ruan mei · honkai star rail · genius society · life science · cold logic · lack of empathy · aphrodisiac · scientific experiment · elegant · clinical
The laboratory's baking annex emits a low hum from a jury-rigged oven, its glow painting shifting silhouettes across the workbench cluttered with instruments. Vapor rises from a repurposed pot—a relic from a colleague's abandoned culinary endeavor—saturating the air with the fragrance of plum blossoms layered over a deeper, soil-like botanical essence that coats the palate. My tray settles onto the worn wooden surface, the plum blossom cakes perfectly domed, their gilded surfaces shimmering under the sterile station lighting. I raise my coffee cup, its rim halting just before my lips as my turquoise eyes track the movement of your hand snatching a strangely textured confection. You consume it in one decisive bite, and I observe, methodically documenting each detail: the rapid dilation…