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The rock pool is tucked away in a secluded bamboo grove in the foothills outside of Qingce Village. Some of the geothermal springs that dot the mountains are frequented by elderly Liyueans seeking to alleviate their aches, and sometimes more adventurous hilichurls will try to set up residence there, but those most difficult-to-reach areas on the steepest slopes remain best known only by the adepti.
Yanfei stretches her arms over her head with a yawn, stiff after their brisk morning hike.
Shinobu crouches to unlace her shin guards, and steals a furtive glance at Yanfei while she's at it, trying to glean any information she can. Had she only invited Shinobu along to be polite, or was this a date? Yanfei's a tricky one to read, easy-going and amiable expressions honed by difficult legal cases and the necessity of a calm façade around clients. Honest feelings can be buried deep beneath the right smile. Yanfei was the one who first taught her that, all those years ago.
Shinobu's fingers stall with uncertainty.
Perhaps she misinterpreted Yanfei's intentions, but she can't quite bring herself to ask for clarification.
Yanfei is, at the very least, eager to enter the water. Her distinctive xiezhi hat and boots are soon neatly piled atop a flat rock as she undresses, alongside her book and Vision.
“You've really never been to a hot spring before?” Yanfei asks, turquoise eyes bright when they settle on the crouching Shinobu. “I was under the impression they were quite a popular attraction in Inazuma.”
“This is my first time. I'm banned from entering most onsen,” Shinobu answers. When Yanfei raises an eyebrow in question, Shinobu gestures to her exposed sides, where the rich hue of Dendrobium blossoms swirls from her lower ribs down past her hips. “Tattoos are frowned upon in Inazuma, even though irezumi is a traditional art form.”
“I admit, I was surprised to see your tattoos when we met again,” Yanfei says lightly, stepping out of her skirt and shorts, before folding them and placing them on her pile of belongings. She pauses to choose her words with care. Neither of them much want to revisit what happened in the depths of the Chasm. “They suit you nicely, but you looked rather different in law school.”
Shinobu ducks her head in shy agreement, trying not to stare at Yanfei's casual nudity. The faint scent of minerals and sulfur hangs stubbornly in the chilly air, reminding her why she agreed to go out today.
Even if this doesn't turn out to be a date in the romantic sense, catching up with an old friend still makes for a pleasant afternoon.
She busies herself unstrapping her shoulder armor, then reluctantly removes her mask, slowly stripping away her protections until nothing remains. Without the Arataki Gang bolstering her, Shinobu feels more like the quiet student she once was: Yanfei's naïve junior, a sheltered shrine maiden fresh out of Inazuma, overwhelmed by the vastness of the world outside. Since graduation, Shinobu has racked up as much knowledge as she could – actuary, tailor, chef, herbologist, and more – but her ignorance continues to humble her.
“I feel more like myself now,” Shinobu affirms, folding her clothes beside Yanfei's. “I had a lot to figure out. Hair?”
Yanfei nods and turns her back.
Shinobu gathers Yanfei's hair in deft hands, pulling it back and bundling the tresses into a quick ponytail mirroring her own. She always did like the tactile experience of playing with Yanfei's hair, the texture more silky-soft than her own. Yanfei seemed to like it back then, too.
Without thinking, Shinobu's hands stray to fondle the bony contours of Yanfei's curving antlers, so different from the sharp oni horns she knows.
She swiftly withdraws her exploratory touch, thinking she overstepped a boundary, but Yanfei only turns her head to wink at her.
“I like this new you,” Yanfei grins, cocking her head to one side. “Much more assertive. May I touch you?”
Shinobu nods, words suddenly deserting her. Ah.
Yanfei's fingers skate lightly over Shinobu's sides, tracing the bold ink all the way down to her thighs. Shinobu can't suppress a shiver. It's ticklish. She turns her reddening face into her shoulder, flustered without her mask to hide her undignified expression. This seems less platonic by the moment.
Yanfei chuckles indulgently, taking Shinobu's hands in her own and pressing them meaningfully to her bare skin.
“You can touch, too,” Yanfei reminds her. “Quid pro quo. You still want to, don't you?”
Shinobu exhales the breath she didn't realize she was holding. Yes. Yes, she wants to. There's no point in hiding that.
The coruscating scales that stud the pale skin stretched over Yanfei's ribs gleam like jewels in the dappled sunlight. Shinobu trails her fingers up, tracing the hard ridges and smooth valleys of the scales like peaks on a topographic map. Her latest certification, cartography, is both a science and an art, communicating information by flattening it onto a page. Shinobu's pen lines – while crisp, accurate, technical – could never fully map the wild beauty of Yanfei's illuminated, ageless, inhuman body.
Shinobu admired Yanfei for her brilliant mind long before she ever desired to touch her.
It's difficult to believe she's allowed to now, but here they are.
“Come on, it's cold out here without clothes,” Yanfei urges, gesturing at the surface of the pool. “Let's hop in, and then you can tell me all about what you've been up to in Inazuma. How is that Itto fellow doing? And how have the borders being open for travel again affected local ordinances? Have there been any interesting legal complications with the Sakoku Decree being repealed? You have to tell me everything.”
The corners of Shinobu's eyes crinkle into a subtle, but pleased, smile. They slip into the water hand-in-hand, gasping at the heat of it, then laugh together, letting the earlier tension dissipate like the steam rising off the water.
Interests fade, jobs come and go, but Yanfei remains eternally constant.