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Lumine had experienced countless fantastical things throughout her journey through Teyvat, feeling the ambition of ninety-nine Visions coursing through her veins as she faced the Raiden Shogun, ending the Abyssal monster corrupting Natlan’s Night Kingdom in a flaming burst alongside Mavuika, even hopping around the surface of the Frost Moon. Each and every one of these events left the Traveler astonished, being forever engrained in her memories, however, one of the things that fascinated Lumine the most in her journey was the mental connection she shared with the Master of the Night-Winds feared Granny Itzili, so long as they were close enough to each other, Lumine and Citlali would hear whatever the other one was thinking. From the level of intimacy to the ease of communication which came with sharing your mind with someone else, the mere idea of it all drew the Traveler in, doubly so when the person she shared the connection with was Citlali, Lumine had been aware of the woman’s crush on her for a long time, she’d have to have been oblivious to not be, but she’d always avoided confronting it, even a long living woman like Citlali was painfully mortal compared to the Traveler and as much as Lumine believed in the people she’s met living for as long as she remembers them, she still wanted to keep a degree of separation between herself and the people of Teyvat, after all, Teyvat wasn’t her home, yet that wasn’t true anymore, staring up at that dazzling world as it beamed down on the Frost Moon, Lumine had accepted it as her home. With that acceptance came a change to the Traveler’s perspective on her relationship with Citlali, ignoring it worked when she was going to leave Teyvat behind once she reunited with Aether, but now that she was staying, what harm was there in falling in love with someone?
From there, a plan began to form in Lumine’s mind on how to approach exploring her relationship with Citlali, a plan which was soon corrupted by the Traveler’s more selfish desires. While her better nature knew that she should have a straight conversation with Citlali about her feelings first, however she had always found Citlali ridiculously adorable whenever she got flustered, the Traveler couldn’t help but actively tease the shaman a bit herself first. Luckily, constant sneak attacks from Columbina and her time spent with Arlecchino had vastly improved Lumine’s ability to sneak around without others noticing, meaning that after spending the better part of a week “accidentally” bumping into Citlali to guage how far she could be from the shaman before their thoughts intermingled and the rest of the week scoping out hiding spots near Citlali’s favourite places, Lumine was ready to put her plan into action. After bribing a pair of Qucusaurs with her expert cooking skills, Lumine was hidden in a hole in the side in one of the flat boards of rock that scattered Tezcatepetonco Range just about big enough for a Qucusaur to comfortably rest in the shade, giving her the perfect view of Citlali as the shaman sat below her at the base of the rocky ridge, the Traveler having learned over her week of research that Citlali had made it a habit to eat her lunch outside while reading light novels.
Anticipation built in Lumine’s body as she slowly crept over to the edge of the cove, leaning over it just enough to both enter the range of her and Citlali’s connection and be able to gaze down on the gorgeous, pink haired woman, taking in just how pretty the she looked laying on a blanket, lazily munching on a tataco while browsing her books to choose on to re-read for the hundredth time. Letting out a sigh of appreciation, Lumine decided to begin her teasing as she let a single thought run between her and Citlali’s minds, ‘Citlali is so pretty,” instantly clamping a hand over her mouth to hold back her laughter as Citlali suddenly shot up straight and started frantically looking around for where Lumine was, while her thoughts blazed across their connection, ‘Did I just hear Lumine!? Where is she? There’s no way I can let her know what I’m reading!’ Lumine had to put her entire being into restraining her thoughts to hide that she was nearby as she listened to Citlali’s frantic, adorable worrying, each comment from the pink haired woman tugging at her mind to get a reaction, until eventually, Citlali’s thoughts calmed down. ‘I must have imagined Lumine’s voice, am I seriously that obsessed with her?’ the Shaman sighed to herself as she sat back down and returned to reading, Lumine edging herself deeper into the cove beyond the reach of their mental connection as she let herself release her thoughts, basking in enjoyment of how cute she found Citlali’s flustering, laughing lightly as she leaned against the rock wall while staring dreamily outside the cove, where Citlali sat below. ‘I really should tell her how I feel soon, but once or twice more couldn’t hurt, right?’ Lumine thought to herself, her hand on her chin as she thought of what to think in Citlali’s head next before carefully stepping back to the edge of the cave, a fond smile on her face as she thought back to the comfy, faded violet pajamas Citlali had been wearing when they met in Fontaine,.‘Citlali’s pajamas were so cute,’ Lumine’s mind filled with thoughts about how soft hugging and squeezing Citlali in them must be., ‘I hope I’m able to see her in them again sometime, maybe I should try visiting her earlier in the morning?’
Citlali’s reaction was utterly predictable and utterly adorable, the woman dropping her book as her mouth was left agape, ‘Huh?! She seriously liked it that much? I guess I should wear them later into the day… Wait, but if someone else visits I’d look really lazy!’ Citlali’s thoughts beginning to get away from her before she shook her head furiously, ‘No, no, I’m imagining her again, seriously, what is wrong with me today,’ the pink haired woman sitting down once more, opening her book as if to continue reading before slamming her head into the open pages and letting out a long huff of disappointment in herself.
Retreating back into the cove and letting her thoughts roam free once more, Lumine considered ending it here, however, watching Citlali’s reaction to her own true thoughts about the pink haired woman was just too intoxicating for the Traveler, ‘Just one more time,’ she insisted to herself as she began creeping to the front of the cove, before a loud voice suddenly yelled into her mind, ‘Ha! so you are here!’
While Citlali chalked up the first instance as to her own imagination, after getting a hold of herself, the shaman grew suspicious that she was being played with, slowly, quietly pacing in a wide circle until she entered the range of their connection, her thoughts mixing with Lumine’s as her theory was confirmed, the shaman continuing to yell into the Traveler’s mind with an accusatory tone, ‘You better have a good excuse for making a fool of me!’
Lumine let out a small ‘sorry,’ in her head as she accepted that the jig was up, stepping out of the cave and sliding down the mountain until she stood before a pouting Citlali with her hands on her hips, “Well?” the pink haired woman asked, tapping her foot expectantly.
“I think you’re cute when you get embarrassed like that and wanted to tease you a little,” Lumine admitted, scratching the back of her head while refusing to look Citlali in the eye while confessing,
“You what?!” Citlali gasped, her eyes wide and random, unintelligible squeaking sputtering out of her mouth as her mind tried to make sense of what she had just heard, ‘She actually thinks I’m cute! Wait a minute, if she set this up to see me when I’m cute does that mean… No, there’s no way that’s it, but if it is I need to play this cooly, I shouldn’t seem overly excited, it would probably make me seem desperate,’ the shaman forgetting, due to, the excitement, anticipation and attempt at self-control warring in her head, that Lumine heard all of this, the Travler being drawn in to tease Citlali one last time before she made her feelings for the woman clear. “Would a kiss make you forgive me?” she asked innocently, relishing in how easily she was able to make blushes flare across the pink haired women’s face as Citlali stuttered and stammered before Lumine closed the gap between their lips, her mind being sent alight with Citlali’s surprise and ecstasy mixing with her own satisfaction into a soup of mutual love, before Lumine slowly broke the kiss, Citlali looking up at her with a dazed stare, a shaky hand hovering over her own lips.
“Is… is this really happening?” Citlali stammered, failing to comprehend that the thing she’d been dreaming off for months was finally coming true, Lumine tilting her head slightly as she decided to make her feelings more than crystal clear, “I love you, Citlali,” she said plainly, her already wide smile growing impossibly wider at the look on the pink haired woman’s face, her blush persisting while her eyes widened in shock, her mouth open and closed as her brain double and triple checked that she had heard Lumine right.
‘I love you, Citlali,’ Lumine repeated in her head, the thought washing over Citlali’s mind, letting the woman fully accept that Lumine had truly said what she thought the Traveler did.
“I…” Citlali trailed off, covering her mouth with a hand as she looked towards the ground, “Sorry, I’ve never actually dated someone before, I’m… not sure how to do this,”
“How about we start by finishing your picnic first?” Lumine suggested, dashing back up to the cove in a flash of Electro and coming back with a picnic basket she’d prepared earlier, crouching to drop it before streching her arms as she sat down and relaxed, Citlali soon following after, the shaman glancing at her light novels, reaching to put them away before Lumine interrupted her, “You can keep reading if you want,” she assured Citlali, “I wouldn’t want to disturb your reading time that much, besides, I think I’d enjoy hearing your thoughts on what you read,”
“I’m halfway through it though, you wouldn’t even understand what I’m talking about,” Citlali argued,
“That wouldn’t affect how much I’d like to listen to you,” Lumine pointed out as she craned her neck to look at the cover, “Besides, I helped make this one,” Citlali letting out an embarresed eek as she double checked the cover herself only to be met with a drawing of Paimon’s face, Lumine doing her best to hold back a giggle, only to fail and have her arm swatted by Citlali, the pink haired woman pouting as she leaned back against the orange rock behind her, her gaze slowly shifting to where Lumine’s hand lay on the blanket, carefully reaching out her own hand to rest atop it, Lumine paying little mind to the action, humming in enjoyment as she leaned slightly into the touch. The casualness that Lumine treated the touch with made Citlali pause for a long moment, before smiling softly as she fully relaxed and returned to her reading, a warm sensation that had never found its place in Citlali before, settling in her stomach, Citlali basking in the feeling as she spilled her thoughts on the novel into Lumine’s mind, the Traveler occasioanlly adding in bits and pieces about her adventure that the book didn’t include.