guoba | (no subject)

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Xiangling really likes her girlfriend. Like, really likes her. Oh sure, Keqing can be a little standoffish and prickly, and it can be hard to get her to open up sometimes, but when she does she's sweet and supportive and augh she's so cute. Xiangling knows that as the Yuheng, Keqing's schedule is pretty booked, and it's not easy to find much time to step away from a bustling kitchen herself, but she likes spending as much time as possible with the other girl.

And, since their time is so valuable, well... so's their intimate time, right?

They've slept together a few times, of course. More than a few. Whatever else they are, they are still very much two teenagers. But every time they do it, it takes so long for Keqing to loosen up, to relax, to get into it. Xiangling always worries that her girlfriend is just too busy and too stressed to rest and have a proper moment of relaxation.

Which is why she's hatched a cunning scheme.

Step 1: Convince Keqing to take a weekend off, with the Moonchase Festival behind them and the Lantern Rite festival months away. (Done)

Step 2: Convince Keqing to come hunting for some rare ingredients deep within Jueyun Karst, where they're not likely to run into another human at all. Plus, get the Traveler to intercede and make sure they won't be bothered by any Adepti in the process. (Done)

Step 3: Find the elusive orange Jueyun Chili, a variant on the classic pepper that only grows where the Adepti live, which is said to give any mortal who eats it increased stamina and, you know. Get them hot, not just spicy. (In-Progress)

Step 4: Cook a delicious meal for her girlfriend using said chili. (To Be Completed)

Step 5: Have lots of sex out here in the wild with nobody around to watch or interrupt them, with Keqing fully into it and free to unwind. Sleep in the single bedroll they've brought with them. Have more sex. (To Be Completed)

At least they're up to the part where they're both in Jueyun Karst? But Xiangling's pouch is full of Jueyun Chilis, and thus far, she's just only found red ones. Surely Keqing won't be suspicious of anything, though...!

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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…?

Cooking is a funny thing for Xiangling. It's equal parts art, science, and hospitality. You could no sooner divorce any one of those aspects from her love of cooking than you could cut the clouds from the sky. She wanted to concoct new, interesting things with exotic ingredients; she wanted to experiment and find new combinations that worked (and go through all the ones that didn't); she wanted to see happy people with full tummies and smiles on their faces.

So she's no stranger to taking some time to find the right ingredient-- the right cut of fish, the right pressed Lotus head. But even she's starting to get a little frustrated. Do these mythical peppers even exist? The sun is getting lower in the sky, too.

But she can't show Keqing that. This is supposed to be a fun outing for the two of them. When Keqing speaks, she pipes up. "Oh, that's a good idea! I can never have too many peppers. You'd be surprised at how many we can blow through at Wanmin, whoosh-- just like that!"

She's at Keqing's side in a jiffy, opening the leather pouch she collects ingredients in, and starts plucking the peppers from the stems. "You remember how to pick these, right? You just gotta twist a li'l so the stem doesn't rupture." Not that she doubts Keqing at all, but no harm in reminding her, right?

"Oh, wow, there's a bunch of bushes! Um, let me know if you see a few that look a little orange-y, right?"

The sky itself is getting orange, though. Who can tell with the light like that?

There’s a quiet sort of admiration to the way she watches Xiangling work. It’s about how cheery she still is, in the face of what has (so far, at least) been a fruitless effort, probably; while Keqing is no stranger to running into walls when she’s fulfilling her duties as Yuheng, she’s also nowhere near this patient. If she were properly in Xiangling’s shoes right now, there’s no doubt that she would’ve had to leave her desk in favor of (gently!) grilling Ganyu on how Rex Lapis might’ve handled the situation.

That perseverance of hers helps to light a fire within Keqing, though, which is… probably a good thing?

“Mm. I remember,” she confirms, with a little nod of her head. And then she’s off, stepping closer to the bushes of peppers. One hand finds its way to her chin as her gaze scans over them, and—

“… how orange are they supposed to be, exactly?”

Without a proper reference (not to mention proper lightning, which becomes more and more of a problem as time ticks by), all she can really do is trust her gut, here. Still, it might be apparent that Keqing is onto something, as she crouches down to get a closer look at one particular plant.

To her eye, the peppers that are growing from it do indeed look more orange, and it’s growing just a little bit further away from its neighbors; not significantly, but enough that it strikes her as being a bit odd. Maybe that’s a sign that this plant is different…?

With a careful twist of her wrist, just as Xiangling had reminded her, Keqing breaks one of the chilis free, and then holds it up so that her girlfriend will be able to spot it.

“This one looks a little different from the others, doesn’t it?” … maybe she’s getting a little over-confident, though. She hardly even waits for an answer before she plucks the remaining chilis off of the bush.

Truth be told, Xiangling has no idea. She's never seen one in person, she just read in one of her cookbooks that this variant of the pepper supposedly exists. But she's never seen one in any of the markets in Liyue Harbor, and the markets of Liyue Harbor have everything you could possibly want. So she's starting to get a little discouraged - though like hell if she's going to let Keqing know.

Fortunately, before she can start thinking of what else she has on hand - and what she can substitute - for other meals, Keqing speaks up. Xiangling stands, dusting off her knees and turns to look at the pepper Keqing is holding.

Her eyes light up. Perhaps it's the sunlight as it sets, but that's definitely more orange than the others. "That's it!" she exclaims, darting over through the bushes, clasping Keqing's wrists in her hands and beaming. "You found them! Great job! Ooh, and there's a whole bush too, this'll be plenty!"

She doesn't waste any time, opening up another pouch and putting the pepper in. "C'mon, let's finish here and we can make a fire and start cooking!"

Or, more specifically, she'll start cooking while Keqing watches, but that's just how they roll.

Keqing’s expression slips into something just slightly sheepish, but maybe that’s only natural; they might be dating, so she should probably be used to it by now, but Xiangling’s smile (not to mention her praise) has the curious habit of making her feel like she’s just shy of being bowled right over.

Which is… probably just a fancy way of saying that she thinks it’s impossibly cute. Ah, well.

“… I- I’m glad that I was able to help,” she mumbles, perhaps a bit lamely, as she moves to drop the other peppers she’d grabbed into Xiangling’s pouch.

Even in the low, amber light, the fact that she’s blushing might be obvious. Hopefully Xiangling is too focused on her new ingredients to notice, though?

“Is there… anything else I can do to assist you with dinner tonight?” Not that she minds watching (in fact, she’s found that it helps her relax, in a way), but… it feels right to offer a helping hand. Especially since finding the peppers managed to take up so much of their time.

Fortunately for Keqing, Xiangling's attention is elsewhere... at least for the moment. There's no word on how long that'll last, though. She's busy unslinging her ingredient pouch from over her shoulders, making sure that she's got everything she needs for this dish. Aha, her plan is still perfectly under way.

She glances up when Keqing asks her the question, and it's only now that she notes the dusting of pink on her girlfriend's cheeks. Ah-- that's so cute--

She doesn't say anything though, she just feels her heart thump a little harder for a few seconds. "Mmm, I can do the cooking by myself," she says, and that's more because her art and science tend to flow a little better as a one-woman show. "Why don't you find a place for us to set up camp while I'm getting ready? I'll unpack my stuff!"

Setting up camp is probably the closest equivalent she has to Xiangling’s talent with cooking, thanks to how often she finds herself spending the night outside the walls of Liyue Harbor, so Keqing’s answer all but spills out of her—

“Of course! I’ll try to find a spot where we won’t get too cold…” As if that’s really something they need to worry about; shy as she can sometimes be, it’s difficult to imagine they won’t sleep near each other, if absolutely nothing else. The thought only crosses her mind once the words have left her mouth, though, and that makes the heat in her cheeks tick just a few degrees warmer. “I- I won’t go far, though.”

Because she doesn’t want to leave Xiangling on her own for too long, mostly, but also because it’ll be more efficient that way. With that being said, though— she spares a little glance toward their surroundings, and then starts moving in the direction of what she can only assume is a little clearing just a few dozen feet from where they’d found their special chili.

A few steps in, and she calls over her shoulder:

“Just shout if you need me, alright?”

Even if the area looks rather unoccupied, free of hilichurls and other things that go bump in the almost-night, it’s better to be safe than sorry!

Oh, if only you knew, Keqing. It's all Xiangling can do to not giggle knowingly at her girlfriend's innocent comment. No, they shouldn't have to worry about getting cold tonight of all nights. But she knows that Keqing wouldn't have a clue what she was thinking about, and would only get self-conscious, thinking that Xiangling had been laughing at her, so she refrains. "Okie-doke! I'll be right there," she says with a little wave.

Ah, Keqing's so cute. Xiangling waits a few moments until she's sure the other girl is out of earshot and then gives a soft squeal to herself that she can't quite hold back in. How is Keqing this unfairly cute? It's criminal! She should talk to the Qixing about how illegally cute her girlfriend is!

It's not long before she follows through the brush, bag fully unpacked and her trusty traveling wok in her hands. "Okay, all ready! Didja find someplace nice?"

For all Keqing might be oblivious to Xiangling’s squealing, it’s entirely possible that their feelings are… pretty similar. As she scouts out the clearing she’d found, her heart beats a frantic— and, honestly, kind of embarrassing— rhythm against her sternum. Xiangling is so casual, so cute, so sweet, and she’s… well. She’s not. Even now that they’re together, those things still manage to trip her up and leave her feeling horribly flustered, sometimes.

By the time that Xiangling makes her way over, she’s managed to calm herself, though. If only by a little bit.

Her gaze flicks down to her wok, and then she scans over the area one last time (just to make sure she’ll have plenty of room to work with, of course!). Then, Keqing nods, brief and decisive.

“I think so.” With a little wave of her hand, she continues, “there should be plenty of space for you to prepare our meal without worrying about any potential fire hazards, and once we pack up your supplies, it should make a nice place to sleep, too. See how the ground is a little softer over here?”

She demonstrates with a tap of her foot; it doesn’t sink into the earth by any means, but it’s not rock-solid, either. That should make their bedroll all the more comfortable, in her humble opinion.

“If you don’t think it’ll work, I can keep looking, of course, but…”

She likes it, right? There’s a hopeful gleam in Keqing’s eye as she trails off, like she’s waiting for Xiangling’s approval.

Xiangling sets her wok gently on the ground, then looks up and claps her hands together. "It's perfect!" she exclaims. "You've found a great place, and so close too- wow!" She knows that this is really just expected of someone so accomplished and skilled as Keqing is, but it really never ceases to impress her just how with-it and measured Keqing really is. Heck, if it had been her alone, she'd probably just have found the nearest soft-looking patch of grass and called it a night.

She starts picking pieces of kindling from her backpack. Ordinarily she'd forage for wood here, but the abode of the Adepti seems like a weird place to be messing with the trees, so she's brought some with them; she makes a little tented wood for a fire with the practiced ease of a professional. "It shouldn't take too long, so I hope you're hungry!" she says with a big cheery smile directed at her girlfriend.

She sets the wok on top of a thin iron frame to hold it even, and gives a little whistle.

"♬~"

Her trusty companion wanders from the woods, from... wherever he's been. Guoba looks at the campfire and knows exactly what to do-- one fire breath later, and the fire is roaring.

The panda-like creature looks up at Keqing and almost, for a moment, seems to be waving. It's his Golden Shrimp Balls buddy!

It’s simple, in the grand scheme of things, but Xiangling’s praise makes warmth rise to her cheeks all over again, and it’s all Keqing can do to maintain the illusion of not being terribly, horribly weak to her girlfriend.

“It wasn’t difficult, really…” she manages, tucking her hands behind her back and watching as Xiangling begins to set up her wood and wok. Briefly, she wonders if she should’ve offered to gather some for her— to save her the trouble of having to lug kindling around— but that’s an easy thought to brush off, at least. “I have worked up an appetite, though.”

Blame that on the fact that finding her special chili took so long, probably.

Anything else she might’ve had to say on that subject is temporarily lost when Xiangling’s… faithful companion… wanders over from wherever he’d been. While Keqing would like to believe she’s a rather mature person, she can’t help the little crease that forms between her brows at the sight of Guoba. She does, however, nod at him in a silent sort of acknowledgement.

Hopefully he has the willpower not to rob her of Xiangling’s precious home-cooking. That might be a crime even more severe than eating her Golden Shrimp Balls.

“Remind me, Xiangling… did we bring a bedroll for Guoba to use?”

… he isn’t going to be sharing with them, is he? Or maybe he’ll just sleep on the ground…?

Xiangling is usually very happy to give Guoba some of her food (it's how they've become so close, after all), but she'd really prefer to not have him eat her... special peppers. They probably don't have the same effect on creatures like him, but she loves Guoba and would really rather not find out what happens. She'll mix him a little salad or something with the rest of the chilis, it'll be fine.

She can't help but laugh a little at Keqing's question though as she starts laying down her stuff, placing a little roll down on which to rest her cooking tools. "Oh, that's right, we've never been out exploring together like this! No, we don't need to do something like that," she says, with a little wave of her hand. "Guoba's from out here in the wild, right? He likes going off and finding his own place to sleep. We probably won't see him again until the morning."

Sometimes he'll curl up with her - a nice warm presence in cold campsites - but he's got enough understanding to know that there are times when she wants it and times when she doesn't.

And this is definitely a night for privacy.

“Ah… that makes sense, now that you mention it. I suppose he’ll be right at home, out here.”

That it’s also a relief is something that she’ll keep to herself, even if it’s definitely a thought that crosses her mind; it’s not that she dislikes Guoba, beyond the horrible foot they initially got off on, and she knows how important he is to Xiangling, and since Xiangling is so important to her…

Well. She can learn to like him. She can learn to love him, even!

But knowing that she won’t lose any precious, one-on-one time with her girlfriend to him is nice, too.

As Xiangling sets to work, Keqing drifts a little closer— not close enough to crowd her, necessarily, but it might be clear that she’s interested in watching her work. The urge to reach out to her, to brush a hand over her shoulder or back, briefly wells up within her, but she tamps it down by linking her fingers together behind her back.

“Is it too early to ask what you’re planning on making with the special ingredients that we gathered up?” She pauses, and steals a curious glance in Xiangling’s direction. “It’s going to be something new, right?”

Unless it’s meant to be a new twist on an old classic, as the saying goes…

Xiangling works as an artisan, laying out her tools in a way that makes the most sense to her, leaving them all available, and then rummaging around in her pack for the rest of what she's doing. "Mm, I think I'm gonna do something pretty standard, since I don't really know how these peppers are different from the normal kind," she says, her tone turning thoughtful as she works it out in her mind.

Ordinarily, Keqing is right, she'd be salivating at the thought of experimenting. But in order to know how something tastes, you need to, you know, taste it first, and she doesn't want to make herself all hot under the collar before her girlfriend's so much as had a bite. So for now, she'll assume that they taste like most Jueyun Peppers and go from there. "They're just supposed to be, you know, uh, a little hotter than normal!"

Her face warms slightly, and for the first time she feels a twinge of doubt about her plan. It'd be kinda weird to have this food that turns you on and not tell Keqing what's about to happen, wouldn't it? Even if they're both going to eat it, and even if she knows that Keqing struggles to relax and let herself go sometimes so would probably be okay with it... is that really okay?

She shakes off the doubt-- physically, with a slight shake of her head, though Keqing might just brush it off as Xiangling thinking about the dish. "A-anyway, when you're on the road, you want something you can eat with your hands, right? So my trusty trout special is out. I was gonna make some Jade Parcels, if that's okay?"

It's fine. It'll be fine! Keqing doesn't have to know. She'll laugh about it afterwards.

So why is this doubt starting to gnaw at her stomach?

“Hotter, huh…” There’s a thoughtful little hum as Keqing seems to weigh the pros and cons of that, but— she trusts Xiangling’s ability! And it’s not like she has much trouble with spicy food, anyway. So, there’s really only one way for her to proceed. “Sound kind of fun.”

As fun as the simple act of eating can be, at least, which is… pretty fun, honestly? Particularly when it comes to her present company. Then again, there’s not much that isn’t fun, when she’s with her girlfriend.

Except for when her ever-troublesome awkwardness kicks in. Tonight, though, it seems like Xiangling is the one who’s struggling with that. Which is new, and something she’s not entirely sure how to handle, so… when she gives that little shake of her head, Keqing lifts a hand to rest it on her shoulder; it’s only a brief point of contact, but she offers it up all the same, like that might somehow reassure her.

“Jade Parcels would be great, actually.” She punctuates that with a smile, tiny as it might be. “You’re right, after all. It’s always nice to have something that’s easy to eat, in moments like these.”

And since gently electrocuting a freshly-caught fish would be a waste of their efforts, Jade Parcels are probably the next best thing.

There’s a brief pause (partially because she’s beating down her own awkwardness, and partially because she’s searching for the right thing to say), and then:

“I guess what they say is true. Great minds really do think alike.”

Oh no, Keqing is trying to reassure her.

It's so cute. It's usually the other way around, and Xiangling now realizes that she's been a little preoccupied. She tries to banish those thoughts from her mind, smiling up at Keqing; her hand comes up to squeeze the one on her shoulder. "Yeah, exactly! If you want a nice three-course feast, come down to Wanmin, right?" she says with a laugh.

Okay, she feels better now. Keqing is just too cute to have her heart be worried for long. She smiles up at her.

"Well then, let me get to work!"

After having done his role of starting the fire, Guoba wanders off into the woods as Xiangling had said, and she begins meal prep - laying out the dumpling skins, mixing the filling, and the like. There's only a slight bit of hesitation before she adds her new peppers.

“Of course. That’s the best place for that kind of thing, isn’t it?”

Even if, initially, Keqing had held a few… reservations about Xiangling’s unique take on picking out ingredients. These days, though, she’d even choose Wanmin over Liuli Pavilion— and her girlfriend’s presence is only part of the reason why.

From appearance alone, she gets the sense that these Jade Parcels will live up to that reputation, too. The sight of the filling alone is nearly enough to make her mouth water, but Keqing is quick to cover her eagerness by giving Xiangling’s shoulder a little pat— she caught that hesitation!— before withdrawing her hand entirely.

You know, as if the teeny-tint bit of distance she’s putting between them will somehow disguise the way she’s watching Xiangling work, with the starry-eyed amazement of someone who is very much looking forward to her meal.

“They’re not even finished, and they already look good…”

Is she filling the space between them with chatter, or trying to offer another hint of reassurance, in that quiet way of hers? Realistically, it might be a bit of both.

"Heh heh, and I haven't even started frying them yet," Xiangling says with a toothy grin up at her girlfriend.

When she's cooking, she doesn't worry about things; it all bleeds away from her. She's an artisan, and this is her craft, and there's just mechanical precision and flair, a genuine joie de vivre in the entire process. Mix the filling. Fill the dumplings. Pinch them shut. Heat oil in her wok. Start frying them, sizzles filling the rapidly darkening air.

Xiangling's enthusiasm for cooking is palpable, her love for the craft self-evident. She hums to herself cheerfully as she prods and flips the dumplings, hoping to ensure that they're nice and warm and crispy. "How many do you want?"

Just as easily as Xiangling seems to lose herself in cooking their meal, Keqing is absorbed in watching the process; even as the light filtering in around them gets dimmer and dimmer, her gaze is sharp and focused on the skilled movements of her girlfriend’s hands as she prepares the dumplings.

It’s only when her question comes that Keqing remembers to speak— and it’s with a quiet hum that her answer comes:

“I’m pretty sure I could eat as many as you can make.” But, ah… that wouldn’t be fair, would it? The way she says that almost makes it sound like a joke, though, so at least there’s that. “The usual serving at Wanmin is a plate of six, isn’t it? So… why don’t you start me off with that?”

And, ingredients willing, she can pester Xiangling to make another batch, if she’s still left wanting.

"If you ask for too many, I'll have to run back to Wanmin to get more dough," Xiangling giggles, sticking her tongue out at Keqing playfully.

It's gentle teasing, nothing more. She'd ordinarily be happy to make Keqing as much as she could eat, but when you're in the wilderness, you really are limited by the ingredients on hand. And she's all out of special peppers, too, so how could she guarantee that Keqing ate the right ones? "Six it is!"

One, two, three, four, five, six. And another six on her own plate. The steam from the sizzling oil wafts into the air, lending their increasingly dark campsite a fragrant scent.

"Almost done," she says. "Is the bedroll all made?"

It's a bit of a weird question to ask, perhaps. After all, there's hours before they'd go to bed even after they eat. Maybe she's just planning ahead?

Xiangling’s question does strike her as a bit strange, and there’s a thoughtful little crease between Keqing’s brows as she shoots a glance over her shoulder in the appropriate direction.

“Mm. We might need to adjust its position, if you find that the spot I picked isn’t comfortable enough, but otherwise…” She trails off there, with a little nod. Failing a last-minute move, they could really head to bed whenever.

“It’s a little early to be thinking about that, though, isn’t it?”

If it was a few hours later, it’d be easy to assume that this is just her troublesome habit of staying up halfway through the night talking, but…

“Did the trip wear you out that much, Xiangling?”

Oh, no. She's been noticed. "Wh-what do you mean? I always get to bed early when I'm out in the wild," Xiangling says quickly. Too quickly. And even if they haven't done this sort of thing super often, Keqing would almost certainly know that this isn't remotely true.

In fact, it's probably weird that Xiangling is blushing like this, isn't it? Or that her hands are fidgeting so much as she's not even cleaning out her wok.

"I-I'm fine, super high energy, nothing's wrong at all!" she says, her tone of voice and expression both telling that this is an obvious lie. Feeling guilty about potentially lying to her girlfriend means she's even worse at lying than usual, and she's not a good liar on her best of days.

She is almost immediately struck by the fact that Xiangling’s answer isn’t true, and then there’s her fidgeting, and the flush that Keqing can just barely make out in the low light…

“Are you sure? You look a little red, now that I’m thinking about it…”

Is she sick, maybe? It’d be an easy conclusion to jump to, if she hadn’t seemed so… well, fine, up until this moment.

“Besides, if you really are feeling energetic, going to bed this early probably wouldn’t work out too well, would it?”

It’s not that she wants to grill Xiangling, or even that she wants to suspect that she’s hiding something— rather, holding herself back has never been her strongest point, and that natural bluntness of hers translates into a little barrage of questions as she makes an attempt at getting to the bottom of this.

“You know you can always be honest with me, right, Xiangling?”

Oh, no.

Xiangling's heart is racing. Keqing knows, she knows and she's going to be angry, and for all Xiangling is good at thinking on her feet when it comes to improvising a recipe, that doesn't equate to thinking on her feet when it comes to cooking up a good excuse. "Um, uh--" she begins.

And then it all spills out.

"I'm sorry, Keqing!" she says, clapping her hands together and holding them above her head, bowing in apology. The words come out like a river. "The peppers-- they're a little bit weird, you know! Um, they're supposed to make you a little hot-- not hot, like-- like you know, kinda... hot--" Her cheeks are burning.

"I thought that, you know, since you always have so much trouble relaxing when we-- when we do it-- you might like the help getting in the mood! I'm sorry, I kept wanting to tell you but I didn't know how to bring it up!"

The words are out. She exhales. At least they haven't eaten yet.

The words spill from Xiangling’s mouth freely, and it’s all Keqing can do not to cut in before she’s finished. She doesn’t need to apologize, she wants to say— but then, at the same time, what she’s saying is so embarrassing that putting an early end to it almost feels like the right thing to do.

It’d save her from the flush that’s spreading across her cheeks like wildfire, for one thing.

Still, it’s something she’ll have to deal with as they move forward, because there’s no chance she’ll feel less flustered until this is well behind them. Her mouth opens, and then closes, and then opens again, and then she huffs out a little sigh.

“It’s… fine, Xiangling. I’m just glad you told me before we sat down to eat.” Briefly, she lifts a hand to scrub at her silk flower-red cheeks, and then adds, “n- not that I, ah… I’ll still eat it, of course. Since you went through all the trouble to make it for me, and… because it might be nice to loosen up, but…”

A pause, and Keqing’s gaze darts away shyly.

“Knowing what I’m getting into in advance helps, a little.”

If Xiangling hadn’t told her… it’s easy to imagine herself trying to ignore the pepper-induced warmth, in spite of how frustrated that might leave both of them.

Xiangling had been prepared to get scolded, to have Keqing yell at her over not telling her about what the peppers were supposed to do. After all, she'd been already feeling guilty, so surely Keqing would feel the same way, right?

But then... Keqing doesn't yell at her. In fact, she's blushing. (A matching beet-red flush is on Xiangling's cheeks by now, too. She fidgets, her body tense, nervous energy from fingers to toes.)

"...you're not mad? You still want to eat them? Even if they... you know... do that?"

She says, giving Keqing a hopeful look, like that of a particularly cute puppy. After all, she'd only wanted to help, right?

“I- is it that surprising?”

It must be, if Xiangling is fixing her with that look. It’d be a lie to say Keqing isn’t horribly, terribly, chronically weak to her girlfriend, but that’s more true than ever, now.

“It’s not like I… don’t like doing that sort of thing. W- with you, I mean.” Even if she’s awkward about it, and even if she has the tiniest bit of trouble being forward about her wants. “So… if all you’re doing is making it easier for me, then…”

Why not? That’s what the awkward little shrug she gives seems to say.

“Let’s hurry up and eat, before it gets cold, okay?”

...is it? Keqing sure seems like she likes sex when they're together, but...

Oh man, maybe she's been overthinking it. "I guess not really," she says, almost like she's unsure how to proceed. But then Keqing admits that she likes it. She admits that she's up to the idea.

And Xiangling's eyes light up, practically sparkling. She leans forward, closing the distance so that she can quickly kiss Keqing on the mouth-- not for long, just a peck, but excited enough. "Mm-hmm!" she says, beaming. "Let's eat!"

She doesn't wait to pop one of the dumplings in her mouth, holding it with both hands as she takes a huge bite. "Ohhh, it's good!"

Come to think of it, they taste more or less the same than the normal chili peppers, don't they?

Xiangling is unfairly cute. First, it was her puppy-dog eyes that did Keqing in, and now it’s the way she lights right up. There’s a little moment, right as she steals that kiss, that she considers chasing her mouth for another one, but…

They’ll have plenty of time for that, won’t they? Especially once the effects of her dumplings kick in. In that regard, it might be a good thing that she didn’t linger for long.

So, Keqing is quick to follow her lead; she cradles one of the dumplings between her fingers and takes her first bite, savoring the… oddly familiar flavor of it. She’d expected it to be different, somehow, from the Jade Parcels she’s so familiar with, but maybe that was a mistake. Maybe the effect the peppers will have on them, and their color, are the only things that separate them from regular Jueyun Chilis? Stranger things have happened in Liyue, probably…

“I wouldn’t have expected anything less from you, Xiangling.” Another dainty, little bite— as one might expect, from the Yuheng— and she adds, “do you… happen to know how long it’s going to take?”

Another bite. She reaches for a second dumpling, and tries to decide if she’s feeling any different.

“For it to…” … get them hot? No, she can’t say it like that. “… y- you know.”

The prospective effects of the peppers are one thing, but Xiangling is nothing else if not a chef first and foremost. So she savors the bite, trying to work out the different flavors, trying to get a hint of something new in the mix. But... there's nothing new. It tastes just like every time she's cooked this recipe with these peppers. "Huh," she muses out loud. "It really doesn't taste any different to me. But you definitely got the right ones, so maybe it's not supposed to?"

It's good, though. Nice and crispy, just like she knows how to make it. Xiangling chews her next bite, rolling it around in her mouth, and swallows.

She gives Keqing a toothy smile. "No idea! It just said in the book that it's a side effect. It'll probably take a little bit to kick in, don't you think?" At least the food is good.

She sidles a little closer to Keqing, the free hand (not holding food) gently resting on hers. "Let me know if you start feeling anything, okay?"

Come to think of it, her face is a little hot. But that could just be Keqing being cute.

“Mm. You’re probably right about that…”

For once, it’s not like there’s any real rush, anyway; she doesn’t have anywhere to be, or anything to do, so… maybe she can just take her time, and enjoy the meal that her girlfriend put together for her, and when the effects of the peppers kick in, then that’ll be that. It’s a bridge for them to cross when they get to it— whenever that might be.

“The same goes for you.”

Slowly, Keqing turns her hand over beneath Xiangling’s, until they’re palm to palm, so she can thread their fingers together. It might not be the most efficient way to eat, but that little point of contact is… nice.

It makes the pleasant, tingly heat that’s settled in the pit of her chest grow and spread.

“Right now, I just feel warm.” Briefly, she averts her eyes. “You don’t think that could be part of it, do you?”

Oh. Keqing's hand is warm. Her fingers are soft, too. Xiangling knows she's got callouses from a lifetime of cooking and burning her fingers, and it's hardly like Keqing doesn't work, but it's a different sort of work, and for someone so talented and hard working, it's almost cute how dainty Keqing's fingers can feel.

Xiangling picks up the ceramic plate with her dinner on it, scooting closer to Keqing so she can sit next to her, resuming eating with one hand. She can't help but looking at her girlfriend, looking as the dying light catches the silhouette of her face, of her features. Even as she pops the next dumpling into her mouth, she's still looking.

Ah, her heart's starting to race.

She chews, chews, swallows. Her cheeks feel hot.

"...I kinda feel warm, too," she says. "So that's probably it. H-haha, my heart's beating a little faster, too."

She really just wants to finish her food so she can kiss her girlfriend.

Can she feel Xiangling’s warmth radiating out toward her, or is it all her mind playing tricks on her? It could be either, honestly, and the distinct feeling of Xiangling’s eyes on her face as she eats only makes it more difficult to discern what, exactly, she’s feeling.

Luckily, the confirmation that she isn’t the only one that’s a bit warm serves to clear things up, probably. Her gaze darts to the side as she steals a little glance at Xiangling, and she nods.

“Yeah… it must be, then.”

Any other explanation would be far too coincidental, wouldn’t it? So, Keqing polishes off her next dumpling, and then squeezes at Xiangling’s hand carefully.

“C- can we…” A pause. She trails off, like that might somehow slow the way her heart is racing. “… maybe shelve dinner, for a little while?”

It’s entirely possible that they’re on the exact same page, here.

By now, Keqing will know that if there's anything Xiangling hates, it's wasted food. She tries to keep her portion sizes quite reasonable for that reason! Sure, you can reheat food afterwards, often where it's nearly as good, but it's never quite the same.

So she'll understand that when Xiangling leaves the last dumpling on the plate, her heart thudding in her chest, her face a deep, rich pink... it means something. "Um, if you want, I wouldn't mind--"

She doesn't finish the sentence. She instead launches herself at her girlfriend, arms on her shoulders, pressing her lips to Keqing's. She can't wait.

It’s true that it’s rare for her to see Xiangling leave her food unfinished, but… it’s also rare for them to find themselves in the position they’re current in, isn’t it? So, she isn’t one to judge that little shift in behavior, not really, when it results in something as sweet— and as exciting— as her girlfriend nearly jumping her.

With a not-so-practiced ease, Keqing’s arms slip around her, dragging her even closer still. Her eyes slip shut, and she exhales a trembling, little breath through her nose as their mouths slot together, and— if she was unsure whether or not the peppers had kicked in before, there isn’t a doubt in her mind that they have, now. She’s kissed Xiangling dozens of times, but never before has it left her feeling so… alive. It’s like the faint buzzing, just beneath her skin, that she feels after activating her Vision.

“Xiangling,” she starts, pulling back just enough to murmur her girlfriend’s name against her lips, “I- I, ah…”

Here, Keqing pauses for long enough to steal another kiss, if only because it feels like the right thing to do. That’s yet another tick in the peppers’ favor, probably…

“It’s… definitely working.”

Another kiss; this one lingers longer than the last, and— after a barely-there moment of hesitation— Keqing parts her lips against Xiangling’s in a silent sort of invitation.

Xiangling feels a rush of excitement shoot through her body. Part of it is because she's kissing Keqing (with all the attendant promises of what's about to happen) and kissing her girlfriend never doesn't make her excited. But she's excited because it's working, because not only was her goal with the peppers a success but Keqing isn't even mad.

And she can feel it working. She can feel a looseness in Keqing's body that's usually not there yet, a comfort, a sense of desire that's usually not there until the middle of-- or even after-- their lovemaking. This worked. It worked better than she could hope for.

"Y-yeah, it is, isn't it?" she says, her breath hot against Keqing's face. One hand cups Keqing's cheek as she peppers the other girl's lips with kisses, seizing the unspoken invitation to slip her tongue into Keqing's mouth. The other hand slips between them, deftly unhooking the ornate clasp on the brooch that holds Keqing's outerwear together.

Normally, this might be where Keqing’s awkwardness starts to get the better of her; as layers start to peel back, and as they get closer to the main event, that troublesome habit of over-thinking things always, always creeps up on her.

Not tonight, though.

Tonight, it’s easy to let her tongue slide eagerly against Xiangling’s as she makes work of the clasp holding her outerwear on, and it’s equally easy to let one hand flit up to Xiangling’s throat, to unfasten the collar of her top in one, quick motion. At the same time, her other hand slides down— from her waist and over the curve of her hip, until her fingers can squeeze greedily at the bare portion Xiangling’s thigh that peeks out from the sides of her clothing.

That, too, is something she’d usually agonize over, but tonight, Keqing is already itching for more; Xiangling is warm and inviting, and it takes real, genuine effort for her not to speed things up more than they already are. With the work that her girlfriend put into planning this out and cooking for her, it’d be a waste to let that infamous impatience of hers dictate the pace at which they move, tonight.

Xiangling's legs slide up and over Keqing's, so that she's straddling her lap. One hand fumbles to try and tug that little cloaklet away from Keqing's body, putting it on the ground next to them. When her own garment gets undone, she shrugs off her vest as quickly as she possibly can without breaking the kiss for more than a few seconds.

She's hot. She feels so hot. And Keqing is so hot. How is her girlfriend this hot? Xiangling scoots up so that she's straddling Keqing's thighs, one hand sliding to the back of her neck, the other cupping Keqing's chin. She can't get the kiss any deeper but she yearns to possess this other girl. The feel of fingertips on her bare thigh is absolutely electric.

She can't quite help the way she rolls her hips, grinding softly against Keqing's lap as tongue slips against tongue.

Xiangling is so torn. She, too, doesn't want to rush it, but she wants to be naked now. Or, rather, have Keqing naked now. They need to feel each other.

It’s easy enough, at least, to take advantage of the way Xiangling moves to straddle her; Keqing’s hand glides up, until her fingers are nudging at the hem of her shorts, and she hesitantly lifts one thigh, pressing it up to meet each little roll of her hips. With every move she makes, the boldness that so often eludes her comes more and more easily, until she’s able to will herself to break their kiss in favor of veering down to bury her face in the crook of Xiangling’s neck.

Does she always smell this good? Or have the peppers heightened her senses on top of making her feel like every nerve in her body is alight? Or, maybe she’s just more in-tune with Xiangling than she normally is? Either way, she lingers there for a moment, as if she’s savoring this just as much as she does the delicacies that Xiangling cooks, before pressing a gentle, open-mouthed kiss to her throat. And then another, and another.

“I- I want…” she starts, breath fanning out warmly as she nuzzles in against Xiangling’s skin all over again, “… help me out of the rest of this, alright?”

… at least they’re on the same page? Keqing pauses there, squirming just slightly, before adding:

“And then… I- I’ll take care of you.”

Just to keep things fair, of course.

--oh.

The lift of Keqing's thigh provides just enough pressure and friction that the next time Xiangling's hips roll forward, she gets a nice little bit of pressure to grind against at the crotch of her shorts. The pressure tingles; her eyes flutter half-lidded. Xiangling is a girl who lives loudly and unrestrained, and she's not about to stop the contented sigh that escapes her mouth.

When Keqing's face slides into the crook of her neck and she feels warm kisses against her throat, her hand slides up to the back of Keqing's head, fingers toying with the loose strands of hair that aren't gathered into her girlfriend's twin tails. She angles her head away, giving Keqing more skin at her throat to lavish with attention. It feels electric, making her spine tingle; her other hand rests on Keqing's shoulder and squeezes.

That request couldn't have come a moment sooner. Xiangling pulls back just a bit so she can look Keqing in the face, her cheeks shining pink. "Uh-huh," she says, breathlessly, before she takes Keqing's face in both hands and kisses her again.

Her hands come down, fumbling with Keqing's clothes, as she tries to help tug her girlfriend's dress over her head. Ugh, she loves you, but why is your outfit so complicated?

If she wasn’t already itching for more, the way Xiangling responds to her touch— and the kisses she peppers her skin with— would do the trick. Since she is, though, it’s a small miracle that Xiangling acquiesces so quickly. Anything less probably would’ve led to Keqing fervently trying to tug her way out of her clothing herself, decorum be damned.

So, she’s just as eager as she’s been… since the first bite she took of her dinner, really, when Xiangling steals another kiss and, when she attempts to tug the rest of her clothing over her head, she finds that it’s easy to assist her; she squirms beneath her girlfriend, trying to ease the dress higher on her body, and then lifts her arms to slip them free of the sleeves, and—

“… i- if I’d known we were going to do something like this, I would’ve dressed down a little.” Only a little, though, because she likes looking her best. That’s especially true when Xiangling is involved.

That being said, Keqing shifts again, this time so she can hook her fingers in the waistband of her tights and work them down her hips just a bit. To get them off properly would mean making Xiangling move (or, at the very least, readjust her current position), and that’s the very last thing that she wants at the moment.

"Keqing..." she breathes, as she finally is able to pull the dress up over her girlfriend's head, letting it fall next to them on the grass, taking the time to admire Keqing's slim body in her underwear, how cute her curves are in the light of the cooking fire and waning light. Ah, her girlfriend's so cute. She's so cute! Xiangling's hands settle on her hips, trailing up over the waistband of her underwear, to her waist.

And then she tilts her head to the side. "Really? You didn't think we were gonna do this? But we're going out into the wild all by ourselves, so I kinda figured we would either way..." even if this gambit hadn't paid off.

Ah well, less time spent talking, more time spent kissing. She kisses Keqing's face, her cheek, her ears, and then finally her mouth. Her hands slide up behind her to unhook her bra.

“I- I guess it was always a possibility…” She admits, voice soft and just a tiny bit shy, between kisses. At the same time, she lets her hands skim over Xiangling’s body, trailing over her hips and thighs, across her back, brushing tentatively against the sides of her breasts. “I just wasn’t thinking about it too hard.”

Which is very… well, her, isn’t it? When they’d set out, she was more occupied with thoughts of making this endeavor a successful one, with what comes after— the more personal, and arguably more important, part— pushed to the side.

Now, though, it’s all at the forefront of her mind. Once Xiangling unhooks her bra, she shrugs it off, letting the fabric hang slack, until she can manage to pull her hands away from her girlfriend’s body, to let it slip off fully. And, once it’s gone—

“Your turn.”

She breathes that out more than she says it, dipping forward to press a brief, open-mouthed kiss to the hollow of Xiangling’s throat, and then moves to work at the clasps that hold the front of her top together.

Keqing is beautiful in front of her, especially as her clothes fall to the grass, leaving her bare in the dying sunlight, her body slim and pale and so damn sexy, Xiangling thinks. And yet, at the admission, she can't help but giggle, a barely restrained pfft. "That's really like you, Keqing," she laughs, her eyes sparkling.

"You're always so focused. I asked you for help and you probably were just thinking about all the ways you could help me, right? That's one of the things I like about you."

Then her girlfriend's mouth is on her throat, and laughs give way to little breathy groans, and when she feels the tension in her top go slack, Xiangling can't shrug off her top any faster. She wants to be with Keqing, rolling on the grass.

The garment slides off her shoulders, and then they're both topless, naked skin warm against naked skin. Xiangling's hands come up to Keqing's shoulders, and since Keqing is already leaning in against her neck, she doesn't push her away. Instead, she falls back, landing with a laugh on the soft grass, her girlfriend on top of her.

It is just like her, isn’t it? Even if she finds herself changing more and more these days, that side of her is one that always stays consistent; the sky is blue, and water is wet, and Keqing will always throw all of herself into whatever task she’s given, whether it’s her duty as Yuheng, or something more personal, like this.

“Mm. That’s… good, at least.”

Isn’t it? That Xiangling isn’t bothered by her occasional (more than occasional) single-mindedness. She doesn’t get the chance to agonize over that much, though— not when Xiangling is making such sweet noises for her, and especially not when she’s dragging her down onto the soft, green grass.

There’s a huff of what might sound suspiciously like a laugh as she steadies herself, hands planted in the greenery above Xiangling’s shoulders, with her knee rooted between her thighs, but maybe that’s only natural. For as awkward as she tends to be, it’s easy to let go when Xiangling is around.

Sometimes, at least.

“Don’t tell me we hauled a bedroll all the way out here for nothing…”

Is that a joke?

It is a joke, and Xiangling can't help but giggle again because Keqing is so cute, her poor serious awkward girlfriend on top of her in the grass cracking a faint joke, she's so adorable and the chef is just overwhelmed. She laughs, one hand sliding up along the naked ridge of Keqing's spine, underneath her purple hair, rubbing the soft skin of her back. "Well, we're going to have to sleep eventually, right?"

Probably.

They've done this for a while before, after all.

The knee between Xiangling's thighs, against her shorts, is just near enough to provide some pressure but nowhere near what she really wants. Xiangling scoots down a little on the grass, just a hair, enough so that she can push her hips off the ground, pressing herself against Keqing's thigh. She exhales. It feels nice.

The other hand, the one that's not on Keqing's back, presses up against Keqing's stomach from beneath, traveling down. And down. Until fingers are pressing against Keqing's crotch through the fabric of her tights. "I'll have to tire you out so we sleep really good, 'kay?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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THIS IS SO LATE i'm sorry

not a problem!! <33

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