Chapter Text
Ningguang rested her back on the chair with a sigh of relief. Piles of contracts and reports stood perfectly organized and properly signed on top of her desk. “That will be all for today and maybe tomorrow” the Tianquan thought, taking a look at all the job she had managed to do in just a few hours and smiling proudly. She rested her chin on her hand and took a look at the window, staring at the now dark sky of Liyue. The woman started getting lost on her thoughts, until she was interrupted by a knock on her office’s door.
“Hey Ning, it’s getting late. Did you finish your work?” a familiar voice called. Beidou stood on the office’s door, arms crossed and a characteristic smile on her face.
“Yes. What were you doing?” Ningguang asked her, a rarely seen soft expression on her face.
“Reading in bed. I finished the book, so I came here. I’m bored now” Beidou whined, walking towards the other woman “Spend some time with me, please?” With Beidou now standing right in front of her, a chuckle escaped Ningguang’s lips as she saw her girl’s pleading eyes.
“Enough with this abandoned puppy look, honey” she said, getting up from her chair and grabbing Beidou’s cheeks, pulling her for a kiss.
“Will you join me in bed then?” Beidou asked her, with arms wrapped around her waist and a different expression on her face, a smirk replacing her gentle smile.
“Of course.” Ningguang whispered smiling back, bringing Beidou’s lips to her own once more.
“Ew” a familiar voice interrupted them “I didn’t have to see that”. Keqing was on the same place Beidou had been seconds ago, a disgusted expression on her face. Ningguang let go of Beidou, who just laughed at the awkward situation, before asking what the Yuheng wanted.
“We have lunch scheduled tomorrow to discuss some official matters” Keqing started speaking.
“I’m well aware” Ningguang answered, sitting back on her chair.
“But I was thinking we could discuss it tonight and end this subject for now” Keqing told her with an uninterested tone.
“Thought you liked us, Keqing. Why do you want to skip lunch with us?” Beidou asked her, pretending to be really hurt.
“I never said I wouldn’t come. I just thought we could finish this matter today and have a peaceful lunch tomorrow. I think we deserve it. I’m honestly exhausted and as far as I can see so are you, Ningguang”
It was truth, both women had been working much more than usual lately. Luckily for Ningguang, Beidou decided to take a break on her trips to spend some time at the Jade Chamber with her. Having her girlfriend around always helped her relax whenever stress was about to get the best of her.
“You are right, please take a sit” Ningguang offered rubbing her temples “Beidou, could you please make us coffee?”
“Yeah, sure” Beidou told her with a warm smile “I’ll be back in a minute”
“Wait a second. There’s something I want to discuss with both of you” Keqing said before Beidou could leave the room “Lumine brought Ganyu back from her mission at Jueyun Karst. Apparently, she wasn’t planning on returning to Liyue Harbor. In part it was a misunderstanding of hers, but I was told she’s been feeling lonely here. I risk saying it’s because Ningguang and I rarely see her outside of work, and Beidou had been absent for a while when she left. I was thinking, maybe we should invite her for lunch”
“I agree with you. Beidou can go talk to her, right?” Ningguang told the Yuheng.
“Definitely. Or would you prefer to go talk to her yourself, Keqing?” Beidou winked at the younger woman, who was about to answer the captain but was cut off by the Tianquan.
“Just go prepare the coffee, Beidou” Ningguang said and smiled in satisfaction, knowing she had saved the younger Qixing member from losing her composure.
After bringing them coffee and earning a glare from Keqing, Beidou left the Jade Chamber and went out looking for Ganyu. Luckily, she had an idea of where the girl might be. The harbor was quiet at this hour, most people already asleep at home, the only sound preventing a complete silence was the one of waves crashing on the wood docks. It didn’t take long for Beidou for spot Ganyu on her usual place.
“Haven’t seen you here in a while” Beidou said, making the Qilin jump in surprise.
“You scared me” she confessed with a hand on her chest “It was hard to get some free time to come here lately. And you haven’t been here in a while either. Right, Captain Beidou?”
“Oh you know” Beidou started talking while she took a spot next to the girl “I can’t refuse a call of the sea”
“But now you are back, so it seems you can’t refuse a call from the Tianquan either” Ganyu told her, a smile on her face, genuinely happy to be able to talk to a human friend again “Where did you go?”
“Basically everywhere” Beidou smiled “And you? Where were you these days?”
“Training with the cloud retainer and some other Adeptus” the girl answered, looking at the sky full of stars ahead of them.
“So… Xiao” Beidou said with a grin, just to provoke her friend. It worked, cause now the girl in front of her was blushing madly and trying to explain Xiao was just helping her on her training. “I’m just messing with you, Ganyu. I missed our little rendezvous”
“Me too” the Qillin smiled once more at her.
“But tonight, I’m here with an invitation, actually. What are you going to do tomorrow?”
“Tomorrow is… Saturday” Ganyu thought for a second before answering “I might work in the morning, but I’m not sure of what I’m going to do after that. Why?”
“Do you want to have lunch, maybe?”
“With you?” the girl asked her with a certain curiosity.
“You, me, Ningguang and Keqing. What do you think?” Beidou suggested with a wide smile on her face.
“What is the matter we need to discuss?” Ganyu asked with a more formal tone.
“Nothing, we’re just getting lunch. Spending some quality time together, just the four of us. You guys have been working a lot lately and I missed you when I was away”
“I’m grateful for your invitation, Captain Beidou” Ganyu answered looking to her feet “But I’m not sure the Yuheng would appreciate me being there”
Beidou looked at the girl’s sad eyes and burst into laugh “You have got to be kidding me, Ganyu. Keqing was the one who warned Ning and I you were back in Liyue Harbor, and is also the one who’s discussing some boring matter with Ningguang at this hour at the Jade Chamber just so they can have free time to spend with us tomorrow”
“Really?” Ganyu asked the taller woman in disbelief, a bright red blush on her cheeks. She never thought Keqing cared about her. In fact, knowing the beliefs of the young Yuheng, she was quite sure Keqing disliked her for being half Adeptus.
“Yeah, really. So, do you want to come?” Beidou asked her, putting an arm around her friend’s shoulders playfully.
“I would love to”