Taking over the Abyss

26- Rules of Teatime

Evidently, you discovered just how much Leiptr hated being told what to do by anybody that wasn't you. Cloud Retainer had insisted (read: forced) you join her and Shenhe on some morning training, much to the displeasure of your butler. Leiptr had adamantly refused until you said 'sure', to which his attitude suddenly shifted into something more agreeable.

That being said, sitting next to him and Shenhe when there was an obvious dislike the two was, to say the least, extremely painful. Leiptr's foul mood mostly came from Cloud Retainer bossing him around and making him do menial tasks, all of which he had relayed to you in hopes of praise. You felt especially bad when he recounted in painstaking detail how Cloud Retainer told him to rake all of the leaves on the peak of Mt. Aocang, only to see all of the leaves blown around again in the morning. In an attempt to console him after hearing that, you gave him a few pats on the head and let him have one of the wrapped hard candies given to you by hilichurls.

Shenhe's dislike of Leiptr came simply from the bad vibes she detected off of him. Nothing more, nothing less. She considered you in a much more positive light, having seen you save Chongyun. Though to you, it felt much more like Shenhe forgot you existed in favor of disdain for Leiptr. So you were left to suffer in between both of them, while Cloud Retainer monitored your 'meditation'.

"Milady, I must ask what the point of this is," Leiptr whispered a little too loudly, having grown bored of readjusting his collar so that only the perfect amount of the front of his neck was left exposed.

Though her eyes stayed closed in meditation, you still felt Shenhe's eyes on you even though her contempt wasn't directed at you, "If you refuse to relax that unsightly scowl of yours, I can amend it by rearranging your face instead."

You saw Leiptr's jaw clench and set a hand on his shoulder to stop an argument from starting. The last thing you needed was to get caught in a fight between these two. Leiptr calmed down from your touch, anger dissipating as he reluctantly did his best with the meditation. As much as he tried, you could still feel the bad vibes from both him and Shenhe, so you didn't really get anywhere with your own meditation.

The only one who benefitted in some way from the meditation turned out to Shenhe. Once Cloud Retainer was satisfied, she let you all go. You felt a hand tug on your sleeve and stopped before you could go hang out with the hilichurls. Turning around, you were met with Shenhe staring at you with an unreadable expression.

You swear you could see Cloud Retainer give her a nod of encouragement, before Shenhe spoke and caught your attention, "I was wondering something. Would you like to come gather herbs with me?"

"Yes, of course!" Your reply came quickly, happy to do just about anything with her, even if it was digging plants out of the ground.

Shenhe nodded mutely and began to walk, silently guiding along. Hearing another set of footsteps behind her, she turned to look over her shoulder and glared at Leiptr, "I don't recall inviting you."

Leiptr stopped in his tracks and looked to you for help. You flashed an apologetic smile and mouthed that he 'go find something fun to do', to which he flashed a small smile and accepted. He'd probably go occupy himself with tormenting the slime population. You followed behind Shenhe closely, not minding her quiet nature.

She took you to one of the higher peaks of the mountains, not saying anything about your poor climbing skills. Climbing was much easier when you were an Abyss Mage compared to now. Hopefully you wouldn't have to climb too much in the future. There were quite a few qingxin flowers to pick, so you got to work on doing that.

Shenhe took a quick look at your progress before giving you a quick word of advice, "Pull the roots, too. They are good to chew on."

You let out a quiet 'ah, okay' and followed her advice, although you were apprehensive about eating the roots yourself. Shenhe seemed to notice your nervousness about eating flowers and attempted to console you, "The bitterness takes time to get used to, but the health benefits far outweigh the taste."