Summary: Lumine is a popular beauty guru on YouTube and her fans have been dying to meet her brother! Will Aether agree to do a video with his sister?
Lumine bites the inside of her cheek as she scrolls through the comments of her latest video.
Needless to say, she wasn't happy.
Her latest video had done terribly in terms of views and likes, the comments were just as stale in terms of numbers, but she appreciated the kind words her more devoted followers would leave.
With some strength, the blond pulls away from the computerand sits back in her large chair to think, tapping a pastel-painted nail on her cheek in deep thought.
How could she be more exciting?
Even in her previous video, she could tell her content was getting a bit repetitive with nothing new to add to it, so in a way, she could understand the lack of popularity. It didn't help that she also had a severe competition with some newbie that recently joined the beauty community. He was a guy and somehow got more of a following quicker than she had when she first started doing tutorials and unboxings, things of that sort. Lumine couldn't help but turn green with envy as she watched his channel boom.
To give him the benefit of the doubt, hewasfairly pretty. He appeared to be on the smaller side with a petite build, much like hers and had shiny ebony hair dyed a luscious, ombre turquoise color, making his similar colored eyes pop. In a way, Lumine could understand how he got so popular, breaking beauty standards she supposed, but that didn't make her any less resentful.
Downstairs, Lumine hears the opening and closing of a door, most likely the front, signaling Aether's return from the grocery store.
Typically, she would offer to help put the groceries away with him, snacking and talking whilethey completed the task, but she couldn't heave herself out of the chair right now and halt herself down the stairs. Lumine knew her brother had little tolerance for her or anyone's grumpiness when the mood would strike them, so being around him probably wasn't the smartest idea.
Instead, she migrates to her bed and belly flops. Lumine remains there for a moment until she hears her phone ringing and mentally prayed that it wasn't Aether calling from downstairs for her to help. She didn't want to look at anyone.
She picks it up begrudgingly, props herself up on the pillows, and holds the phone to her ear.
"Hello?"
"Hey, girl! What are you up to right now?" A squeaky voice trills on the other end. Ah, Paimon.
Lumine relaxes knowing it was only one of her friends and responds more willingly, "I'm at home and Aether just got home from a grocery trip, but I'm kinda tired. Too tired to be helping him."
Paimon giggles on the other end, her infectious laughter makes Lumine'sthin lips curl upwards, "Awe, that's a real shame! I guess you're too tired to go out with me then, huh? I'll let you go so you can rest up."
Lumine jolts in her seat. "Now hold on there, I didn't say anything about being too tired for shopping, I want to pick up that new mascara and foundation that Kequing recommended!"
Another bubble of laughter erupts from Paimon at catching her friend like that, "I had a feeling you would be up for that," she chuckles towards the end, "Be ready in fifteen and I'll be there to pick you up, fair?"
"Square," Lumine replies heartily, energy starting to surge as she thought about shopping. "I'll see you then, bye!'
"Bye-bye!" Paimon sings and then the line goes dead.
Lumine wasted no time in throwing her legs over the side of the bed and skipped up to her wardrobe, throwing open the pastel blue and white doors that held her many stylish outfits. Her blue eyes sparkled at the sight of her grand collection that she was very much proud of. To her, it symbolized and displayed her years of hard work and dedication she put into this lifestyle of looking beautiful.
She picked out an adorablebut casual outfit consisting of a cutesy pastel blue sweater with white ribbons woven in the sleeves and trimming and a pair of dark blue jeans cut at her mid-thigh. She looked at her phone and saw she had ten more minutes before Paimon came swerving into their driveway despite the many times the twins told hernotto 'drift' into their driveway numerous times in the past.
Lumine dashes to her vanity and stares at herself in the mirror, cringing at the girl who looked back, for she wore no makeup. No matter, that was an easy fix, she thinks airily as she starts applying some nude eye shadow, choosing to keep a low profile, and finished the eyes off with some eyeliner and mascara. Lumine temporarily thought of applying her newest fake lashes, but she decides to save them for another day. She lightly covers up some darker blemishes on her porcelain white face and applies some blush to color her too pasty cheeks.
The look was simple, quick, and best of all Lumine finally felt more like herself. She wishes she didn't have to take her makeup off and look like this forever, never aging, never to have wrinkles or stupid blemishes, and those other tedious things that came with aging.
Alas, she was limited in her brooding as she checks to see the time, Paimon was almost here!
She rushes down the stairs to see Aether finishing putting the remaining groceries away in the cabinets. He, to her distaste, dressed in some washes jeans that really did not do his lean legs any justice, and wore a baggy sweatshirt on top. He had his blond hair tied in a low ponytail and Lumine mentally scrutinizes him from behind, for not putting more effort into his appearance even if he was just going to the grocery store.
"Aether, I'm heading out to go shopping with Paimon for the afternoon, I should be home by dinner time," she informs him brightly while grabbing a water bottle from the counter and stuffing it into her purse.
He turns to look at her in surprise, "Oh, really? Tell her I said hello then!"
Lumine affirms his request with a nod as she reaches over to grab a handful of treats Aether left out on the counter and tosses them into her mouth, savoring the rich chocolate as she departs. Soon, she found Paimon's car in the driveway and is quick to meet her friend there. Once she's in the car does Lumine finally allows herself to relax.
"You sure get ready fast," Paimon comments, a small smile rests on her face as she pulls out of the driveway. Lumine tenses in her sleep, praying Paimon doesn't rear-end either car that sat in the twin's driveway.
"Of course I would, I was tired of being in the house, and going grocery shopping sounded boring," Lumine retorts, taking a sip from her water bottle. "Plus, who could turn down a shopping trip? You think we'll meet anyone we know there?"
Paimon shrugs her lean shoulders into her snowy white, shoulder-length bob, "Not sure, I know Ningguang will be working today, but other than her we'll probably be on our own". Paimon looks over at her friend who was flicking through the radio stations and huffing when nothing to her liking was on, Lumine seemed to be off today. However, Paimon wasn't sure if it was wise to question her when she seemed to be in such a sour mood. "Do you want to get something to eat?" she asks.
"I'll pass, I made sure to eat before I went out so that we don't spend more than we need to," Lumine lies, hoping Paimon would buy the fib.
The girls chattered from there about random topics, and finally, Lumine couldn't hold back when Paimon mentions the upcoming cosmetics convention in a month.
"Paimon, I'm sorry for lying to you earlier," Lumine admits sheepishly, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.
"Aha! I knew something was off, why didn't you just tell me from the start?" She interrogates.
Lumine ducks her head in shame, "I thought it was stupid, but it's not fair to you, having to deal with me being all crabby. The truth is, I'm worried about my channel," she confesses, feeling a little better getting the weight off of her chest. But now, she awaited Paimon's judgment.
Paimon tilts her head, "What's the matter with it? I thought things were going great since you received that new sponsor."
Lumine only sighs and shakes her head, "That was the previous case, however, the tides have shifted, the algorithm isn't on my side, and now these new guys are joining the community. I can't handle it! If I become irrelevant, I'm going to lose that booth and sponsors quicker than I gained them!"
"I get where you're coming from...hmm, maybe we could brainstorm some new ideas to increase your popularity?"
Lumine brightens at the suggestion, "Really? I'd love that, thank you so much!"
When Lumine came home from her shopping trip with Paimon, she felt as if she went to the spa instead of how good she felt.
All she had to pander to her audience a bit and follow some popular trends to gain some relevance! It was a bit low for her since she preferred if people followed her channel for her original content instead of hopping on the bandwagon, but desperate time called for desperate measures.
Her audience had been requesting to get a glimpse of her brotherfor a while now, probably ever since she mentioned Aether a few months back and would include teasers, but never show his face. He was on the shyer side in comparison to her, but surely just this one he could make an exception.
From there Lumine planned to invite other gurus like herself as a form of collaboration to gain some coverage as well, but right now Aether was at her convenience, so he'd have to do it for the time being. Now she had someone to practice her new looks on too, even though they long grew out of her dressing the poor boy up.
Lumine trudged up the stairs, her large shopping bags swung at her sides, nearly making her topple head over heels down the stairs. She was quick to toss the bags in her room before skipping over to Aether's and flung the door open, not caring much for whatever he was doing.
Inside, Aether was seated at his computer with his large headphones and mic and held a controller in his hands. Of course, he'd be gaming with his friends.
He didn't seem to notice Lumine either seeing as he hardly flinched at her throwing his door open and how he remained transfixed on his game. He was in a match with his buddies and he looked desperate to save his team from defeat.
"Kaeya, what-" he blinks in disbelief, "Dude, that was absolute trash, you literally gave the other team another goal, you moron!" He bashes his friend.
Lumine could distinctively hear his other friends dogging on Kaeya who was trying to make excuses for himself on the other end, saying it was one of their teammate's fault for not covering like they usually did.
As Aether went in for another round, Lumine is quick to step in and save the day.
"Aether, leave him alone! Everyone has their off days," she reasons, hoping the rest of his friends could hear.
"But Lu, he-", he tried.
"I don't care! You're attacking your friend all over a game. I know it's important to you, but give him a break, not everyone willingly clocks in five hours or more to perfect their gaming."
Aether just slouched in his seat as he hears his friends snickering on the other side of the line, why did Lumine have to be on Kaeya's team right now? She probably made sure they could hear her chewing him out too. "Alright, alright, I give in," he admits defeat. "What do you want? You just barged into my room, you jerk!"
"Oh relax, you hussy, I wanted to ask if you'd make an appearance on my channel since my fans have been asking to see you," Lumine tells him excitedly, choosing to overlook his scowl.
"Forget it, Lu, that's the last thing I want to do," he denies, completely forgetting about his friends for a moment until he heard laughter, most likely at his predicament. "Oh you all quiet down," he bites, only earning more cackling.
"Be a good little brother and join your sister," Childe jeers, "Maybe you'll get into it too!" He snickers.
"When we stream tomorrow night, be sure to have Lumine do your makeup, you'll be easy on the eyes," Noelle, another friend chuckles, and the team joined her.
"Guys, knock it off! Are wegoing to start a new match orwaste time making fun of the upcoming drag queen?"Diluc pipes in, attempting to help, but unknowingly made it worse thanks to his poor wording.
Lumine finally steps in, taking the headset off her brother's head and placing it on hers, tapping the mic to make sure she was heard. "Alright you guys, let up on him or else Aether won't agree to this. This is just to boost views on my channel so it's not permanent," she explains. One of them went to chime in, most likely with another smart remark, but he was cut off.
"I leave to eat and come back to you buffoons acting up," Zhongli fumes on the other end, making the call go dead silent. Aether hears this and snatches the headset away from his sister.
"Dude, it's not what it sounds like!" He cries frantically, but Zhongli only waves his woes away.
"Wear whatever you want, we aren't the ones wearing the clothes or the makeup so do what makes you feel comfortable," he assures gently. Lumine giggles at hearing this, she could always count on Zhongli taking on the 'parental' role in the group, but this only made Aether more flustered.
"No! It's not that!" He counters, making Zhongli huff.
"So what's the big deal? I don't understand."
Aether sighs, looking on the verge of crying out of frustration, "Lumine wants to smother me with her dumb makeup to boost her stupid channel views," he admits exasperated. Now she felt bad for getting him all riled up. Most of his friends poked fun, thinking nothing more of it than playful banter, and the other two completely misunderstood the situation.
"Can you put her on the other end, please?" He asks, making the members mutter amongst themselves. Aether removes his headset again and hands it to his sister, resisting the urge to hurlit at her.
"H-hey there Zhongli, what's up?" She asks hesitantly, slightly dreading his answer.
"Is there a reason you're forcing your brother into something he's not OK with?" He asks in an even tone, cutting straight to the point.
Lumine gulps, "I wasn't forcing him! I just really wanted his help," she tells him. "It's not my fault he got all whiny about it when you guys starting making fun. Besides, I hear you guys making fun of each other all the time, I didn't think anything of it," she defends herself. She purses her lips when she hears him tut quietly.
"That was a bit insensitive of us, since we're all well aware of how sensitive of a topic it for Aether, right?" He asks, referring to his friends who mumbled on the opposite line. Lumine stiffens, since when was Aether squeamish about girly things? He grew up with her!
Come to think of it, she had never asked whether or not he was OK with being her little guinea pig. Maybe that was bad on her end? She never thought of it like that since Aether never vocally expressed this.
She looks at him and mouths, "Is this true?"
Aether gave her a weak glare but said nothing more. She definitely messed up. "Lumine are you there?" Zhongli's voice rang through.
She perks up, "Yes! I'm here, sorry," she apologizes.
"It's fine, next time please be more aware of your brother's feelings, though. If he's not OK with something you're doing, he should have the choice to reject something like makeup or you dressing him in clothing he's not comfortable with," he remarks cooly. Lumine had a feeling Aether told these guys more than she knew, deeply trusting them with his insecurities and secrets. It made her a little upset that she wasn't included or considered like that.
"I see," she says faintly, "I'm going to hand you back to Aether now, bye," she whispers towards the end. She didn't wait for Zhongli's response as she took the headset off and set it down in Aether's outstretched hand, refusing to make direct eye contact as she departs from his room