together.
“Odette, what are you thinking? They’re just friends. Right?” She mutters under her breath.
〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜
Childe walks beside Lumine, tucking his hands into his pockets as the snow continues to fall around them.
“So, what exactly brought you to Snezhnaya?” He asks, glancing over at her.
Lumine shrugs. “I had a few things to take care of. I figured I might as well just look for you while I was here.”
Childe raises his eyebrows. “Oh? So you admit you were looking for me then?”
“Well, I never denied it.”
He chuckles. “Fair enough.”
They continue walking through the snowy streets, passing by small stalls and beautiful buildings. Lumine looks around taking in all of the sights around her.
“You know” Childe says, breaking the silence “I didn’t expect you to actually come here looking for me.”
“Really? Why not?”
“Because you always have somewhere to be.”
Lumine looks into his bright blue eyes. “Maybe I wanted to see you.”
Childe pauses for a brief moment, looking at her.
“Really?”
Lumine nods. “Yes.”
A grin spreads across Childe’s face.
“Well, that’s nice to hear from you.”
Lumine laughs softly. “Don’t get too excited”
“Too late.”
“You know, maybe you should meet up with me at my house. I could make you something?” Childe asks, hoping for yes.
“Sure, I’d love to.”
“Great. Is tomorrow 12p.m. okay with you?”
“Yeah, that works great. Thank you.” Lumine smiles as her eyes twinkle in the moonlight. “I think I better start leaving. It’s getting late, and I can’t leave Paimon alone forever.”
“Of course, see you tomorrow Lumine.” He says happily.
As Lumine starts to walk off, she quickly turns around “Hey, thanks for that tour, it means a lot.”
Childe smiles at her as she turns back to walk to where she was staying.
〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜
The next morning, Lumine wakes up and gets ready for her day. She helps people around Snezhnaya and walks around. She checks her watch.
“Shit.” She mutters under her breath. “I’m going to be late.”
She sprints to Childe’s house.
After a few minutes, she finally reaches the door and knocks.
She waits for a moment before hearing footsteps coming from inside the house.
The door opens, revealing Childe standing there with a smile on his face.
“Lumine! Whoa, are you okay?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m fine.”
“Are you sure? You look pretty worn out.” Childe says curiously.
“I kind of ran here because I was going to be late.”
“Well, come in. Please, sit down, relax.”
Lumine slowly walks over to the sofa and sits down, letting out a sigh as she relaxes.
“Thank you” Lumine says with a big smile on her face.
“I’m surprised you actually came.”
“Of course I did. I said I would, didn’t I?”
“I know, but–“
Lumine smiles. “You really wanted me to come, didn’t you?”
“Maybe a little.”
Childe walks toward the sofa and sits closely next to Lumine.
“So, feeling better?”
“Much better,” Lumine replies, leaning back against the sofa. “I probably shouldn’t have rushed here.”
“I told you, you could’ve taken your time.”
“I know, but I didn’t want to be late”
Childe smiles. “You really didn’t want to miss this, huh?”
“Well, uh..” Lumine says, thinking about what to say. She knows this would mean a lot to Childe, and she knows she would enjoy meeting with him too.
“Maybe I didn’t want to miss it.”
Childe looks at Lumine for a moment, a small smile forming on his face.
“Well, I’m glad you didn’t”
Lumine looks at him, slightly surprised by his response.
“Really?”
“Of course. I was looking forward to seeing you.”
Lumine feels her cheeks warm up slightly and quickly looks away.
“Well.. I’m here now.”
Childe chuckles. “That you are.”
He gets up from the sofa and stretches.
“That’s enough sitting for me. I promised I’d make you something, didn’t I?”
Lumine looks up at his face. “You did.”
“Then come on”
Childe walks towards the kitchen, glancing back at her.
“You can help me, if you want.”
Lumine stands up and follows him.
“Do I actually get to help, or are you just going to tell me what to do?”
Childe laughs. “I haven’t decided yet.”
“Then I’ll decide for you.”
“Oh? And what decision is that?”
“I’m helping”
Childe smiles.
“Alright. I suppose I can allow that.”
Lumine rolls her eyes secretly, enjoying his teasing. She follows him into the kitchen.
Neither of them notices the smile on the other’s face.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“So, what are we making?” Lumine asks, looking around the kitchen.
Childe looks over to the ingredients on the counter.
“I was thinking something simple. Nothing too complicated.”
“Good, because I don’t think I’m much help.”
“You’re already helping by being here.”
Lumine looks at him for some time, then realises she’d been staring too long and quickly looks away.
“Alright. What do you need me to do?”
Childe points toward the ingredients.
“You can start cutting those while I get everything ready.”
Lumine nods and begins helping.
After a few minutes, Childe looks over at her.
“So, what’s your favourite food?”
Lumine pauses for a moment, thinking.
“Probably butter chicken.”
Childe raises his eyebrows in confusion. “butter chicken?”
“Yeah. Why?”
“I’m not sure. I just wasn’t expecting that.”
Lumine laughs softly. “Well, now you know.”
Childe smiles.
“I’ll remember that.”
Lumine looks at Childe for a moment, surprised by how seriously he says it.
“You better.”
“Trust me. I will.”
Lumine smiles before she continues cutting things up again.
For a while, the kitchen is full of the sound chopping and sizzling. Every now and then, they say something that makes the other laugh.
“You’re actually pretty good at this.” Childe says
“At cooking?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ve had practice.”
“Well, maybe I should ask you to cook for me next time.”
Lumine looks into his eyes with a smile.
“Next time?”
Childe pauses for a moment.
“Yeah. Why not?”
Lumine chuckles. “I suppose there could be a next time.”
“Good.”
They continue to prepare the food, occasionally bumping into each other as they move around.
After some time, they finally finish preparing the meal.
Childe carries the plates over to the table while Lumine grabs some cutlery.
“Here.”
“Thanks.”
They sit down across from each other and begin eating.
Compared to the streets outside, the kitchen is warm and cosy with wooden everything everywhere. The soft glow form the lamps reflects off the windows.
Lumine takes a bite and looks up at Childe.
“Well?”
Childe raises his eyebrows.
“Well what?”
“Is it good?”
He takes another bite before nodding.
“Not bad.”
“Not bad?”
Childe grins.
“I’m joking. It’s amazing.”
Lumine rolls her eyes.
“You’re annoying”
“And yet you’re still here.”
“Sadly, yes I am.”
Childe laughs.
They continue eating, talking about everything and nothing at the same time. Lumine tells him about some of the people she helped earlier that day, while Childe talks about a few stories from his travels.
Even now and then, Lumine catches herself watching him as he talks. She quickly looks back down at her food when she realises.
Outside the snow continues to fall against the windows.
Neither of them notice how fast the time passes.
Eventually, Lumine looks toward the window
“Wait.”
Childe looks over at her
“What?”
Lumine points towards the window.
“Look at the snow”
Childe turns around.
The snow that had previously been falling gently was now coming down heavily, covering the rooftops and streets in a thick layer of white. The warm glow from the windows of the nearby houses reflected faintly against the snow, making the streets look almost peaceful despite the huge storm.
“Wow.”
Lumine gets up from the table and walks towards the window.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen snow this heavily.”
Childe joins her, standing by her side looking out the window.
“Neither have I in a while.”
Lumine watches the snow for a moment. The wind pushes the snow through the streets, making it difficult to see anything but nearby buildings.
“I should probably start heading back.”
Childe looks at her.
“In that?”
“I’ll be fine.”
He gestures with his pointer finger towards the window.
“Lumine, you can barely see the street.”
She looks outside the window again.
He has a point.
“…Okay. Maybe I won’t be fine.”
Childe chuckles.
“I was going to suggest you stay here tonight.”
Lumine turns to face him.
“Stay here?”
“Yeah. I don’t want you trying to walk through that.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course.”
Lumine smiles slightly.
“Alright. Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.”