Series Overview: This is going to be a series of related one-shots that are all - unless specifically stated otherwise - set after this one-shot, but are otherwise going to be in no particular order. They will be within the same story universe, but likely no direct continuations or sequels, so you can just read them however. I'm going to leave this entry marked complete, but generally I have no idea how many parts I might write.

Timeline/Spoiler Warning: This one-shot is set pretty much directly after the Archon Quest 'We Will Be Reunited', so if you're new to the game and don't want any sort of spoilers, then you have been warned.

Summary: In the aftermath of a surprise encounter, Lumine turns to Kaeya to lament the complicated nature of siblings.

What Lies Beyond The Mirage:

Although Lumine hardly spent a lot of her time hanging about in taverns, the Angel's Share had become something of a familiar comfort. The people of Mondstadt loved their wine, and depending on when she dropped by there were people Lumine had grown accustomed to seeing at various times of the day or evening.

Usually she only stayed a handful of minutes at a time: exchanging information with Charles or Diluc, hunting down Venti or Cyrus, or lambasting Nimrod on his drinking habits for the millionth time on behalf of some person or other.

Today was different.

Today, Lumine sat at a table on the second flood near the railing, absently stirring her Berry and Mint Blast as she watched Venti and Paimon chatting - arguing? - down by the bar. Two days had passed since her latest return from Liyue following her most recent outing with Dain, which had gone sideways in more ways than one.

Paimon had been trying her best to keep Lumine from feeling too down about it, but that wasn't exactly what she was after. Lumine wanted to talk about it, plainly and openly, and thankfully she knew a good person to turn to.

That's what the glass of dandelion wine on the table across from her was for.

"Wow. The Honorary Knight, resorting to bribery? I'm shocked."

Lumine smiled faintly at Kaeya's half-serious half-teasing remark as he pulled out a chair. Most of the things Kaeya said fit somewhere along that sliding scale; it made him simultaneously easy and difficult to talk to - depending on what you were trying to accomplish - and Lumine was sure he did it on purpose. Not that it bothered her personally. Learning to read Kaeya was an interesting - if on-going - part of developing a friendship with him.

"I didn't bribe anyone for your wine Kaeya."

"I don't buy it. Charles would never sell you alcohol."

It was blatantly obvious that Kaeya didn't actually care how she'd gotten her hands on his wine, as long as he got to drink it, but Lumine was happy enough to play along. Sometimes some gentle joking around was a nicer greeting than simple 'hello's.

"Paying off some of Venti's tab doesn't count as bribery."

"Now that's a lie if I've ever heard one."

They both knew full well that Charles, as one of Diluc's men, was not a man who could be bribed. Nor was it her title as Honorary Knight that endeared her to him, but the faith Diluc had in her that allowed her to talk him into selling her wine.

"It wasn't for Charles, it was for Venti."

"The bard?" Kaeya took a sip of his definitely-not-illicitly-sourced wine and leaned back in his seat. "Now that I can believe."

"And I wasn't bribing him" Lumine corrected faux-sternly, because it kinda was a little bit of a bribe at the end of the day, "It's a favour for a favour. I asked him to keep Paimon company for a while."

"You mean you paid him to distract her for a while."

That… was also a little bit true. She sent a mental apology Paimon's way.

"She's been mother-henning me like crazy the last few days! I just wanted to make sure I could catch a moment to think without her hovering worriedly by my side and trying to change the subject every time she thinks I look sad."

Kaeya gazed over the railing and watched Venti perform his Paimon-provoking magic for a moment, his sharp eye no doubt picking out all sorts of hints from the scene that Lumine would never grasp.

"So," he began as he turned his attention back to her, "Why is our floating friend worried?"

"I found my brother."

Lumine sipped at her drink, unmoved by voicing it aloud to another person for the first time.

"Congratulations. Should I send our dear Outrider to take down those posters then? Only," Kaeya glanced pointedly at the empty third seat at their table, toning down the fake joviality in his voice for something closer to observational curiosity, "I can't help but notice that he isn't here."

There were several reason Lumine had chosen to seek out Kaeya out of all her acquaintances for this talk, and this was one of them. He could tell that she didn't want his concern or his pity, that she didn't want this to become dark or depressing or overly-serious, and was content to keep the atmosphere lighter until she steered it somewhere else herself.

"Please." Lumine rolled her eyes. "It's not like anyone gives those posters more than a passing glance anyway. I appreciate the effort Amber went to in making them, her heart was in the right place, but my hopes were never high that the posters would amount to anything." It hadn't stopped her from requesting the same favour in Liyue, because the odds of it helping still weren't zero, but still… "Taking them down would raise too many questions that I don't feel like answering."

"You were in Liyue I believe, is that correct?" Kaeya continued his thought once she nodded. "Is he still there?"

"No way." She dismissed the suggestion with a wave of her hand. "He's long gone, back to wherever he's been holing up recently. Do you know what's funny? This whole time I've been looking for him, I half believed I'd find him locked away somewhere and have to launch a rescue. But it turns out that he's been fine and free and just wasn't interested in coming to see me!"

Kaeya eyed her carefully and took another sip of wine. Lumine grimaced, aware that her irritation was bubbling to the surface.

"Paimon thinks I'm sad, because we found him and he left again." And because of his connections with the Abyss Order, although that particular detail she would keep to herself for the time being. "But I'm not. Sad, that is. I'm plenty of things, but not that."

"You're angry."

"Among other things, sure. I'm angry because he just talked at me and wouldn't listen to anything I tried to say. I'm not mad that he left again, but that he's made it abundantly clear that he doesn't intend to let me find him again unless it's on his terms. I'm frustrated that he's making decisions for me without asking or explaining anything."

Lumine sighed. Honestly, it felt like Aether had spent half of their brief meeting airing out old grievances against Dain. He was probably trying to sow discord between them, but it wasn't as if she could take sides anyway when neither of them was willing to give her any of the finer details. Then he had the audacity to tell her to find her own answers?

…Aether could be so thoughtful and thoughtless in the same moment.

She would have listened if he'd been willing to talk, to explain his grand plan or whatever had motivated him to do all of this, but he was so tight-lipped. Separation or not, they were still twins, and Lumine knew that he was trying not to sway her opinion. Aether knew that if he said something that directly conflicted with her own experiences that she wouldn't take him at his word, and so it was best for her to simply experience things and come to her own conclusions, but…

If Aether was so dead set on his plan, why give her the freedom to choose? Did he expect her to eventually draw the same conclusion he had and join him? Or was this him saying he was willing to accept that she might end up opposing him directly?

"But I'm also happy," she eventually continued aloud. "Happy that he's alive, that he isn't imprisoned, that he's free to travel as he pleases. It's like…" She floundered for a moment, wondering how to word her feelings. "I want to wrap him up in a hug and never let go, but also punch him in the face, not necessarily in that order."

That startled a genuine laugh out of Kaeya. He offered up a wry grin.

"Ah yes, the complicated duality of sibling-hood."

Lumine's return smile was a little sadder at that.

Although she felt bad about it, Kaeya and Diluc's fraught and confusing relationship was another reason Lumine had decided to talk to Kaeya about all this. Discussing the ups and downs of a distant sibling was easier when the listener could relate.

For the sake of respecting their privacy Lumine generally tried not to think too much about Kaeya and Diluc's thorny shared past. She didn't know very many details about it all, so all she could do if she let her mind wander that way was make up theories, which was unhelpful and unfair to both men.

Making Kaeya listen to her rant about her own brother though - regardless of the fact that he was a hoarder of secrets and this was one more thing he was privy to that few others were, a fact he no doubt enjoyed - made her feel a little guilty.

Kaeya was clearly unaffected by their conversation, and it was rude of her to assume or even imply that the slightest allusion to his brother might affect his mood when the issue clearly wasn't a recent one, but it still made her wonder…

Clearing her throat and shaking away the wispy threads of melancholy, Lumine grabbed her glass. "Let's toast: to sometimes wanting to punch your brother!"

She held her drink up demandingly until Kaeya clinked their glasses together with a disbelieving chuckle.

After downing half the glass Lumine set it aside and looked up at Kaeya, gaze serious.

"Thank you for hanging out with me today," she began, because that was important too and she really did appreciate him taking the time to listen. "I want you to know that if there's ever anything you want to talk about, I'll always be willing to listen. All you have to do is ask."

Kaeya's lone visible eye widened ever-so-slightly in surprise for the briefest of moments before his expression softened just a little into something more genuinely open.

"Maybe when you're older," he said jokingly, "When we can talk over drinks like adults."

This is what Lumine's experience with Kaeya told her that tone meant:

He genuinely appreciated the offer.

He had things he didn't think he could talk about tucked away in his heart.

He wouldn't take her up on it. Not any time soon, not yet. But if she continued to prove that she meant what she said, then one day he might.

"Alcohol is overrated anyway," Lumine said, deadpan.

Kaeya gasped dramatically and clutched his mostly-empty wineglass to his chest, decrying her blasphemy, and the serious air disappeared as if it never existed in the first place.

"You know, when I find my brother again I think I might drag him on a tour of the Seven Nations and make him apologise to all the people who tried to help me find him. If I do, I might deign to let you punch him for me. Just the once, of course."

"Why, I would be honoured."

At the bar, Paimon's attention was drawn upstairs when the two started laughing loudly enough to be noticed over the general tavern din. Listening to them, she felt some of the anxiety in her heart ease. Maybe Lumine would be okay after all.