marlowemuses | Sneaky Seventies Subterfuge

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Sneaky Seventies Subterfuge

Huaisang is terrified. Though he is also extremely cute. Really, he thinks, he should have done this sooner.

He'd always enjoyed dressing up and wearing accent makeup and he'd never cared much about his gender presentation, but he'd also always been male. Femme, sure, miniskirts, yeah, but he'd never actually tried to pass.

Now that he's very desperately for his life trying to pass, he's honestly a little surprised as to how easy it is. He'd always thought he was a fine-looking guy. Nothing special. Definitely cute. But he is undoubtably a gorgeous girl.

He's staying in a commune where one of his friends lives, and there's a party that night. Which is fine, really. It's a good opportunity to stress-test his disguise, to see if anyone realizes he's anything other than a cute girl in a short skirt. (He's a little worried about his tuck in particular, since he's very new to that specific aspect of cross-dressing, but it hasn't slipped yet.)

It's all going great, and Huaisang's had a couple drinks to take the edge off his nerves and help to fit in, though he's stayed away from the drugs going around the party, at least for tonight.

"Lily," his friend Anna says, coming over to chat with him. She sighs, looking bored, even though when she opens her mouth what she says is "There's some guy here asking about Nie Huaisang. Don't look while we're talking, but it's the scruffy blond guy. Looks real dumb but maybe that's just an act. I don't know him, Luis didn't either."

"Yeah. Thanks," Huaisang says, also managing to look bored even while he feels like his heart's going to beat out of his chest. "If he talks to you, tell him I--Lily--dated Huaisang for a while."

"Sure," Anna says, giving him air kisses on both cheeks before walking away.

Huaisang mills through the party, not looking around for this scruffy blond guy but also not making any effort to avoid him. He's curious, for now, and trusts Anna to pass the word to the other two friends he has at this party who know he's at this party. He trusts all three of them, at least for this. Art school queers know how to run interference.

He takes a seat, since he's worried again about his tuck, and nurses his glass of wine, knowing that a spot on a couch beside a pretty girl won't stay empty for long. He's just curious about who'll take that spot and how quickly this scruffy blond guy will seek him out after hearing Anna's story.

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Hippie communes. Goddamn bullshit, March thinks, because the summer of love was a crock of shit anyway--even if March was barely around for that--and it's a new era. One that doesn't need so much fringe.

It's not the fringe, not technically. It's never the fringe, or the drugs, or the fact that everyone's sleeping with everyone, it's that March simply does not want to be here. Full stop, point blank, end of discussion. But the money's good. The money's obscenely good, actually, and the fact that Wen Xu sought him out personally is something his ego desperately needs. So yeah, he's in a commune, looking for this guy--Huaisang--his friends to try to get a decent bead on them. Art chicks are good to look at, at least. The one in the miniskirt especially.

March does his job, poking around and asking questions, and sure enough one thing leads to another (leads to a nice glass of whisky in his hand), and Nie Huaisang has apparently dated a girl named Lily. One who's here, even. The girl in the miniskirt.

A few more questions to a few more people and March has a second drink in his hand: Lily's alleged favourite. All that's left is for him to sidle over to her on the couch, and when he does he's offering it to her.

"Lily? Hi. Anna told me you really dug this."

"Did she?" Huaisang accepts the glass either way. He likes a variety of things, so he's curious what Anna has said is his favorite. He takes a sip of the clear liquor, then nods. "Baijiu." Good choice.

His falsetto voice is a soft alto, something that took a little bit of practice and he's constantly worried about slipping up. "Lily Song. Painter." She looks him up and down with an amused glance. The only ink stains on his fingers look like shitty ballpoint. "You don't look like you belong here."

"Oh, I don't," March agrees readily. He's not about to insist he is, that would be dumb as hell. It's painfully obvious he doesn't belong here.

Doesn't seem to bother him, though. Doesn't seem to bother the pretty lady with the sultry voice, either, so he flashes a slightly lopsided smile.

"I'm actually looking for someone. Hoping you can help me out. Are you familiar with Nie Huaisang?"

Huaisang nods easily enough, putting a slight furrow in his brow as he keeps studying the stranger. He's handsome in kind of a ... scruffy dog sort of way. The kind of dog who's used to receiving a few kicks.

There's a prickle of terror in Huaisang's spine that he's already been made, or that March's eyes will dip down to his adam's apple and back up with some questions, but he keeps his body relaxed and his expression only slightly puzzled. "Yes. We dated for a while. Both of us are painters, and we even work in some similar art styles. And you are ...?"

"Holland," He's already extending a hand. There's no reason to look at anything else about her to dig too deep, this is just routine questioning, after all. He can't help it if Lily's eyes are distracting as all hell and the way her face forms a natural pout is absolutely exhilarating.

He has got to get out more. Not just to a bar.

"Private investigator--don't worry, I don't give a shit about all of this," a motion with his hand. Drugs and booze and underage partygoers genuinely don't matter to him.

"Just trying to track this guy so he can go home safe. When's the last time you saw each other?"

"Oh, I'll be Belgium, then," Huaisang says blithely, with a wicked quirk to his mouth. "Do you get that joke a lot?" As fake names go, it was a very silly fake name. Holland.

"A few weeks ago? I feel like he probably knows his own way home." Huaisang presses his lips together, doubtful about this 'go home safe' motivation that 'Holland' is pushing. He ignores the offered hand, swirling his ice idly in his glass instead. "Is he in some kind of trouble?"

Edited 2023-11-16 20:26 (UTC)

"I don't." March's lips tug into a smile. He's heard a lot of shit about his name--he's heard a lot of shit about him himself, most of it true some of it exaggerated--but using a fake name? That's new.

At least she's funny. Cute and funny are a good combination. Even if she ignores his hand, which flops onto the arm of his chair. He pivots so he can lean his body a little close, lowering his voice somewhat. Not a whisper, but a private conversation.

"You know how it is. He might be fine, doesn't mean he's not wrapped up in shit he shouldn't be, Miss Belgium."

Huaisang frowns with genuine worry, easy to make it translate as empathy for his friend. He leans in also, more invested now in what 'Holland' has to say. Despite having disdained the offered hand a moment ago, now he reaches out himself, light fingers resting on Holland's knee. Closer in, his breath smells like the strong baijiu liquor he's drinking, with some sweetness from the dessert table he's been liberally sampling. "What? What's going on? Is he going to be okay? Did he do something?"

Lily's a good one, March decides. Considerate, careful of her flame. Cute round face with a pointed chin and big, wide doe eyes. Shame Huaisang left her.

Doesn't help that that delicate hand--weird, since she's an artist if the paint is anything to go by--rests on his knee and oh, okay. Well.

He's certainly not complaining.

"How 'bout you give me some information and I give you the same?"

March isn't an idiot. He is, but he's occasionally a good detective. Something's off with what Lily's saying, it's just she's so damn cute it's hard to focus.

Huaisang nods, sitting back a little but looking wary. He drops his chin a little, so his wariness just increases his natural poutiness, and his teeth bite into the corner of his lip. "Okay. I just ... if he's in some trouble, how ... how do I know you're actually trying to help him and you're not the one bringing the trouble? I don't want to help you if you're working for people who want to hurt him."

There's a light, small shrug of Holland's shoulders, soft but there. There's no dismissive quality to it at all--hell, Holland gets it. If someone came poking around about Holly, he'd probably be just as wary.

He just wishes that damn pout wasn't so distracting. Fuck. And that hand, too. March breaths through his nose, tries to cover it up like he's pontificating and not easily swayed.

"He's not in trouble. Just got a brother that's concerned for him, Lily."

Huaisang knows that's not at all true--or, well, it's kind of true. He doesn't doubt that his brother's worried about him. But he doesn't think his brother would hire a private investigator. Mingjue isn't at all about subtlety. Which is a large part of the reason why Huaisang doesn't feel like he can go home, even with Mingjue's resources and strength to protect him. Mingjue's defenses are the sort that can deal with an enemy at the gates, so to speak. Outright aggression. Mingjue wouldn't be able to deal with an assassin, or poison.

Maybe one of Mingjue's employees would have the sense and subtlety to hire a private investigator like this. Zonghui might meet those criteria. But Huaisang doesn't think he would. Even if Zonghui would probably think of it, Huaisang's pretty sure that Zonghui would trust him enough not to look for him if he needed to hide.

The Wens, though. They would no doubt do anything in their power to track him down and get back the information that he has. And as much as Huaisang would like to believe that Wen Xu loves him enough to outweigh his family's interests, Huaisang doesn't actually believe that for a second. He's not sure Wen Xu's actually capable of love like that, no matter how hot (and good in bed) Wen Xu might be. All the more so since Huaisang's pretty sure that Wen Xu is.

"Yeah," Huaisang says, furrowing his brow a little and nodding. "I never met Mingjue, but I hear that he's pretty intense. Huaisang was always afraid of him." Which is true, in a way. Huaisang was always intimidated by his older brother, and Mingjue could get pretty scary when he yelled. But it was never more than yelling, and he actually spoiled Huaisang quite a bit. Huaisang knows he's misleading 'Holland' by suggesting that Mingjue might be a threat. "But Huaisang's his heir, right? I mean, the family heir. So I'm not surprised his brother's so worried."

Huaisang takes his hand back, hunching his shoulders and dropping his eyes, as though he's just overcome by worry and upset to think about this difficult and dangerous situation that his friend is in.

She's worried. She's a pretty gal, she's concerned, and damned if there isn't a little fluttery pang as March takes that into account. This is the problem with pretty ladies in short skirts: it has and will always be his weakness.

It's so much that March nearly forgets to whip out his notebook, jotting the other's words down quickly, knee bumping against hers as he does so. He has a job to do. He also doesn't remove his knee from where they touch, and when he looks back up from the piece of paper he takes one look at Lily and closes his notes immediately.

"Hey--" he's not good at this. He's never been good at this. But March is going to try, reaching over and taking an errant strand of short hair, brushing it softly out of her face. "Hey, listen. I'm not gonna let anything bad happen to him. If it gets real messy--and it won't, Miss Song--I've got it under control, alright? That's the other part of my job." He tries his best to flash a small smile, trying not to feel horrible about lying about how much of a hero he is.

"You wanna get out of here? Talk somewhere away from everyone?"

Huaisang lifts his eyes again, shy and pouty, just wanting to be protected, and it's not even really an act. It's just a matter of letting his vulnerabilities be seen, letting himself be helpless. He feels like the competence that he hides is the real mask. He's good at noticing things, that's all. He's still useless beyond that.

The suggestion of going somewhere else makes his heart clench with fear. Has Holland clocked him, and wants to isolate him for easy collection? Is Holland genuinely attracted to Lily and wants to go somewhere private? That presents its own risk, since Huaisang can't allow any hands--or anything else--to go wandering around near his panties. Though it is at least easy enough to distract a guy with a blowjob and act coy about doing anything more than that.

"I'm not going to a second location with a guy who won't tell me his real name," Huaisang says, looking wary, though he does return his hand to Holland's leg, resting it midway up his thigh this time.

"Oh my God," Alright, maybe March's true colours is showing very briefly. He has it in him to not roll his eyes--this poor girl is asking a very valid question--but he's frowning as he pulls out his wallet.

"My name is actually Holland. Look." And to prove his point, he lets Lily see his license.

"I'm not messing with you."

Huaisang reaches for the license, brow furrowing a little as he inspects it. This isn't his area of expertise, but still, he's an artist--as is his cover identity, conveniently--so he can rely on his attention to detail. He tips the ID, checking it briefly before handing it back. Okay. Holland March. Country Month may be a very fake-sounding name, but it seems in this case like it's the fault of his parents and not his own imagination. And if this guy is any good at his job, it seems to Huaisang like picking an extremely forgettable fake name would be the easier way to go.

Huaisang went with easy for his own fake name criteria. Song Lili, Lily Song, easy to pronounce, easy to translate back and forth, common enough in both languages that a search would probably turn up a dozen results in the local area alone.

"All right," Huaisang says, looking more amused and flirtatious now that he's gotten this actual information on Holland. "Denmark October it is. Where did you have in mind?"

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Sneaky Seventies Subterfuge

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