Yujing Terrace was characteristically quite bustling and busy this late Spring morning, which made things all the more awkward as the Crux Fleet’s captain walked confidently through the plaza and straight into the Qixing’s domain. Passerbys stopped to whisper, sure that she had been summoned to suffer yet another penalty for her many transgressions, and rumours flew back and forth that there was due to be a real fight between her and the reigning Tianquan. The conversation in the pavilion ceased as Beidou threw the door open, the only sound being the clicking of her heels against the jade floors, until she reached the chief secretary’s desk and beckoned their attention.

“Hmm… ooo…yes...” Ganyu mumbled to herself as she scanned a pile of documents line by line. Head nodding, eyes fluttering, the head she braced against the desk with her bent elbow threatened to fall over until she heard the slam of a gloved hand against the smooth lacquer top. “Ah!” Ganyu’s eyes and lips snapped open. “Yes, I… oh! Beidou! Are you-”

“Hush.” Beidou’s tone was harsh and to the point, but Ganyu knew right away it was only to keep up appearances. “The Tianquan, take me to her.” She ordered in her deepest possible tone.

Ganyu held back a smile as she slid back her chair to stand up. “Right this way, Beidou, your wife is waiting for you.” She whispered just loud enough for Beidou alone to hear, turning toward the chambers before getting to soak in Beidou’s cherry red, embarrassed look. With the destruction of the Jade Chamber still in recent memory, Ningguang had been using her previously neglected office in the pavilion, but its lack of use was still apparent. The walls were bare and devoid of art or scrolls, the carvings within the room sparse and simple and just but a small decorative fountain took up position as the central display. “The Tianquan will be with you shortly.” Ganyu explained as they reached the middle of the office. “But until then please make yourself-”

“Ok, ok, we’re alone now Ganyu, you can drop the act, please.” Beidou interrupted, barely holding back chuckles from earlier.

"Oh, right, whew.” Ganyu sighed before smiling.

“Would you believe me if I said it was probably harder for me?” Beidou asked as she approached Ganyu.

Ganyu herself also started closing the distance between the two. “Nope, I think I’ll get you to break character next time.” She stated, and when the two were immediately adjacent, they wrapped arms around each other for a long, warm belated hug.

“How ya holding up, Ganyu?” Beidou asked once they broke apart to an arms length. “I’ve missed you.”

“I missed you too, Beidou, I’m…” Ganyu stopped to hold a hand against her mouth in a yawn. “I’m doing alright. I hope your expedition went well?”

Beidou raised an eyebrow at Ganyu’s yawn but declined to follow that train of thought any further. “Oh, we got a huge haul we’re offloading at the docks right now.” She paused to register Ganyu’s growing, inquisitive smirk. “...That we will be sure to register all of the import taxes on.” Beidou assured with fingers crossed behind her back. “But with all this done, I’m planning to take the summer off at a resort for some R&R with the crew, and I’m gonna try and get Ning to come with me.”

“Oh, best of luck on that endeavour.” Ganyu comforted, resting her hand on Beidou’s shoulder before yawning yet again.

Beidou looked down at Ganyu and flashed an evil grin. “Good, cause if I can’t convince them then you’re going to be adding kidnapping to my list of charges. They needs a vacation.” She stated. Ganyu nearly went white as she contemplated the chaos that would ensue such an action, but before she could offer any objection Beidou started to step away, running a hand along the marble edge of the water fountain. “Maybe I should show them some of the Snezhnayan loot we pulled from that Fatui privateer; could really go towards decorating this place.” Beidou mused aloud, kneeling down to get a closer look at one of the stone lions that adorned the fountain. “What do you think, Ganyu? Think they’ll like it? Or scoff at it?” She asked, but there was no reply. “...Ganyu? Hey, Earth to Ganyu?” Beidou called out, but when she turned to look at her friend she could see Ganyu’s head sunk, her eyes half shut, and beginning to ever so slightly tilt backwards. Beidou leaped forward and caught Ganyu’s back just in time as she began to tip over, the slight fall fully alerting the Qilin as she struggled to regain balance.

“I… huh… whu… oh, um, thank you, Beidou.” She answered in embarrassment as the captain helped steady her feet.

Beidou however kept an arm around Ganyu’s shoulders, not yet ready to let go. “You ok?” She asked in concern, her eyes narrowing as she recalled her friend’s work tendencies. “When was the last time you slept?”

Ganyu flushed red, unable to look at Beidou’s empathy-filled eye. “I don’t remember.” She quietly whispered.

“Ok, so too long ago.” Beidou said. “What about food? All I ever seem to see you eat are whole grains and qingxin flowers.”

“That’s not true!” Ganyu blurted back. “...I eat rice also.” She shyly admitted.

Beidou rolled her eyes. “Well, have you had any of those to eat today?” She asked, but by now just the simple discussion of food caused Ganyu’s stomach to squeal, answering that question quite thoroughly. Ganyu was starting to feel quite small under Beidou’s increasingly stern look. She briefly contemplated escaping, but almost as if she was reading her mind, Beidou took that moment to grab Ganyu’s upper arm, and while she could easily break free if wanted, upsetting her closest friend was something she loathed potentially doing.

“I’m sorry.” Ganyu squeaked under pressure, but Beidou simply picked Ganyu up and sat them both down on the sofa adjacent to a small serving table.

“I’m not mad at you, Ganyu, I just l- er, I’m just looking out for you, alright?” Beidou spoke sincerely as she rubbed Ganyu’s back. “Ningguang doesn’t need to see me right away, yeah? Maybe it’s enough time for a short nap? What do you say?”

“I don’t think-” Ganyu stopped, and looked forlornly at the ground. “Where would I even sleep?”

“Right here.” Beidou suggested.

“On this couch?”

“Yeah, you can use my lap as a pillow! No one will see you, and I’ll make sure to wake you up if Ning comes!”

Ganyu paused to think, it sounded nice, but there was still so much work to do…

“Look, either take the offer, or you become my new kidnapping target.” Beidou threatened. Ganyu shook her head, and quickly shifted over as to better lie her horned head atop Beidou’s lap. The whole situation felt much too awkward to earnestly sleep, but just as Ganyu contemplated giving up, she felt Beidou begin to gently stroke her horns. Right away she felt her eyelids become heavy with lead, mind filled with warm summer nights spent curled up in luscious soft grass. Before either could realize, Ganyu fell fast into a deep sleep, only marked by the sleeping Qilin subconsciously wriggling free her previously tied down tail to occasionally twitch and tumble against the seat cushions.

…..

When the Tianquan finally reached her office, only able to see the back of Beidou’s head over the top of the couch, they were quite understandably upset. “Two hours!” Ningguang barked at Beidou, quickly drawing her panicked gaze. “You’ve been here that long and I only find out now? What is-”

“Shhhhh!!!” Beidou shushed back, one finger held against her lips while another pointed towards something in her lap. Ningguang felt themselves grow redder and angrier with every step towards their insubordinate partner, but that rage vanished immediately as soon as the thankfully still asleep Ganyu resting on Beidou’s lap came into their view.

“Oh.” Ningguang softly gasped, trying not to look at the nasty glance Beidou was now returning in kind.

“You’re working the poor girl to death, Ning!” Beidou whispered seethingly. “She hasn’t slept or eaten anything in at least a day, so woe is me for helping her to get some much needed rest!”

She then resumed stroking Ganyu’s horns as the Qilin began to squirm ever so slightly in her sleep, with both Beidou and Ningguang holding their breaths intensely until letting out a heavy sigh of relief when Ganyu eventually settled down. Still needing to discuss the duties of the day, Ningguang took a seat in an armchair opposite the couch.

“I do try to make sure she’s taking care of herself, truly. There are days where it looks like a stiff breeze might knock her over, yet she won’t listen to me or any of the other Qixing when we ask her to take time off.” Ningguang admitted, to which Beidou sighed again.

“Yeah that was unfair of me, sorry.” She apologized.

Ningguang gave a slight nod before turning her gaze down to the sleeping Qilin. “How did you do it so easily? Ever since Rex Lapis’ passing all she’s done is work, work, work. How can you get a word in with her?” They asked.

Beidou smiled. “Ganyu listens to me because I’m her friend, not her boss.”

“Well, I would very much like to be Ganyu’s friend as well.” Ningguang pouted.

“Jealous?”

“No, just sympathy at the thought of you of all people being Ganyu’s only friend.”

“Ouch.” Beidou replied, mock clutching her chest. “You kiss your woman with that mouth?” She teased.

Ningguang put a finger to their lips in thought. “Hmm, let me find out.” They answered. They then briefly got up in order to walk around to Beidou’s side in order to bend over and share a tender kiss and cheek rub. “Would you care for a bit of friendly competition, love?” The Tianquan then quietly whispered.

Beidou developed a devious grin. “Only if there’s a wager involved.”

“I wouldn’t ask unless that was the goal.” Ningguang stated.

“Well, well, someone sounds confident today. What do you want from me, Ning?”

“Just a favour.”

Beidou blinked. “I see, there must be an agenda developing behind those beautiful eyes of yours.”

“How flattering.” Ningguang acknowledged with a hand hiding their smile. “And to this you request?”

“A total pardon on all the fines and infractions I’ve accumulated this year.” Beidou immediately answered.

The two were perhaps raising their voices a little too high and Ganyu began to stir once more, but as soon as she settled back down mumbling something along the lines of “Stop poking…” Beidou returned to negotiating, albeit redoubling her quietness.

“Hey, you’re getting a personal favour from the captain of the Crux fleet! A lot of people would kill for such a privilege you know?”

Ningguang sighed and rubbed their browline. “Women.” They mumbled aloud as they began setting up the Go board and stones on the table between them. “Fine. Well, since I am the challenger, you may make the first move.”

“Cool, I concede. You win, Ningguang.”

It took all of the Tianquan’s internal might to not scream aloud at the smug face before them.

…..

Half-asleep, rocking gently from side to side, and with cool air swirling around her face, Ganyu imagined herself hanging comfortably on a hammock suspended from two trees.

But wait, hadn’t she fallen asleep in the Tianquan’s office?

Ganyu cracked a tired eye open and found herself staring at a dark brown, wooden wall; this was not Ningguang’s room. And what was that noise coming from behind her? It sounded like someone breathing? Ganyu slowly and carefully rolled over only to come face to face with a softly snoring Beidou. Her eyes flexed wide open as the realization dawned upon her. Beidou had done it, she’d abducted her. Now not only was all her work going to be left undone, but the fleets of the Qixing would be hunting her friend down to the ends of Teyvat for a crime so flagrant that not even the Tianquan’s pardon could absolve her. That sudden awareness had come with a sudden intake of breath, however, and this proved to be just enough for the Alcor’s captain to blink awake as well.

“Mmm… g’morning sleepyhead.” Beidou greeted groggily as she rubbed the sleep buds from her eye. But Ganyu was still processing the sheer audacity of Beidou’s actions, resulting in her just lying still and staring off into space for several seconds. “Hey? You there? Ganyu? Helloooo…” Beidou asked, waving a hand in front of her face.

“Do you even realize what you’ve done, Beidou?!” Ganyu spat out, feeling like she was going to scream as Beidou just smiled harder. “We need to turn this ship around now! Before things get even worse for you!”

“Relax, Ganyu, everything’s fine.” Beidou reassured after a short yawn. Almost shaking in panic, Ganyu began to sit up in bed, the blanket falling off her shoulder revealing that she was dressed completely differently in what she assumed to be some of Beidou’s spare sleepwear.

“D-Did you undress me?” Ganyu next asked.

“Look, I can explain-” Beidou began as she lifted herself from bed, however, doing so exposed the bare left side of her face that had been obscured by her pillow. Seeing for the first time the sunken cavity and scar where Beidou’s eye used to be spooked Ganyu enough to gasp slightly. “Oh, fuck, sorry.” Beidou apologized as she fumbled behind her for the cloth she used to cover it up.

“N-No, I shouldn’t have reacted like that, I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok! I know I’m… er… it’s not pretty…” Beidou said as she grabbed her eyepatch and began tying it to her head. “There, much better.”

Ganyu still looked quite noticeably guilty, but Beidou gave her a pat on the shoulder and reassured her that there were no hurt feelings.

“Look, Ningguang hired me to take you with me to the resort I rented for the summer, and the Tianquan can’t really punish me for something they hired me to do.”

Ganyu turned her head to the side. “Seriously?” She asked.

“Yep.” Beidou confirmed. “You can ask Ning herself when they meet us there.”

Now everything was beginning to make sense.

“Oh and uh, sorry about the bed and clothes.” Beidou hastily added. “Thing is we’re kind of at full capacity here, and I noticed you were starting to sweat a bit, and figured this would be better then uh, maybe getting an angry rash, and uh…”

Ganyu finally smiled as she returned the favour by patting Beidou’s shoulder. “I understand, and um… thanks.”

Beidou breathed a sigh of relief before slowly bringing herself fully out of bed and onto her feet. “You must be starving, I’ve got Xiangling with us in the galley, want me to get her to make you some veggie soup?”

Again the mere mention of food caused Ganyu to clench up, the hunger pangs starting to feel like an angry mob within her stomach. “Yes please.” She pleaded.

They were set to arrive at the resort the following afternoon. It was nice to get to spend some off time with Beidou, and Xinyan was with them as well, keeping the crew entertained with music and pyrotechnics on their journey. Ganyu, however, spent most of her time sitting with legs dangling off the side of the ship, looking back across the horizon to the rapidly disappearing Liyue shoreline and contemplating what was going on there without her.

“Anything I can do to help?” Beidou suddenly called out from behind Ganyu, startling her somewhat. The Qilin turned her head around to see the captain of the Crux leaning against one of the flag masts and carrying a plate of pale white, sweet looking cubes. “You’ve sighed about twelve times since I started counting. Everything’s fine, Ganyu, trust me.”

Ganyu looked back out to sea as Beidou walked over and swung her legs over the railing in order to sit adjacent. “It’s not that I’m worried about Liyue needing me too badly. It’s more I’m wondering if Liyue even needs me at all.” She admitted with a thirteenth sigh. She started to stare down at the light waves rippling against the side of the ship only for Beidou to start rubbing her back and holding the plate in her hand just within eyesight.

“Want some? Xiangling made some almond tofu, it’s delicious!” She offered.

It smelled absolutely delectable, drawing Ganyu’s nose and sight on instinct, but she quickly shied away. “I-I can’t, I shouldn’t.” Ganyu stated. “I already had dinner…”

Beidou frowned, but decided to pop one of the sweets into her mouth as a show of good faith. “You sure?” She asked. “These are so good, if you have some I guarantee you’ll feel better.”

Ganyu kept her head down but shifted her eyes up to briefly glance at Beidou’s face. Her smile shined like silver, and right away Ganyu felt a pang of guilt over refusing, even though the thought of taking one almond tofu brought back painful memories of cruel jabs and laughing faces. So she just froze, unable to say anything, leading to Beidou setting the plate down beside her and grabbing Ganyu’s hand, softly rubbing her thumb over her knuckles.

“Look, I don’t really buy or understand all that contract stuff you and Rex Lapis are so insistent on, but I think you’re going about this the wrong way.” Beidou stated, drawing Ganyu’s look out of the corners of her eyes. “It’s not a question of whether Liyue needs you or not, it’s a matter of whether you want to help Liyue.” She explained. Beidou then began to look up at the clouds, drawing Ganyu’s curiosity there with her. “I do what I do to help people who deserve it. The world is a nasty, unfair place, and if I need to break a few rules to even things out, that’s what I do. I didn’t need any contract to come to this decision, it’s just… who I am.”

Ganyu squeezed Beidou’s hand back, a slight smile overtaking her previous frown. “I wish there were more people like you, Beidou.” She said.

“Ah…” Beidou turned away while rubbing the back of her head. “Um, thanks. That really means a lot coming from you.”

The two fell silent for a while, relaxing to the calls of gulls, and the soft rolling of the ocean’s waves. They eventually looked back at each other and smiled, still holding hands as the setting sun finally reached the edge of the horizon.

“So tell me, you enjoy your work, right?” Beidou asked.

“Yes, I do very much.” Ganyu replied.

“And you want to continue it?”

“I would like to, yes.”

“I don’t see any issue, do you?”

Ganyu paused. “No, I guess there isn’t.” She concluded. After another awkward silence the Qilin began to laugh, followed immediately by Beidou, neither caring about the curious gazes drawn by the few crewmates still on deck. “You know, you’re pretty smart, Beidou.”

“If you keep flirting with me like that I’m going to have to buy you a drink!” Beidou teased back.

Ganyu put a finger to her lips. “But this is your ship? Isn’t all the liquor here yours?”

“Tch… I… I’ll find a way!” And they both laughed again even harder. “I just got one last word of advice.” Beidou started, finally letting go of Ganyu’s hand and picking back up her plate of food. “If you don’t take care of yourself, you won’t be able to help others. So focus on and love your work, yeah? But treat yourself as well, ok? Go finally ask Keqing out on a date instead of pining away endlessly.”

Ganyu flushed deep red and buried her face in her hands. “Please don’t bring that up, I’m still recovering from the last time I accidentally tripped over her.”

“Ok, sorry, but just… I say that to remind you that you deserve good things, Ganyu.” Beidou stated.

Ganyu nodded, and Beidou began to make her leave, only to be stopped by a tug on her sleeve. “Actually, can I have some of that almond tofu please?” She asked.

“Here.” Beidou handed her the whole platter. “Enjoy, I’ll be down in my quarters if you need me.”

Ganyu began to protest being handed the entire plate but before she could get an effective word in Beidou was long gone. She stared down at the platter, feeling the rumblings build up in her stomach again, and shook her head to try and clear away the unwanted thoughts.

“I guess a couple wouldn’t hurt?” Ganyu muttered to herself, and she put one of the soft desserts in her mouth.

Oh.

Her grip went slightly slack, almost letting the plate fall out of her hands and into the waves below. The almond tofu was impossibly silky, melt in your mouth goodness, with just the right amount of natural sweetness from the sunsettia syrup. Before Ganyu had even realized it there was but one left, all gone in what felt like a blink of the eye. She burped, and felt her cheeks redden, was this truly ok? What would happen if…

“Well, if there’s only one left… might as well not let it go to waste.”

She ate the last and as if acting on instinct, got off the railing to head down to the galley, all thoughts towards wondering if there was any more left.

…..

The next day’s arrival in dock brought the delighted cheers of sailors, many of whom leapt from the deck of the Alcor and surrounding vessels to swim ashore, their vacation having finally begun. But Beidou, Ganyu and a few of the higher ranking officers stayed behind to help offload some crates of food and drink, leading to a rather awkward encounter with someone that had arrived just before them. Beidou was lugging a large crate of fruit along with Ganyu, walking backwards away from the unloading ramp when an authoritative voice from behind caught them both by surprise.

“Ahem!”

Beidou accidentally slipped on her grip in surprise, causing her half of the heavy wooden crate to fall upon her toes. Ganyu quickly dragged it back before any serious damage was done, but the shock still resulted in Beidou falling over and clutching at her aching feet just as the other visitor came into view.

“Oh hi Ning.” Beidou greeted in her best possible composure. Ningguang was certainly prepared for the summer weather, dressed in a long, loose but light two piece skirt and top, holding an umbrella for the sun’s rays in one hand while the other held a blended icy drink in a large, frosted goblet.

“Don’t you ‘oh hi Ning’ me.” They spat back as Ganyu rushed over to make sure Beidou was ok, having confirmed the crate was undamaged from the fall.

“I thought you’d be ok with this? I mean isn’t this what you asked me-”

“I have no idea why you thought I’d be ok with this.” Ningguang interrupted, still standing by under the cover of their umbrella and taking a long sip of their cool drink while Ganyu helped Beidou back onto her feet.

“I thought you hired Beidou to take me here?” Ganyu asked innocently.

Ningguang stopped drinking mid sentence, the words the Qilin said causing them to stand completely still and silent for an entire minute. “You mean she didn’t tell you?” They asked, and Ganyu shook her head. “Right after our conversation Beidou threw you over her shoulder and ran right out the pavilion, across the terrace and down to the docks! In full daylight, at the busiest time of the day, and in front of everyone!” They explained.

Ganyu looked back at Beidou, who could only smile and laugh nervously. “It worked though, didn’t it?” She asserted.

Ninggaung held the umbrella pole against their shoulder so as to press their face into the palm of their hand. “Beidou, I was expecting you to talk to Ganyu about it like a pair of adults, not abduct the Qixing’s chief secretary in front of every viewing eye in Liyue!” They spoke candidly. “Look I tried my best to defuse things but there are not enough strings in existence I could pull to get you out of trouble, so expect some harsh consequences upon your return.”

“...Yes mother…” Beidou mocking replied, to which Ningguang immediately splashed the rest of their drink in the captain’s face.

“Well, since we’re all here now, might as well have some fun.” Ningguang said, handing the now empty goblet and umbrella to Ganyu, who was trying hard but failing to not laugh as Beidou cleaned the bits of fruit juice and shaved ice off her face. “Why don’t you go inside the lodge and get yourself one of those, Beidou and I can handle the rest of this.” They said to Ganyu, who ended up turning to Beidou.

“Don’t worry, we got this.” She added, and Ganyu gave a short nod before walking off the docks.

Inside was a huge welcoming reception, with a band playing music, people dancing on stage, and table after table filled with platters of food. Most of it was various kinds of seafood that Ganyu was wholly uninterested in, but there were enough platters of grilled veggie skewers, rice balls and sliced fruits that she didn’t feel left out. Ganyu put her refilled ice drink down on a small round table and grabbed a small plate for herself to begin loading up. But just as she felt satisfied with a handful of bites a pair of chefs came out of the kitchen holding yet more platters of something smelling absolutely delectable.

“Um, excuse me?” Ganyu got the attention of one of the chefs. “These fried radish balls… what are they cooked in?”

The chef took one glance at Ganyu’s plate and smiled warmly. “Not to worry young miss, we make sure all of the vegetarian options here are only made using sunflower oil!” He stated, and then took the liberty of adding a few skewers to Ganyu’s plate himself, which she thanked him for.

“So much food…” The true extent began to dawn on Ganyu. “I should probably get out of here before-”

“Heyyy Ganyu come try this out!” Xiangling called out from behind the Qilin, causing her to turn around slowly in dread.

“Aha… what have you got there?” She asked, looking at the platter of what looked like little breaded fangs with cheese oozing out the root end.

Xiangling picked one up and took a bite down the middle, creating a gooey string of cheese between the remaining half of the creation and her lips. “I call them pepper poppers! They’re chilies stuffed with cheese, breaded and fried!”

Ganyu swallowed a lump in her throat, marveling at how delicious they smelled… and how destructive they probably were. “Um… sorry Xiangling, but you know I don’t handle spicy foods well…”

“No they’re actually not spicy at all! Sure they’re hot peppers, but they’re weak ones, and all the cheese makes it quite mild!” She claimed. “Try one? Please?” Xiangling pleaded with her eyes already tearing up.

“Umm… ok…” Ganyu slowly reached out for one, unable to say no when so much effort was being put in to make something she might enjoy. Picking up the pepper, Ganyu could tell right away the outside was crisp to a fault. Xiangling was probably the greatest cook in Liyue from her experience, as even with the melty cheese it still had quite a crunchy outside texture. Taking one more moment to sniff the creation, Ganyu then popped it into her mouth and just about squealed with joy.

“Oh… oh my…”

The spiciness was indeed quite mild, with the heat only serving to elevate the creamy cheese and seasoned breading. It tingled at her tongue somewhat, but not enough to stop Ganyu from downing another popper right away as Xiangling smiled brighter and brighter.

“Can I call this a success then?” She asked, but with Ganyu’s mouth so stuffed all she could really do was nod in reply. “Great! Here go ahead and take these, I’ll go make some more!” And just like that now the Qilin was holding two platters meant for far more than one person.

“Well… she did give me the whole batch...” Ganyu mused aloud, and with the last vestiges of resistance crumbling, went back to the table she had claimed to sit down.

…..

Beidou and Ningguang entered the resort lodge around an hour later, both rather sweaty and tired from all the heat and lifting, but also eager to sit back, relax, and enjoy themselves. At least that was the case until Beidou rather quickly heard someone weakly calling her for assistance.

“Beidou… Beidou… I need your help…”

When she got through the crowded mass of people around the food tables and towards the source of distress, Beidou found Ganyu collapsed back in her chair with around a dozen very empty, very stained plates covering nearly every surface on the table next to her.

“You uhh… enjoying the food a lot I see?” Beidou asked, having sussed out the situation from the state of her friend and the table she was occupying.

“So good…” Ganyu answered, and then began hiccuping, each hiccup causing her to groan afterward in discomfort. Her hands lightly grasped the sides of her swollen midsection, and while Beidou looked on with pride at Ganyu’s seemingly more open attitude towards food, she felt bad for her having ended up in this situation.

“How can I help?” Beidou asked, crouching down next to Ganyu.

The Qilin tried to lean forward but fell onto the chair’s backrest after barely moving an inch, then looked tearfully in Beidou’s eye as the captain rubbed her shoulder. “I need to lie down somewhere, can you give me a hand?”

Beidou offered to do more than just that, saying she was going to bring Ganyu to the hotel and get her into a nice soft bed. Ganyu protested, saying Beidou shouldn’t leave the party so soon after unloading all the gear just for her, but Beidou wouldn’t budge, and there was nothing Ganyu could really do in her current state to fight back as she was carefully lifted out of her chair princess style by the resolute captain. On their way out of the lodge Beidou passed by the eyeshot of Ningguang again, who stared at the two in confusion mouthing, “what?” with Beidou giving her shoulders a slight shrug and smiling before leaving the room. Once in their suite Beidou carefully tucked Ganyu into the soft, light sheets, with both women staring somewhat awkwardly at each other in the conclusion, at least until Beidou began to bid farewell.

“Wait!” Ganyu called out, causing Beidou to stop in her tracks. “Um… would you… I…” She stopped and drew the sheets up past her lips, she wasn’t sure if her request would be accepted, but for some reason she couldn’t stop herself from asking. “Could you maybe um… stay for a bit? Sorry… I just have a lot on my mind, and would appreciate the company.” Ganyu admitted. Beidou stood and listened with the door still partly open in her hand. At the end she nodded, closed the door and got under the sheets herself to lie on her side next to Ganyu.

“Something eating you?” Beidou asked, holding her head up with one arm while the other lightly brushed at Ganyu’s bangs.

Ganyu bit at her lip while she thought. The overwhelming sense of fullness in her stomach was something she had been consciously avoiding for thousands of years, but just a couple days with Beidou and she’d cracked? What was wrong? Was it ok to be like this? She remembered all the constant teasing from the other young adepti, scolding from Cloud Retainer, harsh training with Mountain Shaper, how glad she was when Rex Lapis’ contract offered her a way to escape from their torment. But now here she was possibly about to open herself back up to that. After all what would they think had they seen her in the lodge, stuffing her face until she physically couldn’t move?

“Ganyu, are you crying?” Beidou asked, breaking the Qilin out of her thoughts. She raised a finger and wiped away at her cheek, feeling wetness, and let herself weep openly. Beidou quickly gathered Ganyu in her arms, bringing her head to rest against her upper chest while making sure not to disturb her stomach. Ganyu turned more into Beidou, pressing her face into the exposed skin on her upper torso as the tears continued to stream down her cheeks. “It’s ok, I’ve got you.” Beidou comforted, keeping a firm but gentle grip on her friend for as long as needed. Even when Ganyu eventually calmed into occasional sniffles and sighs, Beidou kept her grip, rubbed Ganyu’s back, whispered kind words into her ear, and made sure she was well and comfortable. When Ganyu finally moved to look up at Beidou’s face, the captain stroked her cheek back and smiled as warmly as she would to motivate her crew or celebrate a great plunder. “Is there anything you want to talk about?” She asked, quickly adding. “You don’t have to say anything if you’re not comfortable, I just want to help you.”

Ganyu managed a half smile before laying back down on Beidou’s chest. Taking multiple long, deep breaths, she gave Beidou a brief summary of the things she went through from childhood to adolescence, talking on and on, with Beidou listening dutifully, nodding when their eyes met, and only occasionally breaking the flow to ask a clarifying question.

“But for the most part… it made me… they all made me feel like I was a bad person for being fat, like I deserved to be made fun of... and punished. So that’s what I did.” Ganyu concluded, and looked back to gauge her friend’s final opinion.

Beidou took a deep breath, and Ganyu braced herself as if expecting another verbal onslaught, but instead Beidou exhaled and began stroking her hair. “If I ever run into any of those creeps, I’ll break their noses.” She calmly stated.

“B-Beidou?!” Ganyu began to freak, but she wasn’t done.

“Seriously, I oughta leave right now and go give Bitch Retainer the backhand of my fist! Gods what a fucking c-”

“BEIDOU!” Ganyu shouted harder, breaking her out of the rant. “Look I really appreciate the sentiment but… please don’t hurt them…”

Beidou saw Ganyu blushing profusely, looking absolutely mortified and felt a pang of guilt enter her chest. “Sorry, I got carried away.” She apologized.

“It’s ok, and again, thank you for the support, really.” Ganyu reiterated, and began to hug Beidou back, even though this pressed her painfully distended stomach into her body.

“But like, is that it? You’re worried about people treating you badly if you put on a little weight?” Beidou asked.

“Yeah… I guess that’s it.” Ganyu admitted. “But what makes it so hard… is that I love food so much! There’s so much delicious cuisine in Liyue alone, and I haven’t even been to any of the other nations! I just… sometimes I wish I could spend just one day doing absolutely nothing and gorging myself on delicacies! But I know what the results of that are, and it scares me.”

Beidou stopped to think for a moment, trying to come up with a way to help her friend follow through on her dream without making her feel bad in the process. “What if…. Oh! Ganyu, what if I just got fat alongside you?”

Ganyu’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as she stared bizarrely at Beidou’s always confident face. “I’m sorry, what?” She asked.

“I’ll just eat whatever you eat on this summer vacation and then no matter what happens you won't be alone, would that help?” Beidou clarified.

“You’ve lost your mind.” Ganyu said after an awkward moment of silence.

Beidou stuck out her tongue. “No way! I’m a genius, you said so yourself!”

Ganyu paused to contemplate things. “Would you really be ok with that? I mean… why do all this just for me?”

“Because I l…” Beidou stopped, drawing a curious look from Ganyu. “Because you’re my best friend, and best friends help each other out, simple as that.”

Ganyu tilted her head down, feeling like she was going to cry again. “I don’t deserve this.”

Beidou lifted Ganyu’s head back up so she could see her smile. “You’re right. You deserve better, but I guess for now you’re stuck with me.”

Beidou never returned to the party for the rest of the night, choosing instead to stick with Ganyu and trade funny stories until the night sky lulled them both to sleep in each other’s arms. When Ningguang finally entered the hotel and saw their bed empty, they knew exactly where to look. Peeking through the crack of Ganyu’s door and seeing her snuggled with their love, they felt admittedly jealous, but also happy for the two of them.

“Hmph, well, if Beidou doesn’t invite me in with them next time, I’ll make sure she regrets it.”

…..

Tomorrow the real fun would begin, and it all started with a benign suggestion from Beidou that they all go swimming. At least, Beidou and Ganyu would go swimming, Ningguang did show up in something resembling a two piece swimsuit, but instead of entering the water they sat down on a beach chair with a cold drink, novel, and shade from an umbrella. Ganyu ended up fretting over her swimwear for quite a while, not for lack of clothes that fit her as there was plenty offered to choose from at the resort, but more that she was still quite full from breakfast, and didn’t feel entirely comfortable exposing her stomach just yet. So she ended up going with the bodysuit she normally wore underneath her dress, now freshly cleaned, but with one key difference involving tearing a small slit to let her thin tail hang out freely. Ganyu wasn’t even sure what compelled her to do so, it just felt right. Her bodysuit doubled both as athletic wear and swimwear, so it was quite a convenient piece of apparel to have, though the second she stepped out of one of the changing booths a different kind of convenience nearly struck her right in the face.

“Took ya long enough Ganyu! Let’s get in the water!” Beidou called out, though Ganyu had a rather hard time understanding what she was saying given that Beidou was completely topless. Ganyu realized she must have been staring in shock for an rather uncomfortable amount of time, as when she came to Ningguang was waving their hand in front of her face. “You in there, Ganyu?” Beidou asked out of concern.

“You’ve got no top on.” Ganyu blurted out.

Beidou and Ningguang took a moment to look at each other and shrug. “Uh, yeah?” Beidou answered. “Ganyu you’ve seen me naked plenty of times before, what’s the problem?” She asked back.

Ganyu turned away slightly to hide the growing redness of her cheeks. “Aren’t you concerned about… revealing too much in public?”

“Says the woman who wears skin tight bodysuits nearly all the time.” Beidou countered.

Ganyu blushed even brighter, unaware that her tail was flicking wildly from side to side. Taking a peek downwards she could see her nipples standing rather unfortunately firm and outlined through the fabric of her suit.

“O-Ok You’ve got a good point… b-but isn’t no top too distracting?”

Beidou took that opportunity, possibly on purpose, to stretch her arms behind her back. “What’s too distracting?” She asked, and Ganyu resorted to covering her face with her hands, wondering why all this was bothering her now and not in the previous times they’d cuddled together in bed or shared a bath.

Ningguang all the while had just been standing idle, listening carefully and trying not to flash the biggest grin possible at their lover’s attempts to fluster Ganyu. “If you two are done, I’ll go return to my book.”

“You’re not going swimming with us?” Ganyu asked, finally peeking out from between her fingers.

“Cht, all the salt will ruin my skin, but you two have fun.” Ningguang claimed.

However, Beidou wasn’t about to let the Tianquan miss out on all the fun, and so she began to plead with them to join the others. “The water is so nice and warm! Why come to the beach if you’re just going to sit out in the sand!”

“I’m having a good enough time with the fresh air and sunshine, thank you.”

“But Ning!”

“Don’t you ‘Ning’ me!”

Both women had their back to Ganyu now, and the Qilin felt something come upon her: a smile, and a plan. She carefully crept along the sand closer and closer to the two, until she was but a couple arm lengths away. Beidou turned her head slightly and saw Ganyu creeping up out of the corner of her eye. There they exchanged one brief look and Beidou winked; there was no other communication needed.

“Last chance, Ning.” Beidou warned.

“Last chance or what?” Ningguang asked, but before they could utter another word Ganyu leapt forward and picked them up over her head while running at top speed to the water’s edge, Beidou following right beside her. Ningguang cursed, hollered and protested all the way into the waves, with Ganyu running head first until she was up to her belly in the water and then chucking the Tianquan forward into the depths. Ningguang floundered slightly as they had reached a drop off in the beach, but eventually they found footing and ended up with their head just above the water’s surface, able to see Ganyu and Beidou laugh, high five each other and cheer them on. Ningguang eventually started walking back towards the two, breaking them out of their laughter by splashing water with their hands in both of their faces.

“So tell me, what exactly was the point of that?” Ningguang asked through barely restrained rage.

Beidou seemed to back off slightly, recognizing that the two might be in real danger, but Ganyu stood her ground and actually continued to laugh. “To have fun!” She shouted back, and splashed water back at Ningguang. Beidou looked hard at Ningguang from a distance, felt their harsh gaze back and tried to communicate through looks alone to “please go easy on her.”

But instead, Ningguang started laughing as well, and a splash fight between them and Ganyu ensued. Blinking in amazement at how Ganyu had cracked the impregnable Tianquan, Beidou smiled and leapt forward to belly flop between the two of them, coating both thoroughly in sea water before stopping to figure out what more fun they could all get up to in the warm waters.

Later that night there was a party on those same beaches. Fish, crabs, lobster and more were grilled on scratch crafted barbecue pits, there was music provided by Xinyan and her band, and everyone danced, cheered and generally made fools of themselves into the night. Beidou and Ganyu found a nice soft patch of sand to lay a towel and sit upon, Ningguang having returned to their room hours ago due to “all that awful noise.” Beidou didn’t want to admit it aloud, but she kind of agreed with them. Ganyu however was too busy happily gorging herself on all the delicious food once again to really care, and true to her word Beidou did her absolute best to keep up, though a problem was quickly emerging.

“Sweet Morax Ganyu!” Beidou exclaimed as Ganyu came back with yet another heaping pile upon her plate. “How do you eat all that? I feel like I’m about to explode! What is it, do you have more than one stomach or something?”

“Actually-” Ganyu began, but Beidou cut her off right away.

“Actually don’t answer that, I was just jesting.”

Ganyu sat down next to the horridly bloated looking Beidou, putting her plate down between her legs and rubbing Beidou’s shoulder as she tried desperately to down another bite of grilled and spiced veggie skewers.

“You don’t have to match me one for one, Beidou, just the effort alone is appreciated.”

“And give up? Hell no! Here give me some of that… what is that you’ve got?”

Ganyu brought the plate of curry up and sniffed at it. “I dunno, I just saw it on a table and it smelled really good.” She stated. Curious, Beidou stuck her fork in the mound of curry and took a bite, followed soon after by Ganyu, and then several things happened at once.

Beidou began to scream, Xiangling rammed through the crowd screaming at them to stop eating, and Ganyu kept chewing with a pleasant smile on her face.

“What the actual hell is this!” Beidou could barely even swallow the creation, but right now the concern was squarely on Ganyu, who already had quite a low tolerance for spicy foods.

“Ganyu quick! Spit it out, this dish isn’t meant for mortal palettes!” Xiangling pleaded, but the Qilin didn’t seem to mind.

“Oh it’s got quite a kick, but overall I think it tastes rather nice?”

Beidou leaned close to Xiangling. “What is in that?” She whispered.

“Uhh… someone was selling this hot sauce made of garlic juice, scorpion venom, and some kind of kind of chili called the ‘death blossom.’ I wanted to give it a try but didn’t think Ganyu would go and take the whole thing!”

Both looked back at Ganyu who had shockingly taken another bite. “Really, it’s great, thanks Xiangl-”

“Ganyu, there’s smoke coming out of your ears.” Beidou interrupted.

“And your nostrils.” Xiangling added.

Ganyu saw the fumes from her nose begin to obstruct her vision and swallowed nervously. Staring down at the angry red plate in her lap, Ganyu could start to feel a strange tingling in her stomach, but strangely that was it, so to the horror of both looking on, she took yet another bite.

“If you’re not going to have any yourselves, can I go get some more?”

…..

This time Ganyu would retire to bed with both Beidou and Ningguang. Both women were on either side of her and each trying their hardest to be the chief cuddle partner, which was hard given that Ganyu was currently radiating more heat than a giant mutant pyro slime, all courtesy of Xiangling’s ‘less-than-lethal’ curry. Regardless of having the covers kicked off, windows opened, and sleepwear discarded, both woke up that morning with their bodies and mattress sides drenched in sweat, all while Ganyu continued to sleep peacefully in the centre curled taut into a ball. Beidou unfortunately had to wake her up early so the bed could be cleaned, but she made up for it by taking Ganyu atop her shoulders to win a piggyback race sponsored by the lodge that afternoon. Of course this meant Beidou wasn’t able to carry Ningguang to victory, who had to settle, somewhat irritatingly, with second place after roping along first mate Juza to be their mule.

“Sorry Ning.” Beidou tried to console, referring to the 1st place couples spa and massage ticket she and Ganyu had won. “But I guess if you wanted to join us I could buy another slot for you?” She offered. Ningguang squinted and took a long, hard look at their lover. Beidou’s offer was clearly genuine and out of empathy, but the way her eye kept darting back to Ganyu who was talking to a few of the other race participants, and the way her look seemed to plead with their soul, it all screamed to Ningguang, “please let me have this, I’ll make it up to you I swear.”

“It is no concern.” Ningguang replied, holding up their hand. “You won fair and square, and me being a poor sport about it wont change any of that.” They then stepped close and whispered quietly in Beidou’s ear, “You can do this.”

Never in Ganyu’s thousands year long life had she ever had a massage done for her by a professional, and she wanted to kick herself for passing so many of Ningguang’s invitations. The acupressurist mentioned that there was quite a lot of stress and tension in Ganyu’s body that seemed to be bursting out at every touch. Clearly Beidou’s intentions had been working, and it was nice to suddenly feel so much lighter and nimbler, to the point where she had quite a lot of difficulty just standing upright after it was done. But if Ganyu was an overfilled balloon ripe for bursting, Beidou’s experience was more akin to blasting rock. Turning her head to the side Ganyu could see the other professional putting all of her weight into elbow jabs and palm presses, giving her the idea that maybe Beidou was dealing with a lot under the surface as well. The masseuse also couldn’t help but marvel endlessly at the captain’s marvellously sculpted back muscles, and while Beidou was clearly relishing in this praise, every flirtation and compliment just gave Ganyu more of an urge to tell the masseuse to back off of her Beidou.

Wait, her Beidou?

Ganyu closed her eyes and pressed her face back down on the massage table pillow. Beidou had defended her from unwanted advances before, she was just feeling the same way Beidou probably had, that’s all. After the massage came a relaxing dual pedicure and manicure experience with all the refreshing lemon and cucumber water one could drink. Ganyu had never paid an extraordinary amount of care to her hands and feet but she hadn't neglected them either, so the people tending to her had a relatively easy and clean job to do. Again Beidou was a different story. Grinding down the callouses on her feet took nearly an hour, and when they attempted to go for her hands she had to shoo them off.

“No way! I need these to grip my blade!”

But despite this she still relished in the attention, even laughing when someone compared the soles of her feet to the barnacle laden logs making up Liyue harbour’s docks. When that was over Beidou and Ganyu were left to relax, mingle and even nap in a cozy, scented lounge filled with the softest couches and chairs they’d ever witnessed. However, before being left completely alone one of the staff members brought in a small tray adorned with a pair of cups and a short, stout, golden corked bottle. Beidou thanked them and put the tray between her and Ganyu on a small table before uncorking the bottle and pouring some clear, but strong smelling liquid into each cup.

“Here you go.” Beidou offered a cup to Ganyu, who accepted the drink while staring intensely at the liquid inside.

Ganyu sniffed the drink: It was definitely alcohol, but much stronger than anything she’d ever come close to before. “What is this?” She asked, raising the glass up to eye level.

“This,” Beidou picked up the bottle, shook it slightly, and pointed at it. “is the good stuff. The stuff you drink to celebrate oh, I don’t know, learning to enjoy yourself, love yourself, and have fun all in less than a week?”

“Beidou…” Ganyu tilted her head down as she felt herself blushing again. “Thank you… but the praise should lie with you, you helped me realize just how much I was missing in this world, and just how much I was holding myself back.”

“I can drink to that.” Beidou stated, and raised her cup up high to utter a cheer. “Ganbei!” She then downed the liquor followed shortly after by Ganyu.

“Ha-ah! Wow!” Ganyu exclaimed while blinking heavily. “C-Can I have some more of that?!”

“Of course my dear.” Beidou replied coyly, and refilled both of their glasses for another toast. “Ganbei!”

Ganyu started laughing halfway through her drink and nearly spat the booze out, Beidou giving her a few pats on the back while she coughed and giggled endlessly. “Cheers! Beidou it’s like our names are smooshed together!”

“Oh shit you’re right!” And Beidou started laughing alongside her.

“Almost like we were intended to meet and become such good friends!” Ganyu added, but Beidou suddenly began to quiet down. Ganyu noticed her friend’s newfound silence after a while, and the silence spread to her next. “Is something wrong?” She asked, and Beidou took a deep sigh.

“Just… I… I should refill our cups! Sorry, I forgot.” She tried to, but Ganyu grabbed her hand and stopped it midway.

“Beidou, please.” Ganyu pleaded, shifting over on the couch until she was right next to her. Beidou put the bottle down and turned away while crossing her arms. Ganyu couldn’t see Beidou’s face with her eyepatch obscuring most of the view, but she was getting the impression that perhaps Beidou was trying to hide from her.

“What if… I didn’t want us to just be friends?” Beidou asked, her voice uncharacteristically breaking half way through. Ganyu leaned even closer to Beidou and put a hand on her cheek to turn her head back the other way. In her eye she saw an intense sadness and yearning, the exact kind of look she remembered seeing in her reflection after the passing of Guizhong, and suddenly everything made sense. Ganyu slowly started raising her far knee up and over the other, turning her whole body closer towards Beidou while she sat in suspense. Her knee ended up between Beidou’s legs, and her hands upon Beidou’s shoulders, and their heads hovered closer bit by bit until the foreheads touched. Then finally, after a few moments of point blank eye contact spent gauging each other’s intentions, both of their lips met in the middle for a long, exhausting kiss. Beidou’s arms unfurled to wrap around Ganyu’s back, hugging their bodies tight together. Meanwhile Ganyu let go of Beidou’s shoulders in order to drape around her neck instead, adding to the overwhelming feelings of closeness running through both of them. The taste of Beidou’s lips, the pressure of their chests squished together, and the feeling of her rough but gentle hands around her back was even more intoxicating to Ganyu then the alcohol, and it lay undisturbed and alone as the two continued their embrace until both were left with no choice but to gasp for much needed air.

“I… I love you, Ganyu. I’ve loved you for a long time.” Beidou finally admitted as both loosened their grip just enough to get a good look at the other.

“I know that now.” Ganyu answered, brushing a loose lock of Beidou’s hair back over her ear. “I’m sorry it took me so long to figure out what you were trying to say.”

“It’s ok, I’m a lousy communicator.”

“We can work on that together.” And they locked back up for another much needed kiss.

When Beidou and Ganyu finally reunited with Ningguang on the beach the Tianquan recognized the former’s goofy smile and the holding of their hands as a sign of success, and playfully punched her in the shoulder.

“O-Ow?!” Beidou mockingly winced. “What was that for?” And Ganyu chuckled.

Ningguang wrapped their arms around Beidou’s free limb and leaned heavily into her. “Now you have to make things up with me, love.”

Beidou let go of Ganyu’s hand in order to cough into her own, eye and head darting between the two. “W-Well, I had an idea… if Ganyu was ok with it…” She then whispered something into her ear, with Ganyu reacting mildly in shock, but nodding and ultimately agreeing.

“I feel that is something I could do, yes.”

“Great!” Beidou cheered, then requested of Ningguang, “Meet us in the room just before dinner, alright?”

“Wait, why before dinner?” Ningguang asked.

“Because you want to be hungry before a feast.” Ganyu answered before Beidou, surprising both her and Ningguang slightly.

“It’ll be great, but until then I’ve been itching to join the boys in their wrestling by the shore, want to come watch?” Beidou stated.

“Yes please!” Ganyu and Ningguang answered near simultaneously.

…..

Two weeks had passed since everyone’s arrival at the resort, and two important things happened. First was tragic but unavoidable: Ningguang packed up their belongings to make the return trip to Liyue Harbour. Unfortunately they could not afford to take the entire summer off, like Beidou and Ganyu, but they stressed to both that it was a fine time nonetheless and encouraged them to continue having a good time.

“You.” Ningguang started, pointing at Ganyu. “Make sure you continue to treat yourself well, relax, and don’t worry about work back home.” They instructed. “And you.” Now they pointed at Beidou. “Make sure Ganyu has the time of her life, treat her well, and make sure your crew doesn’t get into too much bad behaviour.”

“Yes Tianquan!” Ganyu and Beidou affirmed, and then Ningguang surprised them both with a group hug followed by a kiss on both of their cheeks.

“See you all come autumn, and try not to miss me too much.”

Despite all this Beidou was inevitably quite a bit heartbroken from her love having to leave so early, spending a few days afterwards moping and drinking on the deck porch instead of joining in the fun. Having Ganyu around to cuddle, kiss, play with and just spend time around definitely helped, but no matter how many times Beidou missed time with Ningguang due to work it never got any easier. One morning Ganyu got up before Beidou only to find her eye open, staring blankly towards nothing in particular.

“I’m gonna stay in bed today… just give me a couple days, I’ll get over it.”

Ganyu inched closed and wrapped her arms around Beidou, drawing her close. “I’ll stay with you.”

“You should go out and have fun. Don’t let me anchor you down when I’m in my funk like this.” Beidou retorted.

Ganyu kissed the top of Beidou’s head and began stroking her hair. “I won’t have a good time if I know you’re in here alone, moping.”

“Heh, where’d this stubbornness come from?”

“I learned from the best.”

The other thing that happened was more of a realization, one that Ganyu decided to share with her new love right there while they were both still in bed. She leaned upwards in order to pull her sleep shirt over her head while Beidou watched curiously. Ganyu then laid back down beside her and guided Beidou’s hand to feel her stomach.

“Oh… soft…” Beidou remarked. It was slight, but there was a definite springiness on Ganyu’s tummy which had previously been thin and firm. She pinched a bit and Ganyu giggled, then both women looked at each other and smiled.

“It happened.” Ganyu said while blushing. “My uhh… breasts and hips feel a little bigger as well…”

Looking upwards at Ganyu’s chest: full, round and ripe for picking, Beidou couldn’t help but give each breast a small, playful squeeze. “That they are.” She concluded, continuing to massage Ganyu’s chest while she cooed softly.

“So… you like this?” Ganyu asked nervously.

“I love it.” Beidou answered. She then reached forward and gave Ganyu a deep kiss. “I’m proud of you, you look great, Ganyu.”

“Thank you Beidou…” Ganyu wiped a tear from her eye and hugged right up against Beidou.

“There, there…” Beidou comforted while rubbing Ganyu’s back. “My warm, cuddly girl, I love you so much.”

“I love you too…”

Ganyu’s hand slipped down the length of Beidou’s back until it reached the curve of her rear, and both suddenly got the idea that perhaps staying in bed late that morning wasn’t going to be the waste of time they thought it was.

Days began to bleed into weeks which morphed into months. The weather got warmer through the summer and cooled down slightly as the season was beginning to end, and on their last day at the resort Beidou’s crew gave thanks to Ganyu for joining them, and all wished her well upon everyone’s return to the harbour. While Ganyu was sad to have to leave such a wonderful place where she felt she really found herself, she was also starting to miss her secretary position at the Yuehai Pavilion. She hadn’t spent such a long time away from Liyue in centuries, so upon her return there were quite a lot of friendly faces welcoming her back, along with a few beleaguered under secretaries pleading with her to come back and help quickly. She wasn’t technically due to return to work for one more day though, and Ganyu said she wasn’t going to end her vacation early. Quite a few people also seemed to send looks Ganyu’s way. She was practically skipping and singing her way from the apartments to the terrace so it was bound to attract attention, and there was also the very evident change in her appearance that caught a few off guard.

“Ah, welcome home, Ganyu.” Keqing greeted her by her desk, a collection of papers raised at her face to read. “I trust you had some productive time off?”

“I sure did, Keqing!” Ganyu answered enthusiastically, quickly adding, “Sorry I’m late, I ended up sleeping in a bit more than I wanted!”

Those were the first tips to the Yuheng that something had changed with Ganyu. The next came when she lowered the papers and actually got a good look at her.

“Oh?!” Keqing was taken aback a bit as she raised her hand to cover her mouth. Ganyu was positively beaming, noticeably tanned, showing off a tail she’d never seen swinging back and forth behind her, and playing with a brand new braid adorning her long, blue hair. There was also the obvious and apparent change in her figure to consider. Ganyu no longer bore the thin, frail frame she sported back in the spring, but now appeared before Keqing looking remarkably plush and well fed, almost double her old size. “M-My apologies, I didn’t mean to stare.” Keqing said as she realized how much time had been spent in thought.

“It’s ok Keqing, I know I look a lot different.” Ganyu assured her.

“You look…” Keqing paused for a moment, wanting the best word to describe the new Qixing secretary. “very happy, and I’m glad to see it.”

Ganyu leaned forward and pulled Keqing into a rather unexpected hug. “Aww, thank you!” She said, all the while Keqing found herself mesmerized by the cozy embrace.

“So soft…”

“Hmm? Did you say something?” Ganyu let go and asked.

Keqing coughed into her hand. “Your hair, it’s very soft and smooth! I would love to know how you take care of it!”

“Sure, I can show you when the day is over!” Ganyu answered as she stretched out her back and arms. “But first I’ve got a job to do!” And she prepared to sit down at her desk.

“...W-Wait, Ganyu!” Keqing realized too late that perhaps Ganyu needed a different chair to accommodate her new hips, but before she could stop her Ganyu became thoroughly wedged in.

“Hmm…” Ganyu shifted around, but could not get back up without lifting the wooden chair with her. “Oh dear, this is rather embarrassing.” She stated in full redness.

“It’s ok, there are plenty of bigger chairs here.” Keqing stated, grabbing onto the armrests. “We just need to get you out of there, I’ll keep the chair steady while you push yourself out!”

“Ok!” Ganyu answered, getting herself braced and ready. “Go!”

Both struggled with all their might, and progress was made slow and steady. Ganyu called out that she could feel herself loosening bit by bit, until one final push pried her fully loose. Unfortunately for the two, neither had really planned for dealing with the inertia of such a maneuver, and while Ganyu was now free, she was also falling forward with her remaining momentum, right onto Keqing. The two fell over with a mighty crash, both flush with embarrassment at the unfortunate position they’d ended up in: Ganyu all but straddling Keqing, their bodies pressed firmly together on the ground.

“Are you ok?” Keqing asked Ganyu.

“Am I ok? You’re the one who landed on the ground! Are you ok?”

“Ehh… I’m fine! Really!”

Despite being more than able to, neither moved from this position. Keqing saw bits of Ganyu’s hair cascade down from the sides of her head, saw her big, shining purple eyes, her newly softened cheeks and was completely entranced.

“...Beautiful…”

“Hmm? Did you say something, Keqing?”

“N-No! Nothing at all!”

“...You definitely said something this time.”

“Nothing! I swear!”

There was a pause. Ganyu remained overtop Keqing, stared down at her tomato red cheeks, and felt an overwhelming urge to ask something of her.

“Umm… Keqing? After work today, would you like to go have dinner together in town?”

Keqing blinked. “Wait, are you the one asking me out on a date, Ganyu?”

“...I suppose I am, yes.”

“T-Then I will accept! Graciously!”

Ganyu smiled and cheered. “Ah thank you Keqing, I-”

“But first you need to get off of me so I can get up.” Keqing interrupted.

“O-Oh, of course, my apologies.” Ganyu climbed off Keqing and helped her back onto her feet, including giving her dress a quick brush with her hands to smoothen it out. Keqing winced as she tried to stand up straight, hand at her side to steady herself out while Ganyu stood with her smile dissolving back into worry.

“Are you sure you’re ok?” Ganyu asked, reaching her hand partway out to Keqing. “Why don’t you sit down here and I’ll go get a heal-”

“N-No! Really I’m fine!” Keqing reiterated, gripping her side harder as she coughed into her other hand. “I just remembered I had an important meeting uhh… now! I will see you when the day is concluded!” Keqing stated. She then smiled at Ganyu and gave a short bow before abruptly bolting out of the room.

“I really do hope she’s ok…” Ganyu muttered with a finger to her chin in thought. “Wait, what about my chair? Keqing!” She then started running after her.

Later that afternoon Beidou joined Ningguang in their office for a high stakes game of Go. They had been going at it for hours while also talking about all the positive changes they’d seen with their mutual friend.

“...I also heard from Baishi that Ganyu asked Keqing out for dinner.” Ningguang stated as they placed their next white stone on the board.

“Asked her on a date? Fuck yeah!” Beidou cheered with a fistbump, then placed her next stone. “I knew she could do it!”

“You’re not upset that she’s not spending time with you?” Another white stone joined the board.

“Nah! Who Ganyu spends her time with is her deal, and I've got plans with her later.... Hmm… Um, pass?”

“Oh, but your plans may not survive this encounter, Beidou. I win.” Ningguang stated as they leaned back in their chair, fingers crossed and lips curled in a smug show of victory.

Beidou looked down at the Go board and blinked, wondering where she had gone wrong. “Wait Ningguang, can we deal with this later? I don’t want to stand Ganyu up!”

Ningguang leaned forward and slapped a pair of shackles across Beidou’s wrists. “Sorry, but I said you’d have to deal with the consequences for your last act, and that’s the next month down in the stockade.”

“Double or nothing?!” Beidou continued to plead as Ningguang stood them both on their feet.

“No, I’m sorry, love.” Ningguang stated. “But if you stay in my good graces, I may be able to have your sentence reduced.”

Beidou could feel Ningguang practically eating her with their eyes. Sure she had returned rather more tanned from all that sunshine, but it felt like there was something else that they were interested in, something Beidou hadn’t noticed herself. Ningguang eventually answered that question when they pinched a fleshy bit of Beidou’s rear exposed by her leotard.

“I couldn’t help but notice all that good food didn’t just make our dear Ganyu all soft and cuddly… but even still, you seem to be far behind her.” Ningguang teased into her ear.

Beidou swallowed a lump in her throat. “W-What did you have in mind, Ningguang?”

“Just use your imagination, love, but for now.” They prodded her in the back to get moving. “It’s time for your trial before the magistrate.”