Chapter Text
“Oh! That must be Yazadaha Pool!” Lumine said aloud, looking out at the beautiful port. She’d arrived in Sumeru not too long ago; she hadn’t even gotten to Sumeru City, but she would soon. She was here to go check in with the adventurer’s guild, but she was stopping so often to see sights, she doubted she’d beat the setting sun anyway.
The blonde had only been out of Mondstadt for four months, but she had changed so much! She really had been living much more free since she left. She still dearly missed her brother, he had been such a big part of her life. They had grown up together after all, he’d been all she had in Mondstadt. But now, she was living for herself, getting into trouble sometimes, going where she was wanted. Her favorite part of her travels had been the sights. Every time something went wrong, she’d been distracted by the view, much like now.
Lumine’s eyes went from the port, to the large waterfall in front of her, leaning over the railing-like-branch. She leaned forward a little further, trying to get a better sight of the bottom of the waterfall and the wildlife. It happened so quickly, one minute Lumine was leaning over the railing, the next she was falling off the bridge. Panic rose in her as she saw the bottom come closer and closer.
She shut her eyes, at least soon she'd be with Aether. Sure he'd be mad she died in such a stupid way, but he'd forgive her, he always did. Faintly she was aware of the sound of someone launching off the water and immediately she found herself in someone's arms. Their descent continued, though she soon heard the sound of someone or something skidding across the water.
"Hey girlie, that was a close one." The voice remarked, as she began to open her eyes. "Don't lean so far off the bridge next time." When her eyes were fully open, she was greeted by a handsome ginger, with unique looking blue eyes. A blush took her face and she gulped as she stared at him.
The adventurer took in his appearance for approximately 10 seconds before she realized she didn't know this man. She let out a small squeak, brought her hand up and blasted anemo to his face. From the sudden powerful gust, he blew back, landing into the water. Without her support, she fell where they had been, splashing herself entirely.
"Hey! What was that for? I save your life and you blast me?" It had been the adrenaline that had made her think less clearly and act on instinct. Nearly dying had startled her and frazzled her brain. The ginger man glared at her, causing her to flush a little in embarrassment. She immediately avoided his eye contact, sitting herself up. “Ah, my hair’s all…”
"I'm sorry, it was an automatic response. I just realized a stranger was holding me and-" She cut herself off. She had always been so awkward. Aether being the energetic one had always meant she was the shy, awkward one. She had trouble talking to new people because Aether had always introduced her. Her hands moved to her long hair, wringing out the water from it.
"... You're kind of a ditz, aren't you?" Lumine stiffened at that, shooting a glare at him. How dare he call her a ditz, she had a good sense of safety and adventure! She pushed herself up, continuing to squeeze the water from her hair. Of course, she could use her anemo to dry her own hair off, but she preferred if it didn’t get as frizzy.
“I am not a ditz! I’m just cautious! You’re a stranger, aren’t you? How do I know what you were going to do?” She huffed out at the accusation. She supposed he had saved her though, and she was just getting fussy at him.
“Girlie, let me explain something to you.” He pushed himself to his feet, and the first thing Lumine noticed, He’s tall… She watched him as he slowly approached her. “If I wanted to do something to you, you’d need more than a little bit of wind to stop me. You’re aware of the fatui, aren’t you?” Lumine looked up at him as he came closer, shifting on her feet and blushing at the handsome, wet man.
“Of course, everyone is.” She looked away again, the awkward air setting in around her again. What a strange question for him to ask, who in their right mind hadn’t heard of them? They were responsible for so many awful things, or so she heard from others. She personally hadn’t had any dealings with them.
“I’m one of their harbingers.” He said simply, looking down at her. “I suppose I haven’t introduced myself, I’m Childe. Perhaps you made a smart play blasting me in the face.” Her eyes went back to him. A harbinger. She didn’t think she’d ever meet a harbinger in her life. I didn’t know they could be so cute too… Even with this new information, she still felt a little guilty for her actions.
“A harbinger? And you spent your time saving me ?” Lumine felt her face warm up again. He took time out of his busy day for her . “A-Ah! I’m Lumine!” She finally pushed out, mentally cursing her fumbling. “Let me help with this…” She brought a hand up to his shoulder, pulling him down a little so she could work. She was grateful when he just knelt down for her, leaning over to gently blow anemo from her mouth over his ginger hair.
“Wh-what are you doing?” The harbinger asked as she removed his mask. She held it close to her chest as she continued blowing over his hair. If she was the reason he got his hair wet, she’d blow him dry, it really was the least she could do.
“Blowing you, what, never been blown by a girl, harbinger?” She teased, resuming her work. She only regretted she couldn’t see his face at the silly joke. Instead she was met with a snicker, and then full blown laughter. She smiled as she finished blowing him, taking a small step back. He looked up at her, standing back up to his full height.
“I can safely say I haven’t had any girl blow me like you do.” Lumine snickered, grinning at him.
“No one blows like me, I’m the best at it.” She smirked, before she found herself leaning over and laughing out loud. In seconds he was joining her, laughing along with the blonde. Lumine wiped at her eye, before realizing she still had his mask. “A-Ah, right. This is yours.” She held it out to him, letting him take the mask from her hands.
“Thank you, comrade.” He put the mask back into his hair, looking up at the sky, then down at her again. “I didn’t realize it was getting so late already. Do you have a place to stay?” She stiffened and looked up at the now dark sky, then back at him.
“Uh.. No, I was going to get to Sumeru city and find a place to stay. Hopefully some place affordable… I don’t have a lot of mora to spend on a place…” Childe hummed out as he looked at her, turning to walk toward the next waterfall down.
“I have a camp just a little bit away from here. City folk don’t normally trust fatui, so I decided to stay out here while I wait. Come with me, girlie.” Lumine watched him for a moment before following after him. He stopped at the waterfall, pointing to a small dim light not too far away. “It’s right over there.”
“It’s so far down,” She commented, she had a glider, but would this man have a glider? “how are you going to-” Before she could finish, the ginger picked her up into his arms again, jumping. She let out a startled gasp, watching as he jumped to the waterfall, surfing down the surface. Lumine wrapped her arms around him tight, panicking. He leapt from the waterfall, skidding along the water’s surface as he had done before, sliding until they met the shore.
“That answer your question, girlie?” Lumine blushed and looked at him with a pout as he carried her up the small hill to his campsite. “The other option would’ve been you jumping into my arms down here.” Lumine huffed, her face reddening further, causing him to laugh out. He was toying with her!
“I could’ve glided down! And I'm anemo! I could catch myself!” She huffed out, looking away from Childe.
“Didn’t I just catch you from falling to your death?” Lumine blinked. Oh, she really could have glided, or used her anemo to slow her fall.
“I-I was panicking!” She quickly threw out, crossing her arms. She huffed when he laughed out. “...Thank you for saving me…” She muttered out, continuing to look away. He carried her over to the campfire he had already made, the flame was small, but there was a decent amount of wood set aside for it. He’d set out a small fatui tent, and beside the tent was a small bucket of fish, already cleaned for dinner.
“I caught a few extra fish if you want one.” He told her as he set her down beside the fire.
“Thanks, that would be nice, I haven’t eaten all day…” The first thing she did when he set her down was pull off her cape, it was soaked and dripping from the fall earlier, it’d have to dry out.
“I’ll start on the fish once I change. You should probably change too, or you’ll catch a cold.” Childe entered his tent and Lumine had to force herself to look away. She gulped as she debated on what she’d do. If she used her anemo on her clothes, they’d undoubtably shrink. But he was right, if she didn’t change, she’d get sick.
“What’s wrong? Don’t have anything?” He asked her as he came back out. She looked up at him, and found him wearing nearly the same thing he’d worn when he went in, except all his clothes were dry. She watched him lean down to grab a rope, walking to set up a clothesline between two trees. He hung his wet clothes from it, pulling out some clothespins from his pockets. She was remarkably impressed by his preparations. Like he was used to doing this sort of thing, trained to survive in the wilderness.
"I.. No actually… I had some when I left Mondstadt, but they got stolen one night when I was in the chasm… I woke up and my bag was gone. I keep all my important items safe, but my clothes…" She was rambling. He asked a simple question, and she was rambling on about why she had nothing. He looked at her, a brow raised. She gulped, face reddening again under his gaze. “N-no. I don’t have anything…”
“Here, take this then.” He pulled his delusion off his chest, slowly shuffling off his jacket, revealing a maroon shirt and a black harness clasping it together.
“No, no it’s fine, don’t worry.” Despite her words, the night air was cold, especially for how wet she was. “I don’t need it.”
“Come on girlie, just take it. I don’t need it tonight.” She looked up at him, then looked away.
“No, I’ll be fine.” She huffed for an added effect.
“Take it, before I make you take it.” He advised, holding it out to her. Now he was demanding she take it? Where did he get off demanding her to do things?
“No, I said I’d be fine!” She raised her hand and blew anemo at him again, shooting a pointed glare at him. “Like you could make me do anything anyway! You don’t know how tough I am!” She crossed her arms as he looked at her with a look of surprise.
“Is that so?” He set his jacket down on the ground beside the fire. “Then how about we fight?”
“Wh-what?” Lumine looked up at him, eyes wide in surprise.
“What’s wrong, are you scared to fight a harbinger?” Right, he was much more deadly than any other stranger. Though she wouldn’t disgrace herself with a rejection. “If I win, you change and wear the jacket.” She huffed out. “If, by some miracle, you win, you don’t have to. And I’ll make you extra food.” Lumine looked between him, the jacket and the bucket of fish by the tent.
“Deal. You’ll be sorry you challenged me though, I’m stronger than I look!” She got up, eyes meeting each other as they tried to size each other up.
“You’ll be begging to change when I’m through with you. I’ll leave you soaking.” Lumine’s face had never turned so red so fast. She let out a squeak, looking away immediately.
“I-Is that how you talk trash?! It sounds like you’re trying to-” She cut herself off, trying to avoid his eyes again.
“It sounds like you’re trying to get out of a fight.” She huffed again at that accusation. This man had some nerves !
“Fight me then, harbinger!” He laughed out as he led her out to knee deep water. Normally she’d insist on a drier place to fight, but in this ravine, there were no flat dry places to fight. “And don’t hold back!”
“If I don’t hold back, I’ll kill you. It would be a pity if I killed a cute little thing like you over a jacket.” The arrogance of this man. She was strong, Lumine would do just fine against him.
Lumine, in fact, did not do fine against him. She hadn’t expected Childe to be so fast, so versatile, and so strong . She’d never fought against someone of his caliber. It was no surprise he was a harbinger. She’d scraped him and gotten a cut on him, but he practically dominated the battle. Her proudest move had barely knocked him off his feet, and he’d recovered much faster than she expected.
“G-Get off me!” She told him as he held her down, his hand pinning down hers as he smirked down at her. His other hand held his hydro dagger, just an inch away from her neck.
“Will you wear the jacket?” The ginger asked calmly, pushing his hand up on hers, stretching her arms just a little more.
“A-Ah! Ow! Okay! I’ll wear the jacket!” Immediately he released her hands and the water dispersed. Her face felt so warm, as he got off her, something she hadn’t realized when she was more focused on being pinned. He offered her his hand, which she graciously took, letting him pull her up.
“Don’t feel bad, comrade. You didn’t do too bad.” He smiled at her as he led her back toward the dying fire.
“Were you there? I didn’t stand a chance!” She was embarrassed from her performance, but it was quickly overshadowed when she turned to look at him. “But you! You were so fast! I loved how fast you changed your weapons too!” He smiled, practically basking in her affection. “Oh, and the little whale! It hurt, but it was so cute!” She knew hydros tended to show off, and compliments more often than not went to their heads, but she couldn’t help it. She’d never been so impressed by someone in battle.
“Oh, that? I could make a much larger whale, but I didn’t want to hurt you too bad. I’ll show you a bigger one next time we fight, alright comrade?” Next time . She liked the thought of challenging herself with fighting him again. “I’m serious though. If I wasn’t a harbinger, I’m sure I would’ve been done with that power.” She blushed a little more, fidgeting with her hair at the compliment.
“W-well… I suppose I’ve been using a sword for years now… I’m still getting used to my vision though.” This piqued his interest as he put a hand on her head.
“I wouldn’t mind hearing that story. Go change, you can tell me the story over dinner.” She beamed up at him, nodding. She picked up his jacket from the ground, going to the tent to change while he stoked the fire. Upon entering, she looked around for anything she could use as a blocker between her and Childe. Realizing she had no options, she called out to him.
“Don’t look!” When she looked at him, his back was already to her. He lifted his hand and waved back at her, never once turning to look at her. With a gulp she began to strip herself down, pulling his jacket on in place of her dress. She was thankful for how long it was, she had covered her bust with the top, tying his sleeves around her body, giving it just enough length to cover her bottom.
“Do you have any more clothespins?” She asked as she carried her wet clothes out.
“They’re in the pocket of the jacket.” He called back, eyes focused on the cooking fish. She nodded and walked to the clothesline, pinning her dress and socks up on the line. When she came back to him, she noticed he’d been cooking four fish, despite there only being two of them. “How does it feel?”
“It's a little awkward wearing a man’s jacket… but it’s warm and dry… Thank you.” She smiled at him, snuggling into the warmth of the jacket.
“And you literally fought me about wearing it. Though it was quite a fun fight, comrade.” She smiled, at least he found it fun, and the end result could’ve been much worse.
“I appreciate the concern though…” She leaned up onto her knees, leaning over to kiss his cheek in gratitude. She swore she heard him gasp, a pleased smirk pulling on her lips. “Aw, did I take your breath away?” She swore his face turned a shade redder, though she wasn’t sure if it really had, or if it had been the glow of the fire.
“L-Let’s,” Childe cleared his throat, sounding much more confident when he spoke again. “Let’s just eat, alright? You can tell me your story.” Her eyes sparkled in joy as he handed her a fish.
Over the course of dinner, she told him about her brother, about how he was gone, then about her resolve to live like the wind. She told him about her desire to live for herself, told him how she fell off Barbatos’ statue, which he simply remarked she fell a bit too much. She told him about her dreams to see all the new sights, experience new cultures, and how much she adored the freedom of such a life.
He’d given her a second fish, despite her losing the fight; she was thankful for it, she had gotten really hungry from the fight. They talked around the fire a little longer before retiring to sleep. He let her sleep in the tent while he slept by the fire, another kind gesture she didn’t expect from a fatuu.
When morning hit, she left before he woke up, she didn’t want to overstay her welcome. She’d changed back into her dress and folded his jacket up nicely for him. As she began to fold his scarf, she gulped and stared at the red fabric in her hands. Her eyes went back to the handsome ginger before looking at his scarf again.
“Master Tartaglia?” Childe looked up from the paper the agent had just delivered to him.
“Hm? What is it?” He asked, looking back down at the paper in his hand. This report was thorough and he had to focus on it.
“What uh… what happened to your scarf?” He stiffened at the question, raising the paper up to conceal the faint blush coating his face. He really did miss that scarf.
“You could say the wind took it.” He replied through gritted teeth. She certainly was a unique girl. Not many people would willingly steal from a harbinger, though he did appreciate the little Sumeru Rose she had left on top of his jacket. He’d have to find a way to preserve it later, perhaps he’d look into pressing it.
Lumine pulled the scarf up from around her neck, inhaling the nice smell. She hadn’t planned to steal it, but in the last second she’d taken it, and she had no regrets in doing so.
“I hope I see him again…” She mused to herself as she walked the streets of Sumeru city.