Chapter Text
And so Lumine visited tomorrow. And the next day. And more — inconspicuously helping Arlecchino with tasks so she didn’t have to reveal her injuries, accepting this to be their shared secret. The whole House was still buzzing with rumors about possible reasons of “Imminent Danger” that made them evacuate, and those rumors were getting more bizarre by the second.
“I’ve heard that the Knights of Mondstadt decided to raid the orphanage — even bringing their secret cavalry — but thankfully for everyone their ship was caught in a storm and they all died,” she shared in a dramatic mysterious whisper, sipping her tea.
“I haven’t seen him for three days.”
There was no need to explain who was that “he” that Arlecchino was talking about, casually spinning a pen in her fingers.
Lumine contemplated this information. She knew that Lynette and Freminet were still safely relaxing in the Teapot, and at this point she wasn’t sure that she'd be able to evict them at all, they definitely liked it there. It was very strange for Lyney to not visit his siblings though.
“He hasn’t booked any boat to Liyue either,” continued Arlecchino, and this is how Lumine understood that she’s really worried.
“You didn’t believe him, did you?”
“Neither did he make any funeral preparations,” supplied Arlecchino with a blank face.
Lumine raised her hands, trying to conceal a smile. “Okay, I got it, this is suspicious. I’ll go check up on him.”
***
Lumine raised her hand to knock on the door, and hesitated. On the other side of the door waited the conversation she’d happily avoided for three days. But she was also worried, so she finally knocked.
“What?” a muffled response after some waiting.
“Lyney? Are you okay there? People are worried…”
“I’m fine. Not in the mood for guests though.”
“It’s raining! Could you really let me drown and freeze to death?”
Truth to be told, that couple of raindrops was just the usual Fontaine weather and nothing to be dramatic about, but Lumine didn’t feel bad about exaggerating. Something was very wrong.
Lyney muttered a curse that she couldn't hear clearly through the door and the lock finally clicked. He looked her up and down grumpily, his glance eloquently pointing the lack of any risk of rain-induced death, but still invited her in with an excessively theatrical gesture. He looked… very off, and not just because he was wearing casual clothing. She stepped inside with caution and the view immediately startled her.
A usually clean and cozy apartment in complete disarray — good thing Freminet wasn’t too eager to return from the Teapot, the amount of cleaning to do would ruin his poor soul. She noticed a couple of empty wine bottles and decided to check whether the automatic feeder for the cats still had food — seemed a good idea, considering the state of the apartment. Lyney just watched her passively and the silence started to get awkward.
“Nursing a hangover?” was the best smalltalk topic that she could come up with in this situation.
He shrugged. “Can’t I relax? This mandatory vacation that Father and you so gracefully organized for me was the first opportunity in years.”
Lumine looked at him, unimpressed. “Yes, I can see you’re having the time of your life. A bit too late for a teen rebellion, don’t you think?”
“Well, since everyone thinks I’m a child”
Lumine waved around. “Can’t imagine why. Not doing as you were asked, running away, yelling at Arlecchino, scaring her to half-death by your behavior —”
Lyney scoffed. “Scaring? Are we still talking about Father?”
“Yes, we are! Ever tried to get to know her more?”
“No, I usually enjoy staying alive too much for that.”
Lumine sighed in resignation. It was a valid point.
He couldn’t help but smile at his own curiosity. “And how does Father look when she’s worried?”
“Hm? Oh, just as usual. Have you considered that maybe she’s always worried?”
“Really? Maybe she should try to be more open with people who she’s allegedly worried about. Just like you, by the way.”
There was no escaping it now. Lumine raised her hand to touch his sleeve, but let it fall without doing anything. “You’ve seen why we tried to protect you.”
“That was not the point! The point is that I deserved to make my own decisions!” Lyney pinched his nose in exasperation. “Look, I understand you have more experience-”
“You might not understand how much more exactly.”
“Regardless, don’t you think it wasn’t fair to me to keep me in the dark?”
“Oh sure, because if you knew everything, you’d definitely agree to do as planned and stay uninvolved.”
“...No, I wouldn’t. But maybe I would not feel betrayed.” He winced, understanding how childish this sounded.
Lumine bit her lip. “And you’re feeling betrayed right now.”
“I —,” he raised his eyes to hers before quickly looking away. “I don’t know. I’m trying not to.”
Lumine quietly waited, not asking anything and watching him pacing around the room, clearly struggling to put his conflicting feelings into words. He looked unusually vulnerable without his magician’s hat and makeup, his hair in disarray. “It was always implied that I have to care about others, I knew that Father will probably choose me to replace her one day, but how can I do this all if she treats me like a child? Am I ready? Will I ever be ready if she’d rather die than let me help? And you —”
He turned to her with a hurt expression. “At first, I thought I was just useful to you. Then I hoped you might see me as a friend. Then… Okay, there was no “then” because no matter how I feel, I’m not someone who would attract someone like you —”
She opened her mouth to argue, but he motioned to her to not interrupt. “Don’t. It’s hard enough for me to explain it all as it is. So, next I learn that you also don’t trust me at all. That I’m not someone you would ask to help with something really dangerous — granted you didn’t know what it was, but you didn’t even try to question Father’s decision. Whatever side you were on, it surely wasn’t mine. How do you think this makes me feel?”
The weight of his words hung heavily in the deafening silence. Whatever Lumine could offer — apologies, reassurance, comfort — felt too hollow and not enough. And he was right, she couldn’t argue, she could only hope that the trust isn’t irreparably broken. She wanted to close her eyes, because his desperate, sad gaze hurt her more than any physical wound, but it felt unfair to him as well. She took a deep breath. “Lyney… It’s not about not trusting you, it’s —” She shook her head in resignation. “No, you’re right, I was too scared to lose you and I didn’t trust enough… not you, but your skills. Even though there was no reason for it. It was not fair to you and my feelings aren’t an excuse for it.”
Lyney let out a shaky breath, his shoulders slumped in exhaustion. Lumine finally realized that lack of makeup and unkempt hair were not the only difference from his usual classy look — did he get any sleep during those three days at all? He stepped closer and tentatively touched her hand. His fingers were trembling.
“Just… promise not to hide things from me again.”
“That’s a bold request from someone whose job and lifestyle is about constantly lying.”
“Okay, I promise not to lie to you… on Tuesdays.”
“On Fridays!”
“Why Fridays?” he softly asked with a weak smile.
“Today is Friday.”
She let the words settle before adding quietly “And I have a question to ask.”
“Tsk. I am going to regret it if I agree on Fridays, don’t I?”
“Mhm,” she caught his trembling fingers, caressing them and reveling in how the blush immediately colored his cheeks. “Definitely.”
“I suppose,” he raised her hand to his lips and kissed it lightly. Lumine was thankful for the fact that she’s not a blushy type. “I will risk it. What is the question?”
“Did you mean it, when you were talking about your feelings?”
He tensed and slowly raised his aching eyes at her — hopeful, desperate, unsettlingly sincere.
“Every word of it,” he whispered so quietly she could barely hear it.
Lumine gently raised her hand to his chin and he immediately closed his eyes and bit his lip, stifling the shuddering breath. “Strange,” she mused, “I would expect you to ask the same question back.”
He hummed with a rueful smile “I think, ma chérie, in my current mental state I just won’t be able to handle a bad response.”
“What even makes you think,” she whispered, inching closer, her nose almost touching his, “that the response will be bad? …Actually, don’t answer, I’ve heard that “why would someone like you..” more than once already.”
“It’s true though,” he covered her hand with his own, holding it in place and nuzzling into it.
“Silly,” chuckled Lumine and finally kissed him — just a light lingering touch of her lips, a silent question instead of assertion.
He shivered and opened his eyes — still an unbelievably surprised gaze, considering all that happened in these days. It quickly shifted into determination — he claimed her lips with passion and desperation. It was nothing like that first kiss that they shared… seemingly ages ago, this one was just like Lumine dreamt about.
“If that’s…” he murmured between heated kisses, “not what you really want —” she felt his teeth nipping at her lip and her breath hitched, “— Please leave now before it’s too late.”
She sighed into yet another kiss and placed her hand on the back of his head, holding him in place and hopefully distracting him from his anxiety. He moaned at her touch and blushed even more when he realized it.
If someone asked Lumine how they got to the couch, she wouldn’t be able to answer, between kisses and ragged breath and gentle touches. Probably yet another magical trick. But now she was sitting in his lap, his deft — still trembling — fingers exploring her dress; she immediately decided it’s not fair and unbuttoned his shirt, distracting him with more kisses. The feeling of her fingers on his bare skin elicited another moan. Excited by this reaction, she moved her lips lower, gently kissing his neck.
He tensed and whispered, almost silently, “Mark me.”
That was probably the hottest thing she’d heard in centuries. “You sure?”
“I… want to be yours.”
She hesitated for a moment before biting him hard — his fingers digging into her thighs as he hissed and held her even tighter. She licked and kissed the forming bruise, negotiating with her urge to do it again — to get more from him — to feel him closer — while still making sure he has a freedom to change his mind.
“Harder?” he pleaded. She cursed through her teeth and looked into his eyes, dark and glazed with desire. She needed him — right now. She grinded against the tell-tale hardness in his pants; her desire was clearly reciprocated — he tipped his head back and let out half-moan, half-whine.
“I want you,” she complained. He exhaled, biting his lip, and the world briefly whirled in Lumine’s eyes as she was thrown onto the pillows of the couch, Lyney now between her legs, fumbling with her underwear with one hand while gently but firmly grasping her wrist with another. She reached to his pants to unzip them — with the sense of urgency overflowing them both, it was clear that no one will be fully undressed.
As he was ready to enter her, he looked at her with hesitation — clearly trying to give her yet another chance to change her mind. She closed her eyes and clasped the collar of his shirt, pulling him closer and claiming his mouth, biting his lips. She couldn’t resist grinding her wetness against him, wondering how long he’ll be able to follow with his uncalled gentlemanly behavior. He whimpered, “Do you have any idea-” finally entering her, “what do you do to me.” She tightly embraced him, reveling in the feeling of aching fullness, content to stay like this forever, and whispered with the last bits of sarcasm she could muster, “it’s mutual.”
He started moving — teasingly slowly at first, their breath mixing in more kisses, his forehead resting against hers. She gently caressed his cheek, wishing this would last forever.
The symphony of moans, ragged breath, touches of skin against skin, silent dance of passion and longing.
He found her hand again, intertwining their fingers, and nuzzled her neck before raising his eyes to hers with a silent question. She simply nodded, falling into the bliss, and felt a sharp bite — those marks will look very symmetrical later… granted, he’ll cover his with makeup. But she wasn’t coherent enough to finish that thought, his insistent fingers teasing her clit while his moves turned more erratic and urgent. “Inside?” — his barely audible hoarse whisper. She nodded again, she wanted to have everything he could give, nothing less would do.
***
“I need to shave,” he muttered lazily, resting against her chest.
Lumine nodded, “And to do a lot of house cleaning.”
“Oh, right. When does Freminet return, by the way?”
She smirked. “After the apartment is clean again, of course.”
He let out a dramatic “woe is me” sigh.
“Maybe a real vacation is in order…” he mused. “Care for a voyage to Liuye?”
“You never booked it, according to Arlecchino.”
“Ah, yes. I thought that she’d be keeping tabs and she didn’t need more stress during her recovery. I have my ways to do such things discreetly.”
Lumine closed her eyes and smiled. Arlecchino was right, he’s grown up enough to be a dangerous player in those games. That was a comforting thought.