"Can we go do the boats, please!" Chen and Dumplin stare at her with matching emerald eyes.
Taken aback at the sheer force of the combined use of the puppy dog eyes, Mimi once again suddenly feels vastly outnumbered.
"Why would you want to go to the water?" Mimi asks, giving the deceptively clear water a distrusting look, her nose twitching a little at the scent of the water spirits.
"Besides, don't forget what we are. If either of you goes in the water, I might not be able to go in after you," thinking the argument is closed, Mimi turns her attention to the many fruits on display.
The two younger sisters stare at each other, and Chen declares, "There are more fruits and other purchases along the water."
"Name three," Mimi tested, and this seems to stump Chen.
"Loquats, Persimmons, and sweetmeats!"
Turning around slowly, Mimi smiles hesitantly at Master Wei, Lan Xichen, and Lan Wanji, who had somehow managed to sneak up on them.
Bowing to the three cultivators, Mimi turns to Master Wei, who had provided the answer to her question," Whose side are you on, Master Wei?"
"The side that will give me a free meal!" Master Wei retorts.
"Do you not get that already?" Lan Xichen asks skeptically, smiling at Dumplin, who had run over to his side, demanding to be picked up.
About to concede. Lan Xichen is stopped by his brother, who, in a flash, quickly pulls the child into his arms.
"Uncle Wanji!" Dumplin giggles at the gesture's quickness, causing Mimi to relax a little, but then she realizes what the child had just said.
"We were actually going to use the boats ourselves," the clan leader winks at Chen, "Would you like to join us?"
Looking pleadingly at Mimi, Chen clasps her hands in front of her chest, "Please, Mimi, I have never been on a boat!"
Full of resignations, Mimi looks at the water. "Okay, you win."
Mimi tugs Chen close to her and whispers, "You will stay close to the center of the boat at all times and don't go near the edge, promise?"
Nodding excitedly, Chen agrees, nearly glowing with excitement. Looking up at Lan Xichen, Mimi smiles with a little strain, "It would be a pleasure, clan leader."
"Please follow us, then Lady Shen," the clan leader bows to her and serenely leads the way to a couple of boats.
Following the small crew, Mimi can't help but feel a sense of foreboding as the boats bobbed surreptitiously in the water. Mimi stares into the vast depths. The seaweed at the bottom of the lake swayed ominously.
"Lady Shen, if you will allow me?"
Looking up, she sees the outstretched hands of the clan leader. Keeping her eyes rigidly fixed on the water beneath her feet, she carefully puts her hands into his, and he tugs her into the boat.
"You're not fond of the water, are you?"
"I am not fond of what is beneath the water."
She didn't specify that most fox spirits were not particularly fond of large bodies of water. Working primarily with fire, it made fox spirits rather uncomfortable. Then she realizes that she and the clan leader are in the same boat, alone.
Her little sisters cheer as Master Wei pushes off and begins rowing the boat in front of them. Well, at least she could keep an eye on them, she reasons, once more leaning back.
"How are you feeling today?"
Mimi tries not to flinch as the previous nights' events flicker through her mind, "I don't sleep very much."
"Sometimes it feels as if your mind is trying to keep you, hostage," he murmurs softly.
About to ask him to elaborate on this, she spots movement from the other boat. Dumplin breaks away from Chen and stands off to the side. Supernaturally quick, she disregards the two cultivator babysitters and puts her hand in the water. Chen manages to toss Dumplin aside as the water spirit leaps from the water and drags her down.
"Chen!" Mimi shrieks, diving into the water.
Viscous fluid clings to her as Mimi kicks down to the bottom of the lake, trying to locate the white dress. The water is murky. Mimi continues spiraling downward. Suddenly she catches sight of the clan leader's brother pulling on something and struggles to reach him. As Mimi gets closer, water spirits strike at her face and arms, trying to cut her apart. Not able to use her foxfire Mimi slashes at them ferociously with her claws, shredding them to pieces. A sword swiftly zooms past her, effectively cutting through the water spirits in her way. Looking back, she sees the clan leader right behind her, having not even thought twice about jumping in after her. A swift piece of white skirt catches her eye. She sees Chen in the grips of a large portion of kelp with Lan Zhan trying to reach her. But the water spirits buzzed around him like a moth to a flame—the clan leader's sword whizzed by her and chops at the kelp, holding Chen in its grip. Pushing off the bottom, Mimi finally gets close enough to cut through the remaining restraints and pull her sister out. Grasping Chen close to her chest, she kicks to the surface. The jade twins follow. Finally, breaking the surface, Mimi throws Chen on to the boat closest to her. She is dragged down.
Sucking in a mouthful of water, Mimi struggles against the water spirit attempting to drag her down by her skirts. Lan Xichen appears beside her, cutting through the kelp. His brother not too far behind. Putting an arm around her, the clan leader pulls her above the surface.
The usually tranquil face of the clan leader is frantic, "Are you alright?"
"Chen," she finally coughs out, and immediately understanding, the clan leader pulls her on to the boat where Chen is throwing up water. Master Wei is rubbing her back while Dumplin clung to him, terrified. A protection talisman hovers over the boat as the water spirits tried to get in.
Mimi throws herself at Chen, heedless of the mess, and holds her close, "Are you alright?! Are you hurt anywhere?! Tell me where it hurts."
"My ankles and wrists are sore," Chen whimpers, slightly enjoying the attention.
"Okay, okay, hold on, cub," Mimi summons a ball of foxfire that slightly sputters in her hand.
Regardless of the looks, she receives Mimi pulls back her sister's robe's sleeves and hisses angrily at the large welts on her arms. Holding the flames to her sister's skin, the welts slowly disappear. Mimi did this repeatedly until every bruise, welt, and cut had disappeared.
"Can we get some noodles before we go home?" Chen coughs weakly, enjoying the warmth of her sister.
Staring at her in disbelief, she almost doesn't hear Dumplin, crying, "Is Chen gonna be alright?"
"She's going to be just fine. We're fine," Mimi wraps her arm around Dumplin, her hands and arms still sputtering flames, promptly drying both herself and Chen off. Holding both her sisters close, she kisses both their heads nearly a dozen times before the sisters begin wriggling out of her tight grip.
"I see now why you don't like the water," Lan Xichen jokes, but his voice is strained as he pulls himself aboard.
Lan Zhan descends from his sword, hovering nearby, giving the three sisters a sharp nod before being yanked cartoonishly into Wei Wuxian's waiting arms.
The flames still glowing on Mimi's hands, and along her arms were drawing a lot of intrigued looks by those on the boat.
"Is anyone else injured?" Mimi asks, immediately locking eyes with Lan Xichen.
"I think it's just a sprain. No bother," the clan leader held his wrist close to his body, eyeing the green flames that now shifted in his direction.
"You helped save my sister and me. It's the least I can do," Mimi reaches across the space between them, her fingers glowing with the green foxfire.
He holds his hand out demurely, and Mimi reaches out and grasps his wrist. His eyes grow wide as the green foxfire dances coyly about his wrist, immediately relieving the pain.
"It doesn't hurt," Lan Xichen says in amazement as she pulls away, "Wanji, are you injured?"
Lan Zhan shakes his head. He is watching the interactions between the sisters and his brother with great interest. Mimi looks over and meets his gaze, "Thank you, HanGuang Jun."
Contemplating Master Wei for a moment, Mimi gently extricates herself from her sisters and moves across the boat to the black-cloaked cultivator. Her green eyes glowing strangely, as did the rest of her body.
She bows before him, "Thank you for keeping my sisters safe. Please accept this gift as a token of my appreciation."
Turning ever so slightly, Mimi gives little warning before kicking him hard in the chest. Pushing him into Lan Zhan. Suddenly weak, Mimi falls back a little as the boat became silent.
"Your original magical core should stabilize in a few days," Mimi sat back down, her eyes becoming blurry.
"What did you do!?" Lan Xichen leans over her, caught between worrying over Master Wei and the Lady Shen.
"I gave him his magical core back," Mimi states simply, shakes her head, fighting to stay awake.
"Mimi?" Dumplin hops back into her lap and tugs on her sleeves, folding her arms around Dumplin. Mimi glances at the stunned clan leader.
"How? No man has ever been able to heal a magical core without removing their own!"
"Has no man asked a spirit?" Mimi impatiently gathers her sisters and steps unsteadily off the boat. She needs to get away and find a quiet spot to rest.
The clan leader, however, is close behind her, "What do you mean? No man has asked a spirit?"
"My mother has been close to multiple spirits over the years. You merely need to ask. Most spirits are more than willing to discuss the secrets of the universe if you ask politely without pointing a sword at their neck," Mimi shrugs and lays a hand on Chen's shoulder to keep her balance.
"Why did you do it?" Lan Xichen leans close to her, but Mimi holds her ground with annoyance.
"I have been thinking of it for a while since I failed to give Master Wei a gift at our arrival, despite him obviously being a member of the Gusu clan. If Master Wei gives up demonic cultivation, I do not have to worry about my sisters being exposed to dark spirits. Plus, the value I place on my sister's lives is equal if not more than the value cultivators place in their magical cores. It is a worthy gift in exchange for protecting them. Both you and your brother benefit, do you not?"
The clan leader opens and closes his mouth in surprise.
"Now, I don't mean to be rude clan leader, but I did promise my sister we would stop for noodles before returning to Cloud Recesses."
Whooping, Chen accidentally dislodges Mimi from using her shoulder as a crutch, and Mimi plummets to the ground like an anvil. Before she can make her most sincere greetings to the ground, she is stopped by the clan leader's arm, quickly wrapping around her waist and hauling her up.
"The boat idea was mine. Allow me to treat you," the clan leader basically had her pinned against him, and in her current drained state, Mimi really couldn't budge.
"Thanks, uncle Xichen," Chen says cheekily, picking up Dumplin from the ground and meandering off towards a noodle shop.
"I'm sure I will be fine walking on my own clan leader," Mimi hints, now gazing at her little sister with a bit of suspicion, as he shifts his grip and wraps his arm around her waist.
"I just wish to be of assistance," Lan Xichen says quietly, and Mimi huffs before submitting to him.
"May I ask you something?" Mimi asks, trying to keep an eye on her cubs.
"I had hoped our friendship had surpassed asking that question," Lan Xichen says, realizing that she has given in to his touch.
"Have you and your brother given permission to my sister's to call you both "uncle" ?"
"Ah," Lan Xichen felt his neck warm under her stare, "yes. I hope it does not offend you."
"No," Mimi smiles, "I think it's sweet."
Tucking her hair back, Mimi tries not to avoid his stare.
"We wish for you and your family to feel welcome here," Lan Xichen returns her smile.
"Did you have to kick him?" he finally asks, easily dragging her along, her feet barely touching the ground.
Mimi puts her head tiredly on his shoulder, "When applying core energy, you need a great deal of force to apply it. I could have used my fists, but my claws respond negatively to spiritual devices and weapons, as you have seen. I might have accidentally killed him. Kissing is also a preferential way of transferring energy, but obviously-"
The clan leader immediately frowns, not liking the way the conversation is going at all, "I would not have approved."
"I was going to say that necromancers are abhorrent," Mimi teases. Still, seeing the stony expression on the usually peaceful clan leader's face, Mimi wraps her arm around him, "I came here for you. I've completed the tasks so far to marry you."
A blush creeps across the clan leader's face. Keeping a close eye on the girls, he sets her down on the grass, "I am not jealous. I merely think that our debt is not yet paid."
Adjusting her skirts around her legs, Mimi gets a good look at the clan leader's face. She had well and truly irritated the legendary unfathomable sect leader of the Gusu clan. Feeling quite proud of herself, she decides to press another button.
"Debt towards?"
"Master Wei received what I am presuming to be a core transfusion, but you merely healed my wrist."
She held his gaze with some amusement, "What would you like?"
"To know more of you, to know more of spirits."
"Why don't you ask a spirit?" Mimi teases, and he gently touches her hand.
"Do you know where I would find one?" his eyes are mock-serious.
The girls call out for them, and both turn their heads to see Chen waving. Before Lan Xichen can turn his attention back to Mimi, she presses a kiss on his cheek before carefully getting to her feet. Mimi wobbles a little but felt a bit better. She would need to rest for a few days before she did anything close to big magic.
Trying to conceal her foxtails further by adjusting her skirts, she did not notice the clan leader's closeness until his face is mere inches from her own. Out of habit from dealing with her own clan, Mimi affectionately rubs her nose against his and then freezes. Her eyes dart to his own. She could drown a happy woman in those chocolatey depths.
"Perhaps I was a bit jealous," the clan leaders confesses.
Mimi steals a glimpse at her sisters, who played some sort of game with the reappearing jade twin and his cultivation partner.
"Public kissing is not permissible in Cloud Recesses," Mimi quotes at the clan leader, whose jaw twitches a little.
"We are not in Cloud Recesses," the clan leader points out, his gaze searching, before kissing her on the forehead and then the cheek.
"Now you owe me," back to his usual smiling self, the clan leader once again pulls her to his side for support and led them to the restaurant.