Meiling could name and number every person in Gensokyo who were 'regular visitors' of the Scarlet Devil Mansion on one hand. Reimu Hakurei, Marisa Kirisame, Alice Margatroid, Aya Shameimaru. Others broke in once, maybe twice. Some came only for the parties, and Meiling had to drag them out.
But out of all the people who had ever visited the mansion, Meiling had never seen Yuuka Kazami. Of course, she's heard of her – which is why, when she sees her walking up the path, she drops her watering can.
Holy shit, it's Yuuka Kazami.
The path to the Scarlet Devil Mansion is long, winding through the woods and leading up to the gates. Yuuka is walking up it slowly, her parasol resting on her shoulder. Meiling stares at her in muted shock before kicking her watering can out of the way in a panic.
What does she want? Is she here to fight...? There's no way Meiling could ever conceivably beat her in a fight, even if it was danmaku. Not like she was ever any good at that, though. She chuckles awkwardly, running a hand over her neck. Remilia isn't going to be happy about this...
Meiling takes a breath to compose herself – was her heart beating this fast the entire time? - and steps out onto the path to meet her. This is her job, after all. Yuuka looks up at her as she comes into view and smiles. It's a small, condescending smile, that makes Meiling's stomach swirl.
She clears her throat and bows her head. "Welcome to the Scarlet Devil Mansion, Lady Kazami." Meiling manages to keep her voice steady, although she can't stop the mess of anxious thoughts swirling in her head. She almost continues the sentence, but her words die in her mouth. She has absolutely no idea what to say.
"Ah, I see my reputation precedes me," Yuuka says, twirling her parasol around above her. "It's Meiling Hong, yes? A pleasure." She says it dryly, without any real enthusiasm.
Meiling nods quickly – too quickly, probably, dammit – and clasps her hands together behind her back. "Uh, yes! Yes. It's a pleasure to meet you too, Lady Kazami." She trails off awkwardly, trying to find her words. "... Do you have any business here? I'm sure the young mistress could find the time to talk to you..."
Yuuka chuckles. "Oh? Little Miss Scarlet? I'll pass. I'm not here to talk to her, or anyone else." Meiling has a small, quick jolt of panic, but the youkai continues. "I was told there's a garden here, so I decided to go see it for myself." She walks past Meiling without another word, towards the gardens.
"U-uh. Hey, wait - " Meiling's talking quickly, but Yuuka is already looking down at the gardens, holding her parasol high above her. The dragon flushes and readjusts her hat nervously. No one ever came here to see the garden, and certainly not Yuuka Kazami, of all people. "W-who told you about the garden...?"
Yuuka clicks her tongue and looks up. "Marisa mentioned it last time I saw her, so I freed up some space on my schedule to come and inspect it for myself."
... Alright then. Figures it was Kirisame, though.
Meiling nervously tails Yuuka as she walks through the garden. She takes her time – a youkai as powerful as herself has no reason to rush, after all – commenting on and occasionally complimenting on the placements of some flowers. Others, she just silently appreciates. Eventually, after they've gone through most of the garden, she speaks up. "You are the gardener here, correct?"
"Yes!" Meiling perks up, nodding quickly. There's a sudden swirl of panic but Meiling keeps it in, pushing it aside. Yuuka – Yuuka Kazami! – is here and she's looking at and complimenting her garden.
"And you're the gate guard too, huh..." Yuuka looks down at a flowerbed, humming to herself. "I guess you could say you're the 'guardener'. Because you guard. And garden." She steps back, grinning to herself in satisfaction.
Meiling stares at her blankly, before giggling. "I – I haven't heard that one before." This was ridiculously surreal. Better just roll with it.
"Anyways, you have quite the garden here," Yuuka says pleasantly, twirling her parasol around and turning to look at her. "How long have you been gardening? You're evidently no novice to this craft."
Self-conscious, Meiling tugs at a strand of her own hair. "Uh. About two-hundred years, I think? The mansion's moved around so much that I've had plenty of experience all over the place with this sort of thing."
"Ha, only two hundred?" Yuuka nods, still smiling. Before, Meiling could have understood why people thought she looked scary when she smiled, but now... Meiling just thought she looked cute. If she hadn't already been blushing, her face would have lit up. God, her emotions were suddenly all over the place. You only feel this way because she's complimenting you! Chill the fuck out!
The flower youkai is talking, rolling her parasol around in her hands. "But, I must be going." Meiling realizes she had missed part of what she had said when she had gotten distracted by her own thoughts. Shit. "Perhaps I'll see you around, hm?" Yuuka turns away, skirt rippling in the wind, smiles at Meiling one last time, and then goes back the way she came.
Meiling watches her nervously, twirling a few strands of hair in between her fingers. So, that just happened. She slowly walks back towards her watering can. Time to. Get back to work.
The next time Meiling runs into Yuuka, it's a few weeks – three, four? Meiling's not good with time – later. So long, that she's all but forgotten their last meeting. So, when she runs into Yuuka doing some errands all those memories rush back at once. "L-Lady Kazami! Hello...!"
Yuuka looks up from the lone, dark road. "Oh! Meiling. Did the vampire lengthen that leash of yours?" Her voice has the same condescending tone as it did before.
Haha. Meiling doesn't know how to respond to that, so she doesn't bother trying. "I'm just out on some errands," she mutters, rubbing at her neck and dropping down beside her. She bows her head respectfully.
"Is that so?" Yuuka looks back at the path and continues walking. "Well, I'd hate to keep you from your precious errands. Run along." She waves her hand dismissively, and Meiling huffs.
"... I'm already done most of them," If Meiling was less used to Remilia's demeanor, this may have gotten to her, but she'd spent over a century working for the vampire. Yuuka's brand of arrogance was much the same, really.
Yuuka chuckles. "Oh? Feel free to walk with me, then. I'm headed to the Garden of the Sun. It's a beautiful place, if you can handle all those meddlesome fairies."
"Haha, yeah..." Meiling slowly catches up to her, heart pounding. Goddamn anxiety. She scratches the inside of her palm and bites on her lip. "I haven't been there much, before..." Yuuka just nods in response.
"I have to say, I'm surprised you've been there at all, with how short a leash Miss Scarlet seems to keep you on."
Meiling sighs. "I'm not just an employee, alright?"
"Oh, so it's like that, huh?" Yuuka giggles and looks at her from the corner of her eye, and Meiling flushes.
"No, NO! Jeez... I owe her my life, so I guard the mansion. We're friends, alright?" Meiling huffs. "I'm like twice her age, anyways." Yuuka just nods. "Of course I have time off for things like these. I just don't have much reason to visit the Garden of the Sun all the time."
"Fair enough. Perhaps if you visited more often, we'd be more acquainted," Yuuka sighs dramatically. "There's not many who truly appreciate flowers here in Gensokyo. I'm glad I met someone who does."
She sounds serious. Meiling looks at her, and laughs nervously. "Uh. Thanks..." The rest of the walk passes in relative silence. Around them, fairies crowd, watching nervously. Most of them know better than to bother Yuuka, so they just watch.
Oh god, this is going to end up in the Bunbunmaru and she's going to have Remilia shoving the copy in her face for the better part of a day and Marisa's going to bother her and -
"Meiling." Yuuka's voice distracts her from her thoughts, but they don't end. The youkai looks at her curiously. "We're here. Come on, walk with me." Yuuka gestures with her chin, and Meiling nods quickly, following her.
The flowers are tall, taller than Meiling remembers. So tall that they almost block out the sky. Yuuka walks contently, looking around at all the flowers. Meiling just follows her, admiring the scenery. The Garden of the Sun was nice. Once you got past all the meddlesome youkai and fairies. But none of them really bothered her. Not with Yuuka around.
Yuuka is quiet and graceful. She stops at some flowers and floats up to look at their petals, or murmur something to them. Each wilted or withered flower, she breathes life into, and they bloom once more. Yuuka smiles to herself and continues on her way.
Eventually, she stops, and turns around. "Meiling."
Meiling stops, surprised. "Uh... yeah?"
"Don't you have errands to run? Why'd you follow some old youkai out into the middle of the Garden of the Sun? I won't say I didn't enjoy your company, but surely you have other things to do." Yuuka takes a step towards her, looking serious.
"W-well..." Meiling stutters, trying to find the words. She didn't really know. She saw an opportunity for a nice break and took it. And if she was able to spend some time with Yuuka, well... she wasn't complaining. "It just seemed like a nice opportunity for a break..."
"Really?" Yuuka chuckles, walking closer to her. She doesn't continue until she's so close that her parasol is over Meiling's head. She isn't short, not at all, but still, she needs to look up to look Meiling in the eyes. "But you can come here whenever you want. Why now. Why with me, hm?" Her lips quirk up in a grin and Meiling flushes.
"Uh. Well..." Meiling's words die in her throat as Yuuka stands up on the tips of her toes. She's grinning at her, still, and is close enough that their faces are almost touching. And then she leans in and kisses her.
The kiss barely lasts a second before Yuuka's pulled away. She chuckles and spins her parasol around. Meiling just stares at her, her blush spreading across her face. "...Haha. Sorry about that," she says, in a voice hardly more than a whisper. "Just wanted to do that, I suppose."
"I, uh. It's fine," Meiling mutters, rubbing the back of her neck. "It's fine, it's fine. It was nice...? Ehehe."
Yuuka smiles. "Well, that's good, then." There's an awkward silence, before Yuuka pulls away. "I shouldn't keep you any longer. Go, do your errands. I'll see you later, alright?"
"I, uh. Alright." Meiling stammers, fidgeting nervously. "Uh, you can come by the mansion if you want..."
"Ha, of course I can. Who'd stop me? Now go, run along."
Meiling nods at her, before kicking off into the air and flying back towards the mansion.
... Yuuka Kazami just kissed her.
Holy shit.