Chapter Text
A cough should not be enough to send one of the most important government officials in all of Liyue to their home in house arrest for a week.
Or, at least, this is what Keqing tells herself as she paces back and forth in her room with the occasional sniffling or guttural cough interrupting her quiet mumbling. In truth, the Tianquan herself had sent Keqing back to her house, supposedly after hearing her retching from an adjacent room. Nonsense, Keqing believed.
She had fully concealed that near—… er, actual vomiting experience. There should have been no way for Ningguang to have heard her.
But regardless of how it arrived at her supposed-equal’s ears, a certain cyan secretary had been sent to order Keqing to temporary sick leave until her unknown ailment was cured. While, yes, Keqing pulled way more than her fair share of weight and was central to the productivity of the nation, there would be untold consequences if the entirety of the governing body of Liyue suddenly showed up to work with a viral infection. The last time that happened…
She shudders, both from her memories and the fever running through her mortal body. Keqing would never admit it, but sometimes she envies Ganyu’s adeptal resistance to illness.
The Yuheng sits down on the edge of her bed, pulling a handkerchief out of her pocket to cover her mouth as she sneezes yet again. She had her fair share of illnesses throughout the years. Archons above, she worked in a trading hub . It only made sense that illnesses could occasionally run rampant, especially considering her habit of mingling with the dock workers, miners, and any other common laborer as a part of her daily duties. Keqing diligently believed that in order to truly understand the people and the waves of Liyue, she had to be amongst them. Her co-workers knew better than to tell her off for this practice by this point. Stubborn to a fault, they’d tell her in exasperation.
Nonsense, honestly. Her childhood had been one of luxury, but in her adulthood her refined edges needed to become rougher and more in tune with the majority of her nation. This is the only way to advance society, Keqing believes. A similar reason holds in her mind for her almost daily land surveys. Other Yuhengs of the past may have only done surveys a couple of times a week, but when Keqing had entered into her position she knew she had to put her utmost into it.
For Liyue, she had to be the best that she could be. She had to make the nation last past Rex Lapis’ guidance. She felt as though she could not rest to achieve this goal.
And yet, here she was. Stuck in her room due to Ningguang’s meddling. And Ganyu’s, she supposes. She had been the one to poke her head out and question Keqing’s condition.
Keqing’s face reddens as she recalls the amount of concern the half-adeptus had shown to her. It was… Not completely unusual to her anymore. She glances over at the hallway to the kitchen through her open bedroom door. Ganyu had recently provided her with more foodstuffs, in particular foods that would last a while. She had started this a while ago. Keqing decided to toy with the memory. It was one she frequently revisited.
It had been one late night at Yuhei Pavillion, about half a year after the Osial incident. The… Osial situation that resulted in…
Her mind starts racing in the present, already weak due to her ailing condition. The heavy rain. The scent of death and blood. The sound of swords hitting swords and the tile floor she stood on as she engaged with Fatui. The sight of fallen soldiers with arrows in their chests, wounds frozen shut.
The blood running down her shoulder.
The blood in the water.
The near demise of the land she loved so much.
The blood.
So much blood.
Human blood.
Her utter inability to deal with the situation.
What kind of leader is she?
She’s hyperventilating. It’s hard to breathe and her vision gets hazy as tears begin to well in her eyes.
A coughing fit rips her out of her daze. She fights the urge to scream. She can’t. It’s too unbecoming of her. This is not her. She breathes. In, and out. In, and out. Her eyes are exhausted. She can feel the raspiness in her throat. This is not what should be on her mind right now.
One thought process at a time, Keqing.
Right. Yuhei Pavillion. 6 months after… That . She recalls… She recalls the full moonlight illuminating the patio in which she took a breather in. The scent of glaze lilies in bloom, traced with faint hints of the salt of Liyue’s ocean water carried to her by the autumn wind. The sound of a door creaking opening behind her, and how she turned to look at it to determine the source. And…
How Ganyu’s cerulean hair seemed to shine particularly bright that night and how her purple-gold eyes radiated towards Keqing. How that silly bell hung from her neck, jingling quietly as she walked, and how her lips parted tentatively as she began to speak to the Yuheng.
She knew she was blushing, both back then and in the present during her recollection. She can recall these details even months later. It was simply her diligence in observing all things around her, although she had to admit in the privacy of her home that she never remembered this much about her other colleagues…
Ganyu had come at that point to tell Keqing that she was going to turn in for the night. It was past midnight and the night was only getting colder. Keqing had attempted to wave the secretary off for the night, citing her good work in assisting her with land infrastructure plans. She had asked Ganyu for assistance in getting a more Rex Lapis aligned opinion and had been extremely satisfied with the end result, so Ganyu getting a good night's rest was well deserved.
Keqing expected to hear Ganyu politely thank her and then excuse herself for the night.
But instead, the footsteps approached her.
Now that the secretary was closer, the young Yuheng noticed her brows were furrowed, and she appeared to be gripping her clipboard more tightly than normal. It also appeared to Keqing that Ganyu was struggling to tell her something.
“H-have… Have you been sleeping well, Lady Keqing? A-and eating?”
“Huh?” She was unable to constrain the confusion in her voice. Ganyu had never once shown any particular interest in her wellbeing. As far as Keqing knew, the other had despised her and wanted nothing to do with her. She was Rex Lapis’ number one critic, after all. Keqing believed that she was imposing upon her coworker by asking for her opinions, but justified it by telling herself it was for the betterment of Liyue.
“I noticed that… Ah…” Ganyu’s voice wavered as Keqing could see her cheeks getting redder. “Well, ah, I apologize if this is out of l-line, Lady Keqing, but I noticed the bags under your eyes… And your stomach growling very loudly as we, well, worked on your assignment…”
Keqing blinked a few times in shock before turning away from Ganyu and pulling a small pocket mirror out of her cloak to examine her face. A groan escaped her lips as she realized Ganyu had been correct. The bags under her eyes almost looked like she had put on very heavy, very dark makeup.
She turned to face Ganyu as she put away the mirror and put a hand on her hip to show confidence in her next statement. “It’s nothing to worry about, really. I’ve just been working especially hard as of late. You should know better than anyone how swamped we’ve been after the Osial attack.” Keqing refused to admit her failure to take care of herself to Ganyu that night.
But Ganyu simply inhaled and took another step forward towards the Yuheng, causing Keqing to lean against the railing of the patio when she took a matching step back.
“Lady Keqing,” The words were unusually stern from Ganyu as she continued on. “I do understand the intensity of our current work, but that should not be a sufficient reason to forego your own care. I am not the only one here who has noticed your poorer health.” Ganyu relented for just a moment as she leaned back and adopted a more concerned expression, her eyebrows lowering and her mouth frowning at the edges. “Have… Have you been eating and sleeping?”
“I…” Keqing stuttered. Very uncharacteristic of her, she chided in the future. “Well.” She cleared her throat. “Admittedly, the quality of my sleep has been…”
Ganyu raised an eyebrow.
“…Lacking.” Her sleep quality dropped significantly after Osial. In fact, she couldn’t even count how many sleepless nights she had. And even after she could manage to get some shut eye, she was always woken abruptly and early by nightmares. “And… I haven’t had time to eat very much.” She continued, voice becoming slightly hushed.
“…have you eaten at all today?” Ganyu’s voice was soft, but it still hit Keqing like a pack of bricks. A pack of bricks disguised as a soft cake in the way that she hadn’t expected the impact of them.
“No.” She crosses her arms. “Well, actually, I have eaten. I ate some leftover Mora Meat I had in the morning as I got ready to come here. I prepped it… Recently.”
Ganyu sighs. “I… I don’t want to pry, but how old was it?”
Keqing hesitates for a moment, before sighing as she responded with “Well, the bread was stale, and—”
“Keqing!”
Ganyu’s hands shot to her mouth as if to try to catch the escaped exclamation. Keqing recoiled slightly at hearing her name with no prefix. This hadn’t happened with the general secretary… Ever. It seemed as though the outburst had caught both of them off guard as an uncomfortable tension filled the air.
“Am I talking to the same Ganyu?” Keqing recalled thinking. She should have prepared for it to happen more and more often.
Ganyu had gone on to reprimand her for her behavior before eventually Keqing managed to get her to relent by placating her with promises of better self-care habits. The next day, Ganyu had excused herself from the pavilion early. The day after that, well…
Ganyu had made sure Keqing would take better care of herself by bringing the Yuheng a large “care-package”. It was filled with easy to prepare foods, tea bags, disposable utensils, spices, garnishes, snacks… The list went on. When Keqing eventually opened it fully and put it away when she got home, she was amazed by the full pantries she had. She was a capable cook, of course, but she hadn’t gone food shopping in a while. She was also surprised by the sleep mask she found. She had tried it on, but alas, it didn’t help her with her sleeping habits. However, she did end up sleeping better for a few nights after that. Ganyu’s concern must have made the louder parts of her brain quiet for a while.
Only a while, though.
She returns to the present day. Her head is spinning, and any normal person would feel like they should get a coffin from Wangsheng Funeral Parlor at this moment, but all Keqing can think of is trying to get to work as soon as possible. She muses about how much she’d be risking by just going to the docks tomorrow and proceeding to work amongst the people for the next week. She pulls a large pillow out of her bed sheets in the shape of Rex Lapis’ draconic form. She would never admit it out loud, but the presence of the snake-like cushion brought her great comfort.
As the young Yuheng softly brings her head down upon it, breathing slower and slower through her mouth as she attempted to sleep, she thought she could hear the rapping sound of knocking against wood.
And then it happens again, but louder. And Keqing’s eyes fluttered as she attempted to readjust to the lights in her room. Yet again, soft knocking. Somebody must have come to see her, she thought. Hopefully it was a secretary from the pavilion coming to tell her that her presence was needed despite her condition.
She staggered out of her bed and dragged her feet towards the door, but not before making sure she looked… Well, presentable was perhaps unachievable in this condition, but at least somewhat dignified. And she did, for what it was worth. She was currently still dressed and hadn’t had the chance to undo her hair. Instead of being in her normal work dress she was in a white long-sleeved blouse with detached sleeves and a long amethyst skirt that almost went down to her feet. The skirt had a parting in the middle that revealed a lighter purple second layer, similar to her normal work attire, and the least presentable part of hers were the large orange Morax themed slippers she was wearing.
They were just very comfortable; This is what she would tell anyone who would ask.
Once she was satisfied with her presentation, she stumbled over the door while having a small coughing fit. She cleared her throat as she turned the doorknob and opened her door slowly.
“Hello, how can I he—G-Ganyu?!”
Keqing froze.
Ganyu froze, too. Ganyu was at her house. Keqing had never given Ganyu her address.
“Ahm, ah… H-hello, Lady Keqing. I’ve brought your prescription.”
Keqing paused, her mouth ajar, before the next words tumbled out of her mouth.
“My prescription??"