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"How about a soak in the hot springs? Come on!"
Mualani was insistent, though Lumine did hear Kinich mumble something about wanting to show her around his tribe. Though a soak did sound nice, she couldn't fight her curiosity over what a guy like Kinich liked to do for fun. "No, thanks, Mualani. I think I want to see what Kinich's tribe has to offer first. But hey, maybe Paimon is interested?" Lumine stated, turning her attention to Paimon. "Huh? Paimon in a hot springs?" Paimon was confused, but thought about it. She didn't want to be without her favorite person in the entirety of Teyvat, but she was exhausted from floating all the time... and she was hungry. "We've got really good food, too!" Mualani stated, seeming to catch Paimon's attention. "Food! Lumine, she said food! Paimon's in! Have fun with Kinich! If he even can have fun," that last part, Paimon tried to stay quiet as she left with Mualani, but Lumine noticed Kinich's breathing hitch.
"Hey, she didn't mean it like that," Lumine told him, knowing Paimon's comment must have hurt. Kinich simply shrugged. "That's nothing, trust me," he stated, before changing the subject, "my tribe's this way. I'll warn you ahead of time, they um... they're very concerned about people who hang out around me." As the two walked towards Kinich's tribe, there was plenty of awkward silence. Without Paimon there to fill it, Lumine didn't have much to say, and she knew by now that Kinich wasn't much of a talker. They soon arrived at what Lumine could only assume was the way to the actual tribe; a rickety looking set of wooden platforms, high off the ground. Lumine felt a sense of dread, but she could tell Kinich wasn't fazed.
"Kinich, is this... safe?" she asked, sounding cautious while doing so, in case the question was taboo in his tribe; she never knew. Kinich shrugged his shoulders, the markings on his arms, chest, and face - which Lumine did not notice at first - began glowing, and before she knew what was happening, he picked her up, using his Vision to swing from one place to another. Lumine clung tightly to him, terrified of losing her balance and falling to her possible death, until they both landed safely on the highest wooden platform, where the tribe resided. As soon as Kinich set Lumine down, she grabbed him by his shirt, pulling him slightly up to meet her eye level. "Are you insane!? What if you dropped me?" she asked, though truthfully more scared for Kinich. After all, she had a wind glider, but he didn't.
Kinich didn't flinch, didn't seem scared, and didn't even try to get Lumine to let go of him. "Sorry, next time I'll warn you," he said. Lumine hesitated, but released his shirt, noticing Kinich trying subtly to hide the fact that she was, in fact, taller than him. "What were you even doing?" she asked, confused. "Oh, that's the quick way up. If you wanted to go the long way, though, that'd be fine too," he responded. "Why is your tribe so- um-... like this?" she asked next. "The Scions of the Canopy are thrill-seekers. If something sounds dangerous enough, we're the first ones to try it," he answered. Lumine could only think of one last question. "Where's Ajaw?"
Kinich merely pointed up at the sky, indicating he'd put Ajaw in timeout. "I was really hoping you'd say yes to visiting my tribe instead of Mualani's, so I put him away so he wouldn't make a mess of things," he responded, before changing the subject again, "we have tons of parkour gear, and we do other extreme sports here. Sure, it's no soak in a hot spring, but it can be just as fun." Lumine agreed to follow Kinich's lead to go rent some parkour gear for her, noting down the disdainful looks going their way, and seeming a bit nervous, which Kinich noticed. "Don't worry, they're all friendly towards outlanders. They're probably glaring at me," he stated to her, which didn't make her feel any better. "Why would they be glaring at you?" she asked, earning an unamused huff from Kinich. "They don't trust me."
As they began renting the gear for Lumine, she found herself short on Mora, likely from Paimon spending it. "I'll handle it, you can pay me back later," Kinich stated to her, paying for the gear. Lumine could tell he was dead serious about her paying him back, he seemed to take things like that especially seriously, but she also noticed the intense looks picking up, before someone, much older than Kinich, decided to speak up. "She's an outlander, and you're going to make her pay you back? Have you no shame?" he asked. "I really don't mind paying him back," Lumine insisted, but the man's sights were set on Kinich. "You're such a greedy little-" the man began, getting interrupted by Kinich. "If you don't want her to owe me the Mora, you can pay me back on her behalf," he stated, his voice as serious as usual. The man backed off, but as the two were leaving, he spat out something that made Kinich freeze in his tracks.
"You're just like your father," he stated. The moment Kinich froze, Lumine could tell that comment stung. Before she could say anything to comfort him, he spoke up, though just barely. "Forget it. The People of the Springs is to the South, kind of hard to miss," he told Lumine, his voice quiet and... vulnerable. "Kinich? Are you okay?" Lumine asked, concerned for her new friend. Though he wasn't crying, or showing any emotion at all, it was abundantly obvious that the comment he'd received really hit where it hurt. The man who had dared to say it hummed in triumph, before Kinich turned his attention to him, his words cold and methodical, the exact way he always spoke. "I'd rather be like him than be like you," Kinich stated, using his Vision to create another Dendro vine to leave, likely to be on his own, though Lumine could tell he only made such an exit to rub it in that he had a Vision and the man did not.
It took hours and help from Mualani to track down Kinich again, but after finally finding him alone, simply stargazing at the night sky, Lumine desperately wanted to run up to him and give him the biggest hug she could. Unfortunately, Mualani stopped her, and they simply moved closer to Kinich, soon joining him in stargazing. Once he realized he had company, he let out a sigh. "I'm sorry, Outlander. I wanted to show you around my tribe, and how we get from place to place, but-" Kinich had began, only to be interrupted. "It's okay, Kinich. It wasn't your fault. Don't worry, that guy who said those things to you got what he deserved," Lumine said calmly, before adding, "Mualani made sure of that."
Though Kinich never did ask what exactly Mualani did, that man never bothered Kinich afterwards.