Under Tony's gaze, Miaomiao sliced off a lock of hair with her fingernail and wove it together with the strands she had formed from water in her hand.
Then she ran a hand over her fish tail and, to Tony's utter shock, wove several blue-violet scales into it as well.
"Wait!" Tony cried in alarm. "What are you doing?! What kind of gift requires you to hurt yourself like this?! Doesn't pulling out your scales hurt? Stop, kid. I don't need a gift like that!"
"I'm not hurting myself." Having encountered a similar situation before, Miaomiao knew exactly what to do and held out the scales for Tony to inspect.
"Look, there's no blood on them. I didn't pull them out. They shed earlier. Hmm, it's like how you lose hair."
"Tony Stark does not lose hair that terrifying," Tony muttered. He inspected the scales carefully, only letting out a relieved breath once he was certain the girl wasn't lying. "Fish Baby, what are you making with all this hair and these scales?"
"This!"
Miaomiao worked very quickly. While they were talking, she had already finished weaving what she held and offered it to Tony.
"Uncle Nini, try it."
"It's Uncle Tony, and I don't like being handed things... fine." Looking into those clear, innocent eyes, Tony finally took the object from the girl's palm.
In the light, the ink-black hair shimmered faintly with a violet sheen. Mixed with the silver "threads," it formed a simple, elegant men's Hand Cord about a centimeter wide. The blue-violet scales looked like some rare ornament, woven into it to provide a splash of color.
"Is this a Hand Cord? For me?"
"Yes! Made by the Merfolk, quality guaranteed!"
Miaomiao sounded so proud that Tony couldn't help smiling.
He reached out to pat the