Chapter Text
Amber yawns, back cracking as she stretches.
It had been far too many hours of spending time hunched over her latest masterpiece. Fresh air floods her lungs, washing away the scent of stale studio air and wet clay. The distinct smell of the cold reminds her that she shouldn’t stick around outside too long either.
Inside bad. Outside also bad.
Hurriedly, Amber draws her jacket closer around herself. It had been cold inside her studio. The old arts building is notorious for the heaters never working correctly but the late fall breeze billowing snowflakes into her face is even colder.
The night skies above her are littered with stars. Hundreds and thousands of them glitter on the dark canvas, like members of the audience staring raptly up at a stage.
Campus is quiet.
The only sound that accompanies Amber is the quiet crunch of fresh snowfall under her sneakers.
Usually, even at this later hour, there were always students wandering around Favonius University’s beautiful quad, travelling from one bar to another. But at this time of year, right over reading break and Thanksgiving holidays, everyone had gone home.
Everyone except Amber.
It’s fine, she tells herself. This is more time for her to work on her final project.
Her final project which was going nowhere.
For whatever reason, she couldn’t get her sculpture to look quite right. Even after several sketches and changing the medium that she was using, the tools and styles that she was working with, nothing felt right.
And it’s not that she couldn’t just turn in anything for her project and still do well but she wanted to make something that she would be proud of, something that she could look at and feel good about — not whatever mess she had just left behind at her work station.
Nothing was going right, Amber sighs.
She’s all by herself on campus in the middle of a holiday that celebrates being together with friends and family. Most of her friends had gone home to be with their families or significant others. Even watching Eula, her best friend and roommate, pack a bag to spend Thanksgiving with her girlfriend in Liyue had been a little depressing. While Amber had been invited, she hated feeling like she was intruding so she ultimately opted to spend the break by herself on campus.
And Amber certainly didn’t miss the way that Eula’s eyes seemed to brighten whenever she spoke to or of her girlfriend. Long distance was supposedly difficult, but Eula certainly made it look easy.
(But Eula had often made many things look very easy.)
Not to mention the way that Eula’s dancing had seemingly taken a life of its own. Eula had always been a good dancer — the top of her class at Favonius University and set to graduate with multiple accolades under her belt, but ever since Yanfei had come into her life, it’s like she had grown wings on her feet.
“Thinking of her makes me feel stronger. She’s the inspiration behind my dances.”
Eula had told her that once.
Glumly, Amber begins to make the long trek across campus to her apartment. It would be sad and dark and empty. Maybe she could order a pizza for dinner, the cafeterias were long closed, and she hadn’t eaten in nearly 7 hours.
Across the open night sky above her, the bright glimmer of something moving across the dark horizon. A streak of light bisecting the sky neatly into two pieces.
A shooting star.
She should make a wish. For all the things not going well, a shooting star was a good sign. Perhaps this would be the start of something new, something better.
What should she wish for, though? Completion of her project? Pizza waiting for her on her doorstep? The heating in her studio to be fixed?
Eula’s words stick out in her mind like bright red paint splashed across the grey and dreary background of Amber’s current state of mind.
“I just wish I had someone like that too!” The words tumble from her lips artlessly, spilling forth faster than Amber could stop it.
She’s reminded of all the times that she had spilled paint in her studio, watching the pigment fly from the container in slow motion as her hand closed around nothing. The paint always seemed to dodge her grasp, splattering on the floor mockingly.
There’s nothing she can do to stop it, other than stare blankly at the aftermath and feel foolish.
Boy, does she do both of those things now.
Still staring up at the streak of light in the night, Amber notices that the light has seemingly curved away from its straight line. It arcs, nearly doubling back on itself, growing brighter and brighter as it moves until Amber realizes that it’s not only growing brighter, but it’s growing closer.
It’s flying right at her.
Now Amber is not a physics major of any kind but she’s fairly certain that stars didn’t just turn around mid-flight and fly at someone. She’s also certain that she doesn’t need a physics degree to know that a flaming star hurtling right at her will definitely kill her if it hits her.
So she starts running.
Sprinting across the quad, looking for something to take shelter in. Once, Amber had admired Favonius University for how vast their quad area was — perfect for a snowball fight or playing frisbee with her friends. Now, Amber curses that there isn’t anything to protect her from what is most certainly her impending doom.
The shooting star easily outpaces her.
Of course it does. It's a shooting star and Amber is a spindly human slipping and sliding her way across the snow in sneakers.
It surprises Amber that the star isn't hot, even as it soars mere centimetres above her head. Light as golden as sunshine in its purest form blinds her as it crashes down to the ground in front of her.
Bits of snow and dirt go flying everywhere, sending Amber diving to the side with her hands over her head.
When the snow settles though, Amber raises her head, coughing. Little bits of snow and debris tumble off of her and she shakily picks herself up off the ground. The snowy lawn that had existed in front of her mere seconds ago was no longer there. She half expects the sound of sirens and people screaming, but the area is quiet. It’s like nobody else has witnessed what happened in the middle of campus.
And people very might not have, given the current population of students.
In its place is a gaping crater, about a meter deep and half a meter wide, more of an oblong shape. Smoke rises in lazy plumes, carrying a strange metallic scent that Amber doesn’t recognize. Carefully, Amber makes her way over to where the torn earth begins.
Every part of her screams that she should turn around and there were probably brain-probing aliens waiting to jump out at her from behind the smoke. But some smaller and braver part of her pushes her forward, something about this whole thing calls to her.
Hesitantly, Amber kneels at the edge of the crater, waving some of the smoke away with her hands. Curled into the bottom of the crater lies a prone and complete form.
A woman.
She’s clothed in a thin and shimmering dress, smoke and steam rising from her skin. Her whole body seems to be alight with a glittering brightness. Golden like the sun.
Panic rises in Amber’s throat. Had she completely missed the presence of another person in front of her when she was running? This poor woman had been hit by a falling star — is she even still alive?
Amber scrambles down the short slope to the woman’s side.
“Hey! My name’s Amber! I’m here to help you. Are you okay?” Amber reaches out, shaking the other woman’s shoulder gently. Her skin is warm to the touch, nearly feverish. It didn’t look like she had suffered any injuries at all. There was no blood, no bruises, nothing at all. Just glowing skin.
At Amber’s touch though, the glow begins to recede.
Slowly, gold gives way to a soft expanse of pale skin, and the woman begins to stir. Brilliant amber eyes blink open blearily like all the light on her skin had drained into her eyes and her hair. Even the shimmer of her dress fades away to simple white fabric.
“Are you okay?” Amber asks again, helping this woman sit up.
She’s silent for a moment, glancing around unfocused before she finally settles her gaze on Amber. Another moment passes as realization seems to dawn on her — thank the Archons Amber wouldn’t have to try to explain that she had been hit by a falling star.
“There you are,” the woman says slowly like she’s tasting each word in her mouth before it leaves her lips. “You made that wish. Amber. Yes.”
“What?” Perhaps the falling star did more damage than Amber thought.
“You made the wish that called me here,” the woman insists.
She reaches up, soft hands cupping Amber’s cheeks. They’re so close now that Amber can feel this woman’s heated breath ghost over her cheeks. She can’t tell if the heat rising to her cheeks is because of how warm these hands on her face are or something else.
“I’m sorry? I think you’re mistaken. Let me call you an ambulance,” Amber fumbles for the phone in her pocket but a hand grabs her by the wrist, stopping her.
Archons, this stranger was a lot stronger than she looked.
“You made a wish on me. You said ‘I just wish I had someone like that too.”
That makes Amber pause. She had said that. But nobody was here when she had said that. “What- how-” Amber flounders, unable to quite believe what was happening. “Who…?”
“I’m Lumine,” she says shyly, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. She holds a hand out letting a small glimmering orb of light dance across her fingertips and then jumps the small distance into Amber’s hand, where it dissolves into her skin, leaving her much warmer than before.
Amber blinks, wondering if she had been hit in the head by some loose debris. Is she seeing things?
She pinches herself.
“Ow!” She hisses.
That seems to make Lumine laugh. “You’re not dreaming I promise.”
“This can’t be real,” Amber whispers, still struggling to wrap her head around this. “I don’t understand…. How…?”
“I’m the star that you wished on.” Lumine’s smile only grows wider, blindingly bright and infectious in her joy.
Oh.
Amber’s heart pounds in her chest, a fire roaring in her ears as she finds herself returning the smile.
Oh.
“I’m here to help make your wish come true.”
Amber’s home is not what Lumine had expected.
To be honest, Lumine isn’t quite sure what she expected. Her knowledge of Teyvat and all that went on is rather distant (pun intended) and she has never quite gotten to experience first hand all the wonders and sights.
The abode that Amber shares with her roommate is… pleasant. Simply furnished and homely, Lumine walks around the kitchen, inspecting every appliance and surface. Everything was so different up close, so shiny and interesting.
She has Amber’s jacket draped over her shoulders, drawn tightly over her collarbones with one hand as she pokes around at the microwave.
It’s not that she’s cold — Amber had insisted Lumine take her jacket with her as they made the fifteen-minute walk from Lumine’s landing spot to her place. And upon seeing the state of undress that Lumine was in (no shoes or socks) Amber picked her up, bridal style, and carried her all the way to her apartment.
(It was a sweet gesture, but wholly unnecessary, considering that Lumine can fly. But Amber set off with such determination on her face, who was Lumine to stop her? Not to mention that Amber is very warm and smelled rather nice — like fresh clay and citrus and warmth . The vast expanse of space has nothing to compare to the warmth that Amber radiates.)
“Uhm, are you hungry?” Amber stands at the fridge, looking into it with a frown on her face.
“I could eat, I suppose.” Lumine comes around the kitchen counter to peer into the fridge as well.
“Do stars eat?” Amber asks, looking back over her shoulder.
“We could,” Lumine shrugs. “It’s not strictly necessary. But it’s a pleasant experience all the same.”
Amber nods, “Food brings me joy too. How do you feel about ordering pizza?”
“Oooh, pizza sounds great. I’ve never had pizza before.”
The affronted gasp that Amber makes at the sound of that makes Lumine laugh.
“I can’t believe that Paizza Hut doesn’t deliver to the stars,” Amber teases, pulling out her phone. She taps at it for a moment, closing the fridge behind her with her foot. “What toppings do you want?”
“I’ll eat whatever you like.”
“Spicy?” asks Amber, not looking up from her phone.
“Yes.” Lumine is fond of all flavours and all foods. She’s not particularly picky.
“What about sweet? Like sweet and savoury?”
“Yes.”
“Large pizza,” Amber reads out loud, “Half with spicy pepperoni and mushrooms and half ham and pineapple then. Do you want anything to drink?”
“Juice?” Lumine offers.
“Okay, we have that in the fridge.” Amber makes a few more taps on her screen before triumphantly tossing the cracked device onto the counter.
Lumine makes a note to try to mend that later too.
“It’ll be twenty minutes before the delivery guy gets here.”
They lapse into silence, staring at each other.
“Soooo…” Amber starts, fidgeting with the hem of her shirt awkwardly.
“Yes?”
“You’re a star.”
There’s no question there. More of a statement.
“Yes.” Lumine nods.
“You said that you were going to help make my wish come true.”
Again, not a question.
Lumine nods again. Why was Amber just stating things that had already been established?
“So what do you have to do? Wave your hands and sprinkle some fairy dust?” Amber mimics a bunch of said fairy dust falling through the air by wiggling her fingers at Lumine.
That makes Lumine laugh. “No, I may have powers, but I don’t have the power to grant wishes like that. I’m a star, not an Archon.”
Amber lets out a sigh, slumping over the kitchen counter like a deflating balloon. “It would be too easy, huh?”
“It would. Besides, helping you get your wish is half the journey. It’s about the journey, not the destination.” Lumine comes to lean on the kitchen counter next to Amber. She rests her head on her arms, watching Amber carefully from a dozen or so centimeters away.
“Could we pretend that this never happened?” Amber groans, “This is way more embarrassing than I thought it would be.”
“Nope,” Lumine replies, popping the ‘puh’ sound of the word loudly. “I’m stuck here until you get your wish.”
“And how do you know that I’ve gotten my wish?”
Lumine shrugs, “Universal powers will tell me. It’ll be hard to miss.”
Amber watches her curiously, “You can’t just, I don’t know. Hop on a bus and leave?”
“Nope! My powers would bring me back to you.” It’s an annoying little thing sometimes, but it certainly meant that Lumine wouldn’t lose Amber in a crowd or anything like that.
“So what other powers do you ha-” Amber’s sentence is cut off by a yelp as she springs backwards, pointing at something behind Lumine.
Startled, Lumine spins around, only to find nothing behind her.
“What? What is it?” She peers over the edge of the counter to look at the ground.
There’s nothing there.
“You’re floating!” Amber says, pointing.
Indeed, Lumine’s feet had risen off the ground so that she was lying lazily on thin air. That explains why she could look over the edge of the counter like that.
“Oh, sorry. Habit.” She swings her feet back down until they were in contact with the countertop. Smiling gently, she sits down, crossed legged in front of the still wide-eyed Amber.
“You can fly?” Amber whispers, like if she said it too loudly it would somehow not be real.
“Yeah,” Lumine rubs the back of her neck sheepishly. “It’s how stars travel. Walking is kind of hard to do in the abyss of space.”
“That’s so cool!,” Amber muses, she pokes Lumine’s leg as if it would magically reveal the secrets to her flight. “What else can you do?”
Amber’s words bring a blush to Lumine’s cheeks. Was it cool? Nobody had ever really told her that. Then again, she didn’t really get to interact with very many people- people. Just other stars.
“You know,” she flounders for a moment. “Just this and that. Basic star stuff, glowing.” She’s not quite sure why she suddenly feels so shy about this. She’s a star after all.
But Amber is pretty. Very pretty and very close.
“Let’s talk about your wish!” Lumine exclaims, clapping her hands loudly to draw Amber’s attention away from this topic.
“Oh.” It’s Amber’s turn to look embarrassed now. “It’s uh, nothing really.”
“It is not nothing! I’m here to help you with this wish and I’ll be here until it’s done,” Lumine huffs. “You said, ‘I wish that I had someone like that’.”
Amber nods slowly. “Those are words I said yes.”
“What is ‘like that’?”
A more brilliant shade of red crosses Amber’s cheeks. “You know.”
“A significant other?” Lumine tries again. Archons it’s like trying to pull something from the depths of a black hole.
“I guess,” shrugs Amber. She tries to keep it nonchalant, but Lumine can tell by the way that her eyes flick around the room that she had been right.
“Look there’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” Lumine swings her legs over the edge of the counter. “I’ve heard of all kinds of different wishes. This isn’t anything weird.”
There’s a moment as Amber studies her intently — Lumine smiles gently, trying to put on her most genuine expression.
“So I live with Eula, my roommate,” Amber sighs finally.
“You like her?” Lumine chimes in brightly.
“No!” Amber almost shouts. “Archons, no. We grew up together. She’s like a sister.”
“Okay, okay,” Lumine laughs, “So not her. But what about your roommate?”
“She’s got a girlfriend.”
“Uh- huh.”
“And ever since she started dating this girl, she’s been so much happier and I love that for her.”
“And you want something like that for yourself,” Lumine offers helpfully.
Amber groans. “Not when you say it like that. It sounds so desperate.”
“Well, you did wish for it on me,” Lumine teases.
“That doesn’t make me feel any better,” grumbles Amber. She seems to think of something else — Lumine can see it in her eyes.
“What is it?” she prompts, nudging Amber’s side with her elbow.
“What is what?”
“You thought of something just now. There’s something else, isn’t there?”
Amber sighs again — she seems to be doing that a lot.
“I’m just stuck on my final art project. And I was thinking about how Eula said that ever since she started dating her girlfriend, she always felt inspired when she was dancing.”
“You want a muse!” Lumine exclaims triumphantly, pointing at Amber, who has already buried her face in her hands. “How romantic and very human of you.”
“It sounds ridiculous when I say it out loud.”
“Many famous artists had muses- “ whatever she’s about to say is cut off by the sound of the buzzer blaring loudly through the apartment. The sound is harsh and sends Lumine jumping into the air.
“Sorry, sorry. That’s the pizza guy.” Amber fumbles to pull her phone out again, putting it up to her ear. “Yeah, you can come right up.”
Lumine watches as Amber rushes to the door, sticking her head into the hallway for a few long moments — kind of like a puppy waiting eagerly at the door. A few seconds later, Amber returns, pizza box in hand.
“Pizza’s here!” Amber announces triumphantly, locking the apartment door behind her.
The human putters around the kitchen, grabbing dishware from the cabinet and sunsettia juice from the fridge. Lumine watches her carefully, wondering what kind of a person Amber might like — Amber catches her eye from across the counter, sliding a slice from each half of the pizza onto a plate. She hands it to Lumine, feeling a little shy.
Lumine doesn’t break eye contact, smiling at her as she takes a bite of the pizza, the pineapple one first. Greasy hot deliciousness bursts across her tongue, the cheese stretching into long strings as she pulls away.
“Oh, that’s very good,” Lumine mumbles through the mouthful of food.
Amber looks delighted, like Lumine had just personally complimented her own cooking. She helps herself to a slice of each as well. “If you like pizza, wait until you try sticky honey roast from the Good Hunter. Now that-” Amber points at Lumine with her slice of pizza, the end drooping downwards dramatically, “-is the stuff of Archons.”
“Well, now I am eager to try something that has such high praise from you,”
“Yeah, of course! I’ll take you there anytime that you want.” Amber punctuates her sentence by shoving the piece of pizza into her mouth.
They lapse into silence again, filled with the sounds of quiet chewing and sips of juice. Lumine finishes both slices of pizza and takes another sip of her juice, only to find that another slice of each kind of pizza has somehow magically appeared on her plate.
She gives Amber a questioning look.
“I’m also going to have seconds,” Amber says in reply. She moves two slices to her own plate even as she’s still eating her second. “I don’t want to be sitting here by myself pigging out on 4 slices of pizza.”
“I’m hardly going to judge you for eating more pizza.” Lumine picks up the spicy pepperoni slice and takes a pointed bite of it. “It’s still very good.”
“Well, the company is better.” Amber pauses, as if realizing what she had just said. “I mean like, having company is better than eating pizza alone, not that you aren’t better than pizza — I think I’ll shut up now.” She buries her attention in the slices of pizza in front of her instead, looking down at them with ears as red as the pepperoni slices.
Lumine smiles at her but doesn’t say anything. Amber clearly doesn’t need Lumine’s teasing to add to her embarrassment — albeit very adorable embarrassment.
All things considered, finding ‘someone like that’ for Amber might be easier than Lumine thinks.
Amber looks up hesitantly, and upon seeing Lumine’s smile, she beams back at her.
Or perhaps this would be harder than Lumine wants.
In the icy silence of the late hour, a figure stops at the edge of a crater in the middle of Favonius University’s quad.
She crouches down in the snow, careful not to lose her footing and tumble into the pit. Certain that her heeled boots would not slip, she inspects the crater quietly. Removing a fine leather glove from one hand, she takes a little bit of the disturbed earth between her index finger and thumb, rubbing it gently between the pads of her fingers.
Small flecks of golden particles dot her two fingers like twinkling stars in the sky. They would be easy to miss to an untrained eye.
“Now you don’t belong here, do you?” She whispers aloud, a gleam crosses her eyes, like a predator when they’ve spotted prey.
“A star, fallen to earth. How fortunate.”