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Qilin Crossing may not be the game that brings in the most viewers to Ganyu's channel, but it is a stream favorite that she comes back to time and time again when she just wants to relax and chat with her viewers. As a casual vtuber, she enjoys those types of streams the most, the easy, laidback atmosphere as she curls up snugly in her office chair with the lights off, a warm blanket draped over her lap, and the ambient sounds of the game playing on the speakers. Her own little slice of zen in the always rushing city of Liyue.
"Tartal0ni_Beeg_Bal0ney, thank you very much for the superchat. They ask, 'Have I ever played Residence of the Dead or any other games in the series?'" Ganyu shakes her head ruefully. "No, but it's a franchise I've always wanted to try out one day. Maybe not on stream, unless there's someone nearby backseating me, I'm so bad at FPS, haha."
Ganyu scrolls down the page, switching to the next set of superchats. "The_Ancient_Taco, thank you for your yellow super! May I get a 'Glory for Rex Lapis' before I log off for the night? Of course you may. 'For the glory of Rex Lapis!'"
She mashes the A button on her controller, and on-screen, her Qilin villager goes haywire, spinning in place like a demented top. On cue, her chat begins spamming qiqiClappy, an emote that Ganyu's niece doodled for her when she visited. It's a little hard to tell if the deadpan-looking zombie is actually clapping or not, but Ganyu's had it enabled for so long that removing it at this point would probably start a riot with her subscribers. Plus, it would break her niece's heart, a fate literally worse than death.
"qiqiClappy to you guys too. Ummm, where was I? Oh! A red superchat from... XxStarward-Spar- oh my archons." Ganyu rubs her face, even as the smile forces its way onto her lips. "I'm not reading this. You know you can just DM me like any sensible mod would! This is why I made you mod in the first place!"
autumnXverses15: lololololol
ZamZen: Can't believe mods are flexing on us plebs again paiSadge
Captain Crux-A-Lot: Read read read read
Oh, what the heck. Ganyu obliges the last chat message and scans over the red super. "XxSkyward-SparksxX says, 'Just a heads up, you forgot to turn off donations, they're still on right now,' oh for the love of-" Ganyu places her head in her hands. "You spent 500 Mora just to tell me that?"
A notification sound pings in her headset. Ganyu scrolls to the top of the super chat list
XxSkyward-SparksxX : >3<
"Alright, I'm turning donations off now, you've had your fun." Thankfully, Sparks's donation was the last one and with a deep breath, Ganyu leans back into her chair. "That was the last one. We're all caught up now, yaaaay."
Even to her ears, the yay falls flat. Chat seems to sense the change in the atmosphere because almost at once, they begin spamming variations of the pleading face emoji along with a few crying faces thrown in as well.
Welp. Time to face the vishap in the room.
"So for everyone still here, thanks for tuning in to the penultimate stream." Almost immediately, chat goes into hyperspeed with the emotes, but Ganyu plows on, trying her best to ignore the uncomfortable lump in her throat. "It means a lot to me that you guys still want to hang out after all this time. And just a reminder, next week is the end of the month, which will be my last stream before I go on indefinite hiatus, so if you could tune in one last time, it'd mean a whole lot to me."
BigDumChum: nuuuuu I'm not ready ToT
spiceXnice: I'll be there o7 o7 o7
Even now, it still stings, knowing that all of this has to come to an end. But real life comes first, after all, and Ganyu is at a point in her career where she needs to focus on her own growth instead of streaming, as much as she wants to juggle both. Maybe one day, when she's ready again.
One day.
"C'mon guys, None of that now?" Ganyu puts on a big smile, ensuring that her camera can capture it properly for her avatar. "I'm going to miss this, but this isn't the end. And we still have a week left, so smile, okay? I'll be back before you know it. Promise."
With that, Ganyu cuts off the screen capture and ends the stream before she can break her own promise. Keep it together.
She shakes her head, letting out a rough sigh, and checks the clock. 3 AM. Oh boy. And she has work tomorrow too.
Her phone buzzes. 1 new notification. She swipes it open and checks the message.
XxSkyward-SparksxX: gonna miss sending you my money
As tired as Ganyu is, she can't help but smile at the message before typing out her reply.
Dew_Da_Dew: That's exactly why I'm going on hiatus. To keep you from your reckless spending.
XxSkyward-SparksxX: i can't believe you would take away the one thing i have over chat.
Dew_Da_Dew: Your mod privileges?
XxSkyward-SparksxX: i cant believe you would take away the two things i have over chat.
The sound of Ganyu's giggles breaks the midnight quiet of her room. A fond warmth fills her chest as she scrolls up the chat log, viewing her previous messages. It seems to go on forever, which makes sense. Sparks was there since the very beginning when she first started streaming, fresh and new, a fish out of water. They stayed through all the ups and downs, the highs and lows, and over time, they became practically irreplaceable to Ganyu. She doesn't regret her decision to stop streaming to focus on her burgeoning career, but this? This feeling, this exact moment in time shared just between the two of them?
This is what she's going to miss the most.
XxSkyward-SparksxX: btw did your boss give you time off next week for the last stream?
Dew_Da_Dew: Ughh, I haven't asked her yet.
XxSkyward-SparksxX: seriously?
XxSkyward-SparksxX: ('д｀)
XxSkyward-SparksxX: you were supposed to ask ages ago!
Dew_Da_Dew: I know, I know! It just was never the right time. Plus, it's hard asking her for stuff!
XxSkyward-SparksxX: i thought you said you two were starting to get along .
Dew_Da_Dew: We are! Sort of. It's just a little awkward.
XxSkyward-SparksxX: because she's hot as hell amirite >:)
Dew_Da_Dew: LAPGOIASKFJLKFJ
Dew_Da_Dew: i told you that in theint he STRICTEST CONFIDENCE
XxSkyward-SparksxX : you did
XxSkyward-SparksxX : that was your first mistake
XxSkyward-SparksxX : ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Dew_Da_Dew: You're such a bully
XxSkyward-SparksxX : XD
Dew_Da_Dew: :(
XxSkyward-SparksxX: okay okay i stop
XxSkyward-SparksxX: but seriously, how are you going to ever ask her out if you can't even ask for time off
Dew_Da_Dew: Because one, those are two entirely different things
Dew_Da_Dew: And two, why must you always meddle in my love life
Dew_Da_Dew: (>д<)
XxSkyward-SparksxX: Because I want you to be happy
The message is so sincere and entirely unexpected that Ganyu nearly fumbles her phone in response. When she picks it up again, she can see LS already typing out a response.
XxSkyward-SparksxX: dont get me wrong.
XxSkyward-SparksxX: i think you could do way better than your stiff of a boss.
XxSkyward-SparksxX: but if you think you got a chance at being happy, then i say go for it. its the same reasoning for why your going on hiatus, isnt it? you saw a chance and you took it.
XxSkyward-SparksxX: besides, life goes too quickly to be stuck at the crossroads. wait too long and the chance will slip by before you know it.
XxSkyward-SparksxX: take it from me
Ganyu furrows her brow. That last comment sounds almost uncharacteristic coming from Sparks. For as long as Ganyu has known them, they've always been quick and decisive in all their decisions, but that last message...
It almost sounds… regretful in a way.
Before she can reply, the typing ellipses appear on the screen, and a new message pops up.
XxSkyward-SparksxX: or you can always try bribing her instead.
Dew_Da_Dew : ಠ_ಠ
Dew_Da_Dew: Bribe her into giving me time off or into going out with me
XxSkyward-SparksxX: yes
Dew_Da_Dew: asgdjllsdjfldsfj
Dew_Da_Dew: You are the worst
XxSkyward-SparksxX: you say that but i bet your smiling right now
Dew_Da_Dew: I'm going to bed right now
XxSkyward-SparksxX: XDDD
XxSkyward-SparksxX: alright alright
XxSkyward-SparksxX: just remember what i said
XxSkyward-SparksxX: no ragrets
XxSkyward-SparksxX: gn!!!
Dew_Da_Dew: aldskjflaskjfd
Dew_Da_Dew: <3
Dew_Da_Dew: ttyl!!
---
Ganyu hadn't necessarily lied when she told Sparks that her relationship with her boss had improved over the past few months. It just wasn't necessarily the whole truth either. Things have gotten better, but not to the point where Ganyu can even begin to describe their relationship as cordial. It's more of an uneasy middle ground of sorts, edging somewhere between forced casualness and straight-out awkwardness. The best of both worlds.
Asking for time off definitely won't be as easy as it sounds.
"Sure. What days next week?"
As it turns out, it really is as easy as it sounds.
Keqing barely looks up from the iPad she's hunched over, scrolling through the PDF on-screen at a frightening pace while her other hand thumbs through a dizzying stack of important-looking documents. When she finally glances up, there's a slight frown on her face, making the sharp slant of her eyes all the more severe.
"Well?"
With a start, Ganyu realizes she's been staring, and she quickly blurts the first thing that comes to mind. "S-sorry, I um... wasn't expecting you to… ah… that is, er…"
Keqing raises an expectant eyebrow. "Yes?"
Caught between a rock and a hard place. "...to say yes so readily," Ganyu admits shamefacedly.
As soon as the words leave her lips, she visibly winces. Foot meet mouth. The wince is what probably saves Ganyu from her faux pas because Keqing's expression goes from mildly impatient to mildly amused.
"I'm not that much of a slave driver, am I?"
"N-no, of course not! I only thought… er…." Ganyu flounders. "It's just… hard to bring up, is all."
Unexpectedly, the sharp look in Keqing's eyes softens. Her lips twitch as if she's trying to figure out what to say, and then after a few awkward seconds, she lets out a sigh and looks away.
"Sorry," she murmurs after a pregnant pause, and Ganyu nearly drops the stack of documents she's holding right there in her arms. "For making you feel like you can't be forthright with me." She holds her hand up before Ganyu can protest. "You don't have to say otherwise. I've been told by my peers that I'm not exactly… the easiest person to get along with."
She scowls, and Ganyu gets the distinct impression that by peers, Keqing means one exclusive peer with a penchant for jade jewelry and teasing remarks.
"Anyway, it's something I'm working on," Keqing admits before turning her gaze back onto Ganyu. "So let me be the first to say that I'm sorry. I know in the past we didn't start off on the right foot… and maybe it's just my pride talking, but… I value you and your opinion. More often than not, you've shown a better understanding of what happens here at the Qixing than some of the higher-ups. Yet, you always offer the same amount of respect and understanding to every individual, no matter their position or standing. I admire that and… and I hope one day I can also become one of those individuals. Someone that you can trust."
Keqing's gaze is intense. Any other time, Ganyu would have… well, not exactly welcomed it, but she wouldn't say no either. The sharp lilac in her eyes is intensely distracting, and Ganyu just knows that her face is worryingly pink at the moment. That awkward sincerity that Keqing is showing it's well, for lack of a better word- it's cute.
Archons, this crush will be the death of her.
"Ganyu?"
With a start, Ganyu realizes Keqing is still waiting expectantly for her response.
"You are!" she says, maybe a little more forcefully than she intended because Keqing starts back in surprise, and she quickly reiterates. "I-I mean, you are. One of the people I trust. I-I always have."
Keqing looks surprised and then, oddly pleased. Almost shy. "You have?"
Ganyu nods fervently. "Of course. You're strict but fair, honest, and forthright. I may not always agree with you, but I know every decision you make is not just for your own end but for the good of everyone else as well. A-and I've never thought of you as rude."
"Really," says Keqing with a raised eyebrow.
"...maybe a bit intense?"
To her surprise, Keqing lets out a short chuckle. "That's probably the nicest way somebody has ever called me stubborn."
Ganyu gasps. "I-I didn't- I wouldn't!" she stops when Keqing doubles over, failing terribly to smother her giggles. At that, Ganyu pouts even as she tries to fight her own traitorous lips from turning into a smile. "Alright, now you're just being mean."
"You say that, but I can see you're trying not to smile," says Keqing with a smile of her own, and Ganyu blinks as a sudden wave of deja vu hits her. For once, there's no awkwardness or hostility in their interaction. It feels nice.
And... strangely familiar too, for some inexplicable reason.
Before she can think harder on the feeling, Keqing brings up the calendar app on her tablet and asks, "So, what days were you looking to take off again?"
"Oh. Right." Ganyu shakes her head, and the weird feeling goes away. Probably just a side effect of sleep deprivation or something along those lines. "Just Thursday."
Keqing pauses mid-scroll.
"Thursday, you said?"
The odd tone of her voice makes Ganyu frown. "Is… that alright?"
Keqing looks up. There's a pained grimace on her face.
"Thursday might pose a... slight problem."
Ganyu blinks. "What do you mean?"
For once, Keqing almost looks embarrassed, shifting around in her seat.
"Don't get me wrong, I would like nothing more than to give you Thursday off. But somebody needs to be in the office that day, and it just so happens that, ah…" she coughs into her fist. "That I'm taking Thursday off as well."
Ganyu nearly drops the stack of documents in her hand. Shocked is an understatement. She can count on one hand the number of days Keqing has taken off for a vacation since she started this job. Incidentally, it's the same number of days Ganyu herself has taken off for vacation. Also incidentally, that number lies squarely between the digits of 0 and imaginary.
"You never take time off," Ganyu blurts out.
Keqing flushes. "N-neither do you!" she fires back with a lukewarm scowl. It's such an uncharacteristic look on her face that if it were any other situation, Ganyu would've backed off on her demands, but this time it's different. She needs Thursday off. There's too much at stake for her to give in now."
"Could I maybe take an extended lunch break?" she tries instead.
Keqing glances down at her tablet again. "What time?"
"4:00."
Keqing grimaces again. "That's the time I'm taking off."
This is starting to get ridiculous. Ganyu prides herself on her patience, but even that patience is beginning to dry up. "For what?"
"For personal reasons," Keqing shoots back, her tone taking an exasperated turn. "But if you must know, I'm attending a friend's graduation."
Ganyu's about to retort back, but at the words' graduation,' her mouth clicks shut. Keqing is on the younger side of the Qixing company board, that's a given, but it seems strangely out of place that she has friends who are still in school. Maybe a niece or a distant relative?
"That's funny. I'm attending a graduation as well," Ganyu says slowly, gauging Keqing's reaction.
A single, raised eyebrow isn't much to go on, but Ganyu presses on regardless. "Where is the ceremony being held?"
At her inquiry, Keqing twitches. "It's… more of an online gathering," she says almost evasively. "What with the hassle of logistics and all."
The nagging feeling in the back of Ganyu's mind is growing stronger. Once is a coincidence, twice is a pattern. "My graduation is online as well."
There's a strange expression starting to form on Keqing's face. It's hard to describe, but if Ganyu had to put a name to it, it'd be 'I'm starting to think what you're also thinking, but it's way too crazy to be true, so instead I will be skeptical ' sort of face.
"What are the chances," Keqing says slowly.
But what are the chances though? There's coincidence, and then there's whatever this is. All of it lines up a little too perfectly.
Ganyu's mind races as she considers her options. Asking directly would be the easiest way to go, but if she's wrong, she might just literally die of embarrassment. Sweeping it all under the rug would be the next best thing, but she needs that time off. Giving up on her last stream is not an option.
Which leaves the final alternative. Keqing admits it herself. But the chances of that happening are laughable. She's streamed gacha with higher appearance rates than those odds.
Unless….
Keqing's dry cough breaks the silence. "Look, I'll try to make something work out, but if it doesn't, then I'm sorry, but-"
"For the glory of Rex Lapis," Ganyu blurts out, betting it all.
"qiqiClappy," Keqing says automatically, clapping her hands for good measure.
There's a long, drawn-out beat of silence.
In an instant, Keqing flushes fire hydrant red. Her face runs the gamut of emotions in a few scant seconds- surprise, realization, before finally landing on complete and utter mortification, which is all the confirmation Ganyu needs.
"I knew it!" Ganyu would be pointing accusingly if her hands were free at the moment, so instead, she settles on crowing out her accusation. "I knew you weren't going to an actual graduation! You were going to tune in to my stream!"
"W-what, no! No!" Keqing's eyes dart around the room like a cornered hillichurl. "Stream? What do you mean stream, I have no idea what you're talking about, I would never."
She sets her phone down a little harder than strictly necessary, upsetting the stack of documents nearby. With a muttered curse, she shuffles them back haphazardly, missing the fact that they're upside down, before leveling an embarrassed scowl at Ganyu.
"Okay, fine, yes! I'm taking time off to watch Dew_Da_Dew, but that's because I'm a mod in her chat!" she explains heatedly, missing the way Ganyu suddenly freezes in place because, wait, what mod in her chat she only has that one mod hold on a minute. "So I can't NOT be there for her, or I'll look like a complete tool and even worse, a crappy friend, and that little tidbit stays between you and me, or I swear to all the Archon's that I'll- did you just say your stream ?"
"Errrrr," is Ganyu's eloquent response.
Keqing's eyes narrow. In one fluid motion, she flips her laptop open and pounds furiously at the keyboard. A search bar pops up, followed by what looks to be a list of videos. Keqing clicks the first one.
"Okay, so I'm on soft pity right now, and I've got enough crystals for a ten roll. What do you think, chat? Should I go for it? 1 for yes, 2 for no."
Ganyu's voice comes out tiny but embarrassingly clear from the laptop speakers. Her voice changer is on, but there's no mistaking who's speaking at the moment, now that she's basically outed herself.
"Looks like the majority is 1. Alright then. Here we go. Please be gold. Please, please, pleeeeeease."
A beat.
"F." Ganyu finally hears herself say softly but with great feeling. "F."
Keqing's jaw drops. She looks up from her laptop screen. It's hard to describe the look on her face right now, but if Ganyu had to take her best shot, it'd be somewhere between 'I am trying to reconcile this information in my brain, please give me a moment' and 'Actually, I am NOT reconciling this information in my brain, in fact, I think I may be having a slight breakdown send help.'
Soooooo, probably the same expression Ganyu is making too.
Small world.
Nobody moves, but Ganyu can see the gears working in Keqing's head. Her own mind is going into hyperdrive, playing every possible choice and option available to her. All of them are terrible, save for one. The one option that has never failed her before.
"Igottagobye."
Ganyu drops the documents in her hands, ignoring the sudden flurry of flying papers and Keqing's surprised shout, and makes a straight beeline for the door. She hears Keqing call out her name, but she doesn't stop, not until she can outrun the furious pounding of her heart and the burning heat in her cheeks.
Looks like she's not getting that time off after all.
---
After that inglorious exit, Ganyu works the rest of the week from the safety of her home. The alternative is going back into the office and facing Keqing again, and well… that's not really an alternative she wants to explore at the moment. To be honest, she's not even sure if she still has a job to go back to after pulling that little stunt.
But then the weekend comes, and nothing happens. Nothing. Not even an email or notification from anyone, nothing about an inevitable layoff or taking impromptu time off. And as much as it is a relief, Ganyu can't help but feel… disappointed. Because criticism? She can take to understand what she did wrong and to correct herself. But absolute silence? That means nothing.
It makes Ganyu question herself. Maybe their friendship really wasn't as strong as she thought it was. Maybe it really was all in her head, and she was just filling in the blank spaces with what she wanted. Maybe it was all one-sided.
Maybe Ganyu was just fooling herself and everyone else.
And that makes it so much harder to figure out how she really feels.
Unfortunately, Ganyu doesn't have a whole lot of time to process. Her graduation stream is just around the corner, and she still has so much prep work left to do, people to contact to see if they're free Thursday, dozens of loose ends to tie up. It's actually a small blessing that she's working from home since now, she can juggle too many tasks from the comfort of her messy bed as opposed to juggling too many tasks from the confines of her office.
Small victories.
Then, without warning, it's Thursday evening, and Ganyu is trying not to throw up because it's finally happening. It's all hitting her at once now. No more time for prep. After tonight, it's all over.
Pressing on the 'start' button never felt so daunting until now.
"Hey everyone, good evening, morning, afternoon wherever you are in the world."
Somehow, Ganyu manages to get through her usual cheery greeting with just the tiniest hitch in her voice. Already, chat is spamming her feed with an immense amount of blue hearts, salutes, and crying emojis. The sight makes her smile. Dramatic as ever. And she wouldn't have it any other way.
"So I think everyone knows, but this is going to be the last stream for a while. I didn't really have much planned, but what I thought could be fun is if we finished up that Qilin Crossing drawing I started a while back. I'll be in the voice chat, and some of my other streamer friends can hop in whenever they feel like- aaaaaand speak of the devil."
Her notification sound pings. A second later, a loud, cheerful voice fills her headset.
"Ahoy there, Dewy! How's it hangin'?"
Ganyu rolls her eyes good-naturedly while chat replies back with scattered ' Ahoys! ' and ' The captain's here! '
"You know that's not my name."
"I'm not saying Dew_Da_Dew every time, that's a mouthful."
"And Captain Crux-A-Lot is that much shorter?"
There's a sharp bark of laughter from the other end. "Alright, fair enough, you got me there!"
Leave it to the Captain to break the ice. With a shake of her head, Ganyu asks, "So, what can I do for you, Captain?"
"Glad you asked! Since this is going to be a drawing stream, I have a request."
Well, she's not wrong. Technically. It is a drawing stream, but not exactly a request-taking stream either. But, oh what the heck, why not? Who knows when they'll be able to meet again like this?
"Let me guess. You want me to draw Alcor?" Ganyu asks as she pulls up a blank canvas on the second monitor.
"I want you to draw Alcor." Captain Crux-A-Lot confirms, the dirt-eating grin utterly evident in her gleeful tone. "But I want the face to be super anime, with those big ol' eyes and other sparkly stuff. Oh, can you add sparkles?"
"I'll see what I can do. Can you send me the reference pics?"
"I can do you one better! Check out my stream!"
Curious, Ganyu pulls up the stream. When she sees what's playing, she's not sure if she should laugh or just hang her head in amazement. Maybe both.
"Are you going to hold your cat up to the camera the entire stream?"
"I'm definitely going to be holding up my cat to the camera the entire stream."
"Mroooww …"
Alcor takes an inordinate amount of time to draw out, and the whole time Captain Crux-A-Lot tries to distract her with stories of their past streams together, with all the highlights and embellishments that only she can provide. Ganyu gets as far as a rough sketch before Alcor has enough, and he paws the camera off its stand. But by then, someone else has joined the chat with another request, followed by someone else who has another embarrassing story at hand. Another and another, and it all just spirals from there.
Ganyu can't remember the last time she's laughed so hard, smiled, and teared up as much as she has now. It's bittersweet that it all has to end, but even now, she's glad of what she's accomplished with the friends she's made.
As much as they try to stall her, Ganyu makes steady progress on her Qilin Crossing drawing. Ganyu's latest guest in the voice channel, an old friend of hers who specializes in reviewing contract law, is waxing poetic about some obscure piece of litigation when the voice chat notification suddenly pings.
Ganyu glances over distractedly, paying half attention to what's being said. She's not expecting any more guests tonight. Everyone she knows in her community is already here, so she has no idea who this surprise addition is. Nevertheless, she adjusts her microphone and offers up an inquisitive "Hello?"
There's a moment of silence on the other end. And then she hears a familiar voice hesitantly pipe up.
"Hey."
Ganyu freezes. Her heartbeat stops for one perilous second and then resumes beating at a terrifying pace. Quickly, she switches tabs, bringing up her voice chat just to make sure that she's not hallucinating and that the voice really is who she thinks it is.
There's one new person on the call. Their icon is an old, worn-out hairpin with sparks lighting around it.
Ganyu leans back heavily in her chair, mind awhirl. Oh. Suddenly, she feels self-conscious and panicky, all at once. Oh. Oh. Outside of direct messages, they've never actually spoken before.
Wait, no, that's not true. Because Sparks in real life is- but that's different. But is it? Ahhhhh, this is too much at once!
"Hello," Ganyu manages to get out, her voice cracking embarrassingly on the last syllable. She clears her throat and tries again. "So I know who you are, but would you mind introducing yourself to everyone else?"
Her chat is moving faster than she can keep up. Excited curiosity is the primary emotion she can garner from the emote spam.
"Ah. Right. It's ah, me. Ke-" the voice suddenly stops and coughs before quickly changing tracks. "Er, Sparks. XxSkyward-SparksxX. The mod. Hey everyone."
There's a dutiful chorus of replies from the voice call. Ganyu's chat is chaos, most of them in shock at hearing the legend herself, XxSkyward-SparksxX , for the first time ever.
Perfectaronii27: She's real?!
Winning*Sun: SHe's a she?!
BerriBeryy: GuobaChamp
[this message was deleted by a moderator]
Ganyu jerks her head up. "Wait, are you moderating the chat even now?"
Ganyu hears a dull thump from the other end of the call as if someone bumped into their desk in surprise.
"Yessss?" comes the hesitant reply before adding on a touch defensively. "I mean, it's my job!"
"You want to do your job now, of all times?"
"I can multitask!"
The reply surprises Ganyu, not because it's just so utterly Sparks, but also because it's so utterly Keqing too. The snicker forces itself out of her mouth before she can stop it, which turns into a fit of badly suppressed giggles, which turns into full-on laughter. A second later, she can hear Keqing joining in, and then it just becomes impossible to stop.
Winning*Sun: LMAOOOOO
Princess_NaNaNa: Cute cute cute
autumnXverses15: #blessed #im #die #thankyou4eva
It takes a while, but Ganyu finally gets the giggles under control enough to feel sane again. Unsurprisingly, everyone in the call has left, leaving only Keqing and her to their own devices. Captain Crux-A-Lot's doing, no doubt. She makes a mental note to thank the Captain afterward.
"I'm glad we could finally talk," says Ganyu. An inside joke, just between the two of them.
There's a breathless sounding laugh from the other end. "Same here. It feels a little weird, doesn't it?"
"A little," Ganyu admits. "But I'm just happy I can hear your voice." She nearly says again but stops herself in the nick of time. No need for her chat to start getting any ideas.
She hears a strangled sounding noise from Sparks, followed by her loudly clearing her throat.
"Stop trying to sidetrack me. We're here to celebrate you, not talk about my voice. I had a speech written out and everything."
"Had?"
"...It may have exceeded the document word limit," Sparks admits, and the frightening thing is, Ganyu isn't sure if she's joking or not. "But that's okay. I remember the most important parts."
"Alright then, let's hear it."
The silence that stretches on from the other end of the call goes on for a beat too long. Just as Ganyu is about to check if her WiFi connection has dropped, she hears Sparks speak up.
"Thank you."
Sparks' voice is uncharacteristically soft, and Ganyu feels her heart stutter at the quiet sincerity in her tone. She grips her headset tight, listening intently as the sound of Sparks' voice fills her head.
"Thank you for always being there for me on the good days and bad days. Thank you for giving me all the laughs and smiles for all the years we've known each other. I don't make friends easily, so having you as my friend means more to me than anything else in the world. More than I can put into words. So, thank you. For being my friend. "
Sparks lets out a long, shuddering sigh.
"And more importantly, for just being you."
Ganyu had promised herself she wouldn't cry. That she'd put on a happy face for everyone for the last stream. But she's about to break that promise.
"Same here," she manages to get out and then lets out with a shaky giggle. "Thank you for being a part of my life too."
There's a loud sniffle from the other side, followed by the sound of clapping hands.
"Ahem! Now that's said and done, I've got one final surprise for you."
There's a faint warble in Sparks' voice, but Ganyu decides to keep quiet on that little tidbit. "Oh?" she wipes discreetly at her eyes and grins. "I'm listening."
"Are you finished with your drawing?"
Ganyu checks her canvas. Her Qilin Crossing villager waves cheerfully back at her, surrounded by other villagers in the middle of town. It's a little rough, but she's pretty proud of what she's accomplished with the limited time she had.
"For the most part. Why?"
"DM me the file. Oh, and all the other drawings you worked on this stream."
Curiosity piqued, Ganyu does just that. She hears Sparks make a satisfied noise when the transfer completes.
"Alright, this won't take more than five minutes, tops. I'm going to drop off, but after five minutes, look outside your window."
"Excuse me?"
But Sparks has already left the call, leaving Ganyu in confused silence. She glances over to her chat, who shares her same reaction if the general mayhem is any indication. "What does she mean five minutes?"
the-simp-son: YOOOO LETS GOOO
ZamZen: YEAAAAH GO WHERE?
algkss9989: OMG it’s HAPPENINGN
Unable to stand the suspense any longer, Ganyu leaps up from her chair, striding over to her window. In one swift motion, she rips the curtains apart and looks outside.
Her jaw drops.
The Qixing Building where Ganyu works is the largest building in all of Liyue City and the third-largest skyscraper in Teyvat. Part of the reason why her rent is so absurdly high is that the view just outside her window is one of the best views in the entire city. All of Liyue and its nightlife is on display, with the Qixing Building smack dab in the middle. There's just one significant difference in the usual view. The windows on the Qixing Building are all LED displays, and normally, they display the seven stars of the company logo, shining proudly throughout the day and well into the night.
Instead of the logo, however, Ganyu is greeted by a drawing of an extremely grumpy-looking cat scowling back at her.
The cat being specifically Alcor.
And the drawing specifically being her drawing.
Ganyu barely has time to register what she's seeing before the display changes again. This time it's a picture of her Qilin Crossing character in town, surrounded by friends. Another flash, another sketch. Memories, one after the other, displayed proudly displaying for all of Liyue to see.
The phone in her hand gives off a chime. In a daze, she opens up her messages.
You deserve happiness too.
---
Ganyu makes sure to set her alarm two hours before she usually gets up so that she can arrive first in the office before Keqing. She tries to do some work, but a nervous energy settles into her skin, distracting her from getting anything productive done, so instead, she settles for tapping her foot restlessly, periodically checking her phone and counting down the minutes.
The clock finally hits 9 AM, and right on time, the elevator doors slide open. Keqing strides in, dressed sharply in her business suit and slacks, coffee in one hand, a stack of important-looking documents in the other, oozing confidence and sophistication in her poise.
And then she stops dead in her tracks when she sees Ganyu sitting meekly at her desk.
Ganyu waves hesitantly with her fingers. "Hello."
Keqing's only rational response is to drop everything she's holding.
"Ah!"
"Oh, son of a-!"
Ganyu is already rushing out of her chair, scrambling on the floor as she tries to save the documents from the encroaching caffeinated wave of four espresso shots while Keqing does the same.
"Here, let me-"
"No, it's okay, I've got it."
Their hands' touch, and almost instantly, the two jerk away as if electrocuted. Keqing recovers first, grabbing the first set of papers she sees as she studiously avoids eye contact.
"You, ah, surprised me." Keqing shuffles the sheaves of paper around, looking squarely at the floor. "I wasn't expecting you in the office so soon."
The forced normalcy in her voice is almost painful to hear. And yet, Ganyu understands what she's trying to say. It's her way of offering Ganyu a way out. To go back to the way things were so that neither of them have to deal with their actual feelings and fears. Back to the safe and secure mundanity of yesterday.
And for once in her life, Ganyu decides to take her chance at happiness.
"I wanted to know," she says, hoping she sounds bolder than she actually feels.
Keqing hasn't stopped shuffling around. "To know what?"
"If you meant what you said."
That gets Keqing to finally stop moving. Ganyu watches as Keqing turns a fascinating shade of red that's so wholly captivating that she almost doesn't hear what Keqing says next.
"...yes."
Ganyu blinks. "Sorry?"
The blush intensifies if that's even possible. "I said yes!" Keqing brings the papers up to her face in an attempt to hide her burning cheeks. She glances at Ganyu for a second before quickly looking away. "I meant it. Every word."
The room feels too hot all of a sudden. Ganyu can feel her heartbeat in her face, thrumming along erratically as she tries to formulate a response, but Keqing beats her to it.
"What about you?"
"M-me?"
Keqing glances at her again, and this time, she miraculously manages to hold eye contact.
"Still have a crush on your stuck-up boss or…" her voice trembles, and she pauses, mouth moving soundlessly up and down. "O-or has the magic faded now that you know."
And for once, Ganyu knows her answer.
"That depends."
Keqing's expression turns confused. "Depends? Depends on what?"
"On if she'll let me ask her out for another coffee to get to know her better." Keqing's head whips up, and Ganyu plows on, emboldened. "Because even now, those feelings haven't changed. It's like a certain someone once told me- if you've got a chance to be happy, then go for it. Life goes too quick to be stuck at the crossroads."
Keqing blinks. Once. Twice.
Her mouth drops open.
"Wait. Those- I said- Oh my gods, you!"
She falls back. An uncharacteristic cackle bubbles forth from her lips, mirth mixed in with disbelief and giddying relief.
"Fine. Fine! You win. Coffee date it is. Archons, I can't believe I got played like that." She gets up, and Ganyu quickly follows suit. "I think the place downstairs should be coming down from the morning rush. Perfect place to 'get and know each other.'"
Ganyu stumbles. "W-wait, now?"
Keqing is already making her way back to the elevator, ignoring the papers and mess. "Now or never. Think of it as time off!"
"B-but what about the board meeting? And the company address later and-!"
Keqing grabs Ganyu's hand, and just like that, all rational thought goes out the window in favor of focusing on how nice her hand feels.
"What about it?" Keqing punches the elevator button with a loud scoff. "Those can wait."
She turns to Ganyu then, grinning giddily from ear to ear, and Ganyu's heart does somersaults as she returns it back.
"It's our turn to be happy."
And with that, she leads Ganyu outside to chase their dreams of happiness together.