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The simple rhythm of cleaning and pouring glasses was something Mo Xuanyu had grown to appreciate about his job. It was mindless, something he could do whilst keeping an eye and ear out for more interesting things — and, more often than not, troublemakers who would soon be kicked out. Not to mention the pay. He earned more in a week than he ever would’ve dreamed of making when stuck with his abusive maternal family, and he didn’t even have to worry about them stealing it from him!
People from all walks of life visited their seafront tavern, some more loose-lipped than others. He was sure that more than a few people would be clambering for his head if they knew how much he had overheard from his simple bar.
In his defence, he hadn’t learnt everything from his (not-so-)unintentional eavesdropping. There was many a patron that had let a little too much slip in their attempts to impress him whilst flirting. He supposed they must’ve assumed he was too simple-minded to understand, too harmless to waste time getting rid of. Which was their loss. He’d never really understood why they would bother flirting with him if they thought him so stupid, but he was hardly going to tell them to stop, was he? Not when the details they provided proved so profitable.
It was just so easy, getting them to spill so many of their little secrets. Worming more and more out of them with just a bat of his eyes. A fun little game that only he was aware they were playing.
At first, he just did it because it was fun. He had nothing to gain from it, nor did he have anything to lose. Then Nie Huaisang — a pirate, widely known, but only as the younger brother of the far more infamous Chifeng-zun — waltzed into his life.
Their first encounter started unremarkable. Mo Xuanyu had been at his job long enough that the novelty of serving living legends (or their relatives) had long since worn off, and so he’d served the man as he would any other. He’d taken a moment to admire the painted fan held in a deceptively firm grip, always one to appreciate beauty and art when he could, but beyond that there was nothing that stood out about their brief interaction. He served a few other patrons, sliding glasses down to the ones he couldn’t quite reach, and almost forgot about his infamous guest until he was called back over for a refill.
He was only a little surprised when the petite pirate began to flirt. Usually it was the more slimy patrons that were inclined to such behaviour. Though he was hardly going to complain if the one spilling accidental secrets was easy on the eyes this time round. And yet, as the hours dragged on, as customers came and went, he found his itch for gossip irritatingly unscratched. It was a craving he hadn’t even realised he’d possessed until he was denied it, and by the delighted glint in his companion’s eye, he could tell the pirate had realised he had it too.
Normally, pirates of Nie Huaisang’s calibre were the easiest to weasel things out of. Always so eager to show off, always so drunk they’d forget what they’d told before the night even faded to day. Mo Xuanyu had learnt of the passing of many a famous figure through flirting with pirates, sometimes weeks before anything official reached their busy port town.
To say he was frustrated by the lack of gossip would be an understatement. He hadn’t so much as seen the gleam of a jewel! Pirates loved showing off their jewels!
More than a little embarrassed to be seen through so easily, he had attempted to politely shut Nie Huaisang down, hoping he was at least not visibly sulking. He didn’t outright ask him to leave, as he’d rather not risk getting in trouble with either his boss or the pirate, but he did start to withhold any responses not linked to serving the pirate his beverage of choice.
Irritatingly, this was not enough to get the pirate to leave. In the past when he’d used such a move — usually on patrons that came on a bit too hard, even for him — the recipient got bored soon enough, and either left him alone, or left the establishment for the night altogether. Not Nie Huaisang though.
No, Nie Huaisang stayed even after the bar had shut. Waited. Mo Xuanyu couldn’t help but be reminded of the little egrets he’d seen, silently waiting, watching their prey. Frankly? He wanted nothing to do with that. Just because Nie Huaisang’s infamy came more from who he was related to, rather than who he was, didn’t make him any less dangerous.
Mo Xuanyu thought he’d be free of the man when he left the tavern for the night, a different worker taking over to corral any stragglers, and prepare for the daytime patrons. He made it about two streets before the pirate gained his attention again. If one considered being pulled into an alley as having one’s attention gained, that is.
For a good ten minutes, Mo Xuanyu was certain he was going to die. Cursed himself for his stupidity. ‘It’s always the good looking ones!’ he’d hissed at himself internally, not bothering to listen to the pirate as he talked.
Yet he remained decidedly not dead.
Begrudgingly, he began to listen, and the pirate clearly caught onto this as he began his whole spiel from the start again.
And thus begun a brilliant partnershi— not really. The man had followed him out of work and dragged him into an alley for a business proposition and he was supposed to trust him? Just like that?! No thanks. It may have been bad for his life expectancy but he was fully prepared to deny the man purely on the principle of not doing business with people who dragged him into alleyways.
His shock at being allowed to walk away freely would be a secret he took to the grave.
But it seemed the pirate was determined, as he showed up at the tavern again the next day. Mo Xuanyu tried his best to ignore him, hoping to avoid a repeat of the previous day’s Alley Incident, but the pirate seemed less inclined to flirtations that day. Instead, he ordered a single drink, and left a near unnoticeable note with the money, leaving after downing the beverage in one go.
Giving into his curiosity, Mo Xuanyu read the note. All that was written was a name and a time. Something he thought to be frustratingly useless to him. At least until the noted time rolled around, and wouldn’t you know it, a merchant with the same name as that on the note walked in.
He served the man, as usual, and couldn’t help but keep an ear out as the night went on.
The information he gleaned from that merchant alone was almost enough for him to forgive his pirate for any prior transgressions.
Almost.
That night, he made it home safe and unaccosted. Even the people that normally liked to jeer at him as he walked home were suspiciously absent.
The same pattern repeated for the next fortnight: Nie Huaisang would come in, order a drink, down it in one go, then leave behind a note with his payment, and Mo Xuanyu would get a free ticket to some of the most interesting secrets he’d been privy to in a while. He didn’t even have to work for them!
On the fifteenth day, Nie Huaisang began the routine again, but Mo Xuanyu stopped him before he could leave. If anyone asked, it was just on impulse. The two of them knew better.
Two years on, and the two had figured out a wonderful system that worked for both of them. Nie Huaisang would find ways to send people Mo Xuanyu’s way when he wanted secrets out of them, and Mo Xuanyu would be more than happy to leave an ear out — reporting back to the pirate whenever they next saw each other.
He didn’t flirt the information out of patrons nearly as much as he used to, though. Of course, he would never fully abandon such a useful technique, but he avoided it when he could. More often than not, he didn’t have to do anything but listen, and he was happier that way. Flirting had a much more bitter aftertaste when he had someone to come home to. Someone to hold and kiss and love.
Fortunately, his pirate was a very understanding man.