Chapter Text
Every woman has her own set of problems. For the Tianquan of the Liyue Qixing, these problems are usually national matters, or bracketed numbers in her profit and loss statements. But today — today, Ningguang’s problems are painfully mundane.
She shifts under the covers, groaning softly. It feels as though someone ran the butt of a Millelith spear into her abdomen and gave it a twist, guts and all. She knows this feeling too well. It comes with an uncomfortable heat between her legs and the unpleasant stickiness of blood in her panty.
Has it been a month already?
Ningguang briefly entertains the thought of asking Baizhu to rip her womb out of her and put an end to this monthly agony. Instead, she sighs and pushes back the covers, pushing herself up on a trembling arm.
Does she have meetings today? Archons, she doesn’t think she can walk.
She staggers to her feet, hunching over with a groan when her abdomen protests by shriveling up inside, twisting her guts around and stirring the sensations of a stomach on the verge of cramping. Ningguang stumbles to the bathroom, falling to her knees before the toilet bowl and clutching the lid in response to the coming wave of nausea.
She dry heaves. Nothing.
She rests her head on the seat, biting back a frustrated sob.
“Lady Ningguang?” Baishi’s muffled voice drifts into the room.
“Clear my schedule… please,” Ningguang manages, leaning back against the wall. “I’m afraid I… have to rest today.”
The silence tells her Baishi has understood.
Left to her own devices, Ningguang staggers to her feet again, slipping out of her bloody panties and tucking a soft cloth between her legs. She waddles out of the toilet and the room lurches violently. She stops, pressing a hand against the wall, until the world rights itself again.
Ningguang pours all her focus into putting one foot ahead of the other until she reaches her bed. Sighing in relief, she slides back under the covers. The tense knot of guts in her abdomen eases somewhat when she curls into a fetal position with a pillow tucked in her arms, but she can’t sleep. Each time she closes her eyes, the darkness itself spins, and she feels as though she is falling.
It isn’t always this bad. Perhaps her body is more stressed by affairs of the Qixing than she was aware of. Regardless, it’s a good warning, she thinks, and she will take the time to close her eyes and try to—
“Bǎobèi?”
Her eyes flutter open in surprise. She hadn’t expected her to visit this early in the day. “Beidou…?” she whispers. Am I dreaming?
“Baishi said you’re not well,” the pirate murmurs, sitting by the edge of the bed. Calloused fingers gather her hair, gently tucking it behind her ear. “What’s wrong, my love?”
Ningguang shakes her head, half-ducking her face into the covers. “That time… of the month,” she mumbles.
Beidou answers with a tender kiss to her forehead. “Don’t move,” she says, adjusting the pillows all around Ningguang’s head. “I’ll get the usual.”
Ningguang only nods gratefully. Beidou presses a kiss to each eye, coaxing them shut. “Rest,” she breathes softly, “bǎobèi.”
Beidou returns, armed to the teeth with herbs, incense, and more. Ningguang’s periods are rarely this debilitating or this heavy, so she’d taken the liberty of asking Baizhu for stress relievers as well as herbal concoctions that would help replenish the blood she is losing and alleviate her fatigue.
While Ningguang dozes, Beidou sets up the incense stick in a corner of her room and fills a hot water bag in her bathroom. She steps out to see that Baiwen has left a pot of calla lilies and qingxin on the table, brewed exactly according to Baizhu’s instructions. The pirate heads to the dozing woman first, inhaling the calming scent of sumeru roses that fills the room.
“Bǎobèi,” she murmurs, gently stroking Ningguang’s hair. The other woman’s brows are furrowed in her sleep, her eyes scrunched up ever so slightly in discomfort. A few more heartbeats of tender stroking, and tired wine-red eyes finally open. “My love,” Beidou whispers, gently pulling back the covers and tugging the pillow out of her arms.
Ningguang lets out a whine.
“Use this.” She slips the hot water bag into Ningguang’s arms, pressing it against her abdomen. A contented sigh slips from the other woman’s lips; she curls around the water bag as Beidou pulls the covers back up, tucking her in.
The soup can wait, Beidou decides. Ningguang clearly hasn’t fully rested during the time she’d been gone. She stays by the side of the bed, gently rubbing her temples and watching the tension in her features dissipate. Ningguang sighs contentedly.
“Better?” Beidou asks, lovingly stroking her hair.
Ningguang slowly nods. “Bǎobèi…”
She doesn't need to finish her sentence; Beidou already knows what she wants. The pirate barks out a laugh and throws her fur cloak onto a nearby chair. “Fine, fine. Just for a bit, okay? There’s soup, and you’ll need to eat later.”
The Tianquan hums as Beidou clambers into bed behind her. The brunette wraps an arm around Ningguang’s waist, pressing closely against her. “Sleep now, bǎobèi,” she murmurs, nestling her head in Ningguang’s hair and inhaling the comforting scent of glaze lilies.
She hums a tune quietly under her breath, a tune she remembers her foster father singing to her long ago in Downriver. On her third rendition of the lullaby, Ningguang shifts, turning to burrow her face into Beidou’s shoulder. The pirate smiles, nuzzling her head lightly. She feels warm, but it isn’t alarming. Ningguang always feels warmer when her period arrives.
She hums the lullaby five times before noticing Ningguang isn’t yet asleep. Her eyes remain scrunched up in discomfort. “Bǎobèi,” Beidou murmurs, laying a hand on her arm. “Does it still hurt?”
“Mmm… no. It’s just warm.” Tired wine-red eyes open. “I simply… can’t seem to sleep.”
“Dizzy?” Beidou probes.
A slight flush of pink on her cheeks. Ningguang nods hesitantly. Beidou kisses her forehead and lightly taps it with a finger. “Bad head. Behave!”
The other woman chuckles. “Don’t be ridiculous, bǎobèi.”
“I’m just putting your body in its place,” Beidou grumbles, sliding off the bed. She’s dizzy, dizzy… the pirate wanders around the room, drawing the curtains shut. Then she turns off the lights, one by one, plunging the bedroom into near-total darkness. Another click, and a tiny night light flickers on, illuminating the path from her bed to the bathroom.
“There,” Beidou announces as she returns to Ningguang and pours a glass of water, mixing in some of Baizhu's herbs. “This might help too — here.”
The Tianquan lets out a breathy laugh when Beidou slips an arm under her head, propping her up. “I can… I can drink—“
“Nonsense,” Beidou tuts, “You’re losing blood as we speak!”
“I lose blood every month, Beidou. So do you.”
“Yeah, but I don’t fall all over the place or look like I just came back from a stroll in the Abyss when I do.”
Ningguang rolls her eyes, accepting defeat and gulping down the glass of water. She wrinkles her nose in disgust at the bitterness, lying back down. Satisfied, Beidou sets the empty glass back on the table and rounds the room to the other side of the bed, clambering in. The entire bed dips and groans as she shuffles around to spoon her lover.
“You’re such a buffoon,” Ningguang complains, turning over to face her. “Stomping around on my bed.”
Beidou gently pushes her back to face the other side, slipping a muscular thigh between slender legs. “Can’t help it. Silk’s too slippery,” she teases.
Ningguang doesn’t answer, but the pirate can almost feel her eyes rolling up in affection. She slowly presses wet kisses down Ningguang’s back, starting from the nape of her neck down to her shoulder blades, before pressing against her closely and wrapping her arms around the other woman’s abdomen.
“Comfy?” Beidou murmurs.
“Mmm,” comes the sleepy response.
Beidou smiles, listening to her lover’s slow and even breathing. When she’s certain Ningguang has slipped into a restful sleep, she presses a kiss lightly to her warm cheek. “Sweet dreams,” she whispers softly, “My heart.“