Archive of Our Own ^beta

"Kiss my brother."

No sooner had the words left Lynette's lips than the entire room fell silent, as if all four of them had been suddenly plunged underwater. The sound of children playing on the street below, and of the birds chirping by Lynette's bedroom window at the Hotel Bouffes d'ette were all garbled to Lumine's ears as her brain scrambled to process what the reticent magician's assistant had just said, her honey-colored eyes scanning her face for any sign that she had been joking, because there's absolutely no way that Lynette had just dared her to do... that?

However, the platinum blonde's face remained as impassive as ever, her violet eyes staring right back at her unblinkingly, and a sliver of panic flared up in Lumine's gut.

She was dead serious.

Does she...?

Lumine shook her head and blinked, shifting her gaze a bit to Lynette's right, where the horrified face of the said brother was.

Their eyes met, causing Lyney's face to burn scarlet, the shade strikingly similar to the inner lining of his magician's hat.

"If you need privacy, Freminet and I will gladly step out of the room." 

She watched as Lynette stood up and brushed the dust off the pleats of her costume, before turning to the freckled boy sitting to her left, who jerkily turned his head to glance up at her upon suddenly being addressed. 

Freminet cast an uneasy look at Lumine, and then at their older brother, before getting to his feet and allowing himself to be escorted by his sister out of the room. 

Lumine sighed. She probably does. Looks like the jig is up, so I might as well. 

As the door clicked shut behind the two, Lumine turned her attention back towards Lyney, who was now nonchalantly looking out the window with his hands folded on his lap, but his bright red ears betrayed his attempt to feign composure.

Lumine cleared her throat to catch his attention. "What should we do?"

Lyney turned his gaze towards her and paused for a moment, seemingly considering their options, before replying with, "You don't have to do it. We can just wait it out, and pretend that you did."

Lumine nodded. "Okay, if that's what you wanted to do." 

An awkward silence ensued, the two of them just sitting opposite each other on the floor, the empty bottle of Fonta they had been using for their game lying forgotten in between them.

She watched Lyney stare at his palms as if he were trying to see the bottom of a magic pocket, and the gears in her head began to turn.

Surely Lynette wouldn’t subject her beloved older brother to this level of embarrassment if there wasn’t anything, so it should be okay… right?

"Sorry about Lynette." Lyney spoke up after a while, a sheepish tone creeping into his usually confident voice. "I have no idea why she would even suggest—"

"I have."

Lyney looked up from the floor and into her eyes, the question plain on his face.

Lumine braced herself internally, making sure to keep eye contact. "You like me, don't you?"

She watched as the color crept up his neck to his face as his expression morphed into an interesting combination of panic and further embarrassment that almost made Lumine laugh at loud.

Looks like she was spot on.

"Wait, what do you mean—"

Lumine leaned in before he could finish his sentence, stopping a few centimeters short of his lips to give him a chance to signify his protest, but when he only gave her the same wide-eyed look of bewilderment, a hint of anticipation in his eyes, she gently pressed her lips against his, before resuming her seat in front of him, her heart beating wildly in her chest as she waited for his reaction.

For the next few minutes Lyney sat frozen on the spot, his already very red cheeks turning even redder as all the blood seemed to rush to his head at that moment, and Lumine resisted the urge to laugh.

Oh he was so damn adorable.

"I like you too." She began, feeling her own face begin to burn. "Very, very much, as a matter of fact."

He took a few moments to process the information, and when everything seemed to have clicked in his head, replied in a small voice with, "I'm glad. Because I really really like you."

Lumine's heart soared at the confession, feeling her cheeks begin to hurt from smiling so hard, but before she could say another word, a loud scuffling sound directed their attention back towards the door, and the realization that they weren't alone all this time made Lyney look like he was about to pass out from mortification.

Lumine stifled a giggle, before calling out, "The both of you can come in now."

The door opened slightly as Lynette, as stoic as ever, and a slightly embarrassed Freminet poked their heads into the room.

"Congratulations on getting a girlfriend, big brother." Lynette said in her usual expressionless tone, devoid of any hint of embarrassment at having been caught eavesdropping. "You owe me and Freminet grilled fish."

Lumine crossed her arms across her chest as the two blonde heads withdrew from beyond the crack in the door, and as it once again closed behind them, she turned to their older brother who was flitting in between life and death from the amount of shame he had to endure that day.

Lumine took his hand into hers with a smile, making him perk up. "I'd love to kiss you again now that we're really alone, but your siblings demand to be fed." A gentle smile crept across his face at her words, and he nodded, his face mirroring hers.

"After all, we have all the time in the world."