#teanon you are so immensely smart i recognise this concept but also it is so clever of you to comprehend that

[averlym]

omg.

omg.

hello???????? that au i'm- hello??? bestie??? your mind omg

literally at a loss for words rn that was beautiful. i read through the whole thing and omgggggg i wish i could elaborate further on the absolute joy and delight your au gave me but i'm not very good at articulating D:

but like. omg. by the way you are legally never allowed to say anything of detriment regarding your writing skills again because exCUSE ME that is some top-tier 5 star high quality writing right there-

legit the same abt culture though... speaking of which i hope u had a nice winter solstice!! idk the actual name of it in chinese (my family doesn't really celebrate it) but !! either way i know it was really recent so uh yeah :D

sobbing time what time. it's so ironic that i literally have to study the physics of time for one of my science olympiad events and yet time is the one thing i lack. "it's about time" is it really, though??? maybe time doesn't exist. it's all a lie. a hoax. time dilation is wack as heck i think it should be illegal that if one half of a pair of twins went on a speed of light space journey and came back a perceived 4 years later or something his twin would actually be 6 years older (NOT ACCURATE BUT I DIGRESS)

maybe time doesn't exist and einstein was wrong. placnk's law only exists if you want it to and i certainly don't. the 4th dimension doesn't have to be spacetime maybe it's a hidden eye that only shrimp can see.

(i'm so sorry for rambling omg)

uhhh h h hh yeah! i think i had a lot more to say buuut it's getting late for me (and also i have no focus ability ahahaha save me) so! more hugs, i hope you're doing amazing, and all that awesome stuff!!

-teanon!! (return of the scuffed older-than-me-i-think pc haha)

the pure serotonin this ask gave me

because i have no time to draw the comic the beiguang fic is below the cut for your reading pleasure

they are up in her floating palace of plaustrite, and it is an afternoon of negotiations. and liyue millennial.

beidou smirks across the board, and ningguang uses a perfectly manicured fingernail to knock over her chief piece. she won't admit it out loud, but she enjoys the challenge, and if that means she has to make some... concessions of her own, she is more than willing to accept it.

across from her, there is an victorious cry, and the piece is swooped up and tossed in the air, then caught deftly. the process is repeated several times, much like how that mondstatian cavalry captain does with mora. (she wonders idly if this is a habit that comes with eyepatches.)

"don't drop it, or you'll be owing me more mora than you already do," she cautions beidou, and the piece is placed back on the table. it is a miniature replica of the jade chamber, and floats with plaustrite, but if thrown hard enough, could always fall with the momentum and smash. ningguang does not care much for the thought of her jade chamber falling and being destroyed, no matter if it is a model version.

there's a signature cocky grin as beidou teases her. "why, lady tianquan, i was unaware that you were such a sore loser! did i not just win back the mora i owed you through fines?"

ningguang sips her cup of tea and tries not to smile at the pirate's antics. "merely the fines for your illegal trading," she points out, continuing, "ganyu has pressed me into ensuring i collect the taxes from trading that you do owe the qixing, and i am unwilling to wager that on chess and risk upsetting her."

"that's fine, i suppose," huffs beidou, conceding. ningguang is familiar with her soft spot for the half-adeptus secretary, and how beidou has often given in to the unrelenting stubbornness of someone thousands of years old. if it's ganyu pressing, few deny her. beidou knows it, and ningguang does too.

(she likes to think she knows the woman in front of her well enough for that, at least.)

"besides, the jade chamber is mine, and i much dislike having what is mine broken," she reminds beidou. there is an underlying subtext here, hidden in how ningguang gets upset when beidou comes back with new wounds, not quite healed. beidou is also, in a way, hers, this confident pirate captain with tilted smiles and a gleam in her eye. and ningguang dislikes what is hers being broken, takes care of beidou until wounds heal into scars, offers her guest room in place of a ship's hammock.

(she'd cried once, snapping, "why do you keep going out and hurting yourself," and beidou had looked torn between comforting her and snapping right back. ningguang dislikes what is hers being broken.)

beidou, across the table, not quite across the sea yet, softens. "ning," she says, looking at her with quiet affection.

"i dislike losing what is mine, too," she hears herself say, and beidou watches her, brow creased with confused concern, eyes flitting to the small jade chamber floating innocently between them.

ningguang follows her eyes, and stifles a laugh. she glances a bit pointedly at beidou, then pushes the piece gently towards her. this is not about the game they had just played- in the long game, she has yet to win or accept defeat. "i dislike losing what is mine," she repeats, voice softer, "but i do not mind, once in a while, losing to you."

unsaid are the words, "but i would mind losing you." it is still written in the space between them, as good a confession as any, hovering in the air like the tiny jade chamber. beidou accepts it, and cups it with gentle grace. holds it in her two palms, as liyue custom dictates one should receive a gift.

to anyone else, this would be surprising from the rough-and-tumble captain of the crux fleet. ningguang knows beidou better.

but she never fully knows what that woman will do next, as evidenced by how it still takes her by surprise when beidou presses into her hands the miniature pirate ship that represents the alcor.

ningguang had won it near the end of the game, then passed the ship back to its rightful captain after the round had ended. here is beidou, freely giving it to her. "a fair trade. i do not mind losing to you once in a while, too," says beidou, hands warm against hers.

"i suppose we shall both find victory, then," ningguang laughs lightly. across from her, beidou is still leaning over the table, and ningguang's laugh is mirrored in her smile.

between them are their pieces, held in their hands. below them, liyue and the open seas of its harbour are spread out. but the wood of the model alcor holds beidou's warmth in ningguang's hands, and that warmth lingers in the model jade chamber by her side.

and isn't that what it comes to in the end? beidou is ningguang's, in a way, but also entirely her own. ningguang does not mind losing her to herself once in a while, as she sails to new seas. but beidou does not mind losing to ningguang once in a while either, returning to liyue where ningguang can offer her safe harbour.

ningguang's jade chamber is beidou's, and beidou's ship will freely return to ningguang's hands.

a/n: ningguang's jade chamber is rightfully won by beidou in the game!!! like how ningguang feels that beidou won her affection through her persistence and general beidou-ness!!! but she sees it as a gift when beidou gives the alcor to her because that's how she views beidou's affection!!!! and beidou just sees it as a fair trade because to her ningguang deserves it???? if ningguang shares with her it's only fair that she share with ningguang because that's how it works and if she is willing ofc beidou will love her in return and wbwskdks

also like beidou as an independent person in her own right and ningguang's possessiveness making the exception of she can lose beidou only if it is to beidou herself and that's shown in how she views beidou as an equal and,,, i just think that 'i am yours but also my own person' is a good basis for any committed relationship