Chapter Text
Fu Xuan sits on a bench in the abandoned courtyard of the Divination Commission and stares at the artificial sky. It is late on a Friday night, and everyone else has long since gone home for their weekend reprieve.
She shivers. Not because of the cool breeze sweeping through the empty courtyard, but rather because of the latest vision from the Omniscia. The Luofu, blanketed with death and destruction as fire and terror rain down from the sky. What is the meaning of this? Is this another glimpse at fate predetermined or merely one ghastly possibility among many that the Wisdomwalker seems keen to show her from time to time?
She clutches her forehead in pain and whimpers softly. Will this be another abundance war? Will she be relegated to sitting on the sidelines, powerless as she watches others lead them to certain doom? Will she be forced to find the least bad path forward, one stained with blood and horror?
She stares at her hands. Is there even any more room for blood on them? Or is she already so saturated with sin she can bear no more?
She is pulled out of her spiraling thoughts by a sound. A voice, probably the last one she expected to hear.
“Heya, Lady Fu! Fancy seeing you here!”
She starts and looks up. A girl approaches, with a jade green turtleneck bodice. Her brown hair tied back into twintails with a bouncing bird puffball hair tie. Her brilliant green eyes reflecting the starlight above.
“Qingque!?” she exclaims with surprise and confusion. “What are you doing here!?”
Qingque smiles and approaches the bench. “I could ask you the same. I know you like to work late, but come on, it's the weekend!”
Fu Xuan steadies her voice now that the shock has worn off and clears her throat. “The Master Diviner doesn't get weekends off. As for why I'm here specifically…I just needed to sit and think for a while.”
Qingque looks down at her boss. She's much paler than usual and breathing rapidly. Whatever it is, it must be very serious. Well, she figures it would be rude to pry, so instead she'll just offer comfort and let Fu Xuan bring it up if she wants. “Mind if I sit and think too?”
Fu Xuan gently motions to the bench next to her and scoots over a tiny bit to make room. “By all means.”
Qingque sits down and puts a small wooden box onto her lap, kicking her feet gently as they hang down from the bench.
Fu Xuan looks at her subordinate and curiosity gets the better of her. “So why are you here?” she inquires. “There's no way you were working this late–and on a Friday night, no less!”
“Mmm” Qingque nods. “You got me there. I was just wrapping up at the gaming parlor and packing my things when I noticed I left my tiles here at work! So I figured I'd just slip in the back and grab them, and then I saw you on the way out and thought I'd say hello.”
Fu Xuan raises her eyebrow. “But you were already at the parlor gaming. Surely you had tiles there, why not use those?”
Qingque grins. “There's a big Celestial Jade tournament tomorrow. I can't just use any ol' tiles! This is my lucky set ~” she replies with a flourish as she shakes the box, filling the air with the clacking sound of dozens of tiles. “With these babies, there's no way I can lose!”
Fu Xuan can't help but sigh and shake her head. “Honestly. It brings me no small amount of shame to think one of my diviners is superstitious enough to believe in something like ‘luck.’ You should know the tile set you use makes no difference.”
“Maybe someday you'll understand,” Qingque responds smugly. “These aren't just any tiles; they're my first set! And trust me, these tiles are lucky, I've seen them in action hundreds of times! They never let me down~” she smirks as she wiggles her eyebrows.
Fu Xuan can't help but smile a little. “You. Are. Ridiculous. Any wins are because you're good at the game. Ascribing it to luck does a disservice to your skill and talent.” Thinking on the matter again, Fu Xuan realizes maybe that's the point.
The pair sit on the bench together in a comfortable silence for a while. Qingque quietly draws a few tiles, gently shuffles them, and places them back in the box only to do it again. Fu Xuan mulls over what, if anything she should say, grateful that Qingque is gracious and patient enough not to ask. Truly Fu Xuan doesn't deserve such an understanding friend. She weighs in her mind what she should say.
Can Qingque handle it? A silly question; of course she can. She is unbelievably strong and resilient. No, the real question is if Fu Xuan is willing to burden her with the heavy weight of knowledge. She knows better than anyone how crushing it feels to know something awful is coming but be powerless to do anything about it. Can she allow Qingque to suffer the same fate?
She thinks back to all the times Qingque has stepped up in the past. All the times she's insisted, even begged, to help share her burdens. She can't help but smile as she remembers her so-called third rule of happiness: do not take responsibility. Yes, of course Qingque is strong enough to handle it. But more than that, Fu Xuan knows Qingque would want to know–to help her out when she's clearly distressed, simply because she is a caring and kind person.
And not only that; Fu Xuan has (almost) gotten to the point that she can admit that maybe sometimes she needs help. And after everything, she's confident that Qingque can provide, just as she has so many times before. She's never been good at opening up, but for Qingque…she's at least willing to try.
She speaks with a quiet voice. “I saw a vision from the Omniscia. About the Luofu.”
Qingque looks up from her box, her face strangely serious. “Is that why you were white as a sheet?”
Fu Xuan nods.
“Is it bad?”
Fu Xuan nods again. “Extremely.”
Qingque puts her tiles away and closes the box, never once taking her eyes off her troubled superior. “Are people going to die?” she asks after a few moments of silence.
Fu Xuan meets her gaze for a few seconds then turns her eyes back to the sky above. “Most assuredly.”
Qingque says nothing, only nods along solemnly. The two sit in a comfortable silence for several dozen seconds before Qingque breaks it with another question. “Are you going to die?”
Fu Xuan closes her eyes without turning her face away from those stars above. She slowly lets out a breath and answers honestly. “I don't know. My policy of never divining personal fortunes extends to myself as well.”
Qingque doesn't press her any further. The two sit once again in silence until Fu Xuan hears it disturbed by clacking sounds. She opens her eyes and turns to look at her companion next to her.
Qingque reaches into the box and pulls out a tile, concealed within her hands. She holds her cupped hands in front of her face, takes a deep breath, and says “I have no such personal policy. So I suppose I'll just have to make a divination for you on your behalf.”
Before Fu Xuan can protest, Qingque exhales, slowly opens her hands, and looks at the tile within. She stares at it and screws up her face, her brows furrowed in deep concentration. Fu Xuan represses the urge to giggle, considering how silly she looks.
“According to this, Lady Fu, you are an incredibly brilliant, talented, beautiful, and strong person. You are able to overcome any and all problems you face because of your skills and dedication. You will find the best way forward through a sea of doubt, and will serve as a beacon to all of us around you. Whatever crisis befalls the Luofu, you will be able to rise up and stand against it, saving us all.” She looks up from her tile and extends her hand to show it. “Wow, pretty amazing fortune!”
“You got all that from such a rudimentary form of divination?” Fu Xuan asks with a cocked eyebrow.
“The tiles reveal all” Qingque responds with an air of mystery.
Fu Xuan can no longer suppress her smile. “Astounding. Clearly my days as Master Diviner are numbered if I've been so thoroughly surpassed by my subordinate. What's your secret?”
Qingque gives a warm and genuine smile. “You need to stop using this,” she says and points to her head. “And start using these” she continues as she holds up two fingers and motions toward her emerald green eyes.
“Don't your eyes need a brain to function?” Fu Xuan responds with a slightly teasing tone.
“You're just being obtuse on purpose! But if you want me to spell it out, my dear Master Diviner, then fine. Instead of spending so much time thinking and planning and ruminating, just look at what's in front of you and react.”
“Oh yeah? So that's what your eyes tell you about me?”
“Mmhmm,” Qingque nods with a smile. “I watched how you handled the Ambrosial Arbor crisis as acting Arbiter-General. And the heliobus crisis when you saved me. And the poise and dignity with which you handled your trip to the Yuque. And those monsters on Jarilo-VI. So really, why would I need divination to figure out how you're gonna react to the next crisis? You're going to do what you always do: the absolute best you can, which it turns out is pretty spectacular. So why sweat the details? Things will work out how they work out.”
Fu Xuan releases a melancholy sigh. “You make it sound so simple. Not all of us get the luxury of living in the present, you know. Some of us have to be thinking ahead.”
“Pbbt. You sound like my parents.” She lowers her voice to a deep, mocking register. “‘Qingque, you need to put more thought into your future!’”
“Mmmm. Maybe they're right though.”
“Pish. I think I've done pretty well for myself. I've got good friends. Plenty of time for my hobbies. A steady job, with an amazing boss!” She looks softly at Fu Xuan for that last part. “See? Things have worked out fine.”
“I suppose they have,” Fu Xuan replies with a nod. “I sometimes wish I could live like that, too.”
“So why don't you?”
Fu Xuan motions to the Omnsicia on her forehead, “What purpose is there in focusing on the journey if the destination is already foreordained?”
“Living in the future instead of the present, then?” Qingque asks sagely.
“That's a fair way to put it, I suppose” Fu Xuan replies wearily.
Qingque looks deeply at her superior, her gaze drifting slowly from the gem on her forehead to the golden eyes that have once again returned to look at the stars above. “Has living in the future brought you happiness?”
Fu Xuan closes her eyes and sighs at the question. Of course it hasn't; isn't that what the Wisdomwalker told her would happen? But it was a sacrifice she was willing to make at the time. After all, what price is something as fleeting as happiness for knowledge? “No,” she replies flatly.
“In Celestial Jade, it's important to always keep the next play in mind as you try to build your hand. In the same way, you need to also watch the discard pile carefully. However, the turn-to-turn plays are where the excitement is! I think life is similar; our past and future are important parts of ourselves, but it's the here-and-now where we do most of our living, ya know? So that's what we should focus on.”
Fu Xuan snorts. “First the heliobus’ possession, and now this. You certainly have a talent to turn an existential conversation into one of your games.”
Qingque grins right back. “I'm not wrong though, am I?”
Fu Xuan turns her gaze to the Matrix of Prescience, silently looming over the Commission at all times. “Perhaps not. I'm just afraid I've forgotten how.”
“The deck may already be set, and you can't change what you're going to draw. But right now, it's your turn, Lady Fu, and the play is yours to make!” Qingque takes the tile she's still holding from her divination and gently presses it into Fu Xuan's hand. “So why don't you hold onto this in the meantime as a reminder. Maybe…it'll help you see what I see.”
The two intertwine their fingers around the tile and sit on the bench leaning on each other, silently watching the stars for a long time.
“I feel a little better now. Thank you, Qingque,” Fu Xuan gently says.
“I'm glad to hear that, Lady Fu!” Qingque responds cheerfully.
“You can drop the formalities, you know” Fu Xuan teases with a small smirk. “I know we're still technically at work, but it's way after hours, and on a weekend no less.”
“Eh heh” Qingque chuckles as she nervously scratches the back of her head. “Sorry, it's just hard to associate you as anything other than ‘Boss’ here at work.”
Fu Xuan's heart begins to race. She realizes this is the moment she's been waiting for to tell Qingque her feelings. But…how can she put all of that into mere words? What can she possibly say to convey the almost infinite depths her heart has stirred? She silently curses herself for not putting thought into exactly what she might say. What if she scares her off, or ruins their friendship, or drags her down with her pessimism or worse? Maybe she should just stay quiet and think on the matter for next time. There's always a next time, right? That's her job—her life, even. Living in tomorrow, ignoring today...
She tightly squeezes the jade tile still in her hand and shakes her head. No. No more ruminating, no more being enslaved by potential futures. There's a million things that could happen and that could go wrong. But instead of worrying about all of that, instead of living in fear of what may be, she's going to look at what's in front of her face: the amazing, wonderful, beautiful soul that has captivated her for so long, sitting right next to her and looking back with those dazzling eyes.
‘The play is yours to make,’ huh? Well, win or lose, she's going to make her move and let the tiles fall where they may.
“That is quite the understandable predicament,” she replies with deadly seriousness. “I suppose my only recourse is to give you something else to associate me with instead.”
She leans forward, closes her eyes, and gracefully plants her lips onto Qingque's.
She immediately notices how soft they are, and is grateful her eyes are closed because she is equally thrilled and terrified at seeing what her response might be. Thoughts race through her head as time seems to stand still.
I can't believe I just did this without confirming how she felt. Did I just overstep my bounds? What if she's disgusted with me right now? Will she report this to HR? Should I report this to HR!? This is my first time kissing someone; am I even doing this right? What am I supposed to do with my hands?
Those thoughts are slowly silenced once she realizes that Qingque hasn't pulled away yet. Instead she's…leaning into it? She's kissing her back!?
They break away at the same time and open their eyes. They're staring right at each other, their faces mere centimeters away. Fu Xuan sees those eyes flickering back and forth between each of hers. There's a distinct rose tint to those cheeks. Her hand entwines with hers again and squeezes gently.
There are no more words left that need to be shared. Only kisses. Again and again and again, as the stars watch from the sky above.