🌾 mud on your shoes, hearts in my eyes !
country boy ! malipo kinich x city girl ! reader
syn: maybe you wouldn't mind getting your fontaine-boutique heels muddy just to get closer to him . . .
an: all fluff, a tiny weeny bit of enemies to lovers, girlbawss reader, reader moved from fontaine to natlan. i dont write at awlll but its kinich bday!!!!!!
natlan's heat was something else.
the sun reached through every field and corner until the air shimmered with warmth. the heel of your shoe sticks into the soil, maybe taking this commission that involved moving to a whole new part of teyvat was a bad idea—
kinich, malipo kinich, i think?
the hunter everyone talked about, but weren't close with—efficient, transactional, practical, always with that annoying lizard pixel thing that definitely talked enough for the both of them.
the one who looked like the sun literally kissed his skin, his bandana fluttering against the wind.. how can someone look this good sweaty? and his muscles—
he didn't bother greeting her, not even a smile, too focused tending to a field. you blink, "h-huh?"
"...you're staring." he says, tone flat. almost unimpressed that someone was clearly checking him out.
"i don't know what you're talking about." you lie through your teeth. suddenly, the dragon appears behind him, almost as if it's taking the form of what it can get to as close to ... snickering?
"see? told you she was ogling, servant. though i would've expected better taste!" ajaw roars. kinich rolls his eyes.
you scan through the tiny field in his backyard, it was... really well kept, actually. "i didn't think you'd be the type to farm."
kinich shrugs, "i'm not. saves money, brings profit sometimes." you huff, clearly this guy isn't for small talk. fortunately, a gust of wind breezes right past you, leaving you stumbling for balance as it blows your sun hat off your head—resulting in an undignified squeak coming out of your mouth as the heel of your shoe sinks an inch further into the soil.
"careful, you'll ruin your makeup and your fancy shoes." kinich replies dryly, planting another seed into the rich soil.
"excuse you—i can perfectly handle myself just fine..!"
he just gives you a side eye. "right."
"i did not come all the way here from fontaine just to get mocked by some guy with a rake." you huff, adjusting your skirt. this wasn't amusing at all.
"it's a hoe." he corrects flatly.
ajaw cackles, "how amusing... a farmer boy bickering with the new city girl! how amusing indeed... we must keep her, servant—"
"ajaw, we're not keeping anyone." kinich sighs. "...and she's not gonna last a week in natlan dressed like she's about to attend a tea party." he adds under his breath.
you're about to retort—really, you are—but apparently, natlan soil must have something against you as your heel sinks further into the ground, making you trip,
kinich now has a grip on your wrist, before pulling you close to his chest to regain your balance. close enough that you can notice how the sun kisses his eyelashes, his breath kisses your cheek—
"told you." he interrupts, his voice quiet, and having an almost.. well-hidden smugness in it that you just want to smack his face.
but archons help you, he's unfairly attractive.
the next week, you find yourself passing by his field again.
just a coincidence really... totally not trying to get a glance of him, obviously, totally not trying to get a peek of how the zipper of his collar is halfway undone and how he narrows his eyebrows when he ties a bundle of herbs together—
"you again?" he sighs, not even bothering to look up at her.
you stammer, "what do you mean by 'me again'..!? this is a public path, excuse you."
he finally looks up at you, meeting your gaze with that damn tiny smirk again, as if he has you figured out already.
"right, since you're already here; might as well make yourself useful...
...if you can even lift anything that's heavier than a teacup."
... and thats how you end up carrying some crate, your manicured hands gripping the wood. ajaw flickers, "ohoh! resorting to flirting now, country boy!? is this how you get free labor now? even for the almighty dragonlord, how lowly of you..."
you huff, setting the crate down where it needed to be. "just for your information, 'm just helping because i feel bad,"
by the time you're done, you're covered with dust and dirt. you can't help it, this guy is infuriating, unreadable, quiet, but... something just keeps you pulling towards him. so it is to your surprise when he just places a bag that carries two bottles of quenepa and cacahuatl juice, with cute ribbons tied around the rims, in front of you.
you look up at him, raising a brow. "...and how much will this cost me?"
"payment. for helping today." kinich grunts, everything has a price, right? that's how he always lived after all, even though he found you... amusing at times.
"...and i'll walk you home."
he's already up and grabbing your basket and leaving before you could even protest, you gawk at him. he was being... nicer than usual.
he looks over his shoulder, and you swear to the archons, art museums would be put to shame with how the sunset just shines down on him.
"are you coming, city girl?"
you mutter to yourself as you lie down on your bed, staring up at the ceiling.
you, liking malipo kinich? no... this can't be...
your chest feels tight, your hands feel clammy against the sheets, your thoughts are as tangled as the yellow-streaked braids in his hair— agh, you're thinking about him again! you can already hear ajaw's obnoxious voice making fun of you.
“i can’t… i don’t—ugh, why do i even care!?” you groan, curling up.
you definitely don't care.
even as you tie your hair up, put on the closest thing you can find to boots in your room, and grab the closest thing you have to gardening—a tiny shovel.
because what else is the way to a country boy's heart like giving him a basket full of harvest and flowers you planted yourself just for him right? uhuh, mhm, yep, perfect plan.
it was absolutely not a good idea.
you're in your tiny backyard, just dumbly staring down at the seeds sitting on the soil. your cheeks heat up, not from the natlan sun, but from the sheer embarrassment and how you realize that you don't know what you're doing at all.
but whatever, you huff, leaning over the soil muttering about something along the lines of "this stupid, hopeless, little crush..."
all was going well, in fact, the first seed was about to take its home in the soil you dug up—only for the most horrifying, largest centipede in teyvat also deciding to become neighbours with it, slithering near you.
your scream practically echoes across scions of the canopy as you backpedal so hard that your back almost becomes one with the picked fence, with your tiny shovel being your last line of defense.
"get away!" you shriek, you don't even know who you're talking to at this point—no ones around, except for the wind and the tiniest bit of dignity you have for yourself.
a shadow crosses over yours, "...what is happening."
you look up, absolutely mortified. "kinich! what are you doing here!?"
he blinks, "what am i doing here? you—you singlehandedly scared off all bird population in our tribe, only to find you dueling a centipede with a baby shovel?"
"stop! go away!" she groans, at this point, she might as well become one with the soil.
kinich couldn't help but let an amused scoff slip past his lips at your melodramatic response. "i came all this way to rescue you from your perilous battle, and you want me to leave?" his eyes looked over your backyard, noticing the seeds, the watering can...
"...planting, huh?" he crosses his arms, "never took you for the farmer type." he almost smirks, repeating the same words you told him before.
he looks you up and down... "though, i guess overalls suit you."
before you could retort, he leans in over your fence, "but you know..." his voice drops into an almost teasing whisper. "if you wanted to impress me, you could've just asked me to teach you."
"i wasn't trying to impress you!" she glares, lying.
he hums, lips twitching into a small, lopsided smile. "come on, sunshine. first lesson."
his hand brushes yours, guiding your grip on the shovel, his warmth steady against your trembling fingers, and suddenly the world’s gone too quiet.
even as days turns to weeks, you've... grown a bit accustomed to natlan, to farming, to kinich, even to ajaw—even your own backyard is starting to take off! no more clumsy confessions or tripping in mud anymore, just you, your hard work and a gloriously arranged basket of homegrown carrots, potatoes, and a perfectly grown sunflower in the middle like a golden declaration of love.
you can already picture kinich's closest thing he can muster to a surprised face when he sees it—yes, this is how you win him over. kinich won't know what hit him!
then reality strikes again.
first, it starts small. "okay, minor setbacks."
and then another, "..just need to try again..!"
now you're sitting on the soil, still in those damn overalls, why are all of the harvests going wrong!? your hands are stained with earth, eyes watery enough to water the next plant that will probably just die anyway, since that's what just keeps on happening in this damned garden,
the carrots are crying, tomatoes are weeping, potatoes are sobbing, and your one surviving sunflower is now doing its best impression of a drooping plant—everything is just, well, pitiful.
kinich could almost see everything from his field, when he reaches you (he definitely put ajaw on time out first), he doesn't say anything, before crouching down beside you in the dirt, and picks up the most tiniest and unique carrot.
"that's a.. unique carrot." he chuckles.
"ugh, go away, kinich." she groans, exhausted and embarrassed.
"i didn't think you'd keep on planting, city girl." he raises a brow, amused. "i wouldn't be in this predicament if i wasn't trying to grow these for someone—!"
"for someone?" kinich echoes back, his voice is suddenly a little lower, a little slower. "huh. must be someone special," he mutters, poking a half-crushed tomato on the soil.
"for the city girl to go through all this trouble... learning how to plant in fancy overalls." he finally looks up at you, greenish-amber eyes soft beneath the brim of his headband.
"...and here i thought you were just... bored." he hums. tone almost ... sad? you blink.
he doesn't look at you as he replants one of your uprooted seedlings with careful fingers, brushing soil over the roots, making sure it's stable. as if this little plant represents something more...
he stands up again before you could speak. "but i do have advice, don't... go on tripping on soil for someone who doesn't deserve it, alright?"
kinich is absolutely livid. and spiraling.
from gatching glimpses of her watching her plants, shooing off pests and saurians trying to get a munch from her garden, faceplanting on the soil once, to even sitting down on the soil one morning to give the most inspirational pep talk to her plants.
it's... almost endearing. with how determined you are.
"ooohh.. you're watching over her again, servant. shall i fetch you a chair?" ajaw taunts, kinich rolls his eyes. "not now, ajaw."
not now, because he's absolutely spiralling over who this mysterious person could be, as he overhears you cheer "just wait until he sees this!" and "i hope he likes it.." in your backyard. a quiet truth settles in his chest, one he doesn't want to admit just yet, lingering.
could it be... ororon? that guy does like to plant... or maybe—
it's maddening. "stupid." he mutters under his breath at himself as he goes to plant a seedling, before wacking the soil on the ground as if it owed him mora,"if he ever says one bad thing about her... i'll make sure he regrets it."
he's starting to despise this mystery guy more than ever.
kinich is absolutely reeling when he opens the door to his home to find you standing on his doorstep with a bashful smile.
with your harvests and flowers.
kinich stares. just stares. is this a dream? some.. hallucination—
"did you.. walk all the way here? with that?"
"...is that what you have to say!?"
kinich doesn't mean to, but a small, exasperated-but-relieved laugh escapes him. ajaw materializes. "oh? what a quaint ritual! gift-giving at dusk! does the servant know he's being wooed!?"
kinich doesn't even bother shutting him up at this point. because you—a dainty city girl—his city girl, are holding a basket that looks like it was plucked straight from the sun, from weeks of hardwork... all for him. no strings attached, no payments required, just... for him.
he reaches out, brushing a stray locked of hair from your sun-kissed face. "..this is.. for me?"
"..who else would it be for." you stammer, avoiding his gaze. kinich smiles—even chuckles as he leans his forehead against yours. his hand covers yours over the handle of the basket. "you're really.. something else, city girl."
"you've been doing.. all this, for me." he murmurs, as if he's trying to convince himself than you. and then, because he's spent weeks spiraling over you, over who this mysterious someone, over your relentless determination for plants, he leans in—his lips placing a fleeting kiss against yours.
your breath hitches. you ignore ajaw's gagging noises in the background. "kinich..." you murmur, voice trembling and heart threatening to explode.
kinich lets out one last relieved laugh, his other thumb brushing lightly across your hand, "...consider it an advance 'thank you', you've earned it, mademoiselle."
with the basket forgotten at your feet, you realize you've done it. you've totally, completely, absolutely won malipo kinich's heart.
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