⭑.ᐟ Pairing: Kinich x Mualani
⭑.ᐟ Summary: Behind Kinich's weird smile that scares almost everyone in Natlan, is his story with Mualani.
⭑.ᐟ Tags: soft, sweet, fluff, short, hurt/comfort
⭑.ᐟ Word count: 1146
Ky Ky's note: Guess who's finally back to writing for Genshin?! I've returned to Genshin lately and the new Natlan is absolutely captivating! I was in tears while reading Kinich's story, and I do love his interactions with Mualani a lot. Thanks to both of them, I had a chance to write for GI again <3
Lately, Kachina had noticed something peculiar about Kinich.
Every time she saw him, instead of his typical apathetic expression, he would show all his teeth and his mouth would stretch all the way to his ears. At first, she didn’t understand what that face was, but then she let out an “oh” in surprise when he said it was a smile.
Not just Kachina, but nearly everyone who knew Kinich, noticed the unusual expression on his face. Even those who commissioned him. They would suddenly see him peering at them from a distance with that smile, with Ajaw yelling alongside him: "Shut that ugly mouth of yours right now!"
The cause for Kinich's frequent smiles was always a mystery, until Kachina visited Mualani and expressed her concerns.
"Huh? Did Kinich scare you?" Mualani questioned as she brushed Kachina's hair.
“Don’t you think his smile is scary? I mean… He’s already very unapproachable, and now he even has that expression…”
Mualani remained silent for a little moment, then she held her stomach and rolled on the ground laughing.
“Huh? What’s wrong, Mualani? Even you are acting strange!”
Seeing her perplexed expression, Mualani sat up and responded, “Ah. I'm okay. It’s just that I know why Kinich is acting like that. Actually, this was sort of my responsibility.”
“Huh?”
Then, Mualani braided Kachina's hair and told her the story of many days before.
────୨ৎ────
Kinich presented Mualani a basket full of dazzling stones he obtained in the Teticpac Peak area. A few days ago, he had received a commission from her to collect those exquisite stones as gifts for Kachina.
“Thank you. Here is your payment.”
Mualani gave him a hefty bag. Kinich always enjoyed dealing with her since, as a merchant, she understood the price of everything and did not haggle. Kinich’s business had slowed down a bit recently. There were not as many new commissions as before, but Mualani continued to meet him on a regular basis.
“What's the problem? Is it not enough?” Mualani had been observing Kinich's expression for quite some time. She inquired because he appeared different than usual (yet his face remained stiff).
"No. This is adequate. I simply wanted to ask you a question concerning business."
To cut a long tale short, Kinich became curious in Mualani's business, which was always flourishing. He wanted to ask her about acquiring more clients. Of course, when there were challenging commissions, people would always think of Kinich first. Life had recently been lot more steady, which was a good thing, except for Kinich’s wallet.
After listening, Mualani simply grinned. She told him:
“Most people come to entrust you with difficult commissions that few others dare to take on. But if you want to expand your business and attract more clients, you probably need to be more, erm, approachable.”
Kinich scratched his head. For the next half hour, Mualani taught him how to be more friendly to others, including a lesson on how to smile.
As the sun slowly set and Mualani had to go home, she said:
“Remember. Next time you see a familiar face, try smiling at them first! They may find you more friendly, and be more comfortable sharing their problems. That's when you can offer to help them."
Kinich nodded. “Understood.”
“Let's try it one more time.”
Mualani suddenly moved closer to him. Her index fingers reached out, touched Kinich’s face, and softly pulled the corners of his lips in opposing directions. The last rays of sunlight caught her hair, making her seem to radiate a more gorgeous aura than the pile of rocks in the basket he had brought back. Her face was so close to his, and she was grinning.
“Yup. That’s right. Keep smiling like that!”
Mualani looked at Kinich. For a long time. So long that she forgot what she was focusing on; his eyes the color of grass or the smile she had never seen from him before? Perhaps both. Kinich was staring at her. And smiling. That had never happened before. For a moment she was stunned. Even when her fingertips were no longer brushing Kinich’s face, he was still smiling.
It was his own smile, not the one she had just forced on him.
“S-So beautiful…” Her lips moved quietly. “Kinich is… so beautiful!…”
Mualani's breath tickled Kinich's face, and his cheeks showed signs of burning. Most people commended him for his skills, but it was extremely rare for someone to say he was beautiful. Suddenly, his mind wandered back to when he was a baby and his mother was still by his side.
"I hope that in the future, you will encounter many happy things on your journey, so that others can see how beautiful my Kinich's smile is!"
Perhaps his smile, his real smile, had long since disappeared with his mother.
Kinich coughed. Only then did Mualani realize that she was standing a little too close to him. Too close. She quickly took a step back and bent down to pick up the basket of gems.
“Oh… I have to go… G-Goodbye…” Mualani awkwardly hugged the basket of stones and dashed home, leaving Kinich in a perplexed state on the hill, staring at the region belonging to People of the Springs, where the girl’s pale hair bobbed with each step.
────୨ৎ────
That was the beginning of Kinich's unexpected smile. But he had no idea, and neither did Mualani, that the smile he offered her that day was unique from any other of his. How strange!
So one night, when the Natlan sky was bathed in a pool of stars, Kinich came to see Mualani and gave her a bag of mora.
“I want to commission you.”
Mualani’s eyes widened. Before she could ask anything, Kinich added:
“I want to learn how to smile again… The real smile. Not the kind of smile that makes people even more afraid of me…”
Mualani pursed her lips, attempting to hold back her laughter as she recalled the story which Kachina had told her the day before.
"I apologize if I'm intruding into something that is not my concern. But you didn't just suggest that because you wanted more clients. Is that true?"
Kinich gazed at her. His nod validated what she had stated. But what he failed to want to convey was, in the very moment when he unintentionally smiled at her that day, he seemed to have found a bit of warmth from someone else. It was something he could only vaguely sense in his dreams since his mother had departed.
“Okay,” Mualani replied. "I'm not sure why you're making this peculiar offer, but I accept. And I will not take Mora."
Kinich frowned. “What can I offer you to make it worth your time?”
Mualani leaned toward him. Her eyes locked with his as she smiled brightly.
“Something more valuable than mora, of course!”
