Chapter Text
…
“So…” Miko started, looking up at Ganyu with a strained smile. “When was the last time you ate here?”
Ganyu poked at the food she ordered, not feeling particularly hungry anymore. It was a shame she’d lost her appetite, because even after all these years of eating some of the finest foods offered around the world, it looked just as delicious as she remembered.
“Um, right before our last year at UCLA. When we came here together to say goodbye right before your flight. What about you?” Ganyu asked, also curious about her friend’s answer.
Miko nodded. “Yeah, that makes sense. Probably the same for me since I haven’t had a chance to come back to Gushi until now. Almost feels like old times, huh?” she mused, forcing some enthusiasm into her voice.
Yeah, almost, because their partners had all but destroyed the familiar atmosphere of what used to be their favorite restaurant. From the way they were behaving (Keqing glaring and Ei not caring), it seemed like neither of them were particularly concerned about making this a happy reunion for anyone involved.
Ganyu set down her black plastic fork, forcing herself to actually try to make eye contact with Ei, who seemed to have no interest in anything in front of her that wasn’t her own container of food.
“So, um, Ei… how do you like the food?”
Miko nudged her wife, who looked up at her in confusion.
“She asked you a question,” Miko hissed between her teeth. “Answer it.”
Ei blinked, turning her attention to the other couple.
“I’m sorry, could you repeat the question?”
Before Ganyu could repeat herself, Keqing did it for her, allowing her girlfriend to bear witness to her impatience when it came to other people yet again.
“She asked if you like the food,” she snapped, looking even more irritated than before as she violently stabbed her fork into the kalbi she ordered. Ganyu reached out to place her hand on Keqing’s thigh in what she hoped would be a comforting manner, and while it seemed successful in tempering the other woman’s anger slightly, the frown on her lips lingered after her outburst.
“Oh.” Ei looked down at her half-eaten meal, seemingly unimpressed. “It’s fine, I suppose. I’ve had better, but with these prices, I didn’t expect it to be good. At the very least, it’s filling.”
While Ganyu knew Gushi was far from the fine dining experience someone as rich as Ei would be accustomed to, part of her couldn’t help but feel slightly offended by her disapproving remark toward an establishment that was special to both her and Miko. Combined with the fact that she had deadnamed Keqing earlier, Ganyu’s first impressions of Ei (outside of meeting her briefly during her birthday party) were turning out to be… less than positive, to say the least. Although she was trying her best to give Ei the benefit of the doubt as Miko’s wife and her girlfriend’s relative, Ganyu was finding it extremely difficult to do so right now.
Despite her criticism of the food, Ei just continued to eat the rest of her meal, seemingly oblivious to all three of the glares being shot in her direction. It was only when she looked up to see the murderous expression on her wife’s face did Ei realize something was wrong.
Miko angrily whispered something to Ei in Japanese. In the back of her mind, Ganyu remembered Keqing saying that the two of them shared a great-grandmother, and wondered if Keqing knew Japanese too.
Ei wiped her mouth with a napkin, then made eye contact with her cousin. To her credit, Ei didn’t flinch at any of the death stares she was currently receiving. Maybe she didn’t even care, or maybe she really was just that socially unaware.
Ei seemed to think to herself for a moment before speaking. “So… Keqing, huh? That’s a nice name.”
“…Thanks…” Keqing replied through gritted teeth.
…
“You look good,” Ei continued after a moment. “You look just like a girl.”
Keqing took a deep breath. “I know I do,” she hissed, and Ganyu reached out to hold Keqing’s hand beneath the table in an attempt to calm her down or at the very least, provide moral support.
Miko nodded frantically, putting her hand on Ei’s shoulder and trying her best not to make it obvious that she had an absolute death grip on her wife right now.
“Yes, of course she does,” Miko agreed in a voice that was far too sweet for the strained smile she had on her lips. “Keqing has made it very clear that she’s a woman, after all, so why don’t we talk about something else that won’t embarrass me?”
Her knuckles were turning white as her hand trembled slightly from the immense amount of force she was putting on Ei’s shoulder, who barely reacted to it, which didn't surprise Ganyu in the slightest. Back when they first met, Miko only ever agreed to accompany her to the gym just so she could take full-body mirror selfies on a regular basis, and something told her that Miko still purely relied on good genetics and (relatively) healthy eating to maintain her buxom physique. Life truly was so unfair sometimes. Ganyu might be the supermodel, but what she wouldn’t give to look like Miko naturally.
Ei frowned, the first display of emotion Ganyu had seen from her. “Am I embarrassing you, Miko?” she asked, sounding and looking like a kicked puppy. “I’m sorry, you know I’m not very good at this kind of thing.”
Miko sighed, loosening her grip on Ei’s shoulder. “Yes, I know. How about I try to find something else for you to talk about? Something the two of you both have an interest in?”
Ei relaxed slightly at the suggestion, which made Ganyu realize that the other woman had been tense the entire time.
“Yes, please,” she agreed easily. “Or better yet, the rest of you can talk and I just listen.”
Miko shook her head and tutted in disapproval. “We came to visit so that you can work on your social skills and grow closer to your cousin, remember? You have to be an active participant for both of those things to happen.”
Ei sighed in defeat, giving into her wife’s demands far more easily than Ganyu expected from her otherwise stubborn nature.
“Fine.”
Miko clapped her hands together, looking more pleased and confident about the situation now. “Excellent! Now, Keqing, why don’t you tell me a bit about yourself? I didn’t give you much of a chance to talk when you picked us up from LAX earlier, and I must admit my interest in getting to know more about you has grown considerably now that I know you’re also Ganyu’s girlfriend. How did you two meet?” Miko asked, expertly steering the conversation toward a more pleasant topic.
Keqing took a deep breath, still clearly on her guard, but at least she didn’t look too upset anymore.
“Well, I’m a fashion designer,” Keqing began, her body language already opening up thanks to Miko’s excellent social skills and friendly inquiry. “I have my own brand, and I reached out to Lapis Talent for a popular model to work with, so Zhongli introduced me to Ganyu.”
“We also went to the same high school together back in Shanghai,” Ganyu added helpfully. “We didn’t really talk to each other back then though—different social circles and whatnot.” And by that, Ganyu meant she had no social circle as a teenager.
Miko nodded enthusiastically. “I see. What an adorable backstory the two of you share. Perhaps I’ll take some inspiration from it for my next story,” she mused, her tone half teasing and half serious. “What do you think, Ei?” Miko asked, nudging her wife, who just nodded in approval—although Ganyu suspected she was just trying to be polite and agreeable for Miko’s sake.
Keqing grimaced at the suggestion. “Please don’t. I value my privacy, and I’d rather not have the rest of the world reading about my life in a book.”
Miko laughed like she heard a funny joke. “How cute. I don’t do biographies, but if you’re uncomfortable with the idea of being a source of inspiration for one of my romance novels in the future, then I promise I’ll try my best not to let anything related to you slip into my writing.”
Keqing breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you, I appreciate that.”
Ganyu just giggled as she watched the two of them bonding, nudging Keqing playfully. “Well, if Miko thinks our relationship is good enough to be a proper love story, then I’ll just take that as a compliment. Who knows? Maybe we really are soulmates.”
Keqing blushed deeply, turning her head away in embarrassment. “Do you really have to tease me like that in front of other people?” she grumbled, although the smile on her lips betrayed how she truly felt about the possibility of the two of them being made for each other. After all, in a world with nearly 8 billion people alive now, it was clear that even a realist like Keqing couldn’t help but find such a romantic concept as appealing as everyone else.
“Sorry, sweetheart,” Ganyu said with another giggle, linking their arms together and leaning her head against the other woman’s shoulder. As tempting as it was to kiss her girlfriend on the cheek right now, Keqing probably wouldn’t appreciate the mark her lipstick would leave on her face, and needing to wipe it off for her would no doubt make her feel even more embarrassed.
“Oh my,” Miko began with an amused grin. “You really have grown up since I last saw you, haven’t you? I can hardly recognize you as the little girl I met when we first moved into the dorms together.”
Ganyu rolled her eyes at the other woman’s dramatics. “We were both 18. And I’m older than you by over half a year,” she deadpanned.
Miko waves her hand dismissively. “Semantics. Anyway, how long have you two been together now?”
“Not very long,” Ganyu answered, still cuddling up to Keqing like an overly affectionate cat. Her girlfriend’s attitude was even more feline, pretending to be aloof but secretly enjoying the attention. “We became official the day after Christmas.”
“So almost a month now, hm? Are you planning on doing anything special for your monthiversary next week?” Miko asked.
That was a good question. She hadn’t even thought about it, but that would be a cute milestone to celebrate.
Ganyu shrugged, then looked over at Keqing. “Well? Are we?” she wondered aloud, her tone playful.
Keqing furrowed her brow in thought. “I’d have to check my schedule to make sure, but I suppose we could go on a date if I’m free.”
Ganyu pouted dramatically at her girlfriend’s casual response, opting to tease the other woman for her decidedly unromantic answer after a moment of deliberation. After all, it couldn’t hurt to try to distract Keqing from the awkward situation she found herself in, right? Even if Ganyu made a fool of herself, at least she did it with noble intentions.
“You suppose?” Ganyu repeated in mock offense. “Well, then you better make time for me on the 26th if you’re not. It’s a special day for the both of us! Who could be more important in your life to spend that day with them over me, your girlfriend?”
While Ganyu had mostly said all of that in jest and she understood Keqing liked to keep herself busy, her girlfriend seemed to take her words to heart as her eyes widened and she began stammering in panic. Either Ganyu had gotten better at acting, which she highly doubted, or Keqing wasn’t willing to take any chances when it came to their relationship, which was a sweet thought.
“I-I mean, of course we can! I just, um… misspoke. I’ll make time for you that day, I promise. Besides, I shouldn’t have any issues rescheduling anything that I might have planned for that day if I do it first thing tomorrow morning,” Keqing said, mostly to herself at the end. “Did you, uh, want to do anything specific?”
As much as Ganyu wanted to reassure Keqing that she wasn’t actually upset, her follow-up reaction was far too endearing to worry about the slight guilt she felt for making Keqing worry that she had done something wrong. No wonder Zhongli always teased her so relentlessly whenever he was given the opportunity to do so. She would never admit it, but she found it extremely entertaining now that the shoe was on the other foot. Sorry to Keqing, but Ganyu was already addicted to seeing the adorable reactions she had to getting teased.
“Well, I have a few things in mind,” Ganyu practically purred into her ear, forgetting that they had an audience with them in the heat of the moment. “After all, I still need to show you my appreciation for being such a good girl for me.”
The moment was unfortunately ruined by the sound of Miko choking violently on her food, causing Ei to stop her impromptu birdwatching to pat her wife on the back a little too hard.
As soon as Miko was able to recover from her coughing fit, three of them had red faces. Ei, of course, had already stopped paying attention to them in favor of zoning out, although Ganyu wasn’t sure if that woman was capable of feeling embarrassed in the first place with how robotic she almost felt. Then again, she didn’t think Miko was either, yet here they were.
“My goodness, Ganyu,” Miko said, sounding breathless. “And here I thought it would be impossible for anyone other than Ei to make me blush, and I’m not even the one you’re flirting with.”
Ganyu swallowed dryly, suddenly feeling shy again. Instead of acknowledging the unintentional PDA she just subjected everyone to, she decided to change the topic. “I’m surprised anyone’s able to make you blush,” Ganyu admitted, blatantly ignoring the fact that she was one of the only two people who was apparently capable of doing so.
Miko rolled her eyes at the obvious diversion, but thankfully spared everyone from bringing up Ganyu’s shameless flirting again. “Well, if anyone could, I would hope it’d be the person I married. Ei can be quite romantic, you know. She’s just… much more private than you in that regard—not that there’s anything wrong with it if you’re into that, of course.”
…Never mind then. This fucking bitch.
Ganyu cleared her throat loudly, then turned to face Keqing, who somehow looked even more miserable than when they had first got here—an impressive feat, but not in a good way.
“I-I think I, uh… left the stove on at home,” Ganyu lied through her teeth. She was sure Miko would be able to see through such a flimsy lie considering how she didn’t know how to cook, but she really didn’t care. She just needed to go—and now.
Keqing, unsurprisingly, practically jumped onto her feet as soon as she said that. Ganyu sighed as her girlfriend stomped away, nearly hitting the other women with her pigtails as she turned her back to them faster than the speed of light.
“Well,” Ganyu said with a strained smile as she stood up, “it was nice seeing you in person again, Miko. And you too, Ei,” she quickly added. While it wasn’t a complete lie, Ganyu also wouldn’t have said it if she wasn’t trying to save face with her former roommate after this disaster of a dinner.
Miko sighed in disappointment. “Yes, I suppose it was. Go on, then. Go comfort your woman then—I have to have another word with mine.”
Ganyu quickly waved the couple farewell before hurrying after Keqing, who already started the engine and had her hands on the wheel. Sure enough, as soon as Ganyu closed the door and put her seatbelt on, Keqing threw her arm over Ganyu’s seat (hot) and began pulling out of the parking spot. When she looked out the side window, Ganyu could see Miko angrily mouthing words they couldn’t hear, and she caught a glimpse of Ei looking upset now too.
The drive back was uncomfortably silent, especially since there wasn’t even the hum of the engine to fill the tense silence. Ganyu didn’t dare say a word until Keqing pulled into her apartment’s garage and turned off the car.
She opened her mouth to say something but found any words lacking. Instead, Ganyu just tucked some of Keqing’s bangs behind her ear, her hand lingering on her girlfriend’s cheek.
Keqing let out the breath she was holding, the wrinkles of her furrowed brow smoothing out with Ganyu’s gentle touch.
“I’m sorry you had to see me like that,” Keqing murmured under her breath, closing her eyes. “I didn’t realize your friend was my cousin’s wife.”
Ganyu shook her head. “I should be the one apologizing. I’m the one who invited you to join us.”
Keqing let out a self-deprecating chuckle as she looked back up at her girlfriend. “Well, in that case, I suppose we don’t have anyone to blame.”
“I mean, I don’t know about that. Your cousin wasn’t very…” Ganyu trailed off, unsure of how to describe Ei’s standoffish behavior without being too mean. “Well, I would say she’s the one at fault.”
“Yeah…” Keqing groaned. “I would agree, but I always feel like an asshole if I say anything bad about her.”
“Why’s that?” Ganyu asked, genuinely confused by her girlfriend’s reluctance to criticize her cousin, especially one she wasn’t even close with. “Just because she’s related to you doesn’t mean she should be allowed to treat you that way. You shouldn’t have to deal with transphobia from anyone, let alone someone who’s supposed to be family.”
“I know,” Keqing repeated, sounding slightly more frustrated. “It’s just… Ei has a thing called savant syndrome, but she’s never been good around people because she’s also autistic. She’s always been incredibly brilliant at technical stuff that would make most people’s heads spin, but that came at the cost of her social skills. Growing up, my parents would always compare me to her. ‘Why can’t you be as good at math and science as your cousin when she’s dumber than normal people at everything else?’ I always felt bad for her because of how everyone else treated her like she was still a child even though she was a literal genius, but I can’t also help but hold a grudge toward her because of how my parents always pushed me to be as smart as her when it was impossible.”
Keqing took a deep breath, shaking slightly. It was clear she had been thinking about this the whole drive back, and it was even more obvious how much it weighed on her mind. “I know she’s not trying to be malicious, but I have a lot of pent-up feelings about her, even if they aren’t necessarily her fault, and the whole misgendering thing that's been happening lately isn't helping either.
“Honestly, I think Ei still has some trouble believing that I’m the same cousin she grew up knowing,” she admitted with a sigh. “When it was just the two of us at the airport waiting for her wife to finish using the restroom, I caught her looking at an old picture of us together as kids on her phone and glancing back up at me constantly. I guess she was able to at least associate the way I look now with my old name, but the new one hasn’t sunk in for her yet.”
Ganyu nodded along quietly, listening intently to Keqing as she poured her heart out in the dimly lit parking lot. “I see,” she said once her girlfriend stopped talking. “Is… is it common for people to get that kind of thing wrong when they knew you before your transition?”
Keqing frowned slightly. “I don’t really speak to anyone who knew me before. For the most part, anyway,” she added after a moment. “But… when I first came out, the few people I told tried their best to be supportive, even if they did slip up now and then.”
“Like Ningguang?”
Ganyu froze as Keqing’s eyes widened, caught off guard by the name drop.
“I-I mean,” Ganyu began stammering, unsure of how to salvage the conversation. “I just, uh… um… I—”
Keqing at least recovered from the sudden awkwardness faster than her girlfriend, clearing her throat to interrupt Ganyu’s panicked verbal diarrhea before it could officially start.
“Yes, like Ningguang, and… some other people the both of us knew back then,” Keqing said, slowly and carefully. “But, like I said, we don’t talk anymore.”
The last sentence was spoken with much more finality behind her words, but Ganyu had already ripped off the bandage she had been trying to pick at by mentioning Ningguang, and Keqing had acknowledged their past friendship. This was probably going to be Ganyu’s only chance to see if the wound had closed or not, because she wasn’t sure if she would be able to bring herself to ask again in the near future.
“Why?” Ganyu asked softly, and from the way Keqing visibly flinched, anyone looking through the tinted windows would have thought she just got yelled at.
“Please, don’t ask me that,” Keqing whispered under her breath, begging Ganyu to drop the topic. “Some things are meant to stay in the past, especially mistakes.”
The last part had been spoken so quietly, Ganyu wasn’t sure if she was meant to hear it. She sighed, unsure of what else she expected. Ganyu kicked herself mentally for even trying to pry into such a touchy subject when Keqing was already having a rough day.
“Well, what are we waiting for?” Ganyu chirped, forcing herself to inject some cheeriness into her voice. “What are we waiting for? It’s time to start our sleepover! I’d love to have a pillow fight with you. I’ve never had a proper one before, but I’ve had plenty of practice on Zhongli.”
At that, Keqing couldn’t help but have her interest piqued, just as planned. “On Zhongli?” she repeated as Ganyu unsuccessfully tried to open the door, then unlocked the car after realizing she hadn’t done that yet.
“Yeah,” Ganyu confirmed with a genuine smile as she got out, mostly because she was just glad that she was able to distract the other woman from her melancholy. As Keqing locked the doors again and led them over to the lobby, Ganyu decided to explain her bizarre statement. “Whenever he annoys me, I like to smack him in the face with some pillows. He always refuses to fight back though. I think he’s scared that I’ll start aiming lower if he does.”
Keqing laughed at her absurdity as they got in the elevator together, causing Ganyu’s grin and love for her to grow.
“Well, I hope you won’t aim down there if I agree to have a pillow fight with you.”
“Of course not,” Ganyu reassured. “Not unless you want me to, that is.”