Chapter 265

I chuckled at the reaction on the face of the waitress who was cleaning the table of Mimi's third entrée. Mimi had always been a bit of a glutton when it came to... human food for lack of a better term. When you could eat monsters, demons, and solid objects, even exotic food seemed a bit less unique. Still, Mimi was using her actual mouth rather than that kind of creepy one that she sometimes used in the middle of her body, so that was nice at least.

"Mimi, now that you're finished with that, let's talk a little bit more," I said.

"Sure! What do you want to talk about?" She asked with her usual enthusiasm.

I put up a [Zone of Silence] around the private booth we have in the corner and the ambient noise of the restaurant faded away. I wasn't positive we were going to talk about something important but better safe than sorry with this kind of conversation. Unless the waitress was directly in front of our booth, no one would be able to hear us.

When I finished with that I focused back on Mimi. "I'm curious what you want to do, actually. We're all headed back to Traehall to work at clearing some of the dungeons there, but once I can get the adventurer's guild off my back, I'm not sure what our plan is. While we're exploring the dungeons near Traehall, I'd like to see if I can build out my ritual magic more now that I know what I'm looking for, but past that I don't really know."

"What about the stuff with the Order of Lilith?" Mimi asked.

I sighed. "There's that to consider too. I'm not really sure what my involvement with them will entail either. While I'm happy to help root out slavery, I'm not sure I really want to be involved with an organization that predominantly carries out assassinations. I'm not sure. There's also the prophecy. It ultimately leads to me rising as a goddess apparently. I don't know how true that is, but I'm sure someone is going to want to do something about that as soon as my presence becomes more well-known. Both to the Order and to the Tamin church." I shook my head. "That's not what I want to talk about though. I want to know what you want to do. If you have anything you want or need to do, I'd like to work that into my plans too."

Mimi shrugged. "I don't know. I just want to continue following you around, meet new people, and learn more about everything."

"There's nothing else you're interested in? Something you want to learn more about in particular?" I pressed.

Mimi leaned back in her chair and tilted her head in thought. "I don't know. I just don't know what all... exists I guess. Until we walked by that clock shop today, I didn't even know there was something that interesting out there."

"Are you interested in building clocks yourself? Maybe even a pocket watch like the one I drew in that journal?" I asked.

"Hmm... Well, it's not that I like clocks exactly. I'm more interested in the gears and springs inside. How do I put this..." Mimi scratched her horn in a way that felt like looking into a mirror. I wasn't sure if she actually picked up my mannerism or was just imitating it but it was kind of funny to see.

"The gears and springs and everything in there, they're interesting because they move even though they aren't alive. Is that strange? It reminds me of the other mimics." She shook her head. "I don't know how to put it... They were alive in the strictest sense, but they didn't think. There's something... interesting about building a machine that moves by itself. Even if it needs a moving pendulum or to be wound regularly to function, the clocks remind me of mimics. Like myself... in a way." Mimi sighed. "It's hard to explain..."

I nodded. "I think I can understand somewhat. So, in that case, do you want to build something else with clockworks?"

"I'm not sure. Can other things than clocks be made with gears and springs?" Mimi asked.

"Of course. Hmm... let me see that journal with the clocks in it again. I think I have something to add to it."

Mimi pulled the journal out from under the table and handed it to me. Before I could ask, she also put a quill and a pot of ink on the table in front of me.

"Thanks," I said with a smile.

On a fresh page, I began to draw out the design for a simple music box. I didn't know how long or thick the twines on the small metal comb would need to be, but I knew enough about how it functioned at a basic level. A key coils a spring that turns a gear and rotates a cylinder that plays notes on the metal comb. I also drew out how it could connect to a small figure that spun in place to mimic a ballerina, not that I knew if that style of dance even existed here. Probably not, if I had to guess.

When I finished, I handed it back to Mimi. "Things like this music box can also be made from small clockworks. It doesn't need to be strictly for clocks. You can use gears like this for all sorts of things, even machines that mass-produce pieces you need for other things. There can even be giant gears that are turned with water to spin a mill for processing grain. There are lots of uses for things like this."

Mimi's eyes went wide as they scanned over the drawing I handed her. "Amazing..." she whispered.

I laughed. "It's not that amazing. It's just the principle of how things like this work. You can do all sorts of things with gears as long as you understand the basics. Large gears can turn smaller gears faster. Gears can change the direction of movement if the angles of the teeth are aligned correctly. Gears can also do things like pull belts, which can change the kind of motion you have. If you have a strong power source, you can make these things work automatically without external input once they've gotten started. You can do lots of things with them if you're creative enough."

Mimi went quiet and took in every word I said before looking down at the journal. She picked up the quill I had set down and began to write down the words I had said nearly verbatim along the edge of my music box drawing. When she finished, she looked back up at me.

"Is there more you can tell me about this?" she asked.

"I'm not sure... Why don't you think about what I've already told you, and I'll try to answer any questions you might have about this stuff later," I suggested.

"Okay! I'll do that... I think I need to learn how to draw," she said, looking down at the music box drawing I had done.

"Hmm? What makes you say that?" I asked.

"These diagrams," Mimi said, pointing to the drawing. "This... would be hard for me to work out on my own without seeing it... I think. Your drawings helped me understand what I was looking at so much better than just watching. I think I want to be able to draw some of this stuff on my own to understand better."

I nodded. "Some scientists learn to draw so they could better understand things or create detailed drawings of things to make them easier to teach others. Even if you don't like drawing itself, it can be a useful skill to have."

"Will you help me learn to draw?" Mimi asked hopefully.

I smiled in response. "I'd love to teach you how to draw. I already convinced Bella to draw with me a little. It would be fun to teach you how to draw too. Though I suppose you'd like something a bit more technical based on what you want to use it for. Technical drawing is a little boring, but it can be handy. It's the skill that allowed me to duplicate those maps. We might need to get you some basic tools, though."

"Like pens and ink?" Mimi asked.

"Those too, but I was thinking things like a ruler, T-square, and a drafting triangle."

"I remember those when you were copying the map in the capital," Mimi said excitedly.

I nodded. "It's too bad we didn't pick up a spare set when we were in the capital. I don't know if we'll be able to find additional tools like that here. We should check the art supply store I found with Bella when we were last here. It's kind of on the other side of town though."

"That's okay! Let's go!" Mimi said excitedly.

I laughed. "You're suddenly quite eager about this, aren't you?"

"Yep! I wanna learn!" she said.

"Alright, we'll go look, but there's plenty you should learn how to freehand anyway. Straight lines using a ruler are nice, but freehand straight lines aren't that difficult with practice. How dedicated to this are you going to be?"

"The most dedicated! I want to be able to draw whatever diagrams I want!" she said excitedly.

"Alright then, let's pay for our food and see what we can find." I dropped my [Zone of Silence] and waved the waitress over. The food wasn't too expensive. It had come down a lot since we had last been in Goldenhearth.

Mimi held my hand and cuddled up to my arm as we walked down the street to the art supply store. I looked over at her curiously. "That's a little out of character for you, are you enjoying yourself that much?" I asked.

She nodded. "I see Bella do this all the time, so I wanted to try."

"Are you enjoying it?" I asked with a chuckle.

"Hmm... Yes. I don't think it makes me as happy as it makes Bella though."

I laughed. "True, Bella likes to be as close to me as possible, I've noticed."

"Morrigan seems that way too, but she's more shy in about it public than Bella is," Mimi said.

"Do you think so? I always assumed she just wasn't as clingy."

Mimi shrugged. "It'll be easier to tell now that she's one of us now, but I think so. She often looks at your back longingly, especially when Bella is doing it. I think she wants to but is scared."

"Do you think it's because she doesn't want to upset Bella or because she used to be a slave?" I asked.

Mimi shook her head. "I don't know. I can make guesses but I'm only sharing observations. I can't read her mind. Now that we can read her emotions, it might be easier to tell, but not until the next time Bella's walking with you like that."

"I'll have to make a point to look out for that next time," I admitted. "Do... you think I've done a good job? Balancing everyone's needs?"

"I don't know. I can tell you that I'm happy though!" Mimi said merrily.

I squeezed her hand. "Sometimes I'm worried that I'm not doing a good enough job balancing everyone... Sometimes I feel spread a little too thin. That's why I wanted to take you out today. I feel like I haven't done a good job prioritizing you either."

Mimi looked up at me. "Lilith. I... I'm not like the others. I don't understand them very well sometimes, so it can be difficult for me to compare myself to them. But I'm happy. I like the way things are. I don't always need to be involved with everything we're doing, and I always try to help whenever I can." She looked away and frowned. "But... I still have a lot to learn. About everything. If I'm quiet, it's because I'm trying to understand. If I have a question, I'll ask you, but most of the time, I just need more time to observe everything. If you're worried that I'm hiding my feelings from you the way Bella used to, don't be. That's not the problem... It's that I don't always understand my emotions and how they're different from everyone else's. Being able to feel the others through the bond has helped me understand the others better, but it also showed me that everyone's emotions feel... different from mine. So I'm trying my best to understand. But please, don't blame yourself for that. I know you're doing your best for me too." She squeezed my arm and gave it a little kiss. "I know that I love you and you love me. I can feel it... and that's enough to make me happy."

I teared up as I looked down at her. "I love you too, Mimi."

"I know," she said with a smile. "Now, let's go to the art store! I want you to teach me how to draw!"

"Okay, let's go!" I said as I wiped the tears from my eyes.