Qiwei's breath cascaded over Mercer's neck, and he was panting as well, until their breathing gradually settled back to normal.
"You don't mind if I smoke, do you?"
Her drunkenness had long since faded away, yet she remained languid, unwilling to move, her fingers tapping gently on his chest as she pointed to the pack of cigarettes on the bedside table not far away.
Mercer reached out to grab the cigarette pack and handed it to her. After a moment's consideration, he lit one for himself as well.
Come to think of it, this was the first cigarette he'd smoked since crossing over—funny, in his past life as mere flesh and blood, he was not one to shy away from smoking and drinking, but in this world, where even cancer was just a matter of replacing a part, he had started to avoid them altogether.
Qiwei seemed a bit surprised but said nothing. She lit her own cigarette first, then leaned over, gently biting her cigarette. Mercer understood her cue, and they touched the ends of their cigarettes together, lighting his with hers.
"So, do you regret it?" she asked softly, her gaze observing his expression unobtrusively.
"Why do you ask that?" Mercer replied with a question of his own.
Qiwei laughed softly, leaning against his shoulder: "Your first time with a woman like me, wouldn't you feel at a loss?"
"These things don't really matter." Mercer had long outgrown the age of caring about such things.
Moreover... it wasn't truly his first time in that sense.
Before crossing over, when he was fourteen or fifteen, he imagined finding a virtuous girl to spend the rest of his life with. But as he aged, such thoughts were shattered by harsh reality.
Now... for Mercer, matters between men and women boiled down to whether there was emotion involved or not.
At least with Qiwei, he could feel her cautious attempt to please him. This feeling mattered far more than anything else, allowing him, for the first time in a long while, to release all his pent-up stress without reserve.
As for her past... ha, these things vary from person to person. Mercer didn't care—at least she understood that her past was shameful, whereas some people might even take pride in their extensive experience.
Qiwei just looked at him quietly. After a moment, she smiled: "That's good then. I was worried you'd regret getting seduced by me once you calmed down."
"Of course not. You're a good girl, and I see nothing to regret in becoming 'good friends' with a good girl."
Mercer exhaled a puff of smoke, realizing he'd become somewhat unaccustomed to the sensation after not smoking for so long, even finding the mint-flavored woman's cigarette somewhat disagreeable.
So he decided not to smoke it.
He extinguished the cigarette, got up, and gave her a slight smile: "Want a drink?"
"Hmm... a small Coke?" She smiled, watching him get up and dress, her heart tinged with a bit of loneliness.
Mercer nodded, got up to fetch two cans of small Coke from the fridge outside.
Qiwei watched as he placed the Coke on the table and blinked: "You're not going back?"
"Do you want me to turn around and leave right now?" Mercer said amusedly, "I'll stay with you until you fall asleep."
At times like this, those who turned and left were almost invariably jerks. Though he didn't regard himself as particularly virtuous, he wasn't about to just leave after the act, treating her like a mere outlet.
"Then you'll have to stay with me for quite a while." She extinguished her cigarette too, picked up the Coke, took a sip, then turned to face Mercer, sitting on a chair beside her, beckoning him with her finger.
Mercer lay back down without hesitation, and she revealed a somewhat happy smile, curling up in his arms, lightly wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Thank you... for giving me a wonderful day and a beautiful dream."
She spoke softly, closing her eyes.
Mercer responded with a soft grunt, his hand gently caressing her back until her breathing became slow and even, and she fell asleep. Only then did he carefully withdraw from the room.
Standing at the door, he shook his head—"stay for a while" indeed, but in the end, she fell asleep almost immediately.
Before returning to his own room, Mercer suddenly stopped, opening the scan program on his Prosthetic Eye. Then he saw a network signal lingering at the door to Lucy's room, which was on the same side as his room.
From the scan outline, it seemed she was sitting by her door...
Mercer sighed softly, finally stopping and giving a small cough.
There were some flustered sounds from outside Lucy's door. After about five or six seconds, she opened it cautiously, peeking out at him.
They were silent, and finally, it was Mercer who spoke softly: "Go back and rest early."
"Did you do it?" she asked directly.
The moment of Mercer's hesitation gave her the answer. She lowered her head, her small face half-hidden beneath her silver short hair, her lips pressed tightly together. After a while, she chuckled dryly: "So... is it because she's of age?"
"You could say that. If it were Rebecca, I'd refuse," Mercer said honestly.
Lucy was silent for a moment, not looking at him, asking instead: "Established a relationship?"
"Just good friends," Mercer summarized the relationship with equal simplicity.
Lucy finally looked up slowly, turning her head to look at him.
Her lips were pressed so tightly together that they were turning slightly pale. At last, she just said: "Why not pretend you didn't notice me... how did you know I was waiting for you?"
"A guess," Mercer said, giving her a gentle smile. "I knew you'd subconsciously pay attention to what I was doing."
"..." Lucy had no words in response.