Chapter Text
“I see.” Ningguang said, her hand covering her eyes as she processed all the new information about the case. “So we must act now before it becomes a threat?” She asked, moving her hand away and looking directly at Hu Tao, her eyes calculated and piercing. Xiangling didn’t know how Hu Tao met her with an equally calm response. She would’ve been a trembling bundle of nerves in her place.
“Before it becomes a bigger threat.” Hu Tao corrected, and Xiangling felt her soul leave her body.
“Alright then. Director Hu, I trust that you know what’s best in cases such as this.” Ningguang said, her voice completely serious and void of any carefully controlled annoyance, much to Xiangling’s surprise.“You have my permission to continue the investigation. But.” Ningguang started.
“But?” Xiangling asked carefully, speaking for the first time since Hu Tao had barged into Ningguang’s office, towing her along to a death by lecture. Or so Xiangling had thought, but it had been minutes and Ningguang had not started verbally ripping them apart with surgical precision yet.
“But a report on today’s findings is still due before you leave, Detective Xiangling.” Ningguang finished coolly. It took everything in Xiangling to hold in her sigh as she replied, “Understood.”
Ningguang nodded, satisfied, and dismissed the two from her office. Xiangling walked to her desk with an oh so familiar dread and tugged the chair out with her free hand. She turned to look at Hu Tao, unsure on what to do before the other girl untangled their hands and put both of her hands on Xiangling’s shoulders, gracefully pushing her down into the seat.
“Don’t look so sad, I got this. Your keyboard won't know what hit it.” Hu Tao said, winking before she scooted Xiangling’s chair aside and turned on the computer. And just like that, all the scolding Xiangling had queued up in her head for making her face Ningguang in such a manner melted away.
“Are you sure?” Xiangling asked, hesitant. When the other girl simply responded with a hum, and the clacking of keyboard keys, Xiangling spoke again. “At least take a seat then.”
“If you insist.” Hu Tao said, and sat down on Xiangling’s lap. The investigator froze, and promptly ceased to function.
“Is this alright?” Hu Tao asked after another beat of silence from her partner. She turned slightly to look at the other girl, who simply nodded in response, a dazed look in her eye as her face flooded with red. “Are you sure? I can get off if you want.” Hu Tao said, taking on a softer tone as she started to scoot off.
“No! I mean no, It’s perfectly fine!” Xiangling blurted out and in her haste almost missed the twinkle in the young funeral director’s eyes before she turned back around. Letting out a breath to herself, she leaned back in the chair as her partner resumed typing, only to be unnerved by the feeling that someone was watching her.
Slowly, she turned her head to the side and glanced across the room, her eyes skimming over unoccupied desks and chairs until they found purchase in three other pairs looking right back at her. Oh Archons. It was her friends.
The expression on Xingqiu’s face resembled a very smug cat, while Chongyun looked like he wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear. Xinyan had an expression in between the two extremities and when Xiangling caught her eye, she winked and shot her two thumbs ups. Stifling the urge to ascend into the astral plane, Xiangling waved her hand furiously towards her throat, a simple cut it out gesture but Xingqiu and his poor eyesight interpreted it as come over here and started walking.
“Fuck.” Xiangling muttered under her breath, causing Hu Tao to pause her typing and turn towards her curiously, raising an eyebrow. Xiangling inclined her head in a slight nod towards the approaching newcomers before she attempted to sit up professionally, which was very hard with a cute girl in your lap.
“They giving you trouble?” Hu Tao asked, a slight edge to her tone now. Her eyes carefully studied her partner’s face as she shook her head quickly, not helping the already flustered mess Xiangling was. “No, no.. they’re my friends.” Xiangling said, her voice dimming to a whisper towards the end as footsteps stopped right beside them.
“Greetings, Director Hu. I must say, it’s a rare yet pleasant sight to see you in the investigations building personally.” Xingqiu’s clear voice rang out, and Hu Tao turned her body slightly to face him, offering a carefully practiced smile. Xiangling faced them as well, her expression out of Hu Tao’s line of sight and therefore a pleading one which Xingqiu tactfully ignored.
“It’s been a while, Young master of the Guhua clan.” Hu Tao greeted in response before looking over Xingqiu’s shoulder at the two awkwardly standing behind him. “And you must be..?”
“I’m Xinyan, Nice to meet you!” Xinyan said, offering a small smile and a cautious hand, which Hu Tao shook firmly. Xinyan then stepped away, and Chongyun came into view. He did not make a move towards, but instead seemed to refrain from taking a step back.
“You are very hot.” Chongyun muttered in place of a greeting, which set the room into a shocked silence. Xingqiu seemed to freeze in place, his shoulders and smile becoming stiff and forgetting their previous languidness. Hu Tao shared a similar reaction, except that in her stiffness she leaned backwards, into Xiangling who stifled a surprised squeak.
“Chongyun..” Xinyan started hesitantly, but the meaning of his words seemed to catch up with him then. He turned red. “No! No that’s not what I meant. I meant that your soul is hot. In terms of temperature. Not in that way.” He quickly elaborated, and everyone seemed to remember how to breathe freely again.
“It’s all good.” Hu Tao said, before looking upon Chongyun with new eyes, “You can see souls too?”
“I come from a line of exorcists, so yes but no. I can feel souls, but I cannot see them.” He clarified.
“He has never seen a ghost in his life.” Xingqiu added helpfully.
“Really? Not even the one trailing behind him?” Hu Tao added nonchalantly, and the three standing immediately whipped their heads around to look at the empty space between Chongyun. Xiangling looked too, but all she saw was empty space and Xinyan looking as if the movement of a shadow would make her soul leave her body. Chongyun inhaled sharply and took a step back, drawing a piece of paper that Xiangling recognized as a talisman out of his pocket. Just as he positioned the talisman between his fingers, Hu Tao interrupted.
“Just kidding~” Hu Tao sang out, causing four pairs of eyes to simultaneously glare at her. She laughed to herself, a sound that sent chills down Xiangling’s spine yet inspired warmth to bloom in her chest. Xiangling stared at the laughing girl, and in that moment she decided that she would do anything to experience it again. She continued staring, as if taking a longer look would engrave it in her memory forever and only when someone cleared their throat did she manage to tear her eyes away.
“How long have you two been together, if you don’t mind me asking?” Xingqiu asked, the facade of innocent curiosity on his face.
“We’ve been partnered just this morning actually.” Hu Tao answered, briefly casting Xiangling a fond glance before returning her attention to Xingqiu.
“Just this morning? Wow Xiangling must’ve really taken a liking to you then!” Xinyan said, her smile somehow both innocent and mischievous. Xiangling groaned and buried her face into Hu Tao’s back, who giggled. “I’m glad.” She said, and if Xiangling’s face was already red, then it turned ten shades darker.
“Well we’ve got to get going now. It’s time to go home.” Chongyun said gruffly, and without lingering any longer, he walked off. Xingqiu waved goodbye before hastily taking off after the exorcist, leaving Xinyan with the partners who quickly took off as well, shouting a “It was nice to meet you!” as she left.
“Well that was interesting.” Hu Tao said after the newfound silence settled. Xiangling made a noise of affirmation, muffled by the fabric on Hu Tao’s back and nothing more was said, allowing the silence of a late night to creep in and settle. The sound of typing started up again and the combination of that, the warmth radiating off of her partner, and the long day soon lulled Xiangling to sleep.