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Keqing was not spontaneous.
It felt like every little thing she did was planned ahead of time to some extent. Keqing was not the type of person to just do something on a whim, at least not without debating the pros and cons to herself for a few minutes before deciding anything. Outside of work, this aspect of her was most evident whenever she went shopping, much to Ganyu’s abject horror the first time she had agreed to accompany her girlfriend (turned wife) to the marketplace.
Despite all that, Ganyu couldn’t help but feel like Keqing was also incredibly hard to pinpoint. Perhaps it was because of how different the two of them were when it came to certain parts of their personalities and values, but she had no idea what went on in Keqing’s mind most of the time, even if the other woman never made an attempt to hide how she felt. Keqing was opinionated, and she was not shy about sharing her thoughts with others, but Ganyu felt like she was far from predictable.
But even if Ganyu didn’t quite completely understand Keqing’s thought process, she always knew there was always going to be a good reason behind her actions (in terms of intent anyway, even if they could be slightly misguided).
So when Ganyu checked their bank statements and saw Wangsheng Funeral Parlor among the list of transactions, she didn't think too much of it—at least until she saw how much Keqing had spent there. Between the two of them, money was never an issue, but as an immortal, Ganyu was perhaps a little too familiar with their pricing—even with Hu Tao’s various discounts and promotions.
While it wasn’t an issue that Keqing had paid for a funeral, there was just one question that was bothering Ganyu:
Who died?
Ganyu was behaving strangely.
Keqing wasn’t sure why, but it was almost like her wife was… babying her? She wasn’t sure what was going on, but Ganyu seemed to be walking on eggshells around her, so to speak.
Keqing tried to wrack her brain for reasons why Ganyu was being so careful with her recently, but couldn’t come up with anything that placed the blame on her. Keqing didn’t think whatever happened was her fault since Ganyu didn’t seem to be upset with her, but she did appear to be worried, so that only left her with one possible explanation:
It was Ganyu who had done something wrong, and she was afraid of how Keqing would react to it.
Keqing sighed to herself as she came to this conclusion. It would certainly explain why she got the feeling that Ganyu wanted to talk to her about something, and why she hadn’t yet.
On one hand, she didn’t want to corner her wife and demand an explanation for what was going on. On the other, she didn’t want Ganyu to stress herself out or feel guilty over keeping something a secret from her partner.
Keqing rubbed her eyes wearily, trying her best to think of the optimal solution to their problem when she heard the door open behind her. She turned around to greet Ganyu, only to be slightly taken aback by how worried her wife looked.
“Is everything okay?” Keqing asked, rushing over to her side.
“Actually,” Ganyu began, causing her wife to hold her breath, “I was going to ask you the same question.”
Keqing blinked. “You were going to ask me if—why?”
Ganyu furrowed her brow, slightly puzzled by her wife’s confusion. “I went over our accounts, and I saw you purchased a funeral package recently.”
Keqing’s eyes widened in realization, then to Ganyu’s surprise, lowered her head in embarrassment.
“Oh.”
Ganyu stared at her wife with growing disbelief. “Keqing, honey, I thought someone died, and you didn’t want to tell me. Don’t tell me you bought it just because Hu Tao swindled you into falling for a huge discount. What do we even need a funeral for?!”
Keqing swallowed thickly as her wife became more and more worked up, her normally quiet voice gradually growing louder. The Yuheng tried to mentally prepare herself as best as she could for the conversation about to come, then ripped off the bandage.
“Um, it’s for me. I… I bought it for myself.”
Ganyu froze in shock, her jaw dropping as she stared at Keqing. Of all the possible reasons she had anticipated to hear, that was not one of them.
“I-I’m okay, Ganyu, I promise! I just thought… when it was my time to pass… I could make it a little easier for you this way.”
Ganyu closed her eyes and mouth, then took a deep, shaky breath.
“And how exactly is pre-purchasing a funeral package supposed to help with that?” she asked, her voice suddenly far too calm.
Keqing winced, knowing that tone meant she had fucked up, to say the least.
“I… I figured that you would be able to spend more time mourning, and therefore less worried about planning a funeral for me. I don’t want you to be stressing over the logistics of something like that when I’m gone because I won’t be there to help you through it anymore.”
Ganyu’s jaw clenched, her heart swelling with emotion. She was so frustrated with Keqing trying to take care of everything herself and not wanting to burden Ganyu, but she was also so incredibly in love with how thoughtful and considerate her wife was, even when the topic of discussion was her future death.
It was true that Ganyu would miss her when she eventually passed. Gods above, she already missed Keqing whenever they were in separate rooms, but Ganyu has been alive for much longer than Keqing could ever imagine. Grief was not something new to her, and even as unpleasant as it will always be, time would heal all wounds. As busy as her duties to Liyue kept her, Ganyu would always have time.
Right now, she still has Keqing. That was enough for her.
“Keqing, I know you meant well, but this is not something you need to concern yourself with right now.”
Keqing frowned. “But I want to concern myself with it,” she insisted. “I don’t want to argue with you, Ganyu, but remember our wedding vows? Till death do us part? Like it or not, you’re going to outlive me, and when I’m gone—”
“Keqing, I don’t care about that!” Ganyu snapped, stepping closer to her wife. Her eyes were watery, but no tears fell.
Without another word, Keqing embraced her, feeling guilty for making Ganyu so upset.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured, beginning to cry herself.
“It’s okay, baby,” Ganyu reassured, holding Keqing’s face in her hands. She used her thumbs to wipe away the tears, then leaned in to close the distance between them to kiss everything better.
"Right now,” Ganyu whispered against her lips, “I just want you to be alive with me tonight.”