"Lumine? Are you awake? I changed clothes, you can look now."

Lumine didn't really feel like coming out from under her blanket, but with how hot and stuffy the air was getting under it, it was unavoidable anyway.

She forced herself to roll onto her back and pushed the blanket aside, to be greeted by a room that was almost completely dark. Only the candelabrum on the table and one of the two-armed sconces were still burning. Not surprising, really – for a wind god, blowing out candles was easier than snapping their fingers, no matter how high up they were mounted on a wall. And probably took less time, too. There wasn't even any moonlight to go by, as the curtains were now closed as well.

Once her eyes adjusted, Lumine turned her head to find Venti standing next to the bed, looking down at her with hopeless eyes and the hem of the nightgown he'd picked out bunched up in tense fists.

The sight broke Lumine's heart, and it motivated her to finally pull herself together and sit up. "So you figured it out, huh?"

"It's... kind of obvious." Venti looked away. "I mean, it wouldn't have been a couple hours ago, but..." He trailed off and let out a deep, heavy sigh that relaxed his fingers. "Never mind. I just... wanted to make sure you're okay."

Lumine studied her friend. She always forgot how much of a beanpole he truly was – the pelerine-like collar of his cape and the baggy upper parts of his shirt sleeves made it hard to tell where his shoulders ended, so they appeared broader than they actually were, and the cape added to the illusion of a more square stature. But now, standing there dressed all toned down and unfancy in just a plain cyan nightgown that was nowhere near form-fitting, but still not loose enough to conceal his figure, with the hat gone, the cape gone, all the small trinkets and ornaments gone, the overall flashiness of his usual outfit gone, Venti looked like a completely different person.

Less like a performer and more like... well, like a random teenager. At least if she ignored the faint green glow zigzagging around his upper arms, left completely bare by the practically non-existent sleeves. But they went swimming together often enough for her to quickly get used to the sight.

And she quite liked that sight, even if it took her brain a moment to connect the person next to her bed to the person who had sat crying on her lap only half an hour ago.

Lumine sighed through the nose and scooted backwards on the mattress. She leaned against the wall and patted the spot next to her in a silent invitation, and Venti accepted just as silently.

It was... awkward, to say the least. To just sit there, Venti with his knees drawn, Lumine with swaying feet, and a wall of unspoken thoughts and buried feelings in between that neither of them wanted there but had no idea how to make it go away.

Eventually, Venti spoke up, "Lumine?"

"Yes?"

He sighed and leaned forward, placing his chin on his knees. "I know I'm the one who said I wanted to pretend the confession didn't happen, but... I can't. And it doesn't seem like you can keep hiding your feelings for my sake, either. And... I realize I shouldn't have asked this of you in the first place. I thought I was doing both of us a favor, but in the end, I was just running away from the problem. It was selfish, and it's hurting you. I... I'm sorry."

Lumine's heart sank. This was exactly what she had feared – him making it all his responsibility, then beating himself up about being unable to cope. "Venti... no. We talked about this, remember? If you're selfish for wanting to pretend everything is fine, then so am I. If you think you're the one running away from the problem, it's because I have such a massive head start that you can't see me anymore. And it's not even your problem. Stop trying to make it yours just because you're related to it. It will only blow up in your face." She shook her head. "Besides, what do you even expect to happen? You can't force yourself to love me the same way I can't force myself to not love you. That's just not how it works. Apologizing for not having a solution to this is like apologizing to an apple that it fell on your head. It's not your fault, and it's not the apple's fault, either. It's just... nature." She sighed and rubbed her forehead with the heel of her hand. "And yes, I do realize the irony of saying that to a nature spirit who also just so happens to be exempted from its rules."

Venti snickered quietly, and a corner of Lumine's mouth twitched into a wistful smile. Things were getting better already – it would take more than some unrequited love and a guilt complex to tear them apart. And with that out of the way, the desire to snuggle the stuffing out of her friend returned with a vengeance, so Lumine wrapped an arm around Venti's shoulders and threaded the other between his legs to lift him up. It elicited a small "Oh!" from him, which, despite everything, made Lumine's heart leap and her smile grow brighter, just from the cuteness. And this time, without Paimon in the way or her being otherwise inhibited, she could sit him down on her lap, pull her arm out from under his knees, and place her hand on his waist to join the one on his shoulder in pulling him close. She rested her cheek against his collarbone and inhaled deeply, breathing the familiar sweet scent of apples and Cecilias blowing on a spring breeze. Which, right now, had the freshness of recently-washed fabric mixed in.

"I love you, Venti." There, she said it. Not in the roundabout way she did before, but in these exact words. And it felt amazing. Like a weight had been lifted from not only her shoulders, but her heart, too. "I love you so much. And I can't bear to see you hurt on my behalf. I'm happy to be your friend if that's all you have in you. Just... don't ever think you're hurting me by existing in my line of sight."

"Lumine, I..." Venti started to protest, but then he trailed off and Lumine could feel him shift in her lap. Her cheek suddenly grew cold as the warmth of his body disappeared, and she opened her eyes and leaned back against the wall to give her beloved some space. She watched him slide backwards off of her thighs, but not for the purpose of leaving. He stayed with her, his legs like a bridge across hers, and for a moment, his thighs drew her attention. She hadn't noticed it before, but Venti's gown had ridden up and exposed the markings. They glowed faintly, too, so faintly that it was only visible in the dark. But Lumine knew they lit up just like his hair did whenever he used his powers.

A soft chuckle snapped her out of her reverie. "Do you stare at Xiao's tattoos like this, too?"

Lumine snorted quietly, half amused, half offended, and lifted a finger to push against her friend's temple. He gladly let her, a broad grin on his face.

"As if you don't know the answer to that. You're old enough to understand the allure of the secret."

"Hehe!"

Ohhhh, he was so cute! That toothy grin, the way he closed his eyes and opened them again to a playful sparkle, the way his braids fell when he tilted his head... Lumine just wanted to grab his face and cover it in little kisses! Being this smoochable should be illegal! Some poor, innocent cat was probably going to suffer for it later otherwise...

But then the grin faded, and the moment was over. Venti leaned forward and folded his arms on top of his knees to pillow his chin in them, his shoulders hunched like he was trying to protect himself from something.

Of course, it dragged Lumine right down with him. "Venti?" she asked and reached out to rub his back. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Are you sure?"

He remained silent for a bit, then took a deep breath and leaned back on his hands. "There's something I've been wanting to try," he admitted. "I've never done it with a human before. Not in my current form, at least. And I'm curious what it feels like. But I'm also... afraid... of opening that particular box. I don't know what else might fall out. And... I don't want to get your hopes up... only to disappoint them."

"Venti..." Lumine sighed and stroked the hair above his ear while she kept turning his words over in her head. Something he'd never done with a human in his current form implied he had done it with a human before he became an archon, in which case she could think of only one. Was she really that special to him? No way. That was likely what he meant with not getting her hopes up. That she just wasn't. But why mention it, then? Maybe... What if...

What if he wasn't sure... and afraid of finding out?

In that case, she couldn't blame him. She would be, too. But still, there was just... no way... She wouldn't dare compare herself to the friend he adored so much that he took his form, the friend he had watched die and with whose loss he was still struggling 2600 years later. She wouldn't dare be that arrogant.

He was just curious. It didn't mean anything. No matter how much she wanted it to...

Lumine took a deep breath and wrapped her arms around her friend, pulling him against her. "Take your time. You don't need to decide anything right now."

She expected him to curl into her chest after this, but instead, he pulled away and leaned back, putting what little weight he currently had on the arm she'd looped around his shoulders. He looked at her with those big, blue eyes of his that were always so full of mischief and life, but right now, the sparkle in them was gone, replaced by a vulnerability and yearning that made Lumine's heart ache. But there was something else in them, too – trust.

A trust so unfathomably deep that it nearly left her reeling. Did she even deserve it after the way she doubted him only a couple hours ago? Would she be able to live up to it?

"Lumine?" Venti asked tentatively, breaking the sudden wave of insecurity. His fingers were twitching, curling and uncurling in his lap, and Lumine gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"Yes?"

"Can I..." His voice faltered, but he took a deep breath and tried again. "Would it be okay if I took hold of your face?"

An indulgent smile crept over Lumine's lips. What an odd way of putting it... but that was the god of freedom for you.

She let go of him and placed her hands on the mattress. "Of course."

Venti took another deep breath, squared his shoulders and stretched his legs until they lay across Lumine's lap, then leaned forward and reached out to put his hands on both sides of her face.

And even though she'd been expecting it, her heart did not. It nearly burst out of Lumine's chest trying to match the butterflies fluttering around in her stomach. Her eyes widened and blood pounded in her ears, drowning out the sound of her own breathing as it came in rapid, shallow bursts. She could barely contain her excitement. She had wanted him to touch her like this for so long – to 'take hold of her face', as he put it – and it was finally happening! She couldn't believe it. This better not be a dream!

"Lumine?" Venti's voice cut through the euphoria, and there was a hint of worry in his eyes. Eyes that were so close now. "Are you okay?"

No, definitely not a dream. The Venti in her dream wouldn't need to ask, he would just know. But while the love-struck idiot part of her was disappointed, the sane part appreciated the concern. Better to be safe than sorry, especially in things like this.

Lumine took a deep breath. She closed her eyes and drank in the sensation of his warm hands touching her face – of his palms cupping her jaw, of the tips of his thumbs lightly digging into her temples, of his fingers in her hair. She was more than happy to let it calm her racing heart. "You have no idea how incredibly okay I am."

She could hear Venti laugh softly. "That's good," he said, then something touched Lumine's forehead. Her eyes snapped open and she found herself face-to-face with her precious friend, quite literally so.

He had closed his eyes as well, which was fine by Lumine. She wouldn't have wanted him to see how he startled her and maybe pull away.

She smiled and laced her fingers behind his head, then carefully tilted up her own until she found the tip of his nose with hers, which in turn startled him a little, but only for a split-second – not long enough to worry. And Lumine's eyelids had already fallen shut again at this point as well, so she was more than happy to just enjoy the closeness. The warmth, the sound of their breaths synchronizing, the steady rhythm of her own heart... It wasn't everything she dreamed of, but already so much more than she had ever dared to hope for.

And what made it even better was the realization that when she'd been struggling with the implications of Venti's words, she had focused too much on the comment about his current form, when instead she should have been focusing on the fact that it had never been a human. After all, she'd seen him headbutt Dvalin like this plenty of times, and that thought was a lot less troubling. Dvalin was fine. Dvalin was alive. Dvalin was a level she was comfortable with.

"I can get used to this," she whispered into the silence of the night, and she meant it with all her heart.

"Me, too," came the response, and she knew he meant it, too.

Lumine woke up exceptionally well-rested, which was almost surprising. She had kind of expected a rough awakening in the form of Paimon either yelling and complaining about being bored, or panicking about not knowing where she was. By the time Venti finally crawled into his own bed, quite assured that a doctor's appointment was not necessary, thank you very much, it must have been around five in the morning, so Paimon had at least three hours of sleep on the both of them and no idea what was going on.

Oof, Paimon... How would she explain any of this to her?

It wasn't like Lumine had gone into this completely unprepared. She and Paimon had had a long, serious conversation about what would happen if Lumine wound up entering a relationship, even if it hadn't been specifically about Venti at the time. And there wasn't even a relationship to speak of.

But something absolutely had shifted between them, and if the night before was any indication, Venti was starting to come around to the idea in his own topsy-turvy way. There was no turning back now. And talking about it was one thing... Managing the reality of it was a very, very different beast.

Lumine sighed and lifted an arm to cover her eyes. She didn't feel like getting up. She could still hardly believe that any of this was real. That she had actually gone and done it in a bout of sleep-deprived irrationality. Venti was right – there were too many problems, and for what? They already had everything they could feasibly have. They were never going to do any 'couply' things anyway, not beyond what they had already been doing. If she wanted him to sit on her lap, she could've just asked him. If she wanted him to headbutt her like he did with Dvalin, she could've just asked him. He never would've been able to tell the difference. He never had to know.

But now he did, and now he would question every step he took. Every step she took.

"What was I thinking?" she muttered to herself. She removed her arm from her eyes as tears started gathering in them and rolled over to bury her face in the mattress, the pillow pressed to the back of her head. She had taken the easiness of their relationship, the innocence and comfort, and she destroyed it. And there was no way she would ever get it back. No way they would ever get it back. "What was I thinking..."

She had risked so much on a gamble she knew she wouldn't win, a gamble where she bet the jackpot on nothing, and the worst part was that she had dragged the person she'd wanted to protect from it the most with her into this sea of shards. Even partly recovering what they once had would be an uphill battle from here on out, a battle where there never had to be one.

"What was I thinking?" she sobbed into the mattress once again, as if repeating those words often enough could undo what she had done, unsay what she had said, unchose the choices she had made.

But it could not.

Lumine had no idea how long she cried, never even knowing she wasn't alone with her misery until the pillow was lifted from her head and she felt somebody else's warmth join her under the covers. She could feel herself being rolled to her side and pulled into a tender embrace, enveloping her in her favorite scent as a hand was pushed under her shoulder while another rubbed her back. A thigh slid across her hip and the corresponding foot slipped between her knees from the back, most likely unthinkingly, but Lumine couldn't care less. She responded in kind, wrapping her arms around her friend's waist and pushing her free leg under his, and buried her face in his shoulder.

"Lumine, what's–?"

"I'm sorry!" Lumine interrupted, the words already on the way before Venti had even started to speak. They'd just taken longer to come out of the haze of guilt and grief. "I was tired and not thinking straight. I never should have said anything. I should have known better than to drag you into this. You don't deserve it!"

"Lumine!" Venti cut in before she could think up even more things to rattle off. "Come on, we've been over this! It's my fault, too. Besides, I... I'm happy."

"Really?" Lumine sniffed and pulled away a little to look into her friend's eyes. "You didn't seem very happy last night, what with the whole... panic attack and all."

"Well, you seemed quite relieved all night and now you're suddenly crying your eyes out," Venti pointed out, then sighed and rolled onto his back to stare at the ceiling. "I admit, the thought that you view me as... uh... what was the word humans use again? Hot enough to run and hide at the mere mention of me changing clothes is... unpleasant. It feels a little... I don't know, degrading? Like, do you even like me for me, or because some part of your brain goes 'Ah, yes, we must procreate with this set of traits!'? Does it mean that, every time you space out now, I have to worry about losing my personhood in your eyes? That I'm nothing but a tool for a spell? Some sort of... vehicle for your fantasies? I hate that. I know you can't help it, and I don't blame you, but..." He rubbed his face with both hands. "Gods, I hate it..."

Lumine did not point out that he was a god. He said stuff like that all the time, having spent so much time among the humans he adored so much that he unconsciously copied their speech patterns, and it was only a minor stumbling block for her brain to get past – or perhaps hide behind so she didn't have to deal with what Venti had actually said. How he felt objectified... and suddenly had doubts about the sincerity of her friendship... She had very mixed emotions about that, and none of them good. She felt insulted, ashamed, heartbroken, gross... wronged in that unfair way you could only feel when someone else unknowingly agreed with your darkest self-doubts.

"I knew it." She slipped out of Venti's remaining half-hug and turned her back. "You think I'm disgusting."

"What?!" Venti shouted and a gust of wind ripped the blanket away. It slapped against the wall in front of Lumine, then fell down with a dull thud. "Where did that–?! How do you even–?! What?! I never said anything of the sort!"

"You just called me a creep and said you don't think my feelings are genuine."

"I said I'm happy!" Venti yelled. "You didn't believe it, so I said these things to address your concerns! But you just jumped down my throat and twisted my words instead of waiting for the but!"

A part of Lumine wanted to curl up and cover her ears. If she hadn't felt pathetic before, she definitely did now. A sob wrenched itself from her throat as a fresh batch of tears welled up in her eyes, and she wished she could take it all back. She would rather fight a thousand hilichurls at once than listen to Venti lay into her for one more second. "I'm sorry!"

There was a moment of silence, then suddenly: "Oh nononono, oh heavens, no, Lumine, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to yell, I didn't... No, please, don't cry, I'll never yell at you again, I promise!"

"Venti..." Lumine sniffed and sat up. She didn't want to fight. She only wanted to put this whole thing behind her now and forget it ever happened. She had no idea when Venti had sat up, but she didn't care. She just dragged herself over to him and fell heavily into his arms, knocking both of them back down in the process. "Venti..."

"Ah... Lumine..."

Lumine didn't answer. She just clung to her friend's nightgown and cried, goosebumps up her arms and shivers down her spine, and eventually, she could feel his hands on her back, one rubbing it, one holding her close.

"See?" she muttered once the both of them had calmed down. "I never should have said anything. You don't need those thoughts in your head. They're just... ruining everything."

"No, Lumine... I never meant for you to take everything to heart like this! I..." He trailed off and simply tightened his hug. For a while, they just lay there in silence, clinging to each other like there was no one else in the world. Eventually, however, Venti took a deep breath and sighed. "I'm sorry. I guess I did go into a little too much detail, didn't I?"

Lumine shook her head. "It's fine. I know you're like this... Honest to a fault. And I shouldn't have lashed out." She placed her hands and knees off of both sides of Venti's body and lifted herself up a bit. He briefly let go of her while she crawled a little higher up his torso, then wrapped his arms around her again once they were face-to-face and Lumine settled down. She reached for the pillow and put it between them so she could fold her arms on top of it and hoist herself up without hurting her friend, and finally, she could comfortably look into his eyes. "It's one of the things I appreciate about you, after all," she continued, then a thought hit her that coaxed a soft snicker from her. "Even though I do sometimes wonder how your divinity isn't common knowledge in all of Mondstadt yet."

Venti chuckled. The usual vibrancy was returning to his eyes as well. "Must be the allergy. No one would believe a god could possibly have allergies, right?"

"Ah, yes, the allergy." Lumine grinned. "I'm sure the childlike energy and your smart mouth have nothing to do with it. Or the theatrics."

Venti's lips curled into a pout and he tilted his head back with a mock-disdainful sniff. "And I'm sure you would never ask questions you can answer yourself. That would be silly."

Lumine giggled and reached out to ruffle Venti's bangs, smiling down at him. "I love you."

And Venti smiled right back. "I love you, too."

Lumine's smile broadened. Even though she knew he didn't mean it the way she did, hearing those words still made her heart do a little happy dance. "Sooo... can I hear the 'but' now?"

"Right, the 'but'..." Venti averted his eyes and did his best to stare at the headboard. "How do I put this without digging myself deeper..." he muttered, then took a deep breath and looked squarely into Lumine's eyes. "As I said, I don't blame you. I'm not judging you for something you can't help. Even if it does feel icky and, yeah, I guess a little creepy, too... it's not a reflection of you, or me, or... whatever this thing between us is right now. We wouldn't be here if you were only in it for my body, and while I don't know how long this has been going on, I'm sure it would've imploded much, much earlier if those feelings had been there from the start. So I don't doubt you like me for me. And I trust you! You're kind and considerate and patient and gentle, and you would never hurt me. You would never use me for things I don't want. I just... need some time to come to terms with the fact that... this is part of our relationship now." He grinned awkwardly. "I'm sure it won't be that bad once the shock wears off! And also... well... you know..." He shook his head. "I don't want to sound conceited or anything, but–"

He was interrupted when Lumine snorted. She didn't mean to, but it just slipped out, and Venti's eyes narrowed in indignation.

"Sorry," Lumine snickered, still not quite able to suppress her amusement. "Please, do continue about not wanting to sound conceited, Mr. Best Bard In Mondstadt!"

"Hey, I am the best bard in Mondstadt!"

"Yes, you are."

"Yes, I am! Wait, what?"

Lumine couldn't help but laugh at the dumbstruck expression on her friend's face, and she leaned down to wrap her arms around his neck and touch his forehead with hers. "Yes, you are."

"Aren't you a charmer, hmm?" Venti chided and his hands left Lumine's back, but she didn't even have the time to think about it before he used those hands as leverage to push both of them upright and Lumine found herself dropping into his lap, along with the pillow she automatically brushed aside. It made sense – he could headbutt her back much better when they were sitting up.

"Why do I get the feeling you don't even want to hear the 'but'?" he asked after a while, making Lumine giggle.

"Sorry," she said and pulled away a little, grinning from ear to ear. "I'm just... so glad we're okay."

"Eeeeeeh..." Venti hummed skeptically and rubbed the back of his neck. "I wouldn't call our current track record okay, exactly... It's more like 'kill-and-chill'... We've never fought like this before." He shook his head and leaned back on his hands, a small half-smile on his face. "But we'll find our way, I'm sure."

Lumine nodded. She was optimistic about that, too. "We will. So, about that 'but'..." she steered the conversation back where it came from. "I won't interrupt this time, promise!"

"We'll see about that!" Venti laughed, then straightened and squared his shoulders. He cupped his chin with a thoughtful look in his eyes and hummed. "Where was I?" His eyes lit up and he nodded enthusiastically. "Right, cleared up the bad things, now on to the good things!" He leaned back on his hands again, smiling brightly. "Although it won't take as many words. I'm just happy I make you happy, and now there's a whole new treasure trove of ways to go about it. I feel so lucky!" He raised his fists to his chest, and Lumine could have sworn she saw the markings on his upper arms flash. But she knew they didn't behave like this, and she was about to chalk it up to imagination when she felt a light breeze brush past her cheek. Venti didn't even seem to realize it, and she was more than happy to keep quiet about it. She saw no reason to draw attention to it and compel her friend to rein in his joy. After all, it made her feel special, too. "And," Venti continued, excitement written all over his face, "you're not keeping a secret anymore, and it shows! You're so much more confident now, and I'm so happy for you, too!"

It sounded like a strange observation at first, but Venti had a point. There was no way Lumine would have lain down on him so unabashedly the day before. Not in a million years. "You're so sweet."

"Also, I can't wait to rub it in Morax's face!"

"Aaaaand also an incurable little rascal..." Lumine sighed dramatically and held her forehead, to at least feign disapproval. But Venti was Venti, and she wouldn't have it any other way. So before long, she hooked her arms around his, gripping his shoulders from behind, and let herself fall back into the mattress, dragging him with her so she could nuzzle into his collarbone and breathe in his scent. The sweetest breeze there ever was... She closed her eyes and let it flow through her whole body, relaxing every muscle, chasing away every last bit of tension left in her, filling her from head to toe with warmth and contentment. "Let's not think about Morax for now, alright?"

"Alright," she could hear Venti's voice snicker in response, and she could feel his hand running through her hair. She could even feel his weight, so she didn't even need to tell him about how the pressure was the most important part of snuggling. He already knew. "It's just you and me for now."

"Yeah..." Lumine really liked the sound of that. "Just you and me." She let go of his shoulders and instead folded her hands at the small of his back. He responded by sliding down a little, and Lumine squeaked in protest when the shoulder she was cuddling retreated from her face. But she had to admit that, if she wanted their position to be maintained for an extended period of time, Venti would need somewhere to put his head.

His solution to that was placing his elbows left and right of Lumine's face and cupping his face in his hands, except it led right into another problem when Lumine reflexively reached up to protect her eyes from the invasion of the foreign objects that were his braids. She could hear him gasp in shock and feel him sit bolt upright on her stomach. She blinked her eyes open and found him brushing one of them behind his ear, or at least that seemed to be the original plan before he stopped halfway, his fingers still lightly touching the tip of his ear as he looked away, a pained expression on his face. "Sorry..."

Lumine sighed softly through the nose and reached up to brush a fingertip across the palm of his frozen hand. "Gravity, am I right?" she said, smiling gently. "Darn hair ties, shamelessly pulling everything down."

Venti huffed out a sheepish laugh and finally relaxed. He dropped his hand and let himself fall to the side, rolling over his shoulder until he came to rest next to Lumine. He took a deep breath and laced his fingers behind his head to stare at the ceiling. "Crazy..."

Lumine hummed quizzically. The way he said it sounded altogether too serene for that descriptor. "Crazy? What's crazy?"

"Everything," Venti answered, still completely calm. "Just... being here like this. Lying next to you, in the same bed. There's only you, and me, and the rest of the world disappears. It's so quiet, too. It's like..." He heaved a deep breath and closed his eyes. "It's like, after all these centuries, my head finally shuts up. Like when I sing, but better. Because I don't have to do anything. Just rest... and think of nothing." He rolled over, turning his back at Lumine. "I never thought I'd get to experience this kind of tranquility again."

Lumine sat up and looked at her friend, unsure how to feel. Glad? Proud? Hopeful? None of that seemed right. "What about Dvalin?"

"That was a long time ago." Venti unlocked his fingers from behind his head, freeing one hand to absently trace squiggly lines across the bed sheet. "I don't know what changed, but flying with him doesn't feel as peaceful as it used to. I hope..." He trailed off, and his palm lay flat against the mattress. "I hope this time, it will last a little longer."

"Venti..." Lumine murmured and lay back down again to wrap her arms around his chest and pull him against hers. He didn't sound particularly optimistic, but even if their time like this was limited, Lumine was determined to make the most of it.

"I hope so, too."

I forgot to answer guest reviews last time (I was too excited about posting, haha), so it's two now.

To the June 21. guest: I admit I'm not entirely sure how to respond to that except... thank you? Happy fangirling/-boying/-personing!

June 28.: Thank you for the feedback! I'm glad the last chapter wasn't too much of a challenge to get through. I'll probably go back and edit it someday, but for now, I want to focus all my writing energy on going forward. I'm just waaaay too excited for this story! :'D

Hah, fun times~