Work Text:
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Keqing nuzzles into the sheets below her, breathing in deeply. Her lungs are filled with the sweet scent of glaze lilies and then acrid, underlying tobacco.
She freezes.
Why in the blazes would her sheets smell like tobacco?!
The Yuheng’s eyes snap open, which she immediately regrets when the filtering sunlight assaults her senses. The windows were too big, too bright. Keqing liked to set alarms, not rise with the sun. The silky sheets stick to her body, and it’s with a confused pang that she realizes-- she’s naked under them.
She squints at the unfamiliar ceiling, with its high beams and sturdy craftsmanship. The ceiling at Keqing’s apartment was smooth and modern, completely different. She wasn’t home, then. Her mind is a little foggy, still drowsy from her sudden awakening. She sits up, hugging the sheets to cover her chest.
As she looks around to properly gather her bearings, Keqing realizes she’s not alone.
A very naked, very asleep Ningguang lays beside her, snoring softly.
The Yuheng claps a hand over her mouth to muffle the gasp that escapes her. Ningguang’s bare face greets her, silver hair mussed from sleep, muscles completely relaxed. Without her striking eyeshadow or that haughty smirk on her lips, she looks younger-- more peaceful. It’s not a bad sight, not at all, but it makes Keqing’s heart race as she pieces together the last several hours.
Memories of last night flood back like an avalanche that cannot be stopped.
It was around midnight. Everyone who had a personal life to get back to left to enjoy whatever remained of a fine Saturday in the lively Liyue Harbor.
But not Keqing.
She waited for Baishi to bid Ningguang goodnight, the last to do so that chilly night at Yuehai Pavillion. As the assistant hurried out, Keqing tried to ignore the blush coloring the secretary’s cheeks-- she was absolutely not subtle about her crush on her employer. As Keqing catches the door before it can fully close, she sincerely hoped she wasn’t as obvious in her own similar affections.
Ningguang didn’t look up, still absorbed in her work, despite it being afterhours. Even Ganyu had gone home. Keqing was vaguely aware that throughout the day there had been some sort of crisis on Ningguang’s plate. Some loophole in a new income tax law, which the merchant guilds had started to exploit immediately. Yanfei informed them before significant abusive practices could take place, but it was still tricky to set right.
The self-appointed Tailor of Liyue had immediately set to work to remedy the situation. The amendment would be ready in the morning, at the cost of Ningguang spending the entire day slaving over the document with zero distractions allowed until she was finished.
“Everyone’s gone home,” Keqing started, not sure how to breach the silence. Instead of braving the waters, she hovered awkwardly at the Tianquan’s back, her hands clenching and unclenching at her sides.
“So they have,” Ningguang said, not even bothering to look up. At least she’d been acknowledged, but what Keqing could only interpret as disinterest on the other woman’s part gives her pause.
Keqing bit her lip, fighting down the urge to turn around and slam the door on the way out. She had been hyping herself up to do this for weeks, talking Ganyu’s ear off about finally making her move on the most insufferable, yet incredible person in Teyvat. She could not falter, not now. Keqing wouldn’t be able to handle the pitying looks from the half-quilin come Monday if she failed.
The sound of Ningguang’s pen scratching against parchment did not help settle her nerves. Keqing’s nails dug against the soft skin of her own palms, probably leaving crescent-shaped marks. Torturing herself over a possible rejection was not doing anyone any favors, so she settled on being blunt.
“I want to take you out.”
Ningguang hummed, idly flipping to another page. “In the assassination way, or the date way?”
The Yuheng was so taken aback by the older woman’s response that it took her several seconds to shoot back a question of her own, “Which do you think?!”
“I don’t know, Keqing. That’s why I’m asking for clarification,” Ningguang’s eyes finally lifted from her work, to level her with an even stare, “with the way you look at me sometimes… I really can’t tell.”
Keqing gritted her teeth, feeling equal amounts stressed and furious. A rush of courage she didn’t know she had surges in her veins, giving the Yuheng the push she needed. She approached the Tianquan, slid her gloved hand around the back of her neck, quite the intimate gesture. She took it as a good sign when Ningguang didn’t bat her hand away, but instead tilted her head in her direction. She had her attention, now.
The Yuheng noted the way the older woman squirmed slightly at the touch before she steeled her voice, “And how do I look at you?”
Ningguang’s smile finally reached her eyes when she murmured, low and alluring, “You tell me.”
One thing led to another, and…
As Keqing struggles to bring her mind back to the present, Ningguang begins to stir beside her, and Keqing’s heart catapults to her throat. She had just been about to recall the part where she had mind-blowing sex with her coworker, when wine-colored eyes blink open, slowly at first, then land squarely on her.
Keqing has a split second to decide between jumping out of the sheets like a coward or laying back down to face the older woman. It’s a snap decision when she settles on the latter. Keqing lowers herself back down, tries not to feel too self-conscious about how messy her hair probably looks out of its buns. Come what may, she might as well get the first word in.
“Hi,” Keqing says, the picture of perfect eloquence. Idiot, idiot, idiot.
“Mm. Good morning,” Ningguang’s voice is still heavy with sleep, with a husky tenor that Keqing can’t help but adore. Gods, leave it to her coworker to look great when any normal person wouldn’t even stand a chance.
The Tianquan stretches in place, showing off the collection of bites on her collarbone and chest. There’s even a particularly deep one where her neck meets her shoulder, and she raises a suggestive eyebrow at Keqing when she catches her looking. The sight of her handiwork makes Keqing blush up to her roots, and she quickly averts her eyes.
“I… didn’t plan to stay the night,” Keqing says, in what she realizes is a lame attempt to sound cool and detached. To her ears, it comes off as ridiculous.
“I’m glad you did.”
Ningguang’s completely unfazed demeanor wasn’t making this any easier. The Yuheng wishes she could get a do-over of the last couple of minutes and follow her lead. The aftermath isn’t awkward, like she had initially feared-- but things going so well wasn’t something she had accounted for, either.
“In fact, I’m very glad you finally had the guts to ask me out,” Ningguang continues, further surprising her, “we were all wondering when the crushing Yuheng would get her shit together.”
“Who is we?!” Keqing squeaks, mortified that she wasn’t being as subtle as she thought.
The sound of Ningguang’s throaty laugh is as irritating as it is familiar when she says, “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
Before she can demand a proper answer, Ningguang turns around, rolls her shoulders invitingly. It gives a stellar view of her back, along with the scarlet phoenix tattoo that wraps all around it. Just last night, Keqing had discovered that such gorgeous artwork existed, that the small hint of it on Ningguang’s thigh was part of a bigger piece on her back. Keqing doesn’t have time to properly admire it, for the Tianquan quickly requests something of her.
“Spoon me?”
“B-but… you’re naked,” Keqing says, like a dumbass.
Ningguang looks at her over her shoulder, and Keqing feels herself flush as her gaze rakes up and down her body, “So are you,” she says, a pleased quirk to her lips, then turns back to settle once more against her own pillow. Her voice takes on a slightly cold edge when she says, “I won’t ask you twice.”
Keqing’s body moves to oblige on autopilot. She knows she’s not tall enough to properly “spoon” someone as tall as Ningguang, but the skin-on-skin contact feels heavenly. She presses her small breasts against the older woman’s back, slots her chin over her shoulder, and Ningguang lets out a low, contented sigh.
“Like this?” Keqing asks, still feeling silly, even as she uses her arm to bring the other woman closer still, her fingers splayed on the Tianquan's midriff.
“Mhm. Yes. It’s very nice.”
Her body fits surprisingly well against Ningguang’s softer curves, despite the height difference and her leaner frame. The shared warmth between them somehow feels more intimate than whatever they got up to last night.
The Tianquan seems perfectly at ease with the silence that ensues, but Keqing’s mind is racing. She knows the older woman works very hard all week and the last thing she must want is to be grilled on where their relationship stands, so Keqing swallows down the urge to ask. Waiting around is against her nature, however, and soon enough the Yuheng is blurting out the first thing that comes to mind.
“… aren’t we going to get up?”
Ningguang groans. “Are you always so chatty on Sunday mornings?”
“I wouldn’t say chatty, but I don’t like lazing around. It’s a waste of sunlight.”
Ningguang twists around in their embrace to face her. Keqing feels slightly dejected until Ningguang’s lips are pressing against hers, meeting her for a slow, indulgent kiss. With it, Keqing can feel the apprehension melt away, and other parts of her come to life. The pleasant memories from a few hours ago wash over her, making her feel good all over. When Ningguang breaks it, she finds herself longing for more.
“You miscalculated last night,” Ningguang says, leaning her forehead against Keqing’s, “now I get a new way to shut you up when you’re being intolerable.”
Keqing frowns, parts her lips to protest, but Ningguang takes it as an invitation to dive in for another kiss. Since her mouth is open, the contact is far steamier, so much so that Ningguang has to swallow down the small whine that Keqing lets out.
“See?” Ningguang says, crooked grin making her look all the lovelier. She leans forward to nuzzle her face against Keqing’s neck, “I don’t believe I’m going to let you get another word in at future Qixing meetings.”
Keqing returns the smile, even if Ningguang can’t see it with her face burrowed like that. The more conservative members of the Qixing would blow a gasket if the Tianquan were to kiss the Yuheng whenever she said something the other woman didn’t agree with. Given how often their ideas clashed, Keqing imagines she would get kissed a lot.
“S-so that means this isn’t a one-time thing?” Keqing tries to find the delicate balance between sounding the right amount of interested, but not like she’s totally invested. Despite her best efforts, the way she stumbles through her sentence betrays the hopeful undertone to it.
Ningguang yawns against her skin, “Do you want it to be?”
“No… actually, I would love a repeat,” Keqing admits, “I’d like to take you out very soon, if possible.”
“Are you threatening to kill me again?”
Despite the startled laugh that escapes her, Keqing still makes it a point to gently scold her.
“Will you stop with that joke?”