stupidauthor | Prismatica Inbox

do you know how to apply nail polish

I can't say I've ever tried. Why?

[ He's already sent off the message before he realizes that he probably... should have said no. Why would a male cultivator know anything about nail polish, even if he's been living here for months? Maybe he's seen it? Seen others wearing it? That sounds reasonable enough!

... But please don't question too deeply here. ]

I want to try. Will you paint my nails for me?

I suppose.

But please do not blame me if the results are unsatisfying.

Is this a request for right now?

If you're free. It's not urgent, but if you want to come over now that'd be nice.

[ Well, he'd like to at least pretend he's not going to say "I'm always free, all the time, except Iris, because I sit around almost all day writing or doing other things on the network and I don't have an established routine." ]

This happens to be a good time, so I'm available to come over. I'll be there soon.

[Huaisang is very happy to have his friend coming over. He's still uncertain about their relationship in several ways, but he likes Qinghua as a friend at the very least, and their shared interest in cinema is very enjoyable, even though Huaisang would like to nudge Qinghua toward pornographic art films.

He's increasingly casual about his own apparel here in Prisma, and while he still dresses in formal robes to leave the house, he's embraced loose and informal clothing during Cordis and on lazy afternoons at home. So today he answers the door wearing a pretty sundress that shows off his bare legs. He still pounces Qinghua with a hug and a kiss to the cheek in greeting.]

Hey.

[ Shang Qinghua should stop being surprised by whatever new thing Nie Huaisang comes up with each time he sees him, but unfortunately he hasn't figured out how to expect the unexpected just yet.

Does he have any idea that that's supposed to be women's clothing?! Maybe he doesn't?! It's not like cultivator clothing isn't dress-like! But it still is slightly jarring to Airplane, the normal human who grew up in 21st-century China.

But he forces himself to school his reaction, instead giving a friendly hug in return. Yes, he's still trying to work out what it meant that he really really enjoyed kissing this guy, but he can at least be amiable and polite! He's very good at being polite! ]

Hello. Have you been well?

Yes, thank you. It's nice to be back to normal, though there are certain things about Cordis that I miss. [The ears. The tail. Being irresistible.] I hope you got through your moon and the triple moon all right. I thought of you. [He'd wanted to reach out so that Qinghua would at least know that he had friends thinking well of him, but he felt it was more respectful not to bother his friend during that time, since Qinghua had been so cagey about the details.]

I... well enough, I suppose.

[ As if to underscore the point, he can't hide the strain in his voice when he says it. ]

At least it's passed for now. Thank you for thinking of me. [ Does he want to dwell on that line? Possibly not, but he sure is doing so anyway! Having Nie Huaisang around for Iris... would probably solve one of his problems! Is it a problem he's ready to have solved? He doesn't know! This is all very new territory for him! ]

You said you were interested in trying, ah... nail polish?

Mhm. [Huaisang takes his hand, leading him over to the couch and sitting down beside him, tucking his knees up and letting them rest against Qinghua's thigh. He produces a little bottle of nail polish, a sparkling slate blue, and hands it over to his friend, holding up one of his hands. He doesn't know how this is done and doesn't even have the advantage of having seen it happen in movies and advertisements. He's only seen the results and knows it comes from this little bottle. At least he'd asked enough questions that he's also got nail polish remover in case it goes especially badly.]

[ Meanwhile, Airplane has more knowledge to draw on than "Shang Qinghua" does. He takes the bottle and slowly reads the directions on the back, because even if he has a vague idea of how this is supposed to go, the specifics elude him.

After a bit, he starts to shake the bottle as instructed. ]

It says it takes a few minutes to dry, so be careful about touching anything once we start.

[ Applying nail polish: another thing he never expected to be doing in his life as a cultivator.

He gently redirects Nie Huaisang to hold his hand flat, then unscrews the cap. He doesn't know to wipe off the excess first, so the first dab of the brush to one of Nie Huaisang's fingernails deposits an overwhelmingly large dot of nail polish there. Shang Qinghua immediately notices that it's wrong, at least. ]

Ah, that's too much--

[ He quickly puts a hand underneath just in case to keep it from dripping onto either of their clothes. Then he glances around. ]

Ah, is there something to wipe with...? [ Preferably within arm's reach? ]

Ummm. [All Huaisang can think of is his beautifully hand-embroidered silk handkerchief, and he's not sure that the nail polish will come out of that.] Just try and spread some of it onto the other nails.

[He doesn't have any idea how this is supposed to work. Qinghua is the relative expert here, so Huaisang just looks at him trustingly to solve this problem.]

[ Why is he being trusted with this? Sure, he... probably has a better idea than any other cultivator does, except maybe Cucumber Bro? Cucumber Bro had a sister, right? But that still doesn't mean he has much of an idea at all! ]

Alright. Let me try that.

[ Doing the best he can, he tries to blot the excess nail polish and use it on the other fingers. It works well enough to prevent any dripping accidents, but far from well enough to stop him from leaving large spots on the surrounding skin across all four of the nails that Shang Qinghua winds up trying to paint. (He's pretty sure if he tries to do Huaisang's thumb, it will simply drip outright.)

Hesitantly he puts the brush back in the bottle and surveys his work so far. ]

Well, I suppose that could have gone much better, but also somewhat worse...

[Huaisang will do his own nails in the future, and he will do them flawlessly, but this really wasn't about the quality of the result. He hadn't asked his friend a single thing about his painting skills, after all. What Huaisang wants is the attention and pampering.]

Here, try this.

[With his wet hand flat and motionless, Huaisang reaches out with his left, drawing the brush from the bottle and carefully dragging it against the rim so as to wipe off some of the excess before presenting it to Qinghua and offering his other hand. They can come back to his thumb once his right hand has dried a little more.]

Ah... that's a good idea.

[ Shang Qinghua takes the brush and hesitantly puts the tip of it to one of Huaisang's nails. When it doesn't spill a bunch of polish this time, he looks visibly relieved, and starts painting with a bit more confidence.

This time the four fingers come out much more reasonably. The amount of polish among them is a bit uneven, but the precision muscle control that cultivators have means that Shang Qinghua, when he's not trying to contain an overwhelming amount of the liquid, can precisely and neatly keep it almost entirely off of Nie Huaisang's skin.

Once he's done with those, he settles back slightly, unable to hide the bit of triumph starting to make its way into his expression. ]

There. That's much better.

[ Sure, the muscle control is somewhat cheating, but still! Not bad for a second try! ]

[Huaisang is actually kind of impressed by Qinghua's careful control on the second hand. Maybe he will ask for help with this in the future.

Once both hands are done, he carefully tilts his right hand to see if it's going to drip. It seems safe, so he just tilts it as little as possible, offering the thumb.

Even though it's a best-effort result, Huaisang's simply enjoying being pampered a bit like this.]

[ Shang Qinghua immediately obliges, this time following Nie Huaisang's advice and wiping the excess off the brush before painting the thumb. It comes out done just as well as the fingers on his left hand. ]

This is a nice shade of blue.

[ He mentions it casually, not thinking too much about the color choice. ]

Thank you. [Huaisang blows at his nails once they're painted, admiring the color even if it is rather messy.] My clan color is silver, but I find a little bit of blue suits well with that aesthetic.

Will you do my toes next?

Silver and blue, I see.

[ He nods absentmindedly, then pauses. ]

Your toes? Ah, yes, I can do that.

[ But first, he finishes off Nie Huaisang's left hand with the thumb. ]

[Once his hands are finished, Huaisang shifts around carefully, making sure not to bump his hands against anything. This process seems very impractical, but beauty often is. Huaisang finds such thing soothing. He could braid his hair for the sole purpose of keeping it from his face, but instead he adds intricate designs because it pleases him and wears a loose lock of hair on either side of his face anyway, undoing the practical purpose of the thing. He rests his feet lightly on Qinghua's lap, draping his arms over his knees to keep them relatively safe. Resting his chin on one of those arms, he watches his friend with a smile.]

[ Shang Qinghua doesn't notice that smile. The toes take more concentration since the nails are smaller, so he spends the entire time with his gaze trained on them. It's a strange feeling to have to neither lean in close (thank you, enhanced cultivator eyesight!) nor concentrate to hold his arm steady (thank you, precision cultivator muscle control!) to do a much better job of this than would have been possible even with either or both of those in his previous life.

Finally he caps the nail polish and looks up, and that's when he finally notices. He finds a bit of heat rising in his face as his gaze flicks to those lips for an instant, but he tries to push that down and put on a natural smile in response. ]

How does that look?

[Huaisang has a bit of an oral fixation and a noticeable habit of licking his lips, so the moment Qinghua glances at his lips, Huaisang subconsciously licks them. Then he grins, instinctively reflecting a smile with more smiles.] I love it. Thank you.

[He can't move his feet yet, so he wiggles them lightly in Qinghua's lap, continuing to watch him with a fond smile.] How long does it take to dry?

[ That lick did not help whatever Shang Qinghua was trying to avoid. Which... he's not entirely sure what it was. But it didn't help either way!

The wiggle distracts his attention back downwards, and for a moment he's worried that it might smudge. ]

Ah... a few minutes?

[ He looks at the label again. ]

That's all it says. But your fingers dried rather quickly, didn't they?

Did they? [Huaisang wiggles his fingers. They're shiny, but he can't tell whether the shine is wetness or lacquer.] How do I tell? I don't want to mess it up.

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