Beidou leaned closer, "Ningguang, what's on your mind, dragging me out here?"
Ningguang's eyes softened, "Can't you tell? I dressed up tonight to share something dear."
Beidou's mind raced, Is she finally going to say it? she wondered.
Ningguang took a breath, "Beidou, I need to tell you…"
The chat held its breath, gossip flaring like a bonfire in the night.
Beidou and Ningguang tensed, palms slick with nervous sweat.
Onscreen, Ningguang's calm shattered, her voice rising in exasperation.
"Beidou, this is a date, do you even grasp what that means?" she snapped.
"Can't you drop the blunt act, just once, and live a little finer—treat yourself, bring a gift?" she pleaded.
"We've shared meals, worked side by side, bathed together, slept under the same stars—how do you not get it?" she vented.
This spoofed Ningguang unraveled, undone by Beidou's oblivious charm.
The chat winced in sympathy, many knowing the sting of unheeded hints.
Their own tales of wooden-hearted crushes mirrored this comedic plight.
Ningguang caught herself mid-rant, coughing to mask her outburst.
Beidou stammered, "Uh…" her thoughts a jumbled mess.
Ningguang sighed, disappointment shadowing her gilded features.
Then Beidou's eyes lit up, a sudden spark of realization breaking through.
She lunged forward, tackling Ningguang into the pond with a splash.
The screen cut to black, text flaring: "Paid content ahead, not for your eyes!"
"Video concluded, thanks for watching!" it declared with a cheeky wink.
"Beidou's reward: a cask of stormbrew spirits," it listed.
"Ningguang's reward: an elegant scentless pipe," it added.
"Broadcast closing in five minutes…" it warned, leaving the crowd hanging.
The chat blinked, then erupted in a fury of frustrated delight.
Ballard: "Cut off right there? That's criminal!" he raged.
Yun Jin: "Why stop at the best part, what a tease!" she groaned.
Yoimiya: "@Ningguang, what, you wanted more?" she teased.
Yun Jin: "Huh? I, uh, had too much wine, forgot everything," she backtracked.
Yoimiya: "Still drinking? You're groveling tonight!" she jabbed.
Xander: "I'll pay 300,000 Mora for an exclusive peek," he offered.
Beidou: "@Xander, you're on my list when I hit Liyue!" she growled.
Ningguang: "@Xander, fancy a trip abroad? I'll arrange it," she threatened.
Xander: "Oh, lovely weather today, isn't it?" he dodged.
Arataki Itto: "Gone at the climax? I'll toss 80,000 Mora for the fight!" he bellowed.
Kuki Shinobu: "@AratakiItto, boss, got that kind of cash?" she doubted.
Kaeya: "This Itto guy's a loudmouth, clueless as they come," he smirked.
Arataki Itto: "Clueless? I'm the supreme ghost king, sumo champ, beetle lord!"
"Card master, unyielding fighter, Arataki never bows!" he ranted.
Lumine: "This guy's not exactly sharp, is he?" she noted.
Paimon: "Told you, total blockhead," she giggled.
Eula: "A child in a brute's body, piling on silly titles," she scoffed.
Five minutes flashed by, the broadcast ejecting its riled viewers.
This uproar dwarfed Keqing's fiasco, a seismic splash in Teyvat's calm.
Beidou, Southern Cross's fierce captain, and Ningguang, Liyue's Tianquan, spoofed together.
The real Beidou and Ningguang reeled, caught between laughter and tears.
Xander lounged in his rental, basking in the chaos he'd sown.
The cutoff was his masterstroke, a cliffhanger to stoke their ire.
Beidou's gift, a cask of spirits, suited her rough-hewn soul.
Ningguang's pipe, sleek and scentless, mocked her refined dismay.
Tartaglia: "That tackle into the water, I need the rest!" he laughed.
Xingqiu: "A straight-arrow captain and a flustered Tianquan, pure art," he praised.
Keqing: "First me, now them, Liyue's the punching bag," she fumed.
Wendy: "This beats a bard's wildest ballad," he sang.
The Shadowfang Blade at Xander's side pulsed, reveling in the stir.
He'd spun their bond into a tangle of hilarity and half-spoken truths.
Liyue hummed beyond his walls, blind to the storm he'd brewed.
The chat's outrage fed his system, a harvest of raw emotion.
Beidou's bluntness and Ningguang's pique danced in his crafted farce.
He'd dodged their wrath so far, a shadow pulling Teyvat's strings.
The broadcast's next draw loomed, a prize for this delicious mess.
Ningguang's elegance, Beidou's fire, forever linked in his jest.
Teyvat buzzed, a world gripped by his unseen, gleeful hand.
***
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