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Christmas was not a holiday he was used to. The snow reminded him of the past. The times when was still not working under Rex Lapis. It‘s not like he disliked it of course. But he wasn‘t that fond of it either. It was just there, as a source of cold and food.
This year it might be just a little different.
“Heyy, Xiaooo, we‘re here!” A high-pitched voice of a small floating creature was heard from behind. It was Paimon.
Together with Paimon was the traveler. They never seemed to really separate from each other. Only in times when Paimon went to eat. Seems like nothing could get between her and food, even her dear traveler.
He turned back to them, twisting his arms on his chest in the process. “You‘re here. Why?”
It wasn‘t unusual for Lumine to visit, but he still always expected her to come for a reason.
It‘s not like it was usual for others to visit him.
She smiled. “I came here to give you an invitation”
“For what?” This intrigued him.
“My teapot.” Lumine came a little closer. “It‘s Christmas, I thought it would be nice to invite you and some other people over.”
Xiao sighed. “You do realize that I don‘t participate in such festivities. It‘s a mortal celebration, it would not be right for me to attend.”
“Ohh, stop it Xiao. If Lumine is inviting you, it means you can come. There‘s nothing for you to worry about! Just relaaax, enjoy yourself for a bit!” Paimon interrupted as she flew over Lumines head. Not really stopping in one place for long. She was a lively creature, he could give her that.
Lumine laughs at this. It‘s such a cheery laugh, it feels like he can never get tired of it.
“Uhuh, Paimon is right. You don‘t need to worry about anything. We will be going to my teapot anyways, so there won‘t be that many people. Plus, if you‘re uncomfortable just tell me, you know you can rely on me.” Her words were sincere, they didn‘t carry the weight of lies on them.
She was confident in everything. How has she not grown tired of everything yet. It surprised him how she could deal so easily with everything.
Especially when he couldn‘t deal with his own feelings...
Xiao pondered over their words for a while.
“Alright, I‘ll come.” Was his answer. The duo in front of him cheered as if they just won a big battle. When in truth they just convinced an unwilling adeptus to relax for a day.
People really do tend to exaggerate things too much.
Lumine summoned her teapot and clapped her hands as a signal to go. “Okay, chop chop, get in the both of you, we don‘t have all day to stand around here.”
Paimon went in with a fit of giggles and something along the lines of ‚Paimon won‘t be the last one to enter‘.
He fallowed right after and entered the pot without a word. Leaving Lumine to go in last.
As he got a better look of everything inside the sight that greeted him was truly beautiful. It was full of nature and bright colors.
The scenery never ceased to surprise him.
“You changed the interior again.” Not a question but a statement.
“I enjoy doing things like that. I can never really get it to perfectly suit my tastes either, so I just keep on changing it.” She answered.
Xiao was about to say something but stopped when saw someone running to them.
“Yahooo, Xiao, you came!” A cheery voice squealed behind Lumine.
“Venti!” It seems Lumine was happy to see him. But Xiao was confused, he didn‘t know she had connections with the Anemo Archon.
“Barbatos? What are you doing here?” He was startled to say the least. Befriending gods, that wasn‘t something that a mare traveler could do. He didn‘t even knew they were acquainted.
She did defeat an anciant god...
No, he shouldn‘t delve into this.
“Dear Lumine invited me to celebrate and you know me, I couldn‘t say no to a party.” Venti giggled.
“More like you couldn‘t say no to alcohol, you drunk.” Paimon mocked the god.
“Yeah, yeah. Keep talking Paimon, I can already see a spot on the grill, reserved just for you.”
“Waaah, Paimon is NOT food.” The little creature wailed out of anger.
Lumine could see where this was going. She sighed.
“Okay you two, you can stop it now. Paimon, take Venti inside.” She looked back at Xiao. “We‘ll come back a bit later, I have something I want to show Xiao.”
Paimon looked at her suspiciously. “Sure, don‘t take too long though.”
Lumine nodded as they turned to leave.
“Let‘s go, it‘s a bit far from here, but it shouldn‘t take us too long.”
He followed. The walk there was mostly silent. They matched their pace, hands almost touching from walking this closely.
Instead of talking, he took a look at the scenery. Every isle they went through was different, but not familiar to him at all. He guessed she took inspiration from all the different nations she had visited.
As they reached their destination, it got colder, way colder. It was an isle inspired by dragonspine.
She led him to a small shelter made from what he guessed was rocks. The entrance was barely noticeable, yet she walked in as if she knew it like the back of her hand. It should have been obvious, since she was the one who built this place. But it still was surprising, given the short time she memorized it in.
“What‘s this about?” He asked once they were inside.
“This will sound really dumb...” Lumine sighed. “Smiley Yanxiao gave me a new recipe. He calls them Adepti cookies, I tried making them, but they are inedible to me or Paimon. They also have some gelatin in them, hence the reason I had to keep them here.”
“And you are telling me this because?”
“You‘re an adeptus and since you can‘t handle anything except almond tofu, maybe these could work for you?” She answered.
He looked at the small table behind her, it contained a plate with the cookies on it. They were decorated a little poorly but you could still tell they were Christmas themed.
Lumine took two cookies in her hand and offered one of them for him. He accepted.
“I thought you weren‘t able to eat them?” He looked at her curiously.
“Yes, but it would be strange if you were the only one eating while I just stared at you.” She bit the cookie. Her face easily showed her distaste in the food she just consumed.
He put his cookie down on the plate, then took the one from her hands and bit it.
He expected to get a similar reaction to hers, but instead he was greeted with a light and pleasant taste.
“Xiao..? How is it?” Lumine‘s ears were a little red. He guessed that him switching up the cookies so suddenly took her of guard. Thought he wasn‘t sure why it was such a bid deal.
“They‘re good.” He smiled
“Oh, that‘s nice. Still, you shouldn‘t have taken my cookie, I had already bitten it.” Lumine bit back.
“Why? It‘s just a cookie, you couldn‘t deal with it‘s taste either way, so I saved you the trouble, didn‘t I?”
“It‘s not about that. Just, you know...” She trailed off. Her cheeks were becoming red now and he got a little concerned.
“I don‘t actually. Explain it.”
“It‘s kind of like an indirect kiss.. Ahah..haha...” Lumine looked up at the ceiling. An attempt to hide her gaze from his.
Ahh, he understood now. Her red ears also made more sense now.
“I didn‘t know you were this childish.”
He took her face in his hands and leaned in.
“This is what a real kiss looks like.”
Her lips were soft. The kiss itself wasn‘t rough, but gentle. She didn‘t fight it either, even leaned in to deepen it.
It didn‘t last for long. She gently pushed him away.
“What was that?” She asked.
“I told you already, it‘s a kiss.” Xiao repeated himself.
“I get that part, but why?” She was strangely serious, but he couldn‘t blame her. It‘s not like he wouldn‘t react the same way in this situation.
“I guess you can call it a thank you gift for the cookies.” A tint of red dusted his cheeks, explaining himself wasn‘t very pleasant. Still, it was something she deserved. “It‘s also something I wanted to do myself.”
Lumine blinks. Once. Twice. Thrice.
The weight of his words hasn‘t fully set in yet and he is already starting to regret them.
She then casts her eyes away to the plate of cookies. “I wouldn‘t mind if you did it more often.”
“I wouldn‘t mind to either.” A small smile was on his lips. He was smiling a lot today, it wasn‘t something he was used to, yet he did not dislike it.
Lumine took his hand.
“We should go, the others are probably waiting for us.”
BONUS+
Lumine: Okay, truth or dare?
Xiao: Truth
Lumine: How many hours have you slept this week?
Xiao:
Xiao: ...Dare
Lumine: Go to bed.
Xiao: I don’t like this game.
BONUS 2.0+
Cop: You’re receiving a ticket for having three people on one motorcycle.
Lumine: Shit.
Xiao: Wait, three?
Cop: Yeah?
Aether: OH MY GOD BROOMINE FELL OFF!!!