Chapter Text
The playful breeze ruffled the verdant grass, its fragrance a crisp blend of sea salt and the pure, brisk scent kuuvahki had. It was a lovely day, with a clear blue sky and a bright sun, its radiance still somehow cold enough for the trek up the hill to be more of a pleasant stroll than an arduous task.
Not that Lumine found such things bothersome, after having traveled Teyvat so far and wide, but Nod-Krai had a way of making you feel that the effort spent in doing anything in its wilderness was more of a blessing than anything else. She quite loved it, especially in the middle of the day, when she was about to complete her last commissions before heading back to Nasha Town for dinner.
With nature as her only companion, Paimon’s presence missing from her side as her trusted partner opted out of the mandatory Sinner visit every now and then, Lumine took her time in walking up to the cottage.
It wasn’t that she dreaded visiting Rerir, but more often than not, she had to leave him with a complicated tangle of feelings sitting deep in her belly. Not pity nor compassion for him, but a type of helplessness that often gripped her heart and squeezed, the way it always happened whenever she had to deal with Khaenri'ah people.
“If only we could put him out of his misery,” Varka had said once, in the very beginning, arms crossed over his chest and a grim expression on his face as everyone in the room remained quiet, even if some of them clearly did not fully embrace his views.
Aino was scared of him, but her eyes had glistened when the understanding of what Varka’s words meant sank in. Flins too had looked to the side, his face not betraying his thoughts, yet his eyes shone with a glint that, to Lumine, looked like the seed of disagreement.
In the end, it was Columbina, sitting on the ground with her knees pulled up to her chest, that spoke. “Hm, to murder him when he has all but given up on living himself, that would seem like mercy.”
Despite her words appearing to agree with Varka, it was quite clear that she found no mercy in such action.
Well, they couldn’t kill Rerir, so imprisoning him under numerous wards with Columbina’s own power as the final layer of restraint was the best option in the end. And, if the Sinner ended up being a rather well behaved prisoner, that just made their work easier.
She was so lost in her thoughts that she almost missed it.
The sounds of Nod-Krai were still present, but with a new addition.
The music was sweet and lovely, a slow lull of a couple of notes that repeated themselves oh so gracefully and her anxiety ebbed away quick enough when she remembered the gramophone that appeared one day inside the cottage. Not that she ever heard any music coming from it whenever she visited, and the others confirmed that no, Rerir never used it when they were present either.
Well, the others, except for a certain person.
Her guess was proved correct when she got even closer and the slow, melodic singing of someone added to the lovely sounds coming out through the open windows of the cottage. Only that the singing was coming from behind the house, where Rerir shouldn’t be, unless…
Unless a certain fae, singing in his native language and possessing the powers — and probably Columbina’s blessing too if Lumine thought of it — to allow Rerir out in a small area around the house, was there. Which, if Lumine remembered their schedules right, he shouldn’t be.
But there he was indeed, devoid of his usual cloak and his ever present lantern, as he sang, eyes closed. The singing itself wasn’t that surprising for Flins’ voice had that lovely sound to it that made you cling to each and every word of his, but the company made her pause for a second.
Of course, it was Rerir, but what surprised her was their…activity.
Although, it should have been more surprising that they made it work to begin with.
Despite his bigger body, Rerir allowed himself to be led into the dance rather gracefully, his movements flowing like water, betraying the familiarity he had in dancing with Flins. He even managed to look somehow smaller, if possible, in Flins’ arms, but maybe that was due to the fact that the Sinner’s head was resting on Flins’ shoulder.
So, they were dancing, something caught between a swaying embrace and a proper dance, their steps wide and sure yet their bodies were simply too close to each other to make it work. Or well, that’s what she thought, for their dancing changed in the time it took her to understand just exactly what she was witnessing.
With Flins’ singing going on, the man’s eyes still closed, it was Rerir that made the first move.
As if simply knowing when and how, the Sinner pulled away, his posture straight and proper, Flins’ hands sliding down from their perch on his upper back to fall on Rerir’s waist. Well…that was quite the sight.
With a step back, Rerir put enough distance in between them to drag Flins into a proper dancing position the likes Lumine has seen only in Fontaine. Yet both of them seemed completely relaxed as Flins’ singing stopped, the last of his words bleeding into the music that twirled and twisted, growing into something heavier, yet just as lovely.
And so they danced.
Wide steps, slow turns and perfect twirls, Rerir’s arm around Flins’ waist as he dipped him so low that his hair brushed against the grass only to pull him up so surely, their chests pressed together, before Flins smiled and switched their positions. Again and again, as the song went on, they took turns in leading each other across the same patch of grass, their eyes never leaving each other’s faces as they did so.
Which…all things considered, did not surprise her that much. It’s just that she never thought she’d stumble over them doing something so utterly domestic, and quite lovely by the way Rerir started humming halfway into the dance, a type of tender serenity washing over his features as Flins dipped him.
With a voice too soft and low for Lumine to catch, he told Rerir something, a wicked smile on his lips as the Sinner scoffed, his hand on Flins’ shoulder moving to grab him by the hair and for a second, for the barest of moments, Lumine felt her body tense. Only that she did not need to interfere as Flins pulled Rerir up, and the Sinner’s grip on Flins’ hair was only used to bring the other man closer.
It was when their mouths touched that she finally realised what she was doing, and turned around to leave.
“At least this is saving me some time,” she whispered to herself as she pulled out the square, rather thin package she had to deliver to Final Night Cemetery for Flins, and dropped it on the dinner table through the open window.
By the weight and look of it, and taking into consideration her new discovery, and the fact that the package was from Mondstadt of all places, Lumine had an inkling about the content inside of it.
The playful breeze ruffled the verdant grass, and the music turned into a wispy sound left behind as she made her way back down the hill, a smile on her face as she started laughing. Oh, well, that was unexpected, but not surprising considering that the man Rerir was tangled with was Flins, mister I will put this shiny stone inside my lamp and then fight its master that reeks of the Abyss all on my own because why not. If anyone could get to Rerir like that, it would be Flins.
Oh, perhaps she should give them some music suggestions!
Lumine laughed even more as she thought of that, the image of the two men trying to dance to something from Natlan, or even better, one of Nilou’s performance songs, simply too amusing for her not to delight in it.