Family Outing

Loki and his two daughters arrived at Wanmin Restaurant and sat around a table.

This place was filled with customers as always. Xiangling was cooking alongside Chef Mao. Stufful and Guoba were tending to the customers, occasionally helping out in the kitchen.

Loki nodded his head in approval. Stufful had already become accustomed with his new home.

He turned his head and looked at Qiqi.

"Do you have any favourite food, my love?"

Qiqi tilted her head. She raised her small fingers and touched her chin. A few seconds passed before she spoke with an unsure tone.

"I like coconut milk. But I don't know what it tastes like."

An amused smile immediately appeared on his face.

"Don't worry. I am sure coconut milk is delicious."

A while passed before Xiangling left the kitchen and approached them.

"Loki, Mimi."

She greeted them with a smile. Then she looked at Qiqi with curious eyes, wondering why the little herbalist was with Loki.

"Qiqi is also here. Are you accompanying Loki?"

As Qiqi nodded her head in reponse, Loki patted her gently and spoke.

"Xiangling, Qiqi is now my daughter. You will see the two of us a lot more from now on."

"Hmm?"

Xiangling blinked her eyes. It took her a few seconds to register his words.

"Daughter!?"

After Loki lightly explained the gist of the matter, Xiangling happily congratulated the two of them. Then she finally focused on the main subject.

"What would you like to have?" She asked.

"Three coconut milk."

Loki spoke with a hint of amusement. He knew that coconut milk did not really exist but with Xiangling as the chef, he knew she would come up with something fitting the name.

"Coconut milk?"

Xiangling was a bit confused as expected. But seeing his amused look, she understood this was a challenge. She nodded her head. New ideas and wild imaginations were already filling her head.

"Alright. Do you want anything else?"

"Please bring some sweets as well."

Loki didn't really prefer sweet things but he was sure that Qiqi will love them. After all, every child love sweets.

"Okay."

Xiangling headed into the kitchen. A while later, Guoba and Stufful brought a variety of sweet snacks. Cookies, Muffins, Cakes, Macaroons, and may more.

Qiqi picked one of the muffin and took a small bite. Her eyes instantly lit up and she took a second bite.

"Do you like it?" Loki asked with a smile.

"It is soft and sweet." Qiqi nodded her head. "I like it."

A day before, she couldn't understand the joy of eating delicious food because her sense of taste was dulled as a zombie.

But now that her sense of taste have returned, she was immediately captivated by the sweets before her.

Qiqi ate quickly, each new snack gave her a new sensation. The sweets on the table gradually began to disappear. Only when more than half of the sweets disappeared into her small stomach, she realized that her father and sister had not touched the sweets at all.

"Aren't you going to eat, father, sister?" She asked, her voice a bit guilty.

"Oh. You were eating so happily. I couldn't help but watch on."

He took a cookie and ate it. Mimi also used her shadowy hands to hold another cookie and brought it underneath her cloth.

The small family of three ate in a quiet and warm atmosphere.

Minutes passsed before Xiangling brought their last order to their table. Three coconuts filled with 'milk'.

"My newest creations, Coconut Milk." She proudly declared.

Qiqi smiled brightly as she held one of the coconut and sipped the coconut milk. Her eyes glowed brightly in surprise and delight. She seemed to love the taste.

Loki smiled at her cute gesture as he took a sip from his own. He nodded his head in approval.

Just like he expected, Xiangling had expertly managed to blend coconut and milk together to create this perfect 'coconut milk'.

"As expected from you, Xiangling. It is delicious."

"Glad you liked it."

Xiangling showed a big smile and left them.

A minute passed and Qiqi had finished her coconut milk. When she placed the coconut on the table, Mimi quitely lifted her own coconut milk and handed it to Qiqi.

"You don't want it?"

Qiqi tilted her head innocently as she held the coconut. Mimi patted her head as Loki spoke.

"You should take it, Qiqi. Mimi is saying your smile is enough for her."

Mimi nodded her head, agreeing to his words. Qiqi still seemed reluctant. She loved the coconut milk, so she wanted to share this delicious food with her sister. But in the end, she still lost to the allure of the coconut milk and relented.

Loki smiled in amusement as he looked at his two daughters. Mimi met his gaze and quickly looked away in embarrassment.

Others might not realize the truth but how could he not? His first daughter refused to drink the coconut milk only because she could not easily fit it inside her cloth. If it was at home, she would not mind, but they were outside right now.

'I should ask Xiangling about the recipe for this coconut milk.'

_____

After having breakfast at Wanmin Restaurant, the three of them went on a shopping spree. Loki brought a lot of things, mainly to decorate the empty bedroom.

On the other hand, Mimi chose several clothes for Qiqi. As a 'fashionist' obsessed with her looks, she had a really high standard and had Qiqi wear hundreds of different dress. Loki was satisifed with all of them but Mimi only decided to buy a few of them.

Hours passed as Mimi took the lead and brought Qiqi to nearly all the clothstore in Liyue. Loki had to carry tens of bags as he followed them. Some would have found this chore tiring but he was happy to see his two daughters enjoying themselves. The smile on his face never left.

It was only around 3 pm when Mimi put an end to their shopping. As the three of them left the store, Loki looked at the new dress on Qiqi.

She was wearing a fluffy purple dress that seemed a bit too large for her small body. Her hands had disappered under their sleeve.

Such was fashion. He didn't understand so he didn't comment. In the end, all that mattered was that his daughter looked cute.

But there was one thing he didn't understand. Qiqi still had the talisman on her head. It didn't quite fit with her fluffy dress and white hat.

"Mimi. Is the talisman necessary? Qiqi is no longer a zombie so she don't need to wear it anymore."

Mimi turned to him with a blank stare. She made a soft screech. (Of course. Qiqi is already cute but her talisman makes her even cuter. It is her unique feature.)

'Really?' Loki looked at Qiqi again. He understood the talisman was like an accessory but he didn't understand the appeal of it. But such was fashion. It always avoided him.

Loki didn't comment anymore.

_____

(On the way home)

"Qiqi, I finally found you."

A young girl ran towards them, waving her hands in the air. She finally ended with a hug with Qiqi.

"Yaoyao."

Qiqi called out softly as she hugged her friend back. After this brief moment, Yaoyao pulled back and looked at Loki and Mimi.

"They are?"

"Father. Sister." Qiqi answered with a smile.

"Father. Sister?"

Yaoyao parroted with a confused look. Loki laughed lightly and bent down to their eye level with a warm smile. He would have patted Yaoyao but his hands were currently packed with bags.

"My name is Loki. And she is Mimi." He spoke. "Thank you for always taking care of my daughter, Yaoyao."

Yaoyao blinked blankly. She looked at Loki and then Qiqi. She repeated the process for several times before the situation finally seemed to dawn upon her.

Seeing the soft smile on Qiqi, she knew that her friend was happy. That was all that mattered for her. Yaoyao smiled brightly and hugged her again.

As the two girls began to converse with each other happily, Loki and Mimi looked at each other. They quitely watched over Qiqi as she happily shared everything with her friend.

_____

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I am finally back.

Some of you may have noticed that some chapters are missing. When I began to write once again, I wanted to add some more details to volume 1 and the interactions between Qiqi and the others. So here we are.

I will complete Volume 1 with some more details before republishing those chapters.

For my old readers, I have no plan to stop this fanfic yet. Thank you for waiting for me. I will try to keep my updates regular.