[ He... chuckles a little, albeit darkly, at the thought of it just being merits. And moves towards one of the hookah, setting the brick down to check it out. ]
Most of it isn't with merits - what use does a ghost have for them, typically? Forget I said anything. What're you doing in here?
[Forget I said anything, huh? She doesn't really look like she wants to, but he's already asking her a question. She files it away for later to investigate when she gets back.
Maybe she can ask Hua Cheng to lay off him a bit...? Anyway.]
Oh - well, since there are new rooms now, I thought it might be important to become familiar with them...
[You know. Just in case there's another murder and they need to be able to compare what changed!]
[ As if Hua Cheng would let go of one of his largest debtors. He Xuan knows better to think that even Qingxuan going to Taizi Dianxia will get the other Supreme to lay off of him, even a little bit. He'd turn around and add interest to what he owes just for inconveniencing his beloved gege.
Ugh, disgusting. ]
I'm not worried about it right now. [ As an afterthought, when she does move on to the next question. ] But this room... I'd almost call it a lounge. It's for smoking, specifically opium, judging by the fact that's all that seems to be here.
[ Opium dens don't exist yet but at least the concept of a lounge does. ]
Depends on your tolerance for smoking, but you think everything is better suited to drinking.
[ He isn't even a little surprised that she thinks that about the room, really. But it is a nice place. It's just that he doesn't see much of a problem with it - has, probably, actually, smoked with Hua Cheng before during one of their moments of respite during all this business.
They're not friends, but there's no one else that really gets either of them. ]
[ He starts setting up the hookah, just for something to do, easy motions. There's a spark, and he lights the coal for it. ]
Some. It's not much of a vice as it is an occasional indulgence. Opium specifically is an anesthetic in medicine, and smoking it can have a calming effect just as much as it can give you a high.
[ Even he thinks that sounds odd? But he also realizes that he's been a little more loose-lipped, and it's admittedly obvious he hasn't brought any food with him like he typically does. ]
If you do that, you'd need to actually build a tolerance - or at least learn how to smoke without coughing a lung out. But it wouldn't hurt.
[If she's being honest, it's a little unsettling, too, but... she's trying not to think about it. She doesn't have the luxury of being unsettled with everything else that's going on.]
[ She does seem tipsy, but he would've expected that from a few bottles more than what she seems to have had. But he makes an affirmative noise after his confusion, gesturing as he breaks the opium block.
Despite the flippancy in his gesture, though, there's a little command to his voice. ]
She sits! Surely Ming-xiong would never steer her wrong, right? She leans forward a little, though, watching whatever it is he's doing to get it set up for them. She'll need to learn how to do this herself...
...unless she drags him back here with her? That sounds like a good idea to her.]
[ Making sure that everything is set up properly, he waits until the smell of opium starts to enter the air before he sits next to her and picks up the hookah pipe. There's no move to look for different mouthpieces, since just the one will do fine. ]
When you take a pull from it, you want it to be natural - you can puff, but treat it like breathing, more than anything else. Just inhaling like you normally will is enough, especially to start.
[ At least he'll take the first drag off of it, the coals atop the hookah flaring with soft embers as he does. A beat, two, three - on the fourth, he exhales, a slow stream from his mouth like a dragon with smoke. ]
She nods, trying to pay attention to how he takes a drag off the hookah. It really does look natural when he does it, and she's a little mesmerized by the way he breathes out the smoke without so much as coughing. He makes it look easy.
Shi Qingxuan holds out her hand for the hookah, and tries it herself.
It doesn't go so well. She does take a drag of it, but ends up coughing instead of breathing it out easily. Oops.]
[ Even as he passes the pipe over, He Xuan has a feeling that he knows how this is going to go.
She doesn't disappoint, and he snorts - it's a little rude, but he takes the pipe back before she winds up dropping it or sending the hookah off the table or something. The other hand raises, patting her between the shoulders to make sure that she doesn't wind up outright choking on her coughs. ]
Yeah. [ mean ] You've never done it before, so it was an easy guess.
[ He clucks his tongue softly, though, and picks the pipe back up. And, for a few seconds, he - hesitates. Thinks. His gaze flicks up to her from the hookah, as he turns the thought over in his head. If this is an indulgence, and if his inhibitions, his reticence, is all already faded at the edges because of whatever is happening in this place...
Well. Alright. ]
Here - [ In his other hand, he takes her by the chin, lifting her face up. ]
[It's pretty common for her to reach out and touch him. Tugging on his sleeve, linking their arms together, draping herself all over him so he doesn't run off - that's normal.
But it's much more rare for him to reach out for her in turn. He'll occasionally catch her by the wrist to tug her along, but that's about the extent of it.
So, when he takes her chin and lifts her face, she catches herself flustering, her cheeks flushing with a faint pink.]
[ Meeting her gaze when she looks at him - and like that, too, so different from the usual cheerful, playful Shi Qingxuan that he knows and experiences every day - He Xuan brings the pipe up to his lips, taking a long drag off of the opium. It could almost be cloyingly sweet, but he doesn't mind it.
There's almost... satisfaction, maybe? At getting the reaction that he does out of her. Normally this isn't something he would even entertain, and logically he knows that something is wrong with the both of them. But he goes through with it, anyways, because he has been nothing if not masochistic since he set foot out of that elevator on day one.
No explanation comes. Instead, he leans forward, pressing something that's a simple kiss at first before he goes to coax her into parting her lips, eyes falling shut as he shares the smoke more easily between them. ]
[It's not what she's expecting him to do at all, and when she sees him lean forward, her eyes widen briefly. She's sure they haven't kissed before. Even at her most drunk, she's never really been bold enough to go for it.
But she can't say she minds at all. She relaxes, after a moment; her eyes slide shut, and it's easy for him to coax her to part her lips. Shi Qingxuan returns the kiss, barely aware of the faint tang of the smoke, and finds herself reaching up to grip his robes.
After a few seconds, she breaks the kiss and breathes out, exhaling faint trails of smoke. She isn't coughing, this time.]
...mm.
[That was nice, actually. This really could get addictive, if he helps her like that every time.]
[ There - figures, that that would work. He Xuan almost laughs at himself, but does well enough to keep his disbelief and regret to himself. After all, reflecting on everything that's happened... it's following that thread of despair, isn't it? The very thing that he's meant to indulge in the most. ]
Better. [ His voice goes low, as he just barely pulls back to exhale the last of the smoke. But even as he cracks open his eyes to look at her, he keeps his hand there, holding her chin still. Like he's vaguely considering doing it again, despite what his best senses say. ]
[She's half-expecting him to let go of here chin now that he's showed her how she's supposed to inhale the smoke. He doesn't, though, and she's quiet for a few long moments, looking up at him through her lashes, watching his expression.]
[She doesn't know! This feels different than when she usually spends time with him. Maybe it's because instead of her draping herself all over him, he's reached out for her first.
She feels a little unbalanced, so she holds out a hand for the hookah.]
[ Slowly, He Xuan draws his hands back, fingertips trailing across her skin as he goes. Like he's doing it entirely on purpose, to draw her in. (He is, but he'll see if she realizes or not.) ]
We'll see how that goes. [ He does give her the pipe again, though. ] Give it another shot and see.
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Most of it isn't with merits - what use does a ghost have for them, typically? Forget I said anything. What're you doing in here?
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[Forget I said anything, huh? She doesn't really look like she wants to, but he's already asking her a question. She files it away for later to investigate when she gets back.
Maybe she can ask Hua Cheng to lay off him a bit...? Anyway.]
Oh - well, since there are new rooms now, I thought it might be important to become familiar with them...
[You know. Just in case there's another murder and they need to be able to compare what changed!]
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Ugh, disgusting. ]
I'm not worried about it right now. [ As an afterthought, when she does move on to the next question. ] But this room... I'd almost call it a lounge. It's for smoking, specifically opium, judging by the fact that's all that seems to be here.
[ Opium dens don't exist yet but at least the concept of a lounge does. ]
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[Hm. Well, that doesn't sound very fun to her. She waves a hand, glancing around at their surroundings again.]
Well, that's not very fun, is it? The smoke would make you cough. Such a nice room, it's better suited to drinking, I'd say!
[She thinks everything is better suited to drinking.]
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[ He isn't even a little surprised that she thinks that about the room, really. But it is a nice place. It's just that he doesn't see much of a problem with it - has, probably, actually, smoked with Hua Cheng before during one of their moments of respite during all this business.
They're not friends, but there's no one else that really gets either of them. ]
Did you bring anything to do that drinking with?
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[A single bottle really should not be enough to have her tipsy, though. Oh well.]
But depends on the tolerance...? Ming-xiong, have you smoked before? I thought you just liked eating!
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[ He starts setting up the hookah, just for something to do, easy motions. There's a spark, and he lights the coal for it. ]
Some. It's not much of a vice as it is an occasional indulgence. Opium specifically is an anesthetic in medicine, and smoking it can have a calming effect just as much as it can give you a high.
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[Which, now that she says that out loud, is kind of weird? Hm.
Anyway, she watches him with interest as he sets it up and lights the coal. If it's something Ming Yi enjoys, maybe it's not as bad as it sounds?]
...I didn't know that! Maybe I should come here when I need to calm down!
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[ Even he thinks that sounds odd? But he also realizes that he's been a little more loose-lipped, and it's admittedly obvious he hasn't brought any food with him like he typically does. ]
If you do that, you'd need to actually build a tolerance - or at least learn how to smoke without coughing a lung out. But it wouldn't hurt.
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[If she's being honest, it's a little unsettling, too, but... she's trying not to think about it. She doesn't have the luxury of being unsettled with everything else that's going on.]
Could you show me how?
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[ She does seem tipsy, but he would've expected that from a few bottles more than what she seems to have had. But he makes an affirmative noise after his confusion, gesturing as he breaks the opium block.
Despite the flippancy in his gesture, though, there's a little command to his voice. ]
Sit.
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She sits! Surely Ming-xiong would never steer her wrong, right? She leans forward a little, though, watching whatever it is he's doing to get it set up for them. She'll need to learn how to do this herself...
...unless she drags him back here with her? That sounds like a good idea to her.]
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When you take a pull from it, you want it to be natural - you can puff, but treat it like breathing, more than anything else. Just inhaling like you normally will is enough, especially to start.
[ At least he'll take the first drag off of it, the coals atop the hookah flaring with soft embers as he does. A beat, two, three - on the fourth, he exhales, a slow stream from his mouth like a dragon with smoke. ]
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She nods, trying to pay attention to how he takes a drag off the hookah. It really does look natural when he does it, and she's a little mesmerized by the way he breathes out the smoke without so much as coughing. He makes it look easy.
Shi Qingxuan holds out her hand for the hookah, and tries it herself.
It doesn't go so well. She does take a drag of it, but ends up coughing instead of breathing it out easily. Oops.]
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She doesn't disappoint, and he snorts - it's a little rude, but he takes the pipe back before she winds up dropping it or sending the hookah off the table or something. The other hand raises, patting her between the shoulders to make sure that she doesn't wind up outright choking on her coughs. ]
About what I expected.
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Is it really so easy for you to predict how I'll mess up, Ming-xiong...?
[Depressing.]
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[ He clucks his tongue softly, though, and picks the pipe back up. And, for a few seconds, he - hesitates. Thinks. His gaze flicks up to her from the hookah, as he turns the thought over in his head. If this is an indulgence, and if his inhibitions, his reticence, is all already faded at the edges because of whatever is happening in this place...
Well. Alright. ]
Here - [ In his other hand, he takes her by the chin, lifting her face up. ]
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But it's much more rare for him to reach out for her in turn. He'll occasionally catch her by the wrist to tug her along, but that's about the extent of it.
So, when he takes her chin and lifts her face, she catches herself flustering, her cheeks flushing with a faint pink.]
...Ming-xiong?
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There's almost... satisfaction, maybe? At getting the reaction that he does out of her. Normally this isn't something he would even entertain, and logically he knows that something is wrong with the both of them. But he goes through with it, anyways, because he has been nothing if not masochistic since he set foot out of that elevator on day one.
No explanation comes. Instead, he leans forward, pressing something that's a simple kiss at first before he goes to coax her into parting her lips, eyes falling shut as he shares the smoke more easily between them. ]
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But she can't say she minds at all. She relaxes, after a moment; her eyes slide shut, and it's easy for him to coax her to part her lips. Shi Qingxuan returns the kiss, barely aware of the faint tang of the smoke, and finds herself reaching up to grip his robes.
After a few seconds, she breaks the kiss and breathes out, exhaling faint trails of smoke. She isn't coughing, this time.]
...mm.
[That was nice, actually. This really could get addictive, if he helps her like that every time.]
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Better. [ His voice goes low, as he just barely pulls back to exhale the last of the smoke. But even as he cracks open his eyes to look at her, he keeps his hand there, holding her chin still. Like he's vaguely considering doing it again, despite what his best senses say. ]
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...it will probably just take practice.
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How much more practice?
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[She doesn't know! This feels different than when she usually spends time with him. Maybe it's because instead of her draping herself all over him, he's reached out for her first.
She feels a little unbalanced, so she holds out a hand for the hookah.]
I'll try again.
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We'll see how that goes. [ He does give her the pipe again, though. ] Give it another shot and see.
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