"Okay, thank you..." As she watched the attendant slowly close the door, the smile gradually faded from Lumine's face.
The hands of the wall clock were approaching midnight.
The girl stood with one hand on her hip, her fingertips unconsciously sinking into the folds of her silk nightdress as she stared at the empty entryway.
"Mm... Where did she go...?"
The candle flame flickered in the silence, its intimate, warm glow dancing slowly across the ceiling. Outside the window, Mondstadt's lights lay scattered in the moonlight.
Paimon, who had sworn she would wait up, had long since curled into a ball around a pillow, a glistening trickle of drool at the corner of her mouth as she occasionally mumbled in her sleep.
Looking at the peaceful scene before her, Lumine suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of unreality well up inside her.
The flame twisted, leaving afterimages on her retinas. Without warning, her heart began pounding violently, making her eardrums buzz.
She braced herself against the dressing table, and the girl in the mirror stared back with the same frightened expression.
...What was wrong with her?
The girl clutched her chest tightly. Only after several minutes did her racing heartbeat gradually settle. When she raised her head again, a thin sheen of cold sweat covered her temples.
As though she had made up her mind, Lumine took one last look at the sleeping Paimon, grabbed the key, and headed for the door.
Gabrielina, you had better...
Bang-!
"Huh?!"
A tremendous crash came from behind her. Lumine hurriedly caught the door before it swung shut and rushed back into the room-
Gabrielina lay sprawled facedown on the carpet, her wings spread limply like two fallen clouds.
Lumine hurriedly crouched down to help her up. "Gabrielina! What happened to you?!"
But the instant her fingertips touched Gabrielina's bare arm, a scorching heat met her skin, nearly making her snatch her hand back.
Unlike the heart-stopping pressure she had radiated during the day, the angel was now as soft as a puddle of melted honey. The feathers by her ears drooped limply beside Lumine's hand, trembling slightly whenever she brushed them.
Gently pushing aside the tangled pink hair revealed the girl's unnaturally flushed cheeks.
In the candle's mellow light, her face looked as lustrous as fine jade. A scarlet blush spread across her cheeks, following her snow-white jawline down to her slender neck.
Most striking of all were those dazed golden eyes. Their unwavering stare suddenly stirred a dangerous impulse in Lumine, as though...
...She wanted to tease her mercilessly?
Lumine shook her head hard, but the angel beneath her suddenly began to struggle, a thick, clinging whimper rising from her throat.
"Where did you go?" Lumine laid a hand against her forehead, but before she could say anything else, the smell of alcohol washed over her.
In fact, as someone who could drink even the Anemo Archon(?) under the table, Gabrielina's chances of catching a cold were less "not very likely" and more "very unlikely."
She had simply misjudged her teleportation landing point like an idiot and landed on her face, leaving her nose hurting a little.
...No, it hurt terribly. She was about to cry.
"Pfft..." The system suppressed a laugh. "Don't cry. Your halo will fall off."
Without warning, Gabrielina grabbed the front of Lumine's nightdress and pulled her close until their cheeks nearly touched, then mumbled tearfully, "Lumine..."
"I'm here. I'm here..."
Her hot, damp breath, laced with alcohol, washed over Lumine's face, making her heart itch as though a kitten were sharpening its claws there.
"I... Mm... I'm not drunk."
Lumine: I hadn't even asked yet! (Angry)
"Y-you went out drinking...?" Lumine asked shakily.
Although she was currently at a complete "disadvantage," her entire upper body locked tightly in Gabrielina's embrace, unable to move at all while those burning cheeks kept rubbing against the hollow of her neck...
The girl did not feel the slightest bit at a loss. Instead, she felt somewhat... displeased?
What was she displeased about? They were only friends who had known each other for less than a day. She had no right to question where Gabrielina went. Yet when Gabrielina's alcohol-scented breath brushed her ear, she still could not help pressing her lips together.
"Stop rubbing... You're definitely drunk! Who were you drinking with...?"
No sooner had she spoken than Gabrielina actually obediently raised her head, squinting her bleary eyes as she solemnly declared:
"I. Am. Not. Drunk!"
Every word carried the sweet scent of alcohol.
Lumine fell silent for a moment, then could only sigh in resignation. "...Okay, then let's take a bath, all right? Then we can go to sleep..."
"...Kiddo, bath time~"
Hearing the system's gloating tone, Gabrielina felt an inexplicable sense of foreboding rise within her.
"You'll be bathing together... She'll touch every inch of your wings, won't she? They might even break..."
The girl blinked sluggishly, as though she really were drunk, and suddenly realized the predicament she was in.
"Haven't you already taken a bath?!"
"I can't exactly let you wash yourself!" Perhaps because Gabrielina was so hot, Lumine's cheeks were a little flushed too. "You just fell out of the sky, you know?!"
...Lumine! That wasn't a crash! That was an emergency landing, aaaaah!
Gabrielina wailed inwardly, but Lumine had already scooped her up without leaving any room for refusal.
The girl clearly had not expected her to be so light, especially since Gabrielina was taller than her. After stumbling half a step, she even instinctively bounced the girl in her arms to test her weight.
"I don't want a bath!" Gabrielina's wings snapped open with a whoosh, and she clung to Lumine even harder, her voice genuinely tearful.
Feathers rustled against Lumine's jaw, teasing her until her whole body felt restless and she desperately wanted to bite them.
"...Why?!"
"I've been flying around in the sky... I'm very clean..." After exhausting every option and even considering biting her tongue, she finally managed to squeeze out a token tear. "Besides... Mm, my wings are really hard to dry once they get wet... Really..."
Gabrielina: (Sobbing)
Lumine looked at Gabrielina in her arms, who seemed ready to take them both down together, and waged an inward battle.
Obviously, this girl was completely drunk! She was denying it now, and tomorrow she would definitely pretend she couldn't remember...
But bathing... really was a matter of principle.
Her gaze drifted involuntarily toward Gabrielina's slightly open neckline-
Damn it! (In a Fenghua accent) I'm going all in!
Gabrielina suddenly turned her tearful face aside, her trembling fingers reaching for her clothes. "All right, then... Loosen your hold a little, Lumine, so I can take them off..."
The fabric slowly slipped down, revealing the lustrous line of her shoulders. The softness at her chest spread slightly too, tracing dizzying curves in the candlelight.
Her fair skin already carried a hint of pink, and the candlelight now lent it an even softer beauty.
Perhaps the older girl's presence was simply too commanding, or perhaps the alcohol was to blame, but Lumine suddenly felt dizzy.
"It's... getting late..." She hurriedly averted her gaze.
"Yes, it is." Gabrielina seized the opportunity to curl up, her flailing wings hanging down obediently as well.
Lumine hurried to the bedside and gently set the curled-up angel on the bed, then wiped the sweat from her temples. "We have a mission with Acting Grand Master Jean tomorrow morning. Let's get some rest~"
"Good night!"
The girl grabbed the other nightdress lying nearby and handed it to Gabrielina, then prepared to beat a hasty retreat.
But the moment Lumine turned around, she felt a tight grip around her wrist.
Gabrielina had caught Lumine's wrist and gently pulled her back to her side. When Lumine turned, she met Gabrielina's somewhat evasive gaze.
"...C-could you... help me?"
"...??"
Before you continue