genshin oneshots (requests open)

crown me

"Ningguang."Beidou hasn't sounded this serious in months. It startles the Tianquan and she looks up, her attention far from her work as she meets the pirate's eyes.

 "Yes?"

"Crown me." Beidou still sounds firm, but Ningguang can't tell what she means. 

"What are you talking about, Beidou?" Liyue isn't ruled by a king or queen, and even if it was, it wouldn't be Ningguang's business.

"I want to be the Crowned Lord of the Ocean," Beidou explains. She hasn't moved an inch. Her hand rests on the handle of her claymore, the blade resting on the floor.

"Beidou, is this another one of your fantasies?" Ningguang passes it off as another childish idea and returns to her paperwork, no longer looking at her girlfriend.

"It's not a fantasy, Ning!" Beidou slams her hands on the desk, causing the Tianquan to look up at her again. Ningguang opens her mouth to scold her, but she's interrupted. "Ning...If I'm the Crowned Lord of the Ocean, then people will have to think twice before saying I'm not fit to be with the Tianquan."

Ningguang is speechless. But she doesn't need to say anything, because Beidou keeps going. "I don't want this to be a secret. I don't want to feel trapped in a box with you. I want to be able to stand up next to you and have people see us together without whispering behind your back. I don't want the stress of you being with me to be added onto your workload, because it's big enough already. Ningguang, I.." Her voice breaks snd she looks down. "I want to be with you for the rest of my life, snd the way it is now I wouldn't even be able to share my excitement with my crew if we were to become engaged."

Ningguang's mind stays on the word engagement. She thinks of the jade ring she had made, tucked away in a box in a locked drawer of her desk. Her heart hurts, because she understands the feeling. It's mutual.

But, seeing her silence and lack of reaction, Beidou decides she may have gone too far. She wipes her eyes and forces a smile, the same one she always wears, but laced with pain.

"I'm sorry, Ning, I started rambling again." She reaches to fix the stack of paper she messed up. "Don't work yourself too hard, okay..? And like always, I'll be back before you know it."

She turns, reaching the door before stopping once again. "I love you." And then she disappears, leaving the Jade Chamber and Ningguang behind.

It takes a long time and an appearance from Ganyu before Ningguang comes back to her senses. Again she thinks of the ring.

She decides that night, clinging to her pillow, that when Beidou returns she can't bear to hesitate any longer.