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they stumble their way off the plaustrite slab, racing each other up the last of the hill. having tossed her shoes somewhere else long ago, beidou wins, and though she knows well that ningguang would've attempted to cheat if it was anyone but her. she cheers loudly anyway, pumping her fist in the air before grinning at ningguang’s judgemental roll of her eyes.
the two of them settle underneath the flickering light of the stars on the bed of grass, and say nothing to each other as they catch their breaths. it is not cold enough to cause her to shudder, but the late evening dampness still catches their bare shoulders. once better at enduring sea-blown wind, ningguang is now not accustomed to leaving the jade chamber or the yujing terrace without a proper cloak.
beidou notices the way ningguang wraps her arms around herself, and slowly wraps an arm around the woman. they've stopped laughing now, and beidou is careful, careful, careful.
they rarely have time for moments like this. it’s not that she isn’t happy with what time they have for each other. of course not. but ningguang is bound to the heaven and earth of liyue harbor, just as she roams the sea. it’s wishful thinking, but as she looks up, she murmurs a wish to let these moments last just a little while longer.
ningguang notices, and turns her gaze to look at her.
"you've got something on your mind."
beidou shakes her head. she doesn't want her words to ruin this, whatever it is. she is not one to get sentimental. but here she is, toeing around ningguang, her words swallowed in her throat. what words, she herself isn't quite sure how they may come out.
she knows that she has missed the lantern rite this year. the storms have held her back. it's a miracle that the skies have cleared at all, for the skies to be painted with the dazzling blanket of the galaxies. ningguang understands that beidou's crew comes before everything else to her now. she has never quite needed to be in liyue harbor for the lantern rite, because it never mattered to her.
the lantern rite releases have elapsed, but the air all around the city is still alight with festive cheer. her crew are happy with their families, fed well by xiangling and chef mao.
and as for her? the jade chamber glistens in the sky a slight way away from their position on mt tianheng. she has followed the gem of liyue home for yet another year. perhaps slight is still an understatement of where the jade chamber hangs in the air. but if ningguang wills it, they could easily ascend above all others in liyue again.
a feeling wells up in her heart as she wraps ningguang around her more tightly. if ningguang’s startled by this unusually… tender act, she doesn’t show it. instead, she lets beidou lean on her shoulder, where beidou, her feet bare against the cool grass, is now shorter than ningguang. there, she listens to ningguang’s slowing breaths.
this won’t do.
so, she says, “you know, you’re the one that smells like alcohol today.”
ningguang shifts to peer down at beidou again, sniffing slightly. “you were the one who insisted we drink. look at us now! hasn’t it just rained? would your feet not get muddy?” she makes a noise. “if you’re going to track mud back up later…” her voice trails off in warning.
“eh, wait, i’m going back up with you?”
a silence. beidou blinks, realising that ningguang didn’t quite mean to extend that invitation. but now that she has said it, ningguang also looks reluctant to retract it. a beat passes before ningguang nods, slowly, a tentative smile on her face.
“you’ve missed the lantern rite,” ningguang repeats what they both know. “but i would still like to make a wish with you, later, if you are willing.”
and how could she refuse? ningguang has pulled back just so slightly, and her eyes are a darkened wine-red in the dim moonlight. beidou is no poet, but the way the faint light catches on ningguang’s star-spun features makes beidou wonder how she’s managed to always steal ningguang’s time like this.
(you’re mine, ningguang once said, fully serious. no, insisted, after one of those nights just a few months ago.)
there’s nothing quite like a reminder of that long, drawn-out negotiation they had that night. beidou doesn’t really say yes, or no, to ningguang’s invitation, but leans up to press her lips against ningguang’s. she’s always, always, so fascinated by how ningguang likes this, how she seems to relish the moments where her soft lips part for sea-cracked ones. but beidou won’t complain.
(i cannot be yours. but, in this, i am.)