Lumine must have been quite the sight, trudging up the stairs to the Ragnvindr mansion, Paimon balanced on one arm and a weightless bard who wasn't even thinking about putting up a fight tucked under the other.

In fact, it was quite evident by the way Venti's feet stuck up in the air and swung back and forth like two very merry metronomes that he was perfectly happy hanging out in Lumine's grasp, if his blissfully munching away on a bunch of grapes wasn't convincing enough. He'd ripped them off the vine in what may or may not have been an accident when Lumine picked him up while he was holding onto it.

"You sure you don't want any?" he asked for the third time now, twisting a little so he could wave a grape in front of Lumine's face. "They're delicious!"

Lumine stopped in her tracks halfway up the steps, closed her eyes and snorted, entirely cold to the temptation. "Admit it, you just want to make me your partner-in-crime so I won't tattle on you."

"Whaaaaaat? I'm not worried about that at all!" Venti retorted in a high-pitched voice that was dripping with mock-indignation, then he huffed and pointedly pushed the grape into his mouth before giving the whole bunch a jolt. "It's not like I can hide it very well anyway."

"You're a god," Lumine pointed out. "You can probably transform it into an extra leaf on your Cecilia clip and people will be none the wiser."

"Hmm..." Venti pondered, tapping his chin. "That's actually not a bad idea! Thanks, Lumine!"

Lumine took a deep breath, held it a few seconds, then exhaled, slowly and deliberately. So much for not becoming his partner-in-crime. But at least she knew for certain now that Diluc didn't mind. "You're impossible."

"Aww, come on!" Venti started waving the next grape. "Say 'aah'! You know you want to!"

Lumine stared at the grape. She genuinely had zero appetite for it, but she did start to consider letting him feed it to her anyway. Just to make him happy.

She sighed through the nose, half resigned, half indulgent, and opened her mouth. "Aah..."

She felt the grape being pushed between her teeth, accompanied by Venti's giggles, and she couldn't help but smile when she bit down. The grapes were plump, juicy and sweet and extremely delicious, no doubt – so much so that not even the seeds bothered her – but they couldn't beat the feeling of warmth and comfort spreading through her at the sight of her beloved friend beaming up at her.

"See? They're amazing!"

"They are, but..." Lumine did her best to give Venti a stern look, to resist the urge to smile back at him like the love-struck fool she was. "I'm sure they'd taste even better if they weren't filched from somebody else's vines."

Venti tried to look guilty, but he couldn't quite pull it off. Or perhaps he could and just didn't want to. "They'd end up in my stomach sooner or later anyway. I'm just saving people some work!"

Lumine sighed. She wasn't even surprised to hear him say something like that, considering how Paimon liked to come up with similar excuses whenever she let it slip how much she'd siphoned off of Lumine's commission rewards this time. 'Paimon would've bought these snacks anyway! Paimon just saved you the walk to the shop with her!'

It kind of made her wonder if her affection for each of them was intertwined in some way. For all their ribbing, they weren't all that different – although she probably shouldn't say that out loud somewhere they could hear.

Not that it mattered in the grand scheme of things. It didn't make her suddenly concerned she could develop romantic feelings for Paimon, so it was all meaningless rumination anyway.

"Venti?"

He didn't even look up from snacking on Diluc's grapes. "Hmm?"

"I..."

No. She couldn't, wouldn't finish that sentence. They agreed.

"Can I have another grape?"

Lumine could tell from the way her friend froze in her grasp that he'd seen right through her, but eventually, he relaxed. He turned his head with a bright smile and plucked a grape from its stem.

"I thought you'd never ask!"

By the time the mansion door fell shut, all the evidence had been destroyed. Which, in a way, was a good thing. Diluc had not waited for them, so it fell on Lumine to inform Venti of the invitation, and sitting down on the courtyard wall to share a bunch of grapes gave her the time to do so without having to worry about him pulling another vanishing act.

The boy archon had been over the moon at actually being invited for once, and he didn't mind the single-room arrangement, either. So when they finished the grapes, it had been Venti who heaved the heavy double door open and shut while Lumine held onto Paimon.

"This is so exciting!" he exclaimed, energetic as usual. "I haven't stayed over at this place for a while! I wonder what it'll be like!"

"What?" Lumine blinked, completely puzzled. She looked at Diluc, who'd been poring over some paperwork by the fireplace when they came in but had since started walking up to them, then back at Venti. "You stayed over before?"

Venti nodded enthusiastically, then lifted a finger to his chin. "It must have been... about eighty years ago?"

"Closer to ninety, actually," Diluc corrected, which didn't make Lumine feel any less lost, but Diluc didn't leave her hanging. He crossed his arms and continued, "When my great-grandfather was still alive, he used to tell me about this friend he had as a teenager. A wandering bard. My great-grandfather wasn't really interested in wine-making or anything related to it, or rather, he couldn't seem to keep anything he learned about it straight and lost motivation. He couldn't keep different kinds of grapes apart, never knew when to harvest them, and the barrels he prepared would turn sour instead of fermenting properly. It was so bad that he didn't wish to continue the family business, but he was the only heir. By contrast, his bard friend knew everything there was to know about wine, and would even write songs about it to help him memorize how to care for a vineyard, what kind of grapes grew in what soil and how to tell when they were ripe, all the steps to making them into wine, and also some about how awesome wine is to get him fired up for it again. At the time, my great-grandfather considered the bard his best friend, but one day, he disappeared. Years later, my great-grandfather found out that his father, my great-great-grandfather, had planned to adopt the bard, who had no parents himself, and leave the business to him instead. But the bard turned the offer down. My great-grandfather believed that this was what had driven his friend away, so he threw himself into work to prove himself as a worthy heir. He'd hoped that, if his friend didn't have to worry about being saddled with the business, he would return. But he never did."

Lumine had listened spellbound to Diluc's story, and now that he'd finished, she noticed that Venti next to her had tensed up like a bowstring. He'd crossed his arms and was gripping his upper arms so tightly that his nails dug into the skin. He was averting his narrowed eyes, but Lumine could still see the pain in them. The grief, the guilt, the helplessness and, surprisingly enough, a hint of anger and bitterness.

"It wasn't like that at all," he explained through gritted teeth. "Master Berul was an honorable man. When I told him I was not what he was looking for, he accepted it and never pressed the issue. What actually happened was that there was trouble with the Abyss Order in Wolvendom. Andrius told me to stay out of it – we both knew it wasn't him they were after. But I couldn't just... sit by and do nothing, so I just... didn't. And walked right into a trap." He sighed through the nose and finally relaxed enough to unfold his arms, but his hands still remained in fists at his sides. Lumine's heart went out to her friend. "I got away, but I was severely injured and had to find a place where no one would be able to hunt me down and finish the job, so I ended up retreating to Dragonspine. No one who knows about my relationship with that place would look for me there, but the same reason that made it the best spot to hide also made it the worst to recuperate in. It was horrible, and I had to draw on some less-than-savory energy sources to patch myself up enough to recover the strength I needed to get around again. And before I knew it, fifteen years had passed. I couldn't just... go back as if nothing happened." He trailed off and started wiping his eyes. "I couldn't risk showing my face in the city, either, not with the Abyss Order on my tail. I had a feeling they would eventually go after my people to lure me out again, but I didn't need to go and encourage it. Just be ready for when the time comes. But I never thought..." His voice faltered, and Lumine couldn't bear it anymore. She handed Paimon over to Diluc and wrapped her arms around her friend, making soothing sounds and running her fingers through the hair at the back of his head while he cried into her shoulder. More words flowed out of him along with the tears, but at this point, they were pretty much unintelligible. Lumine could barely make out things like 'Dvalin', 'weak' and 'failure', but she couldn't think of anything to say. They had fixed Dvalin and beat back the Abyss Order's attack that followed in the aftermath. Even at its weakest, Mondstadt had been capable of defending itself. Now that everyone had recovered, the people were more than ready to do it again. Mondstadt was safe, and its archon was safe.

But none of it meant anything in the face of guilt, and even less in the face of time.

"Excuse me?" a voice piped up and Lumine turned her head to spot Adelinde, who seemed to have materialized out of thin air. Her eyes were full of compassion. "I do not wish to overstep, but I believe the entrance area is not the best place to comfort someone. Perhaps it would be better to move to the lounge?"

Lumine glanced over Venti's shoulder at the sofa that was visible from the front door, and she couldn't help but agree. Standing up like this was starting to get uncomfortable, and the sofa did look very plushy and inviting.

"You're right, Adelinde. Come on, Venti!" Lumine bent her knees as far as she could with a wind spirit clinging to her neck and reached for the back of his thighs. "Heave-ho!"

Venti didn't need much more encouragement than that to push himself off the floor and wrap his legs around Lumine's hips, making her gasp. He was much heavier than she was used to – his actual physical weight, most likely, and it caught her off-guard. But yeah, it would look weird for her not to struggle with any weight, and it was nothing she couldn't deal with – she had no trouble carrying her friend over to the sofa and sit down. She got him settled on her lap and he immediately buried his face in the crook of her neck, sobbing quietly and shivering in her arms while his own clamped around her shoulders like an iron band. He wasn't going to let go any time soon.

But Lumine didn't mind. She removed his hat and placed it on the armrest next to them so she could stroke his head with one hand. With the other, she reached under his cape to rub small, tender circles into the corset-free space between his quivering shoulder blades, all while wishing she could do more.

In the meantime, Diluc and Adelinde were talking among themselves. They had followed Lumine into the lounge area, but they remained standing up, and after a minute or two, Adelinde shifted her attention to the whole group.

"I finished preparing the south-west guest room," she informed them, then looked at Lumine specifically. "If you walk up the stairs and turn right, then turn right again, it's the room at the end of the hallway. Please call if you need anything."

Lumine nodded. "Thank you, Adelinde."

Adelinde nodded back and her features softened. The professionalism left her voice as well. "The young man's name is Venti, correct? Is there anything I can help with? Get him a blanket and a glass of water, perhaps?"

Lumine hummed gloomily and tried to push the boy archon back a little so she could talk to him, but she would have been better off taking her chances with a mountain. Venti refused to be moved even the slightest bit; he just wailed in protest and tightened his already unyielding grip – a bad sign in more ways than one, and one more item to add to their ever-growing list of things they needed to talk about at a better time.

So she stopped trying and Venti went right back to sobbing and shivering, making Lumine sigh and look over his shoulder at Adelinde. "Yes, please."

Adelinde nodded and walked off. Diluc, on the other hand, took a deep breath and sat down on the sofa next to them, placing Paimon on a sofa cushion between himself and the other armrest. "Guess I shouldn't have told that story about my great-grandfather."

Lumine shook her head. "Don't blame yourself. I don't think it was your story per se that caused this... He brought it up himself, after all. It's just that..." She sighed again and turned forward to lean her chin on her friend's shoulder, eyes closed. Could he hear them? "He's suffering. So much. He always acts like he doesn't have a care in the world, but he's so full of pain and guilt... Sometimes, all it takes is the slightest of nudges to send him flying over the edge."

Diluc didn't answer, and Lumine felt no need to keep the conversation flowing, either. She simply held the shaking mess of sorrow that was the Anemo Archon close, listened to the sobs and sniffles, and waited for the hot tears drenching her shoulder to stop running.

Before long, Adelinde showed up with a warm, heavy blanket to drape over the both of them, which worked wonders in calming the shivers. And from there, it didn't take much more for the tears to turn into dry sobs, then halting breaths and hiccups, and finally exhausted catharsis.

Lumine tried again to give Venti's shoulders a gentle push, and this time, he responded accordingly. Without looking at her, he sat back to give her some breathing room and started half-heartedly wiping his eyes with his sleeve, his free hand clutching the blanket like his life depended on it.

"I'm sorry," he muttered and let out a somewhat moist-sounding chuckle. "Who's the clingy one now, hmm?"

Lumine smiled mildly and lifted a hand to ruffle his bangs, making him tilt his head forward with his eyes shut tight and coaxing a more genuine laugh from him. He even swatted at her. "Hey...!"

"It's okay, Venti," Lumine assured him. "I promised I'd be there for you when your depression acts up, right?"

"Well, yeah, but..." Venti shook his head. "To quote a certain Honorary Knight, my feelings are my responsibility, not yours. And..." He looked away again and pulled the blanket tighter around his shoulders. "My mind's still a bit hazy, but I can't shake the feeling I did something I shouldn't have done."

"It's fine, don't worry about it," Lumine replied and loosely put her arms around her friend, lacing her fingers on her knees behind him. "We can talk about it in the morning."

Venti's face fell and his shoulders slumped. "So I did..."

"Venti, look at me. Please," Lumine urged and placed a hand on the side of his face. She didn't push – she wouldn't dream of it – but she did hope it would make him feel safer. "I don't know what kind of horror you're imagining right now, but I promise you, there's no need to beat yourself up. Nobody was hurt. We only need to talk about it so it doesn't snowball into something else, alright?"

Venti took a deep breath and an arm emerged from the blanket roll to push Lumine's hand away. He didn't need any help in finally facing her. "Alright."

Lumine smiled and laughed softly. "I got your back, okay?"

It took a moment, but then a smile broke out on Venti's face as well and suddenly, the blanket was forgotten and nearly fell off his shoulders as he gleefully raised his fists to his chest. "And I got yours, too!" he announced before absently catching hold of the blanket again and looking around for Adelinde. Once he was sure she was out of sight, he levitated off of Lumine's lap and tried to squeeze himself onto the sofa, wiggling his rear end into the small space between Lumine and Diluc until the latter took pity on him. He picked up Paimon and scooted to the other end of the sofa, huffing in exasperation.

"Just ask me to move over, kid! Jeez..."

Venti ignored the remark like a pro and leaned back, letting himself sink into the upholstery. "You know, Master Diluc..." he began in a tone that was a little too casual and sent his seat neighbor a curious glance. "I can't help but notice you never call me by my name. May I inquire as to the reason for that?"

Diluc grunted and lay Paimon down in his lap so he could lean his elbow on the armrest and cup his cheek. "Shouldn't you of all people know best? You're the one who picked it, after all." He huffed through the nose. "If it was 'Ventus', at least, we could talk. But 'Venti' is just laughable."

"Oh, you speak Remurian?" Venti giggled. "I didn't know that's still a thing outside of Fontainian historians and Haravatat scholars!"

"Not very well, but well enough. The Remurians were big fans of wine as well, after all."

"That's true!" Venti exclaimed and made an excited hand gesture reminiscent of clapping, except it was only the fingertips. "They weren't big fans of me, though, but the feeling was mutual! They were a bunch of self-absorbed bastards who made it their life's mission to kill and enslave everyone who didn't agree with their version of 'civilization', and even those who did. They even made themselves immortal so that this mission wouldn't be aborted by nature, and then had the sheer nerve to act surprised when the machine they built for the culmination of their arrogant and bloodthirsty endeavor turned out to be arrogant and bloodthirsty. They made awesome music, though!"

"Uh..." Lumine cut in, unsure if she should agree or take offense on Monsieur Os's behalf. In the end, she decided to return the conversation to the original subject. "Someone care to explain how any of that relates to Venti's choice of name?"

"Gladly!" Venti chirped and directed his attention at her, a self-satisfied grin on his face that formed a stark contrast to his puffy, red-rimmed eyes. But it was not an unwelcome one. "'Venti' is Remurian for 'winds'. You know, plural. Since Master Diluc specifically mentioned 'ventus', singular, I believe that would be the offending part."

"Indeed," Diluc confirmed. "I just can't say it out loud without feeling ridiculous."

"I can help with that!" Venti declared, then took a deep breath and kicked off his shoes to pull up his knees as he sank into the backrest and closed his eyes. "On second thought, though... not tonight. It's a lot funnier than it sounds, but I'm all story time'd out for a while."

Lumine sighed. She was disappointed, but she couldn't blame him. Watching him curl like up like that, she felt her own tiredness seep back into her bones, and a yawn crawled up her throat. "That's okay. We're all long overdue for bed, anyway. That said..." She looked around. "I thought Adelinde only went to fetch some water. Is it supposed to take this long?"

"Actually, she brought it together with the blanket," Diluc pointed out. "But you both seemed a bit out of it, so I told her to leave the glasses on the table and go to bed."

"That makes sense. Housekeepers are humans, too, after all," Venti remarked and hauled himself out of the soft, squishy upholstery to stretch, slipping out of the blanket in the process – a feat of utmost valiancy and perseverance, as far as Lumine was concerned. She really wasn't feeling the whole 'getting off the plushy goodness' thing.

So she reached out her arms instead, whining and making grabbing motions with her hands. "Ventiiiiiiiiiii! Help me uuuuuuuup!"

But Venti just snickered, eyes twinkling with mirth. "Isn't that what your feet are for?"

Fine. Careful what you wish for.

Lumine glared at him and stuck up her nose with a faux-haughty sniff, then leaned back so she could comfortably lift up her legs and stick them into the boy archon's face... and instantly regretted it when she realized just what exactly she had left herself open to. Especially with the mischievous grin on her friend's face telling her he knew it, too. But her pride didn't allow her to back out now. If he decided to go through with it, she would go down with grace and dignity.

After what felt like hours but couldn't have been more than two seconds, Venti laughed and grabbed Lumine's ankles – to push them back to the floor and get them out of the way so he could reach out and pull Lumine to her feet, a sweet smile on his face. "Let's go find those glasses of water, shall we?"

Lumine smiled back and nodded, then turned around to take Paimon off of Diluc's hands so he could heave himself off of the sofa as well. Venti picked up his hat in the meantime and put his shoes back on, then zipped over to the center table without waiting for the other two.

Diluc shook his head. "I never would've thought he could be that enthusiastic about water."

Lumine laughed quietly. "He can get that enthusiastic about anything. Except cheese. Especially melted cheese."

"Whoever gets enthusiastic about melted cheese needs their tongue checked!" Venti called without turning around. "That stuff is a crime against perfectly good milk!"

"Venti, you hate pizza!" Lumine called back. "The only crime against fine taste here is you!"

"I have nothing against pizza! I only have something against people who put cheese on it!"

"Pizza without cheese? Are you crazy?! That's like... cider without apples!"

"Ohhhh, would you repeat that for me? All I just heard was someone begging for a smiting!"

"Then come and smite me, Tasteless Bard! But I'm warning you, I have a magical bag full of cheese and I'm not afraid to use it!"

A huff rang out behind Lumine and a pair of hands landed on her shoulders, pushing her towards the table. "You kids have all night to settle this doubtlessly earth-shattering debate, but there are people in this house who are trying to sleep, if you don't mind."

That shut both of them down pretty quick. "Sorry..." Lumine muttered, then realized her voice hadn't been the only one to string those letters together and looked up at her friend, who must have had the same thought and looked back. He giggled, she giggled, and that was that.

"How about I make a pizza without cheese one day, hmm?" Lumine suggested.

"Sounds like a plan!" Venti chuckled and, standing nearer to the table, handed her a glass of water. "In the meantime, have this cider without apples!" And while he was at it, he picked up the third glass as well. "You, too, Master Diluc!"

Diluc sighed in resignation, but he accepted the glass. "Well... At least it will never be boring with the two of you around..."

The guest room was a lot bigger than Lumine expected, but then she remembered that this was the space directly above the lounge, and there was no second door nearby to indicate that it would be split.

It wasn't quite as barren as she thought it would be, either. It was still obviously a guest room and nowhere near as lavish as the first floor, but Diluc was a generous host, no question. There was no doubt in Lumine's mind that the odd seven-cornered layout would have made furnishing a hassle, but it kind of worked. A thick, fluffy red carpet covered the floor from the midpoints of the diagonal walls, making it possible to walk barefoot or sit down without getting cold while simultaneously leaving enough floor under the sconces to not be a fire hazard. A single bed was tucked into the far left corner, its length against the wall with a small shelf above it in lieu of a nightstand. A triangular table with two chairs and a candelabrum had been fitted to the far right wall, and the window in between was framed by two potted plants which provided some freshness and life. The corner directly to the left of the door came with a shoe rack and a couple hooks nailed into the wall above it at different heights, which Venti immediately took advantage of to put away his shoes and hang up his hat. Lumine half expected him to take off his cape as well, but he was too busy being excited to take that much time out of his bouncing schedule. He had to dodge around a futon laid out in the center of the room, but he didn't care. In fact, he eventually flung himself down on it and hugged the pillow. "I call dibs!"

Lumine shook her head. That was Venti for you, no doubt about it... "Are you sure? You can have the bed, I don't mind. I have my own. You, on the other hand, probably don't get a lot of chances to sleep in one."

Venti laughed and sat up. "I don't need a comfy mattress. I'm weightless, remember? I could curl up in mid-air and just stick there." He hummed awkwardly and tilted his head, eyes closed. "Of course, if I don't want to wake up in Snezhnaya, it would have to be somewhere I don't get blown away by a stiff breeze."

"Really...?" Lumine quirked an eyebrow. Something about that statement didn't quite add up. "But... don't you fall when you're not making a conscious effort to keep yourself afloat? That's the impression I got..."

"Huh, me?" Venti looked confused for a second, but then he burst into laughter. "No, I don't fall. My clothes fall." He stuck out his tongue, mirth glinting in his eyes. "I just happen to be in them while they're doing it! Ooooooh, what's that?"

Aaaaaand he was back to flitting around the room before Lumine even had time to process the information she'd been given. She had always assumed the boy archon was like Paimon, or rather a bird, when it came to flying – that he had to concentrate on getting off the ground, and recharged by landing.

But apparently, it was the other way round. "Is that why you wear such heavy clothes? To keep you anchored to the floor?"

"Uh, no?" Venti replied without looking away from something he'd discovered in the right-hand corner – the only one in the room that was actually rectangular. It was blocked from Lumine's view by a closet, but judging by the broad grin on her friend's face, it must have been something quite pleasing. "I wear my outfit because I like it. And it makes me stand out as a bard. The heaviness is at best a distant third, or fourth. Although it's really all the same, I guess... Clothes that are thick and layered enough that I don't glow through them are bound to be heavy."

Right. There was that, too.

Venti dropped to his knees and started rummaging around on the other side of the closet, and Lumine finally convinced herself to shift Paimon to one arm and pull her shoes off of her tired feet. She simply dropped them on the floor – she would put them on the shoe rack later – and walked over to her friend. A low table was squished into the corner – Lumine figured it was mostly there to make said corner look less weird, but it also held a bunch of snacks, two bottles of grape juice accompanied by three glasses (Paimon would be over the moon in the morning... Venti already was) and a stack of books. Running along the adjacent wall was a piece of furniture that looked like a mixture of counter and dresser, with a sink integrated into the far end, a stack of small towels and washcloths next to it, a free-standing mirror, a lantern with shutters that allowed it to be dimmed without blowing out the candle inside – a convenient light source when you were looking for matches because you decided prematurely to extinguish all the others – and a ton of storage space with a weird contraption that Lumine couldn't figure out at first glance. However, another benefit of finally ungluing herself from the doorway was being able to inspect it closer, and she discovered that it was a tiny bed for Paimon which Adelinde had fashioned out of a thick pillow, a small ornamental cushion and a knitted doll blanket, put together on the part of the countertop that wasn't directly exposed to sunlight from the window above.

Lumine couldn't help but smile at it. It was so thoughtful and cute, and while she didn't mind sharing a bed for the most part, she was very happy to tuck her travel guide into a bed that was meant only for her for a change.

"Oh, look! Adelinde left us a note!" Venti's voice rang out while Lumine was in the middle of setting Paimon down, and it sounded suspiciously bread stick-y. He waited for Lumine's acknowledgement, which she gave in form of a hum, then started reading, "'Dear Venti and Lumine, I'm sure you're both very tired, but with how much Venti has been crying, you two must be covered in salt, so please use the provided washcloths to freshen up a bit before going to bed. There's also a small laundry basket in the dresser, directly under the sink. If you have any items of clothing you wish to have cleaned, you can put them in there and place the basket outside your door. Moco and Hillie will wash them in the morning. There are some fresh clothes in the closet that you can borrow in the meantime, including nightwear. If you're uncomfortable changing around each other, feel free to use any of the other guest rooms to do so. Matches and replacement candles are in the third drawer from the left. I hope you have a pleasant night. Adelinde.'"

"What a nice note," Lumine commented, having since finished tucking Paimon in. "She really thought of everything."

"Well, she is the Head Housemaid. I'm sure she didn't get that position for the fun of it." Venti put the note back on the table and wiped his cheeks with the back of his hand. "Salt..."

"Salt," Lumine agreed. Adelinde didn't know that she had cried on the way, too, but that only meant that, apart from her shoulder, Lumine had one more body part to wipe off. So she traipsed over to the sink and got down to it. Venti followed soon after, though his idea of getting the dried tears off consisted of splashing his face and shaking his head like a dog. Lumine didn't mind the sight – she could watch the way his braids flew everywhere all day – but she did doubt the efficiency of the whole procedure.

"You know towels exist, right?"

"Right..." Venti conceded and picked one up. "Force of habit."

For a moment, Lumine simply watched her friend dry himself off, a feeling in the pit of her stomach that was hard to describe. Like she should be uncomfortable, but wasn't.

This wasn't so different from her tea pot. She could rearrange her private room to accommodate one more person. Venti didn't need much space anyway, except maybe a cabinet where he could stash his hard-won wine. Then he didn't have to hide it all over Mondstadt and forget where he put it like some sort of alcoholic squirrel anymore. And she could ask Tubby if it was possible to make a double bed. Or perhaps put up a bunk bed... Venti loved high places, he'd be delighted, and it avoided implications that would scare him off. And the bunks could still be a little bigger than average. Not by much, but enough to cuddle comfortably... and maybe fall asleep together...

Lumine shook her head to snap herself out of it. She could fantasize about domesticity (with someone who was so non-domestic he missed the towels right under his eyes, no less) when she lay in bed and stared at the ceiling. Right now, there was stuff to do, like placing her shoes on the shoe rack, checking the closet for the clothes mentioned in Adelinde's note, and looking for the laundry basket. Her dress, socks and sleeves could indeed use some cleaning by a professional for a change, so she intended to take that offer.

She asked Venti step away from the sink so she could squat down and drag out the basket, kicked the cupboard door shut, then placed the basket between the door and closet so she could put away her shoes and change clothes without wasting any time, and she was pretty dang proud of herself for being so efficient.

Or maybe it was just the fatigue blowing her emotions out of proportion. Or the proximity to her crush. Who knew.

Either way, she ripped open the closet doors and started going through the selection of clothes. "Do you plan on changing, Venti?"

She got a noncommittal hum in response. "Depends on the clothes. And..."

Lumine caught movement from the corner of her eye and briefly looked up to see Venti locking the door. Yeah, that made sense. They couldn't risk anyone walking in on him undressed, even accidentally.

Hmm... Venti undressed...

Lumine shut her eyes tightly and massaged her temples. This was getting out of hand... Get a grip, Lumine!, she scolded herself, then took a deep breath, ripped a nightgown out of the closet and furiously changed into it without another look at Venti. She slammed her laundry into the basket and stomped over to the bed, threw herself into it and pulled the blanket over her head.

"Lumine!" she heard Venti call after her, worry about her, but she was too angry to answer. Angry at the world, angry at her feelings, angry at herself.

Why did everything have to be so complicated?! Why, of all the people she could have fallen in love with, did it have to be him?!

Gosh, this one was a hassle... I re-wrote it two times, so apologies if it feels a little over the place. I tried my best.