Work Text:
For Ganyu, hearing the words "we're going out for a break!" caused more stress for her feeble little heart than, well, anything.
Because first of all, it meant she had to drop the tax papers she had busied herself with going through that afternoon. Not that that was any big deal, but she would have to break her concentration and regain it when she came back to it, and she was about 5% more prone to slipping up and documenting something wrong when her line of focus was interrupted. And if that happened, the additional paperwork needed to fix a potential mistake would be even more extra work, and on top of the other files she needed to double check…
She lightly pats her cheeks and shakes her head to herself.
No, Ganyu, you have to turn off work mode now.
After all, it was only because one of Ningguang's secretaries, Baishi, stumbled upon Ganyu trying to eat raw coffee beans earlier that day that the idea of taking a break from work was even proposed. Something about "Lady Ningguang, I'm worried about how Miss Ganyu's workload may be affecting her…" and another thing about " Miss Ganyu, I don't think you should be eating raw coffee beans like that…!"
Anyway, one thing led to another, and the present members of the Liyue Qixing decided that the best solution was to gently force their dear secretary off of her work.
So out of everyone's consideration and kindness, Ganyu painfully dropped her paperwork with a polite smile and agreed to go on a small outing with the Tianquan, her personal secretaries, a few Millelith guards, and the Yuheng. Destination: Mount Tianheng.
On a break.
Archons, she wants to get back to her desk.
"Ganyu, are you not feeling well?" The Yuheng speaks up hesitantly from beside her, bringing Ganyu back to her present situation.
"Lady Keqing! No, not at all–" The purple-haired woman tilts her head inquisitively, to which Ganyu waves her hands frantically– ''I mean, I'm feeling just fine, thank you for the concern."
Keqing answers with a slight smile. "I'm glad to hear it."
To that, Ganyu breathes a small sigh of relief as she watches the Yuheng revert her attention back to the scenery, light lilac hair blowing gently backwards with the warm wind.
Lady Keqing, in all her rigidness and seriousness, has the same face as Liyue Harbor's stray cats. Bright, upturned eyes and soft cheeks, complete with lips resting in an almost pouty-like expression.
If Ganyu didn't know any better, she would want to pinch those cheeks like mochi. She learned the hard way, though, that Liyue Harbor's stray cats do not appreciate having their cheeks squished. So by the same logic, Keqing probably doesn’t either.
Keqing's diamond-shaped pupils dance back over to Ganyu, who clears her throat awkwardly and averts her eyes to a spot between two faraway mountains.
Just until recently, she couldn't stand the disrespectful way the Yuheng talked about Rex Lapis. She made her plain ignorance clear, and quite frankly, unbearable. But after getting to understand the other's perspective a bit more, working with her became a lot more enjoyable. And lately, Ganyu couldn't seem to stop thinking about her in this way.
She also catches herself staring an embarrassing amount of times, like now.
"It looks like the rest are up ahead," Keqing says, shielding her eyes from the sun. She points towards the uphill. "We better catch up."
Ganyu nods and begins following behind Keqing's heel, careful not to end up walking side-by-side with her. Really, it would just be awkward if she got caught accidentally staring at her mochi cheeks again. So instead, she resolves to keep her eyes trained on the grass below her feet as they continue walking. The green, lustrous, sweet grass…
"Ganyu, are you alright?!" Keqing turns to catch her just in time as her body tips forward, her head of blue locks coming to rest on Keqing's shoulder.
Anemia, hunger, and sleep deprivation. The worst combination imaginable.
"I'm alright, Keqing…" Ganyu insists as she tries to steady herself on her own two feet again. Of all times…
"No, you're not."
"Really, I am."
Ganyu lifts her head to meet Keqing's eyes as if trying to prove look, I'm all good, see? but all that results in is their noses almost touching, Keqing's face flushing a light pink, and Ganyu's head falling sloppily back onto the other girl's shoulder.
"Y-you definitely need to get some rest. Right now."
Before Ganyu could retort again with yet another blatant lie about her wellness, Keqing scoops her up in a princess carry, one hand supporting her shoulder and the other under the bend of her knees.
"Lady Keqing?!"
"We're going to rest by that tree over there. In the shade."
"But this–"
"If you keep squirming, we might both roll down this hill."
Ganyu silences and buries her head in her own chest.
Hold on, don’t tell me my heart rate is increasing… Am I gonna have a heart attack right here too? Or am I really just that out of shape these days??
Keqing puts her down gently on the grass, hidden underneath a layer of thick red maple leaves keeping them out of the blazing sunlight’s grasp.
"You're tired, right?"
"Huh?"
"You're welcome to take a nap." Keqing pats her lap, her brows knitted together more tensely than ever.
Ganyu's entire blood supply travels to her face. "I couldn't–"
"Please."
Ganyu spares a discreet glance at Keqing’s face, noticing the way her mochi cheeks were tinted the color of the red maple leaves and her eyes gleaning with an almost puppy-like shimmer. Well, Ganyu very well couldn’t say no to that.
“I-I’ll give it a shot,” she says stupidly.
Her head falls carefully onto Keqing’s welcoming lap, thighs pillow-soft underneath her hair.
“Let me know if my horns end up hurting you,” her voice comes out meek.
“Just focus on yourself, Ganyu.”
So the half-qilin complies reluctantly, her eyes fluttering close.
⋅ ⋅ ── ❀ ── ⋅ ⋅
Keqing stares down at the girl as she listens to her breathing get calmer, until it falls into a slow, steady pace of quiet inhales and exhales.
It really takes seeing Ganyu in this vulnerable state to realize just how stiff and self-conscious she usually is while awake. She’s always peaceful, yes, and soft, definitely, but nothing beats watching her sleep to really get it.
This is the type of view that would make anyone’s heart flutter.
Her eyelashes are blue and long, casting shadows on her smooth, slightly rosy cheekbones. Her glass-like skin makes her look literally thousands of years younger than she is, and to top it all off, her slightly parted peachy lips are softer and mellower than almond tofu.
Or Keqing assumes by looking at them.
She brushes a stray strand of sky blue hair off Ganyu’s warm cheek. Then she daringly caresses the other girl’s face lightly, her fingers dancing over the corner of her mouth for a moment. It feels a little illegal in a way, with all her barriers down for Keqing, so the Yuheng resolves to focus on the weight of Ganyu on her lap – how she rises as she quietly breathes in, comes back down, and repeats.
Then Keqing experiences the most excruciating pain possibly known to mankind, branching out from her toes to the entirety of her calves like a fit of tiny pins wreaking pure havoc on her poor limbs.
Her legs had fallen asleep.
She twitches in agony and Ganyu’s head rolls to the side in response, earning a small “mm” from the girl that – bless Celestia – stays asleep.
Keqing grips the ground so firmly in her fists that she nearly rips the grass out of the dirt. If I was able to spend months pulling carts full of iron in the Chasm, I can withstand a little momentary leg pain. Or so she tells herself.
“Lady Keqing, Miss Ganyu! We were wondering what the hold-up was–” Baishi’s voice fades off as she jogs nearer to the tree, only to see Keqing frantically shushing her. One look towards her lap and she’s well aware of the current situation.
“How long has she been asleep?” Baishi mouths.
Keqing winces before holding up her hands. 5 minutes.
Baishi regards Keqing’s pain-ridden face with a look of confusion on her own.
Then Ningguang makes her way gracefully into their view, followed shortly by the rest of her secretaries and the accompanying Millelith guards.
“Hm, what’s this that we have here?”
“Lady Ningguang, it appears that Miss Ganyu is asleep,” her secretary answers.
“I see. She definitely needed it, anyway.”
The Tianquan’s gaze falls on Keqing, a small smile tugging at the corner of her red lips. “And when did the Yuheng decide to upgrade to lap pillow duties?”
Keqing flushes in embarrassment. “Ganyu was tired,” she says obviously. “And I'll request that you please keep it down.”
Ningguang sighs, crossing her arms delicately over her chest. “I’d love to rest for a while longer, but unfortunately, I do have matters I need to attend to back at the Jade Chamber. And I'm sure that you, likewise, have much waiting for you to get back to at Yuehai Pavillion.” She thinks for a moment. “Considering how exhausted Ganyu is, I might as well prepare a room for her to stay in for the night. Baishi, arrange for a carriage to carry her back to the Jade Chamber.”
Keqing almost glares at her. If she wasn't battling immense pain right now, maybe it would have been more threatening. “There won’t be any need for that. I’ll wait with her until she wakes up.”
Ningguang raises an eyebrow before letting out a small laugh. “I’ll leave her in your hands then.” She beckons her secretaries and the Millelith guards to follow as she turns back around. Then, with a teasing tone and a slight curl of her lips, she glances back around her shoulder to tell the purple-haired girl, “I know you’ll take good care of her.”
For some reason, that comment nags Keqing more than ever.
⋅ ⋅ ── ❀ ── ⋅ ⋅
The sun is setting behind the faraway mountains, casting an orange hue on the world, when Keqing herself starts nodding off, finally giving into her days-long worth of 3-hour sleeps.
How long has she been sitting here? It must have been at least an hour by now. Rex Lapis , this was the longest break she’s taken in a while. And unproductive, to say the least. Normally she would be out shopping with her friends, or maybe polishing her collection of the Geo archon memorabilia (for introspection purposes only, of course), but this time she was simply just sitting in the grass with her coworker in her lap.
Really, now. Maybe she’s finally gone insane, like some Liyue folk love to say about her in low whispers.
Keqing’s vision fades out again as her eyes struggle to stay open, her eyelids rejecting her brain's orders to stay awake, for archon's sake . And if that wasn't enough, her head decides to start drooping on its own too, despite herself.
"...Lady Keqing? Um, I think your drool is–"
Ganyu’s sleep-ridden voice actually manages to startle Keqing awake. She frantically wipes away the string of drool that she didn’t even know was hanging from her mouth.
"Ganyu, I am so so so sorry–”
“Don’t worry about it. Thank you, Keqing.” Ganyu’s face softens with a light-hearted smile, causing another strange spout of flowers to bloom in Keqing’s chest.
The half-qilin picks up her head and stretches her arms above her head. “How long was I asleep for?”
“Um…something like an hour…” Keqing clears her throat, the embarrassment settling in. I really let my coworker sleep in my lap for an hour.
“I-I was asleep for an hour?” Ganyu’s expression morphs from shock to shame within a second. “Lady Keqing, I am so incredibly sorry–”
“Don’t apologize. You needed the sleep.”
“But those tax papers…and all of your time…”
“But wasn’t it worth it?” Keqing interrupts. It was impractical and so unlike her, but she knew the answer to that herself already.
Ganyu stares at the Yuheng blankly for a moment, then looks to the ground bashfully. “...Yeah. It was.”
Then she sinks into Keqing’s unexpecting arms, her own coming to gently hug around the back of the other girl’s neck. “Sorry for saying that,” she says, her voice slightly muffled in purple hair.
“Didn’t I already tell you not to apologize?” Keqing replies, one arm wrapping around Ganyu’s waist and the other lightly resting on her shoulder blade.
The half-qilin hums in response and allows herself to bask in Keqing’s fresh lavender-and-grass smell, her warmth like a protective blanket against the slightly chilly mountain breeze.
“Lady Keqing?”
“Yes?”
“Come with me for a second.”
She breaks away from the hug and takes Keqing’s hand in hers, gently guiding her out of the red maple tree’s shade. Keqing stumbles once over her feet as she gets up, legs numb, but laughs it off as Ganyu moves to steady her.
“The view here at this time makes it even more worth it,” Ganyu promises with a smile as she leads the other girl towards the edge of the hill. The wind blows her messy blue hair back and tints her cheeks rosy pink. Light on her feet, she jogs forward with Keqing in tow, who watches in wonder as the usually mellow Ganyu flashes a bright smile, more enthusiastic than she’s ever seen.
They come to a rest at the foot of the mountain where the grass fades into rock, overlooking Liyue Harbor in all its prominence – bright orangey lights filling the city, the hustle and bustle of small people during rush hour, ships returning to their decks. The two stop to catch their breath, fingers interlocked and the breeze causing tiny goosebumps to raise on their skin.
“It’s beautiful,” Keqing breathes, combing her windswept hair behind her ears.
“It is, right?” Ganyu’s eyes twinkle. “Back then, I used to come here and look down at the city when it was still young. It used to be so small… It’s grown so much since then.”
“I’ve… never paid much attention to scenery,” Keqing admits. “But with you…”
She turns to look at Ganyu who’s waiting for her to finish, sunset eyes matching perfectly with the view and reflecting the lights from below.
“I realize how much beauty there is. Thank you.”
Ganyu breaks into a pleasant smile. “I’m glad I got to share this with you.” And even though she turns her gaze back to Liyue Harbor, Keqing’s eyes linger on her for a second longer.
Something warm stirs in Keqing’s chest, something that she’ll probably agonize over trying to understand later as she gets ready for bed. But right now, she decides to ignore it for the moment in front of her.
Just the scenery and Ganyu.