OPEN | mistletoe? its august

[melocoton]

the mistletoe meme.
Congrats! You're stuck under the mistletoe with someone. Pucker up, buttercup. It could be forced, or it could be normal--it's your choice!

it's august and i'm sad, lets be self indulgent.

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[countermeasures]

[some things simply don't change. the fact that jiuqing busies herself with her herbs and medicines is one of them, and it probably won't come as a surprise to chang geng at all when he comes across her sorting through some herbs that appear to have been delivered to her in a basket.

what might come as a surprise to him is when she pulls a sprig of something out from it, crosses over to him, and holds it up - ostensibly to get a better look at it in the light, but also, it's just over his head, now.

in as innocent a voice as she can muster -]

Hmm. Remind me, which plant is this?

[her eyes are glittering with mischief, though. she knows exactly what plant this is.]

[impurities]

[ chang geng's love interests be like,

but he glances up from where he's got his scrolls, having come to see what she was doing while carrying his own work with him - maybe to spend some time together in companionable business, maybe to get her eye on something, but now all forgotten as she comes over with this sprig of a plant. he blinks once, slowly, as he assesses what it is, head tipped to look.

hard to miss the sparkle of Trouble she's got, now, but he'll play along. ]

Ah, what's the name again..? It's escaping me. [ mock thoughtful, as he steps in closer to her. ] I know flowerpeckers are fond of the berries, though its toxicity makes it harmful if ingested by humans. Still, decent anti-inflammatory for external use.

[countermeasures]

I really can't remember... the name of the plant ended in sheng, didn't it? It's on the tip of my tongue...

[if anything was a dead giveaway that jiuqing was up to some mischief, it's this; she would never forget the full name of a plant for real. she knows better.

and yet. she twirls it a little between her fingers, examining it at a different angle, and taps her lip with her free hand, thoughtful.]

As I recall it can be used to treat dry skin as well...

[impurities]

[ of course she's up to something. chang geng smiles despite himself, despite knowing that she's being cheeky with him, as he reaches out to touch her waist in this moment of privacy. ]

How unlike the both of us to forget something like that. [ tsk, how bad of them. but he glances up towards it, the sprig, before he drops his gaze back to her, smile curling up a little more with his own mischief. ] I think I remember reading something, in the prism, about the folklore as well? Under a different name of sorts.

[countermeasures]

[hmm, yes, very strange. how could they both have forgotten?

jiuqing chuckles a little as his lips curl up into a smile, and she makes an effort at putting on a thoughtful expression - but it's hard not to smile back at him, especially when he puts a hand to her waist. she shifts a little closer to him.]

Folklore...? Hmm, we must not have read the same book. Why don't you explain what you read about it to me?