YOU PURR?
She blamed herself for what had transpired. For it was because of her that Lyney got injured. It was because of her that he broke his leg after a brief battle with some hilichurls. It was because of her that he was even in this predicament in the first place. Lumine feared on what Lynette would say or do. She dreaded if she could even return back to the City of Justice after this. Perhaps she could head to Poisson and ask Navia or one of her lackeys to pick up Paimon. And after that she could head to the melusines and ask them if they could treat the young man. Yes. Perhaps.
"You're doing it again." Instantly the golden haired traveller was dragged out from her thoughts the second she heard the magician's voice. Her yellow eyes darting to meet with Lyney's face.
"I-I wasn't-How did you know?"
He merely grinned cheekily, as if he were teasing her for inquiring such an 'absurd' question.
"I am a magician, remember?" He spoke-ever so proudly. Proudly enough to the point where Lumine pondered that maybe leaving him behind to fend on his own wouldn't be such a bad idea after all. "To realize the innermost thoughts of others and read on them is something that we have to practice into perfection over the course of our career. But for me, it's a mere cake slice."
Unfortunately for her, she wasn't that cruel. And it was still her fault to begin with, thus whether she liked it or not, the Fatuus was her responsibility. So, instead she endured. Drooping her eyes, unimpressed by his bravado. "So, what you are saying is that magicians are now psychoanalysts then? What happened to the analogy of magician's being like thieves?"
"Oh, its still there." he explained. Undeterred in confidence. "But its important to know that analogies are just that, analogies. Thinking of the common magician as literally being no different from a thief would be a grave insult to our craft. Magicians are magicians m'lady. We can be like thieves or anything we want. We are our own unique group at the end. You should be glad though that I'm feeling quite merciful. Otherwise, the International Association for Illusionists and Magicians will have-your-head."
"Oh joy." Lumine sneered sarcastically. "Thank you, Great-Magician-Lyney. Whatever would I do?"
"Don't mention it." He winked. "All for a good 'friend' after all."
She rolled her eyes in turn, not wishing to further add to the hot Pyronic flames that was fueling – also referred to as Lyney's inflated ego. Besides, she was almost done in patching him up already. And they had hitherto completed today's commission. Just a few more, and they both could head home to rest.
The traveler from afar cut the bandage via the employment of her teeth. Separating his wrapped leg from the rest of the roll. Once she was done with that, she fixed towards her next priority.
The girl gestured for him to bend down, and in turn the allogene obliged. She scanned the back of his head, the spot where he was struck after being hit by a mitachurl. By the looks of things, he appeared okay, which was to be expected considering as vision users tended to possess more resilient bodies when compared to their mundane counterparts. Still though, it should always be best to check, to see if he might have received a few bumps or a small wound. Lumine reached her fingers, rubbing and stroking the back of his hair gently as to prevent unintentionally hurting him. However, once she did so, she heard a vibrating-like sound. So she quickly retracted. Shocked.
"What was that?" She asked. Eyes still widened.
"W-what was what?"
"That. You didn't hear it?"
"N-no."
She looked at him. Trying to assess if he was in any way playing some game with her. His pupils weren't meeting hers. The smile printed on his lips was painfully fake.
He was clearly hiding something.
"It-It must just have been something from the woods." Lyney suggested as a plausible explanation. "I hear this area is known for causing a lot of weird noises from time-to-time."
"Yeah." Replied Lumine, unsure. "I supposed so…"
She came to touch the back of his head again, in an instant, there it was. That sound again. And her eyelids widened a bit more. For, by what it seemed, said sounds definitely weren't coming from the forest. No. their source was…
Lumine crouched herself, facing her gaze at the boy who was now refusing to raise his head. She saw him. He was blushing. His face was so red that he could casually blend himself as a tomato or an apple.
"Lyney?" She started slowly with her exchange. "Are you perhaps…"
"N-no. Why ever would you think that, dear traveler? H-how shameful would I have to be to- *purr* *purr*
Unbeknownst to him, her palm was already stroking the back of his head again. Gradually but surely, a smirk began to form on her lips. A smirk carrying thoughts of malignancy and wickedness.
"Master Lyney." Oh how delicious it was now that the tables were turned "Are you perhaps, purring?"
Caught right into a corner and having nowhere to go, the Pyro wielder knew that there was absolutely no way to salvage his pride.
"S-so what that I am. There should be nothing weird about it? Y-You've seen Lynette, right? You know that our family possesses cat-like traits. Why should it be weird if I- *purr* *purr* *purr*
But her eyes remained steel. Giving those glances of devious intent. Of a mind ready to torment his very being.
He gulped.
"P-please. Don't tell anyone." Begged the allogene.
Ah. But her expression never left, nor does it seemed that she was discarding this moment any time soon. She was enjoying this. Enjoying the fact that she just learned one of his most hidden-kept secrets. Enjoying the fact that the boastful magician of Fontaine was now rendered as nothing but a stuttering-flustered-mess.
She proceeded with what she was doing, stroking his hair with the touch of her fingertips. The way he looked sheepish and ashamed, lips sucked inwards to prevent himself from creeping a smile, eyes tightly shut – it was cute.
*Purr* L-Lumine? C-can we p-please just go home now?"
The power that she now had felt like was standing at the podium meanwhile as he was all covered him mud. It was a nice feeling. Why would she want to stop now? He was just so cute when he was embarrassed. And in her mind, she finally understood on just why Miko loved picking on Gorou. Why Ying'er speaks the way she does whenever she was around. The ability to simply make people red, meek, and defenseless. It was certainly against her principles. And in her best judgement, she knew that she should cease. As the Honorary Knight, she should act with chivalry. As the First Sage of Buer, she should show wisdom, compassion, and restraint. But, he asked for this. He deserved this for being so annoying just minutes ago. Plus, it was just a little tease. Not like she was doing any actual damage. Maybe for just a few more second-
"H-Hey!"
He grabbed her wrist tightly within his hand, locking his hold so she wouldn't escape.
"I'm sorry. But I need you to stop – right now."
His tone sounded both apologetic and defeated, and that caught Lumine off guard. He released her, and she gradually retracted her arm. Rubbing them due to the sudden firm pressure he inflicted.
The young woman observed her companion. Inferring that his usually goofy and cheeky -sometimes infuriating- personality was completely nowhere to be seen.
She now felt guilty. Ashamed at how immature she was behaving.
"I-I'm sorry."
"I-It's fine." He replied. "Just, let me sit here for a moment."
An awkward silence prevailed between the two of them. Not one saying a line, a word, or a sentence. A chilling wind came by, a sound from a bird's chirping before it flapped its wings and departed through the sky. She, didn't like this feeling. She didn't know why. She was usually so quiet and reserved that such silence shouldn't be bothering her, at least this much. Perhaps she had simply became well accustomed of Paimon being around and breaking the ice. But she was not here, and it doesn't seem that the extroverted Lyney would be opening his mouth for anytime soon. She sighed.
"So," She started with. "you purr?"
He nodded. Bashfully. "Yeah."
Their conversation paused for a second prior to continuing.
"How come I'm only now finding out about this?"
She heard him huff before he spoke his answer. "Its not something that I feel everyone should know. I mean, its not like I'm particularly embarrassed of having some feline-like heritage. "He snapped his fingers, and from the side of her eye, Lumine thought she spotted something moving. She saw the spot where they left their bags, where his headwear was. From his top hat, a creature emerged. A black-grinning being whose physical appearance can be synonymous to a cat. She was never sure though on what it exactly was, if it was some mechanism, an advanced balloon, or some kind of elemental construct. Regardless, it did made his point. The obvious cat theme it carried revealed that he was open and proud of his bloodline's unusual physiological characteristics.
"It's more that-" He stopped to ponder on what he should say. "Well, its not a secret in Fontaine that we have some cat-like features within our genomes. This is most especially clear whenever I'm standing right next to Lynette. People don't really make a fuss about it, and probably play little to no mind. After all, having ears and a tail may be rare but not necessarily unheard of in Teyvat. But still…"
"Still…"
"Everyone naturally assumes that I simply must have never inherited such traits. That only my sister has them. If people ever found out that the only cat-like trait I got from my parents is-"
He finally lifted up his face, and for the first time since minutes ago, he crept a smile.
"Well. It would kinda ruin my reputation."
She gradually reflected his smile. "Ah. We can't have that."
For a moment, his smile disappeared, surprised with her words before he returned his lips to curl upwards, this time a bit bigger.
"Thank you."
Another wave of quietude came to envelope the duo, however, this one felt less suffocating and more comfortable. Lumine tapped her fingers on her lap.
"So, does this mean that you like having your hair stroked?"
Lyney's shoulders jolted, but he eventually calmed hastily. "Y-yes."
"Mind telling why?"
"Well, I just enjoy it, that's all."
Enjoy. She mentally repeated inside her psyche, before her eyes would widen in shock, and she gasped whilst cupping one of her hands onto her mouth.
"Y-you don't mean that you were-"
"Wha-No! Great Celestia No!" His blush resumed as he realized what she was thinking. "Certainly not that! Very much not that! I-I'm far more decent than you think you know! Don't-don't mistaken me for some sort of shameful lowlife."
"Haha." She chuckled fumblingly. "Sorry."
The sounds of the stream became the sole thing which entered their respective ears.
"So, why do you enjoy having your hair being stroked?"
The magician fell aback, now contemplating the question himself. He journeyed through the deepest recesses of his memories, till he once more heard the river's call. He gazed his eyes at the great expanse of water, and a flash came into his visions. He saw himself, younger, soundly sleeping. His head resting at the lap of a woman who was softly stroking his hair. His mood beamed upon remembering this. His face changed, leaving all his woes, stress, and worries for the future, even for just a moment.
"I just find it relaxing."
The girl in the white dress scrutinized her eyes, unconvinced by his answer. But her mood too transformed into bafflement when he bent down, for her to easily reach.
"So, shall we carry on?"
"I thought you said that you were too embarrassed?" She joked.
"I was." He responded. "But you said you wouldn't tell me on anyone. So, I trust you. Plus, it kinda has been a long time since someone stroked my hair. If-you don't mind."
The blond blinked twice or thrice until a smile manifested on her face. She did as he requested. Enjoying such activity herself too. Only his purrs she could hear all around. A soft tune which-much like a real cat's-had also made her calm and eased. It was moments like this that was robbed from her since recently. With gods, the abyss, Khaenri'ah, the vishaps, and her brother constantly looming on her mind, she decided to simply relish this peace. Aware it wouldn't last.
The fact that he actually purrs as well was also a cute thing to think of whilst being here at this present moment too.
Author's Note:
Just a random scenario that popped into my head.
Genshin Impact is a property which belongs to Hoyoverse, I own nothing but this story.
Have a great time where you are. Bye!