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[marmoris]

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[luminate]

[ it sure is his fault!! well. mostly. getting drunk with someone was on her bingo card, after all.. anyway. ]

How kind of you.

[ oh! there's a tug on her line!! ]

[marmoris]

[ !! As if answering him with good karma, something has finally bitten! Even if it's for her, and not for him. ]

What are you waiting for? Reel it in!

[ TURN THE ROD TOWARDS THE FISH ]

[luminate]

I know, I know!

[ minigame commence!! it's a rough battle, with lots of reeling and giving slack, and reeling again, before lumine finally pulls up..

.. this. ]

[marmoris]

[ Oh, hm. That is...definitely something. Childe reaches out a hand to jab a finger at the fish's translucent skin. ]

I'd offer my sincere congratulations, but I'm honestly not sure what to make of this. We should try to cook it.

[ Naturally. ]

[luminate]

[ the fish is still wriggling, so lumine summons a knife she'd found in the kitchens and put into her armiger, and casually slices its throat, then banishes her knife again. magic armigers are nice. ]

Only if you taste it first. Check it for poisons, you know.

[marmoris]

It'd be my pleas - oh!

[ His own line gives a little tug!!! It's his turn to play the fishing minigame, tapping A to get the bar in the sweet spot, and what he pulls up is...

Oh. ]

Is it...already dead?

[ Kind of looks like it. ]

[luminate]

[ oh gross!! it looks so bloated.. lumine pulls a face. ]

It looks dead..

[ but then it gives a sad little wiggle. ]

I feel sorry for it.

[marmoris]

[ Imagine looking so miserable and still being alive...he'd rather be dead, tbh. ]

Well, least we can do is put it out of its misery and fry it up with the other one.

[ He summons a water blade in his free hand. ]

[luminate]

Of course you want to eat it..

[ the texture of its skin is enough to make her gag. ]

Well, maybe it's good.

[marmoris]

Back home, we used every part of every fish we caught, no matter how ugly it looked.

[ The wry look he gives her makes it unclear whether this is true or not. ]

Besides, anything is edible if you fry it with enough oil.

[luminate]

[ did you also walk uphill in the snow both ways to school? carrying a backpack of rocks? ]

Just because something is edible doesn't mean it's good, but I'm still willing to try it.

[marmoris]

[ Yeah, they did, what of it??? ]

Great! Then I guess this will mark my first time cooking for you, won't it?

[ ...Now he's really hoping the fish don't taste like shit. ]

[luminate]

[ HOW TOUGH ]

I suppose so. Is that a noteworthy occasion?

[marmoris]

I'm just a pretty capable chef, if I may say so myself. I have to be, with all my siblings.

[luminate]

That shouldn't be surprising, I guess. I had to learn, too, for as often as I'm traveling.

[ he's a regular malewife. ]

[marmoris]

[ And she's a regular wifewife. ]

Haha, Paimon has quite the bottomless stomach, doesn't she? And I'm sure you had other companions to feed.

[ There's still so much he doesn't know about her travels...so much he would like to know.

Tossing the blobfish into his bucket, he casts his line out again, intent on catching at least a few more fish to fry up while the sun is still high in the sky. ]

[luminate]

She does. And I have to eat a good amount to keep up my strength.

[ being so active certainly works up an appetite! but lumine soon follows suit, casting her line back into the waters again. this was a good idea. it's nice. peaceful. ]

I'm sure your little siblings are big mouths to feed, too.

[ growing kids, after all! ]

[marmoris]

Oh, they're voracious. Teucer might look tiny, but he can finish a whole pot of borscht if you don't keep an eye on him.

[luminate]

[ she laughs, light and easy. ]

I can believe that.

[marmoris]

And then there's the messes to clean up, the clothes to patch...fortunately Tonia is old enough now to manage most of that while I'm away, but for awhile, it fell to me while our parents were out working.

[ It's...nice, to talk about home, about family, while fishing, something that makes him feel closer to home, and with someone who also makes him feel closer to home. ]

[luminate]

That's good. I'm sure they miss you while you're gone.

[ it is nice, even if teyvat isn't her home. even if her only home is far, far out of reach. ]

[marmoris]

And I miss them, too. I'm just grateful my work gives me plenty of opportunities to see them.

[ A beat, as he watches his line quiver, and the rays of the sun bounce off the water. ]

By the way, I've been meaning to ask...have you made any more progress in finding your brother?

[luminate]

[ lumine's expression falls, her eyes dropping to her hands, holding the pole steady. it's like a barb in her heart. she thinks of the chasm, of what she saw there in its depths, and one hand instinctively lifts to the flowers in her hair - only to find emptiness. ]

.. no, I haven't. Not really.

[marmoris]

[ He knew it would be a sensitive question, one she may not like to answer, but...he wants to know. Their bonds with their siblings is something they both understand well about one another, something that unites them despite their incongruous allegiances. They would do anything for family.

So knowing that, and that she still hasn't found anything else...

He frowns. ]

I'm sorry to hear that. [ ... ] "Not really"?

[luminate]

[ she knows full well that he's being genuine - for all childe plays around, he's absolutely devoted to his family, so she knows that he of all people can understand. no doubt if anything happened to one of his family members, he would become absolutely unhinged. ]

Well.. I know he's likely still on Teyvat. But he doesn't want to be with me.

[ it hurts just to say those words. lumine never thought she would see the day that she would ever say them. ]