insurmountable | i'm dragging a heart that weighs a ton / holding out for not just anyone

[ the pin works. somewhat. it certainly holds the thing together in place, but it's only a matter of time if it pops open because he's decided to make her do something. but beggars can't be choosers, and lumine has no other choice; she can either wear her skirt or wear this. ... though she admittedly still has half a mind to change back into her skirt, if only because that's a little more comfortable for her. ]

I feel like ripping a slit on my skirt would work just as well ...

[ it would've been a waste of her skirt, but she has far too many skirts anyway. disposing one for this reason isn't really going to bother her that much.

lumine does start unbuttoning her blouse once she's done fixing the waistband of her shorts, revealing a thin white camisole inside. seeing that he's too concerned over her clothes, then she might as well get this out of the way, then. ]

We could've just postponed this session and practiced shooting instead, you know. Since I'm not dressed properly.

We could have. But it seems we've managed regardless, haha.

[He begins to walk down to one of the training rooms, being mindful to not go into the one that they'd had the vision of their battle against the gods. He doesn't want to inflict that pain on her or himself again. It's already hard on him when he thinks back to it, as they pass that room to the next one.]

Besides, I don't think you'll need much training there anyway, if those head shots are any indication. What's more important now is getting a handle on your anemo powers, and using them in tandem with your cryo ones. Plus, a little hand to hand combat on the side.

[His eyes flash, since this is going to be fun.]

So, what strikes your fancy right now? Learning to blast me into a wall? Or learning to disarm someone with a knife?

[ she's been trying not to think about it at all since that day. which is a challenge in itself when she's woken up to nightmares about it, found herself lying in her bed awake, dreading having to fall asleep and see it in her dreams. it's only gotten better recently when they've last seen their counterparts. still, it lingers at the back of her mind, tucked away behind a door that can, at any time, be opened.

lumine steps inside the training room after him, closing the door behind them. it gives her a moment to compose herself and her expression at his ... ridiculous question. really? ]

... How about we start by learning how to use my powers first?

[ seeing that he's already suggesting something a little bit beyond her at the moment. perhaps they should start with the basic of basics in this supposed training. ]

That's a good place to start as any. Okay.

[Guess they need to start with the basics. Last time, she could barely separate her anemo powers from her cryo vision, so he supposes that's a good place to focus on.]

Have you tried to use your anemo powers again? I think trying to summon them should be our jump off point. Don't be afraid to let it loose, you're not going to hurt me. I've dealt with all sorts of vision users, so anything you can do I can handle.

[ given the circumstances, there shouldn't have been any reason for her to change clothes. surely, summoning any one of the elements shouldn't rip her clothes apart or destroy it. but whatever, they're at this point where there's no turning back. ]

Yes, [ she replies, only to catch herself a moment later. ] I mean, no ... I guess it's not really considered when it's an accident.

[ back in snezhnaya, but she doesn't elaborate on it further. he doesn't need to know after that mess in his brother's home. ]

I've been too busy to try and summon it.

Well, here's your opportunity to, and safely.

[After all, this room is built for this, but she already knows that. He stands there, his hydro shield at the ready to be summoned in case her powers go berserk or anything.]

Go ahead. Try focusing on your core the same way you did last time, since that seemed to work.

[ lumine takes a step back from him until she manages to reach the door again. even with his shield or power or whatever, there's no telling if it would even be able to parry her own powers. so stepping away from him is a good first step.

she closes her eyes again to try to remember what she did last time before it all went haywire and crazy on her. she holds out a hand right in front of her to see if she can summon it small first. ]

... Is it working?

[ nope, it's not. she can't feel anything at least. no air, no wind. nothing. ]

Haha, not quite.

[She got it to work last time. And she accidentally used it? He wonders what happened there.]

Visualize it again, when you did that, the wind responded to you. Or perhaps, focus on using it, like you're bringing the gentle winds of Mondstadt right into this room. The Anemo Archon embodies the ideal of freedom- so let the wind freely flow from you around us.

[He stands ready again, waiting to see if she's able to summon it on her own.]

[ visualise it again. as if she wasn't doing that in the first place. lumine wonders if she'd inwardly suppressed those powers, unwilling to be tied down by the past or whatever it is that's still plaguing them. but now that it's needed, shouldn't it respond to her more? she closes her eyes again.

she remembers the winds of mondstadt, gentle and cool and warm at the same time. the same winds welcomed her when she first woke up in teyvat, lost and alone. it's a memory that she's never had until now, conflicting with her memories of her childhood with aether. and yet she accepts it, welcomes it like a long-lost friend.

the wind will always protect you.

lumine opens her eyes to see a ball of wind swirling in her palm, creating a vacuum that seems to pull in little bits of debris into its centre. she tries to pour a bit more energy into it, as she normally would with her vision, the air current growing until it starts to whip around her, slowly turning into a whirlwind surrounding her. ]

[On his end, knowing that she was doing this without a vision was an incredible sight.

The slow build of anemo energy in her palm makes his eyes widen with wonder, and even when she opens her eyes the wind doesn't die down as it did previously. Ajax can only be a spectator to the wind that begins to whip around the room with her as its eye, his hair beginning to flutter about his eyes as it builds.]

Incredible...

[He looks like a child, marveled by it, but still on guard in case that whirlwind gets out of hand.]

Launch it at me!

[He yells, at the ready. His blades appear in his hands, for the first time outside of the meeting with Childe and Lumine, excitement in his eyes.]

[ launch it at him, he says. what an idiot.

and yet, a part of her knows that he'll be able to parry this one without effort. they've fought like this before, thousands of years ago, his bloodlust feeding into his movements as he matches her step for step. like a dance, she absently thinks. her counterpart had always kept him on his toes, kept him entertained.

so why shouldn't she do the same?

lumine lifts her other hand, fingers seemingly brushing against the winds until snowflakes begin to form. cryo energy feeds into anemo, the tornado swirling ice. it only takes a few seconds before she launches the cryo whirlwind towards him as requested, a grin tugging at her lips. ]

[A hydro shield finally appears to surround him as the whirlwind slams into it, Ajax gritting his teeth as he fights to keep his elemental power intact as ice races across the shield. His hair whips in every direction, and he can feel how the shield is slowly starting to crack under the pressure of both elements raging against it.

It pushes him backwards, the ice finally stopping the flowing water of his vision for the shield to finally break, and Ajax feels his feet leave the ground as it picks him up and slams him up against the back wall. Frost forms on his skin, and the blow nearly knocks the wind out of him as the whirlwind dissipates, leaving him in a heap on the ground staring back at her.

And he starts laughing, pure joy erupting from him.]

Lumine! What a show, marvelous! I had no idea your powers were already that strong! Hahahahaha!

[He picks himself up slowly from the ground, brushing ice off of him. As he walks over to her, he can't help but shiver a little- but he's used to it.]

[ it's an exhilarating feeling, something she's never felt before even with her vision. it's strange but familiar at the same time, the power coursing through her as if she's had it all along. everything is instinctive, natural. terrifying. lumine glances down at her hand, snowflakes seemingly falling from her fingers.

his laughter doesn't help, clearly delighted at her show of power. it's unnerving, to say the least. ]

I wouldn't call it my power ...

[ because it sure feels hers and not hers at the same time. no doubt it's the other lumine's ability passed onto her, understanding how she might've controlled the elements by now. she's not from this world, after all.

when he walks closer, she reaches out for his hands, fingers wrapping around his wrist, holding them in front of her. something she's learned in a recent dream she's had. ]

[She reaches for his hands and he gives them to her, wondering why she's gripped his wrists instead. Maybe she wants to show him a move she knows. There's lot of wrist techniques out there, he's even used one of them on her. He hopes she forgot about that by now.]

I would. It's yours to command now, just as my blades are my power passed on from Childe. You're not borrowing it, after all.

[He looks down, the cool of the cryo that had just been in her hand reminding him of home.]

So, are you going to show me something, comrade?

[The word falls out of his mouth without thinking about it, but he's waiting to see what she'll do with his wrists here.]

[ lumine says nothing for a bit, letting her fingers brush along his skin. she can feel his pulse against her fingertips as they pass by, lightly tracing a line around his wrist. for a moment, nothing seems to happen until a faint blue line trails along the path that she's made with her fingers, the element supposedly familiar to him.

her gaze flickers back to his face before she pulls her hands away, a string of hydro following its wake. she tugs at it, the lines she created on the surface of his skin reacting and tensing and pulling his wrists together. almost like a cuff of sorts.

her lips pull to another smile. ] A friend of Lumine liked to do this, apparently. But it seems it can be improved on.

[ she sends cryo energy running along those lines, the strings freeze as water would. lumine tugs it sharply again, quite pleased with how it's turned out. ]

[His eyebrows raise as the blue line appears on his skin, raising his head to look at her. She'd gone to the statue in Fontaine already and gained the power of hydro, and the surprise is delightful to him. Grinning as his wrists get pulled together, he tilts his head to the side as she freezes the lines, ice chilling his skin instantly as she tugs him forward.]

Oh? Am I your prisoner now?

[He shifts his wrists as best he can, but it's pretty tight. He laughs, joking with her with this new power she's gotten.]

You should have told me if you were an undercover cop, Lumine.

[ she didn't think it would work, but it seems like it did. she couldn't exactly test it out on aether, uncertain how her brother would react if he learns that she can also use hydro on top of her cryo vision. so this is just fine. ajax seems to be a willing test subject, anyway.

lumine studies the tensile strength of the string, wondering if it's more fragile now that it's frozen. but she supposes she could always adjust the energy she uses for each. strong enough to hold a person down but not fragile enough that it would break easily. ]

Mm, yes. Breaking and entering into private property is normally a criminal offence, [ she murmurs absently, still tugging the string every now and then. ] And who knows if you have a bounty on your head, too? I might get rich ...

[He too, studies her handiwork. Huh, he thinks, it might prove very useful in the future given that they were dealing with a god or gods that also happen to use mortals to do their dirty work.]

I didn't take you as a bounty hunter, but these frozen bonds you've created could be better used as a sort of motivational device to get people to talk. It won't be too much longer until my skin will start to develop an ice burn from it. Not bad. But I think if you want to truly bind someone, sticking to hydro is the better option.

After all, it's the wind and rain that erodes even the strongest of kingdoms, not ice.

[Closing his eyes, he concentrates before power surges through him to shatter the icy bonds around his wrists, shards of ice falling to the floor. He rubs them, warming the skin with his palms.]

You'll have to work on it a little more if you want to turn me in. And, just so you know, hydro isn't a good element to use against me.

[ her lips purse and twist when the bonds break, a quiet hum leaving her in response to his comment, watching her ice fall to the floor. she supposes it's not too effective on someone like him; it would've been a good leash to keep him in check, too. she'll have to figure something out instead. ]

Mm, I guess not.

[ her voice is quiet, gaze flickering to the ice that fell to the floor. it's slowly melting back into water, seeping underneath the soles of their shoes. her hand snatches to take his hand once more, sending a burst of cryo energy across him, before she glances down.

would that have frozen the water underneath him, she wonders? ]

[Ajax doesn't pull his hand away, even when the cryo energy races through him and chills him down to his bones. It's not an unfamiliar feeling, having lived in Snezhnaya most of his life. It's akin to a time when he'd wandered out in the cold for a bit too long as a child, coming back shivering and unable to keep his jaw from chattering as he sat in front of the fire trying to warm up.

His father had scolded him, but they were glad that he was safe- just cold.

His body shudders, right through his hand too, but the water doesn't freeze.]

A-Ahhhh...L-Lumine...

[He says through involuntary shakes, his teeth rattling together.]

You c-could have j-j-just aimed downw-ward...

[ lumine blinks at his instruction, looking down at their feet. that's a good point. without letting go of his hand, letting their fingers tangle to ensure he doesn't pull away, she sends another blast of cryo energy through him, using his body to conduct the cold to the water beneath him.

this might be more effective with electro, she thinks, since the body is made up of at least 50+% water. but this is fun anyway, especially when she's finally able to dole out some punishment for everything he's made her go through so far.

she glances back up at him again, feigning a look of confusion. ]

Did it work?

[It's almost as if he can feel the blood in his veins start to freeze, and he shakes terribly from that second blast. He doesn't buy that look of confusion for a second, taking advantage of the fact that she's decided to tangle her fingers with his. He gives her an exasperated look.]

N-nnn-no.

[The water indeed, has not frozen, because that's not how this works at all. She's just blasting him with cryo energy to be a jerk now, so he yanks her into him and wraps his arms around her tightly so he can use her as a heater, and so she'll have to suffer though having to feel the biting cold of his body.]

B-but now tha-at you've f-f-frozen mmmmm-e down t-to the bone, you'll b-b-be the o-one warming me up.

[Ajax is positively shivering now, his skin ice.]

[ well, she's not going to lie that she feels bad seeing him like this. but then, it's also amusing to see him shivering when he's supposedly grown up in snezhnaya. looks like he has his limits too.

but whatever charity she feels for him disappears when he grabs and pulls her against him, a yelp leaving her lips. lumine lets out another shriek and struggles against his grasp when she feels his cold skin against hers, the sensation prickling and stinging. the cold emanates from his body like a refrigerator, the complete opposite of someone overheating. ]

Ajax!

[ she squirms in his grasp, hands grabbing his shirt and trying to push him away from her. it's probably pointless with how tightly he's holding onto her, but let it be said that she didn't fight back. ]

You're cold! Let me go—

O-Oh???? W-Who's f-f-fault is tha-t?????

[He even bends down a little to smush his cheek right up against hers, rubbing it to steal some of that body heat of hers. He's still shaking like a leaf, but her warmth is helping...only slightly. He'll probably shake for a while yet.]

W-We've got a s-s-saying, p-pay your d-d-dues...

[Ajax wishes he could get his teeth to stop chattering so much, but he can't say that he isn't enjoying himself. What a rascal she is.]

S-so I'm making y-you pay them for w-what you've done...

[But he lets go after a few more moments, because it won't matter anyway. He'll have to wait until his body finally warms up.]

[ the fact that he's still enjoying himself despite the torture she's just inflicted on him shows the kind of masochist he is. again, she feels bad for him and when he lets go of her, she takes a step back, peering at his face. his lips almost start to turn blue, his skin deathly pale. was it really that cold for him? ]

Weren't you so gung-ho about being used as a test-drive dummy?

[ lumine takes a step closer to him after a moment, letting her hands press against his cheeks. the only difference this time around is she doesn't use any of her powers, simply cupping his face to warm him up. her fingers brush against the curve of his cheeks, sweeping away the frost that formed on his skin. ]

So much for being a kid from Snezhnaya.

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