Resonance

The food arrives right after Ningguang leaves.

An awkward silence fills the room during the time everything is being laid in front of the two patrons, which pervades even after the servers have gone.

It’s the dissipation of the initial excitement of their encounter, combined with the aroma of the delicacies laid out in front of them, that prompts the two to eat.

So, they do.  In complete, total silence.

They must have been more famished than they felt, as they make quick work of the plates upon plates brought them.  Upon seeing the last plate cleared, Keqing rings for dessert, knowing well enough that Ningguang never spares any expense.

When they have finished those as well, and have taken time to rest, gather their thoughts, and calm themselves, the two once again ponder upon how to navigate their awkward situation.

It’s Keqing, restless as she can be, who breaks the silence.

“We should-” her voice doesn’t crack but she nonetheless stops and clears her throat, “we should decide how to go about what she wants us to do.”

Beidou, happy to get things moving, but still pissed enough to have anything else but revenge to think about, merely suggests the first unfiltered idea her brain produces.  “Can’t we just make an announcement of it or something?  What she wants isn’t exactly something that can be done in one showing.”

To the Captain’s surprise, the Yuheng quickly seconds her slapdash idea.  ‘Guess I’m not the only one distracted.’

“That settles it, then,” Beidou announces, standing from her seat.  The sound from the movement takes Keqing’s attention, and she looks at her company with furrowed brows.

“We might as well do it now and get this over with.  I don’t want to give Ningguang any more satisfaction  than what she’s already leeched off of us today.”

“We’re not gonna assemble a formal gathering?  Where would we even make the announcement?”

“Too much trouble.  The harbor’s a good place as any.  We just need enough people who would talk – and believe me, people would talk.”

And without another word, the two exit the pavilion and head, once again, to the harbor.

Beidou is proven right in her words when, on their way there, people they passed begin whispering to each other, no doubt knowledgeable of what transpired earlier.

Keqing and Beidou pay no mind and shoulder on.  One doesn’t get to their respective positions without being used to such… treatment.

When they reach the all too familiar square, Beidou starts beckoning the people scattered there to where she and Keqing are standing.  Once they’re gathered, Beidou explains what “supposedly” happened that morning in true pirate leader fashion, not lacking in invectives and threats.  Keqing swoops in after and finishes with the more diplomatic, but nonetheless severely forthright, account of the Qixing’s promise of fulfilment of duty.

All in all, the two did surprisingly well, surprising themselves, even, as the people clap and cheer for them.

Citing the beginning of their duty as the newly-minted Vanguards of Liyue, Beidou and Keqing make their way out of the square and venture to a less populated area in the harbor.

Certain that they’re out of anyone else’s earshot, Beidou asks her companion the question she’s been itching to ask since they reached the square.  “Did you see her anywhere?”

“No,” Keqing tells her regrettably.  “You?”

“Nope.  Shame, really.  Seeing her disappointed face would’ve been the one good thing to happen today.”  Beidou sighs.  But the pirate captain is never one to dwell on such negative emotion for too long.  “Eh, nothing a good drink won’t fix, though.” She remarks, taking a swig from her hip flask.

Keqing, meanwhile, silently watches her go about her way – which is why she doesn’t miss the flask thrown her way after the Captain’s generous draft.  Keqing catches the alcohol container with ease, certain of what should happen next… but hesitant of doing it.

“Come on,” she hears Beidou half-yell at her, “we’ve crossed blades, broken bread together, and even formed a laughable-at-best tag team.  I’d say that’s enough reason to share my drink.  Don’t worry, I’m clean,” the Captain laughs.

Her last assurance doesn’t really help.  But Keqing’s had a day, so she downs the remaining contents of the flask.

The belch she releases couldn’t be helped.  It brings more heat to her face apart from what the drink already has.  She wipes at her mouth as she tosses the flask back to its owner.

When she looks back at Beidou, Keqing sees the latter staring – studying her, even.  Before she could voice her distaste for it, Beidou chuckles.

“You’re okay, Yuheng.” The Captain says, nodding her head.

“Excuse me?” is the somewhat irked response.

“Oh, don’t get soft now.  I meant no offense.”

“What did you mean then?”

Beidou’s ruby eye stares dead ahead at Keqing’s magenta ones, daring and defiant but with a glint of mischief there.

“This your first time being in this kind of relationship, isn’t it?” Beidou asks but doesn’t wait for an answer, trusting her gut as always.  “It’s not for everybody, you know?  People – we – there’s selfishness inhered in our fabric.  It takes effort, as with any other type of relationship, to make this work.”

There’s a pause, and Keqing so badly wants to ask where Beidou is going with this monologue of hers.  She misses her window, however.

“But you’re awfully efficient, aren’t you?  Add that to the fact that you’re completely, irrevocably in love with her.  It’s why you’re willing to try this out, try our brand of love.” Beidou’s gaze falls back from the sky back to Keqing.  She’s wearing a smile that uncannily reminds the smaller woman of Ningguang.

Keqing doesn’t say anything – can’t, really.  Beidou doesn’t mind much, content with the silent confirmations.

Her next revelations strike a nerve, however.  “Tell me, Yuheng, have you figured out why you’re such an eager beaver to fight me earlier?”

A curious yet dangerous look flashes in Keqing’s eyes.  Beidou laughs upon seeing it.  “I’ll take that as a ‘no.’  Want me to tell you?”

Again, silence.  Again, a smirk.

“You’re threatened,” an intentional pause, a bait which catches its intended, “you’re threatened because of who I am to her.  And since we’re having a heart to heart, I might as well tell you that that’s one of the reasons why I followed you earlier.  I only wanted to talk, but, well, you know what happened next.”

Unable to hold back any longer, Keqing lets poison drip in every word she hisses.  “So I do.  And so surely you also know I’m not gonna balk at your threats.”

Beidou laughs, heartily, in response.  “We’re getting off on the wrong page, here.  I wanted to threaten you, yes, but that’s so I could see your reaction.  And I got my answer to that, and more, didn’t I?”

Beidou stretches her arms out of restlessness.  Keqing grabs the hilt of her sword by instinct, she, herself, fidgety from everything that has happened and is happening.

Her action makes the Captain laugh again.  “Like I told you, Yuheng, you’re okay.  No more threats from me.  Only blessings.”  Beidou tells her, staring Keqing squarely in the eyes.  “In fact, I’ll give you one now.”

Beidou smiles as a conspirator would to their accomplice.  “I’ll bet you still haven’t worked out that she was banking on me provoking you and you acting accordingly in order to unwittingly get us on board that Vanguard bullshit.  That should make for an interesting pillow talk, don’t you think?”  Beidou tells her, winking before turning towards the harbor’s direction.

The Captain starts making for the harbor, but not before uttering her parting words.  “If you’re terribly efficient, Yuheng, she’s terrifyingly ambitious.  Which is why she needs all the checks she can get.  And who better to do that than two headstrong, irreverent business partners, am I right?”

Keqing watches her go, confusion alleviated and wrath redirected.

‘An interesting pillow talk, indeed.’ She thinks, as she heads her own way.