"Dodge this!" Kaeya cried as he suddenly sent a blast of icy magic at Lumine. The nimble traveler only just barely managed to get out of the way in time, flinching as the cold ice hissed past her elbow. "Hmm, impressive," Kaeya raised his eyebrows and nodded respectfully.
"Well, like I told you, I'm not totally helpless," Lumine gave him a shaky laugh. The two had been sparring and training together all day, but only just now did Kaeya decide to up the difficulty and add their elemental magic into the mix.
It still surprised Lumine, sometimes, how intense and ferocious Kaeya could be, especially in the heat of battle, just because he was so aloof and relaxed just about any other time they interacted. But then again, he wasn't the Captain of the Cavalry, one of the smartest Knights of Favonius, and one of Jean's most trusted friends for nothing!
"Well, not totally helpless," Kaeya agreed with a nod, but then a sly smirk spread across his face. "Just almost totally helpless."
"Ummm, excuse you?" Lumine snorted, putting her free hand on her hip and raising an incredulous eyebrow at her sparring partner.
"I mean, I seem to recall you needing me to rescue you from those nasty treasure hoarders not too long ago…" Kaeya replied with a look of mock innocence, stroking his chin and tilting his head as if trying hard to remember the incident.
"Oh, hush!" Lumine snorted again, shaking her head. "I didn't need you to save me. I was going to handle it by myself!"
"Mm-hmm, sure," Kaeya smirked and rolled his eye in mock disbelief. "I think you just wanted to get the treasure first!"
"Arrrgh!" Lumine groaned in frustration. Kaeya knew that bringing up the topic of the "treasure" would set her off more than anything else would, and he was not wrong at all. "For the last time already! I didn't want your stupid treasure! I just went ahead because we had no time to waste! You said so yourself! The treasure hoarders might've escaped had I not gone after them immediately! Besides, I knew you'd ask me to go hunt them down anyway, so what was the point in me coming back to tell you that I'd found them?"
"Uhhh… so that you could tell me where you found them?" Kaeya scoffed at Lumine's stupid question.
"Oh hush," Lumine repeated with another impatient huff. "You found them all without my help anyway!"
"It was still a brash, foolish thing of you to do," Kaeya replied, but this time, he sounded genuinely reprimanding. His voice and eye went cold and he even crossed his arms. Gone was the scheming charmer, this was the stern Captain of the Cavalry. "If you failed and they escaped, that would've left us back at square one. We would have no clue where they were, or where they went, and it put you in unnecessary danger, too."
And there it was. Even though Kaeya said it with a brisk tone, one of his deepest concerns of that day was Lumine. She didn't know it, but there were scores of treasure hoarders waiting to ambush her from the shadows. If Kaeya hadn't managed to find her first, she would've left that temple with far worse injuries than what she actually got. Or she may not have ever left at all…
"You're right," Lumine bowed her head, properly humbled. She may not have considered it at the time, but now, she couldn't deny that he had a point. It was stupid of her to run off without telling anyone, or at least trying to bring some backup. It also made her look dishonest, but even worse, it put the entire mission at risk. And of course, it put her in harm's way as well.
"But lucky for you, I'm too clever and experienced to be outwitted," Kaeya teased, bringing the mood back up again.
"Ugh! I told you already! I wasn't going to steal your treasure! I had no personal interest in it!" Lumine pouted, but even behind the pout, Kaeya could feel the smile in her voice. In response, he gave her a smug, satisfied wink. He didn't really want to upset her.
"You're impossible!" Lumine heaved a sigh of defeat and turned away from Kaeya, trying to reign in her annoyance.
"Hmmm, I would've used the word 'impeccable', but…" Kaeya pretended to ponder Lumine's remark.
"Let's just get back to sparring, shall we?" Lumine interrupted, turning around again and raising her sword.
"Well, we were sparring," Kaeya said with a casual shrug. "It was just of a verbal variety. But I consider a sharp wit to be just as important as a sharp blade, so consider it part of your training."
"Pfft! You consider this training?" Lumine scoffed incredulously, lowering her sword again just out of sheer amusement. "If you want to flirt with me, can't you at least try to be a bit more classy and subtle?"
"Oh, this isn't flirting," Kaeya replied casually, not missing a beat. "This is more… a battle of wits, and wills, if you will." He paused to give a soft laugh at his own joke. "You challenge me, and excite me. I like bantering with you because you have a quick mind, which compliments your quick temper and your even quicker reflexes," Kaeya finished with a smirk, a wink, and another cold blast of ice-magic.
Just like last time, Lumine was able to dodge out of the way in the nick of time, but she was laughing incredulously again.
"Oh? You didn't consider that flirting?" she demanded, not sure if she was flattered, flustered, or frustrated with Kaeya's infuriatingly cool and aloof demeanor. He was unshakable, as cold as the ice magic he wielded. But it was funny, despite being a Cryo user, his words made sparks fly and he always knew how to heat Lumine up. It was enough to give Amber a run for her money.
"Well, that, I considered flirting," Kaeya amended, referring to his previous sentence. "But everything before that was just basic banter."
"Oh, were you trying to demonstrate the difference?" Lumine asked dryly as she began to swing her sword. "Is flirting part of the lesson now too?"
"No, it was only because you asked," Kaeya shrugged as his parried every single one of Lumine's blows. "But if you want more…" he raised his eyebrows again and gave Lumine quite the intrigued look.
"No, I think I'm good," Lumine cut him off quickly, literally and metaphorically, lunging forward with her sword raised.
"You wound me," Kaeya placed his free hand on his chest while his other parried Lumine's attack. He pretended to look upset, but she only rolled her eyes at him before taking another swing. Kaeya couldn't help but smile at that. He really did genuinely like hanging with Lumine. She was fun, and she was witty. It really was always such great entertainment, hanging around by her and seeing what trouble she'd get into next.
Heck, the first time they even met, she'd just finished chasing down Stormterror! She was quite an exciting enigma, and that was exactly why Kaeya was so intrigued by, and drawn to, her. And all of her likeminded snark, sass and sarcasm were a huge bonus to him!
But behind that, Kaeya was also drawn to her sweetness. Underneath that tough, dry exterior, Lumine had a good, kind, caring heart. Kaeya was the same way, although he'd never admit it. The few people that did know about his gentler, warmer side compared him to a snowfall: cold but soft. And he noticed something similar in Lumine, though she was snarky rather than cold.
But he was drawn by her gentle, helpful, friendly nature and charm. And even though he didn't know much about her past, from what he understood, she had lost her brother after a vicious attack which left her stranded here in Mondstat. Kaeya could relate to that level of loneliness, loss, isolation, and guilt all too well.
And in the same vein, both he and Lumine were mysterious and secretive. But Kaeya was a bit more adamant about keeping his, so as a sign of respect, he never asked Lumine for any of hers. Even if she wouldn't mind sharing, Kaeya preferred to learn these things for himself rather than asking outright. That was why, though he didn't know too many little details about Lumine's past, he had pieced together the overarching story.
It was clear she was also interested in his past, and she'd actually tried to ask a few times before, but Kaeya would always give crazy or silly answers in response. Even if it would make Lumine roll her eyes, and even if she would try again later to glean more about his history, she still never pushed him too hard and he had to give her props for that. But one of his favorite stupid answers had happened just a few days ago, in fact…
ooo
"So are you ever gonna tell us why you wear that eyepatch?" It was actually Paimon who started the conversation. She, him, and Lumine were all sharing celebratory drinks at the Angel's Share after capturing the treasure hoarders.
"Hmmm? What do you mean? I told you already, it was something I inherited from my grandfather," Kaeya replied with a shrug.
"Oh sure, that part of your story is totally true," Lumine snickered, shaking her head in disbelief.
"It is," Kaeya insisted calmly, taking another deep drink of his Dandelion wine. It was delicious stuff! The finest in all of Mondstat!
"Well, here's the better question: Can I see what's underneath?" Lumine challenged. Kaeya responded by giving Lumine a mysterious smile, as if he'd been waiting forever for her to ask. Then he lifted up his eyepatch… Underneath… was… another eyepatch.
Despite herself, Lumine burst out laughing, howling so hard that she nearly fell out of her chair and caught the eye of every other patron at the tavern. Maybe it was the Dandelion wine, but she had to admit, seeing Kaeya wear two eyepatches on the same eye was beyond hysterical to her. Even funnier, though, was the realization that he must've been wearing them for a long time before then, and all for the sake of this one joke!
Lumine almost passed out from laughing while Paimon had never looked less amused. Instead, she only put her hands on her hips, glared at the two foolish humans before her, then continued to devour her giant plate of food. It was fuller than Kaeya and Lumine's combined.
"Gotta feed the emergency food some emergency food!" Lumine had shrieked through her drunken laughter as she slid more food from her plate to Paimon's. Paimon gave her another baleful glare… but she still ate every morsel Lumine gave her.
ooo
It was after that night that Kaeya became more interested in Lumine. On top of showing a fair bit of prowess, strength and wit for an outsider, seeing that more humorous and relaxed side of her had opened up something in him as well, and now he wanted a closer look. He may not have been one to ask for secrets, but that wouldn't stop him from "people watching" and seeing what he could pick up off of basic observation. And that was also the night he first offered to occasionally train and spar with Lumine. Now here they stood, just a couple weeks later.
"Wind blade!" Lumine cried suddenly, unleashing a little, green and white tornado from the palm of her hand.
"Cool it!" Kaeya answered leaping to the side and answering with a magic spell all his own: Frostgnaw. This gave Lumine yet another thing to focus on. Aside from Kaeya's wicked bladework, now she had to focus on the ice shards swirling protectively around his torso. Luckily, Lumine had a few spells of her own to call upon. Kaeya wasn't going to win this match that easily!
The two continued to trade words and blows until evening, stopping right as the sun began to set.
"Whew! Good run!" Kaeya sounded genuinely satisfied as he sheathed his sword for the last time.
"Yeah, I'm beat!" Lumine stretched and yawned.
"Oh, don't tell me you're too tired to go out to dinner with me?" Kaeya put a hand over his heart again, a look of pretend worry on his face.
"Don't tell me you've switched back to blatant flirting rather than subtle bantering?" Lumine mocked, but she was smiling fondly at Kaeya.
"It was going to be my treat since you did so well in training today," Kaeya replied.
"So that's a yes on blatant flirting," Lumine laughed. "It's certainly an effective way to ask me out, even if it isn't very creative."
"Well, training is over, so now I speak from the heart," Kaeya spoke in a chivalrous tone. "There is no deception to be found in me anymore!"
"So everything you said earlier…?" Lumine raised an eyebrow, but Kaeya only winked and raised a finger to his lips.
"I neither confirm nor deny," he said. "But, you could always come with me to the Angel's Share and see what happens," he winked again.
"How intriguing," Lumine tried to return his mysterious, smoldering look, but she couldn't stop a laugh.
"Well, an Angel's Share for an angel soldier," Kaeya smiled. It was the boldest thing he'd ever said to Lumine, but it was true. Not only did Lumine look angelic because of her gold hair and white dress, but the wind powers added to the illusion of her flying. (And although Kaeya didn't know it, she used to possess golden wings).
"What a charmer," Lumine rolled her eyes, but she looked genuinely touched and amused by the compliment.
"So are you up for it?" Kaeya repeated hopefully. "I want to show you how to party the Mondstat way…"
"Ah, more training?" Lumine teased.
"Well, I did say a sharp wit was just as important as a sharp blade!" Kaeya winked. "I can show you, outlander, how to stay sober even when drunk."
"So getting me drunk repeatedly is part of training?" Lumine laughed.
"Well, I have to teach you all about Mondstat's most cherished pastime and time-honored tradition! That's the true initiation ritual!" Kaeya laughed.
"All right," Lumine finally caved. "Dinner sounds great!"
"Excellent," Kaeya replied with a smile, but unlike all the ones before it, it was genuinely happy.
"And I'm sure Paimon will be beyond thrilled," Lumine added with a dry laugh. Because Paimon had zero interest in training, she'd spent the day alternatively napping and just floating around the kingdom. Hearing about going out to eat would be the highlight of her day, for sure!
"Just don't forget her booster seat," Kaeya snickered. He found Paimon strangely charming, despite being so whiny.
"I'm honestly surprised they let her in the tavern at all!" Lumine laughed. "She looks like a little kid!"
"Maybe it's the fact that she isn't quite human?" Kaeya suggested with another laugh of his own and Lumine agreed.
But after the two finished laughing at Paimon's expense, they became serious again.
"There's no one I'd rather practice my bar banter with than you, my sparring partner," Lumine smiled. "A verbal battle with you is always fun!"
"Likewise, partner," Kaeya agreed. Lumine noticed the critical word he'd left out of his sentence, but rather than acknowledge it, she only gestured to the Angel's Share and gave him a mysterious smile all her own.
AN: I wasn't kidding. IMO, Lumine is too shippable! All the Mondstat members have such great chemistry with her!
But I'm going to take a break from the romance stuff and write a platonic Lumine & Paimon fic next. Tho I suppose you could read it as romance too, if you wanted.
And yes, I know Lumine is technically too young to drink, but we're ignoring that in this fic.
And the booster seat joke was actually a reference to a bwaap Genshin video. He's hilarious! Definitely worth a look.