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“Close your eyes.”
“Why? Hu Tao, I swear if you try some prank on me again-“
“I’m not gonna! Pinky promise, swear on my hat,” she spoke with a grin, linking her pinky with the girl opposite’s.
Xiangling looked at her girlfriend quizzically, eyebrows knit together, scanning for that look that screamed ‘I’m gonna annoy you for no reason’ she so often indulged in. Finding nothing but sincerity in her starry eyes, she fiddled with the hem of her blue hoodie’s sleeve for a moment. Gazing down at their intertwined fingers, she sighed softly.
“...Fine. But if I open them and y- mmph!”
She’d been silenced by Hu Tao’s free hand over her mouth.
“Shhh, you worry too much. Besides, I’d never prank you, would I my love?” she drew out the last word purposefully. Xiangling just glared at her in response - but she couldn’t help thinking how infuriatingly cute this girl could be when she wanted to be. “I’ll take that as a no. Now close your eyes, loser, I haven’t got all day.”
Xiangling sighed once more, rolling her eyes before finally closing them. She felt a peck on her cheek and allowed her lips to curve into a slight smile, followed by the sound of her ghost-enthusiast partner shuffling off of the bed they were both kneeling on.
“What’re you doing you weirdo?” She couldn’t help but let out the excitement bubbling inside her as she spoke.
“Don’t worry, just give me a sec. And keep your eyes closed! It’ll be worth it, I promise.”
A few moments passed, the sound of Hu Tao digging around in her closet the only thing audible in the otherwise comfortably silent bedroom. Suddenly, Xiangling heard a soft “a-ha!” followed by the feeling of a small-ish human excitedly jumping onto the bed, almost knocking her over in the process.
“Sorry!” Hu Tao reached out to make sure her girlfriend didn’t actually fall off of the mattress, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her back. When they were both stable again, she rested one hand on her girlfriend’s and leaned slightly forward. “Okay, so, unfortunately for both of us there is no prank, but something tells me you might appreciate this a little more than, I don’t know, a slime to the face. Though I’m not sure which I would enjoy more...”
Xiangling scrunched up her nose and lightly slapped the other’s hand away at that, eliciting a gasp from Hu Tao. “Oh well if you’re gonna be like that I guess i’ll just keep this for myself.”
“Nooo I’m kidding, please what is it? Can I open my eyes?” The indigo-haired girl whined, grabbing back the hand she had just slapped away.
“Since you asked so nicely,” Hu Tao chuckled. Her tone softened to almost a whisper. “You may.”
As Xiangling opened her eyes, she expected to be met with her girlfriend’s - but instead, she was met with those of a large teddybear, one that she immediately recognised as being from a game’s stall in Mondstadt. A bear she had paid hundreds of mora to try and win during Ludi Harpastum, which they had attended with Xinyan and Barbara just a few weeks before.
Hu Tao poked her head out from behind the stuffed toy, just enough so that her golden eyes peaked over its’ shoulder. “Do you like him?” she whispered, clearly nervous to hear her response. Xiangling locked eyes with the girl, wishing she could’ve taken a mental picture of the adorable sight before her.
She quickly took the bear into her hands and pressed it to her chest, then with a hand behind the other girl’s neck gently crashed their lips together for a short, sweet kiss. Hu Tao, surprised as she was at the sudden contact, melted into Xiangling’s touch, pouting when she pulled away so soon.
“I love him,” she finally replied, lightly bumping their foreheads together and resting like that for a while before continuing. “And I love the girl who just gave me him. Even if she is a little shit who thrives on the stress and inconvenience of others.”
“Ugh, I love when you get all romantic like that,” Hu Tao flashed that adorably irritating smirk with a twinkle in her ever-starry eyes, staring right back at her girlfriend.
“Funny. How did you even get him? Mond is so far away!”
“I have my ways... Ways being, I asked around for the name of the stall owner and got Zhongli to strike a deal with him. Got like a hundred stuffed slime plushies out of it too, but I’ll probably just give them to Qiqi and the rest of the kids in the city,” the girl explained, fiddling with the many red and silver rings covering her slender fingers. “Do you want any?”
Xiangling smiled. “Who knew the 77th Director of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlour was a philanthropist?”
“Jokes on you, I don’t know what that is.”
“Of course you don’t,” the young chef giggled, causing her girlfriend to grow a small, adoring smile on her face. “What did you give him for it?”
“Oh, you know, just my SOUL!” She suddenly yanked Xiangling backwards by the neck of her hoodie, making her shriek and fall on top of her. Hu Tao just laughed as the other girl blushed and buried her head in her girlfriend’s sweater, realising how embarrassingly high that scream was. “God, you’re so jumpy, it’s adorable,” she looked down, pushed a strand of indigo hair behind a now red ear and cupped Xianglings face in her hand, forcing her to look up at her with puppy eyes.
“You’re an asshole.”
“Quit whining and come here,” she sat up, rested on her elbow and pulled her girlfriend closer, once more pressing their lips together. This time, though, neither pulled away. It was slow, they moved perfectly in sync with each other, savouring it as if they hadn’t done this a thousand times since they started dating nearly a year ago.
They kept up that steady, loving pace for a while, until Xiangling pulled away (reluctantly) and kissed the other’s cheek, once again burying her face in Hu Tao’s black and red sweater and taking in the scent - while the funeral director in question pulled her body in closer to her own, face in her short blue hair as she sighed contentedly.
“You smell like silk flower”
“And you smell like Jueyun chilli,” Hu Tao muttered back. “Have you decided on a name?”
“Hmm? Oh, for the bear?” Xiangling sat up cross-legged and picked him up, setting him in her lap and cuddling him with her chin rested on the top of his head. She hummed again, seemingly deep in thought as she squeezed her eyes shut in concentration.
Gods, she’s cute.
“How about... Guoba?”
“Like.. Like the food guoba?”
Xiangling’s head snapped up to beam back at Hu Tao, nodding fervently and grinning, clearly proud of her idea.
She smiled back adoringly, once again.
“I think... that Guoba and Walnut will be very good friends,” she sat up and reached to her bedside table, picking up a tiny ghost plushie that Xiangling immediately recognised as her girlfriend’s beloved Walnut. The ghost lover often carried him around with her in her pocket, taking him out to rest on her palm and stroke him when she’s bored or to help her think.
The young couple giggled as they cuddled their respective stuffed creatures, eventually coming back to cuddling each other while their inanimate friends sat on the edge of Hu Tao’s bed. They stayed like that for hours - cuddling, talking, laughing, kissing - until the evening rolled around and the funeral director had to get ready to lead a funeral scheduled for that night. Xiangling stayed as she got ready into that dark uniform, finally kissing her goodbye with Guoba in her arms as Zhongli arrived for duty.
When she arrived home, Xiangling made a beeline to her room and flopped onto her bed, curling up and holding her new stuffed animal tightly to her chest. As she did, she smelled a hint of something she recognised instantly. So she brought him up to her nose, tan fur soft against her face, and inhaled.
Silk flower..