Chapter Text
Lumine was always warned about going out after dark by her parents as she was growing up. The gangs around the neighborhood were notorious arsonists and thieves and often had gang wars right in the middle of the streets. The police couldn't be bothered to deal with them because they were being paid off every time an incident happened. Granted, they only stuck to attacking rival gangs and anyone affiliated with them, but the other residents continued to live on edge.
When Lumine turned 19, the gangs broke up and the following year, her parents let her have the house so they could go live in a retirement home with their friends. Lumine was finally able to get a dog that would hopefully keep anyone dangerous from thinking about trying to rob her now that she lived alone. Paimon the Rottweiler was an inquisitive dog, somehow able to understand most of her owner's commands despite never being trained. Lumine kept her in the house most of the time, with walks once a week. One afternoon, about 3 months after she'd taken over the house, she saw something from her kitchen window that made her jump. A young man with a suit was kicking another in his stomach just outside of her front entrance. She dashed outside, ready to yell at the abuser, but she suddenly stopped when she got a proper look at the man on the ground. That shock of red hair.. As dirty as it was, it was unmistakable. The only person with long red hair like that around the area was Diluc, head of the Darknight gang. Well, was.
The red haired man coughed up blood, but Lumine stayed where she was, frozen. She didn't know if he would turn on her if she were to step in. She didn't know if this was some sort of trick to get her to let down her guard so they could rob her. Suddenly remembering Paimon, she turned around and hurriedly brought the dog to the open front door. Paimon trotted out, decided that Diluc was hurt enough and pounced at the dark haired man in the suit. He screamed and ran off, but Paimon thought they were playing tag. After the two had disappeared from sight, Lumine edged closer to the sidewalk. Diluc coughed again and rolled over, struggling to push himself up. He looked malnourished and dirty, his clothes loose on his frame. But he was still a big man and she didn't know his strength, so she kept some distance away. Finally Diluc managed to right himself and sat down, wiping his mouth. Seeing him after only ever hearing rumors about how terrifying he was made Lumine anxious. One thing that was always present in rumors was that his eyes were always ablaze. But Lumine didn't see anything like that. His tangerine eyes were empty. Blank. Just like the men and women she saw walking to work past her house every day.
He heaved a sigh and as he shifted to get himself off of the ground, she noticed the grey glass ball hanging from his belt. No, not completely grey- the center was still pulsing with a mild red. Lumine was shocked. She'd never seen a Vision display the state of its owner so blatantly. Did that mean he was on the verge of death? Backing away, she turned and ran back inside, completely forgetting who he was and what he'd done in the past. Swiftly, she made a sandwich with sausage and cheese and fled back down her lawn. Diluc had shifted, resting his back against one of the hedges that separated her lawn from the sidewalk. His breathing was shallow. Cautiously, she approached him, but he made no attempt to move or even look at her. Not until she got the sandwich on his lap did he even twitch. She immediately fled back behind a tree growing on the right side of her lawn and watched him from there.
He took a breath, looked down and saw the sandwich. He picked it up and stared at it for a good minute before looking around, eventually noticing the young woman peeking out from behind a tree. She flinched and retreated, only to pop her head back out after a few seconds. The sandwich was half gone. He'd practically inhaled it. After a little while, he slowly got to his feet and shuffled away just as Paimon came bounding in from across the street, proudly carrying piece of the man's bloody hat. Lumine hurriedly ushered her dog inside, fearing one of her neighbors would get some idea. She immediately burned the relic, piled on some more garbage and burnt it again.
The next day as she was getting ready to set up her laptop on her bed, she happened to glance out of her window. She spotted a shock of dirty red hair just over one of her hedges. Anxious, she went down to her front door and peeked out of the little window beside it. He was standing on the sidewalk, staring at the door, making no movement to get closer or even to leave. The passers-by gave him a wide berth and practically sprinted to get as far away as possible from him, but he paid them no mind. Lumine slowly, cautiously opened the door just a little, peeking out at him. His gaze immediately locked onto hers, startling her and causing her to slam the door shut. Diluc didn't move from his position even after that. Once Lumine caught her breath, she opened the door again, warily watching him. He returned the gaze passively, and he stood there for so long that Lumine opened the door more and nearly stepped outside.
Suddenly she realized that perhaps he was here for more food and rushed back to her kitchen, making the same type of sandwich she had done before. Once it was made, she stared at it for a good few seconds blankly. There was no way she was walking up to him to just hand it over. She glanced around and spotted a toy remote controlled pickup truck she still had from her childhood, stationed on a shelf next to her TV. Hatching a plan, she quickly inserted batteries into it, made sure it worked, then wrapped the sandwich up and took them to the front door.
She set the truck down in full view of Diluc, placed the sandwich on it and drove it down her paved walkway to him. It stopped just before hitting his feet and waited. Diluc stared at it like it was an alien device for longer than Lumine liked, but he ultimately bent down, snatched the food and took off like he was expecting someone with a gun to jump out of the hedge and start shooting at him. Lumine almost giggled as she brought the little truck back up to her house.
She forgot about the incident as she became absorbed with her work later on.
The next day, she was in her kitchen when she glanced out the window and jumped. Diluc again. Except this time he was standing in the middle of the entrance to her lawn, blatantly staring at the front door. Her property didn't have a front gate for whatever reason, so he was free to just walk in if he wanted. But he didn't. Was he also somehow standing up a little straighter? Even though it had only been one day, she gave an exasperated sigh and performed the same thing again. She drove the truck down to Diluc's feet. The tall man took the sandwich, unwrapped it and ate it without leaving his place. Once he was done, he gave her a glance and walked away, but not before she noticed his Vision - the Pyro symbol was visible even from this distance, glowing red. The edges of the ball were still grey however. Lumine furrowed her brows. Did that mean he was getting healthier? Could he still die if he got attacked again? Deciding it wasn't really her problem, Lumine got back to work for that day and later took Paimon for a walk.
The next morning it was raining and made Lumine much more lazier than normal, snuggled down under her cozy blankets. But when Paimon leapt onto her back, she hurriedly got out of bed and pulled open her curtains. As expected, Diluc was standing there in the rain, waiting. With a loud curse, she ran down to the front door and threw it open, ready to chew him out for standing in the rain. Her words died in her throat when she saw him from this angle. His hair was plastered down, his eyes downcast, probably to avoid letting the rain get into them. But his Vision.. It was glowing as brightly as a weak flashlight next to him.
She turned around and got the sandwich made, but realized that she couldn't use the truck in this kind of weather - she'd have to give it to him herself. Trembling, she got an umbrella and stepped out, slowly approaching him. She watched him cautiously, but as expected, he made no movement towards her. Lumine got just close enough to hold out the sandwich at arm's length without getting wet. Once Diluc took it she backpedalled just far enough that he wouldn't be able to grab her easily. The man ate the sandwich right there again, crumpling up the cling wrap.
As she watched, his hair started to smoke. Then his clothes began to smoke. She took a step back as the very air around him seemed to be radiating heat.
Vaporize.
Vaporize.
He held up the crumpled plastic in his open palm and Lumine jumped as it suddenly turned into a small ball of fire that dissipated as quickly as it caught. The rain had begun to ease up now, but Diluc was completely dry, his Vision barely showing any signs of grey. Lumine had been slowly backing away, hoping that he wouldn't throw fire at her. He glanced up at her and she froze, gripping the umbrella tightly. If he sensed her discomfort, he didn't show it. He simply turned and left. Lumine shakily got back into her house. What had she done? She'd rehabilitated a criminal! Who knows what kind of mischief he'd get himself into now?!
She anxiously watched the news that night, expecting to hear about a business place burning down or some Valberry field being set on fire, but no mention of even deaths in her area were reported on. If anything, there was a distinct lack of crime that day at all. The news mostly covered flooding and a protest in another district over bad road conditions. Lumine sighed after she watched it. Ok so it was only the first day, he could still go on a rampage tomorrow, right?
The next morning, Lumine was woken up by Paimon barking. Someone was calling to her from outside and neither of them recognized the voice. Peeking out through her window, she was surprised to see Diluc again. Not because he was there at all, no, she was rather expecting him, but what she didn't expect was him being halfway up her walkway looking the way he was. His hair, now significantly cleaner, was brushed back into a low ponytail and he had on a different set of clothes. They didn't seem less ragged than the ones before, but he looked so different that it gave her quite a shock. She scuttled down to her front door and cautiously peeked out. "I need a sandwich," he told her. "It's not for me." She was taken aback at how demanding he sounded. Wasn't this her property, her generosity, her food? Nevertheless she obeyed, grumbling to herself about going to make it anyway.
She walked out and held it up to him, still at arm's length. Diluc didn't just take the sandwich. He grabbed her wrist with his other hand and before she could even scream, he had pressed a kiss to her knuckles and let her go. Her squeal went up in volume when she finally processed what happened. The tall man didn't stick around, nonchalantly turning and leaving like he was accustomed to. Lumine's legs gave out and she sat down hard on the ground, her eyes wide. What had just happened?! She struggled to catch her breath. She'd never had her hands kissed before, and by a gang leader at that?
Once she was finally able to calm down, she quickly threw herself into her work, hoping to forget. The news that night held nothing of importance to her, so she went to sleep. Well, tried to, failed and ended up having to listen to ASMR on YouTube to calm her mind down enough to sleep.
The next morning, Lumine checked out her window and yup, he was back, with another set of clothes this time. His shirt was still a little loose on him, but his pants seemed to be a good fit. He was standing at the entrance again, with his arms folded.
And he was looking straight at her.
She ducked down, blushing profusely. Oh Archons, how was she supposed to face him now? After about a minute of just crouching there, trying to get her breathing under control, she finally went down to her front door and opened it a little. She saw him glance at the hedge on his right, and she spotted something she hadn't noticed before. A flash of silver and red was all she saw before it disappeared. Diluc rolled his eyes and looked at her, beckoning to her with his finger. Her curiosity was peaked. Was it another person? She cautiously stepped out and approached, but stopped a good 5 feet away from him.
Diluc reached behind the hedge and yanked to his side a skinny young man with long silver hair. He seemed quite jittery, wanting to get away from the area entirely. Just like how Diluc was when she first saw him, he looked starved. She only needed one look at him to convince her to turn and dash back inside. She couldn't allow them in just yet. Just because Diluc kissed her hand didn't mean that she trusted him. She sped back out and handed Diluc the food, who waved it under the young man's nose. He immediately bounced his head up, catching Lumine offguard with how red his irises were. Even more vibrant than Diluc's hair, the young man had such a hungry expression that she nearly turned around to go make more food, but Diluc's movements caught her attention. He let go of the young man and unwrapped the sandwich, breaking off a portion then handing it to him.
The silver haired teen practically inhaled it. Diluc continued to feed him in small pieces, but Lumine could already see why. He would likely choke on it if the sandwich was given to him whole, considering the way he ate. Once the sandwich was gone, Lumine spoke up. "Sh-should I go make another?"
"I'll return if I can't find any more food for him. It's fine."
Lumine gulped as she watched the silver haired man run off.
"His name is Razor. He never had a proper upbringing. You'd think he was raised by wolves." Diluc folded his arms.
"Aren't you hungry, Mr Diluc..?" she ventured.
He scoffed. "Mister? What's with the formality? And I didn't think you knew who I was anyway." He sighed. "Explains your behavior." He stared down the sidewalk. "Look kid, I have no intention of harming you. So stop tiptoeing around me, alright?"
Lumine fiddled with her dress. "A-are you hungry then?"
Diluc frowned. "I will take what I can get," he responded. The young woman ran back up to her house, got a few more sandwiches made and returned, still not convinced enough to get too close. Diluc sighed, took the sandwiches from her and turned to leave.
"I didn't catch your name."
Lumine gulped. "It's not important!" she blurted out and ran back inside. The last thing she needed was him spreading information about her to his gang members. He already knew where she lived and what she looked like, but that was unavoidable. She intended to keep some form of privacy for as long as possible.
She had been planning to go out later, but seeing as Diluc might return, she opted to stay in. And she was right on the money, because as the sun began to set, she heard a knock on the door. Immediately tensing, she left her laptop on her kitchen table and peeked out of the peephole. Diluc stood there with his arms folded, looking very much like an annoyed family friend. She opened the door a little. "I'm back for more food. I wasn't able to find anything for Razor unfortunately."
Lumine handed him the sandwiches that she had made. Once again, Diluc took the opportunity to grab her wrist. She squealed and gave a weak tug, not expecting him to let go, but he did. Diluc simply turned and walked away, leaving the golden haired woman quite shaken and a little disappointed.
After some time, she got herself together and went back to her work. His hands were so strong.. and his body was beginning to look quite attractive- "Lumine! Focus!" her coworker snapped. Lumine's eyes focused on the screen again, her coworker's golden eyes spearing her with a withering look.
"S-sorry, Xiao, I was just.. um.. thinking about a friend of mine.."
"Is that really the time to zone out like that?" the young man on the video call snapped, folding his arms. "If I hadn't been assigned to learn from you, I would've found another job elsewhere!"
"I'm really sorry about my behavior, Xiao," Lumine apologized quietly. "It's just.. he's in a bad way.. he's not been getting a lot of food to eat recently and I'm worried about his health."
Xiao looked away. "Maybe we should call it a day then."
Lumine panicked. "What? No, I'm supposed to teach you how to sort the client requests today!"
Xiao huffed and stared at her through the camera. "You're clearly not in the right mind to teach anything. I'll talk to you tomorrow." Before she could protest, he ended the call.
Behind the screen, Xiao abruptly stood up and nearly swept everything off of his desk in anger. He jumped when Lumine called him back. He didn't bother to sit down before he accepted the call, not caring that his torso was the only thing the camera would pick up. "What do you want, Lumine?" He snapped.
"I-" she began and promptly threw her hands over her face in embarrassment. "Xiao what the hell?!"
"What, never seen below the neck before?" He smirked.
"That is not- you shouldn't - professionalism where?!" she stammered.
"This is hardly a professional experience to begin with," Xiao sighed, sitting down. "I've seen you in practically every outfit you have in your house, including your pajamas. I've seen your dog, pictures of your parents, every plushie you own, hell, you once made me sit through your baking experiments. Things you would explode into smoke from if anyone else from the agency saw." Lumine giggled a little and scratched the back of her head.
"Ehe, well what can I say? I'm more comfortable with you than anyone else at Angel's Share." Xiao froze, but Lumine was distracted by Paimon.
"... Comfortable?" he muttered.
"A-anyway, the new system is in place now and it's really complicated to operate. If I delay on getting you up to speed, it's going to hurt our quota.. I swear I'm ready to teach you now-!"
"Alright, Lumine," Xiao interrupted. "Go ahead."
While the young woman fumbled over her words as she talked about the coding required, he smiled fondly. He couldn't wait to meet her in person one day. He was sure they'd get along well face to face too. It was a shame; even their current CEO, Mister Albedo, had been to her house. Apparently her parents had been quite influential with how the business started. When an hour had passed, Lumine fiddled with her fingers, hesitating. "Um.. Xiao?" The young man blinked in response. "I uh.. happened to see a tattoo on your arm.. I didn't think you'd be the type to have tattoos on you.."
Xiao's eyes hardened. "I got this when I was younger. I wouldn't willingly mark my skin like that nowadays. Don't ask about it."
"O-oh, ok..!" she stammered, visibly shrinking.
"And don't - I would rather you didn't tell anyone that I have it. I'm fairly certain I'd be fired if Mr Albedo found out."
"I won't tell a soul," Lumine promised. "Buuut you have to do me a favor in return."
Xiao's eye twitched. "Did you seriously just blackmail me?"
"It'd be a small favor, I swear!" Lumine protested. "Something like helping me with documents or something."
Xiao folded his arms. "If you wanted to spend time with me outside of work hours, you should have just asked."
In the time that it took Lumine to figure out that he was teasing her, he ended the call and unplugged his wifi cable.
Lumine huffed and began preparing for bed. She found herself blushing as she snuggled under the covers. Miss Verr had once told her that Xiao was the hardest employee to get along with, and to give her credit, he was when Lumine met him a year ago. He had been rude and distant; apparently he was allowed to stay because he 'knew too much'. Eventually, he was thrown in Lumine's direction when the others couldn't deal with him. They thought that Lumine's stubbornness would be the best option to combat Xiao's coldness.
It worked, but not as they expected. Xiao became a little quieter, a little less.. verbally opinionated, would tell jokes every now and then but you couldn't tell if he was joking or not based on his neutral expression and he would ask questions more often. The only problem was that he would only be like that when Lumine was in the group call. Beyond that, it was a miracle to get him to participate.