Chapter Text
There were times where Lumine acted reckless, jumping off of cliffs and charging into battle with only her trusty sword on the right and Barbatos’ blessing forming atop the palm of her left. Despite this, she considered herself to be a pretty meticulous person– making decisions not out of whims but instead carefully thought out plans.
In the past, the scheming and planning needed in fights were usually left up to her, helped by a few quips and suggestions from Aether. He always had the sunnier presence of the two, and quite frankly she was grateful for that. He could play the role of the charming talker, and she could be the cunning thinker. Of course, that was in the past.
In the present, she had a brother to find and newfound friends she wanted to protect, and she acknowledged that one small misstep could lead to her demise.
However, a couple of hours spent babysitting her tiny, fiery, bomb-loving friend caused Lumine to entertain what was meant to be a passing thought.
“Klee, don’t you want to play with… non-explosive toys sometimes?” she would have said normal, but Klee’s definition of normal was probably pretty skewed as it is.
“Sure! But~ Klee likes playing with jumpty dumpty the most! Oh, but definitely not for fish blasting! And, and– drawing pictures with crayons!” Klee looked up at her with light red eyes, shining with innocent curiosity. “Big sis Lumi, do you want to borrow Klee’s toys?”
And incur Jean’s wrath? Be accused of enabling the little arsonist?
“It’s okay, I can always play with Paimon.”
“Did… Lumi , did you just imply Paimon was a toy? ”
With amusement, Lumine watched the fairy float towards her, clearly meaning to look angry with furrowed brows and lips shaped like an upside-down letter v. Still, it was hard to take her seriously with bread crumbs stuck to her cheeks and her tiny fists still clutching the remains of Klee’s made-with-love fishy toast.
Clearly, Paimon found it hard to stay upset too as the small being let her push the crumbs off of her face.
“Of course you’re not a toy…” she trailed off, before ending with a whisper, “emergency food.”
Lumine let out a laugh even as, or perhaps because of, her companion’s tiny hands tugging at her clothes like a child throwing a temper tantrum. Though Klee didn’t seem to understand the conversation entirely, she still giggled as Paimon whined about how she wasn’t meant to be eaten.
As the noise died down, she found herself staring at the little keychain attached to the Spark Knight’s backpack, then at the new explosive Klee was crafting all by herself.
Small dolls sewn together from cloth and buttons and little beads seemed to be common toys in Teyvat, too. Amber’s Baron Bunny technically counted as a doll too, right? Although, that was also explosive… perhaps it was a trend to have weaponized toys in this world?
In one of the stars she and Aether visited, toys known as plush dolls were quite popular, though the difference between this and that world was that Teyvat, at least so far, seemed to lean towards animals and mascots while that world designed theirs like the inhabitants of their planet.
Lumine couldn’t say she appreciated it at the time– no matter how cute and soft and how much she wanted to rub her face on it, the dolls with six eyes still had a degree of creepiness to them, but now she could see the novelty of it. After all, if she had a little plush of Aether to carry around, then wouldn’t it make her feel less lonely? She definitely wouldn’t hesitate to pet the thing as often as she could.
The morning spent with Klee seemed to tire Paimon out, so as soon as the little blonde got ushered back into her room, her fairy companion went straight for their shared temporary living space in the headquarters. She had initially refused the kindness of the knights, she was used to camping out anyway, but certain days really made her appreciate the tranquility of the space, and a soft bed to boot.
She sat next to Paimon who was snoring away, undoubtedly exhausted from their excursion, and found herself studying the room she would reside in until her and her companion would have to go back to camping outside.
… huh, not that she was here a lot, being a traveler and all, but it was kind of sad how barren the room was. It didn’t really matter though, she would leave Mondstadt soon enough, back to camping on the dirt every night, so the decorations would only be a waste of mora.
Even still… just one wouldn’t hurt?
Promising herself to be back before sunset and prepare dinner for two, Lumine quietly made her exit.
Cloth, and fabric and strings– surely, the scraps stolen from hilichurl camp tents and roofs would suffice for a small project.
Sometimes Lumine mustered up jokes about how popular Paimon was, though she supposed her talkativeness and willingness to do anything for something good to munch on made her extremely approachable. It was a stark difference from herself, who used to stumble on her sentences due to the language barriers. The little fairy made everything much easier for her, letting her progress from one-liners to a few sentences until she eventually got used to having proper conversations with people.
At this moment, however, she was glad to be alone in the confines of her room. It was a rare occasion for everything to be silent, but she wasn’t sure she could handle the embarrassment of letting someone see her doing something so…
Would childish be the word for it? Not necessarily, most children just played with dolls and didn’t make them. Two Knights of Favonius literally carry dolls around, wouldn’t be surprised if some other eccentric warrior had some cute gimmick as well in battle, but it was different because it was… her.
Unfitting of her image.
That was probably it.
Shaking off any irrelevant thoughts, she looked at the piles of salvaged cloth scraps, along with excess fabrics and the sewing tools that some people in the town helpfully lent her. With the promise that they wouldn’t let anyone know, of course.
The people of Mondstadt were always gossiping though, so there was a 50/50 chance a small rumor would pop up tomorrow, a speculation on whatever the nation’s hero could possibly need those supplies for.
Well, with her image, they probably wouldn’t even be able to imagine anything close.
Right. She picked up the tiny metal, gently poking her finger with it to test its sharpness. She never had a reason to use one, the clothes they tended to wear were imbued with magic that made them immune to wear and tear, but at the very least Lumine was always better with her hands than her brother. A needle was not a sword, but nonetheless was still a weapon she could learn to master.
...
Or so she thought, but mastering such a tiny blade was harder than anticipated. It had taken her give or take a few hours, to the point that she would have worried about Paimon’s whereabouts if she hadn’t known she was in the safe hands of Amber.
Well, at least she could say she was done.
Carefully, she lifted up the little doll, one that she unconsciously scaled to a similar size, just about a head shorter, of a certain glutton, and observed her handiwork.
If she had to describe her initial thoughts on it, the word she would use was messy. The browns of his outfit weren’t the same shade as the browns of the clumsily stitched together version the plush was wearing. She had a hard time replicating her brother’s long hair, and the buttons she used for the eyes were a little misplaced.
Still, the white cloth hanging atop his shoulders was translated well enough, and she styled the hair as lovingly as she always braided his, and as misplaced as they were… they were the same color as his eyes. Their eyes.
Though she wouldn’t let anyone see it, she figured they’d laugh at her for making such a mess of a toy if not for making a toy in the first place, but it didn’t matter at all to the blonde. With one look, she let the walls crumble with little resistance; it was easy for her to get emotional upon recognition of her brother’s visage, fake as it may be, of–
“Aether,” her brother’s, twin brother’s, name escaped from her lips, shaky as though she hadn’t spoken his name in years. Perhaps, outside of the nightmares that constantly threatened her slumber, it had been.
Knowing no one would see, she quickly brought the plush to her chest and hugged it tightly, her chin resting on the little replica’s soft head as she choked out a sob.
It was probably no later than seven in the evening, but her appetite was the least of her worries as she flopped onto her bed sideways, curling up and hugging the doll as tight as she could, hoping it would emanate the same warmth, the same familiar smell as the real one did, if just for a moment, if only to delude herself into thinking her brother was back with her.
She doesn’t bother wiping away the wetness splotched against her cheeks, so she could imagine Aether would be there to wipe it away for her like he always used to when she cried.
After a few minutes, her eyes shut close and her figure’s breathing finally returned to normal.