Lumine's Lovestory (🍋)

Chapter 1: Summer night rain and hot soup

Lyney/Xiao

Her shoes clacked on the smooth stones of the streets of Fontaine while her white dress clung to her legs, wet from the gentle rain of this beautiful evening.
The cold, damp air stung her lungs as she ran for the nearest shelter. By the time she made it under a red umbrella in front of a small cafe in the middle of the city, her blonde hair was already soaked and tousled by the wind.
As she stood there waiting for the rain to stop, her feet grew colder from the wetness in her shoes and she wrapped her arms around herself.
To distract herself, the girl closed her eyes and breathed in the smell of the rain and the summer night.

After waiting for several minutes, the weather became stormier and wilder, so that the umbrella hardly offered any protection, whereupon Lumine pressed herself closer to the wall of the cafe.
All of that was suddenly over, as if blown away, when she unexpectedly felt a warm hand on her right arm and noticed someone standing to her left.
But she didn't feel any panic as the calming smell of roses and cinnamon was now spreading.
She looked around and smiled when she saw Lyney's worried face.
He wasn't particularly tall, but he still had to look down on her slightly.

"Hey," she said softly.
"Hey-" still the worried look.
"What are you doing out here? You're catching a cold."
"The rain shower surprised me, but all the shops were already closed."
Lyney nodded in understanding and handed her his thin jacket. It was only made of soft material, but at that moment it felt relieving on her shivering arms.

"I'll just get us an umbrella and accompany you to your apartment."
But when he turned around to walk down the corner to his house, Lumine timidly stopped him.
"Lyney, I... have nowhere to take me."
Lyney looked at her in surprise.
"You don't have a room for the night?"
Lumine nodded sheepishly.
The young man thought until he finally exhaled quietly.
"If you don't mind, I would invite you to my apartment. You're welcome to spend the night there, but please... I can't possibly let you stay here any longer."

Lumine thought about it, but there was actually no reason for her to refuse this offer; after all, she had come to trust Lyney again, even after everything they had been through.

"Okay," she said and nodded, whereupon Lyney led her past the cafes and shops to the apartment block he shared with his siblings

After a short ride in the small elevator, they walked through the hallway that led to three apartments. Presumably Lyney's siblings and his own.
With a click, the young man opened the door to the last door in the hallway and let her in.

She quickly gets an overview of her surroundings. The apartment consisted of a main room in which there was a table with several chairs and, further back, a sofa with several small cupboards. The doors that connected to this room probably led to the bedroom, kitchen and bathroom.
All in all, the room was lit by a few warm lights instead of one big main light and there were plants and other small details everywhere and the sofa was also decorated with several pretty pillows
There was something cozy about the room, warm and smelling of flowers and cinnamon, she quickly realized how tired she actually was.

"Uhm...feel free to sit down and make yourself comfortable. I'm just asking if Lynette has any clothes for you. I'll be right back."
"Mhm," Lumine mumbled and tentatively sat down on the black sofa.

When the blonde left the room, the girl relaxed and fell onto the sofa out of exhaustion. She had to do the Adventure Guild's daily assignments that evening because she was busy searching the ocean all day, but to no avail.
Tomorrow she will look for the missing house again. After all, she had promised the old man...and he would reward her richly.