EN | An encounter she will never forget | ᴄʜɪʟᴜᴍɪ

15 - Shared affection

NB: Beware of the frequent changes of point of view

Once alone in the room with Paimon, with the ban on setting foot outside of the apartment at the risk of suffering some reprisals—and in all honesty, Lumine didn't want to discover what kind of reprisals it would be—, the young woman decided to search the place a bit. Childe didn't expressly forbid them to do so, so what was the harm in that? And then, Lumine was curious to possibly discover something compromising on him, or even just a photo...

Hurrying up, they quickly went around the living room which had no personal belongings, then went to the office. The door was closed, but not locked. The young woman pushed it open slowly and discovered a dark room with the curtains drawn and a wooden desk in the middle, on which various papers related to the Fatui were spread. Lumine had a moment of hesitation but decided not to look too closely. The less she knew about his job and about the Fatui in general, the better off she was.

But as she was transferring her attention to a sheet of paper which didn't seem to be linked to his job, and on which she could see neat and indecipherable handwriting in some places, Lumine heard a sound: the sound of a key in a lock. She hastened to shut the door and to head to the living room with Paimon so that the young man wouldn't notice they were rummaging through the apartment.

A few seconds after Lumine had leaned against the wall near the kitchen, close to the corridor leading to the bedroom, Childe entered the apartment with a bag, which he placed near the door. When he saw Paimon, he arched an eyebrow.

"Why are you still here, shorty?"

"Hey, Paimon won't leave Lumine alone with you! Paimon doesn't trust you hmpf ~," the little fairy replied, crossing her arms.

Childe sighed in exasperation while throwing a sidelong glance to Lumine, seeking support. The Traveler, who knew this was the best way to avoid being spotted—or at least, that's what she was trying to convince herself—helped the young Fatui.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine, Paimon. Besides, I know how to defend myself. Go to your world, I'll call you if there's any trouble."

Childe gave her a second glance, as a thank you this time. After a moment of hesitation, Paimon finally answered while staring at the young man.

"Okay, fine. But don't hesitate, Paimon will fly to your rescue!"

Lumine nodded with a smile when imagining her friend hitting Childe with her harmless little fists. Then, Paimon disappeared from the room with a pop while giving the Eleventh Harbinger a murderous look.

"Here's your stuff," said the latter, turning to the young woman and pointing to the bag he had brought back.

"You went to look for my belongings?" she repeated, bewildered. She was expecting he would have left to do his duty of mean and sadistic Harbinger, not that he would have transformed into a common courier for her. But as she finally understood that this implied that he had entered her flat—his previous apartment—even though she still had in her possession the key, and that he had retrieved all her things, including underwear, she repeated louder, "You went through all my things? You didn't even have the key!"

"You can't go out without being spotted, and I figured you probably wanted your stuff," he justified himself, raising his hands up. "Besides, I don't need a key."

At this statement, he stretched his arm, opened the palm of his right hand, and materialized after a short while a little quantity of water, which quickly took the shape of a little key, before folding his fingers, which made this little object disappear as quickly as it appeared.