(meanwhile) Forming an Army

In the Jade Chamber, Keqing stood with her arms crossed and let out a long, familiar sigh.

Ningguang was slumped forward across her own desk, cheek pressed to a half-finished stack of official documents, body still twitching in residual aftershocks.

(https://im.ge/i/QMHkwxK)
(artist: miyu)
The letter from Natlan — the one requesting Beidou and the Alcor for transport to the Easybreeze Holiday Resort — lay open beside her hand. Whatever the Tianquan had seen or imagined upon reading the Passion Claimer’s next destination had clearly been enough to reduce her to this state again. A thin sheen of sweat still clung to her skin; her thighs were pressed tightly together, and the occasional soft, involuntary sound escaped her whenever another ripple of conditioned pleasure worked through her.

Keqing had seen the aftermath of these episodes often enough to stop being surprised.

What did surprise her was the evidence of how far Ningguang had gone before collapsing. A neat row of sealed letters sat at the edge of the desk — more than a dozen, addressed to contacts across Mondstadt, Inazuma, Sumeru, and even a few discreet channels into Fontaine and Snezhnaya. Each one, Keqing would later confirm, contained the same essential information: the Traveler’s intended holiday destination and an approximate window of arrival. Ningguang had not merely mobilised Beidou. She had quietly informed a carefully chosen network of women who already knew exactly what the Passion Claimer was capable of.

It took several more minutes before the Tianquan managed a coherent sentence.

She lifted her head with visible effort, eyes still glassy, voice rough.

“Keqing… prepare my traveling things. The light set. Private funds. I am… taking a vacation.”

Keqing stared at her.

“You never take vacations.”

Ningguang’s mouth curved into a weak, determined smile even as another small tremor ran through her.

“I am now. Easybreeze. See that Beidou has the ship ready, and that my letters leave with the next fastest vessels. That is all.”

She lowered her head again, still twitching, already half-lost in whatever fresh wave the thought of the resort had triggered.

Yanfei had been sitting quietly to the side the entire time.

(https://im.ge/i/QMHzhsp)
(artist: Miyu)

She had arrived at the Jade Chamber for a scheduled legal discussion — contract interpretations, a minor jurisdictional dispute with the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the usual precise work that Ningguang valued her for. The letter from Natlan had interrupted everything. What followed was less a meeting and more an extended observation of the Tianquan reading, writing a flurry of additional letters, and then collapsing into the familiar twitching, glassy-eyed state that certain news about the Traveler reliably produced.

Yanfei waited with professional patience, occasionally making another neat note in her ledger while Ningguang recovered enough coherence to speak.

When the order to prepare traveling clothes was finally given, the half-adeptus lawyer tilted her head, antlers catching the light, and considered the situation with open curiosity.

“Easybreeze Holiday Resort,” she repeated, tapping her pen once against the page.
“Luxury isolation, private beaches, and the Traveler currently responsible for half the diplomatic headaches I’ve had to untangle this year. Intriguing.” She looked up at Ningguang, expression mild but clearly interested.
“Would the Tianquan object if I adjusted my schedule and joined this… vacation? Purely for observational and legal-adjacent purposes, of course.”

Ningguang, still half-slumped and faintly trembling, gave a weak wave of permission.

Keqing, who had been listening from the doorway with an armful of light travel garments, felt the familiar tightening of pride in her chest. The memory of the single afternoon Aether had left her nuzzling and purring against him like a thoroughly handled cat still sat uncomfortably close to the surface. She had told herself she would not seek him out again. Pride demanded distance.

And yet the thought of Ningguang and now Yanfei walking into that resort while she remained behind with the paperwork produced a sharp, unwanted flicker of something that felt uncomfortably like regret.

She turned away before either woman could read her face and continued packing the Tianquan’s things in silence, already arguing with herself and already suspecting which side was going to lose.