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Sha Hualing enters as she usually does—which is to say, she enters through the window, in a sweep of jingling chains and swishing silks which belies her catlike grace in landing near-silently on the scuffed floor.
“Hualing,” Liu Mingyan groans, resting her brush over her inkwell so it won’t drip over her manuscript. Sha Hualing is, as always, like a drop of blood blooming over pure white cotton, so vividly irreverent that she makes the rest of the room even shabbier in comparison. Night hunting is never quite as glamorous as the ballads make it seem; for one, the inns are rarely furnished as suits the needs of either a Xian Shu head disciple or a part-time infamous novelist.
Sha Hualing shrugs in a way calculated to make her scarves ripple over her shoulders like sunlight flashing over water. “If a single person saw me come in, I’ll pay your tab yourself.” Liu Mingyan scoffs—like Sha Hualing would ever stoop to carrying human currency!—and turns back to her manuscript, pretending she isn’t counting the jangling steps it takes for Sha Hualing to stalk over to Liu Mingyan, loop her arms around her neck, and drop her pointy chin over Liu Mingyan’s shoulder. If she turned her head by even a few degrees, her lips would brush against Liu Mingyan’s cheek.
Liu Mingyan, of course, had whipped on her veil the second she’d sensed someone at the window. Sha Hualing hadn’t reacted at all to it, even though she had made such a fuss the last time Liu Mingyan took it off, and she must know that Liu Mingyan hadn’t been wearing it before she came in. Liu Mingyan feels no particular way about this at all. Of course.
“Why are you even here?” Liu Mingyan mutters, refusing to tense. That would be letting Sha Hualing win.
“Mingyan-jie, so cold!” Sha Hualing’s smirk is lethally tangible when they’re this close, for all that Liu Mingyan can’t see her face. “I was simply passing through when I heard rumors of a goddess who had descended from her mountain—nay, the heavens—and was so beautiful that she wore a veil for the safety of the poor, pitiful, pathetic huma—”
“Hualing.”
“—the poor villagers, lest their mortal eyes be blinded by her splendor! Of course I had to investigate.”
“Hualing,” Liu Mingyan sighs, finally dropping her brush onto its stand. The last page and a half had been fighting her, anyway. “What do you want?”
Sha Hualing’s whipcord arms stiffen around Liu Mingyan so briefly that Liu Mingyan only registers it once Sha Hualing has drawn away entirely, dancing away like a bolt of silk caught by a sudden gust. Liu Mingyan spins to face her, trying to hide her surprise. (Her cheek feels cold.)
“It’s just that I haven’t seen you in forever,” Sha Hualing croons. Or—it would be a croon, if her bratty pout was restricted to just her face. As it is, it comes out like a child wheedling an unsympathetic parent for extra sweets. “Maybe this Ling-er wanted to catch up! Has Mingyan-jie been keeping busy in Ling-er’s absence?” She toys with a braid tied off with red crystals, making them chime ever so faintly.
As a matter of fact, Liu Mingyan has. She hasn’t finished the objective of her night hunt yet—capturing a mating pair of Ruby-Winged Solar Swallows for a shijie from Qi Xi Peak’s research project—but this area isn’t too far from Tian Yi Outlook, so she’d had a very pleasant time with Chunlan, Xiahe, and Dongmei after her search didn’t bear fruit after the second day of looking.
Instead of saying any of that, Liu Mingyan coolly stands from her desk and relishes, as always, in how delicate Sha Hualing looks when they’re face to face. Oh, sure, those skinny legs are capable of kicking her through walls, but here, she looks as hollow-boned and fragile as one of the birds Liu Mingyan came here to find. “Clearly, Ling-er hasn’t been busy enough, if she has time to go hunting down righteous cultivators minding their own business this far from the border,” she sniffs.
She sees it flicker over Sha Hualing’s face, that reflexive challenging fire at Liu Mingyan’s condescending tone mingled with relief. The thing about Sha Hualing is that, for all that she’s a firecracker all too eager to burn your fingers, she really is so sweet when she wants to be.
Case in point: Sha Hualing stops talking as soon as Liu Mingyan stretches a hand out, but all Liu Mingyan does is take that same braid Sha Hualing was playing with earlier and tug, very gently. Sha Hualing carefully doesn’t go still—Liu Mingyan can see it in how her jaw briefly tightens and the little exhale she makes to keep her shoulders down. Which is to say: Liu Mingyan wins.
She doesn’t bother hiding her smirk, knowing her veil will do it for her. Sha Hualing’s eyes widen gratifyingly in whatever she sees in Liu Mingyan’s eyes, regardless. Ah, this little vixen talks such a big game, but she’s always so very cute for Liu Mingyan. Yes, Liu Mingyan thinks, maybe she’s missed Sha Hualing after all.
“You know,” Liu Mingyan says conversationally, “this inn charges more for two people in a room, even if they’re sharing.” Sha Hualing cocks an eyebrow at her—And I should care because?—but her slightly parted mouth and quivering lip betray her. “So Ling-er should try keeping quiet for once if she wants to avoid paying me back, hm?”
“Oh, fuck you—” But Liu Mingyan’s veil has already disappeared, and Sha Hualing tastes just as good as Liu Mingyan remembers.