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Mondstadt.
A largely peaceful country in Teyvat, home to really only one small city and one small township, and with a total population lower than some book clubs; also home to a very itty bitty gigantic secret.
Werewolves.
It was somewhat of an open secret around the city, that a select few folks were afflicted with some form of lycanthropy, but, freedom was the motto and mantra of the entire country, so nobody really minded all that much, especially because the folks in question ranged from: “cold but doesn't stir up trouble” to “warm and beloved by all;” which sort of put the werewolves of Mondstadt in a very mild place compared to the rest of Teyvat, where werewolves were deeply and thoroughly feared.
Amber, one of the youngest of the lycanthropes (and the title holder of “warm and beloved by all”) was out patrolling as she usually did for the Knights of Favonius, when she came upon a strange out-lander. Blonde of hair and with deep honey-coloured eyes, Amber felt herself absolutely fascinated with the girl; though initially a bit wary, as was the custom in Mondstadt given their very VERY few visitors, Amber warmed up even quicker than she herself was used to.
Lumine, was her name, and though Amber had intended initially to show her around the town and move on, as she assumed the traveller would as well, she found quickly that Lumine intended to stay for a little while, even becoming friendly with the other Knights of Favonius in the process. Amber was at a bit of an impasse about all of this, expecting Lumine to leave so quickly, she hadn't prepared herself for how relentlessly curious she would end up being about the girl; and so, she decided the only course of action after a few weeks of trying to find every reason she could to get near the girl, was for her to seek guidance from her best friend, and fellow werewolf, Eula.
“So, you say this girl has an attractive scent.” Eula began, moments after pondering everything Amber had told her.
“A little embarrassing that you'd start there, but yes.” Amber spoke sheepishly, but remained confident, Eula had helped her many times before, being far more experienced than she was, so if anyone knew what was up with her, it would be Eula.
“And you say she's alluring, like you just want to keep spending time with her?” Amber felt herself blush as Eula spelled everything out back to her.
“Well, when you put it like that...” Amber had a feeling where this was headed but Eula continued.
“And now you say you're starting to have problems controlling your transformations around her?” Amber felt particularly embarrassed about this one, especially because control over transformations was one of the first things any werewolf had to learn, and she prided herself very dearly on her skill in, well, everything, so finding herself unable to control something that she had so competently done for years... Amber focused on Eula as she quietly nodded.
“Amber. Do you truly not know what all these things together could mean?” Eula leaned forward, placing her elbows on the simple library table between them.
“Uhm..!” Amber was certain she had to be as red as a pyro slime at this point, both at the thought of what she had just told Eula; and also the embarrassment of truly already knowing the answer to what she was asking.
“I just... had to... be sure...” Amber felt herself look away, awkwardly pausing between words, prompting Eula to a hearty laugh.
“Oh don't worry yourself Amber,” Eula hand waved, but kept a smirk firmly planted, “the Knights are more than well aware how smitten the two of you are, and we're all cheering you on in courting your mate.”
“Eula..! oh my-” Amber buried her face in her hands and let herself gently fall to the desk, suddenly desperate to hide, “Eula PLEASE don't say it like that-”
“Vengeance for making me worry that you called me here for something serious.” Amber looked up from her hands just enough to show Eula a frown.
“Hey! This IS serious!” Amber shot back indignantly, earning a much firmer smirk from Eula.
“The only thing serious about this is how you seem to be taking it!” Eula's face shifted into a rather warm smile toward Amber, “come now, love is supposed to be fun and exciting, so enjoy yourself.”
Amber felt herself sink back into her hands, now thoroughly embarrassed by everything... really the entire Knights of Favonius was cheering for..?
Amber wasn't entirely sure what to think, she was certain that Eula knew a lot of things, and that she might even be right about this one thing, as she had about literally everything else up until this point. Amber also wasn't really sure how Lumine would react to the whole werewolf thing; it tended to kind of... scare people who were just visiting the city. Amber shrugged it off though, she knew she'd have her answer soon enough anyway, and at the very least Eula hadn't told her to stay away from Lumine or anything, so she decided to sniff the girl out and see what she was doing for the day.
-
“Oh hey Amber! I seem to see you everywhere!” Lumine was cheerful as ever at Amber's presence, waving her down from her spot on top of an old ruin. Lumine had been taking more and more commissions for the adventurer's guild as of late, and though Amber could always find her by scent, it was getting increasingly difficult each time to explain exactly why in the world she was around somewhere that Lumine happened to be.
Not that Lumine seemed to mind anyway.
“That's just how things go with outriders... gotta be ready for anything, anytime, anywhere!” If you asked Amber if she felt like she was an awkward person, she would likely say yes, but even she herself was surprised at how badly she stumbled over the most basic things around Lumine. That wasn't the outrider motto at all! Though she couldn't say she didn't exemplify it anyway, or at least mostly try to. Lumine laughed in her usual gentle-as-the-calming-breeze way, and Amber felt the unease wash away, any awkwardness she may have was absolutely worth hearing that sound again and again.
“Did you know, by the way Amber,” Lumine began as Amber hoisted herself up onto the smooth surface among the rubble where Lumine was sitting, “that your adorable little bow is as easy as can be to spot from any distance away?” Lumine gestured to Amber's head as she spoke, a very very sly smirk hanging on her lips; Amber almost immediately felt the fur on the back of her neck bristle as she blushed, she had just, in fact, walked directly from Mondstadt to Lumine across an open field without stopping.
“Ah-” was all Amber seemed to manage before she was sure she felt Lumine lean ever so slightly closer
“So Amber, how ready are you for anything, anytime, anywhere?” Lumine had definitely leaned closer to her, Amber was as sure of it as she was sure that her fangs were beginning to show themselves. Lumine sounded confident, and her voice, while still as beautiful as ever, was absolutely saturated in something Amber couldn't quite place. She couldn't even meet Lumine's eyes, and made a very minimal effort to retreat a little, a gap that was closed quickly by Lumine leaning in closer, almost threatening to tip her over.
“It's kind of cute that you get shy after deliberately trying to find me, but the last few times you've come to see me, you've run off so quickly... don't you think I might be interested in you too?” Lumine sounded genuinely a tiny bit sad, and in turn had Amber cornered, well, not literally, but emotionally for sure; and Amber was sweating it BIG time, her claws had elongated a tad, and she was about three and a half seconds from her ears popping up out of the top of her head. As Lumine had stated, times like this prior to today, Amber had simply run away when faced with extreme emotion and her sudden random bits of transformation, but today... she couldn't, especially when Lumine's words had nigh paralyzed her.
“L-Lumine..!” Amber's hands instinctively flew to the top of her head to cover the rather sudden emergence of a dog-like pair of ears. It was impossible to hide, as confirmed by Lumine's sudden shocked expression, but Amber did her best anyway.
“Lumine the reason I keep running i-” Amber tried desperately to explain, but Lumine cut in, very softly reaching for Amber.
“Oh. Puppy?” Lumine's voice was barely above a whisper, words clearly intended only for herself but heard by Amber all the same. Her tail shot out at the mention of the word 'puppy' and she felt herself blushing all over again. Lumine quickly shook herself, awkwardly shifting her hands to land on Amber's shoulders.
“So this was what-” Lumine began, eyes still firmly affixed on the fluffy ears that had so suddenly taken the spot of Amber's signature headband.
“Y-yeah... I keep running to try and hide this... its been happening sort of out of my control for a while... I hope you don't find it strange, but...” Amber sounded a tiny bit sullen, this was not at all how she had imagined this would go.
“Amber. I'm an ageless being capable of travelling between dimensions, why would I think a werewolf is strange.” Lumine stated rather flatly, arms still positioned at Amber's shoulders.
“Oh... yeah I... I guess so huh!” Amber felt herself flush thoroughly once again as Lumine giggled at her; Amber's fears built up over the weeks melting away under Lumine's words.
“Plus...” Lumine continued, leaning in and letting her hands move freely, “The little tail? The fluffy ears? Very cute!”
Amber felt Lumine make absolutely sure to linger on an ear, running her thumb along the ridge and causing Amber to squirm a bit and shut her eyes. The feeling stopped almost immediately and tentatively, Amber peeked just a tiny bit to see a very very flustered looking Lumine.
“O-oh... uhm... sensitive I see... Sorry.” Lumine very quietly withdrew her hands and brought them back to her lap, “I-I'm getting ahead of myself, the ears just...”
Amber shook her head a bit to get her bearings again. That sort of reaction to her traits was... unexpected to say the least in Teyvat.
“L-Lumine...” Amber started, reaching back out to her, it wasn't like the touch was unwelcome, rather it was much preferred to the yelling and screaming she had witnessed from a foreign merchant who visited Mondstadt at a bad time once; it was just... a little surprising at a moment where Amber already felt extremely flustered by Lumine's sudden declaration that she was interested in her.
“The ears are so cuuuuuute Amber oh my god!” Lumine had buried her face in her hands as she nearly shouted out, her face very very red.
“Wh-” Amber felt her tail wag almost on its own, scratch just weird, Lumine was very VERY weird, “So... no running in fear or-?”
“Amber how c-” Lumine started to look over before burying her face in her hands again and kicking her legs, “how could I?! You're like... cute, wrapped up in more cute!”
Lumine made a noise that Amber could only really describe as: a mysterious yet pleasant squeal, and she quietly vowed to herself that once they sorted out the whole interest thing, she would do everything she could to hear that sound again. Amber felt her whole body heat up, this didn't go at all like she planned, it seemed to have gone better than she could even begin to fathom.
“L-Lumine have you seen a werewolf before..?” Amber felt a tiny bit silly for asking, especially after the reminder that Lumine did used to travel between universes, but she needed to confirm all the same, especially after going her whole life assuming her circumstance was something dreadful.
“hmm...” Lumine's voice was a bit muffled by her hands, but Amber could tell she was actually pondering the question honestly, “no I haven't, but, I've heard about them in a lot of places and I think the whole idea is really really neat! I mean you're like, a cute girl and a cute dog right? There's a LOT to like about that-”
The way Lumine drifted off it sounded like she had a lot more she wanted to say, but stopped herself. Amber still couldn't quite wrap her head around that Lumine wasn't afraid, and in fact seemed to REALLY like the idea, but the back of her mind just sort of shrugged as she mulled it over, maybe some things really were that simple after all? Unfortunately, with the more pressing issue now fizzled, Amber had time to clue in to the fact that she had just been called 'cute' four times nearly back to back; a fact that was now threatening to nearly knock her unconscious out of sheer unbridled joy.
“C-cute..!?” Was all Amber could manage to squeak out, it wasn't as though she hadn't been called cute many many times by the folks of Mondstadt, it was more so that when it came from Lumine, the current and only holder of her affections, it felt... powerful.
“Uhm..!” Lumine sounded surprised herself, but slowly, she lifted herself out of her hands and faced Amber directly, seemingly in spite of her still-flustered demeanour.
“Y-yeah... cute...” Lumine trailed off, averting her gaze just for a moment before heaving a breath and repositioning herself so she was sitting in a way where she could more or less face Amber.
“I... I've been meaning to ask you, and uh... feel free to say no, of course.” Lumine coughed awkwardly, preparing herself for whatever was coming next.
“I know I might not be in Teyvat forever, given my circumstances, but...” Lumine paused again, and Amber nodded, trying to keep Lumine talking.
“It would be nice... maybe... if I could spend that time with you.” Lumine hunched a tiny bit, and averted her gaze from Amber, something about the way she was blushing looked so... odd and genuine that it took a second for Amber to actually clue in that this was a confession.
“W-Wh-” Amber's ears flattened and raised in confusion, but her tail was going absolutely wild, seemingly already clued in to what was going on, “L-Lumine is this-”
“Y-yeah like... date..ing...” Lumine trailed off awkwardly, still unable to meet Amber's eyes, and Amber felt her expression freeze in place as her heart seemed to leap in every direction it could manage; she made a small motion to speak, but Lumine cut in abruptly, ruffling her own hair.
“Aggh! Maybe Aether was totally right that I gotta practice this stuff! I feel like I've embarrassed myself-” Lumine's face had twisted itself a bit as she went, leaving her with something akin to an excited frown, somehow the sight combined with this weird sibling fact caused Amber to start giggling.
“Does Aether bully you about your love life..?” Amber did her best to stifle her laughs as she asked, but there wasn't much she could do about the grin that was gently spreading across her face, or the sudden curious tilt to her ears.
“He DOES, okay get this, every time we go somewhere new he always always always finds some guy to pal around with-” Lumine had clearly needed to talk about this for a while, which, in itself was nice because it gave Amber ample time to come to terms with being asked out by her crush, and prepare herself for the very very strong 'yes' to the question.
“Do you know how many people I've asked out Amber? How many I've kissed? Actually I don't even wanna say, its embarrassing-” Lumine had thrown her hands up in mock frustration, but her emotions were written plain as day on her face.
“Is it one?” Amber asked rather slyly, prompting Lumine to avert her gaze yet again.
“It's one yeah.” Lumine responded somewhat sheepishly, and Amber's tail flicked in surprise. She had mostly said it to be silly, not really expecting such a confirmation, but the knowledge that after all the worlds Lumine had travelled to, the first person she had ever asked out was Amber was... well it made her feel incredibly special.
Amber paused, and for a moment time seemed to stand still. A girl from the stars, who had only spent a few weeks in Teyvat hanging out with her, had decided after all the worlds she had been to and all the people she had met, that Amber herself was the first person that this girl had feelings strong enough for to actually ask out. Also the person aforementioned star-girl likes also happens to be a werewolf, a creature that normally strikes fear into everyone but a very select few. Just as some icing on this already bizarre and uncanny cake. The entire event felt like something more outlandish than any fantasy novel could possibly think up, and this provided Amber with an odd boost to her confidence.
“How about we make it one kiss too?” Amber's tail swished lazily behind her as she leaned in toward Lumine this time, a confident, yet flustered smirk on her face.
“I think...” Lumine spoke softly as she wrapped her arms around Amber's shoulders, “that sounds nice.”
Both Amber and Lumine froze up in this half-way-to-kissing pose they were taking on, the suddenness and the uncharacteristic confidence finally catching up with them as they stared into each other's eyes, inches apart.
“T-to be clear, this is me saying yes-” Amber blushed thoroughly as she spoke but she felt she had to say it, just in case she wasn't clear.
“Y-yeah! No I got you-!” Lumine reddened through and through before pushing her lips against Amber's, fed up with the awkward pause. Amber's ears shot up in surprise, before relaxing alongside her as she melted into the kiss. She wasn't sure if they were supposed to break away at some point or another, but she allowed herself to fall ever so gently on top of Lumine, who was leaning backward, only briefly pausing from time to time to readjust their angle. She felt Lumine's arms slide along her back, one staying in an embrace, and the other slowly trailing upward until her hand found its way into her hair, and then, to her ears.
“You really... like the ears huh...” Amber spoke between breathless kisses, as Lumine gently massaged one ear between her fingers.
“They're so... fluffy and cute-” Lumine sounded so pleased and excited for something that Amber had always thought of as mostly a detriment; whatever self esteem issues Amber may have had before this felt a mile away now.
“I... was going to ask you out no matter what,” Lumine paused for a moment, placing her forehead against Amber's, “this is just like... an unexpected bonus-”
“Well, I'm glad it wasn't just my wolf-ish charms.” Amber giggled, her tail swishing happily behind her as she planted kisses on Lumine's cheeks and nose.
“You're right, it was aaaaaalll your other charms first.” Lumine grinned and Amber nuzzled against her neck, finally allowing herself to put her whole weight on Lumine and snuggle up.
“Well prepare yourself Lumine... if you thought I followed you around a lot already, I'm going to be absolutely attached now-” Amber wrapped her arms firmly around Lumine, tail wagging at speeds she didn't even know were possible herself.
“And I'm looking forward to every second of it.” Lumine's words were suave, but her tone was anything but, full to the brim with awkward joy and elation, it had such a stark contrast to Lumine's usual cool demeanour that Amber couldn't help but revel in the sound. She settled in a little, content for the moment to just feel her body against Lumine's, but Lumine spoke again.
“You know... It feels kind of silly now, but after the second or third time you ran off from me, I asked Eula about it...” Amber blinked in surprise as she listened to Lumine talk, realizing that this was exactly what Eula has meant by 'enjoy yourself' and 'its not that serious.'
“It was the weirdest thing, but she just laughed and said: 'Don't worry, she'll tell you when she's ready.' And now I'm not sure if that was about the werewolf thing or...” Lumine sounded a bit puzzled and was evidently saying this hoping Amber could clear everything up. Amber made a short mental note to thank Eula for her hand in getting most of Amber's embarrassment out earlier given what it led to; though, it may have been nicer if she had been straightforward from the start. Likely this was ALSO how the entirety of the Knights of Favonius were aware of what was going on as well, given that most of the prominent members had taken a bit of a protective stance regarding her.
“I... definitely talked to Eula about this... maybe multiple times,” Amber rolled her voice as she spoke, “about the werewolf thing, AND the uhm... romantic inclinations...”
Amber stumbled a little on the last part, still not quite over what had just happened and now the subsequent cuddling on a ruin in the outskirts of Mondstadt. She felt Lumine's chest heave gently as she began to laugh, prompting Amber to follow along. For now, at least, the beautiful girl from the stars and a little werewolf from Mondstadt had found a way to be together.