You don’t know what a difference sleeping on a bed makes until you’ve slept exclusively on stone floors for a few weeks. It’s one thing to say Raika fell asleep, but it would be inaccurate to say it was a normal sleep. A normal sleep may include things such as tossing and turning, occasional mumblings, soft snuggling against softer parts, and, overall, a gentle restfulness. Raika, sleeping in silk and satin after a genuine stint in a prison cell, does not experience a normal sleep. She wakes up, sometime after a period of twelve hours has passed, and has not moved once the entire time except to drool, violently, into a puddle of her own making. Slowly, she blinks, coming back to her own existence after what can only be considered an out-of-body experience of divine slumber, splayed out and borderline uncomfortable from prolonged contact. Her face sticks to the sheets, hard-glued from somnambulist drool that leaves her deeply grossed out.

Suffice to say, Raika does not wake from a period of comfort and restfulness, but a mess of unconsciousness and divine collapse. She’d have it no other way.

But then, there’s the fact she’s still wearing burnt rags and spare cloth she was wrapped in when she was thrown into her cell. The fact that she still has bits of char stuck to her here and there, and that she’s been stewing in her own physical-therapy sweats for weeks.

Raika wakes up from a deep hibernation exactly as gross as one might expect if one were to put all these facts together.

Shambling like the recently unearthed, she drags a relatively clean sheet off the bed, wearing it like a hooded robe or comfortable cocoon as she shuffles, bleary-eyed, towards the baths.

It’s a bit silly to mention it, seeing as it should be obvious, but the baths are exactly as decadent as every other part of this place. Ornate marble columns, sculptures of gorgeous, nubile figures carved into the walls, a massive skylight up above whose light flickers off the endless mosaics and colorful tiles that make up designs she does not pay attention to. To both sides of the entrance to the positively cavernous space are a series of lockers and hangars, with several smaller chambers and bathing areas and small pools one may partake in for a more thorough and private cleansing, many of them obscured by labyrinthine stone walls or fancy-looking curtains. The real attention grabber, of course, comes from directly ahead; a hundred feet or so into the room, a set of pure white stairs descend into a borderline lake of a pool. The entire thing steams slightly, weaving in between the outer pillars while allowing the central ones to rest in its waters, the entire space smelling of spiced soaps and salts and other delights. She even notices small towels, artfully wrapped and left at intervals besides small bottles of lotions, soaps and shampoos.

She’s seen whole buildings, in a sect, that cost less than this one room.

So, deciding she is not an animal, Raika gently unwraps herself from the bedsheet she brought, hangs it up on a hook near the door, and shuffles over to let herself fall face-first into the central bathing lake.

It kicks up a splash as she lands in it, the sting of a full-frontal flop into the water enough to wake her up but not, as she’d imagined, actually hurt. Another victory for demonic-looking rituals and horrifying bodily trauma!

It doesn’t take more than a few minutes for the steaming waters and fragrant salts (and are those flower petals?) to dissolve away most of her remaining burnt scraps of clothing and weeks of accumulated dirt, blood and grime, until she’s left a slightly darker cloud of water around herself. Then, a few minutes after, the pool has left not even that, somehow so thoroughly burning or cycling away the filth that the water around her is just as clean as she went in. As much as the initial slap woke her up, she can’t help but nearly drift off again in the warmth and soothing smells of the whole experience.

Then she hears the doors to the bath open, and despite the relaxation, can’t help but rouse herself enough to look over and make sure there’s no threat there.

By some definitions, there isn’t. By other, wiser definitions, there’s one of the greatest dangers of all.

A gorgeous person enters the room, carrying a towel and wearing nothing but a bright smile and a long, nearly glowing trail of hair, pointing said smile right at Raika.

“Why, if it isn’t our latest addition!” Kaena says as they walk, completely unashamed, over to the edge of the pool Raika has migrated to. They sit on the edge, basking in the steam and letting a long, lithe leg dangle into the water. “What a joy it is to find one of my new favorite people in one of my favorite places?”

Raika looks around, feigning ignorance as best she can. Whatever Kaena’s deal is, they’re very distinctly a threat, even if she didn’t smell the slightest hint of that metallic toxin whenever they’re around. “I can move if you want,” Raika tells them with a shrug.

Kaena gives off a coquettish giggle, holding a hand up to their face to more gracefully laugh at the “joke”. “Oh, darling Raika, already such a delight. No, no, you gorgeous beast, you stay right where you are. I’m afraid your presence could only ever make me prefer whatever location you migrate to over this dreary corner.”

With a long, gentle sigh, they slip themselves into the water, one sinuous movement after another. Raika notices that somehow their hair never gets in the way of their movements, yet remains always around and about them. It drapes along their body and all around their trail, and nothing is hidden, the platinum-rose streams covering Kaena’s body in places that entice or call to the imagination, rather than actually covering anything. They descend into the water like a snake and a jellyfish rolled into one, all natural beauty, yet so little of it human, the peach-and-gold pattern of their skin only highlighting the allure.

Raika blinks. There is every chance that they’re using a technique of some kind to make themselves more enticing, a hypnotic use of Qi or just a genuine aura of attraction that some can manifest. It’s well known that those who practice dual cultivation, or the occasional sex worker that begins to cultivate, often learn powers and even Dao that can work to alter the minds of those attracted to them.

All of that being said, none of those possibilities make Kaena any less obscenely hot. It just might make them all the more dangerous. The smell of their Qi is repressed, quiet, but unlike most of those that Raika’s experienced, it never seems to fade away entirely, and even here, surrounded by a sea of soft and clean fragrances, she can still pick up hints of peaches, cream, and… what is that, mercury? An extract of some kind, a venom distilled?

“Don’t you know it’s rude to stare, darling?” Kaena says, breaking Raika out of her thoughts and helping her to notice she has, in fact, been staring straight at the would-be supermodel.

She refuses to give them the satisfaction, though. “You don’t seem like the type entirely unused to staring,” Raika replies. “Or to other rude things, if we’re being cheeky.”

Kaena breaks into another of their bubbly laughs, filling the bathhouse as if they’re a magical addition to the ambiance. “Such forwardness!” they laugh. “So bold! If this is how brave you always are, I can see how you have fallen into so much trouble.”

“But don’t you worry, I like a spot of trouble from the brave ones,” they say, fingers trailing down the shoulder of her left half-arm.

Raika pauses at that. It’s a… rather forward recognition of the disfigurement. The smell of toxin still faintly in the back of her throat, she focuses in on the action. It feels like a move designed to set her at ease about her crippling, make her more comfortable and relaxed. You don’t have to hide, it says, whisper-quiet and seductive.

Might even be true. Could even be reassurance from a senior sibling in what may well be newly found allies. Could just as easily be a trick to manipulate her and draw her into the thrall of the impossibly attractive stranger. Could very well be both.

Faintly, a wisp of peaches hits her nose, and she growls, low and quiet.

Kaena doesn’t pull back or react, their entire body entirely relaxed, but they do go quiet, saying nothing while the sound dissipates softly into the air around them.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Apologies, senior,” Raika says quietly, “but I would rather not be touched by those I do not know. I’m afraid I’ve experienced some negative experiences relating to such most recently.”

“Ah, of course!” Kaena replies, hand swiftly removed and waving as if to dismiss the whole faux pas. “My apologies, but please, let us not be something so banal as junior and senior. You’ll find engagements here in our little project far more relaxed and open than in a more traditional experience. But you’re right, we hardly know each other! Allow me to go first!”

Raika blinks, and before she can respond one way or another, Kaena has already started gaining momentum, picking up sprinklings of herbs and specialized minerals that sizzle and bubble in the water and somehow release even more new smells into the air. Raika doesn’t remember any of said concoctions being there a moment before, but as she looks over her own shoulder she quickly finds a series of small vials all her own, all with symbols and names she’s never heard of before.

“The name is Hao Kaena, as you know, most illustrious to meet you,” they start, “but really what’s a name? I suppose we can call each other anything we like, so long as we agree, don’t you think darling? Gorgeous beastie that you are, you can call me what you like! But don’t worry, I’m far more than just a pretty figure-” (at which point they wave a hand over their body, which wriggles in a very attention-grabbing sort of way)- “I’m a proper connoisseur of all the best things in life. Stick with me, darling, I’ll have us floating above the heavens momentarily, if I can only find- ah, there it is, essence of softpetal orchids, never bathe without them, you’ll feel like a whole new person after, I guarantee it!”

Caught up in the tide, Raika has hardly any time to say much of anything, but… well, the water smells fantastic, never mind how silky the texture the water has started taking on. And what’s the point of an imperial, palatial bathhouse that you don’t take advantage of?

“I’ll hold you to it,” Raika replies, trying her best to keep her voice cool.

“Ah! And here I was, afraid you’d deny yourself the simple pleasures of good company and a good bath both!” Kaena smiles. “Truly you’re wise beyond your years, honored Raika. Come along, they have an absolutely gorgeous set of flowers they grow here, they simply refuse to tell me their names but they’re simply marvelous. The impact on one’s Qi! Mmph, you simply must try some.”

Almost as if summoned by their mention, Kaena simply reaches a hand over to where the army of fragrant vials had been a moment earlier and plucks a flower from a small vase that is there.

Raika did not see the vase arrive, or sense the cultivator beside her move.

And then one of the flowers hits the water, and a smell so bright she can feel it tingling through her whole body hits the water and hits her like a boulder, filling the water with… some kind of floral waterfall, its depths hidden but with impossibly clear waters. She can’t help herself- she breathes deep, letting the smell into her, and it’s like she only just woke up now. Vitality rushes through her whole body, a sudden pulse of sheer wakefulness and well-rested comfort all at once flooring through her and leaving her feeling like she just woke up to a perfect sunrise and a delicious breakfast.

And that’s just the first breath.

As she keeps breathing, she feels the energy move through her, entering through the lungs almost as easily as Qi used to, filling her up and then cycling peacefully and gently out of her on every exhale. The sensation of pins and needles that has filled her and slowly grown even in the little time she’s been awake calms, flowing in gentle waves, back and forth along her bloodstream, like it’s been lulled to sleep from how it usually rages and spasms.

Raika opens her eyes after an unknown amount of time to see Kaena leaned back against a nearby part of the pool, giving Raika her space but watching with what seems like a genuine smile on their lips.

“Well?” they ask. “Hold me to it. How does it feel?”

“...like I’m at least a little bit a whole new me,” Raika can’t help but say.

They throw their head back in another melodious laugh, the movement doing fascinating things to their muscles and which parts are being displayed at any given time. “I’ll take it,” they say. “Perhaps I’ll have to use some other secret luxury to help you feel fully like I promised, but it’s a good start, no?”

Raika nods, feeling her entire body relax, every part of her simultaneously shifting and moving in tune with gorgeous, refreshing harmony of flesh and self. She takes another deep breath of the air, wiggling her nose a bit as she’s tickled by the return of the other smells of the bath, the flower’s vitality slowly drifting away.

“I admit, sculpted monster,” Kaena whispers, “you have me… intimately curious. All those expressions you’re making can’t help but leave a poor thing like me intrigued. How is it? Being able to smell what most of us can only ever experience more privately?”

Raika opens their eyes, looking at Kaena. The lithe figure remains entirely relaxed. For all that appearances can show, the question might matter to them as much as the origin of one of her scars, or how she enjoyed the bed she’d been granted. A mixture of intimacy and distance.

Raika is not a master manipulator, and there’s likely a lot here she isn’t seeing. But it’s not hard to see when one should probably keep an eye out for a stranger showing so much interest. She loses little in describing what might as well be public knowledge, but… the memory of Kaena’s scent comes back to her. The incredible ripeness, softness, sweetness, inviting one in for a bite, for an experience chosen for how well it complements the moment… and the strange, mercurial danger beneath it all. She’s still not entirely sure how accurately she’s smelling things, and there’s been more than one occasion where it’s clearly been her brain slapping concepts into her olfactory senses to help her parse some of the information she’s receiving. That doesn’t mean she can’t be careful. There’s no reason to make enemies with someone so visibly friendly and, theoretically, who she will be asked to work alongside; there’s also no reason not to be very, very aware of herself in this moment.

“It feels like I’m always tasting things,” Raika admits. “Like I’m being flooded with flavors and ideas and scents every time I breathe in.”

“Oh?” Kaena asks, prompting softly and offering little by way of reaction.

“Everyone I’ve met has been different,” Raika continues. “Most wildly so. Sometimes the smell is unpleasant, but it’s usually neutral. It doesn’t really seem tied to things I’d already smelled, either, some of the impressions I get are like… I know them, even if I’ve never encountered them before.”

“Fascinating,” Kaena whispers, eyes very intent. As Raika speaks they’ve sort of spread themselves out, relaxing into the water so they’re drifting a bit rather than sitting still and staring Raika down. Still, it does gradually bring them slightly closer as they float, ever so slightly, long legs and soft skin slipping through the water ever so innocently. “With that alone, you might have been part of this little project of ours, fascinating enigma you are. To think how much more you have to offer, though…”

“Not curious about what you smell like?” Raika asks.

“Ha!” Kaena giggles. “Hardly a polite thing to ask a beauty like myself, you chiseled devil. Besides, I’m certain if I should have a scent, it would be something alluring enough to match me, so what need is there to worry?”

Raika nods, and makes a decision.

“Peaches and cream,” she says, looking closely at Kaena as she says it. “Like a dessert fit for a king.”

Kaena pauses.

Full body pauses.

They don’t change expression, or change their posture, but where before their movements were sinuous and constant, every moment an ongoing allure, for a brief moment they just… stop. There is the briefest, tiniest second of silence.

“See?” Kaena says. “Just as delicious as I am. Hardly a shock, hmm?”

The smell of their Qi, just as before, just as it has this whole time, remains quiet, subdued, and ever present.

And very briefly, Raika senses that mercurial toxin shifting and coiling beneath the surface bite into the other scents, before it fades again.

She’d wondered. The way of dressing, the clear knowledge of luxury and excess, and the scent… and the fact that it hadn’t stopped. It gives no advantage to keep one’s Qi extended like that, not at the level Kaena seems to be at. Any curse-wielder, anyone with a fine degree of control and perception, anyone who could drink in Qi would see it as a target or a tool, never mind the difficulty it adds to hiding one’s emotions and strength. In a setting with a known factor, as a visible and obvious show of manipulation or invitation, it makes sense, but with a stranger well-known to be a potential danger and an unknown? Kaena seems very nearly designed to entice, almost like a prey animal, its scent washed on it to draw in hungry predators. Add that to the quality of their upbringing and knowledge, the way they seem so very adept at temptation… It paints a picture. She’s not sure what it’s a picture of, not yet, but it’s not one that she feels comfortable with. All she’d needed to confirm the theory was to see if her senses really did carry as much information as she’d wondered, if the impressions it gave her had any more weight than just her own mind guessing at flavors and pleasant smells.

“Apologies, senior Kaena,” Raika says, quietly, as she starts to get out of the pool. “I meant no offense.”

Kaena floats there for a moment, looking up at Raika. She’s entirely naked, every inch of flesh covered in scars of one sort or another, from those of battle, to the razors of the festival, to the deeper scars of her more horrific wounds, every inch of flesh flush with newly grown muscle and curves and definition. Yet as Kaena looks at her, there is not an ounce of sexuality in their eyes.

“...you’re an interesting one, Raika,” they say.

“The same to you, honored senior,” Raika replies, before picking up the towel left suspiciously close to where she’d been soaking (that she’s pretty sure hadn’t been there before) and heading over to the cold showers of the bathhouse.