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Everything was dark. Lumine couldn’t breathe.
All she could remember was fangs sinking into her shoulder, the static burst of Electro energy that left her paralyzed, then falling.
Was she dead?
Something heavy was pressing on her chest, then it disappeared. Then it was back. The next moment, something touched her face. As sensation slowly came back, she felt like she was choking. Lumine coughed, and someone turned her body onto her side. She gasped for air, and finally opened her eyes to see snow, smooth pebbles, black water rippling silver under moonlight.
And Childe.
“Hey Girlie,” he said with a nervous laugh. “You really scared me for a minute there. Can you sit up?”
She felt his hand between her shoulder blades, lifting her into a sitting position. She closed her eyes, opened them again, looking down at her legs in the snow. The thick insulated pants were torn and bloodied.
“What…” she closed her eyes again. There was static in her head. Her lips felt numb and tingly. Her tongue was heavy.
“Hey…” Childe’s voice again. He shook her, not roughly. “Lumine. Lumine, you have to stay awake.”
He called me Lumine… Childe never used her name when he spoke to her. It was always “Girlie” or “Traveler” or “arch nemesis.”
She opened her eyes again. His pale blue eyes stared back at her.
“Where are we?” Lumine mumbled.
“By the looks of it, we’re at the bottom of a ravine. But! The important thing is, we’re no longer swimming in a freezing river. Let’s find some place to get dry and warm, sound good?”
“How d-did you catch me?” Lumine asked as Childe half-supported, half-carried her through the snow. “You and T-Thoma were so far away when the snake struck.”
“I had to use my Foul Legacy. I think I managed to kill the snake on my way to jump off the cliff after you.”
“B-b-but you said it was too risky to use that.”
Lumine was freezing, but at the same time, her body felt like it was wrapped heavy, wet cotton. Her steps were slow and clumsy through the snow; she kept tripping over nothing. It seemed like Childe was leaning on her for support almost as much as she was leaning on him.
“Well maybe if you hadn’t charged the giant twin-headed snake, then I wouldn’t have needed to us it,” he muttered.
At that moment, they stumbled upon a cave opening, low to the ground almost concealed by the newfallen snow. Childe dropped down on all fours, brushing away the snow. Lumine crouched next to him to help. The cave was small, but would shelter them from the wind. There was a soft, blue glow emanating from clusters of stones scattered throughout the cave. Together they crawled into the tight space.
“Clothes—off.” Childe said, and in the blue glow of the crystal ores, he started to peel off his three layers. The heavy coats and long-sleeved sweater hit the cave floor with a wet slap.
“Wh-what?!”
Lumine was certain she misheard him. Between the sound of her teeth chattering and the moaning of the blizzard outside, surely he hadn’t just said—
“Your clothes,” he repeated. “Take them off.” He sat and started taking off his boots which had already formed a thin layer of ice. Then he peeled off his wet socks.
Lumine looked away as he started to take off his pants. “What are you doing?” she asked, facing the wall, wrapping her arms around herself. Her whole body was shaking, the several layers that had kept her warm now soaked and coated in ice. Instinctively, she tried to pull her arms into her shirt, to get out of the wet fabric, but her movements were slow and clumsy.
“Our clothes are wet. We’ll freeze to death faster if we don’t get dry. Here.”
Childe, now wearing only his underwear, took her shoulders, turning her to face him. Lumine didn’t know where to look, but his eyes caught and held hers.
“We are in extreme danger of hypothermia, and the next hour is crucial. We don’t have the fuel for a fire, so our only option is to share body heat. Do you understand?”
He said the last words slowly and deliberately.
Her mouth went dry. Her body was completely numb, and she couldn’t feel her heartbeat, but she knew it was pounding. Fighting to stay alive, and keep her blood moving.
“Yes,” she breathed.
His hands left her shoulders, and he kneeled down at her feet. “I’ll get your boots,” he said simply, and began untying the icy laces.
Lumine didn’t move for a moment. Then she took a deep breath and started unbuttoning her outer coat. It dropped to the floor, with a waterlogged slap. She went on to the second layer, struggling with the smaller buttons.
She felt Childe’s hand steady her right leg as he lifted her right foot and pulled off her boot. Then he began the other foot.
Come on, stupid buttons, she frantically pulled and twisted. It was finally dawning on her that they were freezing to death already. Her mind felt foggy. Why were there so many buttons?
Childe’s hands appeared in her field of vision, pushing her own shaking fingers out of the way. “Sorry,” he muttered, before ripping the front of her jacket open.
Lumine stumbled back, swaying. Only two shirts left, and two layers of pants.
“I can do the rest,” she said, though she wasn’t sure.
“Let me help you. Arms up,” he instructed.
Lumine raised her arms over her head, and in a second both shirts were off, leaving only her breast garment.
He deftly unbuttoned her insulated outer pants and pulled them down. Lumine put her hands on his shoulders for balance as he peeled her leggings off.
Lumine hesitated, then reached behind her back to unlace her bra. The simple knot rested between her shoulder blades. She let out a shaky breath as she fumbled to untie it. She didn’t want to have to ask Childe to do it.
“You don’t have to do that,” he said, standing.
“Oh.” Her hands dropped to her sides.
He pulled her into a tight embrace, wrapping his water proof seal skin coat around them both. “This is enough, now we just try to warm each other up.” His teeth were chattering again, and she could feel his body trembling just as much as her own.
“In Sneznaya, they teach us from the time we’re old enough to walk that skin-to-skin contact is the most efficient way to keep warm without a fire,” he explained.
Lumine nodded, her face pressed against his neck. He was warm. At first, his skin had felt like ice, but within a few seconds, she could feel warmth from every place where his body touched hers. Their stomachs and hips were flush. His arms around her upper back, hers wrapped around his waist. The seal skin coat was thick and long, hanging almost to her ankles.
Feeling slowly returned to her fingers and toes, and her trembling grew more intense. As her body got warmer, pain returned too. The cut on her thigh, the place on her shoulder where the snake had bitten her.
“Childe,” she said, tightening her arms around him. Her muscles ached from shivering so much.
“Hmm?” She could hear his heartbeat, slow beneath her ear.
“Are we… going to die?”
He laughed. “D-d-don’t be ridiculous. You think a little bit of cold could kill me? I’ve survived worse, and so have you. We’re gonna be fine.”
“I wish Paimon was here,” she whispered. And Thoma , she thought silently. I hope everyone is okay .
“You know, I could go for a snack right now. So I also wish Paimon was here,” Childe teased.
“Hey, y-you can’t steal my joke about Paimon being emergency food.”
After a long moment of silence, Lumine mumbled, “Can we, um, sit? My leg…” It was too dark to see, so she reached down to touch the cut above her right knee. She found warm, sticky blood dripping from the wound.
“Shit,” Childe muttered, following her hand and feeling the wound. “Why didn’t you say something before?”
“I…” Why hadn’t she noticed it sooner?
“Nevermind,” he said, lowering her down to the cave floor. He stuck one arm out of their cocoon to rummage around the discarded clothes. “Everything is still too wet, nothing to use for a bandage.”
The seal skin coat slipped from her shoulders, and the exposure to the cold air made her feel suddenly more alert. “It’s n-n-not bleeding that m-much. I’ll just put pressure on it. It’ll be f-f-fine.” She was already pressing down on it with the heel of her palm, alarmed by how much she couldn’t even feel it.
“Wait, here.” Childe pulled his scarf out of the pile of wet clothes. He wrung it out, then started wrapping it around her thigh.
She flinched at the chill fabric, but it wasn’t soaked like most of their clothes. He pulled it tight, and Lumine sucked in a breath at the sudden pain.
“Thanks,” she said. She nestled into him again, and Childe wrapped his arms around her once more, pulling the coat around them like a cocoon.
“Any other injuries you w-want to share, before you start b-bleeding out?” Even as he spoke, his fingers traced her shoulder blade, seeking the puncture marks from the snake.
“My entire body has felt numb since I woke up a few minutes ago, so it’s hard to say.” The numbness must have been a lingering effect of the paralysis from the Electro snake’s venom.
“It doesn’t feel like you're bleeding from where it bit you,” he said. He returned his arms to circle her waist, and she noticed that his movements were stiff.
“Wh-what about you?” Lumine asked.
“Definitely some broken ribs from my daring rescue,” he whispered. “But I think that’s the worst of it.”
Childe shifted beneath her, and it dawned on her that somehow they had gone from sitting to lying down, clinging to each other for warmth. She said nothing. Now, they were lying on their sides, face to face. Their breath mingled in the air between them, their noses almost touching.
Some time passed before Lumine realized that they had both stopped shivering.
His arms now loose around her, no longer holding her fiercely. Was he… asleep?
“Childe?” Lumine said.
“Paimon… will be able to find you,” he said. “Right?”
Lumine wasn’t sure. They had never been separated for this long since she’d awoken on that beach near Monstadt.
“Yes.”
“Hopefully… they find us… soon.”
“They will,” Lumine whispered. “I feel… a lot warmer now. We’re staying warm, we just have to wait a little longer.”
“Lumine.” His hand drifted from her arm, coming to rest on her cheek. “We stopped shivering… a while ago.” His voice was gentle.
“But— ”
“We bought ourselves… time,” he whispered. “Time for your friends to find us. Just try to stay awake… as long as you can.”
“You have to stay awake too.” She tried to shake him, but her muscles barely moved. “ Childe . Stay awake with me. Please.”
He mumbled something incoherent.
Glacial fear carved its way through her mind. A slow panic that terrified her but left her feeling powerless. She needed to think, to move, to do something —but her mind failed her. She was exhausted. Her limbs felt weighed down with lead.
“Childe,” she said again, as loud as she could manage.
“Hmm?” he murmured.
“You have to stay awake too.” She pulled him close, trying desperately to make herself start shivering again. Her body refused to obey, as if her muscles were locked. She had no energy left.
“Lumine,” he whispered.
“Yes?”
“Kiss me.”
“Wh-what?” He must be delirious.
In the dim light of glowing star silver, she could see his eyes open and fixed on her face. He stroked her cheek with his thumb. Lumine felt herself reach up and touch his chest, as if she was no longer in control of her movements.
“Kiss me,” he said again, staring at her with a desperation she’d never seen before. “Don’t pretend you haven’t wanted to. We might be dead in an hour. Here’s your chance.”
Even in the grip of hypothermia, he was still arrogant. But maybe he was right. She closed her eyes, felt his nose touch hers. His hand covered her own, where it was still pressed against his chest, right above his heart.
He held still. Lumine sensed that he was waiting.
Part of her whispered wait, but some more reckless part of her mind demanded that she seize the chance. She kissed him. It took only a fraction of movement to meet his lips, and it was as if they both woke from a dream. His hands went to her waist, lazily tracing her ribs until they met at her spine. His lips were magnetic; his touch almost electric. Lumine began shivering again within seconds, her heart pounding painfully against her chest.
He pulled her closer, one arm wrapped around her waist, the other hand traced a line from her wrist to her shoulder. She rested both of her hands against his chest, feeling his heartbeat thump against her palm. Even as he deepened the kiss, pressing his lips more firmly against hers, Lumine felt herself drifting. Her body felt foreign to her, as if she was separated from it by a pane of glass. His touch was neither warm nor cold—it felt like static.
He pulled away suddenly. “Lumine?”
She sighed, smiling as she fell asleep. Thoma . His arms around her, she felt safe and warm.
“Lumine.” Someone was shaking her. “Wake up. Please wake up.”
She frowned. That voice wasn’t Thoma.
“Lumine!! Quick here they are!”
Another voice. That was… Paimon?