Work Text:
Even though he’s saved Liyue countless times from disaster, Spider-Man has still caused a rise in—
A rapid knocking at Lumine’s window was what finally pulled her away from the article she was drafting. The glow of her laptop being the only light source in her room suggested that she had once again let her evening get away from her.
The knocking came again, this time more urgent. Groaning, Lumine left her desk to pull up her blinds to see no other than a man in a skin tight red and purple suit. He waved desperately as Lumine raised a brow in amusement.
Should it have shocked her that someone was outside the window of her tenth floor apartment? Maybe. But this was a scene Lumine had grown to be very accustomed to. And never did it fail to give her endless amusement.
“Come on! Let me in!” The man pleaded through the glass. He brought his hands together and rested them against his head as the only thing keeping him from falling to his immediate death was his feet stuck to the small ledge of Lumine’s window. Now, no ordinary person would be able to do something like that, but the person outside Lumine’s window was anything but ordinary.
“I’m busy,” Lumine replied, her lip twitching upwards. She crossed her arms over her chest, watching the man outside get more and more desperate.
“Babe, please!” The man tried again. “I promise I’ll be quiet!”
That was a bunch of lies. This person had no ability to keep his mouth shut. Lumine would know, she once taped his mouth with duct tape and he somehow still made noises through the material.
“You’ll owe me,” Lumine sighed, giving up easily.
She did a quick check of their surroundings before flinging her window open. Luckily the area around them was already pretty dark with people calling it a night. Strong arms wrapped around her and Lumine’s world tilted as the man embraced her with just a bit too much force. They hit the floor of her room with a loud thud. Thank the archons Lumine had a fuzzy rug spread out to soften the landing.
“You’re a lifesaver!” The man nuzzled his masked face in the crook of Lumine’s neck. “The news caught sight of me so I couldn’t go home.”
“And you thought coming here was a better idea?”
“Yeah. I haven’t seen you in a few days and was thinking about how much I miss you and the next thing I know I’m outside your window! Crazy isn’t it!”
Lumine groaned, shoving the man off her to get up and close the window. When she turned back to face him, he’d already taken off his mask, tufts of orange hair messily sticking every which way. Despite herself, Lumine smiled, bending down to run her fingers through the soft strands.
Never did she imagine that her boyfriend, Childe, would turn out to be a superhero.
“For someone who's quite smart, you can really be an idiot.”
“But I’m your idiot!” Childe smiled up brightly. There was a smear of blood across his face from a scratch he’d gotten in battle.
Lumine leaned forward giving him a gentle kiss. Her thumb brushed along his cheek to wipe off the blood. “Did you hurt yourself anywhere else?”
Childe let out a nervous laugh. He reached towards her, grabbing her chin to tilt her face back into another kiss. The metallic taste of blood filled Lumine’s senses. She should have been used to it by then. They’ve kissed plenty of times after Childe returned from a tough fight, all battered and bruised. But it still sent a wave of pain through her to know her love was hurt.
“I’m fine,” he replied after they broke away. “Seeing you took away any pain I felt!”
Lumine narrowed her eyes. “I don’t believe you. Strip. Now.”
"Bossy! Bossy!” Childe chuckled.
He reached towards the back of his neck to pull at the zipper. He struggled with it for a moment before Lumie felt bad and moved to grab the zipper and pull it down, revealing pale skin covered in a sky of freckles. For a split second, Lumine let her fingers glide over the specks, tracing constellations on Childe’s skin. With her job done, Lumine stepped back, allowing Childe to stand to push the suit down until he was standing in nothing but his underwear.
Lumine moved around him slowly checking for any injuries. Her boyfriend was the type to pretend he was fine even when bleeding out. Not because of his pride, but because he hated seeing the people he cared about worry about him. It was cute, but it meant Lumine had to do inspections from time to time to make sure he was taking care of himself.
“If you keep staring at me with those eyes I’m gonna get excited, darling,” Childe teased. He moved his leg to hook around Lumine, pushing her forward and into his arms.
He leaned in close, pressing his lips against her ear. “I still have a bit of energy left after that fight.”
In response, Lumine pushed away from Childe, grabbed his mask, and shoved it into his mouth. “I’ll kick you out in what you’re wearing if you do anything. I have a deadline I have to meet.”
Muffled sounds came from Childe’s stuffed mouth.
Continuing her inspection Lumine concluded that there were no signs of any serious injuries that needed medical attention. But that didn’t account for the darkening purple bruise that was blossoming across Childe’s abdomen.
He must have been hit pretty hard, Lumine thought as she worried her bottom lip. It must have been painful. Childe’s chest heaved in short quick successions like every breath hurt.
Satisfied that there was nothing more than bruising, Lumine moved to her closet to grab a spare set of clothes that Childe had left for this exact purpose. She tossed them towards her boyfriend and left her room to go to the kitchen. Pausing at the door she swung her head back to say, “You can use the shower.”
Once in the kitchen, Lumine opened one of the cabinets, and grabbed some painkillers as the sound of the shower turned on. The urge to pull out her phone and check the news was strong. Lumine wasn’t sure what evil her boyfriend had been fighting that night, but he made it back to her in one piece so to Lumine it was a victory.
She’d wait until later to ask Childe for the details. If it was a good fight he would have been bragging about it the moment he entered her room. His silence on the matter meant that something had gone wrong.
Lumine allowed herself to get so wrapped up in her thoughts that she missed the sound of taps turning off. It wasn’t until a loud gasp made her look up to see Childe hurrying into the kitchen. He was still hastily pulling his white shirt over his wet hair as he stopped right in front of Lumine, anger spread across his face. “What’s that on your laptop? ‘Liyue’s Friendly Neighbourhood Superhero Is A Danger To The City?’”
“It’s true,” Lumine replied. Whoops, guess she forgot to close her laptop.
She turned her back to Childe to fetch him a glass of water. “Your actions have tripled the repair costs the city had budgeted for the year. Plus the percentage of villains has been rising instead of decreasing.”
Childe took a moment to formulate his reply. The anger that had been visible across his face vanished as he realized the truth of Lumine’s words resulting in his head falling in embarrassment. “But babe, you’re supposed to be on my side! All the articles you’ve written about me are so negative!”
Lumine was in university for journalism and currently interning for the local newspaper, Liyue Times, on the current events team. It was actually how she met Childe, who she interviewed for being a genius in his field of technology and engineering and having just won an international engineering competition for one of his inventions. Though, she didn’t know at the time the articles she wrote about a new superhero named Spider-Man was in fact the handsome orange haired man.
“I wrote a nice one when you saved that kitten and child from a tree,” she objected.
It was one of her more light hearted pieces. A little girl, in a panic at her kitten climbing a tree, had climbed the branches to bring down her beloved pet, but once up was too terrified to climb down. Spider-Man had arrived and with one big swing, the little girl and her kitten were back on the ground. The whole situation was utterly heartwarming to Lumine that she wrote a small piece about it.
Nudging the glass of water and medicine towards Childe, Lumine only had to look at her boyfriend before he took the contents readily, popping the medicine into his mouth, and throwing his head back, downing the drink. He set the empty glass down on the counter with a loud thud and wiped his mouth. “I’m talking about articles gushing about how hot I look while kicking villains’ asses!”
Lumine tilted her head, confused. “You wear a spandex suit. What’s sexy about that?”
Childe groaned, turning away from Lumine to go and fling himself onto the couch in the living room. “You just don’t understand,” he called from the other room.
Remembering the growing bruise on Childe’s stomach, Lumine pulled an ice pack from the freezer, wrapped it in a thin cloth and moved to sit next to Childe on the couch. She pulled up his shirt to see the bruise had already gotten bigger since she last saw it. Frowning slightly, Lumine pressed the ice pack against Childe’s stomach watching him jump in surprise.
“Ah… it’s cold,” he said sheepishly.
Lumine smiled. “You know, it’s not that I don’t find Spider-Man sexy. It’s just that I know what he looks like under the mask and to me, nothing is sexier than that face.”
“Lumine…”
Childe wrapped an arm around her waist to pull Lumine onto his lap. She allowed him to kiss down her neck, peppering gentle kisses against her skin. She tilted her head allowing Childe better access.
Hearing Childe complain about her articles was something Lumine was used to. Her job required her to remain neutral about all subjects and Spider-Man was one of those topics. The superhero was either loved or hated. It was Lumine’s job to report the facts, not to gush about her boyfriend, who if she was honest, was quite proud of.
Another truth would be that she enjoyed watching his reactions to her articles. Each one was so adorable, the way he pouted out his lower lip just by reading the titles. Though, Lumine wasn’t so mean as to only write negative articles. She sometimes released nice ones. It’s just that Childe had a selective memory and chose to focus on the negative.
His bickering reminded Lumine of the first time they had met as Spider-Man and Lumine. A smile tugged at her lips as she remembered the events fondly.
It was another late day at the office, weariness weighing heavily on Lumine as she finally trekked out through the large glass doors. She’d been held back to fix a last-minute edit on one of her articles before it went to print. Her editor had been ruthless with that article, always finding some sort of fault with it. It made Lumine want to give them a piece of her mind, but she held it in. She needed to do well at her internship. It had been a month as it was.
The moonlight shined brightly above as she turned the corner into the alley she used as a shortcut to her apartment. Lost in thought due to her tiredness she didn’t notice she wasn’t alone. Her feet stopped moving when something sharp pressed against her. Lumine sighed, already feeling dread wash over her. This wasn’t something she had planned.
“Give me your wallet.” A rough deep voice came from behind her.
“No.” Lumine didn’t want to deal with some petty thief. She had her night routine to do at her apartment once she got back. This would clearly push her schedule back.
Her arm was grabbed roughly and her body slammed into the wall of the building beside her. Lumine let out a grunt as the thief twisted her arm, pressing his knife deeper into her side. “Drop the purse and I’ll let you go.”
“No.” Her laptop with all her article drafts and research was in her bag. She wasn’t letting that go.
Too bad for this guy, Lumine had taken plenty of self defense classes. She shifted her weight waiting for the right moment to strike back when the presence behind her disappeared. Confused, she turned around to see the perpetrator against the opposite wall, his hands and feet pinned to the bricks with white webs. The knife he once held was now glistening up at Lumine from the cement.
“Pretty cool, eh?” A new voice spoke excitedly. Turning towards the newcomer, Lumine was shocked to find Spider-Man hanging upside down beside her.
This was Lumine’s first time meeting the hero. Whenever she saw him, it had been at a distance. Now, up close she could see it really was just some guy in a skin tight suit. The powers were definitely something that made him stand out. How did those thin webs support his weight?
Spider-Man turned his attention to the thief. “You should be ashamed of yourself! How dare you try to steal from such a pretty lady? If you want you can try stealing from me! But I promise I won’t make it easy!”
Lumine ignored the hero as he taunted the thief instead, pulling out her phone to contact the police. Once she was finished reporting the situation, she faced the hero who was still hanging, watching her.
“You can go. I’ll wait here for the police. They’ll need to take my statement anyways. Thank you for your assistance.” This was all so troublesome. Lumine made a mental note of how much time she’d lose with this. She still had to prepare a rough outline for her next article before she could call it a night.
Spider-Man dropped down from where he hung and leaned in close, inspecting Lumine’s face. “Wait! Aren’t you Lumine? The one who writes the articles about me for Liyue Times ? I thought you looked familiar!”
“No,” Lumine replied. It would be bad if she got to know the person she wrote her articles about. Especially this person.
“Yes, you are! Your picture has been printed beside a few of them!” Spider-Man accused. “I’d know that beautiful face anywhere!”
Lumine flushed a little at being called beautiful. But as quickly as the warmth spread across her cheeks, she hardened up. “A little vain, aren’t you? Reading articles about yourself.”
“Is it a crime to check on how the public perceives me?”
“For someone dubbed the ‘Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man’ it kind of goes against your image, doesn't it?” Lumine made a mental note that the superhero was a little bit conceited.
She turned away from him, hoping that if she just ignored him, he’d leave her alone. Doesn't he have other people to go save?
It only lasted a second before a voice next to her ear made Lumine jump. “Hey! Hey! Does this mean you’ll write a nice article about me now? Since I saved you and all,” Spider-Man whispered.
“No. That’d make me biased,” Lumine replied. Shit . She was supposed to be ignoring him.
Spider-Man waltzed in front of her view; arms crossed behind his head. He was a lot taller than Lumine was and had a deep pleasant voice, which strangely sounded familiar. Just where had she heard it before?
“You’ve written nice articles about other people!” Spider-Man said with a slight pout.
“Oh? Who?”
Why did he care so much about his image? Every celebrity had positive and negative articles written about them. Lumine didn’t think she was even that mean with what she wrote. She took a neutral stance, which occasionally leaned more negative. But it was her job to critique! The higher ups enjoyed her takes on the superhero. It was why she’d been given the internship in the first place.
“Childe, that engineering genius. Your article about him was nice. You even praised him.”
“Is now the time to flirt?” The forgotten thief yelled at them. He pulled at his restraints to no avail and shot them a dirty look.
Without hesitation, Spider-Man lifted his arm and a web shot out from a small device on his wrist to land across the thief’s mouth. “Please be quiet, Lumine is talking.”
Spider-Man then turned back to Lumine and waved his hand, gesturing to her to continue on with their conversation as if nothing had happened. A small smile tugged at Lumine’s lips. The hero was more fascinating than she originally gave him credit for. “Childe is a certified genius who just made a scientific breakthrough in his early twenties. How else should I have portrayed him?”
Spider-Man struggled for a reply. “Well, I’m saving Liyue, which no one else is doing! Isn’t that impressive?”
Lumine gave the hero a blank look, watching him falter easily. “You… don’t think he’s cooler than me, do you? Is that why your article about him is nicer?”
Why was he so persistent? Lumine wanted nothing to do with the hero. She looked him dead in the eyes of his mask and with a firm tone said, “I like Childe more than you, yes. But that has nothing to do with how I write my articles. I report facts and that’s final. Please stop pestering me.”
Spider-Man let out a small dramatic gasp at her response making Lumine hesitate. Had she been too harsh? It was hard to tell without being able to see the hero’s face. She was just tired. First, her work held her up and now she was having to deal with the aftermath of almost getting mugged. All she wanted was to return home and forget that this day had happened.
Luckily for Lumine, the police arrived at that moment, not allowing the hero to reply. It was for the best , Lumine thought as the police grabbed her statement. Once they hauled off the thief to the back of the police car, Lumine was finally free. She refused the offer to have herself driven home since she was pretty close to her apartment complex. It would waste more time at this point.
As she walked down the silent street, the stars shining brightly over her, Lumine took note that during the interaction, Spider-Man had just so conveniently disappeared.
Lumine hoped it was the last she saw of him.
It didn’t take long before Childe was passed out on Lumine’s couch. Lumine stayed put for a while letting her fingers lazily comb through Childe’s hair as he exhaled small puffs of air from his mouth.
When she first met Childe as Spider-Man Lumine wanted nothing to do with the superhero. Even when Childe himself had started to pursue her, Lumine kept her distance. It took him quite a while to secure the first date with Lumine, and even that had been more an accident than intentional. But now, she didn’t know what she would do without him. He had become such a huge part of her life that Lumine almost wanted to scold her past self for wasting so much time.
Brushing aside the mess of orange bangs Lumine placed a gentle kiss against Childe’s forehead and finally got up to move back to her desk. She’d fallen behind her internal schedule when Childe came knocking at her window but she should still be able to finish her article without losing too much sleep.
Turning the laptop back on, the article Lumine was working on blinked to life, staring back at her. She sighed as her gaze drifted towards the door. She knew Childe was having a rough day and felt slightly guilty for writing a more negative article about him. But work was work. Lumine would have her ass reamed if she was late with her rough draft, and honestly, she was more scared of her boss. Especially if she wanted an offer to stay on the team after her internship ends.
The keys clicked loudly as Lumine’s fingers flew over her keyboard. She was determined to finish quickly. There wasn’t much left to her article before she could send it to the editorial team to look over.
“Even when your boyfriend graces you with his wonderful presence you can’t help but work.” Childe’s voice came from the entryway.
Lumine looked over to see him leaning against her door frame, a wolfish grin on his face as he watched her. His hair was now tousled by sleep and his shirt wrinkled. “I have to get this done by tonight. Besides you’re the one who stopped by because you couldn’t lose those reporters.”
Childe grumbled, pushing himself away from the door to saunter over to Lumine. He rested his head on top of hers as he stared at her screen. “I told you it was also partially because I missed you.” His arms wrapped around Lumine’s shoulders as Childe snuggled against her.
“Does this mean you’re staying the night?” Lumine asked, still focused on writing.
Childe feigned a dramatic gasp. “You dare to throw me out? And after I saved the city from another villain!”
Lumine mentally went over her schedule for the next day. It was a weekend so she didn’t have anything planned in the morning. “Fine. You can stay, besides I want to keep an eye on that bruise of yours.”
“Awe, is someone's softer siding showing through tonight?”
“I can still kick you out. Perhaps I could even call in an anonymous tip that Spider-Man is in the area.”
“Hey! Not fair!” Childe mumbled.
Lumine laughed as Childe moved to press a kiss against her cheek. “I’ll watch something on the tv while you finish up. Do your best.”
He pulled away and Lumine turned to see him pause at the doorway and whirl around, lifting his hand up to give her a finger heart before leaving. Lumine smiled despite herself. She couldn’t help but love the guy.
She worked quickly only needing another half hour before the article was up to her satisfaction. A heavyweight lifted from her shoulders as she sent off her email with her article. Leaning back in her chair, Lumine stretched out her arms, a small yawn escaping her mouth. She pushed back, getting off her chair to go find Childe.
Her boyfriend was sprawled out on the couch, legs draping over the sides watching the tv. The light from the screen cast shadows over his face, illuminating a small scowl as his eyes followed the screen, making Lumine curious about what he was watching. She turned to see a news recap of the earlier fight between Spider-Man and Signora, one of the more prominent villains in Liyue.
Lumine gasped as she watched the clip of Childe being thrown into a building, his body crumpling at impact. He clutched his stomach as he emerged from the rubble, staggering before jumping back in to fight. So that’s how he got that bruise.
The news reporter spoke with a clear voice. “Signora has yet again escaped capture, this time leaving Spider-Man left to deal with the fallout of the damaged building. Thanks to his efforts there was only a handful of injured at the site.”
Lumine understood now why Childe had been quiet about his hero duties earlier.
Childe had yet to acknowledge her presence. With his powers, she knew he had already sensed her and was just waiting for her to interact first. Lumine made her way to the couch where laid down in front of Childe, pressing her body close. She let her legs entangle with his as she took his face in her hands to kiss him.
“You did good today,” she whispered against his lips. “I’m proud of you.”
“I messed up. Signora got away. Again. How can I call myself a hero when all I cause is destruction.” His blue eyes were dull as he spoke in a quiet voice.
Lumine shook her head. “That doesn’t matter. You saved all those people from being seriously hurt. And that’s what makes you a hero. Besides, you'll always be around to kick Signora’s ass whenever she comes back!”
Childe was quiet as he wrapped an arm around her waist and buried his face in her shoulder. “How do you always know what to say?” he whispered.
“Because I love you. I’d be a bad partner if I couldn’t read you,” Lumine replied.
They stayed like that as the voices from the tv turned static. Lumine petted Childe’s head gently as she listened to his breathing. Moments like this were rare with them. Childe was busy being a grad student while Lumine was swamped with work. Even if their schedules were both clear, Spider-Man duties came first and those were always unpredictable. Countless dates were cut short due to Childe running out with an apology on his lips. All Lumine could do was watch and hope he made it back to her safely.
“How about we go to sleep?” Lumine suggested. The couch was a bit too small for both of them to cuddle on.
Childe let her pull him to the bedroom where he laid quietly as Lumine got herself ready. Strong arms embraced her when she finally got onto her bed, her body sinking into the mattress. Lumine’s face was pulled towards Childe’s chest as he hugged her. Lumine returned the hug, squeezing tight. They fell asleep like that, tangled together, Lumine snuggled against Childe’s chest. The days of the past greeted Lumine in her dreams.
“Would you look at that! It’s Ms. Reporter! Fancy running into you!” Childe sidestepped over the rubble to stand next to Lumine.
A hot tip had come in that Spider-Man was fighting a villain down at the docks and Lumine had rushed out of the office immediately to get to the scene. She had arrived at the tail end of the events seeing Spider-Man throw the final blow before the villain slumped over, defeated. While waiting for the police to arrive, Lumine took eyewitness statements for her article before the genius had found her.
Smoke and dust were everywhere from the destroyed buildings making Lumine cough. “Childe! What are you doing here?”
Lumine hadn’t seen Childe since she interviewed him for Liyue Times. It surprised her that he approached her. Usually, people ignored journalists after their stories were out. They gained what they needed from their stories being publicized so there was no more use for the journalist.
“Research!” The orange haired man leaned forward and gave a secretive wink. Lumine noticed that he was particularly sweaty. Had he been exercising beforehand? His chest heaved like he was out of breath.
“I see. Did you read the final version of the article Liyue Times put out?” Lumine was only slightly curious. It was her first printed article for the paper. She wanted it to be good.
Childe clapped his hands together excitedly. “It was perfect! You captured me so well. I especially loved the part where you called me handsome. It was so nice compared to those articles you now write about Spider-Man.”
Oh? That was an odd coincidence. Lumine filed it away in her mind in case it ever became relevant again. “You and our resident superhero are quite different in my eyes.”
“You think so? I wouldn’t say that.” Childe hummed amused.
Lumine turned to face her companion, her brow raised in curiosity. It may be her journalist instincts running on high after the interviews but there was something going on. “What do you mean?”
Childe turned to look out at the rubble and destroyed landscape. “In our own ways, we’re both trying to help others, so I’d say we’re more similar than you think. Oh! Is that why you became a journalist? To expose the truth of our corrupted world?”
“I…” Lumine fumbled not expecting the quick topic change. “I guess you could say that. When I was little I thought I could be a voice to those who weren’t able or too afraid to speak out.”
Soft laughter came from the man next to her and Lumine shot him a hard look. When he noticed he’d been caught, Childe raised both his hands in surrender. “That’s a surprisingly cute dream. Say, how about we discuss it more over dinner?”
Lumine was quick in her rejection. She made it a rule that she wouldn’t get close to people who she wrote articles about. “No thanks.”
A pout emerged over Childe’s face. “Really? Not even as thanks for writing that great article about me?”
“No. It’s my job to write. And if that’s all I must return to my job. Have a good rest of your day Childe.”
What a strange guy, Lumine thought as she walked away from Childe. A warning alarm was going off in her mind, but Lumine had no idea why. There was something off about that man. Lumine thought it’d be best if she stayed far away from him and whatever secrets he was hiding.
When Lumine woke the next morning it was to the smell of breakfast being cooked. Letting her nose guide her out of bed, Lumine found Childe in the kitchen cooking.
“Morning sweetheart!” he greeted as Lumine wandered up beside him.
Snaking her arms around her partner’s waist, Lumine peaked at the food being cooked, her mouth watering. It seemed like Childe was making pancakes. One of Lumine’s favourite foods. “Good morning. What’s all this?”
Childe leaned down to plant a kiss on her forehead while she was distracted. “It’s thanks for letting me stay the night.”
“You know you can stay whenever.” She may tease him often, but Lumine would never say no to Childe. “How’s your stomach?”
“Hurts, but I’ve had worse so I’ll be okay.”
“Take it easy for now if you can,” Lumine said. She knew it was a hollow request. If trouble came, Childe would go.
“Hey. I’m fine, seriously.” Childe twisted his body to press a chaste kiss to her lips before returning to watch their food. “Just knowing you care is enough.”
Lumine hadn’t realized her grip around Childe had tightened protectively. She loosened her arms, moving to set the table for them. “I’m glad you’re doing better. I was worried.”
“I know,” Childe replied earnestly. “Thank you for always looking out for me.”
Lumine didn’t reply as she placed the plates on the table. When it was set, she sat down and waited for Childe to bring over the plates of food.
The first bite was delicious. It almost irked Lumine that Childe was a better cook than her. Almost. It did come in handy for moments like this when Lumine woke to a wonderful meal just waiting for her to devour!
“Thank you for the food!” She smiled at Childe who hadn’t touched his own plate yet. “Are you not hungry?”
“Yeah, I just got distracted by how cute you are when you’re happy.” Childe grinned playfully.
Heat rushed up Lumine’s neck. She tried to cover her blush by stuffing another mouthful of food into her. Childe only laughed in response.
“How long are you planning on staying?” she asked, trying to shift the conversation.
“Can’t I spend the day with my lovely girlfriend?” Childe teased as he finally started to eat his own food. “Let’s go on a date.”
“I’d like that,” Lumine said.
It’d been a while since they were last able to go out. Their last date had turned out pretty disastrous. Funnily enough, the restaurant they had reserved a table at exploded a few moments before they arrived. Lumine had let out a deep sigh as Childe pressed a quick kiss on her cheek before running off to deal with the villain of the day. That night they ordered take out and decided it was much better than whatever fancy food they were supposed to have.
Childe’s special alarm on his phone went off and both their faces fell. It seemed like fate had decided to go against them that day. Childe hesitated, but Lumine waved her hand. “Go. It’s important.”
Childe sent her a worried look as he got up to go check his phone. He paused as his face went pale. “Something is happening at the Northland Bank. If it’s just a robbery I could leave it to the pol–”
“No.” Lumine interrupted him.
There were times when Childe got too in his head. Stressed about the heavy reality of being a hero. Feelings of an endless abyss. She’d seen it again and again and every time she was determined to drag him out. “Those people need you. Go save them.”
“But our date… I’m bailing on you again.”
Sighing, Lumine got up and reached for his face to squish his cheeks together. “Spider-Man doesn’t ignore people because he has a date. If I couldn’t handle this I wouldn’t be with you. You love me right?”
“Yes.”
“You also love being Spider-Man right?”
“Yes.”
“Those two ideas can coexist. If you’re quick and round up those bad guys we can still catch an evening movie, okay?”
Childe gave her a small gentle smile. He leaned his head against hers, his warm breath ghosting her lips. “What would I do without you?”
“Hmm, well your identity of Spider-Man would probably have been revealed by now. As well as all the fame would have gotten to your head.”
Childe reached for her, wrapping his arms around her waist to try tickling her and Lumine burst out into laughter as she twirled out of his reach. “You go get your ass into that skin tight spandex and go!”
“Okay, okay!” Childe raised his hands in surrender, laughter bubbling out of him. His shirt rolled up, revealing the raised skin of a long scar.
Lumine’s laughter stopped as she looked at the light pink skin. Childe had many scars scattered across his body from various fights, but that one particular scar, Lumine had seen it. It had been such an intense moment that she was sure she’d never forgotten it.
There was rubble everywhere. Buildings and streets had been completely demolished. Lumine’s world was off kilter, her vision blurry, her ears ringing. She’d accidentally got caught up in a villain’s attack. She’d been following the newest attack on the city. It was then, as Lumine stretched out her hand to take a video of the fight unfolding, that a green light lit up the area.
Everything had happened in a blur. Gasps of terror turned to screams, then all sound was abruptly silenced. The world shook and fear had made Lumine freeze in place. The only thought that repeated in her mind was, You’re going to die. It wasn’t until debris from a building fell from above, almost burying her, that her reflexes kicked in at the last moment and Lumine jumped out of the way falling to the ground.
Chaos had erupted around her as she struggled to get to her feet. Her legs wobbled and tears fell from her eyes. Her body trembled as reality set in. She almost died. Lumine raised a hand to her forehead and when she brought it down, red liquid covered her fingers. No wonder she felt like shit. She must have been hit by the falling debris.
Looking around Lumine didn’t see any other signs of life. This was one of the worst attacks Liyue had gotten in a while. Whatever was used to cause the explosion seemed to have taken out an entire block from the looks of it. Trying to listen, Lumine couldn’t hear any sounds of fighting or battle. Only the cries of others in distress. The ringing in her ears got louder, making Lumine press her hands against them to try to block out the sound. She had to calm down!
She looked around for her phone and found the device on the ground — crushed. Great. There went her only chance to call for help.
She needed to get out. Find a safer place until search and rescue came. Taking a step forward, Lumine stumbled over a metal pipe and went flying. She closed her eyes waiting for impact, but it never came. Peeking one eye open, Lumine saw she was diagonal to the ground. The shock of seeing herself like this made her scurry to her feet. She turned to see white webbing attached to her back.
“Watch where you step.” A hoarse voice called out.
Her eyes darted towards the sound to see Spider-Man leaning against the remains of one of the destroyed buildings. He clutched his right arm as blood seeped out. He must have been hit by the falling rubble. Lumine gasped as she ran towards the hero.
“W-wait!” Spider-Man called out. “Be careful!”
“Are you okay?” Lumine asked, worry seeping into her voice.
“It’s just a scratch,” Spider-Man laughed lightly. Lumine may be having troubles with her vision due to her head injury but she could tell it wasn’t just a scratch. The wound was deep and bleeding profoundly.
“Besides.” Spider-Man continued, bringing a hand up to brush a thumb over Lumine’s head wound. “You’re bleeding. You should rest. I’ll get someone to come help you.”
Lumine was still wary. Not wanting it to worsen, she ripped the bottom of her shirt off to use as a makeshift bandage applying pressure over the wound. It wouldn’t do much, but it was better than nothing. She wrapped slowly, watching as the blood damped the light fabric quickly.
“Did you hurt yourself anywhere else?” she asked.
“Acting like my mother?” Spider-Man teased. “You look in worse shape than I do. Please just sit down.”
“No. I want to make sure you’re okay. I don’t want our best chance of winning this fight to go down so early.”
“You think I’m our best shot?” Spider-Man wavered. He looked around, fidgeting his fingers and pulling on his suit anxiously.
“This is my fault,” he confessed quietly after a moment. “I already fought this villain, but they got away from me. If I had caught them the first time none of this would have happened.” His voice was tight with emotions as he choked back his fear.
It was strange. Lumine knew it was a person underneath the mask, yet Spider-Man had never felt human to her. At least not until that moment, where his fears were an open book laid bare for her to see. It made her pause, reevaluating everything she knew about the hero.
“The Spider-Man that I know wouldn’t give up so easily,” Lumine said after a moment. “He’s determined to save this city and its people no matter what. It’s something I admire about him. His resolve never wavers.”
Spider-Man’s head turned to stare at her, clearly confused.
“And he seems like a hero who hates losing.” Lumine tacked on, realizing how heartfelt her encouragement had gotten.
“What if… at times, Spider-Man’s resolve does waver?” the hero asked slowly as if he was afraid to even speak the words aloud.
“Well, that’s something that makes him human, isn’t it?” The pain of her head wound was starting to hit her, throbbing angrily along her forehead. Lumine closed her eyes as her body swayed.
Spider-Man reached out, steadying her with his arms. “I want to be a hero that people are proud of. How can I do that if my failures result in people getting hurt?”
“Simple. You win.” Lumine smiled softly. “More people would be hurt if you’re not around. So stop moping! It won’t do you any good. Do you really want that villain to win over you twice?”
Spider-Man’s grip tightened as he thought about Lumine’s words. “No. I don’t want that.”
“Good. Now go beat their ass!” Lumine cheered.
“You know what would really help? A good luck kiss.” Spider-Man joked lightly.
“Ok,” Lumine replied. She grabbed onto the hero’s shoulders gently and raised herself so she was on her toes. Leaning forward ever so slightly, Lumine pressed her lips over the hero’s mask where his mouth was.
“I-I… was only joking!” The hero stuttered as Lumine lowered herself.
“If it will help you, I don’t mind,” she said casually.
Perhaps the cut on her head was more severe than she thought. Kissing a stranger? That was way out of line! Even if he did ask for it! She had already dug her grave with this, she might as well bury herself. “You’ll win this time. I know it.”
Spider-Man stared at her before nodding slowly. “You stay put, I’ll send someone to this area to help you get to a hospital okay?” He then reached out to ruffle her hair lightly before he was off. “Thanks, Lumine,” he said genuinely.
Lumine let herself fall to the ground as she watched the hero swing away on his webs. It might have been her injury acting but she noticed a tuft of orange hair sticking out from under his mask.
Interesting.
“Are your web slingers working?” Lumine asked as Childe stood at her window, one leg already on the ledge.
Lumine had checked the surrounding area while he was getting ready. It was lucky that she ended up living in a neighbourhood that mostly housed older couples. She originally chose it because of how quiet it would be, but it now had its added benefits that Childe could come and go in his hero suit without people noticing him.
Childe grinned, lifting his arm to shoot out some of his webbings. It hit Lumine’s lamp successfully knocking it over. It hit the ground with a soft thud.
“Shit. My bad!” Childe rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as Lumine shot him a harsh look. At least the lamp didn’t break.
She sighed. “Be safe out there. I want to see that thriller movie that’s popular right now and I hate to see it alone.”
Spandex covered hands grabbed her face as Childe pulled her into a passionate kiss.
“Got my good luck charm now! I’ll win for sure!” He winked as he pulled his mask over his mess of hair and covered his face.
Lumine gave a small wave as Childe jumped up onto the window ledge facing her as he squatted.
“You could use my balcony, you know. You don’t have to exit from a window,” she suggested. Never did he ever come and go through the easier option.
“Yeah, but I look cooler when I do this.” Even with his face covered Lumine could see the cocky grin that was prominent on his face.
Childe waved and then he let go of the ledge letting his body fall backwards. Lumine rushed to the window, heart in her chest, to watch him reach out his arm and then a web shot from his wrist to attach to the adjacent building. His body swung as he readjusted his momentum and then he was off.
Leaning her elbows onto the window ledge, Lumine looked out watching Childe’s silhouette get smaller and smaller. Never would she get tired of seeing that view.