The World Looks Glorious in the Snow

Chapter 2: "intentions are meaningless"

Once inside her little teapot realm, Lumine closed herself in her bathroom and looked in the mirror. A pair of amber eyes blinked at her, full of hope and a touch of sadness. She didn't know how long she had been staring before a single tear started rolling down her cheek, and she tore her gaze away. She couldn't stand to look at herself, not when she looked so similar to him, not when her golden eyes reminded her of his. Why did they have to look alike?

Lumine wiped away her tear and made her way to the kitchen, where she kept a small first-aid kit. She made a mental note to buy more bandages as she used the last of them for her injured arm. The excessive bleeding had started to make her dizzy. I wonder how Childe is faring with that cut on his head. Head wounds bleed a lot. He's probably pretending like it's no big deal. Should I have told him to get it treated? Lumine shook her head in an attempt to erase her thoughts. Such thoughts were not allowed; they were unthinkable.

"Don't listen to him," urged Aether's voice. "He's the enemy."

The enemy.

The next day, Lumine decided she would spend her time upgrading. She finished her daily batch of commissions before ten o'clock, which gave her plenty of time to run errands. First, she tinkered with her artifacts for a while and tried to find ways to enhance them, particularly a timepiece that had been troubling her lately. Then, she wanted to forge some of the crystal she had collected into usable material for her sword, so she started on her way towards Yanfeng's Ironmongers. Just as she neared the store, however, she spotted a head of messy orange curls standing in front of Master Zhang with a bag of mora in hand. Lumine froze in her place.

Childe.

"Hey, what's he doing here?" harrumphed Paimon.

"Paimon!" Lumine had hoped to pass by without him noticing, but Paimon gave them away.

"Oh, hey there, Girlie!" He waved at her with a friendly smile plastered to his face.

"Why do you call me that?" said Lumine as she approached him. "It's so condescending."

"Oh, just admit it, it's cute," he returned.

"It is not cute. It's stupid and annoying."

"Suit yourself, Girlie."

Lumine scoffed, mildly offended, but also amused at the way Paimon continued to complain. Deciding to ignore the little fairy, she turned her attention to Childe and noticed that the blood on his head had been replaced by a small bandage peeking through a few locks of hair. She watched Master Zhang count coins until eventually he found the right amount and handed Childe a bundle of arrows. Childe took them and, with a swift movement of his arm, stored them in his inventory. He shot a quick smile at her; "Gotta stock up every now and then."

Lumine shoved past him and pulled out her crystal chunks. "I'd like these forged, please."

Master Zhang took them. "That'll be three thousand mora."

"...Three thousand?" repeated Lumine incredulously. 

"Yikes! Paimon doesn't think we can afford to spend so much on a few crystals!"

"Prices are going up these days. Gotta keep up with the market."

"This is plain ridiculous!" declared Paimon. "Paimon wants to bargain."

Lumine sighed. "It's okay, Paimon. We can always stop by Wagner next time we're in Monstadt."

"Will this cover it?" Childe, with the top of the bag pinched between his fingers, swung it from side to side.