Chapter Text
When Keqing had invited Ganyu to dinner earlier that day, Ganyu thought it was a date, like a date-date. So she’d rushed home right when it was socially acceptable to leave work and put on her best date clothes. It wasn’t much, just a short, black dress with accents of baby blue that complemented the color of her hair and a few accessories to keep the whole ensemble from looking too plain.
Ganyu rarely ever had the occasion to go on dates. She simply didn’t have the time, much less a person to accompany her, so her current relationship with Keqing worked out well for the both of them. Their schedules aligned near-perfectly with only a tiny bit of secretarial fiddling on Ganyu’s end, so they often found themselves sharing the same time and space until quick lunches turned into post-work dinners and drinks and late-night hangouts.
Ganyu was too shy to publicly call Keqing her . . . her girlfriend. Even thinking the word made her blush, and Keqing gave Ganyu a curious look over her plate of grilled tiger fish.
Ganyu shook her head and smiled before she took another bite of her Universal Peace. Warm and fragrant, just how she liked it. The food at Wanmin Restaurant was as consistent as it was delicious. Ganyu just felt a bit out-of-place and overdressed as she sat on the curb outside the building next to Keqing, who was still in her work clothes that were slightly ruffled from the extra-long day.
But Ganyu couldn’t bring herself to mind, especially with the warmth of the night air and laughter spilling through the street and, best of all, Keqing sitting right beside her.
Watching Ganyu eating seemed to satisfy Keqing, so she continued from where she left off in her story. “So then Ningguang and Beidou started to bicker right there in the middle of our meeting, and when I called her out for it, Ningguang looked so flustered that she stopped trying to argue with me about my proposal and signed her approval. She was the last of the Qixing that I needed to fully authorize my project.”
“Congratulations!” Ganyu exclaimed, clapping her hands together. “Though I’m not surprised to hear that Lady Ningguang and Beidou were at it again, I'm glad it was to your advantage.”
Keqing gave a small shake of her head as she poked at the remains of her meal with the wooden skewer it came with. “I can’t imagine being in a relationship where you fight all the time like it’s some kind of weird foreplay.”
“I’m glad we never fight,” Ganyu said, nodding in agreement.
Keqing tilted her head at Ganyu with a smirk. “We used to.”
“But not anymore!” Ganyu protested. “I would say that we’re perfectly functional.”
“Right,” Keqing said, grinning as she waved Xiangling over, “just a couple of gal pals at the workplace.”
Ganyu felt her cheeks warm when Keqing said the words “a couple,” but Keqing was too busy placing another order with Xiangling to tease Ganyu about it. When Xiangling disappeared back inside, Ganyu asked, “Are you getting more food?”
“Drinks,” Keqing corrected. “We’re celebrating the end of the workweek and I’m celebrating the completion of the worst phase in any work project. I’m done with drafting proposals until this project’s completed.”
Ganyu giggled at Keqing’s excitement, but it was contagious. When Xiangling came out, she was balancing two glasses of dark-colored alcohol and a plate of something Ganyu couldn’t see from her angle. Xiangling passed the wine to Keqing and handed the plate to Ganyu.
“Almond tofu,” she explained in a cheerful voice. “On the house.” Xiangling gave Ganyu a knowing smile and a wink as she set a single spoon on the plate. Ganyu ducked her head and blushed.
“You’re too generous, Xiangling. The Qixing always repay their debts; you’re no exception!” Keqing called after Xiangling, but the chef waved her hand and ran off like a pyronado.
“That girl,” Keqing muttered, offering Ganyu her glass of wine.
“Maybe she thinks she’s still indebted to the Qixing because Lady Ningguang sponsored her family restaurant,” Ganyu said as consolation.
“I’m not Ningguang,” Keqing said as she began to look about, her eyes darting across the front of Wanmin Restaurant where grilled tiger fish, rice buns, and huge slabs of ham sat on the counter. “I’m going to hide mora somewhere before we leave. In any case—” Keqing lifted her drink and Ganyu mirrored the movement as they clinked their cups together. “To a successful week, a prosperous tomorrow, et cetera.”
Ganyu laughed at the seriousness in Keqing’s voice and cheered herself before she took a sip. The smell alone should’ve warned her off, but the moment the wine hit her tongue, Ganyu’s face scrunched into a grimace at the acridness of the alcohol.
Keqing was fairing no better, and she seemed to have taken a larger gulp than Ganyu. “Oh, wow,” she croaked, coughing and clearing her throat a few times.
“That’s, ahem, that’s some wine.” Ganyu set her glass down on the curb. “It’s probably meant to be cooked with and not drunk.”
Keqing shrugged. “It’s not too bad.” She took another sip and made the same face, a tight scowl accompanied by the sort of moue someone makes when they bite into something extraordinarily sour. “Okay, maybe it’s kind of bad. Really bad. I see now why she also gave us a dessert.”
Ganyu was hesitant to give it a try knowing Xiangling’s tendencies to experiment, but the almond tofu tasted exactly as it should: lightly sweet and silky smooth. The hint of almond helped clear the remnants of the bad wine from Ganyu’s tongue, and she took another bite with a happy hum.
“I didn’t know they sold almond tofu here,” Keqing said, leaning her weight into Ganyu’s shoulder to peer down at the dish in her lap. Her eyes went to the spoon in Ganyu’s hand, and with no other utensil on the place, Keqing opened her mouth with a quiet “Ah” like she wanted Ganyu to feed her.
“I- Um, I don’t think they do,” Ganyu said, distracted by the task. Her hands shook slightly as she guided a bite into Keqing’s mouth. Keqing didn’t move away, content to savor the dessert where she sat close enough for their arms to brush.
“They should put this on their menu,” Keqing said as she took another sip from her cup. “Ugh, not the wine but the almond tofu.”
Ganyu laughed. “I know what you meant. You’re still drinking it?” She offered Keqing another bite of their dessert, which Keqing took gratefully.
“Mm, mhm. I’m celebrating.” Keqing took another large mouthful then set her cup in her lap. “I think this is a lot stronger than I anticipated.”
Ganyu felt Keqing settle in closer, the weight of her comforting and warm. “Are you drunk off a single glass of bad wine?”
“I’m not drunk.” Keqing moved to prove it by swiping Ganyu’s spoon to feed herself. When the block of almond dessert kept falling from the spoon, she huffed. “Fine. Maybe I’m a bit tipsy from drinking too fast.”
Ganyu gently pried the spoon from Keqing’s grip. “You know I don’t mind at all, right?” That earned Ganyu a sweet, gentle smile, and Ganyu had to turn her head away, pretending to look down the street when she blushed.
“Whoever’s idea it was to split dessert is brilliant,” Keqing said when they’d cleared the plate together. “I would’ve been way too full if I had one all to myself.”
“Xiangling’s idea, I believe,” Ganyu said as she helped Keqing to her feet. “I’m going to return our dishes, then I’ll walk you home?”
“Sounds good.” Keqing gave her a little wiggle of her fingers before Ganyu stepped into the restaurant to drop off their plates and cups on the counter against the wall.
“Dinner was lovely,” Ganyu said as she counted out the mora to pay their bill, making sure to include enough to cover the dessert as well as some extra for the service.
Xiangling whisked up the dishes and threw them into the sink. “Thanks for stopping by! I can grab some better wine for the Yuheng if you let me know when she’s coming.”
Ganyu smiled and waved Xiangling off. “It’s fine, it’s fine,” she assured. “She doesn’t drink often, and she’s happy to celebrate with whatever’s on hand.”
“Maybe something a little milder, then?” Xiangling suggested with a good-natured laugh as she glanced outside at Keqing, who swayed a bit where she stood.
Ganyu hid a smile behind her hand. “Don’t worry, I’ll get the Yuheng home proper. Even if she can’t quite handle her alcohol, I’ll be there to watch her.”
Xiangling hung onto the doorframe and waved a vigorous goodbye at Ganyu and Keqing as they made their way down the street and away from the thoroughfare. Ganyu giggled and waved back, but she had her arm around Keqing’s waist and one of Keqing’s arms slung across her shoulder, so the movement was ungainly and awkward.
As Ganyu rounded the corner that led them up a quieter street, Keqing perked up a bit, apparently recognizing the way home. “Feeling better?” Ganyu asked quietly.
“I’m mostly sober now,” Keqing said, though she still leaned heavily against Ganyu’s body. “Just tired. It’s been a long day.”
Ganyu hummed in sympathy and started rubbing her hand across Keqing’s back. They walked slowly and the street was almost completely clear, the hour of the night too early for most to consider returning to their homes.
Keqing let Ganyu lead them and turned her head so that her face was nestled into the crook of Ganyu’s neck. “You smell good,” she mumbled into the collar of Ganyu’s dress.
Ganyu smiled to herself and brought her hand up to pet Keqing’s hair. Keqing didn’t object so Ganyu continued the motion and asked, half-teasing, “Do you want me to carry you?”
Sighing, Keqing drew away. “No, I’m fine.”
“I can tell you’re sleepy,” Ganyu said, feeling herself already shouldering about half of Keqing’s weight. It would be easy for her to simply take the other half and pick her up.
“I’m”—Keqing yawned and covered her mouth with the back of her hand—“okay. We’re almost there.”
Ganyu had been over so many times that she knew exactly where Keqing lived and which key on her keychain opened the front door. Keqing evidently knew this too because she wordlessly passed Ganyu her keys for her to figure it out when they arrived in front of Keqing’s home.
Once inside, Ganyu helped Keqing kick off her shoes and placed them on the shoe rack—something that, if not done properly, would deeply annoy a sober, well-rested Keqing—while Keqing wandered into her bedroom located farther inside the house.
Ganyu navigated through Keqing’s home with perfect ease and found Keqing lying face-down on her mattress, fully dressed and legs hanging off. Ganyu smiled and shook her head as she dragged Keqing up by the arms so she was fully flat with all limbs supported. Keqing stirred a bit and mumbled unintelligibly, but she was out cold.
It took some wrangling to get Keqing’s outer clothes off, leaving her in thin underthings that exposed soft, bare skin, but Ganyu managed and finally tucked Keqing into bed. She nestled deeper under the blanket, sighing quietly in her sleep.
Undoing the buns atop her head, Ganyu smoothed Keqing’s hair away from her face and leaned down to press a light kiss against her forehead. There was always pen and paper readily available in Keqing’s immediate vicinity, so Ganyu found some to leave Keqing a note: a quick, short message that read “I’ll see you tomorrow :)”
Ganyu closed Keqing’s bedroom door as softly as possible and made sure to lock the front door before heading home for the night. She could still smell Keqing’s scent lingering on her dress where Keqing had pressed in close like she belonged there in Ganyu’s arms.