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Chapter 17 - I'll Meet You by the Pool
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"Hey! Keqing! Wait up!" Ganyu panted as she skidded to a halt in front of her friend. "Uhm, I just wanted to maybe, invite you out for a drink?" Ganyu asked, silently slapping herself for being so formal.
"Oh, hi! Uhh, yeah, a drink sounds amazing right now! I also need help with some homework, if that's okay?" Keqing replied, smiling that oh-so scintillating smile.
"Absolutely! Where do you wanna go?" Ganyu sagged in relief at the positive response.
"How about the cute café on the tenth floor? I've been meaning to try that out!"
"Sounds great! Let's go."
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The cafe was a quaint shop. Plastic vines hung low from the walls, blocking out the warm orange glow of the various lamps and fairy lights. Tables were placed with mismatched but comfortable armchairs and the floor was dotted with a myriad of fluffy carpets. Ganyu observed all of this to Keqing in awe as they picked out their table.
"Hey! Ganyu and Keqing!" A voice called from across the room.
Ganyu whipped around to see the very blue heads of Xingqiu and Chongyun. "Oh, hello!"
"Do you wanna join us? We're doing homework!" Xingqiu pointed exaggeratedly at the open books between the two of them.
"Archons, yes! I needed help with some science stuff anyway!" Keqing called back beside Ganyu before she could say anything. "Come on, Ganyu."
Ganyu smiled fondly at Keqing's relieved expression, but couldn't help a twinge of disappointment that her date had been ruined. Cmon, Ganyu! It wasn't even a date to begin with! A vexatious voice in her head screeched. Ganyu pointedly ignored it and walked stoically towards Xingqiu and Chongyun's table, plastering on a genial smile.
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A few minutes later, Keqing had gotten up to order another iced latte and Xingqiu had gone to the bathroom, leaving Chongyun and Ganyu alone in an awkward silence.
"Are you sure you aren't dating?" Ganyu blurted out, in an attempt at conversation, which she had regretted immediately.
"Me? Oh, uh, yeah, we're not dating." Chongyun paused. "Though I wish we were." He added on, his voice an infinitesimal whisper.
"Mmh...?" Ganyu couldn't help but make a small noise at the sudden confession. She started, very articulately. "Could I... Ask? Why aren't you then? He, you know, uh, seems to like you a lot."
"Yeah, it's not as simple as that." Chongyun muttered. "I've been with him through so many breakups, been his best friend for so long. I don't want to end up like... Like one of his many exes he would complain about... To a new best friend. It would ruin us. Our friendship, I mean."
"Yeah, I understand that." Ganyu nodded slightly, smiling sadly as she looked down at her pink placemat. Just as Ganyu reopened her mouth to say something comforting, Keqing leaned over with an open menu.
"Ganyu, they have Qingxin tea," Keqing waved the menu in front of Ganyu, and Ganyu took it gracefully. She whispered a "thank you", all calm and composed, yet inside she was smiling from ear to ear. Keqing had remembered her favorite drink! Keqing. Had. Remembered. Her. Favorite. Drink.
When Ganyu had stopped smiling over the Qingxin tea (it seemed trivial when her haze was over), everyone had ordered and Keqing and Xingqiu were now looking over the science homework, open drinks pushed far away from the books. Chongyun was slowly sipping on a vanilla milkshake, and Ganyu could sense that he didn't want to keep discussing Xingqiu. Ganyu took out The Fox in the Dandelion Sea (she had read it many times already, yet it remained one of her all-time favorites). She propped up the book in front of her, determined to at least get some reading done even if her "date" was ruined. Silently, she watched Keqing over her book. The way Keqing tossed her head back when laughing, the way she tucked loose wisps of hair behind her ears... When Keqing met her eye, Ganyu quickly looked back down at the words across her page (the page that had not been turned for a solid minute by now).
Ganyu took a sip of the piping hot Qingxin tea. It tasted similar enough to the stuff they served in the Liyuean tea houses of her childhood, she decided. Worthy of another visit sometime. Eventually, she became so engrossed in her book that thirty minutes had passed and Keqing was now nagging her to go back to their dorms. Xingqiu smiled and said his goodbyes, and Chongyun did too, albeit less enthusiastically.
Ganyu pushed the sliding door, which caused a bell to emit a small jingle. She stood outside stoically, waiting for Keqing to catch up.
"Ganyu, I got the food. I'll drop some off at your dorm later." Keqing walked over to Ganyu's side, a sly smile on her face. "But..."
"Keqing..." Ganyu noticed right away.
"So, a new exhibit opened up. It's on the twentieth floor." Keqing's smile widened. Ganyu made an exaggerated sigh.
"We should go next Saturday. Tickets are sold out now. It's supposed to be calming, I thought maybe... Maybe it could relieve some stress, I guess." Keqing added the last part quietly, breaking eye contact.
"Oh! Wait, what is this- Exhibit?" Ganyu scoured her brain for anything about an exhibit, yet she couldn't find anything.
"You'll know on Saturday. So, yes or no?" Keqing was back to her usual self, and she was obviously getting impatient. Ganyu knew already that Keqing was so stubborn she wouldn't take no for an answer.
Not that Ganyu could bring herself to say no, anyway.
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The mood scampered higher up the atramentous fabric of the night sky, shimmering ethereally through bony fingers of trees which were bare from early autumn. Eula sighed, turning her head to face her paper thin curtains. She sniffed hard. Somehow her left nostril was now blocked.
Rubbing her eyes lethargically, she stifled a yawn, as to not wake a sleeping Sucrose. Silently, she padded through the dorm; a snake slithering through fronds of dewy grass. Pushing open the heavy pool door, Eula breathed a sigh of relief as cool, early autumn air hit her face. Mood instantly lifted, she took in her placid surroundings.
Excitedly sliding into the pool, frigid hands enveloped Eula. She swam around the pool, the cold water and the view exhilarating. Swimming had always made her feel free.
She looked up at the inky night sky, scintillating stars dotting its pelt. She felt infinitesimal against the backdrop of the boundless-
Splash!
Eula turned around at the sudden sound, panic rising in her chest. Who else would be here at this time of night?
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(A/N)
HOLY SHIT LMFAO
BESTIES WE ARE SORRY FOR NOT POSTING FOR SO LONG! WERE NOT DEAD I PROMISE, THIS ISNT DISCONTINUED.
WEVE BEEN WORKING ON OUR OTHER BOOK OF GENSHIN ONESHOTS MEANWHILE, SO PLEASE CHEKC THAT OUT LMAO
(SHAMELESS SELF PROMO...)
ANYWAY KISS MARRY KILL
eula, Baal, yoimiya <3
YOU ARE READING
welcome to teyvat university! // genshin impact college + modern au
Fanfiction╰─ ➤ a semi-chatfic genshin impact college au (read tags for more info!) "hello, teyvat university!" ♡︎ ganyu and sucrose-centric written and edited by @ceerisyal (jun 16, 2021) characters from mihoyo] 8/6 - thank you all for 10k reads! new reader...
