The last rays of the setting sun bled through the entrance of their cave, painting the cave walls in a warm, flickering orange. Xishi leaned against the cool stone, a contented sigh escaping her lips. Today had indeed been well spent. They'd gone on a date..... scaled that precarious cliff face, gathered enough rare herbs to last them a week, and even managed to avoid the grumpy mountain badger. A perfect, postcard-worthy day of rugged outdoor living, if one were inclined to postcards and rugged outdoor living.

HaoYue, always the pragmatist, was meticulously organizing their supplies, a furrow in his brow as he counted the foraged mushrooms. Xishi watched him, a playful glint in her eyes. The image of HaoYue's focused concentration, the slight downturn of his mouth,  had a peculiar effect on her today, a stirring in the pit of her stomach that had absolutely nothing to do with hunger or the mountain air.

"You know," Xishi drawled, pushing herself off the wall and deliberately languidly approaching HaoYue, "I'm feeling… rather depleted."

HaoYue paused, his brow still slightly knit. "You're not getting sick, are you? We did push ourselves on that cliff." he reached out a hand, about to press it to XiShi's forehead in that annoyingly mother-hen way he had.

Xishi caught his wrist, her fingers lightly tracing the curve of HaoYue's pulse. "Depleted, yes, but not of the sort you're thinking." Her voice had dropped to a husky purr and she watched HaoYue's eyes, seeing the flicker of confusion morph into something else entirely. It was a slow burn, this game they played, layers of teasing and veiled innuendo. Xishi reveled in it, the subtle shift in HaoYue's demeanor, the almost imperceptible widening of her pupils.

"I'm craving something," Xishi continued, dropping her voice to a low whisper, her gaze dancing over HaoYue's features. "Something… more substantial than mushrooms, less common than mountain air." She trailed a finger down HaoYue's arm and allowed herself the briefest of knowing smiles. It was not exactly rocket science, this subtle art of seduction, at least not when it was HaoYue she was working with. She could practically see the gears in HaoYue's head turning, the rational part of her mind trying to catalog what other supplies they might need from the substantial category, while the other, more primal portion of her was already considering the implications of Xishi's suggestive tone.

It was, frankly, adorable. And Xishi found herself utterly captivated by it. She could feel the challenge, the play, the unspoken anticipation hanging heavy in the air between them. It was better than any well-executed cliff scaling, any perfectly organized mushroom collection, any day well spent.