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Xiao and Keqing were becoming accustomed to their new lives together in the peaceful realm of the Adepti. While Rain Calmer had granted them permission to visit other realms at their pleasure, the Floating Abode was the clear favorite and it was there that they decided to settle down and build their new home.
Their lives were similar to their previous ones, and yet different all the same.
For one, Xiao, now freed from the burden of his karmic debt, was much more expressive than he had been for the last several thousand years. He was more comfortable talking, smiling and, every so often, occasionally even laughing. Though his introversion didn’t go away completely, he seemed so much happier, so much more open, and so much more alive. He even found himself being somewhat flirty around Keqing, which sent butterflies surging through her heart whenever he did. Keqing adored seeing this side of Xiao, and it was almost as if she was falling in love with him all over again.
As for the former Yuheng, Keqing began to slow down quite a lot as far as their relationship was concerned. In her past life as a government official, she was always on the move: working, planning, scheduling, and directing. Periods of rest were few and far between, and as far as her relationship with Xiao was concerned, she still found herself always wanting just do, do, do, knowing their time together would be over in an instant to him. Now, her lifespan was limitless. She finally had time to let things marinate within her. Whereas outings in their past life, while enjoyable for the two, always felt as though they were on a time limit, she had now cast aside those worries and finally felt what it meant to relax with her lover at her side. The two would spend “evenings” watching the stars for what would have been considered days upon days in the mortal word. But Keqing wasn’t counting. And if she was, it wouldn’t have made a difference.
So, the two fell into this new life almost as if nothing had ever changed. They had a beautiful mansion all to themselves, courtesy of Rain Calmer, and were getting into the habit of decorating their new space together. Things truly felt perfect.
So Xiao was somewhat confused when he suddenly felt as though Keqing was avoiding him.
Well, avoiding as much as one can when they exist in a realm with a grand total population of two. Granted, Keqing had been talking about getting a kitten to keep them company from a traveling teapot spirit called Jade Seeker. At present, it was almost impossible for either of them to hide anything from the other. Sure, the realm was huge, but the two were essentially glued at the hip up until that point. How could Xiao not notice Keqing suddenly disappearing every so often when he woke up in the morning or went to prepare lunch?
“Is everything okay?” Xiao asked one day, once it became obvious that she was sneaking around for a couple of days.
“Yeah, everything’s great. Why?” Keqing responded nonchalantly.
She was definitely hiding something.
“You just…go off on your own every so often,” Xiao pointed out.
“Am I not allowed to explore this wonderful world you’ve brought me to?” She asked, raising an eyebrow.
“You are…but…I don’t know. You didn’t say anything…so…” Xiao said, aware of how oddly protective he must have sounded.
“Do I need to ask your permission to check something out around here?” A pout, her hands on her hips. The response was a groan.
“No, you don’t, I suppose.” Xiao crossed his arms, the smallest of pouts on his own lips. Leave it to finally being relieved of a thousand years of debt for a certain Yaksha to unleash his inner mischievousness. “I just figured you would. We have hardly been apart since we started living here.”
The pout on Keqing’s face fell, and she found herself wrapping her arms around Xiao’s waist, burying her head in his chest.
“Because I missed you. A lot. I really did. And I’m really happy we’re together again.” She answered, sincerely. “But you know that I don’t have to worry about us being separated again. I didn’t think it would bother you to be apart for a few minutes a day.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. You are free to go wherever you wish here. This is your home, too. I guess I feel…a bit…” Xiao trailed off, searching for the right word.
“Clingy?” Keqing offered. The Adeptus sighed.
“I…missed you, too. I really…really missed you,” Xiao admitted, cupping her face.
“Xiao…”
“No…I told you I would have waited for a thousand more years if I had to,” Xiao assured. “I don’t regret a moment of it.” The pair then fell into a brief silence.
“No…you’re right. I could have been more considerate and at least mentioned that I would be going off on my own for a bit,” Keqing said. “Just know that I’m not at all trying to get away from you.”
“I didn’t think you were. I know you appreciate your independence. I guess I did feel…a bit clingy…” Xiao reluctantly admitted.
“If it makes you feel any better…I won’t be going off on my own like that anymore. Not at least for a while,” Keqing said, her tone suddenly changing to one with a hint of impishness.
“What do you mean?” Xiao asked.
“Why don’t I just show you?” Keqing asked, taking Xiao’s hands and beginning to tug him outside. Xiao was obviously confused as to what she could have been referring to but allowed himself to be led out of their kitchen.
Keqing led Xiao out to the front of their home to a picnic table, very lightly decorated with a few freshly picked flowers, streamers, and Bloatty Floatties serving as makeshift balloons. On the table were two servings of Almond Tofu.
“Keqing? What…is this?” Xiao asked as he approached the table. The former Yuheng escorted the Adeptus to one of the chairs as she stood beside the other.
“ Surprise ? ” Keqing laughed somewhat awkwardly, snapping a party hat on her lover’s head, only for it to end up off-center. “It’s a birthday party. For you.”
Xiao frowned.
“While it isn’t something I pay a lot of attention to…I’m fairly certain today isn’t my birthday,” Xiao said with a raised eyebrow, rolling his eyes up to the birthday hat on his head. Keqing grinned, amused at his expression.
“I know, I know, but…I’ve missed out on so many of your birthdays since I…left you.” Keqing explained, somewhat somberly. “I just…wanted to make up for all of that time I missed.”
Xiao gave her a serious look. “Keqing…please don’t tell me you feel guilty about…having passed on. You…”
“I know…as a mortal it was out of my control. But…I can’t help but feel a sense of guilt in leaving you for thousands of years knowing that you waited for me all of that time,” Keqing said. “Please…please, let me make it up to you.”
“Keqing, there is no need for you to make anything up to me.” Xiao said, the two then falling into another awkward silence. “Mainly because…I…well…wanted to do the same for you.”
“Huh? What do you mean?” Keqing asked, her eyes widening in genuine shock.
“Given that I missed so many of your birthdays in your new life…I wanted to throw a party for you,” Xiao explained.
Keqing stared at him before bursting out into laughter. “We’re such a mess. I threw a party for you while you were trying to throw one for me?”
“Throwing parties is no specialty of mine. I did want to do something for you…I just didn’t know how to go about it without asking you directly or…”
“Sneaking around? Like I did?” Keqing asked. Xiao seemed to think about it for a moment.
“Perhaps that time apart made us more similar than we thought…” he said. Keqing only offered a laugh in response, taking her seat at the table and digging a spoon into her Almond Tofu.
“It’s fine, I like this. I don’t think we’ve ever had a joint party before,” she pointed out. Xiao looked oddly at her.
“Why would we? Our birthdays are nowhere near each other,” he said.
“Don’t ruin the moment,” she said, glaring slightly. Xiao sighed at the obviously ridiculous comeback. There was really no winning when it came to his beloved. As she ate, he stood, approaching her.
“For now, I don’t have anything grand or special for you,” he said, reaching for a necklace under his shirt, “but, there is something I wanted to give you.”
Keqing squinted her eyes when he detached something from the chain around his neck, her eyes widening almost immediately afterwards. “Is this?”
“Your hairpin,” Xiao said, clipping it into her hair. “It’s not much of a gift since…this is yours already. But I’d neglected to give it back to you. I became so accustomed to having it with me that…it almost became a part of me. I would forget I was wearing it.”
A light blush covered Keqing’s cheeks and she ran her fingers over her beloved hairpin. “Hm…thanks for keeping it for me. The condition is almost as if I’d never been without it.”
“Did you really think I’d allow anything to happen to it?” Xiao asked, feigning annoyance. Keqing, however, was silent while genuinely considering her answer.
“If I’m being honest…I really did wish for you to move on after…you know,” Keqing said, avoiding his gaze. “It seems silly now given that we’ve been blessed to be able to be together for lifetimes going forward. But…back then…while I knew you would treasure this…I just as equally saw the possibility of you eventually shutting this away as a keepsake of your first love…while you moved on to another.”
“Keqing…”
“Xiao, it’s what I wanted for you,” she quickly interrupted. “Why else would I leave you the note that I did? I’m not…upset at the prospect of you loving another. Not completely. I’m forever grateful that you waited for me, but…ideally…you should have moved on. You shouldn’t have closed your heart at the possibility of loving someone else.”
Xiao cupped her face, forcing her to look at him. He noticed the smallest of tears forming in her eyes and wiped them away.
“It saddens me that you still seem not to understand how much you mean to me. There are many in my life who I’m grateful towards, mortals included. But the idea of loving someone such as yourself, who could have married any wealthy elite in Liyue, settling for someone as bloodstained as myself? That is…something worth waiting for.” Xiao took her hand in his. “Contrary to what you seem to believe, you are an outlier. Very few would risk the very well-being of their soul to be in a relationship with a Yaksha.”
Keqing lowered her eyes, squeezing his hand in hers, “Once they got to know you…they would have fallen in love with you just as I did, your karmic debt be damned…”
“That’s a very optimistic thought,” Xiao said quickly. “Whether you realize it or not, you will forever be special to me…if for nothing more than that you gave me a chance.”
“Xiao…” Keqing bit her lip. In her deepest thoughts, while she did truly believe Xiao could work his way into anyone’s heart (it wasn’t as if he lacked admirers; whether he’d ever realize this had yet to be seen), she didn’t know how many people would be willing to try a real relationship with him. Giving Xiao the time of day due to his looks was essentially free. Accepting the weight that came with him wouldn’t come so easily. It would result in a lot of heartache she didn’t wish for him to experience. In a way…she was glad he never put his heart at risk of being shattered in such a way.
Xiao shushed her. “I meant what I said. You were worth waiting for. You don’t need to say anything more.” Keqing was rendered silent, only able to offer Xiao the most loving gaze before she closed her eyes, a smile forming on her lips.
“You’re right. We have plenty of time for you to hear about how much I love you,” Keqing said, pressing a kiss to his lips. “I’ll start by giving you your gift.”
“You didn’t need to get me anything,” Xiao said with a small frown.
“Well, too bad, because I did,” Keqing said almost immediately, clearly expecting the reply.
“There’s still no use arguing with you, it seems,” Xiao said with a slight roll of his eyes.
“Get used to it. For the next…thousand or so years,” Keqing said, a small smirk on her lips.
“Hm, so…what is it?” Xiao asked, raising an eyebrow as Keqing had taken his hand and led him to the side of the house. Upon turning the corner, he was met with a small stove, a couple of shelves, a few chairs, and a table.
“It’s… a kitchen set!” Keqing almost sang.
“A…kitchen set?” Xiao repeated.
“That’s what I said,” Keqing deadpanned. Xiao resisted the urge of rolling his eyes.
“Where did you even get this?” He asked, wondering how she could have hid something like this from him.
“Jade Seeker drives a hard bargain. But I was able to get this from him the last time he was here.” Keqing explained. “It’s a kitchen set to remind you of Wangshu Inn.” The Adeptus stared oddly at her, then at the gift.
“I appreciate the sentiment. But…I have to ask, why Wangshu Inn? Rather than our old home together?” Xiao asked, admittedly confused about the choice.
“Hm…you have a lot of history at Wangshu Inn.” She explained, sliding her hand across the top of the stove. “Anything concerning our old home can be replaced or even replicated here to some accuracy. But…you’re unlikely to be able to personally visit Wangshu Inn again considering the rules of this place. I thought you’d enjoy something to remind you of your first home.”
Now it was Xiao’s turn to be rendered silent.
“As usual…you always consider things on a more personal level than I would have ever thought to. Thank you,” he said, wrapping his arms around her to press a kiss to her forehead. Keqing giggled before playfully shoving him away, feigning disgust.
“If you’re done being so mushy, come on…I want to test out our new kitchen set.”
“Already?” Xiao asked.
“What’s a birthday party without a real cake?” She asked, already tugging his arm. “You remember how to bake one, right?”
“Do you really think I would?” Xiao asked. “I’ll need the guidance of my most dedicated instructor for that.”
“Hm…good. I plan to be that for you for a long, long time,” Keqing said with a soft smile. “Now let’s hurry and take all of this inside. I want a new picture of you covered in flour for our photo book.”
To no one’s surprise, the photo book ended up with more than just a few images featuring Keqing’s request.