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Keqing sighed wearily as she ambled out of the Qixing's offices in the Yuehai Pavilion. The sun had only just begun to set, and not for the first time that evening she cursed herself; normally she could keep working long after nightfall. Normally she could keep herself composed through an entire workday. Normally her facade didn't crack during a run-of-the-mill meeting with Ningguang—of all people, why did it have to be Ningguang—and lead to her getting forced to take a sick day.
Unfortunately for her, the day had been anything but normal.
She clenched her fist at her side as she wandered aimlessly through impeccable landscaping, through paths of dirt and paths of stone. It wasn't fair. It wasn't even her fault! It wasn't anyone's fault. There was no enemy to vanquish or natural force to conquer that would solve her problems; no matter how much paperwork she did, no matter how much she threw herself into her work, her troubles would still be there, waiting for her every time she was distracted for even a moment.
She hated it.
Up the slope she went, carefully picking her steps along the dusty, rocky path. More carefully than was needed to keep her footing sure; less carefully than was needed to keep her mind from wandering to thoughts of her immortal lover, of the future she was consigning Ganyu to, of how selfish she had been to say yes last year when Ganyu asked her, with wide eyes and trembling lips, if she wanted to—
"Keqing?"
She blinked and looked around. To her surprise, she had climbed far up the slopes of Mt. Tianheng, and to her greater surprise, Ganyu was there in front of her, looking at her with eyes full of all the love in the world.
"I'm happy to see you, my qingxin," Ganyu said, her words washing over Keqing like the tide. "It's a rare treat to see you done with work so early." As if she was one to talk. Though, she had been trying to scale back their habitual overworking lately. They both had been, before this malaise had taken hold of Keqing a few weeks ago.
"Ningguang put me on mandatory sick leave," Keqing mumbled.
Ganyu's hand flew to her mouth. "S-sick leave?" she asked, worried. "Are you okay? Should you even be up here?"
"I'm worried about what will happen to you when I'm gone," Keqing didn't say.
She also chose not to say, "I feel awful that you're going to have to go through that because of me."
And, no matter how much she wanted to blurt it all out and get it off her chest, the words "If I really, truly love you, shouldn't I leave you now, instead of sixty, seventy, a hundred years from now? I hate myself for staying, but I think I'd hate myself even more for leaving, and I don't know what to do," could never, ever pass her lips.
Instead, Keqing sat down and buried her face in her hands. She picked her words carefully, not wanting to say too much. "Where will this path take us, Ganyu?"
Ganyu slid closer to Keqing and put an arm around her. They sat there in a tense, yet somehow still comfortable, silence, watching the sky over the ocean grow dimmer as the sun set at their backs. When Ganyu finally spoke up, there was an energy to her voice that Keqing didn't expect. "The path you walked up to get here?" she asked slyly. "I hear Wangmin Restaurant is having a late-night special on vegetarian fried shrimp balls. It could take us there, if you want..." A playful smile danced across her features.
Keqing's head snapped up. "R-really?" she said, shaking off her ennui for a fleeting moment at the thought of her favorite food. Only for a moment, however, and once it passed, she schooled her features into something more neutral before continuing. "Wait, no, that's not... I'm not talking about tonight. I meant with us. Our relationship, our future... well, your future," she corrected herself, chuckling bitterly. "Where does it all lead?"
They stared into each other's eyes for a long moment, expressions serious. "My qingxin..." Ganyu began, and the sparkle in her eyes gave away her next words to Keqing just before she could say them, "I still think those shrimp balls at Wangmin are a good start."
Keqing let loose with a bark of laughter that could probably be heard all the way down in Chihu Rock. "Cocogoat..." she whined, half-pleadingly, half-lovingly. But she still let Ganyu grab her hand and start leading her back down the path to Liyue Harbor.
"Shush, my qingxin," Ganyu said, her voice as light and playful as her prancing gait. "I heard you; you just need to trust that I am far older and far wiser than you, and have a plan that mere mortals cannot comprehend."
"Hmph. More like you're far hungrier than me," she said, and she couldn't help it when her attempted scowl felt more like a smirk. They brought out the best in each other: around Keqing, Ganyu was more cheerful, irreverent almost to the point of being mischievous; around Ganyu, Keqing found it easier to let go, harder to take herself too seriously.
Ganyu laughed, clear and sweet as a spring rain. "That, too," she admitted bashfully. "So hurry up, unless you want to keep your ancient, wise, starving girlfriend waiting."
Keqing smiled in earnest this time. "I wouldn't dream of it, cocogoat." And so by the light of their visions, they scampered back down the path and into the city.
---
"Here you go! Five orders of my newest version of vegetarian fried shrimp balls, all for the cutest couple in Liyue!" Xiangling winked at them as she danced back to the kitchen on nimble feet, leaving behind the blushing secretary & Yuheng.
Keqing eagerly reached out for one of the shrimp balls, but Ganyu slapped her hand away. "Nope! I need these to prove a point, and you can't have any until I'm done."
"What?! You didn't say anything about a lesson!" Keqing protested.
Ganyu giggled. "This is where my ancient wisdom comes into play," she explained.
"This is mean. You're mean."
"Oh really?"
"See, this is the problem with giving power over Liyue to ancient, powerful immortals."
"You forgot 'beautiful'."
"Fine. Ancient, powerful immortals. With killer racks."
"H-hey!!" Ganyu squeaked, turning away in a vain attempt to hide her blushing face.
Keqing smirked, knowing she'd won the round. But when she tried to sneak a victory shrimp ball, Ganyu noticed and batted her hand away once again.
"Y-you won't be getting anything more from this ancient s-sexy immortal unless you quiet down and listen." Ganyu crossed her arms under her breasts as if to emphasize what Keqing stood to lose.
"Fine, fine," Keqing said, waving her hand dismissively.
"Good." Ganyu sat up a little straighter and entered what Keqing had affectionately dubbed Teacher Mode. "Now. We have a lot of shrimp balls in front of us, yes?"
Keqing nodded. "I'm honestly impressed you haven't so much as touched them yet," she admitted.
"I can be patient when I have to!" Ganyu protested, and indeed, Keqing knew her girlfriend was far too good at self-denial. Ganyu had been doing better about it lately, though, and the Yuheng was proud that she didn't have to so much as reassure her that such a large order was okay. "Once we've eaten them all, how do you think you'll feel?"
Keqing laughed. "Uncomfortably full, probably," she admitted.
"Bold of you to assume I'll let you have enough to get that full," Ganyu teased. "But you won't be sad?"
"No, why would I be?"
"You enjoy eating them so much, but eventually, there won't be any more to eat. Isn't that sad?"
"I... guess a little bit, maybe?" Keqing furrowed her brow, confused. "But I can just have more tomorrow."
"But you heard Xiangling; she's still working on the recipe for these. You might not have a batch quite like these ones ever again. Or maybe you'll be horribly injured on a mission and lose your ability to taste shrimp balls. Or maybe," and Ganyu leaned in closer, dropping her voice to a conspiratorial whisper, "the Fatui will succeed in a secret plot to drive the world's shrimp to extinction, and these are the last shrimp balls you'll ever be able to eat."
"But... these are vegetarian," Keqing pointed out. "Xiangling doesn't need actual shrimp to make them."
Ganyu rolled her eyes fondly. "Oh, sure, that's the part of the Fatui's secret anti-shrimp agenda that you have a problem with. That's the lone flaw in this scenario."
"I simply find it best when dealing with hypotheticals to look for the problems that arise even after accepting the premise as a given," Keqing protested. "Just last week, in Ningguang's proposal for—"
"Dear..."
"R-right..." Keqing looked around bashfully, hoping she didn't raise her voice enough to disturb any of the other diners. "You were saying?"
"My point is, the shrimp balls are delicious, yes, but they're finite. Each one has a beginning—" she popped one into her mouth, chewed it, and swallowed it so quickly it looked like she'd just inhaled it "—and an end. But you don't let the fear of that end keep you from enjoying them, do you?"
Keqing's eyes widened as she finally realized the point Ganyu was making. "N-no, I suppose I—"
Ganyu cut her off, her words speeding up. "You wouldn't have us walk out of this restaurant with the rest of the shrimp balls untouched just because you know that they'll be gone eventually, right?"
"Of course not, Ganyu, I—"
Ganyu leaned even closer to Keqing, so close their noses were almost touching, so close Keqing couldn't help but see the wild, frightened look in her eyes as she barreled on. "You wouldn't have me abandon you just because you know you'll die before a fraction of my lifespan is up, would you?!" She was hyperventilating and staring at Keqing like the wild creature Keqing had once claimed she was.
Keqing gave her head the slightest shake, almost imperceptible if it weren't for how close their faces were. "Of course not, love," she whispered, "of course I... I wasn't thinking before. I would never want to do that to you."
Her words let Ganyu calm down just enough to get the crazed look out of her eyes and the edge out of her voice. "So just... stop acting like our story has to be this big, awful tragedy, my qingxin," she said, her breathing returning to normal. "Please. Let the path ahead of us be the shrimp balls we'll eat together, the jokes we'll share, your gentle touch on my horns, my head in your lap... let it be defined by the wonderful, irreplaceable moments we'll spend together, not the time we'll eventually be forced to spend apart."
Ganyu sniffed and brought a hand up to her face to wipe her tears away, but Keqing beat her to it, wiping gently at her eyes with her thumb, following through to cup her cheek in her hand. "Ganyu... my sweet cocogoat..." she whispered, softly, lovingly. "I'm sorry. You're right. I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have been focusing so much on—" Ganyu cut off the rest of her apology with a slow, chaste kiss.
"Oh, u-um, sorry, hi!" came a sudden voice, and the lovers sprung apart. Xiangling had with her another order of fried shrimp balls, and she had obviously been crying; as she spoke, it sounded like she might start up again at any moment. "I didn't m-mean to eavesdrop, but I heard you two talking and I'm glad you worked it out and I wanted to give you something and... h-here!" She quickly put the tray down on the table before taking a step back and bowing deeply. "P-please enjoy them all! You both d-d-deserve it... and th-they deserve it, too!!" She spun around and ran back to the kitchen, one arm covering her eyes as her tears began flowing freely once again.
Ganyu and Keqing looked at each other and laughed. "I guess we have no choice," Keqing said with a shrug and a grin.
"What a cruel fate that has been thrust upon us by the merciless chef!" Ganyu added, giggling.
Keqing reached for a shrimp ball, but to her surprise, Ganyu batted her hand away yet again. "What?" she asked indignantly. "The lesson's over, isn't it?"
"The lesson is over, but you're the reason we had to have this conversation, so you have to make it up to me." Ganyu scooted away from Keqing in the booth, then plopped her head down in her lover's lap. "You have to feed me shrimp balls, and you can't start taking any for yourself until I say so."
"But Ganyuuuu," Keqing whined, "I'm hungry too!"
"Yes, and I'm even hungrier. Ancient wisdom and all." Ganyu winked.
Keqing sighed in defeat. "Fiiine," she said, feeding Ganyu a shrimp ball. "But on one condition."
"What is that?" Ganyu mumbled through a mouthful of delicious, oily, shrimp-flavored starch.
Keqing leaned over and kissed Ganyu on the lips. "This," she said coolly.
"...I-I accept your contract," Ganyu mumbled, blushing.
They stayed there through the night, lazily chatting and snacking long past closing time. They offered to leave, but Xiangling, moved by the conversation she'd inadvertently overheard, insisted that they stay as long as they want, so they accepted.
"I think it's almost sunrise," Keqing said, pointing out the window at the faint hint of light peeking over the horizon. "Do you want to go watch it?"
"I don't know..." Ganyu said, "it's just going to set again tonight, isn't it?"
"Oh, shush!" Keqing laughed, giving Ganyu's shoulder a playful shove.
Ganyu laughed alongside her. "You know, this is the first time we've stayed up all night together for something other than work," she pointed out.
"No. Really?" Keqing's face scrunched up in concentration. "What about when we—"
"Th-that doesn't count!!" Ganyu interrupted her, face ablaze.
"Oh really?" Keqing teased.
"Really! It... i-it was teambuilding. A trust exercise. Clearly work-related." Ganyu nodded at her own hasty rationalization.
"Mmhmm. Whatever you say, cocogoat," Keqing said, lazily tracing a finger up and down one of Ganyu's horns and smiling at the tiny, happy sounds she made in response.
Ganyu shifted her head to stare up at Keqing, a dreamy expression on her face. "So, about that sunrise... do you want to watch it in the same spot as last night?"
"Yeah." Keqing smiled. "Yeah, that sounds nice."
"Then there's no time to waste!" Ganyu said, her energetic words clashing with her languid stretch and yawn as she sat up after hours of resting her head in Keqing's lap. "We should get going soon, my little shrimp ball."
Keqing's smile vanished upon hearing the new nickname. "What. No. Ganyu, no, absolutely not."
Ganyu stood up and tilted her head in feigned confusion. "Oh? Why not, my darling little vegetarian shrimp ball?"
"Ganyu!!" Keqing leapt up from her seat and ran toward Ganyu, who led her on a chase out of the restaurant. "I'm not even vegetarian! I eat real shrimp, too!"
"Real shrimp? Well, I suppose you are pretty short," Ganyu called back behind her.
"At least you got the pretty part right!"
The couple raced up Mt. Tianheng, shouting taunts back and forth, heedless of the noise they were making so early in the morning, until, just as the sun was finally peeking out above the ocean, they made it back to the spot where they ran into each other the night before. Exhausted, they sunk down to the ground, leaning on each other and laughing and kissing and, from sheer joy in the moment, forgetting all about the sunrise they were supposed to be watching.