It’s true that her duties as Yuheng leave Keqing with… let’s say, minimal time to herself. It’s also true that the soft spot that she harbors for Xiangling is a mile wide, minimum, though. So, even if she has to pull some strings (and put in a bit of overtime, to ensure that she won’t wind up behind schedule), she’s about as amenable as she can be, when her girlfriend ropes her into a trip to the heart of Jueyun Karst.

How hard could it be, really, to find what she’s after? Between the two of them— with her keen eye and Xiangling’s own familiarity with gathering ingredients for her cooking— it should be as simple as cutting a path through the area, right? Except… well.

It quickly becomes clear that she has, perhaps, underestimated how long this might take. Which isn’t a problem, necessarily, because any time she gets with Xiangling is well-spent, but… maybe she feels a bit guilty about how unsuccessful their endeavor has been so far. Just a bit, though.

A little bundle of red Jueyun Chilis catch her eye as they make their way forward, and Keqing shakes her head with a sigh; with how many of them Xiangling has already managed to find, it’s probably not worth mentioning, she thinks.

It does prompt her to speak up, though. Maybe that’s a victory in and of itself, since her attention was (mostly, at least) focused on the task at hand up until now.

“Maybe we should gather a little extra, once we find what we’re looking for.” The suggestion comes out sounding relatively gentle. Maybe even uncharacteristically so, given how blunt Keqing’s tongue tends to be. There’s something soft about the way she’s watching Xiangling, too. “That way, you won’t have to make this trip again anytime soon, you know?”

Maybe efficiency is her love language…?