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The girls were getting ready backstage, and Ganyu hoped she wasn’t the only one who was nervous out of her mind. It seemed like she was wiping her hands on her jeans to dry off her hands every 30 seconds, between the warmth of the stage and her nerves. Her drumsticks were poking up out of her back pocket, stored away until she got onstage so they wouldn’t get slippery in her hands. Her beanie was half tucked into her front pocket as she was fidgeting with the miniature cowbell on her necklace, looking around the dark room at the rest of the band while they waited for their turn to take their stage for Noctilapis’s festival debut.
Shinobu was in a crouch next to the only fan they had backstage, clearly trying to keep from overheating in her one-legged latex pants and one-sleeved shirt. If you just looked at her face, you wouldn’t think she was thinking anything, her straight-faced stare was as neutral as ever with her mask hanging off of her face and her green ponytail flicking in the cold air. But, glancing down to her hands, Ganyu saw her fingers tapping on her legs in a pattern that she could immediately recognize as the keyboard part of their new song that they were teasing at this show, her nerves coming through in the form of her visualizing the show before they even got on stage.
Sliding her gaze over a few feet, Hu Tao and Yanfei were sitting on the bench that was in the same fan’s path. Yanfei slapped the other girl’s hand away, which had slowly worked its way to her thigh. “Please, not now Tao, it’s too warm... no, I still love you, I’m just overheating. I don’t know how you aren’t.” Hu Tao was giving her girlfriend puppy eyes after her hand was slapped away, but gave up without much protest. Her legs were splayed out on the bench, her baggy cargo pants held up with the new belt that Yanfei had gotten her last week for her birthday. She was leaned back with her arms to either side of her on top of the bench, her head thrown back with her twintails falling behind the bench. Her crop top carelessly rode up her torso a little more than it was meant to, the butterflies on her necklace glinting in the little light that bled over from the stage.
Yanfei on the other hand was sat fully upright, her legs crossed above the knee and her back in excellent posture. She wore a pleated red skirt and fishnet tights, and a top that Ganyu had understandably confused for just being a bra when she saw it for the first time. By far the simplest of the girls’ outfits, she was also probably the least warm, despite the fact that she was visibly sweating. With her chin-length bob, she was also the only one besides Ganyu with short enough hair that it didn’t need to be tied up to keep them cool.
Lastly, Keqing. Her hair was up in her signature cat ear buns and twintails, flowing over her shoulders like a cloud over a mountain. Her striking purple eyes were staring off towards the stage, and her hands were fidgeting with the pockets of her pants. Ganyu caught herself staring at Keqing’s midsection, she was wearing her crop top that didn’t even cover her chest or shoulders, her eyes slowly scanning from her impressive abs, up to the black and white bra that barely covered her chest, and to the black choker on her neck. Ganyu realized she was staring, but even after turning her head away, she still couldn’t take her eyes off of Keqing from the corner of her eye for several seconds. Even though there was no way she liked her back, Ganyu had been catching feelings for Keqing for a few weeks now.
Then, she pulled her gaze away and over to the mirror to look at herself. She had discarded the jacket that usually partially covered her usual white tank top as soon as they walked backstage and realized how hot it would be. She ruffled up her hair to give it its usual fluffy volume back - it had flattened from the heat - and made sure her piercings were all aligned properly as the previous band ended their last song and the crowd roared so loud they could barely hear the emcee starting to segue to the next set.
“Our next group is making their festival debut here at Harbor Fest-”
Yanfei snapped the members back from the emcee’s speech, prompting them all to stand up and group together like they did before every show. “Alright girls, bring it in. We good? We ready?” She was met by a resounding nod as the girls put each others’ arms on their shoulders in a circle. “It’s gonna be bright on that stage, and it’s going to be HOT. The lights are warm and the sun is still up, not to mention how many bodies are in the crowd-”
Keqing eyes caught Ganyu’s, and after just a moment Ganyu tilted her head down as she blushed slightly, though her flushed face could be explained by the heat. Keqing chuckled to herself slightly, ducking her head down as the other girls did as well.
“-Make sure to drink lots of water, and don’t be scared to dump it on yourself if you need to cool down, there’s plenty of it. Same setlist we’ve been practicing, we’ve done this dozens of times before, we just have to do it again.” Yanfei tapped the other girls’ backs, which the rest of them copied before they pulled away. They were all already drenched with sweat before even getting onto the stage where it would be the hottest.
Keqing and Hu Tao picked up their bass and guitar respectively from the racks next to them, and each got the straps situated over their shoulders as the crew lined up, just waiting for the emcee’s signal.
“EVERYBODY GIVE IT UP FOOOOOR, NOCTILAPIS!”
The crowd roared as they stepped into the lights, all five waving out at the sea of people. Some of them were surely fans, but the majority of this crowd wasn’t here for them, and they’d have to win them over. They each took their spots on the stage, Yanfei in the center making sure her microphone was adjusted properly, Hu Tao and Keqing each adjusting their own mics and hooking up to their amps, quickly making sure they were still in tune. Kuki approached the keyboard, quickly doing her warmup exercises and making sure that its settings were right, and that she could hear it with her in-ear monitor. Ganyu took her seat at the drum set, and she quickly realized that it had way more instruments attached than she was used to, but she quickly adjusted to the positions of the drums she needed. She could feel her sticks already getting sweaty, but thankfully not slipping from her hands. She looked out over the crowd, which was just starting to settle down, and then across the stage. The rest of the girls were looking at her, waiting for her ready. She locked eyes with Keqing, who nodded at her and began tapping the tempo of the first song with her foot. Ganyu nodded along, as did the rest of the band.
Yanfei turned back to the crowd, and began singing the start of the song. It started with a slow ballad, in half time from the tempo the group counted off for a few measures before the rest came in. Ganyu caught her eyes landing on Keqing again, falling into the same rhythmic head bobbing that Keqing was doing to keep track of when the solo ended. She had almost forgotten to get ready for her own part, quickly adjusting herself to hit the first beat when Keqing pulled her hand up to play her first note.
After a few seconds of silence, and the already enthralled crowd waiting for what was to come next, all five members came in at the same time. The crowd stirred as the tension began to grow over the next ten measures. Tao and Keqing slowly began to step back and turn around as they approached the drop, Yanfei leaning her mic stand over as she hunched over her knees. Time seemed to freeze for a moment as the song exploded into its chorus. Hu Tao sprang up and bounced to the front of the stage, Yanfei practically jumped as she belted the chorus, pulling the mic from the stand, which she started using as a prop for her choreography.
At the same time, Keqing and Ganyu had locked eyes again, and when Keqing flicked around to face the crowd as the pyrotechnics on stage went off, Ganyu could see in slow motion Keqing’s hair flowing through the air and sweat flying off her face. For a moment she caught her eyes glistening in the fire, and her heart jumped into her throat as she begged her hands to switch the beat of the song at the right time.
As she snapped out of her trance, she thanked Rex Lapis that her hands were playing the right rhythms, and the crowd was roaring as the girls played out the chorus of their song, the three up front showing off the choreography they had practiced while they sang together. The energy stayed just as strong throughout all three of the songs in their set, and as the third came to a close they all ran to the front of the stage.
Keqing had her hand held out for Ganyu to grab as they got ready to take their bow, and she could feel her heart pumping in her chest. The five all raised their hands up to a wall of applause and phones recording them, then they bowed down and took a collective sigh of relief. They gathered for a group hug, then moved off the stage to clear space for the next group.
As they beelined for the locker room to get changed out of their outfits, Ganyu felt someone grab her hand from behind her, pulling her to a stop and spinning her around. In front of her was none other than Keqing, her purple eyes looking deep into Ganyu’s soul through her own eyes, and her bass slung over her back. She took a step towards Ganyu, to which she instinctively took a step back in turn, accidentally running into a stack of cases behind her.
“Oh! H-hey! You did great today,” Ganyu stammered, realizing her back was against a wall and Keqing still had her hand.
“Thanks, you did too. I couldn’t help but notice the way you’ve been looking at me all day,” Keqing prodded.
Ganyu’s face flushed immediately, embarrassed that she got caught gawking at her. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, I’ll stop I promise, please don’t b-”
Before she could finish her flustered and excessive apology, she felt a soft warmth against her mouth, and she froze against the wall. Keqing pulled away, giggling at the shocked expression that was frozen on Ganyu’s face. “I’ve been looking at you too, dork.” She started walking to the locker room with Ganyu in tow, “Let’s get changed then go get dinner. Somewhere with AC please.”
All she could manage was a nod and try to stay on her feet as she was getting dragged along. She managed to get her composure back by the time they caught up to the other girls, but they didn’t believe a word of Keqing’s alibi that they just “got lost” on the way to the locker room. The torment of her bandmates teasing her was well worth the date she was going to have when Keqing dragged her out of the locker room by her hand.