a/n: miss crossposting on fanfiction dot net so let me dump my beiguang oneshots to add to my dumpsterfire of an account yeehaw
"Can I see your phone?"
"I'm not having an affair."
It's late into the night, the office is dark and quiet, save for the diligent scratching of pen against paper of the Qixing CEO, and the occasional yawning from her lone companion in the form of a Marine General. The office is barely lit, only the brightness of the dim and lone table lamp and the rays of moonlight seeping its way through gold and black curtains provided ample lighting, or at least, enough for Ningguang to see where her things are, and to look at her boat captain right across from her, lounging casually on one of her armchairs, barely able to fight off the drowsiness in her features.
It's one of the rare occasions where her wife accompanies her in her late-night office work, with Beidou's job requiring her to be at sea for months on end, offering sparse vacations for a few weeks or months here and there. This is one of those vacations, and Ningguang can't help but feel a pang of guilt every time that thought crosses her mind. To think that Beidou is coming home after months of hard work for her vacation, only to spend it watching her wife overwork herself, as always...
Ningguang files the thought away for a moment, and looks up from her documents, a pair of crimson eyes directed onto a lone ruby one. Beidou is looking right back at her, with her usual lazy smile and that telltale mischievous glint in her gaze. Nothing out of the ordinary so far. However, Beidou's request...it's quite odd. As far as Ningguang is concerned, Beidou is not at all the possessive or the nosy type, taking into stride and even finding it quite entertaining when men fumble their way around her girlfriend-turned-wife, and though she knows Ningguang's passwords, not once did Beidou look through her messages and emails, barring the occasional moments when Ningguang requests so out of urgency, or the occasional, surprising laziness. Beidou's eye did not give an accusatory look, so Ningguang deduces that might not be the reason.
Though, another reason emerges from her mind, and Ningguang feels herself stiffen.
"Are you?"
"'Course not," Beidou replies casually, waving a dismissive hand, hints of guilt remarkably absent in her words and posture. "Just wanna see somethin' real quick."
A thin eyebrow quirks up, "and that is?"
"I wanna see your nickname for me in your phone,"
"Your name…on my phone?" Incredulousness coats her words, "does that matter?"
"Not really," but she is bored, and kind of tired, and Ningguang seems far too comfy with her ass on that office chair and her nose buried deep into several documents that it didn't seem they will be able to go home anytime soon.
"Any particular reason?"
"Nothin' too big," Beidou shrugs, "Just bored, and curious. Met Senator Gunnhildr at a conference a couple of weeks back, talked about politics and shit. Offhandedly she mentioned Mrs. Minci had her match nicknames in their phones, some corny crap that would make even the lovey-dovey of schoolgirls blush, and here I'm wondering, what does my own wife have me in her phone?"
"It's nothing special, I assure you."
"Aw, lemme see still."
Ningguang sighs, rubbing her temples—whether it's from the stress of her work, or her wife's antics, Beidou isn't entirely sure—and finally picked up her purse from her side; a deep brown of color, probably leather, accented with the finest gold. Beidou didn't know—nor really cared, actually—about the brands of the several purses her wife owns, but it's a safe bet it probably costs more than her childhood home. A slim, manicured hand dug through the purse, the interior organized and memorized, and easily pulled a phone; as expensive looking as the rest of Ningguang, its case simple yet elegant, though surprisingly not the latest model, as she wasn't one to replace something when she saw no need to.
"Fine. Have at it," she tosses the device from across her desk and onto Beidou's hands. Ningguang doesn't consider herself careless with her things, by any means, however she had always trusted Beidou and her reflexes.
"Sweet," Ningguang's intuition is correct, and Beidou catches the device with ease. She turns it on, and immediately gets to work. The lock screen is plain, probably one of those basic starter wallpapers that came with the phone, but as soon as Beidou unlocks the thing, her smile grows wider than it's ever been as she's greeted to a pleasant sight; a memory, of their honeymoon—one of the few vacations they've had without their schedules being star-crossed lovers. Everything about the photo was just perfect; of the twilight skies painted in beautiful hues of oranges and pinks and reds perfectly framing the pieces, of the waterfall behind them, as mesmerizing on photo as it was in the moment, and finally; the two of them, mid-laugh, their smiles reaching their eyes, Beidou's arm slinked around her wife's shoulders, her lips against gorgeous white hair, and Ningguang looked vibrant and remarkably relaxed, a far cry from the usually elegant and straight-faced CEO.
Ningguang notices Beidou smile like a fool, and knows it's from her wallpaper. "You told me to put that in as my wallpaper."
Beidou laughs at her defensiveness. The white-haired woman really wasn't one for being openly affectionate, most especially in public, especially given her occupation, and Beidou found that just fine, though it did not mean she didn't appreciate the very few moments Ningguang did show her affection for her in public, even if it's simply a wallpaper in her personal phone. "Yeah, I'm just really happy you did,"
Ningguang blinks once, then twice, before her face melts into a smile, "that's fair. I do like that picture a lot."
"We should have another trip sometime," Beidou suggests, finally opening her wife's contacts list, and scrolls, "get you out of this stuffy ass office and-"
The brunette pauses.
"Huh."
Ningguang is confused, "what's wrong?"
""Beidou."—that's it?" Her brows are furrowed, more confused than anything.
"Is there anything wrong with that?"
"I mean, not really," she says, not really able to fault her wife for something so simple and trivial. That's just how Ningguang is—concise and straight to the point, and though it may be annoying at times, Beidou certainly wouldn't have it any other way, "but surely we can make this better?"
From her peripheral, Ningguang can see Beidou starting to type on her phone. She heaves a sigh at her wife's antics as she closes the last document needed to be signed for the week, starts to tidy up, closes the lone lamp, and finally, picks up her purse, "we should head home."
Beidou is far too engrossed trying to think up a good name that she only started to notice Ningguang opening her door and starting to leave. Hurriedly grabbing her things, Beidou tries to keep up with her wife.
"O-oi, Ning, wait up!"
-x-
Ningguang wakes to the sounds of chirping birds and sunlight seeping through white and gold curtains and directly onto her face. She lets out a quiet whine as she starts to shift away from the offending rays, only to hear a grunt that did not come from her own lips, and found that she couldn't move at all. Bare skin against bare skin, a pool of hair so dark it contrasted her own, a mess of limbs holding her together, and a comforting warmth against her body.
Ah, Beidou.
She has forgotten that she had someone to share the bed with again.
It's a feeling Ningguang never realized she had missed so much, until now.
A murmur escapes her lips as she shifts her form just slightly, enough to get into a comfortable position, but not enough to disturb the lump of brown hair and clingy limbs that wrapped Ningguang into a warm embrace. Though, it appeared to be enough, as she hears a light whine coming from her partner and the tightening of her grip.
She chuckles to herself, quietly and lightly, stroking the head of dark brown—almost black hair nestled against her collarbone soothingly until the whines die down and are soon replaced with soft snores. Beidou will never admit herself a needy partner, though Ningguang is enough of a witness against that statement, in the early mornings like this one, where the feared general clung into her wife tightly like she was her teddy bear; her source of comfort, strong arms wrapped her waist, and heavy legs overlapping her thighs. Perhaps it's a hassle; a restriction of movement and comfort, though Ningguang doesn't find herself minding one bit; after all, it's not often the great sea general shows such...innocent and soft affection, does she?
Ningguang continues her stroking, and feels her partner gradually soften at her touch. She lets out a content sigh, and decides to check her phone as she enjoyed this quiet morning. Shifting just a bit, making sure not to disturb her wife's sleep, Ningguang grabs her phone from the bedside table, mindlessly scrolling over her notifications over the night, trashing unnecessary emails and messages, and keeping in mind the ones she will need to respond to sooner or later. After she's done, she remembers her little exchange with Beidou last night, and realizes she had not checked her contacts for whatever Beidou had changed her name with.
"Hm, I wonder…" she murmurs quietly, to no one in particular, as she opens her contacts list, and scrolls until she finds the most out-of-place name imaginable.
She stares at the name for a while, before cracking a smile.
"Mhm….morning," as if on cue, Beidou awakens with a yawn, and even in her drowsy state, gets confused when Ningguang giggles and places a kiss on her head.
"You're so cheesy,"
Beidou blinks once, then twice, and despite sleep still coating her words and thoughts, smiles lopsidedly and returns the lips, this time on the lips, "I'm guessing that's Ning-speak for "good morning, my beloved wife, let me make you breakfast because I love you so","
Ningguang rolls her eyes, "I saw your preferred nickname on my contacts."
The lazy grin never leaves Beidou's face, "ya like it?"
The white-haired woman sits up, letting the sheets slide down her form, offering Beidou a magnificent sight that she never tires of, "I don't feel like making breakfast."
"Breakfast date, then?" Beidou sits up herself, the blanket lay forgotten as she stretches her arms. "Heard Wanmin has a breakfast special now, and wow, you know how much I love Xiangling's food. That girl and her cooking, I swear…"
Ningguang smirks, "I'd love to, O My Beloved Captain Beidou,"
Beidou's smile widens even more, reaching her eyes, "Ah, so you do like it."
"The emojis make me sound like a lovestruck schoolgirl."
"Babe, I'd be offended if I didn't make you feel like it."